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House Proceeding on Jan 7th, 2009 :: 0:18:55 to 0:38:55
Total video length: 2 hours 32 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

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Patrick J. Kennedy

0:16:35 to 0:18:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Patrick J. Kennedy

Patrick J. Kennedy

0:18:49 to 0:18:56( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick J. Kennedy: hard to find such a genuine person such as that. for that reason, on a personal level, i was honored to know

James R. Langevin

0:18:57 to 0:19:17( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: him an serve with him and today join my colleague jim langevin in paying tribute to him. with that, i'd like to yield the floor to my colleague and friend from the second congressional district, congressman langevin. the speaker pro tempore: mr. langevin is recognized. .

James R. Langevin

0:19:00 to 0:24:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: James R. Langevin

James R. Langevin

0:19:18 to 0:19:39( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: mr. langevin: i tha my colleague for yielding and i'm honored to join with him today in paying tribute to our state's former senior senator, senator claiborne pell, who passed away on the first of this year. he was an incredible public servant and someone who i was proud to call friend and a

James R. Langevin

0:19:40 to 0:20:01( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: mentor. he was one of rhode island's greatest statesmen and gentlemen. as i said, who passed away on the first day of 2009. born on november 22, 1918 into a prominent wealthy family, senator pell was better known as the champion for the common man and also the father of the pell grant program.

James R. Langevin

0:20:02 to 0:20:23( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: after receiving a degree from princeton university, he served in the united states coast guard during world war ii and later traveled the world as a foreign service officer with the state department. in 1960 he was elected to his first of six terms as a united states senator from rhode island. after retiring in 1997, he became our state's longest serving senator.

James R. Langevin

0:20:24 to 0:20:44( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: diagnosed with parkinson's disease in 1994, he never let his physical condition diminish his spirit and he remained active in rhode isnd and the democratic party n rhode island the pell name is legendary in politics and synonymous with the best attributes of public service and his legacy endures.

James R. Langevin

0:20:45 to 0:21:06( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: the esteemed nator once stated the strength of the united states is not the gold at fort knox, all the weapons of mass destruction that we have, but the sum total of the education and the character of our people. believing that education was the great equalizer, he created legislation that passed in 1972 establishing the basic education

James R. Langevin

0:21:07 to 0:21:28( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: opportunity grants, better known now as the pell grants, that provide financial assistance to students who may not otherwise be able to attend college. it is estimated that a remarkable 54 million students have been fit interested these grants. due to his love of the arts he also authored the legislation as my colleague, congressman kennedy, mentioned creating the national endownt for the arts

James R. Langevin

0:21:29 to 0:21:50( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: and national endowment for the humanities. he helped shaped our country's foreign policy and believed strongly in the power of diplomacy. he stood up to defend rights for all americans, regardless of race, class, or sexual orientation. knowing him for more than two decades, i can considered senator pell a friend and mentor and had the opportunity of interning in his washington,

James R. Langevin

0:21:51 to 0:22:12( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: d.c., office during my studies at rhode island college. i found it to be one. most -- it to be one of the most rewarding experiences in my life and led me on a career path to be a representative. as i began my own career in government, senator pell was always there for me offering

James R. Langevin

0:22:13 to 0:22:38( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: advice and support. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. langdon vin: -- mr. langevin: madam speaker, may i request unanimous consent to be recognized for five minutes under my own time? the speaker pro tempore: the chair will recognize the member after calling the next name on the list.

James R. Langevin

0:22:39 to 0:22:59( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: mr. burton of indiana. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition? mr. langevin: unanimous consent to be recognized for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. langevin: in continuing my tribute to senator pell, madam speaker, senator pell was and

James R. Langevin

0:23:00 to 0:23:21( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: always will be a role model as i work to serve the people of rhode island just as he did with courage and integrity. this past monday senator pell was rembered by his family, colleagues, from the senate, president clinton, vice president elect biden, and many others. it was a fitting tribute to his

James R. Langevin

0:23:22 to 0:23:42( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: years of public service and his lifelong vision for o country. madam speaker, it is an understatement to say that his presence will be forever missed. but his enduring legacy will live on in his many accomplishments that have enhanced our country greatly. especially the past, present,

James R. Langevin

0:23:43 to 0:24:04( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: and future students who have achieved a higher education because of pell grants. and it will live on in the people of rhode island who have been fitted greatly from his life's work. my thoughts and prayers are with his entire family. especially his beloved wife of

James R. Langevin

0:24:05 to 0:24:25( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: 64 years during this very difficult time. i join with my friend and colleague, congressman kennedy, who say that senator pell had a tremendous impact on our careers and again we extend our -- both our sincerest condolences to the

James R. Langevin

0:24:26 to 0:24:50( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: entire pell family. madam speaker, thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. ms. holmes norton of the district of columbia.

James R. Langevin

0:24:51 to 0:24:57( Edit History Discussion )

James R. Langevin: mr. kirk of illinois. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition?

Mike Rogers

0:24:58 to 0:25:19( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Rogers: >> unanimous consent to seek five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, madam speaker, i rise today to speak about the devastating situation in gaza. each of us in this chamber knows what it's like to deal with a terrorist attack on our soil and against our people.

