be in order. the prayer today will be offered by father coughlin. chaplain coughlin: as the 110th congress, we approach you as the source of all enlightenment for our endeavors, father of

light. we look to you for the very best gift, the perfect gift, to discern the present and prepare for the future. concerns of the nation, we look to you to guide, protect and elevate your

people. you do not take away our problems, nor the conflicts of resolve. instead, by our dealing with them, you draw from us a greater good and a lasting peace. because you have made

us and in your revealed love brought us to true freedom, we need not act as in the past, nor according to the dictates of others or our own compulsions. as a free people, we can act anew and

be creative enough to do what is proper for our times. in america, we can say you are god with us now and forever. 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. the pledge today will be led by the gentleman from pennsylvania,

mr. altmire. mr. altmire: 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 spker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the call of the private calendar be dispensed with today. the

speaker pro tempore: without objection. the chair will now entertain a request for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? mr. kucinich: thank you, mr. speaker.

i request permission to address the house and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kucinich: this afternoon, i'll

refer an article of impeachment to the judiciary committee. people ask me, don't we have more important things to do? think about this. this war has cost us our constitutionally guaranteed

civil liberties. is there something more important? the iraq war will eventually cost between $2 trillion and $3 trillion, meaning every american family will pay upwards to $30,000. the war has

caused substantially high gas prices. something more important, over 4,100 troops have died and more than one million innocent iraqis perished. anything more important? there is no evidence that

iraq had the intention of attacking the united states. iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. yet congress was believed to be otherwise. the bible says you should know the truth and the truth

will set you free. in a free nation, nothing is more important than the truth. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for

one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. kirk: mr. speaker, successful counterterror programs teach that to win you must attack both terrorists and

their money. through congress' partisan lends, iraq is the bad war while afghanistan is the good war. our partisan lens not recognize good news from iraq or bad news from afghanistan. in

afghanistan, the taliban is back funded by billions from heroin. u.n. reports that in 2008, afghanistan is now also the top producer of hashish. money from heroin and now hashish totals hundreds of

millions, if not billions. in some, the taliban's drug profits may equal the operation profitof the general and his nato party. there could be a possible surge to troops to afghanistan. i will

sound a note to caution that without other counterdrug programs that worked in colombia, such an afghan move will only accelerate violence between two very well funded opponents. to turn the

rising taliban tide, we must attack both heroin and hashish in the narco state that is afghanistan. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york rise? >> to address

the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the t gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, yesterday the president announced that he's lifting the executive order

that prevents big oil from drilling off of the treasured coastline of america. what will this do to lower gas prices anytime soon? nothing. and nothing is exactly what the administration has been

doing for the past seven years as gas prices have nearly tripled. by contrast, democrats in congress have been working on bringing down prices at the pump. we passed the first fuel efficiency

standards in 32 years and are supporting the movement to alternative fuels. we want to help families now by releasing oil from the strategic petroleum reserve and forcing big oil companies to

start drilling on the 311 acres that are open for develop now or 68 million acres that are -- already are leased. what are the big oil companies waiting for? drill on those 311 acres and

those 68 acres under lease. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the ho use for one minute. the speaker

pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. smith: mr. speaker, "the new york times" and "the washington post" with two influentialal national newspapers.

their articles are reprinted in other publications. and television newscasts often repeat their stories. i was curious how "the times" and "the post" were treating the two presidential candidates,

so i looked at their front page cover. pele expect fair and objective reporting. from june 28 through july 14, the papers wrote far more stories about senator obama than senator mccain. and

while most of the 15 articles about senator obama were positive, not a single one of the nine articles about senator mccain was positive that is a huge slant in favor of senator obama. surely,

voters deserve balance coverage of the presidential candidates, and surely the media has a responsibility to provide it. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from

pennsylvania rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one nute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. altmire: mr. speaker,

americans everywhere are fed up with paying high gas prices. for eight days, americans have been asking president bush to release oil from the strategic petroleum reserve, a move that has brought

down prices at the pump in the past, but the president continues to say no. in 1990, when the president's father withdrew oil from the reserve, the impact on prices was immediate and they dropped

33% in two days. in 2000, president clinton did the same and prices fell before oil even hit the market. and in 2005, when this president bush made the move, the price of oil dropped again.

now, the white house claims it won't lower prices, but history proves that action to release oil from the strategic petroleum reserve provides immediate relief to american consumers. mr.

