Eternity and one day the falling leaf will be ours. For here we have no lasting city but seek the one which is to come. The true measure of the present is lifes end. It excites or exaser baits in the moment, diminishes in eternity and conversely these things that seem minute in the presence, an act of kindness, a small smile, are the grains of sand that accumulate and into eternity that become a mountain or monument of grace. Help us, heavenly father, never to lose sight of lifes end, never to overlook those grains of sand but rather collect them for eternitys hour. Amen. The speaker pro tempore 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 gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Thompson. Mr. Thompson 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 pro tempore the chair will now entertain up to neminute requests on each side of the aisle for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one inute. Thank you. On behalf of the entire kern county community, i want to commend Kevin Harvick of winning sunday at homestead. Exemplifying the determination, resilience and fortitude needed to excel, especially in a long and Competitive Racing season. These attributes that embody kevins success engrained in our community. Our families get up early, work hard and put in long hours to get the job done. Kevins racing is a reminder to the world that the bakersfield way drives champions. Your hometown is proud of your achievement, kevin, and for all the kids across kern county who watch races like myself at mesa moran and dreamed of becoming a nascar champion, they now have someone to implate. Mr. Mccarthy congratulations, again, to you, to dalenea and to your entire family and to your crew chief Rodney Childers and the entire 4 team for an incredible season and championship. Bad for you said, not an 08er. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlelady is recognized does the gentlelady rise . To address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. Ms. Sanchez thank you, mr. Speaker. Its been more than 500 days since the Senate Overwhelmingly passed bipartisan, comprehensive Immigration Reform. But House Republicans have done nothing. They have refused to act. If the republicans are unwilling to use their power to act, then the president must act. In fact, recently 117 of my colleagues and i sent a letter to president obama urging him to act now. Since 1952, every single president , regardless of political party, has used their broad executive authority to shape our nations immigration policy. So the president s decision to use executive action is not unprecedented. Neither is it ideal, but unfortunately it is necessary. We can no longer stand by while we separate mothers from their children, throw young people out of this country. The only strategy that republicans in this house have had has been deport, deport, deport. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. For what purpose does the gentlelady from florida ms. Roslehtinen to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. Ms. Roslehtinen thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today to express my deepest condolences to the families of the four israelis, three whom are also american citizens, who were murdered by palestinian terrorists in jerusalem during morning prayers in a synagogue. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of israel who again have to endure another tragedy at the hands of palestinian terrorists. Its no coincidence that latest string of attack on innocent israelis comes after the Supreme Leader of iran urged palestinians to use violence against israel and called for israels destruction, as did the terrorist group hamas. This is another example of irans dangerous meddling in an effort to attack our u. S. Interests and israel and hamas continued incitement of violence and terror. There is now a clear link to terrorism in both the west bank and gaza and there can be no u. S. Taxpayer dollars going to support a unity government thats backed by hamas and the palestinian authority. Thank you, mr. Speaker, for the time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to support increased funding for medical research. Mr. Higgins funding to the National Institutes of health has been cut by 25 and americas health, position as a Global Leader and economy is paying a price. In 2013, n. I. H. Funded fewer Research Projects than the year before, fewer opportunities send a signal. Meanwhile, as america is falling behind, japan, germany, india are dramatically boosting edical research funding. Underinvestment in medical research is shortsighted. Every dollar of n. I. H. Funding generates 2. 21 in local economic activity. We should be investing in ways to alleviate the burden of chronic diseases such as alzheimers, which costs the nation 200 billion a year, and cancer which costs the nation another 216 billion. We cannot afford to wait. I encourage my colleagues to join congresswoman delauro and me to support h. R. 5580, the accelerating Biomedical Research act. The time to reverse these cuts is now. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise . Mr. Thompson mr. Speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Thompson mr. Speaker, i rise today to acknowledge the efforts of the german american caucus and the great leadership of caucus cochairman, jim gerlach. Ive had the pleasure of knowing mr. Gerlach since before i was elected to congress and im honored to take his place as the next cochairman of the german caucus. The caucus has grown to nearly 100 members and help foster a great appreciation for the many ties and connections shared between our two countries. From meeting important business leaders, hosting Networking Events on the hill, the german american caucus has served as an important medium for the exchange of information. The commonwealth boasts one of the largest german populations in the country. Accordingly, i look forward to working with the ambassador and leaders of the German American Business Council as we moves towards the 114th congress. I promise to do my best to live up to the leadership thats been provided by my good friend, congressman jim gerlach, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from pennsylvania yields back. For what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. Ms. Kelly thank you, mr. Speaker. As we observe American Education week, id like to pay tribute to americas Public School teachers and administratorses for their leadership and service to our community. Teachers are proof that you can really change the world if you care enough. Thats why so many, even when faced with diminishing resources and budget cuts, worgd work tirelessly to ensure our students get the education they deserve. Our nation depends on our teachers and we must all do our part to support americas educators. Thats why i oppose sequestration cuts that threatens School Districts and teachers. Thats why i work to pass Bipartisan Legislation to provide food nutrition programs to schoolchildren during the summer months. Ive donated nearly 1,500 books to schools in my district and was proud to launch the robin reards program in my district, which is a literary program. This week i encourage you all to reach out and get to know your local schools. Offer to volunteer your time and energy to their effort, but most importantly, thank and educator. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi rise . Mr. Speaker, i rise to ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, mr. Speaker. From day one as a member of congress ive always known that our number one constitutional responsibility is to the common defense of this nation at home and abroad. We should make the Smart Financial investments in our men and women in uniform, their readiness, their training and their weapons as if our lives depend on it because their lives do. This weekend i gathered with some of the greatest defense minds in our nation to discuss the safety and security of our country at the annual Reagan Defense forum. Mr. Palazzo a common narrative from this forum was that the defense country kutz under sequestration are dangerous and defense cuts under sequestration are dangerous. Members of congress, even the president recognized the world is not becoming a safer place but much more dangerous. Ronald reagans policy of peace through strength worked and it worked well. The time has come to remove these cuts, restore our nations strength so we can live up to our constitutional responsibility. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend those remarks. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Garcia mr. Speaker, we all agree that it is up to congress to overhaul the broken immigration system. However, despite all the talk and promises, there is one thing thats clear. This Republican Congress has done nothing to address Immigration Reform and has only been an obstacle to this process. Now is the time for the president to act. His legal standing is solid. It is time for us to act. Now is the time to do what is right, what is fair, what is just, not only for the immigrant community but for this great country. Thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise . I rise too to i rise today to revise and extend and to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today because this coming saturday, november 22, is designated as National Adoption day. Each year thousands of families navigate is complicated and expensive adoption process and welcome a muchwanted child into their families and into their lives. This saturday we will recognize, honor and say thank you to these families. We will also raise awareness of the over 100,000 children who are currently in the foster care system who have not found permanent homes or a permanent family to belong to. 32 of these children will wait over three years in foster care before being adopted. Globally estimates are there is 153 million orphans. Mr. Huizenga they have adopted 3,000 of these children in 2013 but thats just the start. It may feel and appear to be overwhelming, but we can make a difference one child at time. Im proud to report that adoption rates in west minnesota, my hometown area, are among the highest in the area, and since the beginning f 2014, just one west michigan Adoption Agency alone had 38 domestic infant adoptions, helped many others. We want to say thank you to them for their work. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition . I request unanimous consent to speak for one minute and to revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Tonko thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today to draw attention to families across this country, going without our simply scraping by as we enter the Holiday Season. Food pantries like the Hunger Action network of new york state, do a great deal to care for our neighbors who are cold, hungry or homeless but they cannot do it alone. These organizations need washington to help and these people of these organizations care for need it even more. A unique american tradition is hoping those in need. One in 10 households lives below the poverty line in my district. These families live each day with struggles that are reflective across our great nation. These can be fixed by a congress that pursues policy that support a livable wage, support programs that help the less fortunate and support ducation and its my hope that this house will Work Together to make progress for all americans, especially those for this chamber seems to have forgot about. We should not wait for the next congress to take action. I can think of no better time than this Holiday Season to make progress on these critical issues. With that i thank you, mr. Speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore weather, the gentleman is recognized for without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. I rise today to recognize mayor la von hicks. Sadly he passed away on september 14 after an extended illness. He devoted his life to serving his family, church and community. He was a dedicated member of Jackson Church of christ for more than 50 years, serving as an elder and attending several Mission Trips over the years he served two terms in the grove Hill Town Council before becoming mayor. He also served around 40 years as a volunteer fireman and was an active member of the lions club. He worked tirelessly for the betterment of the grove Hill Community and he enjoyed fishing, traveling and university of alabama football. Mr. Speaker, to mayor hicks wife helen and his children and grandchildren, we say thank you for sharing him with us. Mr. Byrne we will miss him greatly. I yield back the remainder of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yield back. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to urge my colleagues against the president s unilateral amnesty plan. Unlike the president s amnesty, i support an immigration system thats accountable to the American People and the democratic process. Like most americans, i believe immigrants who work hard, play by the rules and contribute to our communities are good for our country. Mr. Marchant immigration laws should be properly controlled and strictly enforced but under president obama, this is not the case. Just look at the numbers. In 2012 alone, 11. 7 million foreign nationals resided in the United States without authorization. Visa overstays are estimated to be up 57 of that unauthorized population. Unilateral amnesty ignores the will of the American People. It is unfair to legal imgrants and hurts u. S. Citizens who are seeking jobs. Put simply, those who follow the rules should be rewarded and lawbreakers should be punish the president s executive amnesty does the exact opposite. Thank you, and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition . Ms. Jackson lee i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. Ms. Jackson lee i love living in cauntry, mr. Speaker, that is known around the world for its humanitarian generosity. In the state of texas, there are almost 1. 3 million undocumented individuals. They are undocumented but they are working, they are undocument bud they are paying taxes, they are undocument bud they love their children, many of them citizen children who every day go to school or work or college to try to make a difference. Mr. President , you do the right thing, and that is to use your executive power, vested in article 2 of the constitution, that allows you to give humanitarian rereleaf as indicated by the arizona decision in 2012. This is a time for courage, not politics. It is a time for truth, not misrepresentation. This is not amnesty. This is prioritization. This is saving money. This is keeping families together. This is allowing children to not come home to places where their parents have been thrown from their places of work and taken away from them. Im excited about the courage of this president. I look forward to america finally understanding the gifts that you are given. Let us not be a selfish nation, let us be a generous nation and let us help those who are in this country who are working every day, include manage of our soldiers. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The chair lays before the house a communication. The clerk the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2h of rule 2 of the rul