the house will be in order chair lays the for the house the communication from the speaker speakers rooms washington d c april sixteenth two thousand a high here by appoint the honorable diane to get to act as speaker pro temporary on this day signed nancy pelosi speaker of the house of representatives the pair will be offered by the guest chaplain dr  united methodist church houston texas let us pray ever present god humbly we pause to approach you help us to come before you and reverence that you may enter into our presence with power in this house load house we thank you for these your servants who now guard its great legislative inheritance and seek to profit the nation by wise governance and doubt each with the right understanding pure purposes and sound speech enabled them to rise above all personal agendas and party zeal to the nobler concerns of the public good give them vision and set their hearts so far with large resolves lordly them that in all deliberations they may faithfully discharge the duties of their office and ever promote the health safety and well being of all whom they served for the good of the united states of america the blessing of our world and the glory of your our caroline has been our minister for many many years at memorial drive united methodist church he is joined here today by his wife carol his son christopher and his wife melissa we're thrilled to have him here dr simmons and his wife carol also have a son jeffrey who is not with us here today dr simmons is serving in his tenth year as senior minister memorial drive united methodist church he's recognized nationally as a dynamic minister dedicated pastor and respected leader among that that  he led the way in our church to reach out to the people of louisiana who suffered as a result of the hurricane and saw and helped rescue many many lives that put many lives back on track as after after that devastating storm dr simmons is a native of louisiana a graduate of centenary college who aren't as masters of divinity and and doctor of ministry degrees from emory university and completed his further graduate study in geneva switzerland as a methodist fellow he's he's been he's served in a variety of appointments and is leadership is leadership has been instrumental in developing the connection center and off campus site serving as an outpost for ministry with state of the our facilities for for senior adult and youth programs we've also founded under two hundred dr simmons leadership a third site at the former shepherd drive united methodist church which is now in operation as well outside of as of our local congregation dr simmons also serves as chair of the texas conference board of ordained ministry a member of the large church initiative leadership team and is active in both administrations  college and emory university with deeper appreciation for his leadership to united moral drive united methodist churches devotion to its members and his beneficial efforts to the community at large it is my privilege to welcome dr simmons in his family to washington then our modern madam speaker to have him here today as our guest chaplain thank you very much chair will entertain requests for for up to fifteen further one minute speeches on each side for what purpose this is gentleman from wisconsin that jackson gentleman and graduated from boot camp at camp pendleton california in november he was a brave member of the milwaukee based to twenty fourth fox company william shakespeare in his play julius caesar wrote quote cowards die many times before their deaths the valiant never tasted death but once on behalf of every citizen in these united states i wish to express our sincere as gratitude to marine lance corporal dino piqua and to his parents and family this house of representatives expresses our deepest regrets on his passing and thanks for his service in honor of dean o p could i respectfully request a moment of silence thank you madam speaker now you'll back thank you for what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska write that jackson gentleman to recognize madam speaker i rise today in appreciation of the brave men and women of the drug enforcement administration earlier this week i had the opportunity to tour the d e a s anti meth lab training facility as well as the chance to briefly speak to agent trainees math leaves lives destroyed and community shaken to the core these agents have literally devoted their lives to protect our communities and deserve our thanks for their efforts to combat the squared of illegal drugs though the number of meth labs in america has decreased since two thousand and six mexican drug cartels are creating super labs which produce a huge percentage of the meth in our country this is why i introduced the meth kingpin elimination act last year which would increase penalties on drug manufacturers and smugglers method use and production knows no borders and i think the instructors and students at quantico for i'm speaker yesterday our constituents file their tax returns but i wonder how many american taxpayers realize s that the average tax return will be consumed and less than half a second and the iraq war when we grant the president the additional hundred billion dollars he's asking in emergency funding for iraq we will be spending almost twelve billion dollars a month and yet the american taxpayer is still paying for iraq's garbage collection their schools their health care that's when the iraqi people themselves are running a surplus they have for the last five years they have almost seventy billion dollars in accumulated surplus now the last couple of years they've had one hundred billion dollars come in from all revenue and they budgeted it at about fifty five dollars a barrel it's now about  hundred twelve dollars a barrel they're having surplus that they don't know what to do with and a whole lot of it is being stolen gentleman did i hear a lot of sixty billion dollars in oil revenue and yet we are paying still justice one person is assaulted in the united states every seven point two seconds raped every two point seven minutes and murdered every thirty one minutes that means that in the last hour five hundred americans will have been assaulted twenty two raped and two murdered congress can and must do more to protect american families and keep our community safe in this congress republicans have been reduced over one hundred bills to help federal state and local law enforcement officials combat crime to date though only three have been considered as we recognize national crime victims rights week congress should do more than just honor the victims let's help law enforcement billion dollars a month we have families struggling here at home that can't pay the bills are losing their homes don't have health care and the bush administration is spending twelve billion dollars a month on a wall that shows no end in sight and no plans for success our monthly investment in iraq translating to approximate three hundred thirty nine million dollars every single day taxpayers are probably wondering how can we better invest that money here in the united states three hundred thirty nine million dollars we spend  iraq and they could provide forty eight thousand homeless veterans with a place to live all we can issue a three hundred seventeen thousand kids receive their vaccination and live a healthy life but to speak of house democrats vowed to fight to ensure that american tax dollars are used to rebuild  i rise today as a member of the bipartisan congressional prayer caucus to formally acknowledge the importance of prayer in american life in american history and today i'm honored to launch the first of what i hope will be weekly reminders of our country's need for prayer and i do so by  by reading a proclamation given by president ronald reagan in one thousand nine hundred three when he said from the birth of our republic there's been vital to the whole fabric of american life as we crossed and settled a continent built a nation in freedom and a door to war in critical struggles to become sentinel of liberty we repeatedly turn to our maker for strength and guidance and achieving the awesome task before us whether at the odile of the revolutionary war the stormy days a binding the thirteen colonies into a country the civil war of trials over the year we have turned to god for his help and as we are told in second chronicle seven fourteen if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their ways than i will hear from heaven and i will forgive their sin and will heal their land with your back for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania right madam speaker i rise today to speak about increasing support and funding for the childcare and development prop grant and the head start programs we know these two federal programs provide critical resources support our nation's children's educators and working families at a time when almost twelve million children under age five are currently in child care the resources for their care and early education continue to be stretched at the seven straight years of nearly flat on the stagnant support for these programs has caused thousands of children to lose child care assistance and fewer children today attend head start programs than six years ago the child here in development block grant and headstart are proven programs that lead to increased cognitive and social development the programs greatly improve the ability of children succeed in school increasing funding will also promote greater employment among parents to less time missed from work higher income and reduced rates of turnover in my state of pennsylvania five hundred twenty two thousand children under age six need care because the parents are hard at work striving trying to provide their child with opportunities for success that it is why i support increased funding for the child kunal and block grant and the head start early start program and i have my colleagues i am so thank you and i yield back letter to president carter calling on him to cancel his meeting with hamas leader khaled mashal the state department