new york. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. mr. reed: mr. chairman, i ask for a recorded vote on that. the chair: the gentleman from new york has requested a recorded vote. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18 further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new york will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i ask unanimous consent that the remainder of the bill through page 56, line 24, be considered as read, printed in the record and open to amendment at any point. the chair: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i move the committee now do rise. the chair: the question is on the motion that the committee rise. all in favor say aye. all those opposed, no.

the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman. the chair: mr. speaker, the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h.r. 5325 directs me to report that it has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chairman of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration h.r. 5325 and has come to no resolution thereon. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on 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. record votes on postponed questions will be taken later

in the day.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition? mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 241 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: ouck number 140, h.r. 241, a bill to authorize the conveyance of certain national forest system lands in the los pearneds national forest in -- padres national forest in california. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, and the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, each will control 20 minutes. and the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to withdraw my motion. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will withdrawal. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i

now rise to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2060 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 305, h.r. 260, bill to amend the wild and scenic rivers act to adjust the crooked river boundary, to provide water certainty for the city of prineville, oregon, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, and the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, will each control 20 minutes, and the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may 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. hastings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, h.r. 2060, sponsored by our colleague from oregon, mr. walden, is an

important step towards restoring water and power abundance and jobs to a rural area that has been devastated by federal logging restrictions. this bill is a reflection of years of negotiation. its supporters includes those who would normally be water adversaries in most parts of the west. municipalities, irgators, the spring tribes, utilities and labor and environmental organizations have come together to support this legislation. so i commend my colleague from oregon for working hard to bring these many parties together, and i urge adoption of this commonsense legislation and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks on the legislation. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, h.r. 2060, as my colleague described, does several things, including providing water and economic certainty to the city

of prineville, and the irrigation district. it does so in a way, however, that provides certainty for the city and agriculture but not the future needs of the environment. the legislation also mandates that reclamation is to operate and manage the prineville reservoir through the first fill provision and removes some flexibility on some reclamations part to mitigate and adapt to changing provisions. we understand there are ongoing negotiations that look at providing the certainty that the city needs while protecting environment. stakeholder-driven processes are the best way to answer our community's needs and we look forward to working with our colleagues in the senate and on the other side of the aisle to ensure that all needs are met and protected. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield as much time as he may consume to the

author of this legislation, the gentleman from oregon, mr. walden. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon. mr. walden: thank you, chairman hastings, for your support and, ranking member grijalva, thank you for your comments on this legislation. it's commonsense, central oregon jobs and water security act. the bill we have before us today will create jobs in central oregon, remove government red tape, it will protect family farmers and improve both water flows and improvement of water quality for food and wildlife, all without costing taxpayers one cent. we made it completely cost neutral. now, the city of prineville is the county seat of crook county. it's located in the heart of oregon and along the crooked river. it was the hardest hit of the economic downturn where unemployment even today, even today is at over 14%, one of the highest rates, if not the

highest in the state of oregon. nonetheless, jobs and economic growth were on the rise in crook county. facebook recently built their first custom data system in prineville and extending that project. apple recently announced they will build a data center there and have actually begun construction. chairman hastings knows well how important the technology sector can be to rural communities. prineville will be another quincy, washington, which is home to yahoo!, microsoft, dell and others. to pursue another economic development, however, prineville needs more water. roughly 20 miles upriver holds a bureau of reclamation project which is uncontracted water, 80,000 acre-feet that is sitting there uncontracted. so this bill will allow prineville to access roughly 1,500 acre-feet and the city will pay fair market value for

that water. they'll tell prospective companies, hey, you can bring the jobs to prineville. we now need the water you need. that's certainty in the job market. it would allow the city to provide water to an additional 500 homes within the district which the city of prineville can't do because it's maxed out its mitigation credits. you are talking about 500 homes that don't have access to city limit that this bill will allow them to have access to. because they will have it from under the ground instead of the dam, that increase of water will release the water of bowman dam at 700 cubic feet per second.

that's a lot. the high release requirement will benefit the blue ribbon trout fishery below the dam. it fixes a b.l.m. error regarding the exact location of the crooked river wild and scenic boundary line. currently, the wild and scenic line runs directly over the crest of bowman dam. now, mr. chairman and ranking member grijalva, there is nothing wild and scenic about the top of a dam unless you're falling over the edge of it. this is a picture where it is. if you follow the center of this road that's where the current law says the scenic boundary is. we start it downriver where it belongs. as a result, we create another economic activity for the region, development of small-scale renewable hydropower that would create roughly 50 construction jobs over the course of two years. this dam doesn't have hydro on it today. adding the hydroimproves the relouis of the -- hydroless improves the release of the water and my legislation promotes the irrigation district farmers and assures they will continue to operate their family-run farms for generations to come. finally, this bill exat the indicts the creek project which will result in increased water

flows for red band trout and summer steelhead, supported by the conservency. i want to commend the tribal leaders and tribal members for their hard work, working in partnership with me on this legislation, their collaborative approach has really made a difference. and we appreciate what the tribal leaders have shown. this is a commonsense job-creating bill. it has been the years of culmination of the warm springs tribes and the conservency. i want to thank mayor ropey for the leadership in working through this process. the mayor has testified before the house resources committee and has advocated pour prineville. judge mckay has attracted facebook and apple to crook county. hopefully with positive steps, more companies will soon bring

their jobs to prineville and to central oregon. so i appreciate the assistance of ranking member ed markey and along with ranking member grace napolitano and, of course, mr. grijalva as well as chairman hastings. thank you again for your help in moving forward on the central oregon jobs and water security act. i look forward for this legislation finally becoming law. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: continue to reserve the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i, mr. speaker, i have no other request for time, so if the gentleman is prepared to yield back i'll yield back. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, i yield back the remainder of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. do you want to yield back? mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, in many respects, this bill epitomizes what problems that those of us have in the west.

this is a simple boundary change to something that was designated here on the federal level, and it has taken a great deal of time, and yet in the impact would be great for the economy in that area. and as i mentioned in my opening remarks, this has broad support from all the local groups and local environmental groups, as the gentleman from oregon said, but sadly the frustration that we continue to have when we're trying to move legislation like this to help the local job economy in these areas is you have national groups that don't live in those areas opposing it. and that's what frustrates us, because when you get people especially at the local level that support this, it's frustrating when you have a national group that says just because we're dealing with national land we want to have a say in all of this. big sense of frustration for us, so i commend my friend from oregon for moving this legislation and i urge my

colleagues to support it and with that i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2060 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 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. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2512 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 360, h.r. 2512, a bill to provide for the conveyance of certain federal land in clark county, nevada, for the environmental remediation and reclamation of the three kids mine project site and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, and the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, will each control 20 minutes. and the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and

extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on this bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i want to start this debate by defining clearly what h.r. 2512, the three kids mine remediation and reclamation act, does. this bill will create jobs, clean up an abandoned mine that is the responsibility of the united states government and represents a tremendous win-win for all the parties involved in this effort. . the three kids mine is located in clark county, nevada. the mine was operated from 1916 until 1961. from 1942 to 1955, the united states government through the defense plant corporation owned 446 acres of the three kids mine project. the mine site was used to

produce federally-owned ore for national defense purposes and leased to the u.s. until 2003 to stockpile those nodules. the total project area is approximately 942 acres of federal lands managed by the bureau of land management and the bureau of reclamation and 314 acres of private lands that includes the mill site and the former processing site. the city of henderson and the redevelopment agency and the department of environmental protection, and the bureau of land management have negotiated a plan to clean up and redevelop the site that includes the purchase of 948 acres of federal land. the site is contaminated with heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons. cost estimates for clean-up

range from $300 million to over $1 billion. the lower cost estimates apply to disposal of minerals in the open pits if it can be accomplished without contaminating ground water. the higher cost estimates is associated with offsite disposal of the contaminated material. the purchase price of the federal lands would be adjusted to reflect the actual clean-up cost of the federal and non- federal lands where they have liability resulting from the mill and the processing facility and storage of federally-owned nodules. the city of henderson would and solve the federal government if any liability arises for the site. all in all, mr. speaker, this is a win-win for everyone involved. the environmental problems are addressed, the abandoned mine

site is reclaimed and the land redeveloped for beneficial use all at no cost to the american taxpayers. this should provide a framework for other abandoned mine sites that are near or adjacent to small towns and large urban areas. that's why this legislation is needed and i urge my colleagues to support this and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. grijalva: this would seek to abandon the three kids mine in nevada. the mine site is an abandoned mine and mill near las vegas. the abandoned mine has open mine pits and toxic materials containing, lead and diesel fuel, which poses significant risk to public health, safety and the environment. h.r. 2512 would direct the

