shaken by the news of the sudden death of congressman paul gilmore of ohio and mindful also the passing of former members the honorable jennifer dunn and charles panic we turn to the lord god of the living in the dead in your wisdom you called them and all the seas members of this chamber to serve their brothers and sisters in the backyards fields and streets of their districts and yet represent them in this legislative body of the nation now called from this life welcome them into your presence that they may enjoy the eternal justice and peace they saw here or reward their public service with your profound mercy and eternal rest comfort their families in this time of sorrow and los enable all those who respectfully more now to press on with renewed faith and seek your kingdom trusting in your loving guidance and the promise of eternal reward both now and forever and first children's health plans in the country i have seen first hand the success of these public private federal state partnerships i am proud of our work here in congress to make affordable health coverage available to an additional five million american children while also protecting the health needs of our seniors the democratic congress understands the health care challenges facing our nation's working families we heard their needs and we responded we passed a plan to expand access to quality affordable health care for our nation's children while ensuring that our seniors receive the care that they had been promised it is unacceptable that forty seven million americans including nine million children do not have access to affordable health coverage is unacceptable than american seniors are facing limits in access to doctors they trust and treatments they need and it's an acceptable that president bush and his allies in congress are comfortable with that status quo it is time to act and congress has we call on the president to stop working against us as we move to ensure health care for america's children and they yield back journalist time expired gentleman from texas recognized this mission to dress house one minute actually recognize mr speaker it is it appears that in spite of federal law that requires close inspection of vehicles and identification of people entering the united states and the city of el paso texas border and customs officials have been ordered to ignores some inspections this get to america quick plan requires that a pedestrian lands get to long only thirty percent of them are to be questioned if vehicle or traffic waiting time is too long in inspectors are to ignore some basic inspections for drugs and radioactive material according to sarah carter of the washington times in some cases only every fifth driver and his documents are verified all this in the name of letting more foreign nationals the united states faster why well it seems some businesses are complaining that the delays hurt their profits so federal bureaucrats are making border inspection officers ignore security all in the name of the almighty dollar or shall i say pay so this is yet another example of the incompetent added to the lack of will all government bureaucrats to secure the american border american border security should not be sacrificed on the altar of greed and that's just the way it consistent iraq remains a dangerous unstable and political progress is virtually nonexistent it wasn't supposed to be this way the president's escalation was supposed to give the iraqi government and the ethnic groups the room they needed to make political progress that progress simply has not happened so now after four and a half years billions of dollars thousands of lives and countless new slogans the bush dismiss the ministration is just giving us the status quo light instead of a new strategy for iraq the bush administration is cherry picking the date to support the political objectives and preparing a report that will offer yet another defense of the president's strategy we don't need a report that wins the nobel prize for creative statistics or the pulitzer for fiction americans are demanding the facts and then to this open ended commitment a surge on the political and diplomatic front in short the american people want a new direction in iraq i yield back the remainder of my time  and indeed all americans lost a true legislative work with the passing of congressman paul gilmore when i first was elected to this house i was told by former president gerald ford who served with distinction here for many many years is that there are two types of representatives the work force and the show ours and the show horse you see their face on t v all the time and they issue  releases and it's the work horses that get the work in this chamber for the american people paul gilmore was a workhorse and not only was he a workhorse in a true legislative craftsman but he applied what those of us who live in the upper midwest refer to as midwestern common sense we think that we have maybe more of that than those that live in other parts of the country but paul's midwestern common sense that the legislative activities that he was engaged to him were done professionally and were done for the benefit of all americans i'm sorry to see paul pass we've all lost a  cheryl and i send our condolences to his wife and his children you back balance my time a gentleman inspector for purposes gentleman from new york  mr speaker six years ago the terrorist attacks of nine eleven were an act of war against our entire nation not just new york the whole country was touched and in the aftermath people came from every state in the nation to assist in the massive rescue and recovery efforts all of these people from all of these states were all exposed to the same deadly toxins while press reports may question the size and scope of the problem there is no doubt that there are thousands who are ill because of their exposure whether these brave firefighters and fire officers an e m t came from california michigan florida they all breathe the same toxic air this map shows how many people from each state are enrolled in the world health center health registry over seventy one thousand people from every single state in our nation at least twenty eight even came from hawaii and the list goes on and on but the message of the map is clear the nine eleven health crisis is a national problem and it address an issue that means a great deal to me the education of homeless youth shortly before the august recess this house overwhelmingly passed a resolution can commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the mechanic event to homeless assistance act edition to recognizing the positive impact of the mckenney vento this resolution called on policymakers to unite behind certain common goals for the future one of those goals is to improve the access of homeless children and youth to education in the public schools in order to meet this goal i invite my colleagues to co sponsor a bill that i recently introduced with representatives sarbanes and grow hava h r thirty two zero five the homeless education improvement act of two thousand and seven the bill will extend and improve the successful homeless children and youth programs in n c l b mr speaker being without a home should not be mean being without an education i strongly encourage my colleagues to co sponsor the homeless education act and i yield back the balance of my time today to talk about my deep concern about our continued engagement in iraq and the past four and a half years we've gone from mission accomplished to mission untrue and in the words of one of our colleagues here on the republican side to mission unknown in fact we are arming and fueling this growing civil war speaker that this is mission impossible it is time to bring our troops home just recently we have found that one hundred and ninety thousand weapons are unaccounted for there are plenty of weapons then the department of interior the ministry of interior interior has come to be a police force against our own troops and with that mr speaker i yield back we need to bring our troops out   our late friend and colleague charlie representative charlie norwood introduced common sense legislation to institute in the fission system an efficient system of identifying and detaining criminal aliens our good friend is gone but his idea remains as viable today as it was the day that he first introduced it in the hundred ninth congress there are four hundred thousand a really an absconder is in our country with eighty five thousand possessing criminal records this bill targets those criminals by increasing federal funds to local law enforcement agencies that would need those funds police that are on the be getting the resources they need and giving them the background the information to enforce immigration law and also cut funding to sanctuary cities which have been enacted laws prohibiting local police from detaining and arresting criminal aliens most notably it requires the federal government to take these criminal aliens into custody within forty eight hours and join me in supporting the charlie norwood clear act of two thousand and seven i yield back john lay's time has expired lucia's how cows are number one zero eight house resolution six thirty six resolved that any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursuant to clause to be of rule eighteen declared the house was often to the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h r one thousand no way to a man title thirty five united states code to provide for