disease. since 1980, the f.d.a. has approved only one new drug for treatment of childhood cancer while having approved 50 new cancer-fighting drugs for adults. children living with life-threatening conditions need access to newly developed drugs that can treat these rare diseases. whether a disease is rare or common, the need for effective care and potential cures is the same. therefore, i strongly urge its inclusion in the final bill that will go to the president for his signature. mr. speaker, on the slightly different note, i'd also like to discuss another issue of equal importance. my colleagues and i have worked closely with the pharmaceutical distribution security alliance to craft a consensus proposal that has the support of manufacturers, whole sell irs in dealing with traceability of prescription medication. the proposal known as r.x. tech would establish a national standard to address the serious

issue of drug traceability and pedigree. i ask for her commitment by working so diligently with both chambers of this very important issue. ultimately securing placeholder language in the senate f.d.a. reform bill. i am very supportive of this proposal as it increases patient access to safe medicines, improves security of the pharmaceutical distribution chain and lowers costs and regulatory burdens. given the seriousness of this issue and to avoid injuries and potential deaths from counterfeit drugs, i urge the f.d.a. and all parties involved in these talks to find common ground so we can include final supply chain integrity language into the final draft. similar to section 865, i ask my colleagues on the committee to also voice their support for inclusion. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania.

mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, from the health subcommittee, really the author of the sections on generic drug user fee and biosimilars in the bill, dr. murphy, two minutes. mr. murphy: i thank the chairman and thank the speaker. they'll spend 15% of their household income on health care, including $620-plus on prescriptions. but that will be much higher if there were no f.d.a.-approved generic pharmaceutical. that same senior might pay $1,000 for medicine. and medicare would spend some $67 billion more. we must always assure that any medication, brand name or generic, is of the highest quality. but currently the food and drug administration cannot assure that medicines coming in from overseas factories, such as those from china, are pure.

this bill includes my legislation, the biosimilar user fee act to authorize for the first time an f.d.a. program that will expedite approval of generics and clear a backlog of over 2,800 generic applications. and currently the f.d.a. is supposed to make a decision on the application within 16 months. but the agency is taking twice their time because of laxed resources of inspecting factories. u.s. factories are inspected perhaps once every two years as more longer. perhaps seven to nine years and that means millions of dosages of drugs coming in from overseas without any inspection. and recall what happened when heperin called people. and 95% of pharmaceutical ingredients are made in foreign facilities, but we cannot be dependent on those who are below standards. people of all ages deserve

peace and mind and we must have the highest trust of all medicines, either brand name or generic. this bill will restore and support that trust. for american consumers. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. >> i'm not expecting any more speakers. i'll reserve until we close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman -- >> i would like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from georgia, another valued member of the health subcommittee, the author of the gain act, the section dealing with antibiotics, saled participant in all these negotiations. two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. gingrey: i thank the gentleman, i thank ranking member colon, the bill we are passing today in the house of representatives, 5651, is an

opportunity to come to the well in support of something we've done in a bipartisan way. i really relish that very rare opportunity. mr. speaker, once again, we are showing the american people that we can, when we have a need a need and good idea and months and months and months went into working on this bill, staffs on both sides, so i commend them all. and of course ranking member waxman as well. so let me just say that. other members talked about the many aspects of the bill, talking about the user fee aspect of prescription drugs, generic drugs, biosimilar the drug safety chain aspect addressing this problem of shortage of drugs, ranking -- emeritus member dingell is a big part of that aspect of the bill. let me just say one thing about something that i had a lot of input into and i'm very proud of, that is a specific drug,

antibiotics where we have a tremendous shortage of. that inclusion of my bill, the gain act, generating antibiotic incentives now, are in this bill, is hugely important. we have a lack of antibiotics in this country. we need to incentivize manufacturers to come forward with new and better antibiotics. i want to mention very briefly, anecdotely, in my district, the 119 of georgia, northwest georgia, a young college student fell recently in a stream, deeply gashed her leg, and bacteria got in that leg, normally, 99 times out of 100, would cause no problems whatsoever. in this instance, maybe because of the depth of the wound and the amount of trauma to the tissue, it resulted in something called neck rotizing -- necrotizin fasciitis. she's on the way to recovery

but not without significant difficulties. that's why the gain aspect of the bill is so important. i support this bill tremendously in a bipartisan way. thank you all and thank you for the time and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: at this time, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from ohio, mr. latourette. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. latourette: good evening, mr. speaker, it's nice to see you. i commend the energy and commerce committee for producing a good piece of legislation. i also want to applaud the efforts to enhance the safety of america's pharmaceutical supply chain. while we're fortunate in america to not yet have a widespread problem, counterfeit drugs pose a serious health risk to all consumers. the current patchwork of state requirements and licensing, however, makes supply chains, compliance, and safety inconsistent and challenging which potentially jeopardizes

the safety and welfare of millions of americans. unless this is enacted, the u.s. will fail to provide the visibility and leverage technology to provide a cost effective consumer protection. third party logistic providers are playing a growing and important role in making sure medicines reach their destination. currently, federal law does not recognize the role of a 3pl. only one state today officers a license for 3pl. other states require for them to apply far wholesale distributor license though they don't buy or sell drug thesms varying patchwork of inconsistent requirements does not provide for the optimum law enforcement and there's an

added cost without a safety benefit. 3pl's need to be defined and properly licensed. including this language is a strong first step toward developing federal standards and licenses. i want to thank my colleagues on the energy and commerce committee in advance for a successful and constructive conference process and i am confident that we can enhance the supply chain safety in a reasonable and cost effective manner and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: i'm prepared to close. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to say i think this is a great example of what we can do not just in the energy and commerce committee but in general in this house on a

bipartisan basis when everyone works together for a common goal. this is an important piece of legislation. it's important for the pharmaceutical industry, it's important in terms of job creation, in terms of innovation and also bringing low cost drugs to the american people. and without the type of bipartisan cooperation we had, we would not have been able to get here with this time schedule, which is truly amazing. i want to thank everyone and i would like to say i hope we can do similar good work in the remainder of this congress. i urge my colleagues to vote aye. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. pitts: in conclusioning i want to again commend leadership on both sides of the aisle, ranking member emeritus mr. dingell and ranking member mr. pallone and mr. waxman and chairman upton and staff of both sides. they have done a terrific job, spent countless hours, and i especially want to mention clay

and ryan on our side and our personal staff. they have been absolutely terrific and because of this, this legislation is going to save many lives, it's going to help the united states continue to be the world leader for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries and mean a lot to our economy as well. and with that, and thanks to all, i urge all members to support this very important legislation and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5651 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- mr. pitts: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in support of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceed thonings

question will be postponed. for what purpose does the quelt from louisiana seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h r. 3310 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3310, a bill to amend the communications act of 1934 to consolidate the reporting obligations of the federal communications commission in order to improve

congressional oversight and reduce reporting burden. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise and the gentlewoman from california, ms. matsui, each will kohl 30 minutes. mr. scalise: i ask that always members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. scalise: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. scalise: we are bringing forward the f.c.c. condition consolidated reporting act. if you look throughout the many different requirements the f.c.c. has, the number of reports -- this is -- this is a small stack of the reports that f.c.c. has been required to bring to congress just in the last two years. many of these reports not only place tremendous burden on the industry groups that have to provide this data but in many time, because of the way

they're structured, by the time the report is issued, the data is outdated and doesn't look at any broad spectrum issues. they're mostly specific to an industry, a specific area of an industry, instead of looking at the entire marketplace. what we're doing with the f.c.c. con sol date ereporting act is actually bringing forward a measure that reduces the size of government, that actually reins in the heavy hand of government and takes eight different annual reports and consolidated them into one consolidated biannual report. you're taking eight reports that in many cases are outdate by the time they're released and in some cases the f.c.c., even though they're required to produce the data annually, because the reports are so burdensome on industry and the f.c.c., they're not able to produce the reports annually. many cases, we've had report deuce annually that haven't been submitted to us since

2009. we're making a much more common sense approach to this reporting system. in addition to that, we're repealing some of the rimets that are still on the books, laws that congress has passed over the last few decades that are not even required anymore by f.c.c. or other agencies, yet are still on the law books so we're cleaning up a lot of those. one of those, i'll give as an example, we're still requiring a competitiveness report to be produced with the wireless -- with the wire line telegraph industry. i don't know anybody since samuel morse invented that technology in the 1800's that's still using that on a broad scale but surely we don't need on the books a requirement that we have a report submitted by the f.c.c. on competitiveness

in the wireline telegraph industry. so this bill is a bipartisan approach to remove some of the unnecessary requirements on our job creators who have to have compliance departments to comply with all these requests from the f.c.c. and in many cases they're getting these requests and they know that when they submit this data, the reports they're submitting the data for won't even be produced annually and when those reports come out, they'll be outdated yet you still have to have massive compliance departments to gatt they are information up. i think it makes much more sense for us to tell our job creators that instead of having massive compliance departments to do unnecessary work, that dollar would be much better spent going out and creating jobs and building out the wireless networks people across the country so desperately need. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from california. ms. matsui: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of h.r. 3310, federal communications

commission consolidated reporting act of 2012. this bill con sole dates various technologies and competition reports that the federal communications commission is required to give to congress in a new marketplace report that will be submitted to congress every two years. the f.c.c. is required to assess the state of competition, deployment as well as regulatory barriers to market in the communications marketplace. taking this special consideration, internet-based consideration. i support efforts to streamline the f.c.c.'s streamline requirements and i'm pleased that the majority and the subcommittee chairman worked with democrats to imploff the legislation throughout the market process. these include the adoption of an amendment offered by ranking member eshoo that would ensure the f.c.c. continues have the ability to ensure all forms of competition and producing the

marketplace report. it seeks to reduce the reporting burdens congress had previously imposed on the f.c.c. while encouraging the agency to analyze competition in the communications marketplace in a much more comprehensive way. the f.c.c. has accomplished numerous reforms aimed at improving agency process. the f.c.c. as improved notice and proposed rulemakings that contains the proposed text of rules. additionally, the f.c.c. has reduced average time from 14 calendar days to three calendar days. the f.c.c. voluntarily complied with president obama's executive order in conducting analysis of commission's existing rules. during the process, the f.c.c. has eliminated over 200 obsolete

regulations, including the elimination of 25 data collections as part of the state of art initiative. looking ahead the f.c.c. has a major task in implementing the public safety and spectrum provisions of the middle-class tax relief and job creation act. the commission will be under taking the most complex spectrum option in history through an incentive auction of the spectrum. we must ensure the auction's success. as co-chair of the working group, i'm hopeful to have the opportunity to work closely with the f.c.c. and other relevant agencies and identifying underutilized for repurpg. mr. chairman, -- mr. speaker, we face a spectrum crunch as more

americans are offered mobile devices and applications. we must ensure they meet future demands. i applaud the f.c.c.'s recent efforts that access to the communication tools will be competitive in the 21st century economy. these numbers are particularly high among lower incomes, seniors, rural americans, residents on tribal lands and people with disabilities. the commission approved responsible reforms including the creation of pilot programs to promote broadband adoption. these pilot projects will help make broadband available for lower income americans and other challenges to broadband adoption

including digital literacy and the cost of devices. i commend the f.c.c. for these efforts and i look forward to working with the commission when these pilot projects are announced. thank you, mr. speaker and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana. mr. scalise: i would like to ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the statement from the chairman of the house energy and commerce committee, mr. upton from michigan. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. scalise: i would like to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from tennessee, member of our committee and subcommittee, ms. blackburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. mrs. blackburn: i rise to support this commonsense piece of legislation, much like the bill that was passed in march in march. the f.c.c. consolidated reporting act will streamline eight annual and triennial reports into one communications marketplace report.

it is to ease some of the reporting regulations and providing a better platform to analyze the converged nature of today's competitive marketplace. it's important to get the reporting in check because the f.c.c. has control over 1/6 of our nation's economy. this legislation would simply bring back some efficiency and transparency to an agency that is clearly lacking in both categories. we need to redirect the f.c.c. away from its old approach to regular policy making. a streamlined and consolidated reporting system that better reflects today's competitive marketplace is necessary to help end this process, especially for those who understand that we need whole sale change and deregulation of the nation's

leading communications governing agency. i support the legislation to simplify the f.c.c.'s reporting measures and i encourage my colleagues to support the legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california. ms. matsui: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana. mr. scalise: i would like to yield three minutes to the chairman of the telecommunications subcommittee, the gentleman from oregon, mr. walden. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walden: i thank mr. scalise and ms. mats suey for their work and bringing about efficiencies and accountability and look for federal spectrum that might be freed to help grow jobs and spur innovation in america. this particular piece of law as we move it forward, gets about trying to reduce some waste. and it really starts with congress, because this is all

stuff that is in statute that we have to change. believe it or not. the communications act requires the federal communications commission to assess the state of telegraph competition. this isn't just unhelpful but a waste of taxpayer funds. the american public expects and deserves an efficient federal government that keeps changes in the market and this bill gets us there. the reports that f.c.c. issues, not only reduces the burdens but makes sure the agency, the public and stake holders have a realistic picture in the marketplace to make their policy judgments. the communications sector is very competitive and innovative and creating jobs and one of the more open sectors in our economy. smartphone to the tab let, this sector is creating new services, new devices and the high quality jobs that come with high tech

investment. wireline, wireless and capable providers invested $66 billion of private capital in broadband infrastructure in 2011. u.s. is leading in cutting-edge wireless technology. industry converges has led to voice video and they are competing against different platforms and the market is moving faster than the law. the ffrlt c.c. is still required by law to give reports and write two reports each year on satellite industry and two reports on the cable industry and yet it's one market. there should be one report covering both. the act con sole dates eight reports on the communications industry into a single comprehensive report with a focus on competition. eliminating regulatory barriers. the marketplace report will

improve our oversight abilities and help reduce costs and eliminates 12 outdated reports including reports repealed more than a decade ago. the bill is bipartisan and supported by a number of agencies and i ask my colleagues to join in supporting this and pass it into law. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california? ms. matsui: i reserve. mr. scalise: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from georgia, mr. gingrey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. mr. gingrey: i rise in strong support of h.r. 3310, f.c.c. reporting act of 2012. i commend the author of this legislation and fellow members of the subcommittee for their work on this issue and i applaud

the work of subcommittee chairman greg walden who ensured we move this legislation through regular order. this con sole dates eight congregs neal mandated studies into a single report with a focus on competition, deploying communications to underserved and unserved communities, eliminating regulatory barriers and empowering small businesses. this legislation will make the f.c.c. more efficient by eliminating and outdating reports that are still in the statute. in the 21st century it is not necessary for the f.c.c. to provide a report on competition for the f.c.c. -- to require that between wire telephone and wire telegraph providers, think morris code. h.r. 3310 passed the full energy and commerce committee by on a voice vote on march 6, 2012 and

will relieve reporting standards and replace them with an analysis with a 21st september try marketplace and its demands on the telecommunications sfi. this represents solid policy and i urge support of h.r. 3310 and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california? ms. matsui: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana. mr. scalise: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from florida, mr. stearns. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. stearns: i thank my colleague. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of this bill. it streamlines eight separate congresses neal mandated reports into a single one comprehensive report as chairman of the subcommittee, i along with chairman walden have looked into the backlog and work load of the f.c.c. now, in a report we released in november, we found that annual reports to congress, such as the

satellite competition report and video programming report have not been completed in years. this is disconcerting since the telecom act of 1986 was designed with a single regulatory slant requiring the f.c.c. to conduct these reports to determine whether regulation was indeed necessary. how can the f.c.c. appropriately make these decisions and regulate an industry that has not comprehensively analyzed in more than four years? this bill is aimed at reducing some reporting burdens on the f.c.c. to ensure these annual reports are just that, simply reported annually. at the same time, this bill encourages the agency in today's age of convergens to analyze competition in the marketplace as a whole rather than based on archaic technologies. we no longer need to consider the industry in a vacuum. as they compete head-to-head in

most markets across this country. in 1992 when we passed the cable act, it occupied the market and the more recent data cable only occupies a third of this market competing with satellite, netflix and the internet. it looks at the marketplace as a whole and will serve congress more sufficiently. i hope my colleagues will yield and supporting this legislation and i appreciate its authors. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california? ms. matsui: might i inquire of the gentleman if he has any further speakers? if not, i can close. mr. scalise: i'm prepared to close. . . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. matsui: as broadband continues to be -- to play a critical role in our economy it

is important that we fully understand any and all barriers to internet service while continuing to allow the internet economy to grow and innovate. i want to thank my colleagues on energy and commerce -- commerce committee for working in a bipartisan manner on this bill and urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the gentlelady from california for the bipartisan work that she's done on this legislation, especially i want to thank chairman upton and chairman walden for allowing taos bring this bipartisan legislation forward. it takes a common sense approach to so many reports and requirements that are placed on industry and the f.c.c. frankly that require a whole lot of work to produce reports that are outdated before they're even file. the job of government and regulators should not be just to make companies do busy work, to file reports just for the sake of building up reams and

reams of papers that nobody can read and nobody can to anything with because the data is not useful. what we're doing is taking eight reports, eight reports that look at very specific sector areas but don't really tell a picture of what's happening in the industry and we consolidate those into one report rather than annual, a biannual, and reducing a lot of requirements on business that just have to have these compliance departments to -- because when they're asked by the f.c.c. to provide data, they have to provide it, even though they know the data won't be used and in some cases won't be useful in the context in which it's filed. in addition, we hear about the laws passed in congress. people say why don't you repeal laws that have been sitting on the books for decades. so we repeal 12 different reports that are no longer used, the examples been given a number of time the telegraph report that's still a law on

the books. we repeal that as well. it's a common sense approach that tells the people that are out there building this infrastructure, building these wireless networks that so many people, that millions and millions in our country use every single day, to improve their lives and quality of life and the effectiveness of the job creators and small businesses out there, it says you don't need massive compliance departments to comply with things nobody reads. you can use the resources to create more jobs and build up that network so we can do more innovative things with the technology we have today and in the future. i urge all my colleagues to support h.r. 3310 and i yield back the plans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and approve h.r. 3310 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those being in the affirmative, the rules are suspends, the bill is pass and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the

gentleman rise? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 420 . the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: a bill to amend the this service member's civil relief act to provide for the protection of child custody arrangements for parent whorsnoves armed forces. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from florida, mr. stearns and the gentlewoman om -- the gentlewoman from florida, ms. brown, each will control 20 pins. the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: i rise in strong support of h.r. 4201, a bill introduced by my good friend, mike turner, from ohio. as our nation's service members continue to endure long deployments oversea the service civil relief act is there to protect their interests at home. at its core, it ensures that service members have certain protections in the event that

