Your focused items . Sure. What is the last part of the question . Some of your what you would like to see in the next congress . On policy issues. So on the first of all, lets remember the fiscal cliff is defined the issue right before us, right . The fiscal cliff contains 5 trillion in revenue. You know, just an aside here, if the fiscal cliff were allowed to happen, and we want to make sure it doesnt, we would over a 10year period overachieve on the Simpson Bowles reduction. We would overshoot them now. We dont want to do it that way because its way too much, way too fast and in the wrong way. The other component of the fiscal cliff are the sequester cuts. So thats why you see the president s proposal lined up as it is. It has 1. 6 trillion in revenue on top of 1 trillion in cuts and he has another 600 billion in cuts. In terms of just in terms of entitlement reform, i want to go back to what i see as a very different philosophical approach, and we began this effort in the Affordable Care act. We did save 716 billion in the medicare program. I dont want to get all of this in our video library. Well take you back live to the floor of the u. S. House here on cspan. Te to inform the house that the senate has passed s. 3677, an act to make technical corrections to Flood Disaster protection act of 197 in which the concurrence of the house is requested. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, by direction of the committee on Armed Services i ask unanimous consent to take the speakers table the bill h. R. 4310 with a Senate Amendment thereto, disagree to the Senate Amendment, and agree to the conference requested by the senate. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk h. R. 4310, an act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2013 for military activities of the department of defense, for military construction, and for Defense Activities of the department of energy to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. For what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i rise to instruct the motion conferees, the National Defense authorization for fiscal year 2013, to accept the Senate Language that requires the plan for promoting the security of afghan women and girls during the security transition process. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the motion. The clerk motion to instruct conferees offered by mrs. Davis of california. Mrs. Davis of california moves that the managers on the part of the house at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the Senate Amendment to the bill h. R. 4310 be instructed to agree to section 1249 of the Senate Amendment relating to a plan for promoting the security of afghan women and girls during the security transition process. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to clause 7 of rule 22, the gentlelady from california, mrs. Davis, and the gentleman from california, mr. Mckeon, each will control 30 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. Mrs. Davis thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Mrs. Davis thank you,. Mr. Speaker, five years ago i was at a congressional delegation of female members to afghanistan on mothers day to visit with our troops and meet with afghan women, and i continued to participate in this trip ever since. On that first trip, in the southwestern region of afghanistan and i met the women of the village they worked with. Like much of afghanistan, this area is rural and impoverished. The women we met had the same aspirations of women across the globe. They seek to send their children to school and learn a trade in order to support themselves and their family. During that first visit in 2008, the School Head Master told us stories of how acid was thrown into the faces of serve female students who attended the school. These young girls overcame enormous challenges in coming to school every day. But their desire to learn surmounted the obstacles they faced, and there, just like at home, we heard these young girls talk of being doctors and teachers and anything else they could dream of. Each year we have continued to visit the women and their message remains clear and consistent. They need security for themselves and their families if they are going to succeed. During these visits, we have seen slow but steady progress being made as security in the area has improved. This year during our visit, instead of talking about wanting the kids to come to school and being fearful that their parents would keep them at home, the School Head Master spoke about the 4,000 students who were coming to school each day and the need for additional desks and supplies. With a tremendous turnaround in such a short period of time. But, mr. Speaker, these steep challenges remain for women in afghanistan. Security, especially for women, has been at the heart of the problem that needs to be addressed as we transition responsibility to afghan forces. Just this week we had a reminder of those security concerns. On monday the director of Womens Affairs was killed. She replaced the previous director who was also assassinated just six months ago. It is heartbreaking to hear of these female leaders being assassinated in an area that is trying so hard to move their people and their country forward. A country cannot disenfranchise nearly 50 of their population while seeking to achieve a strong prosperous economy. The language included in the senate bill is a step in the right direction. So Many Organizations have been active in the transformation of afghanistan, and i encourage my colleagues at the department of defense and the department of state to ensure this is a multipronged effort. We must involve all the entities, not only here in the United States and afghanistan, but also in pakistan and india where women there understand the daily challenges that afghan women face and create opportunities for these groups to work together. It is the least we can do to support the women of afghanistan and leave their country with a sustainable path for stability. Mr. Speaker, this