they have to be unionized?hat is part of the charter law is that they are not required. in the public-school system, as soon as you are signed up, you become part of the union. in charter schools, people can of voted to unionize but by and large they choose not to. >> what year did you get out of greenwich high school? >> 2001. >> what year did you get out of duke? >> 2005. >> is this your first documentary? >> i worked as an editor since i graduated. i was working freelance. i was working on different types of projects, but my last few were documentary's. >> what did you study had do it? >> i studied by 0-psychology. --bio-psychology? . >> what got you interested in film? >> i thought i could find a job when i was working in the sciences. but i learned to edit for a friends felt my last year for fun. instead of going back to school, i decided i wanted to work for a little while. i have been doing it cents. >> the kids and the school, the little boys had ties on. do they all wear ties in charter schools? >> it

especially unions. mr. chairman, this bill bans corporations with government contracts over $10 million from political speech. the sponsor says that's because those contractors might try to influencdecisions by government officials. but this bill does nothing for the labor unions who are parties to collective bargaining, agreements with he governments. even though unions have huge amounts of money at stake and every incentive to influence decisions about the contracts by government officials, it does nothing. we offered an amendment to upheld the fairness and equality but that was rejected in the committee. a second example, mr. chairman is we all agree that foreign citizens shouldn't influence our leches, whether they are foreign citizens that are part of foreign corporations or foreign citizens part of a union with interests in the united states. this bill requires c.e.o.'s to certify under penalty of perjury that their companies arnot foreign nationals. under the newlyy+ expanded standard of the bill. bu

the teachers union is the largest lobbyist. they spend the most dollars lobbying albany than anybody else in norks. so you have to imagine that -- new york city. so you have to imagine that a fair number of city council members are tied financially to union donations. >> how long is this documentary? >> it's 80 minutes. >> is it available on the web yet to buy or do you have to wait to get to the theaters? >> it's in theaters right now. we're in washington, d.c. this week. and then we're opening in denver. we're also in palm springs, new york, and l.a. an then it will be available in dmb vd starting in august. -- dvd. >> how much will it sell for? >> i don't know. that's a good question. >> and how many people worked on this with you? >> i don't know the total number of people. we had a small crew. we had about seven people shooting the film and we have a pretty small team now. we're all wearing a lot of hats. >> did you edit it yourself? >> yes, i did. i don't always recommend that, but i didn't have the budget somewhat reflec

i am in a union, and my husband ran the largest union in new york city.elieve that by collective bargaining through the union, if you get the best deal for everybody. >> the teachers union contract is 600 pages in length. it is the government structure for school and lays out all the things that teachers cannot do. it prescribes almost every aspect of the school day. we think teachers need three prep period today to be a excellently prepared. that would be a violation of the country. we also think that we need to be able to work collaborative fully with teachers to improve their practice in -- so i go into classrooms to watch a teacher teach, unannounced. we have an open-door policy. that is pro abducted -- prohibited in the teachers' contract. it's hard to run a school where everything is being determined. what you need to do to meet the needs of teachers -- of children is constantly refined the school schedule. if there is a problem today, we can fix it by the end of the day. >> what did she do in new york city? >> she is a public advocate >> with the u

especially unions. mr. chairman, this bill bans corporations with government contracts over $10 million from political speech. the sponsor says that's because those contractors might try to influence decisions by government officials. but this bill does nothing for the labor unions who are parties to collective bargaining, agreements with he governments. even though unions have huge amounts of money at stake and every incentive to influence decisions about the contracts by government officials, it does nothing. we offered an amendment to upheld the fairness and equality but that was rejected in the committee. a second example, mr. chairman is we all agree that foreign citizens shouldn't influence our leches, whether they are foreign citizens that are part of foreign corporations or foreign citizens part of a union with interests in the united states. this bill requires c.e.o.'s to certify under penalty of perjury that their companies are not foreign nationals. under the newlyy+ expanded standard of the bill

