i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: madam speaker, we have no further speakers at this time. however, we continue to reserve the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. chaffetz: madam speaker, seeing no other speakers, i'd yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: thank you, madam speaker. we yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 435 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection a motion to reconsi

i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida reserves. the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. aderholt: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman. mr. aderholt: this is my first appropriations bill to help manage on the floor. i very much enjoyed the process and consider it a privilege. i do want to commend the chair, ms. wasserman schultz, for her ms. wasserman schultz, for her professional and courteous e way she conducted the process over the last several months for producing fiscal year 2010 legislative branch appropriations bill. we have worked closely and very much in the spirit of bipartisanship to meet the funding needs of the legislative branch agencies. in addition, the chair operated under an open process and was responsive to the concerns and input of all the members of this committee. madam speaker, i will say it is unfortunate that the bipartisan approach taken by our committee stopped at the doors of the rules committee. i understand that the rule accompany

on reserves that the banks are holding with the federal reserve. now, and at one point in time the federal reserve would start to see that credit creation by the banks on the basis of these reserves starts again very quickly, they can offer in interest rates on those reserves which could mean that the banks won't use of these reserves as a basis for credit creation. so they basically have to tools to present when a lot of people fear these days, an inflationary binge that would -- if a the fed -- let me put it this way -- if the fed does react to slow it will have inflation, not the slightest doubt about that. but i have all the confidence that the fed has the knowledge and and technical ability to make his move in a timely way. >> my guess is if the fed started to take money away they will get a lot of heat, and politicians will not like the idea can access the big problem because certainly the fed will have to move in the direction before the unemployment rate stops increasing, before the and implement rate stops increasing. so you're all america

i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. olson: i see no one on my side of the aisle requesting time so i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. baird: with no other he speakers i'll yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of this important -- with no other speakers, i'll yield back the balance of my time and urge passage of this important legislation. the speaker pro tempore: those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are -- the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. broun: i reqst the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered.

the federal reserve also have to appropriate regarding issues of public disclosure. as i wrote in a letter to this committee neither i nor any member of the federal reserve directed come instructed board buys bank of america to withhold from public disclosure and information relating to merrill lynch including its losses, compensation packages are bonuses or any other related matter. these obligations belongs squarely with the company and the federal reserve did not interfere in the company's disclosure decisions. the federal reserve had a legitimate interest in knowing when bank of america or merrill lynch intended to disclose those losses at merrill lynch. given the fragility of the financial markets at that time we were concerned about the potential for a strong adverse market reaction to the reports of significant losses at merrill lynch. if federal assistance is stabilizing these companies were to be effective the necessary facilities would have to be in place as of the disclosure date. dessauer planning with importantly influence by the company's plan disclosur

chairman, i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: mr. speaker, does the gentleman from arizona have any more speakers? mr. franks: one last closing. mr. nadler: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. franks: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, jugs a personal thought on my -- just a personal thought on my part. sometimes a country oftentimes asks itself the question what really is the source and fundamental essence of our security? and oftentimes we think that that is the length and breadth of our military might and i would only remind us all that thousands of years ago china built a great wall to protect china. this was a wall that would have challenged some of modern day tanks. they thought they were completely secure. but in that time china was invaded three different times. because the enemy simply bribed the guard who opened the gate and let them in. i would sub

>> federal reserve will not monetize the debt.and i think it's important to point out that notwithstanding our purchases of treasuries as part of a program to strengthen private credit market, we will still hold less treasuries, a smaller volume of treasuries than we had before the crisis began. >> if the fed will not monetize the debt and if the congress refuses to deal with the spending curve, which will average about 23% of gdp for the next 10 years, that's either going to leave us with a massive tax increase or massive borrowing, but yet apparently, as we send representatives to china to encourage them to continue to buy our debt, they are shifting to commodities. they are indicating concerns about the level of our debt. recently, as i believe you know, s&p downgraded uk's debt on may 21st from stable to negative. so, what's going to going to ha u.s. loses its aaa rating or what happens if we have a 60% tax increase over the next ten years to deal with this massive infusion of debt? >> at some point, you have to have a path of