b.l.m. to convey the federal porgs of the mine site to the redevelopment agency of the city of henderson, nevada and require reclamation of the site. we support the goals to clean up the toxic abandoned mine site and commend the sponsor on the legislation on the innovative thinking with respect to addressing this problem. however, the estimate costs to address this abandoned mine site are large and uncertain. according to the bureau of land management the cost of reclaiming and remediating this mine site estimated to be between $300 million and $1.3 billion. we have concerns about who would assume responsibilities for these costs should the mine be abandoned and in the future because this legislation would relieve the united states from all liabilities related to the three kids mine site, including

under environmental laws such as the comprehensive environmental response, compensation and liability act. such a relief of liability of the united states would mean that in the event that the developer is unable to complete the clean-up of the three kids mine, there would be no responsible party. we have concerns about the precedent that will be set by waiving the liability of the united states for the clean-up of this site and we are trying to ensure that private entities are held responsible for cleaning up other sites. however, while we continue to have some concerns regarding the process outlined by the legislation, we do support the goals of h.r. 2512 to reclaim this abandoned mine site. we do not oppose the legislation. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i'm pleased to yield as much time as he may consume to the author of this very important piece of

legislation, the gentleman from nevada, mr. heck. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nevada. mr. heck: i thank you mr. speaker and mr. chairman moving on this important piece of legislation. i rise in support of h.r. 2512. legislation that i introduced with the support of the entire nevada delegation to address a serious environmental, public safety and abandoned mine reclamation issue in the city. the three kids mine is an abandoned mine and mill site consisting of 1,262 of federal and private lands which lie within the city limits and is right across the street from immediate parkway. the three kids mine was owned and operated by various parties including the united states from 1917 through 1961 and used as a storage area for ore reserves

from the late 1950's to 2003. the project site contains large unstable sheer cliff open pits as deep as 450 feet. huge mines, mill facility remnants and waste disposal areas. to give a sense of scale, some as high as 10 stories high. abandoned waste ponds are up to 60 feet and filled with one million cubic yards containing high concentrations of arsenic and lead compounds. h.r. 2512 provides an innovative solution for cleaning up the three kids mine site. the legislation directs the secretary of the interior to convey the federal lands at the project site approximately 948 acres at fair market value, taking into account the costs of investigating and remediating the entire site which includes 314 acres of now private lands

that were used in mine operations. important to note that the government will receive a release of liability for clean-up of both the federal and private lands. under the legislation before the federal lands are conveyed, the state must enter into a binding consent agreement under which the clean-up of the entire project site will occur. the consent agreement must include financial assurances. clean-up will be financed with private capital and nevada tax increment financing at no cost to the federal government. the three kids mine act is a result of four years' work with the department of interior,

state of nevada and private entities. this legislation is a unique and complex public-private partnership proposal. it will lead to the clean-up of the three kids mine site at no cost to the federal government while at the same time providing for economic development and the creation of as many as 3,000 jobs. i believe this initiative offers a viable solution for the clean-up of reclamation of the three kids mine and could serve as a model for other similar sites across the country. this legislation is a win for the economy, it is a win for the environment and a win for the federal taxpayer. i encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: as i indicated, the precedent of raising the liability of the united states for the clean-up and reclamation of the site is of concern, of equal concern is henderson has grown into the site and grown closer and closer. b.l.m. has stated they don't have the resources to provide the money to clean this site adequately.

so it just sits there. this is -- this developer -- and if the consent decree is binding is an opportunity. while it's not a perfect opportunity from my perspective, it is, indeed, an opportunity to deal with that clean-up and not have the site sit there while everything else grows around it. with that, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i asked my colleague from arizona if he has any more speakers. i have no further requests for time on my side. mr. grijalva: i yield back. mr. hastings: i yield back and i urge adoption of this resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2512 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 suspended and the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid

upon the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. hastings: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3263. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: union calendar 309, h.r. 3263, a bill to authorize the secretary of the interior to allow the storage and conveyance of nonproject water at the norman project in oklahoma and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings and the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, each will control 20 minutes and the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i ask unanimous consent that all members may 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. hastings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. h.r. 3263 introduced by our colleague, mr. cole, allows the central oklahoma district to store water purchased from

oklahoma city in lake thunderbird. this legislation is necessary since federal regulations do not allow water transfers from outer basin areas unless congress authorizes such a transfer. this bill specifically states that any costs associated with this enactment will be borne by the project beneficiary. it is a no-nonsense bill that will provide additional water storage during times of drought. i that i my colleague, mr. cole, for sponsoring this bill and i urge adoption and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i yield myself such time as i may consume. h.r. 3263 authorizes the storage of nonproject water in lake thunderbird. the ability to store water will provide reclamation and manage flexibility. the administration supports h.r.

3263 and we have heard from the tribes around the region who do not object to this legislation. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i'm pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. cole. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i thank the speaker and i thank chairman hastings and mr. markey in moving this legislation and the staff who have been very supportive and helpful. i rise today in support of my legislation, h.r. 3263, the lake thunderbird efficient use act of 2011. lake thunderbird is a bureau of reclamation project which provides municipal water to norman, dell city, major municipalities. the watershed that feeds lake

thunderbird has not been able to keep the lake full. the water that remains is poor quality and ill suited for drinking and recreation. it was built to provide water to a water-starved region and this would help the bureau meet the original goals of this project. the bill allows the central oklahoma master conserve va tower district to acquire water and store water from outside the system until lake thunderbird. any costs associated with this action will be paid for by the district. this legislation cost federal taxpayers nothing. frankly, mr. speaker, in my view, this is the type of legislation or the type of action that we should be able to take administratively. however, under current law, it requires congressional consent. mr. speaker, i first initiated this legislation in the 110th congress, when central oklahoma was in the midst of a significant drought.

in july of 2011, oklahoma recorded the driest month ever recorded by any of the 50 states since records have been kept. central oklahoma remains in a drought that's forecast to continue and worsen this summer. h.r. 3263 is important to the economic growth of central oklahoma. the oklahoma city metro area has seen tremendous growth and has been a positive economic force at a time of great challenges to the national economy. water must be available to support the continued growth of this region. this straightforward and commonsense legislation is an important tool to support further growth in central oklahoma. again, i want to thank the chairman and ranking member for their cooperation and i urge my colleagues to vote yes on this legislation and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. .

mr. grijalva: might i inquire of the chairman if he has additional speakers? mr. hastings: i have one more speaker. mr. grijalva: reserve the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i'm very pleased to yield as much time as he may consume another man from oklahoma, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lankford. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lankford: thank you. i'd like to thank my colleague, tom cole, for his work on this. and he's the one that's sponsored on it, has driven it through to completion and it is a very important thing for communities that are both in his district and in my district as well. h.r. 3263 authorizes the secretary of the interior to simply amend an existing contract with the central oklahoma master conservatory district for the storage of nonproject water in lake thunderbird. this bill will allow the district to augment water if the secretary determines there is enough capacity in the reservoir. since the summer of 2010, oklahoma's been in a severe drought. this is seriously endangered

the quality and supply of our drinking water. to address this devastating shortage, this could purchase water from oklahoma city to supply water to the atoka pipeline from mid city, del city and norman. it is imperative we remedy the storage facilities and congress shouldn't stand in the way of this. it's amazing it takes an act of congress for an oklahoma lake to buy water from another oklahoma lake. no federal funds are needed. only congress giving the permission to allow oklahomans the ability to use their own water as needed. i'm strongly in support of this. this is the type of thing that should be widely bipartisan and is a simple fix and hopefully we can fix this to not have an act of congress for us to use our own water in each state. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

the gentleman from arizona. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker -- mr. hastings: i have no more request for time. mr. grijalva: yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i yield back the balance of my time and urge adoption of the measure. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is speaker of the house -- the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2263. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, baffed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. -- the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 241 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 140. h.r. 241. a bill to authorize the conveyance of certain national forest system lands in the los padres national forest in california. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, and the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, each will control 20 minutes. and the chair recognizes the

gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may 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. hastings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, h.r. 241 authorizes the forest service to convey for appraised market value approximately five acres of the los padres national forest to the white lote us foundation. due to team topography, -- there is a short access road that crosses forest land. this bill would allow the foundation to acquire this parcel and ensure public access to their facility. so i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and it's authorized by -- it's authored by our colleague from california, mr. gallegly, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized. mr. grijalva: thank you. h.r. 241, sponsored by the gentleman from california, provides for the conveyance of five acres of land from los padred national forest to white lodus foundation. it gives better access to the retreat. we have no objection to this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i yield to the author of this legislation, mr. gallegly from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. gallegly: i rise in support of my legislation, h.r. 241 it would convey the small parcel of land to a nonprofit organization,. in 1983, the white lotus

foundation was part of the los padres national forest. the forest service told them 1/20 of an acre encroachment on the forest service land. the encroachment in question is located on a loop of the only road that allows white lotus and the rest of the public access to the -- to and from the white lotus property. due to the steep top og raffley, the foundation has no longer have any other reasonable alternatives. the loop lies on flat ground which holds equipment storage for fire and flood emergencies and provides access to a water pump and other necessary equipment. there is no other flat ground on which to move these items, and without this space, the foundation will be forced to cease operations. my legislation authorizes the forest service to enter into a land exchange with the white

