, quote, our goal is to restore accountability, honesty and openness at all levels of government, unquote. whereas according to a document by congressional democrats entitled a new direction for america, page 29 states, bills should generally come to the floor under a procedure that allows open, full, and fair debate, consisting of a full amendment process that grants the minority the right to offer its alternatives, including a substitute. whereas on november 21, 2006, the "san francisco chronicle" reported that, quote, speaker pelosi pledged to restore minority rights. >> mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. members will remove their conversations from the floor. the gentleman from georgia. mr. price: whereas on november 21, 2006, the "san francisco chronicle" reported that speaker pelosi pledged to restore minority right, including the right of republicans to offer amendments to bills on the floor, the pins pls of civility and respect for minority participation in this house is something we promised the american people, she said, it

unquote. the congressman's woke spann said that the congressman was -- quote -- "doing what any other congressman would do. precisely the reason for these cars are awards. as the journal put it -- quote -- "that's the problem with industrial policy and governmental control of american business in washington every member of congress now thinks he's a czar who can call old fritz and tell him how to make cars." unquote. i will continue to confer car czar awards until congress and the president enact my auto stop for every taxpayer legislation, which would distribute the government stock in general motors and chrysler to the 120 million americans who pay taxes on april 15. that's the fastest way to get ownership of the auto companies out of the hands of meddling washington politicians and back into the hands of americans in the marketplace. it also may be the fastest way for congressmen to get themselves reelected. according to "the national tennessean," an auto pacific survey reports that 81% of

unquote. well, i could not agree more. but i must ask: where was that common sense when the president proposed to add $10 trillion to the national debt in the fiscal year 2010 budget mission is? where was -- submission? where was this basic common sense when he signed a bill earlier this year that adds adds $1 trillion in debt. when was this fiscal discipline when he proposed a massive universal health care proposal that is now turning out to be a government-run proposal with just a downpayment o of $650 billion? the president's announcement undoubtedly was meant to quell rising fears about the amount of spending and borrowing that his administration has undertaken. it was likely intended to calm the fierce of those who buy our debt -- fears of those who buy our debt who are wondering if it's just paper. but do the president's words today in any way address the mountain of debt and increased taxes he's proposed and supported just a few weeks ago with budget -- with the budget mission is? and t

unquote. the congressman's woke spann said that the congressman was -- quote -- "doing what any other congressman would do. precisely the reason for these cars are awards. as the journal put it -- quote -- "that's the problem with industrial policy and governmental control of american

unquote. that is pretty short shrift for a constitutional claim. last year in the district of columbia v. heller, the supreme court held that the second amendment right to keep and bear arms is an individual rather than a collective rievment but the court also noted that by the time of america's founding, the right to have arms was indeed fundamental and that the second amendment codified this preexisting, fundamental right. several months lairlt a second l months later, a second panel, including judge sotomayor, confircitedan 1886 supreme cour, the second circuit held that under the constitution's privileges and immunities clause, the second amendment applies only to the federal government, not to the states. whether correct or not, that holding was obviously enough to decide the issue in that particular case. judge sotomayor's court, however, went beyond what was necessary to further minimize the second amendment by once again characterizing its something less -- characterizing it as something less than a fundamental right. the court said that th

and a count down to the annihilation of the emperor of power and wealth has started, unquote. two days later, june 4th, 2008, mahmoud ahmadinejad he said to the muslim world, quote, get ready for a world minus the u.s., unquote. is this theology that makes iran so dangerous? because it's what's driving iranian foreign policy right now. it's what's driving iranian leaders to feverishly build, buy or steal nuclear weapons. and the missiles to deliver them. north korea has this missile on the launch pad right now. it's expected to launch imminently. at least 15 iranian military advisors are on hand now according to the open press services. you have to understand in my view, north korea is a test lab for what iran is trying to do. north korea is desperately in need of cash. iran is desperately in need of data. will their nuclear weapons work? will their ballistic missiles work? they're working hand in glove with north korea and so if this missile launch goes off, it's not a threat because of north korea's potential capacity to reach the western coast shores of the united states, b

the agitation it produces must be submitted to, it is necessary to keep the waters pure, unquote. were he alive today, jefferson would not take too kindly to liable tourists. the subject of h.r. 276 5 -- 2765. oh, it seems true that some u.s. media more recently have become fan clubs rather than objective pursuers of truth, there's still some very dedicated journalists in the united states who should be free from harassment from inappropriate liable suits in overseas courts. in the wake of 9/11, the american media have been -- become increasingly alarmed over a phenomenal called liable tourism. the term refers to a subject of critical -- of a critical news story suing an american author or reporter of an article, story or book for defamation in a, quote, plaintiff-friendly, unquote, overseas or foreign forum. these suits are filed mostly in great britain as its liable and slander laws provide journalists with less protection than those under the u.s. system that honors a first amendment and a free press. persons identified in news stories as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers ha

unquotes. this is from chairman bernanke. is chairman bernanke's e-mail an accurate statement of your concerns of bank of america's situation? >> i can't recall the exact e-mail but we did have concerns and we wanted some assurances they would support our position. >> i yield back, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much. i now yield to the ranking member of ohio, mr. jordan. >> let's me go back to this so-called threat concern here mr. lewis. i want to be clear of the on december 17th, when you called mr. paulson, mr. bernanke, did you -- i want to know the nature of the call, did you say we were going to exercise the mac clause or thinking about exercising the mac clause? >> again, it seems like a long time ago. to the best of my recommendation i said we're strongly considering a mac. >> in other words, what the response you then got changed your decision? you were going to exercise the clause, you felt that was the best interest of your bank and your shareholders, you were going to do it. and then what the government told you

said it will make energy prices skyrocket, quote-unquote? saving businesses money is not a tax, sending $400 billion a year to the -- well, to other countries, is a tax and the fact is, it's a tax that americans are tired of paying. this plan, this aces bill, even in its unfinished form, declares energy independence and puts america on the path to economic recovery. the president spoke of transitioning to clean energy economy that will create jobs, make homes, buildings and vehicles more efficient and protect consumers. in his inaugural address, remember, he said, we will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and factories and i'm glad he's doing that. let me offer just a few numbers in terms of jobs. clean energy job provisions, the r.e.s. or renewable electricity standard, will create over 300,000 new jobs, over 300,000 new jobs. the efficiency saving measures, which is the energy efficiency resource standard, will create over 222,000 jobs by the year 2020. cutting waste, saving money, the clean energy jobs provisions

unquote. many of the founding fathers believe that the power of the purse is the most important power of congress. in federalist number 58, james madison wrote, quote, this power over the purse may in fact be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people for obtaining a redress of every grievance for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure, unquote. whether you believe the federal government is spending too much money as i do or not enough, the american people deserve an open process that allows votes on how we spend their money. regardless of how much time it takes. 15 seconds. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. broun: the appropriations process is one of the primary ways that congress exercises that power given to us by the constitution. i ask that the majority leadership reconsider this dangerous path we are headed down. all members of congress must be allowed to offer all relevant ame

system where a public plan -- government plan, if you will, could compete on a level playing field" unquote against private coverage. the end result with be a government takeover of our system taking it out of the hands of our doctors and our patients, plays -- placing them in the hands of a washington bureaucracy and inserting that bureaucracy right between them. here's the bottom line. we are walking down a path where stories like jack tang could become increasingly common in our great nation. in 2006, jack tag, a former world war ii pilot, suffered from a severe case -- a severe case of macula degeneration. the regional government bureaucrats rejected his request for treatment citing high costs unless the disease hit his other eye also. it took three years to overturn that decision. three years while he had to suffer when we could have done this in a better way. now, let's just all remember that a family member with cancer in an intensive care unit would probably neither have the time nor the resources to appeal such an egregious bureaucratic decision. we need to remember the real implic

article 3, section 1, provides that federal judges hold their offices during good behavior, quote-unquote, and when a judge abuses his power, when by his conduct he proves himself unfit to hold his office, he cannot be turned out by the voters. instead, it falls to the congress to ensure that the public trust of that office is protected through the power of impeachment. congress has used this power sparingly. in our nation's history, only 13 federal judges have been impeached. and even fewer convicted. needless to say, the conduct at issue here is both shocking and shameful. in due course, many of the disturbing details of judge kent's appalling conduct will more than likely be revealed. but now, i want to emphasize for the members the following points. the committee is recommended -- the committee is recommending impeachment not merely on the fact that the judge has pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to prison. rather, it is his conduct. making false statements to his fellow judges in an official -- to fellow judges in an official inquiry and sexually assaulting courthouse personnel t

him, the enduring space of over a billion people is so much bigger than a narrow hatred of a few, unquote. he defended israel's right to live in peace while recognizing the palestinian people's right to a state of their own. on iran, president obama urged diplomacy and reiterated his call for a nuclear-free world. and he advocated for democracy, for religious freedom, economic opportunity and the rights of women and girls. madam speaker, everyone listening to the speech had to be inspired by the president's eloquence and good well, but the president also acknowledged that the speech was just the start. now we face the hard work, the work of making peace a reality, especially in iraq and afghanistan. on this issue, i have urged the president to move in a bold, new direction. i have called upon him to speed up the timetable for the withdrawal of our troops and military contractors from iraq and to leave no resideal forces behind because i believe the sooner we return full sovereignty to iraq, the better. i voted against the supplemental appropriations act, because it will prolong our occupa

there's another part of the ministry that is like, quote-unquote, the congress. my other point is that -- it disheartens me so much when the republicans believe whatever they hear. they don't do their own research or read the papers or something. how could you not say it's not going to affect us and you only care about this country. . if this ahmadinejad guy comes in. now we have to spend time with this. that costs money. you know? the republicans have got to read more than one paper. host: the philadelphia inquirer with a story about climate change talking about efforts variations in rainfall issues. we are taking a few more minutes to discuss the results in iran. go ahead from michigan. caller: i'm surprised no one is talking about the gnp for oil, 70%. ahmadinejad's election has a direct impact on the caller from detroit a few minutes ago. that's part of the reason gm had to go into>e5áÑ because of the $4 a gallon for gas. it has a direct i am pact. we'll get through this. hopefully our new president will extend and olive branch. host: going to the next call.

that we would be happy to provide you, but a number of things looked to be an accurate in the quote unquote second opinion itself. there appear to be the assumption that projects are being funded using recovery money, which isn't true. i think the very first project that outline is a decision that ultimately is made by the state, not by the feds in terms of how particular revolving fund money is used. so i think there are a number of entries throughout this report that are just up the wrong. this president has taken historic steps to insure that there is adequate transparency, and that this money is spent the way it's intended to be used. there are projects within the report that haven't been funded and have been canceled based on our own looking into this. so again, i think the report appears to be in many, many cases just flat-out wrong. >> are there any examples that were correct that the administration page. >> i have not looked to each and every one of them. i would have to look through each and every one. >> and also is the president going toward nuclear disarmament of the whole regio

unquote. their work saves lives an helps

>> this has been one of her quote unquote flagship issues for as long as she has been the speaker of the house. she took over in 2006. this is one of her biggest issues. she's been the one kind of pushing the chairman of the house energy and commerce committee henry waxman all along this process from the get-go she's probably responsible for henry waxman sitting in the energy commerce and -- spot. that was a decision made right after the election last november that pretty much kickstarted this entire process to try to move this bill through. she's someone from san francisco who's been a big environmentalist her whole career. this is an issue that environmentalists have been trying to get on the agenda on capitol hill for a long time, for many many years. and they've faced opposition for eight years under the bush administration. this is poised to be the first ever house floor vote on cap and see -- cap-and-trade bill. >> the climate change bill itself, cap-and-trade and what else are the key aspects of this bill? >> cap-and-trade is probably the biggest piece. it's an overall cap on

absolute but, you know, we definitely have some models and clearly those models that are more, quote-unquote, generous in the sense of tax credits for larger amounts, sliding scales that aren't as high, greater exemptions is obviously going to be a greater benefit financially to small businesses. so you have to look at this together. >> this sliding scale apparently stops at 25. we're not sure about the exemptions yet. that will be an interesting question. i notice modeling -- jonathan gruber's model the scenario that was most advantageous for small employers with the scenario that exempted small businesses and i think that was a 1 to 10 employer? is that what he was looking at there? >> correct. >> we still haven't answered the question of the 11 to 100. >> but there were substantial benefits for -- even with that model, huge benefits for small business with the reform and with the shared responsibility. >> but it depends where that small business exemption comes in; is that not true? >> well, pretty much -- pretty much every model that professor gruber model produced a better result than a

decision of a disputed presidential election, according to iranian opposition websites, the quote, unquote, confessions are aimed at implicating mousavi, the defeated reformist candidate, in an alleged conspiracy." what do you make out of this? is there any significance to this? is this real or is this being made up? how is this advancing or not advancing the situation? guest: i hadn't seen that report before and i am not in a position to comment on it. the iranian authorities do use confessions. they, for example, asked people to say on the television that yes, they were incited by voice or or of america or the bbc, but whether they would go that far to blacken mousavi in that way, it's not clear to me whether they would. host: back to the phones. orchard park, new york. carl on the line for democrats. caller: yes, mr. ambassador, you're very familiar with iran, obviously, and the squeography of iran and we've heard for the last few years, especially the 8 years of the bush administration, and the right wing elements in israel that perhaps we should bomb, carpet bomb, the nuclear faciliti

company are finally hitting home and worried about his own job after cutting loose lots of good people, unquote. mr. lewis, was your decision to tell the government you were considering invoking a mac, which of course refers to a clause in the merger agreements that allows the to abandon the deal if a material adverse change is said to have occurred. in fact a strategy you deployed to protect yourself from shareholder lawsuits? >>, no, it was not. >> isn't it true, mr. lewis, that during the course of your conversations with chairman bernanke and secretary paulson, you requested a letter from the government saying that the government ordered you to close the deal to acquire merrill? >> no, that was not what i asked for. our board was concerned -- >> your answer is no? are you sure has your answer? >> our board was concerned we had verbal assurances but nothing in writing about getting some assistance. i called chairman bernanke and asked him -- >> you're referring to a different letter. i'm talking about a letter -- you requested a l

unquote. and i would just simply add that he's certainly hoping to be pulled off the, quote, rejected li li list. wants to be given time for his brother and him to work out a reasonable deal between them. and operate the three bands under one roof. this is the type of real-life situation that we face today. and i hope that the testimony will answer these types of scenarios and i look forward to hearing the information. >> thank you, senator. senator udall? >> thank you, chairman. great to have you back and senator hutchinson, thank you for your amendment on the floor that i think provided -- that tried to provide a more orderly process to dealership closings. we need to ask tough questions regarding geel dealer closings. there's no doubt that it's become an integral part of the stroir. if you ask any american, they'll remember fondly their first car, even if it's just the old family truck. it's tough for me to believe we're here today with two of america's automakers in bankruptcy. for folks a

unquote. so i would simply add he's certainly hoping to be pulled off the quote rejected list. wants to be given time for his brother and him to work out a reasonable deal between them. and operate the three brands under one roof. mr. chairman, and my  colleagues, this is the type of real-life situation that we've that we face today, and i hope the testimony will answe

republicans and that attending meetings with republicans -- quote -- "will be viewed as a hostile act" unquote. this is outrageous. i hope the article is inaccurate. i hope the staff on the other side doesn't view health reform as a process they control by threats and hostilities. i hope we're above that. madam president, i ask unanimous consent, that the roll call article this morning be included in the record at this time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: now, madam president, i'd like to say a few words and i ask unanimous consent for three additional minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: madam president, it appears the house democrats, koght a -- according to a "roll call" article this morning, about a supplemental bill, and i ask unanimous consent that -- concerning the war supplemental bill be included in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: the war bill including a cash for chunkers incentive will eliminate language to keep photos of detainee abuse during the bush administration confidential. madam president, the

