eight of rule twenty the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote is objected to under clause si twenty record votes on postpone questions will be taken later today for what purpose does the gentleman from new york arise miss the speaker i move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution h read as five forty eight as the clerk will report the title of the read resolution house resolution five forty eight resolution expressing the ongoing concern of the house of representatives for levanon democratic institutions and unwavering support for the administration of justice those responsible for the assassination of lebanese public figures opposing syrian control of lebanon on pursuant to the rule the gentleman from new york mr ackerman and the gentlewoman from florida ms l rate will each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york business speaker ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration without objection the speaker the house is not in order the gentleman is correct the house will come to order please if the people to the right of the chair will take their converse a actions off the floor that gentleman deserves to be heard if we could have order thank you the speaker i rise in support of resolution and yell myself such time as i may consume them is recognized mr speaker what's been happening in lebanon is extreme aggression in the classic sense of the word to a campaign of assassinations targeting lebanese parliamentarians and political figures bombings in public places threats ionas free patriotic movement have brought lebanon's government to a constitutional crisis yet again outside actors have pushed lebanon to the brink of civil war for their own selfish interests just six days ago september nineteenth a massive car bomb killed and one get him along with five other civilians and left many dozens of innocent bystanders wounded mr ghanem a member of the lebanese parliament that a supporter of the senora government was just the latest in a string of eleven political assassinations over the past three years as a consequence of this pattern of violence the march fourteenth alliance parliamentarians away from being murdered out of their majority now is the time for this congress to send a strong message of support for the democracy democratically elected and fully legitimate government in lebanon time mr speaker is short the syrian backed camp painful murder is creeping ever closer to its goal of destroying the majority of the lebanese parliament bringing down the government of followed mr sin to make that support tangible in order to help preserve and strengthen lebanese sovereignty and independence the resolution condemns syria and iran for providing arms to lebanese militias particularly the terrorist group is the law and the palestinian factions in lebanon in clear contravention of security council resolutions a dress five forty eight also endorses prompt action by the special tribunal for lebanon established by the security council to investigate the assassination of former lebanese prime minister rafik hariri in february of zero five syria must know with utter certainty that the united states will never sacrifice  lebanon to allow damascus to escape accountability for its crimes the current lebanese government which is under siege is both legitimate and representative of the majority of lebanese the attempts to undermine it are not some kind of retaliation lebanon's government is being systematically attack only because it is unwilling to subordinate its authority and lebanon sovereignty t external and extra legal demands quite simply lebanon is being bullied and in light of this fact the united states and the entire international community must come to its aid i would urge all of our colleagues to support rise in support of house resolution five four eight i'd like to thank the gentleman from new york my good friend mr ackerman for introducing this important resolution and for chairman lantos of our foreign affairs committee for bringing it before the floor today with the execution last wednesday of an anti syrian lebanese parliament tarion in a christian suburb of beirut and the announcement today that the lebanese parliament will delay until next month the election of a new lebanese part president due to hezbollah led opposition boycott both syria and iran are now one step within lebanon to impose their presidential candidate on all of lebanon and deny levanon its true sovereignty they will undoubtedly use the time afforded by the delay in the part in the presidential election to effectively finish the job they started in the wake of the coalition's march fourteenth electoral victory and what is the goal of these pro syrian forces to gain a parliamentary majority through assassination and terror led by hezbollah the pro syrian problem entry block has repeatedly demanded that a compromise candidate who will bring national unity be elected to the presidency next month however mr speaker just the opposite is true a compromise and a unity candidate can only serve to bring about the election of yet another syrian and iranian puppet to the presidency like the outgoing so called president such a leader will work to prevent lebanon from extricating itself from iranian and syrian influence and total control furthermore the inclusion of pro syrian and iranian elements in the lebanese government renders the government regardless of the individual desires of the members and indeed the entire electoral process an effective tool of syria and iran some had hoped that hezbollah's entry into lebanese politics politics would signal its integration into lebanese society and force its leaders to dismantle h military and terrors infrastructure sadly the opposite has occurred allowing an islamic terrorist entity to use the political process and to legitimize itself without first demanding that it stop its objectionable behavior only serves to perpetuate and enhance the threat last october iran and syria change their calculations as to how to best use hezbollah to advance their interests and undermine the sovereignty of lebanon they instructed has the lot to withdraw from the government since then hezbollah joined by other syrian and iranian proxies has worked steadily to overthrow the government by politically paralyzing it in parliament and assassinating its supporters at the same time they have reportedly provided massive amounts of arms training and financial support to hezbollah as it rebuilds from the conflict with israel last summer additionally reports that the lebanese army has enabled hezbollah to reassert its control over southern lebanon continues to gravely concern us mr speaker simply put we cannot afford to continue to pursue a policy toward lebanon based on willful negligence we must accept that or moderate government will only materialize after the syrian and iranian proxies in lebanon are defeated and dismantled this resolution represents a step in the correct direction by voicing its unequivocal support for a true democratic government and all those within lebanon who have struggled against syrian and iranian control over their homeland for far too long they truly deserve our support i strongly urge my colleagues to support mr ackerman's resolution and with that mr speaker i reserve the balance of my time gentleman from new york i'd like to house resolution five forty eight as amended those in favor say aye those opposed no in the opinion of the chair two three now that i've been across the recorded vote in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative spend gentleman from new york on that and the chairs prior announcement further proceedings on this motion will be postpone rules the clerk or this gentleman call up the bill as amended at as amended so the clerk will report the title of the bill h r thirteen zero two a bill to require the president to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the united states foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty the elimination of extreme global poverty and the achievement of the united nations millennium development goal of reducing by one half the proportion of people worldwide between one thousand nine hundred and twenty fifteen who live on less than one dollar per day pursuant to the rule the gentleman from washington mr smith in the gentlewoman from florida miss la ross light will each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington mr speaker i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the resolution under consideration without objection thank you note that mr speaker i yield myself such time as i make sume gentleman is recognized i rise in support of global poverty act and want to explain first what the bill does and then why it is so important it declares that the official us policy to promote the reduction of global poverty the elimination of extreme global poverty and the achievement of the u n millennium development goal of cutting a stream global poverty in half by two thousand and fifteen it requires the president to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to carry out this policy includes guidelines for what the strategy should include from aid trade and debt relief to working with the international community businesses and n g o s to ensuring environmental sustainability it also requires that the president's strategy include specific and measurable goals efforts to be undertaken benchmarks and timetables and lastly it requires that the president report back to congress by annually on the progress made in the implementation of the global poverty strategy there are nearly two point seven billion people in the world who are living on less than two dollars a day those close to a billion who are living on less than a dollar a day arguably there is no greater problem facing the globe right now than poverty in the vast number of people who suffer from it the countries and communities who every day get up simply wondering whether or not they and their children are going to live to see the end of that day it causes instability disease and all kinds of problems from one end of the globe to the other but the other thing that it is is simply immoral there are this many people on that level of despair and on that level of poverty and we in the united states have the power to at least try to help and we are in many many ways i actually want to thank the president for the millennium challenge account an effort to try to make sure that countries not just get foreign aid but use it wisely on the efforts to fund prevention of aids in africa the pepfar effort that's been going on for a number of years is a significant step forward we also have a large number of organizations and groups that are trying to come back global poverty we have the world coming together in many ways as it never has before to try to combat this menace as mentioned the u n set out the millennial development goals the g eight set global poverty as its prime purpose a couple of years ago we have groups like the gates foundation and results and bread for the world and a large number of other organizations that are combating global poverty from every conceivable angle and they are learning a lot as they do they are learning what works what moves forward what doesn't work what the best way to spend money is we're in a position i believe to consolidate those  maximum return on our effort to return global poverty and i feel that the united states of america should be not just a leader but the leader in this effort and we have as i mentioned done a lot but the one thing we haven't done i stated clearly and unequivocally that a limited in global poverty or at least reducing it is going to be a four morris goal of our foreign policy and we have not implemented a comprehensive plan it's great that there are so many different organizations working at this problem from a variety of different angles but if we could bring that together we could get more out of those resources and i think the united states should coordinate that effort i want to thank a large number of people for helping make this happen certainly chairman tom lantos has been a tremendous leader on these issues and has been very helpful in this particular piece of legislation as has the ranking member ileana ross latham in the republicans on the committee this is a bipartisan effort i want to thank our representative baucus who i believe is going to speak he was he and i were the original t bill stepped up and helped i think this is something that we can come together on and i think it is very very important that the united states takes this leadership role i believe if we do so we will be able to better come back global poverty and i also think we will be better able to build alliances throughout the world and let the world know that the united states wants to use its power for the betterment of the entire world not just ourselves and more willing to work with them on this problem that affects so many different countries throughout the  gentleman's bill h r thirteen zero two the global poverty act of two thousand and seven we certainly have serious needs and poverty right here in our own country the suffering of the world's extremely poor however is beyond the imagining of most americans many americans might be shocked to know just how many men women and children around the world die each hour of every day simply because they are too poor to obtain food shelter or basic medical care while we quite often see the fatal impact of famines or natural disasters we rarely see the images of the ongoing suffering caused by persistent hunger and chronic poverty the bill seeks to better organize the approaches to fighting poverty that are employed by the agency for international development and other agencies in our own government it would seek to accomplish that by calling on the president to create an overall strategy for these efforts i note that the sponsor of the bill my good friend mr smith from washington agreed to an amendment adopted by a foreign affairs committee that made two important changes first while referencing foreign aid and debt relief as components of a strategy to address global poverty the bill now makes it clear that the strategy that the president would draw draw up would not have to be based on the assumption that the united states foreign aid and debt relief will always continue to the united states certainly has been generous in its provisions of foreign aid and debt relief but no one can predict whether those two types of assistance will always rise moreover to address property comprehensive lee the president may want to focus on expanding other types of interactions with countries suffering from widespread poverty such as promoting trade promoting investment for example the bill in the amended text before us today mr speaker will allow the president greater flexibility in deciding what might work best at a given time in the particular circumstances rather than insisting that he devise a strategy that assumes that more foreign aid and debt relief are always required secondly the bill as amended requires that the president submit the cot to congress a report on the implementation of the strategy once every two years rather than once a year as originally intended and i appreciate the sponsor of the bill agreeing to that change the change in the frequency of the reports of the submission of the reports mr speaker will enhance the substance of the periodic reports as significant statements on the progress being made under a global poverty reduction strategy mr speaker it is my hope that mr smith's bill will promote a greater focus on how we might best provide assistance to those in dire poverty overseas while ensuring a realistic view of the resources and the means available to us to provide such assistance with that mr speaker i reserve the balance of my time and lady reserves gentleman from washington thank you so i have no further speakers are reserved about my time for purposes of closing and while i thank you mr speaker and if i might add like the yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from alabama mr baucus the ranking member of the committee on financial services an original co sponsor of the resolution before  gentleman from alabama is recognized i thank the speaker first of all let me commend the chairman and the ranking member of the foreign services committee and it's been a pleasure working with congressman adam smith on this legislation and i commend you adam this is a bipartisan bill with a goal that should bring all of us together and that go is the reduction of extreme poverty and to make that reduction of extreme poverty a foreign policy priority for the united states today in dozens of poor countries all over the world little boys and girls are born into poverty disease and hunger hopelessness and despair are their daily companions their burdens are day to day they're painful they're heavy and debating debt relief i quoted sister rebecca  hero she was i ask how did these how do they make it how did they get through the day her answer was how did they survive sense being a nicaragua i have taken to answer in a matter of fact way often they do not often they do not survive the day each day even on our bad days and we're fond of saying we've had a really bad day but we ought to be reminded that for billions of people throughout the world that even on our best days we have more food more shelter more clothes more security more health care more of everything than our poor brothers and sisters have on their best days and family a lot of people said well the reality is overwhelming half the world lives own two dollars a day but we can make a difference and we can do so at a very small college since we've had successes we have made a difference debt relief has been a success it is improve the lives of millions of people for almost no monetary cost to this country since the millennium development goals were set seven years ago the poverty rate and subsaharan africa is down six percent there are more children receiving health care in fact over a million more children in that area alone and medical treatment vaccinations are  throughout africa the percentage of students enrolled in primary schools has gone up considerably so in closing simply let me say this call should never be the overriding consideration but when we consider cost of doing the right thing is the imperative but when we consider the cost let us realize that the cost of not acting is not only hopelessness and unrest throughout the world but it also terrorism and confrontation and wars that can be avoided if these programs work global poverty is in our economic interest it's in our national security interest that well this bill will fall ocus our battle against go global property and it is a powerful statement that americans are committed to making this world a better place for all thank you again appreciate the efforts of my republican colleagues and agree with their comments a comprehensive strategy is what we're looking for here and that is certainly trade efforts economic development capacity building to help countries figure out how to better use trade microcredit there are a lot of different strategies out there that can be employed certainly aid debt relief are part of it but not the only part in fact the better part is when you can figure out how to make the economies work how to make the governments work in these countries so that they can begin to develop their own economies and grow and lift themselves out of poverty in that manner that is more sustainable and more long term i personally believe that aid and debt relief will continue to be a significant part of the strategy for a while but certainly the goal is also to be as comprehensive as possible and employ economic means to help lift people out of poverty as well i also think the other exciting thing about all of this is the possibility of public private partnerships and i do not envision personally the federal government any federal government wind up being you know the sole or even necessarily believing organization in terms of driving the dollars out we have a large number of groups in my own neck of the woods the gates foundation to the tune of over thirty thirty billion dollars that are pumping money into a variety of different ideas to help alleviate global poverty non governmental organizations are making an enormous difference and i would hope that the strategy would reflect that public private partnership to maximize those resources and lastly i just want to recruit with what representative baucus said at the close there how this does impact all of us instability leads to all banner of problems in the world and poverty leads to instability more quickly than anything else it is in our best interest to try to that instability bring greater fairness justice and economic opportunity to the world and i sincerely believe that this bill will have that effect and i urge all members of the body to support it and with that i yield back the balance of my time the gentleman yield back the question will the house suspend the rules and pass h r thirteen zero two as amended those in favor signify by saying i those opposed no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table gentleman from washington yes mr speaker i now move to spend the rules and agree to the resolution h read as six forty two as amended the clerk will report the title of the resolution appear to have an amendment at that ok i ask just pass it as is it if that's ocean then if i can withdraw that motion yet i move to suspend the rules and agree to the house resolution six forty two the clerk will report the title of the resolution house resolution six forty two resolution expressing sympathy to and fort for the people and government of the countries of central america the caribbean and mexico which have suffered from hurricanes felix dean and henrietta and his complete economic and fatality toll are still unknown pursuant to the rule the gentleman from washington mr smith and the gentlewoman from florida ms ross light well each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington thank you mr speaker unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks in include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration without objection thank you mr speaker i now yield myself as much  consume recognized a tro solution six forty two pertains to the hurricanes that have struck latin america in recent weeks and express the sympathy and support for the people the governments of the countries of central america the caribbean and mexico which have suffered from hurricanes felix dean and henrietta and whose complete uneconomic for to and for the fatality toll are still unknown as we all saw in the news in recent weeks these hurricanes have devastated much of that region we here in the house of representatives want to express our sympathy and support for all the peoples in those regions that were impacted and we want to thank all those who have responded to the emergency with aid and various other efforts to help them  and recognize the efforts of the united states particular to do that and pledge to continue that help in any way we can as they try to recover from these terrible tragedies we in the us know only too well the impacts of hurricanes and want to be as helpful as we mr speaker hurricanes felix dean and henriette delivered a devastating toll to the countries of mexico the rest of central america and the caribbean between the three hurricanes nearly two hundred lives were lost hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and thousands of homes were destroyed i join my colleagues today to express our sincere sympathy and support for the people who have suffered as a result of these destructive storms the resiliency of the people of these nations to overcome the tremendous power of these catastrophes has been truly tested when hurricane felix hit on september fourth one dur nicaragua was we're still in the midst of rebuilding following the effects of hurricane mitch in one thousand nine hundred eight especially vulnerable to natural disasters due to their dependence on agricultural exports and the potential for damaging mudslides the historic a cornes of two category five storms in one year had an overwhelming impact for several of the countries in this region i commend the courage that our neighbors in mexico the rest of central america and the caribbean continue to demonstrate and their efforts to overcome the damage wrought and i admire the courage and the contributions made by relief agencies private citizens and the international community to assist in the aftermath of hurricane felix hurricane dean and henriette our prayers are with the family and friends of those who are harmed by the perils of this terrible storm season and with that mr speaker i have no for the request for time and i yield back the balance of our time gentle lady yield back the the united states particularly when we're talking about incidents in latin america our neighbors to the south recognize as quickly as possible our solidarity with their struggles and their difficulties and our pledge to support and help them in any way we can i also wan so lease who was the prime sponsor of this legislation for her leadership on this issue not just this issue but throughout latin america on a number of issues on the foreign affairs committee she has been a tremendous leader for us and she is  supposed to be here to speak but i believe she's been caught up in committee so with that speaker i will yield back the balance of my time gentleman yield back all time has expired the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house prior announcement further proceedings on this motion will be postpone fifty seven resolution strongly condemning the united nations human rights council for ignoring severe human rights abuses in various countries while choosing to unfairly target israel by including it as the only country permanently placed on the council's agenda that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks include extraneous material in the resolution under consideration without objection thank you mr speaker that i yield myself such time as i may consume project i want to thank  representative campbell for bringing this issue to the floor it's long been my view that the united nations can be and in many cases is a very very useful organization it gives the countries of the world a chance to come together in one place and discuss issues that they can work together on but perhaps as importantly to discuss their differences it was set up so that hopefully that process would reduce more violent conflict that they could discuss these issues figure out a way to work together and move forward i also feel that is a very appropriate role of the united nations to look throughout the world and see where injustice is being done identify it and try to fix it unfortunately too many times that becomes politicized and focused and in particular it becomes politicized and focused on the nation of israel with all of the problems that are going on throughout the world all of the countries all of this but despotic governments out there  causing no ins of grief for their people the one country that the united nation continues to focus on is a free democracy in the middle east of israel and they continually focus on them to the exclusion in many cases of far far greater problems in other parts of the world now certainly i recognize the united nations should be involved in the middle east there is an questionably a conflict there with israel between israel and their neighbors in the palestinian territories resolving that difference and helping the palestinian people to set up their own country that will protect its people is incredibly important but again unfortunately the focus of the un seems more to criticize and attack israel to the solution of other problems so i want to thank mr campbell for bringing this resolution which very simply asks i guess the united nations to stop doing that to stop focusing on israel and to have a broader focus on the problems in the world and to not unfairly criticized the nation of israel it undermines rather than helps any effort to resolve the conflicts in the middle east and with that mr speaker i reserve the balance of my time john reserves gentleman from florida thank you mr speaker i'd like to yield myself such time as i may consume gentleman is recognized thank you mr speaker i rise in support of the house resolution five five seven introduced by my friend congressman john campbell of california and his democratic a co author also with from california mr behrman the activities of the united nations human rights council during its first year in operation has been a travesty but it should not come as any surprise to us over the summer the council which embraces serious human rights abusers as members celebrated its first birthday by giving gifts to repress of dictators and islamic radicals it stopped unfinished investigations into human rights conditions in cuba and bella ruse and created a permanent agenda item relating to israel the only country singled out for such scrutiny dar for apparently the human rights council sees no problem in southern sudan north korea no evil there china according to the un human rights council there are no human rights abusers in that worker's paradise the bloody repression in burma in zimbabwe the council members have never heard of these actions unfortunately these are exactly the consequences that many of us expected given the flaws inherent in the council's creation for example there are no criteria for membership in the council certain regional groups also are given greater power than democrat democratic countries and special sessions are easier to call with israel being the target for condemnation the council structure and agenda are hopelessly compromised by political manipulation the only country again singled out for actual condemnation has been the democratic state of israel which was the subject of three special sessions and seventy five percent of all council resolutions and decisions expressing concerns about human rights conditions in june because of such outrages the house adopted an amendment that i proposed to the state and foreign operations appropriations bill which prohibited united states funding for the counsel mr campbell resolutions before resolution before us today presents this body with another important opportunity to protect to protest the farce the insult the travesty the sad joke consume to the gentleman from california mr berman gentleman is recognized for such time consuming thank you mr speaker and i thank the gentleman for yielding me the time and i thank my my  