woodall to be the voting insurance expert. aig showed us how interconnected the insurance industry is with the health of our economy and i am sure mr. woodall's contribution will be invaluable. this ability of our financial system and our economy is important so i hope we can move quickly on these nominations. not to senator shelby for opening remarks. >> the committee will consider several important nominations. martin gruenberg to serve as head of the federal insurance deposit corporation. he served right here with us on the staff over 19 years. for the past six years he served as vice chair of the federal deposit insurance corporation. as chairman he would oversee the fdic in a challenging time. due to the financial crisis and the weak economy bank failures continue at a steady pace. it will be no easy task for the fdic to resolve these failed banks and a manner that protect the deposit insurance fund. the fdic must also decide how to undertake the new regulatory responsibilities under the dodd-frank act. i hope to hear how

woodall: mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield three minutes to a gentleman who held a very persuasive special orders on this topic last night, the gentleman from arizona, mr. franks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized for three minutes. mr. franks: i certainly thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, all financial budgets will eventually balance. no individual, no family, no business and no government can indefinitely continue to spend more money than they take in without someone having to make up the difference. mr. speaker, that includes the federal budget of the united states. neath plr obama nor congressional democrats can repeal the laws of mathematics. the federal budget of the united states government will eventually balance. the question is whether the white house and those of us in this body will balance this budget ourselves by wise policy or national bankruptcy and financial ruin will do it for us. on the day barack obama walked into the white house his

woodall to be the voting insurance expert at fsoc.y showed us how interconnected the insurance industry is with the help of our economy and i'm sure that mr. woodall's contribution as an fsoc member will be invaluable. the stability of our financial system and of our economy is very important, so i hope we can move quickly on these nominations. now i turn to senator shelby for any opening remarks he may have. >> thank you mr. chairman. today in the committee we will consider several different nominations as the chairman said. martin gruenberg has served as the federal deposit insurance corporation. is no stranger the banking committee having served in the staff over 19 years. for the past six years he served as vice chair of the federal deposit insurance corporation. as chairman he was overseeing the fdic at a challenging time. due to the financial crisis and the weak economy bank failures continued at a steady pace. it will be no easy task for the fdic to resolve these failed tanks in a manner that protects the deposit insurance fund

woodall: i thank my friend. there is lots of conversation in this town but i maintain that this was the topic of discussion and agreement between the speaker and the majority leader last week and absolutely the majority leader's walked away from that agreement since then, i don't dispute that. but here's the thing. we had disagreement on the house of the -- the floor of the house -- this agreement on the house of the floor -- on the floor of the house last night and no democratic agreed to it. we couldn't find one dement democrat vote in favor of it and we've come back with a new bill today that moves us to the right. moves us to the right. now, as someone who comes from one of the most conservative districts in the country, i think that's fantastic. more moving to the right, let's keep on moving. there's a lot more space over there. let's move some more over to the right. but i say to my friends on the left, as we try to get through a crisis, a national crisis, we only needed a few votes from you last night and

woodall's bill. if somebody comes in and is able to get an expenditure that we decide that's unnecessary, eliminate it for the purpose of deficit reduction. if you have some special interest that comes to congress and says, ok, give me a special interest tax break, our view is you should be able to eliminate that and reduce the deficit. the view that you have put forth in the republican budget is if someone comes in here and gets that special tax break, the only way you will get rid of it, the only way, is not for the purpose of deficit reduction but by reducing the rate. and that's where the inconsistency is. because if there's a tax expenditure that is not justifiable on the merits, and some have policy justification, then why not just get rid of it for the purpose of deficit reduction and what we all see as our common goal to try and reduce the burden on our children and grandchildren? >> and to follow up, i will yield to the gentleman from georgia. i will pose the question to him which is -- also

woodall: mr. speaker, house resolution 355 provides a closed rule for consideration of h.r. 2560, the cut, cap and balance act of 2011. the rule provides for four hours of general debate on the underlying bill and grants the minority party a motion to recommit with or without instructions. mr. speaker, we're at a moment in our nation's history when i turn on the television, when i read the newspapers, i get a lot of advice, folks say, act, act to raise the debt ceiling, act to cut spending, act to balance the budget. mr. speaker, today we are here to do all of those things. all of those things. cut, cap, balance. and with it, increase the debt ceiling in order to allow this country to continue its good line of credit, but, mr. speaker, that line of credit's not something we can take for granted. it is not something that we can take for granted. too often i hear folks come forward and say, just raise the debt ceiling. as you know, mr. speaker, we've had that vote. we brought a clean debt limit vote