patent reform the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule it shall be an order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee now printed in the bill the committee amendment in the nature of a scepter to shall be considered as read all points of order against the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute our way that step those arising under clause ten of rule twenty one notwithstanding clause eleven of roll eighteen no amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be an order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution each such a minute 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 for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and opponent shall not be subject to  mendment and shall not be subject to i demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole all points of order against such amendments are waived except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendment as may have been adopted any member may demand a separate vote in the house on any amendment adopted in the committee of the whole to the bill or to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendment there too to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions section t during consideration in the house at h r nineteen zero eight pursuant to this resolution notwithstanding the operation of the previous question the chair may postpone further consideration of the bail until such time as may be designated by the speaker gentlemen for a month from vermont is recognized for one hour thank you mr speaker for purposes of a debate only i yield the customary thirty minutes to the gentleman from florida mr diaz balart all time yielded during the consideration of the may consume how to house resolution six thirty six provide for consideration of h r one thousand nine hundred eight the patent reform act of two thousand and seven under a structured rule the rule provides one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee and judiciary the rule makes an order and provides appropriate waivers for five amendments a bipartisan manager's amendment three republican amendment in one democratic amendment century ago much obviously has changed in the united states and the world in those fifty years and that's quite an understatement unfortunately the u s patent law has failed to keep up before i discuss the merits of the underlying bill i must commend chairman conyers and subcommittee chairman berman and ranking member mr smith for their tireless work on this bill it's not been easy to make the reforms that are so intricate in complex and such a complicated system but these gentlemen worked hard with their committee and did so admirably bringing to us a patent reform bill that is going to move america forward i'd also be remiss if i didn't acknowledge the tremendous contribution of senator leahy who happens to be of course someone i'm particularly proud of as a as he is the senior leader of our delegation here in congress is chairman of the senate senate judiciary committee  he spent years working on the patent system it has become a driving force behind getting this legislation to the floor all of us i believe in this house can see this bill is major progress and reflecting a commitment to the protection  support of the nation's intellectual property this system was built to sustain and protect the nuts and bolts of america the american the economy our ideas in our innovations the legislation doesn't joy very strong bipartisan support both ranking member smith and subcommittee ranking member coble who've done great and hard work our co sponsors it's the product of four years of hearings debates negotiations and compromises since two thousand and one there have been over twenty one hearings on patent issues at the subcommittee level in the subcommittee chairman and ranking member sought input from among others the federal trade commission u s solicitor general national academy of sciences and business is ranging from high tech and biotech companies to traditional manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies as well as from our university community and from labor h reforms are outdated patent system which currently encourages patent speculation increases litigation often harms small inventors and impedes innovation first the legislation moves the united states into a pure first to file patent system right now the united states is literally the only major industrialized country to retain the first to invent system this change from first to invent to first to file will inject clarity and certainty  o the process in relieve the us system of some extremely burdensome requirements such as protracted interference proceedings often costing up to a million dollars to determine which of many applicants deserves a patent and detailed record keeping both of these often disadvantaged smaller inventors who might not have the resources to initiate such proceedings this change to a first to file system puts the u s in sync with every other industrialized country greater harmonization is obviously going to make it easier for us inventors to secure patent rights in other countries as international patent protection becomes increasingly important to their ability in the ability of the united states inventors to compete on a level playing field next this legislation makes import improvements to the patent system by which patents can be re examined by providing for re examination of issued patents h r one thousand zero eight eliminates the ability to intentionally game the system by speculating on the issuance of very poor quality patents nothing added to the intellectual capital of this country but used as a device to in crease private gain in this provides this dreamliner alternative to costly patent litigation this ability to have a quality check on patents that have already been issued is crucial to the integrity of the  as patents of questionable value can stifle innovation companies around the country are much like some companies that operate in vermont including i b m which has been a leader in the number of issued patents for the past years in our state they were awarded in ten years three thousand six hundred twenty one patents in the us in two thousand and six three hundred sixty of those fully ten percent came from the i b m office in e junction vermont that's ten percent of their total patents from vermont alone they have been in business for decades in improving the quality and security of the patent system is extraordinarily important to them but obviously to other  individuals and companies large and small around our country this bill also allows third parties to submit documents relevant to the examination of a patent application this provision addresses the growing concern that patents have been issued on inventions that were publicly known and in prior use to the filing of the application this is particularly important in the new era newer areas of technology in fields that do not yet have a fully well developed tradition of publishing findings such as computer systems and software in business methods finally this bill makes some crucial improvements to the calculation and apportionment of damages hundred eighty allows for the reasonable royalty calculations that more accurately reflect the value of any invention that is being infringed our patent system is far too important to be behind the times patents must continue to be issued they must continue to be protected for those who have legitimately created a new invention this legislation is a huge step in modernizing this system for decades of american innovation to come i urge my colleagues to support this rule in the underlying bill i reserve the balance of my time gentleman reserves the balance of his time for the purposes of gentleman  revolutionary vision that brought us this great than vibrant representative democracy that has lasted over two hundred years included in the landmark constitution that has served our nation so marvelously is a provision that gives us the congress the power to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and invent tours the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries this provision receives little attention but over the last two centuries it has played a critical part in the growth of the economy in the power the wealth in the united states today american intellectual property is worth over five trillion dollars more than that of any other country in the world it also comprises more than half of all u s exports driving almost half of the nation's economic growth as mr welch so eloquently stated the last time congress overhauled the patent system as over fifty years ago and since then the fundamental underpinnings of our cause of our economy have undergone dramatic changes but the patent system has remained generally static and now faces a some difficulty in meeting the needs of our dynamic economy so we must reform our patent system in order to meet the needs of our economy here and in the global marketplace but we must do so in a way that protects that continues to protect the intellectual property rights of all invent tours and industries today we are debating changing the system that president abraham lincoln called one of the three most important developments in world history yet on such a truly significant piece of legislation legislation that will affect our economy for decades the rules committee majority has severely restricted the input of members by members