will come to order the prayer will be offered by the guests chaplain dr susan johnson cook believers christian fellowship church new york new york that is pray our god in our creator we come to you this day we joy sing in our hearts for life and life more abundant we ask you to guide us throughout this day throughout all of our proceedings that we may go forth with purpose passion and perseverance representing the people who are both elected and put their our please also bless our families as we are absent from them that no hurt nor danger come their way this day may we now place out trust in you we ask also god that you keep ever before us our mission our miss and keep our minds focused clear and convicted to be servants as we represent our nation the united states of america thank you for this opportunity to serve thank you for your grace thank you for your with them thank you for the honor and privilege to serve less also those amongst us who are candidates for office give them strength and keep them grounded in the we also asked god to bless not only our but those around the world especially those who live in fear poverty and with injustice what we say and you make a difference that we may be a light to this world as you shine through what this is our prayer in your name and for your sake  like the chairs examine the journal of the last days proceedings and announces to the house her approval there are pursuant to clause one of rule one the journal stan approved the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from new york mr town pastor of the mariners couple baptist church in downtown manhattan for thirteen years in two thousand and two reverend cook became the first woman elected president of the ten thousand member hampton virginia university ministers conference which represents all these dorothy african american nominations her list of of the first include first woman appointed chaplain of the new york city police department first female baptist minister from the bronx to receive a white house fellowship a woman a promised passion diligence and a terminations revel cook is the author of eight successful books in leading ladies conference her motto is if i can help somebody then my living is not in vain a faculty member and graduate of harvard university she also received a doctorate a ministry degree from union theological seminary a master's degree of divinity from union theological seminary and a masses of arts degree from columbia university reverend cook is married to ronald cook and they reside in new york city with their two sons dr cook is a powerful archer and was recently described in the new york times as billy graham and oprah rolled into one her mentoring and leadership skills now charger to form the woman in ministry it's a national summit which supports and advocates for women church leaders madam speaker i would like to recognize this magnificent minister scholar and dynamic leader and i urge my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to this outstanding member of the house joint resolution forty four joint resolution approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the burmese freedom and democracy acted two thousand and three and for other purposes  very stark choice on the farm bill this week the hollow claims of reform are exposed by the fact that it hardly saves any money at all and retains the complex system with special provisions to avoid what we say we want to do concentrate on our family farms it preserves a system where five commodities rice cotton wheat soy beans and corn will continue to take claim most of the money and dominate our foreign policy it's perverse because it continues to enrich those experts at farming the taxpayer while continuing to squeeze out the family farmers driving up land prices and giving the big guys a competitive advantage that's why the overwhelming majority of farmers favor a strict cap of two hundred fifty thousand dollars a year you can ask independent all oxbridge not lobbyists and associate members ask your own farmers let's amend the committee bill health one minute without objection mr speaker new haven connecticut has become exactly that a new haven for illegal immigrants the city will be granting the illegals an id card that will allow them to access city services parks the library and the ability to open bank account this id card for illegals become the first of its kind in the nation in our nation issued by city even though the american public is opposed to free pass amnesty this city's doesn't understand it's still against the law to be in the united states illegally but new haven doesn't seem to care they've already recruited banks that will allow the use of these cards jail wall school volunteered free legal services all in the name of helping people get away with breaking the law new haven connecticut plots its encouragement of illegal entry so since the fans won't adequately enforce immigration laws and don't seem to know what to do with the illegals let's just and bought all the illegals to go to new haven connecticut where the city wants to have a safe sanctuary for them mr speaker there should be consequences for cities like new haven connecticut that are bastions for illegal cities that openly promote violations of federal law out of unsigned bands expired and that's just the way it is for what purposes agenda for minnesota ross one minute but object mr speaker the national intelligence estimate makes clear that the united states confronts great challenges to our national security as extremists grow stronger with each passing day and remain intent on inflicting harm on the american people and others around the world the end confirms what many of us in this chamber already know the war in iraq has stretched from stress resources thin and continues to distract from the global war on terrorism it is nearly five years since president bush proclaimed mission accomplished in that time over thirty six hundred americans have lost their lives and twenty six in twenty six thousand more have been only despite the courageous efforts of our men and women in uniform iraq today is a distraction from our mission to destroy the al qaeda network are many how many more lives must be lost until the president and our colleagues realize realize that we must change course mr speaker around the world right now our brave troops are fighting to protect this country and win this war if we are going to prosecute the war to the best of our ability it is time to face facts and relive a to valuate our strategy and begin france america's first ally these nurses and a palestinian doctor was sadly sentenced to life in prison for allegedly contaminating children with aids virus this successful outcome could not have been achieved without the diligent efforts of the state of cutter the european union and the president of the french republic nicolas sarkozy i commend their efforts to reach a peaceful result with libya this is positive for the people of libya and the people of bulgaria this is a crucial achievement of extraordinary advances for north africa and southeast europe who will be partners of america as the co chair of the congressional bill garrett caucus along with congresswoman ellen tauscher of california it is my privilege to work with embassador elena god bless the nurses of book area in conclusion god bless our troops and will no forget september the eleventh and the terrorist attack on glasgow airport for what purpose the gentle lady from california  arise one minute revise and extend without objection thank you and good mr speaker yesterday house democrats introduced legislation that will provide additional low income children with health insurance coverage they need and deserve the children's health and medicare protection or chance act would reauthorize an extremely effective state children's health insurance program known to many as the s chip program which will expire september thirtieth if congress does not act if s chip is allowed to expire millions of our american children could lose their health insurance in a letter issued last week and bipartisan governors at the national governors association meeting called for urgent action to reauthorize s chip they know as do democrats in congress that this program is vital for insuring children in low income families to have better access to health care that's why passing the chaps act is so important mr speaker s chip was created almost ten years ago by this congress with bipartisan support and now enjoys the support of many governors across the other aisle i hope republicans in this body will listen to their gubernatorial colleagues and join us in passing the new champ act you'll back the balance of my time speaker traveling to iraq this past weekend to see firsthand how the surge is working i really expected the worst instead i'm very encouraged communities all across iraq are turning against al qaida and working with iraqi and coalition forces to take back their city half of baghdad is no longer safe for insurgents al qaida is not down and now but clearly back on its heels rejected by the very communities and religious leaders it claims to fight for now make no mistake there are still serious challenges including high profile bombings the need for iraq's government to resolve key issues now in iran's continued support for terrorism but i'm convinced the new strategy is working and we have impressive leaders and impressive troops in place to see even more progress speaker while congress has the right to debate this war it has a responsibility to help when it is well that means letting this new changi work to the end of the or the beginning of the next if we are truly serious about a stable iraq in a safer america for what purpose a gentle lady from california ros as you just heard this week house democrats unveil the children's health and medicare protection act a bill that reauthorizes s chip insurers millions of children to receive the care they need and protect medicare for america's seniors the in a direction of the champ program comes days after the national governors association made up of both democrats and republicans called for gin action to re orize the s chip program unfortunately last in the next year has broad bipartisan support from our nation's governors and in the u s senate the bush administration and some congressional republicans oppose efforts to strengthen the program does not continuously run out of money instead they are proposing to underfund the program said in effect atlee which would cost millions of children to lose coverage mr speaker ensuring america's children is an affordable call it cost less than three dollars and fifty cents a day to cover a child through s chip thank you for what purpose gentleman from georgia writes you always i thin misspeak our health care decisions are often the most personal and important decisions ever made and those decisions should rightly be made by patients and doctors not bureaucrats and insurance companies so it's concerning that the democrat leadership plan to move forward with a large expansion of washington controlled bureaucratic health care under the guise of providing care for children the house democrat plan would cost fifty to eighty billion dollars and include children whose families have an annual income up to eighty two thousand dollars making seventy one percent of all children in america eligible for government run socialized medicine a level of income where eighty nine percent of children already have private health insurance why because these washington politicians believe they can make better health care decisions for america's families they don't trust patients and they don't trust doctors as a physician i know that the best medical decisions are made by patients and families the positive solution is patient centered health care making insurance mr speaker the state health children's health insurance program are s chip is one of the most important and worthwhile programs in our government was created with broad bipartisan support by congress in one thousand nine hundred seven and provides critical health care benefits to children whose parents either cannot afford insurance or hold jobs where health insurance benefits are not provided today six million children in low income families have health care because s because of this s chip program this week democrats in this body introduced legislation known as the champ pack which would reauthorize s chip preventing it from expiring on september thirtieth leaving the six million chill and without access to health care the champ act would also extend s chip coverage to five million additional uninsured american kids and ensure that states have the tools to reach children who are eligible for the program but are not