with the will of the american people we have the honor and privilege to serve me our legislators exemplify principle centered of value based leadership and they all are thoughts words and actions the pleasing and acceptable in your sight lord we also remember all of our military men and women serving the cause of democracy and human rights throughout the world today especially those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice upon the altar of freedom thank you for spiritual sustaining us in the sense of liberty which we as americans hold sacred and our call to defend in jesus name i pray amen is examined a journal of last day's proceedings and announces to the house her approval their oath pursuant the clause one of rule one the journal stands approved for what purpose is gentleman from illinois seek recognition as speaker pursuant to clause one rule one i stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all gemma from michigan is recognized thank you mr speaker today it's my honor to welcome major jonathan adler b to the house of representatives to deliver the house and vacation he's a native of the holland michigan and he's a chaplain of the u s army's thirty second medical grade the house is honored to have you with us today we appreciate you being here to deliver this invocation it is a time honored tradition in this a store chamber to request god's guidance as congress conducts the business of the american people we thank you for doing that major honor because a graduate of holland high school hope college in western theological seminary and he is currently stationed in fort sam houston texas while he has many accomplishments and distinguished a distinguished record in the military it was especially important in two thousand and five where i had the opportunity in front of a hometown audience to present him with the medals that he earned for his distinguished service while he was in iraq i was honor award him the purple heart the bronze star the meritorious service medal the iraq medal the global war on terrorism service medal and the combat action badge thank you for being here today thank you for your service to this country with that i yield back the balance of my time you back down to a time share receive a message mr speaker a message from the senate objection thank you mr speaker last june the sixth i voted for hate crimes bill in this session was proud to do it since that time the black ministers association of mass that he had come out strongly against the hate crimes bil provides protection for people from violent crimes i address that group during in memphis tuesday a week ago and at that meeting one of the ministers got up and said to the press the reason we're against this bill basically is because  white man can't represent black people i represent a black district one of only two members that do apple and to represent my people as i have and show this country from my district in memphis tennessee that regardless of race color a person should be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin and they can represent people in this country for this is indeed one country under god with liberty and justice for all we recently celebrated the one nine hundred fifty seven civil rights bill the forty eighth anniversary and in my city will have the fiftieth anniversary that bill will have the fortieth anniversary of the celebrant it's that assassination of dr king that event football upset win over michigan moon north carolina is no longer a sleepy blue ridge mountain town the representatives from eight university responded to last saturday's contest with class appalachian  michigan a gracious loser and a fate but beneficiary of this game much bigger all the underdogs the little guys who are given little or no chance of tasting the spalt of the country appalachians mountain areas and michigan w post impressive records during the two thousand and seven season but last saturday's game mistake earth will reinforce the optimism of the proverbial under dull with the assurance that their chances of achieving mr speaker this week we finally got an objective analysis of the situation in iraq we shouldn't be surprised that it did that it differs significantly from a status report from the white house last month last month which painted a much rosier political emp than security scenario in iraq nor should we be surprised if its conclusions are different from the final report that is scheduled to come from the president this week the jail findings are not a surprise when president bush began this troop escalation plan he promised this congress that the iraqis must meet these benchmarks and if they didn't they would lose the support of the american people many of us who oppose a troop escalation plan were skeptical skeptical that iraqis would not be able to meet these benchmarks and that thirty thousand more troops would bring about any real improvements in secur iraq the g a o report shows that our concerns were justified with the failure of the iraqi government to meet fifteen of the eighteen benchmarks it's clear that a change of course is needed i would hope to them my republican colleagues would stop blindly following president bush and conclude as much as this nation has that it's time to begin bringing our troops home and you'll back down time expired what person the gentleman from texas right quest mission to address the house for one minute that objects mr speaker congress talks about feeling the pain of americans or raising taxes on them doesn't ease their financial pain working families are already burdened with high gasoline prices and increased expenses every day of their lives working americans deserve to keep more of their money it should be their responsibility how to spend it not a bunch of tax and spend bureaucrats in washington d c we talk a lot about helping american families well let them keep more of their money and sort of tax them more more government spending is not a strategy for helping americans more taxes on americans so special interest groups get more federal money is not a strategy for helping americans president kennedy president reagan both prove tax cuts work tax cuts not tax increases are the fundamental way to move our economy forward we need to make permanent the tax cuts and who benefits from tax cuts anybody that pays taxes benefits and those that live off the taxpayers should not expect everybody doctor's statistics in the world will not change the fundamental fact that there is