the bill pay for itself it changes the tax treatment of second homes a vacation and rental homes currently if you own a primary home and say each out when you sell the primary home you can claim if you're a married couple you claim up to a five hundred thousand dollars exclusion from capital gains from the from the gain you make on that on that sale and then if you you can move into your vacation house live there for at least two of the five years before you sell and then claim the principal residence explosion again and so what this bill does and says that well you can still do that but the only but when you sell the vacation home you can only claim that exclusion for the portion of time when you actually lived in the beach out say that calculation only applies starting january first two thousand and eight so it really doesn't affect people who have known to be tiles for a long period of time and are planning to move into it but it will affect people going forward what's the view of the mortgage industry on this bill the mortgage and the mortgage bankers association is in favor of the home builders are in favor of it and the realtors are favor of it not something that the that the democrats chairman charles rangel of the ways and means committee the main sponsor of the bill really worked on before they introduced it was to make sure that they had industry support on this and and i think that's making it easier to get to passage today the ranking republican on that committee jim mccreary wanted to make this tax law change temporary why i think the the concern that he had is that you can permanently alter the the way that the mortgage industry works based on the current situation and his concern with the really trying to deal with the the the problems that are going on in the wor of industry right now as opposed to doing something that would have that long term effect that said mr kerry said yesterday that he yelled though he may offer the the motion to recommit today to alter the bill to make it temporary that if that doesn't pass that would that it's very similar to that might be the way it starts approaching us richard rubin of congressional quarterly covering the debate on the mortgage debt relief bill in the house thanks for being with us thank you and this is the vote on that bill should be the last bit of legislative business for the week the house will be in tomorrow pro forma session only three o'clock eastern and not in on monday columbus day we should get a schedule update here following this vote from the democratic and republican leaders just a few members left to vote and house did approve legislation earlier subjecting all private contractors working in iraq and other combat zones to prosecution by u s courts meantime in baghdad an official iraqi investigation into the killing of iraqi civilians last month is recommending that blackwater usa guards face trial in iraq and that they compensate victims families that's from the associated press and also from the a p a minnesota judge has rejected larry  withdraw his guilty plea in an airport sex sting the idaho senator can appeal but it's not clear yet if he will brag of said he would resign from the senate if he couldn't clear his name you can read more about that story on our news web site capital news dot org participated in the poll the day as well thank you gentlemen you may proceed i thank the speaker for his consideration and for ease for the time and i yield to my friend from maryland the majority leader to update us on the anticipated schedule for next week i thank my friend  it's thursday of course and it's three fifteen and we're finished our business side a lot of people talk to me about that i just thought i would notice on monday next mr blunt the house will not be in session in observance of columbus day holiday on tuesday now swimming at twelve thirty pm for morning our business and two pm for legislative business with votes rolled until six thirty p m next tuesday we will consider several bills under national affordable housing trust fund act and h r twenty ninety five the federal railroad safety improvement act and h r thirty fifty six tax collection responsibility act on friday that will be no votes in the house that is a change in schedule so everybody want to note that that will mean that we won't be having no votes we have we expect to have no votes on any friday for the balance of the month i'm sure that will be well received and while we're on that topic i wonder if my good friend has any sense of an anticipated november schedule it will work in november and ideally i thank my friend for asking the question   the expectation for november is that we will be in until the sixteenth of november i don't mean straight through but we will come in usually monday night and then we will see about the fridays because we don't know what the senate is doing obviously we need to get the appropriations process and fund government the c r runs through the sixteenth of november i want to tell all members of the senate and to the  distinguished whip my friend that the speaker and i would both like to conclude the business of the first session of this congress by november sixteenth i don't want to represent that i think that is probable at this point  but that would be our desire and that is what over the next five weeks we're going to try to work towards we will not be in session either of the last two weeks of november would mean that thanksgiving week which is the week following the sixteenth awake as sunday nineteen we would not be in session and the week following that we would not be in session obviously would be my hope that we would be we would have concluded our business and would not therefore need to come back in december i don't want to make that representation however the gentleman is well familiar with it's too far out and the appropriations process is still  not as sure as i would like it to be at this point time so but the last two weeks of november we are we will not be here well i thank the gentleman for that information that's incredibly helpful as are as is the notice on the fridays this month and with that kind of notice our members have the kind of time they need and i know appreciate on both sides of the aisle to to take advantage of that time unlike you i hope we can find a way to be done by november the sixteenth but i'm very priest of knowing what will be the situation those next two weeks and november if we aren't done and in the process of getting done i'm i asked last week at a time when you can be on the floor and i'll just ask again is there any anticipation with four senate appropriation bills completed and in fact of the senate having name conferees on those four bills is there any anticipation we can go to conference or all of those bills in the near future and ideals i thank the gentleman for yielding mr o'bee and the leadership have meant it is our hope that we will in fact be able to go to conference on a number of these bills and even some discussions on some of the bills that have not yet passed we passed all twelve of our bills of course so that it is our desire to go to conference on these i can't say that when exactly that will be but i can tell you that i am in the process of discussing this with the chairman of the committee to see how quickly we can get that accomplished and that would be helpful i appreciate my  the information on that on the military quality of life bill i think we've had that the second longest and homeland build in the military quality of life bills been here about a month and that that bill has contained substantial increases for veterans and for military personnel and their families for a long time this year i think those increases amount to about eighteen million eighteen a half million dollars a day and i just advanced the thought that the sooner we can get that bill finalized a bill that all republicans in the house voted for all democrats in the house voted for they can begin to benefit from those new changes and there's no new benefits all for the bills are important but that bill i would think particularly is a bill that has an easy path to a moment when that terrans and people currently in the military would benefit from the changes in that bill and so whether it's homeland or milk military quality of life or the other two bills of sent over i'd be eager to see us move forward on those particularly on the military quality of life bill on  what i thank the gentleman for yielding we obviously i have all twelve of the appropriations bills signed they all passed with an average of two hundred eighty five votes this house there has not been less than eighty one votes for any one of the senate passed appropriation bills to date and these bills have enjoyed broad bipartisan support very frankly as you know the milk on quality of life bill is four billion dollars over what the president requested we believe and obviously the vote reflected that it is at an appropriate level to assure that our veterans and our active duty military have the medical care that was i will tell you those discussions have not indicated any movement at this point in time we hope that that will not not be the case but we want to see the milk on bill signed very frankly we want to see the labor health bill signed which provides for gr er a billion dollars more in basic biomedical health research on cancer heart lung blood and diabetes and other diseases that afflict our our citizens pell grant increases  indicating a pretty good bipartisan support on all these bills and the case has been in the sent the ones they passed that the president would and would discuss with us how we can get this process completed at levels that we can agree on not be told to do you know that i appreciate that i also appreciate the sentiment of process works better if we agree on a process rather than being told about a process and  quality for several years now whether it was health care to retirees starting a formula that ended the post civil war concurrent receipt problem we've come together and pass good legislation as i think we did this year and this is a bill that had virtual unanimity i'm not sure anybody voted against this bill and i would hope to get it done now to get all our work done and get it done in a way that we talk to each other that gets a product on  the president's desk that he can sign that we are all able to work together and get done i'd also by the way like to see that happen on the ass on the the child health insurance program bill we we believe that there is room for us in that  discussion and hope to be able to get there and i'm i'm i would tell my good friend as the whip on this side i believe whether it would been yesterday or monday or two weeks from yesterday we will sustain that veto but we want to do that in a way that either now or later gets us in that discussion so that we continue this important program so that it works best for kids who don't have access to health care know i would appreciate the observation and i appreciate the gentleman to the assertion that the veto will be sustained in this house of course as you know in the other body they have more than sufficient votes to override the  as you know there are leaders in the senate very senior leaders in the senate and in the gentleman's part eddie in the believe the president has based his veto on incorrect information and incorrect premises senator hatch and senator grassley both of whom are conservative republicans leaders in your party who believe this bill does in fact accomplish what the president said he wanted to do in in at your convention twenty zero four that he wanted to add millions of children but we're hopeful still not withstanding your representations that we can convince some of your ranks not to vote as republicans or democrats but the vote in a way that does reflect i think what all of our priorities are on the health care of our children so we understand what your representation is in your confidence level is but in this case we we hope you're in error i don't appreciate the sentiment if i'm not in error my my sense would be that we hopefully don't just waste the two weeks and began the discussions we need to get to a bill that puts the health care of kids who don't have access to insurance first on  more appropriations topic to comments this week made by chairman o b that i was interested in any more information from the gentleman on one was that we won't do any supplemental funding for our troops in afghanistan and iraq this year and i believe he may have said and potentially not next year and the other was the question then that was raised by him of having a income tax surcharge placed on people who pay the income tax to the tune of about