tempore on the day signed nancy pelosi speaker of the house of representatives our per today will be offered by our chaplain of the ages and lord of all here in america you find a nation that is fully modern yet guided by ancient and eternal truths the united states is a very innovative creative and dynamic country and among the most religious on earth here say and reason were part of our foundation and coexist in harmony to this very day this is not only one of america's greatest strengths it is one of the reasons our land remains a beacon of hope and opportunity for millions of across the world lord mayor america's quest for freedom continued to be guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life in the laws of nature and nature's god this vision lord gives us the power to act given you glory now and forever the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from missouri representative carnahan will entertain up to five one minute speeches on each side of the aisle what purpose agenda missouri seek recognition without objection speaker and remember some president truman's birthday today i want to share a speech my grandfather representative a stray carnahan made on this floor over half a century ago in april one thousand nine hundred five after truman assumed the presidency mr speaker my own native state missouri bows with the nation in the world in sorrow at the loss of the late president roosevelt as a bow in the presence of divine providence have committed a national leader to the ages we must carry on new hands must take up the task of national leadership missouri's honor to present to the nation in the world a new american leader president harry s truman born and reared on a missouri farm elected county judge since the u s senate selected by president roosevelt as a running mate elected vice president and now president of the united states is typically missourian and typically american what could more truly represent the american tradition and spirit than from farm boy to president this is the first time my beloved state was serious for mr president are happy that it is harry truman his honesty ability frankness experience and humility fit him for the very heavy task which why head he is equal to the occasion some years back the balance of this time the gentlewoman from ohio mr speaker i rise today to congratulate trooper robert bobby hayslip of west union ohio for being awarded the ohio state highway patrol's trooper of the year trooper bobby hayslip was commissioned as a state trooper only six years ago as part of the one hundred thirty eighth academy class and is quickly risen to the top bobbies district commander captain daniel cole can best describe him as being hardworking and aggressive but also compassionate and professional to perhaps slip is known for being a leader in making both enforcement and non enforcement contacts he is constantly working to keep ohio in safe through investigations assisting motorists and getting drunk and impaired drivers off ohio's roads the dedication of trooper hayslip does not end after his shift it continues in his free time as a volunteer working with local juvenile traffic offenders and at at risk high school students met mr speaker i am very thankful that the best trooper in the state of ohio is patrolling ohio second congressional district congratulations bobby continued success in years to come tell neil that develops over time the gentleman from ohio objection with this house on the threshold of granting the president one hundred eighty three billion dollars to continue the war in iraq long past this term it's an appropriate time to ask why are we still in iraq especially since the democratic leadership promised the american people two years ago that if they voted democrat we'd move to end the war while we still in iraq why are we still in iraq iraq had nothing to do with nine eleven with al  have weapons of mass destruction why if we lost four thousand of our finest troops why have we seen tens of thousands of americans injured while we've seen over a million innocent iraqis killed  based on lies the bible says you shall know the truth in a truth shall set you free we need to start telling the truth here on this floor about the war in iraq and we need to end the war end the occupation close the bases bring our troops home why are we still in iraq this is a wake up call for the american people this is a wake up call for the congress this is a wake up call the stand for the truth jonas time has expired the gentleman from texas west mission to address house one minute without objection mr speaker america's law men are the last strand of wire in the fence between the law and the outlaws are all that stands between chaos and civilization between the barbarians and the people between what is good and what is evil as we honor those low man i give special attention to the capitol police officers these officers their own duty twenty four hours a day in the halls on the roof and in the shadows of this capitol diligently protecting the shrine of democracy ten years ago a madman entered this capitol shot and killed jacob chestnut he headed to the majority leader's office and wounded officer douglas mcmillan and tourist angela dickerson his shooting stopped after emerge on gibson who literally gave his life for a member of congress in these hallowed halls we have portraits and statutes of great americans that have lived before us but the spirit of duty sacrifice and honor is still alive and on display daily by those capitol police that serve us so well they carry on the tradition of chestnut mcmillan and gibson those noble three that stood in the line of fire for the rest of us and that's just the way it without objection thank you mr speaker today it gives me great pleasure to rise in honor of staff sergeant michael broussard of country costa county zone brentwood california for winning the twenty fifth best ranger competition one of the army's highest athletic achievements held at fort benning georgia the competition tests arrangers physical and mental toughness and self discipline of the twenty eight participants only sixteen were able to complete the grueling three day athletic competition which features some of the best athletes in the world despite this honor i believe staff sergeants broussard's greatest achievement is that he repeatedly served this nation with distinction by completing two deployments to iraq and two deployments to afghanistan mr speaker sergeant broussard is a true american hero and an example of the commitment dedication and capability of our men and women in uniform on and off the battlefield thank you mr speaker i yield back gentleman yield back the balance of his time the gentleman from arizona without objection mr speaker many of us in this body realized for quite a while that the practice of earmarking is out of control when the here when we herald the fact that there are only twelve thousand earmarks last year as opposed to fifteen thousand a couple of years ago we know that something is wrong but the exercise we went through last week was perhaps the best indication we've had yet that we still have a long way to go we authorized the justice department to investigate the origin of an immaculate earmark an earmark that wasn't in either the house or senate version of the bill that only showed up when the president signed