military service everything from mortgages to cell phone contracts, it simply fails to protect one uniform framework for protecting service members' rights under child custody actions by state courts. this bill would protect these rights by amended the scra to require that if a court gives temporary custody of a service member's child to someone else because of the service member's deployment, the service member has the opportunity to have the previous custody order reinstated upon their return. this would occur unless the court determines that such a move would not be in the best interest of the child. it would proiblet the courts from considering the absence or potential absence from being considered as part of the court's determining of the child's best interest and it

ensures that if higher protections than that provided by the bill h.r. 4201 exist under any state law, then the higher standard should be applied. mr. speaker, in previous congresses, members have received anecdotal evidence of service members having to make the difficult decision of choosing between their military career and the legal custody of their children because of the rulings made by courts that took their military service into account when assigning custody of the child. mr. speaker, i believe our service members who stand guard in constant defense of our liberty should never have to make this choice. that is why this bill, provisions to -- revisions to scra, are so critical to unit morale and our armed forces. i want to thank chairman miller and ranking member filner for their support. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlewoman from florida. ms. brown: thank you, mr. speaker and members of the house. i rise today as the house of representatives returns from memorial day events around the country to honor our nation's service members and their families. on behalf of a grateful nation, i want to thank our men and women for their sacrifice to defend the defend of freedom we all hold so dear. as the president -- as president obama has said, it is important to follow those words with deeds. that's what we must do, what we can -- why we must do what we can for veterans in past, present, and future conflicts. i am please to have had been a member of congress in 2009 when the democratic president, democratic house and democratic senate passed the largest budget in the history of the department of vet ans affairs. in addition, we made sure that the v.a. was not subject to the whims of government shutdowns and the subject of the health care budget of the v.a. to

advance appropriations, removing the worries for our veterans that their health care would be available. i am looking forward to the celebration to be held in the end of june to honor the market point marines. it is necessary to honor all of the -- all of america's war heroes,er is -- heroes' service and sacrifice, in particular those who serve, the marines who were the last to integrate about to be recognized as a rich legacy of our marine corps. they answered the nation's call at a time when our society was deeply divide along racial lines. as our service members continue to delay, we -- deploy, we immediate to ensure we are doing everything we can do to help the families. one item that's often overlooked is the care of service members' children when they are deployed. h.r. 4201 would amend the

service member's civil relief act to help protect the children -- child custody rights of service members being deployed overseas. this bill would protect a service member's custody rights by requiring that temporary custody order based solely on their deployment will be exactly that, temporary, and when the service member returns, the effect in order before the deployment would be in effect. this provides important safeguards and peace of mind to our service members faced with overseas deployment and puts the interests of the children first. this bill was passed by the house last congress and we should do it again. thank you, mr. speaker. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: i recognize mr. turner from ohio for as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. turner: thank you. mr. speaker, unbelievably, across this country, in family law courts, in states, our

service members stand before family law court judges who take custody away from our service members upon their return from either previously iraq or now afghanistan, based solely on the fact that they were away from their children serving their country. mr. speaker, we should not have one arm of the government ordering our service members to deploy and another arm of our government taking their children away from them based upon the fact that they are -- that they were away servicing their -- serving their country. one service member who has been a champion of this issue said she did not understand when she got back, by law, they had to give her her job back but by law no one had to return to her, her child. service members risk their lives in support of the operations that keep our nations safe. state courts should not be allowed -- allowed to use a service member's previous deployments or the possibility of future deployments when

making child custody determinations. they should not be able to use -- they should not be able to use deployment when making these decisions. we want to amend the act to protect them from this standard by creating a unified stan card. state laws differ on the question of whether deployment or the potential for future deployment can be used by a criterion for these courts and many states have no laws at all. the difference in state laws provides an opportunity for ex-spouses to venue shop to find a state that will alter custody agreements. many service member custody battles involve up to three state the state of the original custody order, the state the child is residing and the state where the service member is stationed this bill creates a protective floor to make sure

all military parents can feel confident their service to our country won't be used against them in courts. in supporting this decision, secretary gates said, quote, i am convinced that the benefits outweigh the concerns and thus we should work with congress to pursue an acceptable formulation. the language of this bill has passed the house on seven separate occasions and the bill has strong bipartisan support. i have a letter to leon panetta signed by every member of the house armed services committee and i ask that this letter be entered into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. turner: we owe it to our service members to provide legal protection for custody. service men and women should not be in the position to choose between their keer and their child. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida. ms. brown spock hutch time remains? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman has 17 1/2 minutes

remaining. ms. brown: i yield as much time as he may consume ott -- may consume to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. anderson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. anderson: i ask madam speaker consent to rhett -- to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. anderson: i -- mr. andrews: this is an issue where there's no republican-democrat or liberal-conservative divide. i commend my friend from florida for being an exemplar of that principle. no member of our armed services should ever be told that a custody decision involving their children depends solely on the fact that they have been deployed or will be deployed. never should that happen. now, in the past, there's been arguments, frankly from the other body, against this provision. on the argument that this -- we must choose between the best

interest os they have child and the sovereign parental rights of our service members. this is a false and inaccurate choice. this bill starts from the premise that the best interests of the child is the paramount value. it in no way disrupts or subverts state law in any respect. but it adds to that provision a provision that must be add by federal law because there must be a uniform standard since it's the federal government that is deciding who will be deployed and when. so supplemental to the guiding principle of the best interest of the child, is a principle in this bill that says that deployment cannot be the sole

reason for a decision to deprive a man or woman of custody of his or her child. now, it strikes me that this is a complex legal issue. i will confess to that. but morally, this is a distinct, clear, and open issue. we all support the best interests of a child. but i think we all support, and i think in a few minutes we'll have a vote that nonstraits that we all support, the principle that the sovereignty of parenthood should not be forfeited by taking the oath of office to serve one's country in uniform. this should never happen. so again, here's what this means. it means that no child would ever be placed in a situation that's not in his or her best interests in the decision of the decisionmaker, judge or court. no one wants that. but it also means that any state or any judge that says the sole reason that we are depriving a man or woman of custody of his or her son or daughter is because they volunteered to serve their country and followed an order to be deployed or about to

follow an order to be deployed. this is morally clear, it is legally correct and i hope it will be unanimously supported by the ladies and gentlemen of the house. i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida. ms. brown: i have no further speakers. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back? ms. brown: yes, sir. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: i will close and yield myself such time, and say, this is a very important bill. mr. turner touched on something i want to bring up again. the language in this bill has passed the house on seven separate occasions. six times as part of the house national defense authorization act in f.y. 2008, 2009, 2010,

2011. and once by a voice vote in 2008. and all the while this bill has had strong bipartisan support. mr. speaker, if i can, i urge the united states senate that upon passage today, our colleagues over there simply take up this bill and 10 other bills that the veterans committee has passed through our committee and the house and pass those also. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4201. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: gentleman request the yeas and nays? mr. stearns: yes. the speaker pro tempore: those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

the gentleman from florida. mr. stearns: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to include any extraneous material on h.r. 4201. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. king: i move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1299. the clerk: h.r. 1299, a bill to achieve operational control of and improve security at the international land borders of the united states and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. king, and the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. king: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mr. king: i yield myself such time as i may consume. we are running short on time and i will abbreviate my remarks. h.r. 1299, border security act of 2011, requires the secretary to develop a strategy to gain operational control of the border within five years. i commend congresswoman miller who is chairman of the subcommittee for her leadership on this issue. border security is an integral element of homeland security. we must secure our borders. congress has allocated billions of dollars to secure the border through investments, technology and infrastructure, however our

borders remain vullneble. the documents made public after osama bin laden compound, al qaeda continues to examine crossing the border. it is critical that the department produce a comprehensive strategy to gain operational control over the board. this is commonsense legislation and has bipartisan support. i urge my colleagues to support it and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: i rise in support of h.r. 1299 the secure border act of 2011 and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker would require the secretary of homeland security to submit to congress a comprehensive strategy for imagining operational control of our borders within the next five years. this bill defines operational control as the prevention of all unlawful entry into the united states, including entry by terrorists, other unlawful narcotics and contraband. it is extraordinary ambitious and doesn't offer additional resources to achieve this goal. i'm pleased that the will would

require the secretary to submit a model for customs and border protection staffing requirements for all land, air and seaports of entry. this is important information that our committee has repeatedly requested on a bipartisan basis, but has not yet received. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: i yield as much time as she may consume to the chair of the subcommittee, mrs. miller. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for such time as she may consume. mrs. miller: among the anew mexico righted powers of the -- among the enumerated powers of the constitution, we need to ensure the nation's borders. this moves this to a more closer border to develop a plan within five years. as part of that plan, the

department has account for satisfying requirements, investments in infrastructure and justification and rationale, for technology choices in deployment locations. since 9/11, this nation has spent billions of dollars to increase security with double the size of the border patrol, built 700 miles of fence, invested in technology and a wide array of surveillance equipment and most have been worth while. the department of homeland security needs to develop a comprehensive and coherent plan to take control of the border and taking into account personnel and comprehensive needs. previous border security efforts enlisted activities from urban areas to more rural and remote areas such as arizona. this balloon effect has shifted the problem. how we determine or measure what

a secure border looks like has been the subject of a lot of debate. about the congress and the american people should have a way to determine if we are making progress along the border. for years we rely on operational control as a proxy for border security and it has become a defacto term. 44% of the southwest border was under operational control and less than 2% of the northern border was adequately secured. but in 2010, the department of homeland security stopped reporting the numbers of miles of border under operational control and as yet has not supplied an alternative measure of border security to replace the operational control measures. the border patrol released new 2012 strategic plan which makes no mention of operational control. the department believes that this is probably not the right measure to describe security and working on the border conditioned intext which is a measure to inform our border

security efforts and we are open to a more open, robust standards if it supplements operational control and better describes what is happening in security at our border. we can't assume that this new measure stacks up against operational control. we just can't change the rules if we don't like the results. if the secretary of the department of homeland security decides to use a measure other than operational control, this bill would require that any other measure of border security would be vetted by a national laboratory with prior expertise in border security. that boils down to trust, but verify. security along the border is move often than not in terms of census, u.a.v.'s and camera towers. that is one side of the story. we need to increase security at our ports of entry. this bill requires the secretary to develop a measure which

gauges our progress at the points of entry so when combined with operational control or its successor, we have a full picture of our border security. mr. speaker, the men and women of the united states border control and u.s. customs and border protection have a very difficult job and i know we all want to thank them for the very hard work they do in some very demanding conditions to help secure our nation and it's our hope that a comprehensive strategy will inform the congress of the resources it needs from the department of homeland security and give the men and women the tools they need and move us toward a more secure border both at and between the ports of entry. i encourage my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i have no more speakers, if the gentleman from new york is prepared to close. mr. king: ranking member, i have one further speaker, the

gentleman from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: for three minutes. mr. poe: thank you for yielding the time and appreciate mrs. miller offering this legislation. having been a resident in texas, a border state with mexico, i see firsthand the situation on the border. we hear everything politically from the border is safe to it's a war zone or somewhere in the middle. we do have a border security problem. just a couple of statistics to show you how the border is pourous. in our federal prisons is a group called i will -- illegal aliens. 25% in our prisons are illegal aliens. and i regularly go and visit with our border sheriffs and i ask them how many people in your jail are foreign nationals.

the latest statistic was 34.5% in our jails are foreign nationals. so, yes, crime comes into the united states is just one aspect of the lack of border security, but there is more. i met with some ranchers down in the southwest border. the ranch owner of this ranch on the border comes out to meet me and wearing a bulletproof vest. he has to wear it on his own land because the drug cartels come through his land and it is dangerous, just one more example of the pourous border that we have. and to show that the border is pourous, what happens in mecks -- mexico, doesn't stay in mexico. there was a family in our church that had this problem, cousins in mexico had been kidnapped by the drug cartels and held for ran some. they paid the ran some to get the family members back but they

murdered them any way. we have the problem of extortion, cross-board crime and because of the fact that the border needs to be more secure than it is. and a plan is a good idea, a plan to actually address all of these issues on the pourous border is something long overdue and glad to see we are moving in that direction to have a plan to see what will take place and protect our borders, which is the job of the federal government, which is to protect the national security. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. mr. king: if the gentleman from mississippi has no further speakers -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i thank the the gentlewoman from michigan, the

lead sponsor of this bill, for her leadership on maritime issues and willingness to work on a bipartisan basis in areas of shared concern and i support the bill. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: devising a comprehensive plan is the first step on the road to a more secure homeland. this bipartisan bill is a good start. i ask my colleagues to support its passage. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1299 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the bill is suspended and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. mr. king: i ask that the committee on homeland security be discharged for further consideration or h.r. 3670.

the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman move to suspend the rules? mr. king: i move the house suspend the rules. the clerk: h.r. 3670, a bill to require the transportation security administration to comply with the uniformed services employment and re-employment rights act. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. king, and the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. king: i ask members have five legislative days to include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. king: i will yield myself such time as i may consume and say again to the ranking member that this is a very vital bill. in the interest of time, because we still have three other pieces of legislation to pass in the next half hour, i will limit my remarks to say that the gentleman from minimum sote deserves credit. h.r. 3670 is vital and necessary and guarantee t.s.a. employees will keep their jobs when they

come home and not be changed by conflicting rules or regulations. i commend mr. bilirakis who is a co-sponsor of this bill. and i want to say to my friend of minnesota and dedicated his life to the military and continuing that here in the united states congress and i reserve. . . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: i yield myself such time as i may consume. memorial day is a time not only to honor members of our armed services who gave their lives in defense of our liberty but also to convey our support for veterans and service members. with the commemoration of memorial day earlier this week, it is fitting we are considering h reform 3670 today. h r. 3670,y conferring job protections for service members, conveys our commitment

to help reservists and other members of the uniformed services return to civilian life. specifically, the bill would ensure that the protections afforded under uniform service employment and reemployment rights act apply to transportation security administration employees and applicants just as they do everywhere in the public and private sector. mr. speaker, i'd also like to acknowledge t.s.a.'s leadership in hiring veterans. currently veterans make up over 23% of t.s.a.'s work force. i would encourage my colleagues and the general public to keep that number in mind when they encounter a t.s.a. worker at an airport check point. this is one -- there is a one in four chance that the person conducting the screening is a veteran and deserves the respect and appreciation commensurate with that title. with that, i reserve the

balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: i yield three minutes to mr. stearns. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. stearns: i also rise today in strong support of h.r. 3670, a bill introduced by my good friend mr. walz from minnesota this bill extends reemployment protection to employees of the transportation security administration by making them summit to the usera. it protects the reemployment rights of service members so they are able to keep jobs, benefits and senior i tissue seniority in their civilian jobs after serving active duty. when t.s.a. was created after 9/11 it was given an exemption to allow them to hire new employees. there is no evidence that applying this rule to t.s.a. will impede their mission of protecting our nation's air travel system. in fact, bringing t.s.a. under

this rule will strengthen their ability to recruit and retain highly qualified veterans. i would note that in testimony submitted for the record on this bill, h.r. 3670, t.s.a. stated that its current practices already conforms to the requirements that h.r. 3760 -- 3670 would put into stachuge. therefore this would ensure existing protections could not be weakened by a change in rules of regulations. i thank my good friend mr. wauls for introducing the legislation and i thank mr. jeffle miller of florida and i thank mr. king and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: i yield such time as he may consume to the original sponsor of the legislation under consideration, the gentleman from minnesota, mr. wauls. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for such time as he may consume.

mr. walsh: i thank the for bringing -- mr. walz: i thank the gentleman for bringing this to the floor. i like my colleagues and other americans spent monday at memorial day services. we give thanks to those brave patriots who made the supreme sacrifice to swe we would have our freedom. as the gentleman said, it's also a time for us to remember our responsibility to those who have fought and come back. after years of war, we have millions of returning veterans who the serve our respect and support this legislation helps us keep a promise to those brave warriors. as you heard, the uniform services employment and reemployment rights act was passed by this congress, a smart piece of legislation new york 1994. very simple. it says if you serve this

nation in uniform, you will not be disadvantaged in our civilian sector job. you you will have prompt reemployment when that service is done. and you will not be discriminated against because of current or past military service. if you put your life on the line, you put your health on the line, you shouldn't have to sacrifice your career progression against your peers because you are willing to serve this nation. that piece of legislation was very clear also. the federal government should be a model employer. also as the gentleman from mississippi stated, t.s.a. has a very important job of securing this nation. they have done a wonderful job hiring veterans. the issue at hand here is asking t.s.a. to abide think same rules as countless others have. there is not a police force, fire fighting force or employer that hasn't seen a -- sent a guardsman or reservist off to do duty. they have had to chauge schedules to bring them back. when you get a callup from the

national guard, most of the police department is gone. it's unconscionable that t.s.a. wouldn't. they say they are already complying with most of the regulations. they have had time to adjust to this. we need to make sure at a time of high unemployment against our veterans that we of all people, the federal government, throws up no barriers in front of them but welcomes them back, replaces them in their jobs and moves them forward. that's not only morally the right thick to do, it's the right thing to do for national defense. these are our best and brightest. i want them at our airports and ports and other places and we should get them back into it. i want to thank these two gentlemen for their unwavering work and the chairman of the v.a., mr. filner and mr. miller, and an absolute champion of veterans' rights, mr. bilirakis. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman if from new york. mr. king: i have no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from florida, ms. brown. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. brown spak -- ms. brown: thank you, chairman king and ranking member thompson for bringing this bill to the floor as we return from memorial day events with our constituents. when the t.s.a. was formed in -- after 9/11, we were attempting to consolidate many of the nation's security duties that were spread out over all of the departments. we were dedicated to the proposition that this event should never be repeated. our civilian transportation system should never be used for attacks ever again. our -- the transportation security administration was born, however, at the time, the -- republicans did not want to give the same right tots those members of the federal work force as other federal

employees enjoy. one of those rights was ewe sierra, the uniformed -- was userra. under usera, individuals retain certain rights when the person needs to be absent from his or her civilian employment to serve in this country's uniformed service. this bill requires the t.s.a. to comply with usera when dealing with air transportation passengers and property screening. i support this legislation as a good first step toward getting the same rights available to all federal employees. and let me just take this moment to thank t.s.a. for their hard work, dedication in keeping us safe and sometimes, i know it's inconvenient to the traveling public but remember, they're there to protect us, they would not be there if 9/11 had not occurred. so thank you for our service

and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: i'm prepared to close. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i have one additional speaker. the gentlelady from texas. ms. jackson lee. for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. jackson lee: mr. chairman, i thank you for yielding. mr. speaker, thank you and i thank the chairman of the full committee and the ranking member, as ranking member of the transportation security committee, it's my privilege to rise to support h.res. 1299 and let me thank the author of the bill, the gentleman from minnesota, for his leadership he is always speaking eloquently but fighting for our veterans and we thank you very much both for your service and