of this house the input that they can have on this extraordinarily important piece of legislation the rule brought forth by the majority allows only five amendments five of the fourteen amendment submitted i submit to you mr speaker that that is no way for the house to debate this important legislation the majority should bring this bill to the floor with the opportunity of all members to present their ideas their proposals their men minutes for the consideration of all of our colleagues they the majority should bring this legislation to the floor under an open rule i remind our friends of one of the central ten that's one of their campaign last fall they said they would run the congress in a more open and bipartisan manner in fact on december sixth two congresswoman pelosi reiterated her campaign promise she said and i quote we promised the american people that we would have the most honest and open government and we will yet here we are again with a restrictive rule even on such a significant piece of legislation as the reform of our patent system the majority mr speaker unfortunately is not living up to its promises when and it is the duty of the minority to remind the majority of when the majority falls short of the majority's promises it was quite clear from the testimony at the rules committee yesterday very interesting testimony very enlightening it's been years in the making this legislation there are members of our congress that have put a tremendous amount of effort and study time into this critically important issue was evident at the rules committee and that this bill was drafted in a in an open and open manner in a bipartisan manner why not just continue the bipartisan ship that has forged this important piece of legislation why not continue that bipartisanship here on the floor today with an open rule notwithstanding how members may feel about the underlying bill mr speaker i would urge all of our colleagues to vote against this rule vote against this rule so that we can have a full and open debate this important piece of legislation i reserve gentleman reserves about the gentleman from vermont thank you mr speaker i yield to the gentleman from california two minutes mr berman the chairman of the intellectual property subcommittee gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes the legislation which is now at stake and i rise in in strong support of this bill and particularly the rule and i might point out when context of the rule that as the gentleman from florida suggested fourteen men mince were offered a number of those amendments five of them were made in order and a number of the other amendments were worked out and are part of the manager's amendment so this is the issues many of the issues raised in the context of openness are are continuing up to this point this has been both  a bipartisan process and i might suggest with respect to the people who are supporting the product of this bipartisan process the rules is being supported on a bipartisan basis when functioning properly the patent system encourages enables inventors to push the boundaries of knowledge and possibility i said part strong robust protection for quality patents however when the system functions improperly such as law allowing an overly broad or obvious patent the patent systems can stifle innovation and harm america's competitiveness in the global economy such patterns cover arguably obvious inventions an example is crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for which a patent was obtained however the much more insidious and troubling kinds of poor quality pat are the ones that are granted which impede commerce or further in of invention because the create a patent thicket so wide and so dense that an entire industry or segment of our economy become subservient to a single patent from a single innovator many groups agencies and citizens have written volumes on the need for reform the united states patent and trademark office the federal trade commission the national academy of science the intellectual property owners association the american bar association intellectual property vision and the american election all property association all of the studies concluded that the current system is in need of changes if it is to remain viable in the new technology global economy the moment is ripe to move the patent system forward to meet the challenges of the twenty first century serious flaws have to be fixed for our system to remain robust now and long into the future as the gentleman from florida acknowledged in in his read his comments which preceded mine this legislation is the result of a substantial amount of work not just over this congress but over the past three congresses we did not under i ask unanimous consent and i yield gentlemen such additional time as he may consume  gentlemen to recognize i thank the gentleman for that that is dangerous but i will try to be restrained but my point is we didn't undertake this endeavor lightly this isn't a rush to judgment it isn't a rush to legislate we don't claim that this bill at this point is perfect but this remains only one step in the process like all compromises not everyone received everything they wanted which is honestly just as it should be this legislation favors no industry no person organization or interest group it seeks to solve problems that we have identified and had identified for us by outside experts and agencies the legislation does what is best for america and our spirit of inventiveness and innovation and it protects our position with the increasingly competitive global marketplace rick boucher and i started down this path a long time ago we've held since that time working very closely with the then the chairman of the subcommittee and now the ranking member of the judiciary committee lamar smith with our subcommittee ranking member and foreman chairman of the subcommittee howard coble we have held twenty hearings over six years we've invited or heard from and independent inventors universities large corporate entities pharmaceutical companies high tech companies manufacturers and the financial services industries biotech the u s p t o the a b a the intellectual property organization judges at district court and appellate levels economists and consumer groups views were heard and considered to arrive at a bill that we have before us today and this is a good bill there will be for more suggestions made for changes to the bill amendments by mr eissa ms jackson lee and mr pence these amendments add valuable changes to the bill i won't go in detail now in discussing those amendments but but they address issues raised by small inventors and and by people who want to make sure that the p t o rulemaking authority has adequate oversight by the congress i urge my colleagues to grant us a rule to take this important piece of legislation and move it forward and my commitment to everyone in this chamber is to recognize that there are still issues that need to be worked on and that we will we will be working to try and achieve the best possible balance without undercutting the need for fundamental reform patents have played in the at the very founding of our country i want to say also as i look around the floor and think about the rules committee meeting that we had i see  joined by mr manzullo on the rules committee last night my good friend from california mr rohrabacher who is here on the floor what i will say is that there is bipartisan support for this bill mr speaker as my good friend from california mr berman correctly said but there is also bipartisan opposition to this bill mr speaker and it is for that reason that i believe it absolutely imperative that we do as mr diaz balart has pointed out have the most old and transparent process imaginable in dealing with what is seen as a very dull issue leads many people to doze off or their eyes to glaze over when talking about patent law but it is a critically important issue when we think about the basis of the united states of america and property rights and all while i intend to support final passage of the underlying legislation a great deal of concern has in fact been raised on a number of issues included in this bill as i said making it a perfect example as to why this fully open and transparent legislative process which unfortunate this restrictive rule denies is a mistake and shouldn't be done the underlying bill deals with a tremendously critical and fundamental aspect of our economy it addresses a significant problem but in a way that has raised concerns and it involves incredibly arcane and technical policy for all of these reasons we should be allowing a full and open debate and i see my friend mr gohmert here who i know is also joined in raising very grave concerns about where it is we're going on this issue we should be encouraging a greater flow of information not cutting it off an unfortunate this restrictive rule does just that ensuring both the protection and the quality of patents is absolutely essential in our high tech knowledge based twenty first century economy a cursory glance at the state of patent litigation is all it takes to see that we haven't gotten it quite right patent trolls acting maliciously and bewildered juries facing impossibly technical cases have wreaked a great deal of legal havoc on many of our nation's great entrepreneurs the result has been to stifle innovation the life a lot of our economy we've seen some of the worst cases eventually reversed on appeal that many others have not been