Transcripts For CSPAN Public Affairs 20121219

Both can be found at theatlantic. Com. Thanks for joining us. We will take you live to the house floor. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2012] the speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. The clerk the speakers room, washington, d. C. , december 19, 2012. I hereby appoint the honorable Daniel Webster to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, john a. Boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. The speaker pro tempore the chair will receive a message. The messenger mr. Speaker, a message from the senate. The secretary mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore madam secretary. The secretary i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has agreed to s. Res. 624, relative to the death of the honorable daniel k. Inouye, senator from the state of ohio. Hawaii. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the order of the house of january 17, 2012, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. The chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip each, to five minutes but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11 50 a. M. The chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. Blumenauer, for five minutes. Mr. Blumenauer thank you, mr. Speaker. The reality behind the fiscal cliff is that if we really get down to work, talking with one another, digging into the details, it really is not that hard. The Nuclear Arsenal is a prime example and something that doesnt get nearly the attention it deserves and is an illustration of why the fiscal sequestration level over the next 10 years for the department of defense, which would bring it down to 2007 spending levels adjusted for inflation, is really not that draconian. During the cold war, the United States spent on average 35 billion a year on its Nuclear Weapons complex. Today, it spends an estimated 55 billion. The Nuclear Weapons budget is spread across the department of defense, department of energy, the department of homeland security, and the government doesnt publicly disclose how much it is, but the last year that the elements were aggregated together, it spent at least 52. 4 billion, thats in 2008, according to the Carnegie Endowment for peace. That doesnt include classified programs and was five times the state department budget, seven times the e. P. A. And 14 times what the department of energy spent on Everything Else it does. Indeed, the president agreed to a 200 billion modernization in order to secure the approval of the strategic arms reduction treaty in the senate. Well, perhaps its time for us to take a step back and ask what is actually the purpose. Who is the enemy that this Nuclear Arsenal is going to destroy deter . The Nuclear Arsenal didnt stop iran from pursuing Nuclear Weapons. Its not helping us at all with the terrorists who are now the central focus of our security concerns. It doesnt help in iraq or afghanistan, and we basically have a stalemate between russia and china. Nuclear weapons have not been used since world war ii. They likely never will be, so why do we need landbased intercontinental ballistic missiles, bombers and submarine launched Delivery Systems, all three of them . Do we really need 12 new strategic submarines that will cost almost 5 billion a year if were lucky and contain costs . Who actually is being deterred by this massive spending and buildup . Exactly what are the circumstances 30 years from now that call for this massive stockpile of weapons and three redundant Delivery Systems . You know, recent articles in the post by walter, i think really focused on this, ordained priest in the post, g. A. O. Reports, you dont have to dig very deeply to find out that this is a bloated, flawed program with little tactical benefit for us now and a great deal of fiscal pain currently and well into the future. 1 years ago, president 21 years ago, president george h. W. Bush unilaterally announced landbased tactical Nuclear Weapons stationed in europe and an end to the deployment of tactical Nuclear Weapons on surface ships, attack submarines and landbased naval aircraft. Billions had been spent over the years on such weapons, but there was really never any plans for how to use them. Most have been dismantled and the United States today is no weaker. Most frankly have not even noticed. What could we accomplish over the next 10 years with the same sort of Bold Thinking on the part of the president , the pentagon and members in congress . Its time that we find out. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. Poe, for five minutes. Mr. Poe thank you, mr. Speaker. 27yearold marine corps john hammer served two tours in iraq and afghanistan. While he was on active duty, hammers battalion was hit very hard in fallujah, and 13 of his fellow marines were killed in action. When he came home to america, he suffered from ptsd, as many of our warriors do. He spent time in a recovery facility in california to cope with the mental wounds of war. Then in august, john decided to get some r r. He wanted to go to costa rica with a fellow marine, ian, and they wanted to go on a surfing trip. According to ian, surfing gave john a peace of mind and helped really with his therapy. So the two packed up their car with their surf boards and began their journey from florida to costa rica. Their trip took them through texas to the border, brownsville, texas. There they crossed the International Border into matamoros, mexico, and thats as far as they got. John carried with him 100yearold antique gun, a family air loom that belonged to his grandfather. When they arrived at the customs and Border Protection in texas, john did what he was supposed to do. He filled out all the necessary paperwork. He talked to u. S. Customs and verified with them that the gun did not violate any mexican law. The two allegedly handed the mexican officials the paperwork regarding the rifle, but instead of continuing on their way to costa rica to go surfing, hammer was immediately detavend, dragged away to detained, dragged away to a notorious jail in matamoros, mexico, where they jail narcoterrorists. This is a picture of the marine when he served america. This is a picture recently taken in the matamoros prison. As you can see hes in solitary confinement and like back in the old days chained to his bed because so he wont go anywhere all because of a mixup of what the law is and what should have happened to him at the border. So hes being held as a criminal because the size of the barrel of that rifle was apparently too long. Even though u. S. Customs told him he was not violating any mexican or american law in having the rifle. Hammer had no criminal intent when he took that old rifle into mexico. John hammer should not have to spend another holiday away from his family. Holidays he spent while he served as a marine and certainly he shouldnt spend a holiday away from his family in a mexican jail where he is illegally being detained. Obviously there appears to be a misunderstanding between u. S. And mexican officials with hammer literally caught in the middle of this. So the mexican president , enrique nieto, should intervene and have hammer released. It is the power of the mexican president to do this in a diplomatic way. So i ask he do so in releasing hammer by christmas. Mr. Speaker, this marine and veteran has spent his life defending freedom, defending america, taking care of america and its time that america take care of him by asking for and expecting his release from this mexican prison where he ought not to be. And thats just the way it is. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland, mr. Hoyer, for five minutes. Mr. Hoyer thank you, mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Hoyer i thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for over 40 years, the Congressional Black Caucus has strengthened and enhanced the work of the peoples house. It does so by carrying into this chamber the voices of millions of americans who for too long in our history were voiceless. It represents millions of our citizens who contribute greatly to building our economy, defending our hard won freedoms and fighting for equal justice and equal opportunity for all of our citizens. The Congressional Black Caucus has been rightly known for a long period of time as the conscience of the congress. And, mr. Speaker, since he arrived here seven years ago, our colleague and my friend, Emanuel Cleaver, has been the conscience of the c. B. C. Representative cleaver, as most of us who serve with him know, but Many Americans might not know, wears multiple hats. He is not only the former mayor of kansas city, missouri, but hes also an ordained methodist pastor. Pastor cleaver is frequently called upon for words to deliver at my whip meeting on thursday mornings. I have said they are the highlight of our week, in many respects. Emanuel cleaver speaks to us about humanity, about caring, about respecting each of our colleagues on either side of the aisle, of respecting and honoring our responsibilities to our fellow citizens. In short, Emanuel Cleaver on a weekly basis appeals to the best that is within us, to reflect the best that is america. Emanuel cleaver will shortly be succeeded as president of the c. B. C. By marcia fudge from ohio. Like Emanuel Cleaver, a leader of conscience, a leader of great ability and a leader who will reach out to all of us as well and continue to lead this organization that we know is the conscience of the congress. As we talk about creating jobs, as we talk about caring for one another, as we talk about makinging life better for all americans, there is no more compelling voice than the Congressional Black Caucus towards that end. And there has been no compelling voice than that of my friend, Emanuel Cleaver. Emanuel, i expect your leadership to be enhanced as the days go by, but you have shown us an example of how one can serve with dignity, with grace and with effectiveness. Thank you. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. Quayle, for five minutes. Mr. Quayle thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to thank the people of the third Congressional District of arizona who put their trust and faith in me to represent them in the 112th congress. The people of our district are good, hardworking americans. They value their family, their country and their freedoms. It was an absolute honor to serve them in this congress. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their support throughout my life. Without them i would not be here today. Mr. Speaker, id also like to thank my tireless staff, both here in washington and back home in arizona, their dedication to our district and to our country was something that was amazing to watch. And over the course of two years, working day and night, they became a lot more than people i worked with, they became extended family. I thank them for that. Mr. Speaker, i want to finally thank, most importantly, my wife, tiffany, who a few years ago made me the luckiest man on the faith of the earth when she said yes to being my wife. I want to thank her for all of the sacrifices that she has made so that i could be in this house. She has held down a fulltime job all the while playing both mom and dad to our daughter when i was away from home. I can never thank her enough for all that she has done. Mr. Speaker, the past two years have been an interesting ride. Primarily because it was highly unlikely i would ever speak on this floor. You see, mr. Speaker, if you asked me five years ago if i would ever run for public office, i would have said no. Not because i dont value and honor Public Service, i certainly do. But the environment i grew up in, i saw the bad size of politics, and i didnt know if i wanted to put my family through the same trials and tribulations. How that all changed as i witnessed our country continuing to stray from our its founding principles and how we didnt reverse course, then we were going to lose countless generations because of lost opportunities. So, mr. Speaker, i ran for office not for a title, not for some unhealthy desire to be the center of attention, but to serve my fellow citizens and to be a part of a movement that would reestablish the belief that our countrys greatness comes from its people and not from the government. And to make sure that america remains the last great hope on earth. Two years ago we set out to accomplish those objectives. We didnt succeed. Not for the lack of trying, though. We did take steps towards solving the biggest and most severe issues that we faced. We must build on this and not shrink from solving the fiscal disaster that awaits us if we do nothing. Mr. Speaker, as this Congress Comes to a close in the next couple weeks, im confident that the members of the next congress will rise to the occasion and provide the solutions to a worried nation. However, my confidence is not limitless. If petty politics drives policy decisions, if one group is pitted against another for political gain, if personal destruction drowns out personal accountability, then sadly, the legacy of our great nation will be forever altered. And the world will be a dimmer place. I hope and pray it does not happen, mr. Speaker, but as i said, my confidence is not limitless. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. Scott, for five minutes. Mr. Scott thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I rise to join some of my fellow colleagues in recognizing and honoring a distinguished gentleman serving in the congress of the United States, who is the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and that is representative, reverend Emanuel Cleaver. God has a way of having the right person serve at the right time in the right place. And we have such a person in our chairman, chairman cleaver. For chairman cleaver took office at a time of great turmoil and tumultuous. This tumultuousness. This country was experiencing and at the height of perhaps the most devastating financial crisis since the great depression, and chairman cleaver turned that situation into a tremendous positive. By bringing his insightfulness and by helping to share with the entire nation that while we did have great economic calamity, for every sector in our economy, nowhere was that damage as greatly felt as in the Africanamerican Community. And we were blessed to have a chairman that could articulate it with the sensitivity and with the intelligence and with the intellect to be able to express those very serious concerns that were impacting the Africanamerican Community in a way and in a manner that enveloped the entirety of the entire population of our country. Chairman cleaver became chairman at a time of the height of the tumultuous health care debate, where there was great passions that were brought to bear and expressions of demonstration, where hundreds of thousands of people gathered here in washington to express their concerns, but chairman cleaver provided a calmness, an impact that helped us to navigate those troubled waters. Very, very successfully. And when it came time to look at the disparates disparities of this Economic Impact and joblessness, he initiated job fairs in every Congressional District all across this country that helped people be able to get jobs. He addressed the health disparities, particularly as they impact the Africanamerican Community, in a way and in a manner that everyone was able to accept the reality. So we thank you, congressman cleaver, for the outstanding job that you have done. And we want to thank god for sending the right person to us at the right time. Thank you, chairman cleaver, and it is with my great honor to serve with you and thank you for your outstanding service. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina, mr. Watt, for five minutes. Mr. Watt mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Watt and i want to join with my colleagues in expressing thanks and giving praise to our outgoing chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Hes not leaving congress, hes just leaving the chairmanship of the Congressional Black Caucus. I dont usually come over here for these fiveminute speeches or oneminute speeches, but today i thought i would make an exception to say some things about our outgoing chair. And i want to make two points. First of all, contrary to the perception thats out in the world, there are no bad people in this body. All of us are good people who are here to serve the American People and our constituents in particular. I characterize us as all good guys and that includes female in that good guys category, too. But then there are people who, because of their particular qualities, i would put in a category of really, really, really good people. It doesnt take long to detect those people. It comes through in the manner, in the way that they deal with their colleagues and the way that they consult and console you when you really need consultation and consolation, and the way they give you advice or fail to give you advice or dont give you advice when you either need it or dont need it. They are not in the way, they are just really, really, really good people. And thats the category in which i would put our outgoing chair, chairman Emanuel Cleaver. So i want to join his leadership has been outstanding, but i its not that that i came to praise. The second thing i really want to emphasize about him is that the question i get most from constituents is, who is doing something inside you alls institution to make youall more more compatible with each other . And so every week i look forward to getting in my intracongress mail this letter that our outgoing chair sends to every member of this body. Just one or two or three paragraphs, one page, never longer than one page, just giving us some sage wisdom and advice about how to be nicer to each other, how to soften our edges, how to work Better Together to achieve the aspirations of our constituents and of our nation. Those are the Little Things that people out in the public never see or hear about. And chairman cleaver has set that example, sometimes im sure he feels like hes a voice in the wilderness by doing that, but every single week each of us gets this special appeal from Emanuel Cleaver to be what we should be, stewards much our country and to do it in a way that does not demean our institution and demean each other and to advocate for what we believe, but to do it in a way that is more human and kind. I want to join with my colleagues in thanking him for his leadership, but most of all i want to thank him for the tremendous role model he has been for our institution to try to make our institution a better place in which to serve and to try to make each of us better members of this institution. I yield back, mr. Chairman. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. Neal, for five minutes. Mr. Neal i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Neal thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me also thank reverend cleaver at his request i cant series of Social Security and spent the better part of two days with him and i got opportunity to see the regard and respect that he was held in by the citizens of kansas city. Mr. Speaker, let me address the issue of extending new markets tax credits. I have fought for this Program Since its enactment in 2000 because its a costeffective way to create jobs and drive investments in communities with high rates of poverty and unemployment. I have seen the amazing results of this initiative firsthand, let me highlight just some of those massachusetts projects. Let me first tell you a little bit about the new markets tax credit. It was designed to stimulate investment and Economic Growth in lowincome communities that are traditionally overlooked by convengal capital markets. Conventional capital markets. Since enactment it has generated 145 million in projects that range from the first supermarket in a generation in southeast washington, d. C. , to the restoration of one of the greatest accoustical houses in the world, the colonial theater, in pitsford, massachusetts. Furthermore, new markets investments between 2003 and 2010 have been responsible for creating over 500,000 jobs in economically distressed communities across the country. These are remarkable results. Let me share with you another success store from back home that further explains why im a big supporter of new markets. The holy oak Public Library. Holyoak is a city in western massachusetts with a population of about 40,000 people. From the late 19th century until the mid 20th century, it was the worlds biggest paper manufacturer. In fact, at one point there were 25 paper mills in operation in holy oak, and thats how it got its nickname, the paper city. However this industrial citys fortunes end when the paper mills closed and holy oak now has 1 3 of its population living below the poverty line. The Public Library project is currently under way and involves renovating and expanding the 110yearold library and transforming it into a 21st century education and training center. For many years there hasnt had funding to maintain itself and it has deteriorated. Nearly 40 of the interior is nearly compromised or inaccessible to the public. But thanks in large part to new markets, tax credit financing, the holyoke Public Library is currently being renovated and inowe advised and will provide critical Public Access to computers and the latest technologies. New market tax credits is a good example of how public and private investment can be used to spur community and economic revitalization. New markets tax credit expired at the end of last year. Its critical that the congress not leave town until we once again extend this program and the opportunities that come with it. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, ms. Bass. Ms. Bass i rise to recognize the extraordinary leadership of my colleague, mr. Emanuel cleaver, who represents with distinction missouris fifth district. I want to offer a special word of appreciation for his many years of service, not merely for his constituents, but for his steady commitment to employ the power of his office to ensure our nation is set on a course where we all succeed. As chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, mr. Cleaver used his position of leadership to help elevate and embolden us to address some of the great social and economic challenges of our day, not just for africanamericans, but for all americans. Which remines me of the evening in North Carolina at the reminds me in the evening in North Carolina at the sdratic convention when he gave that fiery speech that brought everyone to their feet. He reminded us in america that our strength is rooted in our nations most profound gift, its diversity. He reminded us no matter how difficult times may get or may be that we must hope on. That is the power of our hope that drives us to not give up when we have failed but to try again until we get it right. As i complete my first term in congress, let me thank the chairman for his counsel, his guidance and his friendship. Hes provided advice and wisdom that as a newcomer to washington has been invaluable. Hes stepping down as head of the congressional black caugs, but we will all continue to caucus, but we will all continue enjoy his reflections at caucus meetings and getting notes and promoting civility. Its my personal hope that one day he will collect all of these notes and reflections and publish them, but i did think i would end with words from that famous North Carolina speech. Hope inspires me to believe that any day now we will catch up to the ideals put forth by our nations founding fathers. It is our hope and faith that moves us. It is our hope that tells us our latter days will be better than our former. It is our hope that instructs us to march on. I look forward to working with you in the years and struggles and successes that are in front of us. Thank you, mr. Cleaver, for your service, your friendship and for your leadership. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlelady from ohio, ms. Fudge, for five minutes. Ms. Fudge i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Fudge thank you so much, mr. Speaker. Today i rise to salute Emanuel Cleaver, my chairman and my friend. The congressman from the great state of missouri who was unanimously elected to lead the Congressional Black Caucus for the 112th congress. As we move closer to adjournment of this congress, i rise with my colleagues to thank Emanuel Cleaver for his stellar leadership and sacrifice during the last two years. From councilman to kansas citys first fearn mayor and to congressman africanamerican mayor and to congressman, he represents americans with undeniable zeal and passion. The leader of the Congressional Black Caucus carries the burden of modeling that which makes us the conscience of the congress, and he has succeeded. A man of fine intellect and unwavering integrity who daily exhibits his deep seeded belief in civility, chairman cleaver is firm in his convictions based on what is right rather than what is expedient. As an ordained minister with many years of pastorial experience, Emanuel Cleaver has not only served as chairman of the caucus but has served as our spiritual advisor as well. He is a friend on whom we can all depend. He is selfless and unassuming, yet powerful, respected and a trusted leader on both sides of the aisle. Chairman Emanuel Cleaver has earned the respect and admiration of citizens throughout this nation and many beyond our borders. Today i salute chairman Emanuel Cleaver. Today the Congressional Black Caucus salutes him. We thank him for his dedication to our people, his devotion to the highest standards and his undeniably effective leadership. Our caucus thanks chairman cleaver, our country thanks him and i thank him. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, ms. Richardson, for five minutes. Ms. Richardson i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes and to revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Richardson mr. Speaker, i rise today to pay tribute to a great man, one of the most respected members of this house, a leader of unparalleled ability, a trusted friend and one of the best chairs in the 41year history of the Congressional Black Caucus. Im talking about the honorable Emanuel Cleaver ii. The Congressional Black Caucus has long and rightly been known as the conscience of the congress, and its no exaggeration to say that Emanuel Cleaver is the conscience of the c. B. C. Prior to being elected to the house of representatives, he served on the local level, but since coming here to the house in 2004, Emanuel Cleaver has been a champion for the poor, the ainled, the infermed and for those struggling the aged, the infermed and those struggling to stay in the middle class. Hes extended Employment Opportunities for those looking to build a better life for themselves and their families and to represent god. He has done so with dignity, grace and civility. As c. B. C. Chair during the 112th congress, Emanuel Cleaver understood the importance of drawing attention to the economic crisis in the Africanamerican Community where the Unemployment Rates were more than double that of whites. And under his leadership, the c. B. C. Launched the for the people jobs initiative, hosting town hall discussions and job fairs, one of which was in los angeles in my hometown, and four other urban areas hit hardest by the recession. The c. B. C. Took the feedback and received the c. B. C. Took the feedback that was received from those communities and its recommendations for creating jobs to the president who included them in the american jobs act. Following the assault and the murder of trayvon martin, an unarmed africanamerican teenager in florida, the c. B. C. Stood up for his parents and made sure their plea for justice did not go unheeded. Chairman cleaver said that justice delayed is justice denied and when the precious right to vote was under attack this election season, the c. B. C. , led by chairman cleaver, and incoming chair marcia fudge, worked overtime to overcome those obstacles and to ensure that our constituents were ready and able to vote with the c. B. C. s for the people Voter Participation initiative. As a result, africanamericans turned out in the 2012 election far exceeded the expectations and were successful in re electing president barack obama. Reelecting president barack obama. Chairman cleaver has led the c. B. C. With skill and passion and an unwavering commitment to justice and equal opportunity during the most critical times of this nations history. I thank chairman cleaver for his service, for his leadership, for his friendship and most of all for his example of being led by god here in the house of representatives. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. Davis, for five minutes. Mr. Davis mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Davis mr. Speaker, members of the house, i rise first of all to commend a matriarch in my community who passed away a few days ago, ms. Mavis donahue, who came to the United States of america from jamaica and, of course, much of her family came with her and they kind of stayed together as a group. It was her daughter, claudette, that i first met, and we worked together for about 40 years, but then her soninlaw, billy, claudettes husband, took the first photograph that i ever used in a Campaign Brochure. Their daughter, aircrafta, who is my erica, who is my goddaughter, is the first person to ever appear on a Campaign Brochure when i first ran for public office. I want to commend them as they prepare to take their mother, their grandmother, their aunt, their friend, their neighbor back to her home in jamaica to be buried alongside her mother. But i also join my colleagues in coming to pay tribute to our leader, the reverend congressman Emanuel Cleaver. And weve all talked about his leadership, and ive been told two things about leadership that i always try and remember. One is that leadership is the ability to get other people to do what you want them to do, but because they want to do it. Meaning that somehow or another you can convince them that what youre talking about is the thing to do. The other thing that ive learned about leadership is that you cant lead successfully where you dont go, and you cant teach what you dont know. Ive been able to follow the life of Emanuel Cleaver long before he became a member of the house of representatives. He grew up in the midwest, kind of, but really the southwest, in a real sense, as i did, and our schools played football in the southwest athletic conference. First time we decided to televise our game we went out and washed cars and did all the things you did to raise the money that we needed, played prairie view. Lo and behold they beat us 280, which was a real letdown after we had paid to have the Football Game televised. But i remember that Elijah Emanuel came out of school, went to work for the southern christian Leadership Conference , became a leader in his community as a young person. Pastor of a tremendous church that ive had the opportunity to visit, and they even let me have something to say. Reverend cleaver, congressman cleaver, america has benefited from your leadership for many years. We know that what youve done for the caucus and for this congress will stand, but we know that you will keep doing it for many, many more years to come. God bless you, and god keep you, and i yield back, mr. Chairman. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. Curson, for five minutes. Mr. Curson thank you, mr. Chairman. I ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert material into the record on the subject of representative Emanuel Cleavers retirement as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Curson i, too, offer my congratulations to representative cleaver for his service to all americans as the c. B. C. Chair. Millions of americans are out of work through no fault of their own. Millions of americans are relying on federally funded benefits to make ends meet and as the nation starts recovering. These longterm benefits for the unemployed will immediately and completely stop on december 29, 2012, unless we in congress act. There is no phaseout. Every individual receiving those benefits now will be cut off cold. The department of labor estimates that over two million americans will lose their emergency benefits at the end of the year, including over 92,000 people in my home state of michigan. Cutting off benefits for the longterm unemployed will have as devastating impact on middleclass families who are struggling to stay out of poverty. They are critically important for the necessities of life rent, groceries and utility. Cutting off Unemployment Benefits will also hurt americas economic recovery as economists predict that allowing these benefits to expire at the end of this year will reduce Economic Growth next year by 58 billion. Emergency Unemployment Benefits provide a particularly valuable Economic Contribution to the economy because financially stressed unemployed workers typically spend the benefits they receive quickly. It would hurt Small Businesses and add to the downward spiral of a failing economy. The Census Bureau reports that Unemployment Benefits, both state and federal, reduce the number of americans living in poverty last year by 2. 3 million, including over 600,000 children. The Congressional Research Service Estimates that in 2011, Unemployment Benefits reduced the poverty rate for families receiving them by 40 . Cutting off Unemployment Benefits for two million americans will only substantially increase hardship and poverty in our nation. Now is not the time to deprive these americans of a critical lifeline. Federally funded Unemployment Benefits should be extended by this congress. We can create jobs by investing in rebuilding our nations infrastructure, creating real jobs and real revenue by people working for a living. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri, mr. Cleaver, for five minutes. The gentlelady from california, miss spehr ms. Speier, for five minutes. Ms. Speier thank you, mr. Speaker. I, too, rise to pay my respect and honor representative cleaver. I am one of those many members of the house who each week waits for that letter from congressman cleaver, and each of these letters he tells a life lesson. Typically one to inspire us to be more hopeful, to be more willing to look at the issue from someone elses perspective, to be more compassionate, to be more loving. So i, too, share in his commitment to making this place a more responsive environment for all. I thank mr. Cleaver for his great leadership as the chair of the c. B. C. Over the last year. I now, mr. Speaker, would like to turn to my prepared remarks for this morning. Id like to read you some song lyrics that air force Technical Sergeant Jennifer Smith found on her government computer at Shaw Air Force base. The lyrics of the song are called, the s and m man, and they go like this. Who can take a machete, whack off all her limbs, throw her in the ocean, and watch her try to swim . The s and m man. Jennifer smith reported this song and other sexually explicit documents to her superiors in the air force. The s and m man is offensive, its hostile, but to her male colleagues and superiors, the song is just tradition. A tradition that is alive and well, celebrated in song and patches, offensive pictures, and behavior, and the tacit approval of commanding officers. A military tradition of demeaning women is not only sickening but contrary to the fundamental principles of an institution fouvended in respect founded in respect and honor and in discipline, and it undermines our militarys readiness and cohesion. Simply put, it gravely damages the military. This is the 24th time that i have come to the floor to share the story of a service member, either man or woman, who has been raped, sexually assaulted, or harassed by fellow Service Members. By the department of defenses own records and estimates, there are 19,000 rapes and Sexual Assaults each year in the military, and the v. A. Reports that half a million veterans are affected by military sexual trauma. Still, less than 14 of these victims actually report the crimes. And why is that . Because so few are prosecuted, less than 9 . And the minuscule number ends in conviction. Air force Sergeant Jennifer smith has been subjected to this culture for nearly two decades. She finally had enough. She filed a lawsuit, and in her lawsuit she chronicles 17 years, 17 years of abuse and a toxic culture. From 1995 until the present time. A culture that speaks of repulsive and destructive behavior by Service Members and the tacit approval of their commanders. Jennifer smith joined the air force 17 years ago when she was just 18 years of age. Her career has been filled with promotions, with medals, and commendations by her commanding officers. She is one of the soldiers that we so highly regard in the military. She has a record of astonishing accomplishments. In many of the commendations she has been told that she is, quote, a gifted mentor, quote, goes above and beyond, quote, promotes promote her now, exclamation point. Her career has also been filled with Sexual Harassment, assault, and complacency or worse from her commanding officers. During her five deployments in iraq, kuwait, korea, and germany Sergeant Smith has endured assault by a Master Sergeant who pushed her into a room, dropped his pants, and tried to force himself on her. Harassment by a Vice Commander who told her to relax and take her top off during a meeting. Constant exposure to pornographic material and sexually explicit flight songs, and an attempted rape she was too scared to report. Sergeant smith has endured Sexual Harassment in a hostile Work Environment for 13 years. When she decided to speak up. Its time for all of us to speak up. Its time for all of us to expect from the military what we expect from the private sector, no hostile Work Environment. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Murphy, for five minutes. Mr. Murphy thank you, mr. Speaker. While our nation still grieves the loss of so many children and teachers and others in connecticut, it is a time for congress to begin a thoughtful dialogue on what we can do to deal with these mass casualty incidences in our country. They have been going on for some time, but perhaps when we see the faces of children, principals, teachers, and others that burns upon our hearts and motivates us to take further action. I want to make sure that, mr. Speaker, that Congress Takes the appropriate action in a thoughtful, willful, determined way, and not jump to quick conclusions as if simple fixes will prevent this from happening. First, to the parents of children across america who are asking questions, mr. Speaker, id like to offer some of this advice and also in my background as a psychologist, its important for people to remember this, parents should be asking their children what they have heard about the incident. We should listen to their concerns and their emotions. We should answer their questions with age appropriate information. We should support and comfort and reassure them of their safety at home and school. We should observe and watch for symptoms of problems such as changes in appetite, sleep issues, worries, aggression, anger, and sadness. We should protect our children from other Media Exposure and information that creates more fear and problems. It is important for parents to call for professional help for their child if they are showing some concerns and symptoms of this beyond simple adjustment, but also for parents who have children who also have anger disorders. It is important for parents to review with School Personnel locally how their school is handling security and providing counseling assistance at school. It is important for parents to Pay Attention to their own concerns and worries, and keep watch as concerns and symptoms may come later, even for those who are far distant from the location where this occurred. But for my colleagues, mr. Speaker, i recommend that we remove the stigma surrounding Mental Illness and our talk about it. We first and foremost address this as a Mental Health issue. We must commit to expanding access for those who are unable to receive treatment. If parents are not sure what to do, we need to provide them with information and assistance to get their children help. We have to he review a wide range of things such as television violence, video games laced with violent behavior, we have to be sure we are reviewing research thats been done with National Institute of health and universities across the country. What we do not yet have is an answer to understand how we can accurately predict those who perform violent acts. It is also important to understand that mentally ill persons, it is a diagnoseable and treatable condition, that in the vast majority of cases there is no violence involved, and as a matter of fact those with Mental Illness are 11 times more likely to be the victims of aggression rather than the sources of aggression. We cant understand some of the risks these offense times these oftentimes people between ages 15, and 25 tend to be males and intelligent, but we need to be sure we are identifying and providing resources for families to have for care. On the federal government level i also recommend that congress use a thoughtful approach to reviewing every single Mental Health program that we fund. In the department of justice, department of education, health and human service, department of defense, we need a thorough and thoughtful review how we spend, how it is spent, and if it gets down to the level of the family and communities. Understand, for example, in the childrens Mental Health services program, it was funded at 117 million in fiscal year 2012, the president proposed a cut of nearly 29 million, and with the sequestration it will be cut by a further 8 million. Should we make those cuts . Is that a program that is using its money effectively and efficiently . Lets talk about these in a candid and honest way with members of congress and the community. Lets also understand that about 58 million americans suffer from a mental disorder in a given year, about one in four people will have a diagnoseable illness, and if they seek treatment they can get help. We also need to understand that with medication over 70 of the time that it is prescribed by a nonpsychiatrist. Persons who have problems with that, drug interactions, or other problems not quite dealt with, it is appropriate to make sure that insurance plans, both funded by the federal government, state government, and private insurers, are appropriately allowing people to be treated for this. We have many directions we need to go on this. Lets make sure we dont go down the wrong direction. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, ms. Lee, for five minutes. Ms. Lee i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute address the house for five minutes. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Lee thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I rise in honor of our outgoing Congressional Black Caucus chairman, congressman reverend Emanuel Cleaver. Chairman cleaver has been a truly understanding leader of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 112th congress. We were fortunate to have his wisdom and steady, mind you steady leadership as we navigated through some of the most contentious debates i have witnessed during my time in congress. Unlike any we have seen in recent history, chairman cleaver institute add very successful job initiative. With unemployment at record levels, with three to four unemployed persons for every single job opening, with 50 million in poverty, and with unemployment disparities like none we have ever seen, we under stood it was extremely important not to only talk about the need for jobs, but to take action to bring jobs to the people. And thats exactly what chairman cleaver and the Congressional Black Caucus did with last years job tour, by launching job fairs in districts across the country. And we actually connected people with real jobs. Chairman cleaver also helped lead the fight against the efforts to disenfranchise millions of voters. He has been a strong advocate for protecting the most vulnerable among us, ensuring that the social safety net stays in place and pushing for a budget that is balanced and fair. And now as we all are trying to make sense of this socalled fiscal cliff, i am reminded of what he said so succinctly last year as a result of last years deal, he called it quite frankly a satan sandwich. Hes been able to take leadership on these issues because as a person of faith he understands the moral and really i think extremely deep ethical impacts of our decisions. He picks our conscience as we approach our deliberations. Indeed, in what has many times and oftentimes been the most divisive, polarized, and Political Climate many of us have experienced, chairman cleaver has used his pastoral skills, his ability to bring people together on both sides of the aisle to help us all through times of trouble. He is truly a members member. He helped remind us exactly why we are all here, and, yes, he is a brilliant legislator, but he is also a prophetic leader. Chairman cleaver visited my district and he blessed me and my church. It was a spirited sermon. Hes truly an anointed pastor and hes demonstrated this gift in his work and his leadership here in congress. Also, chairman cleaver is a strong environmentalist, and i had the privilege to visit his district where as mayor of kansas city he led the way in greening of his citi. His presentation and clarity on Climate Change and how it is affecting gods planet and its inhabitants, its brilliant and its clear. Communities of color and lowincome communities owe chairman cleaver a debt of gratitude for tackling this tough issue with patience and with clarity. But i know that chairman reverend congressman cleaver does not stand alone. He has an amazing support system with his family and wife. Diane, who has been a friend to me and the Congressional Black Caucus. Diane is a brilliant and beautiful woman who was taught, like myself, by the sisters of laureate ea. She has been by his side offering her advice, counsel and love. I thank chairman cleaver for his friendship, my Congressional District, my pastor, jay smith, senior and jr. , the Baptist Church in oakland, california, my entire Congressional District deeply appreciates chairman cleavers generosity and his attention not only to his republican constituents and his district, but to my district, to all of our district, to our great nation and to our country, thank you, chairman reverend congressman Emanuel Cleaver for your tremendous leadership, for your friendship and i look forward to our continuing Work Together for peace and justice. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlelady from texas, ms. Jackson lee, for five minutes. Ms. Jackson lee i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Jackson lee let me be clear, Emanuel Cleaver is not retiring from the United States congress, but we are here to thank him for his service to the Congressional Black Caucus as chair but really to the nation. Let me thank my colleagues for gathering this morning to raise a voice of crescendo for thanks and appreciation for this man called Emanuel Cleaver. His proginy and his ancestors are grateful for the mark that hes made on behalf of america. He speaks eloquently from his origins of hailing from texas and many relatives who remain there, even those in the surrounding areas of the 18th Congressional District. Hes a proud graduate of prairie view a m university in texas, in the surrounding area of houston, prairie view, texas. He has a great heritage and connectedness to the black power movement, and hes a good combination of peace, gentleness, firmness, leadership and courage. And i might say that he was a man for these times. Just as the bible dictated thattester was a woman for her that esther was a woman for her time. Our chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus found his role in a number of challenges that we faced. And if i might paraphrase a biblical story, hopefully i have it nearly right, but i call this chairman a modern day joseph, who was able to wear the multicolor coat, representing constituencies from different backgrounds and going to represent his people in a foreign land. Chairman cleaver would go to places where others had not gone or raise his voice to issues that were unpopular and he did so with the consensus and collaboration of the astute and committed members of the Congressional Black Caucus. I went to his district, as many of us did. Were proud to see the affection and friendship given to him and love by his constituents, but i was so interested in what we call the green corridor, so many are looking to instill and implement that in their own district. Thank you, reverend cleaver, for coming to houston, texas, on more than one occasion but particularly at the naacp bank wet when i was recipient of the humanitarian award, but if in fact we go to the lowest common denominator, if we dont raise ourselves to the highest level of challenge, then it becomes a diminished return, if i might paraphrase his words. It lifted people off their feet and it caused us to think about what we need to do. Finally, as others have spoken on his work of creating jobs all over america, particularly africanamericans where the job Unemployment Rate was so high, he was a champion during the debate and the challenge of passing the Affordable Care act, now proudly called obamacare. When we came together that sunday, march 19, before we had to go and vote, it was chairman cleaver that led us to a Prayer Service where we worshiped and were renewed, came back ready to cast our votes, to put this great legislation that is going to save lives over the top. We did it as a body, a collected body and as a group of members of the Congressional Black Caucus. So even proceeding his time and leadership, he led. So finally, mr. Speaker, let me offer my thank you to the native son of texas, to the graduate of prairie view a m. Let me congratulate his wife and extended family and all those who have seen had him the willingness to sacrifice for others. Thank you, chairman. The great news is that youre not retiring from this body and your leadership for america will continue. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new york, ms. Clarke, for five minutes. Ms. Clarke thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise to congratulate the outgoing chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, the remped and representative Emanuel Cleaver ii of missouri, who is my colleague and good friend. Representative cleaver has graciously served with distinction in the house of representatives and the fifth Congressional District of missouri for nearly eight years. Hes been an outstanding chairman to the Congressional Black Caucus, ushering the caucus to its 40th anniversary. He cares deep loar for all americans, children, seen deeply for all americans, children, seniors. Who could forget his demonstrative leadership on the c. B. C. Jobs tour where tens of thousands of americans lined up for an opportunity to present themselves to employers . From creating economic opportunity, supporting quality education to our children, for creating equal access to health care for all americans, chairman cleaver is truly has truly been the embodiment of the conscience of the congress. After the shooting of our colleague, grabry ell giffords, her staff gabrielle giffords, her staff in tucson occurred, chairman cleaver was one of the first people to call for civility and the end to the toxic rhetoric here in washington. Congressman cleaver led the effort to ensure that all citizens registered to vote on National Voter registration day, which was an initiative to raise awareness to block the Voter Suppression efforts with the enacting of voter i. D. Laws by numerous states during the president ial elections this year. This outspoken minister and soft spoken minister can bring the fire when needed. I cannot forget his legendary and enthusiastic speech to democrats on the issues, pressing issues that affect all americans as demonstrated in the 2012 Democratic National Convention Speech in charlotte, North Carolina. He is not afraid to display his passion for what is right. Chairman cleaver is truly a man on a mission for his constituents in kansas city and all americans across this nation, a crusader for justice. I am proud to have to serve alongside him in the Congressional Black Caucus and look forward to our continued friendship in the 113th congress. I wish him gods blessings and continued success and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. Israel, for five minutes. Mr. Israel thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise to join my colleagues in hong chairman Emanuel Cleaver. I have never had to wait so long to Say Something nice about our colleague of ours, and that gives you a sense of how wonderful chairman cleaver has been as the chairman of the c. B. C. , as a member of congress and as a human being. This is a place of hard elbows and harsh tongues, and chairman cleaver has always worked to make us better, a Better Congress and better as individuals. He and i found Common Ground very early on in our tenure together. I created the house central aisle caucus and he reached out to me and we tried to figure out ways of injecting respect and tolerance and sensitivity into our discourse on the floor of the house. We share the value that listening is better than shouting and that bringing people together is a more valid tradition than driving them aparticipate. His leadership in the c. B. C. Has inspired so many of us. His ability to drive the c. B. C. Forward and at the same time to reach even higher. And i know that the incoming chairperson, chairwoman fudge, will pursue those goals with equal tenacity and equal vision. Final will he, mr. Speaker, i would say finally, mr. Speaker, i would say this. Although Emanuel Cleaver ascended to the highest position in the Congressional Black Caucus, although hes become a Senior Member of this congress, hes never forgotten our fundamental ability is to work for those we serve and hes reminded us every single day that no matter how heyer at any given time, how heyer at a given time, there how high you are at a given time, there is always a higher calling. We thank chairman cleaver for continuing to serve this body. We look forward to continuing to work with him. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes mr. Payne for 2 1 2 minutes. Mr. Payne i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Payne mr. Speaker, today i rise to honor my good friend and mentor, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, representative Emanuel Cleaver, the outgoing chairman of the c. B. C. An accomplished and esteem legislator, congressman cleaver was instrumental in orchestrating the c. B. C. For the jobs people initiative, which brought together private and Public Sector entities across the nation to help the unemployed americans get jobs. He also spearheaded Voter Protection events to bring attention to the state Voter Suppression policies designed to discourage and prevent africanamericans from exercising their right to vote. Personally it was my pleasure to get to know congressman cleaver through his relationship with my father, the late congressman donald payne senior. However, i became more acquainted with mr. Cleaver when i was a candidate for the 10th Congressional District of new jersey. Throughout the many encounters with congressman cleaver, hes always shown tremendous leadership, intellect, kindness and poise. These characteristics were on full display during the passing of my father. My family and pri honored to have mr. Were honored to have mr. Cleaver deliver an uplifting speech that was felt throughout the church during my fathers service in meamp. His advice and words of comfort were of tremendous help and i will always be grateful for his unwavering support. During my transition to capitol hill, he offered a great deal of support oftentimes stopping me in the hallways asking me how am i doing and how can he help. His assistance has eased my transition considerably, and i am grateful for the profound impact that congressman cleaver has had on me. In just a few months, i have come to know why my father considered him a great colleague and an outstanding leader. Today i cannot think of a better friend and mentor. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. Rangel, for 2 1 2 minutes. Mr. Rangel i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Rangel i dont rise to talk about and to give accolades to congressman cleaver because he has served the Congressional Black Caucus so well. And the reason i dont is because i cant imagine that he wont continue to serve as he has this capacity to do. I know that congresswoman judge fudge is going to do a remarkable job, but there is a uniqueness about reverend cleaver, pastor cleaver, city councilman cleaver, mayor cleaver, congressman cleaver, that god has given these terrific assets to be able to take complex emotional problems and to talk to you like hes known you all of your life as he helps you to work with him to try to find some solution. Every time i hear him give a talk, i envision him and his church talking about those things that give inspiration to so many people that have lost hope, and especially now as many have lost their homes and lost jobs. And as we struggle in this Congress Today in trying to bring some balance in terms of our national deficit, spending as well as our raising the revenue, i cannot help but look at the reverend congressman chairman in terms of the words of matthew when jesus made it abundantly clear, that although the rich were not asking jesus for comfort as related to providing for the sick and the naked and the poor and the underprivileged, but somehow jesus had said when Emanuel Cleaver follows, that is not what we do here in the congress as members of congress. Indeed, its not what we do for the rich and the middle class, but the basic question we all have to decide is, what did we do for the lesser among us . The vulnerable, the sick, the aged, and the poor. Certainly Emanuel Cleaver provides a conscience for all of us that are privileged to serve in this august body. I turn back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until the hour of against the socalled plan b proposal by Speaker Boehner. Well hear from the president in about a halfhour. Well take you live to the white house. West going to be introducing Vice President biden to head up a new guns task force. In the meantime we are going to take you live to the capitol as representatives nancy pelosi, carolyn mccarthy, and others talk about the gun violence in connecticut last week and the reintroduction of the assault weapons ban. Live coverage here on cspan. Any americans want to see the high capacity assault weapon magazine be banned. The assault weapons off our streets. They dont want to see the weapons in the war on our streets and our communities. And of course no single piece of legislation is going to solve everything. We need to look at things holistically. I spent my life as a nurse before i came here and you always have to look at things holistically. Join us because this time it is different. I want to say that most of you know that i have been fighting this issue for over 18 years. And each time it gets harder and harder. For many of my colleagues, because we go home and we face these constituents, we go to their funerals, and then a couple months no ones talking to them. I continue talking to them. Especially around the holidays. Because they dont go away. We go on with our lives and we do go on with our lives, but the pain is always there. This is only a small portion of our friends that will be fighting to save lives here in america. Each and every one of them will do their jobs. We will follow the president s commission on education, Mental Health, and all of the other things that need to be done to keep us safe. Its like a puzzle. You got to put everything together to have it work. Thank you. Nancy, thank you, leader, appreciate it. Thank you very much. Im congresswoman degette from the First District of colorado. Columbine is in my district now and aurora is right down the street from my house, and as you can hear from all of us and as you can see on our faces, even today the horror of newtown remains unspeakable. And as congresswoman mccarthy said, we have been here before. Over and over again calling for action after these terrible massacres. But as she also said, this time its different. This time we had 20 little beautiful angels and their teachers taken from us. And finally, our nation seems to realize collectively that its the time to have a deep national conversation. Now is the time for comprehensive solution, one that talks about our violent culture, our Mental Health system, and that talks about really doing something about gun violence. When we return in january, we are all planning to work hard together on a solution, on all of us solutions, but right now we can do something this week before congress leaves. We can pass legislation that will be a first and a reasonable step to help protect our children and to help show that congress has the will to begin stopping these massacres. This week we can bring to the floor a bill that congresswoman mccarthy and i introduced some months ago, cosponsored by so many of our friends here today and who arent here today, that would ban the types of assault ammunition clips that were used last friday, that were used by the shooter in aurora this summer, and that had been used in far too many massacres in this nation. My view is this, we can probably never stop a disturbed individual completely from taking a gun and going into a school or a Shopping Mall or a store parking lot and trying to shoot people, but we can give those victims a fighting chance. We can give those victims a fighting chance when that assaulter stops to reload, to take them down like they did when our friend and former colleague, gabby giffords, was shot. Just to show you how this dialogue really has changed, we started a group of us started monday when we got back here trying to get some more cosponsors for congresswoman mccarthys and my bill, and in just over 24 hours we have picked up 21 cosponsors. And we believe that well have even more by the end of today. Sadly, none of those cosponsors are republicans. And we have approached many of our republican friends and colleagues, some of them say they are thinking about it, and we hope they think hard about it, and we hope Speaker Boehner will bring this bill to the floor by this friday. It would send a message to the moms, to the dads, to the people of this country that we are serious. And theres one more thing that needs to happen now as we prepare for the holiday season. Every single american who cares about this issue needs to pick up the phone, needs to call their member of congress, and needs to ask them, where do you stand . We need to see what youre going to do and who you stand with to stop this terrible gun violence thats killing our children in america. Thank you. Now id like to call on congressman Mike Thompson. Thank you. Thank you all for your commitment to help prevent and end gun violence. This is an incredibly important issue and as others before me have said, its time, its time. I want to just share with you an email that i got from a republican constituent gun owner of mine. Mommy, daddy, somebody please help me. We know that its time for something to be done, we know that somebody is us. As parents and family members who are also responsible gun owners and hunters, our voices will have effect when we say, its time. Its time. We need to do everything we possibly can to minimize gun violence. Theres some issues that have been pro proposals that have is been mentioned today that certainly makes sense. Assault magazines. I have been a hunter all my life. Theres no reason to have a magazine that holds 30 shells. And we are already restricted by law as hunters. We can only have, if we are out in the field, hunting or water foul hunting, we can only have three shells in our guns. Why do you need 30 shells in a magazine . Its an assault magazine. Thats all it can be. Call it what it is. An assault magazine. We dont have any reason to assault anyone in our communities, in our neighborhoods. We need to come together on these things and im honored that leader pelosi has asked me to chair this effort because we need to bring everybody to the table. Everybody has something to offer. We need to hear from everyone, and we need to move forward. We need to move forward in a comprehensive package that addresses the gun violence, puts in place appropriate restrictions on inappropriate types of firearms and accessories. Certainly we need to protect the second amendment, the right for lawabidinging mentally stable individuals to lawabiding mentally stable individuals to own and use legitimate firearms for legitimate purposes, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done that will save a lot of lives. Its time. Good morning, im congressman jim himes of connecticut. We are a small state that lately has become large in the public imagination for all the wrong reasons. The town of newtown starts at the northern border of my district. It would be better if my friend and colleague, chris murphy, whose district newtown lies in, were here today, but hes in newtown attending funerals. Today in newtown we will bury daniel barden, 7 years old. Kowalski, 7 years old. Caroline previdi, 6 years old. Victoria soto, a teacher who died shielding a child, 27 years old. And charlotte bacon, 6 years old. We came together on sunday, john and joe and rosa, myself and chris with the senators to be at that vigil where so many in the families were in the room for the first time collectively expressing their unimaginable emotion, and permeating the air of was a question we cant answer which is why . We cant answer that question. But over time the urgency of that question has got to transform itself in the minds of every single american and certainly in the commitment of every single elected official to do all that we can to prevent what happened in newtown from ever happening again. That is something that we cannot escape as a responsibility. We have talked a lot about the things that we need to do. There is absolutely no justification for weapons that were made for the explicit purpose of killing lots of people quickly to be in the hands of civilians. There is no logic for not having comprehensive and intelligent background checks. If six months from now we gather and we have done nothing, it wont be because the arguments against doing something have been good. There are no arguments against doing something. And part of the point of our being here today is to ask not just our colleagues but the American People to join us in this effort. There are no arguments against doing so. Starting with the pernicious argument, most lately articulated by governor rick perry of texas, this argument that more guns in a nation awash in guns will make us safer. The facts, the history, the data show that that is not true. A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in a suicide or a murder than it is to be used in selfdefense. A study by the Rand Corporation, a trained officers of the law in a situation of an exchange ever gunfire, found that those officers hit their intended target less than two out of 10 times of the the notion that more americans, quoteunquote, in the words of governor perfectry, packing heat, will make us safer is not founded in reality, facts, or history. It is founded in the fantasy of testosteroneladen individuals who have blood on their hands for articulating that idea. We will not fail because there are good arguments standing against us, we will fail because of the inevitable drift of attention. And theres some questions apart from why that need to be asked by all of us and by every american, weve got a big group up here, but we are a small fraction of the United States congress. Why . Every one of us up here is a democrat. Why . Weve got to ask the American People to start asking that question to their Public Officials and elected officials. And if six months from now we gather and we have drifted, i wonder what daniel and chase and carolyn and victoria and charlotte would think of us if they were here. Good morning, im congressman ron barber from southern arizona. Currently completing the term that was served by congresswoman giffords. I come to this issue from a number of perspectives. On january 8, 2011, i was standing beside the congresswoman as her district director when a gunman charged forward and opened up. I saw him shoot the congresswoman, and i decided that day judge john roll died and my colleague Gabe Zimmerman died, in 45 seconds 30 bullets were discharged from one clip. 45 seconds, 19 people were down. Six of them died. That was an extended clip. The gunman had another one in his pocket and two shorter ones in his pocket, and had it not been for the quick action, courageous action of people there, he would have loaded and 30 more bullets would have been discharged. I come to this issue as a parent and a grandparent. I was on my way to the rural part of my district on friday when i heard the news about the shootings in connecticut. First i heard three had died, that was bad enough, then i heard 20 children had died. And i was devastated. I have two grandchildren the same age as the children who were shot and killed in newtown, connecticut. On sunday, when i opened the newspaper to read about the shootings, i saw a photograph of one of the children who was killed, her name is emilie, little blondehaired girl, beautiful smile, and she looked at me from the paper, i saw my granddaughters looking back at me. So i come to this issue as a grandparent whose children but for fate could have been the same situation as the children in newtown. And i come to this as a member of congress. People back home in just about every district keep asking us why it is that we cant get anything done here. Im a newcomer, i have only been here about five months. And i know whats going on in terms of the political gamesmanship, but this is an issue on which political games have to stop. We should have members of the Republican Caucus standing with us today, and i hope in time we will. This has to be a bipartisan issue in the end. So, as i have looked at what happened over the last two years, over 20 mass shootings, and virtually every one of them has two things in common the killer, shooter used high capacity magazines and or assault weapons to kill his victims, and the second is almost every one of those individuals was either later or previously diagnosed with a serious Mental Illness that had been untreated. Now, i would quickly note that 95 of people with Mental Illness never commit a violent act. In fact they are more likely to be victims themselves, but for that small number who might be prone to violence, we have to do something about increasing awareness and treatment for people with Mental Illness. I have been working on that since the shooting in tucson. I have 32 years in the field of Mental Health, so i think i know a little bit about what its going to take to get our public aware and to get treatment to people. We have to go down that path as well. And now i come to the issue of the weapons that are used. We have to, we must take action to take assault weapons and extended clips, assault magazines, if you will, we have to take them away from anyone who would commit this kind of a crime. We cannot go on likely believing that we can solve this problem in other ways. We have to look at the weaponry used and the people who use it and we have to do something about both. My constituents have been saying to me since friday, can you guys get anything done . Let me close with this story about the man i talked to in wilcox, arizona, a Farming Community in the most rural area of my district, we are in a meeting on another matter and he followed me out and hes an 80yearold farmer and he said, ron, i have had a rifle and a gun since i was a boy. Im a lifelong member of the n. R. A. I just came back from a hunting trip. But, ron, he said, you go back to washington and you get your colleagues to do something about the assault weapons and the extended clips. And thats what im here to do. Along with my colleagues, and we look forward to reaching across the aisle and having a similar gathering of republican members of congress to work with us to take care of this problem once and for all. Thank you. Leader pelosi, Dianne Degette and carolyn mccarthy, i want to thank you for your outstanding leadership on this manner. Im an honorably discharged veteran who earned an expert marksmanship medal when i was in the service. Im also the parent of a son murdered on the south side of the city of chicago. And i am a pastor of a church. Im here to support h. R. 308, the large capacity ammunition feeding device act, which i have been a cosponsor of since march of last year. There are 264,194 a. R. 15 rifles, manufactured each year in the u. S. , and of those, 5,443 are exported overseas, and 248,751 are used right here in the u. S. And the very irony that we are confronted with at sandy hook is that the firearm industrys trade association, their headquarters are located just across the highway from the sandy hook Elementary School, and while it is important, i also have a bill that i want to acknowledge, h. R. 6680, the firearm licensing and record of sale act of 2012, a legislation aimed at establishing a nationwide system for prohibiting unlicensed gun ownership and granting the u. S. Attorney general Broader Authority over the program. As sad and inexplicable as the sandy hook incident is for all of us, we must be cognizant of the fact that gun violence has been terrorizing neighborhoods in chicago, detroit, houston, washington, d. C. For decades now. One of my local newspapers, the chicago tribune, reports that at the end of the march murders in my city had spiked to almost 60 . And as of june, homicides in chicago were up almost 20 over last year. 488 murders to date. Ranging from 18 months to 19 years, these are americans also shot down like dogs in the street. As i recall and exspeerns experience you cant escape the pain. Being in a hospital room when my son was pronounced dead. That was bad enough, but there was a final scream that came from his sister, his mother. It wasnt a scream of a black woman, it wasnt a scream of a white mother, it wasnt a scream of a latino mother, it wasnt scream of an asian another, it was a primal scream of a mother. A scream thats rarely duplicated anywhere. Its a horrible scream, and i cant get that scream out of my consciousness. So i applaud speaker pelosi, leader pelosi, soontobe speaker pelosi, and i applaud the democrats who are standing here. We must stop future sandy hooks right now. We cannot allow the children of america to being killing fields. We must act now and i applaud all those who are involved. We call our caucus americas caucus. Because it is diversified and its unified. We make our appeal today to all americans, commend our leader, carolyn, diana, the eloquence of the people who have spoken. My colleague from connecticut said it extraordinarily well. Politics be damned here. There is a responsibility that we have as legislators that is unique. What took place in sandy hook and in newtown, a quintessential new England Community goes beyond horror. The weapon of choice that was used, an assault rifle, called a bushmaster, more than three million americans have them, three million americans have them. We make appeal to americans, mothers, fathers, we make an appeal to members of the dress who are the ones that can best articulate and ask the questions why . Because we know this, as sure as we are all standing here, and have acknowledged that we stood here too many times, lowered the flags, had the moments of silence on the floor, came down to do a special order, only to see this fade into the background. Think of these children. Whether you are a parent or grandparent, to do nothing, to do nothing is to be complicit. To be complicit we have a special responsibility to act and act now. But every american and especially our colleagues in the fourth estate, also carry that special responsibility to demand of us to act. Thank you. Thank you. I thank all of my colleagues, especially my friend from new york, carolyn mccarthy, who has poured her heart and soul working every day on this issue, and to our leader, nancy pelosi, and all my colleagues. President obama and the American People are demanding change, and we can bring that change by passing this friday a ban on the massacre assault magazines, we can pass it. Believe me, if guns made anyone safer, we would be the safest nation on earth. We have more guns per capita than any country on earth. And after the unfathomable tragedy, our country is united and determined in a demand for change. Without change in our gun polcy, we cannot expect policy, we cannot expect the outcome to be any different from what we are already experiencing. And we have already had too many mass murders and the cost is unbearable. These were Elementary School children and their teachers. But there have been moviegoers, americans going to town hall meetings. There are some who say that any gun restriction is an imposition on their liberty. But they must understand that the level of gun violence in America Today is an imposition on the liberty of all americans, millions of people. Today we call on Speaker Boehner to Work Together with us to make america safer by passing a commonsense ban on massive massacre size magazines. Lets get the weapons of war off the streets of america. They are not necessary for defense, for hunting, for sports shooting, but they are absolutely deadly when used in a rampage like we saw in connecticut. The bill we propose would limit the size of magazines to 10 pounds. This will not stop all the killings, but it can limit the damage by giving targeted people a chance to escape, a chance to survive. The American People are very clear in their message to Congress Today, ignore the will of the American People at your peril. They want change. They want it now. We can bring change by passing this bill on friday. I thank congresswoman degette for bringing us all together this morning and for her ongoing leadership on this issue. As you can see in our caucus we have a great deal of some sad experience, mr. Barber was wounded himself the day he saw his colleague killed and our colleague congresswoman giffords , so severely wounded. We have our colleague from connecticut with the most recent experience in their district. Our colleague, congresswoman mccarthy, ongoing for nearly two decades, a champion on this issue. Our colleague, jim langevin from rhode island, who can speak with some authority on this issue as well. And bobby rush will never forget your words of your own personal experience as well. What you see before you are sponsors of the cosponsors of the bill, which are reaching nearly 150 cosponsorships. So again someone asked, well why arent republicans here . They are not cosponsors of the legislation. Let me just say this about them and about us. I think theres no division among between us. That is to say, any one ever us could have reached out to any one of us could have reached out to that shooter and pull away the round, the assault magazine that he had, the high performance, whatever they call them, clips, we would have done so. All of us would have risk our lives, democrats and republicans alike, and probably everyone in this room would have pulled that out of their hands. Mr. Barber said is, but for that action because of some very courageous people, and i have met them in arizona, of taking that second clipway much more damage would have been done that day. Unspeakable tragedy as it was, it might have been worse. So why wouldnt we officially take that magazine out of the hands of a shooter . Thats exactly what this legislation will do. Thats exactly what this legislation will do. We would risk our lives to pull it out of the hand of the shooter, lets take a Political Risk and take it out of officially out of the hands. As mr. Barber has said and others, we understand the issues about Mental Health and violence in our stoig, but to society, but to make sure that the people , the impaired judgment do not have access to these high capacity clips. We have to make sure that no one has access to these high capacity clips. I know my colleagues will answer some questions you may have on this subject. Members came back in august and then republicans can you talk about how that was a Pivotal Moment and how it started to change and why the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire . It all seemed to start after that crime bill in 1993. I will, but i want to invite many any of my colleagues, congresswoman mccarthy wasnt here then, but she knows about the impact of it. I thank you for asking that question because this week would have been the 90th birthday of jack brooks, who was the chairman of the Judiciary Committee at that time. Cigar chomping, gun toting, deep hunting country in texas chair of the Judiciary Committee. I met with him in october, i was campaigning in beaumont, texas, we were reminiscing about this very action taken by congress. It was very hard. As you indicated, the bradys why were here, everybody wasing was ack at this vated on the subject. Activated on the subject. We didnt succeed on the first vote as you mentioned. But then we did. And many members of our caucus lost their election because of that. They live in areas which just they understood when they took that vote, including jack brooks, a bold, highly respected, king in his district, but as chairman of the Judiciary Committee he saw the need to bring that bill to the floor. And he lost his election, as strong as he was in that district. After the election members came and those who had lost came and said i would do it again. I would do it again. How unimportant is my political life compared to saving the lives of people, and for 10 years there was no there was a ban on assault weapons. And for 10 years you didnt see this regular demonstration of violence in this high capacity way. When we were no longer in a position to renew it, and that became clear, we started to see the violence escalate in the past decade. As you know it expired in 2004. I just would like carolyn, if you would like to Say Something about how you saw things in the aftermath. I think youre asking about then and now and the change and compare. Listen, i was down here i was not in congress, but i was certainly lobbying. My senators and certainly my members of the congress. I went everywhere. I will say to you that when they went to go to repeal or try to repeal the assault weapons ban, which oddly they decided to do it on december 7, which was the day of the massacre on long island, thats when i came down here to fight again for them not to appeal it. It was then that my congressman voted to repeal it. And i came down those capitol steps, i dont remember who the reporter was because i wasnt family with reporters then, and familiar with reporters then, and the reporter asked me, mrs. Mccashty how mad are you . My irish temple, believe me temper, believe me i wont repeat what i said, but he said is, well, are you mad enough to run for congress . And i just said, im going to run for congress. Now, i never believed that. I never gave it another thought. I took the train home. And all of a sudden i got home and these people were knocking at my door. By the way, an awful lot of women were elected in the year 1996. Every one of us that ran was running to reduce gun violence. So it was part of our campaigns. Now, washington wanted me to talk about medicare and Everything Else. And i said, no, im running on this one issue. And i won overwhelmingly. And certainly now that im here in congress i have to know another a lot of other issues and i fight for those issues and i dont know how many bills i have gotten passed and signed by the president. But it goes to show i could tell you other stories, by the way, of members here now that have voted with me on a lot of my issues, and they were n. R. A. Members, and they went back to their districts saying, wow, they are going to come after me. You know what . They won. So our American People are actually smarter today in my opinion, and we take votes by the way thats our job. Tough votes. You dont think that when we did the Health Care Bill that many of us had voted for it that said this is a possibility that we could all lose . I said very early in my Opening Statement that members of Congress Need to have a stiffer spine. We all do. We got the fiscal cliff coming up. There are going to be things in that bill that im not going to like. There are going to be a lot of things that the republicans dont like. But it was supposed to do our job for the country. That means we have to take that vote. And i will take that vote. Because i do not want to see our country go down. I want to see us go forward and get jobs. 2009 through 2011 there were nearly 260 democrats in the house, obviously a much stronger support for gun control. Why wasnt there a piece of legislation dealing with gun control brought to the floor for a vote . Perhaps youre familiar with the 60vote rule in the senate, and our members are very courageous, theyll walk the plank on any tough vote. But i dont want them to walk the plank on something thats not going to become the law. Thats what the situation was. Yeah, we this is a tough vote. Its a very complicated issue. Its very complex. And its something that has that we have been many of us many of us have been fighting in the particulars of this and some as you see in their personal lives as well as their official lives. This is a very high priority for us. But because of what money. Lets just say it, money. Big money out there on the side of those who would not be opposed to gun safety. By the way, i do not in any way paint hunters with disdain brush. I think assault weapons give hunters a bad name and thats undeserved. Many of them, what we see, think should be banned and thats why im so proud that Mike Thompson is take the lead on this to make that distinction. But the fact is there was no prospect of success. We wanted the members to be here to continue to make the fight so that when there was a prospect of success, they would be here rather than cleared out by the n. R. A. We already saw that happen when we lost in 1994. Cleared out by the n. R. A. On a vote that was not going to become the law of the land. Let me add to that because one of my jobs for the democrats is the job of chief deputy whip, and i will support what the leader said back at that time. We had the votes to pass sensible Gun Legislation through the house, but when the senate said they couldnt do it with the 60 votes, the leader made the decision that this really wasnt the thing to do at that time. We were trying to Pass Health Care reform and other issues. I will say as we have all said here today and as we all believe, this has changed now. This has changed when you realize that somebody was one of these with one of these guns w. One of these high capacity well break away this here as the u. S. House is gaveling in momentarily. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2012] the house is coming in. A couple bills couple dozen bills under suspension today. Well take you live to the house floor. The speaker pro tempore the house the speaker the house will be in order. The prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. Chaplain conroy let us pray. Eternal god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. We pause in your presence and ask guidance for the men and women of the peoples house. Enable them, o god, to act on what they believe to be right and true and just and to do so in ways that show respect for those with whom they disagree. Send your healing upon our nation as we continue to recover from such a great tragedy, endow the members of this house and all our governmental leaders with the wisdom to respond with whatever policies and laws might be needed to ensure Greater Peace and security in our land. Bless us this day and every day and may all that is done be for your greater honor and glory, amen. The speaker the chair has examined the journal of the last days proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. Pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. The pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentlelady from california, ms. Chu. Ms. Chu i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The speaker for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise . Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to take from the speakers table Senate Concurrent Resolution 63 and ask for its immediate consideration. The speaker pro tempore is there objection to the consideration the clerk will report. The clerk senate con current resolution 63, resolved that the secretary of the senate has requested to return to the house of representatives the enrolled bill, senate 2367, an act to work an act to strike the word lunatic from federal law and for other purposes. Upon the return of such bill, the action of the speaker of the house of representatives in signing it shall be rescinded. The secretary of the senate shall reininvolve the bill with the following correction. In section 2b1b, strike in subsection b and insert in subsection j. The speaker is there objection to the consideration of the concurrent resolution . Without objection, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise . Mr. Olson mr. Speaker, i ask to take from the speakers table Senate Concurrent Resolution 64 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. The speaker the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution. The clerk Senate Concurrent Resolution 64, concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the rotunda of the capitol for the lying in state of the remains of the late honorable daniel k. Inouye. The speaker is there objection to the consideration of the concurrent resolution. Without objection, the concurrent resolution is greed to and agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise . Mr. Olson mr. Speaker, i send to the desk a resolution and ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration in the house. The speaker the clerk will report the title of the resolution. The clerk House Resolution 836, resolution providing for the printing of a revised edition of the rules and manual of the house of representatives for the 113th congress. The speaker is there objection to the consideration of the resolution . Without objection, the resolution is dry toad agreed to and motion to reconsider is laid on the table. The chair will entertain up to 15 requests for oneminute speeches on each side of the aisle. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise . Mr. Poe i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker without objection, so ordered. Mr. Poe mr. Speaker, the United States state department has heartily told israel not to build homes in east jerusalem. It might upset the palestinians, sayeth the state department. It mean even hurt their feelings. The United States has no business telling israel or any other country where they can or cannot build homes in their own country. Israel doesnt need a Construction Permit from washington to build a house on their own land. What would we think if some country told us we couldnt build homes in certain parts of our nation . We would tell that country in probably not very polite language, mind your own business. The United States again is meddling in the eternal fairs of a sovereign nation. This is the arrogance of power. In the meantime, Prime Minister netanyahu of israel is going ahead with the housing project, without the United States building permit, and good for him. And thats just the way it is. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise . Mr. Kucinich i ask to address the house for one minute, unanimous consent to revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Kucinich this past september 11, four americans, including our ambassador, were killed in benghazi. The responsibility for security failures has now been placed on the state department. End of story . No. The deeper question is why did the u. S. Intervene in libya in the first place. 20 months after a u. S. Led mission to overthrow the libyan government, militias are still battling in the streets for control. Al qaedalinked groups have a foothold in libya they did not have before u. S. Intervention. Why did we spend u. S. Tax dollars to open the door for al qaeda in libya . The intervention itself was a disaster and it makes the case that the u. S. Governments policy of intervention in libya was wrong and that everything that proceeds from that intervention is bound to be tainted. The book says, that which is crooked cannot be made straight. Nothing will ever be made straight about u. S. Intervention in libya. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from South Carolina rise . Without objection. Mr. Wilson madam speaker, with the negotiations surrounding the fiscal cliff, the administration is ignoring sequestration. This important issue must be addressed which devastates National Security and destroys 700,000 jobs. In addition i am grateful for the opportunity to offer a fond farewell to two hardworking staffers. Ryan durant and michelle king. Military fellow of the United States marine corps. Both women have served with dedication to the people of South Carolinas second Congressional District. Michelle is relocating to the pentagon where she will work with the Sexual Assault prevention and response office. Ryan is taking a legislative correspondent and press assistant position with her new hometown representative of meritle beach. Their good humor will be missed. We wish them all the best of success in the future. In conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise . Without objection. Ms. Chu 20 children ages 6 and 7 went to school last friday to learn, to play, to take their first steps into this world. What happened to them and six brave teachers determined to protect them is horrific and unmanageable. Our hearts break for unimaginable. Our hearts break for their families, friends and loved ones. What has been taken from them cannot be taken back. The tragedy at sandy hook happened because we turned a blind eye to the carnage our lax gun laws bring us. Its time to change those laws before another school, mall or Movie Theater is turned into a crime scene. We must ban assault weapons, we must ban extended ammunition clips that shoot 30 bullets at a time. We must demand that everyone, everywhere receives a thorough background check if they want to own a gun. Its time to reclaim our security and it starts by making changes to the law. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewomans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise . Without objection. Madam speaker, i rise today to honor a man who will be honored as a citizen of the west at the National Western stock show this coming january. Mr. Gardner this press contingentous award has been presented since 1978 and the selectedry accept yent must embody the spirit of the western pioneer. I can think of no better person to receive this honor than dr. Masushima. He has dedicated his life to teaching others about agriculture and livestock. He began teaching in 1961 at Colorado State university and continued to enrich the lives of students until his retirement in 1992. The doctor currently holds the title of Professor Emeritus at Colorado State university and still spends significant time on campus as an advisor to those who will be future stewards of agriculture. Among his many honors and awards, the doctor received the japan emperor award in 2009 and was the first japanese american to achieve this accomplishment. He also has received national and colorado f4 club awards, the Colorado State University Livestock leader and Colorado State best teacher award. He is a true pioneer who has mitted committed his life work to colorado and the western United States. These stories highlight an amazing man and i am proud to honor the doctor on the house floor. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise . Without objection. Mr. Higgins mr. Speaker, this week people met on the National Defense authorization act. As we consider final agreement, i rise in support of language in the conference report which prevents the movement in retirement of c130 aircraft. Mr. Speaker, western new york is home to the Niagara Falls air reserve station which hosts a robust fleet of c130 aircraft. These aircraft were among the planes used to deliver supplies to regions of new york and new jersey in the aftermath of hurricane devastation. Additionally these western new york aircraft flew over 1,500 missions in iraq and afghanistan. Representatives kathy hochul, lewis slaughter and i wrote to the complees on this important issue and we are pleased that the committee agreed to keep in language in the housepassed bill to maintain the c130 fleet. I encourage the house to support the conference report language that will maintain the c130 fleet and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise . Mr. Olson i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Olson madam speaker, i rise today to express the sorrow i feel about the tragedy that happened in newtown, connecticut , last friday. I have a personal connection with newtown. After being transferred from texas, my parents were sent to connecticut to a Corporate Headquarters of my fathers company. There they bought a home in newtown. My brother graduated from newtown high school. I would go to newtown for the holidays. I have driven past sandy hook Elementary School, the place where 20 innocent children and six adults were killed by a madman. As a parent i cannot imagine the pain the families who lost a child are feeling. From my brief time in newtown, i saw a True Community with strong people. They will go forward but they need our thoughts, our prayers and our love. May god bless them and help them find peace. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise . Without objection. Mr. Altmire madam speaker, today the house will consider the medicare Identity Protection theft act and i urge my colleagues to support it. Despite actions taken by this house and federal agencies, medicare Identity Theft continues to be a problem. Medicares own Inspector General issued a report stating that more than a quarter Million Medicare beneficiaries are potential victims of Identity Theft. This is simply unacceptable. The bill well consider today makes a commonsense change to medicare cards that most seniors carry. It will ensure that in the future Social Security numbers are not displayed or imbedded on these cards which are issued to every medicare beneficiary. Seniors spend their whole lives Building Financial security for their retirement years. They shouldnt have to worry about losing it if someone steals their medicare card. I urge my colleagues to support this bill later this afternoon. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from washington rise . Mrs. Mcmorris rodgers thank you, madam speaker. Its with great pride that i rise today to honor the Tremendous Service and career of bob morton. A 22year veteran of the Washington State legislature who recently announced that he was going to be retiring at the end of the year. He was first elected to the house in 1990 and then he was appointed to the senate where he currently represents the seventh district, including stevens, and parts of spokane county. He owned a small logging business and ran cattle while also preaching at his local church and serving the community. But bob is not just an outstanding legislator for eastern washington, hes also a close friend. A mentor and the reason that i got into politics and Public Service in the first place. As an elected official ive worked with him on countless issues and his advice and friendship has been invaluable. Hes recognized for his leadership and knowledge, good forest management, no one knows Western Water law better than bob and hes participated in most of the negotiations over Washington Water law. Bob and his wife linda have five children, 11 grandchildren and i know theyre looking forward to spending more time with them in their retirement. I wish them the best in their next adventures. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise . Without objection. Mr. Sires it has been nearly eight weeks since Superstorm Sandy struck our shores, eight weeks and congress has yet to send the assistance package for the affected states. It is precedent for this body to stand together in the aftermath of a Natural Disaster to immediately provide necessary assistance to help communities recover and rebuild. Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast, Congress Approved more than 62 million in federal aid. One month after hurricane ike Congress Approved more than 20 billion in aid. Why cant this Congress Come together to approve the 60 billion requested by the president to help the victims of sandy . The damage done by sandy is far beyond the resources and capacity that any single state possesses to recover on his own. It is my hope that this chamber can setaside our differences and swiftly approve of the supplemental funding. As those who lost everything in the form and will help to rebuild our Community Stronger than ever. New jersey, new york, and connecticut has always stood by other regions this nation faced with the difficult circumstance, i trust that my colleagues in congress can now come to our aid. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from massachusetts rise . Ms. Tsongas request mer permission to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Tsongas madam speaker, every corner of america has been deeply affected by the tragic loss of so many lives in newtown, connecticut. We mourn for the enormity of grief, the inconsolable loss visited upon newtowns families. And we know that our response to newtown must not and cannot go the way of the many other senseless acts of violence we almost routinely witness. The tragedy in newtown must be a call to action. Members from both sides of the aisle have acknowledged that it is time for a conference conversation about the accessibility of high capacity weapons in our country and the culture of violence we live in. This conversation is long overdue, and it is simply not an option to allow this discussion to become stagnant or to be bullied into silence by seemingly untouchable organizations. Americas laws must reasonably control gun manufacturing, sale, and usage. We must act to make real changes that will provide real protection for americas families. In the days to come, let us Work Together to do just that. Thank you. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise . Ms. Jackson lee ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Jackson lee madam speaker, you will hear many voices being raised in the backdrop of an unspeakable tragedy where even as members think of it they cry. Just a few minutes ago there was a press conference where there was probably not a dry eye in that room. As members gave tribute to those lives lost and those being buried today, and spoke of their own anguish and their lost children, loss of their fellow Staff Members in a gun incident. I rise today to say that we must act and can act and can pass legislation even this week. I join with senator feinsteins effort and congressman perlmutter and mccarthy, and many others with legislation. I join with the legislation to h. R. 277 that talks about protecting our children introduced by myself. I join with the statement by the progressive caucus that speaks about these ammunition, these guns and Mental Health. And i join with Dick Sporting goods store and im personally just say to those who are listening, maybe you want to turn in your guns. Im not going to take your guns, but look at what Dick Sporting goods did. In the moment they wanted to be part of the solution and a part of america. Let us mourn with action. God bless those who have lost their lives. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Sanchez thank you, madam speaker. Today i rise to honor and commemorate the life of Mexican American singer jenny rivera. She used her powerful voice, soulful singing style, and honest lyrics to create a message that spoke to the resiliency of women. That powerful voice was silenced forever when shes and six others were killed in a plane crash on december 9. Born and raised in long beach, california, to immigrant parents from mexico, jenny started her career selling c. D. s at flea markets. When she died at the age of 43, she was a top selling artist, actress, television producer, and entrepreneur. Tragically she was on the cusp of multicultural stardom when she died. She had just finished filming her first film and was in touch with abc to costar in her own sit come. Her talent and authenticity shined brightly in a music genre dominated by men. Jennys lyrics offered a new and refreshing womens perspective. Please join me in honoring the memory of general rhode island vera and a message of empower youment she gave to millions of women she spoke for. Thank you, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Walz thank you, madam speaker. As more and more of our brave warriors return from afghanistan, more and more of them are looking for work. Its our duty as a nation to make sure that we are doing Everything Possible to get these troops reemployed. Thats why id like to applaud both the senate and house for including in the National Defense authorization act the helping iraq and afghanistan veterans return to employment. The hire act. What it does is establish a very commonsense process that encourages state credentialing authorities to consider certain military Occupational Training when granting licenses. It makes absolutely no sense to force a battlefield medic to spend time and federal dollars taking redundant training to be an e. M. T. It makes no sense for a state agency that wouldnt count hundreds of hours driving heavy equipment in afghanistan to get a c. D. R. License. The department of defense spends 140 billion a year training our military personnel, the best in the world, it would be ludicrous to not use that investment to get jobs here at home. Eight states have already passed legislation to develop the process. I encourage members of congress, talk to their state and governor to get this done. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise, without objection. Thank you. Mrs. Davis madam speaker, as a nation we are gaining momentum as our economy gets back on track. For my constituents in zoig, home prices are on the rise and most employers are adding jobs and hours instead of cutting back. We cannot afford to undo the progress we are making, especially for the middle class. The only way to accelerate our economic progress is to balance Economic Development with protection for the most vulnerable americans from job losses, from tax increases, and program cuts. Americans young and old need to know that congress believes in the future. And that well Work Together to keep our country on the rise. I think often of gandys statement, and i quote, the future depends on what we do in the present. Lets not waste this critical opportunity to advance Economic Growth and invest in our future. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from North Carolina rise, without objection. Mr. Price madam speaker, we have experiences in our personal and collective lives that challenge us profoundly. Forcing us to search our souls, to change our behavior. Our nation experienced such a moment on friday as 20 children were gunned down at sandy hook Elementary School, along with six teachers and administrators who were attempting to protect them. As we mourn and reach out to the families of newtown, we owe the victims and each other serious consideration on how to prevent more newtowns and auroras and oak creek and tucsons. We must shore up Mental Health outreach and support especially for troubled young people, and politically difficult as it may be, we must deal with the instruments of destruction. Keeping Deadly Weapons out of the hands of violent and deranged people, and removing weapons of mass killing from our streets. The horror of sandy hook must overcome any temptation to accept the unacceptable, or to avoid responsibility for addressing the crying need for change. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from hawaii rise . Without objection. Ms. Hanabusa madam speaker, people have no idea what we are doing because we dont know what we are doing. It reminds me of being in traffic. We all hurry to get to where . To another bottleneck and to wait. Resolving the fiscal cliff is an opportunity to show that we can Work Together in a bipartisan manner, but to do so we must listen and put the people first and the party second. If we dont, a middle class family of four will see their taxes rise by 2,200 in 2013. Unemployment will go up to 9. 1 . Remember the cost of extending all of the bush tax cuts is 2. 4 trillion to us in 10 years. Extend the middle class tax cuts and let the bush tax cuts for the upper 2 return to the clinton rates. We cannot sacrifice the middle class, the steady job growth that we have seen, just to protect the upper 2 . This is not the message we want to send. This is not the message republicans want to send. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise . Without objection. Mr. Himes i joined my colleagues in the connecticut delegation in newtown last night. We will never forget that vigil. Despondency, anger, hopelessness. Over time that emotion turns into the imperative that we act as Public Officials to make sure that this never happens again. And we have so much to do in a nation awash in guns, and not just guns but guns designed for the explicit purpose to do nothing but to kill lots of people quickly. In a nation that celebrates violence as a solution and as entertainment, in a nation that does not do enough to address the needs of its mentally disturbed, one thing, though, we should do right away is put to rest forever the pernicious fantasy that more people carrying arms will make us safer. Thats not backed by fact, its not backed by data, its not backed by history. It is a testosterone laden fantasy. A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in a suicide or murder or violent assault than it is likely to be used in selfdefense. The Rand Corporation studies show that Police Officers trained in a situation of exchange of gunfire hit their intended target less than two in 10 times. Trained Police Officers. Ladies and gentlemen, more guns does not make for a safer america. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise . Mr. Cicilline i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Cicilline madam speaker, yesterday my office i hosted the Brady Campaign to prevent gun violence, and that was families whose lives have been devastated by gun violence. Families who lost loved ones in columbine and Virginia Tech and aurora and others. No words of mine could ever match the pain that these families felt as a result of these losses. The recent tragedy in newtown, unfortunately, is the most recent of a long series of mass killings involving guns, but this incident is especially horrific because it involved the slaughter of 20 innocent children and their teachers. This must mark a turning point in the debate over commonsense gun safety laws. Its critical for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to commit themselves to doing everything we can to end this violence, because commonsense gun laws arent Democratic Values or republican values, they are american values. And if our values as americans mean anything at all, then surely all americans are entitled to enjoy their lives and live in neighborhoods safe and free from gun violence. There is lots of talk about a national conversation, beginning a dialogue. The time for talking is over. Now we must act. Banning assault weapons and high capacity assault clips, criminal background check system, and closing loopholes that allows 40 of gun sales to go forward without background checks. Thank you, madam speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio rise . Ms. Kaptur to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Kaptur madam speaker, if view of what has happened in newtown, connecticut, it is important to place on the record the fact that our nation has been experiencing the largest reduction in state Mental Health services of this generation. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, states have cumulatively cut over 1. 8 billion from their Mental Health services between 2009 and 2011. This is the largest reduction in state Mental Health services in half a century. With one in 17 people in america living with a serious neurological condition, how is this tremendous decrease in funding possible or humane . Often those who suffer the most are angels of destiny. According to a report from the federal bureau of justice statistics, more than half of our countrys prison population suffers or has suffered from mental disorders that only a fraction of that population receives the treatment during their incarceration, and in fact individuals with Mental Illness are far more likely to be victims of crime than the perpetrators. It reveals our shared responsibility to support and treat those in this country who need our help so desperately. I urge our colleagues to support a more constructive federal roll in assuring proper and early diagnosis and intervention of affected youth and appropriate treatment and i congratulate president obama and Vice President biden for their leadership in moving our nation to a better day for us all. So many of us here in congress wish to join them in this Great National challenge. Madam speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewomans time has expired. All time for oneminute speeches has expired. Pursuant to clause 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 will on postponed questions will be taken later. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . Mr. Smith madam speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to House Resolution 668 as amended. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the resolution. The clerk House Resolution 668, resolution to refer h. R. 5862, a bill making congressional reference to the United States court of federal claims pursuant to sections 1492 and 2509 of title 28, United States code, the indian trustrelated claims of the quapaw tribe and its individuals members. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas, mr. Smith, and the gentlewoman from california, ms. Lofgren, each will control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Smith i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days the speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Smith i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for such time as he may consume. Mr. Smith madam speaker, federal i want to thank the gentleman from oklahoma for sponsoring House Resolution 668. This bill allows a native american tribe that resides in oklahoma, the quapaw, to appear before the United States federal court of claims to plead for damages against the federal government for mismanagement of tribal funds. The court would issue a report either favorable or unfavorable to the tribe. If favorable, the Natural Resources committee would be authorized to move separate legislation to affect the courts decision. In 2002 the tribe filed a lawsuit for an accounting in Federal District court of the u. S. Governments mismanagement of tribal and tribal member trust assets. In november, 2004, the tribe and the u. S. Government agreed that the tribe and thirdparty contractors would conduct an accounting of the u. S. Governments actions and inactions related to the trust assets. This was to facilitate a mediated solution to this lawsuits claims. In exchange for this mediated route, the tribe would dismiss the lawsuit. After five years of accounting and relating analysis, the quapaw analysis was completed and shared with the u. S. Government. This set the stage for mediation. That analysis confirmed that the governments mismanagement of the quapaws trust constituted a breach of trust. The tribe initiated multiple attempts to resolve their claims which the government rejected. By 2011 the tribe sought relief in court from the governments failure to fulfill its trust obligations and to mediate and settle the trust claims. Last year eight quapaw tribe members filed a Class Action Lawsuit on behalf of themselves and other individuals for damages based on breach of trust. The government filed motions to dismiss the case and also refused to respond to a formal settlement demand proffered by the tribe. The governments foot dragging necessitates our passage of House Resolution 668 today. The bill doesnt guarantee a decided outcome, it only allows the quapaw a chance to go before the federal court of claims and make their best case. Even if the court rules in their favor, the Natural Resources committee must still move subsequent legislation that incorporates the courts decision through both houses of congress. Also a revision to the bill stipulates that an award of damages by the court only applies to claims that are not already pending before the court of federal claims. This ensures that claims will not be doubly compensated. Again i want to thank the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. Cole, for his persistence in this issue and for introducing this particular bill. I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 668 and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from california. Ms. Lofgren thank you, madam speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Lofgren i rise in support of House Resolution 668, congressional reference bill concerning the trustrelated claims of the quapaw tribe of oklahoma. Now, the congressional reference bills are rare in congress. The house hasnt considered such a bill since 2002 in the 107th congress. But the fact that this procedure is a rare one doesnt mean that it isnt a useful one. Unlike most other legislation, reference bills require passage in only one chamber to take effect. If passed by either the house or senate the bill would simply refer a claim against the u. S. Government to the u. S. Court of federal claims for consideration. The court however, as the chairman has indicated, would not be authorized to render a final ruling on the claim. Rather it would only be authorized to consider evidence and to submit a report to congress with its findings and recommendations. Congress could then decide based on the courts report whether or not to enact a private claims bill or appropriate funds to the claimant in the interests of justice. In this case, h. Res. 668 would refer the bill, h. R. 5862, a bill relating to members of the quapaw tribe of oklahoma, to the court of federal claims. And as amended the bill would authorize the court to determine whether the tribe and its members have trustrelated legal or equitable claims against the u. S. Other than legal claims that are currently pending before the court. We have consulted with the department of justice and the department of the interior on this matter and both agencies agree that the quapaw tribe has legitimate claims against the United States concerning certain tribal lands that were held in trust by the federal government. The only real dispute is the value of the claim. This makes this congressional reference bill an appropriate measure, to help bring this matter to a final resolution. By referring the case to the federal claims court we can they can consider all the evidence, submit a report on what the court believes to be the appropriate value of the tribal claim, and then based on that finding and conclusions, congress can play its appropriate role to consider whether or not it is in the interest of justice to pass a private claims bill or otherwise appropriate funds to satisfy the claim. This procedure will help the congress do the right thing and thats why were sent here, to do the right thing. So i ask my colleagues to support this important legislation. I commend congressman cole for his diligent pursuit of this matter of justice and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Smith madam speaker, i yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. Cole, who is the sponsor of this legislation. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from oklahoma. Mr. Cole i thank you, madam speaker, and i thank the gentleman for yielding. And i would like to ask, madam speaker, at the appropriate time if i could submit a written statement on this particular piece of legislation. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Cole i had a long oration i was going to make but i want to be quite honest. My good friend, chairman smith, and my good friend, chairman lofgren, have covered the case well or better than i can. Theyre both drished distinguished attorneys. They understand the intricacies involved here. So theres no need for me to go through and repeat the points that theyve made. I do want to make one Central Point or two points. First i want to thank both of them. This is a matter of justice. This is a bipartisan effort, to try and make sure that an Indian Nation that has a legitimate claim against the United States of america has an opportunity to go to court and make its case. No predetermination of the outcome, no settlement without coming back through congress again, just simply an opportunity to make a case of an injustice that all sides admit occurred and establish whats fair compensation. I want to commend again both my colleagues and particularly chairman smith. This simply could not have happened without his cooperation, his help and the diligent work of his staff. So, with that i would yield back the balance of my time, urge passage of the legislation. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentlewoman from california. Ms. Lofgren we have no additional speakers. Im prepared to yield back if the chairman is ready to conclude as well. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Smith madam speaker, i yield back the balance of my time as well. The speaker pro tempore the question is then will the house suspend the rules and agree to House Resolution 668 as amended. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, 2 3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative the gentlewoman from california. Ms. Lofgren i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise . Madam speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h. R. 6672, the pandemic and allhazards preparedness reauthorization act of 2012. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk h. R. 6672, a bill to reauthorize certain programs under the Public Health service act and the federal food, drug and cosmetic act with respect to Public Health security and all hadards preparedness and response allhazards preparedness and response and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from michigan, mr. Rogers, and the gentleman from texas, mr. Green, each will control 20 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. Mr. Rogers thank you, madam speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials in the record on h. R. 6672. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Rogers madam speaker, i would yield myself such time as i might consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Rogers thank you. Although it has been more than 10 years since september 11 and the anthrax attacks that followed, the threat of bioterrorism remains a very real danger to the American People. Fortunately we have spent the last decade preparing for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. By developing and stockpiling numerous medical countermeasures to protect americans in the event of such an attack. As a result of these efforts, we now have numerous vaccines and treatments in the Strategic National stockpile that will save thousands of lives if we are attacked. However, the work to protect americans against bioterrorism is not finished and we must pass this bill or the future of americans Public Health preparedness fral infrastructure will be in jeopardy. The pandemic and allhazards preparedness authorization act is a fiscally responsible bill that represents Common Ground between the bipartisan house and senatepassed preparedness bill. Bills. Id like to take the opportunity to thank the bipartisan cosponsors, including chairman upton and Ranking Member waxman, as well as our great bipartisan partners in the senate for their support in what has been a very productive process to ensure the health, preparedness of our states and hospitals for the next flu outbreak or pandemic. The bill will reauthorize critically important biodefense programs designed to promote the continued development of medical countermeasures against threats that would strengthen the nations Public Health preparedness infrastructure. Reauthorizing these programs is essential to how the nation would respond to a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack. It would reauthorize programs for five years at the fiscal year 2012 appropriated level. The bill would not create a new program nor increase the authorization for appropriations for the existing program. H. R. 6672 would reauthorize and improve certain provisions of project bioshield and its passage i think is important for the future of our National Security here at home and with that, madam speaker, i would reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Green thank you, madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. I rise in strong sport of the pandemic al harsards preparedness reauthorization act which would reauthorize certain provisions of the project bioshield act of 2004 and pandemic and all hazard preparedness act of 2006. This legislation was initially passed by congress to help the u. S. Develop medical Counter Measures against chemical, biological, Nuclear Terrorism agents to provide a mechanism for federal acquisition of these newly developing Counter Measures. Our nation remains vulnerable to these threats because many of these vaccines and medicines needed to protect our citizens do not exist. Developing and stockpiling these medical Counter Measures requires time, resources, and research. All of which would be provided under the legislation before us today. Im pleased that the language i supported during the Committee Process was included aimed at increasing emphasis on regionalized trauma care systems. It is also important to me because the university of texas medical branch, Galveston National lab, is in my backyard. The Galveston National lab is the only one located on a university campus. At the Lab Scientists conduct research to develop therapies, vaccines, and diagnostic tests for naturally occurring diseases such as sars and microbes that may be deployed by terrorists. This is the type of research we would hope to encourage under this act. As an original cosponsor of the bill with mr. Rogers, im very pleased how quickly we moved this rare bipartisan piece of legislation. I want to thank mr. Rogers, chairman upton, Ranking Member waxman, Ranking Member pallone, mrs. Myrick, ms. Eshoo, and mr. Markey for their work, and i strongly urge my colleagues to vote yes on this legislation. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Rogers thank you, madam speaker. I yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman and great leader of this congress, chairman of energy and commerce committee, mr. Upton, from michigan. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Upton thank you, madam speaker. I particularly want to thank mr. Rogers who has helped shepherd this bill through our committee, and i know chairman pitts, Ranking Member waxman, and i appreciate their hard work along with all the members of our committee to get this bill done and to the floor this afternoon. Madam speaker, this bill, the pandemic and all hazards preparedness reauthorization act of 2012 would reauthorize programs to design designed to encourage development of medical Counter Measures and improve the Nations Health infrastructure to help us respond to a terrorist attack. This bill is very similar to h. R. 2405, the pandemic and all hazards preparedness reauthorization act of 2011 which passed the house last year. This bill, h. R. 6672, reflects Common Ground reached between the house and senate through months and months of negotiations, bipartisan. And im hopeful that the congress, house, and senate will enact the bill this week so that we can ensure our nation is prepared for the unthinkable. This bill reauthorizes the special reserve fund, the biodefense, advance research and Development Authority, and Public Health preparedness programs while eliminating duplicative reports. It also clarifies that the assistant secretary for preparedness and response is the leader of the federal governments efforts of preparedness and response. This clarification would help in removing duplication, improving coordination, and providing accountability. The bill also takes important steps to foster medical Counter Measure development by ensuring that the f. D. A. s regulation of medical Counter Measures are predictable, consistent, and transparent. Finally the bill would provide aadditional flexibility for emergency distribution, stockpiling use of medical Counter Measures so the nation is prepared for whatever may happen. I would urge all of my colleagues to support the bill. Again i support i commend republicans and democrats for working together on a bill that really does need to get to the president s desk. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Pallone thank you, madam speaker. Id like to yield now to the gentlewoman from california such time as she may need, and stress her involvement in this issue over the years. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california is recognized. I thank the gentleman. Madam speaker, its good to see you in the chair. Ms. Eshoo we are going to miss you a great, great deal. I rise today in support of the pandemic all hazards preparedness act reauthorization legislation. I first introduced in 2006 with congressman mike rogers to better help our country prepare for chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack. Developing and stockpiling appropriate Counter Measures is essential for public safety. And these programs encourage American Companies to invest in areas of critical need. Of high critical need. The bill before us today includes new provisions that highlight the important needs of our nations children. Children are not just little adults, they need special care and special medical attention. They are especially vulnerable to biological or chemical agents because of their size. The limited capacity to flesh out toxins, their underdeveloped motor skills, and total reliance on their parents or other caregivers. While the hope is that we will never need to use these Counter Measures to combat an attack on our country, im proud that we strengthened these programs for everyone in our country, especially the children. Im pleased to see the pandemic all hazards preparedness act voted on today. I thank everyone thats been involved in this on a bipartisan basis in the spirit in which it was first introduced, when we introduced it in 2006. And i look forward to seeing it signed into law by the president of the United States and with that i reserve the balance of time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Rogers thank you, madam speaker. I just want to say thank you and congratulate my friend, ana eshoo, for the work shes done on this bill in such a bipartisan way. I think we would not have advanced to this degree without her great help and assistance. With that i yield three minutes to dr. Burgess of texas. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Gur guess i thank the gentleman mr. Burgess i thank the gentleman for yielding. I also want to start by thanking our chairman, chairman upton, mr. Waxman, Ranking Member, mr. Rogers, as well as our staff for their help in assuring this bill, h. R. 6672, comes to the floor. Inage emergency we need all hands on deck. In the aftermath of attack, Natural Disaster, or pandemic, we need to be assured there is an adequate supply of Counter Measures to meet our nations medical needs. This program has also proven itself effective and deserves to be reauthorized. And strengthened as this bill does. Our nation will never reach the Surge Capacity it needs without utilizing all personnel in our Health Care Work force. The committee has worked with me to ensure Maximum Capacity by correcting an oversight in the original law and clarifies that dentists and dental facilities have the opportunity to be included in the First Responder framework by incorporating earlier legislation, h. R. 570. Dentists are willing, trained, to support the medical and Health Response to a disaster and this legislation allows states the option of incorporating dentists into their Disaster Response framework. In addition, the legislation expands on a long held priority for me in strengthening our nations commitment to trauma care and its continued necessity in the aftermath of a disaster. We are fortunate to have the bill on the floor today to ensure the Natural Disaster response framework has the maximum available resources, and urge the senate to take up this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Pallone thank you, madam speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Pallone im pleased to rise in support of h. R. 6672, the pandemic and all hazards preparedness reauthorization act of 2012. This bill reflects bipartisan work that has taken place between the house and senate over the last several months to resolve differences between house and senatepassed reauthorization bills. We all know very well our nation continues to face threats that require an ongoing commitment to Public Health and Emergency Preparedness. Just recently we experienced a devastating storm along the east coast, hurricane sandy, that destroyed entire communities and coastal new jersey and new york, including areas within my district. The federal governments support, including two programs authorized by papa was critical in the wake of this disaster. The legislation before us today reauthorizes programs and activities first established as part of a Public Health security and bioterrorism preparedness and response act of 2002. The 2004 project bioshield act, and the 2006 pandemic and all hazards preparedness. In the wake of 9 11, congress placed a high priority on biodefense. Congress first passed the Public Health security and bioterrorism preparedness and response act of 2002 to improve the nations ability to respond to acts of biological terrorism. In 2004, we passed a project bioshield act with tremendous bipartisan support and democrats and republicans worked together to authorize the development, procurement, and emergency use of medical Counter Measures for biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear threats. We then identified some shortfalls and in 2006 worked to amend and build upon the existing Bioshield Program and department of health and Human Services authorities by passing papa. For example it charged the assistant secretary for preparedness and response with the departments Public Health and medical response. It required a national Health Security strategy to guide the departments preparedness and response efforts, reauthorized grants to improve state and local Public Health and hospital preparedness, and establish the Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority to spur development of medical Counter Measures. Together bioshield and papa represent more comprehensive efforts to prepare for and respond to Public Health emergency, whether they are naturally owe o curing events like the h1n1 outbreak or those deliberate such as anthrax attacks. As a result of these bills and investments that followed, our nation is better equipped to respond to Public Health emergencies. I would like to take a few moments, madam speaker, to highlight way that is h. R. 6672 will continue the progress we have made over the past decade. First the bill further facilitates the development of medical Counter Measures through emphasizing medical Counter Measures advancement in the Health Security strategy, requiring the development of a fiveyear budget analysis of the enterprise, and calling for the development of a Counter Measure strategy and implementation plan. Second, madam speaker, h. R. 6692 bolsters the nations medical and Public Health preparedness and response infrastructure. Including through a new authority that would allow states to reemploy personnel funded through federal programs to the areas within their state where they are most needed in the aftermath of a disaster. Strengthen and clarify the position of assistant secretary for preparedness and response as the lead for h. H. S. On Emergency Preparedness and response, and calls for streamlining and better coordinating h. H. S. Preparedness grants with those of the departments. Next it places even greater emphasis on the special needs of pete add trick and other atrisk populations in preparing for and responding to Public Health emergencies. And finally, h. R. 6692 improves f. D. A. s Emergency Response capabilities, it will enable f. D. A. To authorize the distribution and use of medical Counter Measures in preparation for an emergency, and to take actions during an emergency that will allow for the most effective use of medical Counter Measures. Id like to thank congressman mike rogers, congressman gene green and their staff who authorized the original health legislation, h. R. 2405. I would like to recognize the contributions of chairman upton, chairman pitts, Ranking Member waxman, congresswoman eshoo, and congressman markey and their staff in strengthening the legislation as it moves through the Committee Process and in discussions with the senate. They have all worked in a bipartisan fashion over the past year and a half to accomplish the goals of our members and should be commended for their work. I also urge members to join me in supporting passage of h. R. 6672 and im hopeful our Senate Colleagues will similarly support this bills passage to get the bill to the president s desk. Madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Rogers madam speaker, at this time we have no further speakers and would continue to reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Pallone madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to submit letters of support from the following organizations into the record. The alliance for biosecurity, the American Academy of pediatrics, the biotechnology industry organization, the round table on Critical Care policy, and the joint letter from four Public Health organizations, those are the american Public Health association, the association of state and association of state and territorial health