lists hamas as a foreign terrorist organization and hamas terrorists are responsible for the murders of at least twenty six american citizens some of them teenagers children and infants here are two of the victims three month old jamal tav unseld and three year old to hear you nathan son they are the faces of american citizens with their light extinguished by hamas terrorists if you live in illinois new york new jersey massachusetts ohio california north carolina connecticut pennsylvania or florida then americans from your state have been murdered by hamas president carter do not meet with the man who ordered the deaths of our fellow citizens killed embers are reminded to address their remarks to the the economy he's proposed the gas tax holiday now think about it for a minute gas today it cost three times as much as it did in one thousand nine hundred three but the federal gas tax hasn't changed since nine hundred ninety three so what's the cause of the big  up well it might be the forty billion dollars record profit at exxon mobil in the four hundred million dollars or exit given to their last c e o that might be part of it it might be the opec cartel colluding to drive up the price of oil and restrict demand or it could be the hedge fund speculators another on wall street driving up the cost unnecessarily so they can make money but the nominee of the grand old oil party the g o p is not going to take on big oil he's not going to take on wall street he's not going to take on opec what he's going to do is cut federal investment in our crumbling infrastructure put hundreds of thousands of construction workers out a job and condemn even more americans to being jammed in congested highways that need improvement bridges that are collapsing where we district in leesburg florida is making a difference for the people of florida florida's hometown usa was formed to instill in florida's youth the value of volunteer service students from across the state are selected each year to participate in a pageant each year five young ladies are selected from elementary school to high school in this pageant fundraiser the volunteers focuses on helping children and the elderly by providing food clothes and personal care items and assistance wherever is needed each year the organization holds its florida home town usa pageant across this nation in small towns which serves as its main fundraiser fars hometown usa program has received recognition for the positive impact an outcome in has achieved in the local communities i want to congratulate these fine young volunteers especially the fine young women who are selected every year and especially program director linda watts for all that she has done over these many many years she's done so much to enrich inhance a community he and leesburg and which i represent thank you linda for all your hard work keep up the good work for the program and god find a lasting and secure peace in the middle east got to setbacks this week from sadly predictable sources first the united nations appoints a human rights overseer a human rights inspector by the name of richard fall to my hometown newspaper the daily news correctly called the nutty professor because of his position as he goes into this job of overseeing human rights that the israelis are like nazis this is who they appoint to try to come to a peaceful human rights conclusion in that part of the world and then sadly we had another chapter in how not to be a former president from jimmy carter who goes to the middle east and rather than trying to pursue peace embraces hamas the organization responsible for hundreds of rockets falling a place is likes the road in israel it is hard to imagine two institutions or two people that could have had more of a setback than these two the united nations once again shows that their own fit for their role of trying to find a moderate and lasting peace in that part of the world and sadly jimmy carter continues to write a chapter about how not to be a former president what purpose does the gentle lady from north carolina writes in that jackson general has recognized thank you madam speaker i'd like to honor the meineke company today and their efforts to employ x offenders who have participated in the second chance program mikey is one if not the first national company to actively hire exit tenders returning from prison was also promoting opportunity inside the federal bureau of prisons to participation in this program individual are ready to not only enter but also contribute to the workforce once they have paid their debt to society my naked continues to promote participation in the second chance program at all of his franchise meetings and newsletters and through a publication called second chance profiles this periodical sent out to companies the company wide and chronicles the personal story of employees who have truly exhibited the meaning of a life changing experience i commend meineke c e o can walk or director of national you madam speaker with bleak news about the economy continuing to mount it's no surprise that twenty five percent of americans say their economic situation has not improved in the last five years and thirty one percent say they have fallen backward these represent the highest numbers for the pew research center survey since the question was first asked in one thousand nine hundred sixty four economic uncertainty within the middle class as a result of president bush's economic policies for six years republicans have offered tax cuts for the wealthy refused to close corporate tax loopholes and even defended multibillion dollar tax subsidies for big oil companies house democrats reject an economic policy that showers billions of dollars in unnecessary tax breaks to corporate interests and to millionaires while middle class families are ignored this year's democratic budget makes middle class tax relief a priority by calling for the extension of middle middle income tax cuts such as the child tax credit and marriage penalty relief democrats have also been working hard to close corporate tax loopholes and costly waste fraud and abuse but the speaker democrats are fighting to put the tax code back on the side of the working families what purpose is the gentleman from south carolina right kind of jackson gentleman dressed in a better speaker yesterday millions of americans filed responsibly their taxes with the i r s just the same time house democrats push legislation for the largest tax increase in history while middle income families are balancing tight budgets and bracing for an economic crunch congress is hastily increasing taxes to keep up with federal spending that is big we need to complete an overhaul of the tax and spend system in washington for taxpayers to keep more of their hard earned money the key is to tighten government spending overall now next we need to implement a tax system to revive and stimulate the economy for the long term this involves offering permanent to actually for married couples family with families with children small businesses and putting an end to the death tax reforming the tax system through tax relief will boost the economy increase revenues and promote job growth american families are acting responsibly with their money we need to do the same that a man yes fact what purpose is a gentleman from georgia right once again this misguided democrat majority is looking to set a record but like their tally for broken promises and historic tax increases this isn't a record of which anyone should be proud no madam speaker this democrat leadership is overseeing the record price of gasoline today the national average for gas rates three dollars and forty four cents a gallon on all time high and the american people want to know what congress is going to do about it but a crisis of leadership in this congress can when used to leave american families struggling to fill up their tank under this leadership the price at the pump a shot up more than a dollar a gallon in just sixteen months now on the campaign trail they talked about a commonsense plan to bring down gas prices yet instead of easing the pain at the pump this majority offers only more gas taxes and less domestic production and the gas bill only rises matters spake or the american people demand relief and their pleas are being pope benedict the united states for his first visit since becoming pope in two thousand and five and in fact at this moment the pope is at the white house this historic visit is it is a significant moment in history for our country an important opportunity for the sixty five million american the portrait of a pope in his homeland and this is the book which has been circulating the country tells a story of a gifted intellectual and spiritual man who has been shaped by the rich traditions of the varying culture and deep devotion to the catholic faith the portrait that dr purcell paints in benedict of a very it will help us all understand more about who the pope is and what informs his perspectives i commend my constituents dr brendan purcell his wife earned guard who's a german national their son benedict and daughter elena for their dad of ation and for brant it's significant contribution to history and the catholic faith and capturing the story of benedict bavaria i join with my constituents and warmly welcoming the pope to our great country i encourage everybody to take a look at this wonderful speaker you know american taxpayers ought not be footing the bill for sanctuary cities to service safe havens for illegal immigrants especially hardened criminals sanctuary cities do not allow money or resources to be used to enforce federal immigration laws police or other employees cannot inquire about immigration status and example is san francisco as a sanctuary city i support that clear act authorized by  marsh authored by marsha blackburn the act would empower local law enforcement agencies in the fight against illegal immigration under her bill sanctuary cities would lose federal crime funding unless local governments rescind the policies that prohibit local law enforcement from working with the department of homeland