the chair: the gentleman from missouri reserves. the gentleman from missouri. mr. akin: i yield one minute to the gentleman from the armed services committee, mr. mckeon. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mckeon: this would require the secretary to report on nondisclosure agreements in deform o.d. the use of nondisclosure agreements is a new and troubling effort to silence our members of the military. congress cannot sit back and let the department of defense stiff arm us. congress has the constitutional duty oraise and support armies, to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. we can't allow the department of defense to allow us -- to prevent us executing our constitutional duty. i understand the gentleman has problems with the language, but i urge him to support the amendment and work on this in congress. we need to know what we need to know to do our duty. with that, i ask support of our amendment and yield back the balance of my time. mr. skelton: i yield one minute to my friend this gentleman from new

the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: let me flash back to a previous amendment. the akin-forbes amendment, i received a letter from the assistant secretary of defense dated today regarding that amendment which reads in part, while the department supports transparency in government we find the amendment as written as overly burdensome and counterproductive in meeting the security challenges of today. the next person i yield to, my friend, my colleague, also a member of the armed services committee, the gentleman from connecticut, mr. courtney. for one minute. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. courtney: i rise in support of mr. skelton's outstanding work on the underlying bill and to support that portion of the en banc amendment that sets up mental health screening set up by congresswoman delauro and myself. this is probably the most admirable issue admiral murrellen addressed, the stress levels of troops. general odierno had a number of us over in december, his biggest concern was the unc

the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: mr. chairman, let me first express my gratitude and admiration to the new ranking member of the armed services committee, mr. mckeon. he hit the ground running, a veteran of our committee and his first baptism of fire was in the markup of the some 17 hours of this bill in committee. and we thank him for his leadership and for his diligence in making this a success. tomorrow under the rule, mr. chairman, we will consider the various amendments, four groups of en bloc amendments and several by themselves, according to the rule that's been set forth and the time limits set thereon. this is an important piece of legislation. it deals with the security of our country, the security of our citizens. it deals with those young men, young women in uniform wherever they may be. it's our job to do our best to support them and this bill does just that. i thank the members of the committee on both sides of the aisle. they have been magnificent to work with. and with that, i express appreciation to our

akin of missouri. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 572, the gentleman from missouri, mr. akin, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. akin: thank you, mr. speaker. the amendment we are bringing to the floor here is dealing with a situation that has become increasingly difficult between the legislative branch and the executive branch, or specifically the png penning -- pentagon. that is the leadership at the pentagon is requiring generals or admirals to sign nondisclosure agreements. that is they are not allowed to share their opinions with members of congress. in the past our relationship with the pentagon has been one of openness and trying to work together as a team. the armed services committee has always been a very bipartisan committee who worked well together. we have always tried to have a win-win kind of situation. both between the parties but also between the legislative branch and the pentagon. unfortunately these nondisclosure statements have a tendency we are concerned with muzzling our admira

the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: mr. chairman, the gentleman from georgia desires to have a colloquy at this point, mr. kingston. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for a colloquy. mr. kingston: i thank the gentleman for yielding. and i rise today in strong support of the community of hinzville, georgia and liberty county. i commend the area for their ardent support of their troops and the army at fort stewart. november, 2007, the army announced that for the stewart would receive another bri gad combat team using the -- that fort stewart would receive another brigade combat team. since that time, the community installation and congress have geared up and invested for that growth working with post leadership in the pentagon, congress funded military projects such as barracks, buildings and operation facilities at $154 million for f.y. 2008. and for $352 million for f.y. 2009. clearly the army has invested greatly to maintain fort stewart's tradition as an award winning installation of excellence. on behal

skelton of missouri. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 582, the gentleman from missouri, mr. skelton, and a member opposed, will each control five minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: at this time, mr. chairman, the gentleman from new jersey seeks recognition for a colloquy. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman for participating in a colloquy with me about the importance of the joint military base located in new jersey. it incorporated mcgwire air force base, fort dix. i am proud to have this in new jersey's third and fourth congressional districts. i've worked with many to make the transition to the country's first triservice joint facility as smooth as possible. one of the issues people always talk with me is a discrepancy in locality pay. all three individual installations are logistically close to each other. however, they fall within burlington county and ocean county, and, therefore, two different county pay jurisdictions. currently, civilian employees doing exactly the same job are being paid differen

