hey we come humbly thankfully to you humbly for allowing each of us to be in our positions and thankfully for your guidance to this time none of us knows what this day holds but we trust you to see us through every decision we make help us to realize that is by your hand that we are free and well grant us wisdom to know the right thing to do in every decision and give us the strength to follow through with what is right regardless of the consequences within the hands of these public servants rest the destiny of this great nation help this great body to bring peace to our nation and the world give them the wisdom of solomon the strength of samson the faith of abraham and the ability of david to accomplish the challenges we face in jesus name amen the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house for approval thereof pursuant to clause one of rule one the journal stands approved the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlemen from arkansas mr boozman well everyone join me including those in the gallery without objection the gentlemen from arkansas mr boozman is recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker madam speaker it's my pleasure to introduce a good friend a man who ministers to the men and women of western arkansas a man of god our guests chaplain the reverend bobby l johnson of van buren arkansas he is being pastor of first assembly of god in van buren since june one thousand nine hundred and eighty since then the church has grown from just over two hundred sunday school to over two thousand placing it among the fastest growing sunday schools in arkansas and the nation his mission is bringing the world to is bringing the word to the people through his extensive outreach from mobile ministry to television and over the internet a graduate of both the university of central arkansas and evangelists college in missouri pastor johnson has taught public high school and pastored three other churches in arkansas it is my honor to welcome pastor johnson to the house of representatives and thank him for his service to his calling and to the people of arkansas i yield back gentlemen yields back the chair will now entertain requests for one minute speeches for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin rise without objections gentleman's recognized madam speaker our nation's values are reflected in how we spend taxpayers hardearned money yesterday rather than encouraging us to invest in the good health of our children here at home the president asked for permission to spend two hundred billion in iraq well it's okay to ask and it's okay to respond by saying no thank you the health of our nation's children is more valuable than making more of a mess in iraq my friends enough is enough it's time to spend our tax dollars right here at home last week forty four republicans joined the democratic majority in attempting to override the president's veto of the state children's health insurance program known as schip this issue is not going away we will prevail it's a matter of how long it will take and here are some facts to keep in mind schip saves tax dollars by sending children in need to the doctor's office not to the costly emergency room and over ninety of those in schip earn less than forty one thousand a year there is a better way of doing things in america and by working together we'll find it and guarantee access to healthcare for all those in need and i yield back what purpose does the gentlemen from south carolina rise madam speaker asked permission to address the house without objection gentleman's recognized madam speaker last week america's number one radio personality rush limbaugh auctioned off for charity a letter shamefully signed by a group of forty one democrat senators the letter to limbaugh's employer attack rush for comments blatantly distorted by media matters regarding persons who had lied about their service in the military i am happy to report that the senate letter of infamy was auctioned for twenty one million an amount rush says he will generously match that brings the total to forty two million the money will be donated to the marine corps law enforcement foundation this charitable organization provides financial assistance to the children of fallen marines and law enforcement officers i wish to commend rush for overcoming what was clearly a political ploy to chill his first amendment rights of free speech rush took an abuse of power by democrat leadership and turn it into something positive between rush limbaugh and senate democrats america knows who really supports our troops in conclusion god bless our troops and we'll never forget september eleven what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise without objection gentleman's recognized madam speaker i am very pleased to have the opportunity to address the house i am excited to be a democrat and i always take pleasure in giving reasons for why i am a member of the democratic party it says taking control of congress democrats have worked to pass legislation that will help families once again live the american dream and over the last six years college costs have shot up forty putting higher education out of reach for most americans i have one son in college today and i can tell you that i'm excited over the fact that we passed and the president did in fact sign the college cost reduction act of two thousand and seven this law is the single largest increase in college aid since the gi bill it strengthens the middleclass by cutting interest rates in half and subsidises student loans over the next five years we are also able in this bill to increase the maximum pell grant scholarship by five hundred madam speaker i am pleased i'm excited to be a democrat what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise without objection gentleman's recognized madam speaker schip continues to be used as a political game by washington liberals sensible effective compromise does exist to bring meaningful bipartisan support for this necessary program the kids first bill of which i'm a cosponsor adds thirteen million new children to the schip program by two thousand and twelve it encourages the states to move children to private coverage kids first provides fourteen billion in new schip allotments and it includes four hundred million in grants for outreach and enrollment this is a sensible approach i support schip and i'm committed to ensuring that it's a successful program that helps children who need it and the children for whom it was really intended for those who are in poverty it makes schip a program for those who it was intended for i thank my colleagues representatives camp and worship for their work on this bill and i asked my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join us in this compromise approach to help put our poor children first and a yield back now it's my time what purpose does the gentlemen from