security illegal immigrants know they're safe from deportation if the city's refused to enforce the law especially when it comes to criminals it ought to cost them this objection ken lay's recognize speaker h to be is a legal temporary worker program that has been very successful in providing our nation's small snow says with the workforce they need during peak business seasons however an important provision expired last september many in congress have acted in support of legislation that of what if excess escalating problem bills amendments and discharge petitions have been introduced as early as last march yet no action yesterday the house passed an extension of the religious worker visa program while many of our nation's small and seasonal businesses are still struggling to find workers and congress has responded with nothing but a hearing that hearing is today madam speaker nearly seven months after the h two b exemption expired i can only hope that this congress will give our small business a legal postpone questions will be taken later one ninety six to provide for a temporary extension of programs authorized by the farm security and rural investment act of two thousand eight beyond april eighteenth two thousand a pursuit to the role the gentleman from mit so to mr peterson appointed last week the conference conference committee has been meeting to try to work out the remaining on resolved issues between the house and senate version of the of the farm bill i'm pleased to report that on the core farm bill issues we have reached agreement and there are only a few member level issues that must be resolved and i want to take this moment right now to thank chairman rangle who has devoted a great deal of his time and his staff time to helping us to come to resolution with the senate about how to fund the additional ten billion dollars of new spending for farm bill priorities without his leadership and that a speaker pelosi and the leaders on the republican side we would not be so bill the farm bill maintains and strengthens a safety net that helps farmers and ranchers stay productive and competitive it also includes important new investments including nine and a half billion dollars for nutrition programs that are even more important today as food prices continue to climb contains four billion dollars of cut for conservation programs that will help to protect our land even as property action soars one point two billion dollars for renewable energy programs will help us address the rising cost of gasoline and get us help us get independent of foreign oil and one point three billion for new it initiatives and and programs to support  fruit and vegetable producers including new programs to help socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers and ranchers all of these important investments will be lost if we don't have time to finish this conference this short extension will allow us to finish our work and bring back to the house the conference hort that means the needs of all of them american agriculture in the consumer's madam speaker i'm pleased to report that i've been in conversations with chairman rangle and others that have been involved in the effort to identify the offsets and can report that they have made significant progress that we have been able to parent senate to jettison the extraneous items and so now we're talking about ten billion dollars instead of twelve and a half which is a major accomplishment in victory and we are getting very close to being able to resolve the differences in the offsets because where we've been at is the the house has put out one set of offsets and the senate has put out another and we're trying to reconcile that i also last night had discussions with secretary of agriculture mr goodlatte and others asking that the secretary and the white house be brought into this negotiation to help us finish up and from what i can tell their parents be an effort to get that in gauged so i think we're very close to having this offset issue resolved hopefully in a way that will have the bipartisan support in this body as well as in the other body and also hopefully have the support at the end of the day of the white house and that is what mr goodlatte and i have been struggling to accomplish and slash july and we've made a lot of progress we're not there yet but we've feel we've made  huge progress in the last few days enough to warrant another one week extension of the farm bill so that we can finish up our work and i just want to commend congressman goodlatte for his outstanding leadership in this effort and his outstanding leadership when he was chairman of the committee last session and getting this farm bill process started and i can tell you that without a doubt that we would not be at this point without him being willing to work with us and help us make some tough decisions to get to where we are so i just appreciate very much he and his staff and the leadership that they've shown because over in the house what we're trying to do here is is not only have a bill that we can be proud of but also have a bill we can pass and i think we're heading to that direction so  extension that will extend some provision to the two thousand and two farm bill just a little while longer so that we may complete the work on this farm bill i believe we've made good progress on coming to an agreement on the funding which has been the biggest obstacle preventing any real movement on the completion of a farm bill to this point while we're not there yet i do believe we are getting close the house and senate conferees have been meeting every day this week and we intend to continue our work throughout the rest of week we are committed to putting together a reform minded bill that we can bring before this body soon and earn the support of our members here and in the other chamber and then go on to the president for his approval we all recognize the need for a new farm bill this process has already been delayed enough and while it is a long time coming we shouldn't halt the momentum that is finally getting this process moving to a positive direction i urge my colleagues to support this farm bill extension to give us a little more time to work out the rest of the funding issues and wrap up the policy differences so that we can produce a good farm bill i want to thank the chairman of the committee mr peterson for his kind words and say that there is no doubt that no one  in this body or the other i'll take the chance of saying that has worked harder or longer in order to try to get to this point then chairman peterson has he has spoken to in people in order to try to bring the about the kind of consensus it takes to get here he has been down many different avenues and if they if one doesn't work he comes back starts over again and tries a different approach and his persistence  and his attention to the details in this farm bill and his knowledge of the wide range of issues that comprise a farm bill has enabled us to negotiate effectively with the senate to negotiate effectively with members in this body who have legitimate concerns that need to be addressed in the farm bill but with the limited resources and the differences of opinion that arise in any bill particularly one of this complexity he has done an outstanding job of listening to the concerns of many different people and i am optimistic that we can move forward and reach a final farm bill to bring before this his kind words and i would just make one final comment that we are extending this bill for one week at this point because we feel that sufficient time to come to a resolution i do want to warn people that we fully expect to have these things wrapped up by the twenty fifth in terms of having the policy differences in the ag committee and the funding differences resolved bot everybody needs to understand  that after that we're going to need an additional extension probably of two weeks in order of this is a very complex huge bill that's going to take us time to pull together to enroll to get passed through the house and the senate get to the president in time for him to read it before he signs it so people can expect that that we're going to have to have another couple of weeks after next friday provided we get everything they resolve which i expect we will so  r five eighty one three those in favor say aye all posts they now in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid what purpose is generated from florida writes good morning madam speaker by the direction of the committee on rules i call a path resolute in the eleven o seven and ask for its immediate consideration the clerk will report the resolution house calendar number two zero six house resolution eleven zero seven resolved that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursuant to clause to be of rule eighteen declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h r fifty seven fifteen to ensure continued availability of access to the federal student loan program for students and families 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 committee on education and labor after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule the amendment printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution 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 part b of the report of the committee on rules each further 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 for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and often it shall not be sub subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand division of the question in the house or in the committee of the hall all points of order against such further amendments waived except those arising under clause nine or ten of roll twenty one at the conclusion 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 been adopted the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendment they are to to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instruction section two during consideration in the house of h r fifty seven fifteen pursuant to this resolution notwithstanding the operation of the previous question