[captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2013] 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. , september 11, 2013. I hereby appoint the honorable tom reed to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, john a. Boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. The speaker pro tempore the house will now observe a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks on september 11, 2001. Will all present please rise for a moment of silence. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2013, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. 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 texas, mr. Poe, for five minutes. Mr. Poe mr. Speaker, in libya al qaeda cousins, as i call them, alshahrya claim responsibility for the murder of our apple boss dore and thee others. Its no coincidence that these two attacked occurred nearly at the same time two attacks occurred nearly at the same time and they occurred on september 11. In the past, the United States has always held and went after those that were responsible for this type of murder. In 1998 when the Kenyan Embassy was attacked and americans were killed, we responded. Of course, we responded on september 11. We responded after the first trade World Trade Center bombing. Then in 1996 when 19 american soldiers were murdered in saudi arabia, we responded. Mr. Speaker, the United States must always respond to terrorists and we must let them be reminded again and again that we will respond in an appropriate manner as we did on september 11. We must respond today, we must respond tomorrow. I am encouraged that the president will soon address the nation on what our response will be. We must hold those accountable personally and hold them personally accountable because we must let people understand they need to leave us alone. That is what the message needs o be, we must have justice against these terrorist attacks against individuals because, mr. Speaker, justice is what we do. Mr. Speaker, that was the speech i gave on this house loor one year ago today. September 12 of 2012 was when it was given. But it has been one year since the attack in benghazi, libya, and we still have no answers. Today as we remember those who were murdered 12 years ago on september 11, 2001, in new york, in pennsylvania, at the pentagon, young and old from countries all over the world, we should also remember those murdered one year ago in benghazi, libya, four americans. We went after those first 9 11 killers and we should. America had resolve, as it usual had in our history, but the benghazi killers run free today. Mr. Speaker, its ironic. The greatest power that has ever existed, with all our vast resources of military, c. I. A. Intelligence, the n. S. A. Intelligence, the f. B. I. That we cant capture some killers who killed americans in benghazi libya. When the media can go and talk to them and have them on television and we cant find them, capture them and bring them back to justice, its been a year. What does it tell the families, what does it tell americans when we havent been able to accomplish this capture of terrorists . We know that alshahrya was involved. I said that the day after this murdered occurred last year on this house floor. Today i filed the terrorist designation act of 2013. It says alshahrya is a terrorist organization and we must use all Resources Available to go after these killers. We must label them as terrorists and deal with them appropriately. We are not sure about the United States policy today in the middle east. We dont know what the current policy is about americans killed overseas. All we get is a lot of words. Even the white house, the press secretary said, well, in benghazi, it was a long time ago. Seems like we get more words than something that is actually done in the benghazi episode. Our enemies continue to test us because they no longer fear us. They dont know where we stand when we are attacked, not at ome or abroad, not our enemies nor the american citizens. The president is worried about syrians, syrians killed by syrians. The Administration Needs to go after these terrorists by any means necessary and bring them to justice. Restore our credibility with the American People because justice is what we do in this country and thats just the way it is. Yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from alabama, mr. Brooks, for ive minutes. Mr. Brooks mr. Speaker, president obama, without Consulting Congress or the American People, intervened in libya civil war, resulting in the murder of four americans, including our ambassador in benghazi, while creating yet another fertile terrorist recruiting ground. Repeating the libya mistake in september, 2012, the Obama Administration declared that america will intervene in syrias civil war and work, quote, to support a Syrian Opposition to hasten the day when assad falls, end quote. Shortly thereafter, i stood on this floor, stated my opposition to americas intervening in yet another civil war, and argued that, quote, america must stop spending our treasury and risking american lives for those who neither appreciate our sacrifices nor believe in basic liberties like freedom of religion and freedom of speech, end quote. I have participated in classified hearings with secretary of state john kerry, National Security advisor susan rice and many others. I have listened to president obama. The arguments for attacking yria are unpersuasive. Substantially different circumstances and consistent with my 2012 opposition to intervening in syrias civil war, i will vote against attacking syria if and when congress has that vote. I reject the president s argument that the best way to keep syrians from killing syrians is for americans to kill syrians. America has peaceful options. We should pursue them more vigorously. There is not the required public support to attack syria. Americans oppose attacking syria by a 2 1 ratio. In alabamas fifth Congressional District, 1,272 citizens have contacted my office about syria. 