quarter century ago, he pitched the first collateralized mortgage obligation that freddie mac ever did, unquote. so, larry fink had a land in making financial instruments that have brought freddie mac and our financial system to its knees, yet his company now leads and gets profits from a no-bid contract that black rock has just received from the federal reserve of new york. to manage the toxic assets of freddie mac and fannie mae. in their collateralized mortgage obligations. it's a mess that he helped to create but now we have hired the same man to clean it up? one question i have to ask is, how can we be sure he isn't self-dealing or covering up what he did in the last quarter century? some might say that relationship is a bit incestuous. the administration's financial regulatory reform proposal includes some consideration for dealing with too big to fail institutions, but rather create an architecture that keeps risk in hand what they are doing is they are allowing institutions like black rock to become too big to fail. in fact black rock's assets on our larger with the purchase of lashingl

they have to quote-unquote, skyrocket. i urge my colleagues to reject this bill that is all economic pain and no environmental gain and instead join me for supporting the american energy act that promotes and develops domestic energy source, encourages conservation, and advances renewable technologies while pursuing america's competitive edge. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. speier: -- ms. sanchez: thank you, madam speaker. today i come to the floor to honor an individual who has sacrificed over 42 years of his life for this great nation. brigadier general james p. coal ms has proudly and gallantly served his country on foreign so in the countries of vietnam, afghanistan, and iraq. he was appointed commander of our joint forces training base in california on november 1 of 2005. genera

issue a remarkable statement with a -- where they said publicly that all this lobbying was, quote unquote, counterproductive and everyone was really pushing the president in a public way toward one of their preferred choices, they needed to knock it off and cut it out. a few hour that was white house made that somewhat extraordinary statement, senator barbara boxer sent out a tweet on twitter where she urged her supporters to sign an online petition telling the president to appoint a woman. i don't know if the message got as far out as the president hoped or maybe some people heard it and chose not to follow his request. the consequence was the president may have perceived his choice to be nor roed in that if he didn't choose a woman or a minority he may have been faced with a significant backlash from key morgses of his constituency. now out of all of this, this confusion and chaos and this frenetic lobbying, judge sotomayor emerges. introducing her to the american public, the president spoke of her background. he has since characterized her as having more experience, being a more experi

you and when you talk about barriers to reform what about the patient and family is one thing quote-unquote everything done for the loved one when the best medical advice agrees efforts are futile? >> a fantastic question and typically but not always that is the result of a failure of communication through the system but lets us get to the underlying point* of that question which is when we demand services, it is easy to point* to a family and say they are demanding billions of dollars be paid berkeley would not have the health-care crisis if it were one or two families. but it is always too easy to point* to someone else. let us ask ourselves, just a question can we have a really rich benefits package to cover everything we want calexico's of the opposite direction. part of what we need you do is have a situation is to have value based insurance where things which are proven effective and improve health you don't have to pay a call by eight -- okay. the extra chemotherapy there is no evidence it will work you may have to pay more. me give you a favorite example i am an oncologist i happen

make money off garbage, go ahead and sell garbage, as long as you don't have to deal with it later, unquote. both bill seidman and bill isaac really advised america that we needed to fix securitization, including making sure that bankers have real skin in the game. that is, hold on to some of the risk rather than passing it all forward. i couldn't agree more strongly. it's time for a transformation in these instruments and the overall financial system. our members were honored to be discussing such matters with mr. seidman and he had served as fvensrble advisor to four presidents, served as chair of the federal deposit insurance corporation in a most difficult time as he helped steady our economic ship of state and during his tenure one of the nation's largest banking scandals, the savings and loan crisis, unfolded, arising, again out of a housing crisis. under his watch, the fdic, the resolution trust corporation was created to take over troubled thrifts and resolved. rereorganized -- he reorganized several institutions in the problems of the 1980's. the assets were seized and sold through