congressman rob woodall, a freshman in his seventh month in office. he was going to vote no on this bill. congressman, thank you for being us with. why did you change your mind? >> as you know, when these things come down on high, you haven't had a chance to take a look at it. john boehner has been so open in the process, this came down from on high, i was naturally suspicious from the beginning. in the details it did exactly what i needed it to do. moved the needle from spending to cutting, and for the first time in 15 years, it would give us a vote on the balanced budget amendment in the senate. those three things are very important to my incredibly conservative district back home. >> what happens next? if the senate comes back with their own version and somehow a compromise winds up in front of you in the very near future, that doesn't contain a vote on a balanced budget amendment or one that passes, what happens to your vote? >> you're right. that's a tough question. i've been in congressman seven months. i've never seen a reid proposal before thi

congressman rob woodall, a freshman in his seventh month in office. he was going to vote no on this bill. congressman, thank you for being us with. why did you change your mind? >> as you know, when these things come down on high, you vent h haven't had a chance to take a look at it. john boehner has been so open in the process, this came down from on high, i was naturally suspicious from the beginning. in the details it did exactly what i needed it to do. moved the ne ed the needle from to cutting, and for the first time in 15 years, it would give us a vote on the balanced budget amendment in the senate. those three things are very important to my incredibly conservative district back home. >> what happens next? if the senate comes back with their own version and somehow a compromise winds up in front of you in the very near future, that doesn't contain a vote on a balanced budget amendment or one that passes, what happens to your vote? >> you're right. that's a tough question. i've been in congressman seven months. i've never seen a reid proposal be

woodall: i have a copy there. i have a copy at the desk and i regret the ranking member didn't get one earlier but i'd be happy to speak to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for five minutes. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. chairman. my amendment moves to strike from the operation and maintenance account all dollars for global warming project planning. i know the committee put a lot of effort into this particular section of the bill, plusing it up almost $1 million over 2011 levels, up $52 million from 2012 requests. i come from a county, my primary care, depends entirely on a court order project for all our drinking water, not to mention recreation and economic development and on and on. i want the corps to succeed. what i'm concerned is about those silos being created in government today, mr. chairman. this body in the early 1970's would have been talking about the calamity we face with the global cooling, and here we are today with a special budget line item with global warming for

woodall: that's almost going to -- mr. dreier: we're just being very mod nest our assessment of it so far but we're up to 75 -- modest in our assessment of it so far but we're at 75. mr. woodall: that almost takes the smile off my face. 75. the people's house, the most responsive body we have in federal government has reached in with that a.t.m. card and taken that money out, with absolutely no funds on deposit. well, again, the buck stops today. now, in fairness, mr. speaker, this bill does not do everything i wanted it to do. i wanted more in each and every time -- and each and every time wheeve an opportunity, we had an opportunity in h.r. 1, that continuing resolution we passed, great process, great debate, great conclusion. this does not go as far as the house budget -- the budget that we passed that day, mr. speaker, you'll remember, we considered absolutely every budget that any member of congress brought to the floor of this house, we decided on one. this doesn't do as much as that did but you know what this does d

woodall: i thank my friend. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. the gentleman from arizona. mr. franks: thank you, madam speaker. i would now yield to the gentleman from georgia for such time as he may consume. >> thank i thank the gentleman from arizona and my friend from indiana. i mean this to me, tomorrow, where we are today is a monumental time in the history of this nation. when we think about the decisions and the debate, the discussions, the rhetoric of tomorrow, it will be amazing to see who falls on which side. mr. graves: because it's truly a choice. it is a decision and we've heard that this is going to be a time of choosing. tomorrow is the day. we've had reckless debt and deficit for years now and it's not a necessarily democrat problem because republicans have also been a part of the problem. we've seen both parties guilty in this time of fiscal nonsense or recklessness of washington spending but it's come to an end and we have an opportunity before us that

woodall, thank you for your current and past public service. i thank you for your interest in providing even additional leadership. mr. woodall, you seem to have avoided any kind of serious conversation today. i only have to suggest to you that you must be a good person because your grandchildren are so well behaved. [laughter] >> congratulations. i want to focus my attention on community banks as has been at least in conversation today a topic of conversation. you indicate, mr. gruenberg, in your testimony primary federal regulator of the majority of our country's banks. fdic carries a particular responsibility for future of this crucial sector of our financial industry. i have genuine concern that community banks are on the verge of becoming a thing of the past. and in large part, i believe that because of the increasing regulatory burden that's being placed upon those banks. i don't know whether you would know a number, but i'd be interested in knowing what the percentage of regulatory cost is in comparison to assets or loans, deposits as co

