Floor Statements

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him, Mr. Obey, the distinguished chair of the Appropriations Committee; Mr. Rangel, the chair of Ways and Means; Mr. Waxman, Mr. Miller, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Oberstar, and Ms. Velazquez--the chairs of the committees which had the most to do with putting this legislation together. I thank them for their great work on behalf of the American people.

My colleagues, as we gather here today, the American people are watching and are waiting. They want to see if we can act on their behalf. They want to know if we have heard their pleas. They are concerned about their jobs--whether they can hold them--and those who have lost their jobs are concerned about how they are going to be able to have any economic stability for their families. They are concerned about their health care. They are concerned about putting food on the table.

There is a great deal of apprehension in our country about our economy. What we need now, though, is not fear. We need confidence. We need confidence in our economy, in our markets. We need consumer confidence. We need to do the job for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, a little more than 3 weeks ago, in his very inspirational inaugural address, President Obama pledged ``action--bold and swift--not only to create new jobs but to lay a foundation for growth.'' Today, only a little more than 3 weeks later, Congress is boldly and swiftly delivering on the President's promise of new jobs, new hope and a new direction for the American people.

I said on this floor that the ship of state is difficult to turn. Yet the American people know and historians will judge that this is a remarkable achievement for President Barack Obama. Never before has a President passed his first major economic proposal so boldly and so swiftly.

It is also a remarkable achievement for this Congress that we dubbed 2 years ago the ``New Direction Congress.'' With the extraordinary articulation of the President's vision and our own represented in this legislation, the name ``New Direction Congress'' rings more true now than ever. It is in sharp contrast to the ``do nothing'' approach that some want us to take here, and certainly, it is in very sharp contrast to the approach taken when our country was in big economic trouble leading into the Depression.

My colleague, Mr. Miller, has already told you some of this, but I want to revisit it.

When President Hoover was faced with the Depression, he said, ``What the country needs is a big laugh,'' he said in 1931. ``If someone could get off a good joke every day, I think our troubles would be over.''

In 1932, Hoover asked Will Rogers to think of a joke that would stop hoarding. He told Rudy Vallee, ``If you could sing a song that will make people forget the Depression, I will give you a medal.'' President Hoover told Christopher Morley, ``Perhaps what this country needs is a good poem . . . Sometimes a good poem can do more than legislation.''

Sometimes it can. But not this legislation.

What President Hoover was saying then was not funny then, and it is not funny now. The American people need action, and they need action now. They have a right, as they listen to this debate, to ask about this legislation: What is in it for me?

After all of the debate, this legislation can be summed up in one word, ``jobs''--new jobs for the 3.6 million Americans who were put out of work since the recession began in December 2007, new jobs and an economy transformed by this legislation's new investments in health, education, science, innovation, and in clean, efficient American energy, new jobs created through modernizing America's roads, bridges, transit systems, and waterways. It is the first such large-scale effort in half a century since the creation of the Interstate Highway System under President Eisenhower. The jobs that the American people care about most--their own--will be dramatically safer the day that President Obama signs this into law.

While we jump-start and then transform our economy for years to come, we must also lift those harmed by the economy we inherit--the workers and families who have been hurt in the recession. What is in it for them?

More than 35 percent of this package will provide direct tax relief to 95 percent of American workers through the Making Work Pay Tax Credit. We provide the most significant expansion of tax cuts for low- and moderate-income Americans ever, which will lift more than 2 million Americans out of poverty.

College will be made more affordable for 7 million American college students who will see an increase in their Pell grants. Four million students will benefit from a new $2,500 American Opportunity Tax Credit that is partially refundable.

We will also help workers and families make ends meet by extending unemployment benefits, COBRA for unemployed workers, by investing in job training and by increasing nutrition assistance. Economists tell us that every dollar invested in food stamps and in unemployment insurance creates $1.73 or $1.63 respectively, making the right thing to do for the American people the right thing to do for the economy. We get the biggest bang for the buck on those initiatives that address the needs of our working families.

The historic scope of this bill is matched by an unprecedented accountability in our tax dollars and transparency so that the American people can see where each dollar is invested and can contact by name those responsible for how those dollars are spent, ensuring a strong result for our economy.

Just yesterday, the President and leaders of Congress came together in the Rotunda of the Capitol to honor the legacy and courage of our Nation's greatest President, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's stirring words captured the very heart of our democracy and representative government. A few years after his sole term in the House of Representatives--and aren't we proud to call him ``colleague,'' one who has served in our House--Lincoln offered his thoughts on the aims of government:

``The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all or cannot do so well for themselves in their separate and individual capacities.'' Abraham Lincoln.

More simply put, we are all in this together.

As you cast your vote today, I think I feel this more than on any occasion when we have had a very important vote, and this vote today is, indeed, historic. When we put our cards in to register our support for this important legislation or not, let us think that our hands are being held and that our hands are being pushed by all of the American people who want us to vote for them--for their health, for the education of their children, for their jobs, for the economic security of their families, for a better future built on innovation, science and technology, and on a future that will give them hope.

Their expectations are high. Our opportunity is great. This legislation helps fulfill the promises that President Obama not only made in his inaugural address but that many of us have been working over the years in a bipartisan way to achieve. I never thought I would see the day when we would have an opportunity so great to do so much for so many people in our country.

I urge a strong and resounding ``yes'' for the American people.

Thank you very much. It's so wonderful to see the two gentlemen from Michigan, the two newest Members on the Democratic side from Michigan, one presiding, Mr. Schauer, and one controlling the time, Mr. Peters, as we pay tribute to the dean of the House and certainly the dean of the Michigan delegation, Mr. Dingell.

Pretty exciting, isn't it, Mr. Chairman, to see these two new young Members to come here to reinvigorate the Congress? You've seen that happen time and time again.

My colleagues, as you know, today, the American flag is flying over the Capitol in honor of the leadership and service of our colleague John Dingell for becoming the longest-serving Member of the House of Representatives. As we recognize John today, we thank and congratulate his family for sharing him with us: his wife, the lovely Deborah as he refers to her; and his children, John, the Third, Christopher, Jeannie and Jennifer.

Last night, hundreds of people gathered under the Capitol dome as we had a reception on the eve of this historic event at the site of the original House of Representatives to pay tribute to John Dingell. It was an amazing group to see, Democrats and Republicans, new Members just newly sworn in, and those who had been here for decades.

We were honored to be joined by President Clinton, who on more than one occasion has honored John Dingell for his service. I think most recently before was for the 50-year anniversary of your service in Congress when many of us came together at that time.

We were joined also by Speaker Foley and former Minority Leader Bob Michel, again as a sign of bipartisanship. All came together to pay tribute to the 19,420 days John Dingell has served alongside us.

Today, we have an opportunity to again pay tribute on the actual day that he breaks the record. Yesterday was a tie; today, break the record.

It's also a personal privilege for me to speak about John, as my father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., served with John's father in the Congress before John came here.

Every chapter in John Dingell's life has been lived in service to our country. John came first to these halls, as I mentioned last night and as we all know, as a congressional page. I see that all the pages are gathered in the back of the room to hear the story of one of their colleagues, a former page, who has reached the heights in the Congress of the United States. Thank you, Pages.

He was a page in 1941 when he was standing on the floor when President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. That war called John to serve again, not now as a page but a few years older, and old enough to serve in the military where he rose to the rank of second lieutenant in the Army. It also began a public life dedicated to make America strong, both at home and abroad.

Just barely old enough to be a member of the Greatest Generation, John Dingell applied his brilliant mind, his great judgment, and his broad vision to making the future better for generations to come. John always made clear that a strong America had to be a healthy America. Continuing a tradition his father had begun in every Congress, John has introduced a bill for universal national health insurance.

Because of his tireless work in securing health care for the elderly, John presided in the House in 1965--he presided where you stand now, Congressman Schauer--when Medicare was passed into law. He gaveled it down, and that gavel he used that day still sits on his desk.

