to be in order the prayer will be offered by art chaplain father coffin lord god today the ancient but bold wisdom of solomon speaks to the members of congress and awakens a nation to what is happening love justice you rulers of the earth set your mind upon the lord as is your duty seek the lord with simplicity of heart for the lord is found by those who trust him without question the lord makes himself known to those who never doubt him dishonest thinking cuts people off from god and if such fools take liberties with his power the lord reveals them for what they are lord us wisdom there is no hiding from you help us to truly see who we are as individuals and as a nation both now and forever chairs exam the journal of the last days preceding announces to the house his approval thereof sure to cause one of rule one the journal stands approve the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from california the democrat leadership refuses to bring a permanent extension to a vote or intelligence community has stated unequivocally that our ability to track and spy on potential enemies has been degraded the senate passed a fair and commonsense extension to the protect america months ago and has received vocal bipartisan support in the house of representatives that's why it's particularly disappointing that the democratic leadership has failed to bring the bill to the floor they refused to do so because they know it will pass for leadership t a vote on such an important piece of legislation because they know it will pass is an insult to the bench already in this house who want to see terrorist overseas with each day our intelligence community is being told to do their job without the tools and resources we can and should provide for them this is unacceptable to keep american families at risk in conclusion god bless our troops and will never forget september the eleventh for what purpose does the gentleman from m under cost seven c rule twenty two the filing of the conference report on h r twenty four nineteen is vitiated the following two motions to instruct conferees on that measure the motion to instruct offered by the gentleman from michigan mr upton which was debated went on which further proceedings were postponed under cause eight of rule twenty and the motion to instruct offered by the gentleman from illinois mr shimkus which was debated on may eighth and on which further proceedings were by the nonprofit research organization media matters has found that military analysts secretly cultivated by the pentagon's communications apparatus appeared over four thousand five hundred times on major t v and radio networks since two thousand and two on segments covering the iraq war guantanamo bay aba grab and other foreign policy and national security issues the new york times expose this extensive coordinated campaign by the pentagon of the bush administration to end fluence the commentary of what viewers rightfully believed were independent television military analysts it's an unethical possibly illegal propaganda machine a media trojan horse designed to shape war coverage from inside the major t v and radio networks it was also apparent that the motivation of the part of many was the extraordinary access they were granted to the pentagon for their defense contractor employees one particularly disturbing example is when troops in iraq were dying because of an arise today to encourage my colleagues to support the final conference report that was just brought to this house of the food conservation and energy act of two thousand and eight as a conferee opera to support it in many hours of bipartisan negotiations to which point we reached a bill that will be good for american agriculture and it will be good for the american consumer but just bigger it is important that we have a strong agricultural industry in this country today we've already seen the implications of having other countries furnish our energy needs on a daily basis and the last thing in the world that we need to happen is to rely on other countries to feed and clothe the american people and that's reason mr speaker it is so important that we get this important piece of legislation passed sooner rather than later many producers all across america farmers and ranchers have already planted crops and i do not have any policy to operate under and so arch my colleagues when this bill comes to the floor this week to vote positively for american agriculture in the american people and i you back terms time has expired gentleman from texas recognized thank you dress house woman rising general marks without objection so order approximately two ten p m on the east coast and in less than twenty four hours the speaker of the house is an asset she is going to drop on this house floor a two hundred fifty billion dollar spending bill for the united states war against terror it has always been the policy of this nation that party labels and at the water's edge until today it has always been the policy of this house that the members of this house were given the privilege and opportunity of debiting in committee and offering amendments on legislation as important as funding a war for the survival of the american people in a war against barbarians from the dark ages this house of representatives has been shut out it's appalling it's embarrassing it's outrageous it's unacceptable for the speaker of the house and the chairman of the appropriations committee to be the only two people in this institution allowed to see the bill don't want to see in the bill all three hundred million americans have been shut out of this appropriations process to fund our soldiers to ensure their protection and survival in the field to ensure the survival of this nation this entire house of representatives need to be and involved and the country needs to know that this the house shall now move to suspensions and before the body is the first suspension pursued to cause a to rule twenty the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote of the a's an nays are ordered or on which the vote is objected to on a cause six a rule twenty record votes on postpone questions be taken after six thirty p m today to the congress of the united states i am pleased to transmit to the congress pursuant to sections one twenty three b and one twenty three d of the atomic energy act of one hundred fifty four as amended forty two u s u s c twenty one fifty three b d z act the text of a proposed agreement between the government of the united states of america and the government of the russian federation for cooperation in the field of peaceful uses for nuclear energy i am also pleased to transmit my written approval authorization and determination concerning the agreement and a nuclear proliferation assessment statement in p a s concerning the agreement which supposed agreement has been comprehensive framework for peaceful nuclear cooperation with russia based on a mutual commitment to nuclear nonproliferation it has a term of thirty years and permit for transfer of technology material equipment and components for nuclear research and nuclear power production it does not permit transfers of restricted data and permit transfers of sensitive nuclear technology sensitive nuclear facilities and major critical components of such facilities by amendment to the agreement in the event of terminations nonproliferation conditions and controls continue with respect to material and net subject to the agreement i have approved the agreement and authorized its execution and urge that the congress give a favorable consideration this transmission shall constitute a substantial submittal for proposes a better sections one twenty three b and one twenty three d of the atomic energy at my administration is prepared to begin immediately the new consultations with the senate foreign relations committee and house foreign affairs committee as provided in section one twenty three b upon completion of the thirty day continuous actions period provided for in section one twenty three be the sixty day continuous session period provided in section one twenty one twenty three d shall command signed george reserve and for other purposes pursuant to the rule the gentleman from michigan mr dingell the gentleman from texas mr barton will each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan two thousand and five and the provisions there that direct the attorney the secretary of energy to fill the reserve as expeditiously as practicable to one man one billion barrel capacity authorized by the energy policy and conservation net energy policy act of two thousand and five however also requires suspect the secretary to times broach acquisitions in a manner that does not encourage excessive costs or not appreciably affect the consumer price of petroleum products on may i wrote to president urging him to direct secretary of energy not to enter into any new contracts to phil's for during the calendar year two thousand  this regrettably is what the department of energy has proposed to do under a pro for solicitation for rodin kind of oil to be delivered between august december this year in light of the record the cost of oil and the resulting hardship for average americans business businesses farmers and the general economy i believe it would be imprudent for pro for deal we to take these barrels off the market while there's no guarantee that putting this oil out of the market rather than into sprawl will lower prices even such a modest step could potentially predict a speculative bubbles now characterizing oil markets in two thousand and six deal we suspended spilling filling sprawl during the summer driving season and that is what is appropriate for  to do now while it is in the discretion a deal we whether or not to enter into new contracts at this time the administration seems determined to forge ahead common sense would say to us not to take the zero