the speaker pro tempore: was that a reserve or yield? mr. bilbray: i'll reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time at it this time. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. lynch: mr. speaker, we have no further speakers on this. i continue to reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. bilbray: mr. speaker, at this time i will yield back the remainder time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: i thank the gentleman from california for his words in support of this measure. i also want to thank congressman rooney for being the lead sponsor here, the gentleman from florida. in closing i again urge my colleagues to join me in hong lieutenant commander roy boehm for his good work through the passage of h.r. 2470 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house

with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas -- >> mr. gohmert: i have no further speakers, i'm prepared to close. and would yield back the balance of my time upon urging colleagues to support this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. cohen: i too yield back my time and urge a favorable vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2247 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- mr. cohen: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: i ask that the yeas around nays be recorded. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient

ry reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from west virginia. mr. mollohan: mr. chairman, i don't have any other speakers. if the gentleman wants to yield back, i'll certainly yield back. i won't yield back until he yields back. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from georgia. mr. broun: this whole amendment process is flawed. we had other amendments that were maybe considered better. and because of these flaws, the american people surely will not receive the accurate census that the constitution requires that they receive next year. we have had many efforts to cut spending and they were ordered out of order. this is a flawed process that is deplorable and let the process go on. but because of this process, mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment. the chair: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman withdraws his amendment. the gentleman from west virginia. mr. mollohan: yield back the balance of my time, mr. chairman. the chair: the gentleman yields

coble: continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina reserves. the gentleman from new york. mr. nadler: mr. speaker, i now yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from new york, mr. tonko. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support of the resolution before the house sponsored by my very good friend, representative louise slaughter, condemning the senseless killing of george tiller. dr. tiller was gunned down while serving as an usher during church services last week. we are blessed in this country to have freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to protest. our country has a history of nonviolent protest from the women's rights movement to the civil rights movement to the gay rights movement. dr. martin luther king jr. breached nonviolence and his great movement heeded this call in the -- of unspeakable violence. this is a terrible perversion of what it means to be pro-life. while we have different views on this issue, no s

everybody is knocking the federal reserve because of ron paul. ron paul as a smart guy, i respect him. he has been involved in politics for many years. i was a reform party candidate for president in 2000, have a finance degree. ron paul wants to go back to the gold standard. what is everybody going to do, carry around a will barrel -- carry around a wheelbarrow full of gold? the federal reserve is basically a government bank that will allow people or allow the government to print money, put it out there to make things easier for everybody. is real simple. realistically, you can go about it anywhere and they can print out a promissory note and create money like the federal reserve. the only thing is, they regulate it much better, and it is designed to structure the economy well. host: i think we are going to have to leave it there because we have to go to the phone, pearl davenport, an energy reporter who will catch us up to speed on what is happening in the u.s. house on it and the energy and climate change bill. are you there? guest: good morni

upton: i reserve the balance of my time at the moment. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan continues to reserve. who yields time? the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized. ms. sutton: may i require how much time the gentleman from michigan controls? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan controls nine remaining minutes and the gentlewoman from ohio six remaining minutes. ms. sutton: madam speaker, at this time it's my honor to yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from michigan, chairman bart stupak. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for one minute. mr. stupak: thank you, madam speaker. as one of the authors of h.r. 2751, i urge support for the cash for clunkers program that will provide cash vouchers of up to $4,500 at auto dealerships for consumers who trade in aging, less fuel efficient automobiles and replace them with modern fuel-efficient models. the cash for clunkers program accomplishes a dual task of stimulating sales in the auto industry. i applaud congress

barton: why don't you reserve -- mr. markey: i reserve the right to object. mr. barton: i'll be happy to yield to my friend from massachusetts. mr. markey: i thank the gentleman for yielding. the manager's amendment, which is i think what is of concern to him, is on the rules committee website that can be accessed right now by and has been there and available for any member or any citizen of the united states to be able to read. it is on the website. mr. barton: do members have access to the website on the floor of the house? mr. markey: in the lake-cook room there is access -- in the cloakroom there is access to it. we have similar technological access in our cloakroom. mr. barton: in the cloakroom but not the floor. mr. markey: it is also available at the desk. mr. barton: reclaiming my time on the gentleman's reservation on the unanimous consent request. what is at the desk that is physically available for any member of this body who's engaging in debate is not apparently the official copy. it is missing 300 pages. now, what's on the website is almost immateri