lotus foundation, and land -- for land worth no less than the appraised market value. if this land exchange does not occur within two years, the forest service is allowed to convey the land that would benefit white lotus and determine the amount to be conveyed. if the forest service does not feel that this land conveyance is in the best interest, it does not have to sell any federal land to white lotus. however, if the land sell does move ahead, my legislation will not cost the taxpayers a single penny. white lotus will pay for the land, the survey and all administrative costs. white lotus will pay any related costs. there are no exemptions from nepa or other environmental laws. the land in question is not protected wilderness or any specified designated area. in closing i want to thank the chairman, the ranking member and my colleagues for allowing

this to be brought to the floor today. i urge support of the legislation, h.r. 241, and would yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i yield back the balance of my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i yield back and urge adoption of the measure. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 241, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 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. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass s. 292. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar 292, senate 292, a bill to resolve the claims of the bering straits native corporation and the state of alaska to land adjacent to salmon lake in the state of alaska and to provide for the conveyance to the bering straits native corporation of certain other public land in partial

satisfaction of the land entitlement of the corporation under the alaskan native claim settlement act. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, and the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, will each control 20 minutes and the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hastings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, s. 292 ratifies the salmon lake ownership in consolidation agreement signed in 2007 by the state of alaska, the united states and the baring straights native corporation. the -- baring straits native corporation. the claims arose from the

implementation of the alaska statehood act of 1958 and alaska native claims settlement act of 1971. though similar legislation sponsored by the gentlewoman from alaska and sponsor of the house of this bill, mr. young, passed with -- by 410-0 in the 111th congress, the committee on natural resources undertook regular order on s. 292, including a hearing in the subcommittee on indian and alaska native affairs in the full committee which reported the bill out favorably. i'm unaware of any opposition to s. 292 and so i urge full house support for the motion to suspend the rules and pass this bill today and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker, i rise in support of s. 292, a bill that ratifies the agreement between the united states, the bering

straits native corporation and the state of alaska by transferring certain federal lates to the berg straits native corporation and the -- the bering straits native corporation and it is the result of years of negotiation between the parties by overlapping land negotiations of the bering straits, the alaska native claims settlement act and the state of alaska under its statehood act. the bill reasonably and senseably finalizes each party's interest in the land around salmon lake, an area of great importance to the people of the bering strait region. with that i reg -- i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you. i'm pleased to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from alaska, mr. young. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alaska. mr. young: mr. speaker, it's been said this is a simple bill. in a way it is simple but it solves a great problem. as mentioned by the chairman and ranking member, this bill

probably wasn't necessarily going to be passed if it wasn't for the conflict between the state when we passed statehood, the native claims act and of course the b.l.m. there is no one that objects to this bill. it solves a very important problem for the local people in this living. it takes care of the recreational areas that they can utilize and it's a right bill to do for the state of alaska and alaska natives. mr. speaker, i'd like to speak on another subject for a short moment which i believe we can relate to. for the people listening to this great display of legislative angst on the house floor, we'd -- action on the house floor, we'd like to remind them, little red riding hood, don't go to sleep. just because prices have been falling at the pumps, do not be lured in the idea that everything's going to be ok. because i've watched this now

in my 40 years now go up and down and up and down and every time we start to do something, start moving forward for south dependency on our fossil fuels, those providing us the fuels from overseas caused a great bloodshed and dollars they take and drop their prices. when doing so we start getting a little back to sleep. and we don't do anything and then they'll jack the prices up again and we'll -- hope we recover. so i'm asking the public to understand one thing. do not go to sleep. just because you go at the pump station and take the nozzle, my gosh, gas is only $3.60 when it was headed to $5. watch it very closely, ladies and gentlemen. watch this, everybody on the floor of this house, because you are going to sleep. oh, everything's fine and dandy. we do not have to worry about this any more, our good friends in the middle east will take care of us. yes, our good friend in

venezuela, hugo chavez. we are just where we are in 1973 when we passed the transalaskanline. we had an embargo. people were lined up to buy gasoline. lined up. and actually shooting at one another because it was at that time 36 cents a gallon. and we built the transalaskan pipeline and we lowered that price. people weren't shooting at anyone more, they were doing one thing we need to do today. that is the reality we must start producing our own fossil fuels. yes, fossil fuels. not wind power. not solar power. yes, they're good. but fossil fuels move objects. everybody listening to this show today, keep in mind every time you get in that car you're moving weight. every truck that delivers product to the grocery store

and to any place you buy is moved by fossil fuels. not just made by fossil fuels, moved by fossil fuels. the frains. the planes. -- the trains, the planes, the ships and, yes, the automobile. we spent or will spend this year close to $300 billion buying fossil fuels from people who do not like us. . >> they would like to kill us every time. and why this congress and why the administration and even previous strayings. no one is innocent in this project will not set forth an energy policy that just doesn't involve wind power and sun power, but involves all the powers that we have to produce energy for the people of america. coal, yes. we are going to burn cheap coal, it can be burned and should be burned. but most of all, the oil we are

still importing from abroad. that's what we have to do. so i ask you, don't go to sleep, ladies and gentlemen, because the persons that raise the price of oil are there and will do it again and this congress will say, we have to do something. we have to do something. and by the time that prices go so high that it affects our economy, it will start going back down when we try to do something. i'm saying the leadership on this side of the aisle, we have an energy policy. it has been sent over to the other body. i'm not supposed to mention the other body, but it is the other body, that has not passed any energy legislation. we have done it in the house side, numerous times, not just this year or previous years, we have passed energy legislation. it is time for this congress, a reflection of the american people to rise up and say we are going to do something so those people who have been hurting us

all these years, trillion dollars has been spent overseas. trillion, that was equal to the national debt but take $4 trillion off the existing debt and see where we would be today. we wouldn't have the unemployment rate. the president wouldn't have to say it's getting a little better. the economy is better than it was, they say, but all relates back to cheap energy, energy that can be afforded by the working class people of america, the working class people of america, not the rich that can afford it, the working class in what we call a democracy. i'm asking the american public and this body to wake up, wake up and do what's right. wake up the other body and do

what is right for the future of this nation. with that, i yield back the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i know the gentleman from alaska will be pleased to know that the production of fossil fouls from our public lands is at a record high and the percentage of our oil from imports is dropping every year. the bill before us today results from land claims. we support that and reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i advise my friend from arizona i have no more requests for time. mr. grijalva: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i urge adoption and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 292. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i object to the vote on the ground that a quorum

is not present and make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. hastings: i pass move to pass senate 363. the clerk: an act to authorize the secretary of commerce to convey property of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration to the city of pascagoula, mississippi, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings and the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, each will control 20 minutes and the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to include extraneous remarks on the bill under consideration. i yield myself such time as i may consume. s. 363 introduced by senator

wicker from mississippi would authorize the secretary of commerce to convey less than one acre of property owned by the national oceanic and atmospheric association to the city of pascagoula, mississippi. this would improve operations and give the city access and space for a park. the bill specifies that a land conveyance could occur provided that the united states receives at least the fair market value for the property or in kind exchange. the city and agency have identified properties to exchange, so therefore, both parties are in agreement. s. 363 would simply allow them to go forward with this land exchange. i urge adoption and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. grijalva: many years ago,

the national oceanic and atmospheric administration had two small parcels of land and a portion of a street outside of the pascagoula, mississippi for security purposes. noaa has been using this for storage and parking. they would like to secure this land which is now back under the ownership of the city. in exchange for these two parcels of land, they propose to transfer real estate to develop waterfront property for the purposes of creating a public green space as part of the overall redevelopment plan in the wake of hurricane katrina. they have identified the parcels of land to be considered and noaa is prepared to contract for the appraiseals necessary to prepare the acquisition and disposal documents.

noaa and the city have expressed support for this land exchange and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i have no requests for time. mr. grijalva: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i was thinking about the other the gentleman from washington. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 363. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- mr. hastings: i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, rise? mr. hastings: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1747 as

amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. h.r. 1740 as amended. the clerk: union calendar 218 h.r. 1740, a bill to amend the wild and scenic rivers act to designate a segment of illabot creek in skagit county, washington as part of the national scenic and wild river system. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings and the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i yield myself such time as i may recognize. h.r. 1740 will designate segments of the illabot creek as a component of the national wild and scenic river system.

