has what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut thank you mr speaker under rule twenty two clause seven see i hereby announce my intention to offer a motion to instruct on h r forty two ninety seven the tax reconciliation conference report the form of the motion is as follows i move that the managers on the part of the house at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the senate amendment to bill h r forty two ninety seven instructed one to agree to the following provisions of the set of the memon section four sixty one relating to the evaluation of life inventories of large integrated oil companies section four sixty two relating to the elimination of emitters ation of geological and geophysical expenditures for major integrated oil companies and section four seventy relating to modifications of the foreign tax credit rules of political to large integrated oil companies which are dual capacity motion is this follows mr george miller of california at the managers on the part of the house at the conference on on the disagreeing votes to the two houses on the senate a mammoth two bill h r twenty eight thirty be instructed to resee the provisions contained in the senate amendment regarding restrictions on funding of non qualified deferred compensation plans except that one to the maximum extent possible within the scope of the conference the managers on the part of the house shall insist that the restrictions on of the reported from conference regarding executive compensation including under non qualified plans be the same as restrictions under the bill regarding benefits for workers and retirees under qualified pension plans to the managers on the part of the on the definition of covered employees for the purpose of such provisions contained in the senate amendment include the chief executive officer of the plan of the plan sponsor and any employee of the plan sponsor who is a covered employee within the of such terms specified in the provisions contained in the senate amendment as applied to disregarding the chief executive officer to seize and any other individual who is with respect to the plan sponsor an officer or employee within  the provisions of the bill passed as passed as as passed the house relating to the treatment of non qualified deferred compensation plans when the employers defined benefit plan is in that wrist at us recognize for one minute thank you mr speaker it's business as usual for congress today democrats are being moaning the rising energy prices while republicans are looking for solutions democrats have done a lot of complaining about energy prices but when it comes to offering ideas and solutions and ways to get out of this they're noticeably silent time and time again republicans have offered solutions to our nation's energy crisis will have to build up just this week but the democrats continue to  time the democrats realize that no is not an energy policy democrats want to campaign issue republicans want a solution republicans once again are offering the american people a clear choice democrat obstruction that for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia writes one minute the gentleman is recognized for one minute thank you mr speaker mr speaker this past friday i had a wonderful opportunity to witness  firsthand america's innovative spirit in action an organization named for inspiration and recognition of science and technology first held its fifteenth annual robotics competition championship in atlanta founded in  is a world renowned organization that promotes the study and application of science math engineering and technology over the three days of competition twenty eight thousand participants from seven different countries took part quoting students from wheeler high school in my own district during the event students were immersed in an intense competitive environment where they employed innovative solutions to solve real life engineering problems in a sports like activity teamwork ingenuity flexibility  cooperation are all rewarded in a continually evolving and competitive global market americans must work to retain our time honored spirit of scientific leadership math and science are invaluable pillars of a strong education and our schools in coordination with organizations like cursed will ensure the creation of a new generation of world leaders but only if we're proactively committed for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise dress how one minute without a speaker the prophet gasoline is three dollars a gallon americans want answers and they want solutions according to the american petroleum institute the nationwide average tax on gasoline is forty five cents a gallo this is split between state and federal governments they all companies make about nine cents a gallon on gasoline so washington d c makes more of a gallon of gasoline than the all companies congress should consider suspending part of the gasoline tax for a period of time to lower gasoline prices gasoline prices are going up because opec controls fifty percent of the world's crude and is driving up the price of gasoline the u s needs to be drilling offshore now we only drill off the coast of texas louisiana nalla bama screwed out there in our gulf coast and east coast and even the sacred west coast we can't have it both ways refuse to drill offshore and have cheaper gasoline prices it's not going to work we can drill safely offshore and we need to do so to prevent being held hostage by third world countries  speaker that's just the way it is for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota arrive without