friend from california mr campbell for coming to me for with the idea of a resolution on the subject of the distorted unfair hypocritical self mocking agenda of the human united nations human rights council and the need for the congress of the united states to speak to their conduct last year i thought that when the united nations decided to create a human rights body to replace the thoroughly discredited human rights commission there were might finally be a chance for an open respected forum for promoting basic liberties and rights and holding countries accountable they failed to do so rather than a body on which would be place some of the worst human rights abusers in the world the commission as many of you know is composed of many of such countries whose own human rights records were far from laudable while for example zimbabwe a former member of the commission was busy leveling thousands of homes and leaving an estimated half a million people homeless the commission was preoccupied with issuing successive reports condemning israel i sincerely hope that the council would live up to its charter and become an important impartial and forceful proponent of human rights around the world unfortunately some of argued that the council by spending an inordinate amount of time vilifying israel is even worse than the commit ssion it is past one sided resolutions condemning israeli human rights violations in the palestinian dairies territories calling several extraordinary sessions on israeli actions in lebanon and gaza and appointed successive rapa tours to investigate alleged israeli war crimes as you becca stands jails continue to fill with thousands of prisoners many of whom according to the state department have been brutally tortured the council was painfully silent to human rights violations rather than taking the regime in khartoum to task is the gentle lady the ranking member of the committee pointed out taking khartoum to task for its brazen and continued support for the washington post to describe the council as a ludicrous diplomatic lynch mob even u n secretary general ban ki moon has publicly admonish the council's unwillingness to pursue an even handed human rights agenda i want to make clear the criticisms eyelevel and others have leveled against the council should no way be viewed as an indictment of all the work of the united nations much of which is indispensable and serves our national interests as well as global peace and security and while it has not been without its share of mistakes the un through its countless peacekeeping operations poverty alleviation efforts and dispense disease prevention program is proving to be worth its weight in gold we stand here today to criticize the human rights council which has a a obsessed view of one country and only one country in terms of a human rights agenda because we know that the un can do better than they did in the creation and the rules governing that council and i ask you to support this resolution because i believe that while the council is still in its infancy we can work to maximize the chances that it develops into a respected and forceful champion of human rights not simply another proxy in the vitriolic campaign against israel and with that mr speaker i yield back the balance of my notes back jen lady from florida thank you mr speaker i am very pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the author of this measure the gentleman from california mr campbell gentleman from california is recognized for such time thank you mr speaker and i thank the lady from florida for yielding and i thank the gentleman from washington for his support and and supportive words about this bill and most of all thank my co author in this effort and  mr berman my friend from tel and fellow californian for his involvement and effort in this in this bill in this important action i think it is an important action mr speaker because as the three previous speakers have mentioned it's not like the world is devoid of problems and human rights it's not like there are not repressive regimes in various places around the world there is a place for the united nations to be talking about this to be dealing with this to be trying to help the situation but unfortunately this human rights council which was supposed to be that is clearly not that now when this human rights council was formed in two thousand and six to replace as mr berman pointed out the discredited general assembly went on to say that this council would be responsible for and i quote promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of any kind and in a fair and equal manner and mr speaker i applaud those words i applaud the basis upon which this council was established but the fact that in the year of its existence it has not followed this directive as was pointed out the first three special sessions out of the first nine sessions they had condemned israel for their possible human rights abuses in the occupied palestinian territories and lebanon the fourth one was a non whatever you know that were condemnation expression of concern regarding the situation in darfur now what about bella ruse what about china what about cuba north korea zimbabwe anywhere else is beckett's done anywhere else in the world they not even had a session to discuss them not to mention have a mild condemnation or a full condemnation but multiple gonda nations of israel and they have now placed israel on the permanent schedule so that every meeting now that's not a good thing that means that every meeting they have they will be discussing what human rights violations are in israel but as mr berman pointed out is as is beck is done even on the calendar no any of these other places even on the calendar no let's look at some of the members of the human rights council now some of the members are out include algeria china cuba pakistan russia and saudi arabia now i'm very disappointed that as it's happened that a group that started out with such a noble cause a noble effort seems to have a complete lack of reason objectivity with their obvious inherent discrimination against israel and it appears that they have become a refuge for abusers for human rights abusers to hang out and thereby avoid scrutiny or condemnation of their own actions just this morning the president is in new york speaking before the united nations and amongst the comments that he made was the following and i quote yet the american people are disappointed by the failures of the human rights council this body has been silent on repression by regimes from havana to caracas to pee on yonge and tehran while focusing its criticism makes festively on israel to be credible on human rights in the world the united nations must reform its own human rights council and quote mr speaker that's what this bill hopes to begin the process of doing this human rights council is a sham it is not accomplishing what it was set out to do yet the objective for which it was put in place still exists the need still exists the united nations needs a real human rights council not a cover gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes and i rise in strong support of this resolution yesterday i was in front of the united nations and demonstration protesting the iranian president ahmadinejad speaking to the united nations i have always been a strong believer in the united nations because i think that it is a good hope for world peace but frankly i must say the un discredits itself and it discredits itself once again by having this so called human rights council and the way it operates and the un and the un really discredits itself by focusing so much hatred on one tiny little country israel whether it's i'm a general assembly or the security council or the so called human rights council israel has become about forty percent of the resolutions in the united nations totally it's absolutely outrageous that you have countries like algeria cuba  saudi arabia pakistan china even egypt and russia participating when israel has such a better record of human rights than any of these countries the problem inherent with the united nations unfortunately is you have dictatorships basically running the show and we try to have a democratic institution but it's inherently not because it's dictatorships that are now a majority there it is outrageous the israel bashing that goes on at the united nations and i'm proud of this congress for standing up and saying that enough is enough people are dying and off for we don't hear the human rights council be so concerned about that as they are about bashing israel so i strongly support this resolution and i think that the congress does itself proud by by bringing truth to the american people and to the world and the human rights council is no better than the organization that preceded it we need to have no further across either i yield about my time as well all time has expired the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution five five seven as amended those in favor will signify by saying i those opposed no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules of the house are suspended because in the resolution that's just a crown that i would ask for the eight of rule twenty and the chairs prior announcement further proceedings on this motion will be postpone for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h raz ninety five as amended the clerk will report the title of the resolution house resolution ninety five resolution expressing the sense of the house of representatives supporting the goals and ideals of campaign fire safety month and for other purposes pursuant to the rule the gentleman from new york new jersey mr holt and the gentleman from minnesota mr kline well each control twenty minutes the chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey mr speaker i request five legislative days during which members may insert material relevant to a trans ninety five into the record without objection and mr speaker i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks without objection mr speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume the gentleman is recognized i rise today to express support for the goals and ideals of campus fire safety month introduced by the representative from ohio ms stephanie tubbs jones campus campus fire safety is an important issue for students all over the country since january of two thousand at least one hundred thirteen young people have died in student housing fires these unfortunate unfortunate deaths may have been prevented by better education of fire safety measures and implementation of effective prevention systems in my own state of new jersey early on january nineteenth two thousand and fire killed three students and injured it fifty eight others at seton hall university over seventy five percent of these fatalities around the country have occurred in off campus housing and it should be a priority to make sure that all students are aware of fire safety information especially those students who do not live in on campus housing fire safety training should be a continuing process so that our nation's young people practice fire safety throughout their lives as we send our nation's students off to campuses this month to further their education it's essential that they are in safe environments simple steps such as testing smoke detectors and having a working and accessible fire extinguisher can help keep our students safe by recognizing september as campus fire safety month this resolution will help bring awareness to such simple and critical measures to protect students from fires from fire hazards mr speaker the knowledge and skills learned through fire safety training are invaluable for everyone i would like to encourage administrator toure's and municipalities across the country to provide educational programs to all students during september and throughout the school year i urge my colleagues to pass this resolution and i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman reserves gentleman from minnesota thank you as speaker arrives today in support of a dress ninety five the measure of support the goals and ideals of campus fire safety month we passed a similar resolution last congress promoting th status quo of september as campus fire safety month since that time thirty one states of issued proclamations recognize in september as campus fire safety month our nation's college students should be able to live on campus with the confidence that they will be safe in their dorms apartments or other housing this measure will take a key step toward ensuring greater awareness of campus fire prevention and safety and i thank my colleagues representatives tubbs jones and what deal for taking the lead on this important topic there are numerous examples nationwide that demonstrate a renewed commitment to campus fire safety in my home state of minnesota the university of minnesota system equips dorms will smoke detectors and is working now to ensure that residence halls have individual and individual dorm rooms have sprinkler systems that use flame resistant mattresses and other materials to provide students with the safest furniture available in another example new york state office  fire prevention and control trains college officials and distributes materials that can be used in training college students on campus fire safety these are just two examples of the good work being done at the state level to increase awareness of fire safety on college campuses the legislation before us today is sure to raise awareness even further this is not the first time that campus safety has been discussed in the house and the hundred ninth congress we passed the college access and opportunity act which endorsed an effort to ask colleges and universities to report annually on fire safety the report would include information such as a list of all student housing facilities and whether or not each is equipped with a sprinkler system or other fire safety system statistics on occurrences of fires and false alarms information on various fire safety rules and regulations and information about training provided to students faculty and staff moreover the measure out schools to keep a publicly available log of all on campus fires and false alarms mr speaker to my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution today and i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman reserves gentleman from new jersey i appreciate the remarks of the gentleman from minnesota may i ask if he has any further speakers i have no for the speakers and i'll yield back the balance of my time gentleman yield back mr speaker as the gentleman from minnesota has said we are safer students in dormitories and off campus housing are safer than they were six eight years ago we've learned things to do in this case we know what to do the education should be carried forward designation of this awareness month will help in that educational effort i urge my colleagues to support enthusiastically this measure yield back the balance of my time the gentleman yield back all time has expired the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution ninety five as amended those in favor will signify by saying i those opposed no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended and the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table to speaker on that i s the asian nasar requested