the area is located with the mount baker national forest and the u.s. forest service studied this creek and found that it poses the characteristics consistent with the wild and scenic rivers act. mr. speaker, as i mentioned, this bill was amended with some provisions at the subcommittee and the full committee thought were important. i urge passage and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of h.r. 1740. this legislation seeks to add this segment to the wild and scenic river system -- passed the house by voice vote last year. this legislation and congressman larsen has been an advocate for this legislation and applaud his

hard work on behalf of the river and his constituents. with that, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i yield to the time to the sponsor of the legislation, mr. larsen. mr. larsen: i rise to support the passage of my bill and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this measure. i thank chairman hastings and the ranking members for their help in getting this bill to the floor. i have the honor of representing one of the most scenic parts of the state, washington's second district. also home to some of the best fishing in the country, both commercialally and recreationally. salmon stocks are beginning to recover. part of the reason this is happening is that we have begun to protect places that are important for fish habitat. when we protect these places, we protect the jobs that come from

the fishing industry. this is a catalyst to introducing the legislation before us. the creek travels from glash year park wilderness area falling 7,000 feet. the war of the illabot provides conditions for the salmon and bull trout, all species listed as threatened. this legislation will designate 14.43 miles as wild and scenic protecting these species while ensuring hunting and fishing continue. protecting this area has the support of local hunters, farmers and environmentalists, andlers and local government and state government, all in my district. i thank senator murray in the senate for introducing the bill's companion in the senate and i hope that that body will take up the bill as well. i appreciate the chairman and ranking member's support for bringing this legislation to the

floor and urge my colleagues to support its passage and protect this important body of water. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings. mr. hastings: i advise my friend from arizona, i have no more requests for time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i yield back and urge passage. the speaker pro tempore: will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 174 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 suspended, the bill is agreed to and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. hastings: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2336 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 251, h.r. 2336, a bill to amend the wild and scenic rivers act

to designate segments of the york river for study for potential inclusion in the national wild and scenic rivers system. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings and the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, will each control 20 minutes and the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i ask unanimous consent that all members may 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. hastings: mr. speaker, h.r. 2336 authorizes the national park service to study 11.25 miles of the york river in the state of maine for possible inclusion into the wild and scenic rivers program. the act was intended to put a development freeze on rivers to preserve their quote free-flowing characteristics.

proponents of the study explain they would benefit from the expertise of the national park service and its interaction with the community. as i mentioned, this legislation was amended. the subcommittee felt that there should be some conditions even though this is only a study. those conditions were inserted into this bill. i urge adoption and reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of the legislation and commend congresswoman pingree for her hard work. h.r. 2336 moves forward a study of 11 miles of the york river to determined if it is qualified to be protected as a wild and scenic river. this is a good piece of legislation and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i have no more requests -- i

reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: i yield to the gentlelady from maine, the sponsor of the legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from maine. ms. pingree: i thank mr. grijalva and mr. hastings for their support in this and i want to speak briefly about this bill. i'm happy to stand in support of my bill, h.r. 2336. it is my pleasure to see this piece of legislation, which was proposed by the people living in my district who care deeply about the york river and see it come to the floor of the house today. this bill would allow organizations working around york river to partner with the national park service to conduct a study that would provide additional information that is vital in making informed decisions about the future of the york river and its communities. i have heard from small business owners, community groups state and local government representatives, state and national land trusts, fishermen, hunters, school representatives and historical and environmentalists and all agree that continuing to benefit from

the river depends on recognizing and protecting its important and unique qualities. . i spoke about the importance of the river to the people, the economy and the wildlife of the york york watershed. i learned that the river is home to posh and rare species including the main endangered box turtle and the threatened duck. the salt marshes of york river watershed serve as a ground for nearly 30 species of fish that are vital to the gulf of maine ecosystem. i also learned the york york is a key water -- they have been identified along the banks of the river. the york river is a place where children are learning in an outdoor classroom as well.

students from the nearby school gather -- nearby school districts gather data from the river for class and inform community decisions about the environment and the economy. perhaps the most important factor is that many of the hardworking people in this part of the state depend on the york river to support their jobs. the york river is a place where people go to work. commercial and recreational fishing operations depend on excellent water quality and reliable access to the water front. farmers in the york river watershed grow pump kings, potatoes and other produce that helps keep maine communities healthy. people travel to the york river to explore and appreciate its natural character and incredible history and while doing so they invest in the surrounding communities. the work of community groups has already resulted in considerable progress, but the york river needs additional protections, so this vital resource is not overwhelmed by increasing development. in order to move forward, in order to move forward to a future that protects the most important aspects of this waterway and the jobs and

communities that depend on it, it is vital to connect these communities with the information they need. this is the goal and hopefully the outcome of this important piece of legislation. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill today and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i advise my friend from rirs i have no more requests for -- from arizona i have no more requests for time. mr. grijalva: i yield back the balance of my time. mr. hastings: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2336 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 washington rise? mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4222 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar

number 358, h.r. 4222, a bill to provide for the conveyance of certain land and holdings owned by the united states to the tucson unified school districts and to the pascua yaqui tribe of arizona and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, and the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may 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. hastings: i yield myself as much time as i may consume. thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, h.r. 4222, authored by the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, directs the secretary of interior to take two approximately 10-acre parcels of federal land into trust for the pascua yaqui tribe in arizona. the two parcels are completely surrounded by either the tribe's reservations or by fee

lands opened by the tribe. before one of the parcels can be taken into trust, however, the tucson unified school district will need to relinquish its interests in the parcel. the school district no longer needs the land which it had previously receive under the recreation and public purposes act. both percentles will be utilized as part of a golf course as currently under construction. neither paris sl necessary for the construction of the golf course but if the tribe does not acquire and use the parcels, they will be of no use to the tribe or to the united states. finally, it has been the practice of the committee during the last several congresses this bill includes language that prohibits any gaming on the two parcels to be taken into trust and the tribe has no objection to this language, so with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. let me thank the chairman for

moving the legislation forward. very appreciative. h.r. 4222 is an important piece of legislation that will enable the pascua yaqui tribe of my district in arizona to consolidate its lands holdings and remove two isolated, undeveloped parcels of land from the bureau of land management responsibility. the two 10-acre parcels are islands of trap federal land surrounded by pascua yaqui on all sides. the tribe is developing a golf course in this area and conveying these two parcels to the tribe will make managing the land easier for the tribe and for the federal government. without this legislation, the tribe would have to design around the parcel, slowing down the project and weakening economic development that will benefit the entire pascua yaqui community and the residents of pima county. passage of this bill will further the federal government's responsibility to enhance tribal trust resources. i work with b.l.m. to ensure that the language aft bill would ensure for -- lang of the

bill would allow for -- language of the bill would allow for environmental review and am pleased to report that the bill we are taking up today is supported by the agency. i wish to thank my colleagues and the leadership within the national resources committee for bringing this bill forward and for hopeful passage in this session. i urge my colleagues to support the passage of 4222 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i advise my friend from arizona that i have no more requests for time on this excellent piece of legislation. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. chairman, and i want to thank the chairman for saving this very complicated and important piece of legislation as the last item that we deal with here today. my appreciation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4222 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. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the house will

with that i give you the secretary of education. >> thanks so much. thanks for giving used opportunity. as all of you know, post secondary education is the ticket to economic success in america. but while it's never been more important to have a degree or certificate, unfortunately it's also never been more expensive. the obama administration is working every single day to do our part to keep college affordable, by helping students better manage their debt after graduation. we've also proposed to extend and make permanent the american opportunity tax credit and make new incentives for states and

institutions to keep college costs from escalating and increase those completion rates. we're also working to provide parents and students with the information they need to make smart educational decisions so they can know before they owe. each year colleges and universities spend perspective students and their students financial aid award letters intended to lay out how much it would cost them to attend school but as you guys knows -- know, these letters often look different, contain different information and often do a poor job of making clear how much a student aid will receive in terms of grants and scholarships and how much they'll have to borrow in terms of student loans. this not only makes it difficult to figure out how much college will cost, it also makes comparison shopping almost impossible. we have the best system of higher education in the world, over 6,000 institutions of higher education so, that situation now makes no sense to me. i just fundamentally think we need empower patients and students to make a good choice. and that's why we've been working beau tso hard on

designing an easy-to-use form that standardizes this information and makes the true cost of higher education much more transparent. we plan to have it veil in the beginning of the upcoming school year, this fall, and we hope that it will be voluntarily adopted by the higher education community. this is frankly not rocket science, however i think it is a triumph of common sense. in advance of that, we're pleased today to announce that leaders from 10 universities have already voluntarily adopted five data elements from our shopping sheet proposal that will provide much greater transparency for perspective students and families. and these 10 university presidents who we just met with, it's a fantastic group, i want to thank them for their leadership, their courage and commitment and those 10 colleges by themselves represent over 1.had 4 million student, fully 5% of the higher education community. very significant players at the table today and high amount of energy and enthuse yass much in the room. all of these institutions have pledged to provide every

incoming student for the 2013-2014 school year with easey to understand information as part of their financial aid package and that includes these five elements i talked about. first, how much one year of school will cost them. secondly, financial aid options to pay for this class with a clear distinction between grants and scholarships, which obviously do not have to be repaid, and loans which do. the net costs ar grants and scholarship are taken into account, fourth, estimated monthly payments for the federal student loans, the student will likely owe, once they graduate, and, finally, critically important information about student results, including comparative information about default rates, graduation rates and retention rates for the school. we've worked very, very hard in the access side, that's a big step in the right direction. the goal however is not access. the goal is completion. in understanding how these students graduate in the back end. having this important information, providing both clearly and transparently, will

help students and parents invest wisely and make the best, most informed decision possible about where to enroll. that's the fundamental point here. today we're calling on all college, all 6,000 colleges, university president from across the country, to make the same commitment as those 10 leaders today did today, to provide this easy to understand financial data about their higher education investment. director cordray and all the folks on his team have within just amazing partners in this effort and i want to thank them for their leadership and their commitment as we take on this critically important work and now i'd like to turn it over to talk about what cfpb is doing to help parent, students and consumers know before they go. >> thank you. higher education is a critical part of the american dream. as all of you know. i'm sure it's been true in your lives but for many students today this dream can only be realized through borrowing. figuring out how to pay for college can be daunting. it's often the first major

financial decision that is aa student will make. one that will affect her for the rest of her life. unfortunately for many families the process is often complex and confusing. it's hard for students to compare college costs, evaluate financial aid options and figure out how much dead they can afford -- debt they can afford. we have heard from thousands of student loan borrowers who tell us that they simply didn't understand what they were signing up for. many of them chose private loans before exhausting their federal loan options which are cheaper and protect them if they run into trouble. some resorted to credit cards and other high-priced loans and all too often borrowers got in way over their heads. recently we announced that outstanding student loan debt had crossed the $1 trillion mark. student loans have eclipsed credit cards as the leading source of u.s. household debt outside of mortgages. the stakes have never been higher for families to clearly understand the costs and risks of student debt. we're still recovering from the

worst financial crisis since the great depression. while a college education can be a gateway to better job prospects, taking on too much student debt can have real consequences. students need to know before they owe. the consumer bureau's goal across consumer markets is to give people the confidence and peace of mind that the financial world is not full of tricks and traps that will ruin their lives. we want information to be clear and easy to understand so consume considers make wise financial decisions for themselves and their families. today's announcement is an important step toward that goal. we're grateful to secretary duncan for being a strong partner in a know before you go initiative, to provide a helping aid financial sheet that allows students to clearly see their aid options so they can pick the package that works best for them. we're pleased to receive support today from college presidents representing some of the largest universities and university systems in america. who are committed to ensure that their students understand their financial aid and student loans and the costs of college.

we look forward to continue working with them, to create a system where students can climb the economic ladder and live their american dream. thank you. >> with that, we'll take your questions. the gentleman will. >> thank you. to either of you, what can you do to monitor the universities who are going to impose these standards, to make sure they're being imposed properly? and also talk about encouraging other students to get onboard. in addition to asking them to do so today, what will you do in the coming days to try to get them -- to get more schools onboard? >> these aren't standards, this is just transparency. this is just basic data, how much are your grant, loans, what are graduation rate, what do you repay at the back end. we just think america's young people and their families deserve to have really basic information about this huge decision they're making. we think there's going to be a tremendous appetite out there. i don't think universities have

anything to hide. just providing that transparency will enable families to make better decisions. so we're going to work really, really hard, again, great leadership here, these are major, major systems week of already signed on and our goal is to have 100% of universities sign on as we go into the fall. >> secretary duncan, could you respond to the republican criticism on the student loan bill. they're saying that the democrats have not responded to their proposals that this legislation -- [inaudible] >> i think obviously all of us want to get this thing done and get it done before july 1. and president's worked extraordinarily hard and traveled the country, the vice president's worked extraordinarily hard and traveled the country. i've done the same. if the republicans are getting serious about that, that's fans it tick and we hope over the next -- fantastic and we hope congress will solve this in a bipartisan way. >> does that mean that you're open to a compromise offsetting the cost of it or some of the other ideas -- >> our goal is to have this fixed by july 1. that's critically important.

for so many not just disadvantaged families, for so many middle class families now are starting to think cleng is unaffordable. it's not for them, it's for rich folks that's a real problem. we can't afford take -- to take this step in the wrong direction. we're committed to doing. that hope and expect the republicans to work with us in a bipartisan way to get this done. not to talk about, it but to fix it. >> secretary duncan, what programs are you saying that will not be on the table, to be considered to help fund this -- >> again, i don't think -- it's not right for me to negotiate from here, but congress, for the house and senate to work together, to get this done. by the end of the month. >> they're saying things like the nutrition programs and that kind of reports the efforts that the east wing is doing -- >> that's not one we're going to take seriously. if it's a serious proposal we'll entertain it seriously.

>> the house republicans are using a lot of the appropriation bills to cut back on spending in some of the areas that constitute what the administration would consider its achievements today. and, for instance, the ag appropriations bill cuts back deeply on cftc, they're cutting back for the f.c.c. i'd like to know what this means for enforcement and implementation of the dodd-frank law and if you have anything in terms of the appropriations for your department and race for the top and any other program? >> if you don't have resources it makes it harder to enforce the law. the cfpb is like the other banking agencies where we're not an appropriated agency and i think that that's appropriate, those agencies have been taken out of politics for many years. it's very important for us to do our job of protecting the american consumer and nth financial marketplace. that's a hazard out place them.

often end up in trouble. we've seen that. it helped lead in the mortgage market to the financial crisis and that's why we're working to fix that. >> any specific idea of how enforcement would be affected? >> given that the proposals you're talking about don't affect the cfpb, i'm not in a position to give a specific. but i think it's basic commonsense that if you don't have the resources to enforce the law yureks not going to enforce it effectively. i think that's part of what's contemplated here. >> is there anything else? >> if you look at the ryan budget, you see a couple -- potentially a couple hundred thousand children lose access to head start. i would argue that's probably the best investment we can make is to get our 3 and 4-year-olds off to a good start, ready to succeed in kindergarten. you'd see potentially hundreds of thousands of people lose access to pell grants and pell grants take a step backwards that's one of the things i've been most proud of, that we've seen a 50% increase from $6 -- sixman to -- six million to nine million young people going

to college. we need to -- anyone who args we need less access to college, that's the right thing for children or families, our communities, our nation, i think we're cutting off our nose to spite our face. i continue to think passionately that education is an investment, not an expense. we're never asking for the investment in the status quo. hopefully you've seen our administration push a level of reform at every level. we're proposing a race to the top for higher education. but obviously this is about shared responsibility. so we have to invest at the federal level. but what you're talking about today, this past year, 40 states cut funding for higher ed. 40 states. 80% of the country. who you is that good for where we need to do? -- to go? these are really tough economic times but we need to use a race to the top for higher education to incentivize states to invest. we have to get there and the jobs of the future are going to go to the countries where they have the knowledge workers. er going to be here or overseas.

that's up to us. that's in our control. >> why are tuitions skyrocketing so much and what has become of the administration's, previous proposals by the administration, to try to clamp down on this by threatening to withhold federal funds to if tuitions -- >> the biggest driver of increased tuition is states cutting back funding for it. that's the biggest drive. and so where states continue to invest, where we can challenge that, then we can continue to challenge universities to be efficient and to be more effective and to be more productive and use tech normal. but our goal for race to the top for higher education is three-fold. one is to incentivize states to continue to invest. secondly is to incentivize universities to keep tuition down and in many places they're doing creative things in tough commigs economic times. not everybody but a lot. and finally i keep sigh seauing this, can't be just about access. it's got to be about completion. universities are building cultures around completion. where pell grant recipients are graduating, we want to use race

to the top resources to incentivize that behavior. the got to be about shared responsibility. we have to play, states have to play. universities have to play. >> when you talked about some of the creative solutions, are you referring to the program recently profiled in ohio where they're selling off this lease to all of the parking and privatizing the airport and -- >> i don't know that specifically. we see universities who are going to three-year programs, going to no-frills campuses. you see universities doing very different things. introductory classes that usually wash out half the students, half the students fail, they're doing things like driving down costs and increasing passing rates pretty substantially so there's lots of work that universities are doing to control costs and to make sure students are staying in there. we have to take those practices to scale. we have to make that the norm rather than the exception. >> along with the accurate sticker price initiative, has there been any commitment by these university leaders to control their costs, keep their

costs down? i would imagine that there's maybe an incentive to not participate in something like this, so you can maybe hood wink students into paying a little bit more. >> i think if folks are out there trying to hood wink students we have the bully pulpit. and we're intending to be very loud and very clear and again we have 6,000 institutions of higher education. we have the best system in the world. what we haven't had is enough transparency. i think transparency is a very, very powerful lever. that's why this partnership is so important. and our young people are smart and savvy and if some university thinks they're going to get bibi hoodwinking people, i think that's a losing strategy. >> is there a commit frment these universities to control their costs at part of this plan? >> many of them are doing that in a creative way. people in very different situations, you know, some states, we have -- maryland's done a pretty good job of funding education. california's very -- has struggles. not every institution is at a similar platform so it's a little hard to hold everyone to the same standard.