union agenda. north carolina, republican line. audrey, good morning. caller: i wanted to make the point, that i think unions or anyone else has a right to try to support any candidate with home they agree -- with whom they agree. but i don't think that it is good for our nation for the unions to try to sway the politics the way they are doing right now. some of the activities they are doing. a bomb was -- obama's cabinet, the way the act. people who say they are not going to vote this november need to rethink and they need to look hard at both republicans and democrats, looking for the candidate that will try to put some kind of stop on government growth and spending. host: michigan, wally is joining us on the independent line. caller: labor should take -- first of all, america should get a spine and realized back when they passed it and made it legal for corporations to vote, they should demand that corporations when they pay their taxes, cut their taxes in one pot separate from the ordinary taxpa

task forces acrosshe country. >> you probably cannot tell me which ones are union or not union? >> someare. some aren't. >> you could probably tell me would are the best officers. >> sure. >> it's irrelevant if they belonged to a bargaining union or not because that nevernters thediscussion. >> that's fair. >> i apologize. i had no interest in talng about is issue. again, as a mayor who managed public safety officers, i can tell you, again, tir nber one goal is to keep t public fe >> right. >> period. so j take little exception to the debate that just went on. lete get to ver specific alaskanssues i i can and as we talked about and one of them wa the whole issue of the twic

especially unions. mr. chairman, this bill bans corporations with government contracts over $10 million from political speech. thsponsor says that's because the contractors might try to influence decisions by government officials. but this bill does nothing for the labor unions who are parties to collective bargaining, agreements with he governments. even though unions have huge amounts of money at stake and every incentive to influence decisions about the contracts by government officials, it does nothing. we offered an amendment to upheld the fairness and equality but that was rejected in the committee. a second example, mr. chairman is we all agree that foreign citizens shouldn't influence our leches, whether they are foreign citizens that are part of foreign corporations or foreign citizens part of a union with interests in the united states. this bill requires c.e.'s to certify under penalty of perjury that their companies are not foreign nationals. under the newlyy+ expanded standard of the bill. but

especially unions. mr. chairman, this bill bans corporations with government contracts over $10 million from political speech. the sponsor says that's because those contractors might try to influence decisions by government officials. but this bill does nothing for the labor unions who are parties to collective bargaining, agreements with he governments. even though unions have huge amounts of money at stake and every incentive to influence decisions about the contracts by government officials, it does nothing. we offered an amendment to upheld the fairness and equality but that was rejected in the committee. a second example, mr. chairman is we all agree that foreign citizens shouldn't influence our leches, whether they are foreign citizens that are part of foreign corporations or foreign citizens part of a union with interests in the united states. this bill requires c.e.o.'s to certify under penalty of perjury that their companies are not foreign nationals. under the newlyy+ expanded standard of the bill

especially unions. mr. chairmanthis bill bans corporations with government contracts over $10 million from political speech. the sponsor says that's becau thoscontractors might try to influence decisions by government officials. but this bill does nothing for the labor unions who are parties to collective bargaining, agreements with he governments. even though unions have huge amounts of money at stake and every incentive to influence decisions about the contracts by government officials, it does nothing. we offered an amendment to upheld the fairness and equality but that was rejected in the committee. a second example, mr. chairman is we all agree that foreign citizens shouldn't influence our leches, whether they are foreign citizens that are part of foreign corporations or foreign citizens part of a union with interests in the united states. this bill requires c.e.o.'s to certify under penalty of perjury that their companies are not foreign nationals. under the newlyy+ expanded standard of the bill. but

we are also represented by that labor union. as jeff said, we have amendments partners worldwide and as jeff has also said, we are a global carrier. -- we have many partners worldwide and as jeff has also said, we are a global carrier. >> do we coach -- codeshare across the world? >> yes we did. -- as we do. >> you said there were probably not be any changes on the front line employees. what about the back line? >> what you refer to are the headquarters. in any merger, there are efficiencies as a result of job redundancy is in headquarters jobs. we will have the typical efficiencies of any merger would you have two headquarters doing the same job. there will be reductions in jobs in houston and chicago. there will be jobs that will move from houston to chicago and there will be jobs that remain in houston, but the vast majority of jobs will remain as there are today because we are such complementary carriers and we have such very little overlap. the front line employees are not really affected. the precise number is not known at