, i think there's going to be a lot of pressure to create a global reserve system. i head ad commission for the u.n. that explored an expert commission that explored alternative ways by which we could go from the dollar system to some alternative global reserve system, and there are ways that we can do this st in an orderly, stable way. but if we don't do that, there are so strong forces already at play that's going to happen. there are regional initiatives that the initiative that is called the shanghai initiative in asia. at the meeting in new york there was discussion from the -- those in latin america creating a regional reserve system in latin america. so the reality is it's coming. and the question is how we go about managing it. and i hope, i hope that the united states takes some leadership and says, you know, we have allowed globalization to proceed. it's benefitted us, but it's also had some costs, particularly to developing countries, innocent victims of this crisis. let's try to address the problems of the global reserve system and let's try to create so

we reserve at this time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, who is the deputy ranking member of the crime committee of the subcommittee and also a former judge from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, is recognized for two minutes. mr. poe: thank you, mr. speaker. i think a little history is in order here because only congress can remove a federal judge. it's part of the checks and balances in our constitution. it prevents the executive, who doesn't like what a judge is doing, from taking that person out of office. it prevents other judges in the united states in the judicial branch from removing a judge when they don't like that judge's opinion. that is our duty today to resolve this issue. over my career i have been somewhat critical of federal judges but the reason is because of a philosophical difference

bilbray: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: madam speaker, we have no further speakers at this time. however i continue to reserve. mr. bilbray: madam speaker, i yield back the at this time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: madam speaker, i just urge our colleagues to join with congressman cuellar and naming this post office in memory and in honor of our united states and texas veterans. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2325. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. mr. lynch: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentle

i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arkansas. mr. boozman: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. boozman: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of h.r. 1016, as amended, a bill that would authorize appropriations for several veterans health care accounts a year in advance beginning with fiscal year 2011. i also thank chairman filner for bringing this bill forward. and trying to solve a problem that we have had over -- in the past. the goal of the bill is to provide an increased level of fiscal certainty regarding operations of the v.a. hospital system. by funding the accounts for medical services, medical support and compliance, medical facilities, information technology systems, and medical and prosthetic research the department of veterans affairs should be able to manage its health care personnel needs and day to day operations. i would note that the last three accounts that i mentioned were included in the bill by an amen

ros-lehtinen: i reserve the balance or our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. >> mr. speaker, i'm pleased at this time to yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. connolly: i rise in support of h.r. 1886, the pakistan enduring assistance and cooperation act and congratulate mr. berman for his leadership. s that national security bill. it provides assistance to help pakistan disrupt al qaeda and the taliban and requires that the majority of the assistance be focused on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism efforts. the legislation includes accountability measures for military assistance, including a requirement that the government of pakistan show a sustained commitment to combating terrorism. it alies their gells with ours, it provides military aid on the condition that pakistan cooperate in dismantling nuclear supply networks and fighting terrorist groups. the bill will not provide funding for pakistan to build its forces in t

mckeon: we'll reserve the balance of our time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey. >> i yield one minute to our friend and colleague the outstanding new member from florida, mr. grayson, one minute. the chair: the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. mr. grayson: thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank the chairman of the committee that's allowing these amendments to go forward. this is a great bill and in particular i'm happy to say we have a good amendment here that will finally get a hold of the subject of cost everruns. i worked in defense procurement for 20 years and worked fighting war profiteers in iraq before i came here. one of the dirty, dark secrets of testifies contracting is that contractors buy. in that's a term used by contractors to explain the situation where they compete for a time and materials contract or a cost reimbursement contract, they propose a certain cost or price, knowing they can't meet that cost or price, they get the contract and overcharge the government. we need to get a fix