one hundred fifty billion dollars i believe that you and others have said that surcharge will not be coming to the floor and i wonder if we have you could verify that and also any information you have about the likelihood of how we sustain our troops in the field between now and the end of the year do that exists and we've been advised that with respect to if we passed the defense appropriation bill it's our advice as we understand it from the pentagon that they will have sufficient funds through the beginning of next year  appropriations committee is was on the floor he has indicated he thinks that they will have sufficient funds if the defense appropriation bill passes it is signed by the president that passed as you know in an overwhelming vote here as well we hope to have see that bill get to the president i don't know exactly what's going to happen to in the senate will have to see that but i hope that will pass with respect to the first question there's no intention to bring a surcharge to this long that bill is going to be paid by somebody we talked about the children our children grandchildren to be paying this bill and what mr obese point was is that people are being asked to sacrifice so those who are going to iraq those families who sent people to iraq and that the rest of us really aren't paying much of a price but our grandchildren and children will pay that price and that was his point but i in answer to the gentleman's question we have no intention of bringing s at three p m tomorrow and further when the house adjourns on that day it adjourned to meet at twelve thirty p m on tuesday october ninth for morning our business was without objection thank you chair will entertain one minute request for what purpose of the gentleman from illinois right community gathered in front of a store on main street they chose to name a first baptist church an organized a mission the following year that small congregation began construction on a new place of worship as a congregation grew so that its need for animals recognize for one minute thank you mr speaker i will do my duty to god and to my country this is part of the boy scout oath when a boy scout becomes an eagle scout some members of congress have official flag flown over the capitol and these words are requested to be and the official certificate which is given to the scout along with the flag but the architect of the capitol who is in charge of such matters censors the word god in these certificates and only puts the word country in them the word god according to the architect violates his rules against religious references the architect is the caretaker of the capitol we have numerous references to god in these h halls our history is based upon a belief in god whether the architect likes it or not maybe the architect hasn't even seen the phrase in god we trust above the flag here in the house of representatives what's next is he going to sneak over here in the darkness of the night and chisel off the word god because he doesn't want that word god in the capital the first amendment right to express rick's press religious freedoms is being violated by the censor of the capitol and that's speaker the speaker i rise today to recognize the life of mohican indian chief ralph dubey a sturgeon's chief sturgis died on september thirtieth two thousand and seven in new london connecticut at the age of eighty eight a lifelong resident of connecticut chief sturgis was a renaissance man whose commitment to community and nation knew no bounds during his early life he worked for the civilian conservation corps and join the u s army intelligence division during world war two where he subsequent subsequently earned a bronze star for his outstanding service after the war chief sturgis worked tirelessly for federal recognition of the mohican tribe which finally occurred in one thousand nine hundred two because of his efforts he was elected chief for life which he faithfully worked at as an ambassador of goodwill during the extraordinary growth of sun resort and casino as a world class destination and while his passing brings sadness to the connecticut community his legacy and catch abuses will be remembered for generations to come i ask my colleagues to join with me in my constituents to honor his life and offer condolences indiana for today without objection the request are  granted what purpose of the gentleman from florida writes mr speaker i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and the special orders here too for enter into the following members be permitted to address the house revise and extend their remarks and include their in extraneous materials mr poe october eleventh for five minutes mr jones october eleventh for five minutes and mr wolf today for five minutes without  the california the speaker i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business in any special orders heretofore entered into the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes to revise and extend their mr speaker mr polk talked about this just a few minutes ago and i'd like to carry on his thinking regarding the architect of the capitol or the acting architect of the capitol there was a seventeen year old boy who was about to become an eagle scout his name was andrew la rochelle and he wanted to give a flag this flown over the capital to his grandfather who was a one of his heroes and he asked that his congressman be able to put this language into the certificate that goes along with the flag and he said this flag was flown in honor of marcello lower shell my grandfather for his dedication and love of god country and family the acting architect of the capitol if you can believe this stephen ayers took god out of that and sent the certificate back and he said there can't be a reference to god in any kind of certification like that that comes out of the capitol now just like to say to my colleagues right here we have in god we trust over the speaker's rostrum we have in god we trust on our currency we have in god we trust on our coinage we have in god we trust in the pledge of allegiance to the flag and i can't imagine anybody me wanting to take god out of a certificate for a boy scout or a explorer scout or anybody else in scouting because they want to honor their their grandfather i'd like to just tell my colleagues that the few of our founding fathers had something to say about having god in our activities and in our government patrick henry said it is when people forget god that tyrants forged their chains thomas jefferson said god who gave us life gave us liberty to read you this because it's a little longer but it's very important says it is the duty of all men in society publicly and at stated seasons to warship the supreme being the creator and preserver of the universe and no subject shall be hurt molested or restrained in his person liberty or a state for worshiping god in the manner most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience or for his religious profession or sentiments provided he does not disturb the public peace or obstruct others in their religious worship the architect or acting architect of the capitol should be removed from office post haste for doing this and anybody who tries to infringe upon the rights of american citizens to express themselves regarding god and country should be taken to task this country was founded upon the principles of believing in god in a supreme being and we're now trying to take that apart one step at a time the architect of the capitol who represents the congress the united states in this capitol has no right to tell a scout that he can't honor his grandfather by giving him a flag and a certificate that says this flag was flown in honor of marcello or lower shell my grandfather for his dedication and love of god country and family and so the as soon as i understand appoints the architect of the capitol mr president if you happen to be listening i hope you'll remove this man and replace him with somebody who really loves god's country in his fellow man and you'll back  the gentle lady from california will be reckoned for five minutes thank you mr speaker mr speaker every parent every parent or their living in the united states or in iraq wants only the best for their children they want their kids to feel safe and to have the very best of everything and every parent wants their child to get a quality education worldwide over one hundred million children do not attend school unfortunately the trends of school attendance in iraq are very discouraging according to recent unicef reports high levels of street violence and lawlessness are keeping school attendance levels particularly of girls to low levels often because families can no longer afford to keep their children in school girls are pulled out to assist their families with household work and to look after younger siblings while their brothers finish school the large refugee crisis is another impeachment to education u n h c r estimates that five hundred thousand school age iraqi children now live in neighboring countries this could put a severe strain on neighboring countries schools and their school system that is if children are even allowed to attend school while living as a refugee additionally refugee families often do not have money for tuition and refugee children may not speak the local language this summer the united nations launched a global appeal all four hundred twenty nine million dollars to get more rocky refugee children into schools this is just a band aid mr speaker on the situation and tell our iraq is stabilized and families can return to their homes we're going to have a generation of children who have lived their lives on the run without feeling safe and without an education in a nation with every rich legacy of education a nation that has produced some of the world's leading doctors architects and artists parents are watching their children denied an education this is not the future we want for american children and it is not the future we want for iraqi children iraq is of all ages deserve a safe and secure future and one that is enrich by education we know how to provide that future and it's by ending the occupation and returning sovereignty to iraq if this administration would only listen to the congress or even to the iraqi people themselves they would see that there is overwhelming support to bring our troops home this does not mean that we would end our commitment to the iraqi people in fact the american people have a long history of generosity and great humanitarian works our dedication to the children of iraq would not end with our military presence in iraq is only made less stable with an endless american occupation and our very presence appears to be inspiring even more insurgents let's do what is in the best interests of the united states and of iraq let's renu our humanitarian commitment to the iraqi people let's end this misguided occupation let's bring our troops and military contractors home i you mr speaker i rise today to take the opportunity to recognize the importance to our nation of what happened fifty years ago today on october fourth nine hundred fifty seven russia launched  one the first artificial satellite to successfully be placed in orbit around the earth on that day americans were shocked and many believe that we were no longer the technological leader of the world and on that day americans realize that like never before our homeland was threatened this was significant because the leader of the nation that launched sputnik nikita khrushchev less than a year earlier had aggressively delivered to america the now famous threat we will bury you quote unquote to many americans sputnik was a major step showing how the russians were starting to make good on their promise and it was a promise that america had to counter and nullify before it was too late the reverberations of sputnik and its launch were felt many years thereafter thankfully our nation got busy after october fourth one nine hundred fifty seven to ensure that our space program became second to none we began an aggressive effort to educate and train a new generation of engineers and technicians and we began the mercury gemini and apollo programs and ultimately of course putting neil armstrong and buzz aldrin successfully on the moon and bring them home safely since then of course we have built the most versatile and complex machine ever made by man the space shuttle and we have constructed the international space station i proud of what we have accomplished with our space program and now we are moving forward with the next step in human spaceflight the constellation program which will again carry us back to the moon and with international cooperation on to mars but we are today facing another watershed moment in the history of our space program by two thousand and ten the space shuttle is scheduled to end its over quarter century of operations while this is a sad time for many it will also allow us to continue on into the future with the constellation program unfortunately constellation is not set to begin spaceflight until two thousand and fifteen what will america's manned spaceflight program be doing to put men and women into space between twenty ten and twenty fifteen quite puzzling really we will be asking the russians the country agreed to bury us fifty years ago to launch our astronauts into orbit now i supported president bush's announce plan in two thousand and four to someday retire the space shuttle and replace it with a new safer and less expensive system to operate that could go back to the moon and on to mars but i was critical of the president at the time with his notion that we retire the shuttle in two thousand and ten and not launch the new system until two thousand and fifteen and that we rely of all places on russia to launch our astronauts into orbit yet today that is what we are planning on doing what is very troubling about our relationship with russia while we have had good cooperation with them in recent years there have been problems problems with proliferating weapons of mass destruction to rogue nations such as iran indeed this body passed the iran nonproliferation act and then we had to go back and amend it to allow our current cooperation with the russians and then of course more recently the russians have engaged in a number of behaviors that i consider to be very ominous for our future relationship with them placing a russian flag on the bottom of the arctic circle and claiming the arctic bottoms resources for russia the russians have bitterly opposed our deployment of missile defense systems to protect us against iran in  europe the russian leader president putin has claimed that it will lead to a new missile race and he has indeed threatened to specifically target european capitals is russia trying to bring back the cold war it has reinitiated it barmer per troels bombing nate patrolling our nato allies i think if you add up all of these things and their recent abrogation of the treaty on conventional forces in europe it europe which placed restrictions on conventional forces i think this does not bode well to our continued reliance on the russians in the years to develop and i need a new plan to deal with our man space flight program what must our children think when they hear news reports about the upcoming presidential race of two thousand and eight and when they hear over and over and over again how much money all the candidates are racing twenty seven million twenty million eighteen million and the n t is being raised every week in just six months of campaigning the two thousand and eight presidential candidates have already a mass more than two hundred sixty five million dollars according to the center for responsive politics some analysts predict that the eventual nominee will need to raise a half a billion dollars apiece in order to compete a half a billion dollars apiece in the last two thousand and four presidential election the candidates together raised eight hundred  eighty million five hundred thousand dollars the two thousand and eight presidential election will see the first billion dollar race in american history that's more than the gross domestic product of twenty five nations what must our children think about this out of control arms race don't they conclude only the rich have a chance that the rich control that to get ahead you have to court the rich what must our children think of our nation once founded with the high ideals of patriotism sacrifice and rebellion against the entrenched view that has now fallen so sick so sick a majority of its candidates and both parties run to wall street and hedge funds and megabuck donors and bundlers whose real motives often come to light as scandals former member shirley chisholm described herself as unbought and unbossed those of us who knew her knew she wasn't kidding when she said that it's hard to imagine a presidential candidate staying and bought under such immense pressure to raise money inevitably those candidates have to turn to the super rich or to bundlers to special interests and unsavory characters who care only about themselves and their special interest and very little about our country when we start looking under the rocks it's hard to say what we'll find foreign influence in unregulated hedge funds foreign contributions laundered through third parties cronyism taken to the nth degree almost one hundred years ago a native son of ohio warren harding won the white house he ushered in a level of corruption that was unrivaled at that time the dollar amounts being tossed around in the two thousand presidential race make it merely a matter of time before another giant scandal rocks our government and further undermines the confidence of the body politic and our very system of government we all know what's going on is wrong wrong wrong when i'm asked who i'm supporting for president i say the one who's raised the least money we should be asking ourselves what must our children think before it's too late we can act now to curb this out of control arms race i've introduced a bill h qand resolution six that reaffirms that the presence of unlimited amounts of money corrupts the political process in a fundamental manner if money equals free speech then lack of money equals lack of free speech the bill expresses the need to preserve through our constitution the integrity of a republican form of government restart public confidence in election campaigns and ensure all citizens an equal opportunity to participate in our political process i encourage my colleagues to join me in co sponsoring this legislation and for americans to pay attention and call this important issue to the attention of their representatives america needs a new revolution to take our politics back from the money handlers and telemarketers let's return the chair will remind all of our guests that there will be no actual public demonstration in this chamber john one gentleman from new jersey for what reason do you rise thank you mr speaker to address the house for five minutes the gentleman is recognized for five minutes