have a responsibility on behalf of american citizens -- are they doing their job? you will start to see stories, how many senators and representatives have attended the briefings. are they asking the right questions? the questions that date back to post-9/11. do people remember the briefings? did they ingest what was happening? these are critical questions.ch message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the president of the united states. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i'm directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives a message in writing.

the speaker pro tempore: 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. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? mr. bishop: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 876. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 52, h.r. 876, a bill to authorize the continued use of certain water diversions located on national forest system land in the frank church river of no return wilderness and the saltway britter root wilderness in the state of idaho and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, and the gentleman from the northern mariana islands, mr. sablan, each will control 20

minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: 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. bishop: mr. speaker, this bill was a great bill the first time we passed it, the second time we passed it and it is still a great bill and it's necessary for the good people of idaho and i would yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from idaho, mr. simpson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. simpson: i thank the gentleman from utah for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 876, the idaho wilderness water resources protection act. this bipartisan noncontroversial legislation is a technical fix intended to enable the forest service to authorize and permit existing historical water diversions within idaho wilderness. a few years ago one of my constituents came to me for help with a problem. the middle fork lodge has a water diversion within the frank church river of no return

wilderness area that existed before the wilderness area was established and is protected under statute. the diversion was beginning to leak and was in desperate need of repairs to ensure it did not threaten the environment and watershed but it turned out the forest service did not have the authority to issue the lodge a permit to make the necessary repairs. as we looked into this issue, we discovered that the forest service lacks the authority throughout both frank church river of no return wilderness, where there are 22 known water developments and the saltway bitter root wilderness where there are three. these diversions are primarily used to support irrigation and hydropower generation for use on nonfederal lands. while the critical situation at the middle fork lodge brought this issue to my attention, it's obvious to me that this problem is larger than just one diversion. at some point in the future, all 25 of these existing diversions will need maintenance or repair work done to ensure their integrity. h.r. 876 authorizes the forest service to issue special use permits for all qualifying historic water systems in these

wilderness areas. i believe it is important to get ahead of this problem and ensure that the forest service has the tools necessary to manage these lands. for these reasons i have introduced h.r. 876. this legislation, which was passed in the house during the last two congresses, allows the forest service to issue the required special use permits to owners of historic water systems and set out specific criteria for doing. so providing this authority will ensure that the existing watershed diversions can be properly maintained and prepared when necessary and preserves beneficial use for private property owners who hold water rights under state law. i have deeply appreciated the cooperation of the forest service in addressing this problem, not only have they communicated with me the need to find a systemwide solution to this issue, but at my request they drafted this legislation to make sure it only impacts significant targeted historic diversions. those with valid water rights that cannot be feesably relocated outside of the wilderness area. this is a bipartisan and

noncontroversial, it is intended as a simple reasonable solution to a problem that i think we can all agree should be solved as quickly as possible. hopefully -- i hope, i hope that we can make this bill -- that this bill will make it through the legislative process without delay so the necessary maintenance to these diversions may be completed before the damage is beyond repair. i urge my members to support this legislation. thank you, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from the northern mariana islands. mr. sablan: mr. speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sablan: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, this legislation provides commonsense access to maintain water facilities within the frank church river off no return -- of no return wilderness area. these features were present prior to the federal designation of wilderness and are necessary to protect individual water rights in the state. i applaud chairman simpson for his legislation and we support the passage of this bill. and i reserve the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: i have no other speak fathers you're ready to quit. mr. sablan: mr. speaker, at this time i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. bishop: thank you. when you have diversions -- thank you. when you have diversions that predate the wilderness designation, you need to give them the ability to maintain those diversions. this is a good bill. i urge my colleagues to vote for it and more importantly i urge the senate to finally do something and as if and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 876. 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 -- mr. bishop: mr. speaker. on that i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor otang

this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this otion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? mr. bishop: i move to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 264. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house res. dution 264, resolution -- resolution 264. resolution providing for the concurrence by the house in the senate amendment to h.r. 588, with an amendment. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, and the gentleman from the northern mariana islands, mr. sablan, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: 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 material on the bill under consideration.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. bishop: i yield myself as much time as i may consume. there comes a point in time where we are always asking the senate to do something and when they finally get around to doing something, they decide to mess with that by making it questionable, by trying to expand it. this is a similar case in which we gave them a simple and good bill. they send us back something that is questionable and expanded and we're going to give it back to them so they just do it right the second time around. with that i would like to yield as much time as he may consume to the sponsor of the original bill, the gentleman from alaska, mr. young. mr. young: i thank you for yielding. mr. speaker, over a month ago the house passed the vietnam veterans donor acknowledgment act by a resounding vote of 398-2. unfortunately a couple weeks ago the senate changed this bipartisan, noncontroversial piece of legislation. instead of only allowing donor recognition at a soon to be built vietnam veterans education center, the senate changed the bill to allow donor recognition across the entire mall.

on all future commemorative works. what i'm not fundamentally opposed to this idea, neither the house nor senate has done anything to this issue. neither the house or senate has done a markup on this issue. mr. speaker, put simply, this is just a poor legislative process and the american people deserve better. today we're here to undo what the senate has done and once again send them a bipartisan, noncontroversial bill. today's resolution merely strikes the senate language that allows donor recognition across the mall and reinsertion of my original language from h.r. 588. this language has been through the full committee process season is a sound legislative text -- process and is a sound legislative text. we will keep one portion of the senate language which extends the legislative authority to construct the education senter from 2014 and 2018. it's unfortunate we must provide this extension, though. our nation of vietnam veterans have wait to do long for this education center. it's a shame that a long line of

political gamesmanship has delayed its construction. mr. speaker, after the vietnam war, many of our nation's bravest were welcomed home but not with joy and with cheers or words of thanks but with dirty looks and snide remarks. let us not forget the fact, let us end these political games. i call upon my colleagues in the house, especially upon my colleagues in the senate, to quickly pass this resolution, so this education center can finally be built. we can all agree that this legislation and this center is a long time coming and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from the northern mariana islands. mr. sablan: mr. speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sablan: thank you, mr. speaker. this is a very important issue before us today. e senate amended h.r. 558 to allow any new memorialal in d.c. to acknowledge donors -- memorial in d.c. to acknowledge donors.