all those in favor of taking this vote by the asian nations will rise and remain standing until counted a sufficient number having arisen the are ordered pursuant to clause eight of rule twenty and the chairs prior announcement further proceedings on this motion will be postpone for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise mr speaker i move that the house suspend the rules and pass a trs twenty five the clerk will report the title house resolution twenty five resolution calling on the board of directors of the national high school mock trial championship to accommodate students of all religious faith pursuant to the rule the gentleman from new jersey mr hole and the gentleman from minnesota mr kline well each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey mr speaker i request five legislative days during which members may insert material relevant to each rest twenty five into the record without objection mr speaker i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend and and extend my remarks without objection and i yield myself as much time as i may consume gentleman is recognized mr speaker i rise in support of a tryst twenty five a resolution that calls on the national high school mock trial championship board of directors to make provisions in the championship schedule to accommodate the religious faith of all potential students and participants this legislation was introduced by mr rothman from my colleague from new jersey who has worked diligently on this issue to see that fairness prevails and tolerance of the national high school mock trial championship is a competition between winning high schools on a national level designed to showcase bright and talented high school students the event requires intense preparation skill and dedication for those who reach the high level of competition the current championship takes place on weekends there are two rounds on friday two rounds on saturday in a championship round that occurs later on saturday in two thousand and five just a couple of years ago this schedule caused an imposition to a team from in that competition the tour academy of teaneck new jersey was scheduled to participate after winning the two thousand and five new jersey state bar foundation high school tournament now this school without proper accommodation would not have been able to compete because of their orthodox religious practice to observe the sabbath from sundown on friday until sundown on saturday in that instance the board of the corporation of the competition made a proper accommodation for the students religious space and the team was able to compete in may of that year those who took part in that competition recognized that the adjustment made by the board showed fairness and tolerance and it was a good way to approach a problem and the all participating applauded the board for doing so however the board later voted to refuse any future accommodations for students who observe the sabbath on friday or saturday the vote carried and signified a rejection of participation for all future participants with religious prohibitions religious practices that may require accommodation well a number of legal organisations then with their participation and support for the national high school mock trial championship point to this act of the board of directors that quite clearly undermines free religious spirit the kind of spirit on which this country was based is not without irony that this is being being applied in a competition that is intended for legal and constitutional education the resolution before us today from mr othman and co sponsored by a number of us calls on the mock trial championship to recognize the diverse religious views and practices in this country and to restore its rules in order to accommodate excellent students of all and i commend mr othman for pursuing this we hope that this can be resolved in a way that is most inclusive and in the spirit the constitutional spirit of the quality of religious practice in this country i thank you mr speaker and reserve the balance of my time gentleman reserves gentleman from  minnesota thank you ms speaker i your myself such time as i may consume gentleman is recognized thank you mr speaker i rise today in support of house resolution twenty five and i thank my colleague for his opening remarks this resolution calls on the board of directors of the national high school mock trial championship to accommodate students of all religious faiths among our most basic human rights the right to follow one's conscience in matters of religion and belief has undoubtedly one of the most cherished so much so that people have been willing to endure the severest trials and even to lay down their lives rather than surrender the spawn the men'll right throughout history men and women of religion have fought for the natural ri individuals to practice their own faith and beliefs free from harassment suppression persecution one can also point to many shining examples of established religions tolerating each other's beliefs and practices the national high school mock trial championship which is based on constitutional law is a prestigious event that requires a tremendous amount of preparation skill and dedication on behalf of those students who are competing the competition espouses the goals of heightening quote appreciation of the principle of equal justice for all unquote in promoting the quote exchange of ideas among students from throughout the united states unquote this participatory program and gauges students legal professionals and the educational community to advance the understanding of the american justice system and the important role of lawyers i have to admit sometimes i have a  prejudice against some of my lawyer friends nevertheless they are clearly and an integral part of our system of the rule of law and justice for all on october fifteenth two thousand and five the board of directors of the national high school mock trial championship voted to refuse voted to refuse any future commendations for students who observe the sabbath on friday and or saturday this decision of the board of directors to refuse any future accommodations adversely and wrongly impacts observant jewish muslim and seventh day adventists students and is inconsistent with the spirit of freedom of religion and equal protection guaranteed by our constitution during the two thousand and five championships satisfactory accommodations were made to allow tor academy of teaneck new jersey to compete during the at the national high school mock trial championship held in charlotte north carolina a review the post toast report compiled afterward showed a majority of the comments supported the accommodations made for the tor academy students and the benefit of competing with the torque anomie students i think that's an important point in this debate all the other participants even recognizing the challenge from a significant competitor thought this was the right thing to do one respondent replied quote the compromise demonstrated fairness tolerance and problem solving all values that i try to encourage in my students the simple fact is that all students should be allowed to both compete fully in the national high school not proud championship and uphold the practice of their religion we stand here today and call on the board of directors of the national high school mock trial championship to accommodate their religious beliefs the students participating in the competition and we urge the board of directors of the national high school mock trial championship to restructure the rules of the competition to allow qualified students of all face to compete fully in this national championship without betraying their religious beliefs i thank my colleague mr othman for bringing this matter to the floor today and i asked my colleagues to support this resolution and misspeak our reserve a balance of my time gentleman reserves the gentleman from new jersey the speaker i yield as much time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague mr othman the author of this resolution gentleman from new jersey is recognized as for such times he may consume thank you mr speaker first let me thank you my distinguished friend and colleague mr holt from new jersey for his leadership on this issue and his support from the very beginning  it was critical and i am most grateful as are all the students who will now be able to participate i also would like to thank my friend and colleague from minnesota mr klein for his kind remarks and his support of this resolution which will bring fairness and restore a sense of equal justice under the law to a program we are hopeful it will restore to a program that has the potential to provide valuable lessons to all our students mr speaker in two thousand and five there was a national high school mock trial championship competition all over america just like there has been for many years and there are literally hundreds of schools in new jersey as there are hundreds of schools in other states participating in this competition that year in two thousand and five by the way hundreds of schools public schools private schools that year in two thousand and five the academy an orthodox yeshiva located in teaneck new jersey one the new jersey state championship and they won the right to represent our beloved garden state in the national high school mock trial championship how awful it was for them to learn that if they had proceeded in the competition to the semifinals and finals they wouldn't be able to participate because the semifinals and finals had been scheduled on a saturday on their sabbath when we went to the national high school mock trial championship they were first very reluctant to accommodate the students although every every conceivable reason that they might had they had to get more buses or move people from one place to another would have been accommodated and provided for them in the end they did the right thing and they allowed the students to participate all they did was move the championships then to sunday instead of saturday without objection from anyone and as my colleague from minnesota has said the results of the inclusion of these students not only demonstrated fairness tolerance and problem solving but was a damaged ation to all those involved with equally the young people that accommodations for religious practice when  reasonable should be should be put into place but the decision of the board of this national high school mock trial championship to never again permit such an accommodation whether it be an orthodox jew school or a muslim school or a seventh day adventist school was wrong and we couldn't talk them out of it and the question was how to impress upon them that this was un american and that the congress of the united states wouldn't stand for it and that is why we drafted this resolution remember these are students who put played by the rules were eligible to participate competed and won in their state championships all according to the rules the the organization in fact demonstrated that they could accommodate these students without any problems whatsoever and in fact with a very positive result and so that is why i urge all the members of the house to join me in my distinguished colleagues in supporting house resolution twenty five to express our bodies strong disapproval of the decision made by the board of the national mock trial not to make any attempt in the future to accommodate students of all faiths in future events you know the most important purpose of this mock trial championship was to teach about the rule of law and part of our rule of law here in america is equal justice under the law no matter where you come from what your religion is as well as equal access to the law and as we pride ourselves on these values it is important for the united states house of senate has to pass this resolution to convey in its strongest terms its hope that the national high school m trial championship board will revisit its decision to deny accommodations for students who observe the sabbath on friday and saturday and instead schedule future competitions in such a way  time as i may consume i was sitting here listening to my distinguished colleagues speak and looking at my own notes and again i just find it incredible that you have this wonderful competition which  spouses the goals of heightening the appreciation of the principle of equal justice for all stated a stated goal and yet it couldn't make accommodation to respect the religious beliefs and practices of the competitors speaker i would like to ask to yield for an additional minute to the gentleman if your se mr rahman is recognized i thank you for your your continuing courtesy and i think both gentlemen i did want to point out that good people have not stood silently during all of this both of the new jersey state bar association and the north carolina academy of trial lawyers have withdrawn from the national moot court mock trial championships rather and have established their own mock trial competition which ensures that all all students regardless of affiliation religious affiliation can participate in every aspect of the annual contest i commend these organizations that may be the direction to go to ask people of all goodwill to with remove themselves from the national high school mock trial championships if they will not accommodate students of all religions who are otherwise eligible to participate i hope it doesn't come to that but so far the board of the national high school mock trial championship has not been willing to accommodate all these students thank you back john with new jersey this resolution were not necessary but maybe we should welcome this embrace it as a teachable  moment not only to understand the religious tenets practices and traditions of of various people in this country but also to understand what it means to say we are a nation dedicated to the proposition that all are equal no one said that the freedoms we cherish need be convenient they do require for each of us from time to time accommodation even inconvenience this is a teachable moment an important lesson in tolerance equality and yes accommodation i thank the gentleman from new jersey mr rathman for bringing this forward and i urge my colleagues to support this and yield back the balance of my time gentleman yield back all time has expired the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution twenty five those in favor signify by saying i those opposed no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid up for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania arise mr speaker i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h r thirty six twenty five the clerk will report the title of the bill h r thirty six twenty five a bill to make permanent the waiver authority of the secretary of education with respect to student financial assistance and during a war or other military operation or national emergency pursuant to the rule the gentleman from pennsylvania and the gentleman from minnesota mr kline well each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania mr speaker i request five legislative days during which members mean certain tiriel that is relevant to h r thirty six twenty five into the record without objection the question of consent to revise and extend so ordered mr speaker i yield myself as much