enrolled mr speaker i urge my colleagues to support the champ back by passing it we rule we will reauthorize s chip to protect health care benefits for up to six million children currently receiving them and provided to an additional five million who desperately need it for what purposes the gentleman from florida rose for one minute without objection mr speaker  rise today to talk about the appropriation bill before us today this legislation addresses the violent crime problem head on by investing one hundred million dollars into the cops program to put more cops on the street we need additional cops now more than ever for example in my hometown of orlando florida we experienced a one hundred twenty three percent increase in the murder rate last year yesterday i received a letter from a seven year old boy in orlando he writes am a seven year old boy i live with my grandma we live in orlando florida every day bad people rob and kill good people they even shot my a i'm afraid to go outside and play i don't want someone to kill my little brother or me or my grandma please help us to santiago and all the other little boys and girls in central florida please know that we hear your concerns and help is on the way the chair will remind members to refrain from traffic and the well what all the members on the recognition gentle lady from texas wri without objection yesterday the president of the united states it's went to south carolina to address the united states military to convince them that the out qaida network in iraq is part of the international network of al qaida but as i rise to support the legislation that will appear on the floor today no permanent bases in iraq i rise vigorously to refute that statement a national intelligence estimate has been very clear and that is that al qaida has become stronger because of out military presence in iraq it's time now to make the statement and the decision no permanent military bases of the united states in iraq four thousand lives almost of our soldiers they are our heroes we claim they are here old they've done their job it is time now mr president to redeploy out soldiers everything from outsourcing jobs to poor health care and retirement benefits for their workers however we have some very responsible corporate citizens that we call the big three and over the last century the big three have been the later is in providing health care benefits and retirement benefits as well for their workers these efforts were actually crucial and building up the american middle class g m for example spent three point three billion dollars last year on health benefits for their four hundred thirty two thousand retirees in comparison non  s auto manufacturers spent roughly just twenty three million dollars for their twelve hundred american worker an american retiree and one would think that after decades of commitment the big three would have shown to the american worker that that would earn them the admiration in the sympathy of the democratic leadership on fortunately that does not seem to be the case the democratic leadership that should be holding up the domestic auto industry as models of corporate responsibility are instead trying to ram through increased cafe standards that will put us auto workers without objection thank you mr speaker i rise with great pride to welcome home the i will army national guard's first battalion one hundred thirty third infantry the iron man battalion returns to iowa today after a twenty two month the ploy a month in support of operation iraqi freedom while serving in al anbar province the iron man battalion provided transportation security for more than one third of the fuel used by coalition forces in iraq a heavy heart that i know that the one hundred thirty third infantry lost two soldiers and i would like to extend my deepest sympathy to their families and loved ones now that the hundred thirty third is return home we must honor their service by providing for their health care and productive futures our commitment to the citizens must extend throughout their lives on behalf of the second district of iowa i thank the soldiers of the hundred thirty third infantry for their service it is with great pride and gratitude that we welcome them home today i  department of veterans affairs as a highly decorated combat veteran his experience in the r army for over twenty two years gave him insight into the needs of veterans he has implemented many reforms since assuming the leadership of the v a in february two thousand and five he established electronic medical records for the nearly eight million people in the v a health care program this enabled the successful transition of veterans from hospitals damaged by hurricane katrina and rita in addition mission eggleston improve care for veterans with brain injuries and post traumatic stress disorder mandating screening of all returning veterans for signs of p t s d and adding mental health services at more than one hundred medical centers secretary nicholson also hired suicide prevention counsellors at each of the v a s one hundred fifty three to sell it he's an established a twenty four hour national suicide without objection thank you mr speaker i'd like to quote from james madison chief author of the constitution from remarks he wrote on april twentieth seventeen ninety five which sound as though they could have been written today of all the the enemies of true liberty war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other wars the parent of armies from these precede debts and taxes and armies and debts and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few in war to the discretionary power of the executive has extended its influence and dealing out offices honors and  miss bigger our eyes today to congratulate the prestigious independent school districts in collin county texas for their sterling reputation in superior education forbes magazine long time experts on all things money recently ranked the public schools in collin canny as second in the entire nation for the best education for your dollar what a tremendous distinction the students overall average go or was eleven hundred two on the college entrance exam in the school's busta ninety two point two percent graduation rate this demonstrates that knowledgeable teachers community pride parental involvement and top quality schools are all working together to achieve academic success i want to personally command the cities of allen frisk o mckinney and plano and their independent school district for this exceptional award and national recognition for what they do best teaching our minute to revise and extend right out of our mr speaker our intelligence agencies have confirmed that al qaeda is stronger in numbers ineffectiveness than it's ever been and that's because five years ago when we had been laden cornered and crippled we outsource the job of capturing him and then we diverted our focus and our resources to iraq which turned out to be his greatest dream realized because it gave him so many propaganda tools as a rallying cry and a recruitment tool and that's just what happened and now when president bush says that he envisions a military presence in iraq somewhat to south korea well we've been in south for fifty years this plays into their propaganda we need to make clear there will be no permanent military bases in iraq that we are not there as occupiers but rather than  mr speaker i rise in strong support this morning of the funding levels included in the state and local law enforcement in h r thirty ninety three this legislation reverses a dangerous downward trend in a community oriented policing program the cops program specifically it increases the cops budget to seven hundred twenty five million dollars which is a one hundred eighty three million dollar increase over last year it also includes eighty million in additional money for the burn grant system i was a sheriff in seattle for the last well two and a half years ago for the last eight years of my career i was in law enforcement thirty three years as a sheriff i use the burn grant funds i use the cops money we work together with our communities we work together with business and we made our community safe it is a vital program a useful program a necessary program mr speaker we cannot have freedom we cannot feel safe in our neighborhood until we feel safe until we know we're safe until we know our law enforcement is there to protect us and the cops grant does that thank you mr speaker i yield for what purposes the gentleman from new jersey rise one minute without objection this is speaker yesterday we introduced the champ act an essential package that addresses the health care needs of our children and seniors while also meeting the needs of our doctors and i'm particularly proud of our efforts to ensure eleven million children receive the health care coverage they need to live healthier lives today we are at a crossroads on children's health studies show that we ensure children receive preventative health care in their formative years they will lead healthier lives but over the last year the number of uninsured children has increased for the first time in a decade and that's why it's so important to strengthen s chip this is not an expansion of the program today we're reaching six million children under the chance back we will reach an additional five million children who are already eligible and over the past ten years s chip has received strong bipartisan support because it serves as a lifeline to those most vulnerable among us our children it's always receive strong bipartisan support and at a time when the number of uninsured is mr speaker today it's an honor for me to congratulate the longest married couple in the united states married for eighty two and a half incredible years they live in my district clarence and maybe vale of hugo minnesota they have six wonderful children thirty nine grandchildren one hundred one great grandchildren and forty great great grandchildren almost beyond belief at one hundred one and ninety nine years of age what is the veil secret to success clarence says of void debt strive for simple clean living no public arguments feed your faith and accept your spouse as it is then clarence went on to say pick a good woman and let her lea the way that good advice from a humble minnesotan congratulations clarence and mamie vale of hugo minnesota eighty two and a half years of marriage the longest married couple in the united states congratulations establish any military installation or bang for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of united states armed forces in iraq or to exercise united they say economic control of the oil resources and era pursuant to the rule of the gentleman from new york mr ackerman and the gentlewoman from florida ms ross layton each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york the speaker i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous capture saddam's weapons of mass destruction or we invaded to depose a dictator and bring democracy and human equal rights to the iraqi people or we invaded to fight al qaeda and prevent them from attacking us here so many reasons have been offered that you can mix and match one from column a two from column b whatever your favorite reason for invading iraq the one reason that was never offered was that we invaded invading iraq to occupy their land establish permanent bases and control their oil yet among iraqis this perception is that the establishment of permanent bases is precisely why we invaded and the insurgen insurgents use that perception to recruit fighters and incite attack on our troops the bill before us today introduced by our colleague barbara lee and tom allen along with jim moran and david price will help combat combat that perception it states that it is the policy of the united states not to establish permanent bases in iraq and not to control iraq's oil resources mr speaker this is not the first time that the house ha spoken on the issue six separate times the house has passed legislation prohibiting or expressing opposition to the establishment of permanent military bases in iraq three of those bills been signed into law yet from the president we continue to get mixed messages in may the president's spokesman talked about a u s presence in iraq that looked like our presence in south korea and last month secretary gates suggested that the president was considering a long and enduring presence in iraq whatever your position on the war i don't think anyone here in this house believes that we should be in iraq for over fifty years and in case anyone needed any further convincing that pursuing a long term presence in iraq is unwise the iraq study group was unequivocal on the point of permanent bases quote the