the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., july 18, 2013. i hereby appoint the honorable doug lamalfa to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2013, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip each, to five minutes but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina, mr. coble. mr. coble: i thank the speaker. mr. speaker, i've heard some criticize the president for having played golf with tiger woods because woods is not a favorable role model. the president's golfing is none of my business, but permit me to tell you what is my business. the frequent use of air force one and the related costs thereto. president obama was the second most traveled president of all-time for a single time spending 95 days on 5 trips. in 2009 president obama traveled more in his first year than any other president. president obama spent 95 days traveling to 21 different countries. the most updated figure on the cost of operating air force one is in excess of $179,000 per hour but this is a tiny fraction of the president's foreign travel plans which includes backup aircraft, aerial tankers, motor transport, security and diplomatic personnel accommodations and advance teams. the first lady also has been actively traveling making trips to ireland, africa, western europe and copenhagen. when traveling solo she will use a cost per flight hour of between $179,000 and $26,000 or a longer c-32 passenger jet which has a cost per flight hour in excess of $42,000 per hour. presidential entourages have grown quite large in the modern era as well, mr. speaker. president obama accompanied by more than 500 staff, including security, during his 2009 trip to london. at least 200 security agents alone will be involved in the president's current africa trip. now, i'm not suggesting, mr. speaker, that we compromise safety or security, but the first family, it seems to me, treats air force one and related aircraft as their personal toys, a very expensive toy, i might add. i will admit, mr. speaker, that air force one belongs to president obama and his wife, but air force one also belongs to you and me and to every taxpayer in america. i simply ask the president and his wife to exercise more prudence and discipline regarding their private aircraft activities. when the wheels of air force one are up, the meter is on, and i'm talking about a heap of taxpayer dollars. inally, mr. speaker, the plague of the soaring debt conditions to bother us and i request that president obama and his wife direct more attention to our soaring debt and deficit and less time on air force one. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the chair would remind members to refrain from improper references to the president or other members. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia, mr. wolf, for five minutes. mr. wolf: mr. speaker, i rise today to ask another question that has not yet been answered by the house. this question will be the third in a series of critical issues that have not yet been resolved and i will continue to raise additional questions for the next nine legislative days until we depart for august recess keeping in mind that the one-year anniversary of benghazi attacks will be upon us when the congress returns in september. it is also noteworthy there does not appear to be a single hearing on benghazi scheduled in any committee between now and the one-year anniversary. that is why in the absence of public hearings to address these questions i'm raising them on the house floor this month. on tuesday i raised the question of why not of the benghazi survivors, the c.i.a., the f.b.i. or private contractor employees have testified publicly before congress. yesterday i asked about whether there had been any intelligence failures in the vetting of the libyan militias have abandoned the americans at the consulate when the assaults began. i asked who provided the terrorists of detailed information about the consulate property. i -- contractors working for the c.i.a., defense department and the state department who were involved in the response or a lack thereof to the benghazi attacks. according to trusty sources that have -- trusted sources that have contacted my office, not all of the survivors of the benghazi attacks along with others at the department of defense, the c.i.a. have been asked or directed to sign additional nondisclosure agreements about their involvement in the benghazi attacks. some of these new n.d.a.'s as they call them have been signed as recently as this summer. the marine corps times yesterday reported that the marine colonel whose task force was responsible for special operations in northern and western africa at the time of the attack is still on active duty despite claims that he retired. and therefore could not be forced to testify before congress. if these reports are accurate, this would be a stunning revelation to any member of congress, any member of congress that finds this out and also more importantly to the american people. it also raises serious concerns about the priority of the administration's efforts to silence those with knowledge of the benghazi attack in response. ask, how many federal employees military personnel or contractors have been asked to sign additional nondisclosure agreements by each agency? and do these nondisclosure agreements apply to those undercover or have noncovert state department and defense department employees? later today i will be writing the state department, defense department and ask for their personnel or contractors who ve been required to sign n.d.a.'s related to benghazi. erhaps the -- we may finally develop a witness list to learn what happened that night where we lost four american lives. i do not expect the obama administration to be forthcoming with answers, but if this congress, if this congress does not ask for the information and gives delivery, the american people will never learn the truth. any federal employer employee or contractor who has been coerced through a n.d.a. is asked to speak out on their behalf and compel their voice to be heard. 'shy i, along with 159 of my colleagues, support a select committee to hold public hearings to learn the truth about what happened that night in benghazi. i say to any colleague who's not on a resolution, if not on our resolution, please get on so we can find the truth for the american people and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new mexico, mr. lujan, for five minutes. mr. speaker, as fires across the west grow more intense and superstorms in the united states do more damage, it is clear that the cost of inaction on climate change is growing. the economic toll that's taking on communities across the country is impacting the american people. hurricane sandy cost the united damages, billion in many lives and lost economic output. in my home state of new mexico where wildfires have burned all summer, many communities that rely on tourism and access to seen jetic lands have their -- majestic lands have seen their businesses impacted. many have to sell off their herds because of drought conditions that have made it too expensive to feed their animals. opponents of efforts to address climate change often cite the cost of these efforts. what they fail to account for is the cost that global warming is having in the form of more severe droughts, more dangerous wildfire seasons and increased devastations from superstorms. mr. speaker, if we continue down this path and fail to take steps necessary to address climate change, the costs will only continue to grow and the impact in our communities will only increase. last week i joined my colleagues in the safe climate caucus asking speaker boehner to schedule a debate on the house floor to discuss climate change and our nation's response to this growing threat. the time for action is now. we must not sit idly by and ignore the facts and ignore the science while communities in new mexico and across the country have the effects of climate change. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: mr. speaker, it was september, 1972. people from all over the world were gathered in munich germany for the olympic games. after world war ii worldwide there was a feeling of optimism and unity but overnight those feelings turned to turmoil and turned to terror. the world awoke to images of a deadly terrorist attack in the olympic village. a terrorist group called black september took 11 israeli hostages and massacred them. in response, the israeli government did not hesitate. the israeli policy was, you will not murder israelis anywhere in the world. so for 20 years israel hunted down the killers all over the globe from paris to london to beirut to stockholm. and with its response one thing came clear to these terrorists, you hurt israelis, there's ing to be consequences and the consequences will not be pleasant. israeli -- israel would find them and israel would find them. so flash forward 40 years on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 there was once again attacks on american sovereign soil. in egypt they stormed the u.s. embassy. our ambassador, chris stevens, and three other americans were libya. murdered in theres that been no action -- there has been no action by the administration for these crimes. where is the justice for these families of these four victims? the identities of some of the attackers are known. why have we failed to go get them? when america has been tested by terrorists in the past, we've gone after them, just like israel has done. in 1996, 19 american soldiers were murdered in saudi arabia. the united states responded. in 2001 when 3,000 people from all over the world were murdered here in the united states, we responded. president bush said the search is under way for those who are behind these evil acts. i've directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and bring them to justice. is that our u.s. policy today? well, we don't know. we don't know what the current u.s. policy is about americans killed overseas. all we get is a lot of words with no results from the administration. so our enemies continue to test us because they no longer fear us, mr. speaker. the world no longer knows where america stands on terrorist attacks. not our allies, not our enemies and not american citizens. so what is our policy when a u.s. embassy is attacked? more broadly speaking, what is our foreign policy in north africa? north africa is a breeding round for terrorism al qaeda affiliates being trained and expanded across the entire african continent. earlier this year on january 16, an al qaeda linked with one affiliated took 800 people hostage at a gas facility in algeria. one of those hostages killed was victor lovelady, a neighbor of mine. victor's brother, mike lovelady, testified before our terrorism subcommittee last week. his family deserves answers from this administration about what happened in algeria when americans were killed. who are these terrorists in benghazi? who are these terrorists in algeria? have the ring leaders gotten away with these mass murders? is the united states not capable of finding these people throughout the world? maybe the intelligence service ought to spend a little less time snooping around in the private lives of americans and go after terrorists overseas, but that's a different issue. the loveladys deserve justice. they lost a brother, son. osama bin laden may be dead but terrorism is still alive and well. if terrorists do not know the consequences of their actions, they will not fear any consequences. that is the world in which we live. so it's time maybe we articulate a policy and mean it. if you attack americans, america will come after you. come hell or high water, we're going to track you down somewhere in the world. the libyan and algerian killers must meet the same fate as the mbers of the black september group. so mr. speaker, when you talk to the president, tell the president to track these people down, let them know they cannot run, they cannot hide, they cannot disappear into the darkness of their evil ways because justice is what we must have. justice is what we do in this country, and that's just the way it is. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, it looks like we dodged a bullet with the prince george's water emergency. wasn't it fascinating to watch all of the frantic activity that was necessary to deal with the planed -- planned four or five-day period where people would be denied something that virtually all of us take for granted. safe drinking water, when they need it, as much as they need, to drink, to bathe, flush the toilet, clean their dishes, wash their clothes. the prospect of almost a week without it really turned people's lives upside-down. well, i'm glad that there is a temporary fix that may have solved the problem, at least in the foreseeable future, but i hope that it will serve as a wake-up call because in the united states, frankly, we are spoiled. we take for granted something that 2.5 billion people around the world cannot. having adequate sanitation and safe drinking water. that's why i'm introducing legislation, water for the world, with my colleague congressman poe from texas, to enhance the efforts of the united states to be a partner to help for people around the globe to have access to what is a global problem. but we need to do more at home. the challenges of climate change, combined with aging, inadequate water an sewer systems in the united states places us at risk. we have 80% of our population served by over 50,000 community water systems that have facilities with a life span of 15 to maybe 95 years. well, it was a wake-up call here in washington, d.c., where the average water pipe is more than 77 years old. i remember a trip to cincinnati, the scene of the first municipal water agency in the united states, and they had something that's not unusual. they still have some pipes that are brick and wood dating back to the 1800's. you can find this around the country. that's why it's been estimated that 1.7 trillion gallons of water, one out of every four gallons, leaks before it reaches the faucets. that's seven billion gallons a day. think of 11,000 olympic-sized swimming pools, you place them end to end, they would go basically from washington, d.c., to pittsburgh. we need to have a national effort to provide the almost $10 billion that the engineering community estimates that will be necessary by 2020 to avoid regular service disruptions like was threatened in prince george's county. we need to move forward with bipartisan legislation, the water resources development act, the warda bill, if you -- wrda bill, if you pardon the phrase, has been bottled up. i house majority leader cantor allows that to come to the floor. it has bipartisan support. it has investments that would help deal with water resources for the country now and prevent emergencies in the future. and by the way, would put tens of thousands of americans to work all across the country. with aging systems, water stress, drought, flood, we are just going to see more of the same going forward, over only on a scale of challenge that until recently was unimaginable. let's use this as a wake-up call for congress to step up and do its job with water and sanitation abroad, but water and sanitation at home, flood control, navigation. the energy challenges that are profound because of disruption to water. let's start by an undertaking now on the scale that we know we can do and that is he so important for our future. if we do, we won't just prevent problems like prince george's was facing, but all our communities will be more livable, our families safer, healthier, and more economically secure. and, by the way, it's the fastest way to jump-start the economy. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee, mr. fleischmann, for five minutes. mr. fleischmann: mr. speaker, last week an incredibly gifted young man from east tennessee, john paul powers, displayed his talents here in washington at the kennedy center as part of the national youth orchestra of the united states. the orchestra, created by the carnegie's hall wild music institute, brings together some of our nation's most talented young musicians from across the country to work and study together and then to display their talents both here and abroad. in fact, they are scheduled to perform tonight in st. peters urg. their tour also includes performances in london, moscow, and new york. john paul plays the tuba in his role with the orchestra, but that's not his only musical talent. his repertoire includes the bass, guitar, mandolin, bang joe, and even a -- banjo, and even a little dobro. while his musical range is wide, the tuba is his passion. i want to personally congratulate john paul for achieving the distinth honor for -- distinct honor for being selected to the national youth orchestra. there is no doubt that the diligence, work ethic, and fashion he has shown will continue to benefit him in life. i would like to wish john paul the best with his future studies and his dreams of one day professionally playing with an orchestra. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. cclintock, for five minutes. mr. mcclintock: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to warn of the latest episode of a saga that can best be described as greens gone wild. it involves a u.s. fish and wildlife service proposal to declare two million acres in the sierra nevada mountains as critical happen at that time for the yellow leg frog and yosemite toad under the endangered species act. that's essentially the footprint of the he sierra nevada mountains from tahoe to just outside of lang lack. -- los angeles. this designation would add draconian new restrictions to those already severely reduced productive uses such as grazing, mining, vesting, recreation and tourism, and fire suppression. and for what? even the fish and wildlife service admits that the two biggest factors in the decline f these amphibians are not human but nonnative predators and a fung gas -- fun gas. -- fungas. neither of which will be eliminated by these regulations. the species most affect bide this action is the human population and that impact will be tragic, severe, and entirely preventable. for example, timber harvesting that once removed the overgrowth from our forrests and put it to productive -- forests and put it to productive use is down more than 80% since the 1980's in the see rare as -- sierras, all because of government restrictions. the result is more frequent and intense forest fires, closed mills, unemployed families, and a devastated economy throughout the region. existing regulations already effectively put hundreds of thousands of acres of forests off limits to human activity through such laws as the wilderness act, clean waters act, national environmental policy act, not to mention a crushing array of california state regulations. this proposal by the fish and wildlife service would vastly expand those restrictions. this policy seems to be part of a much bigger picture. in yosemite national park for example, the department of interior is proposing to expel long-standing tourist amenities from the valley and lock in a plan that would result in 27% fewer campsites than it had in 1997, and 31% less lodging. throughout the sierra nevada, the u.s. forest service is closing access to roads and imposing fees and conditions on cabin rentals, grazing rights, mining, and of course timber harvesting, while obstructing long-standing community events on which many of these towns rely for their tourism. the one common demom nator in these actions is an obvious desire to discourage the public's use of the public's land. the legendary founder of the u.s. forest service always said the purpose of the public lands was, quote, the greatest good for the greatest number in the long run. john muir, the legendary conservationist, responsible for preserving yosemite valley, did so in the words of the legislation he inspired for the express purpose of public use, resort, and recreation. these visions for the sound management of our public lands held by the pioneers of our national parks and forest systems are quickly being replaced by elitist and exclusionary policies that can best be described as look but don't touch. visit but don't enjoy. no one values the natural resources of the sierra nevada more than the people who live there and entrusted me to speak for them in congress. these communities have jealously safeguarded the beauty of the region and the sustainable use of the lands for generations. their prosperity and their prosperity -- poss parity, depends on the use and stewardship of these lands. now federal authorities are replacing these balanced and responsible policies with vastly different ones that amount to a policy of exclusion and benign negligent. we have sacrificed our obligation to future generations -- i should say, we have a sacred obligation to future generations to preserve and protect our public lands. but protecting our public lands for future generations doesn't mean we must close them to the current generation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri, mr. smith, for five minutes. mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to call on president obama to delay his health care mandate for all americans. obamacare is simply too overreaching, too intrusive, too unworkable, and too destructive for families across our nation. and in my home state of missouri. in the year since obamacare was forced through congress, the american people's opposition to he mandate has only grown. and rightfully so, americans are seeking skyrocketing premiums, they are losing their health insurance they have, and employers are cutting jobs, hours, and wages. last week president obama admitted that his health care mandate is flawed when he announced he would delay the employer mandate portion of the law for one year. mr. speaker, we don't need to only delay one section of the law, we need to delay the entire law permanently. since the beginning, the only aspect of president obama's health care law that has been bipartisan is the bipartisan opposition to the mandate. since 2009, the house of representatives has voted over 30 times to repeal, defund, or dismantle provisions of the law. as the newest member of congress, i will stand with my colleagues in pushing to defund and repeal the president's health care mandate. i yield the rest of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lankford, for five minutes. mr. lankford: thank you, mr. speaker. last week in my hometown thousands of families experienced their first week of a three-month cut in pay. these hardworking families aren't unaware ever our nation's fiscal problems. we all see our nation is rapidly approaching $17 trillion in debt, but a few years ago washington denied that this path would lead us the way of europe and we would not experience pay and benefit cuts to solve our problems like europe has. here we are. in the past three years, federal spending has been reduced, taxes have gone up and the economy has actually experienced some rebound, but we're still overspending almost $700 billion a year just this one year. now, that's down from $1.5 trillion in overspending four years ago but it's still $700 billion in new debt that our nation will take on this year. we have to deal with the economic realities that we currently face because the spreadsheet where we see the negative numbers, those numbers represent families and people who have the negative consequences of our inactivity. the g.a.o., the g.a.o. has reported areas where we fail to get the job done but nibble at fixing the issues. social security disability is two years away from insolvency. if we don't fix disability insurance, get people off disability that are using it as unemployment, the most vulnerable in our society, the truly disabled will face benefit cuts along with those folks that are just gaming the system. process se acquisition increases costs dramatically. someone who pays a subprime who pays a subprime who pays a subprime, by the way, the last person who has been someone that's done that job for years and years and everyone knows it. everyone knows the game and everyone knows every part of that system, there's a markup and the taxpayers are the ones that pay for it. let's fix it because it affects families and lives. most of the procurement programs have failed to produce a final product at all and have cost taxpayers billions. usually our federal civilian work force can tell management exactly where we're wasting money, but sometimes no one's listening to them. those opportunities to save go untouched costing more money in the long run and increase our debt. debt is a price for all americans, but especially for the people working for our nation. so what does government debt look like today? for thousands in my district facing furloughs, families are cutting back on food, home repairs, gas in the car and every other expense. a family i spoke with this past weekend will not have a summer vacation because of a furlough. like a big sound deal for some people but that's never get nt they'll back. and a family with two kids going to college have to choose which one will not go back to school. a single mom that experiences the furloughs have a huge decision. this fall in just a month away they are going to have to buy school supplies and clothes. this is a serious problem. they are not just a person sitting at home living off welfare. they are members of our federal family who work and give their lives to serve the war fighter. as you would expect, in our community, the community is stepping up. tinker federal credit union are working with families on their loan repayments. churches are providing school supplies. the regional food bank are providing food. many, like my family, are giving financially. oklahomans are tough and caring but i'm incredibly frustrated it's come to this. regardless of your thoughts in the number of federal workers on the payroll, surely we can agree the families currently employed should be protected as much as possible. these families have dealt with the pay cuts and they've wondered when it would come and now it's here. the department of defense to reduce worker time and pay. they replied to my correspondence within days. something that other agencies could do. i have spoken with secretary panetta, secretary hagel, comptroller hale to find other opportunities to save money. i asked for their reconsideration in the operations on the function on the working capital fund. if you're not familiar with that, some departments pay other departments to do the work. those departments should not be directly affected. the cuts have happened in the other departments, we're hitting it twice. i asked secretary hagel to give more authority to individual installations to make local decisions on spending reductions rather than mandating cuts from the pentagon. congress has already worked with the d.o.d. to reprogram funds and give maximum flexibility to the pentagon to deal with workers, just like we did with f.a.a. and homeland security. i'm grateful, i am that the pentagon has found a way to reduce furloughs from 24 days to 14 days and now to a maximum of 11, but i want to find a way we can end these furloughs altogether for our civilian workers as soon as possible. three months with a 20% cut is tough. my last conversation with secretary hagel i was pleased to hear he's still working on these ways. i look for him to encourage to reduce waste, not worker pay. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until noon today. >> stand at a distance with their arms folded, but by those who are in the arena, whose garments are torn by storms and whose bodies are maimed in the course of the contest. honor belongs to those who never foresake the truth, even when things seemed dark and grim. who try over and over again, who are never discouraged by insults, humiliation, or even defeat. since the dawn of history, mankind has honored and respected brave and honest people. darling,omen like you, an ordinary girl, who hails from a country village hardly shown on most maps. my since of devotion to you -- my sense of devotion to you precludes me from saying more in public than i have already done in this note which must pass-through many hands. one day we will have the privacy which will share the tender thoughts which we have kept buried in our hearts. nelson mandela. [applause] > the words of a prisoner, off the coast of cape town. nelson mandela wrote these words. , our als we cherish dreams and hopes may not be , but ed in our lifetime that is beside the point. the knowledge that in your day you did your duty and lived up to the expectations of your ellow men is in itself a rewarding experience and magnificent achievement. i am also aware the massive efforts have been made here and abroad for my release. a realistic approach clearly shows that must be ruled out completely. the possibility there is such a demand will succeed. but i am optimistic. even behind prison walls, i can see the heavy clouds and the blue sky over the horizon. but however wrong our calculations have been and whatever difficulties we must face that in my lifetime i shall step out into the sunshine, washing with firm feet because that event will be brought about by the strength of my organization and the sheer determination of our people. the words of madeva. [applause] >> nelson mandela, a free man, february 11, 1990, cape town, south africa. comrades and fellow south africans, i stand before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. on this day of my release i extend my sincere and warmest gratitude to the millions of my come patriots and those -- compatriots and those around the globe that have campaigned for my release. today, the majority of south africans, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future. it has to be ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. our struggle has reached a decisive moment. we call on our people to seize this moment so that the process toward democracy is rapid and uninterrupted. we have waited too long for our freedom. we can wait no longer. now is the time to intensify the struggle on all of the fronts. to relax our efforts now would be a mistake that generations to come will never be able to forgive. our march toward freedom is irreversible. we must not allow fear to stand in our way. universal suffrage or the common voter's role in the united democracy and nonracial south africa is the only way to peace and racial harmony. elson mandela. >> nelson mandela, nobel peace prize, oslo, norway. we do not believe that this nobel peace prize is an intended as a commendation for matters that have happened in past. we hear the voices which say that it is an appeal from all those throughout the universe who sought