the house will be in order the prayer will be offered by the chaplain father coughlin eternal father drawing us ever closer to you spring rains make us mindful of your presence in our lives water comes down from the heavens as rain although it is always the same itself it produces so many different effects one in the tree another in the rose bush still another in the vine and so in the whole of creation remaining essentially the same the rain adapts itself to the needs of each creature that receives it with the openness of absorbing life in the same way your spirit lord remaining absolutely simple in its integrity apportions its grace upon each member of congress your spirit makes one a teacher of honest facts another visionary of the future to another the ability to remove obstacles and yet another the art of compromise still others respond with a depth of spirituality and service not easily recognized and they all respond to this plenitude and accomplish great deeds for this nation revealing your glory at work in the world now and forever amen the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house her approval thereof pursuant to clause one of rule one the journal stands approved for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition thank you madam speaker pursuant to clause one rule one i demand a vote on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal those in favor say aye those opposed no the ayes have it the journal stands approved madame speaker object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make point of order that a quorum is not present pursuant to clause eight of rule twenty further proceedings on this question are postponed the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from virginia mr moran 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 you may be seated the chair will entertain up to fifteen requests for one minute speeches on each side of the aisle for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise consent to address the house for one minute to revise and extend my remarks without objection the gentlemen is recognized for one minute madam speaker we have a situation today where the americans are paying almost four a gallon for gasoline this morning goldman sachs announced that oil is going to go up to one hundred and fifty to two hundred a barrel which means that it's not going to stop at four it'll be about five or six now think about this this is a tremendous boon to iran and iraq iran will gain enormous wealth and political influence iraq will get even more revenue than the seventy two billion they're anticipated this year they got a hundred billion dollars over the last couple years much of it our money and yet americans have already contributed over half a trillion dollars to iraq's economy within the next couple of weeks we'll contribute almost one hundred and seventy million and yet we are paying to pick up the garbage and train the security forces in iraq when they've got surplus they don't even know what to do with who's time's expired in charge of this madam speaker for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise address the house for one minute to revise and extend without objection the gentleman's recognized for one minute madam speaker before i came to congress i had an opportunity to serve my constituents in a different way i was a home builder a land developer and even a mortgage lender i know firsthand some of the problems that the real estate industry and the housing industry is facing today ninety four of the american homeowners are paying their mortgage payments on time and in full are some people having a hard time making these mortgage payments of course they are can the government help yes in some cases but i urge my colleagues to be very careful here we do not need for the federal government to be the piggy bank for folks that made poor decisions or to bail out the lenders that made loans to people that really didn't have the capacity to pay it back it's not fair to penalize those folks that made good decisions and played by the rules by taking their tax money and rewarding those who didn't for many of my constituents they are having a hard time just making their own mortgage payment what we shouldn't be doing is taking their tax money to pay their neighbors payment madam speaker i encourage folks to be very cautious about these bailout programs gentleman's time has expired for what purpose does the gentlemen from colorado rise permission to address the house for one minute without objection the gentlemen is recognized for one minute good afternoon madam speaker seven years of president bush's economic policies have put a tremendous strain on middleclass families since two thousand and one healthcare premiums have gone up almost six thousand college tuition has increased by two thousand five hundred and gas prices have more than doubled with these increases and paychecks that have on the average fallen it's no wonder that the majority of americans say their economic situation has not improved in the last five years while the bush administration is eager to give tax breaks to the wealthiest of americans and assist wall street firms like bear stearns it does little to help middle income families madam speaker the democratic house recognizes the immediate need to help middleclass families and that is why our budget prioritize middleclass tax relief and why we are proposing a second economic stimulus package it's time for president bush to put the middleclass ahead of the wealthiest few with that i yield back gentleman yields back his time for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise oh the gentleman from oregon thank you madam speaker to address the house for one minute to revise and extend without objection the gentlemen from oregon is recognized thank you madam speaker by refusing to renew the county payments program congress has broken its pledge to rural areas all across this country like grant county oregon where federal land covers sixty one of the county that's three hundred square miles larger than the entire state of delaware school children of grant county rely on the federal government to be a good neighbor during my most recent visit to prairie city school and the eighth grade class of andy demco i was told by the school superintendent noah cleaver that only the county payments funds through the road department have kept the schools going now our speaker has said she'd like this to be the children's