no military solution to the civil war in iraq instead of facing reality the president is asking for another blank check for his failed policy and congress and not give it to him we must decide whose interests we represent a president who has staked his legacy on an unnecessary war the millions of americans who understand that and then the occupation is the first step in repairing the admit the damage that this administration has done to the security of our nation in the world can congress has the power really to end this failed policy we should not approve another penny to continue that policy instead we should use our constitutionally mandated appropriations power to fully fund the safe timely and return possible redeployment of our troops and contractors from iraq when we say we support our troops let me in and by bringing them home thank you now you'll tell me that both of the time for what purpose of the gentleman from south carolina rise that object which is bigger the plan for general petraeus surge was designed to improve iraq's security so that political and economic progress could follow stability measures implemented in violent areas in and around baghdad and across the nation have produced recognizable results there's an increased security in iraq an optimistic reports are travelling back from members of congress or critics and yes even the liberal press areas once considered terrorist wrong holes are now relatively secure progress sunni  s forces are working together for victory progress tribal leaders are turning their backs on terrorist insurgents and helping american forces progress next week general petraeus will deliver a comprehensive report on iraq and what the surge has produced since he's been on the ground and i'm confident his report will be detailed and honest mr speaker the level of poc progress is evident and i believe the continued success of the surge will pave the way for the only way out of  september would be a critical month for the war in iraq earlier this year when this democratic congress and the american people voiced their overwhelming opposition to president bush's troop escalation plan our republican colleagues said give the president time the problem is both the republican congress and the bush administration have been moving the timeframe for success on the troop escalation plan first it was june then it was august finally a couple of once ago republican leaders agreed that september would be the defining month it is clear that president bush has no intention of ending the troop escalation in iraq even though the iraqi government has failed to meet the benchmarks that he himself outlined earlier this year president bush is determined to leave as many troops in iraq as possible no matter what the facts suggest the question now is will congressional republicans finally break away from the president and do what is right for this nation and for the military congressional republicans must realize that the time has come to change course gemma's time expired for what purposes jennifer missouri writes this one without objection mr speaker for the last year the democrats have been saying that the war in iraq is lost we should pull our troops out and they were of course of opposed to the surge but after hearing from witnesses of every political stripe week after week on the oversight subcommittee this profound reality became obvious the least costly and best alternative for america is not to lose it is to win we're more than halfway through the campaign it is too costly to quit and to go back the concept that we can win is novel to democrats perhaps who think in top down solutions in washington and in iraq but our new military strategy is prov successful just as our nation grew from the bottom up town by town state by state so also federalism shows success in iraq local communities are working closely with our military to curb violence for this reason we must ensure that they have the freedom and the autonomy to continue to develop the best alternative for american iraq is to move forward and to win the peace gemma's time expired the purpose of gentleman from iowa  without objection mr speaker it's getting harder for american families to make ends meet especially when it comes to the rising cost of health insurance new census data shows that the number of americans without health insurance nationwide rose by nearly two million in two thousand and six in addition the number of children without health insurance grew by seven hundred thousand to nearly eight point seven million children these new numbers mean that one in nine american kids don't have health insurance including twenty two percent of hispanic children and fourteen percent of african american children these numbers are appalling for a nation as wealthy as ours that is why the democratic congress passed the champ act to reauthorize the children's health insurance program for six million children and to provide five million more children with health insurance covering a total of eleven million children but president bush has threatened to veto this critical bill despite strong bipartisan support among congress and governors mr speaker these new census numbers can't be ignored it's time to stop playing politics with children's health insurance it's time for the president to support and sign the champ act what purpose and gentleman from indiana right without objection us as america waits word from our military and diplomatic leaders in iraq early next week it's apparent to me mr speaker that many in congress seem prepared to prejudge our progress and dismiss report of general david petraeus even before he makes it many as have done here this morning cite the recent g a o report as a basis for accepting retreat and defeat in iraq but as fred kagan of the american enterprise institute pointed out recently the mandate of the g a o report was not to evaluate progress broadly defined in iraq it was to determine whether or not the iraqi government had met eighteen benchmarks set by the u s congress for it kagan pointed out the the term and barr actually only appears twice in the g a o report despite the extraordinary progress in the anbar province where we've seen sunni leadership come forward working with marines working with the all molecules government and defeating iraq the so called triangle of death is so safe the president of the united states was able to land there and meet with sunni and shia leaders earlier this week i think it's imperative that we