there's no denying that there is a great need for reform in our patent law system however the underlying bill before us today is not perfect real concerns have been raised by a number of innovators and research institutions many of whom are critical in in this effort from my state of california they're critical to our economy and our place as one of the world's greatest fonts of innovation and entrepreneurship we have to be very careful that as we address one problem we don't create another we have to be very careful that we don't pick winners and losers in our patent system but that we protect and uphold intellectual property of all kinds the creators of computer hardware in the developers of revolutionary medical treatments for example use patents in very different ways a piece of hardware may include hundreds of patents some of which will be obsolete practically before they hit the shelves on the other hand a biomedical firm may spend a billion dollars a billion dollars over a decade developing a single product using a single patent and mr speaker these two types of innovators use patents in very different ways but what they have in common is that intellectual property and innovation are at the very heart of their work and they both contribute significantly to our economy and  rising standard of living we must ensure that our patent system protects both kinds of innovation while i strongly support the need to move this process forward these are real concerns that must be fully aired and openly debated i find it troubling that unlike previous legislation dealing with the issue of patent reform this bill does not enjoy broad based support among all types of intellectual property creators because consensus was not reached in the committee process i all that more important that our floor debate be conducted in an open and transparent way yesterday in the rules committee as my friend from miami said i proposed that we report out an open rule so that we could in fact have a full debate on these issues unfortunately on a party line vote that proposal was denied we also heard as i mentioned from our colleagues messrs manzullo and michelle who are requesting at least two hours of general debate divided not just between republicans and democrats on the judiciary committee but between supporters and opponents of this bill again as i said it is bipartisan the opposition as well as bipartisan support for the bill that request unfortunately was also denied absent a meaningful debate today these concerns will have to be raised in the senate and in the conference committee it's unfortunate that our democratic majority has a so little  continuously deny this body and open debate and cede the hard work to another time and another place that is why i am encouraging my colleagues to oppose this restrictive rule we shouldn't be running away from a fair and honest debate of these tough issues the underlying bill and the issues it addresses are too important for us to be shirking our responsibilities so mr speaker i urge my colleagues to reject this rule and let's do not oppose this rule lightly but the fact of the matter is under this rule we would begin debating a huge change to our patent system that would have major ramifications for our economy we have just returned from a long work period in our district we found that committee report filed late in the day that when we came back and two manages amendments filed late yesterday most members haven't had time to understand what the manager's amendment fixes or doesn't fix i can tell you having worked all night last night was staff to find out what the manager's amendment does it actually worsens the underlining bill especially when respect to the damages section of this bill but members aren't going to be given the time to really consider what the manager's amendment does or what it does not do they are going to be told to trust that the changes have been made to fix a badly flawed legislation congressman manzullo and i went to the rules committee yesterday to request that we not vote on this bill because it's not ready for floor action we asked for more time to debate the bell in order for the opposition to be heard we were denied with over three hundred organization who have are opposed to this legislation or has very serious concerns about this legislation is important that their voices be heard in this debate mr speaker we do need to address  patent system and we must have the time to do it and do it right by voting down this rule we would give this house and the american people the time to make the right choices for our innovators jobs our economy so i is considered in committee encouraged to resort to trade secret practices which would have bred litigation in chilled publication disclosure which are the constitutional principles underlying the entire pap and system the patent reform act as originally drafted would not have made for a good situation for innovation it would have been detrimental to individual inventors small businesses non profits including negotiated in subcommittee until this year this bill should have been vetted in subcommittee instead the subcommittee simply pass the buck to the full judiciary committee ramrodding this bill through subcommittee left a lot of unhappy people thinking that the train is left the station the subcommittee chair should have kept the bill in his subcommittee and keeping it in subcommittee works even though the process may take more time as we realize moving and for with so many loose strings makes it quite easy for the whole thing down rather it's essential that subcommittee members work out problems in subcommittee and not jam stakeholders i believe that by holding on to this bill a little longer we could have applied pressure to the stakeholders and move them toward common ground the volume of e mails and calls we receive from interest groups which number in the hundreds clearly indicate that we don't have everybody on board and much of this opposition could have been avoided subcommittee the chair told us the concerns would be addressed at full committee the chair then assured us that concerns would be worked out in the manager's amendment prior to floor action and while concessions have been made this bill still needs work and isn't ready for primetime later today during debate on the bill i expect members concerns to be brushed off and told that everything will be worked out in conference i serviced chair of the judiciary committee for six years and i know all too well how elusive compromise can be but that doesn't mean that we should throw in the towel or simply lower shoulder and plow forward i prevented my courts and intellectual property subcommittee chair from moving forward path reform until we could reach agreement with all the interested parties and that is what we should have done here patent reform is vital to our nation's economy the house should not take up this legislation  that was so many sectors of the economy for the benefit of others the other body is continuing to entertain stakeholder meetings to try to develop a consensus and i commend them for that this would be a wise course of action for the house as well i believe that with more time and energy we could draft a bill that is supported by a large cross section of america which this bill is not the process that we took to get here today was flawed but it's not too late to correct it and i encourage the chair and the ranking member to continue to meet with stakeholders that's the way to get a good path and bill that is really a twenty first century innovation speier and bill enact regard to this legislation and as men pointed out there's bipartisan support but there's certainly bipartisan opposition bipartisan to many out there in the united states maine's oh it must be fair but the truth is bipartisan doesn't mean fair and it doesn't mean good and this is one of those pieces of legislation that has severe problems that are neither fair nor good now committing to the process involves a manager's amendment being made in the in the committee of the whole of the committee of the judiciary committee followed immediately by an amendment to the new before anybody else was recognized so that an effort by me to have an amendment to to fix venue problems that were really pronounced was shut out because that automatically made those third degree amendments that seemed to me a strange effort to avoid fairness own this important bill we come in here today with this restrictive rule with which will not allow full debate and wonder why is there such haste to avoid fairness in this rule the rule is even abrogates the house rule that requires half the time be provided to the opposition by saying it would be controlled by two people who both support the bill again why is there such a push to avoid fairness in consideration in debate on this bill we need a comprehensive bill is language we've heard over and over and what struck me was gee that's what we heard about the immigration debate we need comprehensive bill why was that said about immigration i'd submit it was said because there were things that wanted that people wanted to hide in a comprehensive bill that could never pass on its own so i began to look at this bill and it appears to have the same problem there are things in here that don't go to fix patent trolls there is such an overreaching effort here to change rules and help the big dogs just devour and destroy the little guys now the patent troll issue that's a problem for how easy to fix