congress so why won't the democratic leadership bring for a vote hr three thousand and fifty eight which is a bipartisan four year reauthorization of the county payments timber program keeping a hundredyearold commitment from this government to these counties it's been one hundred and twelve days since hr three thousand and fifty eight was made eligible for a vote it's here on the union calendar of the house we've had fifty one legislative days when it could have been brought up for a vote to help secure rural schools and yet the leadership of this house refuses to even schedule it for a vote on the house floor when will the democrat leadership of the house keep its commitment to rural communities the gentleman from oregon's time has expired for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise request permission to address the house for one minute without objection the gentlemen is recognized for one minute madam speaker as gas prices have once again hit record highs congressional democrats are urging president bush to take action for seven years he has sat on the sidelines and even last week at a press conference in the rose garden he concluded that i'm quoting here the costbenefit analysis of immediate action for consumers were not persuasive enough for him to act house democrats are calling on president bush to stop filling the strategic petroleum reserve this reserve is ninety seven full which is more than enough to meet any emergency we would have expert believe that tapping the reserve could lower our gas prices by as much as five to twenty five cents per gallon right now americans need help they're hurting president bush could take action today that would provide immediate relief to consumers at the pump but he refuses to act once again house democrats urge the president to reconsider i yield back the balance of my time the gentleman from ohio yields back his time for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise asking unanimous consent to address the house for one minute to revise and extend my remarks without objection the gentlemen is recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker madam speaker today america's eyes are turning to indiana and north carolina as tens of thousands of americans are making their decision in primary election days and thanks to the united states supreme court decision in crawford versus marion county election board hoosiers will be voting today with greater confidence than ever before the supreme court decided last week in a six to three decision that indiana's law requiring photo identification to vote is constitutional in its opinion the supreme court noted quote there is no question about the legitimacy or importance of a state's interest in counting only eligible votes it further stated quote indiana's interest in protecting public confidence in elections while closely related to its interest in preventing voter fraud has independent significance because such confidence encourages citizen participation in the democratic process close quote indiana's laws had its critics in this body but i rise to extol the supreme court and all of those in indiana and north carolina who with greater confidence today will exercise their franchise and guide america's future gentleman from indiana's time has expired for what purpose does the gentlemen from vermont rise to address the house for one minute to revise and extend without objection the gentlemen from vermont is recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker for the past seven years president bush has been delivering an energy policy that has resulted in the highest increase in the cost of energy in the history of this country last week the president continued his call for more of the same when he touted an old plan for domestic drilling in the arctic that would produce a six month supply of oil ten years from now it's not going to do anything about price at the pump now it's not going to do anything about price at the pump later instead the president is blaming congressional democrats for not addressing the problem but it's the president who won't suspend purchases of the strategic petroleum reserve which would bring down prices twenty five cents immediately it's the president who won't work with us to get rid of the enron loophole which is enriching speculators and clobbering middleclass families this year in fact democratic congress has passed energy legislation that's getting nowhere because of being held hostage in the senate and it has no support from the president of the united states the reality is that we have actions we can take on the short term the strategic petroleum reserve the enron loophole and in the long term to reduce our reliance on carbon i yield back the balance of my time gentleman for vermont yields back the balance of his time for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise madam speaker i ask permission to address the house for one minute revise and extend my remarks without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute madam speaker americans are paying the price at the pump for inaction of this majority democrats promised the american people two years ago last week that they had a plan to address rising gas prices it appears that plan was nothing more than election year politics that's a shame because right now americans are paying nearly four a gallon for gas the effect of these rising prices is felt not just when we fill up our tank we see the rising price at the grocery store because our food is shipped in trucks all across this country the american people do not expect a quick fix but they do expect us to work toward energy independence rather than simply pointing fingers and blame we live in a global market and many nations are competing for oil let's start by promoting american alternative energy let's invest in american oil let's advance american energy exploration the coops of america led by national president jack wolf are leading the way in conclusion god bless our troops and we will never forget september the 11th gentleman from south carolina yields back his time for what purpose does the gentleman from new hampshire rise to address the house for one minute to revise and extend my remarks without objection the gentlemen is recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker there's no doubt that the housing crisis and the consumer credit crunch are getting worse last week we learned that the number of homes facing foreclosure more than doubled from last year in my home state of new hampshire foreclosures have increased nearly ninety six and that is why it is so important that congress pass the comprehensive housing package that is coming to the floor this week the legislation is the most innovative and comprehensive solution to the housing crisis yet it will give relief to the millions of working families struggling to pay their mortgage with the rising price of gas and food it would help nearly fifteen million americans in need our package would also offer assistance to states and localities to purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed properties madam speaker our economy cannot rebound unless we act now to give relief to millions of americans in need we have a bold proposal to take the decisive action i certainly hope that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle understand the urgent need and that we will receive bipartisan support for this proposal thank you madam speaker i yield back gentlemen from new hampshire's time has expired for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise to address the house for one minute to revise and extend my remarks without objection the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute madam speaker during a telephone town meeting last night i asked my constituents do you think the media are fair and objective in their news coverage ninety one of the almost four hundred respondents said the media are not fair only seven said that they are fair this is an amazing result but not a surprising one since slanted coverage pervades much of the news americans get every day one of the greatest threats america faces is a biased media if the american people don't get the facts they can't make good decisions and if they can't make good decisions we won't have a democracy the national media need to let the american people make up their own minds not tell them what to think gentleman from texas yields back his time for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise madam to consent to address the house for one minute to revise and extend my remarks without objection the gentleman's recognized for one minute thank you very much madam speaker today we have an opportunity a significant milestone in israel's history we celebrate the 60th anniversary of truly an important time in jewish history my district the san joaquin valley is the bread basket of the nation but we have a unique relationship between california state university at fresno and bengurion university of the negev my constituents for years have been partnering with the counterparts in israel to research water irrigation technologies and agricultural solutions to problems that face our world fresno state has a long history in working with many leading drip and microirrigation equipment manufacturers in israel and the university has a long history of exchange of information on the agricultural research organization and the volcani center in israel including exchange programs that have brought research scientists to work on water and salinity issues fresno state continues today to have a discussions with israeli researchers and industry on how to extend and beneficial use of the world's evershrinking supply of water for the important purpose of feeding our world for this and many other reasons we recognize and celebrate the 60th anniversary of the nation of israel gentleman from california's time has expired for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend and address the house for one minute without objection the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker i rise today to ask this house why do we continue to punish illinois and us manufacturers and farmers in the five hundred and thirty one days since the uscolumbia trade promotion agreement was signed us products exported to columbia have suffered over a billion dollars in taxes and tariffs because they were exported from the united states to columbia during that period of time colombian products entering the united states come in dutyfree that doesn't seem fair we have an agreement with columbia to eliminate those tariffs and every day we delay it costs almost two million in higher excuse me one hundred and ninety million a week and higher tariffs on usmade products the uscolumbia trade agreement is good for states like illinois i represent a state that's dependent on exports our biggest product we produce in the district i represent we have eight thousand union workers who produce yellow bulldozers and construction equipment something that's uncommon in places like in need in places like columbia let's be competitive let's eliminate those tariffs let's bring up for a boat the uscolumbia trade promotion agreement the gentleman from illinois time has expired for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise i ask permission to address the house for one minute to revise and extend my remarks without objection the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute madam speaker on this national teacher day i rise to single out just one of the many talented teachers in my congressional district libby anderson teaches second grade at grover heights elementary school in grover beach it's a national blue ribbon school she's one of those gifted teachers with a truly unique way of igniting the interest of her students a few years ago she led a class project where each student picked a lighthouse to study from around the country through that project one student learned of the federal efforts to restore the piedras blancas lighthouse in my district under her guidance this class embarked on a campaign called pennies for piedras to raise money toward this effort by the end of that school year the students had raised one thousand three hundred and thirty seven and thirty cents in pennies i'm happy to say that our students have gone on to lead support for continued restoration of this special place this is just one example of the many exceptional ways this teacher touched the lives of her students and expanded their awareness of their communities our country is blessed to have teachers like mrs anderson who sparks students passions encouraging them to get involved in the world around them i yield back gentlewoman from california yields back her time for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise madam speaker permission to address the house for one minute to extend and revise my remarks without objection the gentleman from ohio is recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker with no relief in sight for the american public as they continue to endure the cost of skyrocketing energy costs it is once again time to look at alternative energy sources to combat this problem china has plans to build forty nuclear power plants in the next fifteen years investing approximately fifty billion in these reactors united states has not licensed a nuclear power plant in thirty years while current congressional leadership refuses to even consider the notion of a nuclear power as a viable alternative energy source of course we don't have to leave my home state of ohio to find additional ways to increase domestic energy production in northwest ohio alternative energy is abundant with the only wind turbines in the state solar panel production and coal liquification technology all adding to our energy production whether we look at other countries or in our own backyard we must embrace alternative energy sources as one of the ways to reduce our dependency on middle eastern oil and combat skyrocketing energy prices i yield back thank you gentleman from ohio yields back his time for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio rise ask consent to address the house for one minute to include extraneous material in the records without objection the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says congress should do more to address the housing foreclosure crisis i agree however let me respectfully suggest to the fed chairman that he too can do much more to help let him use his considerable power to bring to the table the very big banks that aren't coming to foreclosure workouts at the local level and they just happen to be the firms the fed has been rewarding handsomely by injecting billions and billions of dollars to rescue them you know the names citigroup jp morgan bank of america wachovia firms like countrywide don't even show up when borrowers at the local level try to renegotiate their loans yet the federal reserve has been rewarding them by putting them on their list of select primary dealers fancy that so mr bernanke let me help you out here's a list of the firms you can invite right now they're not responding to ohioans witnessing foreclosure countrywide chase mortgage citi financial gmac hsbc sovereign bank indi mac bank popular mortgage novastar saxon mortgage option one emc gentlewoman time has expired asc homeec wilshire i will put all the names in the record and we'll come back again thank you madam speaker gentlewoman from ohio's time has expired members are reminded to address the remarks to the chair for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise request permission to address the house for one minute without objection the gentleman from texas is recognized madam speaker houston police officer rodney johnson was the best of the best but he was taken by the worst of the worse an illegal outlaw from mexico juan leonardo quintero perez shot officer johnson four times in the back of the head after a routine traffic stop officer johnson would still be alive today enjoying time with his five children and his wife jocelyn a fellow houston police officer if our border was protected this lawless trespasser had already been deported for indecency with a child in one thousand nine hundred and ninety eight but he snuck across the border again to continue a crime spree and after coming to houston quintero finally confessed to murdering one of houston's finest today quintero was in trial for capital murder in houston but the mexican government rather than pay restitution to the johnson family is paying for the battery of defense lawyers representing this coldblooded cop killer mexico is meddling in the us court system but juan quintero can not miss his judgment day and his day with his maker because justice is what we do in america even if the mexican government doesn't like it and that's just the way it is gentleman from texas time has expired for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin rise to address the house for one minute without objection that gentlemen is recognized for one minute madam speaker last week the labor department reported that for the fourth month in a row our jobs are going south we are losing more jobs even as the middle class is struggling just to keep their heads above water we're in this mess because the bush administration and its followers have failed to establish a fiscally responsible budget policy and are continuing to borrow and spend our nation into the poor house in response to this downturn democrats are taking action today we're holding an economic summit to determine how best to restore our ailing economy also this week we're going to begin to put together a second economic recovery effort directed at rebuilding america's infrastructure first by enacting a housing package to help establish the floor in the housing market and then we intend to invest in higher wage construction jobs that will stimulate local economies nationwide i hope my colleagues in both parties will join us in this effort to build a better nation here at home and that furthermore the president will understand how important this is and sign the bill we intend to enact gentleman from wisconsin's time has expired for what purpose does the gentlemen from pennsylvania rise revise and extend my remarks without objection the gentleman's recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker yesterday i visited a waste energy facility in lancaster county pennsylvania and concluded once again lancaster county gets it right this facility is a great example of the kind of ingenuity that we need to put america on a path towards energy independence and it is disposing of waste at the same time the plant burns solid waste at very hot temperatures using the heat to turn water into steam which is used to turn a turbine and create electricity ninety of that electricity is sold to the local electric utility metals glass and plastics are recycled out in the process this process is saving pollution from ending up in the chesapeake bay it's saving land by reducing the need for landfills and it's creating clean energy in the process one ton of solid waste has the energy equivalent of one barrel of oil last year over three hundred and forty two thousand tons of waste were processed at the facility and i'm told that something like thirty thousand tons of trash a day is trucked out of new york city to landfills maybe our state and community leaders