speaker, when it comes to the pain our families are experiencing at the pump and in the economy today, there is simply no time to wait. action is needed now, and we call on president bush

to stand up for consumers and utilize the strategic petroleum reserve. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask permission

to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: mr. speaker,

yesterday president bush announced that he would be lifting the executive branch moratorium on offshore exploration for oil and natural gas. i applaud the president's actions. house

republicans have offered a plan to expand offshore and onshore energy supplies with conservations. this is part of our comprehensive plan to approach and lower energy prices and reduce our dependence

on foreign oil. i hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will join house republicans and the american people in calling for an immediate lifting of the congressional ban on

offshore drilling. we need to invest in future alternatives to oil, but until it is -- we find a viable, affordable alternative energy source that can move our cars and transport american

commerce, we need to expand exploration of american-made oil and natural gas. particularly when we have the tools and know-how to do it environmentally sound. in conclusion, god bless our

troops and we will never forget september 11. the speaker pro tempore: for what purse does the gentleman from california rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cardoza: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to express my concern for the devastating toll the housing crisis is taking

on the neighborhoods of my district and throughout the country. a report issued this week identified three cities in my district as having the highest rates of foreclosure in the entire nation.

in stockton, california, merced, modesto, california, families are struggling to make increasing mortgage payments . homeowners have lost over 40% of their home's equity and communities are

burdened with vacant, deteriorating housing. these lower home values, attract vandalism and pests and contribute to the overall neighborhood's decline, as well as disrupting the family unit. at this rate, my

district and the communities across the country will be recovering from the foreclosure epidemic for years to come. borrowers and lenders have a duty to their country to help us overcome this

housing crisis. homeowners should try to work with banks instead of abandoning their homes. and financial institutions must restructure mortgages whenever feasible. during the great depression, families

and banks worked together to help america through these tough times. i urge us to get back to that attitude. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina

rise? mr. barrett: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. barrett: american

families have been bracing from an energy problem for the past few months, which has turned into an energy crisis. i've heard constituents loud and clear about their concern that leaders

in d.c. were not listening. i heard their voices and my republican colleagues and i continue to come to the floor and ask the democrat majority for their energy plan. when our floor speeches were

continuously met with silence in the absence of a democrat energy plan, i, too, began to wonder if our leaders were listening. thankfully, the problem was recognized and addressed by our executive

branch of government. i applaud president bush on lifting the federal moratorium on offshore drilling. congress must implement this now that the president has decided to lift the ban. let's

work quickly together and efficiently to craft and pass legislation that will work toward providing short term and long-term solutions. it's up to now -- it's up to us now as members of congress to

do what's right for the citizens to put the plan in motion and pass energy legislation. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> to address the house

for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i have finally figured it out. i have finally figured out why

this administration and many of its republican allies refuse to release oil from the strategic petroleum reserve and all they want to do is drill, drill, drill, drill. i figured it out.

every time oil has been released from the strategic petroleum reserve, the price of oil has fallen. each and every time. this administrationas refused our demands that it do the same now when

we are in an emergency and said, i'd rather drill. but its own department of energy analysis said, and i quote, drilling would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural

gas production or prices before 2030. i figured it out. in eight years this administration has enabled oil company profits to go from $39 billion to $116 billion. think about what those

profits will go to in the next 22 years. this is what this is about. in administration wants to give oil companies more time to reap larger profits and refuse to give the american people

the price relief they need by releasing oil from the reserve and reducing the price of gas now. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from

ohio rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for

one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. president bush's action yesterday to lift the ban on outer continental shelf drilling is an important step towards comprehensive energy plan that the

american public is demanding from congress. many other countries, including china, brazil, and india allow similar exploration off their coastlines. with an estimated 86 billion barrels of

oil and 26 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off our coastline -- as we know, there is no one single fix to our energy crisis. congress must act in a reform plan that has renewable energy,

in addition to the refining of our own domestic resources, all expanding our conservation efforts. our constituents made it clear this is what t he type of comprehensive energy reform they

want and we must give it to them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you,

mr. speaker. i speak on behalf of immigrants in the midst of our energy crisis, housing crisis, there are those who continue to possibly contribute to our economy. immigrants throughout history

have come to this nation with a hunger for success in the american dream. to provide for a family and have their kids obtain an education and many of them working two to three different jobs, contributing

to our country. at stores, restaurants, gas stations. immigrants often live near their establishment are avid sponsors to local little league, and churches. our country has always welcomed

immigrants. let's remember that we need comprehensivive immigration reform for those who possibly contribute to our local communities. i urge my colleagues to support comprehensive immigration and i

yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. poe: there are those who now proclaim that our children be required to learn spanish. mr. speaker, i thought english was

the national language. up until recently, almost all immigrants that came to america learned the language. english. that included the germans, dutch, french, chinese, japanese, vietnamese, south

asians and on and on. so why the foush require ericans to learn span snish why not chysnees? more people inhe world speak chinese than any other language. or german. according to the census bureau,

more americans, including my family, claigerman ancestry over any other heritage. but when our forefathers debated this language issue years ago, english won out over german. it seems to me that

in the u.s. we should speak the same language, english. and if people want to speak an additional language, let them choose. not the government. which language to speak. it doesn't seem too

much to require people that come to america that they work, follow the law and learn the common language. otherwise we'll become a community of nations rather than a nation of communities. i

yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection,