the united states are segregated as they were back in -- before civil rights era and in apartheid era south africa. two third americans would have to relocate for a random distribution of black and white households in america. individuals living in segregated areas do not have resource to transfer wealth to the next generation. kids inherit a lifetime of poverty, a can la of educational opportunity and typically a lifetime of poor health. just a few words about the educational inequality. low-incomed, segregated areas of communities have a lower tax base, less ability to support education as a result racial and ethnic minorities have fewer educational opportunities, fewer role models. they tend to limit their goals to low-paying and some cases hazardous occupation. for many minority children other expectations of them are set so low they never really reach their full potential. a recent report showed half of african-american children and 40% of hispanic children attended a high school where the dropout rate was close to 50%. this compared to only 11% of white attending those schools with th

my mother was a first generation american whose father came to america as a peddler. we had enough but not a lot. my biggest political thrill as a child was meeting the mayor of south bend when he came to our apartment building to drive a voter to the polls. i celebrated my 50th birthday in the state dining room, at the white house at a party hosted by the president and first lady. i have lived the american dream. [applause] >> that is why i tried so hard from my days in the war on poverty in the 1960's when i met ginger to my time at the d.l.c., to expand the american dream for all americans. i believe that is my responsibili responsibility. simply put, i believe that every american who works hard and plays by the rules should have the freedom and opportunity to rise as far as his or her god-given talents will allow. and the responsibility to take advantage of that opportunity. and i believe those of us who have been blessed as i have and who are privileged to hold positions of influence have the further responsibility to to dor part to make it so. to me, reconnectin

it hurts a rural america more than role -- more than urban america. farmers will spend an average of 58% more on energy than their urban counterparts, and this cost would go up. in conclusion, it is not a surprise that support for it this is heaviest in those parts of the country better least harmed by it. even there, the economic damage would be bad enough. the citizens in the rest of the country should be asking tough questions about the economic impact of cat in trade. thank you. >> thank you very much. mr. rockwell? >> i am and engineer. i do not know about taxes or economics or those fields. the things i am going to say are just engineering. you may think that is unimportant or an interesting, but if we do not at the engineering right, good politics or economics cannot save us. as my old mentor put it, and nature is not as forgiving as jesus. [laughter] i have to make a few points. they will be necessarily of a bumper sticker links because of time restrictions. there is handout material out front to amplify and explain some of these things. i res

my biggest political thrill as a child was meeting the mayor of south bend. when he came to our apartment building to drive a voter to the polls. i celebrated my 50th birthday in the state dining room at the white house at a party hosted by the president and first lady. i have lived the american dream. [applause] that's why i tried so hard from my days in the war on poverty in the 1960's when i met ginger, to my time at the d.l.c., to expand the american dream for all americans. i believe that is i believe that is my responsibility. simply put, i believe that every american who works hard in place by the rules should have the freedom and

the group has bob dole from kansas, howard baker, tennessee, tom daschle, south dakota. and i would mention tom daschle, i think most people recognize as a man who knows more about health care than just about anybody in america today. he's written a book, among other things. together senator daschle, a democrat -- senators dole and baker republicans -- served a combined 80 years in the united states congress. they know a thing or two about getting things done. they know our job is public service, not lip service. i may not agree with every part of their plan, but that's not the point here. the point is they have a good-faith effort. they have avoided the temptation to distract each other from the misrepresentation and misinformation of the real problem. they put people ahead of partisanship and were able to find common ground. i encourage republicans in congress to read the report. even if they don't support its conclusions, i hope they take to heart its motivations. baker, dole and daschle. serious problems deserve serious efforts by serious legislators to develop serio

30 years ago america's cable companies. it's c-span as a public service. a private business initiative, no government mandate, no government money. >>> now, governor mark sanford of south carolina holds a news conference at the state capital. from columbia, south carolina, this is about 20 minutes. >> how are we going to do this? do you want to hold it? >> i have my own. >> somebody want to help me here? how are we going to move this around? okay. ready? everybody ready? and won't begin in any particular spot. let me just start with -- where is gina smith? not here? okay. i had a conversation with jean smith this morning when i arrived in atlanta and i told her about my love of the appalachian trail and i use to organize hiking trips when i was in high school i did get a soccer coach or football coach to act as the chaperone and then i would get folks to pay me $60 each or whenever it was to take the trip and then off we would go and have these great adventures on the appellation trip, and i told her of adventure trips both in college, it was a campus repr

for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: madam speaker, pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, i demand a vote on the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise seek recognition? mr. wilson: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question are postponed. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from colorado, congressman perlmutter. mr. perlmutter: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: madam speaker, a message from th

the proliferation threat is the threat to the united states of america right now. barring some missile development that we're not aware of. but even then strategically, fundamentally, proliferation issue is the challenge to us. china, however, russia, south korea, and japan have far more immediate and frankly pressing strategic concerns. why can they not sum john a stronger response given their surrounding clout and already-existing leverage, particularly, china? mr. revere? >> senator, i've been talking with the chinese since the late '70s about north korea. and i find today a remarkable difference in the tone and content of our dialog with the chinese, my conversations with the chinese, from those days. i find more and more chinese officials but particularly senior think tank representatives and former officials with whom i've had long relationships looking at north korea in a very different way today. i've had a couple of chinese officials actually use the term "security liability" in their descriptions of north korea today. that's a remarkable thing for even se

it picks winners and losers that will lead places like the midwest and the south paying higher energy prices than to subsidized areas in the rest of the country. we have a chart showing how much this would raise taxes in middle america as opposed to the east coast and west coast. it creates more bure being a sis an adds -- bureaucracy and adds more layer. why do my colleagues believe creating an energy tax is necessary? it is all rooted in fabricated global warming science. last week the administration produced another alarmist report on global warming which, of course, is nothing new. it takes the worst possible predictions of the united nations intergovernmental panel on climate change. by the way the assessment reports are not reports by scientists, they're reports by political people, policy people. and i have to also say, and -- i've said this on the floor of the senate many times before. a lot of the things that come that are not in the best interest of the united states, come from the united nations. that's where this whole thing started in the middle 1990's, it was the ipcc of

palm beach and fort lauderdale has earned it the nickname of the venice of america. it is not only symbolic. the industry is a major economic engine in florida, responsible for $2.8 billion in direct sales and 30,000 jobs statewide. in my district alone, there are over 34,000 registered boats and the industry produces $193 million and employs over 2,000 of my constituents. as everyone here knows, the contributions of the boating community extend far beyond the sunshine state. the boating community includes 59 million people and 13.6 million registered boats throughout the united states. the recreational boating industry provides more than $37 billion in sales and services toe the u.s. economy and provides over 300,000 jobs throughout our country. one need only look at the geographic diversity to measure the contributions of the boating community. members come from 3 states, including tennessee, pennsylvania, kansas and west virginia. boating is not just a coastal past time but an american past time. boating brings us closer to our natural resources and treasures. i s

if you came to northeast indiana, and i represent basecally fort wayne up to south bend, going along the michigan line and ohio line, you drive through an area with lots of water, rivers, in between is beautiful green farmland we aren't dry and parched like much of america, we have a green area. that gives us water, essential to most manufacturing. you can't build major manufacturing facilities where there isn't adequate water. many, many of those farms where people still farm we don't have the big corporate farms, we have small farms because one person from each sfamly, sometimes multifamily on one farm are working at auto parts plants and other plants throughout the district. thousands and thousands and thousands, they are at direct threat we talk more about our energy. i've been to the alternative energy labs in colorado. sandia labs in new mexico. major places where we look at alternative energy. indiana cannot get wind power. with we cannot get -- we don't have a way to get to 20% in the traditional alternative energy. some of my friends actually i've known for many years are pu

waxman-markey disproportionately burdens those states especially at the midwest and south and cturl have a substantial number of manufacturing jobs as well as those that rely more heavily than others on coal for electric generation. in addition, because the bill raises energy costs, it hurts rural america more than urban america, farmers spend 50% more on energy than the percentage of income than their urban counterparts and the cost would go up. in conclusion, it is not surprising that waxman-markey is heaviest in those parts of the country, urban centers on the west coast and or fees that are least harmed by it. even there, the economic damage would be bad enough that citizens and the rest of the country and their representatives should be asking many tough questions about the economic impact of cat and trade, thank you. >> thank you very much. mr. rockwell? no i am an engineer, i don't know anything about taxes or economic or any of those mysterious fields, so the things port going to say are just engineering. you may think that is unimportant or an interesting, ort if we don't get th

i wonder how worried are they about their debt and america. you mentioned that you're hoping to see that that be 3% of gdp and they did not seem to think that would be possible. >> i would not say that. i think the chinese have a very sophisticated understanding of the strategy we are embarked on. i think they have a lot of confidence and a funnel strength and resiliency of the u.s. economy. i think they understand that faced with the crisis we were faced with, it was necessary to take extraordinary action and results were a temporary increase in borrowing as we try to get the economy on track and the financial system working again. but that was going to be the best -- the best path any aspect toward where budget deficits are lower and more sustainable. we can get out of these extraordinary interventions in the financial sector. it is a paradox. i'm faced with a crisis and the conservative response is the best way to get yourself back to where you can picture fiscal house back in order. i think they recognize their economic fate is closely tie

i can't think of anything that's more important as far as stabilizing central and south america than free trade agreements. we've been fighting for a free trade agreement with panama and colombia for a long, long time and if we're going to make sure that we slow down the illegal immigration that's coming from central and south america, we've got to do things to stabilize that entire region. not only from the drug standpoint but also from the illegal immigration standpoint. so i really hope that my colleague and i'm sure mr. wolf will, i really hope my colleagues will do everything they can to make sure that this stays in the piece of legislation. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. who seeks recognition? the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from illinois, mr. schock. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. mr. mollohan: mr. chairman, i move that the committee to do now rise -- that the committee do now rise. the chair: the question is on the motion to rise. those in favor say a