speaker, i would like to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from missouri, mr. luetkemeyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you, madam chairman, and mr. chairman. i'm proud to rise today in support of house resolution 3 the 0 -- 390, recognizing the winston churchill memorial and library. as america's national churchill museum. before i discuss the details of the bill, i'd like to thank the many folks who helped make this possible. first i want to thank my predecessor in congress who first introduced this resolution in the 110th congress. he laid the groundwork for the passage of this bill and i'm honored to finish the work he began. also, from the moment i first introduced the resolution, the missouri delegation was at my side. i'm extremely pleased that every member of the missouri delegation signed and i want to thank them for all their continued support. i also want to thank the many other members of this body who supported me in this endeavor, many of whom are churchill e

skelton of missouri. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 572, the gentleman from missouri, mr. skelton, and the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon, each will control 10 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: mr. chairman, i urge the committee to adopt the amendments en bloc, all of which have been examined by both majority and the minority. the chair: without objection. mr. skelton: mr. chairman, i understand that mr. polis wishes to propose a colloquy. and i yield as such. the chair: how much time does the gentleman from missouri yield to the gentleman from colorado? mr. skelton: three minutes. the chair: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for three minutes. mr. polis: i thank the gentleman. mr. chairman, i rise today to gain a better understanding of the status of the policy and law on the service of gay men and lesbians in the military, commonly known as don't ask, don't tell. this disrupts as gay and lesbian service men and women who knows what about their private lives. given the objective of the president to repeal the law, and t

the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: until the democratic congress acted to include them in the combat related special compensation program for the national defense authorization act of 2008 was adopted. and yet this group of retirees is perhaps the most compelling story to tell. many of these service members were on track to serve a full military career but were blocked from serving 20 years because of their disabilities. it's this group of retirees that were disabled at younger ages and often with young families. as a result, they are often the most financially stressed. however, the president took a definitive step forward in support of disabled retirees with less than 20 years of service when he proposed legislation in his budget request for the fiscal year 2010. the president's proposal would phase in full concurrent receipt of military retired pay and v.a. disability compensation for these deserving veterans over five years. we share the president's view. there are veterans and their families and particula

skelton of missouri. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 572, the gentleman from missouri, mr. skelton, and the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon, each will control 10 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from missouri, mr. skelton. mr. skelton: i urge the committee to adopt the amendments en bloc all of which have been examined by both the majority and minority. at this time i yield three minutes to my friend, the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you. i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy as i appreciate his hiredship in an area that has been of concerner for me for a long time. the disappointing and widespread environmental legacy of the department of defense, because in every state communities must deal with former training grounds, contaminated with live bombs, leftover shells, leaking chemicals. i have a map here. every single state, every territory of the united states. and it is an ongoing problem. in june in florida, fishermen hauled aboard a life guided missile. on the

the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend until the house is in order. members and staff in the rear of the chambers will take their conversations from the floor. members will take their seats. the gentleman from missouri has 16 minutes remaining. the gentleman from south carolina has 16 1/4 minutes remaining. members and staff in the rear of the chamber will take their conversations from the floor. the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: madam speaker, this is a very, very important bill, particularly important to disabled american veterans. i notice we have had two adjournment motions already. i hope we can take this bill up because those young men and young women deserve it. a special thanks to the speaker, leader hoyer, chairman towns, chairman spratt, chairman rahall, chairman gordon, chairman waxman, chairman markey, mr. lynch, susan davis for all the help they have given us on this very complicated, very important

bachmann: i thank the gentleman from missouri. and i'm concerned about these motor takeovers by the federal government. a story came out today where there has been approximately 1, 500 letters that have gone out to gm dealerships. there is a dealership that i know of that applied to their democratic senator to appeal for help to stay open. that senator was able to arrange a completing between the dealer and the officials at gm. gm is government motors. it has been nationalized. there's no private corporation the way we used to think of gm. the main stock holder is the american government. the democrat senator was able to secure a meeting with the car dealership and general motors. that is great. there is another article that i saw where a constituent contacted one of the democrat representative here in this chamber, representative barney frank. barney frank was able to get this dealership back open. is that what we have come to in this country, that rather than a private business with a private contract with another private corpor

at the time missouri had no speed limits. the posted limits in missouri -- i think the wording on the sign was "safe and prudent" is how you were instructed to drive. which i guess it's an objective measure of speed. but harry agreed to the restriction and so he began planning for this trip. and it's fun to read about it. he planned for this like he was going back to potsdam. i mean, he spread the maps out on the dining room table. he charted every mile. he charted every stop that he would make along the way. as i said, he had done the trip in the senate many times so he knew his favorite places. he also tried to mix up the route a little bit so if people did find out that, you know, people couldn't catch up to them. and on the morning of june 19th, 1953, he packed the chrysler with 11 suitcases. margaret -- yeah, they didn't travel light. [laughter] >> they didn't travel light. well, you know, he liked to dress up. the guy -- they both did. margaret said he was an excellent packer. and harry prided himself on that. but now t

blunt of missouri. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. blunt: i thank the gentleman for yielding. madam speaker, we both came to the house of representatives at the same time, we have not always agreed but i wish you well in your new position. this is the wrong direction for america and for the economy. the republican alternative many democrats could easily support would look for more american energy, more ways to conserve the energy we use and would invest in the future in a way that make ours energy future make sense. we have 28% to 30% of all the coal in the world. if this was something that the majority wanted to tchork majority would be saying if this country could put a man on the moon in a decade, we can find a way to use coal in a way that doesn't create an immediate penalty on every coal-producing yule yu tillity in america. in mr. waxman's state, i have great respect for him, the primary spon soffer the bill, less than 4% of california's electricity comes from coal. in mr. markey's state, less than 24% of the electricity comes f

the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: the member i'm about to yield to for three minutes will be giving her last presentation in this house, for she will be very shortly a member of the administration within the state department with a high ranking position. we wish her well as well as wishing her well in her upcoming marriage. i yield three minutes to my friend, my colleague, the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee on strategic forces, the gentlelady from california, ms. tauscher. the chair: the the gentlewoman from california, ms. tauscher is recognized for three minutes. mrs. tauscher: thank you for those kind words. it has been a pleasure to work with you and my colleagues on the committee and my colleagues in the house. thank you for your patriotic service. i am pleased to rise in support h.r. 2647, the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2010 and i will summarize the portions which i have chaired for the past three years. i thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle including ranki

the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: mr. chairman, i yield three minutes to my friend, my colleague from texas who is the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee on readiness, mr. ortiz. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. mr. ortiz: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in support of h.r. 2647, the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2010. the bill before us today reflects our committee's continuing efforts to reverse the decline in the readiness posture for our armed forces. i would like to thank the ranking member from my subcommittee, my good friend mr. forbes of georgia, for his help in bringing together this excellent bill. the united states military without a doubt, the premier fighting force in the world, however, military leaders face significant challenges as they seek to fulfill today's equipment and training needs. h.r. 2647 is dedicated to providing the necessary resources and authorities to help reverse declining trends in train and equipment readiness.

for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? >> i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 385? the chair: house resolution 385, celebrating the life of millard fuller a life which provides all the evidence one needs to believe in the power of the human spirit who inspire hoped and lifted the burdens of poverty and despair from one the shoulders of one's fellow man. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from missouri, mr. cleaver, and the gentleman from california, mr. gary miller each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. cleaver: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous materials thereon. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. cleer: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cleaver: mr. spe

akin of missouri. the chair: a recorded has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on th vote the

, the question was whether missouri would be admitted to the union as a slave or free state. this set off an intense debate between northern and southern legislators. missouri's ratification would upset this delicate balance between slave and free states in the senate. in order to keep the already tenuous balance, henry clay worked out a compromise consisting of three parts. maine would separate from massachusetts. movement would enter the union as a slave state. the remaining territories of the louisiana purchase would be closed off to slavery. unrest around the practice of slavery continued until further compromises came forward. additionally, compromise outlawed the slave trade but not slavery in the district of columbia, where we are today, was enacted. while enacted a stricter fugitive slave law for the retrieval of slaves who had run away to the north, this compromise did little to satisfy the antislavery movement. it did preserve the union in what many refer to as the calm before the storm. then my state enters. as the united states continued to expand the very fabric

luetkemeyer, from missouri. mr. luetkemeyer: thank you to the gentlelady from wyoming, mrs. lummis. it's a great evening you put together for us here. we've been here a little over 100 days, about 120 days now. we've all got some first impressions of what this body is all about, what this work work is all about. it's been an eye-opening experience for me coming from the midwest. my district is full of small towns, it's where you know your neighbors and wave at them as you go by. we still have gun racks in the back of pickup trucks where i come from. but we also have some great people. that's the reason i was excited to be able to represent those folks. where i come from, people still believe in limited government, lower taxes, self-reliance for the individual, common sense, and balanced budgets, whether it's their own or whether it's the local political entity's. it's kind of a -- kind of ironic, when you get here, things seem to change. in my mind, what a difference a few thousand miles make in the way governance takes place. having served in the house in missouri, it's completely