stand with our soldiers we wait and he children fell that is until the last two years last week the census bureau reported that the number of american children living without health insurance increased from eight million in two thousand and five to eight point seven million in two thousand and six and this is simply unacceptable i would hope that president bush saw these troubling numbers and finally realize that we cannot afford to ignore them any longer last month this democratic house acted by passing the champ act legislation that will allow us to reach an additional five million children who are already eligible for the chip program when chip was created back in ninety seven it was supported by both democrats and republicans but today both the white house and the house republican leadership oppose the champ act and this is speaker the census speaker last month i was humbled and honored to introduce a resolution honoring the goals and ideas of gold star mothers day in one thousand nine hundred eighty f d r designated the last sunday in september as gold star mothers day to commemorate the tremendous sacrifice these courageous mothers have endured on behalf of our nation this year gold star mother day will be held on september thirtieth this brave group of women have turned their personal tragedy into patriotism and caring service i want to take this opportunity to speight pay special tribute to georgette frank of elk grove village illinois her son phil and listed in the marine corps right out of high school in response to the september eleventh attacks and paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom phil believe that the best way to keep america safe was to take the fight to the terrorists and the last time he saw his mom he said be strong no matter what happens you'll be strong that's exactly what georgette has done phil and his family represent the best and the bravest that our country has to offer many other courageous families of paid this ultimate sacrifice no one none that we can ignore mr speaker the no child left behind originally sought to return some education policy making authority to the states but in its current form the legislation is a massive spending bill filled with federal mandates that increase presence of federal bureaucrats in our classrooms today michigan teachers are forced to adopt to teach to the test mentality and spend valuable time on paperwork instead of students is best made of the teachers and school officials have spent an additional six point seven million hours completing the cumbersome paperwork required by no child left behind as congress considers the future of education policy in america we must find a way to give our schools communities and parents greater flexibility reduce to be accuracy and education ensure the best educational opportunities are being given to our because i believe each child's educational past should be determined by child's parents and not by the federal government i'm an original co sponsor of the a plus act and alternative education policy introduced this year in the house and i urge my colleagues to support this important legislation predictions by this president and his staff we are now stuck refereeing a civil war our soldiers are to be praised they have done an outstanding job but our political leaders in washington including those in this congress should be strongly criticized for acquiescing and going a long time and time again we're told that we need to stay the course for the sake of our standing in the world but mr speaker this war has diminished our standing in the world anough is enough it is time to bring this war in iraq to an end gentleman yield back the balance of his time for what purpose of the gentlewoman from tennessee wri five year old girl now he should have been deported but newark new jersey sanctuary law prevented local law enforcement from working with the feds to detain and deport him we need an efficient system of adana fine and removing violent criminal elements that's why i'm introducing the charlie norwood clear act of two thousand and seven this bill increases federal funds to local law enforcement agencies provides the information they need requires the feds to remove and deport criminal aliens and reduces federal funds for cities that provide safe haven to violent criminal aliens that harm the public i urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting the charlie norwood clear act of two thousand and seven i yell back and let me know that the balance of our time for what purpose of the gentleman from massachusetts rise like the ocean image can be sent to address the house for one minute without objection mr speaker the rules committee is expected to meet on monday september tenth to report a rule that may structure the amendment process for floor consideration of h r eight hundred fifty two the expanding american homeownership act of two thousand and seven members who wish to offer an amendment to this bill must submit thirty copies of the amendment and a brief description of the amendment to the rules committee and h three twelve in the capital no later than eleven a m on monday september tenth members are strongly advised to adhere to the m m a deadline to ensure that amendments receive consideration amendments must be drafted to the bill as reported by the committee on financial services on june twenty eighth two thousand and seven the text of the bill is posted on the rules committee website m m it should be drafted by legislative council and also should be reviewed by the office of the parliamentarian to be sure that the amendments comply with the rules of the house members are also strongly encourage to submit their remembrances of the congressional budget office for analysis regarding the possible paygo violations thank you mr speaker you back my time resolved that any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursuant to clause to be of rule eighteen to clear the house resolved in to the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h r twenty seven eighty six to reauthorize the programs for housing assistance for native americans the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under cla nine or ten of rule twenty one general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on financial services after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule the bill shall be considered as read all points of order against provisions of the bill are waived notwithstanding clause eleven of