the senate amendment also provided a four-year extension of the leggetsive authority for the vietnam memorial visitors center. the resolution before us today would narrow the senate language back to apply only to the vietnam memorial sister center while continuing -- visitor center while continuing to provide them with a four-year extension of their authorization. mr. speaker, our preference would be to send a bill to the president to sign today. however, the majority's insisting on amending the senate legislation and sending this bill back to the senate instead of to the president. instead of the president. while we do not object to policy of allowing donor acknowledgment, we are concerned that amending the senate amendment will unnecessarily delay enactment of this legislation. but given this is the only option we have to support the vietnam memorial visitor center, we support passage of this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: once again i am the

last speaker i have. mr. sablan: i have one more speaker. mr. bishop: ok, i would reserve then. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman -- mr. sablan: at this time i recognize a vietnam war veteran and the distinguished gentleman from american samoa as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. faleomavaega: i ask unanimous consent to extend and revise my remarks. i thank the gentleman from utah and the gentleman from the northern mariana islands for their management of this important legislation. i want to pay a special tribute to the gentleman from alaska for his authorship of this bill. mr. speaker, i rise today in strong support of this resolution to amend senate amendment to the h.r. 588, the vietnam veterans donor acknowledgment act of 2013. i want to thank my good friend, again, congressman young from alaska, for his leadership on this very important issue. he has always been a strong supporter of our military service members and veterans and has been instrumental in moving

forward to build this educational center at the wall that will educate the millions of visitors of vietnam veterans memorial about its history and its purpose. mr. speaker, last month the house with overwhelming support passed h.r. 588, the vietnam veterans donor acknowledgment act of 2013. and as we all know, h.r. 588 is supported by all the major veterans organizations throughout the country. unfortunately during its consideration, the senate significantly amended the bill which has drastically altered the original intent of the bill, much of the additions to h.r. 5le 8 has not been e-- 588 has not been evaluated or considered by way of markup by either the senate or the house which is critical in considering any legislation. for this reason, my colleague today offers this resolution to reinstate the original bipartisan language. mr. speaker, as a vietnam veteran myself, i strongly believe that my fellow soldiers and i have waited too long, long

enough for the construction of this important educational center. it will benefit the many tourists that visit our nation's capitol and educate and inform many of those who question why the thousands of names are engraved on such an extraordinary memorial. mr. speaker, so beautiful to see that our veterans coming from the gulf war are being praised by the american public, which is great. unfortunately those of us who are part of the vietnam legacy, of the war that occurred at that time, not a very sweet welcoming home, i can say that, mr. speaker. being called baby killers and war mongers and all of this. very bitter. to this day i'm still very bitter in terms of the treatment of our soldiers and veterans who come from that -- the terrible war that our country was involved in. this education center is so critical to educate the american people, to educate america for that matter so that they will understand and better appreciate

the sacrifices and the contributions that our veterans and those who wore the armed services uniform in protection of this country. again, i thank my goode deer friend, mr. young from -- good dear friend, mr. young from alaska, and urge support of this bill and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. bishop: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. sablan: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. bishop: thank you. i appreciate the comments that were given by the gentleman from alaska, mr. young, the gentleman from the northern marianas -- territory of the northern marianas, mr. sablan, and i respect and appreciate the comments by the gentleman from american samoa who has done so much. and i appreciate all of those. in everything that we are doing, in fact, their comments were right on. what we are trying to do is ensure that what we do here is to return to the regular order of the house. which means we go through a legitimate process, trying to

look at something instead of just flying by the seat of our pants. therefore, because this was changed significantly in the senate, without much input at all, we are simply doing two things. first of all, we'll be removing the provisions affected by the senate changes. so that the vietnam visitors center can move forward under this bill without any delay and it will enhance the ability to raise their private funds. but also we want to give careful and due consideration to the senate-added provisions. so the text of the senate language affecting future memorials is being introduced today as a stand-alone bill in the house. we will have a public hearing, we will go through the process to be held very soon on this particular bill and then further action by the committee can follow. once again, this is our process to reensure regular order -- re-ensure regular order. i urge my colleagues to vote for this particular resolution and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 264. 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 the resolution is dwred to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? mr. bishop: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 253, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 253, a bill to provide for the conveyance of a small parcel of national forest system land in the uinta-watt ash-cache national forest in utah to big om young university, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, and the gentleman from the northern mariana islands, mr. sablan, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: i also 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. bishop: with that i i yield myself such time as i may consume. i'm happy to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from utah, mr. chaffetz, that he'll explain that y mountain is not the same thing as yucca mountain. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. chaffetz: the gentleman is very correct. this is very different and not nearly as controversial i can assure you. h.r. 263, the y mountain access enhance act act, directs the department of interior to sell this to bring up young university, often known as b. yumplet. it includes a block y on the y mountain in the provo area. h.r. 253 requires b.y.u. to pay fair market value for the land.

proceeds of the land sell will be used to reduce the deficit. h.r. 253 guarantees public access to the block y and the y mountain trail after the sell. b.y.u. has managed this parcel of land for 50 years and has always allowed public access. b.y.u. actually owned the entire trail at one point many years ago and h.r. 253 would restoreownership to big om young university but they would have to pay fair market value for the land. a part of the trail is owned by b.y.u. and the other is owned by the forest service. it complicates long-term planning which ultimately puts public access at risk. restoring this land to b.y.u. would provide long-term certainty by removing any questions as to who owns the land and who is responsible for maintaining the trail. hiking up the y is a popular pastime in the provo area and h.r. 253 ensures that the trail will be maintained for future hikers. his bill was introduced in the 112th congress as h.r. 4484 and

passed the house by voice vote. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on this particular piece of legislation and i appreciate the bipartisan support on this piece and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from yields -- the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from the northern mariana islands is recognized. mr. sablan: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sablan: h.r. 253 provides for conveyance of 40 acres of brigham vice land to young university. at this time i yield as much time as he may consumed to the gentleman from american samoa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman is recognized. mr. faleomavaega: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to extend and revise my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. faleomavaega: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 253, the y mountain access enhancement act. this legislation would direct the u.s. department of agriculture to sell approximately 80 acres to the u.s. forest service land owned

for years by the residents of the city of provo, utah, as the y mountain to brigham young university. located directly east of the b.y.u. campus, it includes a trail that leads 1.2 miles from the mountain's base up to a large white concrete y on the mountain's hillside which was built over 100 years ago. the y, which is 380 feet high by 130 feet wide is even larger than the hollywood sign in hollywood, california. d serves as an signature for brigham young university. as an alumnist of b.y.u. i have come to know the y as a symbol of campus pride for the students. some of my colleagues are probably wondering what does an island boy want to go to utah? i want the snow. you can have all the snow

because i'm going back to the islands. freshman orientation, homecoming, graduations in april and august as well as y days which celebrates b.y.u.'s week of service activities. as a nationally recognized symbol of b.y.u., the y mountain is also a featured shot in almost every b.y.u. game broadcast on national television. b.y.u. currently manages the u.s. forest service portion of the trail. h.r. 253, however, proposes the federal government sell the y mountain at fair market value to brigham young university. the bill also guarantees that the public access to the y and the y mountain trail be maintained following the sell. mr. speaker, it's my strong belief that permitting b.y.u. to purchase this property would result in better maintenance of the trail and mountain, given the immense source of pride in y mountain, b.y.u. ownership of the property will only result in improved maintenance, collegeliness, safety and access for the public. the transfer of the ownership

would also allow brigham young university to preserve a significant monument for future generations of students and members of the community. i want to especially thank my colleague, the gentleman from utah, mr. chaffetz, for his sponsorship of this bill who also happens to be an alumnist of b.y.u. for introducing this legislation and i do urge my colleagues to vote in support of this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. bishop: reserves. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from the northern mariana islands is recognized. mr. sablan: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers 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 utah is recognized. mr. bishop: despite being a graduate of the university of utah and finding myself surrounded by b.y.u. people here, makes me terribly uncomfortable. this is still a good bill that is a win-win situation and will provide the experience of those at b.y.u. and the area a much safer and pleasant experience on y mountain.

so i would urge my colleagues to vote for this and i will yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 253 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. mr. sablan: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- mr. sablan: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the rules are -- the gentleman. mr. sablan: mr. speaker, on that i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? mr. bishop: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 674. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 48, h.r. 674, a bill to

authorize the secretary of the interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating prehistoric, historic, and limestone forest sites on rota, commonwealth of the northern mariana islands, as a unit of the national park . stem the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, and the gentleman from the northern mariana islands, mr. sablan, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: 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. bishop: with that i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, this bill authorizes the study for the suedibility and feasibility -- suitability and feasibility of designating this particular area as part of the unit of the national park system. i think it's a wise concept in which to go to find out the cultural and natural resources that are on this particular

area and look forward to its further designation. with that i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from the northern mariana islands. mr. sablan: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sablan: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 674, the rota cultural and natural resources study act. the bill authorizes the secretary of interior to determine whether it would be suitable and feasible to have archaeological, historical and natural resources on the island of rota on the northern mariana islands to the national park system. the house has already voted to authorize this suitability and feasibility study for rota on two separate occasions. but the other body did not follow through. so here we are here. the third time may be the charm. mindful of the previous house votes, i would not preach to

the choir but i do think it's worth reminding my colleagues that a reconadvance survey in 2005 that rote -- reconnaissance survey in 2005 that rota has national significance. this includes precontact mora e sites of the cha chou mora pop -- people who pap lated the area more than 5 pund -- populated the area more than 500 years ago. i want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for their support of h.r. 674. i also want to thank chairman bishop and ranking member grijalva of the subcommittee on public lands and environmental regulation for their help in bringing this measure to the floor today. i urge my colleagues to support passage of h.r. 674. and at this time if i may, mr.

chairman, i yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from american samoa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman is recognized. mr. faleomavaega: thank you, mr. speaker. this is getting to be an island occasion or something but at any rate i do thank the gentleman from utah and the gentleman from the northern marianas for allowing me to comment on this proposed legislation. i rise in support of h.r. 674, the rota cultural and -- cultural and natural resources study act. i want to thank mr. sablan for this legislation that would authorize the secretary of interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating prehistoric, historic limestone sites on rota as a unit of the national park service. this legislation is critical and will enable the village sites of the ain chant chamorro

people and for federally endangered species including birds. mr. speaker, this legislation previously passed the house in the last congress. unfortunately the senate did not have time in its agenda to address the legislation prior to the end of the congress. leaders of rota unanimously support this legislation. additionally, the national park service, after completing the preliminary resources assessment in 2005 concluded that designating rota as part of the national park system appeared to be the best way to ensure the long-term protection of rota's prehistoric and historic natural and manmade hab want structures. mr. speaker, again, i commend mr. sablan for his leadership. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i want to also share with my colleagues a little bit of history. 20 miles away from the island rota is the island in the

northern mariana islands. this is where there was two atomic bombs that was launched that brought about the close of world war ii. in terms of historical perspectives, rota, the northern marianas islands, i think you made a contribution for the betterment of our nation. i ask my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. bishop: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from the northern mariana islands is reserved -- is recognized. mr. sablan: thank you. i'd like to thank the gentleman from american samoa for his support of the bill. and because he mentioned the boxcar did fly from there to bomb japan and ended the war against japan. those airplanes, i'd like to

also note for the record, that originated and took off from utah before they came to the mariana islands and actually -- so there's that connection here. so, mr. bishop, actually the one who reminded me that while they took from there, it was in utah that they started the flight and to japan. flew at this time, mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. bishop: thank you. and he did steal my thunder. they did train and start over utah which was part of my district until the legislature became involved in district lines in this last session. i urge my colleagues to support this particular piece of legislation, remind them that any costs associated with this study has to be appropriated and we'll have another chance could look at that and -- chance to look at that and i firmly support it and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the

bill, h.r. 674. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? mr. bishop: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 862. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 51, h.r. 862, a bill to authorize the conveyance of two small parcels of land within the boundaries of the coconino national for the forest, convening private improvements that were developed based upon the reliance of the landowners in an erroneous survey conducted in may, 1960. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, and the gentleman from the northern mariana islands, mr. sablan, each will control 20

minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: 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. bishop: today looks like a day of deja vu as we're hearing good bills coming back to us for a second time. i would like to yield myself as much time as i may consume and yield as much time as he will consume to last year's sponsor of this particular bill, the representative from arizona, mr. gosar. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bishop: on second thought, i'm just going to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from the northern mariana islands is recognized. mr. sablan: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sablan: thank you, mr. speaker. this bill corrects a survey error made in the 1960's. the landowners will be required

$20,000 for these two parcels. i want to commend my colleague, congresswoman kirkpatrick, for her leadership on she issue and at this time if i may, i yield to congresswoman kirkpatrick as much time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentlewoman is recognized. mr. kirk: thank you, mr. speaker -- mrs. kirkpatrick: thank you, mr. speaker. imagine waking up one day to learn that your property really isn't yours. in fact, that's exactly the situation that a group of residents in my district find themselves in. they didn't cause the problem. over 40 years ago it was created because of a land survey that simply got it wrong. for years, even decades, they've lived on their property, they've maintained it, they've invested in it. only to find that their property is within the boundaries of the united states forest service. this has been a real economic hardship for these folks. today we have an opportunity to solve this for them. i thank congressman gosar and s staff to to -- for working

together on behalf of the people of arizona. our bill, h.r. 862, has a simple, commonsense conveyance which returns this land to its rightful owners and removes this economic hardship that has been hanging over them for so long. we are pleased that the bill has bipartisan support, that it passed out of natural resources, with unanimous vote. and i urge my colleagues to join us today to support h.r. 862. because these people have been living in limbo for way too long. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. bishop: this time i would like to yield as much time as he may consume to someone who is clearly a better gentleman than i am, the representative from arizona, mr. gosar. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank my colleague for the time and her teamwork on this public plans initiative. i am very frustrated that it

even is necessary for us to reintroduce this legislation. it shouldn't take years and an act of congress to right a wrong. last year the house overwhelmingly passed this bill by a vote count of 421-1. unfortunately it was the victim of partisan gridlock in the united states senate. and was not sent to the president before the end of the 112th congress. i see this initiative as unfinished business from the last congress and i hope to get together we can get this across the finishline very quickly this year. this is a commonsense solution to an uncomprehensible federal land situation in northern arizona. in 1960 the federal government conducted a survey in which several acres of united states forest service land were misidentified as private property. it was not until 2007 when the federal government contracted another private survey that the mistakes were realized and the residents of the neighborhood were informed of these errors. until the 2000 survey, many of these residents have maintained these parcels and developed them

as their own for years and in some cases decades. in essence, the federal government seized lands the residents had maintained, developed and paid taxes on for years. questions associated with the landownership have plummeted property values in the neighborhood and prevented a number of owners from selling their homes. on some of these parcels, the revise -- the revised boundaries go through portions of their homes or backyards. to fix the situation we reintroduced h.r. 862. the bill simply authorizes the forest service to convey all rights, titles and interest to approximately 2.67 acres of the coconino national forest, to the homeowners for a small fee, using an estimation process congress utilized in another land exchange in the same northern arizona county from the 109th congress, public law number 109-110. the forest service does not want to own these people's livingrooms and the property owners certainly do not want to share their homes or their yards with the forest service. this bill is a no-brainer.

reported out of the natural resources committee by unanimous consent. i encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation and release some northern arizonans of this financially burdensome situation 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 northern mariana islands is recognized. mr. sablan: mr. speaker, when the house acts this way, some of the most brightest, proudest moment i am that i am a part of this house is when congress, when members of this house make -- do something to right a wrong. and in this case, not just right a wrong, but because of a survey and a mistake by surveyers in the 1960's, these homeowners are now even willing to put up their own money and buy a piece of property that they thought they've always owned. and this is a proud moment and i support the bill, mr. speaker, 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 utah is recognized. mr. bishop: thank you, mr. speaker. this is one situation that is just unbelievable, that the situation exists. it is unbelievable that it takes legislation to solve this type of a problem. and want to thank mr. gosar as well as mrs. kirkpatrick from arizona for working together to try and solve this problem that should never have existed in the first place. it's a good bill, i urge support and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 862. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the -- 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, -- mr. bishop: mr. speaker, on that i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20,

further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? mr. bishop: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 520. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 56, h.r. 520, a bill to authorize the secretary of the interior to conduct a studdy of alternatives for commemorating and interpreting the role of the buffalo soldiers in the early years of the national parks and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, and the gentleman from the northern mariana islands, mr. sablan, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: again, 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. bishop: i yield myself such time as i may consume. this particular billut

conduct a study. the cost of the study would be subject to appropriations. this study would commemorate the role of buffalo soldiers in the early years of our national park service. for 25 years preceding the creation of the national park service, yosemite national park was administered by the united states army and the buffalo soldiers played a key role, protecting the park's resources that have been enjoyed by many people today. this study would simply authorize -- this bill would simply authorize a study as to the role that we should do in commemorating the buffalo soldiers in the national park system specifically and deals with yosemite national park. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from the northern mariana islands is recognized. mr. sablan: mr. speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume and then i ask unanimous consent to also yield time to the distinguished gentlelady from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sablan: thank you, mr. speaker. h.r. 520 would direct the secretary of interior to study

ways the national park service could commemorate the role of buffalo soldiers. buffalo soldiers were african-american troops who served in our first national parks, including yosemite and sequoia national parks prior to the establishment of the national park service. the legislation sponsored by congresswoman speier was ordered favorably reported by the national resources committee in april. this legislation has passed the house during the previous two congresses. i commend my colleague, congresswoman speier, for introducing this legislation and for her leadership on this issue. we strongly support this legislation and at this time i yield as much time as she may consume to the congresswoman from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman. ms. speier: mr. speaker, thank you, and i thank my good friend from the northern mariana islands for yielding to me. mr. speaker, i rise this evening in support of my legislation, the buffalo soldiers and the national park study act, which will allow the department of

interior to study the role of the buffalo soldiers and the one they played in defending our first national parks. this is a key step in preserving the legacy of the army's first african-american infantry and cavalry units and the contributions they made to the nation. this bill passed the house under suspension of the rules twice before, once in the 111th congress and once in the 112th conditioning -- congress. i'm grateful to the many co-sponsors of this legislation as well. specifically my bill would evaluate the feasibility of a national historic trail along the buffalo soldiers' route from their historic military post at the -- to yosemite and sequoia national parks. the study would also identify properties that could be listed in the national register of historic places or designations as national historic landmarks. for several years buffalo soldiers regiments traveled 320 miles along this route to patrol the park lands for loggers and poachers, build new trails and

escort visitors. the buffalo soldiers were among our very first park rangers. a task these troops took on with pride after serving brafle in the civil war and other campaigns. because of the color of their skin, the buffalo soldiers were all too often marginalized instead of respected for their service to the nation. both on and off the battlefield. however, during this time, protecting the parks, they not only confronted racism and discrimination, they overcame it. they became respected neighbors and friends of people living in the park regions and they made real inroads toward racial progress that were extraordinary for their day. although they were assigned to watch over government property for only a relatively short time, the buffalo soldiers helped lay the groundwork for some of our greatest wilderness to be preserved forever. i'm proud that the buffalo soldiers traveled through my district on the way to the parks and i believe this bill will help shed a light on history they made in the great state of california and in many places

across our depreat country. all americans from all walks of life will benefit from learning about this often overlooked chapter in our history. the buffalo soldiers' story is ultimately about the triumph, not just of african-american troops over prejudice and injustice, but about the movement for our nation towards a more tolerant and courageous society. this is history that should be more fully incorporated in our park system and i believe it will help enhance the park experience for millions of visitors for many years to come. i thank my colleagues for supporting this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman rom the american american -- from the northern mariana eye lancelands. mr. sablan: we have no further speakers and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: yield back. mr. bishop: the request is will

the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 520. 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. the chair lays before the house a message. the clerk: to the congress of the united states, section 202-d of the national emergencies act provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its declaration the president publishes in the federal register and transmits to the congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. in accordance with this provision i have sent to the federal register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to the western balkans that was

declared in executive order 13219 of june 26, 2001, is to remain in effect beyond june 26, 2013. the crisis constituted by the actions of persons engaged in or assisting, sponsoring or supporting, one, extremist violence in the republic of macedonia and elsewhere in the western balkans region or, two, acts obstructing implementation of the date and accords in bosnia or united nations security council resolution 1244 of june 10, 1999, related to kosovo which led to the declaration of a national emergency on june 26, 2001, in executive order 13219 and to the amendment of that order in executive order 13304 of may 28, 2003, to include acts obstructing implementation of the framework agreement of 2001

in macedonia has not been resolved. the acts of extremist violence and obstructionist activity outlined in executive order 13219, as amended, are hostile to u.s. interests and continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the united states. for this reason i have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared with respect to the western balkans. signed, barack obama, the white house. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on foreign affairs and ordered printed. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until approximately

>> we think it is critical that any regulation keeps in mind that we need to invest in the physical infrastructure that is the core of every product we deliver. if we are going to be a world leader in the delivery of high- speed data, we will have to have the most capable wi-fi access points, it is key that the regulatory environment actually fosters as opposed to inhibits further investment in that plan. >> should we have more possibility for consumers? that is something that we are working on, having more packages than any before. 's role orgovernment

the negotiation between content --sugars, and this is best distributors, and this is best served in businesses 'relationships. it is an important subject and one that we want to be part of that dialogue. >> a look at the cable industry and the video market place, tonight at 8:00 eastern on c- span2.wo -- c- >> going back as far as abigail adams, you find that first ladies played an active role in the white house and in the campaigns that it took to get there. abigail adams was a campaign strategist for her husband. she helped advise him on who to boom in order to win election, who he had to keep in his coalition, they would talk incessantly about the politics of the day, and the legislation