woodall, mr. gruenberg, thank you. i only have to suggest that you must be a good person because your grandchildren are so well behaved. [laughter] congratulations. i want to focus on community banks. at least as has been a conversation today, a topic of conversation, you indicated, mr. gruenberg, the fdic carries a particular responsibility for the future of this crucial segment of our financial industry. i have a genuine concern that community banks are on the verge of becoming a thing of the past, and in large part, i believe upper because of the increase in regulatory burden that is being placed upon those banks. i do not know whether you know a number, but i would be interested in knowing what the percentage of regulatory costs is in comparison to assets or loans, deposits, as compared to a larger financial institutions, but but in my view, they are the ones as you outlined, in making loans, it's a different kind of environment. if you are asking, seeking a loan at a community bank, and you are in someplace in a l

woodall: thank you. serving on the rule committees can be a benefit and a burden. there's been kind of a gentleman's agreement, from what i've read about the institution that if the committee of yours diction brings out a clever idea, they only bring out those clever ideas that they really like. and then leadership of the house, whichever party is in control of the house, then only allows those reported bills they really like to show up here on the floor of the house for us to debate. so when the rule committees gets around to considering amendments, maybe the only amendments that are allowed nibble around the edges but don't take substantive changes to the underlying bill. five months, six now, i've been here in the u.s. house of representatives as part of this freshman -- freshman class and what we're doing today excites me. folks who have been here longer, maybe it's not as exciting to you as it is to me. what's happening today, not only did we get a bill going through the regular order process, went through the amendment process in committee, everybody got a vo

woodall for five minutes. mr. woodall: i'm conflicted as i come to the floor today. i planned to talk about tax reform this morning. the ways and means committee for the first time in 10 years is holding a hearing on the fair tax next tuesday, july 26, the fair tax is a proposal that abolishes the income tax system in this country that punishes people based on what they earn and creates a consumption tax that rewards people based on how much they save. as we talk about poverty here this morning, as we talk about how to get folks back on their feet, the problem in this country is not that we don't bring in enough revenue, it's that we spend too much money. there's a bias in our culture now toward consumption as opposed to thrift. now when did that happen? i wish i were a better student of history. i know that ben franklin saved with us that a penny saved is a penny earned. i know our colleagues in the past said if we talk about a million here and a million there, pretty soon we're talking about real money. my grandfather was a united methodist minister in the south ge

woodall: thank you, mr. chairman. i realize $200,000 doesn't seem like a lot of money as we talk about the millions and billions and then on to trillions. but, mr. chairman, when i got this press release from the department of energy dated may 24, 2011, it read this, the u.s. department of energy together with the u.s. department of education today announces the launch of a new energy education initiative, america's home energy education challenge, to educate america's youth about the benefits of energy efficiency. now, mr. chairman, you know as i do this committee's been asked to make tough, tough decisions about how to allocate money in this appropriations bill and has done an amazing job in doing that and yet what we continue to see out of agencies from downtown is the creation of new programs. now you know as i know that we could go through an eliminate -- we could zero out this entire appropriations bill and we wouldn't be anywhere close to balanced. we could zero ewe out all the dis-- discretionary spending, it

woodall, for five minutes. . mr. woodall: i'm pleased to come to the floor today. i'm still a little winded. i was in the ways and means committee. i'm embarrassed my fitness is you such a state running up the stairs winds me but that's what happens when you don't focus on something, when you don't put in the time it takes to stay fit, things degrade. that's exactly what's happened to our economy, mr. speaker. it's absolutely true that folks are out of work and it's absolutely true that the best form of unemployment relief is a paycheck. it's not an unemployment check, it's a paycheck. were are these jobs going overseas? this is the real debate that happens up here absolutely every day because people just believe different things about how it is that we put americans back to work. every single person who comes to this house floor wants americans to go back to work. wants america's economy to be the pride of the world once again. but i will tell you the reason we lose jobs overseas is not because we are taxing businesses too little. it's because we are taxing busine