objection mr speaker today i rise to thank the hardworking law enforcement that have captured an escaped child sexual predator michael benson making our family safer i commend john walsh in his program america's most wanted under eight hundred eighty eight criminal apprehension out there making sure that we are putting these credit there is behind bars but you know eight months ago we passed a child safety act it in the child safety act we have provisions that will keep our families our children safer yet it is being obstructed in the senate it is time for us to move forward pass this legislation that is so vital to our children's protection i call on action and call  before the house the following personal request leaves of absence requested for ms jackson lee of texas for today mrs jones of ohio for today mr osborne of nebraska for today in the balance of the week and mr sweeney of new york for today for what purpose does the lady from california write mr speaker i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into the following members may be permitted to address the house or five cost of california ms kaptur ohio is to manual illinois mr stoop that michigan round florida without objection what purpose does a lady from north carolina mr speaker i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into the following members may be permitted to address the house revise and extend their remarks and include their antics trying to use material mr today the fourth and may ninth without objection of the speakers announced policy of january fourth two thousand and five and under a previous order of the house the following members are recognized for five minutes to jones of north carolina without objection gentleman from kansas is recognized for five minutes those are speakers thank you very much much of what i'm about in congress is about the fight to preserve enhanced the opportunities that exist in rural  america my goal among others as a member of congress is to see that there is a future for the communities in the people who live there across my state i represent one of the most rural districts in the country and a component of that is to make certain that the citizens of those rural communities can access adequate affordable health care and we often think of health care as a hospital or a physician tonight mr speaker i rise with great concern about a development across our country and especially in rural america that's occurring in regard to the loss of community pharmacy we are beginning the process of losing that main street business and that health care provider the community pharmacist in many communities across my state and i'm sure it's true around the country that community pharmacist is struggling and the doors are beginning to close example they in kansas southeast kansas population less than a thousand people that pharmacist was closed for the last four months no other pharmacist in the community the next pharmacies thirty thirty five miles away this has an impact not only up on the hospitals and doctors in that area but clearly an impact on the community of members the patrons of that pharmacy those who rely on the health care to be delivered by that pharmacist my own father ninety years old rarely sees a doctor because if you see a doctor that doctor will tell you something's wrong with him and you don't want to know that but he relies upon his community pharmacist because he's there drinking a cup of coffee to put the blood pressure cuff on his arm and providing the advice and suggestions about a healthy life that community karma says is an important component of our business community and it's the way we deliver health care in communities across our country due to the consequences of the prescription drug bill part of our community pharmacist future is bleak and in part it's due to the lack of timeliness in the payments that are occurring the average weight in kansas is forty five to sixty days when i was an leo to kansas and march a community pharmacist in the old as a community of about nine hundred people that community pharmacists had not been reimbursed for one prescription drug bill delivered to a senior since january the first almost all pharmacists in my district and across our state have had to take out a line of credit just to stay in business i want to highlight a bill that's been reduced by the gentleman from north carolina mr jones and by the gentleman from arkansas mister bill by the gentleman from mississippi mr wicker that would require those sponsors of those drug plans to promptly pay the submitted claims it is unacceptable that a pharmacist would have to wait two months to be paid for the bills and it's unacceptable because it is wrong it's not it's not the right thing to do but it's a terrible occurrence because it would mean the demise of his his or her business in addition to that almost all pharmacists lose money on the prescriptions they fill under the medicare plan part and the sponsors those plans allow almost no negotiating room for those pharmacists and we need to again change that i would highlight a bill that i and the gentleman from north from new york mr weener have introduced the community pharmacy fairness act give independent pharmacist the freedom to band together to negotiate with drug manufacturers time is of the essence my pharmacist cody crying in st francis kansas he grew up in that town in his hometown his life goal was to return to st francis of the community pharmacist he's given us until july first and he'll make a decision whether or not he can continue the sole pharmacy in that town three kids in the school his three kids are in the school system in st francis kansas it would be a terrible thing for us to lose that community pharmacist to lose his family and to lose that man's hope for a career in his hometown that doesn't happen often enough in rural america where young man or young a young son or young daughter actually is returning home to the family community the pharmacist in the st francis area for thirty five miles we have a short period of time before we can correct this and we may say that just a handful of examples and i'm  exercised about this issue it is troublesome to me that this congress this place washington d c has become so political that we can't address issues that it's an issue is brought to the floor that we're fearful that the democrats will make an issue of it that we have come to the point nothing is done because there are political consequences to the issue even being discussed and there are challenges and problems that are created by part that need to be addressed and these issues are so important to me that it's time for us to set aside the political bickering and actually address the needs of the country it is a political place that we work and we all know that but the problem is we can't simply use politics as an excuse to do nothing it's time for us to make certain that good things occur and we cannot be responsible for the loss of a business the loss of a family the loss of three students in a classroom in rural communities across our country mr fired that we no longer delay that we bring this issue of attention to the house floor and i thank the speaker of the time mr miller of california for what purpose does the lady from california ri operations in iraq and said that they had become mission impossible mission impossible mission accomplished why was this speech important because in a single stroke reveal more about the president and his administration than all of his other speeches combined paying attention to the news you will recall on that day president bush a ban adorned in a fighter pilot suit rode shotgun in a military jet that landed on the u s s abraham lincoln aircraft carrier and a massive verrier banner declaring mission accomplished was brashly displayed in the back ground during his subsequent subsequent subsequent speech is seem like a bold ad put on by a president who wanted to be perceived as taking bold steps against our nation's enemies but nothing had actually been accomplished to that point the problem is that the quote mission in iraq wasn't accomplished three years ago and it certainly hasn't been accomplished today which makes the military jet landing and in so doing speech three years ago or short of bold it was a grandly stage political stunt pure and simple let's talk about mission accomplished for whom exactly is this mission accomplished is the mission accomplished for our troops many of whom who have returned home from iraq forever changed as a result of the physical and mental trauma they endured during years of repeated deployments to iraq one such soldier is the soldier is retired naval hospital corpsman charlie anderson who last thursday spoke at an iraq forum that i organized charly suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and now is a regional coordinator for iraq veterans against the war i  saying i was completely untrained in unprepared for what i experienced in iraq and he also told us that in seven years preceding my deployment to the middle east i had not set foot in the desert or had any training on how to fight or survive there i had fired my nine millimeter service to sell exactly one a student was detained for days by the ministry of the interior without charges being filed after nearly a week of panicking and her husband paid a ransom to have their son release they were told they had been detained because he had a beard and there was therefore was probably a terrorist the fact is three years after president bush's mission accomplished a  mired in chaos our troops are still sitting ducks they're halfway across the world and the united states is still tangled up in a quagmire of at epic proportions of the over twenty four hundred american soldiers who have been killed in iraq all but one hundred thirty nine were killed after the president's u s s abraham lincoln speech attacks against iraqis u s and coalition troops in critical infrastructure have increased by nearly twenty five percent since then according to the brookings institute the iraqi insurgency has tripled in strength since the year two thousand and three i pretty clear by now that the mission accomplished speech was just another example in a long pattern of the bush administration playing up the political theater while ignoring the facts on the ground whether they're talking about tax cuts the richest one percent of the american prescription drug coverage that doesn't work for seniors or the cost of military operations in iraq and afghanistan this is ministrations m o is to avoid revealing bad news at costs even if it means toying with the truth is like all the bad stories are cut out of the newspaper before they are there brought into the white house this is speaker let's accomplish something that will help secure america and iraq for the future and thousands of innocent lives in the process let's accomplish an end to the pain and suffering felt by the hundreds of thousands and let's end the war in iraq and bring our recognized for five minutes thank you mr speaker gasoline prices are soaring and the people are screaming and they want something done about it now one hundred dollars rebate checks to american motors