time as i may consume the gentleman is recognized as just h r thirty six twenty five an act to permanently extend waiver authority to the secretary of education with respect to enrollment in post secondary institutions and student financial assistance during a period of combat or national emergency this legislation recognizes the unique and unexpected situations that military personnel face when called active duty to serve our country as well as situations that many face in times of a national emergency even here at home the intent of this legislation is simple to revive the secretary of education with the permanent authority to ensure that active duty military personnel are not financially harmed by the service that they perform the secretary is thereby granted the authority to take necessary actions which include first protecting borrowers from further financial difficulty when they are called to serve this will ensure that when a student withdraws from college because of his or her status as an individual called up for service guard reserve or active or if they are effected by a disaster that the requirement that grants overpayments be repaid would be waived and collection activities on a defaulted education loan may be halted for the time period in which a borrower is servant second minimizing administrate of requirements without impacting the integrity of the federal student aid program so for instance certain requests that previously required written documentation may now be made orally by an affected individual or member of the borrowers family when that member may actually be while applying for school actually in conflict overseas third adjusting the calculation used to determine student eligibility for aid for those whose financial circumstances change because the student or his or her parent are called to serve such as when a parent was about to give a large contribution to the son's education is suddenly cardle called up in the national guard in his own able to make that commitment this bill therefore encourages financial aid administrators to choose to use the professional judgment the proper method of determining financial need that is most beneficial to the affected individual and to his or her family for instance taking into account the most favorable tax period for the students or the parents respond recording period in order to be assessed on that year's tax record recording period a grant or a i thank my colleague mr klein for his leadership on this legislations in past congresses and for the flexibility that our men and women in the service have received because of you these provisions have been critical to our men and women serving in iraq afghanistan and elsewhere in addition these provisions will provide critical relief to those who answer the call to serve in the future including responding to national emergencies and natural disasters i'm also pleased with the additional really provided to men and women in uniform in the college cost reduction and access act which is currently waiting for the president's signature that piece of legislation included necessary provisions that recognize military service by allowing those called to service to serve on active duty including national guard and reservists to defer payments on their student loans not only while serving but for a period of time after leaving active duty because of unforeseen national emergencies such as hurricane katrina as well as our continued military engagement over c it is important we pass the legislation before us and allow the secretary of education to continue providing this needed relief without prom passage of h r thirty six twenty five the secretary's authority to provide this like flexibility will expire at the end of this week it is critical not only for those restraint we receiving relief from unnecessary financial burden was sacrificing for our country but also for those who will serve our country in the future that these provisions be made permanent i urge my colleagues therefore to pass the original resolution and i reserve mr speaker the balance of my time the gentleman reserves coming from minnesota's recognized thank you mr speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume mr speaker i rise in strong support of permanently extending the higher education relief opportunities for students act of two thousand and three your heroes this extension will ensure that all of our men and women serve in the military will always receive the flexibility they need in dealing with their student loans and post secondary education commitments as a speaker champ in this axis coming to congress and support for this legislation has always transcended party lines i appreciate that members of both sides of the aisle have joined together once again this year i'd like to thank senior republican member mckeon and chairman miller education interest of members of the armed forces the heroes act would ensure support for military personnel by continuing to allow the u s secretary of education to provide the appropriate assistance and flexibility to men and women in uniform as they transfer in and out of post secondary education during a time of war and i must say mr speaker this is worked very well and successfully this giving the secretary the flexibility but we in congress need to do that provide that flexibility throughout our involvement in this war on terrorism many thousands of men and women who serve our nation reserves or national guard have been called to active duty many of these men and women are also college and university students who are call away from their families class work and studies to defend the nation unfortunately due to a number of restrictions on the higher education act these individuals are at risk of losing financial assistance and educational credit as a result of their service such a scenario is clearly not acceptable the heroes act provided assurance to our men and women in uniform that they will not face education related financial or administrative difficulties while they defend our nation this bill is specific in its intent to ensure that as a result of a war military contingency operation or national emergency our men and women in uniform are protected by granting flexibility the sector of education heroes act will protect recipients of student financial assistance from further financial difficulty unrated when they're called to serve minimize administrative requirements without affecting the integrity of the programs adjusts the calculation used to determine financial need to accurately reflect the financial condition of the individual and his or her family and provide the secretary with the authority to address issues not yet foreseen i think all of us recognize the absurdity of a young man or woman being deployed to a foreign shore iraq afghan gas down the horn of africa while there are a student and getting in financial difficulties because of that service i'm pleased to offer this legislation provides a permanent stench of the heroes act by permanent extending this act we not only send a strong message of support  troops but we also provide them with the peace of mind that this program will continue throughout the duration of their current or any subsequent deployment the legislation before us today is an indication of congress's commitment to our military our students our families in our schools  selflessly to defend our freedom overseas and respond to emergencies here at home some of them are also students pursuing the dream of a college education just like millions of other americans these military personnel volunteer to put their educational pursuits on hold so they can serve the nation we all owe them a debt of gratitude and the least we can do is make their transition to and from education as seamless as possible i'd like to recognize the gentleman from minnesota representative klein for his long time longstanding commitment to the legislation before us he had a outstanding career with the u s marine corps before coming to congress and i want to thank him also for  service there he's championed possess this passage of this bill on a temporary basis since two thousand and three and he's here today supporting a permanent extension of this measure to ensure members of the military will always be afforded the flexibility and support that they need this bill is all always receive support from our friends on the other side of the aisle and i'm pleased to have key members of the education and labor committee joining us in introducing legislation to extend the flexibility and waiver authority in this bill i want to thank chairman miller anina hosa along with representative sestak who also had a very distinguished career in the navy it's good to see maybe a marine still working together for introducing legislation that as we propose makes this legislation permanent the men and women of our armed forces have made considerable sacrifices for our nation and for that we are grateful as members of the education committee we also recognize the importance of a higher education system that is accessible what this bill does is allow the secretary of education to accommodate the unique needs of our students soldiers so that higher education remains flexible and accessible while they serve our country once again i'd like to thank representative klein for his leadership and recognize my friends on the other side of the aisle for their continued support of this legislation i strongly support the perm extension of the heroes act to support the many heroes protecting our freedom and i urge my colleagues to join me in voting yes and i yield back the balance of my time the gentleman yields back gentleman from pennsylvania mr speaker breach here and providing the leadership that he's provided in this important legislation and again urge all of my colleagues to get behind this legislation let's vote yes and criminally extend the splotch ability and with that mr speaker i yield back the balance of my navy without the marine corps is like a coach without buttons and so it's a great bipartisan effort here on what i think is an instrumental bill as mr klein knows and why he has worked on this so sit us lee over the years that when you lead men and women in combat what you most want them to have is their head in the game you don't want them looking back at some problems at home of debt that's voting their family or health care problems new do you want to be looking ahead into some type of future that they want to have their safety of their brethren the men and women standing at the side of them to pen's upon their having their head in the their gain that's why this bill is so very important and i'd like to say it's extremely  important now in iraq and afghanistan i compare the men and women out there and having their head in the game compared to those great patriots of the world's greatest generation world war two back in world war two the average soldier was in combat one hundred eighty two days horrific battles from wattle can out of you will jima to the battle of the balls but there was dwell time in between those great battles our soldiers our marines that are over there in iraq go outside the wire every day for one hundred for fifteen months there is unremitting strain upon in order to have a measure of relieving that i'm proud to stand here beside you sir on this bill and so i urge all my colleagues to do what's important recognize the bipartisan approach of this and recognize that this is the way to take care of our troops and with that i yield back the remainder of my time gentleman yield back all time has expired the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h r thirty six twenty five those in favor will say i was opposed no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table for what purpose the gentleman from new york rise i move the house to spend the rules and pass each resolution five ninety as it landed the clerk report the title of the resolution house resolution five ninety resolution supporting the goals and ideals of national domestic violence awareness month and expressing the sense of the house of representatives that congress should raise awareness of domestic violence in the united states and its devastating effects on families and pursuant to the rule the gentleman from new york ms mccarthy and the gentleman from minnesota mr klein well each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york misspeak or a request five legislative days during which ladies recognize thank you mr speaker mr speaker today i want to call attention to the fact that october is domestic violence awareness month as first cleared by congress in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine and i also like to thank my colleague from taxes for bringing this forward through the education committee to out october thousands of groups hold events to bring awareness to the violence that affects millions of men women and children in our country every single year the positive effect of this addict see has increased community where news and domestic about domestic violence increased knowledge about domestic violence in the services available helps victims to seek help helps abuse is accountable and helps children live in homes where violence is not condemn condoned in addition to recognizing october as domestic violence awareness month our congress has recognized that domestic violence is a serious crime by passing such as the family violence prevention services act the victims of crime act and the violence against women's act preventing domestic violence is critical in addressing and breaking the cycle of violence and it is a cycle where the violence is founded in a dating situation or in married life the strongest risk factor of violent behavior continuing from one generation to the next is if children are witnessing this violence evidence shows that children who witnessed and domestic violence at home are more likely to engage in violent behavior do poorly in school use drugs and alcohol and then early age in gauging risky sexual behavior in developmental illness issues domestic violence adversely affects the workplace by negatively impacting the victim's health and safety he seemed pleased with productivity and increasing health care costs a bureau of labor statistics national survey found that twenty one percent of full time employed adults were the victims of domestic violence congress must continue to lead in making our nation aware of domestic violence and its impact on our society we must assist the men women and children affected by domestic violence while prosecuting this is a candy there are over five thousand domestic violence hotline calls last year twenty seven hundred to mystic violence victims receive services other than hotly hotline calls they receive counseling a legal and residential and nonresidential services but unfortunately we did not reach all of them there is still much work to be done during october than nestor can the coalition against domestic violence will do its part and reach in reaching the community through trainings with the police department medical staff students in social work programs and public safety announcements mr speaker clearly we need to work with the men in the women of this nation to educate them on domestic violence is the impact of on society and how to stop it nature community it affects our children it affects our