that all you would have to do is say if you're not the original patent holder or inventor then you know your rights are restricted but that keeps being thrown out as a basis to to consider the various types of damages now we've had one industry zero on one topic damage that will help them and hurt all over the years that's not fair we were told in judiciary committee that many of us by name were called who would help the language and since then i've not heard of any meetings to work on language my staff is not heard of any and yet we're telling in here today all trust us you know we're going to work together this isn't the last time i've heard that over and over on that bill and i come to this point where there's so much substantial unfair and is an abrogation of the fairness doctrine own on taking up legislation concerns me all the more this isn't fair it's not good it's not right it's not timely to take this up without proper discourse and with that i would ask that trust has not been therefore people should vote rohrabacher gentleman from california to recognize performance thank you very much i rise in strong opposition to the rule as well as opposition to the underlying legislation let us note that this debate has been limited they which is consistent with the substance of this legislation the process as well as the substance of h r one thousand know eight is totally unacceptable this bill should be called the steel american technologies act part two and yes mr berman and i have worked on this legislation over the years and i thought that we had a compromise bill in one thousand nine hundred ninety and with howard coble and others and this bill just negates all of the compromises that were made and the honest attempts to reach a good patent bill yes there was a patent bill that was passed and went into law in one nine hundred ninety nine let us note this isn't the first pat reform legislation in the last fifty years it's only the worst patent reform legislation of the last fifty years this legislation of the guise of reform will dramatically diminish the constitutionally protected rights that were mandated by our founders and that have been the impulse behind our nation's prosperity and security h r one thousand no weight will dramatically weaken the patent rights of ordinary americans and make it and make us even more vulnerable to the outright theft of american created technology and innovation this legislation represents a slow motion destruction of our patent system so what's in the bill first and foremost we  what's in the bill is a mandate to publish every patent application within eighteen months or after eighteen months of that application being applied whether or not that patent has been granted so we are giving every thief in the world in india and in china in japan and korea the details of our of our of our most up to date innovative ideas even before they are protected by the patents and we're being told of course mr isaac has an amendment that will handle this don't be fooled whether or not the that the i's amendment passes this legislation will still mandate the publication why we shouldn't be fooled by the very nature of this bill being called a reform bill when it should be called the patent destruction act secondly this bill opens up new avenues of attack before and after the patent has been issued again weakening the inventor strengthening the infringers both foreign and domestic third the bill changes the criteria of deciding the validity for a patent again at the cost of the the inventor fourth the bill changes the way damages are calculated again at the expense of the inventor and in the process creating havoc in our courts and forcing judges to become economists the most fundamental of all of course we change the legal basis of our system from first to invent which has been historically for two hundred years the basis of the patent system and now we're changing it to first to file the way they do in europe and in japan do we really want to have a country like japan look at their creative history they rely on all of our other economic sectors in our economy is deep and wide many of the areas many of those quoted i would ask for one more minute thirty seconds many of those recognize your initial thirty seconds and many of those  by mr berman as having testified at these hearings are opposed to this bill biotech pharmaceuticals labor unions universities small businesses all are against adamantly against this bill let us protect the little guy from foreign and domestic scavengers who would steal our country's newest ideas from the best and most creative minds of our country i urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation and this rule jim's time mr speaker we are here in this argument let's just fix it in conference well the last patent reform bill that passed a chair a fifty and sixty one passed the house on march fourth of two thousand and four judiciary committee passed their bill but i never saw action before the full senate the bill that the house passed never made it to conference but it became law because someone stuck to the to the giant multi celled and page omnibus consolidated appropriations bill which became which became law and besides that we are members of congress for us to stand up here and say well this is too confusing for us to understand excuse me that's what we're paid for and if we have to take a considerable period of our time to study and learn patent law that's our job if we don't do that we are failing in our obligation to the people that we represent so what happened last time was good for making sausage you stuff the house passed bill which never passed the senate never made it into conference into a giant i'm the boss bill but that's not how you make legislation now look what's going on here we were told that we had to file by five p m on wednesday afternoon in the amendments to this to this bill i went to the rules committee at three p m to yesterday where we met on the bill at two forty three p m the first managers met it was filed eighteen pages long while we were still discussing the first manager's amendment the second manager's  filed at three fifty p m at five thirty in the afternoon the general public found out what was in it i just found out in an analysis done on the second manager's amendment that this would be crippling to the small inventor it would be horrifying to the to the patent holders in this country that it would favor overseas patent holders as opposed to the american inventor i asked for in that rules committee was for an extra hour of the bait just two hours of debate one of the most important topics this place has ever had and we were denied that if people turn around and when the most important issues that has ever become come before this congress in fifty years fifty years that's just fairness just fair we're asking for i feel like asking for motion to adjourn but i'm not going to that would not be fear to the members that that have other things to do but but to tell the american people the members of congress really don't need to know the details that want to hear the details for you that's an abandonment of our obligation here we come here with the obligation to learn every issue on which we vote we may not know all the nuances we may not all know all the details but nobody's going to tell us that this is too confusing for you understand because there's now with the american people sent us here for and so i would i would just urge you earlier this year to the folks that there is no way possible in the limited amount of time that we can discuss this bill this pits issue with this does this is caterpillar this is rim it pits two companies against each other rim has a lot of american parts the bill should be written to a company both to accommodate the american vengeance and both of these both of these manufactured products vote no on the rule i rise to congratulate all the members for all the hard work that has been done in the course of the many months some would say years in bringing this to the floor i'd just like to make a comment about the manager's amendment that i heard raised in the discussion because actually i i think the floor manager the rules on the republican side because we had i thought a very good meeting yesterday it should be known to everyone here that the reason we had the late filing of the manager's amendment is that we were keeping it open for everybody to make their last changes and the more most of the requests came from the minority side which we were happy to accommodate so it's in that spirit that i refer and make available to everybody here everything that are in manager's amendments and hope that the fact that this is maybe eighty percent accomplished for almost all the many sides to this debate will carry us through the rule and through the spirit that has moved the committee and the subcommittee in the gentleman from california mr issa a member of the judiciary committee gentleman from california recognized for two minutes thank you speaker and i appreciate the gentleman yielding the fact that this is what one might consider democrat time being yielded to a republican probably says just how bipartisan this bill is this is been worked on in a republican majority and in a democrat majority it's been co sponsored by the chairman and the ranking members of the committees it is in fact an unusual piece of work additionally this rule and i've been voting against rules lately because they weren't open and fair this rule accommodated