the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated by the speaker generated from florida is recognized for one hour for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary thirty minutes to the gentleman from florida my colleague from the rules committee mr diaz balart all time yield to during consideration of the rule is for debate only i yield myself such time as i may consume i also also ask unanimous consent that members be given five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on house resolution eleven zero seven that objection so ordered madam speaker house resolution eleven zero seven provides for consideration of h r fifty seven fifteen the ensur continued access to student loans act of two thousand and eight under a structured rule the rule provides one hour of general debate controlled by the committee on education and labor the rule makes an order for amendments in the rules committee report each of which is debatable for ten minutes the rule also provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions madam speaker i rise in strong support of h r fifty seven fifteen the ensuring continued access to student loans act of two thousand and eight and the underlying rule under this act the congress will ensure that low interest student loans remain available for college and their families even in the face of the credit crunch in doing so the congress will build on the new commitment to college and university students and their hard working families that this new democratic majority has provided see our action today comes on the heels of the historic college cost reduction and access act that was signed into law a few months ago that saves college students and the average of forty four hundred dollars on student loan interest it is we increased the pell grant and we we now will forgive student loans for students that commit to a ten year career in public service this single largest investment in college financial assistance since the g i bill in one thousand nine hundred four comes at no new cost to taxpayers the new congress promised to make college more affordable for all americans and we have delivered on that promise our next step today is to ensure that families can continue to access the loans they need to pay for college see in today's economy a college education is as important as a high school diploma was a generation ago and with college costs growing by nearly forty percent over the last five years students are graduating from college with more debt than ever before it is estimated that two hundred thousand students do not go to college every year because they simply cannot afford the cost well our efforts today will restore the american green for those families we know that many many families across this great country are facing severe financial strains the economic downturn the cost of housing the cost of health care gas prices have hit our families especially hard middle class families are especially being squeezed in this unfortunate bush economy in addition to the base these basic needs the rising cost of a college education has left many families very concerned that a college education may not be within reach of their for their children a recent press report noted that seventy percent of parents said that they are very concerned about how they're going to be able to for afford the cost of a college education for their kids families now are forced to pull from many different sources to pay to pay for college and to simply make ends meet they're drawing on their savings accounts federal loans private loans the equity in their homes all at the same time to send their kids to college and despite all of their hard work and the fact that they've set money aside they're still unable to come up with the cost of tuition because these costs are rising the cost of sending their child away to school or or just down the street to the community college is simply out of reach for so many so they turned to the loans in two thousand and seven families borrowed almost sixty billion dollars in federal student loans now in this credit crunch banks are tightening their loan requirements and raising rates we want to make sure that families have access to the low interest loans that they remain available for these hard working families so their kids can attend college madam speaker this bill has a number of very significant improvements under our college loan federal college loan program the best deal going in college loans these days is the stafford loan we're going to increase the annual loan limit for the stafford loan by two thousand dollars for undergraduate and graduate students these loans are the most affordable and available to students with the lowest with the best interest rates currently there's a cap on the amount that a student can receive so our legislation is today will raise that cap it increases the total loan limit as well over the course of a student's college education from thirty one thousand dollars for dependent undergraduates to fifty seven five for independent graduate students the other significant loan available to families these days is the parent plus loan the parent plus loan the primary benefit of the plus loan for parents is that they can borrow federally guaranteed low interest lo not tied to the student but that's a loan for the parent the parent can borrow the total cost of undergraduate education including to issue in room and board supplies lab expenses and travel another aids it's not bay it's a non based non need based loan we're going to give parents a little more flexibility under our actions today to pay off their plus loans currently those loans become due sixty days after of after the bill is sent to them we're going to give them a little extra time and allow the student to complete their college education before that loan becomes due we're going to help struggling homeowners pay for college because right now it's it's not clear under the law that parents with that are struggling with them pending foreclosure or difficulty in paying their or their housing costs can also access the the plus loans to help their kids get through college so we're going to allow for that today we're also going to give the department of education additional tools so that these the cost of college and the access to student loans remains available for america's hardworking famil i'd like to thank chairman george miller of the education and labor committee here in the house for his leadership on making sure that families continue to have access for student loans but for also being a champion for america's families colleges and our entire educational system which is in better hands now that the democrats are in charge here in the house madam speaker i at this point i'd like to reserve the balance of my the housing crisis is is really creating a credit crisis as well and the credit crisis is not limited to the mortgage industry but spreading to many sectors of our economy and one sector that the credit crisis has his has hit hard is the student loan industry the companies that offer student loans are finding it difficult to have access to the capital needed to finance them to finance student loans there's over three hundred forty billion dollars in outstanding federal and nonfederal student loans are currently funded through capital markets with another one hundred thirty billion waiting in the pipeline to be funded by the markets but because of the current conditions a good portion of that one hundred thirty billion may never make it through the process as a result of the credit  situation the difficulty in the credit market eighteen of the top one hundred lenders have have left the federal family education loan program f f a e l w another forty five smaller lenders have suspended their participation or left the program in total those lenders account for about twelve percent of the totalled stafford and plus student loans another eleven lenders have left the nonfederal loan program now so what does that instability in the credit markets mean for students and parents less competition and choice and higher costs through increased interest rates and reduction of repayment benefits and increased fees so the congress should not stand by and let the credit crisis have a detrimental effect on on student loan programs those programs open the doors of higher education to millions of students and that's why i am very pleased that the committee on education labor has decided in a bipartisan manner to really to try to prevent the credit market instability from producing a crisis in student loan programs and the underlying legislation to call the ensuring continued the access to student loans act of two thousand and eight will help provide new protections and clarify those and current law that ensure students and families have continued access to federal loans despite the challenges it created by the current conditions in the credit m specifically legislation will increase annual loan limits for unsubsidized stafford loans by two thousand dollars for each year of undergraduate and graduate school and increase aggregate limits accordingly it also permits  to give an entire institution the authority become a lender of last resort this will ensure that all students and parents will be eligible to receive the lender of last resort loans sector of education will also be given temporary authority to negotiate with member mr mccann who have worked on a bipartisan in a bipartisan fashion very diligently on this very important issue and they are to be commended as as is the committee generally although the education labor committee worked in a bipartisan manner to draft this important legislation that bipartisan spirit did not make it past the doors of the rules committee yesterday majority the rules committee had a new record of fifty two close rules and they had a chance to offer an open rule today on the underlying legislation but instead by party line vote majority voted against an open rule and also blocked a number of republican amendments from being offered including an amendment from the ranking member of the education