your leadership and also to thank the gentlelady from florida for her kind and astute remarks regarding the importance of t.s.a. in the last 24 hours there was a breach of security in san diego when an individual went through a secured door and boarded a plane. immediately -- immediate response from some commentators was, what was t.s.a. doing? they were doing their job and that breach obviously occurred before any entering into the secured area but it tells us how important t.s.a. is in being on the front line of securing this nation and being part of the team that's allowed us to not have a tragic incident on our soil since 9/11. so it is important to have the t.s.a. comply with the uniform service employment and reemployment act. the uniform services -- usera

ensures that those who serve in our armed forces, reserves, national guard are not disadvantaged in their civilian careers because of their service. they deserve this protection. under current law the t.s.a. is not required to comply with certain provisions of federal labor laws including usera. this is not right. currently the t.s.a., which has 50,000 employees is not required to hold positions and promotions for those called away to military service. 10,000 veterans serve on the t.s.a.'s work force. that's 1/5 of their entire work force. the head of my airport, bush intercontinental airport -- may i have an additional minute? bush intercontinental airport, colonel testa is a retired military. the law specified certain rights for individuals who serve in the uniformed services include those in the resoverbs gnarl guard who are called to duty. i join with my colleagues to

support this legislation to ensure that t.s.a. complies with usera. two days ago we observed memorial day. we must continue to support our veterans and mourn those who are los. it's porn to support this legislation in their name. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: i'm prepared to close. mr. king: i'm prepared to close once the gentleman does. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, h.r. 3670 enjoys bipartisan support of both committee on veterans affairs and the committee on homeland security and deserves the support of the full house today. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: it's only because of the late hour, we have three more pieces of legislation to pass in the next 15 minutes, the issue is so vibrant, i thank the gentleman from minnesota for it. i urge the members to support the bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h r. 3670. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? mr. king: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2764. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: h.r. 2764, the w.m.d. intelligence and information sharing act to improve intelligence act and require dissemination of information analyzed by the department with responsibilities relating to homeland security and for other purrs. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york, mr. king and the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. king: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise

and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. king: i ask that the congressional budget office score, not available at the time the report was filed, be included in the for the record. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognizeful mr. king: i want to commend mr. meehan, this is basically ensures that the intelligence andage cease of chemical, buy y logical, radiological threats are priority for the department of homeland security. because of the time constraints, i will urge support for the measure and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. tompsn: i rise in support of h.r. 2764, the w.m.d. intelligence and information sharing act of 2011, and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: this would

strengthen information sharing at all levels of government, with regard to chemical and nuclear terrorist threats. in decade since the attacks on september 11, 2001, concern about an attack on u.s. soil with weapons of mass destruction or dirty bomb have come in sharper focus, specifically concerns that terrorists and other rogue actors may want to access lucrative materials from the former soviet union, even weaponize biological agents that originated from stockpiles of now topple regimes have grown. this bill also requires d.h.s. to coordinate with other components in the intelligence community. and other federal, state, local and tribal authorities, to provide recommendations on information sharing. i would note for the record, mr. speaker, that the committee approved on a bipartisan basis the pascrell w.m.d. bill earlier

this month. i look forward to seeing this measure which was endorsed by a bipartisan commission considered on the house floor in the very near future. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. >> mr. speaker, i yield such time as he may consume to representative meehan, the gentleman from pennsylvania, who is chair of the subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for such time as he may consume. mr. meehan: thank you, mr. chairman. i thank you for yielding and i thank you for your kind words and i thank the ranking member for his kind words in support of this important amendment and i support -- i urge support for h.r. 2764 which provides, as has been explained, important guidance for the weapons of mass destruction and intelligence sharing functions of the department of homeland security. now this work has been built on a framework of important work, the roots of which were set with former senators, bob graham and jim talent. who were charged by a previous

congress, just two years ago, with establishing a weapons of mass destruction commission. and they found that unless decisive action was taken, it was their prediction that a w.m.d. attack would occur somewhere in the world by 2013. i recently returned from the middle east and one of the striking takeaways from that trip was the amount of chemical weapons which are currently stockpiled in syria. similar concerns have been expressed about missing libyan chemical weapons stockpiles. and obviously the great fear of all is that these weapons will get into the hands of al qaeda terrorists or others during times of great instability. we also can't forget the world's top state sponsor of terrorism, iran, which has explicitly sted that it would use nuclear weapons to wipe israel off the map.

al qaeda has reportedly made efforts to acquire what we call chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials or cbrn, to make weapons of mass destruction in the past. osama bin laden's death should not create an atmosphere of complacency. in fact, with multiple affiliate networks around the world targeting of the united states homeland interests, it is important that we remain as vigilant as ever. al qaeda's now led by zawahiri, bin laden's long-time second in command, and the possibility of a w.m.d. terrorist attack cannot be overstated. the congressionally established w.m.d. commission has been relentless in its efforts to ensure actions are being taken to meet what they describe as a very real threat. congress must do its part to ensure that the nation is meeting its w.m.d. detection and

prevention responsibilities in a meaningful and risk-based way. cbrn materials can be quite difficult to detect and to prevent and the danger they pose is unimaginable. this bill will ensure sustained d.h.s. commitment and to facilitate the partnership across the intelligence community, other governmental partners and with the public. i urge support for this bipartisan bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. mr. king: i have no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: thank you very much. mr. speaker, i urge passage of h.r. 2464, enactment of this measure will strengthen the department of homeland security and our nation's first reventers against one of the most vexing homeland security threats, weapons of mass destruction. with, that mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: mr. speaker, representative meehan has spent a great deal of time studying threats to the homeland, including al qaeda, the

pakistani taliban, hezbollah and others. he fully understands the threat to u.s. homeland and why this legislation is so vital. i urge members to support h.r. 2764 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2764 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. king: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 915 as amended by the committee on homeland security. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 179, h.r. 915, a bill to establish a border enforcement security task force program, tone chance border security by fostering coordinated efforts among federal, state and local border and law enforcement officials, to protect united states border cities and communities from transnational crime, including violence associated with drug trafficking, arms smuggling,

illegal alien trafficking and smuggling, violence and kidnapping along and across the international borders of the united states and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. king, and the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. king: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. king: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. there's probably no bill that's more meaningful to members of congress, particularly the gentleman from texas, my good friend, mr. cuellar, than this act. this would altogether rice for the first time -- this would authorize for the first time a task force led by immigrations and custom enforcement. it of course is named after the i.c.e. agent jaime zapata who was killed in the line of duty while serving on a best team in mecks could he in february,

2011. i want to thank the sponsors of the legislation, mr. cuellar, the ranking member of the subcommittee, and mr. mccaul of texas, the chairman of oversight investigations and management subcommittee, for the dedicated work on this bipartisan bill and again only in the interest of time, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 915, the jaime zapata border enforcement security task force act. and yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: h.r. 915 would for the first time statutorily authorize an important border security program, the best program. it would establish targeted cross-agency teams to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations, posing significant threats to the border security. currently the best programs have

31 teams located at our nation's northern and southern borders, as well as sea ports and places of tucson, arizona, detroit, michigan, the new york sea port and mexico city, mexico. to date best units have initiated more than 6,800 cases resulting in criminal and administrative arrests. and the seizure of significant quantities of narcotics, weapons, ammunition and currency. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: i have no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as he may consume, the original sponsor of the legislation under consideration and ranking member of the subcommittee on border and maritime security, the gentleman from texas, mr. cuellar. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for such time as he

may consume. mr. cuellar: thank you, mr. speaker. and again i want to thank the ranking member for yielding this time to me. i'm pleased that the house is considering h.r. 915, the jaime zapata border enforcement security task force, best act, a bipartisan bill by myself and congressman michael mccaul from texas. i'd like to thank my friend, chairman cane, my good friend ranking member thompson and also the subcommittee chairwoman miller for their support of this bill as this bill was unanimously reported out of the house homeland security committee. as meap of you know, the immigration and custom enforcement, i.c.e., homeland security investigations in partnership with u.s. customs border protection as well as other federal, state, local and law enforcement counterparts created the best initiative in fact in my hometown of laredo, a comprehensive approach to identifying, disrupting, dismantling criminal organizations, posting significant threats to border and maritime security.

915 would codify the best program by authorizing the secretary of homeland security acting through the director of i.c.e. to establish the best units to make sure that everybody works together, coordinates, communicates together to make sure that we fight the crime. this bill authorizes $10 million per year for the program and this bill, as the chairman said a few minutes ago, is named in the memory of jaime zapata, a homeland security investigation special agent and best unit member who was killed in the line of duty in mexico in february of 2011. we are grateful for special agent zapata's service to our nation. currently there are best units comprised of 750 members, representing over 100 law enforcement. they've been working together. these best units are building an impressive record of srg and success of and i'm asking now that we all support this particular bill and again i want

to thank the chairman, the ranking member of the subcommittee, my friend, michael mccaul, and urge all members to support this important bipartisan bill and thank you, i thank mr. speaker for the time and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: in the interest of time i have no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i have one additional speaker. i yield one minute to the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas voiced for one minute. ms. jackson lee: coming from texas i want to thank the gentleman from texas, the ranking member of the subcommittee, for this legislation. i rise to support 915. we have heard that there's an constant intrusion of activity over the border, specifically dealing with drug cartels. we recognize that it is important to utilize the combination of resources and fusion centers represent an excellent logistical use of that as they have been in our urban centers. let me support and salute the utilization of fusion centers

because it is extremely important that we provide a safe and secure border in the united states and on border states. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: i am prepared to close. mr. king: i have no further speakers. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i ask support of house bill 915. it's a good bill and i urge its adoption. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time? the gentleman from new york. mr. king: mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from laredo, mr. cuellar, for introducing this bill, for his outstamed standing work on the committee. also my good friend, mr. mccaul, for their co-sponsorship of the legislation. i urge my colleagues to support the bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 915 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded

in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. king: mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3140 as reported by the committee on homeland security. mr. thompson: i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman ask for the yeas and nays? mr. thompson: yes, yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. now the gentleman from new york. mr. king: move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3140 as reported by the committee on homeland security. the speaker pro tempore: clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 327, h.r. 3140, a bill to amend the homeland security act of 2002, to direct the secretary of homeland security to prioritize the assignment of officers and analysts to certain state and urban area fusion centers, to enhance the security of mass transit systems. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. king, and the gentleman from

mississippi, mr. thompson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. king: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. king: i yield myself such time as i may consume. only in the course of the shortness of time, i will kept my remarks brief. this bill amends the homeland security act of 2002 and directs the d.h.s. secretary to make it a priority to assign officers and intelligence analysts to participate in state and urban area fusion centers located in high-risk jurisdictions with mass transit systems. i would like to thank congresswoman speier and chairman meehan for their dedicated work in this area. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 3140, the mass transit intelligence priorization act, and yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, mr.

speaker. mr. speaker, as ranking member on the committee of homeland security, i've observed a mass transit system over the years have consistently been a target for terrorist groups, including l qaeda. h.r. 3140, think mazz transit intelligence prioritization act requires the secretary of homeland security to prioritize the assignment of mass transit intelligence analysis including from t.s.a. to state and local fusion centers with major mass transit systems in their jurisdiction. in short, this is a common sense bill that would enhance security for the mass transit systems of our nation by improving the sharing of information and i urge my colleagues to support it. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. compson: i yield such time

as she may consume to the original sponsor of the legislation and former member of the committee on homeland security, the gentlewoman from california, ms. speer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for such time as she may consume. ms. speier: i thank the ranking member for yielding and the chair for his leadership as well. as has been mentioned this bill is important in our efforts to make sure that mass transit is under the umbrella for the sharing of information. let us not forget that in 2004, al qaeda detonated multiple explosives in rush hour on a packed commuter train in madrid, spain, killing 900 people. a little more than a year ago, a group linged to al qaeda killed more than 50 people on the london underground. we have not experienced mass transit attacks. in september of 2009, someone

was arrested in new york city for plotting to blow up new york city's subway and a man was arrested in 2010 who was plotting attack here in washington, d.c. he was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison. recently we learned from dumonts taken from the commound of osama bin laden following the successful navy seal raid that al qaeda was plotting to attack u.s. mass transit systems to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11. millions of americans travel each day on mass transit to work but these systems, such as subways, have relatively few security measures this bill will change that and make sure that fusion centers bring together federal, state and local law enforcement and emergencying in the agencies to share information and protect communities. the bill requires that officers assigned to the centers create mass transit intelligence products. one of the key lessons of 9/11 is that information sharing is

key to terrorism prevention. the c.b.o. has derped this bill will have no significant impact on the bill. i would also like to pay special respect to the chair of the counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, the gentleman from pennsylvania, who i enjoyed immensely working with. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: i have no further speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. tompspon: i have no more speakers if the gentleman from new york has no more speakers, i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: h.r. 3140, as introduced by former committee colleague ms. speer is a needed common sense piece of legislation. with a history of bipartisan support. i urge my colleagues to support this measure and the security of our mass transit systems. with that, i yield back the mans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. king: i come from a region

which has almost six million daily passengers on subway and commuter lines. this legislation is vital and urge its adoption and yield back the bhns of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3140? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmive, the rules -- rules are su end spd, the bill is passed an without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i send to the desk a privilege red port from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: report to acompmy house resolution 667, resolution providing for consideration of the bill h r. 5743, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2013 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities

of the united states government. the community management account and the central intelligence agency retirement and disabilities system and for other purposes. providing for consideration of the bill h.r. 5854, making appropriations for military construction. the department of veterans' affairs and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2013, and for other purposes, providing for consideration of the bill h r. 5855, making appropriations for the department of homeland security for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2013, and for other purposes and providing for considering of the bill h.r. 5325, making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2013, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 proceedings will now resume on motions to suspend the rules previously postponed.

votes will be taken in the following order, h.r. 5651 by the yeas and nays, h r. 4201 by the yeas and nays, h.r. 915 by the yeas and nays, the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute vote thesms unfinished business is the vote on the motion of mr. upton on h.r. 5651. the clerk will port the titeful the clerk: a bill to amend the federal food, drug and cosmetic act to revise and extend the user fee programs for scription drugs and medical devices, to establish standards for generic drugs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: members will record their votes by electronic device. 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.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 385 the nays are six. the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 387, the nays are five. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the

table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from florida, mr. stearns, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4201 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 341, h.r. 4201, a bill to amend the service members civil relief act, to provide for the protection of child custody arrangements for parents who are members of the armed forces. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-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.]

the speaker pro tempore: the ayes are 387, the nays are 2. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended.

the speaker pro tempore: the ayes have 390, the nays are 2. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from new york, mr. king, to pass h r. 915 as amened on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title. the clerk: union calendar 179, h r. 917 a bill to establish a border enforcement security task force program to enhance border security by fostering coordinating efforts among federal, state, and local law enforcement officials to protect the united states border cities and communities from transnational crimes, including violence associated with drug trafficking, arms smuggling, illegal alien trafficking and smuggling,

violence, and kidnapping along and across the international boarders of the united states and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended? members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-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.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 391, the nays

are two. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: members will take their conversations to the side aisles, please. will members please take their conversations off the floor.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia, mr. gingrey rise? mr. gingrey: i rise to ask unanimous consent to have my name removed from h.r. 1513. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from georgia, mr. broun. mr. broun: mr. speaker, pursuant to rule 22, clause 7-c, i hereby announce my intention to offer a motion to instruct on h.r. 4348. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman may read his motion.

the speaker pro tempore: mr. broun doctor mr. broun: mr. broun of georgia moves that both houses on the senate amendment to the bill h.r. 4348 be instructed to insist on provisions that limit funding out of the highway trust fund including the mass transit account for federal aid highway and transit programs to amounts that do not exceed the following levels. number one, $37,900,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and $37,

500,000,000 for fiscal year 2013. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's notice will appear in the record. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on additional motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered. or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. any recorded votes on postponed questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition? mrs. biggert: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 5740. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5740, an act to extends the national flood insurance program and for other purposes. senate amendment. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from illinois, mrs. biggert, and the gentleman from

georgia, mr. scott, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from illinois. mrs. biggert: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material on this bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. biggert: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. biggert: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of the senate amendment to h.r. 5740, the national flood insurance program extension act. as my colleagues know, the nfip is set to expire on may 31. this program provides vital flood insurance coverage to homeowners in flood-prone communities. just two weeks ago we passed a 30-day extension, h.r. 5740, to spare property owners and the housing market from another lapse in the nfip.

that bill was approved by this chamber on may 17 by a vote of 402-18. the senate has sense amended our -- since amended our legislation, extending the authorization for an additional 30 days, for a total of 60 days or until july 31. the senate amendment also eliminates subsidized rates for second and vacation homes. according to an unofficial congressional budget office staff estimate, this provision will generate approximately $2.5 billion over 10 years. although not identical, the senate's reform provisions mirror section 5 of h.r. 1309, the five-year reform bill that we in the house passed with overwhelming bipartisan support last july. and if any technical changes are needed, they can be addressed in

the -- in any long-term reform measure that we consider in the coming weeks. on that note i'm pleased to report that as part of reaching an agreement on this extension, senate leaders have offered their public and private assurances that they will vote this june on the long-term flood insurance reform. this agreement is a major breakthrough for those of us who have been pushing for the senate passage of the long-term bill since the house completed its work nearly 11 months ago. the senate banking committee has already approved a bipartisan nfip proposal and i am confident that the house and senate can reconcile any differences that remain between our respective visions for reform. mr. speaker, the nfip is over $17 billion in debt to taxpayers

and since 2008, congress has enacted 16 stop-gap measures to keep the program running. today's bill can and should be the last short-term extension because this program is too important to let lapse and too in debt to continue without reform. today's bill not only prevents a lapse, it brings us closer to a responsible long-term solution and the sooner we accomplish this goal the sooner taxpayers can stop bearing the full expense and risk of an outdated flood program. with that i would urge my colleagues to support the senate amendment to h.r. 54 -- 5740 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. scott. mr. scott: thank you very much, mr. speaker. again, it's certainly a pleasure

always to work with the gentlelady from illinois on this issue. we brought this issue up a while back and we were very successful in getting a five-year extension , the way this should be dealt with. the senate and the -- unfortunately chose not to immediately pursue that so we came back two weeks ago and asked for a 30-day extension, to our good graces and the good grace of the senate they doubled that and came back with a 60-day extension. but yet we still need the five-year extension. so we hope that this is a sign of us moving in the right direction. we're very pleased that the senate is moving with the house in the right direction on this very important plan and this is an important plan. we are now just two days from the start of the hurricane season. and as a matter of fact as i was