that needed to be passed, which senators and congressmen he could count on, that he needed to do to win more support. takes a look at our nation's first ladies as political partners of their husbands. tonight at 9:00 eastern on c- span. >> with the first season of our first ladies season complete, on facebook we are asking who was your favorite? ,ou can join the conversation and of now area todd lincoln is leading in those polls. the house returns at 6:30 p.m. on votes, so until then, here's onook on what is ahead a

capitol hill this week. host: this morning we will kick off the reporter roundtable with a discussion of the week ahead on washington hill. we're joined by rebecca sinderbrand from "politico" and ian swanson of "the hill," over here on capitol hill. we will be taking your comments for the next hour, but let's start with the push for immigration reform. where is the senate after a full week of debate on this? guest: the immigration bill is going to go to a bunch of amendments and pass out of the senate before the july 4 recess. we are expecting a really busy week on capitol hill. republicans and democrats trying to get different agreements on the bill. you cannot say that it will be a

complete certainty, putting pressure on the house once it goes to a lower chamber. host: here is a story talking about how big this bill is from "the washington times." not the biggest in recent years, but the immigration legislation is challenging. dominating action on capitol hill, one group

at about 24 pounds. you say that harry reid wants to get this done by july 4. is this still on track to happen by then? guest: probably it is right now. but could be an interesting story in the news today. the congressional budget office could be telling us a lot about whether this bill will pass. that was a very pricey number. host: any estimates on what the number might be? guest: we will see the first estimates today, but there is a lot on this bill around border security. those things tend to be very expensive. there are also things the people want to add to the cost of the bill. that is something to watch in the house, it could get much more expensive. host: the deputy white house editor over there at "politico," what have you been discussing as this bill hits the floor? guest: for much of this process the president remained silent,

spoke out a couple of days ago, unusual and unexpected by several advocates. we have a story today about the move that the state level for driverand now you are seeing democrats and room of lincoln's taking it as a political winner. host: as it was talking about this issue up in new jersey over >> i would say we are open to more specificity. what i cannot support and what i believe the community cannot

support at the end of the day is we are going to have triggers that can never be achieved in terms of border security as an impediment to the pathway to legalization and citizenship. host: ian swanson, talk about the gang of eight. guest: what was interesting about what they said yesterday was they were about to mention the politics of this, which are starting to heat up. some of the democrats were almost warning republicans that you have to get behind this bill or you will pay for it in 2014 and 2016. let's not forget that the immigration reform has momentum right now. barack obama got 70% of the hispanic vote he pretty much worn his party did you have got to get behind this.

host: here is a bit of lindsey graham on "meet the press," yesterday -- [video clip] >> a positive note, a political breakthrough passing reform with plus 70 votes. i have never been more optimistic about it. host: we are doing our reporter roundtable this morning. lines are open if you want to talk about immigration or any of the other issues we are talking about today. for republicans, 202-585-3881. for democrats, 202-585-3880. for independents, 202-585-3882. before we leave the issue on immigration, talk a little bit

about lindsey graham's relationship with the white house on this immigration issue? guest: you have seen the white house really take the lead on this, one of the reasons for that is of course a lot of democrats saying -- look, if the president is out in front it can only stall the issue. one of the interesting things that is a political calculation is the effect in 2014, where the elections are likely to look very different. upcoming elections are looking to look more conservative, traditional, more white. it may not show the same effect being predicted. the question is -- how much of an impact will that have? host: the hill floor action blog

has a senate reform citing, one of those amendments is a same- sex couples amendment being sponsored by patrick leahy. can you talk a bit about this amendment? guest: this is an amendment that he wanted to offer to the judiciary committee when they first considered the bill, in part because of pressure from republicans and democrats who said that if you add this bill add this amendment, you will kill the immigration bill and it will not get through congress. he offered to add it on the floor. on the floor it will be much tougher to get it into the bill, as you will need 60 votes. in committee it was just majority. it was a big deal for him to back off and not offer it in committee, and it is unlikely, you can pretty much guarantee that it will not.

host: talk a bit about the gay marriage same-sex couple benefits going on as this amendment is being offered on the immigration bill, could we hear from the supreme court on guest: that is right. the term is coming to a close and we have several days of decisions coming. we have the defense of marriage act and also prop 8. you have a situation where whether or not this issue is included, it may possibly be somewhat moved by the end of the month. obama has a lot of the regulations in limbo, when it comes to federal workers and the department of defense. so, you have a situation right now where same-sex marriage ban the immigration bill may not be

as much of a factor. host: the cases on the docket, we do not know what they will be announcing? guest: we do not.host: this is from today's " "the baltimore sun." the other big issue is about married gay couples and the defense of marriage act being unconstitutional.

ian swanson, talk about how capitol hill is preparing for the possible rulings. guest: i think they are waiting on their hands. same-sex marriage has been pretty dramatic, especially for the democratic party. there are only a couple of republicans in favor of gay marriage, but nearly all of the democratic senators have felt the tidal wave of change in public opinion. i do not think that we are going to see as many of the culture battles over same-sex marriage coming out to the degree we had seen before. it was not seen as much as a local winner, though it will be

seen within the republican party, particularly with primary challenges among members. host: we are talking with ian swanson and rebecca sinderbrand. we are taking your calls and comments on these many discussions that we will be discussing for the next 45 minutes or so.we will go to nancy first from west virginia. caller: good morning. host: your comment or question? caller: i just wanted to comment on the immigration bill. i have heard a lot of republicans saying that it is important to pass, but from my friends and relatives we feel like it is being rushed through and we do not like the idea of amnesty and are very suspicious of the bill. host: ian swanson, can you talk about who the key republicans are who are supporting this and who are opposed? guest: a lot of republicans feel

the way the caller does and you have seen that reflected on capitol hill. certainly some senators have talked about the idea that this is being rushed through. jeff sessions and chuck grassley have been working hard to change it. senator john cornyn of texas is a key member to watch, looking to tighten security provisions on the border. people would not be able to get citizenship until there was a tighter border. democrats are calling that a poison-pill amendment, looking for some kind of middle ground that could get the bill through with more votes. host: a story came out late last week where john cornyn emerged

as the key to the threshold for immigration reform vote. talk about this threshold, if you could, miss rebecca sinderbrand. what is the president doing to help? guest: we have been hearing this for a while and it has been a huge 44 supporters of the bill, seen as a benchmark for what is needed to make it through the house. so, for some time there has been a push to make sure the bill is free, and even the amendments that are not poison pills could make the bill tougher for members on the edge to support it. host: joe, democratic line, virginia. caller: i was that the judiciary

hearing in the senate when it passed the immigration bill and it was very moving. a lot of people were very excited about it. there is a situation suggested by the immigration bill, does anyone have a suggestion about how to get that to the attention of people? i married a lovely one from china who first came to the united states on a j1 visa. she has not met requirements yet, so we can not be together even though we are married until she goes back to china. i am just baffled. there is a certain amount of irony, when millions of undocumented immigrants are able

to be on a path toward staying in the united states and i am married to a woman who has to go back to the country and we are kept apart longer. do you have any suggestions? the group of a, a gang of eight, and how to get traction? host: have you heard anything about this so far? guest: i have not heard about these visas, he did the right thing by calling his congressman and calling c-span. host: then there is also going out to vote as well. there are implications for 2014 and 2016?