community it affects all of us i hope that my colleagues will support this resolution and the work being done in their communities and gentleman is recognized thank you mr speaker i rise day in support of house resolution five ninety supporting the goals and ideals of national domestic violence awareness month and expressing the sense of the house of representatives a congress should raise awareness of domestic violence in the united states and its devastating effects on families and communities october is national domestic violence awareness month and is recognized as such in communities across the country this doesn't nation helps to focus public attention on this widespread and devastating crime the problem of domestic violence is centuries old and our attention to the matter has grown but we need to do more to raise awareness of this problem one in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime boys who witnessed a mystic violence are twice as likely to abuse their partners and children when they become adults the cost of intimate partner violence exceeds five point eight billion dollars each year as evidence by these staggering statistics domestic violence has far reaching effects on society domestic violence is the willful intimidation assault battery sexual assault and or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another it is an epidemic that affects men women and children in every community regardless of age economic status religion nationality educational background or gender when we think of domestic violence we often think of women being the victims however men are victim mys by violence as well male victims are less likely than women to report violence and seek services due to concerns over the stigma associated with being a male victim or not being believed both men and women experience the same dynamics of interpersonal violence including experience of disbelief ridicule and shame that only enhance their silence unfortunately the youngest victims are the children who witness the abuse research has shown that children witnessing domestic violence and living in an environment where violence occurs makes perience some of the same trauma as abuse children they may become fearful aggressive or withdrawn adolescents may act out or exhibit risk taking behavior such as drug and alcohol use running away sexual promiscuity and criminal behavior all of this behavior has an effect on society as a whole and we must continue to keep domestic violence in the forefront so the cycle can be broken now domestic violence harms the victim children the abuser and the entire health of american families and communities nearly twenty years ago congress passed legislation recognizing the first domestic violence awareness month doesn't a an op october as national domestic violence awareness month allows organizations and communities concerned about domestic violence to leverage this public recognition for activities that raise awareness and link victims to services in our role as members of congress we can help galvanize public awareness of the victims of this violence therefore arge my colleagues to support house resolution five ninety and i reserve the balance of my time californias recognize for two minutes i thank the gentleman for yielding and i want to thank her for her strong advocacy on behalf of victims of crime and her long history and in being a tenacious fighter on behalf of the families throughout our country mr speaker i rise to as a co chair of the bipartisan victims rights caucus along with congressman ted poe and speak on behalf of all the members of that caucus today to provide strong support for house resolution five ninety which supports the goals and ideals of the national domestic violence awareness month which occurs every month the goals and efforts are spelled out among the principles of what the victim's rights caucus advocates here in the house next month communities throughout the nation will participate in national night out and take back the night marches in order to bring the awful crime of domestic violence once again to the forefront throughout our communities this resolution helps to bring more awareness of this terrible offense and its effect that it has on our families our neighbors throughout the communities of this great country of ours in my home state of california domestic violence hotline answers more than thirty calls every hour from victims a sad fact and the mastic violence unfortunately continues to plague our families and communities unless we come together as a nation to end it for good not just in terms of the formal efforts that we provide but in terms of all the other community organizations that play an important role we must remember that domestic violence victims are our sons they are our daughters they're our sisters and our brothers even our parents and our neighbors they struggle to survive after a crime and they deserve our services and support to help them cope during their difficult hour their four members of the house it is fitting and appropriate that we today support the goals in the efforts and recognizing national domestic violence awareness month which occurs every october i reserve the balance of my time tilman you know the fact gentleman yielding and i thank the general a d from new york for handling this very important bill and i want to thank mr costa and mr pole for sponsoring this legislation you know when we talk about violence in the family domestic violence we quote a lot of statistics and my colleagues have done that very very well but one of the thing that's very one of the things that's very hard for people to understand is what it's like to actually go through domestic violence and it's so important that everybody in america be involved in stopping domestic violence are so many people that hear some woman scream or see some child being beaten by their father and they don't do anything about it they say it's not my business and so they go on their merry way and they feel like this problem is going to go away it doesn't go away it gets worse and worse and worse until sometimes people get killed or maimed for life my father was six foot eight and my mother was five foot and a half inches tall and he used to beat her so badly that she couldn't recognize or he would tear her clothes off of her in front of me and my brother and sister and if we said anything he beat me he went to prison for trying to kill her and one of the reasons it went that far in my opinion is because there wasn't enough attention paid to what he was doing in the first place i can remember one night about two o'clock in the morning my mother who had been beaten up took me and my brother and sister down to the police department police station in indianapolis and she went to the desk sergeant and said to him you know she wanted to get a restraining order get get away from this brute and this brutality and the desk officer said you know what time it is lady it's two o'clock in the morning and these kids ought to be in bed if you don't take these kids home right now i'm going to arrest you for child abuse that was the attitude that we saw back in those days i can remember when she would throw a lamp through the front window she was beating on her or me and screamed for help so loud that you could hear  blocks away and nobody came nobody's light went on nobody paid any attention and that's the crime the crime isn't just the wife abuser child abuse or spouse abuse the crime is that people don't take it upon themselves to stop it now today it's a lot better and police departments across this country there's a lot of organizations that are trying to help women and kids who are abused and that's great it's a great step in the right direction but as these statistics that we heard today will tell you it goes on and on and on and the only way it's going to stop if collectively across this country men and women who see violence in public or in private or hear about it report it to the police report it to the proper people and get that brute away from that man and that woman and those kids if we don't do that this is never going to stop the brute has to be afraid of what's going to happen to him i'll just say how this story ends my mother finally got away from he went to prison for two to fourteen years and when he got out he still tried to bother us but it wasn't until he realized that he was going to go back to jail if he did it again that he stopped the fear of the law the fear of prosecution the fear of retaliation for what they're doing is the one thing that brute's and wife and child abusers understand and so i'd like to say to my colleagues this is very important legislation i really appreciate and i'm glad that we sponsor this every move every year and we need to make sure that awareness of this but i'd like to say if anybody across the country is paying attention it's your responsibility every single american if you see wife or child abuser views of any type like this reported to the police tell your friends and neighbors to watch for it that's the only way it's going to stop and it's everybody's responsibility and you'll back to balance my time gentleman yield back john lady from new york this gentleman from minnesota has any more speakers i do not have any more speakers so i would just like to urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance my time gentleman yield back the gentle lady from new york thank you m speaker in closing i urge my colleagues to support this important resolution by educating people about domestic violence so that we may be able to prevent it from happening and again domestic violence is like a dynamo effect once it happens in the family it continues to generation through generation the last speaker mentioned about the community get involved people getting involved we have to stop this because it's a terrible terrible action against people with this i yield back the balance of my time and lead to yield back all time has expired the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution five ninety as amended those in favor say  opposed no in the opinion of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended  announcement further proceedings on this motion will be postpone for an effective h i b aid program in federal prison pursuant to the rule the gentlewoman from california ms waters and the gentleman from texas mr smith each will control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from california thank you very much mr speaker i yield to myself this much time well first i have the unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include statement on this legislation i'd sincerely like to thank mr lott marse met my colleague on the opposite side of the aisle who was the author of this legislation in the last congress and who has worked with me so much and so well to bring this legislation before us today i'm very thankful to him we have forty three co sponsors on this bill and i'd also like t boggs and mr lewis for to know who are on the opposite side of the aisle who work with us on this bill but all of the members who came together to get this legislation to this point today are to be appreciated because it was somewhat controversial when mr smith first brought the idea to us and of course i would like to thank dudish era committee chairman john conyers for all of his support  for this legislation this particular legislation takes us back twenty five years after aids was discovered the aids virus continues to spread about one point seven million americans have been infected by hiv since the beginning of the epidemic and there are one point two million americans living with hiv today every year there are forty thousand new age are the infections and seventeen thousand new age related deaths in the united states we need to take the threat of hiv the eight seriously and confront it every in every institution of our society that includes our nation's prison system and that is why this bill is so important the stop aids and prison act requires the federal bureau of prisons to develop a comprehensive policy to provide the testing treatment and prevention for end mates in federal prisons the bill requires the bureau of prisons to test all prison inmates for the upon entering prison and again prior to release from prison unless the end made absolutely apps out of taken the test the bill requires h r the aids prevention education for all inmates and comprehensive treatment for those inmates who test positive language was included to protect the confidentiality of inmate s diagnosis and treatment and to require that inmates receive pretest and post test counseling so that they will understand the meaning of hiv test results in two thousand and five the department of justice reported that the rate of  cases in prisons was three times higher than in the general population the department of justice also reported that two percent of the state prison inmates and one point one percent apparel prison inmates were known to be living with hiv aids and two thousand and three however the actual rate of hiv the infection in our nation's prisons is simply unknown and it could the considerably higher this is because prison officials do not consistently test  prisoners the only way to determine whether he had the is been spread among prisoners is to began routine testing of all prison inmates this bill does that this bill has been endorsed by a number of prominent hiv aids advocacy organizations including aids action the aids institute the national minority aids council the aids eight health care foundation the h at the medicine association a project los angeles and ben a stock that happens to be a latino community service and advocacy organization the bill also has been endorsed by the los angeles county board of supervisors and even the los angeles times i want to thank my colleague congresswoman waters for her energetic help with this measure i was happy to work with her in the last congress and i'm pleased that we have work together again this year also i want to thank chairman conyers for his leadership in breaking this legislation to the house floor today mr speaker the incidence of hiv and aids in federal and state prison populations is difficult to measure because not all federal and state inmates are routinely tested  one hundred seventy thousand prisoners in the federal system the justice department said in a two thousand and six report that about two percent of state prison in mates and over one percent of all federal inmates were known to be infected with h prison inmates upon entry and prior to release for all existing and mates testing is required within six months of enactment this reasonable requirement will enable prison officials to reduce h i v among and mates and provide much needed counseling prevention and health care services for end mates who happen to be infected requiring federal inmates to be tested when they enter prison and when they leave prison is just good common sense for some prisoners tested when they enter prison such testing will ensure that they receive adequate treatment education and prevention services while incarcerated similarly it is important that prisoners are tested shortly before th community so that adequate services can be provided after their release that in turn will protect the community and i believe in tough punishment for criminal offenders because