president should state that the united states does not seek permanent military bases in iraq unquote but instead of standing down when the iraqis stand up the president seems intent on putting down roots it's the wrong policy yet again the legality bill will send an important message again that the united states has no interest in permanent bases and i urge all of our colleagues to support it thank you speak the speaker and i reserve the balance of my time  six one two three four five six separate bills prohibiting or expressing opposition to the establishment of permanent military bases in iraq including three one two three which have been enacted into law by the president in fact the language contained in h r twenty nine twenty nine which is before us today is nearly identical to the language adopted under republican controlled congress and section fifteen nineteen of the john warner national defense authorization act for fiscal year two thousand seven this is the bill before us today this is the law the law says this school year two thousand and seven quote no funds appropriated pursuant to an authorization of appropriations in this act may be obligated or expended for a purpose or a purpose as follows one to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of the united states armed forces in iraq and to to exercise united states economic control of the oil resources of iraq that is law that has been passed a couple of times and now the bill before us this morning says this no funds made available by any act of congress shall be obligated or expanded for a purpose as follows one to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of united states armed forces in iraq and to to exercise united states economic control of the oil resources in iraq once twice three times we can pass it again but why are we here why are we spending valuable time mr speaker debating an issue that the congress on a bipartisan basis already has agreed to once twice three times four times five times six times the majority's attempts to score political points on a range of issues including particularly iraq policy has already paralyzed precious months of military planning and congressional business including the nine eleven bill it was only last night when the majority conferees finally agreed to incorporate into the nine eleven conference report critical language offered by the ranking member of the homeland security committee my good friend mr king of new york which would provide immunity to passengers and commuters who report suspicious activities in a post nine eleven world mr speaker passenger vigilance is essential to our nation security and alert citizenry is our first line of defense against those who may seek to do us harm yet some of our colleagues rather than supporting or encouraging such personal commitment involvement from our citizens would have preferred to leave them vulnerable to frivolous lawsuits and instead engage in debates on legislative items and policy already enacted into law and discussed once twice three times four times five times in six times however since we are having this groundhog day discussion it is important to once again note that they are no permanent united states bases overseas rather the scope and the direction and the duration of u s basing rights are determined by individual agreements and entered into with host governments throughout the world it is also important to clarify that a policy position that does not support permanent bases in iraq does not translate into either prohibition against american troop presence in iraq we could have that discussion on another bill or prohibition against the existence of any u s military installation in that country but that's not what's before us today the bill before us in its finding section cites that the iraq study group recommendations states that the president should state that the united states does not seek permanent military bases in iraq correct the bill also specifically highlights the other component of that recommendation which says if the iraqi government were to request a temporary base or bases then the united states government could consider that request as it would be in the case of any other government this legislation therefore accept the prospects of a negotiated agreement for a future relationship with the government of iraq to among other things allow u s military and security forces to operate from u s installations within iraq including through a profitable status of forces agreement that would define the legal status of u s personnel in iraq and would define the rights and responsibilities between the united states and the government of iraq furthermore this legislation before us today does not prohibit the united states from entering into the interoperability agreements that allow the united states and iraq to share common infrastructure and bases mr speaker i do not object to this legislation we've supported it before and look forward to supporting it what this legislation does is very simple it does what they rock study group and other experts have recommended that we do it makes a clear statement of policy that the united states does not intend to maintain an open ended military presence in iraq and that we will not exercise control over iraq he or al and it backs up that policy with the power of the purse and the president and his administration to this date and i mean to this date have not made a clear statement of this policy putting congress on record with this clear statement helps take the target off our troops back it supports our goals of handing over responsibility for security and public safety to iraqi forces mr speaker the perception that the united states plans to maintain a permanent military presence in iraq strengthens the insurgency and it feels the violence against our troops that is why experts ranging from former adviser to the coalition provisional authority larry diamond to the iraq study group have called on the president to make a clear statement of policy that the united states does not intend to maintain permanent military bases or an open ended military presence in iraq unfortunately the administration has refused to do that and fact there are conflicting accounts as to who will decide if we stay in iraq permanently when the president was asked that question at a press conference last october he spread any decisions on permanency in iraq will be made by the iraqi government but when secretary gates was asked is our president left up to the iraqis or do we make that decision in testimony before the senate this february secretary gates said we will make this decision more recently the administration has further muddied the waters by saying that they envision a united states military presence in iraq similar to that that we have in south korea where american troops have been stationed for more than fifty years and won't be leaving anytime soon we was soundly rejected vision of an open ended occupation as bad policy and undermined which undermines the safety of our troops and we must recognize it for what it is another recruiting posture for terrorists to those who raise objections or who want to suggest that this is only a symbolic measure or to raise a man to questions about what a permanent bases let me say this this is a serious issue and i think we should all recognize how much is at stake the question is simple do we support an endless occupation or do we oppose it we may disagree on many things about iraq but i hope that we can agree that an endless occupation is not the answer let's make that commitment that day that's put the before yielding to mr hunter i yield myself such time as i may consume if i could point out that the most recent reincarnation of this very same issue was a pastor earlier this year in this very house and i would like to read verbatim what it said i was proud to vote for it i'll vote for it again section one two two two continuation of prohibition on establishment of permanent military installations in iraq or united states control over oil resources of iraq section fifteen nineteen of the john warner national defense authorization act for fiscal year two thousand and seven public law one o nine dash three six four one two any statute two four four four is amended by inserting after this act the following and any other act for any fiscal year and with that mr speaker i'm  pleased the year to yield with the great pleasure such time as you may consume to a great american the ranking member of the armed services committee the gentleman from california mr hunter who was also voted for this measure we did pass it on our defense bill last year and very simply no american troops are permanently stationed in countries around the world by virtue of the fact that we stationed them  with the permission of the host country and the idea that we are going to to insist on a or in force unilaterally lodge american troops in iraq is is not something that is contemplated by anybody and i just say the gentle lady that we may have a time in the future we have dozens and dozens of countries around the world which on a regular basis give us permission to move our troops across their their land area we may have a time in the future for example five or ten years from now when we have to have an early warning for a missile strike from iran to israel and i know that the gentle lady wouldn't object to american forces going in and establishing an early warning station so that we could save the lives of people living in tel aviv from a from a strike similar to the to the scud strike that that saddam hussein launched in the early one nine hundred ninety s at israel we may have a time when we have to project american forces for a contingency around the world and when you do that there regardless of what country you're talking about of the dozens of countries that host us on a regular basis you go through a protocol you call up the contact the country or you receive their official permission  going through their government and that describes the parameters of the american presence that will be there how long it will be there what the usage will be whether it's an airfield or a radar station but there could be a time should iran develop weapons of mass destruction or continue on this path to develop weapons of mass destruction and at some point attack a neighbor or or prepare to attack a neighbor and it could well be in the interest of the united states for example to have early warning capability should iran want to make a strike on a country like israel when that request will be made and hopefully it will be it will be responded to affirmatively by the by the free nation of iraq so i support this legislation and i'll vote for it again as i've noted for six times but i would hope that the members would understand and realize that we use dozens and dozens of assets around the world which are all done maine is recognized a two minutes i thank the gentleman for yielding mr speaker i rise in strong support of h r twenty nine twenty nine the levy allen being a bill to ban permanent bases in iraq regardless of one's position on s military operations we can all agree on the need for the iraqi the government to succeed the perception that the united states plans a permanent presence in iraq fuels the resentment against our troops and complicates the path toward political reconciliation in iraq too many iraqis believe that we intend to stay in their country indefinitely a clear statement by congress not part of a larger bill that we do not intend a long term  permanent military presence in iraq is necessary to send a strong signal to the iraqi people and to the world it supports our goal of handing over responsibility for security and public safety to iraqi forces passage last year of prohibitions on permanent bases in iraq based on legislation i wrote with a gentlewoman from california miss lee mark perhaps perhaps the first time congress legislated to change the direction of our iraq policy in total three point no permanent base provisions have been enacted h r twenty nine twenty nine makes these permanent twice the house has rejected amendments to weaken these provisions recent statements by administration officials however are troubling the white house press secretary said recently the president envisions the united states military presence in iraq quote as we have in south korea where your america where american troops have been based for more than fifty years secretary of defense robert gates made similar comments h r twenty nine twenty nine reaffirms that the united states has a clear and consistent policy against the permanent u s military presence in iraq i urge its adoption and yield back the balance  member from california recognized one minute mr speaker today are