Floor Statements

I thank the gentleman from Virginia.

An amendment to the United States Constitution should never be taken lightly. It is a sacred and profound document. Well, 15 years ago when Mr. Goodlatte and I and a number of others first came to town, we voted to amend that Constitution. We were joined not only by all of the Republicans but by 72 Democrats. Now some of those very 72 who voted ``yes'' have changed their minds. We're hearing the same old arguments: Social Security and Medicare. When all else goes wrong in Democrat liberal land, you start scaring seniors, children, teachers, first responders, critical programs, and saying whatever the bill is, this bill threatens them. Well, the worst thing you could do to Social Security and Medicare is to go broke. And since that vote 15 years ago when it failed in the Senate by one single Member, we have accumulated $9.2 trillion in debt.

Balancing the budget is what 49 States do, what every city does, what businesses and families do. It's a matter of survival. It's not a radical concept. Oh, don't the people in Greece wish that they had a balanced budget all those many years? And what of their Social Security and Medicare programs right now? What will happen to the seniors in Greece without those critical programs?

If their government had done the prudent thing, the right thing, just as we tried to do 15 years ago, what a different picture it would be in Greece. But Greece is not alone in trying to defy the laws of financial gravity. America seems to be doing it. For every dollar we spend, 40 cents is borrowed. And yet we are choosing to ignore all the many red flags that are around us. But when the whole thing goes broke and melts down, won't our children say, What were you thinking?

Mr. Speaker, this vote today is not about the next election. It is truly about the next generation. Vote ``yes.''

I thank Chairman Rogers for the time. I've enjoyed working with him and Ranking Member Dicks, and also the ranking member of our Subcommittee on Agriculture, FDA, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the gentleman from California, Mr. Sam Farr. We've held 11 hearings, and we've had probably about 25 hours worth of debate on the floor in which over 50 amendments were offered. This bill is a prime example of what can happen when we get back to regular order.

It was an open process, passed by the subcommittee, full committee, and then finally by the House floor. The bill is $350 million below FY11 in the discretionary portion, and $2.5 billion lower than the President's request for FY12. It is compliant with the Budget Control Act, and a step to show both regular order, compromise and moving us towards a balanced budget.

I also wanted to point out something, Mr. Speaker, that the mandatory portion of this bill is tremendous. Our discretionary total on agriculture is $19.77 billion, but the mandatory is $116.9 billion. School lunch and breakfast and the SNAP program are $98.5 billion alone. If we do not get control of the mandatory spending, we will never be able to balance the budget.

So I urge all Members of Congress to be cognizant of that and work in the important authorizing committees to do some of the reform.

This bill was successful in eliminating a Federal program that goes back to World War I, the mohair subsidy; and that actually was a program designed to get more wool for the World War I soldiers' uniforms. And Ronald Reagan famously said, if you don't believe in resurrection, try killing a government program. And yet, today, the mohair program does get eliminated.

We also reduced the BCAP program, which was something that our committee has been very concerned about the out-of-control spending on it. We've restrained the CFTC with some important bipartisan language regarding user exemptions and cost-benefit

analysis. And we have urged the FDA to stay on its core missions, and we hope that the authorizing committees will look at medical device and drug approval time and transparency so that the FDA can work closer with the providers and the manufacturers rather than in an antagonistic point of view.

We've balanced school safety, inspection, ag research with the many demands that are out there. We have worked with Secretary Vilsack, Dr. Hamburg at FDA, and Mr. Gensler at the CFTC; and we've had an open process throughout the year.

So I urge my colleagues to vote for this and pass this bill. But I also wanted to say thank you to the great staff on both sides. Martin Delgado, head clerk on the majority side; along with Tom O'Brien, Betsy Bina, Andrew Cooper and Allie Thigpen and Mike Donal; and then on the minority side, working for Mr. Farr, Martha Foley, Matt Smith, Troy Phillips and Rochelle Dornatt.

Congress of the United States,

Washington, DC, October 4, 2011.

Hon. Gary Gensler,

Chairman, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Ben S. Bernanke,

Chairman of the Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Mary L. Schapiro,

Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Martin J. Gruenberg,

Acting Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairmen Gensler, Schapiro, Bernanke and Acting

Chairman Gruenberg: As authors of the Wall Street Reform and

Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203) (Wall Street Reform

Act), we commend your work implementing Title VII of this

important new law. We have an enormous opportunity to set a

new global standard for the operation of an efficient,

transparent and well-regulated derivatives market. It is in a

spirit of support for your efforts that we write with

suggestions for how to avoid some unintended consequences

that could undermine this objective.