rule eighteen no amendment to the bill shall be in order except those printed in the portion of the congressional record designated for that purpose in clause eight of rule eighteen and except pro forma amendments for the purpose of debate each amendment so printed may be offered only by the member who caused it to be printed or his designee and shall be considered as read at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendments a committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as may have been adopted the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill an amendment there to do final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instruction section two during consideration in the house of r twenty seven eighty six pursuant to this resolution notwithstanding the operation of the previous question the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated by the speaker section three house resolutions five ninety five five ninety six six thirteen and six fourteen are laid upon the table don't matthews is recognized for one hour mr speaker for the purpose of debate days in which to revise and extend their remarks and house resolution six thirty out of jesse mr speaker h read six three three provides for the consideration of h r two seven eight six the native american housing assistance and self determination reauthorization act of two thousand and seven under an open rule with a pre printing requirement the rule provides for one hour of general debate controlled by the committee on financial services the rule tables h r as five five nine five  allows for any germane amendment to be offered to this bill as long as it is preprinted in the congressional record i am pleased to see that seven amendments were pre printed in the record and it's a point to note that's six of these are republican amendments i commend my colleagues  congressman and the chairman congressman barney frank ranking member baucus housing subcommittee chair waters housing subcommittee ranking member bigger and the members of the financial services committee for their hard work and for this excellent bill in addressing native american housing needs by providing desperately needed reforms this legislation allows native american communities to put roofs over the heads of its neediest members mr speaker h r two seven eight six increases flexibility and independence within the tribal housing authorities to best meet the needs of their individual communities this legislation ensure safety and quality of housing by allowing native american tribes to set aside up to fifteen percent of the grant funding for housing rehabilitation construction and acquisition increased efficiency within housing authorities means more affordable housing for more low income families in addition to guaranteeing available in quality housing h r two seven eight six allows tribes discretion and tailoring block grant funding to their community tribes will be able to compete for a greater variety of available grants and attend educational seminars from the department of housing and urban development on how best to utilize funds and programs currently the cost to rent a house or an apartment is at an all time high across the united states and the wages people earn have not kept up with the increases housing food transportation and other basic necessities having shelter for you and your family a decent place to live is not a luxury it's a basic human need that everyone requires and deserves to many people face the choice every day between paying the rent or being able to put food on the table or buy medicine for a sick child that simply should not be happening in america once again i commend the efforts of the house financial services committee and i gentleman from massachusetts for yielding his time mr speaker i rise today in opposition to this unnecessarily restrictive rule and two parts of the potentially unconstitutional legislation that the democrat majority is bringing to the floor today i would like to note at the outset of this debate that this legislation accomplishes a number of positive things including making the indian housing block grant program more flexible and helping native american tribes become less dependent on the federal government by giving them the tools that they need to exercise greater autonomy over their own affairs and i would like to commend my friend from new mexico congressman steve pearce for his hard work on this legislation on behalf of his well we're presented constituents and for native american tribes across the united states however this legislation does include language that places funding for native that does include language that places funding for native hawaiians at a great risk because of x extremely suspect constitutionality in that in two thousand the supreme court decided in rice versus cayetano that the current configuration of justices would likely strike down most of federal benefits flowing to native hawaiians as an unconstitutional racial set aside if given a chance i am already aware of this problem because these exact same constitutional concerns  h r eight thirty five the whole why and ownership opportunity act of two thousand and seven which the democrat leadership allowed to fail under suspension of the rules earlier this year title eight of today's bill contains this same language and opens up today's legislation to all of the same concerns that were leveled against h r eight thirty five i understand that my good friend from georgia congressman lynn westmoreland has submitted  correct this problem and i look forward to hearing the debate on its passage later this afternoon finally mister iker i am concerned by the open ended nature of this authorization i understand that about six hundred fifty million dollars has been appropriated annually for the native american housing over the last few years today's bill authorizes an unlimited amount of spending for the next five years for these programs while i understand very well the need for funding in a number improvident problem communities across this country i believe in this current fiscal climate the climate in which democrats have proposed an enormous twenty six billion dollars of additional new spending over last year that authorizing an unlimited amount of money for the program is simply irresponsible limits need to be spent s speaker and it's the job of a majority to make tough decisions as to where spending is most needed and from which other programs should be taken by