won't cut it nor will mandatory mileage requirements for new vehicles taxing oil profits will only force prices higher but there are some very important things we can do immediately to help first we must reassess our foreign policy and announce some changes one of the reasons we went into iraq was to secure our oil before the iraq war or oil was less than thirty dollars per barrel today it's over seventy dollars the sooner we get out of iraq and allow the iraqis to solve their own problems the better since two thousand and two oral production in iraq has dropped fifty percent pipelines sabotage and fires are routine and we have been unable to prevent them soaring gasoline prices or a giant unintended consequence of our invasion pure and simple second we must and our obsession for a military confrontation with iran iran does not have a nuclear weapon and according to our own cia is not on the verge of attaining one for years around is not in violation of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and has a guarantee the right to enrich uranium for energy in spite of the incessant government and media propaganda to the contrary iran has never been sanctioned by the un security council yet the drumbeat rhoads louder for attacking certain sites in iran either by conventional or even nuclear means repeated resolutions by congress stirs up unnecessary animosity toward iran and create even more concern about future oil supplies from the middle east we must quickly announce we do not seek war with iran remove the economic sanctions against her and accept her offered to negotiate a diplomatic solution to the impasse an attack on iran coupled with our continued presence in iraq could high gas prices to five or six dollars per year per gallon here at home by contrast a sensible approach to iran could quickly lower oil prices by twenty dollars a barrel sir and we must remember that prices of all things go up because of inflation inflation by definition is an increase in the money supply the money supply is controlled by the federal reserve in response to the deficits congress creates when deficits are excessive as they are today the fed creates new dollars out of thin air to buy treasury bills and keeps interest rates artificially low but when new money is created out of nothing the money already in circulation loses value once this is recognized prices rise some more rapidly than others that's what we see today with the cost of energy exploding deficits due to runaway entitlement spending and the cost of dangerous militarism create pressure for the fa to inflate the money supply this contributes greatly to the higher prices we all claim to oppose if we want to do something about gas prices we should demand and vote for greatly reduced welfare and military spending a balanced budget and fewer regulations that interfere with the market development of alternative fuels we also should demand a return to sound kamandi monetary standard all subsidies and special benefits to energy companies should be ended and in the meantime that's eliminate federal gas taxes at the pump oil prices are at a level where consumers reduce consumption voluntarily the market will work if we let it but as great as the market economy is cannot overcome a foreign policy that is destined to disrupt oil supplies and threaten the world with an expanded and dangerous conflict in the middle east  the balance of my time mr paul own of new jersey for what purpose does a house for five minutes and to include extraneous material in the record miss kaptur from ohio is recognized for five minutes without objection they can mr speaker i hope the american people are paying attention to the massive oil company profits being made off of the pocketbook of our people gasoline prices have gone up sixty eight cents just since last year per gallon gasoline prices are soaring i left ohio this morning after casting my vote in the primary election gas was three dollars at the p and some of the brands were as high as three eighty five a gallon who are we making rich exxon mobil they're number one they declared a record quarterly profit of eight point four billion dollars seven percent more than they made last year meanwhile their chairman lee raymond is planning his retirement his pack which totals four hundred million dollars when all pension payoffs and stock options are included i've often asked myself what does somebody do with four hundred million dollars when is enough enough now this is the same exxon that thirteen percent to three point two nine billion just in the first quarter of this year now chevron corporation's first quarter profits soared forty nine percent to four billion dollars as the firm joined the procession of u s oil companies reporting colossal earnings meanwhile constituent after constituent in my district tells me they can no longer afford weekend family trips due to gas prices people are only filling their tanks up half way hoping prices will drop and they will not have to pay these exorbitant prices other companies like halliburton think about this we have a vice president he got a tax refund of nearly twenty two million dollars held burton is an oil servicing firm that's gotten so many no bid contracts from this government related to the war in iraq and other oil related expenditures come on can't we connect those dots can't we figure out what's going on here farmers tell me that i or fuel costs mean they're already alter a slim margin of profit is likely to disappear small businesses worry about whether or not they can impose delivery surcharges to make  higher fuel costs now all the president of the united states says listen carefully he says we have to study this he says we have to study this we have study the profit this president we need to do something the president says that these companies should really invest their money in energy projects here but keep in mind that exxon officials told the staff of the house and energy commerce committee this year that exxon doesn't intend to spend any money in this country because of slack demand for petroleum products by the year two thousand and thirty so the president appears to be some days late and a refinery short something the president could do using his presidential authority is to change the strategic petroleum reserve to a strategic fuels reserve and begin converting this country to knock on oil based fuels his agriculture bill didn't do that we put a title nine in the agriculture bill to convert quickly we can do ethanol and biodiesel right now but guess who won't sell it every one of those oil companies think about the communities you live in let's say you buy a ford taurus stephanie eighty five and you can put ethanol in the tank unless you're from minnesota or iowa where you're going to buy a fuel guess who lacks you out at the pump every single one of those companies because they want business as usual at some point we have to do what's right for the country before any single company's interest this is in the national interest not to have the economy take a nosedive again because of our dependence on imported petroleum the other body is contemplating a cute idea of a hundred dollar tax rebate to every citizen well what does that do about the price of gasoline what does that do about converting the type of fuel you put in your tank and making america energy independent again what does this do to and our presidential decreed addiction to oil from unstable regimes all it does is it transfers wealth to those very same companies  locking out the new future for america the new energy future we need to embark upon in the last century and stably we did not have the leadership to do it so profits are up again golden parachutes are being readied the industry snubs its nose at the consuming public that can't afford these prices the bush government says trust us let's just study some more that's all we need to do is study is there any reason the american people are upset they have a right to be upset we need leadership in this government no more followership mr speaker i yield back my remaining time mr kennedy minnesota is recognized for five minutes mr speaker as we well know the rising cost of gasoline is a burden on hard working family and in small businesses across the country recently the price of crude oil hits you story of seventy five dollars a barrel the average price of gasoline is now a whopping two dollars and ninety two cents a gallon and it shows no sign of dropping before the busy summer travel season well much of this is a result of increasing demand generated by our growing economy increased instability in iran and other oil producing countries congress has a duty to take action some in congress like to play politics on this issue the american people don't want cheap political games and stunts they want and deserve solutions we provided good solutions in the strong conservation and renewable energy titles of the energy bill that we passed last year had it not been for political gamesmanship these measures which languages in congress for four years after we passed in the house would already be reducing gas prices with more hybrid in e eighty five ethanol cars on the road and more biofuels to fuel them instead these policies are just being implemented now and over time i believe that last year's energy bill will help bring down the cost of energy per consumers but in the meantime we must do more last year in the house we passed  gas tax that would not only streamline the process of expanding refineries but also provide for first time a federal crime federal criminal penalty for price gouging in gasoline or diesel fuel cells additionally mr speaker we ought to stop giving tax incentives to big oil and gas producers when they're already reporting record profits that's why last year i introduced legislation with congress mark udall to redirect two point five billion in tax incentives away from the oil and gas companies and stead put it towards doubling incentives for eighty five ethanol hybrid and hydrogen vehicle production renewable fuels are the key to our energy independence and the preening drivers from the high costs of imported oil we need only look to my home state of minnesota which has been leading the nation in developing renewable fuels minnesota was the first state to require ethanol be sold in all gasoline and has been instrumental in the development of e eighty five fueling stations with over one hundred such such stations throughout the state mr speaker the proof is at the pump these policies have resulted in minnesota gas prices being amongst the lowest in the country it is common in minnesota the c e eighty five being sold for fifty cents less than regular gasoline these savings should be enjoyed nationwide which is why i'm pleased to be an original co sponsor of h r forty three fifty seven which was introduced last year by my fellow minnesotan congressman goodness this bill would require that our country adopt minnesota's model that all gasoline should contain ten percent renewable fuels we must get beyond the partisanship and obstruction that is blocking these additional measures we've not waited for a year we cannot afford to wait for four years we must act now but we also must