guest: the electorate in 2014 will be very different. there will be a handful of states for new what senators up for reelection and will be interesting to watch how they vote. mark friar in arkansas has been seen as the least likely to go for immigration reform. last week he said he was inclined to support the bill, showing how more and more people on looking at these political tea leaves thinking that there is more in it for them to vote for the bill. host: new york, bill, republican line. you are on with ian swanson and rebecca sinderbrand. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. a couple of comments, republicans have trounced the democrats since 2010.

but was that all of it when they squeaked by in 2012? the problem is with security as thes has [indiscernible] human cry is that we have to have immigration reform. have discussed amnesty twice with the promise of security. why is thereieve, any thought this will actually happen? is with unemployment like we are having, why are we bringing in 12,000 workers to compete with americans? that is my immigration question. on the nsa spying, my

understanding is the patriot act approves a gathering phone calls from the u.s. and foreign countries and foreign countries to the u.s., but not domestic calls. thank you so much. host: which one do you want to take first? guest: turning back to immigration for a moment, that is something he has heard from a lot of republicans. definitely why now. it is not even necessarily the results of a breakdown, it is the overall warming management of holding onto this support and building on it. looking at for what that could mean a head for the hispanic population, they continue to grow we're starting to see i am looking to rush to a toll, many felt that it was not a complete surprise. that there was not a huge sense of shock.

in the latest numbers, this is a bit of a swing era -- host: you followed her in terms of sobering and even if the president's personal approval whether thisdown. is all connected to the nsa story, we can't say. host: to give you those latest numbers from a cnn poll, june,

45% approved, 54% and 57% approved with 45% disapproved." guest:the possibility where it comes down to personal honesty and ethics, that is taking a hit. there is the possibility of finally having some sort of lasting impact that we do not know.this is just one month. host: we want to show our viewers a bit of this. nation," talking about

the nsa issue. [video clip] >> we have many neighbors in the area who have significant concerns. here is what we want to do, we have to be very discerning about what is in our interest and what the outcome is and what the price is that we will pay to get to that place. if we rush to war in the past, we will not do it here and we-- here. a little bit about the nsa issue. issue. about the serious talk about how capitol hill is treating the nsa issued this week. hearings this week. what has helped president obama rs have prettyicans and

much joined together said that the programs in question, they have put a lot of their fire into the man on the , nancys.edward snowden pelosi saying he should be prosecuted. john boehner calling him a traitor. that has taken the fire of.-- off him. the question is less about the programs and more about the man. more than half the senate did not even show up for a briefing on thursday about the nsa. host: even all of the political publicity? guest: even after all the publicity.all the complaints about not getting information about the programs. so, the story has not been getting the kind of attention that is potentially damaging for the president on capitol hill. maybe you can point to lawmakers host:source for the reason.

now we give you dennis talking about the nsa issue and america's collection of metadata and whether it violates privacy. [video clip] >> let me get you on the record, does the president feel that he is violated the privacy of an american? >> he does not. >> ronald reagan used to say to trust but verify, but in this situation, you will hear him saying and what he said in his speech earlier this month at the youional defense university. will hear him say what he said in his speech earlier this month. the national defense university. whenill hear what he said he responded to reporters last week on this question. we do have to find a right balance, especially in a new situation where we find ourselves with all of us reliant

on internet and, on e-mail, on texting. we find ourselves communicating in different ways. the bad guys are doing that as well. we have to find the right balance between protecting our privacy and protecting the country from the very real risk that we face. the president is not saying, and this goes to the heart of the changes he made in 2009, the president is not saying, trust me. he is saying, i want every member of congress on whose authority we are running this program to understand it, to be briefed about it, and to be comfortable with it. host: rebecca sinderbrand, does the white house feel they're getting control of the story of? first fewhin the days, you saw the president come out pretty strongly on the program, speaking about the need for them, speaking about

the use of balance between privacy and security. they pulled back just a bit after the emergence of snowden. part of it is also, you know, we have heard from the white house that he will be speaking out in the days ahead. we are going to hear more from him. this is not a partisan issue by any means. republicans seen come out unified with a message against the president. you have seen them a speaking out forcefully in favor of the president, this approach he has taken. it gives the president some breathing room. ont: tea party splits security and civil liberties. ian swanson, talked bout some of the strange bedfellows this story has made on capitol hill. guest: the intelligence be attee, there tends to

panel where you don't see the partisan divide. we have seen mike rogers, the lead republican on the house side, senator dianne feinstein, the lead democrats, the ranking republican on intelligence, they all pretty much say the same thing. memorableer most comments was to call for the white house to give a stronger defense of those programs. had noturprised they given them a more forceful defense. you are seeing people on the same side that you certainly would not have seen or didn't see when resident bush was in office. you saw the stark lines. ifwould be hard to imagine president bush was still in office that he would hear nancy pelosi adopting the same tone as she did last week as she did under president obama. , minnesota, on

the independent line. caller: my call is concerning immigration. i think the key focus has got to making employers responsible for the verification of employees. employees can hand off a fake id. you know the employer knows it is fake. , he haday identification, so i thought it was a legal citizen. you hit the- financialith stiff penalties, and i think you take the motivation away from the people trying to run across the united states. host: a question on twitter this morning.

ian swanson, what is the importance of passing an immigration bill? talk about it from maybe the political side of it. guest: from a political side, there are a couple different things to look at. we have 11 million people in the country who are not documented right now. there are arguments that you should do something about that. one thing is to provide them some kind of a way of coming out of the shadows, of getting records on all of them, of grabbing some kind of path to legal residentce. some say it is a moral thing to do. some argue it is a good thing to do for security. politically, i think there are two things going on. first of all, president obama in 71% of the hispanic vote 2012. he really didn't do anything on immigration the first four years. he owes something to that constituency now. he has made it his top priority.

we talked about before how there is pressure on republicans to do something as well if they continue to lose the hispanic vote. it is the second fastest growing demographic in the country and they feel like they are becoming a party that had less of a chance at winning presidential elections, especially because of this immigration issue. host: another tweet, personally, it appears to me there is no need to fix immigration. they won't close the border, get lost back on track, so why bother? from washington, d.c., good morning. you are on with ian swanson and rebecca sinderbrand. caller: 98% of the discussion has been on latinos with an occasional senator or congressman saying something like, what about the people from ireland? they make a good americans. my question is, what provisions are being made for black people from the african diaspora? i am 62.

i will never forget how the cam'sns were put in rather than have them become citizens. the thought that the haitians were coming here for a better life and not as refugees, what about 25 million new latinos coming here for? a better life. i am wondering, in the 24 pounds of paper, what provisions are being made for some of these people, and not just focused on people by college -- by color and language? it is just not fair. guest: one issue that has come up in the debate is this thing called diverse city. it is something that has allowed --ple -- called diverse city diversity. it is something that has allowed people to come from various african countries.

it is in favor of looking more at the people from the skills that they have. they might be adding to this bill. we see in this immigration bill a bit of a shift from looking at people base from where they are coming from and what race they are from what -- to what kind of deals they provide to the country. -- what kind of skills to provide to the country. host: maybe congress would be happy to switch the ratings right now. " -- thisadline headline, "congress hits rock- bottom." democrats, independents, republicans are equally likely to express low conference -- confidence, the survey says.