labor chairman of the committee and the ranking member representative miller represented mckeon this whole question of affordability of higher education we know is crushing burden on middle income families and it's been made much worse as many of the speakers have pointed out by the credit crisis innocent victims caught up in the consequences of credit gone wild in the subprime mortgage so i really appreciate and i think all of us appreciate the quick work of the committee to provide flexibility in financing that's going to be beneficial to working families across this country one of the questions that has been on the mind of many of us i think i'm both sides of the aisle however is whether or not when we go to the well and ask taxpayers to put more money into student aid as we've done and as we should do and when we make loan eligibility more generous so families pinch themselves in order to take on additional debt and students take on additional debt the question we're starting to ask is whether or not that becomes a way in which institutions of higher education simply increase tuition and then at the end of the day you find that the families are increasing their debt load their kids are going to school but they're graduating with a mountain of debt that's equal to the mortgage on the house that many of us when we first bought our home is equal to s representative castle had an idea and i joined with him to ask for the first time to get a study from the general services administration to see what connection exist between tuitions going up as student aid both grants and loans increases so i am pleased that the committee has seen fit to support this amendment that congressman castle and i are offering as we have to do two things if we're going to make college affordable one is we've got to make grants and loans available to our students and families but two we really have to ask the institutions of higher education to do something on the cost side and that's the intent of this amendment to start getting information that will be available to us to consider whether enough is being done on the cost side thank you and i yield the balance of my time gentleman yield spectrum i'm from florida and the speaker my privilege to yield five minutes to my distinguished friend from recognized for five minutes thank you madam speaker and i appreciate the gentleman from florida my good friend on the rules committee and i'm speaker today we walk in to the floor to hear  question after question after question and i mire the gentlewoman from florida for asking these questions that she asks and posing the issues the issues of our time energy policy tax policy men and women who are hardworking americans trying to pay their bills and yet i would say the conclusion that came out which i agree with and this is why i thank goodness we have a democrat majority the democrat majority has now been in power for some seventeen months and yet we find the democrat majority is simply coming to the floor asking questions on my gosh what's happening and the answer that i heard over and over was we've got to make sure we meaning the government provides these low cost loans we've got to make sure that the government has all these things available for people that the government should not be the answer to the problem the answer should be is that this democrat majority needs to understand that they've got to accept the responsibility that gas prices have gone up sixty percent since they have taken over that it is their agenda that this country now operates under that we have ceded and we understood now through not just two budgets but through the the policy that has been announced added all around this country on behalf of the democrat party of raising taxes and making sure that we have an economic policy that is not based upon trying to grow more jobs but rather about fairness we have seen the tax policy from this new democrat majority of seventeen months raising taxes going to double the capital gains tax well madam speaker what i would say to you is no wonder we're in economic problems seventeen months ago the people who plan for jobs in this country that are called employers have understood that they are going to pay higher taxes we already have the second highest corporate tax rate in the world but now we're going to tax investors so the tax policy is very plain and simple the tax policy is is that we are going to bleed some investors for more money so that the government can get the money so that we can then do more from the government perspective well madam speaker i'd have to say to you this could be the death of the free enterprise system when you tax people they make decisions and when you tax something you get less of it in this case we're now seeing economic downturn we're now seeing dollars that are investment dollars rather than coming to the united states they're going overseas the tax policy does have an impact on the economic viability of this country secondly the energy policy we have seen the answer from the speaker speaker pelosi put forth an energy bill that was really pretty good but it had nothing to do with supply side the supply of energy of gasoline is what america needs today and so we passed this big energy bill and we see prices continuing to rise we're told we're supposed to make this transition to this green environment and all the jobs that will come as a result of that but in fact what will happen is we will lose the jobs that we have today and wait for that to c from speaker we're almost at the point where a majority of the gasoline that comes in this country is no longer always will it's gasoline because the jobs that produce the oil to gasoline or overseas because we don't want those jobs in this country dubai is being built and has flourished as a result of democratic party policies the money from americans consumers are building dubai since one nine hundred ninety five the republican party in trying to work with president clinton we said let us supply more energy here what do we do we get a veto for the college expenses and what we get is question after question after question this majority is not prepared in my opinion to deal with the things that will produce jobs which will produce the ability for people to have money in their pocket to pay for their education and that comes from the policies of tax and spend of the democratic party where they are not in favor of a tax policy for investors to invest in america but rather for investors to pay in incredible increase in taxes to uncle sam so what happens is is that america no longer can look up and say we are the beacon of freedom we're producing jobs the production of new jobs means that the free enterprise system is alive and well which means that we don't have to come to government for our needs it is the policy of the democratic party and of our speaker to tax and spend america to the highest level in the history of our country and it is the policy of this house not tests have supply side for our energy and without a supply side without a tax policy that allows investment dollars to be here we will continue to see this democrat majority come and ask questions and lament about all the problems that lie ahead of us and we will continue to hear and government is the answer madam speaker i would suggest to you that the answer would be the free enterprise system lowering taxes a supply side policy that helps get more energy available to consume and one where government is the backstop and not the first answer i will end by saying this without employers we will not have employees and that should be a challenge to the democrat the rules committee for bringing this rule to the floor that will enable us to consider the continued access to student loans act to help families and students who are struggling to pay for the cost of education one of the more successful programs in this country has been the system of student loans that we provide under federal guarantees to families and to students to pay for those educations that program now has been caught up in the decline in the and the  seizing of the american credit markets and therefore we were worried that there will not be loans available to families and students who are applying for school this coming this coming fall as a result of that  we have been working with the secretary of education and with the with the entire committee on the republican side the democratic side of the aisle to make sure that we have in place a number of provisions that will allow if  necessary the federal government to step in and assure those families that they will have access to those loans so they will not have to miss classes that they need mrs semester that they need and count down their problems by extending the time that they'll have to remain in college before they before they graduate we have been meeting with the traditional lending community within the student loan community and many of them have told us that they expect to participate in the student loans for the coming year but they also believe that there will be a gap that the supply of those the supply of those loans will not meet the demands because of the season of the credit market that the credit markets have failed to function over the last many weeks not only for student loans but for the minute municipal bond market for the various joint agencies of the government that have very high credit ratings in the case of student loans this is a government backed loans but the markets are not are not purchasing the old loans as they were in the past and for that reason we what we have we're seeking to activate and have on standby authority the lender of last resort a story that the secretary of education has under current law where if in fact those loans and money is not available for those loans she will be able to go to to go to the secretary of treasury and make a demand to fund those loans they're also be available the direct lending program that currently exist many universities and students use that program today we've been talking with them making sure that they would be able to expand the capacity should