To work alongside John Dingell is to be inspired by the history of our institution and humbled by the seriousness of our work.

John, as I said, yesterday tied the record; today, he broke the record. And every day that he serves from now on he will continue to set a new record, certainly a new record of time in Congress, but that's the least of it, a record of leadership, combined with experience and longevity that makes him such a powerhouse.

To John, we love and respect you, and by any measure, your leadership and your success have been unsurpassed. Congratulations on this wonderful honor. I look forward to working with you for many weeks, years, every day to break the record, a new record, but as that piles up into years, our country will continue to be well-served by your tremendous leadership.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Madam Speaker, since 1983, the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag and Bundesrat have conducted an annual exchange program for staff members from both countries. The program gives professional staff the opportunity to observe and learn about each other's political institutions and interact on issues of mutual interest.

A staff delegation from the U.S. Congress will be selected to visit Germany from May 22 to May 31 of this year. During this ten day exchange, the delegation will attend meetings with Bundestag/Bundesrat Members, Bundestag and Bundesrat party staff members, and representatives of numerous political, business, academic, and media agencies. Participants also will be hosted by a Bundestag Member during a district visit.

A comparable delegation of German staff members will visit the United States for ten days July 11-19 of this year. They will attend similar meetings here in Washington and visit the districts of Members of Congress. The U.S. delegation is expected to facilitate these meetings.

The Congress-Bundestag/Bundesrat Exchange is highly regarded in Germany and the United States, and is one of several exchange programs sponsored by public and private institutions in the United States and Germany to foster better understanding of the politics and policies of both countries. This exchange is funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The U.S. delegation should consist of experienced and accomplished Hill staff who can contribute to the success of the exchange on both sides of the Atlantic. The Bundestag reciprocates by sending senior staff professionals to the United States.

Applicants should have a demonstrable interest in events in Europe. Applicants need not be working in the field of foreign affairs, although such a background can be helpful. The composite U.S. delegation should exhibit a range of expertise in issues of mutual concern to the United States and Germany such as, but not limited to, trade, security, the environment, economic development, health care, and other social policy issues. This year's delegation should be familiar with transatlantic relations within the context of recent world events.

In addition, U.S. participants are expected to help plan and implement the program for the Bundestag/Bundesrat staff members when they visit the United States. Participants are expected to assist in planning topical meetings in Washington, and are encouraged to host one or two staffers in their Member's district in July, or to arrange for such a visit to another Member's district.

Participants are selected by a committee composed of personnel from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State and past participants of the exchange.

Members of the House and Senate who would like a member of their staff to apply for participation in this year's program should direct them to submit a resume and cover letter in which they state their qualifications, the contributions they can make to a successful program and some assurances of their ability to participate during the time stated.

Applications may be sent to the Office of Interparliamentary Affairs, HB-28, the Capitol, by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 20, 2009.

This is a very happy day for me, for the Congress, and for the country, for all of America's children. I thank my colleagues for their extraordinary leadership in working on this very, very important legislation, which is strongly bipartisan, very carefully crafted, and again, a giant step forward for our children.

Almost 2 years ago, when we first talked about this legislation--we have been talking about it for years. Of course, it has been the law, and now we are expanding it. But when we first brought it into the previous Congress, on that day, it was late in the afternoon when I came to the floor, and while the sun was setting in the sky-- coincidentally, I came at a time when

it was, in poetry, described as the ``children's hour.''

I quoted then Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem: Between the dark and the daylight, when the night is beginning to lower, comes a pause in the day's occupation that is known as the Children's Hour.

Today, the children's hour has come to pass. With the bipartisan vote of this House, and the signature of the new President of the United States, we will provide health care to 11 million children in America.

We owe a great deal of thanks to our chairman, Mr. Waxman, to the chairman emeritus, Mr. Dingell, and Chairman Frank Pallone, of the Energy and Commerce Committee; Chairman Rangel and Pete Stark of the Ways and Means Committee. So many women on the committees have worked for this. Congresswomen Schakowsky, Baldwin, DeGette, Eshoo, and many others. This has been a product of many women focusing on this important issue that involves our children.

But our success really springs also from the outside mobilization that went with this. A compilation of more than 300 organizations-- everyone from AARP to YMCA, March of Dimes, Easter Seals, and every organization in between--supported providing quality, affordable health care to America's children.

More than 80 percent of Americans support our bipartisan children's health insurance bill because they understand that with 2.6 million jobs lost last year, now even more children do not have health insurance. For every 1 percent increase in unemployment--for every 1 percent increase in unemployment--it is estimated as many as 1.5 million Americans will lose their health care coverage.

The American people know that preventive care is more cost effective than relying on our Nation's emergency rooms. That phrase was used in the debate over the past 2 years. Everyone in America has access to health care. All they have to do is go to the emergency room. What a ridiculous statement. What a disservice to the debate.

They know also that reducing smoking, which the Campaign for Tobacco- Free Kids says this legislation will do, means healthier children leading longer lives.

The bipartisan, fully paid for children's health insurance bill represents the new direction that Democrats have fought for that now, today, we join with our Republican colleagues to bring to the floor. This is the beginning of the change that the American people voted for in the last election and that we will achieve with President Barack Obama. We look forward to this afternoon when the President of the United States will sign this legislation.

I see some of our new Members of Congress on the floor. I see Congresswoman Betsy Markey and Congresswoman Dahlkemper on the floor. I don't know if others are here. But they have taken a major interest. Tom Perriello of Virginia has taken a major interest in this legislation too. I commend them because their coming to Congress has already, only a few short weeks in the Congress, has already made a difference in the lives of the American people.

It's a very happy day for me because, as you know, each time I have been sworn in as Speaker, I have gaveled this House to order in honor and on behalf of all of America's children. Right now, we are observing a children's hour that signifies that we are a Congress for those children.

I urge all of my colleagues to support our effort to pass this with a tremendous, tremendous margin, and then also to celebrate the signing of the legislation this afternoon.

I thank the gentleman for yielding and I thank him for his tremendous leadership.

Mr. Chairman, one week and one day ago our new President delivered a great inaugural address that offered hope to the American people and a new direction for our Nation. President Obama pledged ``action bold and swift, not only to create new jobs but to lay a new foundation for growth.''

Today we are passing historic legislation that honors the promises our new President made from the steps of the Capitol, promises to make the future better for our children and our grandchildren. Only 8 days after the President's address, this House will act boldly and swiftly-- by passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to create and save 3 million jobs by rebuilding America.

That is why the bill has the support of 146 eminent economists, including five Nobel Prize winners who, in a letter to Congress this week stated, and I quote, ``The plan proposes important investments that can start to overcome the Nation's damaging loss of jobs by saving or creating millions of jobs and put the United States back onto a sustainable long-term growth path.''

On the steps of the Capitol, President Obama pledged to ``build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together'' and to ``restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost.''

Today, we are acting swiftly and boldly to do just that. To assert America's role as a world leader in a competitive global economy, we are renewing America's investments in basic research and development, in health care IT and in deploying new technologies into the marketplace.

That is why this legislation has the support of more than 100 high- tech CEOs and business leaders who have endorsed these job-creating investments. As these innovative leaders expressed in their letter to Congress supporting this bill, and I quote, ``Investments in America's digital infrastructure will spur significant job creation in the immediate term. An investment of $40 billion in America's IT network infrastructure in 2009 will create more than 949,000 U.S. jobs, more than half of which will be in small businesses.''

Then President Obama pledged that we ``will harness the sun and the wind and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.'' Today we are acting swiftly and boldly to do just that. This act makes a historic, job-creating investment in clean, efficient, American energy. To put people back to work and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we set the goal of doubling our renewable energy production and renovating public buildings to make them more energy efficient.

That is why the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of many, many groups committed to an energy independent future for our country and reversing climate change, has said that this package is ``big, bold and will serve as a down payment on long-neglected investments in a clean energy, good jobs, made-in-America economy.''