the military boasts the highest confidence rate at 76%. on the bottom of the list are hmo's and organized labor. are people worried about losing their jobs over this? guest: not necessarily. you would think members of congress might be a bit concerned. people have been paying attention to the headlines the last few years. termsuctive congress in of the numbers of bills passed. when you look at the way the district has been setup now, members of congress have far more to worry about from the base generally than they do in a general election, which is to by, they have more to lose compromising with the other side then to surrendering some of their own priorities. memberw, if you have a

who decides to take a hard-line, i am not going to compromise with the other side, i will stand my ground, that is likely to get that member reelected. compromising with the other side might be making for a more productive productive, more cooperative congress. it could cost him or her their job. host: talk a little bit about the landscape for the next congressional election, 2014. here is a story from "the wall street journal." tough place to fill jobs. the story includes a map of some of the seats around the country that are up in 2014. leaders from both parties have struggled to recruit candidates for several races. retirement has made race is essentially competitive. some of the seats currently held by democrats have been hard to fill. iowa, five prominent republicans have elected not to run. in west virginia, no democrat has stepped forward to run in

that democratic seat. in the seat currently held by a republican in georgia, democrats suffered a setback when john barrow declined to run. why is it so hard to run for congress? guest: maybe the low approval rating you mentioned. the 2014 elections, typically midterm elections are very bad for the president's party. democrats are looking at a really hostile map in 2014. there are a bunch of seats they are defending, many more than the republicans are depend -- defending. a lot of open seats. you are right. we have seen both parties have trouble in recruiting members. sometimes, the timing just isn't right for the individual member. is mike rogers, the intelligence committee chairman of the house that we talked about. he was thought to be perhaps the best republican candidate in michigan that announced at the end of last week that he would stay in the house.

he apparently made a decision that he was better off there, that he could have more leadership if he remained on the intelligence committee in the house. , it is hard to recruit just because people decide the timing isn't right for them personally. maybe they read the cards and they don't think they have a great chance of getting elected. .ost: back to the phones bonnie is in maryland on the republican line. good morning to you. you are on with ian swanson and rebecca synder brand -- sinderbrand. change theant to tone. my question is about sequestration. we are losing a lot of teachers. i live in maryland. we are losing a lot of teachers, fire, and police. tell me how the president can justify taking and eight-day vacation that will cost the taxpayers between $60 million and $100 million.

how many good teachers could we save all over the world with a that hundred million dollars? don't hear that. people don't talk about that. they talk about immigration. a travesty,right what these two are spending. is bringing up estimates on the president's upcoming trip to africa. guest: we don't know the final cost on the trip. those numbers aren't necessarily released. the sequester is something the president hoped would be more of a topic of conversation. numbers, relatively strong economic numbers, have been a bonus for the president. on the other hand, he hopes to draw attention to the impact of the sequester. , it is something that because of the strength of the economy, it has not been as

much of a public focus as the white house hoped. host: is it a matter of capitol hill not bringing it up enough? what has capitol hill been doing on this? guest: the democrats ready regularly bring up the sequester. there is no pressure on anyone to change the sequester at this point. the economy is doing fine. the budget situation is getting better. the economy is improving. the sequester is having a role as well. at this point, it seems impossible anyone would turn off the sequester before the end of september. it actually looks like the budget things that were included as part of the bill that created the sequester will continue for some time. i would expect the kind of cuts we are seeing right now will continue in the foreseeable future. we are taking your calls and comments on sequestration. the nsa to leaks, the upcoming

decisions on gay marriage, and any other subject you want to talk about on capitol hill this week. ken is up next on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to make a few comments. , hispanicsmmigration in this country are paying taxes. when you gon jobs, out for a job, if you don't have a ged, you can't get a job. that should be changed. went to other schools and got experience. this one also would give jobs to some of the middle-class is is out here in power now. overhave been working these years. they don't want any

responsibilities or want to make ends meet. , as far as the -- that they will pay taxes there. everybody that has lines or whatever are not criminals. i think that is wrong. , thenk if they do this republicans, democrats will lose votes and lose a seat. i would like to hang out been here with guests have to say about that. previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order. h.r. 876 by the yeas and nays. h.r. 253 by the yeas and nays. h.r. 862 by the yeas and nays. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes.

the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 876 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 52, h.r. 876, a bill to authorize continued use of certain water divisions on certain national wilderness lands in the bitterroot wilderness in the state of idaho and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill? leckedlecked -- 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. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives.

any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 398. the nays are zero. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is on the vote on the motion the gentleman from you ta, mr. bishop, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 253 as amended on which yeas and nays are ordered.

the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 253, a bill to mt ey small parcel in the y youngal forest to brigham university. the speaker pro tempore: will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 397, the nays are one. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. without objection, the title amended. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 862 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 851, h. reform 862, a bill to authorize the conveyance of two small parcel os land within the

boundaries of the coconino national forest containing private improvements that were developed based on the reliance of the land owners in an erroneous survey conducted in may, 1960. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill? members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 395, the nays are one. 2/3 being 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 georgia seek recognition? excuse me. the gentlelady from north carolina.

ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i send to the desk a privilege red port from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 266, providing for consideration of the bill h.r. 1947, to provide for the reform and continuation of agricultural and other programs of the department of agriculture through fiscal year 2018 and for other purposes and providing for consideration of the bill h.r. 1797 to amend title 18 united states code to protect incapable unborn children in the district of columbia and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. mr. broun: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognitions? mr. broun: i ask unanimous consent that my name be removed s co-sponsor of h.r. 1797, the

pain capable unborn child protection act. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i present a privileged report for printing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany h.r. 2397, a bill making appropriations for the department of defense for the fiscal year ending september 30, 014, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the union calendar and ordered printed. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, points of order are reserved. the chair lays before the house he following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. lamborn of colorado for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is

the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to rise and address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, today the white house's permanent campaign machine released a television ad promoting the affordable care act and unfortunately it aims to completely mislead the public. the ad claims that americans are seeing better coverage and lower costs because of the affordable care act. that is pure fantasy. the fact is, premiums have been ratcheting upward across the country. on average, rates in ohio have gone up almost $200 per month because of this law and it's the same story state by state. these rising costs clearly have the administration worried that people are going toens how bad the -- to understand how bad the affordable care act act is. ru expected to

spend hundreds of dollars in promoting this law. it's raised by having officials strongarm donations from health care companies that are regulated by the department of health and human services. the administration put together a law that hurts families and now they've got to spend tens of millions of dollars telling people that, hey, it ain't so bad. mr. speaker, this is a travesty and should be stopped. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. waxman: mr. speaker, this last week the international energy agency came out with a very important report about climate change. they said that if we don't soon, we're going to see extreme weather events, droughts, hurricanes, all sorts of