but asking everyone to become more efficient, to become more economical, you had some real leaders there who were doing. that again, what we want is transparency, good actors who are going to get rewarded, people who will vote with their feet. bad acters are going to lose business and we think that's ok. that marketplace needs to play in ways that it hasn't before. >> senate republicans, mitch mcconnell, house republican leaders, are really complaining that they offered up four different ways now to pay for the student loan fix. all of which they say are in the president's budget are things that the president himself has proposed, that can't get a response back from the white house. they said -- is that something that they should expect this week? how long is it going to take for the white house to figure out -- >> i think it's our collective goal to have this done by july 1. we're glad folks are taking this very seriously now and we hope and anticipate moving forward in a bipartisan way, by the end of the month. absolutely. i feel a real sense of urgency. are >> are you going to be

negotiating with them or is the white house going to be negotiating with them? >> we're happy to help, happy to participate. we need republicans and democrats to come together and they can come together, if nothing else, i think they can come together on education and do the right thing. so we fully anticipate and expect this to be resolvinged in a good way. we anticipate by the end of the month having a good resolution here. >> one of the republicans' proposals is to raise the federal employee contribution is that something would you propose? >> i don't think it's appropriate for me to get into specifics here. the goal stogget this done in a bipartisan way that makes sense over the next three, 3 1/2 weeks. >> there hasn't been any outreach from the white house on this. is that true? >> i don't know all the details. i have a lot of respect for senator mcconnell. if he's very serious about this we want to sit down with him and speaker boehner and get it done.

>> this concerns the cfpb's role with higher education and seems to be with regards to student loans. but republicans have said, senate republicans have said in the past already that the agencies have too broad and too vegas powers. the fact that it's involved in college costs, does that speak to that at all? >> i actually don't think there's anything broad or vague about our powers. these are very specific problems that regular families face across this country. problems in the mortgage markets, problems with credit card debt, increasingly as we've seen and discussed today, problems with student loan debt. knowing what the prices and risks are before they make decisions so they can make better informed decisions. secretary duncan said, those are decisions that will make the market work better. everybody who supports a free market should want consumers to be well informed, able to compare, able to make choices. that's what we're working for across all of these markets and

i think it's something that the american people support, i think it's something that they deserve. and i think they have a right to expect basic consumer protections on all of these products that are so important to their lives. >> last one. >> mr. secretary, obama -- [inaudible] now then, high level officials are meeting next weekend, u.s., ind yarks dialogue in washington, d.c. what role your agency will play as far as this knowledge is concerned between the u.s. and india and many universities are going to open in india by the u.s. university and clengs. so what -- [inaudible] >> you and i talked about before, we have a great working relationship with my counterpart in india. he's a man of tremendous vision

and courage. we have real challenges here. i think challenges india faces dwarf, make ours look relatively simple, but there's a chance to provide a much better education for hundreds and hundreds and thousands of young people in india. whatever we can do to help as they from the next system of community college, they scale up what's working, as american institutions start to set up campuses in india, we want to be a great partner. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> house u.s. gaveling back in on a series of votes. in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5890 a bill to correct a technical error. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to consideration of the bill? without objection, the bill is engrossed, read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> i ask unanimous consent that will all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks

and include extraneous material on the motion to instruct. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? mr. cole: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on oversight and government reform be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 5883 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5883, a bill to make a technical correction in public law 112-108. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the bill. without objection, the bill is engrossed, read a third time and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent that the committee on house administration be discharged from further consideration of house concurrent resolution 128 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution.

the clerk: house concurrent resolution 128, concurrent resolution authorizing the use of emancipation hall in the capitol visitors center to award the congressional gold medal to the marines. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the concurrent resolution? without objection, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on house concurrent resolution 128. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered.

for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. flake: mr. speaker, under rule 22, clause 7-c, i hereby announce the bill. on the bill h.r. be instructed to recede from disagreement with the provision contained in the manner proposed to be incertificated as section 104-c-1-b as title 23, united states code, by section 1105 of the senate amendment that reads as follows. for each state, the. a combined appropriations for the programs shall not be less than 5% of the estimated tax payments attributable to highway users in the state paid into the highway trust fund. other than mass transit account, other than the mass transit account, in the most recent fiscal year for which data are available. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's notice will appear in the record.

pursuant to house resolution 667 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 5325. will the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, kindly resume the chair? the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 5325 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2013, and for other purposes. the chair: when the committee of the whole house to rose earlier today, a request for a recorded vote on an amendment

offered by the gentleman from new york, mr. reed, had been postponed and the bill had been read through page 56, line 24. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will now resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order. amendment number 3 by mr. mcclintock of california. an amendment by ms. hirono of hawaii. an amendment number 5 by mr. mcclintock of california. an amendment by mr. math son of utah -- matheson of utah. the chair will redause to two minutes -- reduce to two minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote in this series.

the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 3 printed in the congressional record offered by the gentleman from arizona, mr. mcclintock, on which further proceedings were postponed and which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 3 printed in the congressional record you are aed by mr. mcclin toik -- offered by mr. mcclintock of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is 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 chair: on this vote the yeas are 106, the neighs are 281 --, the nays are 281. the amendment is adopted. the amendment is not adopted.

the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from hawaii, ms. hirono, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by ms. hirono of hawaii. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-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 chair: on this vote the yeas are 131 and the nays are 257. the amendment is not adopted.

the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 5 printed in the congressional record offered by the gentleman from california, mr. mcclintock, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 5 printed in the congressional record offered by mr. mcclintock of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-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 chair: on this vote the yeas are 138, the nays are 249. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from utah, mr. matheson, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. matheson of utah. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested.

those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded -- a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-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 -- the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 152, the nays are 235. the amendment is not adopted.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> i move that the committee do now rise. the chair: the question is on the motion that the committee rise. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman. the chair: mr. speaker. the committee of the whole house on the state of the union, having had under consideration h r. 5325, directs me to report it has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chairman of the committee of the whole house on the state of

the union reports the committee has had under consideration h.r. 5325 and has come to no resolution thereon. the house will be in order. members will kindly take their conversations off the floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> under rule 22, clause 7-c, i hereby announce my attention -- intention to offer a motion to instruct on h.r. 4048, the conference report. i have that motion.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state the motion. mr. doggett: i move that the managers on the part of the house on the conference of the disagreeing votes between the two houses on the senate amendment to h.r. 4348 be instructed to receive from disagreement with the provisions contained in section 100201 of the senate amendment relating to stop tax haven abuse authorizing special measures against foreign jurisdictions, financial institutions and others that significantly impede united states tax enforcement. thank you. 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 the additional motion 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 record vote on the postponed question will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from north dakota seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass house bill 4282 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4282, a bill to amend part b of title 4 of the social security act to ensure

that the united states can comply fully with the only nations of the hague convention of 23 november 2007 on the international recovery of child support and other forms of family maintenance and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from north dakota, mr. berg, and the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north dakota. mr. berg: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative kays to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the summit of the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. berg: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. berg: i rise today with my colleague, mr. doggett of texas, and other members of the human resources subcommittee on the committee on ways and means, i urge support for house resolution 4282 as amended. the international child support recovery improvement act of

2012. this bill provides the implementing legislation for the hague convention on international recovery and child support and other forms of family maintenance. negotiation of this treaty began in 2003 and it was eventually signed in 2007. the senate then provided its consent in 2010. now, states cannot take advantage of the benefits of this treaty until congress moves forward. currently states have the option to recognize child support orders from other countries. and many of them do. however, states have found that other countries are less cooperative in recognizing our orders. the hague convention seeks to address this issue by establishing a standardized process so more countries cooperate in the collection of child support. this will ensure that children in the united states have the

same access to financial support even when one of their parents is abroad. this bill is about empowering the states which operate the child support enforcement program to do more for families and most importantly for children. my home state of north dakota has already made the necessary changes. to its state law -- the necessary changes to its state law to accept the hague convention. unfortunately, we are one of only 10 states that have done system of the united states cannot ratify the hague convention until all states make the necessary changes so now is the time to act. on march 20 the human resource subcommittee of the committee on ways and means had a hearing on this issue and heard that states are waiting to follow our lead. it's time for this chamber to do its job and pass this bill which will improve the program while resulting in modest savings.