President Obama pledged to ``transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.'' The American Recovery and Renewal Act, which we are voting on today, will make bold investments to provide children with a 21st century education, create hundreds of thousands of jobs by investing in school and other infrastructure, make college more affordable and build a top-notch workforce trained for the jobs of the future. It's about the future.

That is why the Committee for Education Funding, another coalition, endorsed this bill saying, ``The package would retrain displaced and unemployed workers, create new jobs by

modernizing the country's classrooms, and increase America's competitiveness in the global economy.''

Education groups from across the spectrum and across the country, from the American Association of Community Colleges to the United States Student Association, support this bill.

President Obama pledged that ``those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account--to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day--because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.''

This act that we are passing today has unprecedented accountability measures built in, providing strong oversight, a historic degree of public transparency and no earmarks. That is why the National Governors Association strongly supports this legislation and our efforts to ensure that these investments are effective uses of tax dollars.

With the adoption of the bipartisan Platts-Van Hollen amendment today, a broad-ranging coalition of public interest groups say we have set ``a new standard of accountability and transparency by empowering Federal employees to call attention to waste, fraud, and abuse of tax dollars without fear of retaliation.''

As we know, my colleagues, last year 2.6 million Americans lost their jobs. Some say we are moving too quickly with this legislation. I say this legislation is long overdue. For all the time that we do not pass it, each month 500,000 Americans will lose their jobs. We simply cannot wait. And we say to the families of America who are affected by this, or fear to be, by this downturn in this economy, we are all in this together. The success of America is dependent upon the success of America's families. By investing in new jobs, science, innovation, energy and education, and doing so with strict accountability and fiscal responsibility, we are investing in America's families, which is the best guarantee for the success of our Nation.

My colleagues, the ship of state is difficult to turn, but that is what we must do, and that is what President Obama called upon us to do in his inaugural address, which I believe is a great blueprint for the future. With swift and bold action today, we are doing just that. We are moving the ship of state in a new direction in favor of the many, not the few. With this vote today, we are taking America in a new direction.

I thank all of my colleagues who worked so hard to make this legislation the great statement of values, principles and action that it is. I urge a ``yes'' vote from our colleagues. I look forward to working together in a bipartisan way as we go into the future in this new direction under the leadership of our new President, President Barack Obama.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding.

My colleagues, this is a day of triumph for America's children. With what I expect to be a strong bipartisan vote, the House will bring us one step closer to providing health care for 11 million children in America.

With this action and with the legislation last week to ensure equal pay for equal work for women, Congress makes clear that we put women and children first. It is important that we have this legislation up so soon in this new Congress because children are our top priority. We like to be considered a Congress for the children, a Congress for the future.

At a time of economic crisis, nothing could be more essential than ensuring that children of hardworking families receive the quality health care they deserve. Many of these children are from families of hardworking Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. It's sad to say that America lost 2.6 million jobs last year. Over half a million jobs were lost in the month of December-- 500,000 jobs in the month of December alone. It was actually 526,000 jobs. Each month, until we have an economic recovery initiative, we will continue to lose at least 500,000 jobs per month.

With such job loss, America sees the health care coverage that we all need for our children disappear. For every 1 percent increase in the unemployment rate, it is estimated that as many as 1.5 million Americans will lose their

health care coverage. A record 47 million Americans, including nearly 9 million children, are without health insurance now.

Ensuring that children have access to affordable health care just makes sense. It's not just about addressing their health needs when they are sick. It's about keeping them healthy in advance. It's about prevention. It's about diet, not diabetes; it's about prevention, not amputation. It's about a healthier America.

Contrary to the views of some, an emergency room is not good health care on a regular basis. An emergency room is, as it describes, for emergencies--not for ongoing health care. So for those who say that all people in our country have access to health care, that they can go to an emergency room, I don't know what they could be thinking.

By ensuring health care coverage for 11 million children, families will have regular doctor visits and preventative care. We will ensure that children get the care they need and the health care costs are not inflated due to expensive emergency room care.

That is why more than 80 percent of the American people support this legislation. It's bipartisan. It is fully paid for by a 61-cent tax on a pack of cigarettes as the major part of its funding, and it represents a new direction because, again, it is good health care for America's children. It is paid for.

We have fought in the last Congress together, Democrats and Republicans, in the House and in the Senate to pass this legislation-- which we did--but it was vetoed. At the time, President Bush said that we could not afford this legislation, that we could not afford to insure America's children. Forty days in Iraq equals over 10 million children in America insured for 1 year. Forty days in Iraq, 1 year insuring over 10 million children. We certainly can afford to do that.

We look forward to bringing this legislation to President Obama's desk as one of the first bills that he will sign. And when we do, we owe a great deal of gratitude to Chairman Henry Waxman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Chairman Rangel of the Ways and Means Committee, Chairman Emeritus John Dingell, who's worked on this issue for a very long time and engineered it through the last Congress. Thank you, Mr. Dingell. Congressman Pallone, the Chair of the subcommittee; Congressman Stark, the Chair of the appropriate Committee on Ways and Means; the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which led the fight to make sure that legal immigrant children are covered under this legislation, and our Congressional Black Caucus. All elements of our Congress, a coalition, and on the outside, because we could not succeed with just our inside maneuvering on legislation so important and so pervasive in its impact.

Without the support of more than 300 organizations, from AARP to the YMCA and everything in between, the March of Dimes, Easter Seals, almost every organization you can name supports this SCHIP; and they support providing quality, affordable health care to America's children, and they support doing it by the passage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program legislation that we have before us today.

So I thank all of those in the Congress for their leadership in making this important day possible for America's children. It's important to children because of their health. It's important because it's paid for. We do something great for children without adding to our deficit and delivering mountains of debt to future generations.

So this, all in all, is great for kids. Let's keep our reputation going as a Congress for children and give a strong bipartisan vote to this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I want to commend him for his extraordinary leadership, his attention to this issue of concern to America's families. I thank him, I thank his chairman, George Miller, for championing this issue in the committee and on the floor.

And I want to particularly salute Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro for being a relentless advocate. Ten years ago, she introduced the Pay Equity Act, and she has been working on it for a long time; and over the years, our ranks have grown of those who recognize the importance of this legislation.

I am particularly happy today, my colleagues, because on Tuesday we swore in a new Congress. It was a result of an election where the American people spoke out very clearly for change. And in the very first week of this new Congress, the change that we want to make is in the lives of America's families.

This legislation hits home. It helps America's working women meet the challenges that their families face economically, and it is about ending discrimination. So I thank all of our colleagues who worked so hard over the years to put this forward. We passed it in the House in the last Congress. We passed the Lilly Ledbetter bill, really a real tribute to a heroine, a woman who is a heroine. She took her personal story and she is making change for all working women in American.

That the Supreme Court would have ruled against her after she had won one

court challenge after another speaks to the need for this legislation. And the courts have spoken to Congress' ability to change the law if they do not agree with what the law had been before.

So here we are. This is the day. We campaigned all over the country. This issue of pay equity and Lilly Ledbetter legislation was part of the campaign. This woman from Alabama stood before crowds and talked about her personal experience. It was painful to experience it, yet she used her own situation to make life better for others. I'm sorry she cannot be with us here today, but I hope she knows how deeply grateful we all are to her because her case showcased the need for this legislation.

And again, in terms of pay equity, I'm a mother of four daughters and one son; and for all of them, this is important legislation. Many colleagues in this House--we have many women Members of the House now, many more we want, but we have fathers of daughters, and those fathers of daughters know that their daughters are capable of doing anything they set out to do and that the value that is placed on them in the workplace is the same value that is placed on young men and men of whatever age.

So I speak, really, from the heart on this in terms of what it means to women in their lives, to what it means to women in their homes, what it means to them in the workplace, what it means to them in their role in the economy, and what it means to them in their retirement because if women are not paid fairly in the course of their work years, it has an impact on their retirement as well.