in the meantime make sure that the high gas prices don't destroy the strong economic growth that is providing jobs for so many one of the first things we should do is a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax suspending the gas tax will produce an immediate eighteen point four cent per gallon savings for motorists when they fill up their tanks that's why i will be introducing legislation to suspend the federal gas tax throughout the summer driving season highway trust fund revenue lost from this temporary suspension would be paid back in the in the fund made whole like fixing an oversight that was allowed that has allowed some oil and gas companies to escape paying what they owe under the law to the treasury unlike any other measures we can do this now providing you need really to drivers hurting at the pump misses speaker high gas prices hurt american families and threaten our growing economy we have a duty to respond let's stop the politics and get to work i yield back the balance of my time recognized for five minutes thank you mr speaker i rise today to recognizing graduate not dear friend mr c richard vaughan a man here in north carolina for being awarded the two thousand and six distinguished citizen award from the el hickory council of boy scouts of america this prestigious honor given annually to one individual from northwestern north carolina the best exemplified the ideals of scouting through contributions to community stating country in receiving this award richard joins an impressive fraternity of past recipients including centers jesse helms and richard burr have had the honor and privilege of knowing richard for the past twelve years and can honestly say that there are very few people as deserving as of this award as he is richard is a true asset the state of north carolina in the town of man ery the driving force in his life is a strong desire to serve others and make his community a better place richard truly simple principles of boy scouting throughout his life from the time he was a young eagle scout he has served our nation as a first lieutenant united states army has remained incredibly active in community and civic affairs throughout his adult life he serves as the chairman of the board of trustees of central united methodist church in man airy as past president of the manor museum of regional history as past president of the north carolina state chapter of sigma new for joining as past vice president of the united former scoutmaster of five ninety six some on the he's also served as the chairman of the board of directors of the north carolina granite corporation chairman of riverside building supply incorporated and on the board of directors vince steel industries and united plastics corporation he also serves on the board of trustees for north carolina state university as a past member of the north a lot of board of transportation and i passed member of the board of the north ga state ports authority richard attended north carolina state university received a bachelor of science degree in nuclear engineering graduating served in the u s army ordinance core from nine hundred sixty one to nine hundred sixty four afterward he returned abound here and started working for his former scoutmaster mr of the john is clark construction company richard has thrived in his nearly forty year career john as clark and has contributed greatly to the company's impressive growth and success now richard serves as the chief executive officer of the company mr speaker richard gone has contributed greatly to his hometown his state and his country both civically and professionally richard and his lovely wife betty kaye have also been excellent role models for their children and grandchildren i commend him for his commitment to service and congratulate him for receiving the two thousand and six distinguished citizen award a year back the remainder of my time is speaker we have just received some news yesterday which i hope will sufficiently a long arm every big spender that we have in the united states house of representatives yesterday we received the annual report on the financial well being of medicare and social security from the trustees of those funds they report that the fiscal situation has again deteriorated and in fact social security will become broke and twenty forty one year sooner than expected and medicare will go broke in twenty eighteen two years sooner than expected this is not good news mr speaker but a number of us have been speaking out for weeks for months for years that we must do something in this body to change the fiscal path that we're on now today if you're a senior receiving medicare receiving so security you're going to be fine but there is this great big baby boom generation that has been paying billions and billions of dollars into the funds and soon they will be taking from the funds in the fiscal situation will deteriorate rapidly the challenge that we hand them mr speaker is that too many people in the federal city too many people and this body are focused on the next election and not the next generation now the report we received is certainly not a crisis it's not something we have to take care of today don't have to take care of it tomorrow don't have to take care of it next week but let there be no doubt about it if we want to preserve medicare and social security as we know these programs for the next generation steps must be taken to otherwise we will put our nation on a course on a fiscal path that will determine that will actually ensure that our children our grandchildren have a lower standard of living than we do