here before two weeks ago, i said we needed to make sure we prepared for the storm before the hurricane is raging. and that we were just a couple of weeks away from the start of the hurricane season. but we had an early arrival. we had a hurricane come in. so you see how pressing and how urgent this is. this piece of legislation is perhaps the most important piece of legislation that we can pass right now of major benefit for the american people. they will be able to go to sleep tonight to know that at least for the next two months this national health insurance program will be in place and this will be a great sigh of relief. but that still leaves the heavy lifting to do. we've got the five-year program and we've got to do that. but i do want to say thank you and my hats off to senator reid and senator coburn who came to an agreement. i think it's a good agreement, it's an agreement that we

certainly accept here, too. and what we understand happened in the senate was that the senate amendment which was offered in the senate banking committee by senator tim johnson was to make sure that those homes that are second homes or vacation homes would not receive subsidized rates. and we think that's fair. that's a part of what's in our five-year plan as well. so that is very much appreciated there. so, as we look forward now, all we have to do now is pass this out now and move forward in good faith with the senate to let's move with dispatch and give the five-year plan. the reason why we need the five-year plan is because of the continuity, of the dependability, so people will know well in advance exactly

that we have this program in place. and if i may, in just my short time here, in case some of the people do not know why this five-year plan is so important, i do want to state exactly what it does. first of all, it does in fact, will extend the flood insurance program for five years. it will also delay the five years that the mandatory purchase requirement resulting from new flood maps. the bill certainly requires annual notification to homeowners who are living in flood zones about risk to their community and as i noted last week, a couple of weeks ago, many people move into areas and they don't even know that they're in a flood zone. so it's very important that we will notify people and our bill, this five-year program, let's people know -- lets people know

every single year because you have people moving in, you have people moving out. so every year there will be a notification as to whether or not they're in a flood zone. the other important part about this is we've noticed, particularly in my own home state of georgia, that we have such a devastating flood in the year 2009. it was the worst flood that we've had there since we started taking records of that. and as i mentioned, we lost lives. seven individuals lost their lives in one county in my district. and the application of flood maps, all across this country, in every corner of this country our flood maps are outdated. well, this map, this bill will make sure that they are dated. so that many of our constituents who are at the risk of flood damage are at that risk without any dodge -- knowledge. so by making the flood maps

current, by making sure that information is departed to individuals who move in and out of communities every year, that they're in the flood zone. and most important, most important, in these tough economic times, under our five-year plan individuals will be able to purchase their flood insurance in installments. instead of one lump sum. this has caused many people not to be able to have the flood insurance, because prior to this bill, this five-year plan, as of right now, to get flood insurance, you have to do it as a lump sum. that's why this five-year plan is important and it's important for the senate to move so that we can get this done right away. but this is good news for the american people. we do have two months as the hurricane season starts and i think we have a good agreement here, good energy to move forward, the house and the senate together, and put the five-year plan in place.

and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from illinois. mrs. biggert: at this time, mr. speaker, i would yield three minutes to the gentleman from ohio, a valued member of the financial services committee, mr. stivers. mr. stivers: mr. speaker -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. stivers: thank you. i'd like to thank the gentlelady from illinois for yielding me time. i'd like to thank her as chairwoman of the subcommittee on insurance and housing for the financial services committee, for her incredible bipartisan effort on this bill that she led, along with members on the other side, including the gentlelady from california, the gentleman from georgia. it's been a true bipartisan effort. obviously that's reflected in the 402-18 vote coming out of this chamber in may. i'm happy that the senate has finally reached an agreement to move forward with the multi-year extension of the flood insurance

program because if we don't have a multi-year extension, what could happen is it could really cause problems in our housing market, i think the gentleman from georgia has really talked about the importance of continuity and why that's really important for people that live in a floodplain, to be able to know they can sell their house, nobody that somebody can buy a home that happens to be in a floodplain. i think it is important that we have accurate flood maps. this bill will ensure that we have much more accurate flood maps, that have three dimensions on them and that will result in better knowledge of where the floodplains are and where the risk is. this bill will help stop taxpayer funded bailouts. the national flood insurance program owes $17 billion to the taxpayers and we've got to make sure that it is sustainable into the future. i think the senate changes, some of them are good. the amendment by senator coburn that makes sure we don't subsidize second and third

vacation homes makes sense. we need to ultimately move the whole program to an actuarially sound point. that's why the language regarding privatization and allowing a chance to look at the flood insurance program's ability to pay claims over the long-term, i think it's important that we know the viability of the flood insurance program. overall, i think having senate amendments is a step forward. i'm excited about working together to move this program forward, to re-authorize it hopefully for a five-year term but this step to agree to senate amendments to extend the time for a total of 60 days to

get us past july so that hopefully the senate will have time in june to bring this up i think allows us the time we need to make that happen. i do think if anybody in this body cares about our housing market or cares about stopping taxpayer funded bailout -- bailouts or wants to make sure we have accurate flood maps, we should agree to these amendments. i hope all my colleagues with will do system of thanks for yielding me time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia >> i have no further speakers -- mrs. biggert: i have no further speakers. mr. scott: let me thank the gentlelady, mrs. biggert, it's been a joy to work with her and the american people are appreciative of her effort in

leading this fight. i also want to thank ms. maxine waters, ranking member on the subcommittee and i want to extend congratulations to senator harry reid and senator tom corbin. and i also want to just say a moment for the bipartisan relationships that have developed on this bill, this is how we move bills forward. this is how we've got to move the country forward and this is what the american people are looking to us to do. this is not a democratic or republican congress, it is a congress of the american people. and the progress of this flood insurance bill is indicative of that fact. with that, i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from illinois. mrs. biggert: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself the balance my time. mr. speaker, as i mentioned earlier, this bill is the 17th

short-term extension of the national flood insurance program. our colleagues in the senate have assured us that in june they will take up a version of a long-term nfip re-authorization and reform bill. i am confident that this will be our last short-term extension. h.r. 5740 with the senate amendment extends the program for an additional two months in order to protect homeowners, communities in flood-prone areas and the housing market. including at least one reform provision to eliminate subsidized rates for second and vacation homes redeuces risk to taxpayers. h.r. 5740 also buys the house and senate more time to finalize a larger bill to refinance the -- to reform the national flood insurance program. members from both sides of the aisle voted to reform this program and actually the reform

bill passed out of the financial services committee 54-0. this is a real bipartisan effort. the house also has approved the same five-year nfip re-authorization and reform bill as part of the jobs creation act of 2012 in december and as part of the reconciliation act passed a couple of -- couple of weeks ago. over 400 members of the house voted for the first version of h r. 5740 to make sure that nfip doesn't lapse. nfip is over $17 billion in debt and it cannot continue without reforms but it shouldn't lapse particularly at the start of the hurricane season which begin this is week

on june 1. with that, i urge my colleagues to again support h.r. 5740 and finally i would really like to thank ms. waters for co-sponsoring this bill as the lead co-sponsor and mr. scot of georgia for -- mr. scott of georgia for managing time for the other sides and members on both sides of the aisle that have supported, we have had a great turnout for the nfip reform effort. i yield. mr. scott: i misspoke as when i referred to ms. waters as the ranking member, that honor goes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. gutierrez. ms. waters was former chairman of the housing committee. all of us work together in such a way but i did want to correct that, it's mr. gutierrez, not ms. waters who is the ranking member. mrs. biggert: i thank the gentleman. yes, but both members have been great in working us and i know that ms. waters has been the ranking member for the committee in the past and has always work those opposed, no flood insurance. i thank you and with that, i

would yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yield back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 5740? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the senate amendment is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4041 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4041 a bill to amend the export enhancement acts of 1988 to further enhance the promotion of exports of united states good and services and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from illinois, mr. manzullo, and the gentleman from california, mr. berman, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois. mr. manzullo: thank you. i ask unanimous consent that all mbers have five legislative days to revise and extend and to submit extraneous material for the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. manzullo: i yield myself

such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. manzullo: this bill has been many years in the making and is the result of several hearings, including one i held as chairman of the house small business committee back in 2006. this is simply a good government bill that costs nothing. i recognize that market forces play a predominant role in international trade. however, export promotion programs can play a useful role in helping small and medium size enterprises find new markets in customers overseas. several small companies in northern illinois expanded their operations and hired new workers after u.s. commercial service identified new exporting opportunities. also, according to the national district export council, every $1 spent on export promotion has resulted in $135 in exports. however, many of our trade promotion programs are not

fully integrated. this has been confirmed in various government accountability office g.a.o. and inspector genre ports measuring the effectiveness of the trade promotion coordinating committee, known as tpcc. congressional intent behind the legislation this committee passed in 1992 has not been fulfilled. our trading partners are well organized and effectively market their business overseas. i recall on one of my trips to china some years ago, the c.e.o. of a very large chinese manufacturing company told me he often sees europeans and japanese as trade promotion official bus he had yet to see americans do the same thing he asked me the question, where are the americans? according to the national district export council, the u.s. spend around 21 cents for $1,000 of total exports on

trade promotion services. japan spends 30 crepts, great britain spends 75 cents. with small businesses offering the best prospect to boost export growth, we should make every effort to get the greatest return for any taxpayer money spent on export promotion. in 2006 and 2008, i introduced legislation that will reform the tpcc and move its responsibilities into the executive office of the president. i was pleased in 2010 when the president announced the formulation of the export cabinet and adopted many of the reform ideas contained in my legislation such as instituting measurable benchmarks for achieving goals set forth in the annual export strategy report. however, there's one key reform missing from the president's proposal. having an integrated trade budget. currently, each trade promotion

agency submits its own budget to the office of management and budget and the president without a separate review as to whether or not each request fits in the overall trade agenda for the u.s. government. the tpcc needs budget review authority in order to be fully effective. in 2010, i was proud to join with our former colleague, representative gabby giffords, in introducing legislation to remedy this problem. while the bill did not pass in the previous contest, a -- congress, i'm proud to join with representative berman in continuing ms. girds' legacy in supporting the export promotion reform act. while the president issued a subsequent memorandum last february that would give the export cabinet and the tpcc the ability to make recommendations to the office of management and budget for more effective use of trade promotion funds, this bill is needed to codify and

clarify this rule to guarantee the tpcc will be able to influence decisions on the president's budget, on the president's budget request prior to its submission to congress. process and god government reforms oftentimes do not get the attention they deserve. however, this bill recognizes the importance. i urge my colleagues to support this bill because it will ultimately benefit small and medium-sized exporters. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair will now recognize the -- mr. berman from california. mr. berman: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in stongsprort of h.r. 4045 -- 4041 and yield myself such time as i macon sthisme export reform act is a bipartisan, noncontroversial bill that will help increase the export of american goods and services and in the process create new jobs.

i want to thank mr. manzullo for working with me on this legislation. he has been one of the strongest voices for export promotion and export control reform in this chamber and he's been a great partner to have on this legislation and i also want to thank my chairman, the -- on the foreign affairs committee, ileana ros-lehtinen and her staff for helping move this through the legislative process to this point. h.r. 4041 would implement recommendations by the g.a.o. to make more effective use of our export promotion programs. according to the congressional budget office, the bill doesn't authorize any new programs, nor does it add any new spending or impose any new mandates and i'd ask unanimous consent to include the c.b.o. analysis at this point in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. berman: thank you. the bill's been endorsed by a number of prom nept business organizations including the u.s. chamber of commerce, the

national association of manufacturers and the business round table. and i'd ask unanimous consent that the letters of support from these organizations be included in the record at this point. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. berman: the export promotion reform act would make sound, practical improvements that would benefit many of the nation's 293,000 exporting firms. more than 97% of which are small and medium-sized businesses. while exercising fiscal prudence on behalf of the american taxpayer. american firms have renewed opportunities for growth and increased employment through increased sales overseas. however the competition of world trade is fierce and our export promotion programs often don't measure up to those of our competitors. g.a.o. has told us repeatedly that these programs would be more effective with improved coordination to. that end, h.r. 4041 would eliminate duplicative activities and improve service delivery to exporters, require a global plan

to identify and target the best growth markets for u.s. goods and services, and require our ambassadors to develop country by country commercial diplomacy plans aimed at increasing u.s. exports. while making the effectiveness of their commercial diplomacy efforts part of their annual performance review. mr. speaker, the u.s. department of commerce is estimates that every $1 billion in u.s. exports supports approximately 5,800 jobs here at home. with 95% of the world's consumers living overseas, expanding u.s. export world markets is one of the best ways for american business to grow and create jobs. i urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes mr. manzullo. mr. manzullo: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house

suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4041 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. burton of indiana for fod and the balance of the week -- for today and the balance of the week, mr. fortenberry of nebraska for today and the balance of the week, mr. heinrich of new mexico for today, ms. velazquez of new york for today and mr. young of florida for today.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted. the chair will now entertain one-minute requests. the chair now lays before the house an enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 5740, an act to extend the national flood insurance program and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentlelady from florida, ms. wasserman schultz, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. was was thank you very much, mr. speaker -- ms. wasserman schultz: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor may as jewish american heritage month. i also ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the topic of this special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you.

i'm so pleased to be joined by my colleagues tonight as we honor our nation's jewish communities through jewish american heritage month. as the first jewish woman to represent the state of florida in the united states congress, i am so proud to be a strong voice on many issues crucial to our community, from tolerance and understanding to repairing the world. in 2005 members of the jewish community in south florida approached me with the idea to designate a month to honor the contributions of american -- that american jews have made to our nation. as a result i was the proud sponsor of jewish american heritage month which the house and senate unanimously passed in 2006 and has been proclaimed by both president bush and president obama annually since then. this year in 2012, it's the secretary of nt annual jewish american heritage month. j.a.m. promotes awareness jews have made to the fabric of american life, from technology and literature to entertainment, politics and medicine.

as we are all well aware, the foundation of our country is built upon the strengths of our unique cultures and brouppeds. the american jewish experience is the story of the immigrant, the labor movement, the battle for civil rights and so much more. jews in america have blazed trails from the battlefield to the supreme court, from the force field in symphony hall to our nation's history books and capitol. from the time of the colonies until today, jewish communities have played a significant role in american history and telling the american story. that's why communities across the country have come together to celebrate jewish american heritage month during the month of may. seven years ago this idea gained momentum as 250 of my colleagues joined me as original co-sponsors of a resolution urging the president to issue a proclamation for this important month. senator articling specter led the effort in the senate and together the house and senate unanimously passed resolutions supporting the creation of jewish american heritage month.

now each year the month of may introduces jewish culture to the entire country in order to raise awareness and disspell harmful prejudices. unfortunately, mr. speaker, we have seen a rise in intolerance and anti-semitism, not just in this country, but across the globe. and it's my hope that by providing the framework for the discussion of jewish culture and contributions to our nation, we'll be able to reduce the ignorance that ultimately leads to anti-semitism. you know, over the last snm of years, i have talked about the impact and the contributions of the jewish community to our country, over more than 350 years of jewish life in america. and it is always -- it has always struck me that jews in america are less than 2% of the american population. and so most americans never

actually spend much time around the jewish community. so our traditions are unfamiliar, our culture and our religion, of which we are both, are not something that most folks encounter every day. and that's the reason that we honor communities like the jewish community, with a cultural awareness month, so that we can raise that awareness and make sure that people who don't usually have an opportunity to get the kinds of information that these months provide can really reach out to one another and learn more. so that we can be the melting pot. and also the salad bowl, that is always debated about the united states of america. over the last seven years, we've seen jahm grow from an inspired idea to a national reality. we've had a group of committed organizations and museums around

the country that have been working to get jahm into the classroom, on the airwaves and into the halls of our government. as today's activities demonstrate. just before votes this evening, president obama hosted the third annual jewish american heritage month reception at the white house. welcoming leaders from the jewish community into the nation's house. he told the story, the president told the story, not a really wonderful note in our nation's history, of general grant who at the time of the civil war had actually issued an order, mr. speaker, to expel jews from their homes in the war zones during the civil war. president obama went on to also talk about how president lincoln issued an order rescinding that order and the library of congress brought out some of its archives, all of the documents related to general grant's order and president lincoln's order, to make sure that we could protect the rights of

individuals and make sure that our commitment as nation to religious tolerance and freedom was preserved, from then through history. and tonight i am so pleased to be joined by my colleagues to commemorate the american jewish experience. from sports games to concerts to lectures and films, jahm is truly a multimedia experience and we want to see these effort continues to grow. however it's vital that this idea takes hold not only for jewish organizations, because after all, we're already familiar with the contributions of jewish life in america and we want to make sure that this month is an opportunity to grow that knowledge and reach out to communities across the country. it's our responsibility to continue this education. if we as a nation are to prepare our children for the challenges that lie ahead, then teaching diversity and celebrating it is a fundamental part of that promise. together we can help achieve this goal of understanding, with

the celebration of jewish american heritage month. the lessons of judaism inspire us to do great things. from our commitment to service, to our political advocacy, to our cultural contributions for this nation. together we can and should celebrate our community's history and values so, that not only the jewish people but all americans may go from strength to strength. and now i'm delighted to recognize one of my colleagues who has been an incredible leader for the united states of america, for the people of her district in new york, and someone that i am proud to say has been a mentor throughout my time here in the u.s. house of representatives, congresswoman lowey from the great state of new york. by the way, let me add, mr. speaker, that congresswoman lowey is the ranking member of the foreign operations subcommittee on the appropriations committee. mrs. lowey: let me thank my outstanding colleague from the state of florida, congresswoman

wasserman schulz. and i personally want to express my appreciation for the work you have done to make this day a reality, so that we can all acknowledge jewish american heritage month. it's because of you that this day is noted and it's because of you that we have gathered at the white house for a really inspirational speech from president obama. so, as a jewish american, i want to express my appreciation to you and i know that it may not be coincidental that this was a special time in your life, this past week. i think it's appropriate that we talk about your family and your

personal commitment to your jewish heritage. and during this month, last week, i believe, your daughter celebrated her about a mitzvah and this is such an amazing, amazing time in your life, when your daughter or your son reaches that point where they have studied, they have learned what it is to be a jewish american here in the united states of america and i am sure that your family was just overflowing with joy and i just want to say, mazel tov to you. that means good luck and congratulations. so today i not only rise, mr. speaker, to express my appreciation to congresswoman

debby waserman shults, for making this -- debby wasserman schulz, for making this an annual tradition, but to express my appreciation to you for organizing this event tonight and i rise to mark the contributions of jewish americans to the rich culture and history of our nation during this jewish american heritage month. jewish tradition embraces the concept of repairing the world. and indeed our actions in congress are aimed at that concept. helping to improve our society, create equity for all, americans ' equality, health care, education and economic opportunity regardless of their ethnic, cultural or socioeconomic background.