the universities decide to direct a number of the students to the direct lending program they have assured us that they could clearly double their capacity and a short time be able to go beyond that so we have the lender of last resort program in place and because there's not enough money in the banks to to provide for student loans we have the direct lending program in place for those who choose to go there so they can keep t shelton for the secretary to purchase existing loans from those lenders they can recapitalize there's a quiddity situation and be able to make new loans to students and to family seeking those those loans those three tools should in fact provide by a seamless system so if the private credit markets fail to provide the necessary resources or the credit markets fail to provide to the quiddity that is necessary we will be able to stand in their place for a temporary period of time until the credit markets sorted out we also make we make provisions in this in this legislation to increase the amount of money this that undergraduates can borrow in the program so that those students who have been using the private loan markets which are in a complete shambles will be able to increase the amount of money that they may need to borrow for tuition for school expenses and be able to continue their education i also minute to once again look at for the actually the first time to really look at this link between increase tuition and increased resources made available to students this is an important package it's a timely factory's we hope that it won't be necessary to be used but we need to have it in place so that we can backstop the failures of the credit markets that are currently existing as an outflow of the of the subprime mortgage problems that's affecting the entire economy of this headed down to their local post office to send their harder and harder in money to the federal government not to be confused with the tax freedom day which the attacks of freedom foundation has defined as the day on which the average american has finally earn enough to pay this year's tax obligations to the federal state and local governments which unfortunately will not arrive this year until next week april twenty third in recognition of the those two important days on every taxpayers calendar today i will be asking my colleagues that to vote no on the previous question to this rule if the previous question is defeated i will amend the rule to make it in order for the house to consider h r twenty seven thirty four the bill offered by my friend the gentleman from michigan mr walberg that legislation would repeal the sunset date of the two thousand and one economic growth and tax relief reconciliation act and make the tax reductions and acted by that law permanent i'll say it again means that we will make the tax cuts permanent to make certain that all american taxpayers will not have to pay an increase in taxes so provide members the opportunity to make those tax cuts permanent and make certain that our tax code encourages economic growth and job creation also repeals the termination date for provisions of the two thousand and three jobs and growth tax reconciliation act reducing income tax rates on dividends and capital gains demands the i r s the internal revenue code to make permanent the tax deduction for state and local sales taxes which is particularly important in states such as florida that i'm honored to represent it also includes a tax deduction for tuitions and related expenses the increased expensing allowance for small business assets and related provisions and the tax credit for increasing research activities in summary madam speaker what it will do is to maintain in a time of economic uncertainty the ability for the nation's economy is going to need to create jobs and compete globally on the other hand if members are for tax increases they will want if  they want taxpayers to pay more in taxes then they'll simply vote with the majority finally it expresses a sense of the house of representatives and the committee on ways and means that you know they should report legislation on or before the end of the year to simplify the federal income tax system madam speaker i can think of no more fitting action for congress during the week between tax day and tax freedom day to provide this kind of certainty for the american taxpayer by  the previous question members will not be voting to kill or delay the underlying student loan legislation they will simply be voting to provide tax relief to americans i courage all of my from florida thank you madam speaker manna speaker today the congress will build on the new commitment to college and university students and their hard working families that this new democratic majority in the congress has provided our efforts to ensure continued access to low cost to them loans for families comes on the heels of the historic call college cost reduction and access act that was signed into law a few months ago that will save college students an average of forty four hundred dollars on student loan interest will increase the pell grant and will forgive loans for those provide ten years of public service to their community this is the single largest investment in college financial assistance since the g i bill in one nine hundred forty four and comes at no new cost to taxpayers the new congress promised to make college more affordable for all americans and we have delivered on that promise our next step today is to ensure that families can continue to access the loans they need to pay for college and let me provide you with one example from my hometown in tampa florida a student at the university of south florida large public university of over forty thousand students this student is a communications major and is once a master away from graduation but she's reached her long limit she can't access that safford loan that provides the lowest interest rate of vailable out there she's the first in her family to ever attend college she only lacks eleven credit hours to graduate and she plans on graduating this summer but she's been forced to to apply for a higher interest rate private loan to cover the expenses of her summer tuitions well this this  legislation is ready made for her and thousands of other students across america and their families it gives them that extra added flexibility to be able to put the money to good use and graduate on time rather than end up paying higher loans in interest rates you seem madam speaker we're not just members of congress we're also parents ourselves and we're also concerned about the increasing cost of college especially giving given the fact that college costs have been increasing more rapidly than available grant and financial aid federal loans in families ability to pay well our efforts today will restore the american dream for many families and we know and appreciate that many families are facing extreme financial strains the economic downturn the cost of housing the cost of health care gas prices have hit our families hard families are really being squeezed in this unfortunate bush economy but there is reason to hope because we will continue to fight for a new direction for our country a direction that values access to education values better jobs and values an opportunity for all americans and with that madam speaker i urge a yes vote on the previous question and on the rule i yield back the balance of my time and i resolution eleven zero three resolved that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursuant to clause to be a rule eighteen declare the house resolving to the committee of the whole how on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h r twenty six thirty four to provide for greater responsibility in lending and expanded cancellation of debt owed to the united states and the international financial institutions by low income countries and for other purposes 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 confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on financial services after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule it shall be in 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 on financial services now printed in the bill the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be can sit or to as read all points of order against the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived except those arising under clause ten of rule twenty one notwithstanding clause eleven of ru eighteen no amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report say 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 op own it shall not be subject to and then 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 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 amendments 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 then they are to 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 six thirty four pursuant to this resolution notwithstanding the operation as a previous question the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated by the speaker gentleman from vermont is going to night for one hour thank you madam speaker for the purpose of debate only i y customary thirty minutes to the gentleman from texas mr sessions and all time yielded during consideration of the roll is for debate only and i yield myself such time as i may consume and i also ask unanimous consent that all members be given five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on how to house resolution eleven zero threat objections so order them speaker house resolution eleven zero three provides for consideration of h r twenty six thirty for  responsible lending in expanded debt cancellation under an expanded rule the rule provides one hour general debate controlled by the committee on financial services also makes an order for a minutes printed in the rules committee report each of which is debatable for ten minutes the rule provides for one motion to recommit with or without instructions madam speaker structured responsible debt relief has been proven to be one of the most effective methods of fighting global poverty