this bill also includes a continuation of our subcommittee's bipartisan efforts to standardize the process and data and improve the exchange of data within and across human service programs. while child support system already relies heavily on data exchanges, it's important for those efforts to be consistent with provisions we have recently enacted in child welfare. tanif and unemployment programs. the goal is samplee, improve government efficiency, provide benefits to those who are eligible and drive out waste, fraud, and abuse. finally, this bill expands researchers' access to databases maintained by the office of child support enforcement. the national directory of new hires ndnh captures employment information for individuals working in most jobs in the united states. expanding access to earning

data in the ndnh will improve our ability to determine whether federal education, training, and social service programs help people find and keep jobs. according to the administration most federal agencies do not currently have reliable access to data. -- data that can show the impact of their programs on a participant's employment and earnings. in an era of tighter resources, it's critical that we have reliable data to conduct rigorous evaluations and to make sure that federal investments are getting results. mr. speaker, i ask for unanimous consent to insert into the record letters of support for this legislation of from the coalition on evidence-based policy, the

national child support enforcement organization, the national child support enforcement association represents the views of state . ild support associations i want to thank congressman geoff davis, chairman of the ways and means subcommittee on human resources and i would like to thank the subcommittee's ranking member, mr. doggett who joins me on the floor today, as well as other members of the subcommittee for their support and original co-sponsorship. i invite all members to join us in supporting this important bipartisan legislation. it will move us a step closer to ratifying the hague convention. on the international -- the hague convention on the international recovery on child support and ensure that more children living in the united states receive the financial support they deserve. i urge all my colleagues to support it and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. doggett: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. chairman. i am pleased to join my

colleague from north dakota in a truly bipartisan effort on behalf of h.r. 4282, the international child support recovery act. he's made an excellent statement regarding the need for this legislation. international borders should never be barriers to children receiving the financial support that their parents are obligated to provide. nor should a parent be able to avoid their responsibility by just leaving the country. that's why the united states has previously adopted reciprocal agreements with a number of other nations to collect child support from deadbeat parents who do not live in the same country as their children. but these agreements don't cover many nations and the procedures sometimes vary from nation to nation. a more comprehensive approach is to enter into a broad convention, another type of treaty, to ensure the international collection of child support. in 2010, the senate ratified the hague convention for the international recovery of child support. today's bill simply implements the treaty and provides that our child support collection

across america fully complies with our treaty obligations. this will assure that more children living in the united states obtain the necessary financial re-- financial support from a parent living in another country and it will protect taxpayers who ought not to be responsible for covering expenses when a parent is obligated to do so. exemplifying the need for today's bill is a plea from a mother of houston who wrote, please help me collect child support from my daughter's father in venezuela. we were married years ago in the united states. it took a long time to finalize the divorce as he was out of the country. finally, the divorce went through, which at the time was a relief. but three or four years later mitigating circumstance daughter is 12 and teenage expenses are kicking in. regardless of the divorce requirement, he states venezuela is unable to conduct business with the u.s. and he's unable to send money on his

own. our bill would provide relief to her and many other families. child support touches the lives of nearly one in four children across america. securing financial support for almost 18 million children, including a million and a half children in texas. and it's played an porn role in keeping children out of poverty. without its support, roughly half a million children would have fallen into poverty in 2010. this bill recognizes the premise that both parents are responsible for their children and it would respond to another texas mother who wrote the same office, my ex-husband has been working for an international company for nearly six years. his income the first year was $100,000. to date after taxes he's clearing over $8,000 monthly, but per a court order i'm only receiving $260 a month which is now currently on hold.

so therefore i'm not receiving any funds for my child support at all. please help me. i'm making less money since i switched from the night shift to days to be home with my two children. i keep making necessary sacrifices but i have no one to help me. that's the kind of individual -- kind of children that would be assisted by this legislation. passing the act would access financial support from a noncustodial parent living abroad. and as would other state effective child support initiatives, taxpayers will benefit by not bb being saddled -- saddled with the cost of supporting children whose parents should be doing. so the congressional budget office has estimated that this bill will result in some modest net savings to the child support program. child support advocates, as mr.

berg indicated, along with the america bar association, the conference of state court administrators, the conference of chief justices and the national center for state courts, have all endorsed this legislation. it is truly a bipartisan effort that improves the well-being of many children by ensuring that their parents abroad continue to fulfill their obligations here at home in the united states to their children. i urge approval of this bill and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves his time. the gentleman from north

dakota, mr.berg, is recognized. mr. berg: thank you, mr. speaker. again, this legislation will help families. and most importantly children. help them receive the financial services they need regardless of where they live or where their parents live. i appreciate the comments from subcommittee ranking member who has joined me here today on the floor in support of this bill. and i look forward to continuing to work with him as we improve child support enforcement program. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north dakota yields back his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. doggett: i thank the gentleman and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4282 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 railroad consider is laid on the table -- to reconsider slade on the table.

-- is laid on the table. pursuant to house resolution 667 and rule 18, the chair declares how it's in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of house resolution 5325. will the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, kindly resume the chair? the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 5325 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2013, and for other purposes. the chair: when the committee of the whole house rose earlier today an amendment offered by the gentleman from utah, mr. matheson, had been disposed of and the bill had been read law that page 56, line 24. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio rise? ms. kaptur: i thank the gentleman. i rise to offer an amendment as the designee of congressman mcintyre of north carolina and that amendment is at the desk. it has also been distributed to both sides. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by ms. kaptur of ohio. at the end of the bill, before the short title insert the following, section -- ms. kaptur: mr. speaker, i ask the amendment be considered as read. the chair: is there objection? without objection, so ordered.

pursuant to the order of the house today, the gentlewoman from ohio be, and a member opposed each -- ohio and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized. ms. kaptur: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today on behalf of the esteemed gentleman from north carolina, representative mike mcintyre, who represents a district inclusive of the southeastern coast of north carolina. congressman mcintyre's unfortunately able to come to the floor tonight so i rise on his behalf to offer the following amendment. this amendment will prevent the army corps of engineers from using funds to terminate or plan to terminate any 50-year coastal storm damage reduction project. the language in this amendment will give congress and the corps needed time to determine proper evaluation procedures. coastal storm damage reduction projects were created by congress to keep coastal communities safe and over time

to save taxpayer dollars through repeated damage costs. these projects involve federal-state partnerships where the communities assume the federal government will meet the commitment we have established through the army corps of engineers. obviously coastal regions across our country have varying needs. the seventh congressional district of north carolina is coastally different than ohio's ninth congressional district along lake erie which i represent. but the more than 100 miles of ohio coast line that are in the ninth district have seen important improvements fored into protection, shore line erosions installations over the years that have proven themselves to be cost effective. in particular, two of these, in point place and mali bay have both performed better than even the army corps of engineers' analysis originally predicted. as a result these completed projects, coastal communities in our region have been protected from costly and previously unmanageable storm

water damage. in today's energy and water legislation i ask, on behalf of mr. mcintyre and myself, that congress give communities affected by this amendment the same chance. on behalf of congressman mcintyre, i appreciate the respected chairman and ranking member of the energy and water subcommittees, mr. frelinghuysen and visclosky, for their willingness to work collaboratively on this issue. these projects are proven successes and the demonstrated need warrants a continuation of these cost-conscious investments that improve the safety of our coastal communities. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and do have some additional material i wish o place in the record. the chair: the gentlewoman yields back. any member seek time in opposition? the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from ohio. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.

the amendment is afread to. for what purpose does the gentleman from -- agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from alaska rise? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i offer an amendment on behalf of mr. denham from california. this amendment has been adopted on the floor twice and i urge the adoption of the amendment. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. young of alaska. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following, section, none of the funds made available by the -- made available by this act may be used to implement section 1001-b of public law 111-11. the chair: pursuant to the order of the house of today, the gentleman from alaska, mr. young, and maybe opposed each will control five minutes. the gentleman from alaska -- mr. young: i've already claimed the amendment has been adopted by the white house twice, unanimously so, i urge the pass and of the amendment. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: move to strike the word. we support the amendment. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for five minutes. mr. frelinghuysen: i support the amendment and yield back.

the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from indiana. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. visclosky: i appreciate the recognition and i do rise today in opposition to the amendment offered by my colleague from alaska on behalf of the gentleman from california. in 2009 the congress ratified the san what wean settlelement act which ended 18 years of litigation in the central valley of california over water. the agreement was supported by the bush administration and governor, then republican governor schwarzenegger. the federal authorizing legislation was initially co-sponsored by congressman poll poe in the house and senator feinstein in the senate. if the amendment that has been offered were adopted, i believe that we would be undermining the san joaquin risk air agreement which if it were to stand will land this case back in court. the court is forced to take over river restoration as

aplinet to water users would be at risk of losing the 20 years of swatter supply certainty the question is on the rovided by the settlement. the denham amendment offered by mr. young would potentially end amendment offered by the the broadly supported and gentleman from alaska. bipartisan effort to restore those in favor say aye. the san joaquin river while also improving a water supply those opposed, no. management, flood protections and water quality. therefore i do insist on in the opinion of the chair, objecting to the gentleman's the ayes have it. amendment and would yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from indiana yields back his time. the amendment is aread it to. -- agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 8 precipitationed in the congressional record offered by mr. kucinich of ohio. the chair: pursuant to the order of the house of today,

the gentleman from ohio and a member opposed each will control -- mr. frelinghuysen: i reserve a point of order. the chair: each will control five minutes. the point of order is reserved. the gentleman from ohio, mr. kucinich, is recognized. the gentleman will suspend. mr. kucinich: my amendment -- the chair: the gentleman will suspend. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment offered by the gentleman from ohio. the er antffed b e short title, insert the following. section -- mr. kucinich: i ask unanimous consent that the amendment be reported as read. the chair: is there objection?