Mike Rogers

0:25:15 to 0:27:20( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers

0:25:20 to 0:25:40( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Rogers: over the last several years the israeli people have been constantly bombarded by terrorist attacks on their soil and against their people. since israel crew from gaza in late 2005, more than 6,000 rocket and mortar attacks from hamas and other terrorist groups

Mike Rogers

0:25:41 to 0:26:01( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Rogers: were fired into their territory. the government of israel has a right and a responsibility to defend and protect its people. to stand idly by while hundreds of bombs explode on israeli territory would have indeed been an irresponsible position fo israel's government to take.

Mike Rogers

0:26:02 to 0:26:24( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Rogers: and continuing to do nothing could cause long-term detrimental implications to israeli's security in the region. madam speaker, critics who have said that israel responded to hamas in a disproportionate or indiscriminate way are wrong. madam speaker, i ask that what amount of force would have been necessary to stop the brutal

Mike Rogers

0:26:25 to 0:26:47( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Rogers: attacks to put an end to the terrorist rockets launching pad in gaza? hamas has repeatedly targeted schoolyards and hospitals, killed children and civilians in israel -- filled with children and civilians in israel. and the militants have been deliberate in operating from places where gazzian civilians

Mike Rogers

0:26:48 to 0:27:08( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Rogers: have shaut shelter jeopardizing innocent lives in gaza. only hamas is responsible for the massacre of the people in gaza. hamas is responsible for this conflict. today marks the 12th day of this conflict and i think we all hope for a cease-fire to take place soon. however even if the parties can reach an agreement to a

Mike Rogers

0:27:09 to 0:27:20( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Rogers: cease-fire t. remains to be seen whether it will be durable. therefore i strongly urge support for israel's right to self-defense and its efforts to protect itself militarily.

Louie Gohmert

0:27:21 to 0:27:42( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: i also urge the united states and our european allies to do the same. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has yielded back his time. ms. woolsey of california. under the speaker's announced policy of january 18, 2007, --

Louie Gohmert

0:27:25 to 0:42:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Louie Gohmert

Louie Gohmert

0:27:43 to 0:28:05( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. gohmert: thank you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. gohmert: thank you, madam speaker. it is a pleasure to be here as we start another two years and a

Louie Gohmert

0:28:06 to 0:28:26( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: new congress, the 111th congress. it is a humbling honor to get to follow in the footsteps of so many giants. i come today to talk a bit about the economy. and what's been done so far and what is being proposed to be done in the future. there's so much to be learned

Louie Gohmert

0:28:27 to 0:28:48( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: from people who have been around this place and been on this earth for many, many decades. a fellow down in knacka coachies -- naccadoches had the wisdom when he was told by a young reporter on his 95th birthday, congratulations, i hope you're

Louie Gohmert

0:28:49 to 0:29:10( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: not offended but i hope i never turn 95, and the gentleman said, son, that's because you're not 94. a man over 90 approached me and said he was sick and tired of hearing people say, oh, this is the worst day since the depression. some people saying it's as bad

Louie Gohmert

0:29:11 to 0:29:32( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: as the 1930's depression. and he said let me tell you about the depreion, i was there. sometimes we went for two days without eating. and i look around now and i see people offended if they don't have three cars in their family, they got a computer, they've got cell phones, they have all these things, and they are trying to

Louie Gohmert

0:29:33 to 0:29:53( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: tell me that this is as bad as the depression when my family couldn't eat? when unemployment by some estimations at times was going toward 50%, but by most agreement was more like 25% or so.

Louie Gohmert

0:29:54 to 0:30:14( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: it was an incredibly rough time for america, but they managed to get through it. there is interesting literature out now that says, by government intervention all through the 1930's the economy never got better until after world war ii started. that all the government intervention may have actually

Louie Gohmert

0:30:15 to 0:30:35( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: prolonged the terrible depression rather than helping. here in this day and time we have people with the best of intentions. they want truly to make it better. there are others that we have here in washington, part of the government that perhaps want to reward their friends and that is

Louie Gohmert

0:30:36 to 0:30:56( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: not a partisan comment, that apparently is a bipartisan comment because we have seen it on both sides of the party issue. but to be told repeatedly that this is a terrible depression, worst economy since the 1930's, i was around in the late 1970's.

Louie Gohmert

0:30:57 to 0:31:18( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: i was around in 1980 and 1981. and so i gathered some numbers about those days. we had a 1973 oil crisis. and a 1979 energy cris. and we had unemployment of 5.1

Louie Gohmert

0:31:19 to 0:31:39( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: in january of 1974. and it rose -- mild recession from january to july, but unemployment got to 7.5 and eventually got over 10%. we had -- i recall thinking when

Louie Gohmert

0:31:40 to 0:32:00( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: this guy reagan started talking about -- i was in the army at the time at fort benning, georgia, i heard him and he was such a gifted communicator and he communicated confidence and a good feeling about this country. and it helped make america stronger when america felt stronger.

