spratt. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for three minutes. mr. spratt: madam chair, i commend the gentleman for bringing this bill to the floor and rise in strong support of the disabled military retirement relief act of 2009. this bill accomplishes several important things. it enhances the benefits of federal civil certificate have i retirees. it extends the bonuses available to our military recruiters to ensure they have the tools needed for recruitment and retention. most importantly this bill restores the benefits earned by a group of veterans who are particularly deserving. the group i speak of is comprised of veterans who are medically retired with a disability and less than 20 years of service. these disabled veterans tend to be younger and as a result they tend to be less well-off financially. reducing their earned benefits by receiving one benefit against another, retirement pay against disability, does not strike them as fair. we can understand why. we first recognized their cause in the defense authorization act for 2008 when the c

spratt of south carolina. mr. poe of texas. mr. poe: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to assume the gentleman's time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, madam speaker. i rise this evening to announce the sad passing of dr. bob frederic. a distinguished kansan and an exceptional human being. dr. frederic served as athletic director at the university of kansas for 14 years, the second longest tenure in the school's history and a period during which the jayhawks experienced tremendous success. under bob's leadership, jayhawk athletics received 32 conference championships and generated 31 all-american -- academic all americans. the latter of which i'm sure meant the most to dr. frederic, as that was the kind of person he was. dr. frederic felt most concerned about the well-being of student athletes. first as a coach and later as an athletic director, dr. frederic showed that concern as he personally took an interest in the students at kansas university that were also engaged in an intense dedication that it

on the podium, spratt and pelosi. we will hear from them in a moment, but first, president obama. we will hear from them in a moment. [applause] >> have a seat. thank you. thank you for joining us in the white house. i want to talk about the comment of the treasury department on the financial stability plan. through this plan and the predecessor, taxpayer dollars were used to stabilize the financial system. this funding was also meant to be an investment, and this was meant to be temporary. that is why this announcement is important. several institutions will pay back $68 billion to taxpayers, and we know that we will not escape the worst financial crisis without a loss to taxpayers, in the first round of repayment, the government has actually turned a profit. this is not a sign that the troubles are over. the financial crisis we inherited is still creating major challenges, everyone sees this in their own individual districts. this is a positive sign. we see a return on these investments. we are restoring funding to the treasury, where they will safeguard against the risks to fin

spratt, be permitted to insert -- insert material into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. altmire: i move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question son the motion to question son the motion to adjourn. attorney general eric holder testified about a variety of issues facing the justice department including guantanamo bay detainees. the radio and television correspondents association holds its annual dinner friday with president obama scheduled to speak. live coverage at 9:45 p.m. eastern time. >> people do not want to think of roosevelts work dealing with conservation. from the grand canyon to devil's tower. he was on a mission to save the west. >> now people are talking about the grain movement, roosevelt is becoming the chief figure. he was the only politician of his day who understood biology and bird migratory patterns. the mating habits of deer and elk and antelope and actually did something. >> sunday on "q&a" we will be speakin

chairman obey i want to thank also and chairman spratt of the budget committee for including advance appropriations language in his budget resolution. all of us working together have succeeded in providing veterans with their top legislative priority. they spoke and we listened. i ask the rest of the house to join us in support of this bill, h.r. 1016, which passed unanimously from the veterans' affairs committee last week. thank you, mr. speaker. 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 certai

chairman spratt, ranking member ryan and other members of the committee, i'm pleased to have this opportunity to offer my views on current economic and financial conditions and on issues pertaining to the federal budget. the u.s. economy has contracted sharply since last fall with real gross domestic product having dropped at an average annual rate of about 6% during the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of this year. among the enormous costs of the downturn is the loss of nearly 6 million jobs since the beginning of 2008. the most recent information on the labor market, the number of new and continuing claims for unemployment insurance, through late may, suggests that sizable job losses and further increases in unemployment are likely over the next few months. however, the recent data also suggests that the pace of economic contraction may be slowing. notably, consumer spending, which dropped sharply in the second half of last year, has been roughly flat since the turn of the year. and consumer sentiment has improved. n-m coming months, household spending power will be boosted by

spratt from south carolina, mr. doggett from texas and ms. jackson lee from texas. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009 and under a previous order of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. ms. woolsey of california. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for five minutes. without objection. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> i rise today to celebrate the albanyan organization of southeast michigan and raise a concern they expressed to me. respect for people of diverse cultures has made our nation great. our national heritage reflects the cultural contributions of a wide range of ethnic groups. i'm fortunate to represent the 9th district of michigan, a district rich in religious and ethnic diversity and includes families from the ball can region. as a congressman of the 9th district, i have developed a strong bond with the community. this is a people that strongly values community se

spratt, south carolina. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. mr. poe: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered noork the following members may be permitted to address this house, revise and extends their remarks and include there therein extraneous material. mr. mccotter for today, mr. mcclintock for today and mr. mccotter for june 26. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the chair lays before the house a message from the senate. the clerk: i, nancy ericson, having custody of the seal of the united states senate, hereby certify that the attached record is a true and correct copy of a record of the united states senate, received by the united states senate sergeant at arms from samuel b. kent on june 24, 2009, and presented to the senate in open sessi o

spratt of south carolina. mr. doggett of texas. pursuant to the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the time. this is a trying time and i appreciate my friend from texas belief and hope in the future. i just have read enough of of this bill and know enough to understand about the consequences. this isn't the whole bill. this is 2/3 of it. the other 300 pages they allowed me to borrow a copy briefly earlier today during debate, right before the debate closed, but this is about 2/3 of it. we are having a job fair in longview, texas monday. that arose when i met with a bunch of my constituents, most all were african-americans, a month or so ago who had lost jobs because jobs were being moved overseas. energy was too costly here. the corporate tax is twice as much here as -- over twice as much as what it is in china. and i have been hearing from other manufacturers that

spratt from south carolina. the speaker pro tempore: there's no objection. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois for a motion. mr. quigley: mr. speaker, i move now that the h d