authorizing as much money as the appropriators care to spend this legislation shirks in its responsibility to provide guidance to an appropriate level of spending as a physical skin servant who is greatly concerned about runaway spending in this democratic congress i believe this is simply wrong mr speaker i encourage all of my colleagues to oppose this restrictive rule that is not an open rule despite the democrat claims to the contrary i understand that they are in the majority and that the democrat leadership has the ability to pressure their members into supporting a resolution stating that congress believes that two plus two equals five however that simply does not make it so and true in this same vein despite their protest when they came to the floor and the claim that this modified open rule is is that that it is it simply not so it restricts members who have ideas about how to improve this legislation during the debate from having their proposals heard and there is simply no denying that fact i approach this restrictive rule and the unconstitutional and it responsible spending provisions including in the underlined legislation mr speak balance of my time john from texas reserves the balance of his time gentleman from massachusetts yes thank you mr speaker and i am proud of what the democratic rules committee did last night and i think the gentleman has a little problem saying democratic but that's what it is democratic rules committee yet this is an open rule the calls for a preprinted requirement so that people can actually read what we're going to debate i am sorry that the gentleman from texas doesn't believe that members of congress deserve the courtesy of being able to read what they should vote on i should also say the gentleman that if he's got a brilliant idea along the way that his leadership can work with our leadership and maybe we can come to some sort of accommodation if there's another another remember that has been offered but i will remind him that the majority of amendments that have been preprinted the republican amendments i will also remind him in case he forgot that last night in the rules committee when we call for a roll call vote the former chairman of the rules committee the distinguished republican from california mr dreier voted yes chairman and thank gentleman from texas for yielding and thanks gentleman from massachusetts for his work on this bill the native american housing assistance self determination reauthorization is actually quite a bipartisan effort in the financial services committee we had representative waters chairman frank myself and mr kildee working on the bill basically were faced and many of the states with indian tribes with large indian populations were faced with the problem of consistent high unemployment consistent homelessness substandard housing infrastructure that is not developed in new mexico i've seen native american homes which consist of cardboard corrugated tin bare boards no insulation and i've seen where top it simply flush out the bottom of the trailer house on of the ground with no infrastructure no sewage infrastructure and so what what i began to do when i first came to congress is sit down and meet with the tribal leaders we've formed not only a working relationship but a strong friendship as we try to wrestle with these problems into mexico as we began to wrestle with the problems of self determination the problems of self sufficiency the problems of employment of tribal members they understand there's a cultural problem as well as a system c economic problem but we have committed ourselves together to work says one issue at a time side by side to accomplish what we can so when we come to this  housing problem this reauthorization and i understand my friend from texas and his objections and do not disagree with those but at some point i said to myself i'm faced with a pragmatic decision about just what can we do and what are we going to do so i find that that the greater discretion that's allowed in this language the greater flexibility that is allowed to the native americans to begin to make their own decisions and we've had frank straightforward discussions about accountability about the need for these funds to be measured and where they go and what they accomplish and never do i find them to be wary of this accountability it's just that they're trying to get their feet underneath them to try to solve the problems on their tribal grounds and and so i come to the florida support the amendment or the the reauthorization and several of the underlying amendments that will come up on that the one of the things that this bill does is begin to set up block grant programs for the where the tribes can take out loans for infrastructure clean water healthy drinking water ways to dispose of raw sewage those are things that really affect every tribe and not many of them have very good solutions many in the mexico are a long way away from from the urban centers where the funds are available to to create sewage treatment plants wastewater treatment plants and so it's an important addition to this bill that we allow them that flexibility and that ability to create the l programs much like the cd b g program which affects small community is a rural communities throughout the throughout new mexico it's so as we began to look at at this again i would come to the floor in support of that and and floor and support of the idea that we must began to pay attention to to the very desperate needs that exist on many of the tribal grounds throughout this country and as we do that i think th find when housing begins to stabilize then those cultures begin to stabilize because homeownership is one of the basic building blocks of a society that ability to have someplace where you can retreat and be away from the carriage of the world very low for capital and comments fordable housing is important in every community but if especially in our native american communities and the affordable housing is addressed here and in this reauthorization to so understanding i would close by simply saying that this is a good underlying bill i hope it passes but this is also a good rule it is an open rule that requires the pre printing of a member it's so that members who come to the floor can have an opportunity to read and to study what they're going to vote on this is a this is a this was a rule that had strong bipartisan support in the rules committee last night including from the distinguished former chairman