approach you the infinite source of life and love through various faith traditions this nation rejoices and protects the freedom of religious expression of its people as a basic human right such tolerance and mutual respect they will prove to be america's greatest export to the rest of the world lord in our day as in the past all religious traditions help individuals societies and cultures come back three poisons that the ancients thought would always threatened to destroy us the three poisons our greed anger and ignorance with religious inside and rightness discipline lord you empower faith filled people to fight off such internal disease and become healthy again lord help your people in these desperate times to find and live into a cure the anecdote for greed is justice for all anger is converted by compassion for others and ignorance is overcome by knowledge of others and from others healers who call upon your holy name now and forever to the peace corps to provide separation pay for host country residence personal service contractors of the peace corps chair will entertain up to five one minute speeches her side you madam speaker members of the congress people of the united states of america i stand this morning as chairperson the congressional black caucus to say thank you to the thousands of people who are in jena louisiana as we speak and the tens of thousands who are around this country standing for liberty and justice for all unfortunately a tragic accident happened in in jena louisiana a gentleman has been incarcerated since the member the appeals court has thrown out the conviction he is still incarcerated six young men attacked two days before the incident that they're in jail for and now we ask for justice this is an important day in the history of our country we rise as we just said the p justice and liberties for all congratulations to the attorneys to the coalition to the families let's retry this in juvenile court where it ought to be and bring justice to the jenna six congratulations young men stand strong career of dr pascal to be know of greensburg pennsylvania a remarkable physician after serving sixty years as a pediatrician dr spino is retiring after this long career in one hundred fifty four he founded the first well baby clinic in westmore county which provides free exams and immunizations to children up to six years old in one hundred seventy two dr spino started the render any needy child help program to provide medical care for abused children he then went on to create a level t nursery and modern pediatric department at westmoreland regional hospital dr spinoza received a number of recognitions including dr snow day in westmoreland county for his lifetime commitment to helping others more than four thousand people were attendance despite a downpour of rain asked my colleagues to join me in honoring dr snow's career personal sacrifice and devotion to improving our health care system and helping children i mean you know it's back for what purpose does the gentle lady from the virgin islands right without objection thank you madam speaker madam began colleagues i rise today bearing the grief of our community at the loss of yet another of our sons in the iraq war army staff sergeant gregory rivera santiago's twenty six years old he was killed when his vehicle overturned in baghdad and on a guide of the eighty second airborne division in which he served escorted his body home on monday it was his third tour he would have returned home in those embers in the midst of our deep sadness i also come to the well of this house w great pride in this young man an excellent student while at the same cry educational complex a courageous soldier a devoted husband son father and friend side staff sergeant rivera santiago the seventh soldier we have lost in iraq from our small territory it's a tragic reminder of a war gone wrong and gone on for far too long it's time to begin the process of bringing our men and women home madam speaker and colleagues we are eternally grateful for gregory's life and service and extend our high school condolences to his family his mother  carmen santiago his wife brooke and their children god bless them god bless gregory and god bless all who are serving in our armed forces purposes the gentleman from texas writes request permission to dress the house for one minute  madam speaker i do not believe that the man who served in uniform in vietnam had been given the credit they deserve it was a difficult war against an unorthodox enemy these are the words of general westmoreland in the war we're all gave some and some gave all but the disrespect continues now despicable vandals have desecrated the sacred black granite vietnam wall and all a slimy greasy substance was smeared over the wall in the walkway the park services attempted to remove the damage but the monument desecrated has run free this monument bears the name of fifty six thousand warriors they answered a call for america and they died in their use i grew up with friends whose names are on that wall the young patriotic cowardly abusing criminal should be tracked down prosecuted and put in jail somewhere off the shores of america maybe guantanamo bay it has been said that the naam was a war that ask everything of the few and nothing of most in america now america must be resolved to capture these outlaws and restore dignity to those who died for the rest of us and that's just the way it is for what purpose does the general eighty from pennsylvania ri he's recognized as one of the original architects of chip in pennsylvania i have seen first hand that it is possible to bring together public and private stakeholders and expand health coverage to millions of children children of working families who cannot afford the increasing cost of coverage and now the democratic majority is poised to ensure ten million uninsured children in this country get the health care they need and deserve the democratic majority is delivering on our promise and i am proud of the work that we have accomplished to expand health care to working families the american people understand the importance of getting health care to america's children two hundred seventy organizations representing our nation's seniors nurses unions businesses have put aside their differences to urge for chip reauthorization american families want and need us to maintain an expansion of their children are counting on us the next step is for congress to approve this commonsense compromise legislation hopefully with republican support and send a strong message to the president to support our efforts towards the goal of ensuring every american child