the house of communication from the speaker the speakers were in washington d c january twenty ninth two thousand and eight i hereby appoint the honorable steve israel to act to speak pro tempore on this day sign nancy pelosi speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to the order of the house of january fourth two thousand and seven the chair will now recognize members from lists of mid by the majority minority leaders for morning hour debate the chair last night recognition between the parties with each party limited to thirty minutes in each member other than the majority minority leaders in the minority whip limited to five minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland m i thank the speaker of his recognition mr speaker today along with my colleagues from the maryland delegation i want to take this opportunity to honor the life and legacy of a beloved figure from our state who pass into god's hands on january twelfth state sen gwen britt when lived a full wonderful life she was a wife a mother a grandmother  legislator a civil rights leader and a friend but she also was an inspiration a woman of deep faith and conviction with an unshakable commitment to achieving justice equality and fairness in our nation the former gwendolen green grew up in northeast washington at a time when our nation was failing to live up to its promise of equal opportunity she knew the racial divisions that exist in this segregated city in our schools in our stores even in our parks and so in one nine hundred sixty as an eighteen year old student activist at howard university when an member to the district of columbia nonviolent action group decided to take a stand she walked into the montgomery county glen echo park then segregated and tried to climb aboard a horse on a merry go around something that all of us today would think was normal for any american particularly in a young american yet as the washington post reported the students actions as innocent and as unproductive as they seem to day sparked five days of protests and when another activists were arrested for trespassing spat upon and harassed by counter demonstrators the experience left when undeterred in fact it fortified her already strong character as well as her determination do what she knew in her mind and inner heart was right when took to heart dr king's words and i quote him make a career of humanity and you will make a greater person of yourself and a greater nation of your country and a fine a world to live in so said martin luther king junior when br took that to heart so she did make our nation a fine a place in which to live that experience in glen echo park was only the beginning of when civil rights work she left howard university to join the freedom riders who challenge jim laws in the south and in our transportation system and in one nine hundred sixty one she spent forty days in a mississippi jail for sitting in a whites only train station john lewis was one of going brits friends john lewis a hero a member of this body more people know about john lewis because of his extraordinary leadership but gwen britt was there by his s prince george's county recently said and i quote she talked about the civil rights movement if you brought it up but she was one of those people who spoke softly but carried a big stick center passing words of tribute poured forth governor martin o'malley noted i quote she was a leader long before yours in the senate how true that is the tenor governor anthony brown called her a quote principled active and fair minded voice for equality and prince george's county executive judge jack johnson said she was and i quote again one of the most honest people you ever met and on the washington post website people who knew gwen posted words of sympathy and tribute for example katie born are the executive director of the glen echo park partnership for arts and culture said some almost fifty years after the demonstration that occurred to open up glen echo those amusements to people of all colors she said this quote we plan to include her story of bravery and shepherding change in our upcoming civil rights exhibition here at the park we can now treasure her memory for the amazing story that was her life and the impact that she had on so many through her leadership not surprisingly ladies and gentlemen the house when i  brit also made an important impact in the state senate after she was elected in twenty zero two she rose to the position of deputy majority leader in twenty zero seven it became an unwavering voice for those of felt th cold chill of exclusion said carl snowdon the director of the civil rights drucker civil rights in the state attorney general's office in maryland he said this she saw others groups that has historically been locked out of the system women latinos gays and she felt all those left out had to have a place at the table close quote when britt was a woman of extraordinary character and courage and all those she touched during her sixty six years on and on this earth her beloved family her sons who spoke so eloquently at her funeral of her husband who  himself was a freedom writer who himself was a great warrior an advocate for justice in the civil rights movement the state of maryland and our nation have been enriched by her actions and her leadership her two sons travis jr and john and all of her family and many friends we will miss her dearly although we are comforted that her life and legacy will endure and that she now is at rest in god's hands when we will live as so many before in the hearts and minds of those she impressed of those she motivated of those she enriched from ohio for five minutes you mr speaker this morning when i woke up and read the clips from the cincinnati enquirer the headline said cincinnati philanthropist dies it should have read cincinnati's best friend died we lost a great friend of the arts patricia corbett when we say the name patricia corbett in cincinnati we don't have to explain who she is her name appears on buildings the university of cincinnati performing arts building the northern kentucky arts performing center music call river band in a few short months the cincinnati public school's  new performing arts center will again bear her name but it's not just the buildings that she so actively got involved in and helped build it's also what she did for the arts itself the opera the symphony the pops the ballet the mae festival all oh a deep gratitude to the financial support that this woman gave her generosity to the arts went beyond the boundaries of cincinnati in my own local town that i grew up in loveland ohio we received a patricia corbett award and now we have a stage company that has a small partial portion of the arts for our local residents to benefit from there's so many people in the newspaper today the talked about what a figure she was with the one that brought  my mind the most was a woman by the name martha winfrey of westwood who worked as an asher at music call and she conveyed the kind of kindness that patricia corbett had that we don't know about at christmas she would had envelopes to the ushers and say just be quiet with these she had the most prestigious box at music called box five and when it got crowded she'd say to martha i don't need to sit here let somebody else who sit here instead of me and she'd stand out in the hall and listen to the performance she didn't like people to know how old she was and i'm going to be kind and  tell you things my own mother never wanted anyone to know how old she was but we were blessed for many years to have patricia corbett be our gracious benefactor our it is said that over sixty five million dollars from the corbetts were given to enrich the lives of the citizens of greater cincinnati i was one of those since citizens that benefited not from just her generosity but her kindness i had the pleasure to meet her on several occasions her warm smile her gentle hand will be a lasting memory a few weeks ago we lost joni hershey another friend of the arts and now we've lost the grandon i only hope that they are in heaven enjoying the hope the harps of the angels and that they will continue to smile down on us in cincinnati i yield back the balance of my time the gentleman yield back the chair recognizes gentleman from indiana mr eyes today because the american people are tired of spending as usual here in washington d c especially when it comes to earmarking now earmarking for the uninitiated is a process in congress which has expanded greatly over the last fifteen years under republican control of congress and as we saw last year under democrat control of congress it is where members of congress often times for perfectly meritorious and honorable reasons request specific projects for their districts but the american people know that something has gone wrong with the federal budget process system and the time for earmark reform has arrived this past week and i'm i'm pleased to report mr speaker that house republicans gathered in west virginia and came together around a bipartisan challenge we called on speaker pelosi and house democrats to join us in a time out on earmarking in washington d house republicans united behind a challenge for an earmark moratorium and the establishment of a new select committee that would engage in the kind of thoughtful analysis and hearings where we could truly change the way we spend the people's money you know when when you're flying an airplane and they in the gauges start to tell you something's wrong with the engines the first thing you do mr speaker is put the airplane on the ground then you get under the hood and you figure out what's wrong we'll  have to tell you that the explosion of earmarks under republican control in the past years and the inclusion of hundreds of unexamined earmarks in last year's omnibus bill dropped in at the last minute under the color of darkness are evidence that the gauge lights are going off we need to call a timeout have a moratorium on earmarks spending here in the congress while we can come together men and women republicans and democrats and figure out how we restore public confidence in the way we spend the people's money by challenging speaker pelosi and the house majority to join in ending earmarks as usual in washington d c house republicans have thrown down the gauntlet of reform and i believe that the while i still think our side should embrace an immediate moratorium on earmarks and lead by example i applaud my colleagues for finding that common ground among republicans wherein we can challenge in a spirit of bipartisanship our colleagues to join us now i still maintain nothing short of a full moratorium followed by public hearings and reform will be sufficient to restore public confidence in congressional appropriations but you know it's as those debates have gone on it is amazing to me mr speaker to look at the morning headlines here in washington d c and show you the difference between the muncie star press and newspapers out here earmarks is page one the focus on the president's sudden severity and drawing bipartisan criticism rollcall says earmarks still roil the g o p and the politico not to be outdone repeats the exact same headline earmark debate royal's g o p ranks it is only in washington d c where one party engages in a vigorous debate about how we restore public confidence in the federal budget process that the focus then is on the debate  party that wants to bring about change because the sound of silence from the democrat majority is deafening that will republicans are having a vigorous debate and i'm still one of the people that believes that our party should even go farther that we should embrace a one year moratorium i have advocated that among my colleagues and will continue to advocate it but nevertheless it is remarkable to me that the washington press corps more interested in discussions among republicans who have arrived at a consensus challenging the governing majority to join us in an earmark moratorium than they are interested in the response of the majority the whole the reins of power mean the headlines attests to a vigorous debate among the minority and dead silence among the majority and i must tell you it does it has to be frustrating mr speaker to millions of americans who long for a congress that will put  integrity and the restoration of public confidence in the federal budget above partisan differences so i say to my my colleagues on the other side what is your response to our challenge for an immediate moratorium on all earmark spending what will speaker pelosi and house democrats decide at their conference retreat this week my hope is as a our challenge sits now on the table and is met with stark silence from the democrats that is mr speaker as your party meets as you consider how we can restore public confidence that democrats will join republicans  immediate earmark moratorium so we can put our fiscal house in order and restore public confidence gentleman's time has expired pursuant to clause twelve a of rule one the chair declares the house in recess until noon today