-- belong to the palestinians. the next part, israel would still make and extend a landmass, a configuration off of an area near tel aviv and into the mediterranean sea. about 50 square miles, and it would connect to israel by land. and this way, if attacked, israel wouldn't be cut into. and china is building an island or islands in the south china sea with an average depth of 4802 feet. why not israel build a connecting landmass into the mediterranean sea where the average depth is 4926 feet. that is less than a mile. host: that is catherine's proposed solution. what has the trump administration said about peace in the middle east? guest: trump ran on a hard-line pro-israel stance. he pledged to move the united

states embassy. that is something republicans have long pushed for although they have been backing away from that recently. >> we are leaving this discussion now. videon go to the online library on c-span.org. the house is dabbling in for veterans issues. -- paul d. ryan, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2017, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties . all time shall be equally allocated between the parties

and no event shall debate continue beyond 1:50 p.m. each member other than the majority and minority leaders and minority whip shall be limited to five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. oho, for five minutes. mr. yoho: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for approximately five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. thank you, mr. speaker. on thursday, february 2 of 2017, gainesville, florida, and the state of florida, lost a favorite son in mr. perry c. mcgriff. he was an icon in my hometown of gainesville, florida, and was known for his strong civic duty in helping people wherever and whenever they needed it. he was born in arcadia, florida, in 1937 and went to school at the university of

florida where he became an all star stand out in both gator football and baseball. his contributions on the field earned him entry into the prestigious hall of fame as a gator great in 1969. perry was married to his wife for 57 years. raised four children, jana, mark, keith, and matthew, and enjoyed the joy and laughter of their 15 grandchildren. a tremendous family man, he was also successful in business. he was an insurance agent for 48 years. had the honor of being the youngest person ever elected as the mayor of gainesville, and was a representative for the state of florida. he was a tireless volunteer in gainesville. receiving countless awards and recognition for his commute service. and two of those particularly stick out to me. the first ever ethics and business award, and the service above self award give by the dwainsville rotary for his lifetime of service. in addition to his time, perry

donated more than 60 gallons of blood and set an example for all to follow. for all the things perry was and all the good things perry did, i will always remember him most for his smile, his great attitude, and his notorious reputation to have his camera at the ready. he was always snapping pictures of people enjoying life and making sure to send to each individual a copy so they could remember the happy moments in the life that he captured. to knoll and the mcgriff family, thank you for chairing perry's time. thank you for sharing your husband and father with all of us. we will miss him forever but we will never forget perry. all of us, the city of gainesville, the state of florida, and i are all better for having known perry. mr. speaker, this past weekend north korea said it had successfully completed the launch of a new ballistic missile. the medium-range ballistic

missile was test fired on sunday. the actions by the north korean regime are unacceptable and in clear violation of the u.n. security council. it is imperative that the u.s. stand strong with japan, south korea, and all of our allies in the region against the provocative and threatening tions of north korea and their totalitarian regime. a regime that is determined to thumb their nose at the world by advancing their nuclear capabilities, thus threatening their neighbors, the region, and for that matter, the world. the united states and its world partners must continue to persuade north korea to adhere to the u.n. security council resolutions or they choose to invite worldwide sanctions upon them. this is north korea's decision and nobody else. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. sherman, for five minutes. mr. sherman: i ask unanimous

consent to address the house for five minutes. presented my remarks and include extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sherman: i ask unanimous consent to place in the record a letter and statement by coretta scott king from 1986. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. r. sherman: thank you. last tuesday senator elizabeth warren sought to bring to the attention of the senate some material about an attorney general nominee, jeff sessions, senator jeff sessions at the time. she was silenced. she persisted, but ultimately the record of the senate does not reflect the remarks she was trying to give. in particular, she was trying to bring to the attention of the senate a statement and letter of coretta scott king from 1986. ou see, in 1986 then jefferson

b. sessions was a u.s. attorney, federal prosecutor, who had been appointed for a position as a u.s. district judge. and at that time coretta scott king wrote to the then chair of the senate judiciary committee, senator strom thurmond, and while the senate may not entertain these remarks, while the senate may stifle a united states senator, this is the people's house and it is appropriate that the record of this house at least reflect the comments of coretta scott king. and so i would like to use the time remaining to read perfect cover letter -- her cover letter from march sp, 1986, and to read excerpts from the statement she attached to it. dear senator thurmond. i write to express my sincere opposition to the confirmation of jefferson b. sessions as a

federal district judge for the southern district of alabama. my professional and personal roots in alabama are deep and lasting. anyone who has used the power of his office as a u.s. attorney to intimidate and chill the free cher size of the ballot by citizens should not be elevated to our courts. mr. sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. for this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship. i regret that a long-standing commitment convinced me from appearing in person to testify against this nominee, however i have attached a copy of my statement opposing mr. session's confirmation. i request my statement as well as this letter be made part of the hearing record. i do sincerely urge you oppose the confirmation of mr. session.

the statement attached to that and very airly long convincing. i are read parts of it here. mr. sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the preexercise of vote by black citizens in a district he now seeks to serve as federal judge. this simply cannot be allowed to happen. mr. sessions' conduct as u.s. attorney from his politically motivated voting fraud prosecutions to his indifference toward criminal violences of civil rights laws indicates he lacks the temperament, fairness, and judgment to be a federal judge. a person who has exhibited so much hostility to the enforcement of those laws and thus to the exercise of those rights by black people should not be elevated to the federal bench. the irony of mr. sessions' nomination is that. if confirmed he will be given life tenure for doing with

federal prosecution what local sheriffs accomplished 20 years ago with clubs and cattle products. -- prods. the actions taken by mr. sessions in regard to the 1984 voting fraud prosecutions represents just one more technique used to intimidate black voters and thus deny them the most precious franchise. in these investigations mr. sessions as u.s. attorney exhibited an eggerness to bring -- eagerness to bring to trial, albert turner, despite evidence clearly democrat stating their incense. he sought to punish older black civil rights activists, advisors and colleagues of my husband, who had been key figures in the civil rights movement in the 1960's. therefore, it is my strongly held view that the appointment of mr. sessions to the federal bench would irrap praably

damage the work of my husband, al turner, and countless others who risked their lives and freedom oferte past 20 years to insure equal participation in the democratic system. clearly if these criticisms set forth in this statement, the entirety of which will be made part of the house record, if these statements indicate, as they did to the united states senate in 1986, that mr. sessions should not be a district court judge, they also argue that he should not have been confirmed as attorney general of the united states. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in he recess until 2:00 p.m.

following their meeting. we will have that live at 2:00 eastern on c-span3. and this past weekend, the candidates for chair of the democratic national committee spoke to members at a forum in baltimore, maryland. the 10 candidates participated in a nearly two-hour-long question and answer period with members. the d.n.c. will be voting for a chair at the end of february. during meetings in atlanta. here's the candidates' debate. donna: the candidates are ready.