an end to this system of apartheid. moved by that appeal and inspired by the imminence you have thrust upon us, we undertake that we, too, will do what we can to contribute to the renewal of our world so that none should in future be described as the recht -- retch of the f the -- retched earth. martin luther king said humanity can no longer be tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war. let the efforts of us all prove that he was not a mere dreamer when he spoke of the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace being more precious than iamonds or silver or gold. [applause] >> nelson mandela, may 10, 1994. south africa, inauguration day. we the people of south africa feel fulfilled that humanity has taken us back into its booze om that we who were -- boosum that we who were outlaws so many years ago will be host to the nations of the world on our own soil. the time for the healing of wounds has come. the moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. we have at last achieved our political emancipation. we understand it's still there is no easy road to freedom. we know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. we must therefore act together as a united people for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. let freedom reign. > when dr. mary francis berry, former congressman walter, randall robinson and i went to for outh african embassy an appointment with the ambassador that we received pretenses, we could imagine a free south africa but i am not sure we could imagine celebrating nelson mandela's 95th birthday in the congress of the united states. [applause] september 21, 1998, new york city. this is probably the last time i will have the honor to stand at this podium to address the general assembly. born as the first world war came to a close, after departing from public life, as the world marks half a century of the universal declaration of human rights, i have reached that part of the long walk when the opportunity is granted, as it should be for all men and women, to retire to some rest and tranquility in the village of my birth. may i sit and grow as ancient as its hills, i will continue to entertain the hope that there has emerged a cadre of leaders in my own country and region, on my continent and in e world which will not allow that any should be denied their , that any e were should be turned into refugees as we were, that any should be condemned to go hungry as we were, that any should be dignity of their human as we were. were all these hopes to translate into a realizeable dream and not a nightmare of torment -- to torment the soul the aged then will i indeed have peace and tranquility. then would history and the billions around the world and aim that it was bright that we dreamed and that we toiled to give life to a workable dream. nelson mandela. bring back nelson mandela bring him back walking down the street of south africa tomorrow reak back nelson mandela bring him back i want to see him walking hand in hand nelson mandela tomorrow ♪ >> ♪ bring back nelson mandela bring him back to soweto i want to see him walking down the street of south africa omorrow ♪ ♪ [applause] >> good morning. as we celebrate the legacy and the values of nelson mandela, as we mark his greatness by the reading of his own words, it is important to note that the spirit and the words of nelson mandela have permeated the halls of the capitol for many years many times. on two occasions, more than nearly more than any person in history, nelson mandela addressed a joint session of congress in 1990 as deputy president of the african national congress. he urged us to keep our apartheid sanctions in place. his stirring words inspired and instructed us, and that instruction continued with randall robinson of transafrica, with ron, our former colleague, with bill gray, whom we thought was going to be with us today, but i understand his wife, andrea -- and i want to recognize bill gray's work and the great family's contribution. [applause] mr. clyburn, our distinguished assistant leader and, of course, with maxine and the list goes on and on. and that leadership continues with the congressional black caucus under the leadership of marcia fudge. as deputy mandela stated then, to deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. to have deprivation is to dehumanize them. four years later he returned to the house chamber this time as the democratically elected president of south africa. [applause] following one of those addresses, some of us had the privilege of having lunch with president mandela in staff wear hall. you remember that. and -- statuary hall. you remember that. and he talked in very personal terms about what it was like all those years in prison. he talked about his family. he talked -- he said -- he spoke the burden of imprisonment of the sacrifice he made not only about himself but the sacrifice that his family made. not only at the cost of personal freedom to him but the price of personal time with his family. indeed, to become the father of a country he had to make sacrifices that meant he could not be a full-time father to his family. those of us who had the opportunity to be there that day were in tears just to hear his opening up in that way. those of us who ever had the privilege or opportunity -- i don't know about privilege -- but opportunity to visit robin island know he was cut off from his family physically though not spiritually, as steny indicated in his remarks -- in his quoting of mandela. for 27 years, as we all know, before he appeared before --ela, , nelson man languished in a justice. he was denied his rights, disconnected from the movement, as though as you know others were imprisoned at robin island at the same time. and had their ways of collaborating. fighting for his freedom, missing his family, he epitomized the pain of apartheid and the struggle to end it. he was the symbol of the oppression and the prejudice that plagued millions across africa, yet, nelson mandela never gave up hope. he never lost faith in the strength of the human spirit. as he told congress and our country in his second address to congress in 1994, his freedom and his country's progress, quote, represent the triumph of that intangible nobility of spirit which makes for peace and friendship among people. to succeed in the struggle required courage, he said, as mandela once defined it, courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. when he was released from prison, he had the courage to turn not to hatred but to love, not to vengeance but to compassion, not to resentment but to reconciliation. and that reconciliation was south africa's gift to the world as desmond tutu has taught us over and over again. he emerged from his cell, nelson mandela did, not with malice in his heart but with forgiveness in his soul. as president he would extend the blessings of freedom even to men and women who denied him his own freedom. that was the true mark of courage. that was the statement of his values. today on his 95th birthday that remains his legacy. that was the spirit of the free south africa movement whose success would be measured more than the freedom of one man but in the human rights of a people . manifested in long lines of polling places and free and fair elections. it was a movement inspired by a giant of history. may we always answer the call for justice, reconciliation and peace, the call of nelson mandela. happy birthday. [applause] others have mentioned the experience -- the spark that the free south africa movement created. eleanor holmes norton, our colleague, was part of it and described very well go into the embassy and some of what transpired. now we'll hear from some of the other leaders of the free south africa movement who visited the embassy. each playing an essential role in the fight to end apartheid. now, let's hear from william lucy and from dr. mary francis berry. >> thank you so much. as a member of the free south gives me an nt, it incredible honor to say a few words on this day. on behalf of thousands of local union leaders and everyday rkers drawn to this cause by the service, sacrifice and commitment to a new nonracial democratic south africa. a better world for a freedom-seeking people of the world over. . this was such a special time. people who for all of them wished to say on this day happy birthday. your life, your legacy, will be a beacon for all times for freedom seeking people to struggle towards. his special place in the hearts and minds of so many. thank you. >> the free south africa movement represents the collective strength of all the people who took the immortal words of frederick douglass to heart. all those people who believe that where there is no struggle, there is no progress, took action wherever they were, inspired by the people of southern africa and the imprisonment of leaders like nelson mandela, all of us everywhere did what we could. we picketed in bad weather, we filed league briefs, we packed supplies for refugees, we drafted legislative language. but many of us, like many in south africa, did not live to see a free south africa. many more did not live to see this day. i'd like to ask you on their behalf to take a moment of silence for those we lost are too many to name here, but all of them are remembered. thank you. in the spirit of our common ancestors and our future desendants, we thank you in this emancipation hall. we thank president mandela and the people of southern africa for bringing us together, reminding us of our common humanity, and teaching us to say he struggle continues. >> i let bill lucy have my glasses so what i'm going to do is tell you two stories, first happy birthday, president mandela. and he would understand why i'm telling you these two stories. and what they mean. the first is that when we, randell and walter and i, eleanor went out to talk to the press and left us in there, when we kept having a frank exchange of views, as it were, with the ambassador, and then looked at each other and said to him, randall said, we are not leaving . and i said, yes, we're not leaving. and we're not leaving, randall said, until, and we echoed him, we want you to call pretoria and tell them to free nelson mandela and all the people who have been detained and to end apartheid in south africa. we're not leaving. and he looked at us and he berated me and said, how can you be a civil rights commissioner in the government sitting here telling me you're not leaving and this is our country? i said i just told you. and he looked at walter and he said, you're a congressman, how can you say -- walter said, i just told you. he didn't say it to randall, don't know what he thought. anyway, he said i will call. he went somewhere and he came back and he said, i'm having you arrested. and i guess he thought we were going to be scared, and randall looked at me and we smiled. and he had us arrested. and taken out. and the rest of that story is history. we did not know, the important thing to remember is that we didn't know whether this was going to work. we had no idea whether it would work at all. we tried to be strategic and we tried to think, but we didn't know what was going to happen. we did it because we stepped out on faith and because it needed to be done, and because those of us who did it have been working in the struggles to free africa from racism and apartheid, the whole story that max, who is congressman waters, but she's max to me, the whole story that max told you about the history of this whole thing. so we did it because it was right. and it took off all over this country, and people all over this country joined us. for almost two years f. people came from everywhere, they wanted to get arrested at the embassy. so many people we didn't know -- my goodness. we couldn't imagine. and we met every day at my house in the morning for almost two , ars to plot and plan the day and the smithsonian african-american museum says they want my table they sat around. i'll give it to them after i'm dead. every single day for almost two years. but it worked. and we got sanctions and i'm telling you that story. the second storery, again president -- storery, and again president mandela will tell you why i am telling you this story. we tried to go to south africa on occasion after sanctions were passed to see what was going on. and needless to say they wouldn't give us a reason. so we couldn't go for this and we couldn't go for that. finally we decided some of us, to tell them that we went there and things were better, we would announce publicly that things were better. nd they believed us. so we got visas and went to south africa. and when we went to south africa, we raised hell all over south africa. max would have been proud of us. and said free nelson mandela. hen we finally got there, we got a call one night in the mintry said you can stop raising ell. -- ministry, said you can stop raising hell when you -- we told all the people working at the hotel, and work stopped. people started dancing all over the place. and they spread the message and the streets were full and we partied all night long waiting for nelson to get out of jail. and when we got the next morning, our little group went over to the mayor's office in capetown where he was to be -- cape town where he was to be brought and waited for him there, and then finally after all those years of marching and singing and even before that, i spent my whole life, i thought, saying free nelson mandela, end apartheid, the door opened and is man comes in, looking vibrant, not debilitated. we all worried how he was going to look and what he was going to be like. he came in and he walked up and he hugged each one of us and thanked us. and then we sat down when he was with him on the couch, and we sat on the floor around him. and we talked about the struggles and what had been and done and how and what used -- would be. finally he just said, you know, this is only the beginning. and then he went out to speak to the people and some of us climbed up in the windows in the mayor's office to look out the window behind him so we could be behind him looking down while he was speaking. i climbed up in the window and hung out the window. and he spoke. and then shortly after that, that same day, i had to leave to come back to the states. everybody else got to stay. i had classes to teach. and the enormity of what had happened, those two years, all the things that had happened, the people, all over this country didn't hit me until i was in -- i had been so inspired by this band of brothers and sisters working on this struggle and what had happened i hadn't thought what it meant. and i was in the transit lounge on my way back and the tv was on, and i hadn't seen him come out of jail because we didn't have a tv in the mayor's office. song playing, i want to see him walking down the street holding hands. and on the screen he was walking down the street holding hands with whinny mandela. and -- winnie mandela, and i started to cry and couldn't stop and the people in the transit lounge thought i was crazy. but it hit me, what this meant was this. the power of nonviolence can make what seems impossible possible. you may think change won't come and that evil will ever triumph over good, and that the immoral will indeed inherit the earth and the fullness thereof, but if you are persistent and if you use nonviolence, and if every generation makes its own dent in the wall