treasury and the reserve? >> it was about announcing everything at once. am i understand, the timing is interesting, let's announced in january, not december. was there something critical that happened in january that made it better than december? >> a was not in agreement in december. -- there was not an agreement in december. >> among whom? >> among us, us, the federal reserve, and the treasury. >> there were discussions, but not agreement in december? >> yes. >> today and salt -- today involve the secretary of the treasury himself and the chairman of the federal reserve and yourself? >> yes, they did. >> in the agreement was let's hold off until january because we're not in agreement yet? >> we did not have an agreement, and we did not agree on all the details or the amounts. have an agreement on the details or the amounts. >> were the reports that you were reluctant to accept t.a.r.p. funds true? >> i'm sorry, i couldn't hear. >> there was a report that you did it not want to accept t.a.r.p. funding. is that correct? >> it is true that we did not think

dicks: i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. mr. simpson: we have no further speakers. let me say in closing that i have truly appreciated working with you, chairman dicks. you and the staff have been an honor to work with. and i think we have created a very good bipartisan bill and to tell you the truth, i can't complain about anything where you have spent the funds though there might have been some differences that i would have made if i were king for a day and that type of thing. but we have come out with a good bill. as we started the markup, you know that my major concern is the overall spending level in this bill. mr. dicks: would the gentleman yield? mr. simpson: i have no problems with the way that you are approaching this and i thank you for your bipartisanship in working with us. mr. dicks: i commend the gentleman for his work, his staff's work. everyone's worked together. i want to say again. your attendance on your side of the aisle. we have four cardinals on our subcommittee, so they have subcommittees they are running.

and i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from washington. mr. dicks: i rise to claim the time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. dicks: i understand that citizens and the carson city board of supervisors are concerned about the interior department plan to build an urgently needed new wildfire facility, but it is premature to cut off funding for this proposal. the environmental analysis is still out for public review. we should not halt this important project before the analysis and the public input can be analyzed and considered. carson city is a fire-prone area. it is important for the federal agencies to move ahead with an inter-agency center so they can be more efficient and effective firefighters. this joint new facility will support the silver hot shot crew, a key part of the firefighting force. the interior department has already spent funds for the planning and design of this particular project, so we should not stop or undualy delay its implementation. both the interior department and the forest s

ae-- i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. price: how much time remaining? the chair: 2 1/2 minutes. mr. price: i appreciate the gentleman from west virginia's comments, but let's be honest, mr. chairman. a cut? a cut? the amount of money spent last year in this area of the budget, $57.7 billion, $57.7 billion. the amount in this bill to spend, an 11.6% increase, $64.4 billion. my amendment, what would we spend? $63.8 billion. now remember, mr. chairman, last year we spent $57.7 billion. this year it's $63.8 billion under this amendment. $57.7 billion to $63.8 billion, that's a cut? mr. chairman a penny out of every dollar this definition of a cut is like when my -- our teenage son had a -- an allowance each week of $1. and he came to me and said, dad do you think i could have $2 a week. i said, no, but we could probably make it $1.50 a week. thunder definition that would be a 50% cut. mr. chairman, now let's be serious. $57 billion last year, $64 billion this year. do you think we can find a pe

i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. i recognize myself for such time as i may consume. thank you, mr. speaker. thomas jefferson observed that, quote, the only security of all is in a free press. the agitation it produces must be submitted to, it is necessary to keep the waters pure, unquote. were he alive today, jefferson would not take too kindly to liable tourists. the subject of h.r. 276 5 -- 2765. oh, it seems true that some u.s. media more recently have become fan clubs rather than objective pursuers of truth, there's still some very dedicated journalists in the united states who should be free from harassment from inappropriate liable suits in overseas courts. in the wake of 9/11, the american media have been -- become increasingly alarmed over a phenomenal called liable tourism. the term refers to a subject of critical -- of a critical news story suing an american a