sending a clear message that our commitment to the iraqi people will be ongoing but that our military presence will not be permanent over and over this congress and the american people have clearly called for an end of the occupation in iraq calling for bold action action to bring our troops home and return iraq to the iraqi people the actions of this administration have clearly put our troops in danger troops are sent in without adequate training without any even yet appropriate equipment and now our heroic soldiers are being returned to extended and retake p did tours of duty all of this is unacceptable and now the administration says they want to leave the troops there for future presidents the sort out the mess we say no way no more putting our troops in danger and no permanent bases show the american arises a sponsor of this important legislation to prohibit the establishment of permanent u s bases in iraq we've passed similar legislation before about a wide margin the first time was a few weeks after i questioned general abizaid in an appropriations hearing and he could not unequivocally disavow permanent bases so the house stepped in and asserted its prerogative on foreign policy by prohibiting permanent bases in iraq now my colleagues might understandably ask why are we voting on this bill again today the reason is that the bush administration continues to stubbornly reject the will of congress of the iraq study group and of the american people defense secretary gates recently stated his goal of quote a long and enduring presence in iraq president bush has stated his visions for presidents as we have in south korea where u s troops remain fifty years after an armistice that kind of rhetoric suggests that they have not yet gotten the message and it seriously damages our cause the iraqi people in the american people need colleagues to support this legislation today and to once again unequivocally state that the u s will not establish permanent bases in iraq because this administration and the world need to understand that america's misadventure in iraq must and will come to mr chairman i thank my good friend from new york i wish that those on the republican side that are about ject into this resolution would communicate to the president what asked the president what is it about the word know that you don't understand how many times do we say that there will be no military permanent military bases in iraq sure we've said it in legislation before but here as recently as june the secretary of defense elaborated on the president's statement about a long and enduring military presence in iraq somewhat to the korea model well imagine how that plays into the propaganda of our enemy no wonder  is gaining in strength and effectiveness no wonder people are believing in what they are saying because what playing into their hands what they are saying that we are there as occupiers of an oil rich arab country wait believe that we were there as liberators those who supported the war but gosh sakes don't play into al qaida strength take away this recruiting tool and this rallying cry let's pass this lee and tom and all and for their persistent leadership on this important issue that house passed a responsible to redeployment from iraq this month to get our troops out of iraq by april the question now is not whether we will redeploy our troops but when and how this resolution makes it him phatic lee clear to the iraqi people and to president bush that we do not intend to keep troops in iraq indefinitely the united states must not be seen as an occupying power otherwise our presence there will be used to recruit insurgents to keep iraq entrenched in violence and to create an even more dangerous environment for our troops this house it's true has already expressed its opposition to permanent bases but today we do it clearly with bipartisan support and send a very clear statement and i urge all of our my colleagues to listen to the will of the american people of the iraqi people and to support h mr speaker i rise in strong support of h r twenty nine twenty nine from the beginning of the president's invasion and occupation of iraq he has insisted that the united states has no intention of permanently occupying that country i think there is no better way to reassure both our friends and our adversaries that the united states does not intend to become an imperial occupier of iraq then to make clear that the us will not build permanent military bases there the american people are seeking clear assurance that their government has a plan for leaving iraq if the president fails to embrace this legislation it would only confirm for many americans that the president has no strategy for bringing our troops home and in fact intends to keep them there forever i urge my colleagues to support this bill i hope the president will listen to the american people and sign it into law thank you o'neill's back gentleman in florida continues to reserve judgment in new york to thank my good friend and colleague from the bay area barbara lee for bringing this timely legislation before us today the last thing congress and the american people want in iraq is to keep u s troops there permanently we need a rational and reasonable exit strategy yet the administration has signal it intends instead to put down roots in iraq use oil soil that is already solved with the blood of our soldiers and countless iraqis the speaker enough is enough building huge military bases in iraq to last the ages is not the answer we want to bring our servicemen and servicewomen home to nebraska and idaho  california our legislation will prohibit spending funds to establish permanent military bases in iraq and i support it wholeheartedly let me be clear this measure does not prohibit us from protecting our embassy and other vital interests and fighting terrorism it all it only ensures that our troops do not put down permanent roots the administration has drawn a parallel between our proposed sane presence in iraq and the u s obligation to south korea after the korean war this speaker we have been in south korea for more than fifty four years and i hope we won't be as long as that in iraq the korean peninsula over a half a century was vital to our security interests during the cold war but iraq is not korea it is now beyond question that our national security is being harmed not helped by our continuing that footprint in iraq as long as huge numbers of our forces are there the iraqi government we limp along failing to undertake the far reaching political and security changers desperately needed to promote lasting stability in that long suffering country and it will only anger the iraqi earlier safer more orderly exit as it really reassuring iraq is that our intention is not to have a permanent presence a little doubt i'm told by i therefore strongly support this york misspeak i would respectfully request of the gentlewoman the distinguished ranking member of the subcommittee if she would be kind enough to yield us three minutes of her time absolutely love don't you take that time now thank you thank you i'm pleased to yield us such time as you may consume to my distinguished colleague from texas a member of our foreign affairs committee judge poll who is very cognizant of public law one  generally from florida for yielding time there has been a consistent message that has been put forth by congress that we are not interested in permanent bases in iraq but that should not diminish our need to have a presence there at this time we must not jeopardize united states security interests at issue here is the definition of the word permanent no one can quite agree on what that really means this bill is similar to ones we passed earlier when we passed language in the supplemental on this topic the point is we do not ten intend to be in iraq permanently we are not interested in iraqi oil i do believe our military is stretched too thin throughout the world we literally have a u s troop presence in almost every country on the glo from military bases in germany to korea and other places in between some of those bases seem like they are permanent because we have been endos areas for so long our troops in those nations remain an issue of really another debate issue here is over permanent basing in iraq we should have installations or naval ships in an area where our troops can quickly the poit and iraq really should be no different but we never set out to occupy any nation we are not an imperial nation we do not intend to violate the sovereignty of another nation by occupying it this is always been the united states policy united states came to liberate not conquer iraq and this is our policy and a letter to want to buy one of my colleagues addressed to chairman peter pace chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general pace was asked his thoughts on the need to have u s the u s enter into and retain the ability to enter into agreed military base in rights agreements with iraq and in iraq in his response general pace stated it's the intention of the united states military to work quote closely with iraq's sovereign government to decide the terms and what foreign military forces will remain in iraq and of quote historically basing ride agreements have been a necessary part of diplomatic relations with foreign governments but they've all it has been agreed to by the united states and that other nations these agreements outline guidelines and conditions for operating american military bases and troops worldwide it is both common and responsible for the united states to enter into temporary basing agreements with other countries hosting our troops this is being done in every country hosting united states troops and the representative government of iraq should not really be an exception and we should continue to work with them on temporary basing but not permanent bice we should somehow put iraq in some type of different category than we have other allies in the world but we should make it clear that our  temporary so designating that we may have temporary base in rots is only logical in iraq but a permanent presence in iraq is not as desired and it has been the statement of this congress before so i support this legislation and  sponsor barbara lee from california as a courageous and clear voice in this congress it's interesting listening to this debate that there seems to be no disagreement about a resolution that will help build stability in iraq as others have said it will make clear that the u s is not an occupying force and it will deny al qaida a key recruiting tool it is also clear that we are not prohibiting a u s presence in the region even a u s temporary presence in iraq we have bases in other neighboring countries in the middle east and we will have an over the horizon force i'm really surprised that not only is the white house refusing to follow the law but those senior white house officials with whom i've spoken numerous times about this issue all sins all seem to agree we don't need a permanent military presence and yet stubbornly they refuse to make clear that we won't have one pass this resolution let's do the right argued and i think that people on our side of the aisle of argued that we are not in iraq in order to have permanent bases or or any other such thing american efforts in iraq have been totally based on benevolent and noble motives and i would hope that this is well understood and appreciated by the people of iraq themselves the fact is that some there is some confusion because during the public debate on one american foreign policy should be far too often we have heard in the hype of emotions and chargers even from people in this body that america is being imperialistic i mean that word imperialism has actually sprung up in several hearings that i've been at as a member of congress that is an insult to american military personnel we can honestly disagree about what's going on in iraq without having to dig you know debase the people of the united states of america by claiming we're imperialists like former empires and russia and germany etc no i think we've been benevolent from the beginning our people wanted to come in to liberate iraq from a bloody tyrant who slaughtered hundreds of thousands of his own people we came down to help the people of iraq and hopefully establish a democratic government now whether or not we succeed or not i'm not sure i would hope the majority of people in iraq appreciate that and today we are reaffirming to them we are not there to have any permanent presence i in fact will be proposing legislation this coming week which suggest d a sense of the house and i would ask the speaker of the house to be aware of this that we need to have a sense of the house resolution calling on the iraqi government to have a referendum of whether they want the american troops that are there today to begin an immediate withdrawal or whether they would like american troops to stay there until order has been restored an order is that has been brought to the people of iraq i think that if the iraqi people vote that we should have an immediate withdrawal we should go we should go but if the people of iraq decide they appreciate and want us to be there to help them fight off the radical islam assist and others who would impose their brand of dictatorship on the people of iraq well then perhaps that we should take into consideration that the rocky people want us there so i am will be proposing legislation later on in the week calling for this referendum and in the meantime let us reaffirm with this legislation that it has never been the intent of the united states of america to use iraq as a permanent base for america's military presence in that region i thank you very much for your leadership madam speaker thank you for your leadership in this and i appreciate you are an activist since i've been in this congress occupiers in in haiti in bosnia do we not have some have said on iraq have a sustained military presence in these countries did we not intervene in haiti to restore democracy and remain to prevent increased violence and fact as our distinguished speaker of whom we'll be hearing from and in just a few moments when she argued for a sustained u s deployment in bosnia  speaker pelosi said is the bosnian mission without danger and risk no with strong leadership there are always risks these risks have been minimized there are risks for peace risks for ending years of bloodshed risks for freedom we risk far more by failing to act we risk far more if we allow the tenuous peace to collapse and watch the flames of war ignite again i agreed with speaker pelosi then when she said that in december thirteenth and nine hundred ninety five and i agreed with her when she said on september nineteenth of ninety four when advocating for a sustained u s presence in haiti the speaker said setting a date certain for troop withdrawal will unnecessarily endanger both our troops on the ground and our efforts at promoting democracy in haiti and i say mr chairman mr speaker that we have no less at stake here in iraq and the bill before us as we've said before is a fine bill we support what it seeks to do because in fact it is law it is already united states law and we want to make sure that the iraqi people have the same level of of commitment that we've shown to other oppressed people throughout the world we should not ignore the consequences of a rapid withdrawal from iraq and their vitally important region of the world but like i have said this is not the issue addressed in this bill some have remarked about the greater issue of iraq in their in their discourse today but on the bill before us it is already public law we've passed it six times in the house it's been law three times and that we have no objection was the congressman tom allen david price congresswoman maxine waters have all been important in the leadership of bringing this legislation to the floor and continuing the debate on our involvement in iraq the legislation is timely and a key part of our strategy for a new direction in iraq sank you all i'm very pleased to join our distinguished colleagues are in the minority in support of this legislation yes i have had the privilege of working with m was the ranking member ross layton and others in the mr wall from mr smith all over the years on issues that relate to human rights throughout the world and i respect them for their leadership in so many arenas and has been a privilege to work with them i'm so glad they're supporting this legislation today mr speaker i think it's very important for us to measure any initiative in relationship to the war in iraq against the  what does this do to contribute to a vision for stability in the middle east whether we're talking about no permanent bases whether we're talking about redeploying our troops out of iraq change of mission  there to leave troops only for specific limited purposes this is what the generals have told us general odom for one has said any vision for stability in the middle east must begin with the redeployment of troops out of iraq so to this issue today no permanent basis yes our colleagues are correct that this has been brought before the congress before and has been passed into law but the fact is is that it may not have been heard adequately by the administration and certainly not by the people in the region and this legislation clearly signals that the united states does not seek a permanent military presence in iraq this action is necessary to clarify confusing and contradictory statements from the administration regarding our nation's long term strategic relationship with iraq in its final report the bipartisan iraq study group recommended that the united states clearly state that our nation does not seek permanent military bases in iraq or to control iraq's oil it did so to help shape quote a positive climate for diplomatic efforts which are essential to ending the u s presence in iraq and bringing greater stability to the middle east while the in this tray sion has previously indicated it would not seek permanent bases in iraq recent statements raise contradict contrary questions of ministration officials have remarked that the president envisioned a continued military presence in iraq similar to our presence in korea where u s forces have been stationed for more than fifty years mr speaker the american people have made it clear in the election that they want a new direction in iraq that brings the troops home the iraqi people and regional powers must also be reassured reassured that the united states does not seek to exploit iraq either by building permanent military facilities there or bike exercising control over its oil we can make that statement by passing this legislation overwhelmingly today as part of our strategy for a new direction in iraq and for stability in the middle east president's remarks in south carolina yesterday were visually saddening just when you think you have seen it all just when you think you have heard it all the president mentioned al qaida nearly one hundred times to justify his course of action in iraq let us remove all doubt this congress every single person here is committed to fight the war on terror but let us not risk present what the troops in iraq are doing everyone who examines the situation with the knowledge says we do not belong in a civil war in iraq so again this president's statements give great cause for grave concern and they crystallize why the congress must continue to pressure the administration to change course in iraq yet again president bush mischaracterized the facts on the ground in iraq and the latest intelligence on the real threat of international islamic terrorism and just yesterday news it's that the admin that the administration plans to continue to substantial troop presence in iraq through the summer of two thousand and nine heaven knows beyond then as the latest national intelligence estimate reveals the war in iraq has not made america safer or turned the tide against terrorism in fact while we have been tied down in iraq out qaida has been regenerated has regenerated it ability to attack the united states while enjoying safe haven in vital areas of our ally in the war on terrorism pakistan the president's iraq policy is unacceptable to the american people and to democrats in congress because it has allowed al qaida to regain its footing reinforce its numbers and refocus on another spectacular and deadly attack on the united states that is why we must change direction in iraq and  now before it is too late mr speaker america cannot afford another two years of war in iraq we have already lost more than thirty six hundred brave americans to this body conflict there can be no discussion of the situation in iraq without pausing to remember and acknowledge the sacrifice the courage and the patriotism of our men and women and their in uniform and their families who have sacrificed so much for our country we are we thank them we honor them and we think they deserve better than no plan for redeployment of the troops out of iraq we have lost four years that could have been spent bolstering homeland security strengthening counterterrorism efforts and focusing all of the resources at our disposal on tom batting the global terrorist threat today's vote can again make clear to the president and to the administration to the american people to the people in the only to the people in iraq that the american people are opposed to a permanent military presence in iraq the american people are demanding a new direction the democratic congress will go on record every day if necessary to register a judgment in opposition to the course of action that the president is taking in iraq the democratic congress will go on record every day if necessary to fight for a redeployment of our forces as a central element of a new democratic a new direction strategy for iraq i urge my colleagues to vote in overwhelming numbers for this important legislation and again i thank our colleagues congresswoman lee congresswoman for the proceedings on his motion will be pers madam speaker i move that the house suspend the rules and pass s one eight six eight a bill to extend the higher education act it clerk will report the title of the bill senate eight hundred sixty eight and to temporarily extend the programs under the higher education act of one nine hundred sixty five and for other purposes pursuant to the rules the gentleman from texas mr he materials relevant to s one eight sixty eight into the record without  a bill to extend the higher education act through october thirty first two thousand and seven this bill is very straightforward it simply extends the current programs authorized under the higher education act until october thirty first two thousand and seven giving us the time to fully consider in complete the reauthorization before us in the hundred tenth congress we're making progress we have passed a historic investment in student financial aid in the college cost reduction act we have also laid the groundwork to reauthorize the other core higher education programs looting teacher preparation developing and strengthening institutions college readiness and outreach programs including international education graduate and others we put out a call for recommendations and received over eighty five responses from individuals organizations and coalitions from across the nation we hear them loud and clear i am looking forward to working with all of my colleagues in the house to produce a strong reauthorization of the higher education act that will earn broad support i would like to thank congressman mckeon ranking member of the full committee and congressman rick keller ranking member of the subcommittee on higher education lifelong learning and competitiveness as well as our chairman george miller for working together with me to expedite this extension i respectfully urge all my colleagues to pass this legislation overwhelmingly thank you madam speaker and i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman from new york thank you madam speaker and thank you mr hanna jose for the last several years my colleagues on the education the labor committee of work to renew and indeed improve the higher education act last congress we passed h r six o nine the college access and opportunity act which made important reforms to the pell grant program the perkins loan program and provided more accountability in the area of college costs unfortunately the senate was not able to act in the legislation died this congress the house has passed reforms to address some of the problems that have arisen in the student loan industry and as passed legislation that made changes to the mandatory spending programs under the higher education act through the reconciliation process as of yesterday the senate has passed both the reconciliation bill and the higher education act reauthorization bill the latest extension of the higher education act expires on july thirty first this year today we are passing another extension through october thirty first again this year it is my hope that the house will soon renew the remaining higher education act but in the meantime congress must once again act to extend this bill which we have done so previously on several occasions with bipartisan support so today i rise in support of legislation to do so once again senate eight sixty eight the second higher education extension act of two thousand and seven will ensure that vital federal college access and student aid programs continue and i repeat continue