off the market at a time of record high prices given the administration's apparent determination to pursue this course the congress must act and i support this bill i reserve the balance gentleman reserves a balance of this time the gentleman from texas  for what purpose the gentleman is right i rise in opposition the bill recognize myself for such time as i may consume gentleman's recognized mr speaker let me say it at the beginning that i speak for myself i don't necessarily speak for the house republican leadership i have asked if we had a minority position on the bill and as a thirty minutes ago we did not so i am speaking for myself as the ranking member of the committee of jurisdiction the energy and commerce committee let me say at the beginning that i think it is good to have a piece of energy energy legislation on the floor at this point in time i think the american people are fed up with high gasoline prices they're fed up with increasing imports they're fed up with rising food prices that are cars at least in part by higher energy prices so i think it's a good thing that we are beginning to debate energy legislation on the floor of the house of representatives and i think it is a good thing that the chairman of the committee with primary jurisdiction my good friend john ding is leading that debate on the on the majority sad having said that i don't think it's a good thing that we bring a bill on the strategic petroleum reserve to the floor with no process at all  chairman dingell and subcommittee chairman boucher not have spoken informally in the last two weeks about doing something on the strategic petroleum reserve and i am very open to having a full of the issue of the strategic petrol reserve i'm fully supportive of the underlying policy in this bill which is dispended taking shipments into the strategic petroleum reserve when the oil prices are at record levels i am not supportive of doing that in a way that there's absolutely no input from the minority side we've had no legislative hearing no committee hearing no market no nothing we were notified late yesterday afternoon that the bill would be on the floor this morning and as far as i can tell the bill wasn't printed until sometime this morning so one reason i'm opposed to the bill is because of process now want to talk about the substance of the bill again the strategic petroleum reserve was created in the  seventy s in response to a coordinated arab oil embargo against the united states of america when shipments of oil were suspended by the opec cartel for political reasons we created the strategic petroleum reserve and i'm sure my guess is although i wouldn't congress at that time that that john dingell who was a member of the committee i don't believe he was chairman in the seventy's probably had a  very positive influence on creating the strategic petroleum reserve it was a good idea then and it's a good idea now so that's a that's a good thing we have been filling the strategic petroleum reserve since the late companies that produce on federal lands in the federal o c s instead of giving money to the federal government to the taxpayer they give walton candorville and that right now is about sixty two thousand barrels a day so ambiguous on what happens to the we're all to continue to accrue the fact that you're not taking or oil doesn't mean that the federal government doesn't have a royalty that should be paid so one of the questions i would have is is do we receive the money which sixty two thousand barrels of oil at one hundred twenty dollars a barrel is over the life of this bill over a billion dollars what happens to that billion dollars does it just go to the general revenue does it just go to the general treasury if i were drafting the bill i would direct that some of that royalty in terms of cash go into a lie he fund for low income heating in cooling assistance i would i would direct that some of the funds go into a reserve to buy oil for the strategic petroleum reserve when oil falls below the target price in this bill which i believe is seventy five dollars a barrel i would direct that some of the funds go to an alternate energy fund those are things that we would have just discussed in committee those were the things that we would have had amendments on in those of the things that were not allowed to do because this bill is being considered under suspension as chairman english pointed out the fact that we're not going to take world team candorville and put in the strategic petroleum reserve is probably not going to affect the price much on the world market i think we would have as much impact on prices if that's our go if all the members on both sides of the aisle went down on the steps of the captain we all clapped our hands three times  then prices down prices down prices that would probably have as much impact as passing this bill would be a lot more fun to we had all get a little exercise and a big pretty good photo op  at the united congress you know you know dictating that all prices go down but it would have about the same impact that this bill does so mr speaker again i don't quarrel with the fact that we're directing to suspend shipments of the strategic petroleum reserve we need to do a lot more than that however if we really want to bring oil prices down and even in doing something on the s think we should go through committee we should have a legislative hearing we should have a markup and we should really rethink the strategy of the strategic petroleum reserve in the one nine hundred seventy s the on markets in the u s economy were significantly different than they are today and the size of the reserve the uses of the reserve are are at least subject to a real debate today and what we're getting is a bill that apparently was drafted in majority leader hoyer yours office light last night early this morning that several members of put their names on and we're on a suspension calendar that we don't we have no ability to to amend it or do about it except vote yes or no so i'm going to encourage members to vote no if we were somehow to get one hundred forty six no votes then we could have the debate and have the markup process that i've asked about and we could time gentleman from michigan to recognize the speaker i ask unanimous consent at this time that the gentleman from vermont mr welch be permitted to control the remainder of the time on the song not objection so  order mr mr speaker i have myself six times and they consume first i want to thank chairman dingell for his leadership on energy issues and for assisting in bringing this legislation to the floor for consideration by the full house i want to answer a couple of questions or observations from my friend from texas number one the revenues that would be generated from drilling on federal lands that go into the treasury and there are many uses in debates that can be had about whether that money ultimately should go into alternative energy whether it should go in a lie heap and those will all be had in due course as part of other legislation the question that we have before us today is whether or not taking a small step that in the past has been taken by this president bush by his father by president clinton that when it has been taken has proven to actually have in a direct and immediate impact on lowering the price of gas at the pump from five cents to twenty five cents a gallon all of us know we're going home every weekend and we're hearing from our constituents it doesn't matter what district we're in it doesn't matter what part of the country we're from folks are really feeling burdened by these ever escalating home energy heating bills in the in the cost of filling up their pickup truck and their car and basically the question for us is whether or not even as we have to proceed with long term debates about our future energy policy this congress is going to be willing to take a short term step that has the potential to bring down energy prices and you know we we could go out and clap but i actually think this will be more effective history tells us that in fact when we've used the strategic petroleum reserve as an asset belonging to the american people in suspended purchases and  this strategic petroleum reserve is nearly full we're talking about topping it off it's very expensive to do so now with hundred twenty six dollars per barrel oil that when we've done it in the past it's actually reduce that pump price and just two examples of what it would mean in my small state of vermont i talked to a trucker from barrie vermont they've got a company drive a lot it would put three hundred thousand dollars on his bottom line if the price of gas went down twenty five cents the school district in a rural area would be thirty thousand dollars off their bottom line if we could get the price down twenty five cents no one here is suggesting that this is an answer to our energy situation but we are suggesting and really wrecked recommendations on a bipartisan basis is that the tool that's within our reach we should use and do all we can on a short term basis even as we debate long term energy policy i reserve the balance of my time from reserves balances time gentleman from texas recognize  speaker if it's possible i'd like to enter into a took down law with this any of the three sponsors of the bill mr marquis's on the floor mr lampson is on the floor and mr welch is on the floor i'd like to ask him some questions of one of them would well my question mr speaker and this is on my time in if either of those three gentlemen would like to respond i'm not trying to be cute i'm way too old to be cute the bill is silent  how the funds the vill is silent on whether or not the money that is the equivalent cash of the royalty in canada or oil is what's done with it so my first question i'd like one of the sponsors instead of getting sixty two thousand barrels of oil a day if this bill becomes law does the general treasury get the equivalent of sixty two thousand barrels of oil times whatever the market price of oil that day is which right now is over one hundred twenty dollars a barrel what happens does is that revenue generated and does it come to the federal treasury or does the oil companies keep it that's my first question all right and when the bill my next question is the bill's effective date is upon terminations of the contracts i think the into effect until july the thirty first and it runs through december the thirty first two thousand and eight is that correct that is correct yes ok what happens after december the thirty first two thousand eight hundred well at that point we return to operations as they exist today my next question is under if this bill were to become law all does the depart does secretary of energy the secretary of interior have any discretion about accepting  candy or oil or cash equivalent or is it a flat suspension with no exceptions been it is a flat suspension a flat suspension ok i thank my good friend from massachusetts for those answers and i'm going to reserve the balance of my time gentleman reserves for what purpose does the gentleman from about it just in response to a clip a clarification from my friend from texas my understanding on the bail is we can continue to accept and will honor contracts during that forty five day period for royalty in kind this time i two minutes to the gentleman from matt neil two minutes the gentleman from massachusetts mr markey thank you gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for two minutes i thank you gentlemen very much and this is an historic debate the history is quite clear at the point at which president bush was a sworn in as president in january of two thousand and one as a renowned oil industry veteran of the price of a barrel of oil was thirty dollars today as we are now in the eighth year of the president's it is a hundred and twenty six dollars a barrel and historic are nearly a quadrupling of the price of a barrel of oil other interesting facts on the day that the president was sworn in again as president of a buck forty five a gallon the good old days when the bush administration was sworn into office today it has hit a record high of three dollars and seventy two cents on average for self serve regular so that is something else that is quite dramatically negative in terms of the impact on american consumers now here's what's happened over the years with the strategic petroleum reserve back in one thousand nine hundred one president bush's father actually deployed district teacher petroleum reserve and the price of a barrel of oil dropped thirty three percent in two thousand president clinton the boys the strategic petroleum reserve and the price of a barrel of oil went down eighteen percent in fact president bush himself deployed to strategic petroleum reserves in two thousand and five which led to a five point six percent drop in the price of a barrel of oil now this is an interesting u turn that the president has taken because what he said in two thousand and six was odd man have an additional one minute and additional when when it happened i don't recognize for an additional one and a half minute i think the gentleman what the  what the what the president said president bush said in april twenty fifth two thousand and six was obdurate the department of energy to defer filling the strategic petroleum reserve this summer so by deferring deposits until the fall will leave a little more oil on the market every little bit helps the price of a barrel of oil president bush said that in two thousand and six sixty seven dollars a barrel now here's what the president says as of april twenty ninth just two weeks ago in two thousand and eight he said in this case i have analyzed the teacher petroleum reserve issue and i don't think it would affect the price well that's a surprising change of of economic analysis by the president in just two years and and as we debate this out here on the house floor he seems to find himself in the minority  because in fact what the president has at his disposal is the ability to be able to do something about this issue as consumers get the shakedown at the pump this friday president bush is going to meet with the shakes in saudi arabia to ask for more oil and while the president sent troops to the middle east to look for weapons of mass destruction he's avoiding using a weapon of price reduction here at recognize mr shimkus for three minutes and member of the committee gentleman from illinois recognized for three minutes without objection handling charge that's why i like finally we get to talk about supply for eighteen months i've been coming to the floor to talk about the importance of bringing more supply to our economy so that prices would go down finally have and i want to thank you for making the point if you want to lower costs you've got to being bring on surprise supply fifty dollars a barrel when you're majority came into power fifty eight dollars what is it today  hundred twenty six what is it done i'm glad my friend talked about gas prices you know it wasn't george bush you promised to lower gas prices it was speaker pelosi in two thousand  two thousand second we have a plan to lower gas prices that's their quote i've said here twenty times on this board we have a plan they've got a plan all right it's not to lower gas prices is the raise gas prices what happened to again and again to thirty three when this majority came in what's it today three seventy seven now my colleague from massachusetts bring on climate change for fifty cents additional gallon for a gas tax for gas per the chairman of the commerce committee we would be paying four dollars and twenty seven cents for a gallon of gas that's not the type of change we need we need to bring on supply i thank you for finally coming to the floor and recognizing that if we being on just some gallons some barrels more supply you guys say we're going to lower prices five cents to twenty five cents well that's small to buy that buy let's bring on a million barrels of crude oil into our supply or do we get that you get billions of barrels of crude oil from kota liquid technologies right in the heartland right in southern illinois fisher trucks technology sandwiched in the world war two generations currently developed  south african oil company and my one of my personal favorites is the outer continental shelf billions of barrels of oil on the eastern seaboard on the western seaboard on the eastern gulf coast trillions of cubic feet of natural gas what's your policy let's don't go there oh yeah let's settle for a little bit of oil out of the spro and claim great victory for lowering prices when we could have billions of barrels of oil trillions of cubic feet of natural gas if we just went to the outer continental shelf if we just went to the eastern gulf if we just used coal to liquid technology bipartisan bill congressman boucher and i would like to take we are the number one coal country in the world so let's don't settle for a half step this is good we can do much better on your back need it and i think that if we keep cool heads and look for simple ways that we can reach and try to find common sense solutions to some of the problems that we face then we're going to have good solution to to those problems that we're taking one step today that's all one of hopefully many to try to curb the price of gasoline for the american consumer and invest in alternative energy research to provide for the long term energy solutions that we're going to need many of these things are going to be required for us to get the price of gasoline down to the point where we're going to be comfortable again and let's hope that we accomplish it this bill directs the president to suspend shipments to the strategic petroleum reserve for the end of the year or until prices drop below seventy five dollars a barrel however prices are straining family budgets at the pump and we know that they're driving prices up with groceries and other household goods and families are starting to rethink even summer vacations because they're and it's going to have a negative impact on so many of our communities that depend on tourism and this ripple effect well from the high price of gasoline and diesel there's going to be a touch to every family to every industry to every person every business in the united states and even around the globe we're not realizing the urgency of the situation is naive consumers need to lower prices now not later this bill provides a quick first step maybe not much but at least it's an action on the part of our congress when i first introduced similar legislation affecting the strategic petroleum reserve back in january gas was three dollars eleven cents a gallon now it's three dollars and seventy three cents a gallon it's gone of eleven cents in the last week and if the president turns a blind eye to the needs of the american people and we may see gasoline go five six or seven dollars a gallon consider this the strategic petroleum reserve has been tapped in suspended by four times by the last three presidents can you give me in a thirty thirty sec gen lute recognized for additional thirty seconds and in two thousand and we've already heard that the prices fell by one third and they stayed low suspending the spro will will put an additional seventy thousand barrels of oil on the market each day that could help reduce prices at a critical time for us and our economy this action has widespread parr's bipartisan support it was supported by a near unanimous vote in the senate this morning i got a letter a little two minutes ago from the american trucking association saying that the additional three hundred  ninety one million dollars that truckers are having to pay for diesel cannot be handled by them for long so i'm pleased that we're taking at least the first step and i'm looking forward to introducing other legislation later this week that's going to provide additional rel provide and invest in our energy independence through research and development i yield back general from texas and recognize and thank the speaker i'm going to kill myself one minute to recognize for one minute i want to just come in on  what i think is the goal of the legislation would be to lower prices for the american consumer at least i think that's what the goal is having said that sixty two thousand barrels a day and  eighty five million barrel a day all market is about one twelve hundredth of one first didn't one twelve hundred of one percent so if you assume that all markets are linear the additional sixty two thousand barrels on an eighty five million barrel per day or a market is going to lower the price perhaps two since maybe again we just go outside and clap our hands we probably have a two a two percent chance of lowering the price of oil two cents a barrel by just clapping our hands so i don't think this bill does anything except show the american people that we want to do something but we still don't know exactly what it is we can do that makes any sense and i reserve the balance among time i yield one minute to the gentleman from pennsylvania mr altmire gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute i think this lot in this congress for not taking a proactive approach to issues that we see facing the country and here's an example of something where we are working together in a bipartisan way comments from my friend from texas notwithstanding this is an issue that has bipartisan support and we can argue about how much is this going to save the american people how much is this going to take off of a gallon of gas and goldman sachs somebody that a group that knows something about the market certainly and the impact that the strategic petroleum reserve will have on the market says it could be upwards of twenty five cents a gallon that this saves now that's not a long term solution we understand that and we can have the argument about whether we should drill off the coast or drill in anwar and increase implies in other ways or build more refineries that's a long term argument what we're doing today is taking a short term approach that's going to help families today we cannot continue to do nothing this congress has to act and we're going to act today and we're going to save the american people a quarter on a gallon thank you mr speaker sometimes expired gentleman from texas recognize you must have one additional minute or two and recognized for one minute speaker that just spoke if he could show me the economic study by goldman sachs's says suspending shipments is going to lower prices twenty five cents a gallon it won't even lower prices a penny a barrel is there  working with over the last several months from places like mit who have come in and asked us to consider this legislation they're saying that historically we have seen prices drop when actions like this have been taken if we can try at least we're doing something that may put it in the right direction we have additional legislation that's going to be proposed and i would high sure hope is that it will join me join me as a co sponsor of that legislation gentleman's tim but to say that that by itself is going to lower prices twenty five cents a gallon in an eighty five million barrel a day all market is ludicrous i sure hope that there is additional legislation besides this feel good legislation and i hope it is bipartisan and i hope it is substantive and i hope it has a supply component to it it was obvious far german reserves about of his the gentleman from vermont is recognized i recognize the gentleman from colorado mr perlmutter for one minute but i'm from colorado and recognized for one minute thanks mr speaker thank you mr wel h to the gentleman from texas i don't think there could be anything simpler than deciding during this busy driving season to stop by and oil or placing oil in the strategic petroleum reserve and i i quote your senator from texas i support senator kay bailey hutchinson a month ago said i support immediate halt in the deposits of domestic crude into the s p r as we enter the busiest driving season of the year so i agree with mr ship because this is just one of many things that has to be done and we've done a number of those already we've added mileage so we have better fuel economy we've stopped we passed a law against price gouging we are pushing other sources of energy through bio mass and a whole variety of things this is going to take a lot of work across the board but this is a very simple very direct action we're taking we need to take it today this is simple it should be passed and i asked for an eyeball and was time to fire gentleman yield back the balance of his time what i want to yield two minutes to the distinguished congressman from the great state of connecticut mr shays two minutes gentleman from connecticut is recognized for two minutes i thank the gentleman very much and i just when i hear how part n some of my colleagues have gotten on the other side of it it really it astonishes me that somehow it is the president's fault the clear fact is that we better find a way to work together because in my judgment we have a challenge because we're not working together republicans or democrats we all have our fingers on this and we need to deal with it and it seems to me so clear that we need to conserve and not use so much energy to reduce our demand and we also need to increase production and it's going to be alternative fuels clearly it's going to be mining the outer slope of of the continental shel it may be in fact some nucular power it's going to be increasing production and reducing demand i think this legislation is while a drop in the bucket it is a step that we need to take but it will have minimal impact but in the end we can fight as much as we want to about this issue and we're going to fool no one there's basic laws of supply and demand that are coming into play here and we don't seem to want to address it when i boght not to mine and why are i know i'm not adding to production i'm not voting to do that for a variety of reasons because i want us to conserve more but when we conserve more then we're going to have to look at other ways to increase the supply that's so that we're not so close t bone spic ins is saying basically we consume about eighty six million barrels and we're producing just about that level and we're going to have to produce more and consume less and so i would just make this point my democratic colleagues one this congress and you're in charge and i've seen prices continue to climb it is not necessarily your fault but you have your fingers on this is much as anyone else restylane expired gentleman from vermont is recognized mr speaker i yield to the gentleman from illinois emanuel for two minutes gentleman from illinois recognized for tim's speaker picking up on what my colleague from connecticut said which is nobody says this is a panacea but all experience shows both the harvard study the department of energy studies that about twenty percent which would be twenty five dollars a barrel drop in price would occur because of this there is plenty of blame to go around nobody suggesting this is going to resolve the energy crisis is a short term alleviation of high prices that would in fact allow us to take the steps that we have not taken for twenty years and also in the last five or six years when the vice president derided conservation you acknowledge on the floor the importance of conservation it was dismissed as part of our arsenal in our energy policy when those of us we talked about investing in new elk hernot of energy wind solar thermal and thermal it was also dismissed and continues to not only be dismissed the vetoed that too is unilateral disarmament by the united states so you are right plenty of blame to go around but there are plenty of solutions to also be picked up conservation was denied as a national policy and we paid a price as a country alternative energy was denied and denied for years and issued veto threats by the present united states and we paid the price because of that policy this is a short term solution twenty five bucks which means a lot to the americans a barrel but it gives us a breathing space to do what we need to do and take care of america's energy independence now nobody's going to claim like in two thousand five when you all did pass your energy bill let me quote festering for twenty five years and denying what we should all of us should have done in washington invest in long term alternative energy it technologies that will give america its leg of independence as well as had adopted energy policy of conservation it would also say we do that thirty second economic terms recognize for additional thirty seconds thank you that is the strategy we're talking about this is the right thing to do it has been proven when we have instrumented this tool that is to stop purchasing from the strategic petroleum that in fact will be immediate reader a reduction in the prices at the pump and also at the probably a gallon also a barrel of energy that is the right thing to do but let us not mistake and every a step of the way for the last six years the president i states is easier issued veto threats or leaned on only one side of the policy and that policy was dig dig dig in fact there are ninety three hundred licenses to drill here in the united states that the energy companies are not using we have a historical record on what this would do on april twenty fifth two thousand and six president bush announced suspension of sixty seven thousand barrels a day acquisition for the s p r for the summer driving season the day before he made that announcement the price of oil was seventy dollars in one thousand since the day he made the announcement it failed to sixty seven dollars and forty three cents per barrel and the day after he made the announcement went back up to seventy one dollars and seventy one cents per barrel which was a net increase of sixty two cents a barrel so to say that this is going to lower the price based on the historical record those times was being accurate german for vermont's recognized one minute to the gentleman from massachusetts mr markey to remove from massachusetts recognized for one minute i thank the gentleman so here's where we are there's something that president bush can do right now to give re consumers at the pump as it being shaken upside down and having money shaken out of their pockets as they refill their tank president bush said in two thousand and six every little bit helps we know it's not a panacea but every little bit helps today you say i'm sorry i'm just going to go over and meet with the shakes in saudi arabia and ask them to please give us more oil that we can buy from them we should be more aggressive one stop filling it seventy thousand barrels a day to stop the boiling seventy thousand dollars a day seventy thousand barrels a day you'll see a huge change on the on the open market obama says yes recognized mr speaker i'm going to i am not have much time to have remaining general gentleman from texas has one and a half minutes remaining i'm going to you myself one minute germans recognize for one minute i want my friends on the majority side to listen because at the end of this i'm going to ask for unanimous consent request and this is language that we have shared with the majority staff i'm going to offer a unanimous consent request that at the end of the bill in fort the following section section three use  follows one fifty percent show be retained for future acquisition petroleum per products for the s p r during any period when the price will force less than seventy five dollars barrel to twenty five percent should be transferred to secretary of health and human services as an additional amount for use in carrying out the low income her g energy is energy assistance act of one thousand nine hundred one and three twenty five percent shall be available for the use by the secretary of energy to carry out alternative energy projects the secretary's already authorized by law to carry out mr speaker i would ask unanimous consent this be added to the bill and if it is i will vote for the bill chair will entertain that request from the manager of the bill mr speaker my understanding is that we can amend the bill at this stage in this this is a question for the speaker it's a unanimous consent request mr speaker in the body can work its will by unanimous consent at any time withdraw the bill i'm just asking unanimous consent to add this to the bill and we share the language with the majority saying the chair will entertain from the manager any requ not having had an opportunity to review this only hearing the recitation of it by my friend from texas not having any awareness as to whether this has been scored by the c b l as has the underlying bill i'm not prepared disposes the matter the gentleman from vermont is recognized mr speaker i'm the last speaker on our side so all reserve the balance of my time the gentleman reserves gentleman from texas is recognized the majority has no more speakers are we ready to close is that yes ok how much time do i have remaining gentleman from texas has thirty seconds for thirty seconds close i you must have the balance of the time gentleman's recognized misspeak or i want to reiterate once more i am not opposed to the generic policy of suspending shipments in the strategic petroleum reserve i am opposed to doing it with no input from the minority and absolutely no process and no alternatives made in order in order to amend the specific language which we just tried to do which wasn't allowed i do hope that this is the start of a serious effort to look at three quarters minutes for many purposes a closed case thank you very much mr speaker i want to answer a few questions that were raised by my friend from texas first of all the question is how when it's such a small amount of oil seventy thousand barrels a day can suspending purchases be have an impact on the price there are two things number one history is shown that when the federal government on behalf of the consumers of this country in the small businesses have used the strategic petroleum reserve to help alleviate market pressures it's worked and the previous speakers have recited how it happened with this president bush the prior president bush and president and so we have history as a guide that says taking this action does work second the reason it works is that one of the problems we have in the oil market is speculation and it was alleged there was legislation passed in two thousand and two by then by congress that included a loophole that allowed the deregulation of the energy futures trading market and there is enormous evidence that that has allowed hedge funds and arbitra speculators to impose a premium in the cost of each barrel of oil in the cost of a gallon of gas in the fact is if the federal government is showing particularly on a bipartisan basis that we're going to use the we have even in a short term way to protect the consumer against the speculators then that has a chastening impact on speculation and helps bring the price down third the process of friend from texas is the distinguished ranking member of that committee but this issue about the strategic petroleum reserve is well worn and in fact it's been used before as i mentioned so it's not all that complicated we're doing it only for the period of two thousand and eight respect to the wishes of the chairman the senate has passed the reid dorgan a member by ninety seven to one essentially the very same proposal we're taking with that we're considering today the bottom line is this will we take the short term actions that it's within our reach to take that have a proven capacity to help the consumer i urge a yes vote on the bill gentleman's for what purposes the gentleman from california arise mr speaker i move to spend the rules an agreed resolution h r one one three four cook report the title of the resolution house resolution eleven thirty four gentleman is recognized mr speaker for far too long the topic of mental health has been pushed aside and swept under the rug you don't see it you don't talk about it you don't hear but it connotes people are crazy however we cannot continue to ignore that mental edna's illness does not discriminate it touches all regardless of race of gender of class or of religion it is time we address this issue at the forefront honestly and openly to many of our family members of our friends our coworkers and especially our veterans and soldiers have had to suffer with mental illnesses in silence according to the u s surgeon general fifty seven million american suffer from some form of mental illness despite finding that most mental illnesses are highly treatable only one in three individuals suffering from these illnesses seek and or receive any treatment this low treatment can be attributed to the strong stigma associated with mental health issues that still pervade and persist twenty percent of our united states population suffers from a diagnos treatable mental disorder making the mental illness the leading cause of disability in our nation affecting our business as in our economy the mental health and well being of americans are critical issues that affect not only the health of  communities the quality of life and as importantly our economic stability a new report by the national institute of mental health found that serious mental illnesses cost americans at least mr speaker one hundred and ninety three balian a year in lost earnings alone our action is far overdue we have had test screenings for breast cancer for a heart attacks or strokes and a myriad of other diseases and conditions we have not yet woken up to the fact that the brain function as functions are vital to our bodies health and survival it is critical that we destocking the type of mental illness so that our children our families  veterans receive the necessary help they need to lead productive lives with support from their families and their communities is to speak or i respectfully encourage all of my colleagues to support this resolution to recognize may as mental health month we must all come together on this critical issue it is vital that we recognize a scientific banks and real findings regarding mental health and work to remove the stigma associated there wi by increasing awareness of mental health issues we can ensure that individuals have access to services including early detection and early prevention and most of all to a sou a sure parity in our medical delivery systems this will allow us to improve the lives of those suffering from mental illness and their loved ones while reversing the negative impact that mental illness has had on our economy and our families and our nation mr speaker i  actually do have my mother's side georgia roots though i myself am a native born texas and very proud of it mr speaker i rise in support of house resolution eleven thirty four acknowledging the month of may is national mental health not mental health not has been recognized by congress vote for fifty years and has continued to raise awareness in our communities and to lower the stigma associated with mental disorders like to express my gratitude to the national and community organizations in working to promote public awareness of mental health providing the proper information for families affected by mental illness your work is critical to increasing the quality of life for those with mental illnesses but also like to thank the author is of the resolution congresswoman grossman polya tano of california for her leadership in helping americans wellbeing in addressing mental disorders i would encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution with that i would ask if the congresswoman mike castle of the great state of delaware could be the rip the minority floor manager for the balance of this bill and with that mr speaker i reserve the balance of ou california for yield in time well i also want to commend her for the tremendous leadership that she continues to provide on the this critical issue of mental health mental illness and so i'm pleased to join with her in support of eleven thirty four recognized in an egg knowledge and mental health awareness month due in the month of may i agree with the representative in the pilot and that mental health is one of the major health issues facing our society and yet it does not get the kind of attention that it needs and deserves when we think of all of the individuals who suffer from substance abuse all of the individuals who find themselves perplexed and not quite knowing how to navigate the society in which we live and when we consider fact that we have not reached the point of provide in parity consideration not parity treatment for mental illness it's appropriate that we recognize maybe as mental significant and i would encourage the support of all the members here and i reserve the balance of our term measures a balance of this time gentlewoman from california to recognize thank you mr speaker and i really am grateful to my colleagues on the other side for their support this is been a bipartisan effort both with representative murphy myself and the members of the mental health caucus it has been quite important for us to continue working in airing the issue for th nation's ability to be able to understand that we need to have more focus on how mental health affects our daily lives our children in school our seniors a mental health depression our veterans our soldiers in war after several deployments all of those are part that parts of the whole that we need to an understand affect our life the army recently issue memorandum to train the chain of command of mental health issues they're encouraging their mid service members to talk to their commanders on these issues openly and without fear of retribution in certain areas where they have already been deployed  parity was passed in february here in the house it's a good first step and must be signed into law and it will help not only the families but business as well mr speaker i can't tell you how much i appreciate the time my colleagues to put into all the co sponsors it's an issue that is very pervasive and we need to encourage more effort into it not only in funding for research but also in assistance to be able to render services so that individuals who suffer from these illnesses can provide can continue a good productive life and i reserve the balance of my time i have no other speakers mr speaker gentlemen reserves a balance of a time gentleman from delaware is recognize what purposes a gentlewoman from florida ross i'm outta this is spin the rules and agree to the resolution h r eleven seventy six supporting the goal of an idea of the national train day great report the title of the resolution house resolution eleven seventy six resolution supporting the goals and ideals of national train day each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida thank you mr speaker and is that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on h r eleven seventy six w paris two hundred mouse one hour in fifteen minutes and from barcelona to madrid three hundred mouse two hours and a hair and the advantage for travelers and for business are tremendous we need to catch radishes and revenues have never been stronger in two thousand and seven and set a new record for radishes exiting twenty five point eight million passengers and in the same year ticket revenue increased by eleven percent and more than one point five billion for my state of florida amtrak experience jurors for goods and services in the state nearly forty million last year and amtrak currently employed over seven hundred florida residents i have traveled all over the country and have conducted minute transportation roundtable events that teacher rail and its importance and let me say that the people i talk to love  is a great way to commute to work take cost out of a congested highway improve the i'm in and many areas of the country it is the only and i want to repeat it is the only means of public transportation available now what i can't understand is why the bush administration again in the midst of the sharp increase in gas prices continue in an effort to destroy past milroy in this country every industrialized country in the world is investing heavily in re infrastructure because they realize that this is the future of transportation but apparently as their system get bigger and better this them get less spent nearly a trillion dollars in iraq it continues to decrease their request for an for a this year their own of request was eight hundred million dollars well that's an improvement this is now the perfect example of how out of touch this administration is because i can assure the president there is a whole lot more support for answer right in this country than it is for the war in iraq unfortunately there is a lot of mis information about amtrak and it is important for people to know the facts run ship numbers and ticket revenue are at a record level outstanding debt have been reduced by six hundred million over the past six years and many major infrastructure projects have been completed and this have been and she with a workforce that have been reduced by over four thousand employees we still have a lot of work ahead of us when it comes to andrei and it took a major step forward last week when we in a deuce legislation we are at the rise and at a level that would allow it to grow and prosperous the legislation developed by chairman of require a plan to restore service to the sunset limited one of my top priorities major infrastructure improvement are also necessary to improve this safety and security of the system and its passengers and workers and tracks have and will continue to play a critical role in evacuation and transport and citizens doing national emergencies unfortunately it is also a prime target for those who wish to harm us and we must without resources to make this system less vulnerable fifty years ago president eisenhower created a national highway system that changed the way we travel in this country today we need to do the this resolution recognizing national try and the ceremonial golden spike hammered on may tenth eight hundred sixty nine marked the completion of one of this nation's greatest engineering masterpieces and marked the birth of what would become the greatest rail network in the world the united states now has one hundred forty thousand miles of railroads making up the transportation back backbone of this nation these railroads are environmentally friendly producing significantly less pollution than completing competing modes of trance it in fact are trying to call can one ton of fright four hundred thirty six miles on one gallon of diesel fuel and is three times cleaner than a truck furthermore trains help alleviate congestion on our crowded how was one trying intake two hundred eighty trucks off the road the recently introduced amtrak r six thousand and three will make significant enhancements to amtrak's growing business the legislation will give amtrak the funding it needs to continue improving its service while also creating innovative programs to enhance passenger rail service the state grants provision in the bill would give a greater say in how federal funding is utilized for capital projects and a private operator pilot program will increase innovation and competition in passenger rail service additionally h r six thousand and three includes a plan to create public private partnerships to construct true high skilled r collar corridors all over the nation high speed rail promises sife fast and convenient service all while helping to alleviate aviation and how a congestion i urge passage completion of the transcontinental railroad did a very strong engineering feat in our country's history today with gas prices soaring which you had to bet on already on this floor congestion building on our highways and concern about greenhouse gases on the rise we really need to address the i ninety five corridor is in very difficult shape with respect to all these issues highways congestion is becoming a critical problem cossie americans four point two billion hours and two point nine billion gallons of fuel sitting in traffic delays in contrast past year where roads are one of the cleanest forms of transportation emits only zero point two percent of transportation histories create greenhouse gases between boston and washington d c ridership on amtrak has surged by twenty percent representing enough new passengers to fill two thousand seven fifty seven jet liners as a   the need for future legislation in dealing with the issues of amtrak and rail travel in our country i thank chairman brown for her strong leadership and encourage all the members of the house to support this legislation i just like to point out as i often have in speaking about amtrak mr speaker we really need to look at our highways and our airports as well this is one way of relieving a good number of those burdens and hopefully we can pass this legislation and pay a lot more attention to what we're dealing rice in strong support of resolution eleven seventy six supporting the goals and ideals of national train day and i do congratulate the hard work has gone into transportation on rail because i said on the subcommittee i was seeing the great need in the great must continue to work to relieve the public problems caused by railroads the traffic delays the great crossings the air quality concerns from pollution the noise from the whistles and the rail cars and the safety concerns over derailment and other accidents  i know that we have been able to understand a lot more of what the rails roads need from us here in congress but by the same token i think they continue to try to be good citizens this house r twenty one hundred five the federal railroad safety improvement act of two thousand and seven that bill takes a major step forward in addressing safety concerns with our railroads we urge the senate to pass this bill quickly h r six thousand and three the passenger rail investment improvement acted two thousand and eight was introduced by transportation committee this week this will be a much needed investment as was recognized in amtrak and our passenger rail system earlier we heard from speakers talking about the price of gas well the more people get on trains and amtrak the better off that we're going to be able to meet those demands the railroads subcommittee will hold of hearing on this bill tomorrow i think  woman from florida thank you mr chairman let me reiterate that fifty years ago i've learned how to create a national highway system that change america today we need to do the same thing with now we have the caboose and we don't use cabooses anymore the american people need and deserve better let me also mention that joining us all celebrating i am tr national train day was hundred and fifty ladies from the hope chapel church that rode from jacksonville to win a park and also we had all the sixty activities throughout the country but  ating in those activities was the harlem globetrotters and many members of current congress i in closing and they're excited about moving this country forward as far as this resolution i want to thank the gentleman from florida and the ranking member mr schuester for bringing it forward i also want to compliment them and their staffs for the hard work that they are pursuing now on the amtrak reauthorization will be postpone gentleman from minnesota mr speaker i move to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution eleven thirty three congratulating the one on a state man's basketball team at the n c a a division two national champions the quarter report the title of the resolution house resolution eleven thirty three resolution congratulating wynona state university on winning the two thousand a division two men basketball championship i ask unanimous consent that members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on house resolution eleven thirty three thought objection so ordered pursuant to the rule the gentleman from minnesota mr walz is and the gentleman from delaware mr castle each will control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from minnesota thank you mr speaker i yield myself as much time as i may consume today we're here to congratulate a basketball team out at one on a state university but i think it's important to put it into the to the greater context of what our young people are doing here i'll talk a little bit just a minute about the great accomplishments of what this team did but i think it's equally important to understand the institution that they're coming from when on a state university as in the town of well known in minnesota it's that's on the western bank of the mississippi river well known a state university was founded at the same time as a state of minnesota was founded we're celebrating our sesquicentennial in the north star state this year and went on to state university was the first teacher's college west of the mississippi river that institution that public institution of higher learning has fulfilled its calling and its mission for the last two hundred fifty years at the highest quality of achievement that we could ask for and i congratulate president  also congratulate by president jim smith he's a vice president at advancement and there are some things going on it went to state university like the national child protection training center the work they're doing educating our teachers nurses law enforcement officials that i think are equally as important but i think it's important and that in a well balanced education like our students athletes are getting at one on a state university stressing the aster curricular isn't the teamwork that goes to that and the striving for excellence is important so i'd like to talk just a bit about this team a little over a month ago our own march madness in minnesota went on to state defeated augusta state eighty seven to seventy six this was the second national championship in the last three years and three straight trip to the national championship we're really proud of this dynasty that's being developed amongst the student athletes in addition to their national championship they won nine conference titles in a row they've also won st three straight northern sun intercollegiate conference titles in two thousand and six in two thousand and seven they broke the division two record a fifty seven straight victories in two thousand and eight the warriors finished with a record of thirty eight and won an n c a a division two record and over the past three years or records one hundred five and six five seniors have been together throughout this entire run and they should be congratulated they'll all be graduating this year and i'd like to congratulate each one of them individually john smit john tape flowers quincy henderson shane nice and brett reese together they take those those five individuals compiled one hundred twenty nine and seventeen record in four years of course all this wouldn't be possible without the leadership of coach mike leave done an outstanding job of working with the character as well as the accomplishments of these are these fine young athletes and i'm extremely proud to have went to state university in the district that i represent extremely proud of the student athletes that represent southern minnesota so well and i asked today for will unanimous consent speaker thank you congratulate the gentleman from minnesota with respect to zero in on a state university's great year and great record of the last three years by sort of clinton as i had to watch part of this game on television i think the last half of the game and they had a remarkable comeback as a beat the augustus state university team and they are really a super basketball team i had the pleasure of playing a little bit of division three basketball many years ago and either ba improved tremendously in those intervening years or division two is a whole lot better than division three these guys could really play basketball and they were extremely impressive in terms of what they did i e i also  congratulate the young men for their academic prowess this is this is a college of some distinction and for that day and all the administrators deserve congratulations as well we congratulate the head coach mike leaf who was named the northern son  conference coach of the year four times and national coach of the year two times this is a team which is one two national titles in three straight north central region titles from those six zero seven zero zero eight and four straight regular season championships and three straight conference tournament championships not many teams at any level of sports can make claims such as that the college as the sponsors indicated is a significant institution  minnesota and does a one of a job and its programs of preparing young people for the rest of their lives we congratulate the president the truth romley and the athletic director laurie whole stead the head coach as i've indicated all the friends and supporters of a fine university which had a mendis year this year in basketball but just recognizing the tremendous a school which they are in for which they deserve great credit eleven seventy three resolution recognizing america or week two to the rule the gentleman from illinois mr davis the gentleman from delaware mr castle each control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert relevant material or thank you mr speaker now i was you myself such time as i might consume to speak i rise today in full support of a thread eleven seventy three which recognizes the contributions of the national service program known as america's war since one thousand nine hundred four america has engaged over five hundred thousand citizens of all ages and national service programs given seven hundred million hours of service to our nation and their fellow citizens america corps which is composed of america corps state national programs the national civilian community corps in c c c and the volunteers and service of america vista programs engages seventy five thousand people each year in ten results driven service to help communities tackle the toughest problems of education poverty illiteracy and the relief and recovery efforts after disasters america corporatist a prince improve the lives of millions of our most vulnerable citizens by implementing critical health services build in low income housing making neighborhoods safer and protecting the environment americ america's power to buy those six thousand strong and fulfill their service term in low income communities by creating businesses expanding access to technology recruiting literacy volunteers strengthen anti poverty groups and create in sustainable programs that help people rise out of poverty america korean doubles see in trouble see pictures of prince service first responder in times of national need and have responded to every nationally declared disaster since one thousand nine hundred four floods fires charney those and storms and help communities prepare for the next emergency in fact ten thousand plus america members of served millions of katrina survivor as in the guff and managed to quote a million other current train of volunteers the impact of america goes beyond profit sector especially minorities and people from low income backgrounds so mr speaker this week is america's war week this is the week in which we as a nation should thank those who have given of themselves and served our nation to america to improve the lives of our nation's vulnerable and disadvantaged citizens and improve communities across the country we salute america were members alarms were given of themselves to benefit others and the powerful impact on our nation's communities and the lives of our citizens and think all involved in making america was successful program i asked my colleagues join me in full support of age race eleven seventy three  ago this ethic of service prompts americans to assist one another in a clients and willingly to sacrifice a portion of their time and property to the welfare of the state america or gives americans an opportunity to make a difference in their own lives in the lives of others by meeting critical needs in the community in one thousand nine hundred president george herbert walker bush signed the national service act act a network of national service programs that engage americans in intensive service to meet the nation's vital needs an education public safety health and the environment in one thousand nine hundred three president bill clinton signed the national and community service trust act which is savaged the corporation for national community service and brought the full range of domestic community service programs under the umbrella of one central organization in september one thousand nine hundred for the first class of america for members twenty thousand strong began serving more than one thousand communities today america corps offers seventy five thousand opportunities for adults of all ages and backgrounds to address myriad needs in communities all across america such as tutoring and mentoring disadvantaged youth fighting a literacy improving health services building affordable housing and managing afterschool programs just to name a few this year's theme for america or week is getting things done this organization is doing just that since its inception five hundred forty two thousand citizens have taken the america or pledge a serves a total of more than seven hundred five million hours and forty one hundred nonprofits throughout the country last year america were members recruited and supervised more than one point seven million community volunteers demonstrating america corps value as a volunteer channel in return for their service members of earn one point four billion dollars to further their educational ban spent at our nation's colleges and universities and our communities volunteerism is a way for americans to connect to their  learn more about the problems facing their communities and to simply make a difference this week we salute current and former america corps members for their powerful impact and we thank all community partners who make the america our program possible and bring is recognized as a speaker i like to thank the gentleman from illinois mr davis really me this time i rise today to offer the recognizing america for a week resolution and your special thanks to america volunteers and organizations this week marked america are we a nation wide knowledge man and celebration of all that america balling tears have done for our country the america our program is vital to the growth and prosperity of our nation american members can be found in our small town and in our big cities they're motivated young men and women from every background imaginable for the past fifteen years more than five hundred forty thousand men and women have given over seven hundred five million hours of service to our country and its citizens equally valuable these men and women are experts in mobilizing local volunteers allowing millions more to serve their communities and organize an effectual way like a in tears ameri corps week is important because it inspires others become involved by recognizing the program and its accomplishments we motivate individuals to become engaged and add one more person to the growing list of those our frink optimism and a throughout this week american organizations across this country are hosting hundreds a special events making it even easier to become involved in the gulf coast for example habitat for humanity and the jimmy iran's land carter work project will be tens of homes in a single week this single event won't be all seven hundred american all members and thousands of other volunteers additionally this year's ameri corps week pay special attention to the lifelong contribution of america or alumni a recent study of america show that alumni of the program are much more likely to remain involved in the community long after their service has ended nearly eighty seven percent of former ameri corps members will go on to work in public service they become our future leaders public servants government employees and nonprofit organizers simply put america our members learn to give for the rest of their lives america or we also provide a platform to highlight the valuable community organizations that deserve our support earlier this week critical new america grants were announced this funding provides necessary resources to some of america's most innovative and effective community organizations those who support this resolution in america are we will be in good company dozens of state governors have issued ameri corps a week proclamations from local leaders to a fashion of baseball teams thousands of diverse americans are expressing their support for the america program and its volunteers these supporters recognize that america members do more than volunteer their time they are ambassadors of hope goodwill and personal initiative mr speaker i ask my colleagues to join with me my yielding when there were the great debates between on t v between president scares me vice president nixon and then senator john f kennedy why my family were republicans a nd as an air a child an eighth grader a young person an eighth grade i was a republican john f kennedy spoke to me when he talked about serving our country in the world in the peace corps and i thought wouldn't it be amazing to go to college and afterwards join the peace corps and that's what i did with my wife and that changed my my life experience that life experience i think had a tremendous impact on my life in fact peace corps volunteers will tell you was the greatest time of their life not that the rest wasn't good  they reached out to republicans and it was an amazing experience to work with president clinton and his administration because they said they wanted this to be a bipartisan effort and they listened to republican input and stead of a one size fits all national program they did something republicans  really like and that is they made it a local and state effort and the danger with that is that you could not only have really great programs you might have some that weren't so good and it would give people an opportunity to criticize america corps as some critics did because you were allowing there to be literally hundreds and hundreds of various programs meeting local and state needs but to president clinton's credit and to his people who are bringing this program forward in spite of the fact republicans did not support this with the majority of votes they still allowed us to have tremendous him quit i have nothing but respect for america corps nothing but respect for the fact that we are taking in some cases young people not always young but young people who have never had a work experience and we're giving them a work experience with people who can tutor them people in a national service or human non government organizations that are reaching out to the community why do wonderful way for these young people to begin to become young  adults and experience this mentoring and the incredible fulfillment that comes from being of service i've never understood why some republicans have criticized america because they said you get pay well peace corps volunteers had a living wage we were able to feed ourselves and we were provided housing something that you don't have your america corps there it's a minimum wage they have a stipend for education republicans tend to think that you should earn what you get and this is a program where you earn what you get but you can't pocket the money you have to put it into bettering yourself with education which is i think a very logical thing to do frankly it's something that most republicans would have argued for not being given something earning it so these america corps individuals we call  volunteers in my judgment are getting the best of the best they're growing up with a meaningful job not a long term job they're earning educational credits they're getting an education and the for the rest of our lives going to have that incredible memory of service that i think is only strengthens individuals and our country so i'm really grateful that we can recognize america corps for what it is an outstanding program presented by president clinton to his credit but to his credit working with republicans in spite of the fact republicans didn't deliver a majority of the sign your back the balance of our time and encourage everybody to support the resolution gentleman yields back gentleman from illinois speaking i would urge passage of this resolution i too agree that when we give of ourselves we give the very b for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois arise the speaker move of the house suspend the rules and pass a threat seven eight nine as amended the clerk report the title of the resolution house resolution seven eighty nine resolution honoring public child welfare agencies nonprofit organizations and private entities providing services for cost or children pursuant to the rule of gentleman from illinois mr davis the gentleman from delaware mister