Louie Gohmert

0:32:01 to 0:32:23( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: there is so much to the mental status of the people in this country. but by 1979, inflation had reached 11.3%, in 1980 it soared to 13.5%. and here we had a guy, reagan, who was saying in 1980 that as

Louie Gohmert

0:32:24 to 0:32:44( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: president he could bring down double-digit inflation. he could bring down double-digit unemployment. he could bring down double-digit interest rates. i rall my wife and i bought our first house out near fort benning, georgia, and my dad was concerned with the high interest

Louie Gohmert

0:32:45 to 0:33:05( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: rate being over 10%. and he said, son, it just doesn't get any higher than that. why don't you wait until it comes down? yet at the time we we selling our house after my four years at fort benning, there were people wanting desperately to absorb 12% loans because the interest

Louie Gohmert

0:33:06 to 0:33:26( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: rates had gotten so high. in fact i have gotten some data gathered on that. the federal funds rate was about 11% in 1979. it rose to 20% by june of 1981. the prime interest rate eventually reached 21.5% in june

Louie Gohmert

0:33:27 to 0:33:48( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: of 1982. and here was this candidate in 1980 named reagan saying, can i help bring these things down. i remember telling my wife at the time, i like this guy. as a member of the army i could not criticize a commander in chief because he was in the chain of command, and that's a court martial offense. you couldn't say anything

Louie Gohmert

0:33:49 to 0:34:14( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: critical about the commander in chief, but i was excited about this guy, reagan, but i said to my wife, but let's face it, there is no way one man, even the president of the united states, could bring down double-digit unemployment, double-digit inflation, and double-digit interest rates. one man just can't do that.

Louie Gohmert

0:34:15 to 0:34:36( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: . these things started peaking through the late 1970's to 1981, 1982 and lo and behold, he was able to turn things around. we have a massive tax cut and the economy turned arod and started going the other way.

Louie Gohmert

0:34:37 to 0:34:57( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: lo and behold, double digit interest rates fell below 10%. unemployment rates fell below 10%. interest rates, inflation, all those things came down. and i was wrong. apparently one man could make that much difference. some of the folks know here, madam speaker, i like president

Louie Gohmert

0:34:58 to 0:35:18( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: george w. bush. i think he is a good man, an honorable man, despite what some folks say about him. i like him. he's smarter than people give him credit. but as jeff foxworthy says when people who are not from the south hear a southern cent, they immediately deduct 50

Louie Gohmert

0:35:19 to 0:35:40( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: points from what they think the i.q. of the speaker is. but when our secretary of the treasu convinced him to say as the treasury secretary said, that we're about to have this terrible depression and we could have a stock crash like

Louie Gohmert

0:35:41 to 0:36:01( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: 1929, we could have in some of the private meetings, it could be, once the first bank fails, they'll all fail, we'll have the worse depression than the 1930's, all these terrible things, those kind of things, when said from the highest people in the country, can become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Louie Gohmert

0:36:02 to 0:36:23( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: you need to have presidents that will come forward and say, the only real thing we have to fear is fear itself. as roosevelt did. he just spread calm and confidence. and you know, there are obviously many issues with which -- or on which i disagree with president-elect obama, but

Louie Gohmert

0:36:24 to 0:36:45( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: one of the things we see about this man as he prepares to take over the presidency he has a real gift for spreading confidence, spreading calm, and spreading hope, as he likes to say. now we've been hearing a lot lately, people trying to set the bar so low that anything u do -- he does will pass the

Louie Gohmert

0:36:46 to 0:37:07( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: bar, but the fact is, we need all of our national leaders to be spreading confidence. you don't do that by saying, we're about -- we're in this terrible depression. because we're not. when you actually look at the numbers, we are in so much better shape as a nation than we were in 1980.

Louie Gohmert

0:37:08 to 0:37:28( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: we don't have hostages being held in iran. and looking just so helpless to the rest of the country. president bush has certainly made clear and i think by some of president-elect obama's appointments, he has made clear to the rest of the world you don't attack us or we will

Louie Gohmert

0:37:29 to 0:37:50( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: respond and so i hope that will continue. it's an important message. but we should not claim that things are worse than they are because that becomes self-fulfilling. i have to say, by scaring congress enough, there were

Louie Gohmert

0:37:51 to 0:38:11( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: about 60 republicans and about three times that many democrats who voted for the bailout bill, mainly because the secretary of the treasury scared them enough into doing so. that's not a basis for making good judgments to help direct this ship of state.

Louie Gohmert

0:38:12 to 0:38:32( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: now there's another 50 billion of the original 00 billion in tarp funds that were in that bailout bill. all that is required, and i know there are some that say, oh, in congress, we'll get to have an up or down vote. the bill doesn't say that all

Louie Gohmert

0:38:33 to 0:38:53( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: the bill says is the secretary of the treasury has to do is file a plan. his plan could say, i want to spend 50 billion, and under the law if there's no vote disapproving in 15 days, he

Louie Gohmert

0:38:54 to 0:39:15( Edit History Discussion )

Louie Gohmert: gets the money. we have seen 50 billion squandered. i know secretary paulson had his department issue a report. they say, we studied what we did and we did a great thing we saved the economy. one of the things they were doing was spending hundreds of billions, we were told to get more credit to loosen up the

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