her union is mostly urban teachers. think she's going in that direction because she has a lot of young teachers who are very gung-ho about reform and they know unions get in the way of some of the things they want to do and she's sensitive to that. so two teachers unions are becoming very different in terms of policy toward reform. >> brown: so what we see in washington has some emanations or implications for other localities in the states? >> absolutely. >> brown: as well as big constituencies like the unions? >> and there are things that seem to be more popular in urban areas, as jay was saying. denver public schools is another great example where this ef a pay for performance or a merit pay system as well. so as we see urban areas move in this direction, it will be interesting to see if the suburban areas follow suit. beyond that, even the rural areas because that's also where we see students with great learning deficits who really need extra support as well. >> brown: because washington is able to do this, pay teach

we faced off against the cold war and soviet union. and there was a game going on, high stakes life and death game going on. and at the end of it in 1984, jean kirkpatrick, as ambassador to the united nations, stepped down from that post and said and this will be a para phrase of her quote, she said what's going on between the united states and soviet union, speaking of the cold war, is a chess and monopoly on the same board and the only question is, will the united states of america bankrupt the soviet union economically before they checkmate us militarily. that race was going on. and the soviet union was seeking to build more and more missiles to try to gain an advantage that would cause us to concede to them at least at a minimum. but ronald reagan came in and pushed the resurgence of our national defense, built the missiles back up again and in the process of doing so, november 9, 1989, the berlin wall came down. that's the power of an economy and power of an ideology over a managed economy, a communist economy, a central command e

movement and a wonderful union in the u.a.w. and i'm pleased to report to my colleagues that his successor, the new president, bob king, will serve with great distinction and as a worthy successor in all aspects of that very important leadership responsibility. and i congratulate him and wish him well. i also thank you, mr. speaker, for your patients. i yield back the balance of my time. -- for your patience. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: thank you, mr. chairman. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from new york, mr. akin, is designated for 60 minutes as the designee of the -- is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leadership. mr. akin: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i appreciate a moment here to get our charts lined up and to talk about a subject that we've been talking about for sometime but which is very much on the hearts and minds oo the people of america, and that is the situation of jobs, the economy and the condition of our solven

federal employee unions. in 2008 the office of personnel management, o.p.m., reported in a sample of 61 federal agencies that approximately three million official time hours, taxpayer time hours were used in union activities by federal employees for a cost to the taxpayer of $120 million. currently some federal employees spend up to 100%, that's right, 100% of their work day paid by taxpayers doing work for their unions. my proposal prevents federal employees from using taxpayer funded time to participate in union activities. and would save $1.2 billion over the next 10 years and $30 million -- 30 million hours of taxpayer time. $1.2 billion and 30 million hours. so, madam speaker, every american knows that congress has a spending problem. our national debt is simply unsustainable and tough choices need to be made now to get our debt and our budget deficit under control. i urge you to listen to americans across the country, to republicans on this side of the aisle and to act now and this proposal is a first s

caller: i think the union is getting some work. do not know what the reasons are there was a lot of stimulus money that supposedly was supposed to go towards into structure. i have not seen ny of that happen in san diego. i do not know about anywhere else really. you sit and wait for your turn to come up. host: do you have to pay union dues? caller: yes, every month. host: thanks for your call. carson city nevada. tell us about your current situation as far as your job is concerned. caller: i am a non-union german painter for residential commercial. i have been unemployed for several weeks. i have gone after a local casinos board to be a dishwasher or quarter so that i am paying into my employment began. i am in a horrible situation. host: were you a private contractor or do you work for a firm? what kind of painting do you do? caller: and general in the carson city area the best job i had, i made $18 an hour. i was doing well on unemployment. the problem with me is that i am 54 years old. they like to hire a -- helpers in train th