and i thank the speaker know i've stood on this floor on several times now speaking about the negative impact that n c l b no child left behind us had on our children's education and consequently on our children's future as well tonight i'll speak continuously about that as well in the problems until n c l b are fixed i will continue to speak out against and still be until parents and educators are empowered to make the changes that will ensure and environment which schools can teach and children can learn you know more and more information is coming to light attracting more and more supporters to the belief that not only should no child left behind not be reauthorized at this time but that actually it should be completely scrapped you know yesterday in the new york times diane ravitch a professor of education and why you and a former assistant secretary of education wrote and i quote that no child left behind act of two thousand and two is fundamentally flawed and it should be overhauled not just tweaked she continued i mean quote the latest national tests released last week show that academic gains since two thousand and three have been modest and less even than those posted in years before the law went into effect in eighth grade readings there have been no gains at all since one thousand nine hundred eight the main goal of a law that all children in the u s will be proficient in reading and math by two thousand and fourteen is simply unattainable the primary strategy to test all children in those subjects and grade three through eight every year has unleashed an unhealthy obsession with standardized testing that has reduced the time available for teaching other important subjects furthermore the law completely fractures the traditional limits on federal interference  operation of local schools unquote let me repeat that last point because i believe that it is missing a missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle n c l b completely fractures the traditional limits on federal interference in the and don't mandate and he concluded that n c l b has been ineffective in achieving its intended goals and that had negative unintended consequences and it's incompatible with policies that do work and is the mercy of political process that can only worsen its prospects and is based on the premises that are fundamentally flawed using cheval several shocking statistics but luckily points out how states are lowering not raising their educational standards they're creating a race to the bottom to ensure that their schools will not be denied federal funding let me give you just a couple in two thousand and three the state of texas decreased the number of questions on their test in order for it to be approved from twenty four to twenty in michigan when fifteen hundred schools were placed on the n c l b need improvement less the state lowered the percentage of students required to pass the test in english from seventy five percent down to forty two percent the state of ohio back loaded adequate yearly progress goals aiming to increase proficiency by a mere three percent three point three percent for the first six years but then said they're going to do forty percent increase in the last six years they did this of course in hopes of meeting n c l b is unrealistic goal of having one hundred percent proficiency in math and reading in all schools and there are other studies as well with similar conclusions in two thousand and five the fordham foundation compared the state proficiency scores to nape scores with striking results the nape tests have generally been maintained at standards over the years and so it's a good barometer in the fordham study of the twenty states that have reported ga on their tests an eighth grade reading proficiency mark this only three showed any progress at even the basic level for nape that means twenty's they are saying that since no child left behind things are going better but if you compare it to nate really not only three furthermore in a new study released today by the foundation researchers notes that in at least two grades twice as many states in the u s has seen their test become easier not harder since  b was put into effect and that's my point here all the studies are showing that since n c l b went on the books states are racing to the bottom when it comes to trying to prefer to establish their test the exact opposite of what this administration tried to do i think all of us should be startled at the very least by this appropriately we should be outraged you know if washington is forcing our schools to basically lower their standards putting our children's education at risk we must act now in this house to reverse the trend and with n c l b reauthorization coming up now now is the time to do it to that end i've been dead a bill to learn act local education authority returns now i thirty one seventy seven and what it will do is very simply it would allow states to opt out of the federal n c l b system completely and at the same time allow the states to retain their funding i think to me it's very obvious the states have grown tired the washington dangly money over their heads and holding them expire and holding them accountable and i thank the speaker for allowing us to address the issue of reform that needed in the area of enfield day and talking about the learn act thank you for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california arise ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes without objection the gentleman is recognized for five minutes thank you mr speaker tonight i rise to honor a colleague ally and a dear friend on october first of this year the international brotherhood of electrical workers the union to which i proudly belong said goodbye to longtime political legislative department director rick to go rick to go who has been one of the most influential labor voices on capitol hill is a true champion for american workers not just organized workers but all workers and their families i have known and relied on his good counsel for more than ten years under brother de gaulle the i b e w has become a respected leader on policies that affect american working men and women as they try to provide for their family brother diego represents the true spirit of public service a vietnam veteran he served in the u s air force from one nine hundred sixty four to eighty eight before he came to washington brother diego was active in politics in his native texas and for the record i don't hold against him the fact that he is from texas in the one nine hundred seventy s he served three terms of the city of ingleside as a member of corpus christi i b e w local two seventy eight in one thousand sixty nine he worked for several contractors in texas as a journeyman wireman and foreman so yes he has worked with the tools brother de gaulle's greatest achievements has been his success in helping i b e w brothers and sisters get elected to public office where they work to advance policies that work for working fan and his success has been amazing more i b e w members have been elected to office than any other organization labor or otherwise and he has worked to create an office within the a f l cio to promote the election of working class brothers and sisters to local state and federal office throughout the nation i hope that effort continues to bear fruit the more that we can bring the issues of average working americans to the forefront the more we can take back the machinery of government from those who would use it to benefit the narrow interests of the wealthy few it is through the leadership of rick people and the efforts of like minded brothers and sisters across the nation that we can ensure that the american government is working for the people all people it is with great sadness that i say goodbye to rick and his wife teresa but i will remember rick's kindness his compassion and his dedication and strive to live up to those ideals in my work on the hill congratulations on your retirement rick and good luck and as the mexican saying goes may you have loved success and now the time to enjoy them and with that you'll back the balance of my time with gentle woman yields b for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise for purposes the gentleman raj is there objection without objection gentleman is recognized for five minutes thank you very much mr speaker there are certain principles that do not divide lead us by whether we're republican a democrat or an independent and that is of course the precious bill of rights and the idea that we live in a country that is so unique and so different and so many people aspire to find just a simple taste of the democracy that we enjoy and yet after nine eleven all of us gathered together realizing that if we allow the terrorists a terrorizes change our way of life they had one unfortunately we have seen a number of legislative initiatives and as a member of the homeland security committee i take no back step to securing america but i understand that our values of democracy and the protection of the bill of rights should be the anchor of this society and if we terrorize outsells by taking away our rights the terrorists have won and so i fand here to emphasize certain basic principles as we look to revi the files a long and that is of course the law that clearly intercepts undermines the fourth amendment the right to be in your home and to be protected against unreasonable search and seizure i'm delighted that you'll be hearing over the next couple of days along with a markup coming up the principles and now cia did that emphasize the protection of the values of america and so we simply believe and as i believe in joining with a number of colleagues to emphasize that we believe that we live in a dangerous world but we also should be volatile guided by principles those principles should ensure that americans do not have to be  homes when they are communicating with fellow americans we should not be suspect of our telecommunications company companies to think that they are in cahoots collaborating with our government to spy on us we realize that there is a when we talk about foreign to foreign commune cations that there is a need for surveillance and i'm here today to emphasize that we should stand and fight for the protection of the fourth amendment to protect you in your home and at the same time you can be protected against terrorists because terrorism depends upon making sure that you have the information and when you have a court that is made available under the existing files a law that was established in one nine hundred seventy eight that understands a necessity and the urgency of the law enforcement offices that offices that come to them then you should support the idea of court intervention whenever someone determines from the federal government to intervene and to listen to your communications between one american and another so i stand here today to emphasize that the court system the fight system the foreign intelligence surveillance court is an imperative to protect you as americans when your government wants to spy on you will we be safe from terrorists absolutely because part of the terrorism is to ensure that information is shared with law enforcement so that we can be in front of this issue i am looking forward to the markup i'm looking forward to an opportunity to devise legislation that preserves the preciousness of the bill of rights and the fourth amendment we cannot step back and be subjected to our own terror and that is to be frightened so much that we take the bill of rights and extinguish it i may not agree with the interpretation of the second amendment but it does exist and it is part of the bill of rights you may have a different interpretation of the first amendment but it is part of the bill of rights you may have a suspect interpretation of the fourth amendment but the language is clear you are to be protected against unreasonable search and seizure it is unreasonable to not go into a court established to do that to protect you to have a court of ject of lee look at what the urgency is and to provide that intervention to protect you all right i look forward to working with a number of colleagues on language that i've joined and written to established a perimeter as protecting us from the violation of the fourth amendment keep the files the law as it is martin eyes it ensure that the feis court that intervenes protects our rights and keep our values the values that so many of strive so hard to seek a place in the sun in this nation because they truly believe that the democracy in the liberties that we have a worth protecting worth protecting with their lives and i believe here in the united states congress we must