I have been a strong proponent of doing everything we can to make the United States energy independent.

Climate change is a serious threat to our country and to the entire planet.

But with the exception of 2010, the Congress has consistently enacted less than requested.

Over the past 2 years alone, the administration's requests for diplomatic security funding has been slashed by more than $0.5 billion in Congress.

Barack Obama was not responsible for the Benghazi attack any more than George W. Bush was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

the funds provided by Congress were inadequate.

But I think it is also fair to make the point the ARB made.

this is a bipartisan problem.

I thank my dear friend, Congresswoman Lowey, for yielding to me. I urge all of our colleagues to support the aid for the Hurricane Sandy victims. You know, we have a lot of disagreements in this Congress. We talk about issues, about…

I thank my friend from New York, and I rise in strong support of this legislation. I must say Tuesday night when I found out that we were not taking this legislation up in the previous Congress, it was the angriest I've been since I've…

I have been a Member of this body for 24 years, and I don't think I've ever been as angry as I am tonight. This is unconscionable. In the last debate, I got up, and I said that when President Truman campaigned, he campaigned against the…

I have no further speakers, so I yield back the balance of my time.

I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).

I now yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

May I inquire as to how much time I have left? The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York has 13\1/2\ minutes remaining.

I hope I can do as good a job as you have done, and I look forward to being in touch with you.

I thank the gentleman for yielding to me, and I thank him for doing this Special Order. Mr. Speaker, I have been to Newtown, Connecticut, since I have cousins who live there. It's less than an hour's drive from my congressional district…

I simply cannot understand why a State would choose not to provide health care coverage to its neediest citizens.

I hope the upcoming regulations will not punish these States, these States who did the right thing by expanding Medicaid eligibility.

I made sure when we were crafting the Affordable Care Act that my State, New York, which is a so-called do-gooder State was not penalized for it.

I want to make sure that we were not penalized.

And obviously what is happening at the U.N. today is just a shame because rather than enhancing peace I think it really sets it back.

I think that trouble that we are facing is really underscored with this war with Hamas in Gaza.

We care a great deal about Israel, the only real democracy.

We have a vital interest in ensuring that any reconciliation in which Hamas becomes part of the PLO does not happen.