later he acknowledged that he had never seen, quote, any trace of a threat to the national security, unquote for the publication of the information and further admitted that, quote, the principal concern is not with national security but rather with government embarrassment of one sort or another, closed quote. it's important to protect national security and sometimes our courts have to balance the need for individual justice with national security considerations. congress has in the past balanced these important albeit sometimes competing demands. in the criminal context we enacted the classified informations procedure act. in fisa we set out procedures for the court to set out sensitive materials through the freedom of information act we sought to limit any withholding of information from the public whom the government is supposed to serve. we can and should do the same in civil cases. our system of government and our legal system have never relied on taking assurances at face value. the courts and the congress have a duty to look behind what this administration or any administration says

we are supposed to have dating back to the mid-1990s one level of safety, quote-unquote, for both regionalnd major carriers. and i want to hear from our witnesses today whether you think that is actually the case, whether the system has kept up with changes or whether there have been changes that have occurred that have drifted us away from one standard. i'm particularly concerned from some of the things i've learned in the last hearing, for example, that a carrier does not easily have full access to the records of pilots they are considering hiring. i'm talking about all the records. they have access to the records of everything that has occurred with respect to an airplane. an airplane that comes off the line and is put in service, everything that happens to that particular airplane is a matter of record that anyone can access and that is not the case with respect to the record of the pilot or the people in the cockpit. i think that there is some reason to believe encouraged by what the new administrator, randy babbitt has done. he called for a meeting monday this week which reflects a c

often a pivotal investment focus for returns on economic growth and economic dwoment in country, unquote. and i believe that and i also believe that this is true for political growth as well. in education, some say if you don't test it, you won't teach it. well, without these metrics, we can't know how our aid is impacting these women. we are reshaping our commitment to the afghan people in a way that fosters trust, promotes justice, and protects human rights. the protection of the rights of women and girls in afghanistan and their full and equal participation in afghan civil society is essential to afghan national security as well as ours. i urge my colleagues to reach out to the women of afghanistan when they're traveling there because we know then you include them in your delegation and conversations, they, too, can express their concerns to you even our male colleagues will have their opportunity with any number of women there. i want to thank mr. berkman for his support. the chair: the question son the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from california. those in favor say aye. tho

unquote. and then again, according to "usa today" on november 12,

an exercise of sound business judgment made in good faith and for legitimate commercial reasons, unquote. the judge also said in his ruling the dealer reorganization was, quote, appropriate and necessary. on june 10th, the fiat chrysler alliance was launched with a right sized new dealer network. second question, dealers don't cost the company anything, do they? well, in fact, they do. the cost to chrysler of an oversized dealer network includes both lost sales and excessive spending. first of all, dealers have a minimum sales responsibility every year. it's realistic and conservative and based on their average sales of chrysler sales. underperforming dealers cost unit sales as well as in 2008, of the 789 discontinued dealers, 80% of them were below their minimum sales responsibility which translated into 55,000 lost sales, $1.5 billion in lost revenue. second, the old chrysler dealer network included many dealers that sell only one or two of the three brands. this has led to tremendous redundancies in product development and brand strategy. for example, we spent $1.4 billion in the last

aig to do what it did and so let's don't cure problems that don't exist as we try to take a quote, unquote, comprehensive approach. let's just make sure it is not so comprehensive that we sweep in regulatory schemes and mechanisms that are currently working. >> senator, i completely agree and we're bringing a broader, prague matec spirit and exercise and trying to focus things central to the crisis, not things that were not. on things that were necessary to do, not just those -- not those that would be desirable to achieve over time. we may not all agree on the adjustments we're making, but that's the framework. >> you're making the commitment not to have collateral damage, right? >> that is an obligation that we all share and we're careful to try to avoid that, but senator, we did have really systematic failures across the regulatory framework of the united states and we are going to have to change a lot of things to address those failures. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thanks, senator nelson and senator tester. >> so many questions, so little time. secretary geithner, in your

unquote. a good bill is a balanced bill. but providing the disproportionate level of of funding to one agency creates an imbalance that undermines the legitimate needs of other deserving agencies. that is why i question a $10.6 billion budget for the e.p.a. a 38% increase from last year. this on top of a 7.2 billion the agency received in the stimulus package and 7.6 billion it received in the enacted 2009 interior bill. taken together e.p.a. will receive over $25 billion this calendar year alone. that's about the size of this subcommittee's entire budget just two years ago. while the e.p.a. will recve an extraordinary historic funding increase, it's worth noting that the u.s. forest service has -- was recently rated as one of the worst places to work in the federal government by a study conducted by the office of personnel management. it isn't clear whier forest service employees feel as they do, but it may be linked to the incredible funding challenges the service has faced in recent years due to the growing cost of fire s