the legislation the remark was not in either the house or senate version now one with think that the discovery of an immaculate earmark would prompt an immediate congressional investigation instead we waited two years and then authorized the justice department to look into it mr speaker we owe this great institution far better than we're giving it from bridges to nowhere to teapot museums to immaculate earmarks that we don't even pass let alone scrutinize we can do far better than this i yield back the gentleman's time has expired jump from georgia now without objection in six days on may fourteenth we observe the sixtieth anniversary of the declaration of the independence of the state of israel that's also the sixtieth anniversary i am proud to say of the day that the administration of president harry truman recognized the state of israel as a free and independent state throughout the past sixty years the relationship between united states and israel has been based on a shared commitment to democratic values also for the past sixty years israel has stood on the front lines in confronting those who would use terror against civilian populations as a means of bringing about political change throughout that time the united states has stood for the political independence and the physical security of the state of israel but we usually see ourselves as being in the rear echelons as standing behind israel more than standing beside israel but not anymore ever since nine eleven when united states has come to realize that we're members of the same club that we to stand on the front lines alongside israel in an ongoing war on terror we don't belong the same philosophical society we're also serving in the same outfit as we congratulate israel on its six birthday we look forward to the day when each of us will be able to vote less of our national treasure the vital work of survival and national defense and able instead of it more of our national treasures more profitable enterprises i have my fellow georgians i congratulate israel on this milestone and i played my best efforts to make in the refusing to renew the county payments program congress has broken its pledge to rural areas all across this country like lake county oregon where federal land cover sixty one percent of the county lake county has had to cut its road department from forty two people to fourteen equipment's aging and overworked it needs maintenance on the roads it's been to ferde this winter's record snowfall or near record lake county had to call in the oregon air national guard to come in and help plow the streets because so that safety vehicles could get through this county that's larger than the state of can netiquette and delaware combine now they'll be forced to let pave roads revert to gravel h r thirty fifty eight would solve this problem and would help keep the roads open in lake county and schools open throughout the we're at west yet h r thirty fifty eight is still held hostage on the union calendar it's been approved by the committees of this house it has been held hostage since january fifteenth this is day one hundred fourteen all raskin is that the majority schedule it for a vote on this house floor let us vote on securing schools and roads just a vote that's all let's keep the commitment of the federal government for one hundred years to these rural communities where federal land makes up the bulk of their counties so i called the democrat leadership day one hundred fourteen held hostage h r thirty fifty eight bring it up for a vote and i yield back the balance of my time the gentleman signed expired the gentleman from kentucky let's listen to address  mr speaker i rise to tell the story of genelle stinnett from my district in fairytale kentucky here are her words my story is about my brother and his wife who died last september carol my sister in law had colon cancer for over seven years she took chemo for the last five years of her life my brother and a heart attack two years after she was diagnosed a week after his heart surgery he had a massive stroke which paralyzed his right side and then he got a diabetic also on his foot and finally had to have his leg needless to say their medical bills were massive they had everything they'd worked for there and whole life to take care of him now and he needed to file bankruptcy he needs a ramp to get out his front door a safe way to take a shower but there is no help anywhere i believe is an american citizen who has worked paid taxes and served his country in the armed forces there should be some sort of help i don't know what but with all the intelligent people in washington it seems they could come up with some kind of plan for people like these so they don't lose don't lose all speaker i rise today because high gas prices are placing an increasingly heaven for heavy burden on everyone including my fellow west virginians as gas prices continue to spike we deserve a sound energy policy that creates new domestic sources of energy increases supply and puts downward pressure on gas prices i've supported anti gal ging legislation and called on the president to halt shipments to the strategic petroleum reserve which could increase supply and possibly save as much as twenty four cents from a price of a gallon of gas we've also increased fuel economy standards to make each gallon stretch a little further get west virginians deserve a more comprehensive long term solution that provides real stability and actually leads to the creation of new energy from clean coal to oil exploration and drilling to our desperate need for new refineries to expanded natural gas exploration we have a raw wide range of options and ways to make a difference unfortunately many of the colleagues on the other side of the aisle have stood in the way of a truly comprehensive energy policy it's time that congress stopped the rhetoric and work for  expired pursuant to the house resolution eleven seventy four and rule eighteen the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h r fifty eight eighteen well the gentleman from new york mr mcnulty kindly take the chair the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of the bill h r fifty eight eighteen which the clerk will report by title a bill to authorize the secretary of housing and urban development to make loans to states to  foreclosed housing and to make grants to states will resonate it cost when the committee of the whole rose on wednesday may seventh two thousand and eight every quest for recorded vote on amendment number seven printed in house report one ten six twenty one by the gentleman from pennsylvania mr out meyer had been postponed pursuant to clause six of rule eighteen proceedings will now resumed on those amendments proposed printed in house report one ten six twenty one  which further proceedings were postponed in the following border amendment number four for by mr hansel ring of texas and then number seven by mr altmire of pennsylvania the chair will reduce the five minutes the time for in any electronic vote after the first vote in this series the unfinished business is a request for recorded vote on amendment four printed on house report one ten six twenty one by the gentleman from texas mr hansel ring which further proceedings were no members will cast their votes by electronic device this is a fifteen minute vote to be followed by a five minute