"wall street says it can do business with federal reserve." "the new york times" today has two stories on its business page. "tough or timid?" again, and "the financial times," "u.s. seeks to marry dynamism and safety." "not everyone is cheering said's new role." on the front page of "the washington post," "in triage month, the goal was to expand the fed power that triumphs over other goals." that began with phone calls. waterford, michigan. this is john. go ahead, please. caller: good morning. thank you for answering my call. host: thank you. caller: i want to comment on the fact that the federal government cannot protect us from insurance companies. my insurance company, who i had six houses with, i had a fire. they stole evidence out of my house, and it came out in my pretrial. a police officer from michigan lost his job over my fire. i have been to the fbi, i have been to john conyers. i have been to carl levin. i have been to john dingell's office. i have been to debbie stabenow. i have been to gary peters office, who works for the financ

reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. mr. mcgovern: a military strategy that has no exit as is no strategy at all. i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from north carolina, the co-sponsor of this amendment, mr. jones. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. jones: i rise in strong support of mcgovern amendment. when the previous administration was in office, many times members on both sides of the aisle kept saying, why isn't there an end point to the war in iraq? now after eight years in afghanistan, the current administration must clearly articulate the benchmarks for success and the end point to its war strategy. in my years in congress, i have many opportunities to speak to military leaders. time after time, time after time i heard this. to have a successful war strategy you must have an end point. an end point is an understanding of what has to be achieved. general petraeus recently said, and i quote, afghanistan has been known over the years as the graveyard of empires. we cannot take that

treasury or by the federal reserve not to disclose until january? >> no. we were working on a goal of getting everything done at once. >> i'm sorry, i cannot hear. >> we were working on a goal of getting everything done at once so we didn't have an announcement of something that would cause more damage to the economy. but nobody ever told us that we should not disclose a disclosable event. >> nobody at the federal reserve and nobody at the u.s. treasury urge you to consider the timing of this so the receipt of tarp money was all disclosed in january? >> the target was to do that

i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? mr. price: i rise in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. price: this amendment increases and decreases, increases and decreases sundaying for salaries and expenses by $1 million with no statutory direction. now, my colleague would have us understand that this amendment would provide funding for a targeted border enforcement effort. i must respectfully disagree. in fact, it will do nothing of the kind. the procedure used in this amendment is meaningless having no effect, establishing no legislative mandate. with no statutory significance, it also will have no impact whatsoever on the conference outcome with the senate. it neither identifies the activity being defunded neither the one being augmented. on that basis alone and to discourage the use of this kind of parliamentary tactic to stretch out time for general debate, i urge colleagues to defeat this amendment. i reser

i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? mr. kirk: claim the time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kirk: thank you. mr. speaker, i want to yield two minutes to my colleague, marsha blackburn. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank the gentleman. and also representative larsen for allowing me to work with them on this to help ensure our american innovators intellectual property is protected as we move forward in this international community transition to green economics. american innovators hold 50% of the world's patents granted between 2002 and 2008 in the clean energy field and will i note that tennesseans alone hold 1% of those worldwide patents in the hybrid electric vehicle market. it's serious business for our american patent holders. they have invested a lot of time, passion, effort, energy, and economic capital in developing these technologies. it's therefore incumbent upon us in congress to protect what they have crea

that money was committed by the treasury department and the federal reserve. mr. lewis is here today as ceo of bank of america thanks to the commitment of those funds through the end of december 2008 and into early january, 2009. due to the secretive conduct with the fed addressing its current financial crisis, many questions about the bank of america merrill lynch deal and bailout have until today remained unanswered. some of the key questions have been were the merrill lynch losses that precipitated bank of america's distress call to the treasury on december 17th the first such accelerating losses bank of america observed at merrill lynch since agreeing to purchase the company? did they believe bank of a america had a credible case for abandoning the deal? did the federal reserve compel bank of america to complete the deal against its will. or did bank of america's mistakes and miscalculations, more than any other single factor cause the experience corporate deal maker to be exposed to merrill lynch's predictably large losses? did the government believe that ban