woodall, for five minutes. mr. woodall: i thank you, mr. speaker. i came down to the floor today to talk about the fiscal crisis that we're having in america. there are those when i open the front page of the paper, mr. speaker, i read the headline and it talks about having a debt limit vote crisis in this country. a debt limit vote crisis. i wept back. i looked back. apparently we raised the debt limit over 70% with a vote right here in this body. having a vote is mott a complicated thing to do. what we're having is a debt crisis. i think that's an important distinction. i was talking to a freshman colleague of mine yesterday about that. understand that we can have the vote, mr. speaker. it's within the house's authority to bring a vote to raise the debt limit tomorrow. in fact, we brought that vote to the house already. should we raise the debt ceiling or should we not? mr. speaker, we defeated it, defeated it by a wide margin in this body. what we have is a debt crisis. now, mr. speaker, if it were just existing debt, perhaps we could work out a

woodall, for five minutes. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. i came to the house floor today to talk about the big deal. the big deal. every time i open up a newspaper, mr. speaker, this week it's been talking about the big deal. the big deal that's going on at the white house. i want to set the record straight here today. the big deal happened right here on the floor of this house when the only budget that's passed in all of washington, d.c. all year long, cutting $6 trillion in spending was passed by this body, mr. speaker. that's the big deal. $6 trillion agreed upon by this united states house of representatives. now, i know down at the white house they're talking about the big deal as $3 trillion in spending cuts. $6 trillion, mr. speaker. the big deal started right here. now, you know, mr. speaker, i'm a big fan of the open process we had in this house where every single member of the house of representatives come here and have their voice heard, offer their ideas heard and offer their opinions. i have a vote tally from that week voting o

woodall to preside over the committee of the whole. the chair: committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h.r. 2551 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriationers in lennell slailtive branch for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2012, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the first time. the gentleman from florida, mr. crenshaw and the gentleman from california, mr. honda, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. crenshaw: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: without objection. mr. crenshaw: thank you. this is the funding bill for the subcommittee on legislative branch of the appropriations committee. for 2012. everybody knows that we are in the midst of some very difficult economic times. i don't need to tell the members we have had deficits of over $1 trillion for the last couple of years, don't immediate to tell people that we've got about $4 trillion added to

woodall, on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. good awl of georgia. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 218, the nays are 191. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment offered by the gentleman mr. mcclintock, on which further proceed wrgs postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. mcclintock

in that would be congressman phil gingrey of georgia and the incoming freshman from georgia, rob woodall and from california, congressman garry miller one who has been a strong to opponent of the rule of law and the rights of american citizens. these people and others have been strong, strong supporters of the birth right citizenship act and because of my role on immigration committee where i have been for now going into the ninth year, it seemed to be a better fit for me to carry this piece of legislation and so i step forward with it because we need to take a position. what's going on, mr. speaker, is that in the united states of america, the people that erroneously read the 14th amendment of the constitution, in the component that addresses what we call birth right citizenship and it says in the 14th amendment that all persons born and/or naturalized in the united states and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are american citizens. all persons born or naturalized and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are american citizens. now, the circumstances are that this created a misinterpret

woodall: and it's the responsibility of the rules committee then to decide what kind of choices will we be able to make about the bill once it gets to the floor. there was a time in this house, mr. speaker, where what that meant was the rules committee closed that process down, didn't allow any other options, any other opinions, no amendments at all, sent a bill to the floor and said, take it or leave it. but, mr. speaker, under the leadership of chairman dreier on the rules committee and under the leadership here of the speaker of the house that process has begun to change. now it's not perfect but it's begun to change and i rise in support of a rule today where the rules committee ask all 435 members of this house when it comes to the clean water cooperative federalism act, ask all members of this house, what would you like to see changed about this bill, how would you like to see this bill improved, what would you like done differently in this piece of legislation? as you know, mr. speaker, yesterday we had that exact same process on the flood insurance program and not only did we

woodall: i heard there was a question about what kind of option we provided for the united states and what can we do to get america out of this crisis? and i know the answer. we've got a lot of choices on their debts, mr. speaker. if you talk to them i hope you'll recommend these. just look on the desk in front of them. they have three good schoices. you want a long-term solution to this challenge? 10 years, look at the house budget plan we sent to the senate in april. 10 years we can solve this crisis. 10 years out into the future, cut $6 trillion out of the budget, put america on track toward fiscal responsibility. 10 years too long? mr. speaker, last week we passed cut, cap and balance. 18-month solution to this problem. 18-month solution. cut spending, cap spending, balances the budget. two years too long? look at what we sent over last night, mr. speaker. six months. six months. it also cuts, caps and balances, a six-month extension on the debt ceiling. mr. speaker, when you talk to the senate, please tell them, six months, two years, 10 years, the house has acted on all of those