who said that under his plan, under his plan electricity rates would, quote, necessarily skyrocket, unquote. that's from our president. our gas prices will go up 77 cents a gallon at the pump. now all this is due to global warming concerns. madam speaker, these are legitimate concerns. we have a right to be concerned and manmade activity does contribute. but is this a smart policy? if india and china don't participate, it is for naught. even the young federal -- even our own federal government estimates at best over a course of 100 years this may impact global temperatures .2 of one degree. frankly that variance occurs naturally every single year. think about the severe job loss, millions and millions of jobs lost due to the competitive disadvante we have. there are smarter ways to deal with global warming, but we hear nothing clean coal from the other side. we hear nothing about nuclear from the other side. think about the huge loss of national wealth that could have been used to cure cancer, send a generation to college, help launch millions of small businesses. madam speaker, some call i

study the broken system we have created for them and help them, for god's sake help them, unquote. . madam speaker, h.r. 626 won't solve all or even most problems with the foster system, but will allow government employees to spend more time with foster children. we have a wealth of evidence that this is essential for the cognitive development of these children. yet the minority party introduced amendments that would hurt foster children. and now the minority wants to gut the legislation to prevent mothers and fathers from spending time with their young children. this is what real family values are all about. i ask my colleagues to support the bill. the chair: the gentleman from california. mr. issa: at this time, i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from illinois, not texas, mr. schock of illinois. three minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. schock: i rise in opposition to house resolution 626. what we do here in the united states house and the united states congress sets as predon't, -- precedent, not only for the people we employee as a federal governmen

held company that was incorporated in 1996, that has evolved into a major producer of solar cells, unquote. the certification letter says the money will be used, quote, for the acquisition of man packable solar chargeable battery systems for use by the u.s. border patrol. my concern is not with the technology, nor with the needs of the border patrol, nor with this company in particular. my concern lies with why a specific for-profit entity was designated to receive this earmark funding. the president referred to earmarks for for-proven tits, a corrupting practice. the p.m.a. scandal that ha plagged the house of representatives for months has centered on campaign contributions and earmarks for for-profit entities. we cannot move ahead as if nothing is happening outside this body or within the body. the justice department is investigating the relationship between campaign contributions and earmarks and that is largely the case when you have earmarks that go to for-profit companies. earmarks that are little more than sole source contracts or no-bid contracts. this is the only one gratefully i

the democrats' climate change, quote, compromise, unquote bill passed by the energy and commerce committee is still a job killer that will hit every american with a national energy tax. this plan will have a devastating impact on the price at the pump and utility bills across the country. one estimate for a similar proposal found that families would pay more than $3,100 a year in extra energy costs. representative john dingell said it best. nobody in this country realizes that tax and trade is a tax and it's a great big one, end quote. even the president admitted that his energy plan would cause energy prices to "necessarily skyrocket," and that the costs will be passed on to consumers. various estimates suggest anywhere between 1.8 million and 7 million american jobs could be lost. manufacturing jobs will relocate to countries with less stringent environmental regulations like china and india, inflicting grader harm on american families and small businesses while doing even greater damage to the environment. the american people know we can do better. republicans also support a clean envir

letter to the senate this morning saying that government health insurance plan would quote this memo unquote private insurers. why are they wrong? and secondly is the public plan nonnegotiable? >> let's talk personal about health care before more broadly. i think in this debate there has been some notion that if we just stand pat, we are okay. and that's just not true. you know, there are pulls out a show that 70 or 80% of americans are satisfied with the health insurance that they currently have. the only problem is that premiums have been doubling every nine years. going up three times faster than wages. the u.s. government is not going to be able to afford medicare and medicaid on its current trajectory. businesses are having to make very tough decision about whether we dropped coverage or we further restrict coverage. so the notion that somehow we can just keep on doing what we are doing and that's okay, that's just not true. we have a long-standing critical problem in our health care system that is pulling down our economy. is a burdening families. is burdening businesses and it is the

government of eritrea continues to supply weapons and munitions to extremists and terrorist elements, unquote. and this isn't new. the previous administration took a similar view of the destructive role that eritrea plays in the horn. some will say that this is counterproductive or the wrong time. well, it has been a delicate time in this region for a decade now and it's goten a whole lot worse. -- gotten a whole loss worse. it is a complex region. one thing is not complex. this is a clear national security threat. u.n. reports have noted that over 100 shabob terrorists have traveled to eritrea for their military training, at an eritrean military base and then traveled back. the same u.n. report have identified eritrea as a principal -- has asserted that these violations take place with the knowled

complicated country than the notion of the knew crazy ayatollah, and an absolutely lunatic quote-unquote president, it's a serious country which is, unfortunately, in the midst of a kind of an extremist binge, but with which if tackled intelligently is bound to -- if one can judge on the basis of its own socioeconomic levels and its history. yes, ma'am? sn>> i wanted to ask you to examine the scenario of an iran that does not come back to the u.s. and agree to any kind of negotiations, even at they settle down, after the elections. what should the u.s. attitude be, hillary clinton already spoke of crippling sanctions, haven't we somehow boxed ourselves in already with comments like that and the vague deadline of the end of the year? what she response be in h country if they don't come back and also a question about obama's speech yesterday, there has been a lot of criticism that he was a bit too squishy in terms of his use of language, he talked about violent extremism and never talked about islamic extremism and didn't talk about terrorism, did he go too far on the other side on his eff

kentucky to, quote, more effectively compete for research funds aimed at improving homeland security, unquote. it says the institute's end goal is to match up low sal universities with projects, then commercialize the resulting project. madam chairman, we all know congress has a problem with spending overall. i mean, we have $7.87 billion stimulus pack. we had a massive omnibus appropriations bill. we've had numerous bailouts of private companies. now we're facing nearly $2 trillion in deficits just this year. when i came to this body eight years ago, our total budget was around $2 trillion. now we'll have a deficit by that same amount. yet here we are, funding a nonprofit organization, which again, according to its own website apparently would not exist without the assistance of congress. and it seems that the purpose of this center is to attract other earmarks. it's an institute that seems to be -- to beget other earmarks. i simply don't think we can continue to do this. since it was created, the institute received $700 million in taxpayer funding, 2k4r0rs million in 2006 and 2007. $11 mill

invoked the privilege and why because as i said before there must be proper oversight of our actions, unquote. i've been seeking a crassified briefing about the three cases in it has continued to assert the state's secret privileges. these are controversial cases and i want to understand why they're asserting the privilege. as you know, state seek receipts legislation is before the committee. i think my request is consistent with the president's desire to cooperate with oversight. will you make sure that i can receive this briefing? >> i'll try to get the information to you, senator. what we're trying to do is look at the state secrets issue in such a way that we're looking in two ways. one, to see whether or not the doctrine was properly invoked with regard to the 20 or so cases in which it has been used and then what can we do going forward. we have some proposals that we have been working on that i think we're going to make public in a matter of days, that we would put forth for consideration by this committee and by congress, generally about the way in which we think we should handle the

enormous cost saying under my cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket, unquote. indeed, this plan would increase taxes on american families by $3,100 and raise their energy bill by $1,500. this will force many businesses to outsource jobs overseas or close their doors all together, which will cost over a million jobs annually. it will have little or no impact on the environment. many experts believe the environment will be adversely affected, since many companies will be forced overseas where emission or environmental standards are nonexistent. hundreds of groups, hundreds of groups since the u.s. chamber, the national association of manufacturers oppose this legislation. tax and government watchdog groups including the national taxpayer union, citizens against government waste oppose it. it's bad for business, bad for the environment and bad for the american people. just vote no. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts continue tory serve? mr. markey: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlem