thank you well taking out of the house from the darkness of the night the light of a new day emerges gradually filled with promise shed your light upon congress lord that it's work of unifying this nation in defense and in leadership may be blessed with solidarity and peace may sincerely faith and faithfulness to responsibilities demonstrates the word of the lord is alive and at work in our midst it strikes at the very heart and pierces more deftly than any two had stored revealing the truth that will set people free order pursuant to clause a typical twenty further proceedings on the question are postponed for the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from michigan mr walberg i would invite all to magnificent pledge i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and sponsors and one of the supporters since that time there's been a group of right wing evangelical republicans national in scale who have tried to influence preachers in my district particularly african american preachers and make them think that that bill will somehow well their first amendment rights to speak what they think about the bible and about people's conduct that's not true whatsoever that bill contained in it an amendment offered by our tour davis that said this a no way affects anybody's first amendment rights and it doesn't that hate crime bill affects acts of violence not acts of thought or speech never has in this country's history and never will there's a ten commandments that we have and we've honored for many years and one of the commandments is  not bear false witness well in memphis tennessee that group was born false witness and trying to question the hate crimes bill in the votes of the members of this house and hopefully of the senate when they pass that bill it only affects violence and violence aimed at minute and i without objection his remarks of the right madam speaker yesterday the final report from the president's bipartisan commission on care for america's returning wounded warriors was released the main goal for the commission is to assure that every member of our armed forces receives the prompt exceptional care most are already receiving included in these recommendations were prevention and treatment of post traumatic stress disorder and strengthen a support for families of the wounded in addition a single point of contact for patients and families is crucial so the way toward recovery is simplified we are striving to ensure that our brave men and women returning from battle given the best treatment possible commission co chair bob dole points out that today seven out of eight survive many with injuries that would have been fatal in past wars and i'm grateful for the medical personnel that are working diligently to make sure our brave troops are receiving the care they deserve in conclusion god bless our troops and we'll never forget september the eleventh kelman yelled back this time what purpose does a gentle one woman from hawaii right objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute i write today to introduce the providing resources early for kids act of two thousand and seven the pre k act the pre k act will help more children enter school ready to succeed it creates a new federal state partnership to provide better preschool opportunities for our country's children research shows that participation in a high quality early education program can improve success in school and later in life so this bill focus says quality in a sex symbol enough to encompass many types of state funded preschool programs so long as they are high quality for example in hawaii an early learning task force is working on a new state funded preschool program to ensure a wife children have access to a variety of high quality preschool experiences from his start a community based organizations that pre k act is one of the best investments we can make in our children our families and our nation and i look encouraging our troops in their relentless bite against the terrorist insurgents and seein the success of u s troops some choose to focus on the negative they seem to preach gloom doom and despair they come across as defeatist retreat us and losers do these people really want us to lose this war is their retreat political agenda more important in america's safety agenda now's the time more than ever that this nation be behind our soldiers in this fight the dangers of freedom do exist right now in afghanistan taliban forces are holding twenty two civilians from a south korean church they have executed one hostage and plan to murder more these islamic radicals kill in the name of religion now what would the surrender advocates have us do hide fanatical militants are a threat to the security of free nations and the united states it is the american troops however that have making a difference and beating back the forces of hatred and oppression our patriots deserve thanks respect and our total commitment not nice players words of criticism contempt and complaining and that's just the way it is by what purpose does the gentleman from illinois write that objection the gentleman is recognized for one then speaker yes they just house is a critical step in changing the way business is done in washington the honest leadership and open government act of two thousand and seven provides the most sweeping lobby reform in a generation finally bringing unprecedented transparency to lobbyist activities during last year's election the american people unequivocal a call for a change in the way business was done in washington this bill along with the ethics reform our democratic majority enacted in the first one hundred hours of the hundred tenth congress are significant steps forward in cleaning up the culture of corruption that has plagued washington for far too long as soon as democrats took control of this congress we begin a new era of honest and open government finally returning this house to the american people and making sure that the work we do here is something that we can be proud of man speaker by passing the comprehensive lobbying reform yesterday we're keeping our promise to the american people to make this congress the most honest and open in history you lines whether it be our military or intelligence officers many tactics to defend and