should take a cue from the people of lancaster county's research for more energy to meet our neighbors pennsylvania's time has expired for what purpose does the gentlemen from iowa rise seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks without objection the gentleman from iowa is recognized for one minute madam speaker the price of gasoline is now averaging over three and sixty cents a gallon house democrats are working to provide some relief but we face stiff opposition from the white house and congressional republicans who have opposed every single energy bill that we've brought to the floor this year when it comes to energy the gop doesn't want to work with us they simply want to say no when democrats voted to repeal unnecessary subsidies to big oil companies so we can instead invest in clean renewable energy republicans overwhelmingly voted no it didn't matter that the legislation would reduce our dependence on foreign oil lower prices at the pump and create new green jobs they still prefer the status quo when democrats passed the energy price gouging act to punish those who take advantage of these record prices by increasing them even further republicans overwhelmingly voted no madam speaker democrats understand that hardship that families are facing every time they go to the gas station and that is why we've passed six bills that would provide real relief to consumers it's time republicans realized that no is not an energy strategy i yield back the gentleman from iowa yields back his time for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute to revise and without objection the gentlemen is recognized for one minute madam speaker i rise to recognize ms kayla bass of florence kentucky on february 13th two thousand and eight kayla distinguished herself when her father patrick bass a desert storm veteran suffered a seizure in a display of courage and maturity and composure that far exceeded her ten years of age kayla responded to the emergency quickly and effectively she administered first aid called her mother and grandfather while simultaneously caring for her younger brother and two cousins who were at home at the time of the emergency kayla attributes her quick thinking and first aid proficiency to the skills she learned in american heritage girls troop kentucky seven hundred and twenty seven american heritage girls is dedicated to developing young women through service to god family community and country in recognition of kayla's heroism american heritage girls has created the angel among us award which kayla will receive during the regional award ceremony on may 16th her selfcontrol during this event is impressive kayla we're proud of you madam speaker i ask you to join me in commending kayla bass for her outstanding service and character and i yield back kentucky yields back his time for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas rise to address the house for one minute and revise and extend without objection the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute thank you may 1st just last thursday was the fifth anniversary of the famous words mission accomplished what a tragedy when april was the most deadliest month in iraq that we have seen in a number of months madam speaker i rise today to ask the administration to recognize that this unending war must end and in the backdrop of a newspaper article that suggests that the administration is looking at a five hundred million development of hotels and restaurants and amusement parks in baghdad i ask the administration do they get it and so that's why it's important for us to support an amendment in the emergency supplemental that says we will bring our troops home with honor this will go into effect one month after this legislation is passed seven months deadliest april troops dying this kind of war cannot be an unending war and so we refuse to give more blank checks to iraq we thank our soldiers on the front lines of iraq and afghanistan the war we should win bring our troops home with honor vote for this amendment and let's not give a five hundred million development of hotels and restaurants what are we thinking about gentlewoman from texas time has expired i yield back for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise to address the house for one minute madam speaker without objection the gentlemen is recognized for one minute madam speaker as the first quarter of two thousand and eight ended last week it was clear that things are not getting any better for american families struggling to make ends meet americans continue to face higher costs for basic necessities millions of families have lost their homes due to the troubled real estate market and seven million more americans are uninsured last week we also learned that april was the fourth month in a row that our economy lost jobs with twenty thousand jobs lost last month our economy has now shed two hundred and sixty thousand jobs so far this year that's particularly troublesome considering that experts say the economy must create one hundred and fifty thousand jobs a month just to keep up with the number of americans entering the job market and all of these red flags show why it's so important that we work together in a bipartisan fashion early this year to pass the economic stimulus package as a result of that action one hundred and fifty million taxpayers began receiving rebate checks last week and that was a good start but more needs to be done madam speaker with so many americans struggling and the bad economic news continuing to amount we urge the president and the republicans to join us to pass a second economic stimulus package the gentleman from new jersey's time has expired for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise madam speaker i move that the house do now adjourn question is on the motion i second question is on the motion to adjourn those in favor say aye those opposed no the no's have it for what purpose is madam speaker i ask for yay's and nay's the yay's and nay's are requested those favoring the yay's and nay's will rise a sufficient number having risen the yay's and nay's are ordered members who record their vote by electronic device pursuant to clause eight of rule twenty this fifteen minute vote on the motion to adjourn will followed by five minute votes on the approval of the journal and the motion to instruct on hr two thousand four hundred and nineteen offered by the gentleman from wisconsin mr ryan this is a fifteen minute vote