ms. tsongas of massachusetts. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 257, the lady from massachusetts, ms. tsongas, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the lady from massachusetts. ms. tsongas: thank you, mr. chairman. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the lady is recognized. ms. tsongas: last summer we all saw the painfully disorganized and ineffective response to the oil spill in the gulf of mexico. the frustration was pal pappable across our -- palpable across our country. it was clear that b.p. and the federal government had no plan to contain the oil spill and that b.p. lacked the capacity to respond to a spill of that magnitude. the amendment that i am offering today is very straightforward and simple. one that seeks to implement the lessons learned from the events of last summer. my amendment would require that all applicants for a drilling permit under a lease sold under h.r. 1231 submit a plan for containment and cleanup of a worst-case scena

ms. tsongas to maintain its relating to sexual assault and ensure lifetime access with servicemembers who are a victim of sexual assault. an amendment by ms. davis to increase the number of service academy nominations for puerto rico. an amendment by mr. wittman to improve management of the arlington national cemetery. an amendment by mr. langevin expanding this final -- spinal cord injury research. an amendment by mr. turner to create a confidentiality privilege for sexual assault response coordinators, sexual assault victims advocates, dod, safe helpline personnel. an amendment by mr. turner to address the leadership structure and the air force institute of technology. an amendment by mr. johnson that requires a report on any department of defense project on autism services. an amendment by mr. hunter regarding the display of flags by our armed forces. and an amendment i mr. kaufman for a comprehensive study of the selective service system. >> is there any discussion on the amendment? mr. turner, the gentleman from ohio, is recognized for five minutes. >> i want to again thank the chair

ms. tsongas: i recently heard from my constituent from massachusetts named phil who relies on medicare for his health coverage. his wife's diabetes treatment and prescription drugs are also covered through medicare and they have both paid into medicare all their lives through payroll deductions. he remarked to my office that there was no way that they could meet the cost of health care today without medicare. he and hisife are not alone. each day thousands of seniors like them use medicare to cover the costs of doctors' appointments, prescription drugs as well as routine tests and treatments. under the budget that house republicans passed in apri and that the senate is set to consider this week the medicare program that seniors have relied on for more than 50 years to meet their medical needs and expenses would be eliminated. in its place would be a voucher system that pays a small lump sum to private insurers to cover seniors. any cost not covered by that payment would fall to seniors to pay or forego coverage. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle argue that elimination of medicar

ms. tsongas: it allows a hospital to refuse to perform an abortion even if a woman would die without it. it allows a doctor to refuse to perform an abortion even if the pregnancy threatens a woman's health, an it makes change it is to how we define rape. my colleagues say they are for no new taxes and preserving life but this legislation belies that claim. thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> the news that osama bin laden had been killed by u.s. forces on sunday brought reassurance to many around the world that justice had finally been served. a man responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people of all races and religions had been located and eliminated. mr. pitts: however not everyone saw it the same way. the leader of hamas in gaza called bin laden a sheikh and said, quote, we condemn the assassination and killing of an arab holy warrior, ep quote this comes the same week palestini

ms. tsongas: i recently heard from my constituent from massachusetts named phil who relies on medicare for his health coverage. his wife's diabetes treatment and prescription drugs are also covered through medicare and they have both paid into medicare all their lives through payroll deductions. he remarked to my office that there was no way that they could meet the cost of health care today without medicare. he and his wife are not alone. each day thousands of seniors like them use medicare to cover the costs of doctors' appointments, prescription drugs as well as routine tests and treatments. under the budget that house republicans passed in april and that the senate is set to consider this week the medicare program that seniors have relied on for more than 50 years to meet their medical needs and expenses would be eliminated. in its place would be a voucher system that pays a small lump sum to private insurers to cover seniors. any cost not covered by that payment would fall to seniors to pay or forego coverage. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle argue that elimination of medi

amendment 5 by miss tsongas of massachusetts. amendment number 6 by ms. brown of florida. amendment number 7 by mr. thompson of california. amendment number 8 by mr. inslee of washington. the chair will reduce to two minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote in this series. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 5 printed in house report 112-74, by the gentlewoman from massachusetts, miss tsongas, 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 5, printed in house report number 112-74, offered by miss tsongas of massachusetts. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes the chair: on this vote the yeas are 195. the nays are 223. the amendment is lost. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 6 print

ms. castor for health care, and army mission and support tools, an amendment by mrs. tsongasfor communication, an amendment by mr. lobiondo for visual sensors, for body armor, an amendment by mr. young for nanotechnology research, an amendment by mr. rogers for missile simulation technology, for packaging and materials development, an amendment by mr. owens, for cyber workforce development, an amendment by mr. shuster for information sharing systems and an amendment by mr. shuster for small business technology transfer. >> without objection, reading of the amendment will be dispensed with. are there -- is there any discussion of the amendment? >> mr. chairman? >> gentleman from texas, mr. conway is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i had a mechanical question, looking through here, as well as the previous block amendments, section 44501 of division d relating to the mission force enhancement transfer fund is used over and over again as a reduction. do we know for sure that these total reductions don't actually waste that fund? in other words, if everybody takes all this