these are zero two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table reports of title to fortune company house resolution eleven eighty nine resolution providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany the bill h r twenty four nineteen to provide for the continuation of agricultural programs to fiscal year two thousand successful year two thousand and nine and including the program budgetary levels for fiscal years two thousand and eight and two thousand and ten through two thousand and thirteen preferred to the house calendar and order the chair will entertain one minute requests for what purpose is gentlewoman from texas well members please take their conversations off the floor the house is not in order a speaker i rise today to join my colleagues in offering my deepest sympathy and that of the constituents of the eighteenth congressional district to the people of mainland china the people's republic of china for the enormous tragedy that they are now facing twelve thousand expected dead and more some nine hundred thousand still buried and what is been the singular tragedy is innocent children sitting in their classrooms seats and having a building collapse upon them we are told of this earthquake had occurred in the united states it would range from maine to arizona we can imagine the  tragic situation i would hope that the united states is moving quickly to be of assistance and that we will keep the people of china people's republic of china and our thoughts and as we offer them our prayers and thoughts let us be reminded of those in the united states who suffered through the terrible tornadoes that our country has been experiencing over a period of time than general ladies time has eyes of texas are shining tonight on the life and legacy of houston news legend ron stone stone died today at the age of seventy two for thirty years ron stone was a fixture own houston television and the host of one of my favorite shows the eyes of texas featuring the real law stories about unique people and places of our great state though we had countless awards to mark his contributions in the media interest into the street it was down is down to earth folksy style that endured him audiences all across the houston area he was born in oklahoma but stone came to houston in one nine hundred sixty s and his love for texas took root in he said he wasn't born in texas but he got there as fast as he could after retiring from cape p r c in hundred ninety two he continued to leave his mark on the industry he was a recognized filmmaker author of several books on texas history and continue his dedication to our community i met ron many years ago while i was a judge in houston it was his personal approach to news that set him apart from others and captivated audiences for more than thirty years ron stone leads a unique mark on houston's history and made the eyes of texas forever shine on him and his family and that's just the way it is join with my democrat colleagues in supporting this legislation the reason why it works is because it decreases the amount of consumption of oil here and united states and thereby bring prices down because that's the control of supply and demand well likewise i would ask my democrat colleagues to join with me and increasing domestic production and refining capacity here in the united states which is another way to bring prices down for our consumers we can do this in a bipartisan way and miss madam speaker i ask that we join together in a bipartisan vote so we can lower gas prices for the short term and for the long term and i yield back n this bill the national trauma center stabilization act is particularly timely given that this is national hospital week while it seems like there's a special observance for everything these days national hospital week celebrates the vital role hospitals play in our communities from delivering our babies to treating traumatic injuries to caring for our sick and elderly our nation's six thousand hospitals are critical component of the american health care system and the american health care system is the best in the world in part due to the quality of our nation's hospitals because of my background treating patients one of my top priorities in congress is ensuring that the federal government does its part to maintain and improve health care in the country in this country this includes strong support for our hospitals to this into the national trauma center stabilization act will help give the five hundred trauma centers around the country the support they need to do the critical work they do twenty four hours a day three hundred sixty five days a year in a secret took an oath as a physician and as a policy maker to serve patients and people to the best of my abilities it's wonderful when these two pledges intersect to make a productive policy the bipartisan national trauma center stabilization act meets both of these criteria there's no better time than the sign on today during you madam speaker we just took an interesting vote on the floor few minutes ago and that was to stop a filling the spro and make sure there are seventy thousand barrels on the market projections are that my projections by my friends on the other side is that this will affect the cost of from five cents to twenty five cents per gallon just think what putting a million barrels of crude oil into the market and we can do that by bringing on more supply i've been on the floor numerous times to talk about coal to liquid technologies we have two hundred fifty years worth of coal in the only coal basin alone turning that into liquid feel  great a port as the outer continental shelf billions of barrels of oil trilby trillions of cubic feet of natural gas off limits based upon policies in acted here in this house and if seventy thousand barrels w do five to twenty five cents a gallon just think what a million barrels of crude all we have one problem we have a better refinery in thirty two years the chair lays before the house the following personal require revise and extend their remarks and include their in extraneous material mr poe may nineteenth and twentieth for five minutes each mr jones may nineteenth and twentieth for five minutes each mr flake today for five minutes mr frank today and may fourteenth and fifteenth for five minutes each mr holds off may fourteenth for five minutes mr moran to day and may fourteenth for five minutes each mr dent may fourteenth for five minutes mr gilchrist today for five minutes mr burton today and may fourteenth and fifteenth for five minutes each mr burgess to day for five minutes and mr tancredo today for five minutes without objection for what purpose is gentleman from north carolina wri unanimous consent that to day following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into