protect this country been used one being electronic surveillance to gather foreign intelligence through the feis act better speaker fice it was first implemented to assist the gathering of information during another era well before the invention of cellphones satellite tracking or even the internet terrorist groups and more specifically al qaida have adapted to much modern technology and it's time the u s did the same we're not talking about skirting the legal process but rather giving our intelligence officers the ability to gather information coming from foreign and or known terrorist in the united states i urge the majority to fix this problem now and help keep our good morning madam speaker you know it's simple if america is the greatest country in the world then all our children should have health care that's what democrats believe today we're going to pass a can't act to pr health insurance to an additional five million children here in america the children of the working poor who are the working poor they're the people one half of them women who work in service industries who work in retail their laborers they're the self employed the employers don't provide health insurance and they can't afford it they barely make ends meet now with this bill will move a long way toward the goal of providing universal health insurance for all american children and i think that's a good idea now of course is that you're going to hear lots of arguments arguments about process and why this was unfair or done in the right way you'll hear arguments about cost but let me tell you at the end of the day that's all just empty the gentleman is recognized for one minute that of speaker we can all think of instances were some great calamity was about to happen and yet we have to stand by powerless to help like the pilot of the titanic he sees the glacier emerging through the missi spins the wheel too late and that is the case this morning not with a steamship but with s chip that state children's health insurance plan doesn't take a towering intellect to see the problems we're going to vote to tax americans with pride for with private health insurance and we're going to take the benefits away from older americans with their  medicare and we're going to give that money to give free health insurance to children with families making more than eighty thousand dollars children of illegal immigrants all of history suggests that socialized medicine is not the way to go and yet we are about to vote the democrats are about to vote for something which will make the titanic wreck look small you know back in your back in time what purpose is the gentleman from illinois tracking actually one minute in two thousand and two when i was campaigning for congress i met the lower sweeney who had three children she worked full time in an insurance company was too rich for medicaid and too po get her own private insurance because her company didn't provide it her three children were rolled in s chip those kids today have health care because we did right where between private sector not providing health care and medicaid a woman who worked full time did right by her children got health care for her kids and her nineteen year old today is going to college and doing the right choices and the question we have before us as my colleague from south carolina has asked are we going to provide our constituents with the health care that our own children and members of congress get that taxpayers pay for that it's a question that's going to be before us today are we going to be right by the dolores weenies of the world in the same way that our constituents do right by us as members of congress and for our own children and these are people who have worked full time and no fault of their own whose children don't have health care and we will provide those children eleven million children to health care that their parents cannot provide to express my frustration with the way this bill has been rammed through the legislative process since january we had only one hearing on the s chip program we did not have a legislative hearing on h r thirty one sixty two which is supposed to be the democrats signature piece of healthcare legislation this congress no markup in subcommittee it was written in secret with no input from our side of the aisle in fact the text of the bill was not even provided the members the committee until eleven thirty three the night before the full committee markup was to take place bringing a bill to the floor with over two hundred billion dollars in authorized spending without allowing the bill to go through the proper legislative process is simply poor governance objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute the question before the house today is really very simple will the united states of america the wealthiest country in the world pass legislation that guarantees access to health care for all the children of the citizens of this country many of our states including vermont have taken the lead they answered that question in the affirmative the children of working parents children whose parents are doing the right thing should have the health care they need when they do it that's been done on a bipartisan basis republican and democratic governors in my state of vermont have supported access to health care for our kids ninety eight percent are covered in vermont why is it that this congress has been unable to take that step until today we will change that it's the right thing it's good for our kids it's good for our country and it's well within the reach of this congress to do and i hope that our friends on the the age old and low income families but the bill that democratic leadership plans to bring to the floor this week is an absolute train wreck that will lead to a nanny state government run health care system this bill would cause three point two million seniors in twenty two states to lose their medicare advantage benefits including over fourteen thousand in my district the congressional budget office says this bill would shift two point one million children who are currently in private health care plans to less effective government run health care additionally this bill got several fiscal responsibility measures designed to keep medicare spending in check encourage illegal immigrants to apply pressure to chip in medicaid benefits by eliminating the requirement that person applying for such services show proof of citizenship or nationality and makes it possible for people twenty five years old to receive s chip benefits in summation this bill takes a program designed to a jailed ruin of low income families and instead  objection the gentleman is recognized for one then a better speaker on the first day of the one hundred tenth congress the democratic majority in this house inactive the toughest ethics reform in a generation by passing a landmark rules package that broke the link between lobbyists and legislators this important step toward cleaning up congress ended gifts private jets and meals paid for by lobbyists yesterday we continued our commitment to restore accountability to washington and pass the final house senate agreement on the honest leadership and open government act of two thousand and seven this tough legislation which ends the tight knit relationship between lobbyists and lawmakers takes another major step toward making this congress the most open and honest in american history i am pro supported this critical bill which has been hailed by reform groups as a sea of change for citizens and landmark reform i am proud of our democratic majority that work so quickly to enact real change for americans which they demanded during last year's election objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute man a speaker i just want to take a moment to talk about an egyptian woman security forces in egypt tortured this young woman for converting to christianity fanatic relatives of shaimaa sharma el sayed twenty six they attacked her in alexandria beating her attempting to shove or into a car and value to kill her for her apostasy please intervene they arrested the victim herself when they found her christian identity papers local police transferred her to a state security investigation officials the investigation office where the officials forcibly disrobed and photographed her naked and front of all the police men at the station she was repeatedly subjected to interrogation severe torture including electrocution she was released by the egyptian police into the custody of her family despite their threats to kill her quote this is not legal treatment but is happening all the time in quote said russian or an egyptian human right activists quote the christians from muslim backgrounds can change your identity by say a force by the authorities to return back to islam vote on a child health and medicare protection act known as the chip back later today i think it's important to refute some of the misleading talking points that republicans are choosing on as they oppose this health insurance for million of americans children first republicans claim that by strengthening the state children's health insurance program known as s chip where advancing government doctors of mansingh government health plans this can be no farther from the truth government does not deliver chips services instead it's private doctors and private health plans through private insurance this program is operated successfully in my state of new jersey and around the nation second republicans say that are trying to expand the program to reach middle income families again that's false we are not expanding the program today five million children are eligible for chip but are not enrolled we are strengthening the program so that we can make health care more affordable for this reason i've introduced h r eight fifty three the wellness and prevention act of two thousand and seven this legislation encourages the implemented implementation of wellness and prevention plans in the workplace the bill allows and employees to collect tax credits for wellness programs and statistics have proven that for every dollar a business spin spends on a wellness program results in a three dollar return for the more americans will take charge of their own health thereby increasing productivity and reducing absenteeism i invite my colleagues to sponsor h r a fifty three because there's an old saying goes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure congress must now and to reduce the risk of disease encourage a healthier america and help curb the rising cost of health care they yield back the balance of my time i guess time for what purposes the gentleman from oregon writes for one minute the gentleman is recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker over the last ten years the children's health insurance program has been a success story significantly reducing the number of children living without health insurance at a time when employer sponsored insurance continues to erode when chip was created in one thousand nine hundred seven the number of uninsured children under the age of nineteen was twenty three percent over the last decade that's fallen to fifteen percent that's a great improvement but still unacceptable that's why democrats will bring the children's health and medicare protection act to the house floor today for a vote the chance act invests in our children by ensuring that nearly every child eligible for the chip program is signed up and is receiving the essential premise preventative health care they need to live longer and healthier lives if we do not take care of our children's health now we will pay a lot more later on madam and a speaker america your freedom of speech was trampled on yesterday that new democrat leadership quashed any semblance of free speech here on this house floor this is not such a procedural matter mind you this is a matter for all americans to see each member of congress represents six hundred thousand constituents that's six hundred thousand american voices that were squashed yesterday as i say this is not just a republican issue for their voices were quashed but so were democrat and independent  in fact this is nothing new for the new democrat leadership just a week ago we had to come to this forward to make sure we could fight to keep the radio waves and media open dealing with the fairness doctrine prior to this we had to fight make sure that the centuries old traditions of bipartisanship would not be broken prior to that we had to fight to make sure that to be transparency in