mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
i oppose this amendment because it does not correct the fundamental flaw of h.r. 841 , which is leaving the united states of america at a time of its worst crisis , its worst potential crisis that you can imagine , it leaves the american people in the lurch , leaves them without representative government and without representation in the congress for 7 weeks . 
according to this amendment , there will be no representation for the american people at a time when our government needs leadership . 
on 9/11 we lived through a crisis which at times seemed bizarre and even surreal . 
many otherwise competent leaders were in a state of shock and at that moment , on 9/11 , did not necessarily know or were incapable of doing exactly what the right thing was . 
many of us gathered at the capitol on that fateful day ; we gathered on the steps to back up our leadership . 
the purpose was to send a message to the american people . 
representative barrett and i realized , once a very short message had been given by our leaders , that the message was not adequate enough . 
and let me note that on that day , that time of crisis when we were all in confusion , standing on the capitol about ready to break up , representative barrett and i looked at each other in our eyes and said this is not enough . 
we are going to start singing god bless america right now . 
and it was representative barrett and myself that started leading that singing and were joined in by our colleagues . 
let me note that that was the message the american people needed to hear of unity and god bless america at this time . 
let us today do what is needed for the american people at the time of the next crisis . 
what is happening is we are being offered an alternative that will leave them in the lurch , leave them wanting at the time of maximum crisis . 
if we do believe in god bless america , let us join in now with the partisan flavor of this debate and do what is right to make sure our people are prepared if our country is ever attacked like this again . 
mr. chairman , i yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from washington ( mr. baird ) xz4000110 . 