the following members may be from it to address the house for five minutes to revise and extend their remarks and to include their and extraneous materials mr miller  under the speaker's announced policy of january eighteenth two thousand and seven and then to a previous order of the house the following members are recognized for five minutes each mr miller of north carolina thank you m greens for has been or remains a leader in economic and cultural development within north carolina a great or became the gates sent city at the turn of the last century a snorkel israel try rail trade and manufacturing center greensboro soon became a leader in north carolina's textile industry henry humphries opened the state's first steam powered cotton mill about the eighteen forties grades for businesses where floor shing re on weaving from burlington industries that didn't from cone mills and overalls from rubella from bluebell dominated world markets for their products in the late one nine hundred eighty s the piedmont triad international airport again established rings for its place as a regional travel and transportation hub agrees where it's always been at the forefront of education in north carolina greensboro college the first state chartered college for women to open in stores in eighteen thirty three and eighteen thirty seven quakers founded the first co educational school in the state  greensboro new garden boarding school today today known as fuel for college my wife alma mater agrees more technical community college has provided training in adult education since a since one nine hundred fifty eight what began as women's college and is now the university of north carolina at greensboro north carolina agricultural and technical college a and t is a historical black land grant institution or leaders in university research development and art  with such a strong concentration of academic institutions greensborough has obviously developed a prob in cultural scene a particular renowned for theatre for music and film and the last few decades there's been an well as for college basketball is frequently the host of the land because conferences mins basketball tournament bridge for has also played an important role for racial equality grounds for was topple the underground railroad as citizens both black and sat down at the wall worst white only lunch counter easy old boy or nail jabril because on franklin mccain joseph neal and david richmond remain seated until the store was closed and returned the next day in the next day and the next day joined each day by more and more who were protesting segregation the greens for for the eighty four inspired similar civil rights protest across the south the sit in protests that began in greensboro was the moment the civil rights struggles struggle became a movement later greensboro was peaceful public school integration was a model for all the other communities all of the nation and today greensboro participation in the underground railroad the greens were now welcomes refugees from conflicts around the world the sudan liberia me and maher and only known i am proud to honor the boston typical celebrations of the city poet texas quest mission to address the house five minutes the gentleman is recognized for five minutes thank you madam speaker congress passed an energy bill which should have been called the anti american non energy bill because punishes americans for using energy rather than finding new sources of affordable energy but the bill does one thing madam speaker it controls the type of lightbulbs that all americans must use throughout our fruited plains congress's energy bill ban incandescent light bulbs by two thousand and fourteen and requires americans to buy compact fluorescent bulbs those are called c f ales now we can say goodbye to thomas edison's incandescent bulb and his invention have a constitution here and like most members of congress i carry it with me i've read it through and through but i don't see anywhere in the us constitution that it gives the government the power to control the top of lightbulbs used in dime box texas or any other place in the united states besides a lack of constitutional authority let me discuss these lightbulbs further nothing in congress seems to be easy in that price is certainly true at the c f l light bulbs these light bulbs contain so they have to be disposed of in a certain way according to e p a rules you're supposed to take them to a local recycling center thanks to congress nothing is easy if you throw them out at home you're supposed to seal the ball two plastic ball bags and place them in the outside trash otherwise the bulb might break and pollute the landfill of all things see if elves are made of glass so they're fragile if one breaks it or drops it you have to follow simple rules thanks to congress and according to the e p a here's what you do if you break one of these light bulbs and i quote had people and pets leave the room and don't let anyone walk through the area and they evacuate the room madam speaker i continued open the window and leave the room for fifteen minutes or more shut off the central heating an air conditioning system carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with a metal lid obviously that's readily available i continue to use sticky tape such as duct tape to pick up any remaining small glass fagot fragments and powder of course we do have lots of duct tape in texas so that's no problem but we're not through yet i continue to quote wipe the area clean with a damp paper towel or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag do not use a vacuum or a broom and that a speaker i ask unanimous consent to file this three page single spaced requirements the e p a has made all americans follow and disposing one of these broken will light bulbs without objection thank you if you break a light bulb in a high rise where the windows don't open will the eight e p a light bulb police haul us off to jail because of improper disposal procedures if i drop this lightbulb we would have to evacuate the house of representatives according to the a light bulb law have we gone a bit too far with this nonsense thanks to congress where mike in what is simple very difficult and besides these light bulbs are expensive and using them may fade photographs on the wall no ma speaker i'm going to carefully remove one of these light bulbs from a box that contains all these warnings on the outside and this is one of those c f l light bulbs that congress is requiring all americans to use but two thousand and fourteen there is more to the requirements of using these it says here and i quote these light bulbs may cause interference to radios televisions wireless telephones and remote controls now we're in trouble for monday night football because