what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota without objection thank you madam speaker arise today in recognition of the forty sixth anniversary of the united states peace corps saturday september twenty second marks the date on which congress approved legislation formally authorizing the peace corps to promote world peace and friendship since that time more than one hundred eighty seven thousand peace corps volunteers have been invited by one hundred thirty the nine host countries to work on issues ranging from education dagr cultural support and environmental preservation today's peace corps is more vital than ever working in emerging in essential areas such as information technology and business development and can meet in more than one thousand new volunteers as part of the president's emergency plan for aids relief i'm proud that minnesota's second district is home to carlton and st olaf colleges both schools located in north beale minnesota have been recognized nationally for the large number of their graduates serving in the peace corps these volunteers continue to help countless individuals who want to build a better life for themselves their children and their communities it's an honor to stand before you to recognize the corps and their volunteers thank you madam speaker i yield back the balance of my time to us back for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado right without objection jim inspection tonight good morning madam speaker it's nice to see a coloradan in the chair and but i rise today to encourage all of my colleagues in the house in the senate to exercise the courage to begin a true new direction in iraq our brave men and women serving in our military are completing every mission we've been asked they've been asked and for that i thank them and america thanks them but the president keeps moving the goal posts and redefining the mission last week the president announced a potential drawdown of troops from iraq by july of two thousand and eight leaving approximately one hundred thirty thousand troops in iraq this is no change and it's unacceptable the american people will not be fooled by the smoke and mirror tactics the president said the surge was intended to provide time for the iraqis to make political progress yet there has been no political progress and no improvement in the situation in iraq and the iraqis have only met three of eighteen benchmarks for success all the while they're mired in a religious civil war or enough is enough it is time for a real change in direction in iraq and with that madam speaker i yield back for what purpose this is gentleman from south carolina  on india and indian americans and i'm encouraged by this good news this visit marks a continuation of the economic relationship both nations have fostered by expanding their trade and investment opportunities america will be a key ally of  goa in india in providing growth for their partnership as a member of nato and the european union bulgaria as a friend of the united states we're in a unique position to strengthen their relationship with our allies throughout the world additionally in the remains one of our strategic partners in asia under the leadership of prime minister manmohan singh and i am pleased that the united states and india are finally finalizing the civilian nucular agreement that will expand the use of a clean energy source for india and fulfill our nonproliferation efforts in conclusion god bless our troops it will never forget september the eleventh what purpose this is generally from california without objection generally second madam speaker doing the course of the war in iraq the american people have paid a very heavy price not just financially although the war has already cost over four hundred billion taxpayers dollars but also through the tragic loss of at least three thousand seven hundred and seventy five american lives with countless more injured men and women will die every day another fifteen will be wounded each day and we will spend three hundred million dollars each and every day we are there it seems that these massive losses do not register with some of my republican colleagues who continue to support an open ended commitment in iraq in fact republican leader boehner even said recently when asked how much along it we should stay in iraq at the sacrifice to be made will be a small price i don't think so until today he stands a ball of in most quarters detroit radio personality frank's iconic status was cemented in february of two thousand and three when frank back in show debuted over the ensuing years frank's commitment to providing fair and candid news has earned him a legion of fans and countless awards which he no doubt is at the present time trying to count regardless madam speaker over the years frank has enlightened entertained radio audiences with his laid back humor his probing interviews and his male pattern communication the honorable the speaker house of representatives matta this letter is to advise you that the fact is today i am resigning my seat on the house committee on science and technology thank you for your attention to this matter signed michel and honda member of congress for what purpose does the gentleman from vermont write madam speaker by direction of the committee on rules i call of house resolution six six four in efforts immediate consideration clerk will report the resolution house calendar number one eighteen house resolution six six four resolved that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursue into clause to be of r declare the house resolved to the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h r twenty eight eighty one to amend title forty nine united states code to authorize appropriations for the federal aviation administration for fiscal years two thousand and eight through two thousand and eleven to improve aviation safety and capacity to provide stable funding for the national aviation system and for other purposes the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with all points of order against consideration of the bill or waves except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one general debate shall be confined to the bill and the amendments considered as adopted by this resolution and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on transportation and infrastructure after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on transportation and infrastructure now printed in the bill the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution modified by the amendment printed in part b of such reports shall be considered as adopted in the house and in the committee of the whole the bill as amended shall be considered as the original bill for the purpose of further amendment under the five minute rule and shall be considered as read all points of order against provisions in the bill as amended or waived notwithstanding clause eleven of rule eighteen no further amendment to the bill as amended shall be in order except those printed in parts of the report of the committee on rules each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report may be offered only by a member designated in the report shall be considered as read shall be debatable debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and enough opponent shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole all points of order against such amendments are weighed except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one african closure of consideration of the bill for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill as amended to the house with such further amendments as may have adopted the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments there to two final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instruction section two during consideration in the house of h r twenty eight eighty one pursuant to this resolution notwithstanding the operation of the previous question the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to a time designated by the speaker gentleman from vermont is recognized for one hour thank you madam speaker for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary thirty minutes to the gentleman from florida mr diaz balart alltime yield to during consideration  the rules for debate only and i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the record that objection i yield my self such time as i may consume madam speaker a six six four provide for consideration of h r two eight eight one the f a a reauthorization act of two thousand and seven under a structured rule the resolution provides one hour debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member the tran transportation and infrastructure committee the rule makes for democratic amendments and for republican amendments in order h r two eight eight one very important piece of legislation last updated in two thousand and three we are here today to make very critical re investments in a aviation and i want to thank on behalf of the rules committee the excellent work of chairman over starr the excellent work of subcommittee chair costello and ranking member pete try this bill authorizes thirty seven point two billion for federal aviation administration operations thirteen billion for f a a facilities and equipment fifteen point eight billion for the airport improvement program and one point eight billion for research and engineering development the thirteen billion provided for f a a facilities and equipment is significant and will work to accelerate the implementation of the next generation air transportation system this enables the f a a to make needed repairs and upgrades this is very important to small airports across the country including eight hundred state municipal and private airports in my state of vermont that we're all satisfied with the work of this committee that balance the needs of small medium in large airports quite an accomplishment i recently read the department of transportation estimates up to a tripling of passengers operations in cargo by two thousand and twenty five this obviously will require airports across the country to make the improvements as well as to make readjustments to compensate for this growth h r to a date one takes action to decrease delays all of us will welcome that improvement in the current system the funding levels will allow the f d a to replace and repair existing facilities and equipment to prevent outages and other equipment failures that are a cause of delay the bill is just for inflation the passenger facility charges for the first time in seven years these fees central user fees are used  airports all over the country to make important facility improvements with other no otherwise not be possible this has been very helpful again in small airports like burlington in vermont where the funding stream has made this a modern airport very convenient for the people a competitive airport for the region the rule makes an order mr oberstar is amendment which includes the essential air service program something that helps small regional airports get service that otherwise they wouldn't have something i can speak from my own experience the rutland southern vermont regional airport has uses to provide service and help create economic growth in the richmond county area perhaps most importantly the bill also take steps towards ensuring our continued safety by increasing the number of aviation safety inspectors funding programs to increase runway safety inspectors funding programs to increase runway safety and requiring regular inspections of foreign repair stations i was especially encouraged to see there are provisions within the bill recognizing the end impact that aviation industry has on the environment this bill establishes landmark new environmental provisions to reduce emissions in energy consumption i urge my colleagues to support the rule in the underlying bill and i reserve the balance of my time time and mr gentleman from florida is recognized thank you madam speaker i'd like to thank by a good friend the gentleman from vermont for wells for the time and i you'll myself such time as the man consumers recognize who would have thought back in one thousand three at kitty hawk that an experiment could have had such an incredible series of effects on our daily lives today air travel helps make the world a smaller place allowing for any ease of travel and commerce that incentive ates extraordinary economic growth and job creation but if u s air travel is to continue its fundamental role in the global economy we have to make certain that we have the safest most modern dan efficient transportation system in the world by reauthorizing the federal aviation administration funding and safety oversight programs the underlying bill takes an important step towards addressing those needs to any americans have faced it too many flight delays recently madam speaker according to the f a a those delays are unfortunately on the rise up almost twenty percent from last summer part of that obviously is due increased passenger traffic at airports that issue is particularly prevalent at airports such as the one that i'm honored to represent the district i'm on represent includes within it miami international airport and so airports that are experiencing growth such as miami international and fort lauderdale