1,267 citizens oppose attacking syria. A scant five citizens out of 1,272, five support attacking syria. The president last night told america that there is no evidence that syria is a Security Threat to america, that supports preemptive military action. Yet, an attack makes syria and its allies a Security Threat. President obama erred when he made syrias chemical weapons a red line, but a president s gap does not justify war. A syrian war costs money america does not have. Every dollar spent attacking syria worsens americas deficit and debt, weakens our economy, undermines our ability to pay for National Security and increases the risk of even more defense layoffs and furloughs. An american attack on syrian aids and abets syrian rebels. They have beheaded christians solely because they are christians. One rebel leader killed a syrian soldier, cut open his chest, took out his heart, ate it and then bragged about it. Another rebel leader personally executed helpless prisoners of war. I question the wisdom of helping rebels who may be even more evil and bar barrack than syrian president assad. Yet, that is exactly what president obama proposes. The white house syrian strategy is conflicting. The president claims he does not seek regime change. Yet, in 2012 his administration said the exact opposite. President obama claims attacks will deter syrias chemical weapons use, yet, his secretary of state insists that attacks will be, quote, unbelievably small, end quote. I have reservations about this administrations ability to handle a delicate Foreign Policy matter. This administration bungled his fast and furious gun running program, killing hundreds of innocent mexicans and an american Border Patrol agent. This administration botched ben combazzy and threw in a cover benghazi and threw in a coverup for good measure. It illegally uses the Internal Revenue service to attack political adversaries. The list goes on and on. President obama has cultivated cheerleaders but not players on the field whose militaries will help america attack syria. America cannot perptually be the worlds only policeman. In sum, i believe attacking syria unilaterally makes matters worse, not better. Absent a Major International effort to punish syrian president assad for his inhumane and use of chemical weapons, i cannot and will not in good conscience vote on the house floor or in the Foreign Affairs or Armed Services committees to attack syria. Mr. Speaker, i yield the remainder of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. Mcclintock, for five minutes. Mr. Speaker, amidst the international humiliation that we suffered with our words of war with syria, last night, he stepped back from an International Crisis that could have catastrophic crisis by deferring to the russian diplomatic. Thank god. And last week he dferred to congress the decision over whether to go to war, as the constitution requires. Ive been deeply troubled by suggestions from any otherwise commentators from other parties that the president has independent authority as commander in chief to order an attacn k on o it necessary. This cuts right to the core of our constitutions design and it has an alarming deterioration of the popular understanding of the separation of powers that keeps us free. There is nothing more clear in the american constitution than that congress has the Sole Authority to decide the question of war or peace. Only after congress has made that decision does the president , as commander in chief, have the authority to execute that decision. For centuries, european monarchs had plunged their nations into bloody and debilitating wars on whim, and the constitutions framers wanted to protect the American Republic from that fate. They understood that a president , for example, might someday paint himself into a rhetorical corner and feel compelled to save face by exercising force. That is precisely why they entrusted that fateful decision to the congress. James madison, the father of the american constitution, said that its single most important feature was the provision that gave the congress, and not the president , the authority to go to war. Heres what he wrote in 1793. Quote, in no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature and not to the executive department. The trust and the temptation would be too great for any one man. War is in fact the true nurse of executive and war of physical forces is to be created and its the executive will to be directed. In war the public treasures to be unlocked and it is the executive hand which is to disperse them. Those who were to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things be proper or safe judges of whether a war ought to be commenced, continued or concluded, end quote. Alexander hamilton wroit one of the most important differences between the british king and the american president is that the king can plunge his