in one thousand nine hundred six the world bank and the i m f the international monetary fund developed the heavily indebted poor countries or h i p c initiatives to provide debt relief to the world's most impoverished nations the twenty eight countries that participated in this program have been spending that debt relief on good things in their country for the very poor people an education  health in the first ten years of the program the i m f and the world bank provided sixty two billion of debt relief cutting the country's debt by an average of two thirds the results speak for themselves the participating countries now spend four times as much on health education in social services as they do on paying back debt tanzania for instance has used its money from debt cancellation to eliminate school fees for elementary school  education think about it the poorest countries their kids were having to pay fees to go to elementary school something that's not even required here while zambia eliminated fees for health care in rural areas multilateral efforts in niger represented reduced depth from seventy six percent of their gross domestic product and think about that seventy six percent of the gross domestic product was used in debt relief in two thousand and two to fourteen percent in two thousand and six with that savings niger has been able to make investments in health and education they've reduced the infant mortality rate cut in half primary school completion has increased from sixteen to twenty eight percent and access to drink of the water increased from forty percent of the people in niger to sixty nine percent the bill that this rule will bring to the floor today will build on this record of quantifiable success to expand efforts to reduce the adit the debts owned by impoverished nations but this legislation makes debt forgiveness immediately possible for nine countries that meet the standards of the  not a give away program these nations are among the poorest in the world with per capita incomes of less than three dollars a day a thousand sixty five dollars a year countries initially eligible under this legislation for debt relief would include cape verity georgia kenya mongolia in vietnam but as i mentioned the jubilee act does not give countries that borrowed money a free ride with  forgiveness it includes strict parameters to ensure that the participating countries one have transparent in of an effective budget process these two do not support terrorism three cooperate in international efforts in four uphold human rights standards in addition funds made available as a result of loan forgiveness must be directed toward anti poverty programs in countries must publish an annual report to be accountable on how those funds were spent these criteria ensure the loan forgiveness funds are used wisely and well they provide an incentive for non eligible countries to reduce corruption improve human rights practices so that they may one day become eligible for debt forgiveness fifteen additional countries including bangladesh nigeria and zimbabwe would be eligible for dec cancellation upon making required reforms this is a brand of leadership that america needs more of where we are doing our share but we're working with our allies where we're using the incentives of death forgiveness many of these depth incidentally taken on by kleptocrats who formerly ruled in these countries and now these countries are trying to free themselves from the yoke of this terrible leadership and this debt forgiveness program allows us working with our allies and with the i m f and the world bank to give them a boost finally madam speaker it must be noted that because the international institutions like the world bank and the i m f are expected to pay the bulk of the debt relief the tremendous improvements that can be achieved under this bill come at a very reasonable cost to the u s taxpayer the cost of america canceling bilateral debt for the countries initially eligible is estimated to be one hundred ninety seven million dollars that's less than what we spent for fourteen hours in iraq just to put it in a perspective however this bill does not actually authorize any debt cancellation it authorizes the secretary of treasury to enter into negotiations to cancel debt any debt cancellation agreement reached by the secretary returns to congress for approval in fact the congressional budget office has scored this legislation at no cost to the taxpayers debt reduction has been proven to be one of the most effective both cost effective and socially effective ways to achieve significant reductions in global poverty and i urge my colleagues to support this rule in the underlying dale and i reserve the balance of my time and then from texas  thank you madam speaker man speaker i want to thank my friend the gentleman from vermont for the time that he is yielding me to discuss h r two six three four the responsible lending and expanded debt collection cancellation act of two thousand and seven this legislation follows on the heels of legislation passed just two weeks ago providing aid to mostly african and caribbean countries to fight aids and promote development programs in underdeveloped countries including programs to improve food water the treatment of other infectious diseases poverty a belief levy ation programs microcredit schools and teachers legal aid agricultural systems and biomedical research today's legislation would follow up on this enormous prior financial commitment by further reducing or eliminating the debt obligations of the world's poorest nations it attempts to accomplish his goal by creating a framework to having the debt the debts of low income countries out to the united states and international financial institutions eliminated to do this this bill authorizes the secretary of the treasury to negotiate the full cancellation of these countries debts with the paris club the i m f and the world bank and to reach agreements on future creditor transparency and responsible lending it improves oversight by ensuring that countries receive in this debt ease that are capable of redirecting their debt services payments and requires a g a o audit of countries where illegal loans may have been made finally it includes a sense of congress that the s should pay off six hundred million dollars worth of arrears to multilateral development banks and a speaker no one in this body disputes the worthiness of this goal that is and try and within this legislation the reduction of global poverty and suffering around the world is a lot of the goal and it's certainly in our national interest to combat conditions that may breed the hopelessness and poverty that allows dictators and terrorists to thrive so it is doubtlessly important that the most heavily indebted poor countries be relieved of these kinds of crushing debt that prevents their future development self sufficiency and the improvement of their citizens lives this policy should be implemented along with other policies that increase public sector investment and decrease the barriers to trade with these countries as well as ensuring that these countries at that the countries eligible for this relief do not encourage terrorist activities or abuse human rights i am surprised however th see the irony in scheduling this step forward for developing nations on the first legislative week after handing them a serious defeat by turning off the fast track of authority for the colombian free trade agreement and other words here we're trying to help poor countries now the decision is made but we won't engage in trade with them that would help their countries also grow economically free while giving the most heavily indebted countries relief from crossing and unserviceable debt is necessary to increase their future development it is simply not sufficient the economies of these countries must be more integrated with the rest of the globe provide their citizens with real choices and development alternatives for their future and increase trade with america is a great way of accomplishing this so while i appreciate the financial service committee's efforts on the issue of improving conditions for the world's poorest countries i remind my colleagues that development does not occur in a vacuum and that by postponing the colombian free trade agreement we have affectively told all of these countries able who should be our friends and we should be concerned about more than just their debt but about their economic viability we've said that cunt that congress is less concerned about promoting trade with them and growing their economies than it is with complying with the demands of labor union bosses in an election year  i courage this democrat leadership to take a long term and more holistic view of global poverty recognizing that these cycles of of adjective our body cannot be broken without creating the conditions that encourage private sector investment like respect for contracts and rule of lall and that it also encourages international trade madam speaker i believe that a broader policy of understanding poverty and the united states's role in helping to make our world better would include trade and would include encouraging the private markets around the world batum speaker average of the balance of my time and mr chairman from vermont madam speaker i yield three minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts mr frank of poverty but i am pleased that we have agreement that this is an important part of it we have some history here that argues for this bill in the year i think it was two thousand we in this house passed a bill on the floor over some objection from the administration at the time the clinton administration from some of the house leadership we passed a bill to begin the process known as the hip  did poor country debt relief and it worked very well and for those who think that these enterprises the doomed to fail you know we can point to many successes in hip and and we did this in a way so the countries that had not lived up to what should have been their part of the bargain didn't with debt and they will be primarily