the house will be in order the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker the speaker's room's washington d c march eleventh two thousand and eight i hear by a point the honorable hilda elsa lee's to s s p for pro tempor on this day sign a few palosi speaker of the house of representatives to chair the chair will receive the message madam speaker a message from the senate madam speaker then secretary i have been conclude of the house is requested pursuant to the order of the house of january fourth two thousand and seven the chair will now recognize members from list submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to thirty minutes any team member other than the majority and minority leaders and minority whip limited to five minutes the chair read ignited the gentleman from illinois for five minutes th that objection ladies and gentlemen the house today i rise dirge the speaker of the house to bring forward the u s colombia trade promotion agreement and i also asked my colleagues to support this agreement it's agreement that's good for america it's good for my state of illinois and it's good for colombia in fact state that i represent a lawyer is a big winner under the u s colombia trade promotion agreement the international trade commission did an economic analysis and they said if you're an elmo i worker and elmo i manufacture an l noise farmer you're a winner under this trade agreement corn soybeans pork beef manufactured metal products chemicals machinery exports will go up why because right now colombian products enter the united states duty free tariff free tax free but our products face tariffs caterpillar the biggest employer  district eight thousand workers their heavy construction equipment faces a twelve percent tariff million dollar piece of equipment that's one hundred thousand dollars tax which would be eliminated immediately day one in this trade agreement would go into effect bottom line is ellen oil will be a big winner now who is colombia begin with the democracy we know is colombia the oldest democracy in all latin america today is the united states most reliable and trusted partner and latin america its president president uribe a is the most popular elected official in the hemisphere and while this congress suffers from fifteen percent let me say that again fifteen percent approval ratings present your read and his own country and joyce eighty percent approval ratings why because he's made a difference in reducing violence and winning the war against the fark and the narco terrorists today seventy one percent of colombians say they're more secure under president your e bay seventy three percent of you of colombian say your e bay respects human rights homicides are down kidnappings are down today the murder rate in colombia is the last in fifteen years that many men once considered one the most dangerous cities in the world today is a lower murder rate than washington d c or baltimore now there are those who oppose president uribe there are those who oppose the trade promotion agreement between united states and columbia and they argue that president rebate just hasn't not done enough on the issue of added twenty one hundred sixty six new positions including ford one thousand new prosecutors five hundred forty five new investigators and increased funding for the general prosecutor the federal independent prosecutor by seventy five percent protect labor leaders fact they spent almost thirty nine million dollars this past year for bodyguards protection for yet labor union leaders there are fifteen hundred labor union leaders and activists who receive special protection the second largest protected group an entire country and this program has been successful in fact no labor leaders lost their life we've been under this protection program fact the murder rate which is terrible thing for labor union labor and union activists is lower than the national rate for everyone else so tremendous progress has been made the international labor organization has removed colombia from its labor watch list colombia has agreed to a permanent representative in colombia and fourteen labor union leaders representing fourteen labor unions colombia have endorsed this agreement now we continue to hear from opponents and they're really the people voice traditionally opposed trade and so they've got a different line today but they always say that present rebase still has not done enough we need to demand more but they never specifically say what more they want clearly president uribe has done a lot tremendous amount and he's made real progress and as we've seen the last few this past week a lot happening in latin america colombia course has been fighting the fark and other terrorist  narco trafficking groups over the last three and four decades and they made tremendous progress under present ribeye and we know the fark and particular the the biggest leftist anti government narco trafficking terrorist group they feel they fund themselves by the sales of narcotics and it was recently uncovered we discovered the links between hugo chavez of venezuela and the fark possibly three hundred million dollars in subsidies long suspected but now proven bottom line is climbing agreement is good for democracy it's good for america it's good for workers good for manufacturing urge this congress to bring it up for a vote let's pass it thank you for what purposes the gentleman from oregon s recognition this gentleman is recognized for five minutes thank you madam speaker here in the couple hours the house of representatives will be dealing on the suspension calendar with house resolution nine thirty six a commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the gallatin plan this historic effort was a plan commissioned by president thomas jefferson led by his secretary of the treasury albert gallatin to design a system to knit together a ragtag group of thirteen colonies into a trance continental nation it focused on transportation on waterways it planted the seeds for what would ultimately become the transcontinental railroad and actually unleashed a pattern that carried through the national park system the hydro system and indeed the national interstate highway system signed into law by president eisenhower today's commemoration comes at a critical time for just as albert gallatin did something important for the founding of our nation today america's infrastructure is falling apart the american society of civil engineers rates our infrastructure at a d minus it's one of the reasons our economy is in decline we're losing the competition to europe to asia china is investing nine times as much of their national output as we are in infrastructure and at a time of one hundred and ten dollars a barrel oil will four dollar a gallon gasoline be far behind we live in a carbon constrained water stressed environment with an imperative need to rebuild and renew america it is time came to celebrate this historic vision which helped build america for much of the first two centuries of our existence it is critical that we remain true to that tradition but today infrastructure means more than just roads bridges and waterways and canals we're talking about railroads aviation power transmission lines pipelines indeed the green for structure the network of environmental park and open space that means so much to the protection of the environment and clean air it is time for us to craft a new plan a vision for this century one that takes into account global warming rising energy prices the changing demographics and the knowledge that we know today about how to put the pieces together renewing and rebuilding america ought to be something that people on both sides of the aisle agree with that we can unite behind a vast coalition that includes the garden club the sierra club organized labor and business the professions in local government and environmental activists to make sure that we're putting the pieces together appropriately today that we have the resources the vision the partnership that will make livable communities for all of our families where they were all be safer healthier and more economically secure i look forward to the debate today on the gallatin plan and the commitment of an infrastructure vision for this century thank you and i yield back the gentleman from florida is recognized for how many minutes two minutes but i will speak on this recognizing that madam speaker last week our allies in colombia struck a blow for freedom against a terrorist organization known as the far as we all know the fark supports his war against our friends in colombia to drug trafficking kidnapping and the murder of innocent innocent civilians while venezuelan president hugo chavez has been vocal in his support of the fark and his opposition to the united states and colombia it is now clear that chavez is increasingly intertwined with the far and is now giving aid and comfort to terrorist organizations during last week's raid in ecuador the colombian authorities recovered records that clearly show that chavez has been giving the fark millions of dollars weapons and passage in venezuela last night pup published reports indicate that the bush administration has tak the first steps towards naming venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism because of its support of terrorist organizations just like the fark i am pleased that the bush administration administration has initiated the process of including venezuela on the list with the likes of iran cuba and north korea madam speaker the time has come to once and for all take the steps that will cripple the ability of the chavez regime to fund its terrorists and friends and allies by adding venezuela to the list of official state sponsors of terrorism we will help do just that furthermore congress must act now on the colombia free trade agreement to promote freedom and prosperity in the region by passing the colombia free trade agreement we will show our allies we stand with them and against the tyranny of hugo chavez thank you madam speaker what purpose is the gentleman from california seek recognition is recognized for three minutes thank you madam speaker i'd like to take this opportunity to recognize my alma mater california state university fullerton liberating its fiftieth anniversary in one nine hundred fifty seven california state university fullerton was founded by an act of the california legislature their role met at that time consisted of four hundred fifty two students when those first classes were offered in the least quarters over it sonny hills high school prior to the college moving to the temporary buildings that became a permanent site in one thousand nine hundred sixty in fullerton half a century after its founding more than one hundred eighty five thousand graduates have successfully developed careers in hundreds of industries each year more than thirty six thousand students attend classes at cal state fullerton choosing from one hundred five different degree programs including fifty five undergraduate forty nine graduate and a doctorate in education at eight distinct colleges arts businesses and economics communications education engineering and computer computer science and computer sciences health and human development humanities and social sciences and national state and natural sciences and mathematics all of which provide an outstanding education to the students it studies have led students to careers in teaching nursing business the arts communications health care engineering sports and sciences sciences and more cal state fullerton graduates have gone on to successful careers and their impact is felt not only in the state of california and the nation but throughout the world among these graduates are academy award winning actors and scare screenwriters television news reporters pulitzer prize winning journalist successful novelist doctors lawyers judges teachers professional athletes entrepreneurs scientists and business leaders and even a nasa nasa astronaut who served on the crew of the space shuttle endeavor and launched into space in august of two thousand and seven cal state fullerton student body also reflects the diversity of the state of california as one of the most diverse campuses in the state and in this nation the university welcome students of different ethnic groups cultures and regions in fact and religions in fact many of these students are the first in their families to earn a university diploma the univers received full accreditation from the western college association in one thousand nine hundred sixty one and cal state fullerton now holds fourteen national credit de sions and associations in addition titan pride has been the rallying cry for twelve national team championships in seven seven different sports finally cal state fullerton is known for its distinguished faculty many of whom have garnered international and national reputations in their respective fields it is with great pride that i recognize cal recess until noon today