virtually every amendment offered in fact many of the people speaking here today against the bill and against the rule didn't offer any amendments whether you're on the committee or not this is your opportunity after nearly four years of this being an open process under leadership on both sides of the aisle this is your opportunity if you have solutions i urge the passage of this rule in the passage of the underlying bill because in fact it is the best work of the best minds on both sides of the aisle could produce over three years now people who are in fact ever saying they don't want to vote for it are saying we just need more time in fact the engine that drives the economic wealth of our country cannot afford for us to simply let the men and women in black robes continue to try to patch a broken system as the supreme court has done not moving in this congress and rapid pace could be another year including the other body not moving in this congress would force the supreme court to deal with an out of date set of laws we need to vote this bipartisan bill through a very positive rule and then to a final passage i strongly recommend that people look at the fact that amendments were accepted by both sides of the aisle and is the chairman said more accepted by the republicans in addition to literally hundreds of suggestions being incorporated into the manager's amendment i move that we pass the rule pass the underlying bill continue a bipartisan product process that of course will always have somebody who feels they are not benefited but in fact you can't get this kind of support by people who do not normally work well together unless in fact this process has been full and fair as it has been and with that i yield back and thank the judge the ranking member of the chairman legislation and even though my very good friend mr isa just stated that most of the amendments had been made in order by the rules committee that's not the case five amendments were made in order and nine nine were denied and due to the importance of this subject matter because well however we we may feel on this subject matter i think we all agree that it's critically important it's a shame that an issue on that i've had very little time i will yield very little time majority rules committee bring forth this legislation again with the opportunity of all members of the house to offer all amendments based on their work product for consideration by all of our colleagues and so with that was the product not just of exhaustive hearings by the subcommittee on a bipartisan basis it's really been the work of a couple of congresses the patent reform system hasn't been changed in any significant way for literally over half a century and the changes that have occurred are not in our economy in electronic communications in telecommunications and software and biotechnology and every field that has produced wealth in this country have been extraordinary yet the patent system has been stuck in one nine hundred fifty two mode the process that the chip the ranking member mr berman party the chairman mr berm ranking member mr smith and others have had to go through to try to accommodate the legitimate concerns of the inventor community of the corporate community and the complexities of that have been extreme this amendment that is being presented to you reflects an open process not an open amendment with anything and everything on the table but the product of an open process where everybody who had a concern was actually heard and the best effort was made to accommodate them directly with specific legislation in the in the bill in the manager's amendment or in the amendments that were offered so the committee members on a bipartisan basis with mr berman and mr smith have done everything possible to accommodate the concerns of the inventor community the corporate community our modern economy in the representatives in this body who are standing up for their constituents secondly there was some assertion that this is an anti inventor bill that is absolutely wrong this is a bill that is being indoors by the national academy of sciences by many in the university community and by others who have as their whole motivation the expansion of knowledge and then the implementation of the benefit of that knowledge is now it's through a patent system so the committee has done an open process which has brought us to this point in it has proposed changes that are fifty years in the making that is going to strengthen and expand the rights of our patent community mr speaker i urge a yes vote on the rule house resolution six thirty six i yield back the balance of my time and move the previous question on the resolution generals back without objection the previous question is ordered resolved that upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider the conference report to accompany the bill h r twenty six sixty nine to provide for reconciliation pursuant to section six zero one of the concurrent resolution on the budget fiscal year two thousand and eight all points of warner against the conference report and against the its consideration our way become france report shall be considered as read gentlewoman from ohio revise and extend my remarks on a woman's recognize mr speaker a jurist six thirty seven provides for consideration at the conference report to accompany h r twenty six sixty nine the college cost reduction and access act the role waived all points of order against the conference report and its consideration and considers the conference report as read mr speaker i am honored to rise today in support of this well and the much needed underlying conference report the college cost reduction act which will help give our students a real opportunity to go to college and give them the vital tools necessary to enter our workforce and build a positive future for themselves and our communities and this year speaker at the outset i want to thank representative george miller the distinguished chairman of the education and labor committee along with speaker nancy pelosi whose commitment to our students our families  our future in this country has brought us to this day when we are able to take this great step to put college education back within reach of so many hardworking families and students the college cost reduction act addresses one of the most pressing issues facing millions of families across this nation the question of how they will for to send their children to college educational opportunity is the backbone of our nation and everything that makes it great and while access to higher education is more critical than ever for younger generations the cost is rapidly moving out of reach for many low and middle income families to ition at four year public colleges and universities has risen forty one percent after inflation since two thousand and one and the typical american student now graduates from college with a seventeen thousand five hundred dollars debt and this problem has developed into nothing less than a crisis sadly due to the failure of past congresses many students have had their dreams shattered because they cannot afford college tuition many hard working parents have had their hearts broken because despite their valiant efforts they simply could not afford to pay tuition and meet other vital family needs this problem has festered for too long and i have long believed mr speaker that those in government must work with the people they are called to serve and not against them and that is what this bill does it's the single largest investment and higher education since the g i bill it's good for our families it's good for our students it's good for our country financial barriers to higher education not only hurt students themselves by prodding of the education and training necessary to make a productive and positive impact in our communities it hurts us all investing in our students will not only improve their future it will help our economy and our retired workers who they will support it ensures our national security continued improvements in health outcomes and will help the united states maintain its role as a leader in developing new cutting edge technologies by providing students with access to higher education we are bolstering every sector of our economy f medical research to manufacturing because we are creating the next generation of innovators and leaders and vesting in our younger generations will not only help our students and families who are in need it strengthens america the promise of the american dream is the glue that holds our communities together it was educational opportunity that provided me the proud daughter of a working family to gain a first rate education and also bentleys find my way to the floor of the house of representatives to fight for what is right by denying the opportunities afforded by access to higher education we deny our families their share of the american dream the college cost reduction act addresses this crisis in a fiscally sound and responsible manner it is funded by cutting unnecessary subsidies to private lenders and putting our taxpayer dollars to work for the american people so mr speaker this act will no not only put college back in reach for our families it does so by cutting almost twenty one billion dollars in taxpayer subsidies to private lenders and reinvesting over twenty billion dollars of the savings in our nation's students and putting an additional seven hundred fifty million dollars towards reducing our nation's deficit