african but not entirely does as much to promote education and reduce poverty as anything else we can do i think it's particularly noteworthy on this day helping countries reduce the debt is a very effective way of giving them the tools to go for development one other important point here we have been plagued in the past by the international financial community in the judgment of many of us but the conservative democratic and republican unduly injecting itself into the decisions in particular countries democratic society should not be told from the outside what the water rates should be what the tax structure should be what education fee should be in very often in the past he's had a very negative affect from the standpoint of poverty alleviation unanimously out of our committee this bill includes a restriction on what is called conditionality of that sort there will be no possibility of using debt relief as a lever for outsiders to impose on these democratic societ choices that ought to be made within the society we do say that the donors and he's above the individual countries and the international financial institutions should insist on a variety of procedural safeguards of democracy of openness human trafficking against terrorism against illegal immigration those are the kind of into his it is appropriate to impose finally we should note that this bill obviously does not as it cannot itself accomplish it only if it is a mandate to the united states executive branch to begin negotiations in these negotiations must be multilateral because we do not want to see america get debt relief when other countries don't do it and and we also want to press the international financial institutions to do it using our influence there today we take a step widely hailed by particularly those who are concerned with the mediation of poverty in other parts of the world we take a step that does more than any other single step to reach that goal we have had a problem in the world of economic growth actually to show thirty seconds thirty seconds we've had a problem in the world of economic growth occurring in ways that shut out a great majority of the people in various countries from the benefit we need a coordinated yesterday was tax day or the final day for individuals and families to file taxes without incurring financial penalties this is not to be confused with tax freedom day which the tax freedom foundation has defined as the day on which the average american has finally earned enough money to pay this year's tax obligations at the federal state and local level which won't arrive this year in till next week april twenty third in recognition of these two important days on every taxpayer's calendar today i will be asking each of my colleagues to vote no on the previous question to this rule if the previous question is defeated i will i'm in the rule to make an order for the house to consider h r two seven three four comprehensive bill offered by my friend from michigan congressman tim walberg this legislation repeals the sunset date of the two thousand and one economic growth and tax relief reconciliation act and makes the tax recommend reductions in acted by that act permanent and other words instead of increasing taxes we would like to make these tax cuts permanent for economic growth and development in this country that will encourage investment and thereby growing jobs in this country we've heard today several speakers from the democrat majority question what is wrong with america today and even blaming president bush for the economic woes that exist but today the republican party is saying if we want to do the things that president bush wants that i think that the american people want let's make tax cuts permanent to ensure that we have job growth and development of companies and and employers in america it also repeals the terminations date for provisions of the two thousand and three jobs and growth tax relief reconciliation act of two thousand and three reducing income tax rates on dividends and capital gains why reducing tax rates on dividends and capital gains because that is how you grow jobs the reverse is happening that america understands right now and that is the new democratic majority wants to increase taxes which causes a the economy not to stimulate but to contract which is exactly what is happening now which is exactly what we understand the new policies of the democratic majority have been about for seventeen months at some point this democratic majority is going to have to take responsibility for the things that happened under their watch instead of just brain blaming president bush president bush says let's let's make these tax cuts permanent that's what's worked up to now and we need to do it today we'll also i'm in the internal revenue code to make permanent a tax deduction for state and local sales tax that needs to be done we've done that each of the last five years the tax deductions for two wishin let me repeat that the tax deduction for tuition well here we are on the floor trying to do something for students to get student loans but yet we will not have a deduction for tuitions and related expenses the increased expensing allowed for small businesses os small business is the jhon of our economy that's why republicans want to make the tax cuts permanent so that we make sure that we allow small businesses to grow not contr and the tax credit for increasing research and development research and development is how we're going to cure the ills in the problems of the world that we see today instead the new democratic majority now for seventeen months wants to increase taxes wants to take away deductions for two wishin they want to increase taxes on small business they want to make investment very difficult in this country doubling if you listen to some of the candidates that are on the trail doubling the capital gains rate and certainly they wouldn't be for increasing research and development they want to tax that finally this opportunity today would express the sense of the house of representatives that committee on ways and means should report legislation on or before the end of the year to simplify the federal income tax system  speaker i can think of no more fitting action for congress during this week between tax day and tax freedom day to provide this kind of certainty to the american taxpayer and that's what we should be about is good policy that encourages the opportunity to grow our economy and have new jobs by voting no on the previous question members will not be killing voting to kill or delay this this debt relief legislation they will simply be voting to provide tax relief so that we can grow our economy to americans at the same time that we provide debt relief to the world's poorest countries what a wonderful opportunity and speak around courage all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle but no on the previous question madam speaker i want to point out a couple of things number one this legislation comes to you with bipartisan support from the financial services committee there was a recognition on that committee between the members on the majority in the members in the minority that this congress had an opportunity to do something concrete something practical to help the most impoverished countries in the world this legislation is practical it's going to give relief that translates into higher literacy rates higher infant more to lower infant mortality rates better access to education it's done a very modest expense to the american taxpayer it also is america working with other countries and with international institutions the i m f and the world bank to have a positive influence in foreign policy it makes sense it's bipartisan it should be done i have to say i disagree with the suggestion of good friend from texas that we essentially transform this into a debate about extending the bush tax cuts that's a refrain that we're hearing constantly that is brought up as a way of taking attention off of the things that we can do immediately in the legislation that's before us the fact of the matter is that what we've seen in the past few years under the fiscal leadership of the bush administration is we've gone from a record surplus to a record deficit we've gone from a point of paying down our national debt to increasing it to close to seven trillion dollars the reality is that this legislation is about one thing and one thing only it's about helping countries where the  income of its citizens is on average three dollars a day that's what it is and we can decide that we're going to take concrete action to help those countries move ahead or use this as an opportunity to bill for which it provides consideration congress can build on this immensely successful debt relief efforts that we've had on a bipartisan basis and started more than a decade ago to provide relief for the world's poorest countries it's an essential tool in the fight on the on the war on poverty and incidentally it's money well spent much less of our money and the money of our allies than when we have to engage in military conflict the legislation represents what should be the face of american leadership around the globe i believe i believe the sponsors of this legislation believe it will make the world a better place and make the world safer and more stable this is a good  bipartisan bill enjoys the support not only of chairman frank and chairwoman waters but of their republican counterparts on the committee our colleagues congressman baucus and congress congresswoman figure that is why i urge a yes vote on the previous question on the role madam chair i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution question is on order in the previous question all in favor say  words their votes by aleck tronic ballot pursuant to cause eight and clause nine of rule twenty this if team in a vote on ordering the previous question will be followed by five minute votes on adopting the resolution if order ordering the previous question on house resolution eleven o seven and adopting the house resolution eleven o seven in order this is a fifteen minute