skelton. the chair: the gentleman from missouri is recognized for one minute. mr. skelton: madam chairman, the bill for us is an excellent piece of legislation. it's one of the best that our committee has written. it's strong on our attempt to quall terrorism. it takes care of the troops. it looks after their families. on this issue before us, inquiry was made of secretary gates and the joint chiefs of staff chairman, in a letter dated april 30 states, there have i strongly oppose any legislation that seeks to change this policy prior to the completion of this vital assessment process. further, i hope congress will not do so as it would send a very damaging message to our men and women in uniform that, in essence, their views, concerns, and prospectives do not matter on an issue with such a direct impact and consequence for them and their families. i oppose the amendment. the chair: t gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. >> i yield 30 seconds to the leader on this issue, mr. matheson of

skelton. mr. skelton: mr. chairman, i yield one minute to my colleague, the gentlelady from massachusetts, miss tsongas. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. tsongas: thank you for yielding and your leadership on this important legislation. i rise in support of the fiscal year 2011 national defense authorization act and the accompanying manager's amendment. this bipartisan legislation supports the ongoing efforts of our armed forces to keep our country safe, to hold -- maintain our resolve against extremists, and sustain nuclear weapons, nonproliferation. it provides our men and women with the crucial tols they need to protect our country and effectively find and hold accountable those who wish us harm. equally as important it includes protection for our service members such as lighter weight body armor that will keep our service members safe but lighten the burden we ask them to carry. this bill also expands legal rights for service members who have been victims of sexual assault and i

skelton: mr. chair, i urge the committee to adopt the amendments en bloc, all of which have been examined by bo the majority and the minority. mr. chairman. i yield two minutes to my colleague, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. etheridge. the chair: t gentleman from north carolina is recognized for two minutes. mr. etheridg i thank the gentlen for yielding and thank him for the time. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of the en bloc amendment to the national defense authorization act and in support of the underlying bill. we in north carolina are rightly proud of our military and we understand that, as they serve us, we must providthem with wt they need to get their job done. this bill does just that. authorizing funds for our troops, for our veterans and for our military families. my amendment, which i offered with my colleagues, mr. kissel and . bishop of georgia, would enhance our support for the military and the communities they live in. it would reinforce congress' commitment to the qu

skelton has been postponed. mr. skelton: mr. chairman? the chair: for what purpose does does the gentleman from missouri arise? mr. skelton: i ask that a demand for the vote on amendment number 81 be withdrawn? the chair: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. skelton: thank you. the chair: the amendment stands adopted by the earlier voice vote. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on en bloc amendment number 9 as modified by the gentleman from missouri, mr. skelton, on which further proceedings were postponed and which the eyes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk: amendments en bloc number 9 offered by mr. skelton of missouri, consistent amendments number 8, 13, 30, 32 as modified, 55, 61, 64, 66, 67, 74, and 77, printed in house report number 111-498. 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 re will record the by electronic device. this will be

skelton. the chair: the gentleman from missouri is recognized for one minute. mr. skelton: madam chairman,he bill for us is an excellent piece of legislation. it's one of the best that our committee has written. it's strong on our attempt to all terrorism. it takes care of the troops. it looks after their families. on this issue before us, inquiry was made of secretary gates and the joint chiefs of staff chairman, in a letter dated april 30 states, there have i strongly oppose any legislation that seeks to change this policy prior to the completion of this vital assessment process. further, i hope congress will not do so as it would send a very damaging message to our men and women in uniform that, in essence, their views, concerns, and prospectives do not matter on an issue with such a direct impact and consequence for them and their families. i oppose the amendment. the chair: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. >> i yield 30 seconds to the leader on this issue, mr. matheson of ut