specifically the college cost reduction act will cut the interest rates on subsidized student loans and half the bill invests heavily in the much needed need based pell grant scholarship program increasing the maximum award by at least a thousand and ninety dollars over the next five years and expanding eligibility for the gra by passing this bill we will make a college education possible for hundreds of thousands of additional students over the next five years additionally mr speaker this leisure legislation also recognizes the value of our public servants by providing them with loan forgiveness for those who choose to serve in the jobs that make our world turn teachers firefighters nurses law enforcement officers and librarians further the college cost reduction act provides upfront to ition assistance to qualified undergraduates to commit to teaching in public schools and high poverty communities this bill invests in the strengths of our communities and of our country and the return on our investment as a nation and ours and our students and people will without question provide an enormous return mr speaker the crisis of college costs is pervasive and it was getting worse it is long past the time that congress take action to ensure that a college education is not a privilege reserved only for the wealthy this rule that the majority brings forth today mr speaker is a standard rule for a conference report but yesterday the minority on the rules committee voted against this rule because of the satisfactory manner in which the the conference report was put together in his submitted testimony to the rules committee yesterday education and labor committee ranking member buck mckeon expressed a concern with the process of the majority use for the conference committee the minority was informed at nine thirty p m that the conference committee would meet at eleven thirty a m the following morning however the majority did not provide the minority with the text of the conference report at that time at the time the meeting was announced and even kept the text away from republicans at the meeting itself republican conferees were in effect left in the dark they had no way to know to know what was in the report as such it was impossible for members of the minority to propose amendments to the report and thus to play any meaningful part in the conference the democrats did not even a low allow republicans to see the conference report at the end of the meeting instead republicans had to wait until later in the evening hours after the conference committee had had ended i'm a speaker our friends on the other side of the aisle campaigned on on and they did so repeatedly on an open fair and bipartisan process including a promise to provide members of conference committees with the tech conference reports they also said that they will allow members of the conference committee to vote on all amendments during consideration of the rules package for this new congress but the distinguished a chairwoman of the rules committee said and i quote never again will any member of the congress have to fight to find out where the conference to which he or she has been appointed is meeting and quote well in this instance the members did not have to fight to find the conference committee location but they certainly did have to fight to get the text of the conference report and even now after fighting they did not get to see it by keeping the text of the conference report away from the minority democrats were  essentially locking out republican members from the conference committee which is exactly what the democrats said they would not do so mr speaker the cause of the manner the way the majority kept the text of the conference report from republicans and thus committed to if you will a process file we oppose this rule is last election we campaigned very hard in cutting the cost of college for students and making college more affordable for students and their families who are borrowing money to go to to go to school and it's clear that we intend to do that with the passage of this legislation today in the first one hundred hours as part of our six for zero six agenda we cut the interest rates and half on the subsidized student loans so that those low income families and middle income families who are struggling to meet the debt burden of sending their children to school will have some relief in that effort and over the next five years we will next four years in this conference report we will cut those interest rates from six point eight percent to three point four percent which is the savings of the average indebted student upon graduation over the life of that loan of some forty four hundred dollars four thousand four hundred dollars we also are increasing the pell grants for the lowest income students the students most in need we're increasing the pell grant up to a level over the next five years of some fifty four one to fifty four hundred dollars this is in keeping with what the president promised but never did and this is in keeping with our promise that we would again restore the purchasing value of the of the pell grant and you can see from this chart mr president the fact is that over the last several years the pell grant has been flat lined in spite of promises each and every year that it was going to be increased and this year for the first time mr robey put money in and in the continuing resolution and in the end the in the appropriations bill and then this bill will continue to raise the telegram to fifty four hundred dollars in four this is this is the largest increase in certainly in recent history it's important that these two populations middle income students and families and low income students and families have these resources available to them in the reason it's important is we're now seeing increasing reports now estimated at more than a quarter of a million students who are fully qualified to go to school every year choose not to go to school to postpone it or not to go at all to go to college because they're worried about whether or not they will be able to manage the debt or afford the cost of college and it is our job to make sure that no student in america that is fully qualified to go to college is refused the opportunity to do so because of the cost of college that has been the policy of this country since the g i bill and this is the largest investment since the g i bill fifty years ago but it was a policy of the eisenhower administration of the kennedy administration and essentially every administration on a bipartisan basis since then but we now see college costs far outstripping the ability of families to pay for a college education therefore requiring them to have to borrow money so in this legislation we take twenty billion dollars away from the from the large lenders and other lenders to of college loans excessive subsidies or pay for them were identified in the president's legislation and we recycle those monies to the benefit of the students and of their families and we do so with in pay as you go that each and every expenditure of this in this bill is paid for by the recycling of those excessive subsidies that were going to the to the lending institution and in that way were able to deliver real money to these families in need in the form of reduction of interest rates in the form of an increase in the pal grants but we do something other also we do that was so that will those people who want to choose a profession of a policeman a fireman a nurse a teacher a special edge a special educator a prosecutor a public defender that those individuals will be allowed to choose those those  careers and know that they will not have to make another choice because of the crushing debt of their college education they under this legislation will not be required to pay any more than fifteen percent of their income in any given year or two for their student loans and what does that mean  means that they can start a career in nursing in health care and law enforcement and as a first responder and they know that if they stay in that field for ten years that loan will be forgiven and that's a major advantage to those individuals who are seeking to go into those to go into those fields we also want to keep that promise of earlier actions in this legislation this congress when we pass that competes act to have highly qualified teachers and math science go into the classrooms were saying to those exemplary performers in college if you'll go into teaching and you'll go into the most difficult schools we'll give you four thousand dollars a year up front while you're in school of to wish in relief if you if you will agree to do that sixteen thousand real dollars in those first to those people because they're going to go in and teach in the most difficult schools and they're exemplary performers are going to have the skills and the talents to to do that if they say if they so choose to do it i innovation of economic growth and jobs here in america this is the most valuable investment we can make every economist will tell you that investment in education yields more back to the government more back to the public sector more back to civil society than any other investment we make and that's what we're doing in this legislation we promised we would do it we said we started out in six for zero six and today with with this conference report the house and the senate is keeping it's keeping its promise we've made changes in this legislation were suggested by mr mccain and by the