is more than the security of women and their ability to prosper in afghanistan. It is also about our military service members. Women on reconstruction teams have worked hard to help the women of afghanistan and members of the female engagement teams have been tremendous role models for young afghan children. Our brave military men and women have sacrificed so much in afghanistan. And to leave without the ability of continued security there would be a dishonor to all those who have served. We must ensure that the strides afghan women and girls have achieved over the last decade do not erode. Next year, i hope to visit afghanistan again on mothers day, and i want to tell the women we meet with, again, the same group of women that we have met with over the last several years, that their security is of importance. Mr. Speaker, i ask my colleagues to join me in this motion to instruct the house conferees and accept this language. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore does the gentlelady yield back her time or reserve . Does the gentlelady yield back or does the gentlelady reserve her time . Mrs. Davis im sorry, mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from california. Mr. Mckeon thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise to thank the gentlelady for her leadership not only on this issue but on the leadership she helps provide to our committee. We have several women serving on the house arm services committee, and they do an outstanding job. Over the years, many of us have visited iraq and afghanistan, and i have had that opportunity, but i know that the troops that the women have made bring us back a different perspective. I know the troops that i made, like time before last to afghanistan i went to the south. I went to camp leather neck where they were setting up the marines that just arrived and they were pushing out in the desert. We were not able to visit marja, which was one of the towns in that area. Was totally under the control of the taliban. The taliban flag flew over marja. The last time i was there, totally changed. The marines had taken over marja, and the day we were there we opened a school. Now, its not like a school that we have here for our young people. They had a few classrooms in an adobe building and then they had a few tents. It was kind of raining that day, but there were as we opened that school 500 children were going to now be able to go to school and over a third of them were young girls who could not go to school before. They were so excited. 10 teachers and 500 young people. As i said, about a third of them young girls. We have made some great improvements in afghanistan. A lot of the things we dont hear about, but when these women go on these trips on mothers day, they meet with the same women each year so they give us a whole different perspective. Many of us on the trips, we go to one place. The next time we go to a different place and we dont get a real feel as to what is happening actually with the people there. And ive talked to some of these women after those trips. They reported back and told me the things that they have seen and learned, and this perspective of actually being able to see the same people and hear their perspective change from year to year is invaluable. And i thank you for making those trips. And we have women on both sides of the aisle, both on and off the committee, that have gone to those trips. Marta roby, one of the fresh martha roby, one of the freshmen members, led the trip this last time. And vicky hertzler and renee ellmers, another freshman member on our side, again, with women from the other side of the aisle, made that trip. And i thanked them for it, and i strongly support this effort on this motion to instruct. What we need to do is everything we can do to ensure the safety of women during this we made lots of gains for those women and the girls who will become women in that country. And when you withdraw the troops, its a serious time. Its a dangerous time. And as we passed the effort over to the Afghan Security forces to provide the protections and keep the gains that weve made, its very important that they dont fall back into the same way that they treated women in the past. We lose all those gains that we made. So this is a very important addition to the bill. And i thank you for bringing this forward. I thank you for the support. Its something i hope everyone in the congress will support as we move forward. And i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore jartsjarts. The gentlelady from california. Mrs. Davis the speaker pro tempore jarts. The gentlelady from california. Mrs. Davis i want to thank you for your remarks here this morning, because this has been a bipartisan trip. And i can say that we have many, many hours together on these trips, and to experience it with the afghan women and with our female troops, particularly, has been an incredible experience. And i particularly enjoy the support and collegiality of the colleagues that mr. Mckeon referenced. It has been very meaningful to awful us. I want to yield three minutes to ms. Tsongas of massachusetts and ms. Tsongas has been with us on those trips and i know will share some of her experiences as well. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from massachusetts is recognized for three minutes. Ms. Tsongas thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this motion to instruct. As we have heard, this motion supports bipartisan Senate Language that would help promote the security of afghan women and girls. Since becoming a member of congress, i have had the honor of visiting afghanistan four times, several with the mothers day trips that chairman mckeon referenced, and i have been fortunate on those trips to visit in particular with some of our military moms who are serving in afghanistan. These are female soldiers who have children back home, leaving them for months on end. Thousands of soldiers, men and women, go without seeing their family and loved ones for months on end, highlighting the extraordinary commitment that accompanies military service. This service is something, this commitment is something that we take home with us as we learned from them and from their stories. These service men and women have made such very personal sacrifices for the people of afghanistan. The ever increasing participation of women in our military demonstrates the important contributions women are making to our effort in afghanistan and around the world. It also stands in stark contrast to the involvement that afghan women are able to have in their countrys public life. One of the most important observations and lessons that i have learned during this trip as well as the others was that if this country is to become more stable and secure, women must be included in Afghan Society and government. Several years ago i visited a school where over 1,000 young afghan girls cycled through each day of all ages, very young up to high school. When we asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up, the answers we heard from doctor, lawyer, teacher, even journalist. These are exactly what so many of our own young daughters hope to achieve. These young women felt optimistic about opportunities that were previously unheard of for women in afghanistan. And represent a future of promise for this country. We should take great pride in the work that we have done to elevate their sight lines. Ensuring that these young girls continue to have access to these opportunities in more broadly ensuring that women are able to participate in Afghan Society as a whole is not only good for the future of afghanistan, it is good for the United States as well. So that we can help ensure a more peaceful and just future there. On monday, we were starkly reminded of the tenuous position of women in afghanistan when the acting head of Womens Affairs in an Eastern Province was assassinated as she traveled to work. It also reminds us of their extraordinary courage as he they take advantage of the opportunities and seek to be full participants in their countrys lives. As we reduce our military presence in afghanistan, the United States must be cognizant of how we will make sure that women continue to have a seat at the table and that the nascent gains for them are not abdicated. The bipartisan language this bipartisan language in the motion before us would require that the department of defense mrs. Davis i yield another minute. Ms. Tsongas the bipartisan language in the motion before us would require that the department of defense produce a plan to promote the security of afghan women and girls as it withdraws from the country. It would encourage a recruitment of women as members of the security forces. In fact several years ago we met with young women who were being trained to be helicopter pilots and require the department of defense to report back on its progress toward meeting these goals. I strongly urge a yes vote on the motion and am so pleased to see our chairmans support for it. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california. Mr. Mckeon reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california. Mrs. Davis i yield three minutes to ms. Jackson lee of texas. I know shes been very involved in developing democracies and working with member. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from texas is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Jackson lee i thank all my colleagues, particularly thank congresswoman davis for her persistent leadership. I joint her as cochair of the afghan caucus. I thank the chairman for his support as well. So many of us have traveled to afghanistan and traveled as women to afghanistan and have begun to look to this country from the eyes of wanting its survival. A young girl is not from afghanistan but she symbolizes the essence of this motion to instruct. Shes from pakistan, but many of you will remember that she took more than one bullet as a young girl who fought and stood up for girls being able to be educated. In my travels to afghanistan and the many provinces, you would hear stories from women as have been evidenced about the inability to serve, the inability to express themselves. In meeting with a group of women afghan parliamentarians, interestingly enough they would indicate how they wanted to serve their constituencies but how difficult it was and dangerous it is to travel as a woman to their particular province to serve their constituents. That is not the nation, that is not the basis of the principles of which our soldiers have fought and died for. America has wonderful principles and im delighted this motion to instruct focuses on providing the safety net for girls and women in leadership and in education. It is indicated, of course, that this transition will occur, but that the requirement of a road map to ensure the safety and security of girls and women. We have over the period of time in being in afghanistan, the longest war this nation has ever seen, seen the ups and downs. But more particularly the tragedy of having schools burn that were particularly directed towards serving girls. Girls turn into young women and to women who want to serve. As we all know the hand that rocks the cradle does establish the basis of civilization. For the democracy of this great nation, i include my support for a motion to instruct for our nation not to lead as it leaves a pathway of democracy for the women and girls of afghanistan. We must provide the protection that they need to help lead this nation and to ensure its democracy, freedom, and justice. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california. Mr. Mckeon reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from california. Mrs. Davis i yield one minute to the gentlelady from california who has also been an extremely strong leader on this topic. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. Ms. Lee let me first thank congress wop susan davis for your tremendous leadership on this issue. I agree with congresswoman jackson lee, it has been consistent and bold.