mrfrghuyre will re e erk: inserthe following, seion, ne of the fundde ale under thi act be used to provide new lo the amount otherwise appropriated by this act for title 17, innovative technology loan guarantee program is hereby reduced by $33 million. the chair: does the gentleman from new jersey wish to reserve a point of order on -- mr. frelinghuysen: no, i do not , mr. chairman. the chair: the point of order is withdrawn. the gentleman from ohio voiced. mr. kucinich: i thank the gentleman from new jersey. my amendment would put a moratorium for fiscal year 2013 on any new loan guarantees under what is now known as the section 1703 loan guarantee program. to offset the loss of administrative revenue that would no longer come to the department of energy if the amendment passes, the amendment

cuts $33 million from administrative costs that will not be necessary if the program is suspended. this program originated in the energy policy act of 2005, offers a guarantee for the loans that finance an energy project. with that kind of guarantee the risk for the loaning entity is considered lower. which means they can charge a lower interest rate to the people initiating the energy project. in other words, it saves the project money. but it also puts the taxpayers on the hook if the project defaults. section 1703 projects cover nuclear, coal and even renewable energy. the closer we look at the guarantees, the less they seem like a worth while investment for the american taxpayer. let me give you an example, mr. chairman. some of the biggest guarantees are for nuclear power. one of the first and biggest loans the department of energy is considering is one that is not necessary. that's not my assessment, it's the assessment of kevin mahar,, the president of south carolina

energy and gas company, electric and gas company, which is attempting to mr. a new nuclear power plant -- which is attempting to build a new nuclear power plant. he said, and i quote, we're confident in our ability to finance this project without a lobe guarantee, unquote. this program stands to give him and his project, which could be in the $8 billion to $11 billion range, a preemptive bailout, it's not even needed. here's another example. a loan guarantee that is most likely to be award is for a new nuclear plant called vogel. that loan guarantee is for $8.3 billion. for knows of you who displayed a great deal of concern about solyndra's loan guarantee this one is 15 times the size, with a project that big is makes sense to look closely at the odds of this project going into default. leaving the taxpayers with the price tag. well, vogel already has $913 million in cost overruns and their sequester filings indicate more overruns can be expected. that of course is not at all unusual for nuclear power plant

project, construction costs overruns are the rule, not the exception. maybe that's why the c.b.o. had this to say about nuclear loan guarantees and i quote, c.b.o. considers the risk of default on such a loan guarantee to be very high, well above 50%, unquote, or maybe they said that because there's another reason to expect nuclear power plants will continue to struggle financially, the reason is that the low cost of natural gas that makes it far more attractive than taking multiple risks being bigoing into nuclear power. dale kline cautioned that nuclear plants won't move off the board and into construction as long as natural gas remains as cheap and plentiful as it is today. that's not the only recipient of government largess under this loan guarantee. even if you're a nuclear power plant supporter there are plenty of other boondoggles

covered by this that i don't have time to go into. that's why members of congress on both sides of the aisle can get behind this amendment supported by groups like taxpayers for common sense and physicians for social responsible. it is for those who are concerned about wasteful government spending this program alone will cost the taxpayers over $500 million not including any defaults the taxpayers may have to cover. this amendment is for those who have concerns about deficit spending, for those with free market concerns about an energy technology that's not financially viable even after tens of bolves dollars of subsidies and decades of opportunities to mature to the point where subsidies are not needed. it is for those concerned about the effects of these technologies on our drinking water, clean air and on climate change. s if for those who have concerns as rate payers that get stuck holding the bill. it is for those who found the

solyndra default to be outrageous. there's a little something for everyone with this amendment. i urge my colleagues to support it and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from ohio yields back. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: i rise to claim time in opposition to this amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: this -- the types of projects this amendment would damage are totally different than solyndra. he should look toward the 1705 program that lost over half a billion dollars to risky loans. this may be an attempt to paint some of these loan guarantees with a solyndra brush but it doesn't wash. the companies requesting those guarantees are not startups with shaky financial records but neither are they large enough to have enough capital

to fully pay for such massive projects. the loan guarantees help them leverage their capital in a reasonable manner to ensure that the benefits of these technologies can be shared by millions of americans. i urge members to vote no on this amendment and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> i move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. visclosky: i would simply also state my objection to the gentleman's amendment. i appreciate the concern he is expressed, especially for those prompts that may not make economic sense if in those cases the gentleman is correct, there should be no loan guarantee offered. having said that, for those programs that are in the queue that are under consideration that make sense and move our energy policy forward, we ought not to prohibit them from doing so by passing this amendment this evening and i yield back. >> i can the quelt to yield a

half minute. mr. visclosky: if the chair will indulge, i yield the gentleman a half minute of my time. mr. kucinich: i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record letters of support for my amendment. mr. visclosky: i yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman's request is covered under yen leave. the gentleman yields back his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from ohio. peapea -- those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the amendment is not agreed to. mr. kucinich: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment of the gentleman from ohio will be postponed. for what purpose does the

entlewoman seek recognition? mrs. blackburn: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: will the gentlewoman clarify which amendment? mrs. blackburn: this is the section 1705 amendment. the chair: will the gentlewoman submit or resubmit her amendment to the desk the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following, section, none of the fund made available under this act may be used to provide new loan guarantees or loan guarantee commitments under section 1705 of the energy policy act of 2005. 4 u.s.c. 16515. the chair: pursuant to the order of the house today, the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from tennessee,

mrs. blackburn for five minutes. mrs. blackburn: i thank you, mr. chairman. since 2009, the expect of energy has used stite tithele 17 and specifically section 1705 to create a government-run venture capital fund using taxpayers' hard-earned funds. unfortunately in this zero sum game being played and led by this administration, american taxpayers have continually ended up on the short end of the stick when it comes to companies like solyndra, beacon power and others lose hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. the section 1705, d.o.e. has closed transactions that guarantee approximately $16.15 billion of loans for renewable energy projects through a policy of acceleration which is implemented by secretary chu. with 62% of all funding within section 1705 going to solar projects, it appears that even

in the field of renewable energy, this administration has a very aggressive policy of pigging winners and losers. throughout the program, there have been countless red flags raised by career d.o.e. staff about the financial viability of the funds looking for taxpayer funding as was the case with solyndra. many of us have beenrod we have watched it go through many stages of development. and while many of these companies have great ideas they are just not ready for prime time. the high level of frustration with the loan guarantee program is not only being felt by taxpayers but by companies who have also tried to go through the loan guarantee process. this amendment should send a clear signal to the senate, to d.o.e. and the administration that we have truly grown ill and fatigued with the

mismanagement of the loan guarantee program and that we do not want any funding put into section 1705 in fiscal year 2013 through the appropriations or through any other vehicle. i ask my colleagues for their support as we close the door on the solyndra debacle and i yield back the balance of my time. >> will the gentlewoman yield? mrs. blackburn: i will. mr. frelinghuysen: we are prepared to accept your amendment. mrs. blackburn: i thank the gentleman for his support and i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from tennessee. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is adopted. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from tennessee rise? mrs. blackburn: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment.

will the gentlewoman from tennessee submit or resubmit the amendment. clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following, section, each amount made available by this act other than an amount required to be made available by a provision of law is hereby reduced by 1%. the chair: pursuant to the order of the house today, the gentlewoman from tp, mrs. blackburn, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the scrom from tennessee for five minutes. mrs. blackburn: i thank the chairman and i want to thank the committee for its hard work in identifying ways to cut spending in this appropriation. the fiscal year 2013 proposed funding level is $32.1 billion.

that is $965 million below the president's budget request, but, mr. chairman, there's a lot more that can be done and thereby i again am making the request that we make an additional 1% across the board spending reduction which will save taxpayers an additional $321 million. now, i am fully aware that as i come with these amendments that for each of our appropriations bills i hear about how these cuts are too deep. they are going to be -- have too far of a reaching -- a reach. they are damaging our national security. they are going to cut things that are important to our life and our property and imagine that, we're asking the bureaucracy to go in and shave one penny out of a dollar. one additional penny out of a dollar. in order to help put our nation

back on a track to fiscal sanity. as i said before, across the board spending cuts effectively control the growth and the cost of the federal government. they not only give agencies flexibility to determine which expenses are necessary but more importantly, they do not pick winners and losers. not only do i support the use of across-the-board spending cuts, but so does former governor mitt romney, governor chris isaak tee, governor rick -- chris christie, governor rick perry and other chief executives of their states. and the chairman's home state of muge. i would like to point out governor christie's statement. now, this was november , 2010 on "meet the press." governor christie said, in new jersey what we did was we cut

spending in every department, a 9% cut in real spending, not projected spending, real spending, year over year. that is because these work. in indiana, governor mitch daniels took the state's two-year budget. he enacted that budget in june and he cut most agency spend big ten%. from the previous budget. well, we hear about indiana being on the road to fiscal health. and then former governor mitt and then former governor mitt romney has said, as president,