sutton: that's exactly right, representative tonko. as you point out, these initiatives have massive effects for the good of the whole. you get the benefit of the r&d jobs and the benefit of all the spinoff and manufacturing and -- i mean, that's what built this country that is what built this middle class that we aspire to. you know, i'm the youngest of six kids from a working class family. my dad worked in the boilermaker family his whole life. and somehow, from those roots, in this great country, i was able to come to the house of representatives of the united states. and i take that responsibility so seriously because i know it's an unlikely story, it's an unlikely story that someone not born to wealth and privilege can come to a place like this to be a voice for people out there who on the want a chance to do a hard day's work for a fair wing. -- fair wage. we've gotten away from that in this nation and manufacturing -- though we may not make all the things we used to make, we will make other things and when we do make those other

tonko? mr. tonko: i have and that doesn't cut it with the american public, with middle class working families across this country, it simply does not cut it. but representative sutton, i do want to commend you for the leadership as co-chair of our task force on job creation. and i found your introducery comments to inspire a thought. let's really look at how this started. we went from a record surplus under the clinton administration to a record deficit. had we stayed the course the deficit reduction plan of president clinton would would have been completed -- would have been completed, it would have completed its mission this year. we haven't seen deficit wipeout except for one presidency, that of andrew jackson. so this could have been an historic year, if we had stayed the course. what we found was that people will talk about the deficit which has driven -- the deficit has driven this recession which went longer and deeper than any forecasted and now it's the daunting task of all of us who se

tonko: yes, mr. speaker.let me on behalf of the democratic members of our science and tech committee wish elizabeth chapel the very best in the steps to come and may also share the sentiment that child be gifted with the sense of humor that so obviously prevails at the science and tech committee. we wish you the best. we have no further speakers on behalf of the bill on our side, mr. speaker. however, i'd like to take this -- make this final point of encouraging our colleagues to support h.r. 3598, which would put a primary focus, rightfully so, on water-related issues as the department of energy committee deals with the energy and technology research. to do that optimizes the outcome, i think, is a very strong bill. i congratulate the chair and the ranking member on behalf of the work they've done on 3598. and with that i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: all time having been yielded back, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3598 as amended. those in favor say aye.

tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to take this opportunity to congratulate parsons child and family certainty for immaculate community services they provide for the needs of children and families in the capital region of upstate new york. it was founded some 180 years ago and has become one of the largest human service agencies inup state new york. its contributions to the 9,000 children and families it serves includes counseling services, parenting education, child abuse prevention and treatment, and mental services. while there is no typical child served by parsons, most have endured a significant traumatic event in their lives. the highly trained staff at parsons using the latest techniques works to improve the lives of all they serve. the role and importance of the families are stressed with the ultimate goal of preserving the family unit wherever and whenever possible. today i want to commend parsons service and commitment to our region's families and children. i encourage us all to look towards them

corrections introduced at the request of the 2347s -- national park service by representative paul tonko. the bill includes 10-year re-authorizations for the national park system advisory board and the national park service concession management advisory board. h.r. 3804 also increases the authorization for the popular volunteers in parks program which provides reimbursement for travel costs and other small expenses to volunteers whose contributions to our parks are enormous. among other provisions, h.r. 3804 also changes the designation of the martin luther king jr. national historic site in atlanta. makes several minor boundary adjustments, and allows park staff at the u.s.s. arizona memorial to work with other organizations to ease visitor's admission to the many historic sites at pearl harbor in hawaii. mr. speaker, representative tonko is to be commended for helping the national park system with this legislation. i urge my colleagues to support it. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. for what purpose does the ge

tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to talk about the 15th united nations climate change conference in copenhagen, denmark, currently underway. first, mr. speaker, i wholly reject false notions and political attacks attempting to destroy sound science and evidence. this issue from its environmental to its energy and economic impacts is too important for false political attacks and deceitful op-eds and letters to the editor. the copenhagen discussions are about responsible governments coming together to negotiate an international climate treaty, to better our environmental and energy outcomes, not to mention creating a fair marketplace in which the world's economies will indeed compete. there is a global race occurring today. a race for a clean energy economy. the outcomes of which will allow the winner to export clean energy intellect and expertise. other countries are passing us by in this race. like the space race of decades ago, we must come together as a nation bound by the common goals of reducing glob