in a well this and prevention, the recovery movement is central to what we're doing and i know the afl-cio has always been very interested. huge domain and would be supportive of the month -- supportive of us continuing what we have been doing fell last many years. >> of course. following on this there are a number of opportunities, a chronic care focus, but also a lot of discussion about medical halls and looking holistic eight -- and the center care come it may not be the mental health person in the pediatrician's office but ready access not screening properly or make sure they see someone is tracking the spread of the pediatricians office is a model in that regard. there are a lot of opportunities to integrate this with the achievements in that area. >> on a particularly personal notes, in massachusetts we have run a program there for many years, 15 years, they took day segment high utilize hours of mental illness and high cost, a physical and mental and carved them out to now new york state has followed with a program that just started a few weeks ago. basically integrating the mental

. >> if it meant getting something passed, do you think the afl-cio would go a long with not having a government plan, if it meant a first step? >> again, it's not -- it's the total package and what we are able to achieve in terms of having everyone. it will improve quality and get better quality for our spending and bring down cost to really start to affect his future trend swallows family budgets, business, you know, budgets and federal budget itself. so i think at the end we have to look at whether or not to achieve those goals and we think a public health insurance option is in the realm of the. >> i would like a few minutes on the cooperative, and i know mike, you're an expert on cooperatives since your work in florida is with the orange growers and other cooperatives in america. i'm joking with you. to i thought you could give us at least, i think we ought to spend at least two minutes on it because it is, senator conrad maginot brought up from the dakota and i think in you give us a few minutes no. >> not particularly, i actually would rather have one of my colleagues here who

chief adviser to franklin roosevelt, parker goldberg, secretary of labor, secretary- general of the afl-cio. these were people in the newspapers and the press who were well known nationally before coming to the court. what difference it makes when they debate. do you want people or not to have political background? sabain the third thing that strs me is the democratic face of the court. in obvious ways, we had women on the court that we did not have in 1969. thurgood marshall's on the court. we will shortly have the first hispanic justice on the court. is interesting to recall that in 1969 it was exactly 1 roman catholic, one jewish justice, and all the rest were protestants, protestants and it is cotillion. the majority of justices now are roman catholic, two jewish justices, and when souter leaves, there will be exactly 1 protestant. i am not suggesting you can trace a cause and effect between the justice's religions and how they vote, but it is an interesting way of commenting on how the court reflects the changing of democracy itself. the confirmation process. back in the 50's, especial

>> i know from labor perspective, i was with the afl-cio, we opposed it initially. when it came to the reauthorization we had other plans sponsors, plan sponsors who think of things in a more traditional role to cover another benefit. when it came time to reauthorize it, you had made the case that we need to do this. this is not just thinking about adding to my benefit package and an additional cost for a longer-term savings. >> we can take one more question. [applause] >> this is a cautionary piece from our perspective in new york we have very good mental health parity mottos, timothy's law has been a great bill, we were unable to get family health plus medicaid programs as part of the benefit. as a cautionary peace, i agree with the commissioner, we have to have somebody on the inside in the sense that i think they are going to take a lot of advocacy on our part to make sure that mental health does become part of the broader discussion about mental health benefit packages, because i think it makes us very concerned, we really need to not say that this is a done dea

. >> if it meant getting something past, but will the afl-cio go along with not having a government plan? >> i again, it is not coming it is the total package what we can achieve to cover everyone the delivery system will improve quality and better value for spending and bring down costs to affect the future trend that slows family budgets, business and federal budgets itself. at the end we have to look at if it achieves those goals and rethink the public health insurance option is sent with that. >> speaking for a few minutes on the cooperatives and do work with the orange growers and other cooperatives in america and i am joking. [laughter] i thought at least we should spend a few minutes on it because it is out there. senator conrad brought it up as you know, from north dakota and can you give us a few minutes? >> not particularly. i would rather have one of my colleagues here who is closer to that conversation but let me set it up with a sense to a bridge to many of the concerns that people fear that i think you will take us to in just a second so what about mental health? i am struc

and felix frankfurter as chief advisor to roosevelt, and arthur goldberg, secretary general of the afl-cio. i mean, these were people who were in the newspapers, in the press, well-known nationally before they came on the court. now, what difference it makes is the debate. do you want people on the court or not who have a political background? the third string that strikes me about the difference between then and now is the face of the court, the demographic face of the court. an obvious way, for example is we have women on the court. we didn't have them in 1969. we had blackmon and thurgood marshall on the court as black men and we will soon have the first hispanic justice on the court. there have been changes. it is interesting to recall that in 1969, it was exactly one roman catholic on the court, one jewish justice, and all the rest were protestants, mostly press buy tearian and e piss ka pailian and now by contrast, the majority are roman catholic, two jewish justices and once souter leaves the court, there will be exactly one protestant. again, i'm not suggesting that you can trace a

association, the specialty equipment manufacturing association, the american iron-steel institute, the afl-cio, the chamber of commerce, i could go on and on. why do they support this legislation? because they understand the best way to jump start the economy is to get auto sales moving the plight of the auto industry is a national problem affecting our entire nation. we know this because of the troubles of chrysler and general motors dealers across the nation that are being closed with countless jobs being lost. we know because suppliers are struggling to stay afloat with countless more jobs being lost and at risk. we know this because two of our iconic industrial giants, both chrysler and general motors are today in bankruptcy court. all these vital job providers are clamoring for action and deserve the help of this congress. simply put, we must act. let us support legislation that will protect american manufacturing jobs and this legislation will also give our economy the boost that it needs. i certainly do want to thank my colleagues for all of their support and i urge -- the speaker pro t