with the words of the president's state of the union address this year. when he said, election should be decided by the american people. the disclose act reaffirms a fundamental american value, the right to vote is afforded to the people not the special interest. with this bill no longer will corporations be able to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. by voting yes we are putting power back into the hands of the voters. i urge my colleagues to vote aye today on this legislation. and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts reserves his time. the gentlewoman from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. i would now like to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. miller. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from michigan is recognized for one minute. mrs. miller: thank you. madam speaker, our national debt is over $13 trillion and our annual deficit is expected to be nearly $1.6 trillion this year alone. the american people have had enough of this out-of-control spendi

the european union has capacity to put observers into the gaza strip.can we get resolution for those forces to be deployed? this is a political crisis, not just a humanitarian one. there should be a substantial political process toward the palestinian state. we will support all efforts on the part of the government to make the gaza strip the center for peace and the middle east. >> i am grateful to the foreign secretary for the support for what is clearly a bipartisan policy across the floor of the house and a concern for the people of the causes strep. -- people of the gossip strip. -- people of the gaza strip. ignoring the gaza strip will not work. this is a problem that must be addressed. i am grateful for the support he has given to the government's position and the argument that he makes that the israeli policy toward gaza titans the grip on the people of the gaza strip. he can tell that i am+ disappointed and dissatisfied with the israeli response. the reason i do not condemn them on the quickly is because there is a complicating factor which is t

guest: i like the union culture. my organization started three years ago and now is really in full swing -- priorities schools. some people call these high- need, we call them priority. reaching out to parents in the community in collaboration with management and school board, saying that we need to be different. i believe that is the responsibility of the unions, and we are doing it. i can show you examples all over this country in every single state where collaboration with unions and management and school board is changing schools around. that is the responsibility of the unions. when it comes to accountability, there ought to be shared accountability. we ought to make sure that teachers have what they need to meet students' needs, have to make sure that the community is there, that policymakers provide the necessary programs and funding. it is a collaborative effort. the idea that only one group and what is wrong and it is wrong to blame one group. host: it was alaska that opted out of the process. virginia last

not have had the union -- livinthat i had, b the unions have turned their backs on the american worker. the industries where they do hotels and stuff likehis. so, california right now is going bankrupt. l.a. county, who made themselves an op city and san fransco, have come down hard agains arizona. the big tng is, we don't have enough politicians wh any backbone to protect the american worker. i think when we get people in there for the politicians, we need to get people from cis, center for immigration studi, to free up all of the lies th are -- that are being put out. host:he next call is from queens, new york. mary on the independent line. caller: first of all, it is >> arizzna gov. damper has been meeting with president obama about her state. she is speaking out. we have been reading about -- >> we have been reading about border security in arizona. with that, i will take questions. >> [inaudible] >> we know we are not going to agree on certain issues until other issues are worked out. we will have more direct dialogue in a couple of weeks. people are going to come out to arizona t

the european union. this is a very important of the. a couple of weeks ago with iran and brazil holding hands and the air in opposition to u.s. policy to iran. when we had the last war in iraq, they refused to let us use the territory. we had to go all the way around it. they are supposed to be our france. -- supposedly are friends. it used to be a good friend of israel for years, but now because they are becoming more islamist -- was a beautiful country, the people of great. change the country -- but i saw the pictures, almost all women now are being covered and they are going back. turkey, please do something about your government. don't let them bring you back to the point of being one of those backward countries in the middle east. host: from "the new york times" -- the israeli prime minister cancelled as plans to come to washington to meet with the present. the two men did speak by phone within hours and the white house recently released an account -- the li anne had this comment -- brad is joining

the chair: the committee of the whole house on the state of the union, having had under consideration h.r. 5297, directs me to report that it has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration h.r. 5297 and has come to no -- to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to laws 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered. or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. recorded votes on postponed questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to h.r. 4451, the collinsville renewable energy promotions act, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 289, a bill to reinstate and transfer certain hydroelectric licenses and ex

the unions have made the race the centerpiece of the new effort to hold union-backed candidates accountableor their vote after they are elecced. the push is fueled by a frustration that goes back years and is a peak in the health care debate. -- and has peaked in the health care debate. looking at other races across the country, we have a full list of the race is happening tuesday -- iowa, maine, house and governor, california, senate and governor, montana has a house race, new jersey has a house race as does virginia, south carolina has senate and governor and south dakota has senate and governor along with house races and all of those states. the questions continue about how influential are are the politicians when it comes to your vote? do they motivate you to get out and have a voice in the primaries? former governor sarah palin has given her support to a handful of candidates, including haley, running for south carolina governor. she also came out this past week to endorse a candidate who is running against senator lisa murkowski. that is up in alaska, murkowski is a republican there.