international are r o facing this issue of how to deal with the  increased traffic for example in two thousand and six almost thirty three million passengers pass through miami international airport forty five percent of those passengers were in or gnash no passengers going to trade the airport leads the nation in international cargo with almost two million tons and a record two million tons of cargo processed in two thousand and six also my m i a handled eighty percent of all air imports and almost eighty percent of all air exports between us and latin america in the caribbean because it is both an international hub for passengers and cargo it provides a the community that i'm honored to represent with an economic contribution of over twenty five billion dollars annually generating almost three hundred thousand jobs six hundred thirty eight million dollars in federal aviation tax revenue and nine hundred fifty six million in state county and municipal tax revenue these are all attributable to m i a if m i a is going to continue to play such an important role as a trade gateway is obviously must continue to grow the airport is currently in the midst of a six point two billion dollar capital improvement program that has seen delays and larger costs cost increases due to construction material and labor in south florida this capital program has expanded the terminal and concourses by two point seven million square feet and added cargo facilities which now measure two point seven million square feet of space in seventeen new buildings i'd like to thank the the authorizing committee for  zinga fifteen point eight billion dollars for the airport improvement program these much needed funds will go a long way in helping for example am i a complete its capital improvement program h r twenty eight eighty one the our underlying legislation  would also authorize appropriations of fifty one billion dollars mainly over the two thousand and eight to two thousand and eleven period for activities of the f a a the bill authorizes funding for f a a operations facilities and equipment and for the a to hire additional staff to inspect various aspects of the aviation system currently there is a contracted dispute between the air traffic controllers and the  federal aviation administration air for air traffic controllers are highly trained and hardworking people i am honored to be to know those in south florida and i am very proud of them of their extraordinary work under great pressure with no room for error they manage our skies and keep the traveling public safe i am pleased that the transportation com acknowledged the dispute and taken steps to resolve the issue madam speaker i have some concerns with the rule that brings the underlying legislation to the floor  does not include any financing provisions to comply with the majority's paygo rule so in order to get around pay go the rules committee self executed a provision to pay for the bill itself executing amendment is a way of circumventing the democratic process by automatically making an amendment part of a bill without a vote on the amendment on the floor and that is not in my view an appropriate way to include provisions into bills especially tax increasing provisions this rule also only makes an order madam  speaker less than half eight out of twenty two amendments that were submitted to the rules committee this is an important bill that is being brought to the floor today and in my view the rules committee should have permitted a full and open debate allowing discussion by the membership of this house on all of the amendments submitted to the committee reserved about wisconsin is recognized for three minutes thank you i think my colleagues i support the this rule to provide for consideration of h r twenty eight eighty one the f a a reauthorization act of two thousand and seven aviation program authorizations expire at the end of this month and it's essential that a new authorization is in place in the in the near future fortunately aviation is bounced back from the troubles experienced in the aftermath of nine the nine eleven attacks well this is good news it also is placing a strain on our air transportation system and it is only estimated to get worse for example one billion passengers are estimated by two thousand and fifteen fifty two percent increase over the two thousand and five levels it's estimated that the number of aircraft handled by air traffic and troll will increase from forty five million to in two thousand and or to over fifty eight million by two thousand and fifteen aviation is vital to our economy u s airlines employed nearly six hundred thousand people in the united states in two thousand and three the industry helps to create and sustain more than ten million jobs across our country and supports eight percent of our gross national domestic product it's estimated that we need capital investments of nine to fifteen billion dollars each year in order to accommodate this ever growing demand the f a a reauthorization act increases infrastructure investment provides for continued progress in the modernization of the air traffic control system increases safety and enhanced his environmental protection to sexual we get a good reauthorization program in place well there are some provisions in this bill that i believe still need further discussion and negotiation we need to move the process forward and therefore i support adoption of this rule today and i yield back the balance of my time and i've been yells back gentlemen i'm the last kicker on our side all right thank allow for the consideration of house resolution four seventy nine the earmark accountability rule at the beginning of this congress we all heard about the new majorit so called improved earmark rules as the congress has worn on we have noticed that while the new majority rules  changes perhaps look good on paper they haven't actually accomplished much since the majority has turned the other way when it comes to the actual enforcement of the new earmark rules  granted the majority has had to acquiesce to several demands of the minority when it came to appropriations conference reports yet we have continued to hear reports of non disclosed earmarks appearing in all sorts of bills not just appropriations bills this rules change would simply allow the house to openly and honestly debate the validity and accuracy of asserted earmarks contained in all bills not just appropriations bills if we defeat the previous question we can address that issue today and vote by the eighth the nased will write sufficient number having risen the gays and nazer order members will record their votes by electronic device