of injustice, change will come. happy birthday. nelsonune 26, 1990, when mandela was in this very building, in his address to the joint session of the houses of congress of the united states of america, he opened his speech of the words, it is a fact he human condition that each shower like a meteor, a mere brief passing moment in time and space, flipped across the human stage and pass out of existence. i do not often say that nelson mandela that he was wrong, he will not simply pass out of existence, even today at the age old vessel of his soul, he refuses to pass simply out of human existence. it is reported that he is watching television with his headphones on. the world and generations will allow him to pass out of human existence because for as long as they struggle in the world, for as long as there is conflict and absence of peace, for as long as people are discriminated against and for as long as people feel inferior and are made to feel inferior, nelson mandela and his values, his legacy, and his life ill not pass out of existence. if nell son mandela could see what is happening in congress today, he will know that he will not pass out of existence. if nelson mandela knows that over this period across 18 states of the united states of america, people are gathering to celebrate his legacy and values, then he will know that he is not going to pass out of existence. all over the world people need his values, they need his legacy, not as a museum piece but something real and living that we can use in our everyday lives. i simply come here to give thanks, and i want to thank the leaders of the house and the leaders of the senate for putting together this celebration of the life, legacy, and values of nelson mandela. but i want to go back further, i want to thank you, as congress, for welcoming him in 1990 when he was still on your books as a terrorist. for the thank you -- congressional medical of honor -- medal of honor that you have bestowed on him when he was the president of a free south africa. i want to thank you in 2008 for the removal of nelson mandela from the terrorist watch list and to give him his full dignity. i want to thank you and particularly single out national rk 1986 the late congressman ron dellums from the democratic party, and senator dick luger from the republican party -- luger from the republican party. that these houses passed against great odds overriding the veto of the white house and saying that your hearts beat with the citizens of the united states of america and with the people of south africa and people of africa, i want to thank you for that act of courage because only four years later, nelson mandela walked out of prison and eight years later we had the first democratic elections in south africa. thank you very, very much for ll of that that you have done. i also have to thank you for other pieces of legislation that you have passed through these houses, the applicant growth and opportunities act has kick started south africa anti-african continent on to the brink of prosperity. you face that challenge next year again, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. today you do nelson mandela, you do south africa, and you do the african continent great honor by reverberating his words in these houses, by making the african drums sound as wonderful as they are in africa, and for bringing the great jazz music of our continent into your houses today. i want to thank particularly a group who kept the umbilical cord growing from the days of slavery to the times of segregation and the civil rights struggle, through to the anti-apartheid struggle, through to today every instance of racism, every instance of injustice, every instance of inequality, they continue to shine the light on it, thank you very much congressional black aucus for your commitment. i believe that none of those instances where nelson mandela was welcomed in this house would have been possible had there not been a conscience for the congressional black caucus. i also, mr. dean, want to thank particularly the african you atic core -- represented the people of south africa with your official represented us, represented apartheid, thank you very much for being such a clear voice to all of us. i also think that we must thank the people of the united states of america and the banner of the free south africa movement. we have heard from some of them today, but i think that will what we have seen is an energy and most importantly a conscience and a humanity that transcends oceans, that transcends continents, that transcends every difference that is possible in the world. so i end by quoting again from nelson mandela the second time he spoke in these houses when he received the congressional medal of honor on the-h $of -- 23rd of september 1998, he said, honorable members, i do not expect to be granted again the privilege of addressing the elected representatives of the united states of america, i am proudly grateful to have been allowed to do so in the last month of my public life. we face the future with confidence. we do so because despite the difficulties and the tensions that confront us, there is in all of us the capacity to touch one another's hearts across oceans and continents. thank you, americans, for allowing nelson mandela to touch your hearts across oceans and continents. thank you very much. >> as you're standing on your feet we invite you to inus in singing happy birthday to m adiba. we want himmle to hear us across the ocean. we do a song stevie wonder wrote at a time in our country at a time when we tried to get the martin luther king birthday passed. "happy birthday to you." >> ♪ happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday you know this part? > happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday ♪ >> one more time. >> ♪ happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday >> back to the beginning, here we go. >> ♪ happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday happy birthday to you happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday happy birthday to you happy birthday to you appy birthday ♪ >> bow our heads for the benediction. god of our weary years and silent tears, you who have , ought us thus far on the way we praise you, the giver of bountiful gifts, for this moment time to celebrate the life, diba. , and birthday of ma lord, we are grateful for nelson , ndela, 9 1/2 decades of life and for his willingness to serve his generation and your purposes by striving to create a just from y, moving his nation rancor to reconciliation. as we receive inspiration from his exemplary life, remind us, o god, that what we do for the lost, the lonely, the last, and the least we do for you. use us to hasten the day when justice will roll down like a ers and righteousness like mighty stream. touchmadiba, keep madiba, him even now with your healing hand. let your face shine upon madiba and be gracious unto him. lift the light of your countenance upon this drum major for justice and truth and give him your peace. we pray in the name of him who declared you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. men. ♪ >> south africa president nelson mandela turns 95 today. can you see all the ceremonies at our website, c-span.org. live to the white house, president obama will speak about health care shortly and react to the house votes yesterday to give the employer -- remove ploiter and individual mandates. the obama administration has already delayed the employer mandate for one year. ere's the president. >> hi, my name is morgan, and i'm from silver spring, maryland. i'm here with my children, grace and scott. i'm self-employed so for many years i purchased insurance on the individual market, and i got used to seeing my premiums go up and up without really knowing why. it was a little like sending money into a black hole. i didn't know where it was going. then last summer i got a pleasant surprise, i got a rebate check for $267 from my health insurance company. a turns out that because of the affordable care act they had to spend at least 80% of my money on health care. when they fell short of that goal, they had to reimburse me or the difference. i cut the $267 i saved towards my retirement. the affordable care act is working for people like me. that's why i'm honored to be at the white house today and proud to introduce our president, arack obama. >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you so much, everybody. i want to thank morgan for that introduction and i want to thank all of you for being here. there are a couple of people i to especially re acknowledge. first of all the leader of the democrats in the house of representatives, and somebody who worked harder than just about anybody to get the affordable care act into law, nancy pelosi. thank you. we had some outstanding members of congress here -- we have some outstanding members of congress here, mayors, elected officials who are here. i want to give a special shoutout, i'm not going to introduce all of them because it would take too much time and i might miss somebody, there is one person who is standing in front -- sitting in front who i want to acknowledge just because he has served for decades, and for decades fought to make sure that everybody had affordable, accessible coverage, we are so proud of him. ohn dingell. i want to welcome everybody to the white house. every day across the country, and certainly here in the white house, there are people who are working as we speak to implement the affordable care act. and to deliver the security of quality, affordable health care to more americans. the good news is that starting october 1 new online marketplaces will allow consumers to go online and compare private health care insurance plans, just like you compare over the internet the best deal on flat screen tv's or cars or any other product that is important to your lives, and you're going to see competition in ways that we haven't seen before. insurance companies will compete for your business. in states working hard to make sure that this law delivers for their people, we are seeing that consumers are getting a hint how much money they'll potentially save because of this law. in states like california, oregon, washington, new competition, new choices, market forces will pushing costs down. just yesterday state officials in new york announced that average premiums for consumers who buy insurance in their new marketplace will be at least 50% lower next year than they are today. think about it. 50% lower. so for people like morgan who are self-employed, who have to buy on the individual market, they are suddenly going to see opportunities not just for the rebates we discussed but also for even greater savings in their monthly premiums. so if you already buy insurance on the individual market, meaning that you don't get insurance through a big group plan through your employer, that could mean thousands of dollars a year that could go towards paying the mortgage or putting a kid through college or saving for retirement. what this means is that hundreds of thousands of new yorkers who don't have insurance will finally be able to afford it because these exchanges, this big pool is going to reduce the cost and you may qualify for health care tax credits, middle class families will potentially qualify for these credits that will bring the costs down even more. so this is just an example of how the affordable care act is doing what it's designed to do, deliver more choices, better benefits, a check on rising costs, and higher quality health care. that's what it was designed to do and we are already seeing those effects take place. now, i mention all this because yesterday despite all the evidence that the law is working the way it was supposed to for middle class americans, republicans in the house of representatives voted for nearly the 40th time to dismantle it. we've got a lot of problems in this country, and there's a lot of work that congress needs to do. get a farm bill passed, immigration reform done, make sure we've got a budget in place that invests in our children and our future. yet instead we are refighting these old battles. sometimes i just try to figure out why. maybe they think it's good politics. but part of our job here is not to always think about politics. part of our job here is to sometimes think about getting work done on behalf of the american people. on behalf of the middle class and those striving to get into he middle class. so the progress that we are seeing in california and washington and oregon and now new york, that's progress that we want to make sure we are seeing all across the country. because there are still millions of people out there who not only want to get health insurance but many who have health insurance who deserve a better deal. and deserve the kind of savings that the affordable care act will offer. now, if you're one of the 85% of americans who already have health insurance, could be through your employer or through medicare or through medicaid, u already have an array of benefits in place. you already are getting benefits. you are getting better protections, more value for each dollar that you spend on your health care. and that last point, the issue of getting better value for your buck s. what i want to focus on -- buck, is what i want to focus on today. for years too many middle class families saw their health care costs go up and up without much explanation as to why or how their money was being spent. but today because of the affordable care act, insurance company have to spend at least 80% of every dollar that you pay in premiums on your health care. not on overhead. not on profits. but on you. many insurance companies are already exceeding that target and they are bringing down premiums and providing better value to their customers. but those that aren't now actually have to reimburse you. if they are not spending your premium dollars on your health care, at least 80% of it, they've got to give you some money back. last year millions of americans opened letters from their insurance companies, but instead of the usual dread that comes from getting a bill, they were pleasantly surprised with a check. in 2012, 13 million rebates went out in all 50 states. another 8.5 rebates are being sent out this summer, averaging around 100 bucks each. and for families like morgans that are working hard, every dollar counts. it makes a difference. and she said during the introduction, she had been buying on the individual market in maryland for years. after she got a rebate for the first time, and i'm quoting morgan now, she said, it felt like someone was actually being held accountable for the dollars i was spending on health care. that's one of the core principles of the affordable care act. holding insurance companies and providers accountable. so that we all get a better deal. dan who is here from chicago had read these rebates were happening but he didn't think anything of it until he got a check in the mail for 136 bucks. he's the father of two. as any parent will tell you, those kids, they suck up a lot of money. so -- all right. absolutely. so he used his rebate to pay some bills. rick and claudia own a stationary store in arlington, virginia. they knew about the provisions of the affordable care act, but rick said, i figured i would never see the money. so it was a complete surprise to him when they got a rebate for $320. put