serve as our nation's third border. drug traffickers and criminals use these nations as transit points en route to the united states making us less safe and contributing to a deterioration of the human welfare and social and economic development of those nations. . this authorizes the president to incorporate care come into the meridia initiative. this will provide them with the lodge cyclal -- lodgistical support needed. also included is the exchange program. i was an original co-sponsor of the stand-alone bill, h.r. 416. this program provides scholarships for caricom students to study in american universities and colleges and upon program completion participants return to the

caricom. this exchange program will create a safe and economically vibrant caribbean basin and keep us safe here at home. the authorization also includes language that creates the office of women's global affairs with a fully empowered ambassador at-large. according to the center for development and population facility, it is essential to global progress. thank you for yielding time and i ask my colleagues to vote in favor of the rule and bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: mr. speaker, i would inquire how much time remains? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida has five minutes remaining. the gentleman from florida has 4 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. diaz-balart: it's a privilege to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from georgia, dr. broun. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes.

mr. broun: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise today in opposition to this rule. i am very disappointed that the rules committee did not rule my amendment in order. my amendment would have required the state department to wait for a response from the c.i.a. before issuing a visa to an ap i will caint. when a security advisor finance has been requested. national security is a primary function of the government under the constitution. and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks our nation has had to take a closer look at our policies and create a more layered approach to security, including visas. however, as tourism has once again increased so have waiting times for some visas. earlier this year the department of homeland security initiated a review of the visa approval process. applications in particular. the committee staff was finally briefed last week on changes that had already been implemented. according to details supplied during the briefing, d.h.s. determined that the waiting period for man is was too long. the primary -- manis was too

long. the primary reason was lack of staff. instead of increasing staff as needed they recommended several policy changes. a small window for certain intelligence agencies to respond before the state could clear the visa. this is insane. let me be clear. what we're talking about is allowing some foreigners enter our country before our intelligence agencies have fully vetted their visa applications. again, what we're talking about is allowing some foreigners to enter our country before our intelligence agencies have fully vetted their visa applications. i'm very concerned about these changes, and i urge my colleagues to join me in investigating this issue. it's an important aspect of our national security, and i am disappointed that my amendment was not allowed to receive debate and for a vote on the floor today. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from florida reserves the balance of his

time. the gentleman from florida. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i have no additional speakers, and i'm prepared to close and would reserve the balance of my time until the gentleman closes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: mr. speaker, i yield the balance of our time to the ranking member, mr. dreier. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for three minutes. mr. dreier: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, it seems like a long time ago but i'd like to begin by congratulating my friend from miami for his very thoughtful and passionate opening statement. it's very important, mr. speaker, that we get this bill right because it clearly has an impact on every bilateral, regional and multilateral relationship that we have in the world. i hope very much at the end of the day we can get it right. i would like to take my time to talk about just one of those very important bilateral relationships that we have. and that is the relationship

with what colin powell described as the most misunderstood country in the world. i'm talking, mr. speaker, about the fourth most populous country in the world, the largest muslim population in the world and, of course, by virtue of that, the largest muslim democcy in the world. that being indonesia. now, as we look at the changes that have taken place over the past 11 years in indonesia it is absolutely remarkable and extraordinarily impressive. the 32-year reign of harto came to an end in 1998, and since that time we have seen democracy take hold and build. we all know that democracy is a work in progress. we as americans know that our democracy continues to be a work in progress. and indonesia's is as well. the challenge of ensuring that the military comes under civilian rule is one with which they're still grappling. and if you think about this

country, 17,000 -- 17,000 different islands and hundreds of languages and ethnicities and yet they have been able to cobble together what one called the convergences of muslim and democracy. so, mr. speaker, we are continuing to this day work on that relationship through our house democracy assistance commission where we're working to build the parliament which again a little more than a decade ago was a sham organization and today it is growing and building well. other institutions, including the very important rule of law in indonesia are continuing to build as well. so there are challenges. we all know that and i hope very much that we'll be able to encourage the kind of reform that is taking place there. so at the end of the day i have to say on this measure that we're dealing with as mr. diaz-balart has pointed out so well there are some important

amendments that some of my colleagues have spoken about that unfortunately were not made in order. and so i'm going to urge my colleagues to join with us in opposition to this rule because mr. smith, the distinguished ranking member of the full committee, ms. ros-lehtinen, and others said we should have an open amendment process that will allow a free-flowing debate on all of these issues. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida's time has expired. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, this is a good rule that paves the way toward improving our relations around the world. as i listen to the ranking member, my good friend on the rules committee, i thought he was going to support the rule because he's so impressed with the work that was put forward in this bill that covers developing democracies which has been such a tremendous champion of over a period of

time. i'll yield for five seconds. mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding. i say i think it can be even better if we could have an open amendment process. i thank my friend for yielding. mr. hastings: reclaiming my time. clearly it covers what you like, and i'm delighted. after years of neglect, now is the time to inject the critical resources that will enable the department of state and other foreign policy agencies to carry out the important work of rebuilding lasting partnerships with our friends and allies. the underlying bill -- bills include important provisions to fulfill our obligations to the united nations, to peacekeeping efforts, to humanitarian aid and refugee assistance and to building effective counterterrorism and arms control policy. and, yes, to do everything in our power to avoid unwanted pregnancies in the first place.

these bills are greatly supported. i ask for an aye vote on the rule and the bill he bill and i the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on adoption of house resolution 522 will be followed by five-minute votes on motions to suspend the rules on house resolution 453 and house resolution 454. committee chairman are advised to allow members to vote within the allotted time frame and staff are advised to contact

their members promptly as a courtesy to members the gavel is likely to fall quickly. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]