we're going to turn out the lights so there's no interference with our t we can also think congress were given more money to china this lightbulb it says right here with all the warnings on it is made in china and madam speaker they are only made in china they're not made in the united states we import every one of these things you know over the past year we've seen chinese pet food kill our dogs and cats chinese lead paint is poisoning our children and now chinese lightbulbs that make and that contain mercury can be harmful to our health doesn't this bother anybody meanwhile gasoline nears four dollars a gallon and congress still has no energy plan except colonel ms light bulbs oh you are for the day when america took care of americans by developing our own  abundant natural resources like coal and natural gas and crude oil to provide affordable energy to america but those days have go no way of edison's incandescent light bulb we might as well turn out the lights the party's over and that's just the way it is back gentleman yield back time mr woolsey of california madam speaker the civil war in iraq has devastated the colleges and universities in that country it is estimated that thousands of students and professors have been forced to flee the violence cutting short their studies and their academic careers a humanitarian organization called the iraqi student project is trying to help is working with fifteen american universities to identify quality iraqi students and provide them with a tuitions free education here in the united states the project which was created by two americans based in the middle east is modeled on the bosnian student project of the one nine hundred ninety s a project that brought approximately one hundred fifty bosnian students to american colleges this friday noun speaker i will have the honor of delivering the commencement address at the graduation ceremonies for dominican university's graduate students i'm proud to say that dominican university in my district is one of the institutions working with the iraqi student project dominican anticipates admitting to iraqi students in september over and waving their tuition upon graduation it's hoped that the students will return to iraq to help that devastated country rebuild in the coming days this house will have the chance to show that we too have the right priorities we will be considering the twenty first century g i bill this is a bipartisan proposal that would provide a college education to our brave troops when they return from the fighting in iraq and afghanistan after world war two man a speaker the g i bill sent millions of veterans to college everyone agrees that it was one of the best investments that our country has ever made it field the postwar economic boom that's expanded our country's middle class and made good of our nation's solemn promise to care our veterans but today the g i bill covers just half of the average cost of a college education the proposed the proposed legislation would provide coverage for the full cost of going to a public university and it would help with the cost of tending private universities the need for this bill is great it will hey help make the transition back to civilian life easier for our veterans and for their families many of those who have already returned home are unemployed or underemployed they need a college education to help them succeed in the workplace and our nation we need them to succeed to keep our economy strong but surprise surprise the administration doesn't share this view secretary of defense gates has express express opposition to expanding education benefits he has said that it would cause retention problems in the military because it would encourage troops to leave the service i believe man a speaker that our troops have already done quite enough to help the military achieve its retention goals many of our troops have served two three and four tours of duty and the number of troops who have been forced to stay in the service and voluntarily t pentagon stop loss policies is actually rising in spite of the army's promise to cut the number our troops have done all that that we have asked of them they've done it again and again and again it is true that the occupation of iraq has stretched our military to the breaking point but the solution to the problem is to end the occupation not to ask our brave troops to give up their futures and not to ask them to give up a chance to get a college education the twenty first century g i bill is the right thing to do far better terms and the smart thing to do for our country it's a win win it has been strong bipartisan support and it will leave no veteran behind i yield the gentleman yield back the balance of our time mr jones have dorothy carolina the gentleman is recognized for five minutes thank you madam speaker madam speaker today is day four hundred eighty two of a terrible injustice in america two u s border patrol agents have been in federal prison in solitary confinement since january seventeenth of two thousand and seven ages copy on and ramos were convicted in march of two thousand and six for shooting an illegal alien drug smuggler from mexico to smuggle brought one million dollars worth of marijuana across our borders into texas the prosecution's star witness the illegal alien drug smuggler recently pled guilty to counts for smuggling drugs while under immunity to testify against the border agents ramos and cop yawn were doing their job to protect america and to protect our border yet through a questionable prosecution the agents were convicted and sentenced to eleven and twelve years in prison respectively despite the efforts of the american people and members of congress in both parties nothing has been done to reverse this injustice members of congress and outside groups have filed court briefs to support these agents and all december the third two thousand and seven the fifth circuit court of appeals in new orleans heard oral arguments for their appeals only glimmer of hope for these agents and their families wrist with the fifth circuit court decision the american people have not forgotten ramos and copy on the more times these men spend behind bars the longer i hope that the judge's decision will rectify this gross miscarriage of justice and faith in our judicial system may be restored i thank congressman rohrbacher for calling for a national day of prayer last sunday on behalf of these two decorated u s border patrol agents in addition to mother's day this past sunday marked the beginning of national police week this week is a fitting time for the american people to join in prayer not only for age ramos and copy on but for all men and women in uniform who risk their lives each day to protect our communities agent ramos and campeon were willing to risk their lives to defend our border and protect america from illegal drug speaker before our close again we call on this white house to please listen to the polices of the american people and the congress to say let these men go for doing their job to protect the american people from a drug smuggler i've tried that just was finally prevail for these men and their families and with that madam speaker again i call on this white house to listen to the american people and i yell back to balance my time thank you the gentleman yield back balance of this the of oregon letter speaker for what purpose is gentleman from minnesota right to address the house for five minutes without objection and then a speaker it was on may seventh the day of the indiana primary election just last tuesday i believe that there was may fifth excuse me may fifth that twelve would came to the boating booth to cast a ballot in the election these nuns women of the cloth women who have dedicated their lives to prayer and service only wanted to vote but were barred from doing so by indiana's photographic identification law this law which is the most restriction in the united states the most stringent of any state requires that before you can cast a ballot you must present a government issued photographic identification card ninety eight year old nun american citizen devoted to her country and her fate was denied along with eleven other colleagues i'm disappointed to tell you madam speaker that this problem didn't have to happen only a few days before this indiana photographic id law was put in place the united states supreme court reviewed this law law and found that it was reasonable for indiana to force citizens to provide such identification now madam speaker you might say well isn't this designed to just stop voter fraud the answer is no madam speaker in the united states supreme court decision the justice that wrote the majority opinion admitted and acknowledged that there was no evidence of voter impersonation in effect madam speaker this bill was a bill to solve a problem that simply did not exist at all this bill was a mythical was confronting a mythical voter fraud that worked only to stop twelve nuns and many others from voting americans who may not have an id or maybe were born in home and can't even find a birth certificate which would they would need to get such a photographic i d it would clearly bar college students who may maybe haven't gotten  driver's license yet from voting in effect this bill prohibited people from voting who need a change in america it stops seniors who are against the the the donut hole of the part of the prescription drug prescription medicare part d that is hurting our seniors that they it's barring their way to the ballot box it's barring our students where the ballot box as they struggle to confront galloping to ition increases in mounting debt is borrowing the rights of our citizens who cry for greater civil and human rights in our country and it's basically standing in the way of voters who need a fairer more equal more just  fact is madam speaker i wish those people who pushed this law forward would have simply admitted that they don't want to debate the ideas they just want to stop voters from getting to the ballot box they don't want to can they don't want to debate whether or not it makes sense to help rich people get even richer to help big corporations get even bigger they don't debate that they just want to stop the people who would be opposed to their ideas from have ever being able kit to cast a ballot man a speaker i want to command in the new york times which on may thirteenth said mid of this editorial the myth of voter fraud and what this are that what this editorial shows is that it's not just indiana but many other states which are requiring this absolutely unneeded unneeded photographic idea requirement states like missouri kansas florida south carolina and our other are considering these bills they must and should be stopped they're not intended to stop fraud in fact if there's any fraud going on madam speaker it is that people in the category that i mention the senior citizens communities of color low income people students those people are being defrauded because actively in almost every election we've seen schemes that devices remain missing of jim crow to bar them from the bed at the ballot box and so madam speaker i ask you and all the members of this house to consider a bill that were preempt the supreme court's decision in the supreme in the decision that uphill the indiana voter law it's what we need it would improve the quality of democracy in our country and as i close madam speaker i just want to say our country is a great one not because of bombs and guns and a huge economy it's a great country because this country has been advancing liberty ever since its inception in the beginning of this country member speaker you and i know the only white men of property were able to vote just being a white male would not get you to vote but then we saw the jacksonian revolution in people without property could vote and then we saw the civil war come and then black men could vote and then we saw the ninety the minute men women could vote and then we saw the bearing of the twenty fourth that was the twenty fourth amendment which said that no more poll taxes could stand in the way of people voting and then we saw the amendment the allow people eighteen years old to vote every generation we've seen increases in the right to vote except for this one it's a sad day madam speaker and i yield back and i call on this congress to keep the doors to the voting booths open for all americans the gentleman yield back the balance of this time mr flake of arizona the gentleman is recognized for five minutes thank you madam speaker for tomorrow we're going to be voting on a very important piece of legislation this is a for the farm bill something that we reauthorized every five years or so and i would have hoped that we could have a good debate tomorrow but i just learned a few minutes ago that there the bill will come to the floor under a structured rule which will not allow anybody opposed to the bill to claim time in office ition you can believe this is one of the most expensive most important pieces of legislation to come before this body in years and it will come to the floor under a structured rule that does not allow those opposed to the rule to claim time in opposition this is a bill that the president has said that he will veto this is a bill that has offices ition but those who favor this farm bill do not want those who oppose the bill to be heard and imagine that the there's a time under the rule as with any bill that comes to the floor for what's called general debate now if you can think of this general debate tomorrow will m