in addition, there are issues dealing with trade, but the afl-cio is supporting it. we're helping them establish a better economy, but at the same time representing our trade requirements over here in the united states. this is a way to address this issue, but i can't imagine that my colleagues want to leave pakistan and the people of pakistan in these dire conditions. pakistan americans recognize we are establishing a new friendship, and on that new friendship we need to oppose the republican substitute and support h.r. 1886. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the the gentlelady has expired. who -- the time of the gentlelady has expired. who seeks recognition? the gentlelady from florida. the gentlelady from florida. the gentleman from california. mr. berman: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the comments, the statement of the gentleman from maryland, mr. van hollen, be included within the general debate section of the bill and ask for general leave to include -- the speaker pro tempore: without objection, general leave is order. mr. berman: m

the united states steel workers, the u.a.w., the c.w.i., and the afl-cio are all urging a yes vote on this legislation. madam speaker, the people i represent are facing difficult times. they're looking for jobs and sometimes they can't find them the way they used to. the inaction of the past has cost them dearly. there are those who complain that this bill is not perfect. they say it won't do this or it won't do that, but we have got to get started and keep acting until we get it right and provide them with the chance that they need for a change in direction. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas. mr. barton: i want to yield one minute to mr. iowa agriculture, mr. latham of iowa. one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from iowa is recognized for one minute. mr. latham: i thank the gentleman. i thank the speaker for the recognition. everyone understands we are in a middle of a downturn in the economy, a recession. it's difficult to create jobs. we have the second highest tax rate in the world. we have the most on

in keeping with that position, the transportation department of afl-cio, the marine engineers beneficial society, and others support this legislation. the maritime unions also wrote in their testimony when a vessel flies a united states flag, it becomes an extension of the united states itself regardless of where it is in -- is operating in the world. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from maryland reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. mckeon: while not opposed to the amendment offered by the gentleman from maryland, i claim the time in opposition to express some reservations i have about the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for fufe minutes. mr. mckeon: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mckeon: mr. cummings' amendment would require the secretary of defense to place military personnel on u.s. flag vessels operating in high-risk piracy areas of the world's oceans. the gentleman's intention is

and the united states chamber of -- afl-cio and the united states chamber of congress. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the letters be included in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. sutton: mr. speaker, we must pass the bipartisan cars act today for our workers, for our environment, for consumers, for our economy, for our country. i thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. upton: thank you, mr. speaker. i would yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. upton: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i congratulate my colleague from ohio and my colleague from michigan, mrs. miller. this is not the perfect bill but this is it. there is nplan b. this is not the original bill that ms. sutton and mrs. miller introduced, but this is the bill that passed our committee 50-4. one in 10 jobs in america are auto related. in the last couple of years now,

the afl c.i.o. leaders, we heard -- afl/cio leaders were in support of this bill. well, how about that? you know, they were in favor of the government taking over g.m. and chrysler. why? because they got a deal. they get to own the companies. who knows what they have promised the union leaders to support this crap and trade bill? it's a sad, sad day for america because the rank and file people in america are going to pay a severe price. this intrusion to their -- this intrudes into their life so much and to my democratic friends who have not read this, they said, no, no, no, this will provide jobs, not take jobs. they just need to go to section 426, where it talks about the climate change adjustment allowance. because there's provisions in it. they know. people are going to lose their jobs over this bill as a result of this bill. so the built in here. . you won't get such allowance for the first week you're unemployed. then it will kick in after that. you go over in here and there's good stuff here. it does mention that you're not going to get an adjustment allowance for that first week,

the vision statement for the national clean energies margaret which is attached to my statement was endorsed by 55 organizations including afl-cio, council on competitiveness and digital energy solutions campaign along with many renewable energy advocates and environmental groups including the sierra club who are not usually prone to supporting new transmission capacities. what brought these environmental groups to the table and ultimately to agreement was the imperative of action to address with urgency the growing climate crisis. time is running out for the world to avoid serious harm from climate change. mr. chairman you understand this very well and we are a great debt of gratitude to you and chairman waxman for your leadership on advancing age of 2454, the american queen energy security act. you have set the appropriate long-term target for emissions reductions more than 80% by 2015. the changes in the energy system needed to reach this goal are profound. we need to begin planning today to reach the reductions by 2015 and one thing is clear, we cannot deliver that much low carbon energy without changes to the parade. looker

i will put all of these things in the record, but here are more than 400 local unions, 20 international unions, 39 state afl-cio unions all revolve around this question. i wish i could claim some creativity or imagination for this. but universal single payer is not a new idea. as a matter of fact every industrial country on the planet except one, us, already have some version of it. what we're doing is developing the american version. what we're doing, then we have examined all of the systems on earth, putting this all together, we are studying the spread of we are not turning this over to government. we have another database of the myth about the systems that i will not try to go into now. we want to examine these. we will not examine them without a hearing. it is with some sadness that i report it was not easy for me to get to the first summit that the president called. it was an enormous step. we have got to help him. here is how i will help my president. he is getting rounded vice about healthcare. to think this sad substitute about the massachusetts plan and the people from this state that can expound on t