that money right back into their small business. and this is happening all across the country. it's happening because of the affordable care act. hasn't been reported on a lot. i bet if you took a poll most folks wouldn't know when that check comes in that this was because of obamacare that they got this extra money in their pockets. but that's what's happening. even if you don't get a rebate, even if you didn't get a rebate, there is a good chance that these reforms are helping you as well because one easy way to meet the goal of spending 80% of every dollar on care is to charge less for your care. we've got more work to do to get rising health care costs under control. and some of the gains that we have made, some of the progress we have made in slowing the rise of health care costs isn't always passed on to workers, sometimes companies may keep it and they are charging their employees a higher co-pay or higher deductible or in some way shifting some costs on to workers. but generally speaking what we have seen is that health care costs have slowed drastically in a lot of air yags since -- areas since we passed the affordable care act. we got a lot more work to do, but health care inflation is not skyrocketing the way it was. and because of this new rule, because of the fact that it improves the value of the coverage that you purchase, last year alone americans saved $3.4 billion in lower premiums. that's $3.4 billion on top of these rebates. that's just one way this law is helping middle class families, it represents everything the affordable care act means for folks who already have insurance. better benefits, stronger protections, more bang for your buck. the basic notion that you ought to get what you pay for. now, i recognize that there's still a lot of folks in this town, at least, rooting for this law to fail. some of them seem to think this law is about me. it's not. i already have really good health care. it's about the dad in maryland who for the first time ever saw his family's premiums go down instead of up. it's about the grandma in oregon whose free mammogram caught her breast cancer before it had a chance to spread. about a mom in arizona who can afford heart surgery for her little girl now that the lifetime cap on her coverage has been lifted. it's about the folks here today who got a little bit of relief. i'm curious, what do opponents of this law think the folks here today should do with the money they were reimbursed? should they send it back to the insurance companies? do they think that was a bad idea to make sure that insurance companies are being held accountable? i know that's not what these folks think. so the upshot is the american people deserve a fair shot. they expect businesses to play by a fair set of rules. that's why this fight is so important. our broken health care system threatened the hopes and dreams of families and businesses across the country who feared that one illness or one accident could cost them everything they spent a lifetime building. and step by step we are fixing that system. it's hard. it's a big country and the health care industry is massive and there are tons of providers. so as we implement there are going to be glitches, there are going to be certain states for political reasons are resisting implementation, and we are just steadily working through all that stuff. same was true when medicare was started. the same was true when social security got started. there were folks who for political reasons resisted implementation, but once it got set up, people started saying, this is a pretty good deal. it gives me a little more security. it's part of that basic bargain that if you work hard, you are doing the right thing, that you can get ahead in this country. and that you can provide some basic protections for your family. and health care is at the heart of that. it's part of it. affordable health care is not some privilege just for the few. it's a basic right everybody should be able to enjoy. we are going to keep fighting to secure that right, to make sure that every american gets the care that they need when they need it at a price they can afford. that's the america we believe in. that's what families deserve. that's what we are going to keep on working to deliver. we are going to keep on working to make sure many people around this country who are already paying premiums are getting cheaper prices, that the money is being spent on their health care. that you're not having to worry about the fine print. if you don't have health insurance, you can finally are in a position to get some. at an affordable price. to give you and your family the kind of security you deserve. that's something everybody should support. that's not something that should be subject to politics. if the folks who have been trying to make political hey out of this thing, if they -- hay out of this thing, if they had some better ideas, i have already told them i'm happy to hear them. but i haven't heard any so far. what i have heard is the same old song and dance. we are just going to blow through that stuff and keep on doing the right thing for the american people. thank you very much. >> we are going to get your reaction to the president focusing on rebates and health care law. and also the house vote yesterday delaying the employer and individual mandates. our first call from theresa calling from montana, democratic caller. hey. caller: hi. host: go ahead with your comment. caller: my comment is, how does a citizen protect themself from how a doctor coats the billing? host: what was that again? the speaker pro tempore: as a patient, how do -- how do i protect myself the way the doctors coat the billing. caller: i have had office visits where they sent me to another department to have blood work. then when he received a bill it's coded as an outpatient and nothing is paid. host: that's interesting question. we'll focus on what the president said about rebates. do you have anything to say about that? caller: yeah. i have federal blue cross blue shield and haven't gotten rebates. host: next call from joe from florida. hi. caller: hello. host: go ahead with your comment. she has blue cross blue shield. and i heard the president say that everybody premiums will be coming down or already. my wife says her bills keep going up and up and up. we have never gotten a rebate. we were wondering when our bills are going to start going down. host: well, the white house says that the health care law will result in $500 million in rebates, and it will be distributed among 8.5 million people. next up is a democratic caller, carolyn, calling from illinois. ller: well, i'm in agreement with the man that just called. in this area, everybody's health costs are going up. their insurances are doubling. i don't know where the president lives. if he lives in this country or someplace -- we live in a different country. the health care goes up. the health care cost goes up. what they are doing for you going down. host: our next caller is also a democratic caller calling from wyoming. caller: yes. my question is, the rebates i think are a really good idea what he's talking about. the question that i have are basically employers come on for full-time employment. keep them under their 40 hours a week. then they can also pay just the fee to the government for the amount of insurance. that's a problem with it i see within our state. it's a republican state and we didn't accept the affordable health care program. host: that was a democratic caller. up next a republican from utah. what do you have to say? caller: yes. i'm very confused about this bill. the president lied to us in the beginning. and now he's trying to ask us to believe something else. my problem is this, i'm very much against individuals having to have insurance. that is going against the constitution. to force somebody to get something. now, my question is this, why doesn't that president follow the constitution? you cannot force anybody into anything. and listen, this bill is awful. those poor people that can't afford insurance that don't have them, what are they going to do? and to put money in to something to help other people insurance, that is bogus. we don't have money. we are broke. our country doesn't have money. so why doesn't the president wake up. i'm tired of him. thank you. host: they talked about the individual mandate in the health care law. yesterday the house approved a one-year delay in the individual mandate and also the employer mandate. the hill writes that the white house has put its allies in a tough spot by threatening to veto the employer bill. in addition to the individual measure. 35 members in the house supported a bill to defer the law's employer mandate by a year, and 22 democrats joined republicans in a vote to delay the individual mandate. up next is dave calling from california. caller: my comment is what you were just saying. the democrats along with republicans yesterday voted to delay the individual mandate. the president when he goes out and does his p.r. is not telling you that he glade the employer mandate. so what he's -- delayed the employer mandate. what he's really doing is selling us a bag of beans because he's saying, congress the 40th time they voted to do away with obamacare. but he's the one that delayed or is saying the employer mandate. and when people talk about, oh, 40-hour workweek like the gentleman from wyoming and stuff, the unions came out yesterday, three different unions, sent a letter saying that this program, the affordable care act, is forcing employers through the mandate to cut hours for the employees. it's not because the republicans the me dastardly deed, unions are concerned because americans are going to the suffer through this program because people cannot afford it. that's why the president delayed the employer mandate, but he's upset with congress because they are delaying or trying to delay the individual mandate. you can't have both. host: do you agree that the individual mandates should be delayed for a year like the house voted on yesterday? caller: it's going to have to be because if the employer mandate is delayed, people are paying into the program and not getting the benefit. so you have to delay the individual mandate. or people are going to be paying for nothing. host: up next is ryan calling from louisiana, democrat. hi, ryan. caller: how you doing, ma'am. i would like to say two things. anybody that lives in america should have free health care. ly the people of the south don't want anybody to get no health care. they don't want -- it's just the southerners that's doing this. everybody else in the country and out west, they want to help people. it's just the people in the south that think that they could live on their own in this country. they don't want to help no one to a child or mother or somebody, husband, until those people are afkted by something, that's when they want -- affected by something. that's when they want to step up. as long as they think somebody is getting something for free but it's not because people have paid into this system for taxes, people have fought wars for this country, that should be --health care should be free for those people. host: next is greg calling from north carolina. what do you think, greg? caller: yeah, that caller before, i understand what he's saying, but how about -- i think he's more or less talking about people never worked a day in their lives. that's what's bankrupting this country. it's people that never worked a day in their life and the hardworking people's had to cover for them. but my call is for -- i'm on disability. i worked all my life. and i got a supplemental insurance and it just went up $63. and i don't know where the rebate comes from, but he's saying that you get -- they are supposed to spend 80% of the money that you pay in. i don't spend 80% of my money on insurance i pay in. now they charge me $63 more a month. i can't hardly afford what i got. that's all i got to say. host: about the rebates the president was talking about, the national journal writes the health care law that is an 80-20 rule known as the medical loss ratio that requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 cents of premium dollars on health care. and if insurance companies don't do that they have to issue a rebate. up next is sandy from indiana. caller: i listened to the debates yesterday and saw the vote on the -- delaying the individual mandate. it was not to dismantle obamacare, it was to delay the individual mandate for one year. that's what the bill was. i'm glad that the people in new york are having their premiums reduced by 50%, but i understand that's because their employers are paying the other 50%. here in my area people's jobs have been reduced to 28.75 hours a week. a lot are single mothers with children. how do -- how does the government expect them to provide insurance, pay for the insurance. if they can't pay for it then they are going to be penalized at the end of the year. they are putting them between a rock and hard place here. i just don't understand why they can't see that. host: the newest flash point in the obamacare messaging war, insurance premiums are supposed to fall 50 pezz or more for individuals in new york yeckser in. centers for medicare and medicaid services administrator testified on capitol hill yesterday saying that this is evidence of what the affordable care act can do. we covered that hearing yesterday. you can see it at c-span.org. paul is calling from new york. caller: thank you. i was very interested in his speech today, but i would be more interested to talk about the other two callers around the people that never worked a day in their life and yet getting the benefits of the hard workers. the other side is the fraud that occurs in the medicare and medicaid systems. i think that's where a lot of our money and our focus should be on is the amount of fraudulent activity that's driving these dollars for insurances up. if they were able to control the fraud, we would be able to lower the cost back to the people that are paying for it. host: appreciate all your calls. we'll go now live to the house. e house wrapping up today, writing the quhine law, a bill signed into law in 2001. that sets educational standards within elementary and secondary schools who are receiving federal funds. that bill would overhaul the requirements in the current law, allowing states to set their own standards. live coverage of the house. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer listen offered by guest chaplain major howard bell, 932nd airlift wing, scott air force base, illinois. major. the chaplain: would you bow with me please. almighty god, we ask for your divine blessing on this congress, we ask that you bless them as they share the privilege that befuddled moses d has driven some to amazing places, leadership. we ask you to give to this congress the wisdom of solomon in the decisions they must makering the courage of david when faced with giants in the land, the strength of samson to endure the daily grind, the patience of job to deal with the everlasting demands placed upon them and the come compassion of a parent with a hurting child. we have confidence in our president, our nation and especially you as we make these requests, trusting in you they will be accomplished. it is in your holy name we pray, amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. >> mr. speaker, pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, i demand a vote on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the journal stands approved. >> mr. speaker, i demand the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will please rise. a sufficient number having risen this eyeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question are postpone the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from missouri, mrs. hartzler. mrs. hartzler: if you'll all join with me, please. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from illinois, mr. shimkus is recognized for one minute. without objection. mr. shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor chaplain howard bell who led us in the opening prayer. the tradition of opening prayer begins with the continental ongress in 1774 when the reverend jacob duchet of philadelphia offered a prayer at its start. since that time the house has enjoyed over 200 yearser is vancy from the chaplain of the house. chaplain bell has served in churches in missouri and illinois since 19 8 while serving his church, he was commissioned as a chaplain captain in the united states air force reserves in 2002. and assigned to the individual mobilization augmentation to the 375th air wing at scott air force base. in 2008, he was deployed to fghanistan and assigned to the 455th air expeditionary force at bagram airfield as a hospital chaplain where he received the army commendation medal. since then he's restheaved air force commendation medal, the international security and assistance force medal and the afghanistan enduring freedom medal. he was also appointed wing chaplain of the 932nd airlift wing where he supervises a ministry of nearly 1,200 airmen in the wing. e is currently pastor of the united methodist church in the a illinois and lewisville united methodist church in lewisville, illinois. it is my pleasure to welcome a man with embodies so many of the qualities of the people of illinois. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain 15 further requests for one-minute speeches on either side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, last week, more civilians 0 d.o.d. began their furlough days. our men and women in uniform and civilians who support them should not have to bear this burden. now men and women across the country, engineers, welders, and others who devoted themselves to national security find themselves losing pay and struggling to get by. the navy, marine corps and air rce say they'll be able to complete the fiscal year without furlough, the secretary of defense wouldn't allow the secretaries to make their own decisions based on budgetary constraints. the entire department is suffering as a result. the body has acted multiple times to end this process. mr. forbes: i urge the senate and the president to move on this to end this restriction. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i rise with a great deal of sadness, saddened by the passing of my friend, william h. gray who represented the people of pennsylvania's second district in this house from 1979 to 1991. bill gray was a historic figure, i had the honor of serving as vice chairman they have -- chairman of the democratic caucus when he chaired the democratic caucus. he made history as the first african-american democratic hip from 1981 to 1991. as budget chairman, bill gray played an instrumental role in setting the stage for the balanced budget of the 1990's. he was a leading voice against apartheid. some of us just participated in a birthday celebration for nelson mandela in emancipation hall. bill gray was a leading advocate of changing the apartheid system in south after chasm his efforts were able to enact sanctions, led to adoption of sanctions against south africa. after retiring from congress, bill gray led the united negro college fund, helping literally thousands access higher education and the opportunities that come with it. throughout his tenure, bill gray continued to minister to the families of the bright hope aptist church as their pastor. his deep faith and enduring love for his fellow man was evident not only from the pulpit but in the committee rooms and on this floor. i join my colleagues in expressing my condolences to andrea and their sons, william, justin, and andrew, and thanking them. thanking them for sharing bill and with ll of us our country. we were privileged to serve with him, know him, and to be his friend. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, at a time when just under 60% of working age americans are employed, wherever this is opportunity for job growth we should seize the opportunity and clearly small businesses provide opportunity. our economy has fluctuated and wavered over the last 15 years new york that time small businesses created 64% of net new jobs. mr. holding: just 8% of the cabinet's -- of the president's cabinet members worked in the private sector prior to their appointment this cabinet hasless business experience than the previous 19 cabinets. it's no wonder this administration didn't clearly recognize the harmful effects obamacare will have on small business. we should be helping small businesses by reforming our burdensome tax code, curbing back excessive regulations and that's why the house yesterday passed the delay of employer and individual mandates but we must permanently repeal obamacare. the future of small businesses and families depend on it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. johnson: i rise today to appeal for immediate action. last month, the u.s. supreme court struck down the heart of the voting rights act. by dear colleagues, casting a ballot is our most sacred right. we have a moral duty to come together and rewrite this law in order to protect this precious right to vote. though we have made great progress, racial discrimination and racial profiling continue to plague our society. the need for the voting rights act is just as necessary today as it was in 1965. on nelson mandela's 95th birthday, i am reminded that the human race has come a long to but we must continue make the impossible, possible. i urge my colleagues to come together to update the voting rights act and i thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from missouri seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. hartzler: d >> this white house needs to learn about business. if businesses get a break, why shouldn't hard -- why should hard working americans be left on the hook. mrs. hartzler: this law is unfair for everyone, it's unfair for those who have to pay more out of their pocket when their insurance premiums shoot up, it's unfair to workers who will see their hours cut because of the insurance costs. it's unfair to everyone who is going to have all their personal medical information placed in the hands of a government bureaucrat. it's unfair to every american across this country. house republicans believe that if you're going to give a break to big business, you need to do the same for individuals and families. it's only fair. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. payne: i want to wish a happy 95th birthday to mr. nelson mandela. it is a day where we celebrate the incredible dead nation of -- dedication of president mandela and his gift of leadership to south caffer ka -- africa and to the world. in fact, in the face of extreme adversity he fought for democracy and pass in south africa and has become a model of leadership for me and millions around the globe. last night, i had the pleasure of meeting youngsters from all over south africa at the south africa washington international program forum. because of president mandela, these youngsters and many others have dedicated themselves to public service and carrying on his vision of spreading peace, democracy, and diversity. president mandela has proven that one person can change the tide of oppression. one person can change the course of an entire country, and in turn, the entire world. people around the world, people all around the globe, suffering from oppression, hatred, discrimination, will forever be grateful for the incredible leadership of nelson mandela. happy birthday. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i rise to urge the senate to join us in taking action against the employer and individual health care mandates. president obama conceded employers are not ready for obamacare with its unworkable damage to the economic system. president obama doesn't have the ability to pick and choose which parts of the law to enforce. r. pittinger: -- mr. pittenger: if the senate fails to approve these delays they'll allow president obama to sidestep the constitution we cannot allow president obama oto continue ignoring the constitution. law cannot be changed by a monarch via a blog post. we need to help the american people by delaying these unworkable mandates. shows we had port lost 240,000 full-time jobs in this country. in north carolina, they reported that health care premiums will go up 284%. the american people deserve better. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? ithout objection. mr. higgins: mr. speaker, western new york has distinguished itself as a leader in cutting-edge medical research. buffalo gave the world cancer research when new york cancer laboratory was first established by dr. roswell park in 1897. today the buffalo niagara medical campus grows and thrives with the expansion of the park, plans for the university of buffalo medical school, and construction of a new woman and children's hospital. i'm pleased to say that today western new yorkers continue to receive good news about the availability and accessibility of health care. yesterday "the new york times" reported that new york state health insurance purchased through the state of exchanges will reduce, reduce insurance rates by at least 50%. additionally, thanks to the affordable care act, 37,000 kids with pre-existing conditions will not be denied coverage because by law they can't be denied coverage. mr. speaker, health care should be affordable and accessible to all americans. the progress we have already seen is promising and we must keep moving forward. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection. for ohnson: mr. speaker, the last 30 years social security's been required to make personal information of deceased americans public through the so-called death master file. unfortunately identity thieves use this file to steal americans' identities and obtain fraudulent tax returns. worse, the criminals target deceased children like 4-year-old alexis 5 agin, who is right here, whose family joins us today in the balcony worrying about the stolen identity of a loved one is the last thing a greefing family should do. i salute them for their tireless advocacy. , and i thank you. today i humbly join their efforts by introducing the alexis agin identity theft protection act with my democrat colleague and ranking member on social security, javier becerra. this commonsense, bipartisan bill will protect families, prevent further abuse of taxpayer dollars, and it's time to stop the public sale of the master death file. mr. speaker, in honor of alexis agin, i urge my colleagues to join us and get this bill signed into law. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. i standon: mr. speaker, this morning to recognize the passing of congressman william gray. a man for all seasons. he rdent tennis advocate, expired still racing towards his lifetime passion of tennis. he was funeralized in philadelphia on saturday where dozens much members of congress attended and president william clinton spoke of his wonderful and brilliant legacy. oday his wife and sons are visiting capitol hill. they attended the 94th birthday celebration of president nelson mandela . congressman gray will retire to my hometown of miami-dade county as an accomplished gentleman and his name will live forever in the heart and minds of congress and the students, the millions of students he literally saved when he was president of the united negro college fund. may he rest in peace. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the chair would remind members to refrain from references to occupants of the gallonry. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise to support h.r. 5, the student sucks is act. mr. neugebauer: i heard often from educators with the urgent need to he remove many federal mandates that create needless barriers to educate our children. the legislation the house will consider goes a long way to restoring state and local control and how best to educate our children. i appreciate the support of teachers, administrators, charter schools, and school board members in my district that strongly advocate for the reforms in this bill that will allow states to control the accountability decisions rather than unaccountable bureaucrats in washington that are far removed from the classroom. this bill gives state and local school districts maximum flexibility to improve their schools rather than be caught in a one-size-fits-all bureaucracy. kline for the hard work on the legislation and i urge its passage. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek rick nation? >> i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. -- >> mr. speaker, we know before school, after school, and summer learning programs are successful activities that provide safe places that millions of students and parents can rely upon. mr. kildee: i'm very concerned about keeping students in my district safe and out of trouble. in michigan and around the nation, time spent out of school is often prime time for bad choices that can lead to juvenile crime. yet countless studies have shown that kids involved in after school and summer programs are less likely to be perpetrators or victims of crime, less likely to drink or use drugs, less likely to join gangs. unfortunately, legislation said to be considered this week in the house could lead to over a million students losing access to these opportunities. students in michigan benefit from these afterschool programs through mentoring, tutoring, cultural and fine arts activities. we should be expanding support for these programs and for funding for these programs, not cutting them or putting them in block grants as a means of reducing support. i urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this legislation that's set to come before the house this week. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize the true american hero for his dedicated public service, tom moe, who is a colonel in the air force and is from lancaster, ohio. he's retiring after 46 years of service to our nation and our state. while in the vietnam war serving in the united states air force, he endured five years of torture and isolation as a prisoner of war. in his civilian life he dedicated his career to serving veterans. most recently joining governor john kasich's cabinet as director of the department of veteran services, he also served as the ohio director for troops to teachers in the department of education, and he served as director of the fairfield county office of emergency services and homeland security. through his career, colonel moe has rightfully earned a number of public service awards and decorations, including two silver stars, a distinguished flying cross, a bronze star with medal for valor, and two purple hearts. was also : he inducted into the ohio veterans hall of fame in 2009 by governor ted strickland. i'm truly honored to call colonel moe a friend. and i join hopefully the other members of congress in wishing him a happy retirement. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, today i rise to urge my colleagues to reverse the doubling of rates on student loans. education is and will always be the great equal eisner this country. mr. garcia: it was central to my success, and with seven million students relying on federal stafford loans, it is our responsibility to keep college education affordable. it is also necessary to keep our nation competitive globally. that is why i co-sponsored the student loan relief act which extends the 3.4 student lorne interest rate until 2015. i call upon my colleagues in both the house and the senate to take action so that college remains within reach to all americans who dream about earning a degree. starting a business, or shaping the future. thank you very much. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize and honor the community service of mr. tony campbell. tony moved to kingman, arizona, in 2001 to become general manager of route 66 motor sports, also known as mother road harley-davidson. he also joined the chamber of commerce and began leading his community, constantly finding ways to lift others up as he strived to better the lives of those around him. he organized what would become one of the chamber's signature fundraisers, the harley raffle dinner. he loves his motorcycles. in 2009 after eight years of service with the kingman chamber of commerce, he was asked to join the board of directors and serve on the business and government community. mr. gosar: with his larger than life perment, he had an amazing ability to bring others together both business and government using the springs of each to complement each other. he showed his leadership. for the last year he he served as chairman of the board for the chamber of commerce. as his time in this role comes to an end, it is with honor and appreciation i stand here and recognize mr. campbell for his service. i am pleased to recognize him today for this great body as a true american and leader of business men and women of kingman, arizona. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? without objection. mrs. maloney: i would like to invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in asking the citizens stamp advisory committee to issue a stamp in honor of da wallly. the house resolution 47 has over 41 bipartisan co-sponsors. diwali marks the beginning of the hindu new year, one of the most oldest and most storied holidays in the world. it symbolizes the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. it is celebrated by over a billion people, hindus, sikhs, buddhists, christians. it has been celebrated and honored in the white house by both parties. but diwali has yet to join the legion of holiday that is we honor with a stamp. yesterday congressman barrow, along with the indian american 1,00 , delivered over personally signed letters in support of the stamp to the deputy postmaster general. they also delivered over 400,000 signatures, petitions, in support of the stamp. the time has come to issue a diwali stamp. please join me in asking the citizen advisory committee to do so. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent for approximately one minute to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, this week the house will spend a lot of time talking about education and what's best for our students, but i want to make sure we spend a few moments to recognize america's teachers. just after the tornadoes in oklahoma this spring, a constituent of mine pointed out to me that the teachers at the elementary school in moore and the terrible tragedy in newtown were more than educators. they were first responders. they acted not simply out of human decency but the deepest dedication to service, to protect our children. while most of american school children are out enjoying summer vacations, their teachers are preparing for the school year ahead. they sacrifice time with their own families and spend their hard-earned money because putting the students first isn't part of any federal, state, or federal mandate. it's a special calling on the teacher deep within their heart and i ask my colleagues and constituents to join me in honoring that calling. mr. yoho: encouraging it, protecting it, and thanking all of america's teachers for their unselfish dedication and service. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? without objection. ms. hahn: -- miss caps: sequester furloughs have begun for hundreds of thousands of civilian department of defense employees. we know budget sequestration is a bad policy. it's an ax where we need a scalpel. it's hurting families and workers across the country and it's threatening public safety. for example, at the air force base in my district, firefighters are being furloughed and budget cuts may lead to the elimination of its elite hot shot crew. that air force base is a high-risk fire area and this year's fire season started early. it's expected to be worse than previous years, and has already produced the deadliest single incident for firefighters since 9/11. we should not be furloughing firefighters in the middle of fire season. we should not be compromising public safety. i urge my colleagues to put aside our differences and get to work to find an alternative to these furloughs and end sequestration at every level. once and for all. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i rise to express my continued concerns with the patient protection and affordable care act. it seems every day we learn a new way this law is negatively impacting the american middle class. last week three prominent unions sent a letter to the senate majority leader and house minority leader, in this letter which i'd like unanimous consent to submit for the record at the conclusion of my comments -- the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sal month: it highlights how it's driving up costs of insurance plan causing employees to drop employees from their coverage or convert employees to part-time status. that's what happened in my district in mesa, arizona. the maricopa community college district announced it will be cutting hours for adjunct faculty and student service workers in order to convert them to part-time status and avoid onerous obamacare requirements and mandates. this is not only a hardship for the professors and their families but the students will suffer as well. higher costs under obamacare are forcing employers to choose between keeping their doors open or cutting hours and staffing levels. these are the unintended consequences of a very, very bad law. it's time to repeal this bill before it inflicts more harm on the middle class in america. we must take all necessary steps we can to repeal and replace this tragic legislation with true health care reform that relies on commonsense, free market policies and returns the power to patients and their doctors, not washington bureaucrats. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? without objection. ms. clarke: thank you, mr. speaker. as a proud member of the brooklyn alumni chapter of delta sigma theta sorority incorporated, it is my deepest nor to extend a hearty congratulations to our outgoing national president, cynthia butler mcintyre and our new incoming president paulette walker as -- at the historicsen tenlall over the past seven day. the largest gathering of of college-educated black women ever. blanketing our national capital in a sea of red, close to 40,000 attended the convention which is a part of a year-long celebration to mark the sorority's 100th anniversary. this great sorority and glorious sisterhood started on january 13, 1913, when 22 young college women at howard university in washington, d.c. founded the organization. many prominent community eaders and members have been members of the sorority including the honorable marcia fudge, past national president and congresswoman joyce beatty, as well as former congresswoman stephanie tubbs jones an former congresswoman barbara jordan my predecessor in congress, the great congresswoman shirley chisholm was also a member, a pioneer for women and african-americans in elected office, so i not only followed her footsteps into my journey in congress but also my journey into delta cigna -- sigma theta sorority incorporated. mr. speaker, once again, join me in congratulating delta sigma theta sorority incorporated in recognizing the members for their work tand the -- and the progress and the noifings sisterhood, scholarship and public service. for 100 years, its leaders and members have continued its legacy and goals of its founders. they are committed to public service, education, and social action locally, nationally and worldwide. i yield back the balance of my ime. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> it's getting hot in north georgia and when it does i think of cut grass and football and the lessons elearned on the football field at my elementary school. one lessons was teamwork and one was being fair play. playing with air, everybody, having the same opportunities. that's -- mr. collins: that's why republicans brought to the floor two bills, one to delay implementation of the employer mandate and one to delay implementation of the individual mandate. why did we do that? we say because it is fair. we don't want to pick one or the other. many times in this house we come and pit one against the other. i say to this administration and to both sides of the aisle let's play fair. that's why we brought it to the floor. that's what matters. washington needs to be honest with the american people. s that broken health care law. we just simply brought fairness to the playing field yesterday. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? without objection. mr. butterfield: i was looking forward to a bipartisan compromise on farm programs as well as nutrition programs. as we all know the republicans moved the -- reniveed food titeflell farm bill, narrowly passed it on a vote of 216-208. i'm proud not a single democrat voted for this ill conceived bill denying food support for food banks and millions of americans the house farm bill was passed. i now urge house conferees to meet with senate conferees, re-authorize the farm bill with nutrition before the august recess. i'm beginning to hear rue norse republican leadership may be considering a stand-alone rewrite of the food stamp program to cut nutrition by $135 billion. i hope that's a rumor and not fact. if it's a fact, many of us will speak as loudly as we have ever spoken before on this floor. please let the conference committee meet, resolve the difference tweens the house and senate, don't play politics with food support for low income american citizens. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the president's health care law is unworkable. mr. shimkus: hardworking americans know it and unfortunately they're going to see their premiums skyrocket. small business owners know it, they're going to have to scale back hiring and maybe even let some people go. people in the president's own party know it, senator bachus from montana a key author of the legislation, called it a quote-unquote train wreck not long ago. now the administration admitted it themselves. hey decided to delay the employer mandate for a year. why? because it's not working the way it's spo supposed to. if it's not working the way it's spowed to, it's not working at all. that's why we voted to not just delay the employer mandate but the individual man tate as well. everyone, not just businesses, deserves protection from this unworkable law. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? without objection. ms. hahn: the affordable care act depan delivering important benefits and protections to millions of americans and small and starting in 2014, california's small businesses will be able to access competitive, affordable quality health plans on the covered california small business exchange. finally putting them on more equal footing with the rates enjoyed by the big guys. last week, i invited the small business administration to come with my trict and meet local small businesses. they walked them through key pieces of the law so they could understand the facts and be able to make good decisions about health insurance for their employees. many were pleasantly surprised. we need to move forward on affordable health care for americans, not backwards. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm going out on a limb here and say that north carolina teachers, parents, and administrators know more than the suits in washington about north carolina students' needs. it's a shame that federal law often stands in the way of local educators having the to bility they need innovate and serve students. it's a greater shame, though, not a surprised, that federal intervention has done little to improve student performance. house republicans aren't just going to comment on the problem or propagate a system where waivers like band-aids patch bad federal laws. we're going to change the law. h.r. 5, the student success act, takes steps to reduce the federal government's one size fits all footprint in education. it empowers parents, supports effective teachers and restores local control. children across this country are directly impacted by broken federal education policies. there's no excuse to let the brokenness continue. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. polis: it is rare that more than 2/3 of the united states senate agrees on anything. it's rare, mr. speaker, when 2/3 of the american people agree on anything. and yet the senate with 68 votes passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill that will finally replace our broken immigration system with one that works, one that works for our economy, one that works for american family, one that helps grow jobs, and one that restores the rule of law. to an underground system where people continue to live in an underground economy here in our country today. there's 11 million people that are in our country illegally. the american people are fed up with the violation of the rule of law and of our sovereignty. it's time to fix our broken immigration system in a way that's consistent with our values as americans. we are a nation of immigrants, we also are a nation of laws. it's time to reconcile those two truisms, take up the senate bill and the united states -- in the united states house of representatives, send toyota president obama's desk and finally fix our broken immigration system and make it work for our country. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: mr. speaker, by direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 303 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 44, house resolution 303. resolved, that at any time after the adoption of this resolution, the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 1, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r. 5, to support state and local accountability for public education, protect state and local authority, inform parents of the performance of their children's schools, and for other purposes. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. general debate shall be confined to the bill and is shall not exceed one hour equally divide and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on education and the work force. after general debate, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on education and the work force now printed in the bill, it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the tech of rules committee print 113-18. that amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. all points of order against that amendment in the nature of a substitute are waive nosmed amendment to that amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution. each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report, equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, may be withdrawn by the proponent at any time before action thereon, that will in the -- shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. all points of order against such amendments are waived. at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment, the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as may have been adopted. any member may demand a separate vote in the house on any amendment adopted in the committee of the whole to the bill or to the amendment in the nature of a substitute made in order as original text. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from north carolina is recognized for one hour. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from colorado, mr. polis, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. during consideration of this resolution all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: house resolution 303 provides for a structured rule providing for consideration of h.r. 5, the student success act. mr. speaker, my colleagues on the house education and work force committee and i have been working to re-authorize the elementary and secondary education act. our efforts in re-authorization have centered on four principles, reducing the federal footprint in education, empowering parents, supporting effective teachers, and restoring local control. h.r. 5, the student success act, ensures that local communities have the flexibility needed to meet the needs of their students . this legislation re-authorizes the elementary and secondary ucation act, also known as esea, for five years while making commonsense changes to update the law and address some of the concerns following the last re-authorization. despite good intentions, there is widespread agreement that the current law is no longer effectively serving students. instead of working with congress to re-authorize esea, the obama administration began offering states temporary waivers in 2011 to exempt them from onerous requirements in exchange for new federal mandates from the department of education. these waivers are a short-term fix to a long-term problem and leaves states in districts with uncertainty about whether they will again be subject to the failing law and if the administration will change the requirements necessary to receive a waiver. it is time to give students, parents, teachers, and school districts certainty to make decisions and flexibility to make the best decisions for their communities. h.r. 5 is a step in the right direction and will provide this certainty and flexibility. since republicans returned to the majority in the house in 2011, we have held 20 hearings on the re-authorization of the elementary and secondary education act. the committee considered five re-authorization bills and four markups in the 112th congress, in addition to a markup and favorable reportling of -- reporting of h.r. 5 this year. i'm pleased to work with my colleagues on the rules committee to report rules on the floor debate and consideration of legislation that promote transparency and participation. i urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying bill. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to the rule and the underlying bill. h.r. 5, the so-called student success act. the student success act is an ideological attempt to reduce the crucial federal role in k-12 education. to be clear, there is no excuse for bad policy that interferes with student learning and prevents opportunity for reaching all corners of this land. there is no excuse for bad classroom classes at the local level. there is no excuse for bad policies at the state level. there is no excuse for bad policies at the federal level. however, we should also make no excuses for good policies at the state level. make no excuses for good policies that help improve classroom practices at the federal level. unfortunately, under this restrictive rule, many of the commonsense amendments that would have helped improve this bill were shut out. including an amendment i authored that would combat harassment against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students to ensure schools are a safe learning environment for all children. under this rule other amendments that were authored by both by democratic and republican colleagues, were not included and not allowed to proceed to the house floor for debate. my colleague, ms. foxx, said that, quote, local communities have the flexibility they need to meet the needs of their students, end quote. she stated that was one of the goals of this bill. i think the second goal that we should have with federal education policies is, yes, to give local communities the flexibility to meet the learning needs of their students, but so, too, to not give local communities the flexibility to continue to not meet the needs of their students. there are too many failing schools across our country. high schools that year after year have dropout rates in excess of 50%. elementary schools where kids are falling further behind every year. we need to do everything we can as a some, that means at the state level, federal level, the discontribute level to make sure that, yes, the discontribute has the flexibility and school has to do what ty works. but not the flexibility to continue to do nothing which would only consign another generation of american kids, particularly and disproportionately, our most enriched families it failure. if the underlying bill becomes law, states wouldn't even be required to set performance targets based on student growth, proficiency, or graduation rates. effectively it would allow states to define success down, simply to make themselves or their districts look good. the bill doesn't even define low performing schools, nor does it establish parameters for interventions for timeline for improvement. i have not heard any member of this body on either side argue for federal micromanagement. that's a strawman. we want to make sure that reform minded superintendents are armed with the tools they need to make tough decisions. there is no silver bull net education. sometimes it might be converted into a starter school. sometimes it might be changing the staff. sometimes it might be closing a school much sometimes it might be an extended learning day. one of the most critical aspects of successful school reform is the local buy in. that's why i, as well as my colleague, ms. foxx, would agree that the federal government dictating what they should do is counterproductive towards effective school reform. however, continuing to do nothing is a guaranteed continued recipe for failure. mr. speaker, we need to he provide schools with more flexibility to design school improvement systems than the measures under no child left behind. i think we can agree on that. but we can't let them continue to do nothing and fail children. no child in our country should be trapped in a failing school with little or no recourse or real choice. we need to mend accountability not end it. this bill constitutes the federal government throwing up its arms and letting states define success downward, making themselves look good, patting themselves on the back saying job well-done when more and more children are falling through the cracks. we need a federal role as an honest referee, disruppive force to break up school district monopolies. we need to use limited funds to give school leaders leverage and resources and cover that they need to ensure that failing schools are subject to dramatic interventions that improve school quality. no child should ever be trapped in a failing school. and we as adults should not be finger pointing, saying, oh, that's the state, district, federal government, principals' fault, teacher's fault. that's not the answer. the answer is to make sure the school works for the kid, make sure every family has access to a good school. while no child left behind certainly has its flaws, including the problematic and wrongful definition of adequate yearly progress as the benchmark for success, it nevertheless did move us forward when it comes to serving low-income and minority students, students with disabilities,ning lish language learners, and provided a new layer of transparency that prevented school districts from sweeping these problems under the rug. unfortunately, here with this bill, h.r. 5, it takes another step backward. effectively excluding students with disabilities from school accountability's thames. currently there is a 1% cap staying students with severe disabilities after 1% of students can take alternative assessments based on alternative standards. this bill removes that cap, meaning that school districts at their discretion under this bill can say we don't think any of our idea students, special ed students can learn. we are not going to include them. if they do we are not going to count it or they can do an alternative test and we'll look at that and sign off. and we will never know, mr. speaker, under this bill, truly in our publicly funded, public education system is continuing to meet the learning needs of all kids, including those with disabilities or not. which is why across the disability advocacy community, there is strong opposition to this bill. it's rare that a bill can unite such disparate forces as the chamber of commerce, organizations representing teachers, civil rights community, advocates from the disabled all in staunch opposition to a bill. why? because the bill represents a step backward for public education in this country. this bill doesn't invest in our nation's teachers. the most important frontline workers that provide a quality education for kids across the country. while to its credit it eventually replaces highly qualified teachers with a new teacher accountability system that's tied into student success, which is a key component of my act that i introduced with representative student davis, it fails to provide teachers with the professional development and support they need to succeed in the classroom. and during the three-year transition period, it does away with all measures, indicators and requirements for teacher quality, including getting rid of the definition of highly qualified teacher. for three years our federal taxpayer money we are custodians of will go in part to pay the salaries of people with absolutely no quality i put or outpatient controls. while i applaud the eventual replacement of the definition of highly qualified teacher, most people agree we could do a better measurement of teacher quality, the answer is simply not to throw up our arms and say we are not going to look at teacher quality. while h.r. 5 retreats on its significant and constructive federal role, ranking member miller's democratic substitute advance as comprehensive vision of school ability. the democratic substitute would ensure schools take into account student growth, proficiency rates, including disaggregation for groups including students with disabilities, minorities. design targeted interventions for low perform schools. partner with school districts to use evidence based criteria. to improve school and classroom performance. it is an advance vision of school improvement that has received broad unified support from the education and reform community, civil rights community, and the business community. the federal government must ensure that all students to receive a high quality world class education. we are a country, education is under the local control of school boards subject to the laws of the state. as a nation we cannot abrogate on our responsibility to have a human capital development strategy that allows us to compete with other nation states in the 21st century. would ocratic substitute ensure the schools set high expectations and use quality assessments for students with dess abilities. we do not propose in the democratic substitute nor does president obama support any kind of national standard or national test. certainly some states have chosen to work together to develop core common standards. other states have developed high quality standards and assessments. the federal role should be to not allow states toe define the success downward and capitulate, capitulate an entire generation of children. to failure. i'm disappointed the rules committee didn't make in order my student nondiscrimination act which i introduced with congresswoman ros-lehtinen and 155 of our colleagues when you have a bill with so many co-sponsors i would hope the rules committee would at least allow a debate and floor vote on this bill t would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition on discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. every day across our country tragically kids who are perceived to be gay or lesbian are subjected to pervasive discrimination. harmful to both students and our education system of the surveys indicate that as many as nine in 10 lgbt students have been bullied. just this last week we lost another life to bullying. on sunday a young man named carlos in new mexico took his own life after being bullied and called derogatory lgbt names since the age of 8. it's hard to imagine the torment he went through every single day. unfortunately too many lgbt students and their families often have limited recourses to fight this kind of discrimination to make schools -- that make schools an unsafe learning environment for them. my amendment would provide protections for lgbt students to ensure all students have access to public education in a safe environment, free from discrimination, free from harassment, free from bullying, intimidation and violence. i would have hoped every member of this body would agree there is a bipartisan consensus that regardless of what people think of social issues like gay marriage or other issues, schools should be a safe place for all students to learn. i am pleased that the committee of the underlying bill includes constructive language with regard to the expansion and replication of successful charter schools. i'm also pleased that the committee made in order two amendment i offered to improve this flawed bill. the first amendment further improves the charter school program. i enjoyed working with chairman kleine and ranking member miller program and he both the underbill and democratic substitute contains strong language around helping charter schools grow and expand to meet the demands of the more than one million kids who remain on charter school waiting lists across our country, unable to attend the school of their choice. recent study found that those who are -- those schools that are strong and successful in the beginning remain strong and successful schools as they grow and expand. my amendment would allow charter schools to receive funding to -- to use grant funding for startup costs like teacher