Recognizing and supporting the efforts of Welcome Back Veterans to augment the services provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans' Affairs in providing timely and world-class care for veterans and members of the Armed Forces suffering from PTSD and related psychiatric disorders.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), my friend, for yielding me such time as I may consume today. And I want to thank the gentleman for the considerations that he has given me personally and professionally over the last year, and I would wish him the very best in this holiday season.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this completely closed rule and to the ill-conceived underlying legislation. Week after week, my friends on the other side of the aisle continue to bulldoze their massive spending and overregulations bill to the floor of the House with no Republican input and no regular order. As a matter of fact, even today at least one Member of the Democratic Party showed up with a darn good idea, and it was slam-dunked ``no'' on a party-line basis. By the way, the Republicans voted for that good idea.

What was promised 4 years ago was that this House would be the most open, honest, and ethical Congress, by our current Speaker Pelosi when she took the gavel. But this has been the most closed, secretive, one- sided, and flawed Congress, I believe, in history, matching the previous Congress.

The American people asked for change, and I think they got far worse in the election to elect this current Congress. They received a Democrat Congress that didn't listen to the American people and a Congress that acts on its own interests and not the interests of the American people or the taxpayer. And that's why we suffer from such low numbers of support by the American people.

Mr. Speaker, soon that, however, will change. But today it is more of the same, and I am here to discuss the rule for the continuing resolution, known

as a CR, for fiscal year 2011. It also includes the food safety bill which has been attached to that CR. So it is not a clean bill. My colleagues and I have not even had 24 hours to review the text of this legislation. This legislation, once again, continues to overspend and overregulate, a common theme over the last two Congresses. And we won't even use regular order to establish the process.

The underlying legislation is a CR to keep the government running through the rest of this fiscal year. The President has not signed one appropriations bill into law for this fiscal year, and our friends, the majority Democrats, have provided no budget. So this is their last- ditch effort to provide funding to keep the government running. Over the past 3 years, nondefense, nonhomeland security, and nonveterans affairs discretionary spending has increased by a staggering 88 percent. In the meantime, the Nation's debt has risen to $13.5 trillion--and that means that there is an additional $4.5 billion in deficit spending every single day. There have been back to back yearly record deficits day after day after day. The unemployment rate has risen--it is now at 9.5 percent--for 18 consecutive months. I might add that it rose to 9.8 percent in the latest economic report.

This CR does nothing to reverse this trend and, instead, continues the unsustainable high rate of spending passed by the Democrat majority, aided by, supported, and abetted by the President of the United States, our President, Barack Obama. This includes more spending for Federal agencies that already had seen huge dollar increases with the stimulus bill in 2009.

Mr. Speaker, my Republican colleagues and I have pledged to cut nonsecurity spending back to the fiscal levels of 2008, which would save the American taxpayers nearly $100 billion for what will end up being the next year of spending. Mr. Speaker, I believe that any responsible action by this House of Representatives should have been and should be to avoid raising the debt limit by making tough decisions today to avoid placing our children and our grandchildren in a further diminished position.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the American people, as they look at their own personal circumstances and as they look at the irresponsibility out of Washington, unfortunately continue to see taxing, borrowing, and spending as a national problem. And that has brought us nothing but the results of higher unemployment, more debt, more bankruptcy, more homes being lost, and more debt. Americans have called for this endless spree to end and for an era of fiscal discipline. I think, once again, even though we are after the election, that message continues to fall on deaf ears again today.

This country needs leaders who are willing to make tough decisions, fiscal decisions that will empower not only economic stability but also bring back to the American people jobs, the opportunity for them to be in a competitive marketplace and to understand that America must have jobs if we are going to provide our children and grandchildren with the future that they can believe in.

Once again, it is the Congress of the United States that continues to lead the effort of us towards higher deficits, higher unemployment, and higher problems for people back home. We disagree with that.

Mr. Speaker, as if the rampant spending wasn't enough, my colleagues, once again on the other side of the aisle, had to add what I consider to be an unfair and overregulated Senate food safety bill to the underlying legislation. Republicans remain committed to legislation that ensures the safety and security of America's food. However, this legislation comes at a heavy toll on producers and does virtually nothing to hold Federal bureaucrats accountable for their role in preventing food-borne illnesses. Oh, I'm sure we are going to hear about the number of people who get sick every year. We are going to blame everything on food processors and that process when, in fact, what we need to do is put rules and regulations in place that will better people's lives, and to allow the Federal Government to effectively work with consumers. That's not what this food safety bill does.