administration and i'm proud to announce that the president in spite of his has suggested veto messages or his staff suggested that a message is over the last couple of months the president has agreed to sign this legislation and i encourage all of my colleagues to join in support of this rule and to support the conference report when it comes before us and i hope that we will have a good bipartisan vote as are now having in the senate at this very moment and i yield back the balance of my time and provide for consideration of physically in a responsible legislation that would create costly new entitlement programs and mr recht billions of aid toward colleges universities college graduates and philanthropic organizations rather than the low income students who need the help the most my colleagues who are around in the last congress may remember that when we passed a real budget reconciliation bill the education and workforce committee found some eighteen billion dollars plus in savings two thirds of which we directed toward deficit reduction and one third of which we directed toward increased student benefits such as higher loan limits more grant aid for low income high achieving students and loan forgiveness for high demand teachers unfortunately h r twenty six sixty nine the bill that will be before us today takes us in a drastically different direction the rule before us provides for the culmination of months of abuse of the budget reconciliation process as a backdoor way to implement significant changes to programs best addressed through regular order not a single committee hearing has been held on this legislation the potential impact of many of its student loan cuts has never been weighed and no one has provided adequate reasons regarding why the new entitlement programs and complex student loan auctions king created under the conference report are necessary or physically responsible in a lemonades the right of parents to choose their lender and replaces consumer choice with a government run option a system that is complex burdensome and untested and all of this will be put into place in a couple of weeks time i'm anxious to see how the department puts this in the place this measure could have been improved by infusing more savings into the pell grant program pell is a proven success that has helped millions of young people attend college and the time that during the last twelve years that we that we were in charge we have been increased pell grant spending double we have as the as the chairman just pointed out the amount of what he talked about was the individual aid to each individual student has remained fairly even but the amount that we have put in is been increased like a billion dollars a year over the that period of time because we have a million and a half more students that are now been able to take advantage of that and use the money for their help in getting their chance to achieve the american dream by creating a bundle of new entitlement programs complete with new bureaucracy rules and regulations this conference agreement places billions of dollars in new federal spending on autopilot with no accountability to taxpayers whatsoever completely opposite of what the real purpose of reconciliation for the purpose of reconciliation requiring an easier passage by only requiring fifty votes in the senate was set up to reduce mandatory spending and to save money on the budget deficit and this will actually increase and go just the opposite direction and finally let me be perfectly clear i have absolutely no confidence in the department of education's ability to implement the changes outlined in this conference agreement particularly with the timeline it cept it gives me no pleasure to point out this obvious fact particularly in a republican administration but it's true and sadly we will be watching this failure play out in the coming months and years the role speaker this is the single largest investment in education since the g i bill and we know what the g i bill did for the world war two generation last month the american people lost four thousand jobs under this administration and floor closures are rising the middle class need relief and this bill will cut interest rates and half of subsidized student loans and over the next four years it will allow borrowers to be able to not pay more than fifteen percent on their loans in addition the pell grants something that has helped low income who all of my students ask about every single time i visit college campuses will be rates large and ninety dollars and over five years more than one thousand dollars and then we will invest in america's most underserved communities hispanic serving historically blah native americans and other institutions that will provide an incentive for education and to stay in school we w one minute thank you mr speaker and i thank the generally lady for you for yielding it is difficult for me to summarize in one minute the attributes of first rate conference report but let me just say this for the period of time before i came to the congress i was a senior administrator in a college i had a very simple rule when i was faced with a decision that rule was is the decision i'm about to make in the best interests of students will it help students and by that measure the answer to this question is an emphatic yes we should be supporting the rule we should be supporting the underlying legislation this legislation to help students realize their dreams and that's what this congress should be about this is about student aspiration and this is about the congress providing the resources to see to it that students can get their slice of the american dream and by increasing the pell grant maximum by reducing the rate of that that students will have to pay when they borrow and by streamlining the needs analysis system so that students have a more realistic measure of their ability to pay we will increase access we will enhance affordability we should support this rule and support this conference report i yield back the next five gentleman from florida continues to reserve this gentleman from ohio have any other speakers thank you mr speaker old one minute to the gentleman from illinois the same question member of the education and labor committee mr davis gentleman from illinois recognized for one leadership in both the house and the senate for this outstanding legislation this bill recognizes the fact that without investment there is no return and it is indeed a strong investment in the future of america there are many components of the bill that are outstanding loan forgiveness for public service loan forgiveness for individuals who teach in hyde neat institutions schools but especially mr speaker my pleased to note that this legislation focuses attention on the needs of primarily minority serving institutions like hispanics urban institutions start with black colleges and universities p b i's predominately black institutions and of course native american and pacific island institutions i want to commend mr hall so who is the sub chairman of our committee and and urged that this was composed was not fair and that in an effect violated the the promises made by the other side of the aisle very recently very recently made and reiterated and so the process was profoundly unfair and we i stress that in my previous remarks reiterate it  now and in addition we heard from the distinguished ranking member with regard to grave concerns by those who have been working on this issue many of those who have been working on this issue such as mr mckeon for for many years and so for those reasons mr speaker we oppose this rule would urge a no vote on the rule and at this time gentleman from ohio is recognized for purposes of this mr speaker the congress has an obligation to address the needs of the american people and to work with them to address the pressing problems that they face today we take a great step towards regaining the faith of the american people as we passed the college cost reduction act to provide hundreds of thousands of american families with the opportunity to create a better life for their children i am proud to be a part of that effort the college cost reduction act is a fiscally responsible bill which makes the single largest investment in college aid since the g i bill which as we all know provided our greatest generation with the opportunity to create the nation we know today this legislation invests over twenty billion dollars in student aid and does so with no additional cost to the taxpayer and before i close mr speaker i want to again applaud the extraordinary leadership of chairman george miller and making college affordability a top priority under his guidance all of the members of the education and labor committee have crafted a good bill that works for our families and our country i urge all of my colleagues to vote for this investment in our children our economy and our future to keep faith with the american people and to send a clear message that the american dream is not a relic of the past but a cornerstone of our future i urge a yes vote on the previous question and on the role i y balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution without objection the previous question is ordered to questions on adoption of the resolution all those in favor say aye those opposed no the  rule twenty further proceedings on this question are postpone and on this last day of the first week back from the august recess the house taking up a couple of bills today one