to serve those students who depend upon them this legislation extends the higher education act for a brief time just three months at the same time saturday eight hundred sixty eight also gives congressional additional time to complete a renewal of the remaining federal higher education programs as well madam speaker i encourage my colleagues to support this bill before us today and work with us in the coming months and to complete a fundamental reforms of reform package so that we can better serve the american students pursuing a college education and madam speaker i yield back the balance of my time in town and from texas madam speaker i want to thank congressman cool from new york praise positive remarks on and one eight six eight and together we're going to ask that our colleagues join us and pass this legislation overwhelmingly with that i yield back the balance of my time the question is will the house  the gentleman from new york wri two resolved that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursuant to clause to be of rule eighteen declared the house went off into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h r thirty ninety three of making appropriations for the department of commerce and justice and science and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september thirtieth two thousand and eight and for other purposes the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one general debate shall be confined to the bill and sh not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriation after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule points of  against provisions in the bill for failure to comply with clause two of rule twenty one our way during consideration of the bill for amendment the chairman of the committee of the whole may have or a priority in recognition on the basis of whether the member offering an amendment has caused it to be printed and the portion of the congressional record designated for that purpose and clause a of rule eighteen amendment so printed shall be considered as read when the committee rises and reports detail back to the house with a recommendation that the bill to pass the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendment there to do final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions section two during consideration in the house of h r thirty ninety three pursuant to this resolution not withstanding 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 the chairman of the committee on appropriations is authorized on behalf of the committee to file a supplemental during consideration of the rule is for debate only and i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the record that objection thank you mr speaker i yield myself such time as i ma resolution five six two provides an open rule for consideration of h r thirty nine hundred three the departments of commerce just the science and related agencies appropriations act of two thousand and eight i want to thank the distinguished chairman of the committee and ranking member for reporting out a bill that does not just pay lip service but makes critical investments in our nation's communities the bill provides seven hundred twenty five million dollars for community oriented policing services more commonly known as the cops program twenty five percent above the current funding level as a former prosecutor i know how vitally important these programs are in assisting local law enforcement to hire and train law enforcement officers to participate in community policing purchase and deploy new crime fighting technologies and develop and test new innovative policing strategies the administration has proposed to modify the cops program into a new discretionary grant program but the committee has chosen instead to keep cops as a separate dedicated grant program this is a proven model for getting these grants to the communities that need them and i applaud the committee for preserving this program the bill includes three hundred three million dollars for economic development that is the e p a the administration several economic development programs including public works rants for upgrading infrastructure planning and trade adjustment assistance for communities that bear the burden of jobs outsourced to other countries additionally the legislation would direct the da to consider with favorable biased grant proposals which incorporate green technologies and strategies that would reduce energy consumption reduce harmful gas admissions and contribute to sustainability the bill provides fifty million dollars fifty two percent more than the current funding for the weed in seed program we didn't see program helps localities develop programs we don't deter crime then take the all important step that is so often left out of seeding the formally high crime areas with programs to promote neighborhood revitalization the funds will be used to carry out this mission in cities such as my home in utica new york and sponsor activity such as truancy prevention conflict resolution mentoring and job training for use at risk youths additionally the bill this resolution provides for consideration includes forty million dollars for grants technical existence and training to state and local governments to develop dedicated drug courts that subject nonviolent offenders to an integrated mix of treatment drug testing incentives and sanctions as a day as a da i quickly learned that no matter what initiatives law enforcement took to reduce the supply of drugs it never really affected the demand for drugs which never seemed to diminish and therefore created a seemingly endless market for drug dealers but when my office established the cut the county's drug court program i realized the powerful effect that the program had in helping enroll participants get control of their addiction and thereby reducing their demand for drugs the appropriation of forty million dollars for drug corps provided by h r thirty nine hundred three is thirty million more than the current level and i congratulate the committee for increasing funds for this vital and proven weapon on the war on drugs h r thirty nine three would also create incentives to fight illegal immigration it would prohibit the federal government from using any of these funds and any entity that does not participate in the basic pilot program which allows employers to verify whether potential or current employees can legally work in the united states this voluntary pilot program was created by the illegal immigration reform and responsibility hundred sixty and allows employers to verify employment status through an automated system linked to the social security administration and department of homeland security databases this legislation also includes six and a half billion dollars for national science foundation this level of funding will support the doubling of an s f budget over the next ten years and represents a true commitment to investment in basic research and development which will provide for innovation and future technologies this commitment is in porton part of the innovation agenda designed to maintain united states competitiveness h r thirty ninety three also includes over seventeen point six billion dollars for the national aeronautics and space administration nesses unique mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration scientific discovery and aeronautics research in this appropriation enables them to accomplish this mission by restoring some of the cuts made by the administration to and education portfolios at the agency this recommendation also provides for the continued efforts of nasa's moon mars goals the at calls on nasa to expand human knowledge develop and operate advanced there are not equal and spacefaring vehicles encourage commercial use of space coordinate with other u s agencies to maximize research results cooperate with other nations in research and applications and to preserve u s preeminence in a customer records of suspected foreign agents without you disha review in march the department of justice inspector general reported that the f b i agents had a numerous cases misuse national security letters without complying with either statutes or d o j guidelines governing their use this widespread abuse of secret investigatory powers undermines the very notions of liberty and freedom from tyranny upon which this nation was founded the prohibition on use of funds contained in h r thirty ninety three will ensure that such abuse does not mr speaker i've just only a handful of the important programs of which thirty eight or thirty nine three would appropriate funds my remarks of focused on criminal justice nasa funding and economic development aspects of the bill but there are many other important areas addressed in this legislation provides funding for will scientific research including several programs which study global warming and climate change that the administration attempted to eliminate the appropriations committee has approved a bill which would maintain the funding of this critical research and i once again thank them for their work and welcome chance to vote in favor of this legislation thank you and i reserve the balance of my time with new york reserve the balance of time jump from washington thank  appropriations bill product provides more than fifty three and a half billion dollars in discretionary spending for fiscal year two thousand and eight which is over six percent more than last year's an active level well i support some of the increases in this bill as outlined in the democrats budget plan puts each taxpayer on the path toward an average three thousand dollar increase in their federal tax bill this once again is another burden for the average taxpayer to bear rather than prioritizing spending and making the tough choices this bill aims to solve our nation's problems by simply spending more money this also ignores real threats to our so to our security that must be addressed to mr speaker one very serious problem that must be addressed before congress adjourns next week and that is changing current law so that our intelligence community has the tools it needs to monitor the telephone conversations of foreign terrorists physically located in foreign countries homeland security secretary michael chertoff earlier this month indicated that the united states remains vulnerable to another terrorist attack in that recent chatter levels are near those levels prior to september eleventh two thousand and one but because of our failure to respond to technical technological advances current law ties the hands of our intelligence community so significant portions of our intelligence is being missed intelligence that could prevent future attacks on our nation if we expect our intelligence community to do everything in their power under the law to protect our nation against a future attack then we must give them the resources into as they need to stay ahead of those who wish to harm us it is vital that we act immediately to modernize the foreign intelligence service at surveillance act in order to clarify that the united states no longer will be required to get a warrant to listen to terrorists who are not in the united states let me repeat that mr speaker in order to clarify change the law in order to clarify these united states no longer will be required to get a warrant to listen to terrorists who are not in the united states each minute we wait to act our intelligence community could be mice missing vital information increasing our risk of another attack on u s soil therefore mr speaker i will be asking my colleagues to defeat the previous question on the rules so that the foreign intelligence surveillance act can be immediately more clearly the safety of our nation from foreign enemies is critical and it's something that needs to be a priority and is a problem already with this congress and prior congress says but one thing that i think it's critical that we can never forget is safety doesn't begin at our borders safety is something that we need to recognize within our borders as well and this bill takes great strides in terms of ensuring that our children are safe when they go to school it puts more police officers on the street it increases funding for the d n a database to help us locate rapists and criminals who have committed crimes and locate them and bring them to justice it funds the drug corps program which is critical in terms of dealing with people who are addicted to drugs this bill takes a balanced approach to law enforcement takes a balanced approach to  speaker i'm pleased to yield as much time as you may consume to the ranking member of the rules committee mr dreier from california without objection speaker i i think my very good friend from pascoe for yielding to me and i thank him for his management this rule as well as the my new friend from new york mr r curie i have to say that i'm glad that there is bipartisan concern voiced about security and i appreciate the remarks that my friend from new york has just made mr speaker about the issue of ensuring that we provide security for our children and for anyone who possibly could face the challenge of being a victim of crime in this country the fact of the matter is i am very very supportive of the notion that mr hastings is putting forward here that we need to do everything that we can to surveillance act was put into place it was designed to deal with what today is very very antiquated technology you know i mean i remember when we had this debate before about the notion of being able to follow one single telephone line that is out there well when all we had were hard lines and one telephone line courts would get a warrant to follow that one fall in line because that's the only way people could communicate well mr speaker we all know that the world when it comes to telecommunications certainly is a heck of a lot different than it was thirty years ago twenty nine years ago in seventy eight and what is it that we're saying mr hastings is saying that in recognition of the statements that were made most recently by the secretary of homeland security mr chertoff that there is a higher level of chatter and we need to do we can to monitor it coupled with statements made by the director of national intelligence director mcconnell who's made it very very clear that we are today blind and deaf when it comes to the ability to monitor not people here in the united states mr speaker we're talking about people who are foreigners and who are trying to do us in mr hastings is simply saying that what we need to do is defeat the previous question so that we can make in order a chance for us to deal with the issue of modernization of that street decade old foreign intelligence service in fact which today hamstrings us when it comes to the need for us to try and prevent terrorists from killing americans it's just that simple and that kind of modification that kind of modernization that kind of reform is absolutely essential if we're going to have the tools necessary to successfully prosecute the war on terror and so i believe that every member democrat and republican alike who is concerned about our need to ensure that people who are overseas and want to do us in and that we cannot monitor we should be able to do just that and i think most thinking americans believe that having the capability to monitor those in iran and syria and other countries who would want to do us in that they should in fact be monitored and we should get that information now this bill itself does as my friend from pascoe has said have a number of good things in it it has some very very important items that will help us deal with  ridge california is a very important facility which has made great strides with its mars program and a wide range of other programs that they're involved in mr speaker this program also has funding for something that i believe is essential for us to realize and it's an issue that this place has debated time and time again and it's one that we're still struggling over and that is the issue of border security and the problem of illegal immigration mr speaker i'm going to be offering amendment when this bill proceeds which will allow us to actually increase the funding for what is known as a state criminal alien assistance program now one of the things we found we put this program to place in the mid one nine hundred ninety s we found that state and local governments are in fact shouldering the responsibility the financial burden of the incarceration of people who are in this country illegally and commit crimes in my county alone of los angeles the cost is one hundred and fifty million dollars a year according to my friend is the sheriff of los angeles county he said that to me repeatedly one hundred fifty million dollars a year to incarcerate people who are in this country illegally and of perpetrated crimes against our citizenry it's not the responsibility of the city of los angeles the county of los angeles or the state of california to shoulder that financial burden the protection of international borders lies with the federal government washington d c and that's why we have th program we need to secure our borders we need to take the responsibility for securing our borders and because we have not done that yet and i still i'm optimistic about our chance to do that we need to make sure that we reimburse the states and counties and cities that are in fact responsible for the financial burden today of incarceration of those people who are in this country illegally and perpetrated crimes against us and so  will be offering that amendment will be transferring monies mr speaker out of the administrative expenses of the department of commerce the department of justice and i hope that we will be able to have strong bipartisan support i will say i'm very proud  that our california delegation has in years past come together republicans and democrats working together to increase the level of funding for the state criminal assistance program last year i was proud to have offered amendments that had a fifty million dollar increase for the scap funding level that brought it to the four hundred five million dollar level where it is today and we had democrats republicans joining in support of the memo that i offered i hope very much mr speaker that once again this year we'll have democrats republicans who will join in support of the amendment that i will be offering that will have that increase in the funding level for scap so that we will be able to say to state and local governments that you are not going to be totally responsible for shouldering that burden so i think my friend freeling i want to join again in urging a no vote on the previous question so that we can make this very important amendment in order for pfizer reform and i hope that thousand and eight appropriations bill for the departments of commerce justice science and related agencies at first like to thank the distinguished chairwoman slaughter and the ranking member mr dreier and then tire rules committee for this open rule mr speaker we bring before you today a balanced appropriation bill that's responses to member m put on both sides of the aisle and reflects the legislative priorities of this congress this bill is creative in addressing problems that face our nation such as the rising crime rates that can only be addressed through additional law enforcement resources the need for scientific research and discovery to inspire our youth and maintain our competitive edge in an increasingly competitive world economy and the need for our country to understand and address the documented phenomena of global climate change in this diverse bill we have gone to great lengths to address these then many other issues and mr speaker i think the house will be pleased with the result and again i urge support for e i hope and i plead my colleagues to the support this measure i rise today to bring to the house's attention an issue dealing with changes to nasa's account structure required by h r three zero nine three and the challenges this provision will pose on nasa title three of this bill increases the number of appropriations accounts that fund nasa from three to seven and it requires conversion to this new structure and implementing this change will impose tremendous burden on nasa's accounting system and unknown cost and it's unclear what the net advantage of such a structural change what that would be the current structure were three accounts coupled with customary congressional direction containing the committee report language provides the agency unambiguous guidance were guarding spending levels of the program project and in some cases at the activity level since two thousand and one na been implementing a new software package to standardize its accounting and financial software across all eleven of its centers and at the same time nasa has been putting in place a new means of allocating overhead costs these efforts have not yet been completed and to now direct the agency to reformat its basic accounting system is especially burdensome and complex it may also foresee agency to re evaluate the manner in which it calculates overhead rates in a letter addressed to the house appropriations leadership last month on the account structure change nasa administrator mike griffin stated that it would have a severe and extensive impact upon nasa's financial system and would make maintaining nasa's ability to execute in full cost exceedingly complex h r three zero nine three also directs nasa to implement the account structure change in two thousand and eight the task that nasa says it simply cannot do in the time permitted so i strongly urge the committee leadership to reflect carefully on the concerns raised by administrator griffin and to work with nasa in the weeks ahead to reach an agreement on a budget structure that allows for greater transparency without undermining nasa's current accounting system and i like to thank the chairman and ranking member of the appropriations committee for their hard work and for the resources provided to nasa in this bill and i yield back the balance of my time gentleman yield back t the rules committee mr welch don't vermont to recognize a three minute thank you mr speaker i thank my colleague from new york thank my colleague from washington colleagues on the rules committee today the house as you know takes up the tenth of twelve appropriation measures and this bill is all about continuing to make progress in america in this congress in changing our domestic priorities there's two points about this bill i want to address first law enforcement second science law enforcement in our communities is the front line of protecting our communities it's best done locally this legislation bipartisan by the way reverses five years of cuts to local law enforcement grants at a time when we need it violent crime unfortunately is on the rise this funds our local law enforcement communities to do to do the job of building and maintaining safe community it does sound we reject the administration proposed cuts to undo funding formula that have been particularly helpful with a small state minimum the bill heavily invest in the safety and well being of americans providing a total of three point two billion dollars for state and local law enforcement efforts four hundred thirty million will go to the office of violence against women and as you know that strives to reduce the prevalence of violence committed against women one hundred million goes for the cops on the beat program something that's been a major bipartisan success over the years the second issue is science i want specifically to applaud the subcommittee for it support of the sciences in the emerging multi disciplinary field of service science that combines disciplines like computer science operations research industrial engineering business strategy and management science and science is to meet the twenty first century needs of the workforce the national side and foundation should review what is currently being done in the area of service science and explore what more can be done the work of the n s f and the national institutes of standards and technology nist is critical to fostering greater u s innovation and competitive in this in science technology engineering and math the investment in these agencies is an investment in that education in the development of the crucial multi disciplinary skills that are required to maintain our workforce and compete in the world economy it is much more of our economy is service based we must ensure that our science agencies are focused on both research and education that promotes innovation in service sectors such as education health care energy telecommunications in finance the growing service sector in my state of vermont is probably typical it provides some of our best paying jobs nearly eighty percent of our employment and last year we export did more than a half a billion dollars in services and eight thousand vermonters were employed because of foreign investment in that minutes the gentle eighty from new mexico mrs wilson who's a leader in this body on national security issues gentleman from new mexico is recognized for four minutes thank you mr speaker if the previous question is defeated today we will offer an immediate amendment to reform the foreign intelligence surveillance act the reform is very very simple doesn't affect most programs but all it does is say that you do not need a warrant to listen to foreign communications