skelton. mr. skelton: i yield myself such time as i may consume and i ask annapolis consent that all mbers have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the resolution under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered and the gentleman is recognized. mr. skelton: mr. speaker, may is military appreciation month and to honor the men and women in uniform and our veterans, i, along with my good friend and ranking member from california, mr. mckeon have introduced h.res. 1385. mr. speaker, i grew up around veterans of the first world war. my father served in the navy on board the u.s.s. missouri in that conflict and he, like so many young men who returned from that war, became a civic -- became the civic and political leaders of their day. tom brokaw wrote a best-selling book called "the greatest generation" about those who fought the two-front second world war. they changed our life. their experiences in war and on the battlefield instilled in them

skelton: mr. speaker, regarding h.r. 5136 i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and in which to insert extraneous materials in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. pursuant to house resolution 1404, and rule 18, the chair decles the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 5136. the chair appoints the gentleman from arizona, mr. pastor, to preside over the committee of the whole. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> i ask unanimous consenthat the time for debate on amendment number 79 offered by the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. murphy, be extended by 60 minutes evenly divided between the proponent and opponent. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection? mr. skelton: i object. the speaker pro tempore: objection is heard. the gentleman from arizona will take the chair. the chair: the house is in the committee of the

skelton. the chair: the gentleman from missouri is recognized for one minute. mr. skelton: madam chairman, the bill for us is an excellent piece of legislation. it's one of the best that our committee has written. it's strong on our attempt to quall terrorism. it takes care of the troops. it looks after their families. on this issue before us, inquiry was made of secretary gates and the joint chiefs of staff chairman, in a letterated april 30 states, there have i strongly oppose any legislation that seeks to change this policy prior to the completion of this vital assessment process. further, i hope congress will not do so as it would send a very damaging message to our men and women in uniform th, in essence, their views, concerns, and prospectives do not matter on an issue with such a direct impact and consequence for them and their families. i oppose the amendment. the chair: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. >> i yield 30 seconds to the leader on this issue, mr. matheson of ah

with the chairman, you also find independence-minded democrats like ike skelton from missouri. on some issues, he votes with the president and some issues he does not. at the end of the day, voters want someone who will be looking at the facts and deciding what is best for their particular community. that is what these chairman have done and they realize what they are up against. they are ready and confident that when you compare what they stand for with what the republicans stand for, they will come out on top because one of the other issues surfacing in these campaigns have also surfaced in the -- surfaced in the pennsylvania election, the campaign to turn medicare into a voucher program until the senior that you are on your own and go fight with the insurance industry and partially privatize social security. those are issues coming up in races like these and people don't want the government to take away some of that economic security those programs provide. >> in pennsylvania, all this are people i talk to the day before and the day of that race, they basically thought it wa

ike skelton of missouri chairs the armed services committee. this is a little over two hours. >> good morning. our committees meets today to receive testimony on the development and security and stability in the country of afghanistan. with us are some old friends and thank you for joining us. the honorable michele flournoy, undersecretary of defense and policy and the director for operations on the joint staff. we appreciate your coming back so soon with us. six months ago our president announced the results of a comprehensive review of our policy in afghanistan, which for many years has essentially been nonexistent. during this announcement he endorsed a new counterinsurgency strategy centered on increasing u.s. forces by 30,000 troops, adding u.s. civilian experts and focusing on protecting the population of afghanistan from the taliban and their terrorist allies. i endorse the strategy then and i do so now. as i have said many times while this new strategy cannot guarantee success in afghanistan, it is most likely to prevent the return of t

madam secretary, the two questions. >> chairman skelton, i believe we are achieving success. we are on the right road for the first time in a long time in afghanistan. so that is the assessment of general mcchrystal that we hear weekly in our conversations with him. it is the assessment in our u.s. government team on the ground. are we done yet? of supply not. are there more challenges to be dealt with? yes but we are on the right path and things are starting to move in the right direction. in terms of how to define victory i think that victory -- sprick i didn't say defining it. the question was -- >> i'm sorry, when is victory. >> my friend asked you are we achieving it. >> i think when it is victory is based on achieving certain conditions and that, to me, is making sure that the government of afghanistan has the capacity to exert its sovereignty over the territory to deny al qaeda and its associates safe haven in the country and to maintain stability so that it can continue to develop on the way forward. that relates to the core goals we've defined for ourselves in this m