the public deserves to be protected but we have a duty to treat prisoners humanely and to rehabilitate them preventing the spread of hiv the an age among prisoners is an essential aspect of humane treatment and rehabilitation so i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and before i reserve the balance of my time i just want to thank congresswoman waters again for making sure that we're here today for her leadership on this legislation and for working with me both last year and this year on such an important bill  first efforts that i was involved in with congresswoman waters in as chair was calling together a national meeting on a moment's notice i think we had what maybe two weeks ten days to bring people from around the country here to washington d c to talk about a bold response to hiv and aids especially here in the african american community given the devastation and the disproportionate rates that our communities are are faced with out of that meeting and it was truly a grassroots meeting in washington d c on capitol hill we came up with several planned several strategies one of which was the idea to assemblage the minority aids initiative congresswoman waters not only talked about why we needed to have a separate pot of money that would track the the disease and track prevention and treatment and education efforts around hiv and aids but also she worked to make sure that happened and oftentimes was the lone voice in the wilderness calling for this well fast forward so much has happened since then and we were in toronto canada last year and congresswoman waters myself congresswoman christensen we said we've got to take on some tougher issues now because this this disease is really getting worst and the unfortunate reality is that to be black in america is to be at greater risk of hiv and aids and i'll never get her say and i'm going to do something really bold when i get back now and just get ready for it and it was amazing to see how she moved forward with this bill to stop aids and prison act to help us move one step closer to our goal by providing this opt out testing treatment prevention and education at all federal prison facilities and and she know that it was going to be controversial which it was but as i listen to the list of supporters and those organizations that have been doris the bill i want to just say that this is a real testament to making sure that people understood the country understood why this bill was necessary and needed and how she brought people together and organizations together to get this bill to the floor today and so it's a good day congress on law and i want to thank you so much for stepping out there once again because it's an example of what we need to do to make sure that we take on the tough issues that were taken on finding let me just say as part of our comprehensive strategy i'm working on a bill which congresswoman waters has supported the h r one seventy eight called the justice act which would allow for a real presence to allow for condom distributions in federal prisons as well as in state prisons and that's something that we need to do we've got to fund the ryan white care act and the minority aids initiative this year the i think we asked for at least six hundred ten million dollars we have a long way to go and there are many now thank goodness bills that are becoming before this body that will allow for a strong robust response this is really one of the major pieces of legislation the central to this overall agenda and finally let me just say this morning we joined the black aids institute to call for a national mobilization and a national plan to end the h i b aids epidemic in america and in fact this plan is bold it's going to move forward in a very aggressive way we must employ every strategy that we can to stamp this from the face of the earth and so today is another day that we're making one major step in the right direction and again congresswoman waters thank you for your leadership and for healed and congratulations gentleman from california signed on as co sponsors on this bill again as was mentioned by congresswoman barbara lee it certainly did start out a bit controversial all we had some of the advocacy groups who did not support this bill when we began to talk about doing something about aids in the prisons as a matter of fact questions were raised about everything from confidentiality to the cost  o not knowing what to do about follow up once they leave but we've been able to answer all of those questions and some of those who were opposed are now very very strong supporters because they understand that we really do have to take additional steps to stem the tide of hiv the end aids in this country you would think after twenty five years and all the education that we've tried to do all the literature that has been written that everyone would know everything that they need to know about a child the n h s but it is not true and one of the things that we had to consider all was why was that there was an increase  with women particularly minority women and then we had to take a look at where it may be coming from and though we don't have empirical data we do think that we are on the right track and helping to stem this tide because we do think some of these infections are coming from those who may have been incarcerated those who are incarcerated have nothing to fear as a matter of fact they should believe in protected by what we're doing because despite the fact that we don't always discuss what's going on in prison i think we have a pretty good idea and this will help again to save the lives not only of inmates but certainly the make of inmates when they return into the general population so with opposed no you've been in the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the bill is passed and without objection a motion to reconsider is laid on the table for what purposes the gentleman from new jersey writes this is speaker i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution house resolution four seventy the corker report the title of the resolution house resolution four seventy resolution supporting the effort consent that all members have may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration and mr speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume new jersey's recognizer as much time as you may consume i rise today to express my strong support for house resolution four seventy supporting efforts to increase childhood cancer awareness treatment and research i am proud to join my colleagues across the aisle and throughout this body in support of this resolution september is childhood cancer awareness month marking the time when we raise awareness about childhood cancer and the lives affected although cancer in children is rare it is estimated that this year alone more than twelve thousand children will be diagnosed with cancer and nearly one fifth will die making cancer the leading cause of disease related death for children under the age of fifteen now house resolution four seventy reminds us that cancer occurring during childhood has harmful repercussions for a child's future well being cancer compromises the child's natural defenses against other types of illnesses and destroys organs and bones cancer disrupts a child's life at a time when he or she should be otherwise more concerned with exploring the world and making new discoveries instead of undergoing chemotherapy or medical therapies house resolution four seventy reminds us that more must be done to fight this devastating disease  mr speaker i rise in support of those children and their families attempting to deal with such a terrible disease i want to thank in particular of course the sponsor of this legislation represent a price of a higher because i know that she has worked so hard on this and trying to push it to the floor today and i urge all of my colleagues to do the same i reserve the balance of my time the jury reserve the balance of this time gentleman from the brask mr speaker i yield as much time as i may consume  here today in support of this resolution as does the full committee chair joe barton ranking member nathan deal supporting efforts to this bill resolutely this resolution four seventy supporting the efforts to increase childhood cancer awareness treatment and research the sponsor of this bill representative deborah pryce is a true champion for childhood cancers cancer is a brutal disease and so pervasive we are all closely touched by it it is that much more devastating to see a young child suffer from cancer this resolution serves to increase knowledge and awareness of cancer among children and how we can encourage research and education into the disease deborah a committed mother and i dedicated entire let's advocate through this resolution she is honoring not only the member of her daughter but also those of all children who have suffered from cancer childhood cancers affect the whole family mothers and fathers brothers and sisters i think it can be said that we all will greatly missed representative price after her retirement from the house at the end of this congress she's leaving a legacy of for both of her work for constituents in ohio as well as for the leadership of the house of representatives mr speaker i reserve the balance of my time in the breast reserves the balance of the time gentleman from new jersey and  mr kerry for the time for this very kind words and mr blown for his support in this cause and the entire committee for allowing this to come forward mr speaker i rise today as a voice for the thousands of families across america who have been touched by pediatric cancer and most importantly the twelve thousand children who will be diagnosed with the disease during this year alone this resolution is about a promise to these families that medical advancement and understanding coupled with a new resolve among researchers advocates and public officials will one day eradicate the heartache of pediatric cancer and promise to the children of our nation that we will do better to help them in their fight the fight of a child with cancer involves many things it involves being in the hospital and away from your siblings and your best friends away from your toys and away from the comfort and love of your own home it involves confusion and pain after you may have lost your best new friend from the hospital playroom and the heartache that a parent feels having to explain to their child why that had and all the while knowing that their own child may share the same fate and then there's that different look in the eyes of your parents is that fear but why i'm going to get better aren't i mr speaker when a child is diagnosed with cancer they're forced to say goodbye to their life as they knew it as they say hello to i v poles and transfusions catheters chemotherapy natia surgeries isolation they say goodbye to many other things because of compromised immune systems they say goodbye to school and the ordinary routine of growing up they say goodbye to their friends and their teachers they say goodbye to their appetites to the energy to their hair and possibly to some of their limbs they lose so much but they never lose hope and they never lose their dignity that just because these are the bravest children i've ever ever seen september is childhood cancer awareness month this is the month that these brave kids and their families raise awareness of this awful disease as these fearless children share their stories in washington and elsewhere around the country we learn about strength and courage and will as their loving family share their stories about how cancer has touched their lives we learn about resolve and the ultimate a parent can give as we hear these stories we will not lose sight of the incredible hope that these families are providing to tens of thousands of children and other families whose worlds have turned upside down by cancer kids whose dreams and aspirations are now in question who must focus solely on beating this disease today before they can even think about tomorrow mr speaker he ever looked into the eyes of one of these children who so val courageously waging war against this devastating disease you certainly could understand why we must continue our efforts to raise awareness and why i stand here today to stress the perpetual importance of continued education and research one child who suffers is one too many we will continue to fight this terrible disease that's wrought so much suffering and pain on so many this resolution honors all of the heroic children and thanks them for their courage and the eternal hope that they provide families everywhere i urge my colleagues to support this resolution i thank both gentleman and i yield back the balance of my time jumping the rascal thank you  all time being yielded back the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution four seventy those in favor say aye aye those opposed no independent of the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the resolution is agree to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table for the purpose of the gentleman from new jersey writes mrs speaker i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution h con resolution two seventeen the corker report the title of the concurrent resolution house concurrent resolution two seventeen concurrent speaker once again i would ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration without objection and i yield myself such time as make as i may consume mr speaker this resolution concerns two errors in the bill h r three five eight zero the food and drug administration amendments of two thousand and seven the bill has passed both the house and senate and is currently in the process of being enrolled for delivery to the president the resolution directs the clerk of the house to correct two errors both of which were made in drafting and inadvertently occurred as we all worked under pressure to complete the drafting of h r three five eight zero we were under pressure to complete that bill as you know before the expiration date on september thirtieth of to do for the prescription drug user fee act the failure to reauthorize produce in time would have caused the food and drug administration to send out notices of employee layoffs i'm aware of no objection to passage of the resolution and i would urge my colleagues to support it and reserve the balance of my time general from new jersey reserves a balance of this time gentleman from the brask you'll myself as much time as i may consume gentlemens recognizer as much time as you ma mr speaker h r thirty five eighty which passed the house last week was highly technical and addressed a number of very complicated f d a policy and regulatory matters i commend the bipartisan members in the staff who work so hard on the language that passed with such broad support in the house and now but it really when these complicated matters are addressed some drafting and technical issues need to be revisited in a technical corrections bill in the case of the months of two thousand and seven we were especially mindful that the funding had to be secured to prevent the layoffs of f d a reviewers prior to september thirty it given the importance of that deadline to protecting the public health drafting and workability issues may need to be revisited the resolution simply corrects to omissions from the text