by foreigners who are in foreign countries that's all it says but it is critical that we make this change and it is critical that we make this change immediately i would say to my colleagues and to those members of are monitoring the proceedings on the floor here today and i've served in this congress for nine years i've served as a united states air force officer for seven years and on the national security council staff at the white house for two in my nine years in the congress i have never been more concerned about congress's failure to act than i am today this is absolutely critical to the country to fix and the only people that can fix it are members of the united states congress we cannot work around this wall we have to fix this law and it is squarely in our laps to fix it the leadership on both sides of the aisle and the committee on intelligence on both sides of the aisle have been briefed in detail about the problems our intelligence community is facing that we have blinded them and force them to stick their fingers in the air ears because of anomal in technology that has changed faster than we have been willing to change the law and every one of us knows that is already imperiled american lives and that this house sits here and does nothing absolutely nothing when we know that lives are at risk we must allow our intelligence agencies to monitor terrorist communications without a warrant in the united states when they're listening to foreign communications why how the heck did we get ourselves in this place in the first place in one thousand nine hundred seventy eight almost all long haul communications were over the air and for foreign intelligence collection you didn't need a warrant almost all short haul communications local calls world or a wire and you did now because the technology has changed the situation is completely reversed almost all local calls are over the air there are two hundred thirty million cell phones in this country but that's not where the foreign intelligence is now almost all long haul communications are over a wire and we are forcing our intelligence agencies to go to judges to get probable cause on some terrorists who is overseas communicating with another terrorist overseas just because the point of the wiretap is in the united states this is stupid and it is imperiling american lives the danger is very serious the director of national intelligence mr mcconnell testified in front of the senate arm services center intelligence committee recently that quote we're actually missing a significant portion of what we should be getting on quote we all remember where we were the morning of nine eleven we remember who we were with what we were wearing what we had for breakfast but i wager nobody in this room remembers where they were when the british government arrested sixteen terrorists were within forty eight hours of walking going to airliners at heathrow and blowing them up over the atlantic that happened a year ago in august within forty eight hours they were within forty eight hours and the tragedy would have been great or that on nine eleven it didn't happen and you don't remember that because  american british and pakistani intelligence detected the plot before it was carried out i have pleaded with my colleagues in the intelligence committee and with the leadership on both sides of the aisle in this house and i pray to god that we will not need another nine eleven commission after another national tragedy and they will be looking back and said why didn't the congress do something they knew and they failed to act today you have an opportunity to insist that this body act because we do know we are failing to protect this country i would urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question and to immediately consider  i think it's critical that we not forget the reason that we're here today we're here to debate a rule which is very concerned which deals with a balanced approach to making our country safer domestically to being concerned with putting more police officers on the street which increasing funding for drug court for increasing funding for science and nasa that's what we're here to do today that's why we're here to debate and i would strongly urge passage of this rule and what that i would mr speaker i would yield three minutes to the gentleman jewel of the nation space program the johnson space center serves as a key component of the southeast texas economy employing the best in the brightest minds who serve as leaders in the sciences education business and human space exploration not to mention the  they and their families play in our local communities aggressively champion the work and dedication of these hardworking americans and many benefits they bring to all of our districts in our country mr speaker when we talk about fiscal responsibility and during our best to practice good government we must be mindful of programs that are important to fund those that return more on the taxpayer dollar and are a wise investment and i can think of no better example than investing in the fi our future and the future of nasa over the years the math shows that for every dollar invested in the space program is returned exponentially in the form of new products new technologies new businesses relative to our entire federal budget nasa dollars share comes to less than one percent about six or seven tenths of a percent by comparison americans spend over forty five billion dollars a year on soft drinks nasa research and technologies have provided law enforcement with advanced equipment to detect suspicious liquids and substances protective gear for chemical analysis say for oxygen tanks for firefighters equipment to treat children's cancer improved cardiac care techniques advanced aircraft technology for safer commercial flight satellite technology to improve our understanding of the earth's climate and more accurate weather forecasting to better protect us from natural disaster so far less than a third of our national soft drink budget nasa pushes the boundaries of the final frontier creating commerce assisting with education increasing our economic competitiveness in handling health care monitoring climate change building stronger bonds with our allies and ensuring the survival of the human race so mr speaker i kindly ask my colleagues take a good look at the myriad ways nasa has benefited our great nation for me and for many of the folks who work at nasa and on that nasa matters on a day to day basis this isn't a republican or democratic issue it's a matter of keeping america at the top of the space race and continuing the unparalleled legacy of achievement that so many nasa employees and partners have achieved so i look forward to continuing to work with the committee members the conferees all my colleagues to increase nasa funding prescience the work of the rules committee and ask all of our colleagues to support this rule and i yield back the balance of my time gentleman  washington i thank you to speaker i inquired my friend from new york if he has any more speakers i have no more requests for time other than myself i'm the last speaker i have no other speakers for me thank you mr speaker with that i yield myself the balance of my time and let me let me talk about this process of defeating the previous question so we can take up the amendment regarding the feis act this does not slow down the process at all i want to repeat that mr speaker this is not slowed down the process at all it simply makes in order with the appropriate waivers to discuss the amendment that was described by mrs wilson from new mexico this is a very very serious issue it's been described by a number of people how important this is to our intelligence community and by definition it is falls into the area of  of secure so you know secure knowledge but for those that are on the committees of jurisdiction those that hear this on a regular basis we need to act on this sooner than later and we can act on it today without slowing down the process whatsoever by defeating the previous question voting no on the previous question i will be submitting an amendment that will he made an order with the appropriate waivers and we can debate the issue it sounds to me mr speaker that there is strong by some bipartisan support in order to achieve this end that has been described we have the opportunity to do it now we ought to do it before the august recess and so mr speaker i am asking my colleagues to vote no on the previous question by defeating the previous question will give members ability to vote today on the merits of changing current law to ensure our intelligence community has the tools that they need to help protect our nation from a potentially imminent terrorist attacks and with that i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the memmott and extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question and with that a you'll back the balance of my time without objection t gentleman yield back the balance of this time john from new york thank you mr speaker mr speaker the appropriations committee has presented us with a bill that will provide funding agencies related to commerce justice and science for the fiscal year two thousand and eight the bill contains a higher overall allocation than was requested by the president but with very good reason by all measures this bill will have a real tangible impact on all americans improving their daily lives in many ways it funds economic development administration we can see programs for stricter prescription drug monitoring national oceanic and atmospheric administration the national science foundation nasa the census bureau the national institute of standards and technology the minority business development agency the u s patent and trademark office and community oriented police services and i'd just like to mention in that regard  from a from a personal perspective in my community in which i live as a small police department twenty officers that as a result of the can knitty oriented police in new hartford new york they were able to get three additional police officers increase their technology significantly that's a fifteen percent increase in officers to that apartment the cops program makes our streets safer the drug corps program is a phenomenal program that this bill will continue to fund as and i would urge any of my colleagues in congress to someday sit through a drug court graduation program when they see that and they see the testimonials of the people that have finished and listen to their families talk about how devastating drug addiction has been to their family and how this program has helped them they would strongly support this bill and strongly support the drug corps program in short h r thirty nine three provides critical funding for programs that keep our streets safe our economy prosperous and allows our scientists to continue studying global warming and climate change mr speaker i strongly urge a vote of yes on the previous question and on the rule i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution those in favor say aye those opposed no the ayes have it with new york the speaker present under the rule of the a's and they are ordered member of the record their votes by electronic device pursuant to clause eight and clause nine of rule twenty this fifteen minute vote on ordering the previous question will be will be followed by five minute votes on topping the resolution suspending the rules with respect to house resolutions twenty nine twenty nine house resolution three four five and house concurrent resolution one eighty seven this will be a fifteen  in the first recorded vote of the day the house's to previous question go to procedural vote on the rule for a two thousand and eight spending bill the commerce justice and science spending bill and this is one last chance to change the the bill the rule before vote on the rule also a couple of other votes coming up a vote they debated earlier on a bill that would limit funds for establishing any sort of military installation or base in iraq about forty minutes of debate on that want to vote on that coming up that will be a five minute vote and a couple of suspension bills that they debated earlier in the week this is a fifteen minute vote procedural vote here on commerce justice and state spending just a few minutes ago over at the rayburn house office building the house judiciary committee approved a contempt citation citation against white house chief of staff josh bolten and former presidential legal counsel harriet miers that report from the associated press we covered that meeting of the judiciary committee this morning and you'll have a chance to see that again later in our program schedule writing about that particular contempt