madam secretary, the two questions. >> chairman skelton, i believe we are achieving success. we are on the right road for the first time in a long time in afghanistan. so that is the assessment of general mcchrystal that we hear weekly in our conversations with him. it is the assessment in our u.s. government team on the ground. are we done yet? of supply not. are there more challenges to be dealt with? yes but we are on the right path and things are starting to move in the right direction. in terms of how to define victory i think that victory -- sprick i didn't say defining it. the question was -- >> i'm sorry, when is victory. >> my friend asked you are we achieving it. >> i think when it is victory is based on achieving certain conditions and that, to me, is making sure that the government of afghanistan has the capacity to exert its sovereignty over the territory to deny al qaeda and its associates safe haven in the country and to maintain stability so that it can continue to develop on the way forward. that relates to the core goals we've defined for ourselves in this m

we just did ike skelton's bill on saturday and it did not score. but my bill is now going to score on sunday and ike's didn't score on saturday? are you kidding me? now, it comes from somewhere else, mr. speaker. c.b.o., the congressional budget office. what happened to fair dealing? what happened to being a referee and nonpartisanship? so i say to c.b.o. in that phone conference, some individuals who were in that conference are sitting right here. correct me if i'm inaccurate. go back and look at your numbers and call me back because there's no way this can score. they then call back and they come back and say, we have concerns. your bill may score at $4.4 billion. ok. i tell you what, do not send me a letter -- this is what i told c.b.o. do not send me a letter tomorrow that says the bill doesn't score. in my heart i know what you're doing. you're blocking to prevent me from bringing a motion to recommit the health bill on the house ploor so the democratic leadership and democrats do not have to take a tough vote and actually admit that the v.f.w

ike skelton voted against the health care bill. if that is the sort of reform is trying to tout nationally, locally it's going to be tough. i think he will have to do everything he can to make this race just about is western missouri district. . it's a hard case to make. >> one thing he was saying is that republicans test drove the argument that obama and house speaker are the boogeyman and it failed. one argument he continually brought up was you don't want to hand the keys back over to the republicans because -- pointing to the economic situation or other things democrat that others might blame on republicans when they were in control. does that argument fly in these district races when the republican argument, trying to nationalize the campaign, did not work? >> president obama uses that exact phrase -- don't give the keys back to the guys who drove the car back into the ditch. what it assumes is you can still make a compelling argument to the voters of remember the days of president bush, robert which did not like about preside

however i must -- skelton. however i must resign my committee membership immediately to begin work on the appropriations committee. signed, sincerely, patrick j. murphy, congress. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resignation is accepted. for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts rise? >> madam chair, ski unanimous consent that all members have fife legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> i ask unanimous consent to insert letters regarding the spill between the government and oversight reform and the committee on energy and commerce. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> i thank the chair and i now recognize the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from california -- the speaker pro tempore: the the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 329 and rule 18, the chair de

skelton's question, you have a definition is victory as the point at which afghanistan has the capacityto assert taliban safe haven, which really seeks in my mind to prioritize the need to get the functioning, security forces. the "new york times" yesterday quoted a pentagon report, which said that the most significant challenges is the fielding of qualifying-- and i know mr. ortiz touch on this earlier but again, the story list of the fact that nato and u.s. agreed to 5200 trainers last january. there are 2700 there today. all but 300 are u.n. and secretary gates has been working hard to try and extract the bodies that were committed. but at the same time we are flowing 30,000 forces, and clearly this is so important, to have the trainers there. i mean, at some point it seems that we should just do it and stop sort of waiting for that commitment to materialize, and why a are you, and? >> the decision to deploy the additional u.s. forces as a bridge mechanism is the cause of the immediate gap which is needed now. we want to continue to incentivize our partners to step up with additional