The food safety measures in the underlying bill impose significant regulatory and cost burdens on the food processing and food producing system.

It increases costs for food producers and, ultimately, consumers and does not require the Federal Drug Administration to spend one additional penny on the inspection of food for safety purposes.

The bill expands the FDA's authority to dictate on farm production practices and performance standards. This means Congress is about to give the FDA, who is already overworked and has limited resources and even less expertise, the specific power to dictate to U.S. farmers how best to farm. Our Nation's farmers do not need more Federal Government bureaucrats who sit behind a desk in Washington telling them how to do their job.

Additionally, this legislation institutes and expands registration requirements for food processing facilities, which essentially amounts to a Federal license to be in the food business. This would make it unlawful to produce food without a registration license, allowing the FDA to suspend a company's registration, once again a big Federal empowered government in Washington, D.C., at the expense of jobs and the price that consumers have to pay.

Like any Federal agency, the FDA makes mistakes, yet this bill does nothing to ensure agriculture producers don't take massive financial losses caused by the mistake of the FDA. For example, in 2008 when the FDA mistakenly attributed an outbreak of salmonella to tomatoes, it cost the industry $100 million.

Mr. Speaker, there is no way for us to legislate out of Washington, and there is no way to ensure that the FDA will not make such mistakes again in the future and wrongly implicate agriculture processing to food-borne disease outbreaks that can once again cause severe economic losses to the farmers and ranchers of America who cannot only not afford them, but who produce the highest quality of safety products anywhere in the world to American consumers. This is not going to be addressed properly in this legislation. It is simply about empowering Federal bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.

In an article in The Wall Street Journal from December 2, 2010, related to the food safety bill, it states that ``food-borne illnesses have fallen by nearly one-third over the last decade, largely because businesses have already every incentive to police themselves.'' Yet this legislation gives the FDA new powers over the 2.2 million farms and the 28,000 food producers in America.

In true fashion, my Democrat colleagues continue to push their own agenda, overwhelming the American consumer. They have shut out Republicans over the last 4 years, and they continue to shut out common sense and the American people. Continuing on the path of reckless government spending will only put the United States further in debt, burdening future generations.

Mr. Speaker, we disagree with taxing, spending, and overregulating. Overregulation that increases costs to consumers and food producers will add just another fiscal restraint on families, not just in the congressional district that I represent, but all across this country. Congress must do a better job. We tax too much, we spend too much, we regulate too much, and we listen too little in this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I think you can count me in that I oppose this rule and the underlying legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as a matter of fact, I think the gentleman from Massachusetts is right. Much of what this President does propose and in these last two Congresses what they proposed, Republicans have objected to them, and it is for a simple reason: We don't want to support the things that don't work. We want to support the things that will help the American people not only to have a better economy and to take care of themselves, but we are not for growing the size of the Federal Government that is in our lives now, a food safety bill that will do what I believe is quite the reverse but will be expensive and will come at the cost of consumers bettering their ability to have a safe food chain.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Cheyenne, Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas).

(Mr. LUCAS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman, Mr. Lucas, the gentleman who was selected today by the new Republican majority this next Congress to be the Agriculture Committee chairman. The gentleman, Mr. Lucas, spoke very clearly not only on behalf of farmers and ranchers across this country, but really on behalf of a group of people who are in the food chain of this country, who all the way up through grocery stores and providers of content make sure that the food safety lines of this country are properly taken care of.

There are so many food workers all across this country who have established not only high standards as a result of their advocacy for not just their job, but the greatest opportunity around the world for us to make sure that consumers get the benefit of clean food, the opportunity to know more about not only the caloric intake, but to make sure that the value of our food is held for consumers at a proper price.

The gentleman, Mr. Lucas, has noted a number of times on the floor that this industry, the agricultural industry, and the supermarket industry really have taken steps to ensure that their products are not only safe and secure, but that consumers have an opportunity to understand how to utilize those products when they receive those products from a store, perhaps, or where they buy their products. And this is part of that chain that I believe that this legislation just misuses. And consumers, through their ability to use food, whether it's refrigeration, whether it's in cooking procedures, whether it's mixing these products, how they would hold these out certainly has a lot to do with the food safety and the aspects that come as a result of that.

Mr. Speaker, you have heard me say it over and over, but the American people I think expect something better and different. I must confess that in the near future that what we will do when Republicans come to the floor this next Congress starting January 5, we will take the legislation and run it through committees. We will include feedback and ideas from not just Republicans, but also the Democrats who want to be a part of this process, who get up and come to this town to represent their people, people who have elected them, people who have confidence in the way we do things.

Taxing, spending, overregulating is not the way that this Congress should run; and the American people feel that, unfortunately, so plainly. Today all the way to the end, it is yet another example about how the American people see because they hear firsthand about overregulation, excessive spending, and continuation of more of the same.

So, Mr. Speaker, I would ask my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the underlying legislation, to vote ``no'' to stop the reckless fiscal policies that not only Speaker Pelosi but the Democratic Party have pursued over the last 4 years. Irresponsible not only in terms of the fiduciary responsibility that they had to openly discuss with the American people, the appropriations process, the budgeting process, but perhaps more importantly, I believe what is the responsibility of this body to work effectively as a purveyor of the taxpayer money in working with the administration.

All we have done is send them a signal, you go spend all the money you want, we will make it available to you, rather than an understanding of the give and take of the expectations of performance by the American people of where each of these dollars should be spent and what we should expect back in return. I think it's always bad when a blank check that's filled in is given to somebody without an understanding of that. The United States Government should not allow this. That will change.

A vote ``no'' is going to allow farmers and food producers also, because this bill is together, it's going to take away their rights, it's going to add more rules and regulations, it's going to add more government interference, it's going to get in the way of what I believe is a food safety issue.

It's time to end the idea of big government and big spending. We are here on the floor again to make sure that the American people understand this, that there is a group of people who will certainly see things differently.

But I would like to say, Mr. Speaker, we will show up with better ideas. Get ready, hope is on the way.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1755 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

General Leave

I also ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 1755.

Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 1755 provides for consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 3082. The rule makes in order a motion offered by the chair of the Committee on Appropriations or his designee that the House concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 3082 with the amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying the resolution.

The rule provides 1 hour of debate on the motion, with 40 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations and 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the motion. Finally, the rule provides that the Senate amendment and the motion shall be considered as read.

Mr. Speaker, today the House will consider the FY 2011 continuing resolution legislation that will fund the Federal Government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011. Additionally, this bill contains the food safety bill, as passed by the Senate, with minor technical corrections.

I am grateful to Mr. Obey and Mr. Dingell for their incredible leadership. Both these measures need to be passed. I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the gentleman from Texas, I thank him for his views. We always appreciate hearing his unique point of view. I thought that the election ended several weeks ago, but apparently it hasn't.

But I would just like to say for the record that we are in a difficult economy in large part because of the policies that were pursued by my friends on the other side of the aisle. We are in this debt that we are in now in large part because of tax cuts for mostly wealthy people that were not paid for; they took Bill Clinton's surplus and turned it into a deficit; a Medicare prescription drug bill that was double, triple the cost that it was advertised to be, not paid for; and two wars that are not paid for.

On top of that, when they were in charge, they let the financial industries do whatever the heck they wanted to do. They did, and they stuck it to the American people, and we are now trying to dig ourselves out of this economy.

I am sorry the gentleman is not for safer food safety measures, but let me just point out for the record that while the food supply in the United States is one of the safest in the world, each year about 76 million illnesses occur, more than 300,000 persons are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from food-borne illnesses.

An increasing portion of our food now comes from overseas, I am sad to say. Our food safety system was designed 100 years ago and was appropriate for a world in which most of our food was grown and processed domestically. Meanwhile, the FDA has struggled in recent years with outbreaks of food-borne illnesses and nationwide recalls of contaminated food from both domestic and foreign sources.

The food safety bill that we will be voting on today modernizes our food safety system to better prevent food-borne illness and respond to outbreaks. I can't believe that a food safety bill designed to protect the American people is somehow controversial, but everything that we propose, everything that this President has proposed they are against, so there is nothing new here.

Again, I would urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman again for his comments and congratulate him and his party for their election victory. I look forward to voting for nothing but open rules next year. I also just want to say that we need to pass this rule so we can pass the continuing resolution, which is important, and to pass this food safety bill.

And, again, I am baffled by the controversy. Anybody who has watched the news over the last several years remembers tainted spinach, tainted eggs, recall after recall after recall. The fact is that our food safety system in this country needs to be strengthened and modernized. Everybody knows that.

I began my presentation today by listing the thousands and thousands and thousands of people who get sick each year from tainted food. And my friends on the other side of the aisle stand up, and they are standing with the special interests rather than with the consumer. And I worry, quite frankly, about the direction of this Congress, because they are heart and soul with the corporate special interests, and they neglect time and time again the average consumer, the average worker. And that is what this bill is about, to protect the consumer from tainted food that we get from other countries. Why is this so controversial? I don't know.

So having said that, Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.

I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1746) recognizing and supporting the efforts of Welcome Back Veterans to augment the services provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs in providing timely and world-class care for veterans and members of the Armed Forces suffering from PTSD and related psychiatric disorders, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on House Resolution 1746, as amended.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, before I talk about the importance of the resolution before us today, I want to thank the Committee on Armed Services for working with us to bring this resolution to the floor and would ask that the exchange of letters waiving jurisdiction between the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services be inserted into the Congressional Record.

Mr. Speaker, we are all aware that post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, is one of the signature wounds of Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom. Countless reports and studies bear out this statement. Most significantly, a 2008 study released by the RAND Corporation reported that one in five veterans of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan are suffering from PTSD. Studies by other experts and by the VA itself demonstrate how widespread and serious PTSD is; and as more servicemembers return home, the problem will only grow larger.

VA has made important strides in the treatment of PTSD. They boast providers throughout the Nation who offer excellent care for PTSD and researchers who have found innovative, ground-breaking new treatments as well. But VA cannot combat PTSD alone. Dedicated advocates and organizations throughout the country are committed to doing their part to help provide care for our veterans.

Welcome Back Veterans has answered this call to service. The partnership between Major League Baseball, the McCormick Foundation, the Entertainment Industry Foundation and the university hospitals at Weill Cornell, the University of Michigan, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have already made tremendous accomplishments on behalf of our veterans.

They have raised over $15 million for PTSD treatment and research and are working closely with hospitals in Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, and California to help provide care to over 5,000 servicemembers. But for all the great things that Welcome Back Veterans has accomplished, I know they are poised to do so much more. They are continuing to work hard to care for our veterans, and I look forward to watching them continue with these efforts.

Welcome Back Veterans deserves our formal recognition for the great work they have done. I urge you to join me in offering my gratitude to Welcome Back Veterans by supporting House Resolution 1746.

House Committee on Armed Services, House of

Representatives,

Washington, DC, December 7, 2010.

Hon. Bob Filner,

Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House of

Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Filner: I am writing to you concerning H.

Res. 1746, recognizing and supporting the efforts of Welcome

Back Veterans to augment the services provided by the

Departments of Defense and Veterans' Affairs in providing

timely and world-class care for veterans and members of the

Armed Forces suffering from PTSD and related psychiatric

disorders. This measure was referred to the Committee on

Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed

Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as

fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Our committee recognizes the importance of H. Res. 1746,

and the need for the resolution to move expeditiously.

Therefore, while we have a valid claim to jurisdiction over

this legislation, the Committee on Armed Services will waive

further consideration of H. Res. 1746. I do so with the

understanding that by waiving consideration of the

resolution, the Committee on Armed Services does not waive

any future jurisdictional claim over the subject matters

contained in the resolution which fall within its Rule X

jurisdiction.

Please place this letter and a copy of your response into

the Congressional Record during consideration of the measure

on the House floor. Thank you for the cooperative spirit in

which you have worked regarding this matter and others

between our respective committees.

Very truly yours,

Ike Skelton,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my good friend and colleague from New York (Mr. Israel).

Mr. Speaker, I too want to thank my colleague Mr. Israel for his leadership on this issue. I urge my colleagues to unanimously support House Resolution 1746, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today in support of H. Res. 1746, ``Recognizing and supporting the efforts of Welcome Back Veterans to augment the services provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs in providing timely and world-class care for veterans and members of the Armed Forces suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related psychiatric disorders.''

I would like to begin by thanking my colleague, Representative Israel, for introducing this resolution to the House, which encourages the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish innovative public- private partnerships for the treatment and research of PTSD in teaching hospitals across the country. I urge my colleagues to also support this resolution, as it honors the fact that those who have fought for our Nation should remain a priority.

It is important that we, as a Nation, continue to recognize that our great country stands strongly today because of the dedication and sacrifice of American veterans. The United States is surely indebted to the veterans of every conflict, who have made great sacrifices for themselves and their families in defense of our national security. Our freedom is intertwined with the sacrifices of our veterans, whose devotion to our way of life is unparalleled. I am privileged to stand before you today and officially honor their sacrifices and the role they play in our Nation.

Every Veterans Day, Americans come together to remember those who have served our country around the world in the name of freedom and democracy. The debt that we owe to them is immeasurable. Their sacrifices and those of their families are freedom's foundation. Without the brave efforts of all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and Coast Guardsmen and their families, our country would not live so freely.

Deployed soldiers frequently and continually engage in high-intensity combat operations, exposing them to potential triggers for PTSD or other psychiatric conditions. A 2008 report published by the RAND Corporation estimated that one in five Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are affected by PTSD. Those with PTSD are at high risk for developing other psychological disorders, such as depression.

Furthermore, those suffering with PTSD are more likely to engage in self-destructive behaviors, such as alcohol and substance abuse, and are six times more likely than persons without PTSD to commit suicide. PTSD has been associated with unemployment and a work productivity loss, and when left untreated, exacts an enormous toll on individuals, families, and society as a whole.

This resolution not only solidifies the importance of Veterans Day, but also extends the importance of support for veterans and their health and safety throughout the year. In observing Veterans Day, the people of the United States must also encourage the education of our youth on how those dedicated individuals have contributed to the United States' history and today's society. We must continue the tradition of honoring those who have served for the greatest causes, freedom, democracy, and justice; their commitment to the United States at home and abroad should never be forgotten. I am truly proud to rise in support of the recognition of Welcome Back Veterans for their commitment to taking care of our soldiers.

We recognize and honor the veterans of the Armed Forces not only of today, but also of years past, who have sacrificed their lives for our great Nation. This resolution reaffirms our country's utmost respect and pride for our service people who have contributed to the shaping of the United States' history and our current place in the world today. It shows the true patriotic spirit that many Americans possess, and their willingness to give back to those who have given so much to maintain our freedom.

Currently, our Nation has 3 million troops and reservists, and 23 million veterans, who deserve the greatest respect from their fellow citizens. Our Nation has a proud legacy of appreciation and commitment maintaining the wellbeing of the men and women who have uniforms in defense of this country, and we must ensure that this legacy continues in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to offer my enthusiastic endorsement

of H. Res. 1746, recognizing and supporting the efforts of the non- profit organization, Welcome Back Veterans, in supplementing the world- class care that the Departments of Defense and Veterans' Affairs offer to our returning troops. The grassroots efforts of Welcome Back Veterans, Major League Baseball and the Boston Red Sox Foundation are testaments to the strength of the American spirit and patriotism.

We all owe our veterans a debt of gratitude that we cannot repay easily or quickly. As civilians, we will likely never be able to understand the sacrifice our veterans have made to safeguard the freedom we enjoy, the freedom that makes our Nation the greatest in the world. We can, however, honor our servicemembers by following the examples of Welcome Back Veterans by providing the resources they need to be healthy.

Major League Baseball also deserves praise for supporting the Welcome Back program for supporting the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder research being done at Massachusetts General in Boston, Weill Cornell in New York, the University of Michigan and Stanford University in California. These institutions have also moved into previously uncharted space by providing supportive services to the families of patients suffering from PTSD.

Additionally, the League recently honored service men and women on Veteran's Day. I'm fortunate to represent a veteran who made significant contributions to World War II and Major League Baseball, Hall of Fame Cleveland Indians' pitcher Bob Feller. Mr. Feller was the first major leaguer to volunteer for active duty, enlisting in the Navy on Dec. 9, 1941, two days after Pearl Harbor and 36 days after his 23rd birthday. After surviving some of the most violent, and important sea battles of the war, Feller returned to the Indians and finished his career with 266 wins and 2,581 strikeouts. Mr. Feller, without a doubt, was a phenomenal athlete and still is a true patriot. The League's honor of him and the other veterans reminds us not to take for granted the freedom to have a national pastime.

I am proud of all the veterans in my Congressional District, and in America. Many of these men and women shoulder the psychological burden of war long after they return home, and we must not let them do so alone. Thanks to the efforts of the Boston Red Sox Foundation, Major League Baseball, McCormick Foundation, Entertainment Industry Foundation and University Hospitals at Weill Cornell, the University of Michigan and Stanford University through Welcome Back Veterans and executive agencies, we are making sure our service men and women enjoy the quality of life they so bravely defended. Again, I applaud these efforts, and challenge members of Congress to continuously build public-private partnerships that advance the treatment of PTSD.