mr. smith: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from iowa, mr. king, also a member of the judiciary committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. king: i thank the gentleman from texas for yielding. first i want to thank all of those who volunteered on this task force for impeachment and i want to thank chairman conyers and ranking member smith for pulling this together in their professional fashion and people on our side of the aisle and mr. schiff of california who has conducted himself, i think, with a solid degree of professionalism throughout the proceedings. i'm very well aware, mr. speaker, that this is a rare and extraordinary step this congress is taking. and that this is a serious moment. when i read through this report that's been produced by the task force, pulled together the data in a compressed fashion, it's appalling to me this went on as long as it did i will say, when the conviction came down and the sentence was made, the 33 months in the federal penitentiary to judge kent this congress ac

smith. mr. diaz-balart cited a letter signed by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the secretary of defense that was sent a number of weeks ago long before a series of changes were made in this bill. at the time that letter was sent we had a very elaborate resolution of disapproval process for the presidential determinations. that has been struck. we had a very high waiver standard vital to national security interests. that has been struck. we had a great dispute that was existing over how the pakistan counterinsurgency cooperation fund should work. those issues have all been worked out with the house armed services committee. the house armed services committee has worked through all of these issues with us. they are reflected in the pakistan bill. this is the committee to whom the secretary's letter was addressed. a number of changes have been made. my friend's comments relate more to the pentagon's view of this bill before all those changes were made than they do now. but the issue

mr. smith: mr. speaker, at precisely the same time as president barack obama continues to assiduously assure americans, including graduates at notre dame university last month, that he wants to reduce abortion at home and abroad, his administration is aggressively seeking to topple pro-life laws in sovereign nations, a clear, deeply troubling contradiction. first mr. obama rescinded the mexico city policy, a pro-life reagan era executive order, that ensured that the half billion dollars in population control funds appropriated by congress each year only went to foreign nongovernmental organizations, family planning, organizations that did not promote, lobby, or perform abortions as a method of family planning. as a result of owe bam obama's new policy, they are flush with cash and will continue to get hundreds of millions of dollars annually to push abortion around the world. all of it decoupled from pro-life safeguards. i mention the mexico city policy which is not on the floor today for context. t

mr. smith: i yield myself the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for 3 1/2 minutes. mr. smith: first of all, i'd like to consider in the smith-herger amendment because i appreciate so much the work of the gentleman from california and his comments a few minutes ago. mexican drug cartels are converting america's national parks and forests into farms for their illegal marijuana crops. damaging these protected ecosystems and threatening the safety of visitors and employees. the drug enforcement administration calls marijuana the cash crop that finances the cartel's drug trafficking operations. and now our federal lands are being used to grow this crop. the justice department's national drug intelligence center reports that mexican drug cartels grow their marijuana in remote areas of public lands where there is a limited law enforcement presence. the two primary regions for these marijuana sites are the western region comprised of california, hawaii, oregon and washington, and the appalachian region, including ken

mr. smith: i yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. mr. sensenbrenner: the simple fact that judge kent police department get -- pled guilty shows it did occur. today he's sitting in a federal prison collecting a paycheck from taxpayers. he's not fit to sit on the judiciary and we must perform our constitutional duty to impeach him. support house resolution 520 and sent the judge to the senate for trial. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: i'm pleased now to recognize a former magistrate himself, hank johnson of georgia, who is chair of the courts subcommittee and an important member of the task force that was headed by chairman adam schiff. i recognize the gentleman for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for three minutes. mr. johnson: thank you, plmp. -- plmp. this is not -- mr. chairman. this is not a happy day, any time we have to take this type of solemn action. i first want to thank my chairman, the h

mr. smith: mr. speaker, we are here today to consider and vote on articles of impeachment following u.s. district judge's jam -- samuel kent's guilty plea and sentencing. judge kent pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and lying to a panel of judges that who were investigationing allegation he is sexually assaulted two women on his staff. following his guilty plea and sentencing herb house authorized an inquiry into whether the house should impeach judge kent. recently, the committee heard testimonfrom two women who judge kent assaulted. their testimony was troubling, especially since he used his position to get away with it. he has refused to appear before the committee. he sent a letter to president obama tendering his resignation , effective june 1, 2010. by resigning june 1, 2010, he's attempting to receive his judicial salary for another year. that's why we are here today, to take the next step to putting an end to judge kent's abusive authority and exploitation of the american taxpayers. t

mr. smith: i thank the speaker for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of this amendment. i thank my friend and colleague for offering it. today, david goldman is once again back in brazil. he is back at the brazilian supreme court which he and i visited together last february. trying to get justice that the brazilian courts keep delaying and denying. today, david goldman is tenaciously trying to reclaim his son from a child abductor. mr. speaker, as many members know, almost five years ago david goldman's 9-year-old son, sean, was abducted by his mother to brazil. for five long years, david has sought relief in the brazilian courts. and with the aid of an extraordinarily talented legal team and a local gas roots organizations called -- grassroots organization called bring sean home, and i would encourage everyone to google it, go check it out, look at the information that is contained on that website because it is truly remarkable what this grassroots organization has done to power support for david, to lift his often d

smith: i thank my friend for yielding. mr. speaker, the prolife movement is absolutely nonviolent and committed to protecting the unborn children and their mothers through peaceful, nonviolent means. i have been in the prolife movement for 37 years, and those peaceful nonviolent means includes legal and constitutional reform as well as tangiblely assisting women with crisis pregnancies. dr. tiller's murderer must be brought to swift justice, commence rate with the heinous crime that he has committed. murder is murder. murder is never justified and can never be condoned by any society committed to fundamental human rights, justice and the rule of just law. let me as well, like my other colleagues on the floor today, extend my profound condolences to the tiller family. and i yield back to my friend the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey yields back. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: i'll reserve my time at this point. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new yor

you are on with nelson smith. caller: good morning. mr. smith, i think you hit on two things that i see as really important. one is accountability and there is none in the public schools. and then importantly, setting the expectations. i mean the schools -- my son graduated this year, my daughter graduated two years ago from public schools. there is more rules, more rules and more people to enforce the rules. these are high school students, lined painted on the floor, stay on the line, keep their mouth shut. eat in the cafeteria, nobody allowed to talk. that kind of a thing. how are you preparing anybody for anything except prison with those kind of rules? the expectations are set so low, what do you expect? people will perform to where you expect them to. on the accountability side, that is the big problem. that is the difference between charter schools, i think. school boards are not there to represent the parents. school boards are there to protect the administration nowadays, unfortunately. host: mr. smith? guest: school boards are typ

mr. mckeon: mr. chairman, i rise to yield to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith, two minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. smith: i thank the distinguished gentleman for yielding and his help and the chairman's help in making this amendment, my amendment, part of the en bloc amendment. this amendment requires the department of defense, mr. speaker, to report to congress on the plight of our service men and women who along with their children suffer from intrafamilal international child abduction. the movement of our service members make them especially vulnerable to the risks of international child abduction. attorneys familiar with this phenomenon estimate that there are approximately 25 to 30 new cases of international child abductions affecting our service members every year. one man, commander paul tollman, came in my office partly because of the publicity about david goldman and his son, sean goldman, the brazilian case i had been working on and he came in and said, you have to hear my story. it's a heartbreaking story of a man deployed to j

res. 529, a bipartisan resolution that i offered with mr. pence, mr. waxman, mr. smith and mr. engel and i thank the speaker for promptly bringing it to the floor today. with the input and guidance from many members of this chamber as well as the bipartisan congressional task force against amendment semitism. i rise today in great sorrow as this nation mourns the loss of officer johns who was killed yesterday at the united states holocaust memorial museum at the hands of a hateful white supremacist. i offer condolences of officer jaunches and condemn the vicious attack on the holocaust memorial. the museum is a place of reflection and expression of the addage, never again. the museum seeks a world without racism, anti-sifmentism, holocaust denial and intolerance. this vicious attack hurt all americans. a hate crime in every sense, this attack violates all of us. acts of hatred and violence cannot and will not be tolerated in our country. today, the lessons of the holocaust are more relevant than ever before. officer johns died protecting those values and he is a hero to all of

mr. smith: mr. speaker, as this replica of a check demonstrates, the national media are giving the obama administration a free pass worth who knows how much on any number of major national issues such as the economy, energy, and health care. the national media seldom mention that the president's budget would double the national debt in five years and triple it in 10. the national media don't tell the american people that the president's cap and trade energy plan will cost every family $1,600. the national media don't report that the 46 million uninsured that is used to justify the president's health care plan is really only 10 million people after you deduct those who are eligible for medicare and medicaid who can afford health insurance and without health insurance for just a couple months between jobs. americans don't want the media to give the obama administration a free pass. they want the facts. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. cohen: to addr

mr. smith: madam speaker, i have beside me an actual copy of a letter sent to a marine family. s the -- mr. jones: madam speaker, i have bd my an actual copy of a let every sent to a marine family. on behalf of the department of the navy we extend our deepest simply. if h.r. 24 and senate 504 become the law of the land, it would be the way it ould be for the family of a marine who gave his life for this country, it will say the secretary of the navy and marine corps with the navy flag and marine flag. it will say dear marine corps family on behalf of the department of the navy and marine corps, please accept my sincere condolences on the loss of your loved one. this is all it's about, bringing the team together. it's time the marine corps be recognized as part of the fighting team. i will ask god to please bless our men and women in afghanistan and iraq and ask god plees with his loving arms to hold the families of those who gave their life in afghanistan and iraq, and i ask three times, god please, god please, god please continue to bless america and i yield back the balance o

mr. hensarling today for five minutes, mr. smith of new jersey today for five minutes, mr. burton for june 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 for five minutes, myself, mr. poe, for june 19, mr. jones for june 19 for five minutes, mr. flake for today for five minutes and mr. fleming june 18 for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? ms. woolsey: i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into, the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes, revise and extend their remarks and include therein extraneous materials. ms. woolsey of california, mr. schiff of california, ms. richardson, california. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, and under a previous order of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. mr. paul of texas. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i wish to claim mr. paul's time. the speaker pr

smith is we can reck niced for 60 minutes as designee of the majority leader. mrs. schmidt: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise tonight to shine a light on a subject where i do not believe this administration's actions are living up to its rhetoric. whether it was said on the campaign trail or in speeches during his time in office, the president is certainly -- has certainly tried to sound reasonable on the issue of life. but the administration's actions belie its words. during a campaign appearance with pastor rick war on august 167, 2009, then-candidate barack obama made clear that his goal was to, quote, reduce the number of abortions. in fact, he said that he had, quote, inserted this into the democratic party platform. how do we reduce the number of abortions, end quote. now given the administration's expressed support for roe v. wade i never expected nor do not expect it to suddenly reverse its course. however, one way to reduce the number of abortions and a way that works and one that is a common ground issue for the american people is not to allow taxpayer funded

mr. burton for indiana. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? without objection. mr. hensarling: madam speaker, i rise today to honor the life of william c. dove mccarty. and recognize his commitment and service to his community, the state of texas, and to our great nation. dove a resident of athens texas passed away last month. he was a loving husband of 58 years to jo ann. he was proud father to daughter cynthia and mary lou. he was a devoted grandfather of cole, kyle, michelle, and great grandfather of kristen, preston, and daniel. finally, madam speaker, he was my dear friend. he was born in 1929 in texas and graduated from luisa high school. he proudly defended our nation in the korean war by serving in the united states army. when his service ended dove began what became a legacy of leadership in our free enterprise system and service to his community. he returned to work and eventually owned his own clothing business. he gave back to his small west texas community by

mr. smith: madam speaker, the national media have given president obama a free pass on the economy. . earlier this year they said we needed to pass the president stimulus package to keep the unemployment rate below 8%. since they passed the president's nonstimulus stimulus the econo has lost more than 1.5 million jobs and unemployment has jumped to 9.4%. despite the massive layoffs, the president claimed this week that the stimulus has saved jobs. the national media have allowed the obama administration to get away with spending jobs lost as jobs saved. and -- spinning jobs lost as jobs saved. and they've ignored the congressional budget office conclusion that the stimulus bill actually would reduce output, reduce output. the media should scrutinize the president's words and actions, not give him a free pass. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to addre

mr. chairman, i want to thank you for working with me. this is a very good bill. we addressed the threats to our forward deployed troops, our allies and i hope our allies work with us to pass the bill towards passage. . the chair: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: mr. chairman, i yield to the gentleman from maryland, mr. bartlett, the ranking member on the airland subcommittee such time as he may consume. the chair: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. barton: thank you. i'd like to thank my -- mr. -- mr. bartlett: thank you. i'd like to thank all the hard work that has taken place behind the scenes to get this bill done. this is not an easy process. and the legislation before us reflects many difficult decisionings -- decisions. once again this bill places forced protection issues at the top of the priority list. it provides additional funds for the national guard equipment account and the service's unfunded priority list and the changes this bill makes in regards to b

sal smith russell. there was just one problem. sal smith russell wasn't received by anyone at the grand theater on the night in question. no one was. in fact, none of the three plays was performed that night at any of the three theaters. there was -- there was some kind of problem on the railroad lines, running into st. louis, an none of the trains carrying the actors or the sets could get through. great god, drieser said, when he learned what had happened. and shortly after that, he quit his job with the paper in st. louis and went on to become perhaps the worst of america's great novelists. i will conclude my prepared remarks by coming full circle. here is that paragraph again, or at least part of it. most journalists bailiff like people in most other occupations. they do their jobs well, or better than well, they realize that others depend on them and are stimulated by the need to meet their responsibilities. you have just heard in brief about some notable exceptions to the concept of meeting journalistic responsibilities. i wo

i'd like to also commend judiciary ranking member, mr. lamar smith, for his leadership in making this a truly bipartisan effort. and i urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california, mr. issa, is recognized. mr. issa: thank you, mr. spker. it's now my pleasure to yield for our response to the gentleman from south carolina for such time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the gentleman from california yielding. h.r. 2344, the webcasting settlement act of 2009, grants limited statutory authority to sound exchange. the government designated entity that is responsible for disbursing webcast royalties to

mr. nadler: mr. chairman, i rise in support of my amendment which i authored with representatives me chaud and carolyn maloney. it is the debbie smith program and corresponding decrease in general operating expenses in the office of justice. unlike eyewitness testimony and circumstantial evidence, d.n.a. provides assurance and has resulted in the conviction of countless perpetrators of violent crimes and freed hundreds of innocent people. we can identify the guilty and exclude the innocent with certainty with just a little biological evidence and a scientific test. the problem, of course, is they have to collect their biological evidence, do that test and record the information. if you do not, the power of d.n.a. evidence is unrealized. unfortunately, there is a backlog in the hundreds of thousands in the analysis of d.n.a. evidence. this back log includes offenders from crime scenes and rape kits. when such a powerful tool is used, we must act. and i helped pass legislation to do just that. debbie s

. >> robert smith? >> thank you, sir. mr. speaker, pensioners who rely on their savings are suffering greatly from the low interest rates needed to tackle the recession. will the prime minister explain to them why the savings limit for cancel tax benefit has stuck at 16,000 pounds if it had begun up with the retail price index it would now be 27,000 pounds. >> mr. speaker, in all areas we've got to look at what we can afford at different times. and, obviously, we have done a great deal for those who are on pension credit to raise the amount of money that they receive. we've done a great deal for people who are on working tax credit and child tax credit to raise the amount of money they receive. obviously, reform and housing benefit is something that we are looking at but i think he's got to accept that 1 1/2 children have -- 1 1/2 million children have come out of poverty. if we haven't had the pension credit, the winter allowance, and we had the free tv license then pensioners would not have been well off as they are and man

mr. siegelman and his legislative aide, paul henry, had been egged in a conspiracy count. and in that second case, the united states attorney embarked on a spree of shopping for a republican judge. that spree had actually started a few months before the bobo/siegelman case, when the united states attorney asked a clinton-appointed judge johnson to disqualify herself, first time in the history of the northern district of alabama, that the united states ever questioned the recusal of a judge in a criminal case. judge johnson indulged the united states attorney and removed herself not only from that case, but all other government cases until a decent "cooling off period is passed," she said. she wrote that the government and its agencies that are represented by the united states attorney shouldn't be forced to try cases before a judge who has been slandered by the united states attorney. that left two active judges appointed by democratic presidents in the criminal draw for the northern dist

mr. mukasey did not know that one of the participants in this golf junkets that he cited was his predecessor, john ashcroft. the week he gave that speech, the single most prominent report in the american press of corruption related to the united states department of justice. it was a no bid consultancy contract, multimillion-dollar consulting contract awarded by the u.s. attorney in new jersey, then preparing his candidacy to be governor, to the same john ashcroft. never investigated or addressed internally by the department of justice. in the speech, i think, judge mukasey went on to say, "let me be clear. politics has no world in the investigation or prosecution of political corruption or any other criminal offense. i have seen absolutely no evidence of any such impropriety during my time at the department nor would i tolerate it." he went on to say that "a politically motivated prosecution is nothing but corruption by another name." absolutely correct. i think as we proceed today, i wo

mr. schama has one literary and journalism prizes including the award for history, w.h. smith prize for literature, the national academy of arts and letters award and the national book critics circle award. he also loves to cook and we've seen a number of his recipes. his newest work, the american future, a history explores the 2008 presidential election from the historical perspective debating for topics, war, religion, race and immigration and the relationship between natural resources and prosperity mr. schama and examine these in the context of america's identity. before we bring mr. schama we will show a short clip from his documentary that shares the same name of his new book. ♪ >> it was a hard american winter a tough time for americans. but out there beneath the ice something big was stirring. and a weakening of, american democracy. this presidential election isn't like other elections. those who lived here decades felt the tremors of the political earthquake. it is not only a war gone bad and economy on the skits but a nationwide loss of faith and a government

. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. well, this bill has just been accused of being somewhere another combination between goldberg and karl marx. however, our current system is a combination of adam smith, darth vader and the invasion of the body snatchers. [laughter] i like our plan better. [laughter] >> do i look like a body snatcher? [laughter] >> don't ask that question. >> but mr. president, this isn't the place -- this is really a historic meeting and when i got up this morning to come here i was really excited to join with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle where would i consider a rendezvous with destiny. this country, our great country has struggled for decades on how we could ensure a health safety net for all americans. this bill isn't the first time that we have looked at this matter. it has been a struggle over many years and i come to this table as someone who through her graduate training and social work has been both a student and a teacher and college teacher when the history of social welfare in

. >> thank you, mr. chairman. madam secretary, i introduced legislation with then congressman rahm emanuel, and congressman chris smith from new jersey, called the independence at home act, and the bill created a medicare pilot project focused on improving the coordination of care and reducing costs for the vulnerable medicare beneficiaries, those with multiple severe chronic conditions, such as alzheimer's, als, parkinson's and other complex debilitating diseases who also need help with two or more activities of daily living, such as dressing, feeding, et cetera. cbo has reported that 5% of medicare beneficiaries account for 43% of overall medicare spending, and cms has noted that approximately 20% of medicare beneficiaries are with five or more chronic conditions account for 66% of program spending. could you talk a little bit about how we can focus on those medicare beneficiaries with multiple chronic diseases, and how perhaps a program like that focusing on home and better coordination can help reduce the cost

thank you very much, mr. chairman. well, this bill has just been accud of being somewhere between a combination between goldberg and carl marx. however our current system is a combination of adam smith, darth vader and the invasion of the body snatchers. so i like our plan better. >> do i look like a body snatcher? >> don't ask that question. >> mr. president, this is not the place -- this is really a historic meeting, and when i got up this morning to come here, i was really excited to join here with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle for really what i consider a rain day view with destiny. our great country h

i'd like to thank our judiciary committee chairman, john conyers, and ranking member lamar smith, and all the co-sponsor of this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. i recognize myself for such time as i may consume. thank you, mr. speaker. thomas jefferson observed that, quote, the only security of all is in a free press. the agitation it produces must be submitted to, it is necessary to keep the waters pure, unquote. were he alive today, jefferson would not take too kindly to liable tourists. the subject of h.r. 276 5 -- 2765. oh, it seems true that some u.s. media more recently have become fan clubs rather than objective pursuers of truth, there's still some very dedicated journalists in the united states who should be free from harassment from inappropriate liable suits in overseas courts. in the wake of 9/11, the american media have been -- become increasingly alarmed over a phenomenal called liable tourism. the term refers to a

mr. dupri is a graduate of williams college as well as the university of chicago law school, who once clerked for jerry smith at the fifth circuit court of appeals. in his private practice he played a key role in bush v. gore, more recently in his stint in the federal government he oversaw the civil division of the department of justice, including the civil appellate practice of justice. he's appeared in front of the supreme court and all 13 appeals courts. he's appeared before jouge sotomayor in the second circuit court. i'm interested in what he has to say, i hope you all are as well. let's give him a warm welcome to the dallas chapter, tom dupri. [applause] >> good afternoon. thank you very much for inviting me here today and thank you, dan, for the kind introduction. it's always a pleasure for me to return to texas. as he mentioned, i clerked a little bit down the road in houston. it's wonderful to come back and have a chance to catch up with old friends and escape the summertime heat

mr. issa: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. inds lee -- mr. issa: i -- [newline] mr. issa: this is a pice of bipartisan legislation with chairman conyers, another piece tries to deal with a greater inequity than even this one. internet broadcasters or podcasters or webcasters pay as much as half of their revenues, half of their gross revenues if they pay performances of music and n.a.b. was cited as being a participant. let me make something very clear, mr. speaker. the national association of broadcasters has chosen to have an absolute burn the bridge attitude toward terrestrial broadcasters paying even a cent. i join with chairman conyers, mr. berman, myself and many others in urging that this pattern of lowering to what we believe is a more fair rate or helping lower to what we believe is a more fair rate in fact flies in the face of terrestrial broadcasters continuing to say that the only fair amount to pay in the way of royalties to music producers, actual performers, is zero. the public today, mr. speaker, when they h

mrs. ms. baiten, in tarrant county there's a county hospital. did anyone ever try to help you through that tangle to try to get any care through john peter smith? >> i couldn't qualify for that. but what i did do was moved in with my sister so i could declare residency and i went to the dallas county hospital and tried to get tlep. you get on a waiting list for a mastectomy and three or four times i went there and they lost my medical records and said, why are you here. i'm here, i have cancer. i need a mastectomy. and they said we'll put you on the waiting list. i believe my name still wouldn't be on the waiting list. they never even contacted me back. i'm thankful to say in trying to get help windy going to county hospitals and applying to county hospitals, mr. barton got my insurance reinstated and i got the original doctor. >> and i appreciate that. i believe in continuity of care and believe that that's important. again, the other aspect does not really be a part of the discussion today but it's part of the broader discussion as we talk abo

and nelson smith with the charter schools. and the state department will be here to talk to us about human trafficking. ..

mr. inglis: i thank the gentleman for yielding. my colleagues, here is an exchange in the foreign affairs committee that was very instructive when it comes to abortion and this bill. our colleague, chris smith, the tireless advocate for the unborn, was asking questions of secretary clinton. secretary clinton said these words to our friend, chris smith. so we have a very fundamental disagreement, she said, and it is my strongly held view that you, chris smith, are entitled to advocate and everyone who agrees with you should be free to do so anywhere in the world and so are we. so who is the we? if that we means the federal government, the united states of america through its state department, the secretary of state speaking we, then there's a real concern about whether this would then become the policy of the united states to advocate abortion overseas. so our friend, chris smith, proposed an amendment that was rejected by the rules committee that would have clarified this issue by saying that the u.s. will not lobby countries to, q

mr. thompson: madam speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. thompson: thank you. madam speaker, i come to the floor today to discuss issue of health care. for 28 years my life -- i was committed to delivering quality health care services as a health care professional. i came to congress with a commitment of straightening the quality, accessibility, and affordability of our health care system which is already one of the best in the world. madam speaker, the democratic party's intent on rushing a health care plan through congress that expands government control will ultimately decrease access in quality. while we consume the attention of congress on this big government proposal, we have ignored critical work force health care issues. as a baby good morninger generation retires, it will be increasingly difficult to find quality health care providers to deliver services needed. the debate on hea

smith, the distinguished ranking member of the full committee, ms. ros-lehtinen, and others said we should have an open amendment process that will allow a free-flowing debate on all of these issues. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida's time has expired. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, this is a good rule that paves the way toward improving our relations around the world. as i listen to the ranking member, my good friend on the rules committee, i thought he was going to support the rule because he's so impressed with the work that was put forward in this bill that covers developing democracies which has been such a tremendous champion of over a period of time. i'll yield for five seconds. mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding. i say i think it can be even better if we could have an open amendment process. i thank my friend for yielding. mr. hastings: reclaiming my time. clearly it