the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h.r. 5297 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to create the small business lending fund program to direct the secretary of the treasury to make capital investments in eligible institutions in order to increase the availability of credit for small businesses, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as read the first time. general debate shall not exceed one hour with 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the

i am a union membeand i think that outside of manufacturing, unions have a role to play. i would respectfully disagree that unions have not contributed. again, what we're talking about today is trade agreement and the imct agreements like nafta when inequality -- on inequality and wages. the results ha notn encouraging their. host:n e-mail -- "senator obama said he would do somethi about nafta out. does that went by the wayse." guest: he really just made a tremendous break from what we saw during democratic and republican and ministrations in the past a lot of folks are waiting to see what his trading agenda will ok like. certainly there are the isss on the top of the st -- health ca, financial reform, other maers. but i think that president obama will see over the nt two years at clear articulation of what type of trade policy he will pursue. for instanc the trans-pacific partnership, an asian andatin america agreement. he has a crystal, a golden opportunity to implement the labor and environmental consumer protection vision that he campaigned upon. host: how does youngs

i don't know if this is proper but i did not get a shot of the union question. the union leaders have done a great job representing their rank-and-file members. it is error general assembly people who have done a terrible job representing us by not standing up to the unions. i think and it's to be changed in our general assembly. passing along taxes in providence where they pay up to $500 more for a car, we are supposed to repeal the car tax. >> mr. robitaille, is the tea party better scores of values over the republican party? >> the republicans have had a branding problem. the core ideals of small government and personal accountability of lower taxes are synonymous with both movements. i have met some of the tea party "and they are angry and they are turning that anger into energy. they have constitutions in their back pocket and they will hold people accountable this november. i am not sure why there was a differentiation in the paul perry we are very alive in what we believe in. we have lost our way. they know it and they will make changes in november. let m

they are unionized employees. it seems to me that, in an inspector situation, the union representation and immunization of these employees may not be the best -- and unionization of these employees may not be the best place for unionization. do you agree? >> i do not agree. i had -- i do not think it had anything to do with them being unionized. prior to the deepwater horizon, secretary salazar had access -- asked an independent review of the minerals management service inspection program, so that we could improve the work that was currently being performed by our inspectors. it is very complicated work. going back to your question, it has nothing to do with whether or not the inspectors are unionized or not. >> mr. rusco, you mentioned that, with regard to lease way,, that have come a long that we at the department of the interior may not have kept up-to-date with the lease terms that would give the people of the united states more erturn for -- return for their minerals in the gulf. i would commend to your atten

when i ke if the union contract for offshore inectors did, as many union contracts do, limits travel, limited hours that someone could work, e didn't know. body there at the hearing could help me. nobody could tell me ether our offshore inspectors that stand between our homeland and producg energy thelp us play by the s so we don't have a oil spill like this, ty play byheules, they do right, we test, we make sure the testing's done accurately, we don he a problem. at'shy we haven't had like at in th area. at's whmost of theoil spills are by tankers bringing foreign oil because in the past we've made people like british petroleum play by e rules, make sure tngs were workg properly. that didn't happenere. but we couldn't get the infoation from the m.m.s. but it ems tothat allowi offsre inspeors that stand beeen disasand our homeland have a unnized contract if it limits travel or li theours worked woulbe like, and i gss this is wre we're going next based on what we saw a couple weeks ago, the next moveilbe, that right, we want the military to unionize asell, makess much sense. you got pe

soviet union was the greatest allies of the vietnamese. after our involvement in the vietnam war ended, vietnam went to war against china. we have complicated historical strands rolling through that. your point is a good one. why doesn't the international community stand up as well? they have. we have got contributions from foundations around the world, as well as some governments, because i think everyone wants to put in a little bit of effort to say this is an art interest for our security to have good relations with vietnam, and this is a way we are as a people. we believe in alues in cleaning up our mess. that has always been the strands of american foreign policy, which is we act based on strategic interests and moral values. this happens to coincide with both. host: the next and call comes from tennessee. caller: i am dave. i am a vietnam veteran. i served two tours. 1967 and 1968. and when i came home and got out of the military in 1969, 1970 i started having muscle spasms in my back. and finally, when they put out that agent orange

european union leaders adopted new sanctions against iran today over its nuclear program. the restrictions are designed to block investments in iran's oil and gas sector, and limit its refining and natural gas capability. the e.u. penalties go beyond those approved by the u.n. security council last week. the u.s. imposed its own new penalties yesterday. israel has eased its blockade of gaza. a spokesman for prime minister benjamin netanyahu outlined the new terms today. they include letting construction materials for civilian projects into gaza. >> the government of israel took decisions to liberalize the system under which civilian goods may enter the gaza strip. to expand materials for projects inside gaza that are under international supervision, but, of course, we must remain with the security procedures that prevent the import into gaza of weapons and more materials that could strengthen the hamas military machine. the militant group hamas rules gaza and a spokesman called the israeli move nothing more than "window-dressing." the chief negotiator for the palestinian a

and so i thought it was foolish for the unions to do it on a whole bunch of reasons. and personally i hope more voters in more states whether it is the club for growth on the right or the unions on the left say we don't want the special interests trying to establish their own muscle by manipulating us? >>. >> i don't think they did spend 10 million. i think that became a boast 3:00 in the morning cup of courage boasting. but they did spend 6 million on television. and that is an awful lot of money to spend in arkansas. there is a striking his ter-- historical parallel in this race, that was in 1927 when john mccullum, the democratic there was challenged by a young upstart democrat named david prooier. and he had the backing of outside interests and labor and john mccullum barely beat him in the first race and was expected to lose in the runoff and he banged david pryor over the head about outside interests and labor money and this. and he beat, the last race david pryor ever lost. the only race he ever lost. but there is a striking parallel to 2010. that is what blanc

host: raise union grove -- where he is in union grove, and how big is your local economy? caller: we are right down here in alabama and i have many friends who own businesses that are just based on people coming down here. host: this is inside a the "new york daily news" -- cook bill, tennessee, republican . -- brookevillcookville, tenness, republican line. caller: the thing i did not hear said it was what was the first place. to me, maybe i'm not as smart, but you know, everything they did was on a safety level. i would not be surprised if some environmentalist actually planted a bomb and blue something up. the reason i say that is because two weeks before president obama said what he said about offshore drilling. i would like to hear about the real reason why we have this explosion that killed 11 people. host: carmine is an independent in hamilton, montana. please go ahead. caller: the guy that just called probably believe that the north koreans bombed it, too. we found out yesterday that money is much more important than the lives of the people, for the people who run t

i said this once at a state of the union address: america does not settle for second place. and we're going to make the investments to make sure we are first in the future -- not just in the past. that's got to be our priority. that's why we're bringing high- speed internet to ten thousands of homes -- tens of thousands of homes, and businesses and hospitals and schools. it's why ray lahood is helping to lead a surge in new investment in high-speed rail. that's why we're investing in electronic medical records. a year ago, american businesses had just 2 percent of the market in the production of electric car batteries that power the vehicles of the future. all these hybrid cars that have electric batteries? those batteries were made someplace else; we only had 2 percent of them. we made investments in the recovery act, and by 2015, u.s. companies are going to have 40 percent of the global market. we have created an advanced battery manufacturing facility -- facilities right here in the united states that are going to allow us to maintain that cutting edge. from the very firs