washington state rise without objection gentleman's recognized thank you madam speaker i rise today to pay tribute to a us army degrade from fort lewis washington that is served with distinction in iraq on october 11th the last of the roughly three thousand eight hundred men and women of the third brigade second infantry division we turned home to fort lewis after completing their second deployment in iraq the arrowhead brigade has been a trailblazer for the army as the first brigade to be outfitted with the stryker combat vehicles the first striker brigade to serve in iraq and now the first striker brigade to complete two tours in iraq during their recent deployment the arrowhead brigade supported operations in mosul baghdad baqubah and other critical areas on several occasions they were asked to secure down us aircraft and the sites of numerous suicide attacks in addition to the arrowhead brigade constantly remain prepared to mobilize and deploy anywhere in iraq for any number of contingencies within twenty four hours and tribute to their brave service seven members of the brigade were awarded the silver star the united states third highest award for combat valor in the course of their deployment the arrowhead brigade lost forty eight of their comrades with another seven hundred wounded i want to express my deep condolences to the three two brigade and the families of those fallen soldiers their contribution and sacrifice will not be forgotten the men and women of the three two brigade have done everything our country has asked of them and more we all should have the utmost respect and admiration for their service and sacrifice gentlemen yields back for what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska rise without objection gentleman's recognized thank you madam speaker recently congress passed house resolution five hundred and ninety supporting the goals of domestic violence awareness month while raising awareness of domestic violence throughout our country i am here today to voice my support for everyone impacted by this horrible nightmare this is an issue which affects millions in urban and rural areas alike it crosses economic lines geographic lines and ethnic lines no segment of our population is immune one out of five women and one out of fourteen men have been domestically assaulted at some point in their lives in my home state of nebraska there are more than five thousand eight hundred protection orders needed for those living in fear of violence domestic violence is an issue which too often is swept under the rug or ignored so as part of the domestic violence awareness month i'm wearing a purple ribbon to raise awareness about the crime of domestic abuse as we work toward ending this violence thank you madam speaker i yield back gentlemen yields back for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise without objection gentleman's recognized madam speaker last week despite the best efforts of the democratic majority and about forty four republicans we were unable to override the president's veto of a health insurance for the children of poor and working families now i listened to the argument that we can't afford providing health care for our children despite the fact that our schip program was entirely paid for look ma'am speaker i believe that a strong nation can do both you can be fiscally responsible and you can take care of your children good families managed to be fiscally responsible and take care of their children it's just a matter of priorities and i will say madam speaker that i was struck by some of the the miss priorities that i heard about the same people who said that we can't afford health insurance for our children increased spending seven a year since two thousand and one and voted to increase our debt limit four out of the past five years the difference is that they spent on the wrong things no spending we can't afford healthcare for children but billions of dollars in tax cuts for the most profitable oil companies on earth we can't afford spending for health insurance for children but billions of dollars in spending and no bid contracts for halliburton we've increased the debt we're putting in our kids shoulders and now we're telling our kids we can't afford to help them with the xrays i thank you speaker and i'll yield back the balance of my time what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise without objection gentleman's recognized madam speaker in the early hours of may 11th seven us soldiers were on lookout near patrol base in iraq sometime before dawn heavily armed al qaeda gunman made coordinated surprise attacks on the soldiers four of the soldiers were killed and three others taken hostage what happened next is a travesty and a failure of our public policy and support of the troops in the field a search to rescue the men began immediately but was brought to a halt because of our fisa law by the need for military lawyers to jump through legal hoops in order to gain approval to conduct the surveillance of terrorists communications ten hours passed before they were granted such permission the search for a kidnapped us soldier was halted so that lawyers could find grounds to have the attorney general grant special permission to listen in on the communications between individuals in iraq our fisa law as the president has requested needs reform not the flawed bill the democrats are seeking to pass here i yield back gentleman yields back for what purpose does the gentleman from new hampshire rise gentleman's recognized thank you madam speaker last week the rubber stamp republicans in this house once again held true to their name by voting to stand with the president and rejecting healthcare coverage for ten million american children the spending priorities of the president's republican allies in the house are simply out of line with the priorities of the american people in fact the eighty six of americans who support this bipartisan chip reauthorization might be interested to know that for the cost of just thirty seven days in iraq we could provide healthcare coverage to ten million children you have the president's irresponsible openended commitment to the occupation in iraq continues while the number of american children without access to healthcare keeps climbing madam speaker yesterday the president asked congress to borrow another one hundred and ninety six billion to continue his failed blank check no plan policy in iraq but he and his republican friends in this body apparently feel that spending thirty five billion on a highly successful program that provides healthcare to one insured children is excessive it's time for republicans to stop blindly following the president and start helping american families thank you madam speaker i yield back for what purpose does the gentle lady from minnesota rise gentle lady is recognized thank you madam speaker i want to bring before the body this