earmarks and all the republicans fought on the side of openness and freedom of speech democrats say they tolerate all diversity but apparently that diversity not of thought  system the children's health insurance program otherwise known as chip has a proven track record over the last decade as the number of uninsured americans has increased the number of children living without health insurance has actually decreased and thanks to the chip program we've experienced a sixty percent drop in the number of uninsured children this week the house plans to reauthorize the chip program congress must act on this legislation now in the past chip has received strong bipartisan support an about face the president and some are publicans have abandoned their support of chip on supposedly philosophical grounds if congress refuses to act this week the nonpartisan congressional budget office estimates that nearly a million children will lose their health coverage and democrats are simply not going to allow that to happen we're going to pass the chip reauthorization today so that eleven million children have access to the health insurance they need to live healthy lives without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker today the united states congress will take out the full march towards socialized medicine here in the united states this isn't mission creep madam speaker this is mission an under the democrat plan someone who was old enough to be able to run for united states congress would be considered a child and eligible for taxpayer subsidized health care this is socialized medicine in its truest form as a matter of fact in minnesota today under the s chip proposal fully eighty five percent of all recipients are adults under the democrat proposal and minnesota over twenty thousand senior citizens in minnesota will lose their medicare advantage madam speaker this is mission leap toward embracing full socialized medicine and i hope this united states congress rejects this  to my colleague from minnesota repeating the litany from our republican friends that somehow this is a leap into socialism and represents a dramatic change well first of all madam speaker it ought to be clear that there are some states where there have been eligible limits that have been increased but why because governors including many of them republican governors have requested waivers who gives the waivers they have been granted by the bush administration if you think it's wrong to expand health care for more children for some with slightly higher income levels then stop can't this isn't a problem that somehow democrats are leaping into socialized medicine this is an effort at the light state and local level to meet these critical problems that's why the legislation want to be able to provide health care access to local income uninsured children but that's not the issue or the bill that comes to the floor today as we've heard from many of the speakers it is to cover all children despite income levels and despite whether or not they are currently enrolled in a health insurance plan in fact one of the republican amendments that was denied in rules committee and we cannot bring to the floor today is a measure that would say if you are currently in rolled in health insurance you are not eligible to participate as chip that's denied and that's just one piece of evidence that we're going to bring out today showing that this is a an attack on private health insurance coverage and the attempt to nationalize of the s chip or the children's health medical protection act jam forty five million are uninsured six million are children these are children that are being impacted we talk about having productive children in our school systems improving the quality of life well you can't do it without a good clean bill of health and we have the responsibility for our children more than seventy percent of uninsured hispanic children are eligible for public coverage are not enrolled this is unacceptable jampacked makes it difficult steps of reducing the barriers for all children and seniors of color in our community unfortunately some of the members are using this legislation as an opportunity to and related health care specifically immigration policies or other issues we need to make sure that we support the champ back a vote for the champ will help more citizen children get access to health coverage which can be a difference plan for what purposes the gentleman from tennessee right without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute thank you madam speaker i rise today to speak against this extremely flawed s chip bill i support the original intent of s chip which is to cover our moderate to low income children at two hundred percent of the poverty level yet the bill before us today goes much further it does expand the program it does move  from a block grant to an entitlement and it moves patients towards a universal government run health care system that shifts patients from private care to a massive government entitlement program and i know what runaway health care cost in a broken system look like as a former member of the tennessee state senate i have watched him care tennessee statewide managed care service which was granted under one of those waivers i've watched thing and bot stress pain hardship on both health care providers and consumers it does not work someone always has to pay the bill over ten years also this chance the old would make one hundred ninety three private health insurance policy in the nation everyone why because the desire of those on the left to gradually move every american to washington controlled by erratic health care credit health care is so strong they will stop at nothing their desire is t the ability of patients and their doctors to make independent choices and decisions as a physician i know how detrimental the government can be to quality health care in addition this bill will end the choices and freedoms that eight million seniors currently have on medicare advantage cutting medicare to eight million seniors now the left will pass this bill today because they can under a gag rule that doesn't make the process or the policy correct this is not what the american people want or what they deserve minute vote on approval of the journal this i