nation into war on his command. But that the american president has no such authority. The Constitutional Convention gave careful consideration to the clause that provides that Congress Shall declare war. They chose that word carefully to make clear that the only independent war making power of the president is to repel an attack. The war powers act makes this explicit, that absent congressional authority, the president can only order our armed forces into hostility in response to, quote, a National Emergency created by an attack upon the United States, its armed forces, or its territories or possessions, unquote. Anything else requires prior congressional action. United nations participation act by which we entered the u. N. Requires congress to act before American Forces are ordered into hostilities in u. N. Actions. The war powers act specifically forbids inferring from any treaty the power to order American Forces into hostilities without specific congressional authorization. Now, some have used the past violation of this constitutional stricture, for example in kosovo or most recently in libya as justifying it to violate it now. That is precisely the point. If any violation of this fundamental constitutional provision can be used as justification for its outright nullification, then any such violation must be vigorously resisted lest we lose for all time the most important check on the most momentous decision that a government can make. To go to war. War is destruction on a massive scale. To unlawfully initiate such a thing is the highest crime that a public official could possibly commit. Indeed, if the power of impeachment for such an act as that, i cannot imagine what it would be for. The president was absolutely right not to cross that line. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore thank you. The chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Thompson, for five minutes. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to recognize 50 years of talented work and ingenuity by a company that is headquartered in state college, pennsylvania, an area of central pennsylvania that i proudly represent. Accuweather. A content and Media Company that provides Weather Forecasting Services worldwide. This year celebrates its 50th anniversary. In november of 1962, joe myers, who was serving as a oneman consulting firm, initially forecasting the weather for just one gas utilityity company in pennsylvania, laid the groundwork for accuweather. In 1972 accuweather began to serve television and radio clients and later expanded to newspapers. Now home to the most professional meteorologists at any one location anywhere in the world, accuweather employs hundreds of individuals, many of which are graduates of nearby penn state utah. At its Global Headquarters at state college, pennsylvania. Today mr. Myers and his Team Provides services to hundreds of outlets across the planet, including top ranked newspaper publications, television networks, and thousands of other global locations. Happy 50th anniversary accuweather. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. Black, for five minutes. Mrs. Black mr. Speaker, the latest jobs report released last week was a sad reminder of just how bad things have been in the obama economy. When the president s stimulus was passed in 2009, the administration predicted that our Unemployment Rate would have fallen to just 5 by now. But it hasnt. It remains stuck over 7 and would be closer to 10 if millions of americans had not given up looking for work all together. In fact, this latest jobs report highlighted a deeply disturbing statistic. The percentage of americans working or looking for work has dropped to its lowest level since the middle of the carter administration. What makes this situation even sadder for americans across the country is that this does not have to be the case. The president could work with congress to implement policies that would help our economy grow and help our americans get back to work. The president could work with us to delay obamacare, which is devastating the hiring and Employment Practices of Companies Across this country and creating a nation of parttime workers. The president could join a bipartisan consensus here in congress and approve the Keystone Pipeline that would immediately create 20,000 jobs. The president could drop his continued insistence on tax increases and work with this congress to pass a comprehensive, revenue neutral tax reform package that promotes economic growth. The president has a congress willing to work with him to help struggling americans across this country, whether he chooses to work with us is his decision. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. Benishek, for five minutes. Mr. Benishek thank you, mr. Speaker. I come to the floor today to honor the life of Michigan StatePolice TrooperPaul Butterfield who was tragically killed in the line of duty on september 9, 2013. Trooper butterfield was an army veteran who bravely served his community as a state Police Officer since 1999. He served at the Michigan State police post. Like all of our Law Enforcement officers, paul risked everything to ensure our communities and neighborhoods were safe. He gave his life to protect us. His service and sacrifice will never be forgotten. Sadly, Northern Michigan has lost a true hero. To trooper butterfields family, i am aware no words will ever match your deep sorrow. A loss this great can only be