morning an issue that needs more attention not less than that's the issue of the huge blob that ate the american dream called the alternative minimum tax one thing that we're seeing is that the alternative minimum tax madam speaker is set to rise at a level so unprecedented the american economy has not experienced anything like this in the last forty years right now the tax burden for the average american and to the economy is about one hundred and eighty five of gdp if we don't scale back on the alternative minimum tax we're looking at the tax burden of gdp being almost twenty four by mid century we have never seen this level of taxation and our gdp this means this money will come out of the pockets of the american taxpayer and we'll go into the coffers of the federal government this is a big concern madam speaker one that i'm very concerned about as i know most of the members in this chamber are as well in one thousand nine hundred and sixty nine when alternative minimum tax came in it was one hundred and fifty five people madam speaker i will close with the fact that this year we're looking at twenty three million americans impacted i thank you what purpose does the gentle lady from new hampshire rise gentlelady's recognized madam speaker yesterday president bush asked congress to rubber stamp his plan to spend one hundred and ninety six billion next year on the war in iraq and i have to tell the president not a nickel more for this war since the beginning of the year congressional democrats have been trying to change our war policy from one where our troops will stay there for more than a decade to one where we have responsible redeployment and bring the troops home next year the president believes it's acceptable to spend billions of dollars in iraq while important domestic priorities here in our own country go unmet while the president was crafting his one hundred and ninety six billion war supplement the democratic house approved appropriation bills that included targeted investments in our priorities here at home education health care for veterans more police on the streets caring for american families madam speaker as congress begins to examine the president's latest war funding bill we will once again demand that the president change course in iraq and to get a responsible plan to bring our troops home within the year thank you what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise without objection gentleman's recognized madam speaker i rise today to acknowledge the pro democracy rally that took place in belarus on the 7th of october during this event thousands of protesters flooded the streets of the capital city in support of democracy and to demand free and fair elections the protesters shouted belarus in europe and they waved european union flags to express their outrage against alexander lukashenko that's the person who the state department has labeled the last dictator of europe it is time for this dictator who cheated his way into office by stealing the elections last year to step aside to step down and let the people decide who should lead their country through legitimate and clean elections the world must not tolerate evil dictators and this one must step aside to allow belarus to join the modern world rather than to suffer under the oppressive and selfish rule of one man i applaud madam speaker i applaud the courage of the protestors who took to the streets in belarus and i stand with them in their quest for freedom democracy and the rule of law thank you madam gentleman yields back for what purpose does the gentlemen from missouri rise without objection gentleman's recognized thank you madam speaker president bush and about ten house republicans are all that stand between ten million children in the healthcare they need and deserve i'm deeply disappointed in the president's dumbfounding veto of the schip bill and they reneged on his pledge he made when running for reelection in two thousand and four the bill to reauthorize schip continues coverage for six million kids currently covered and provided incentives for another four million kids who have been falling through the cracks of the healthcare system the program continues to focus on low and moderate income families who are on too much for the medicaid program but can't afford private healthcare the big momentum behind this historic bill is growing exponentially it will not be stopped to those blocking the schip reauthorization from becoming law i say either get on board get out of the way or get run over the children's health care bill is on its way either with or without you schip supporters are even more determined than ever to get this done by the mid november deadline let's go i'll finish this job for children's health care in america it's fourth and goal on the one yard line working together we can overpower anyone left blocking the way i yield back what purpose does the gentleman from california rise gentleman's recognized thank you very much madam speaker as we listened to the comments of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle it is obvious that what they intend to do is to make this schip week s chip month and you kind of wonder why they are doing this we'll reflect back on last week when we had a most important vote scheduled for this floor that somehow was removed it was called the fisa vote the question of how we enable ourselves to protect us and our children and our grandchildren against the attacks of those who are terrorists around the world we do it in many ways but absolutely essential is intelligence the fisa bill the foreign intelligence surveillance act would have been destroyed by the bill placed on the floor last week by the majority the socalled restore act it actually gave greater protection to osama bin laden in a telephone conversation than an american citizen in the united states accused of a crime restore what does it mean repeal effective surveillance techniques opposing real enemies go out to nasa and see what they're doing understand what we need to do in this country and then bring a bill back to this floor that restores the gentleman's time is exceeding ability of the united states to find out about our enemies before the attack what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise gentleman's recognized for one moment one minute thank you madam speaker the city of memphis tennessee has lost one of its finest citizens kenneth williams senior kenneth williams senior passed away last night he was a pastor he was a two time city councilman he was a father he was a family man he was a leader in our community for thirty years he was the pastor at oliver baptist church and very highly respected in the community and the clergy and for eight years he was a city councilman one time as a district councilman community known as orange mound and then when he saw a higher calling and a need to address a higher subject he ran