[captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2012] speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, john a. Boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. 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 limited to five minutes each, 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. Its difficult to focus on the task at hand in the aftermath of a shooting rampage in my district yesterday. With at least 10,000 people in a shopping mall, a young man allegedly and some eyewitnesses with body armor and semiautomatic weapon discharged 60 shots or more. There were two People Killed and a young 15yearold girl seriously wounded. Mr. Speaker, one is haunted by these events. We had one in aurora, colorado, at the theater where there was 12 People Killed, 60 wounded. Six People Killed at the seek temple this summer. We had an horrific episode earlier in my congressional career in springfield, oregon. Its hard to have meaningful conversations in a variety of subjects. I was going to deal with that problem with the fiscal cliff today, but gun violence is another area in america where it seems we cant have a discussion without delusional claims of overreach and taking away hunting rifles. Congress wont even allow statistics on gun violence to be gathered, and we certainly have made no progress towards closing the gun show loophole. I come to the floor with a small array of hope. With nearly half of all military sue sides are committed with privately owned weapons, the pentagon and congress are moving towards establishing policies to separate atrisk Service Members from personal private weapons. Congress is poised to enact legislation to end a prohibition about the military collecting information about firearms kept at home. These are simple commonsense steps for an Armed Services where more military personnel take their own life than who die in battle. Perhaps if we can take these reasonable steps to protect our servicemen and their families, perhaps we can have the courage to treat the epidemic of gun violence with the same thoughtful small steps when it comes to protecting the rest of our families. Until then, we will mourn the victims and thank god that our families were not at that mall. Thank you and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina, mr. Jones, for five minutes. Mr. Jones mr. Speaker, thank you so much. In this very chaotic time for the house of representatives and for the American People, we need to remain focused on the fact that our young men and women are still dying in afghanistan. Our involvement in afghanistan has become a confused strategy at best. Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to submit a news article for the record. The title of this article is afghan peace plan gives u. S. Smaller role. With it, mr. Speaker, id like to submit 1 names of American ServicePeople Killed recently. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Jones mr. Speaker, its time for congress to listen to the American People and start acting on their wishes. Poll after poll shows that they want to get out of afghanistan now. They want our troops home. They want to stop seeing our young men and women die. The American People want the 10 billion a month being spent in afghanistan to be spent here in america to help all our economic problems. I do not understand why we in congress seem to be without debate about this problem in afghanistan. We are currently in the process of a bilateral Security Agreement that will keep our troops in afghanistan for 10 years after 2014. Where is the outrage by congress . Were financially broke. We complain all the time about we cant reach it had deal or that deal. We are going over the cliff, and yet our troops are dying in afghanistan and were spending money we dont have. Mr. Speaker, in the article, and i quote, the Afghan Government is pursuing a Peace Initiative in which pakistan would replace the United States in arranging talks between the warring sides and the taliban will be granted government posts that effectively see to them political control of the southern and eastern strongholds. Mr. Speaker, those areas are where weve lost most of our young men and women fighting the war in afghanistan, and yet were going to give those areas that our young men and women died to the taliban so they can control it. Where is the outrage here in congress . I do not know. Mr. Speaker, in plain english, afghanistan is allowing pakistan and the taliban to control half the country. And while the taliban take back afghanistan, how does this make any sense . Where is the outrage . The American People are outraged, mr. Speaker, but not congress. Mr. Speaker, i have beside me a poster that tells pain. Theres this little girl sitting in her mothers arms. The mother is crying. The little girl is so young she doesnt know why this army officer is presenting her mother a flag. She doesnt know that her daddys been killed. She will one day. Shell ask her mom, what was my daddy like, and the mom will say he was a great man. He would love to see you now as youve grown older. But he died in a country known as afghanistan, a country that will never change no matter how much blood, how much money is spevent in afghanistan. Mr. Speaker, before closing i have a website that if people would join and sign and the website is www. Bringthemhome2013. Com. It is time for this administration and congress to say enough has been done. Its time to bring our young men and women home. If pakistan is going to have more influence in afghanistan than america, then let pakistan send their soldiers to die in afghanistan. Let pakistan pay the 10 billion a month that americas paying right now and has borrowed money from the chinese. Mr. Speaker, with that i will close by asking god to please bless our men and women in uniform, to please bless the child who died for freedom in iraq and afghanistan. Bless the house and senate that we will do whats right. I ask god to give strength, wisdom and courage to president obama that he will do whats right in the eyes of god. I ask god to please continue to bless america. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlelady from alabama, ms. Sewell, for five minutes. Ms. Sewell mr. Speaker, i rise today to recognize and pay tribute to the life and legacy of an Alabama State representative, dr. Yvonne kennedy. A lawmaker from mobile, alabama, who passed away sadly on saturday at the age of 67. Dr. Kennedy was a pillar in the community and a tremendous Public Servant. She was the epitome of a servants leader, and she blazed the trails in alabama politics that so many of us now follow. She led by example and was motivated by a drive and a passion for Public Service and education. I am deeply saddened by her passing and know that her legacy of service will live on. Yvonne kennedy was born on january 8, 1945, in mobile, alabama, to leroy and thelma kennedy. At a young age she displayed a commitment to Academic Excellence and upon graduating from high school earned her bachelors degree from Alabama State university, a masters degree from morgan state university, and a ph. D. From the university of alabama. These early accomplishments were the beginning of an illustrious career, both as a lawmaker and a community leader. First elected to the Alabama State house of representatives in a special election in 1979, dr. Kennedy was one of the longest serving members of the Alabama State legislature. She served the 97th district of mobile for more than 33 years. She was a prominent lawmaker who fought against alabamas egregious voter i. D. Laws and she championed the voter rights for rehabilitated exfelons. She was the chair of alabamas black caucus and was well respected by her colleagues. Her tireless commitment to Public Service and her advocacy for quality education in alabama was unparalleled. In 1981, dr. Kennedy became the president of Bishop State Community college in mobile, alabama, and she served in that role for over 25 years. Under her leadership, bishop state expanded from one campus to three campuses and flourished until her departure in 2007. Dr. Kennedy was a premiere educator whose commitment to education knew no bounds. Dr. Kennedy was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sore Record Incorporated and was president from 1988 to 1992. She served on the board of association of higher education, alabamas junior miss, a trustee for Miles College and she was a longstanding member of the christian methodist episcopal church. She was youth director of the board of Christian Education southeastern alabama conference. Now, i know that my generation owes dr. Kennedy a debt of gratitude. I know that my generation stands on the shoulders of the trailblazers of dr. Kennedy. I know her light guided me to become the first alabama africanamerican congresswoman. She left an imprint on alabama and across this nation and her legacy will live on. It is indeed a great privilege and honor that i have today to regular her legacy and contribution of dr. Yvonne kennedy with this tribute on the floor of the house of representatives. Let her life stand as a testament to the courage and strength of one individuals ability to shape the lives of so many. On behalf of the seventh Congressional District and the state of alabama and a grateful nation, i ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the life and legacy of dr. Yvonne kennedy. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. Mcclintock, for five minutes. Mr. Mcclintock thank you, mr. Speaker. To understand the federal budget mess and the socalled fiscal cliff, its important to know three numbers. 39, 37 and 64. 39 is the combined growth of inflation in population over the last 10 years. 39 . 37 is the increase in revenues in the same period. Thats despite the recession and the tax cuts. Not quite keeping pace but pretty close. 64 is the number that is killing us. 64 is the increase in federal spending in that period. Thats nearly twice the rate of inflation and population growth over the last 10 years. Now, the spending side of the fiscal cliff is the socalled sequester, automatic cuts in federal spending. Some say its the end of western civilization as we know it. Its hardly the case. After a 64 increase in expenditures during this decade, the sequester doesnt actually cut spending at all. It simply limits spending growth next year to about half of a percent. Now i opposed the budget deal that created the sequester last year because it fell woefully short of what Standard Poors clearly warned was necessary to help the a. A. A. Credit rating. Does our defense spending really need to be higher, inflation adjusted, than it was at the height of the vietnam war when we faced down the soviet union and had 500,000 combat troops in the field . The sequester isnt stepping off a cliff. It is taking one step back from the cliff. Now, the tax increases, however, are a very different matter. Without intervention, the federal tax burden will balloon 1 at the stroke of 21 at the stroke of midnight on new years eve, taking 2,000 to 3,000 from an averaged family. The house passed legislation to protect our nation from such a calamity but mr. Obama vowed to veto it and the senate killed it. Instead mr. He obama tells us hell veto any plan that stops taxes going up on all those very wealthy folks making over 200,000, who he says need to pay their fair share. I suppose fairness is in the eyes of the beholder. The top 1 earned 17 of all income but pays 37 of all income taxes. But thats beside the point. The fine point of it is that a lot of these very wealthy folks making over 200,000 arent very wealthy, and they arent even folks. They are 1. 3 million struggling Small Businesses filing under subchapter s. Our Small Businesses produce 2 3 of the new jobs in our economy. So this battle is very much for the middle class. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that mr. Obamas tax increase on the socalled wealthy will actually throw 200,000 middle and working class families into unemployment. 00,000 200,000 lost jobs. That is the optimistic estimate. An independent analysis puts that figure at close to 700,000 lost jobs. Thats because the president s taxes would slam 84 of the net Small Business income in the country. Thats precisely the income that is used to support and expand our labor force. In their blind pursuit of an eat the rich ideology, mr. Obama and his acolytes are imposing a policy that would utterly devastate hundreds of thousands of middle class families who depend upon the jobs that these Small Businesses provide. And for what . To get enough money to fund mr. Obamas spending spree for a grand total of eight days. Its telling that 3 4 of the new taxes he has proposed would be used to finance the new spending that he has also proposed. We republicans dont want to see taxes go up on anyone, period. We dont want to see this government willfully throw hundreds of thousands of americans out of work by this policy. The president obviously believes that in the 11th hour republicans will have no choice but ultimately to protect as many taxpayers as we possibly can since the only alternative would be tax increases on everyone, including those job creators. He may be right, but that would mean a bleak and bitter new year for all of those families who watch helplessly as their jobs evaporate before their eyes. Let us pray that this president has a change of heart before setting this calamity in motion. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia for five minutes, mr. Donnelly. Mr. Connolly mr. Speaker, we just heard a terrible cry on behalf of the wealthy in the United States. That top 2 . Tax them and it will kill jobs. Put people out of work. If you want to know the real victims of sequestration, the real victims of the republican fight to protect that 2 at all costs, its the homeless, its the poor, its the lower income, its the vulnerable amongst us. Most of the debate up to now about the fiscal cliff has focused on defense cuts and expiring tax cuts. Justifiable. But the ramifications for local safety nets are equally portentous. In my district, for example, fairfax county, recently kicked off its annual hypothermia prevention program. During my tenure on the county board i worked with faith, business, and Community Leaders to open houses of worship and other places to offer shelter from the cold and a hot meal for the homeless and individuals and families. It saves lives. Last winter the program served more than 1,000 clients in one of the wealthiest districts in the United States. Sequestration threatens support for this and other federal homeless prevention efforts. The mckinnyvento program prevents homelessness would be cut by as much as 156 million. You didnt hear anything about that just now. And it would leave more than 145,000 more people out in the cold at risk of dying from hypothermia. Similarly families in every state rely on lowincome heating assistance which stands to lose as much as 270 million in sequestration. That may not seem like much, but that programs already been cut by the republicans by 30 . Millions of americans every state rely on the support, including 145,000 in my home state of virginia. The picture gets even worse when you look at the looming cuts to federal Housing Assistance. Programs like the federal Community Development block grants, section housing, rental assistance for the needy and Senior Citizens already has sustained dramatic cuts over the last two years under republican control. The Home Investment Partnership program, which supports homeownership and rental assistance, was cut more than 600 million, or 38 , last year alone. It faces another 82 million cut in sequestration. Prim in my district was one Prince William county in my district was one. Cuts in federal Housing Support would further exacerbate the situation just as the local Housing Market is beginning to recover. There is an old proverb about someone always getting left out in the cold. But in this case people literally will be left out in the cold if we allow sequestration to go forward. Mr. Speaker, the cuts in Housing Assistance are just one piece of the local safety net. Threatened by sequestration. I recently met with the Disability Community in my district and they, too, are anxious about losing vital support that allows disabled loved ones to live independently. One local organization, for example, is providing Work Opportunities and Rehabilitative Serv