that was approved last week and with that i as being no other speakers i yield back our time jennifer nebraska  back the balance of this time gentleman from new jersey mr speaker i once again i would urge passage of this corrections legislation i have no further requests for time and yield back the balance of my time the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house concurrent resolution two seventeen those in favor say aye those opposed no and opinion that the chair two thirds being in the affirmative the rules are suspended the concurrent resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table thirty three seventy five maybe on to extend the trade adjustment assistance program under the trade act of one nine hundred seventy four for three months pursuant to the rule the gentleman from michigan mr eleven and the gentleman from texas mr brady each will control twenty minutes consume gentleman from michigan is recognized for as much time as you may consume today we are considering an extension of a critical component of our trade agenda an extension of the trade adjustment assistance program all three programs that make up a adjustment assistance for workers adjustment assistance for firms and adjustment assistance for farmers expire and september thirty first trade adjustment assistance helps to make sure that workers impacted by increased trade get the help and retraining they need integer so that they can go out and get new good paying family wage jobs it's not a perp program in fact it needs work the committee will be taking up legislation reforming and reauthorizing trade adjustment assistance shortly critically this program will improve the effectiveness of the program by among other things offering to access to service workers increasing funding to satisfy unmet demand getting rid of complicated and burdensome burdensome rules that make it hard for people to take advantage of trade adjustment assistance i think all authorized before the end of the year we will hammer out the details of a overhaul and while we do that we need to pass the short term three months expense extension the bill into consideration today was originally introduced by mr herger his support for the extension reflects the bipartisan support for trade adjustment assistance that's really necessary and i hope for in the future it's also a recognition of on trade adjustment assistance we all have been focusing on this issue for many years and now there is the opportunity to act within this house house who want to thank mr mcdermott another subcommittee chair for his  texas recognize for as much time as you may consume thank you speaker in my view i stand on behalf of representative wally herger whose author of this legislation and ranking member lead republican on the trade subcommittee of ways and means in my view free trade group is working for america's behalf of free trade agreements that we have today are producing more and more sales of american products and services around the world nearly doubling those sales even though our free trade agreements are with the countries and only represent seven percent of the whole global market in fact made by almost half of all that america sells and produces in fact we have a free trade surplus with these countries of over five billion dollars and can firstly much of our trade deficit eighty percent of it with countries we don't have free trade agreements with none the less at the same time we have to do a better job of helping those who lose their jobs due to the ever changing world marketplace we need to give workers more training options more flexibility to get back on their feet as soon as possible trade adjustment assistance has been successful in helping many just a job loss because of trade the benefits including the health coverage tax credit are very meaningful a trade adjustment assistance systems can be improved in how it's ministered to get people certified and train more quickly in changes can be made to get people back to work sooner however this is an expensive program costing taxpayers nearly one billion dollars while providing assistance to about fifty four thousand workers per year accordingly as the committee in this congress looks forward to covering additional workers who lose their jobs because of trade we must look at carefully to make sure we gain getting the help to those who need it we're doing in officially we're giving them the educational tools they need to get back in the workforce just as soon as possible mets an area that i think will take considerable discussion but i think there is common ground among republicans and democrats we try to make sure that we get as many workers back to work as soon as possible at this point i would reserve the balance of my time you know from texas reserve the balance of the time gentleman from michigan myself three minutes germans recognized for three minutes we clearly need to reform and reauthorize t a a we also need to be sure that we reform trade policy one is not a substitute for the other we need to do both in the continuing resolution that was passed last february congress included language prohibiting the united states department of labor from issuing final regulations concerning the t a a program critically and problematically these regulations would contravene congress's legislative intent and important policy areas and cause confusion among state and local operators of the t a a program in short these regulations would change a very change the very nature of this program a program specifically committed to ensuring that workers adversely affected by trade get the assistance and training they need to obtain new good paying family wage jobs as i said before for example these rules would number one compel states to implement a rapid reemployment strategy to permit states to establish monetary captioned training for just located workers three compel states to integrate the t a a program into the workforce investment access to for permit the privatization of the administration of programs and five abolish mere staff standards these rules are extremely troubling they undermine the program and more generally the intent of congress fortunately my colleagues and the majority felt the same way about the department of labor proposal recognizing the serious implications of these flawed rules chairman o b included the following language in the february continuing resolution i quote none of the funds made available in this division or any other act show be available to finalize or implement any proposed regulation under the workforce investment twelve act of ninety eight you now as much time as you will consume james washington is recognized as much time as you may consume thank you mr chairman and i will i will be yelling back you to ask ask a question you get a clarification on one point but first of all i want to thank you for your leadership on this issue  and i do want to agree with direction of brady's comments i think trade is very very important ahmet has a very positive impact on the economy in this country we need to work to improve those trade agreements but what we try to do with trade adjustment assistance is trying to help displace workers now i've long been troubled by the fact that it's called trade adjustment assistance i think it should just be called just meant assistance because we guard most of where you know where your job goes it creates a problem that needs to be filled in fact  many jobs are lost in this country to advancements in technology frequently jobs are lost from one part of this country to another part of the country and those people who have lost those jobs are no more impacted than if we develop a competitive disadvantage with a country and they start taking over some jobs in an area that we used to occupy in both instances workers need help and we need a broad adjustment program to do that i am however troubled as mr levin pointed out by the regulations that the administration tried to adopt that would pare back the program and to some degree to limit the ability of displaced workers to get adjustment assistance as we have heard you know from all economists skills are going to be the critical factor from this point forward and having unemployable workforce in this country we have got to give our workforce access to greater training greater technology and more repetitive training sorry that's the wrong way to put it they have to update their skills more often you know gone pretty much are the days when you could simply have a high school education find a job with a company that was going to be around forever and you were set if we're going to have an economy where change is more rapid we have to help our workers in this country as as the gentleman knows i am a strong supporter of trade agreements frequently braided by many in my own party for that but i don't see that as the piece that is causing the problems for our workers the piece i see is causing the problem for our workers is we have not made enough changes to e flack to the rapid change that is facing them we don't give them enough opportunities to retrain update their skills for the changes they have to deal with we don't have adequate health care protection for them when they lose their job as well these are things that the trade adjustment assistance  tries to take care of and that i am i am concerned that those regulations that the administration tried to adopt would undermine so i'm very grateful to have that language in there and this is where if mr levin would if you could just clarify on one point and i think our colloquy here we have two questions but it's really only one i'm i just want to be clear that the legislation that we're considering today is simply an extension of the existing program it is not to reauthorize ation of the program so that the prohibition contained in the february two thousand and seven continuing resolution on the implementation of the flawed rules that we have referenced remains in effect even if we pass this bill is that correct his if the gen will yield to the gentleman that is absolutely correct as chairman rangle has stated and i've stated at the markup last week this is an extension of the existing law it is not a rea uthorization as ranking member mccurry stated the mark and as mr herger explained in the remarks you submitted for the record this piece of legislation is a simple extension of the existing lo nothing more nothing less so the prohibition on the implementation of the rules remains fully in effect i want to thank you for that clarification and appreciate your work on this issue i think it's critical that we pass on so that we can move move forward to continue trade adjustment assistance equally critical as you know mr chairman i'm working with you and chairman rangle and many others on expanding trade adjustment assistance so that more workers can benefit from it i know right now we're working on a bill with a variety of different ideas and i think it is critical that we do that full scale we authorize ation and that we expand the bill so that it better protects workers protect more workers and make sure that the workers in this country can benefit from the new economy so that we don't have to have these constant wars over trade agreements so that we can focus on taking advantage of the economic opportunities that are the there in today's economy and by making sure that the workers who are most most vulnerable who need ri skills have help so that they too can begin to benefit from the economy i appreciate your work on this issue i look forward to working with you i know in the next few weeks we'll be introducing a bill and will be moving forward on a broader  challenges that face american workers these days and whether it is competition from here at home or competition from abroad technology or just the fact that our economy continues transition families need help in in moving with that transition acquiring the education the skills we have a huge mismatch between the jobs available in this country and the skills of the workers who can fill them and it's important we bridge that gap i will close in we have to my knowledge no workers and families and communities just to the new global economy a trade adjustment isn't the proper response to all job loss currently we spend billions of dollars each year through just a number of large number of federal programs including trade adjustment assistance to help americans who lose their jobs i think as we work on this you take decades old federal programs that are need reform today such as t a a improve their effect on this improve their sea make sure that we're really getting at help down the families that need it in a timely way sometimes in advance of those job losses with the education debit cards and other new ideas that can help these workers recover more quickly i just think there's an opportunity to work together republicans and democrats to try to resolve this and find a real good solution for a for this issue with that i have no other speakers misspeak i would i would  we have a lot of work to do and today we're working on legislation that would reform it as well as reauthorize that would expand its scope to exclude service workers for example is no longer acceptable if it ever was we also need to be sure that we remove the obstacles to those who have been eligible on paper for t i a but because of the obstacles in the complexities within the law have really not been able to access that we also need to look at the health benefit because today only about ten percent of the people who are eligible for to day ever able to access to health benefit show is mentioned my friend from washington as i said earlier mr rangle publicly we're working on legislation we hope to have a draft ready next week we want to disseminate it and discuss it within the maturity ranks also to discuss it with the minority in the hopes that perhaps we can obtain strong bipartisan support i don't think it's preordained on trade issues i guess nothing preordained but there will be those discussions but i want to serve notice that we really need to and intend to proceed that this extension is not an excuse for the lack of basic action and secondly i want to record to be entirely clear that a reform is critical but it is no substitute for reform of our trade policy we need to have programs that help those who are disadvantaged by trade and for other regions to be able to have the opportunity they have the desire but also the opportunity to do some retraining to tain word to cation to extend their skills so that they can get back on their feet with a living wage we also need to pass reform a trade policy that prevents dislocation in the first place wherever possible and to have the notion that simply catch those people who fall off because of dislocation isn't enough we have to address the basic issues in trade policy we began to do that in the ways and means committee today in terms of a  you back to balance and all time being yielded back the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h r thirty three seventy five as amended those in favor say aye those opposed no 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 on the table a resolution five fifty seven by the a's and they say the first electronic vote will be conducted at the fifteen minute vote remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five minute votes