So for the benefit of our economy--because this has an impact on our entire economy--I want to salute all who have brought us to this day. I think it's a happy day for our country, and as Speaker of the House, I'm particularly pleased that in the first week of the new Congress, this is the primary legislation that we are putting forward. Pay equity, fairness to women in the workplace, the Lilly Ledbetter Act. These are our priorities.

I hope that we will have a big strong vote in the Congress today so the message will go out that this Congress has heard the message of change in the election, that this Congress knows the needs of America's women, that this Congress is prepared to be relevant in its action, relevant to the concerns of America's working families.

I thank all of you for what you do, and I urge all of our colleagues to join all of us in supporting this important legislation.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I commend him, Mr. Berman, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for bringing this resolution before us today. I am pleased to join Mr. Boehner and Mr. Hoyer in cosponsoring it.

Today, we have reaffirmed with this resolution that Israel, like any nation, has a right to defend itself when under attack. Protecting the people of our country is the first responsibility any of us has, and so has Israel. The rocket and mortar attacks from Hamas in Gaza, which were increasing in frequency and in range, constituted an unacceptable security threat to which Israel had a responsibility to respond.

Certainly, all of us regret the loss of life, injury and destruction of property of innocent civilians that has occurred on both sides of the conflict. When I spoke with Prime Minister Olmert last week, I conveyed the concerns of my constituents and of my colleagues about the loss of life among civilians. We must do all we can to relieve the pain of the innocents and to bring about a real peace that will avoid further loss of life on both sides.

If we are to achieve a real peace, we must begin with a cease-fire to the current conflict. Hamas must stop the attacks, which is why this resolution calls for the Bush administration to work toward that end, but a cease-fire must do more than just end the current fighting. It must address some of the root causes of the conflict so we may attain a peace that is, in the words of this resolution, ``durable and sustainable.''

Security for Israel and an improvement in the lives of the people of Gaza cannot be achieved as long as Hamas uses that impoverished land as a launching pad for attacks against Israelis. The goal of any cease- fire must be more than a return to the status quo. It must be a positive and measurable step toward a final, just resolution of the differences between Palestinians and Israelis.

Our goal must be to achieve an agreement between Palestinians and Israelis that results in a secure, democratic Israel, living side by side with a viable and independent Palestinian state and with both sides finding peace and prosperity. The cycle of violence that feeds the fury of despair must be broken. The hard work of negotiation must be done, and the difficult but necessary decisions must be made so that such an agreement can be achieved.

The United States must be an active, constant and engaged partner in this conflict. With the new energy and fresh thinking of the new administration, we pray that an enduring settlement can be reached.

On days like this, Madam Speaker, and with the resolution that we have before us, we are all reminded that for more than 60 years the commitment of the United States to the security of Israel has been a real one. From the moment in 1947 when President Harry S. Truman took the bold step of recognizing the State of Israel to this very day, America stands shoulder to shoulder with our democratic ally in the Middle East.

We want, as I said, a two-state solution with a Jewish democratic Israel side by side with a secure Palestinian state. That can only occur if Hamas stops the exploitation of the impoverished people of Gaza for its own purposes as it continues its attacks on Israel.

Again, I thank the chairman of the committee, Mr. Berman, and the ranking member, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen, for their leadership in bringing this resolution to the floor.

Thank you very much, Leader Boehner.

Together, we welcome the many new Members of Congress who today join the House of Representatives of the United States of America. Congratulations to all of our new Members and to our re-elected Members.

Your constituents have placed great trust in you. Your families have given you the love and support to make your leadership possible. Let us join together now and salute the families of the 111th Congress.

I also want to thank my own family: my husband of 45 years, Paul Pelosi; and our children, Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul, and Alexandra; and our grandchildren, Alexander and Madeleine, Liam, Sean, Ryan, Paulie, and Thomas.

And I also want to acknowledge my brother, Thomas D'Alesandro, the former mayor of Baltimore.

I wish to express my appreciation of the people of San Francisco for granting me the privilege of representing them and serving them in Congress.

And I thank my caucus. Thank you, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Clyburn; thank you, Mr. Larson, for your nomination this morning. Thank you to the Members of the caucus for granting me the historic opportunity of breaking the marble ceiling and to serve, once again, as the first woman Speaker of the House.

Leader Boehner, thank you for your generous words and for your commitment to put country ahead of party. Without reservation, let us stand together, not just today, but in the days ahead to live up to that resolve.

Few Congresses and few Presidents in history have been given the responsibility and the privilege of serving the Nation in a time of such profound challenge. We do so renewed and refreshed by the new Members who join our ranks today. Again, welcome to our new Members.

It is in that spirit that I pledge to you--let us all pledge to the American people that we will look forward, not backward; we will join hands, not point fingers; we will rise to the challenge, recognizing that our love of country is stronger than any issue which may divide us.

This is the lesson and the legacy of the last election: The American people demanded a new era of change and accountability. Yes, we have problems as grave as our country has faced in generations. But now we enter a new Congress with a new era with a powerful sense of hope and pride in our great country.

Two weeks from today, as Mr. Boehner indicated, on the steps of this Capitol, we will inaugurate the 44th President of the United States. From the inaugural platform, he will walk down the long stretch of the National Mall and see the steps of the Lincoln Memorial from which Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., called us to the deepest truth of our founding dream.

When Barack Obama raises his right hand and takes the oath of office, we will know--and the world will witness--how far America has come. We will celebrate that moment, but recognize it as only a beginning.

Together, with our new President, we, as a Congress and a country, must fulfill the rest of America's promise.

All of that promise will not be redeemed quickly or easily, but it must be pursued urgently with spirited debate and without partisan deadlock or delay.

Hardworking and still hopeful Americans who are losing their jobs, their businesses, their retirement savings, their homes that are facing foreclosure, cannot wait any longer for us to move from the depths of a recession to the solid ground of an honest and fair prosperity for the many, not just the few.

We need action, and we need action now.

Families and children without health care, and millions more who fear losing coverage or who are facing rising costs, cannot afford to wait any longer.

We need action, and we need action now.

States facing financial crises, which are threatening the education and the health of our children, the well-being of our seniors, and the public safety of our communities, cannot afford to wait any longer.

We need action, and we need action now.

Our country is challenged by the climate crisis, by the need for energy security, and the need for 21st-century infrastructure. On all of these issues and many more, we cannot afford to wait.

Our Nation needs action, and we need action now.

America's crises at home are matched by conflicts abroad--a terrorist threat that could strike there or here. We cannot afford to wait to renew our alliances, our leadership, and our respect in the world. We cannot afford to wait to deploy the power of our ideals. For the sake of our security, for the courageous Americans who serve on the front lines, and for our veterans who have bravely served our country, we cannot afford to wait to modernize and rebuild our military.

Every chance we get we must express our appreciation to our heroic men and women in uniform and their families for their service and their sacrifice to our country.

Let us show America and the world that we are equal to every test of a turbulent and unprecedented time. Let us listen to each other. Let us respect every voice and every view, and then together, let us act.

As we in Congress pledge to reach across the aisle, we recognize that history will measure this decisive moment not just by what we do here in Washington, but how we reflect and respect how all Americans work together for the common good to strengthen America's future and faith in itself.

As we take the oath of office today, we accept a level of responsibility as daunting and demanding as any that previous generations of leadership have faced. With the help of God, the light of our values, the strength of the American people, and the hopes that we have for our children and their future, God will bless us so that America will continue to be as our Founders predicted more than 200 years ago, ``a rising not a setting sun.''

Today, Cardinal McCarrick honored us by asking God's blessing on our work. May God bless our work, and may God continue to bless America. Thank you all.

I am now ready to take the oath of office as Speaker. Before I call the Dean of the Congress forward, I want to invite my grandchildren and any other children in the Congress--they've asked me can we come up again this year. They certainly can.

Now, it is my privilege to ask the Dean of the House of Representatives, the Honorable John Dingell of Michigan, to administer the oath of office.

Mr. Dingell then administered the oath of office to Ms. Pelosi of California, as follows:

Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you God.

(Applause, the Members rising.)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to join my colleagues and sing the praises of Rob Nabors.

We are blessed in the Congress with magnificent staff on both sides of the aisle who serve the American people very well, none more excellent than Rob Nabors.

It is with great congratulations that we send him off to the new administration to work for President-elect and then President Obama but not without some sadness in losing him here in the Congress.

Rob, thank you for your service to our country, for your excellence in your work, and for the friendship that you have provided to many of us and for the courage and fortitude you have exhibited in working under the great leadership of Chairman Obey. Thank you, Rob Nabors, again.

I thank the gentlelady for yielding.

I rise in support of this important legislation and commend Chairman Frank for his persistence in bringing a very focused, disciplined bill to the floor and thank Mr. Bachus for his leadership as well.

As Speaker of the House, I am pleased to rise to quote another Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, a legend in our country, certainly in this Congress. He served here with great distinction, as many of us know from the history books and some of us saw as students, and he said the following. He said: When I was a child, I lived way out in the country. I'd sit on the fence on Sundays and wish to God that somebody would ride by on a horse or drive by on a buggy, just anything to relieve my loneliness. Loneliness, he said, consumes people. That's why I'm so glad to see that today farmers have cars. And he goes on to say what that progress meant in the life of developing a sense of community.

Since the days when the Model Ts first rolled off Henry Ford's assembly line owning a car has been part of the American dream. I know when I was young and when the new models would come out it was a very festive occasion. It has been for a long time. I just haven't kept up with all the cars. But today, the American automotive industry is imperiled due not only to recession and a credit freeze, but because it has been on the wrong track for long-term competitiveness and job creation.

Today, we are considering legislation not as life support to sustain a dying industry but a jump start for an industry that is essential to our country's economies, economic health. One in 10 American jobs is linked to the domestic auto industry, and it is a key pillar in an American sector critical to our national security and economic competitiveness for decades to come.

This legislation is about offering Detroit, and America, a chance to get back on track. This legislation is important. It is built on four principles, and actually it comes down to a question of tough love, tough love for an industry whose success is essential to our economic success, whose jobs are important to our workforce, whose innovation is essential to our progress, and whose manufacturing and technological and industrial base is also essential to our national security.

There are four principles in the bill. First, when we ask taxpayers to put up money to fund this restructuring, we must have accountability to the American people. The President will designate a car czar to oversee the industry's restructuring. The taxpayers get a return on their investment or are first in line to be repaid. I thank Mr. Frank for insisting on that provision. No golden parachutes, bonuses, or corporate jets for executives. And the Government Accountability Office and the TARP, that's the Troubled Assets Relief Program, Inspector General will provide independent oversight to protect our investment. Accountability for the taxpayer.

Second, there must be shared sacrifice. Everybody, every party to the auto sector must be present at the table. Mr. McCotter rightfully referenced the United Auto Workers making concessions, but they shouldn't be the only ones making concessions. I've called it a barbershop: When one person gets a haircut, everyone must get a haircut. That means those who are shareholders, those who are bondholders must have a cramdown on what return they get on the dollar. Suppliers have to understand the realities of what the market is for these cars. Dealers have to be treated with the respect that all of these elements deserve but with the reality of what the real marketplace is and what the market for the cars are. The auto workers have made concessions already. Perhaps they must be expedited, perhaps they must do more, but everything must be a shared sacrifice, and if one element is going to make the sacrifice, they shouldn't be asked to do so unless everyone shares in that. And the executive suite, the management of the companies, they must be part of that sacrifice as well, and I referenced that in the accountability section.

Third, the auto makers must restructure or repay. The companies must restructure to achieve viability, international competitiveness, and they must do this with fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.

And this is important for our colleagues who do not support this bill because we share many views. This has to be a tough standard because otherwise we're just putting out money for more of the same, but that is not what this legislation is about nor should it be. If they do not, the car czar can require immediate repayment of a loan if the company has not made adequate progress by February 15 to develop a long-term restructuring plan. The company will get no more Federal assistance if it fails to submit an acceptable final restructuring plan by March 31.

The list again, accountability, shared sacrifice, restructuring, and fourth and finally, there must be a commitment to innovation and efficiency.

Green is gold. Green is gold. Making a commitment to innovation and fuel economy and better emission standards makes the automotive industry in our country more competitive. People will want to buy their cars.

The legislation calls for maintaining a half billion dollars of the innovation funding set aside to help the industry retool to build advanced technology vehicles that greatly improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, and replenishing the remainder of the innovation funds in a matter of weeks.

Now, let me just say this. I have objected strenuously to using the green funds, the so-called 136 funds, because their purpose in our energy bill last year was very specific. It was for advanced, innovative manufacturing technology. In other words, it was for the retooling and making sure that companies had funds for them to research, develop, and benefit from that funding. The administration insisted that money be used instead for this restructuring period of time. I reluctantly agreed only with the idea that the money would be replenished, because without their advanced manufacturing technology, we are not going to have the progress necessary to compete internationally and domestically, for that matter. And most of that is about the environment. It's about the greening of the automotive industry.

I know the automotive industry can do it. Do you know, my colleagues, that in Europe this year the car that took first place in the ratings there was a GM Opel, a GM Opel, a General Motors Opel? Second place went to Ford Fiesta. Over 100 points behind them was Volkswagen. So these are General Motors- and Ford-made cars. Ranking just 1 point behind was Ford, 100 points or more behind was Volkswagen. These are American company-made cars in Europe that they have not chosen to sell in America.

Something is wrong with this picture. We know that in Latin America the flex-fuel cars for years have been sold. They were American-made cars, made by American manufacturers. Millions of them. But the industry chose not to advance them here because they made more money off of SUVs and the executive compensation and bonuses were tied to SUVs. Something is very wrong with this picture.

So what we are saying here is let everybody come to the table. Everybody get a haircut. Everybody has got to get a trim, maybe a big trim. Only then can we restructure this so that we have a competitive industry looking to the future, as Sam Rayburn looked to the future when he was so excited about seeing cars for the first time, bringing the American people together, American cars that have always been part of the American Dream.

So I'm optimistic because I see us with two choices: One is the automotive industry is on the brink, and some are advocating bankruptcy. Some of the people advocating bankruptcy will make money off that bankruptcy. But that takes us down to a deep pit that over a long period of time is detrimental to our economy, harmful to our workers, and certainly does not make us more competitive internationally.

Instead we have listened to what the companies have had to say. We said you're not going to see any money until we see the plan. We've seen the plan. It was better than what we saw before. Much more needs to be done. This affords a period of time with half of what they asked for. But we want to see performance, we want to see milestones by certain dates that they are

making this progress. And we want to see a change in mentality in the executive suite in Detroit.

What a great community, what a great State, Detroit and Michigan. They have been part, again, of the manufacturing part of the American Dream. We want to throw a lifeline for success. We do not intend to afford life support so that we just have to revisit this issue again at the same status quo.

So if you're upset with how the Big Three executives have operated, if you're upset about the fact that we are not competitive internationally, if you're upset that the taxpayer dollar has to be used to be committed to this, you should be very pleased with what this legislation does because it captures your frustration with it all. It sets us on a new path to viability, and it is a test, and we will soon see in a matter of weeks if the executive suites in Detroit are willing to make the choices. Certainly there needs to be retooling of the plants. Certainly there has to be renegotiating of the contracts. There may have to be reconsideration of the management of these companies if they cannot live up to the standard of this legislation and prove themselves worthy of the taxpayers' dollar that is being placed there.

So I think that on both sides of this issue we have a great deal of common ground. I just happen to come down on the side of giving a chance, this one more chance, to this great industry, optimistic by March 31 that we will all celebrate the new path that we are going down, but certainly ready, certainly ready to admit if that does not happen because unless it is absolutely clear in the minds of the people that we are talking about, the executives, the shareholders, the bondholders, the suppliers, the dealers, all of whom I respect, and the workers, who are a very high priority for us, unless it is clear to them that concessions and serious concessions must be made or else the alternative is almost unthinkable, they will not make the necessary concessions in some cases.

I salute the United Auto Workers for stepping up to the plate, for being the model, for leading the way to say we respect this industry, we want to advance it, and we are willing to take the lead in making those concessions.

So this is an important day in the life of America when the Congress speaking for the people, who are rightfully unhappy about all of this money going to companies that are supposed to be in the free market and be competitive, but nonetheless understanding what is at risk for all of us. As keepers of the taxpayers' trust here, if bankruptcy were to occur, the additional cost in unemployment insurance and food stamps and the safety net and the revenue foregone in our tax situation, locally, State, and nationally, would exact much more of a toll than the amount of money that we would be putting forth here.

So again I salute Mr. Frank for his leadership.

And may I say that at the end of the day yesterday, the legislation that you have before us is the legislation that we conceded on several points to agree to the White House language. This is bipartisan in its nature, and it is the legislation that we said we would go forward with in a bipartisan way that the President would sign. Others have made other changes, adjustments, whatever it is. They say on the Senate side they need this and that. But we operate in good faith. We agree to concessions. And we would hope that the White House would keep its word that it gave us last night about this legislation and encourage the Senate to follow suit and the President can sign the bill so the message will be clear to the markets and to the American people, to the workers and to all concerned with this great industry that we want to share in that sacrifice as well and we stand willing to do it by voting ``yes'' on this important legislation.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him for being such a great maestro in orchestrating this legislation that we have before us, accompanied by so many others; Congresswoman Waters for her tremendous leadership. We recognize Congressman Spratt of the Budget Committee; Congresswoman Slaughter for her work on the Rules Committee to bring this bill to the floor; Congressman Rangel for his very, very important work as well and having a piece of this bill.

I commend Spencer Bachus for his leadership and some of the great ideas that he brought to the table that first night and continued to bring to the discussion as we have gone ahead.

It's been my pleasure to work with Mr. Boehner and Mr. Blunt on this and with my colleague Mr. Hoyer who's invested so much time; and our mastermind, Rahm Emanuel for his knowledge of Wall Street, his knowledge of Congress, and his leadership was essential in our reaching the point we are today.

The place that we are today is to debate legislation that I think is much improved from the product that was here on Monday, and as we debate this legislation, we must do so with an eye to the future. We must reassure the American people that this crisis will lead to reforms that will strengthen their personal economic security, that the bright light of accountability will protect the taxpayers and ferret out the abuses that have led to this crisis.

The urgency is clear. We hear it from our friends, from our neighbors. We hear it everywhere we turn.

In my home State of California, officials including the Governor are urgently calling for Federal legislation to avoid economic catastrophe, catastrophe. Those urgent calls are being echoed by Democratic and Republican Governors from across the country.

While the focus has been on the Dow Jones and Wall Street, we are addressing the real pain felt by Mr. and Mrs. Jones on Main Street. They are why we must pass this legislation today.

Seniors and those nearing retirement have watched their savings dwindle and their pensions evaporate. Entrepreneurs seeking a plan for a new business are being turned away for credit, undermining job creation. If you're trying to buy a car, you cannot get a car loan. If you're trying to sell cars, you cannot get a business loan to purchase inventory. If you're trying to save for your children's college education, you are deeply in doubt as to whether your savings will be there.

And just this morning, the Labor Department announced that another 159,000 Americans lost their jobs in September, the most in 5 years. Nearly 800,000 Americans have lost their jobs this year alone. These are the Americans we must act on behalf of today. They are not the high flyers on Wall Street, but our neighbors and our constituents, and they need our help.

Let us be clear, the original rescue bill proposed by the Bush administration was unacceptable, as has been indicated by Mr. Boehner. It has asked us to commit $700 billion in taxpayers' money with few strings and no safeguards. In a bipartisan way, we rejected that proposal. And in our bipartisan negotiations between the White House and the Congress, we demanded tough additions to the bill, and they are contained in this legislation.

To protect the taxpayers, we insisted upon tough oversight and accountability. To further protect the taxpayers, we wanted to make sure that as we bought this illiquid paper that Mr. Paulson was talking about and as we invested capital into these companies that we were helping to make healthy, that the American taxpayer would profit. Mr. Spencer Bachus was quite vocal on that subject when we met that first Thursday night two weeks and one day ago about, if we're going to make these companies healthier, why shouldn't we just invest capital in them so the taxpayer can benefit?

And thanks to John Tanner of Tennessee, if this does not pay for itself, as some say that it can, but if there is a shortfall, the taxpayer will be made whole, being paid for by fees on those who have benefited from the program. That recoupment that Mr. Tanner put forth I think is a tremendous advance in this legislation and a protection for the taxpayer.

We also reform CEO compensation and put an end the golden parachutes. Our message to Wall Street is: The party is over. No longer will you drive your business into the ground, take a golden parachute to safety and have the taxpayer pick up the tab. And thanks to Congresswoman Maxine Waters, this legislation will do a great deal to help families avoid foreclosure and enable them to stay in their homes.

Since the bill came to the floor earlier this week, it has been further improved by increases in insurance for

checking and savings accounts which protect savers, small businesses and community banks across America.

I am especially pleased that the plan benefits middle income families with an extension of the $1,000 per couple State and local property tax deduction; $1,000 for those who do not itemize deduction in their property taxes. And I thank Jim Clyburn, our Democratic whip, for his leadership in this regard.

I am also pleased that the bill includes an extension of tax cuts for clean and renewable energy that will create and save half a million good-paying jobs in America immediately. This was a part of our energy bill last year. It did not survive the Senate, it now has become part of this legislation, and it is paid for. We fought hard to include these critical tax cuts, again, as I said, in last year's landmark legislation because they are essential to job creation.

And aren't we all pleased across America's cause for celebration that the legislation includes the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act? Patrick Kennedy and Mr. Ramstad--I hope he's here so I can convey to him the gratitude of the American people to both of them for their leadership, without which we would not be having this important legislation passed today. It has turned out to be the vehicle for which the whole package is moving.

By requiring that illness in the brain be treated just like illness elsewhere in the body for insurance purposes, we're helping to end discrimination against those who seek treatment for mental illness. This legislation will also save lives.

So there are some things in here that have been added since the other day that are very important, legislation that has passed the House over and over again, but never could make it through the Senate, and now it has. That doesn't take away from the fact that we've been dealt a mighty bad hand with the core part of this legislation, but it has been improved. It is a compromise, but it is just the start.

Passing this legislation is only the beginning of our work to protect the economic future of the American people. With the work in these past 2 weeks, we've seen things we never thought we would see before in terms of the economic insecurity of our own country. With this legislation, $700 billion, we have broken new ground in how we deal with this crisis, but we will not leave it broken. Chairman Waxman, Chairman Peterson and Chairman Frank will hold a series of hearings to determine the origin of the crisis, how regulators and business leaders failed to protect the public interest, and the commonsense, reasonable regulations needed to provide security and stability in the future.

We must look ahead. We must look ahead to protect Americans from unsavory lending practices and to bring a better balance to our bankruptcy laws, but today we must begin by passing this bill. And as we do so, we must keep in mind our commitment to fiscal discipline, to not increasing the deficit. That's the overriding question I have from people--well, among others--why so much? Will it work? We'll see. What does it do to our opportunities to invest in the American people? Well, we hope it will pay for itself. And if it doesn't, then the fees will be there to cover it.

But apart from that, we cannot get into the thinking that we can just put out all this money without the thought that it will be heaping mountains of debt onto our children unless we have recoupment. And so it is a problem for us as we go into a new presidency and a new Congress. But under the leadership of Mr. Spratt, and working with others in the House and in the Senate and with a new President of the United States, ``no new deficit spending'' must be our mantra.

This is a vote with real consequences, a vote that will shape or begin to shape the financial stability of our country and the economic security of our people. It is an important vote, it's a difficult vote, but it is a vote that we must win for the American people. We must win it for Mr. and Mrs. Jones on Main Street.

Madam Speaker, I submit for the Record a copy of a letter signed jointly by myself and the Republican Leader, Mr. Boehner. It is addressed to President Bush. In it, we express our views on the limits of the ``pocket-veto'' power. I also submit a copy of the letters referenced therein.

Congress of the United States,

Washington, DC, April 14, 2008.

Hon. George W. Bush,

The President, The White House,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. President: This is in response to your actions of

December 28, 2007, on H.R. 1585, the National Defense

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which you returned to

the House of Representatives without your approval. In

returning the parchment you transmitted a memorandum of

disapproval stating your objections to enactment of the bill.

This memorandum of disapproval included the following

paragraph:

``The adjournment of the Congress has prevented my return

of H.R. 1585 within the meaning of Article I, section 7,

clause 2 of the Constitution. Accordingly, my withholding of

approval from the bill precludes its becoming law. The Pocket

Veto Case, 279 U.S. 655 (1929). In addition to withholding my

signature and thereby invoking my constitutional power to

`pocket veto' bills during an adjournment of the Congress, I

am also sending H.R. 1585 to the Clerk of the House of

Representatives, along with this memorandum setting forth my

objections, to avoid unnecessary litigation about the non-

enactment of the bill that results from my withholding

approval and to leave no doubt that the bill is being

vetoed.''

The circumstances surrounding the presentment and return of

H.R. 1585 and the readiness of Congress to reconsider the

bill in light of Presidential objections compel us to

question the assertion that a pocket veto did or could have

occurred. We think you agree that the pocket veto and the

return veto are available on mutually exclusive bases and,

therefore, during mutually exclusive periods. We think you

should also agree that the constitutional concern that a bill

not become law without the President's signature when an

adjournment prevents a return veto does not arise when the

President is able to return the parchment to the originating

House with a statement of his objections. Accordingly, we

believe that your return of H.R. 1585 with your objections is

absolutely inconsistent with this most essential

characteristic of a pocket veto, to wit: retention of the

parchment by the President for lack of any body to whom he

might return it with his objections. Your successful return

of H.R. 1585 establishes that you were not prevented from

returning it.

H.R. 1585 was presented to you on December 19, 2007. You

returned the bill on December 28, 2007--the eighth of the ten

days allowed under the Constitution. The Clerk was available

pursuant to the standing rules of the House to receive your

message. The Congress was in a position to reconsider the

bill in light of Presidential objections, even in the first

session of the instant Congress. Although the House had

adjourned sine die (without specifying a day of return), it

did so with provision for its reassembly. Moreover, both

houses were to reassemble in due course for a second session

of the instant Congress.

After an enrolled bill is presented for Presidential

approval, the parchment ultimately meets one of four ends. It

might be tendered to the Archivist by the President because

he signed it or allowed it to become law without his

signature. It might be referred to committee by the first

house to sustain a veto. It might be tendered to the

Archivist by the second house to override a veto. Or it might

be retained by the President because he ``pocketed'' it. If

the President returns a parchment to the Congress, then he

has not pocketed it, and it therefore is subject to

reconsideration. Either the Congress has prevented the

President from returning the parchment with a statement of

his objections or it has not. By returning the parchment a

President is admitting that he is not prevented from

returning it.

The House has treated your message of December 28, 2007, on

H.R. 1585 as a return veto. On January 15, 2008, the

message--comprising the parchment and your memorandum of

disapproval--was laid before the House. After the memorandum

was read, your objections were entered in the Journal and the

House obeyed the command of the Constitution to ``proceed to

reconsider'' the bill. Rather than immediately considering

the ultimate question on overriding or sustaining the veto,

the House chose as its first mode of reconsideration a

referral to committee.

We enclose for your consideration copies of previous

letters to President George H. W. Bush and President Clinton,

respectively dated November 21, 1989, and September 7, 2000.

Those letters from Speaker Foley and Leader Michel and from

Speaker Hastert and Leader Gephardt expressed the profound

concern of the bipartisan leaderships over similar assertions

of pocket vetoes. We echo those concerns and urge you to give

appropriate deference to such judicial resolutions of this

question as have been possible.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Best regards,

Nancy Pelosi,

Speaker of the House.

John A. Boehner,

Republican Leader.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of my colleagues in Congress, and with great personal sadness, I rise to pay tribute to a highly esteemed and loved community leader who died on August 27th. Del Martin was a remarkable woman, an eloquent organizer for civil rights and human dignity. Del helped create and shape the modem lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and feminist movements. She was endowed with extraordinary courage, persistence, intelligence, humor, and grace. She refused to be silenced by fear and never stopped fighting for equality.

Del Martin and her beloved partner, in work as in life, of 50 years, Phyllis Lyon were married at San Francisco City Hall on June 16, 2008. They were the first same-sex couple to wed in San Francisco after the California Superior Court's landmark decision to affirm marriage equality. This was Del Martin's, last public political act, and we would not have won marriage equality in California without their leadership and example.

I have proudly talked about Del and Phyllis on two occasions on this House floor--first in 1996 as I spoke in strong opposition to the ill- named Defense of Marriage Act, then 10 years later against the constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage. I told my colleagues about their love, happiness and commitment to each other which continue to be a source of strength and inspiration to all who know them. I asked my colleagues to explain how their relationship was a threat to anyone's marriage and why Del and Phyllis should not be treated equally under the law. I am grateful that they allowed me to share their personal history to show that these malicious and discriminatory measures were counter to the ideals of liberty, freedom, and equality for which this Nation stands.

Del and Phyllis were pioneering activists for lesbian and gay rights and women's rights. They fought and triumphed in many battles and made history for the LGBT community in our city, our State and our Nation. In the 1950s, they cofounded the first national lesbian rights organization in the United States, the ``Daughters of Bilitis,'' long before the gay rights movement took hold. They published a monthly newsletter, The Ladder, and the book Lesbian/Woman which generated new media visibility and political engagement for the nascent gay rights movement. They co-founded the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, the first gay political club in the United States.

Del Martin's publication of Battered Wives in 1976 was a watershed moment in the movement against domestic violence. She co-founded the Coalition for Justice for Battered Women, La Casa de las Madres, and the California Coalition against Domestic Violence. Lyon-Martin Health Services, the San Francisco clinic named for Del and Phyllis that provides quality health care to women and transgender people, will stand as a testament to their generous spirit and pioneering commitment.

In 1995 Senator Dianne Feinstein and I named Del and Phyllis to the White House Conference on Aging where they advocated for LGBT people to be included explicitly in aging policies.

I hope it is a comfort to Phyllis, their daughter Kendra Mon, and their grandchildren and vast extended family of friends that so many people mourn her loss and will hold Del in their hearts forever.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, for recognizing me, and also to the distinguished chairman for his extraordinary leadership which I will address in a moment.

Madam Speaker, when was the last time anyone ever asked you for $700 billion? It is a staggering figure. And many questions have arisen from that request, and we have been hearing I think a very informed debate on all sides of this issue today. I am very proud of the debate. Seven hundred billion dollars, a staggering number, but only a part of the cost of the failed Bush economic policies to our country, policies that were built on budget recklessness.

When President Bush took office, he inherited President Clinton's surpluses; 4 years in a row budget surpluses on a trajectory of $5.6 trillion in surplus. And with his reckless economic policies, within 2 years he had turned that around. And now 8 years later, the foundation of that fiscal irresponsibility, combined with an anything-goes economic policy, has taken us to where we are today.

They claim to be free market advocates when it is really an anything- goes mentality. No regulation, no supervision, no discipline. And if you fail, you will have a golden parachute and the taxpayer will bail you out. Those days are over. The party is over in that respect.

Democrats believe in a free market. We know that it can create jobs, it can create wealth and many things in our economy. But in this case, in its unbridled form, as encouraged, supported by the Republicans, some in the Republican Party, not all, it has created not jobs, not capital, it has created chaos. And it is about that chaos that the Secretary of the Treasury and the chairman of the Fed came to see us just about a week and a half ago. It seems like an eternity, doesn't it. So much has happened, the news was so bad.

They described a very, very dismal situation, a dismal situation describing the state of our economy, the fragility of our financial institutions, and the instability of our markets--our equity markets, our credit markets, our bond markets. And here we were, listening to people who know of what they spoke. The Secretary of the Treasury brings long credentials and knowledge of the markets. More fearful, though, to me, more scary, were the statements of Chairman Bernanke because Chairman Bernanke is probably one of the foremost authorities in America on the subject of the Great Depression. I don't know what was so great about the depression, but that's the name they give it.

And we heard the Secretary and the Chairman tell us that this was a once in a hundred-year phenomenon, this fiscal crisis was so drastic. Certainly once in 50 years, probably once in 100 years. And how did it sneak up on us so silently, almost on little cat's feet, that they would come in on that day. And they didn't actually ask for that much money that night. It took 2 days until we saw the legislation that they were proposing to help calm the markets. It was on that day that we learned of a $700 billion request.

But it wasn't just the money that was alarming, it was the nature of the legislation. It gave the Secretary of the Treasury czar-like powers, unlimited powers, latitude to do all kinds of things; and specifically prohibited judicial review or review of any other Federal administrative agency to review their actions.

Another aspect that was alarming, it gave the Secretary the power to use any money that came back from these infusions of cash to be used at the discretion of the Secretary, not to reduce the deficit, not to go into the general fund so we could afford other priorities, to be used at the discretion of the Secretary. It was shocking.

Working together in a bipartisan way, we were able to make major improvements on that proposal even though its fundamental basis was almost arrogant and insulting.

The American people responded almost immediately. Overwhelmingly they said that they know something needs to be done. Seventy-eight percent of the American people said: Congress must act. Fifty-eight percent said: but not to accept the Bush proposal.

And so here we are today, a week and a couple of days later, coming to the floor with a product, not a bill that I would have written, one that has major disappointments for me beginning with the fact that it does not have bankruptcy in this bill, and we will continue to persist and work to achieve that.

It is interesting to me, though, when they described the magnitude of the challenge and the precipice that we were on and how we had to act quickly and we had to act boldly and we had to act now, that it never occurred to them that the consequences of this market were being felt well in advance by the American people. That unemployment is up; and, therefore, we need unemployment insurance. That jobs are lacking; and, therefore, we need a stimulus package.

So how on the one hand could this be so urgent at the moment, and yet so unnecessary for us to address the effects of this poor economy in the households of America across our country? We will come back to that in a moment.

Working together, we put together some standards. I am really proud of what Barney Frank did in this regard.

That first night, Thursday night when we got the very, very dismal news he immediately said: If we are going to do this--and Spencer Bachus was part of this as well--if we are going to do this, we must have equity for the American people. We are putting $700 billion; we want the American people to get some of the upside. So fairness for the American people.

Secondly, as they described the root of the problem as the mortgage- backed securities, Barney insisted that we would have forbearance on foreclosure. If we are now going to own that paper, that we would have forbearance to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes.

In addition to that, we had to have strong, strong oversight. We didn't even have to see the $700 billion or the full extent of their bill to know that we needed equity and upside for the taxpayer, forbearance for the homeowner, oversight by the government on what they were doing, and something that

the American people understand full well, an end to the golden parachutes and a review and reform of the compensation for CEOs.

Let's get this straight. We have a situation where on Wall Street, people are flying high. They are making unconscionable amounts of money. They make a lot of money. They privatize the gain. The minute things go tough, they nationalize the risk. They get a golden parachute as they drive their firm into the ground, and the American people have to pick up the tab.

Something is very, very wrong with this picture.

So just on first blush that Thursday night, we made it clear--meeting much resistance on the part of the administration--those four things, equity, forbearance, oversight, and reform of compensation.

Overriding all of this is the protection of the taxpayer. We need to stabilize the markets, and in doing so, we need to protect the taxpayers. And that's why I'm so glad that this bill contains suggestions made by Mr. Tanner that if at the end of the day, say, in 5 years when we can take a review of the success or whatever of this initiative, that if there is a shortfall and we don't get our whole $700 billion back that we have invested, that there will be an initiative to have the financial institutions that benefited from this program to make up that shortfall. But not one penny of this should be carried by the American people.

People ask--and Mr. Spratt spoke with great knowledge and eloquence on the budget and aspects of the budget--$700 billion; what is the impact, what is the opportunity cost for our country of the investments that we would want to make?

Okay. Now we have it at a place where the taxpayer is going to be made whole, and that was very important for us. But why on the drop of a hat can they ask us for $700 billion and we couldn't get any support from the administration on a stimulus package that would also help grow the economy?

People tell me all over the world that the biggest emerging economic market in the world is rebuilding the infrastructure of America: roads, bridges, waterways, water systems in addition to waterways, the grid, broadband, schools, housing. We're trillions of dollars in deficit there. We know what we need to do to do it in a fiscally sound way, in a fiscally sound way that creates good paying jobs in America immediately, brings money into the Treasury by doing so and, again, does all of this in an all-American way: good paying jobs here in America. We can't get the time of day for $25, $35 billion for that which we know guarantees jobs, et cetera, but $700 billion.

So make no mistake: When this Congress adjourns today to observe Rosh Hashanah and have Members go home for a bit, we are doing so at the call of the Chair because this subject is not over, this discussion about how we save our economy. And we must insulate Main Street from Wall Street.

As Congresswoman Waters said, Martin Luther King Drive, and in my district Martin Luther King Drive and Cesar Chavez Road, and all of the manifestations of community and small businesses in our community, we must insulate them from that.

So we have difficult choices, and so many of the things that were said on both sides of this issue in terms of its criticisms of the bill we have and the bill that we had at first and the very size of this, I share. You want to go home, so I'm not going to list all of my concerns that I have with it.

But it just comes down to one simple thing. They have described a precipice. We are on the brink of doing something that might pull us back from that precipice. I think we have a responsibility. We have worked in a bipartisan way. I want to acknowledge Mr. Blunt and Mr. Boehner of the work that we've done together in trying to find as much common ground as possible on this.

But we insisted the taxpayer be covered. We all insisted that we have a party-is-over message to Wall Street, and we insisted that the taxpayers at risk must recover; any risks must be recovered. I have told you that already.

So, my colleagues, let's recognize that this legislation is not the end of the line. Mr. Waxman will be having vigorous oversight this week, hearings this week, on regulatory reform and other aspects of it. I hope you will pursue fraud and mismanagement and the rest.

Mr. Frank and his committee will continue to pursue other avenues that we can stabilize the markets and protect the taxpayer.

For too long this government in 8 years has followed a right-wing ideology of anything goes: no supervision, no discipline, no regulation. Again, all of us are believers in free markets, but we have to do it right.

Now let me again acknowledge the extraordinary leadership of Mr. Frank. He's been an exceptional leader in the Congress, but never has his knowledge and his experience and his judgment been more needed than now. And I thank you, Mr. Frank, for your exceptional leadership, Mr. Chairman.

So many people worked on this, but I also want to acknowledge the distinguished Chair of our caucus, Mr. Emanuel. His knowledge of the markets, the respect he commands on those subjects, and his boundless energy on the subject served us well in these negotiations.

But this is a bipartisan initiative that we are bringing to the floor. We have to have a bipartisan vote on this. That is the only message that will send a message of confidence to the markets.

I know that we will be able to live up to our side of the bargain. I hope the Republicans will, too.

But my colleagues, as you go home and see your families and observe the holiday and the rest, don't get settled in too far because as long as this challenge is there for the American people--the threat of losing their jobs, their credit, their savings, their retirement, the opportunity for them to send their children to college--as long as in the households of America this crisis is being felt very immediately and being addressed at a different level, we must come back. And we will come back as soon and as often as necessary to make the change that is necessary.

And before long, we will have a new Congress, a new President of the United States, and we will be able to take our country in a new direction.

Thank you.