i said this month in my state of the union. america does not settle for second place. are going to make the investment to make sure we are first in the future, not just in the past. that has to be i will priority. that is why we are bringing high-speed internet to tens of thousands of homes, hospitals, businesses, schools. it is a wrwhile we are investinn electronic medical records. years ago, american businesses had only 2% of the production of electric car batteries that cover the vehicles of the future. those batteries were made some place else. we made investments in the recovery act and by 2015, u.s. companies will have 40% of the global market. we have created an advanced battery making facility right here in the u.s. that will allow us to maintain that cutting edge. from the first railroad to the interstate highway system, our nation has always been built to compete. the history of ohio is a testament to that. nearly two centuries ago, our nation's first federally funded highway, the national road, was extended across ohio, bringing together a generation of sell

i said this once at a state of the union address. america does not settle for second place. and we're going to make the investments to make sure we are first in the future. not just in the past. that's got to be our prior to. that's why we're bringing high speed internet to tens of thousand of homes and businesses and hospitals and schools. it's why ray la hood's helping to lead a surge in new investment in high speed rail. that's why we're investing in the electronic medical records. you know, a year ago, american businesses had just 2% of the market in the production of electric car batteries that power the vehicles of the future. all these hybrid cars that have electric batteries, those batteries were made someplace else. we only had 2% of them. we made investments in the recovery act and by 2015, u.s. government will have 40% of the global market. we have created an advanced battery manufacturing facility -- facilities right here in the united states that are going to allow us to maintain that cutting edge. from the very first railroads to the interstate highway systems,

terms of bankruptcy and among those terms were hand over shares of the auto makers to the auto makers union. and while that was going on, the only term and i have it in my hand, the only bidder was the federal government. the structure of going into chapter 11, the only bidder was the federal government. it was the federal goverrment on both sides of that equation, unprecedented. a federal take overdictating the terms and handing over 17.5% of the shares of general motors over to the auto makers union. that is all taking place, including the takeover of the student loan program by the federal government. if we add this up, three large banks, freddie mac and fannie mae, chrysler. that's 1/3 swallowed over the management, control of thee federal government. you add to that the student loan program and you add to that the finannial services that are being regulated right now that are being negotiated inthe conference committee between the house and senate that would put the federal government too regulate every single credit transaction in america. i don't just mean one of the large bailed out

headstones of those who gave their lives to win our independence, to save our nation, to save our union i wonder what they would think of this nation and this world today. i wonder what they would think of this new generation of warriors. the forces of globalization have made the world cross which they must fight much smaller. and as the world are around us that shrinks, it need struggle halfway -- it means trouble halfway around the globe can and will visit us. pauour men and women in uniform know full well that the promise and peril of this time have never been greater, the threa to american security more widespread than ever before geographically. and the spread of weapons of mass destruction and dangerous disease, economic dislocations and the growing gap between the rich and the port, ethnic animosities and failed states. the challenges of freedom and security when facing a radical ndamentalism. this new generation of warriors stand watch, protecting america's interests against all of these new threats. and they will take, and it has taken, is equally great sacrifice as those who h

if you are running a union or you know people who run unions, have them move their money.you run a state or a city or county, have them move their money. they will understand that. that is how we will change the world, one action at a time. let me wrap things up. i am getting all might signs here. [laughter] let me wrap up by saying that at the moment, president obama says that we find ourselves at a rare point where the size and scope of the challenges before as require that we make a renewed promise. the question and this is and we have to make is will we see a place where economic opportunity will be real for everyone? willoughby just for the economic elite? will it be a place where transparency rains and back room deals are banished from balsa power? will it be a place where a main street replaces wall street as the center of the economic universe? that is where hope 2.0 needs to date. hopefully, america can be trusted to do the right thing after has exhausted all other possibilities. [laughter] we have exhausted all our possibilities trying to do the right bank. thank

the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h.r. 5297 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to create the small business lending fund program to direct the secretary of the treasury to make capital investments in eligible institutions in order to increase the availability of credit for small businesses, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as read the first time. general debate shall not exceed one hour with 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on financial services. and 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on small business. the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. bean, and the gentleman from texas, mr. neugebauer, and the gentlewoman from new york, ms. velazquez, and the gentleman from missouri, mr. graves, each will control 15 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from illinois. ms. bean: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself five min