what about the independence of the federal reserve? you have got four big policy tools being deployed at full tilt. interest rates, quantitative easing, a balance sheet of around two trillion dollars. you are buying treasury bonds. that is a lot of policy of their that you would have to unwind very quickly in order to turn the corner. what is the exit strategy? what kind of confidence to you have that you will be able to wind all of this down, when the moment comes? no. 2, it was inevitable, i would argue, that your dealings with the treasury were unprecedented. you had to do a lot in the last year to fight inflation, getting everybody to recognize that. that has blurred the distinction of the independence between the administration, executive branch, and federal reserve and its unique role. what do you think of that concern? what are you doing to reassert the independence of the federal reserve, not just in structure, but the impression of the marketplace? >> a long question, i will attempt to address it. we are confident that this pr

i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves his time. the gentleman from georgia. mr. price: how much time do i have remaining? the chair: the gentleman has three minutes remaining. mr. price: carefully crafted? 24.2% increase, $13 billion increase? carefully crafted? i never suggested that these programs weren't important. what i suggested, mr. chairman, that out out of the entire tpwhoifpblgt department of justice, can we not save a penny on a dollar? can we not save a penny on a dollar? when the american people are struggling across this land to find pennies that they -- that the federal government is stealing from them? can we not just save a penny on a dollar? it's a simple thing to do, mr. chairman. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment and i'm pleased to yield to my friend from texas, mr. gohmert. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. chairman. -- mr. speaker. as someone who served as a judge and chief justice and had a constantly -- had it constantly drubbed into my head during ho

i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. capito: thank you. h.r. 1674 makes a small but significant fix to the national consumer cooperative bank act that will have the effect of expanding financial services options to lower income communities. the bill gave -- the bill would give n.c.b. capital impact the nonprofit subsidiary --, the nonprofit subsidiary of n.c.b., the opportunities to compete for grants for the community development institutions fund administered by the treasury department. today n.c.b. capital impact is not eligible for the cdfi grants, even though it provides housing, education, health care, cultural centers, small businesses and social services in distressed areas. the missions of the cdfi fund is to expand the capacity of financial instituti

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized for 30 minutes. mr. diaz-balart: i would like to thank my friend, the the gentlewoman from from maine for the time and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: while our men and women are in uniform and risking their lives in war zones, we in congress need to support them. i am proud to once again support the bipartisan national defense authorization act to honor and support the brave men and women of the united states armed forces. i also wish to commend and congratulate both armed services chairman skelton and ranking member mckeon for their commitment to put partisanship aside to get this important bill to the floor. the national defense authorization act, which passed unanimously out of the armed services committee authorizes $550 billion for the activities of the department of defense. it also provides $130 billion to support our combat operations in iraq, afghanistan

i reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from west virginia. mr. mollohan: i rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. mollohan: i just point out that this is a $19 -- 19.4% reduction in the funding of the bill. and that equates by my math and what i heard to $12.5 billion, $12.5 billion below this committee's recommendation to the full house. it would be $5 billion below the 2009 funding level. i understand that this right off the top, this subcommittee has a $4 billion additional obligation in order to fund as we move into the 2010 census. that just immediately demonstrates, i think, graphically demonstrates what kind of effect this kind of a cut this would have on the bill. for all those reasons i have in debating these various other percentage cuts to the funding in this bill, i oppose this amendment, mr. chairman. and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from ohio. mr. jor

treasury and with the federal reserve? >> it was about announcing everything at once. >> i understand. but the timing is interesting. let's announce it in january, not in december. was there something critical that happened in in wall street that made it better in january than december? >> there was not an agreement in december. >> i'm sorry? >> there was not an agreement in december. >> there was not an agreement among whom? >> among us. us being the federal reserve and the treasury. >> so there were discussions but not an agreement in december. >> there were discussions but not an agreement, yes. >> did those discussions involve the secretary of treasury himself and a the chairman of the federal reserve himself? >> yes, they did. >> and yourself? >> yes, they did. >> and the agreement was let's hold off until january because we're not in agreement about when what to disclose and when to disclose it? >> we did not have an agreement on the details or the amounts. >> were the reports that you were reluctant to accept t.a.r.