it against an incumbent city councilman at the time on heard of and was elected at large one of the first africanamericans elected at large to the memphis city council he was also a postal service employee and had a career there and rose to the ranks of director of personnel for that reason this house and this week with the president's action the post office at third street in memphis tennessee will be now be named the kenneth t william senior postal building that is attribute to his work and to all postal employees you had a family of which the city of memphis is proud his son kenneth jr is a pastor and a member of the school board his son kirk william is a world renowned saxophonist and his other son kevin is a musician with a contract and a poet there are many many great families in the city of memphis to get involved in politics but none greater than the williams the hair of the hypocrite never was upon this family and the idea of discrimination and bigotry or intolerance never graced them either he was a leader in biracial politics and activities in the city of memphis he was a leader in being bipartisan as well there've been few people like kenneth william senior in the city of memphis there'll be few to come i share his loss greatly he was a supporter of mine who although he'd had a stroke and had difficulty walking came down and did a political ad for me when he could hardly get up the stairs and on television it was like an angel speaking when john conyers came to memphis in february he made it up a whole flight of stairs to see john conyers and a happier man i have not seen he knew the post office was being named for him before he passed i'm happy he knew that i'm happy i knew him we've lost a great leader thank you madam speaker for what purpose does the gentlemen from iowa rise without objection the gentleman's recognized madam speaker it's clear that president bush has no intention of changing the course in iraq in any way before he leaves office in january two thousand and nine in fact both the president of the pentagon have recently said that they expect american combat troops to be in iraq for another ten years and just yesterday the president requested an additional one hundred and ninety six billion to fund the war in iraq for the upcoming year the democratic congress rejects the notion that our troops are needed in iraq for the next decade if the iraqi government knows that we're going to be there for ten years they have absolutely no reason to make any of the tough political compromises that they promised they would make when the troop escalation began earlier this year instead we support a responsible redeployment out of iraq so that the iraqis can finally take control of their own fate and so that we are no longer sending more than two billion there every week madam speaker house democrats are committed to bringing our troops home but we can't do it alone i hope this outrageous funding request serves as a wake up call to my republican friends and starts a new dialogue to bring our troops home i yield back the balance of my what purpose does the gentlemen from connecticut rise for one minute and revising steps without objection gentleman's recognized thank you madam speaker when will it end with blackwater probably not soon enough just yesterday the committee on oversight and government reform released findings that show that blackwater has potentially misclassified hundreds of workers in iraq and afghanistan evading taxes and costing the taxpayers in the united states at least thirty million this comes a few weeks after the same committee discovered that blackwater is raking in potentially a hundred million dollars in profit off of their government contracts we've got to get this situation under control and that's why i along with mr welsh and chairman waxman have introduced legislation to require that private government contractors receiving more than eighty of their revenue from federal contracts like blackwater must disclose the salaries of their most highly compensated employees it just isn't right for executives at blackwater anywhere else to make their fortune off of war profiteering it's our money and we deserve to know how it's being used i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this common sense legislation i yield back the balance of my time gentleman yield back for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise the amount of speaker on behalf of the courageous men and women of armed forces who are putting their lives on the line for our freedom and security i offer a privilege resolution that is at the desk the clerk hill will report the resolution house resolution seven hundred and sixty seven whereas united states soldiers and personnel in iraq are fighting to protect innocent americans from being attacked by alqaeda and radical jihadists who are determined to kill the american people whereas on october 18th two thousand and seven and debate of hr nine hundred and seventy six children's health insurance program reauthorization act the member from california mr stark stated you don't have money to fund the war on children but you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send it to iraq to get their heads blown off with the president's amusement whereas on october 18th two thousand and seven and a press release representative pete stark is quoted as saying i respect needed the commander in chief who keeps them in harm's way nor the chicken hawks in congress whereas the member from california mr stark engaged in personally abusive language toward the president and members of the house including the use of language that impugns their motives whereas the member from california mr stark dishonors not only the commander in chief but the thousands of courageous men and women in america's armed forces who believe in their mission and are putting their lives on the line for our freedom and security whereas the member from california mr stark has failed to retract a statement and apologize to the members of the house our commander in chief and the families of our soldiers and commanders fighting terror overseas resolved that the member from california mr stark by his despicable conduct has dishonored himself and brought discredit to the house and merits that sensor they house for the same resolved that the member from california mr stark is here by so sensors the resolution the resolution qualifies for what purpose does the gentlemen from mississippi rise madam speaker i move to lay the resolution on the table question is on the motion all in favor say aye aye opposed say no no opinion of the chair that i have it madam speaker i asked for the yeas and nays the yeas and nays are requested those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise a sufficient number having risen the yeas and nays are ordered members will record their votes by electronic device this will be a fifteen minute vote