at the time missouri had no speed limits. the posted limits in missouri -- i think the wording on the sign was safe and prudent is how you were instructed to drive. which i guess it's an objective measure of speed. but harry agreed to the restriction and so he began planning for this trip. and it's fun to read about it. he planned for this like he was going back to potsdam. he spread the maps out on the dining room table. he charted every mile. he charted every stop that he would make along the way. as i said, he had done the trip in the senate many times so he knew his favorite places. he also tried to mix up the route a little bit so if people did find out that, you know, people couldn't catch up to them. and on the morning of june 19th, 1953, he packed the chrysler with 11 suitcases. margaret -- yeah, they didn't travel light. [laughter] >> they didn't travel light. well, you know, he liked to dress up. the guy -- they both did. margaret said he was an excellent packer. and harry prided himself on that. but now that i thin

we can't get it right in congress, we aren't going to get it right in missouri. mr. akin: i think we have three or four minutes left. i'm going to yield to my good friend, congresswoman bachmann from minnesota. mrs. bachmann: we were watching "titanic" and i listened to dr. burgess about the debt and the debt load. once thebt load. once the ice gash came on the side of the titanic, we think of the united states. nothing could possibly sink the united states. we will always be a superpower. the one thing that has kept us a superpower has been freedom, free market economies. we are in the process of watching the deconstruction of free market economies before our very eyes. as the ice ripped that hole in the titanic, water started being taken on and the engineer brought the blueprint of the titanic, water came into the first chamber, the second and the third. by the time it filled up so many chambers, it was over. the ship -- it was impossible to save that ship. that, i think, mr. akin is what you have been bringing before this body this evening, you have been showing t

and i also particularly like claire mccaskill from missouri. the only democrat who voted against that nomination. in the normal scheme of things, there would have been a gaggle of democrats voting against that nomination, had that been a republican administration. she demonstrated great character i thought to separate herself out from that. >> i think senator coleman was one of the other ones. clec senator colburn, i disagree with senator colburn on a lot of social issues but he is fantastic. i would vote for him early and often if i had a chance. he's been a real tiger in court.

berman: i thank the gentleman from missouri, the chairman of the committee for his kind comments and i yield myself three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. berman: mr. speaker, the united states has an enormous stake in the security and stability of pakistan. we can't allow al qaeda or any other terrorist group that threaten ours national security to operate with impunity in the tribal regions or any other part of pakistan. nor can we permit toe the pakistani state and its nuclear arsenal to be taken over by the taliban. to help prevent this nightmare scenario, we need to forge a true strategic partnership with pakistan and its people, strengthen pakistan's democratic government, and work to make pakistan a source of stability in a volatile region. h.r. 1886 is designed to help achieve these critical goals. this legislation would significantly expand democratic, economic, and social development assistance to help lay the foundation for a stronger, more stable pakistan. the bill provides funding to strengthen the capacity of pakistan'

i'm from missouri. i'm a democrat from missouri, we are in danger. she said if i can change 1% of that, the gop, and she also had just gotten a new ad hoc committee on federal contracting and she said she is ready to take the two by four out. so we hope that she doesn't leave part, and it took a lot of guts to vote against the nominee. there are some out there still trying to. >> tried to talk to these people and help them to come forth. >> may be asking you guys to come talk to her. >> a question on acquisition. is there a problem, don't understand these problems or don't do anything about them? is that they don't have enough power implementing them? >> they have the power. i've watched and worked for acquisition executives in my time in the pentagon, and watched the procedure. you know, these guys come in from industry. some of them pretty bright guys your end day, right or wrong, are all-stars on shoulders, and a four star comes in and tells a guy, you know, the moon is made of cheese, and is a no, it isn't. no, he said it is it is. this program i

it's a church designed by christopher wren that was relocated from england to fulton, missouri. it's the only place in the united states that exists solely to honor winston churchill. the bill we consider today recognizes this museum as the world-class facility it is and the significance of the site. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from the northern mariana islands rise? mr. sablan: does the gentlewoman have any other speakers? mrs. mcmorris rodgers: i have no further speakers. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sablan: as i was listening to the gentleman from missouri make the statement, i couldn't help but notice that the winston churchill memorial library is a source of trial tride for him and his constituents in missouri and i encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support passage of house resolution 390. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the yes, -- the question is will the ho

missouri on the line for independents. >> good morning. how are you? >> how do you think congress should handle this? >> i am attorney. i understand the lady from michigan and the circumstance she's in and not having healthcare for the last four years, which is completely horrible situation. i'm disabled. i'm in my early 40's. my wife has had to leave here to go to minneapolis to get a job that would i think a single payer system is probably not the best route to go. yet, at the sim time, the idea of getting insurance companies out of the business in the profit incentive, that the 30 prs the gentleman talked about earlier is sigh fepped off. i can speak directly to what the president had to say about the mayor clinic having spent time there. they are extraordinarily efficient. there are ways to do it. so many people that are advocates of the sick l payer system are looking for coverage for everyone. >> in missouri, robert on our line for democrats. go ahead. >> i'll tell you what, i've been watching -- let me turn the tv off. i've been watching you all

for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. blunt: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, republicans are eager for this discussion, this debate on health care to move forward. we are eager to talk about health care in committee, on the floor, at hearings, at news conferences, wherever people want to talk about a health care system that ensures more quality, widespread coverage and accessibility. in fact, we have a plan that will be based on five principles, and today i want to talk about one of those principles which is just to simply make quality health care coverage affordable and accessible for every american regardless of pre existing health conditions. that's a statement that i think every member of this house would agree with. our debate is how we get there. we need to be committed how we get there. we need to ensure that everybody has access to health care be

each one of them has a kind of destination in mind, but from missouri where we lived to that destination somewhere example in the edge of to the southwest the left, get in the middle of the country and ended up in new mexico with the purpose of meeting a woman who had been writing me letters for 10 years, and almost seven year-old woman at the time. she had been writing me peculiar of letters and i wanted to meet her so that was the destination but between columbia, missouri and mexico the events that occur in that section happen. said that is where the serendipity comes in. i was saying, how do i put these together? and finally dawned on me because my wife's name is joanne, she has never been happy with that name given that she is largely a tomboy when she looks of or not, joe would be a better name but she doesn't go for that. to tell me one day when i first met her that she really only wanted to be named quintana. i thought that is a great name and i love that the two. to love the name kean, which existed in mexico, old mexico. i said that as a great name, so she became for a time can

for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? mr. blunt: to address the house for one minute and permission to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. blunt: i thank you, speaker. earlier this week i talked about the principles that we need to follow for americans to have a better health care system. the first of those principles was to make quality health care coverage affordable and accessible for every american regardless of pre-existing conditions. today i want to talk less than a minute on why we need to protect our system from a government-run health care turnt. what that alternative would do would eliminate coverage for more than 100 million americans who currently receive their coverage through their job. it would limit your choice of doctors and medical treatment options and it would result in the federal government taking control of health care. yesterday, the american medical association embraced all of those reasons not to have a public option, not to

. >> pajamas from colorado and the gentleman from missouri. missouri. >> thanks, mr. chair. is a couple, to my friends on the side of the aisle have expressed a lot of what i am feeling. even my friends on the other side of the aisle could be the greatest laissez-faire capitalist in the world have got to question when there is such a serious divide between management and ownership. i'll take qwest, which is a big company in colorado. quest, one of our ceos, he has now gotten himself in trouble, had $148 million. all right. now this is comparing apples and oranges but the governor of the state of colorado gets $90000. and most people make 50 to $200,000 in colorado. how is it that an executive gets $148 million? how does that take him about. mr. sperling, can you gauge how does anybody approve that kind of salary for anybody? >> i don't know your specific, the specific case. but i will say one thing and again you have some excellent experts coming on, which is one of the things, you know, one of the things that concerns me is whether or not retirement golden parachute type of

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: i could not -- how much time is remaining, please? the speaker pro tempore: five seconds. mr. skelton: i thank the lady, i thank the gentleman. this is a bad motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. without objection, the previous question is ordered. the question is on the motion to recommit. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it -- for what purpose does the gentleman from -- mr. forbes: request a recorded vote the speaker pro tempore: those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of passage. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-cap

the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. bond: madam president, i rise today to express my strong opposition to the nomination of mr. harold koh to be the legal advisor to the department of state. my concerns with mr. koh arise primarily from his own statements, writings and testimony before congress. in my opinion, he seems more comfortable basing his legal conclusions on partisan political opinions and trendy arguments rather than the facts and the law. we don't need more legal clerics in government. we need more legal realists in government, someone who pays attention to the hard work that we do in this body to pass laws. the department of state and the country deserve better than that kind of advice. let me provide a few quick examples. on september 16, 2008, mr. koh testified before the senate judiciary subcommittee on the constitution. his written testimony included the following statement -- quote -- "a compliant congress repeatedly blessed unsound executive policies by enacting nominal loophole-ridden bans on torture

our missouri police departments called us frequently about the cops program, young poem called about america corps, the earned income tax credit, d.l.c. programs but without ever mentioning the d.l.c. the political current al created was so strong that it was mainstream and seminal. in a place lick missouri he could provide direction for national leaders like dick gephardt, high profile governors lick mel carnahan, for jean carnahan during her 10 newer in the senate or state legislators like me navigating the rock y waters of a tricky political climate. i know over time he has guided every one of my political heroes including our former president. al has given us through the d.l.c. a consistently invaluable repository of ideas for the laboratory of the 50 states. through the national conversation, the new d.l.c. fellows program, or simply through the d.l. c-webb site he invites us in and sends us out armed with ideas that strengthen our communities, keep or families safe, implement fiscal discipline, educate our children, and spur on economic development. through the decade i have kn

fugeade and major general crafted from missouri who will be testifying today as well smed led me say that this hearing is focused on hurricane response t because we started hurricane season this week smed but we will be examining regions of the country in this hearing today and we will be focusing on plans and prosesses that have applicability across the board from many threats. the ranking member and i both represent states that have seen large portions of our states major cities and very important rural areas devasted by recent hurricanes. 2004, 2005, and 2008 were particularly hard years for cities and commuentsd through youd the gulf coast from florida to texas smed but the last crendry has been difficult for many, many statesd and i would loik to put the first chart up. these are the number of hirks that have hit this particular region of the country which is the hurricane belt from 1955 to 2005. the blue line is hurricane katrina which was the greatest among all the storms doe picket ed there by a significant in terms of size of damage smed and then hurricane reeda which ranks

first call this morning comes from the democrats' line from kansas city, missouri. tony, good morning. seagucaller: good morning. my friend died of cancer, smoking for seven years. he was so sick, that, looking at him, you know, i believe the best thing to do is to, you know, but make sure that people are not dying for nothing, ok? host: du think it is of to the fda to relate -- do you think it is up to the fda to regulate tobacco? caller: yes. it should be done. i am so glad it is done. i hope the president does it as soon as possible. host: our next call is from sarah on the democrats' line from right here in washington, d.c. caller: i would just like to say that i think, indeed, the fda should regulate the tobacco industry. tobacco has called -- has caused serious, serious health problems in this country from second-hand smoke and from those who actually do smokeless cigarette. -- who do smoke the cigarette. i know people that smoke the pipe, the cigar, and they do not inhale. but the cigarettes are just absolutely -- they have to be controlled. people have died

our missouri police department called us frequently about the cops program, young people called about americorps and the earned income tax credit, d.l.c. programs, without ever mentioning the deform l.c. the political current al created had become so strong it was mainstream and seminal. in a place like missouri, he could provide direction for national leaders like dick gephardt, high-profile governors like mel carnahan, for jean carnahan in her tenure in the senate and state legislators like me, 1/2 gatting the -- navigating the rocky waters of a local political career. al has given us through the d.l.c. a consistently invaluable repository of ideas for the laboratory of the 50 states. through the national conversations, the new d.l.c. fellows program, or simply through the d.l.c. website, he invites us in and sends us out armed with ideas that strengthen our communities, keep our family safe, implement fiscal discipline, ect our children and spur on economic development. through the decade i have known him, just one small chapter, i know, i have witnessed the genius of his short and

our missouri police department's call the spherically about the cops program, young people called about america corps. dlc programs, but without mentioning the dlc. the political currents that al created had become so strong that it was mainstream and semel. in a place like missouri, he could provide direction for national leaders like dick gephardt, high-profile governors like mel carnahan, or four state legislators like me, navigating the rocky waters of a tricky political climate. i noted over time that he had guided every one of my political heroes, including our former president. political career. al has given us through the d.l.c. a consistently invaluable repository of ideas for the laboratory of the 50 states. through the national conversations, the new d.l.c. fellows program, or simply through the d.l.c. website, he invites us in and sends us out armed with ideas that strengthen our communities, keep our family safe, implement fiscal discipline, ect our children and spur on economic development. through the decade i have known him, just one small chapter, i know, i have witness

. >> the gentleman from missouri. >> thinks mr. chair and just a couple of questions and comments my friends on this side of the all express' a lot of what i am feeling and even my friends on the other side of the all it could be the greatest laissez-faire capitalist in the world have got to question when there is such serious divide between management and ownership. and, you know, i will take the quest which is a big company in colorado. quest, one of our ceos who has now gotten himself in trouble got $140 million. now, this is comparing apples and oranges but the governor of the state of colorado gets $90,000.50 thousand to $200,000 in colorado. how is it an executive gets $148 million? how does that pay come about? mr. sperling, how does anybody approve that kind of salary? >> i don't know the specific case but i will say one thing and again you have excellent experts coming on which is one of the things, you know, one of the things that discerns me is whether or not retirement golden parachute type of payments are promoted beca

louis, missouri. thaddeus, go ahead. caller: good morning, john. guest: good morning, thaddeus. caller: i have a question for you. what was it that made the omaha beachhead so much more difficult to crack than the other three beach heads? guest: thanks. terrain is the key to the whole answer. omaha beach was about three miles of pretty rocky beach. you didn't have a whole lot of sand there. you didn't have a lot of shelf. and you had kind of a coastline that gave way to some prominent ridges. and even cliffsides. but it had to be taken because omaha beach was the key link between the british and canadian beaches to the east and utah beach to the west. so omaha was going to be tough because germans had the high ground and had so heavily fortified it. you also had four key draws that came in from omaha beach. they were gullies that nature had created over many thousands of years and they were important because the allies needed them to get their vehicles and supplies to use them as convertib convertibvetera veritab veritable roads. that is where you see quite a bit of bloodshed. s

what kind of presumptuous person am i to think i can write something down in my study in missouri and somebody in seattle or florida will want to read that? that i get a better and then i say here is one per cent per you keep going after these little straws come anything to keep you going especially to get the first draft done. the redo the whole letter but the first sentence if you're a writer or becoming a writer, this may help a little bit. >> you're new book is one of the dullest things i have ever read. [laughter] trust me, i read every word of it. i even read portions of it to my wife so she could see howled dole it was. [laughter] i think the word we're looking for is anal compulsive although i do know once they start a book i do not like to quit in the middle. anybody in that category? you keep going and you say damage but you keep going as i get older i read i can read faster and faster with a book that is not working but before i commit to a book i will start reading if i am just browsing if i quit or five back away i am not a quitter. [laughter] that helps a little bit. i a

fugate in major-general grass from missouri who will be testifying today as well. let me say that this hearing is focused on hurricane response, because we started hurricane season this week. but, we will be examining issues that affect not just the hurricane region, but all regions of the country in this hearing today. and we will be focusing on plants and processes that actually have applicability across the board for many different types of threats, be it hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.. the ranking member and i both represent states that have seen large portions of the hour states, major cities and very important rural areas devastated by a recent hurricanes. 2004, 2005 and 2008 were particularly hard years for cities and communities throughout the gulf coast from florida to texas. but the last century has been difficult for many, many states and i would like to put the first chart up. these are the numbers of hurricanes that have hit the, this particular region of the country which is the hurricane belt from 1955 to 2005. the blue line is hurricane katrina, whic

in missouri, of the c.d.c. recommendation on how much should be spent on the prevalence of youth smoking, missouri spent 3.7%. 23% of the youth have a prevalence of smoking. 19%, a prevalence of marijuana usage. i can see that the president gets where i'm going. we've constantly since 1998, with the money provided by the tobacco industry to the states, chosen to build sidewalks over promoting programs to reduce youth prevalence of smoking. and now the authors of this bill would have us suggest that by allowing the f.d.a. to have regulation of tobacco, that the preprevalence of youth smoking s going to go down. because now we have one federal agency that will have total jurisdiction over this product. mr. president, let me just say that -- this. if that were the case, the prevalence of marijuana usage by youth would be zero, because it is illegal. there is no age limit. as a matter of fact, there's no agency need for jurisdiction because nobody in america, adult or youth, are supposed to use it. it is a myth for

luetkemeyer: in my home state where i served as a majority and minority leadership, it's not unlike missouri but it's different. here, we don't necessarily run everything through committee. not everything has to be germane. not always are you allowed to offer amendments. it's an amazing process where i thought there'd be more open, more transparent, that was the promise from the administration. yet we see little of that through the discussion here it's been interesting to listen to my colleagues and yourself and know they've got some great stories to tell. great perspectives on how we should be governing ourselves, how we as a people should be governing ourselves, and it's interesting to me that, you know, if you look at our constitution, it says we the people, it doesn't say we the government. to me, i think that's very important. we stop and think about our framers, when they put this very special document together this american experiment they were trying, they said, we the people. they wanted the people to be where the power was. to be where the ability to control their lives was. not

president. >> senator from missouri. >> i want to thank my friend, the senator from minnesota, for helping get us organized this afternoon to spend a little time talking about an outstanding -- outstanding federal judge. i also want to thank my colleague from kansas and giving us a few minutes to make these remarks. as i started looking i will confess i wasn't familiar with julca sotomayor the issue was nominated and i started looking at her resume and there are some things in a resume frankly amazing that you can get distracted by where she went to school and where she got her law degree and the fact that she has been at several levels of the federal bench and also of course she had a very big job with complex litigation and a law firm the part of her resume that spoke to me was her time as assistant district attorney in new york. now, i don't know that most americans truly understand the difference between a state prosecuting attorney and a federal prosecuting attorney. well, those of us who have spent time in the state court rooms like to explain we are the ones that answer the 911 call

the chair: the gentleman from missouri is recognized for one minute. mr. carnahan: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in strong support of this foreign relations authorization act. it provides the necessary resources for the state department to fully carry out its core mission, u.s. diplomacy, based on smart power. as advanced by president obama and secretary of state clinton. from authorizing funding for the u.n., peacekeeping operations, for international organizations to establishing a critical study abroad program and doubling the size of the peace corps. this bill provides critical support for the state department and helping to restore our image around the world, all critical tools for u.s. diplomatic power. one of my particular interests is looking for ways to increase and enhance study abroad programs. having studied overseas myself in undergrad i'm very pleased with the inclusion of the paul simon study abroad act. american students who live and study in other countries not only gain valuable experience but they serve as some of america's best ambassadors. i want to thank th

the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mrs. mccaskill: i want to thank my friend, the senator from minnesota, for helping us get organized this afternoon to spend a little time talking about an outstanding -- outstanding federal judge. i also want to thank my colleague from kansas in giving us a few minutes to -- to make these remarks. i -- as i started looking, i'll confess, that i wasn't familiar with judge sotomayor, before she was nominated, and i started looking at her resume. and there are so many things in her resume that are, frankly, amazing, that you can get distracted by where she went to school and where she got her law degree and the fact that she has been at several levels of the federal bench and also, of course, that she had a very big job in a -- with complex litigation in a law firm. but the part of her resume that spoke to me was her time as an assistant district attorney in new york. now, i don't know that most americans truly understand the difference between a state prosecuting attorney and a federal prose

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is recognized for one minute. mr. akin: thank you, madam chair. i'm the ranking member on the armed services subcommittee on sea power. we've talked a lot about climate change and global things and taxes, but my concern is very specific with this bill. i have had a chance to tour the huge shipyards where the steel frames go up and the nuclear reactors go into our ships of the mighty navy. and every single step of the way there is energy involved in making the steel and making the aluminum for the aircraft, heavy, heavy uses of energy in welding the steel together. if this bill passes, it is a major threat to heavy industry, because it increases the cost of energy. when we increase the cost of ships and planes, we're going to be able to buy less because we aren't going to have enough money in the defense budget to be able to buy as many and in that regard we become more vulnerable as a nation. this bill, while it has not been talked about in this regard is a serious threat to our industrial base and therefore, a threat

host: larry from missouri. on independent line. caller: good morning. i do not know how you can sit there and of the american people in the face and tell them this is not the biggest tax increase that we have ever had. you can say no tactics -- who is going to get the money from cap and tax? because you have put us in so much debt with all of these idiotic things that you keep putting forward to the american people. the people who are going to hurt the worst of the poor people in the united states who cannot afford to pay the bills. they can't even afford to pay the bills they have now. and i have been working on this for several months with my electricity company in clinton, missouri, which is a coal-fired plant, who spent $8 million in the last year to bring whenever you're talking about down, ok? as an older person and the united states who is 70 years old, i would hope to heck i would never live long enough to save the american government, which is us, not you, but us, we pay the bills so you can have a job, your job is paid for by us -- not this ti

host: that was a charleston the missouri. clearwater, florida. paul on the independent lines. are you there? virginia, floyd on the republican line. caller: i think he needs to stand up and say a whole lot more than what he has. i think the reason why he has not stood up and said a lot, one of the reasons because we have a -- have the t parties, the in ministration -- tea parties, they come out a little bit later, people had bumper stickers against abortion on their cars that they should be checked out by state police, and this, that, and the other. there been 50 million babies killed in america and the democrats cannot say anything about that, so how can he stand up to those people. they don't care. host: shreveport, louisiana. mildred on our democrats line. caller: good morning. i was calling -- to you guys tried to find the most negative news articles? i do not hear anyone asking bush where the jobs. as far as iran, why should he say anything now and if something happens they would just crack down on those people? combat to say -- obama is doing this and that. all they want