stand in that tradition but that is the speaker i yield back the gentlewoman yields back gingrey is recognized a few minutes as the designee of the minority leader the speaker when they bought a shard guests that any displays are not allowed in the house misspeak the speaker i thank you and  i'm proud to be on the floor of the saturday and to talk about some issues that are very important to me and i think very important to most members of this body and certainly to the american public just a few minutes ago  general gentlewoman from ohio ms kaptur a very well well respected fallon member of this body did a five minute talking about the problem with the presidential election  financing i think her comments misspeak or were so compelling that indeed people or our guest in the gallery when she completed her remarks broke out in spontaneous applause maybe they they knew that they shouldn't or maybe they didn't know but but you know they were they were responding to something that they heard that they liked and certainly i can understand that and you know folks do that every now and then i almost felt like a kaptur is as well because she was speaking the truth in bringing our attention to a real problem i used to enjoy so much going around the district mr speaker talking to school children whether they  i would say to them what i'm doing right now what i am doing right now speaking to young people to try to inspire them and here to for our would i would say to them you know the great one of the great thing about our country is anybody in america can grow up to be president doesn't matter who you are or what your background anybody in this great country of the united states of america grow the president is sadly today that's probably not true  and i think that's what ms kaptur was trying to point out there's just somethin wrong in river city with all these hundreds of millions of dollars that have to be right for a candidate all in either of either party great president man or woman white or black it doesn't matter where you come from and you and your your your meager beginnings possibly but you don't have that chance because of what she was pointing out and by the way mr speaker i want to grist just for a moment speaking of young people i don't think we take enough cash to thank our young men and women our young students our pages that  work in this body and in the other body in the in the house in the senate on behalf of members of congress and usually the pages are here at the request of a member in this young man that's here on the floor tonight put these posters up for me and make sure that i've got a cup of war in case my mouth gets a little dry as we continue to speak over these next thirty to forty five minutes i think we just owed them a lot of thanks what they do is much more of course than than than these tasks and this young man it would why mr speaker is from atlanta georgia i am from the metropolitan atlanta georgia area i represent northwest georgia  he's here through congressman john lewis the dean of the georgia delegation his office and i just want to take the opportunity to thank him and all the young men and women that help us so much and don't get as much credit as should  but my purpose of this hour was to bring to my colleagues mr speaker another issue which is gotten completely out of control and yes to it it has to do w spending can on the thing that ms kaptur brought to us in regard to presidential elections and that is the issue of earmarks now the general public i think is fed up with  so called earmark abuse sometimes we euphemistically will refer to those as member initiatives some people call it don't don't like that term and they will call it pork but the situation is getting completely ad of hand and that's what i want to talk about primarily in the next thirty minutes or so mr speaker we can solve this problem we've got a robin it's not unique to the republican party it's not that just this past week got a hold up to the magazine mr speaker it's known as c q weekly this magazine comes out every week and know that it's difficult for members in the back rows of the body to  see the magazine that i'm holding up maybe the cameras can focus in on that but basically with the title of this article in there there are several articles written about the problem is play in the earmark game play in the earmark game let me reference here in just a second for a slide this poster to my left to show you what i'm talking about now what is an  earmark well an earmark is when a member of a congressional district sees a need among those six hundred seventy thousand people that he or she represents possibly  a school has a school system are candy commission or are just an individual or maybe it's a it's a head start program have brought an issue to that member mr speaker and says we have a great need congressman or congresswoman in our district you represent us we voted for you we have great confidence in you but our community has a desperate need and i want you to ask the federal government to try to help us in the funding process well when the member looks at that in decides that that is a very worthwhile project and then sort of a plaza to the to the appropriate  s that's called an earmark and it could be a very very good worthy project it could be a sewer project to help a community to redevelop to get themselves back on their   this process is ripe with the potential for abuse just like ms kept it was talking about in regard to the financing of presidential elections in that in that money first chart this first lad for just a minute its title and this is from the citizens against government waste a watchdog group thank god for watchdog groups citizens against government waste and seven this year my colleagues mr speaker in one thousand nine hundred five the total amount of member projects now this is a total amount for the house and the senate babb hundred thirty five members the total amount in one thousand ninety five was ten billion dollars you can say that that's a very small percentage of the overall world of discretionary spending or the total budget which includes of course social security and medicare and medicaid and all these entitlement spending is mandatory spending but ten billion dollars add of the discretionary amount well over these twelve years mr speaker that amount has grown until the year