and to alleviate the burden of poverty that so many in the union continue to face. this is only the first step, mr. speaker, into africa's transition into a normal economy. this step is the right one, it is a long overdue transformation and our approach toward africa and our belief in the african people and in the african cootinent. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: mr. speaker, i have no further requests for time and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back? does she? does the gentlewoman from california yield back the balance of her time? ms. watson: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1405 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the retslusion is agreed to and without o

the companies are unionized. and a guarantee to otherpective employees that safety will be given the attention it deserves. >> [unintelligible] companies to outsource environmental and safety critical processes failed to take their responsibility seriously when it really counts, before disaster strikes. they lost their very license to cooperate. what this session will his department have with businesses in the energy sector to get a grip on their direct environmental responsibility instead of simply balancing the rhetoric of corporate responsibility? >> i think my friend for that question which is very cute and well directed. i think there is an issue of but come out of the inquiry, about the extent of outsourcing -- extent of outsourcing. however, there is another side to wait. -- syed to it. the oil majors -- there's another side to it. the zero majors will argue that sometimes the level of expertise can bb higher than -- the oil majors will argue that sometimes the level of expertise can be higher than they ha

that is the international nion approved -- the international union of [unintelligible] employees. we are ready. we are armed and ready to go down into the most critical kind of a big campaign. we are going to talk about what is really important. we have always kept the focus to defeat harry reid, and now we are going to talk about those issues that are important to us. we are going to go to him with the issues, and we are going to tell them right now, we are ready for the debaae. come on, harry. let's talk about the issues. [applause] the issues.bout and the issues are ttat we have a contract with america, and that contract is our constitution. [applause] we have the right message for america, and that is reagan's message of less taxes, less government regulatiin, more individual freedom, and stop the spending. remember, they said that reagan was too conservative to win. there is no such thing. we want our country back. we want to take it back to those constitutional principles. we want to take it back. we have the right message, and harry reid may have been bought by washington,

how much more the european union can do. it is very important that we are able to stop the flow of arms into gaza just as it is so vital to open up gaza to humanitarian aid and more normal economic activity. >> i join my colleagues in condemning the actions that were taken by the israeli government. two of my constituents are currently in detention in israel. i agree with the foreign secretary that an international independent investigation is important notwithstanding, the undersecretary agreed to meet with my constituents who were there because nothing beats hearing it from the horse's' mouth. >> plans are being worked on to meet a group the answer to the question is yes. >> the call for an international, impartial element to an investigation. is it not crucial to ensure that if peace talks resume and turkey's role, which had been an important regional ally to israel, is supported and encouraged? . . &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& it is normally referred to as piracy. he is normally known for his blunt speaking. willie n

they've funded him through the internet and mostly labor unions pouring millions of dollars in attackads against blanche lincoln have been a big part of this. >> woodruff: dan balz, how much of an issue is this insider, outsider thing. what does it is a if blanche hundred con loses here? >> i think the most important thing it is as is that labor has really flexed its muscles in arkansas. certainly there is an anti-incumbent issue involved in this. and an insider-outsider. but as amy said it is the outside influence of the labor unions in particular in some progressive groups. i mean labor has put close to $9 million into this state, into this race s away way to send a message. and when bill clinton, former president, went down to campaign for blanche lincoln he said that the labor unions are trying to make an example of her. which is exactly what they are trying to do. they are trying to show that those democrats who don't advance the issues that they want and in their estimation aren't working for average working families, ought to pay a price. and they're trying to make an example o

union carbide damaged to be sure but kept on going. but it does create some vulnerabilities in a lot of different ways not the least being your own position in the industry and whether you might become a takeover candidate yourself. >> lehrer: do you agree with that, robin west? within the industry there's a problem here too. >> i think so. i think that this has hurt the industry somewhat. i agree with professor finkelstein. one of the real risks is what we call license to operate which is the confidence of the public which permits you to go about your business. bp and all these oil companies, they operate all over the world. it's not just the u.s. government. it's governments everywhere. they have to have their confidence. without that, they can't function. >> lehrer: what about the exxon and the exxon valdez oil spill. we all know about that but exxon is still in business now many years later. what is the difference? or how did they handle it and how were they able to survive it? >> exxon, the first thing, it was a terrible disaster