I am pleased to have this opportunity to come to the floor today to support Mr. Abercrombie's initiative on behalf of Native Hawaiians. It is a pursuit that he has followed in all of his years in the Congress of the United States. Aside…

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him for his extraordinary leadership on this important issue, an issue of importance to our country, to our economic stability, to our fiscal soundness, and to our children and our grandchildren…

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him for giving us the privilege to come to the floor to honor the lives, the leadership, the service and sacrifice of the seven CIA officers killed, and those who were wounded in Afghanistan on…

I thank the gentlewoman, Congresswoman Lee, for her leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and as a leader on this issue as well. To Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen, ranking member on the…

I thank the gentleman, the distinguished leader, for yielding, and express to him on behalf of all Members of the House of Representatives, indeed, the Congress, the condolences that we all feel. We extend them to you on Paula's passing…

Well -- there are a number of things he swore on the campaign trail.

Well, there are a number of things he swore on the campaign trail.

We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.

Congresswoman Pelosi, of course, had previously insisted that public option was necessary for House approval.

Members and those in the gallery will please rise and observe a moment of silence in memory of the victims of violence at Fort Hood.

From my perspective, we won last night. We had one race that we were engaged in; it was in northern New York. It was a race where a Republican has held the seat since the Civil War.

From my perspective we won last night. We had one race that we were engaged in that was in northern New York. It was a race where a Republican has held the seat since the since the Civil War.

He is one of the most experienced, knowledgeable people in the Congress about health care. But even if he weren't, the process here is that the Ethics Committee reviews the situation and then they make their statement on it. So I think…

He's one of the most experienced, knowledgeable people in the Congress about health care. But, even if he weren't, the process here is that the Ethics Committee reviews the situation, and then they make their statement on it. So, it's, I…

I have concerns about some of the language that is being used, because I saw -- I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco. This kind of rhetoric is -- was very frightening. And it gave -- it created a climate in which we…

Let's move on. Let's get back to health care and the substantive issues.

I don't think there's a great deal of support for sending in the troops to Afghanistan in the country or in the Congress.

for the first time doubting congressional support for the war

I very much wants a public option, that it's essential.

There is no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option.

As the president stated in March, the thinking on the public option has been that it gives consumers more choices and it helps keep the private sector honest. We agree with the president.

The cap-and-trade part of the bill creates a national energy tax that will do more harm to production agriculture.

By 2035 the average net income for farmers will decrease by 57 percent.

A thousand-page bill of this magnitude deserves thoughtful consideration and debate.

This legislation will span the working lifetime of every young farmer and rancher with no off-ramps.