i have a concern in regards to the federal reserve. they are mainly asking for all these funds and when it is granted the keep for their families and friends, not reporting to congress nor the president of certain situations and i am really concerned about that. guest: i am not completely sure what the caller was getting up there, but there is some concern about where the fence interests lie. it is the fed serving the banking system, or is it serving the broader economy and financial system? fed officials will argue they are serving the broader system. it is critical and it is how lending for any major project is usually taken. there are alternative forms of much of it ties into the banking system. one of the sources of anger on capitol hill is the issue of whether the fed is serving people properly. host: on the republican line from tacoma, washington. caller: thank you for the opportunity to speak. good morning. i have two comments. then a question. let me comment on the gm issue brief. i bought, have bought a gm truck since i was ou

tonko: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. platts: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield five minutes to the distinguished gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for five minutes. mr. thompson: i thank the speaker. i thank the gentleman from pennsylvania for yielding. mr. speaker, as we know that this steady march and drum towards cap and trade and cap and tax it strikes me that certainly the health of our nation is really what's at risk here. in terms of what cap and trade will do to our nation. what it does to our businesses, our industries, what it does to our families, what it does to the individual citizens in terms of the costs that we place upon them, the burden that they have to bear. it's a burden that affects all segments of the society, those that i worry most about are actually those who live paycheck to paycheck and those who just barely get by in their household budgets of what this significant

the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves the balance of his time. mr. dent: i reserve. the chair: the gentlewoman from florida. ms. castor: i'd like to thank the chair of the committee, mr. thompson, from mississippi for his leadership on this issue and the professional homeland security staff who are the committee's supportive of the of amendment. i'd also ask unanimous consent to submit for the record letters of support from the transportation trades department, the florida ports council, port everglades, port manatee, port of miami, the tampa port authority and the passenger vessel association. the chair: the gentlewoman's request will be covered by general leave. miscastor: i urge my colleagues to support the amendment and come down on the side of economic growth in a time of economic disaster. to come down on the side of the hardworking folks at our ports to say that it's not fair in america that just because you live in one state that you're going to be subjected to additional bureaucratic barriers to get to your job. i urge approval of the amendment and yield bac

the federal reserve board of new york had $85 billion loan to a ing. the testimony today is that money was used to buy all the contracts and cancel them, that's how they took care of that obligation. what was of concern to me and others is the counterparties appeared to have received 100% of that even though testimony from people at aig before the committee said they thought there were a lot of contentious reasons to think they did not all 100% if they would anything at all on those partilar obligations that there had been serious negotiations about whether they should pay anything to the counter parties and if they should pay something, chest and 100% they should pay. we pressed mr. lardy at aig for makarov on just how the negotiations went, why did they pay 100%, his comment was he was the wrong person to talk to and in fact the fed had all of those documents and paperwork because they had struck the deal. so, my question to you is why was 100% paid on these obligations including what was the rationale, why weren't the interest of the public money in

of oil after we invaded iraq, take the oil reserves -- war reserves, put it out on the open market and sell it. host: next from arkansas. caller: i am very wary about inflation. of all of the bank bail outs and auto bailouts. this president has created the hugest deficit in history, that our children and grandchildren will never be able to pay for. he should return to the bush tax cuts that created jobs, and put money in many american pockets. host: the bush tax cuts are still active. they have not been repealed. caller: great. this president needs to continue them. host: virginia on the independent line. caller: this is worse than inflation. if they don't extend the bills again, they are worried about obama putting debt on their children, but they do it themselves. with their credit card, if you over extend yourself, and you are worried about 5%, maybe you should cut back on your spending. host: do you have credit card debt? caller: i have one credit card. i am paying it down, and i will have it done before the end of the year. people want to put things on cards, and they look at obam

and with that, i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. dicks: i claim the time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. dicks: first of all, i want to say we strongly oppose this amendment. we have checked on this project. we think this is a great project and think it's worthy and provides a lot of public good. and i would be glad to yield to my friend from new york, mr. mchugh, to further discuss this project. the chair: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. mchugh: i thank the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee and also my dear friend, zrashede ranking member of the subcommittee and indeed, the appropriations committee in general for recognizing the value and the importance of this funding. as i have said to the gentleman from california friend and colleague, my colleague from arizona, mr. flake, in past years when he has brought amendments to the floor striking out at some of the programs that i have been proud to advance, i always appr

and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. petri: i have no further requests for time. i urge passage of the bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. boccieri: and, madam speaker, with swift passage -- swift passage of this bill is very important. i yield back my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 472. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? mr. boccieri: madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1687 as amendmented to designate the federal building and united states courthouse located at mckinley avenue and third street as the ralph reg

with interest on reserves, we can raise the interest paid reserves in tandem with our target rate. this will raise the opportunity cost of banks' lending and keep the fed funds rate merely target. as we announce in march, we are seeking with the help of the treasury additional tools through legislative action. an example of such calls would be the authority to issue interest-bearing debt and exchange for reserves or an expansion on the treasury's supplementary financing program. what circumstances might require us to use the tools we have and those we may have in the future to reduce our balance sheet? one clear concern is price stability. our balance sheet grew very fast in a matter of weeks last fall and it remains large. there are historical precedents for large increases in central bank balance sheets to result in broader credit expansion and to be associated with inflation. i want to emphasize the meddling in this chain. inflationary pressures are likely to rise without broader credit expansion. there is currently no evidence for that. these precedents explain why there is con

>> this is central to the mission of the federal reserve. we have to look at the government's spending and how this position -- how this is positioned for the pathway of sustainable growth. it is the standard fare to talk about the effect of the fiscal programming, so that we understand whether or not more accommodations or less accommodations will be put in place, this is normal. you are talking about over and above -- these kinds of issues. these are not the issues i am embarking on. but the chairman of the federal reserve is a very important responsibility, and congress last the opinion of the chairman, on a number of issues. >> i will ask one last question. >> it seems that i should not answer. >> this is an important question. you can probably answer this in and lightning way. what are the indicators that he will be watching that will signal that this is the time to begin the exit process. and how far into this process do you have to be to raise interest rates? can this happen at the same time? >> this is a difficult question, because t

>> not to my knowledge. >> anyone express reservations about not signing? >> one person. >> was that you? >> no, it was not i. >> okay. mr. chairman, thank you for the time, i have to run to a 1:00 meeting. i want to thank the witness for his patience and thoughtful answers. >> i yield to the gentleman from ohio again, this time mr. kucinich. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. lewis, we would hope a ceo would have a good memory and responsibility to take responsibilities for his actions. you stated in response to my previous question that you did not recall asking for a letter from the government stating that bank of america was ordered to proceed with the purchase of merrill lynch. this is the linchpin of clarifying whether you were threatened by the fed or whether the fed was tough with you because you were threatening to be irresponsible. i want to direct your attention to an e-mail response from the fed's general council to chairman bernanke's e-mail which i previously disclosed. mr. chairman, says, i don't think it's necessary or appropriate for us to giv

the chair: does the gentlewoman reserve? ms. woolsey: i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. campbell: how much time is there remaining? the chair: the gentleman has 1 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. campbell: i appreciate my colleague from california's comments. again, doesn't change the facts of the matter. let's put it maybe a little bit more specifically. this is $1 million going to this particular project that is a california state park, not a federal park. and of that $1 million, $460,000 will have to be borrowed. much of that money will be borrowed from the chinese, indians, russians, from whom ever. and as much as i gee with you, as i like to see -- our historic preservation and i'm totally with you on that, but there is a project out there, there is an effort out there to raise private funds for this. and that is where the efforts should be. and as scarce as federal dollars are right now and the number of needs that we have and the jygantic zeverts that we are not passing to our children, but grandchildren. senat