As you know, the existing $600 trillion derivatives market

operates as an integrated global market, despite the

jurisdictional determinations made in Title VII between the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It is our hope that

the two agencies will work closely and collaboratively

together and that the new swap regulations can be sequenced

and implemented in a logical, coordinated manner that

encourages compliance and market competition.

Given the global nature of this market, U.S. regulators

should avoid creating opportunities for international

regulatory arbitrage that could increase systemic risk and

reduce the competitiveness of U.S. firms abroad. Congress

generally limited the territorial scope of Title VII to

activities within the United States. This general rule should

not be swallowed by the law's exceptions, which call for

extraterritorial application only when particular

international activities of U.S. firms have a direct and

significant connection with or effect on U.S. commerce, or

are designed to evade U.S. rules. We are concerned that the

proposed imposition of margin requirements, in addition to

provisions related to clearing, trading, registration, and

the treatment of foreign subsidiaries of U.S. institutions,

all raise questions consistent with Congressional intent

regarding Title VII.

Moreover, U.S. regulators should work with other

international regulators to seek broad harmonization of

appropriately tough and effective standards. This can be

accomplished by an appropriate staging of the adoption or

implementation of our rules abroad. Should current

harmonization efforts ultimately fail or prove a race to the

bottom that would undermine effective regulation, the U.S.

would of course reserve the right to proceed to extend the

application of its standards to overseas operations.

In addition, as you proceed through the rule-making

process, we urge you to respect Congress' intent to protect

the ability of end users and pension plans to use swaps in a

cost-effective manner. In particular, Congress recognized the

need to allow pension funds, states, municipalities and other

``special entities'' to continue to use swaps by expressly

rejecting the imposition of a fiduciary duty for swap dealers

that is legally incompatible with their legitimate role as

market-makers. The withdrawal of the Department of Labor's

rules on a fiduciary duty under ERISA gives the agencies an

opportunity to work together to prevent such adverse results.

We urge you to work to revise the proposed rules in a way

that avoids unintended consequences.

As one of the first countries to propose new financial

rules following the 2008 crisis, the world is closely

watching what we do. As you revise and finalize the proposed

rules, we look forward to working together to support your

important work in a way that keeps our financial markets the

envy of the world.

Sincerely,

Senator Tim Johnson,

Chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and

Urban Affairs.

Congressman Barney Frank,

Ranking Member, U.S. House Committee on Financial Services.

Mr. Speaker, I think there are three things that we need to do in America in order to increase jobs and economic growth.

Number one, we've got to drill our own oil. If you drive a car or if you use goods and services that come to you by a vehicle using an internal combustion engine, somebody had to drill for that gas. Now, do you really believe that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and Libya are more environmentally sensitive than we are? Of course not. We can do it in an environmentally sensitive way and become oil independent.

Secondly, we need to have tax simplification. I'm outraged when I hear about people not paying their fair share of taxes. We need to have a Tax Code that is a half-an-inch deep and miles and miles wide so that everybody is paying their fair share.

Then, thirdly, we need to change the regulatory environment. Regulators don't need to approach businesses with an ``I gotcha. I'm against you'' attitude, but as more of a partnership--``Hey, we want to work with you on worker safety and environmental protection and product liability laws''--and things like this so that we can work for business and nurture responsible corporate citizenship.

I think we can do that, and that will increase our jobs and our economic growth.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life and accomplishments of Bobby Thomson, a baseball legend and pillar of his community.

Bobby Thomson was born in 1923 in Glasgow, Scotland, the youngest of 6 children and emigrated to the United States with his mother and siblings in 1925 to join his father in Staten Island, New York. He grew up in Staten Island and quickly became a baseball standout both in school athletic leagues and on the city's sandlots. After graduating from high school in 1942, he signed with the New York Giants for $100 a month.

Despite his fledgling professional baseball career, Bobby Thomson left the Giants in 1943 to enlist in the Army Air Corps and trained as a bombardier in Victorville, California, and served until 1945. After leaving the Army Air Corps he rejoined the New York Giants and became a starter by 1947. He played with the Giants through 1953 with a batting average of .279 and an average of 25 home runs and 94 runs batted in (RBI) each season. He had a career-best season in 1949 with a .309 batting average, 27 home runs, and 109 RBI.

On October 3, 1951, Bobby Thomson hit what became known as ``The Shot Heard 'Round the World.'' It was in the the bottom of the ninth inning in the deciding game of a playoff for the National League pennant. The New York Giants were trailing the Brooklyn Dodgers two runs to four and there were runners on second and third. Thomson stepped up and proceeded to knock Dodger pitcher Ralph Branca's second pitch down the left-field line and over the fence for a game- and pennant-winning three run home run. The ``Shot Heard 'Round the World'' was so spectacular that it caused WMCA-AM broadcaster Russ Hodges to famously exclaim, ``The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! Bobby Thomson hits into the lower deck of the left-field stands! The Giants win the pennant and they're goin' crazy, they're goin' crazy!''

Forever the humble hardworker, Bobby Thomson continued his baseball career through 1963 and thereafter worked as a sales executive in order to, in his own words, ``stay home more with my wife and daughter and live a normal life.'' His integrity, work ethic, and positive outlook helped him excel in private business and led him to become involved in nonprofit foundations, such as New Jersey Arthritis Foundation, Tomorrow's Children Fund, and the Optimist Club. In 2006, he moved to Savannah, Georgia, to be closer to his daughter and he quickly made friends in the community due to his warm demeanor and he continued to live the life of a humble living legend, father, uncle, and grandfather.

After a long and fruitful life, Bobby Thomson passed away during the evening of August 16, 2010, in his Skidaway Island home in Savannah at the age of 86.

We commend Bobby Thomson on his outstanding baseball career and his famous three run home run known as the ``Shot Heard 'Round the World'' and express admiration for the devotion of Bobby Thomson to various charities and nonprofit foundations after his retirement from baseball.

Mr. Speaker, last year the brains over at the EPA, in all their wisdom, came out with the conclusion that since milk comes from animal fat and fat has oil in it, therefore milk is a hazardous substance. And so if a dairy farmer has a spill in a milk tank, they have to have a hazardous substance evacuation plan. It was so ridiculous that Democrats and Republicans alike worked to repeal the law.

This is just one of the crazy examples that we see day after day from the bureaucracy in Washington, and it's one reason why businesses aren't investing in new jobs. There is a lot of money on the sideline right now because of regulatory uncertainty. Businesses need to know the rules of the game in order to engage. Right now there's no motivation to do it.

There is a beer brewery, and they came up with a beer called St. Paulie's Liquid Wisdom, just a whimsical kind of name. But what did Uncle Manny say? You can't have that name because it's a medical claim. That is the state of job killing in this administration.

I invite you to go to jobs.gop.gov to learn more.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize George Holtzman for eighteen years of service to the Georgia Real Estate Commission.

A graduate of North Carolina State University, George is the Co-Owner and Broker of Coldwell Banker Holtzman in Hinesville, Georgia. George is also the President of the Holtzman Insurance Agency, Holtzman Real Estate Services, the Holtzman School of Real Estate, and All American Storage and U-Haul in Hinesville, Georgia. Previously, George has served as President of the Hinesville Area Board of Realtors and as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President of the Georgia Association of Realtors. George was later appointed by Governor Zell Miller to the Georgia Real Estate Commission, where he was elected Chairman.

In addition to his commitment to the Georgia Real Estate community, George has dedicated his life to helping others and serving the community. A United States Army Vietnam Purple Heart Recipient Veteran, George was presented the coveted United States Army's Patriotic Civilian Award for his continuous and unselfish support of the Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield community. Additionally, George has served as a Military Liaison for the Hinesville Military Affairs Committee.

Throughout Mr. Holtzman's years of community involvement, he has served as the President of the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce, President of the Coastal Empire Association of the United States Army, President of the Bradwell Institute Band Boosters, President of a local Rotary Club, and was also appointed to the Coastal Bank Board of Directors. This list of achievements is just a small representation of Mr. Holtzman's community involvement.

I congratulate George on his many years of service. He has devoted his life and time to helping others and continues to make invaluable contributions to the Real Estate community and the state of Georgia. I wish him many more years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Reverend Carl Scott Gilliard for twenty-eight years of service to the Savannah, Georgia community. Reverend Gilliard, a native of Savannah, has been diligently working to make Georgia a better place through his leadership, community service and passion. Reverend Gilliard has dedicated his life to helping others and serving his community.

A graduate of Alfred Ely Beach High School and Morris Brown College, he first became active in civic affairs in 1984 when he served as the youth coordinator for the presidential campaign of Reverend Jesse Jackson. After working with Reverend Jackson, Pastor Gilliard began his public affairs talk show, ``Tell It Like It Is,'' which became the number-one rated radio program for ten consecutive years. In 1995, Reverend Gilliard was ordained and served as pastor of the Miracle Christian Life Center for six years until he was appointed President of the Georgia Coastal Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Throughout Reverend Gilliard's years as a community activist, he has led a variety of successful efforts to improve the lives of his fellow citizens, including founding the Chatham County Youth Commission, chairing Unity in Our Community, starting the Savannah Out Marching Against Drugs movement, and organizing prayer vigils throughout Savannah.

Currently, Reverend Gilliard is the Host of ``The Urban Journal.'' In addition, Reverend Gilliard is the CEO of Savannah Feed the Hungry where twice a week he offers a short message of encouragement and prayers to the hundreds who come seeking food at the newly opened Life Center.

I congratulate Reverend Gilliard on his many years of service. He has devoted his life and time to helping others and continues to make invaluable contributions to the city of Savannah and the state of Georgia, and I wish him many more years to come.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, Americans have had to tighten their belts. All around the country, American families have had to decide what is important to them and to divide their needs from their wants. Washington, D.C., has to do that. We have to have not just a balanced approach, we need to have a balanced budget. We need to cut our spending, we need to control our spending, and we need to have accountability so that when Washington politicians make decisions, that the families back home can take a look at it and decide what are the consequences of these decisions.

Now, there have been a lot of consequences that America has suffered because of the failed economic policies of President Obama. One must ask him- or herself, when will President Obama admit that his stimulus program was a failure? When will the President admit that the consequences of his health care mandate has killed jobs? When will President Obama admit that Cash for Clunkers wasn't such a great idea? And, most importantly, when will President Obama admit that it's a failure of leadership not to present a plan to balance the budget to Congress? We need to see the President's plan.

Today, we will be voting on yet another Republican proposal to cut spending and control spending and give accountability to our process, but we have yet to have a bill introduced by the President of the United States. And keep in mind, before he was President, as a Senator, he voted against increasing the debt ceiling, siting a lack of leadership. Today, the bill that we will be considering cuts spending now. It also controls spending because it has an across-the-board trigger that if we spend too much money, there will be a cut.

Madam Speaker, these cuts are real. They are measurable. This is what the American people need to know, something that is accountable. This puts in place a 10-year budget.

The United States Senate, under Harry Reid's leadership, has not had a budget in 3 years. There's no end to their spending without a budget. American families have budgets. Why doesn't the U.S. Senate?

So this bill puts in accountability, 10 years' worth of accountability. It puts in controls in spending, across-the-board triggers. And finally, it has cuts to it.

Again, Madam Speaker, American families have had to tighten their belts. Washington must do the same thing, and that's what we're doing here today.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this legislation and ``yes'' on the rule.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I must begin, Mr. Speaker, by asking, do you have the President's plan? Or perhaps, do any of the Democrats over there have the President's plan? I keep hearing that this plan is not a good one; it's not a compromise; it hasn't been vetted. I would like to see the President's plan. That way, I can sit down with a cheat sheet and compare the President's plan with the plan of Senator Reid, with the plan proposed by Speaker Boehner. There's nothing, nothing but silence.

How long has he been President? Nearly 3 years. He knew the debt crisis was looming out there. He knew that there would be a debate about the debt ceiling. Indeed, as a Senator, in 2006, Barack Obama voted ``no'' to a debt ceiling increase, citing lack of leadership. Well, surely since that moment in 2006, he knew he would have to be dealing with the debt ceiling. He knew Medicare needed reform. He knew that Social Security needed reform. He continued the war, which he campaigned against. He continued the Bush tax cuts, which he now cries is the whole problem, that that's why we're in this situation.

It's even more appalling, Mr. Speaker, when you read his statement, July 12, just a few weeks ago, ``I cannot guarantee that those checks''--speaking of Social Security checks--will ``go out on August 3 if we haven't resolved this issue because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.'' That's what the President believes, but he has no plan? How can he face the seniors of the United States of America?

How can he say to the seniors of America, I might not be able to pay you your Social Security, and then not offer a plan? Well, God bless the Speaker, and God bless the people who have, in good faith, engaged in this discussion and offered plans. Indeed, the Republicans have already passed one plan, Cut, Cap, and Balance. The Senate, in their cowardliness, tabled it, refused to even vote on it. In fact, this was the same Senate who rejected the President's budget 97-0. Today we offer a second plan. If the Democrats have a plan, let them put it on the table. If the President has a plan, let us look at it so we can compare.

Mr. Speaker, our guest chaplain today is Mr. Rick Postell from Brunswick, Georgia. Rick is a native of Gastonia, North Carolina, and received his BS in business management from Troy State University and later a master's degree in theology from Beacon University in Columbus, Georgia. He currently lives in Brunswick, Georgia, with his wife, Amy, and their three children.

After graduating from school, Rick served in the United States Air Force base at Moody Air Force from 1981 to 1986. He traveled extensively well in the Air Force and worked on the aircraft maintenance unit while at Moody facilitating F-4 Phantom aircraft.

After his service in the Air Force, Rick served in the United States Post Office from 1986 to 2000. And then he joined the staff of Christian Renewal Church in Brunswick. He currently teaches religious studies at Heritage Christian Academy in Brunswick and has served as guest chaplain not only with us here today but in the Georgia State legislature on the Senate and on the House side.

He travels extensively and has been to Mexico many times on mission trips. His wife, Amy, is with him today along with 18-year-old Sam and 16-year-old Charlie and 14-year-old Hayley.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome with me Pastor Rick Postell.

After a 3-year spending spree in which the President drove up the national debt by 56 percent, the President has the nerve to tell the American people that they have to eat their peas. This from a President who has had the Federal Government on a supersize me diet since the day he was sworn in. Marie Antoinette would be proud of such arrogance.

One must ask, where has the President been? He owns this economy. It's his policies that have left 15 million Americans without work. It's his policies that have stifled business growth and investment. It's his policies that have given us more deficit spending than any other administration in history.

The President talks about entitlement reform but offers no plan, no legislation. The President talks about his budget fairness, and yet this very budget was rejected by the Harry Reid Senate Democrats by a vote of 97-0.

The President denounces the Bush tax cuts yet personally extended them a few months ago. In 2006, the President voted against increasing the debt ceiling citing a lack of leadership, now he offers none.

But today, the House Republicans will lead with a plan. That plan is cut, cap, and balance. And on the back, we have the President's plan. This is it: speeches. That's what we get after 3 years and the largest deficit in history from the President of the United States, speeches and admonishments.

I yield to my friend from Illinois.

Reclaiming my time, you've got to go fast because I'm willing to answer your question but I can't----

The President has backed us up against the wall. If we don't do something serious and, yes----

I agree with you. By law we need to have a balanced budget amendment so that Congress' hands will be tied from increasing the deficit.

I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding.

During his 8 years as President, President Bush increased the national debt $3 trillion. We spent too much money. But not to be outdone, in a 3-year period of time, President Obama has increased the national debt $5 trillion--a 56 percent increase. Then he turns around and lectures middle class American families, struggling families, to eat their peas. He offers no plan, no answers--nothing but a phoney budget that even failed in the Democrat-controlled Senate 97-0. Harry Reid voted against his budget.

The President owns this economy, not Haliburton, not Cheney, not George Bush. It's the President. He owns the skyrocketing debt. He owns the 15 million unemployed. He owns the failed stimulus plan. President Obama owns the extended Bush tax cuts because it was he who extended them 2 years. Now, in our time of great fiscal crisis, when America needs leadership, he is absent.

The Republicans in the House are offering a plan, and I understand the Democrats don't like it. That's good, because sometimes the two parties have to battle it out, and you get a better product from it, but you can't do it when the Democrats aren't offering a plan. We will pass this plan today, and I hope Harry Reid and the Democrats will pass a plan and that we can get together. I hope the President decides to offer a plan. Maybe we can look at his, and maybe out of the three possibilities, we can do what's best for the American people, but we can't do it unless the President decides to engage and take on the role of leader.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

After a 3-year spending spree in which the President drove up the national debt 56 percent, he has the nerve to tell the American people to eat their peas. After he has been on this supersize-me diet, he turns around and tells struggling middle class families how to behave.

One must ask, where has the President been? He owns this economy. He has been in office nearly 3 years; it is his. It's his policies that have left 15 million Americans out of work; it's his policies that have stifled growth and business investment; it's his policies that have created and are continuing these so-called ``tax breaks'' for Big Oil. It's his very signature that has extended the Bush tax cuts.

It's his policies that have given us the highest deficit spending in the history of the United States of America. He owns this, not President Bush, not Vice President Cheney, not the Republican Party, not Halliburton, not all the other straw men that the President likes to set up to distract the American people. It was President Obama who cut Medicare $562 billion. It was President Obama who set up IPAB, which is a health care rationing system which our moms and dads and grandparents will have to be suffering under. It was this President who took unemployment from 7 percent up to nearly 10 percent.

And now we're having the debate of the decade, and where is the President? We get from him, not a plan, but speeches, finger-pointing, rhetoric, vague promises, but no plan. If there is a plan, could you lay it on the table? And I'll ask my Democrat friends, do you have a plan? We keep hearing the President has a plan. Could you put it on the table? I might want to vote for it. I might be interested in reading the bill. If there is a plan, could you please put it on the table? Just as I thought, there is no plan.

This is the plan: cut, cap, and balance. And this is the President's plan: speeches. That's all we're getting, no legislation whatsoever.

I'll be glad to yield to my friend from Maryland.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

I want to ask my friend from New Jersey to engage in a colloquy. The purpose of it is to talk about the nuclear prototype.

As you know, and as the ranking member knows and the full committee ranking member, Mr. Dicks, knows, the Ohio class nuclear submarine is a critical component of our country's national security and is one-third of our nuclear deterrence, along with bombers and nuclear missiles.

These critical systems are aging and are close to the end of their lifecycle. As part of the Ohio replacement, or SSBN(X) program, we are looking at expanding the nuclear core so that the future nuclear ballistic submarines can have a core life expectancy of 40 years, over 20 years.

I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

I thank the gentleman.

And I want to point out that the Ohio replacement nuclear reactor development program was identified specifically by line item within the Naval Reactor Section and allocated a full $121.3 million specifically for the SSBN(X) reactor program. This was done to ensure that the program be fully funded to the requirement amount without delay for FY 2012.

I want to just get assurance of the support of the committee for this program, and I yield to the gentleman regarding the committee's position on it.

Reclaiming my time, I thank the chairman for that.

Just to be abundantly sure, in order to ensure that there's no confusion within the Department of Energy and Naval Reactors, is it true that the prototype development for this new and complicated reactor system is fully funded to the required request?

I yield to the chairman.

I thank the gentleman.

Then I am hearing that the subcommittee has fulfilled the body's intent to ensure all funding lines related to the SSBN(X) Ohio replacement nuclear program are allocated to the required amount.

I thank the gentleman for his support and for Mr. Culberson's support and Mr. Dicks' support.

And Mr. Visclosky's support as well.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Amendment Offered by Mr. Reed

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment for a number of reasons, although I think he's made some good points, and certainly we want accountability to apply to this program as much as we want it to apply to anything. However, this is the same funding level as last year. The request was $425 million, and our commanders in the theater are telling us that that is even not high enough. So what we're doing with this amendment is actually cutting a level funding item from last year, cutting it in half.

Now, what does the CERP money do, the Commander's Emergency Response Program money? Let's say an IED explodes, or maybe there is a bomb that blows up a storefront in the middle of the street. A commander can go in there and hire local labor to clear out the entrance to that small business or whatever it is and get it done quickly without having to put U.S. Army personnel in danger to do it and can do it quickly and effectively and therefore leave our soldiers in the field, leave our soldiers where they can be most effective with their time and their training, and it does promote some goodwill on the streets with the people.

It has been said, well, all you're doing is renting a friend, and we're not going to be the first army that's fighting a war that rents friends, if you will. It really doesn't just rent a friend. It does create some long-term goodwill and does have an economic benefit of it. But the idea is to give the commander on the street some flexibility so that they can get the jobs done as the jobs arise and get them done quickly and turn them around.

CERP money actually has been an effective tool, and it's enormously popular with our commanders who are on the ground. I believe one of the problems we have in Afghanistan, one of the problems we've always had, is that too many decisions are being made down the street at the Pentagon and not in Baghdad, not in Kabul, not in Kandahar, where the commanders are closest to the war front.

For these reasons, Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

I support the gentleman's amendment, but I do want to understand one thing in terms of what it does to the military's options of purchasing domestic or even North American fuel. And the reason why I say that is, as I understand, the Department of Defense has three strategies in terms of energy, or using less energy. Number one is to increase the fight, decrease the fuel. Number three is increase the capacity. And then number two--and I am going in this order for a reason--is to increase the fuel options, the choices, to diversify the fuel sources. And it appears to me that 526 has inadvertently eliminated some of the options.

I would like to yield to my friend from Texas (Mr. Flores) to explain that a little bit further, particularly with respect to domestic energy sources.

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, what I am concerned about, with 84 million barrels of fuel produced every day, and America only having control of about 3 percent of that, yet consuming 25 percent, wherever we can use a friendly source of fuel is something that we need to keep open as an option.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation on an appropriation bill and therefore violates clause 2 of rule XXI because it requires a new determination.

Will the gentlewoman yield?

I think that the point you have raised is a very valid point and something that is very good discussion matter.

Unfortunately, we believe that it is authorizing on an appropriation, as the Chair has confirmed, but that's probably the concern far more than the philosophical concern.

So I think that if you and the gentleman can work on some other language, make another run at it, I cannot speak for the real chairman of the committee, but I think that there are going to be a number of people who would have sympathies with you because I think you have raised a very valid point.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

I accept the amendment because I believe that the things that Mr. Dicks is talking about in this amendment actually do move us in that direction.

I would like to yield to Mr. Cole and ask him to clarify that because I want it confirmed.

I thank you.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the passing of Mrs. Annabel Griner Alderman, also known as ``Miss Peaches.'' Mrs. Alderman was a beloved novelist, poet, talk radio show host, newspaper columnist and native of Nashville, Georgia.

Mrs. Alderman spent the majority of her life in Nashville where she became a political activist through writing and performing. She appeared as a political comic under the name ``Miss Peaches,'' a self proclaimed nickname that would serve as the moniker for her alter ego as she performed concerts and monologues with her piano playing brother, Geunie Griner.

Known for her creativity, Miss Annabel lived a colorful life and ingratiated herself in her community. Even as a child, she was very creative and talented, and wrote the song ``Willacoochee Callin' Moody Field'' after a chance meeting at a phone booth. Miss Annabel and her mother stopped to make a phone call in Ray City when she was just a girl and while they were waiting on the person inside the phone booth, she overheard the lady speaking to someone at Moody Air Force Base. She went home and wrote the song that she would later perform with her brother. This would be only the beginning of the pair's singing career; they also recorded comedy and gospel material through RCA with Mrs. Alderman acting as lyricist and lead singer.

As much as she enjoyed performing, Miss Annabel also enjoyed writing and would go on to give herself another nickname, that of ``wordsmith.'' During the 1930s and 1940s, Ward Law Starling was one of the biggest newspaper publishers in the state of Georgia, with the Nashville Herald being part of his empire. However, after his untimely death, Miss Annabel swooped in to keep the paper running and once again paired up with her brother Geunie to successfully run the paper for a number of years.

Mrs. Alderman graduated from the Georgia Regional Police Academy in 1983 and became an investigator with her family's law firm in Nashville. However, she continued to write, publishing a book of poetry, ``Lost Loves Don't Count'' in 1996. Then in 1999 she wrote her first novel, ``Family Man,'' which was nominated for several literary awards. During this time Ms. Alderman also penned a political column, ``About Right Now'' for the Valdosta Daily Times and was named Berrien County Republican Woman of the Year. Numerous poems, essays and short stories also followed and were published in Georgia magazines such as Valdosta Magazine, Flint River Review, Kennesaw State University's Golden Age of Poetry and Mercer University's Crossroads magazine.

The south has many colorful characters in its history but in Berrien County, there will only ever be one ``Miss Peaches.'' I rise today to commemorate Mrs. Annabel Alderman as an enduring part of the history of South Georgia. May the Lord bless her family and her memory.