flooding. real serious problems for our children and our grandchildren. but the important thing in this report is if we do act now we can avert some of those horrible consequences that will face our children and especially our grandchildren. i want to urge the congress to take this report seriously and let us start acting to protect future generations and this planet. we only have one atmosphere, we share with everyone else. let's not pollute it so the carbon emissions and greenhouse gases continue to heat the planet and cause climate problems that we're already witnessing today. let's move. it will help our economy, as well as our environment. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, america's blessed with abundant, clean and and affordable natural gas. as the amount of known natural gas reserves continually increases, we're also blessed with the technology to be environmentally responsible when accessing this resources. in my home state of pennsylvania, the discovery and extraction of the most -- of the schaal has been transforming. during the difficult years of an economy in recession, the unemployment numbers in the keystone state have remained well below the national rates. we can attribute a substantial portion of this to development related to this plentiful natural resource. a study by the algainey institute for public policy is a testament to this fact. their report shows that rents and royalties reported on pennsylvania income tax returns from 2006 to 2010 have increased 61% statewide. and 119% in counties with schaal

activity. mr. speaker, -- shale activity. mr. speaker, we must continue to develop this resource so we ensure it offers future generations the same and greater economic opportunities. and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise tonight as the father of two strong and accomplished women and the grandfather of three grandchildren to speak against h.r. 1797, that will come before the house tomorrow, in which we'll be asked yet again to put government in charge of a woman's private medical decisions. we must protect the right of every woman to make her health care decisions with her doctor and without the interference of

politicians in washington. mr. barber: only she can decide what's best for her and her family. this is an issue of personal liberty. the supreme court ruled more than half a century ago that americans have the right to make their own choices about reproductive health. and yet once again we will debate a new piece of legislation to limit the rights of women. i will oppose h.r. 1797 tomorrow and i strongly urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same. to stand up for women and oppose the latest attempt to intrude into their most personal health care decisions. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. mr. fleming: mr. speaker, what do you get when you add the senate, the senate's amnesty immigration bill to obamacare?

more people losing their jobs. obamacare mandates the employers with 50 or more full-time employees provide government-approved health insurance or pay a penalty. many businesses with around 50 employees already say they'll cut some full-timers to part-time positions to avoid this penalty. that's not all. the senate immigration bill would give legal status to about 11 million people who came here illegally and employers could hire any of those 11 million without counting the -- counting them toward the obama mandate. so employers who are trying to make ends meet and balance a budget are being told by their government that they can save money by unloading full-time hardworking american citizens and replacing them with immigrants who are here on a provisional status. i know my colleagues on the other side will say, we should just add 11 million but i think

that's the wrong thing to do. let's repeal obamacare. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. >> this week marks 509th annual small business week where we recognize the importance of the entrepreneurs and small businesses who work hard to fulfill the promise of the american dream. mr. swalwell: i saw this firsthand as a dublin planning commissioner and later as a citi council member, that when small businesses get off the ground and succeed, the entire community around it benefits. and our economy grows. in fact, more than 1/2 of all americans either own or work for a small business. and they account for about two out of every three new jobs created every year. this saturday i went from store front to store front in downtown hayward to speak to local small business owners in my congressional district. to help address the problems that i heard about not having

enough capital to start up or not having enough business to business transactions or foot traffic. i introduced the main street revival act. my bill will allow certain small businesses to elect to prefer paying federal payroll taxes in the first year of operation to help offset their costs. small businesses form the backbone of our communities and training american workers and selling goods in our neighbors. through supporting them that we expand our economic opportunity and help make the american dream a reality. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? mr. paulsen: ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, recently i held a telephone town hall meeting with with ,000 of my constituents and a good part of our conversation centered on our economy's anemic economic job growth and lackluster job creation. one woman that i spoke to, whose name was gloryarks she's a small business owner and she expressed her deep frustration with the

growing weight of new regulations on her business and on small businesses. mr. speaker, americans are burdened with $2 trillion nearly every year of new regulations and with the number only increasing. since 2008, 156 new mainly regulations have been ininstituted, adding about $90 billion in regulatory costs to the economy and stifling economic growth and job creation. this needs to be fixed. congress should have more control over a growing bureaucracy by requiring that elected representatives sign off on those new rules and regulations that would have a major economic impact. cutting red tape will help lower one more hurdle that is impeding opportunity for new jobs and job growers and creators and entrepreneurs like gloria and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks and to submit

extraneous material to the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. on march 14, laurie, a school librarian, who lived in my district, and a 10-year-old child were attacked in a shopping center parking lot. the attacker was facing federal child pornography charges. and was out on bail, ored to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. he disabled the bracelet, stabbed the woman to death and sexually assaulted the young girl. it was later found that he had tampered with the bracelet 47 times and each time the federal probation office in syracuse did not respond. i wrote to the administrative office of the united states force. this is their response. the director says nothing can excuse the deficiencies in the supervision of this case. mr. maffei: but he also says reduced resources due to the sequester is harming efforts to keep it from happening again. he continued that we are bracing for even larger reductions next year. mr. speaker, an innocent woman was stabbed to death, an innocent child was sexually assaulted and the answer from the courts is that their ability to keep it from happening again

is limited because their funding was cut. this is unacceptable to laurie and that young girl. we owe a full investigation. not executions. mr. speaker, we -- excuses. mr. speaker, we owe them the guarantee that this cannot happen again. we owe them an end to the sequester cuts affecting our federal probation system. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. poe: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. poe: mr. speaker, english as a second language. has to to english, arabic to english, art, life skills, computer, wellness, finance, business, sounds like courses at a swanky new england university. but these are just a few classes offered at gitmo university in the caribbean. that's not all. these terrorists get training in resume writing and interviewing. are they going someplace? and what do they put on that resume? professional bomb maker? ed with class

they can meander over to the detainee library where its -- library with its 17,000 books, video games and c.d.'s. more still, terrorists have access to the fancy new taxpayer-funded $750,000 soccer field, play volleyball, basketball, table tennis and even foosball. lastly they get cultural religious training. ironic since these radical kills in the name of religion. mr. speaker, why does the government spend millions to train and entertain those who kill americans? however, this is just another day for the 166 terrorists, trainers, financiers, osama bin laden bodyguards at gitmo university in the caribbean. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, earlier this month the national unemployment report was released for this

past may. while some americans were able to find low-paying jobs, i remain extremely disappointed with this sluggish economic recovery. for example, parts of my district in the central valley are still suffering from 30% unemployment and this is simply unacceptable. the economic downturn caused by burdensome regulations -- regulatory policies and the state and federal -- at the state and federal levels cannot continue. our communities should be growing, our businesses should be expanding and our families should be able to provide a better life for their children. mr. valadao: this can be done by allowing safe oil and natural gas exploration and providing a clean, reliable water supply for central valley farmers, farm workers and their communities. my constituents have faced chronic unemployment for too long. it is time for washington bureaucrats to get out of the way and let america prosper. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. are there any additional requests for one minutes?

-- one-minutes? for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for ne minute. without objection. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'm very pleased today to say that members have joined me in introducing h.res. 268, which is observing the historical significance of juneteenth independence day which is going to be this wednesday, june 19. and i hope that all of those across america will understand the meaning of juneteenth, which is to express celebration for the freeing of the slaves who did not come to the southwestern states like texas until almost two years later. that was 1865, after 1863. mr. speaker, i want to quickly change the topic and indicate

that i believe it's important to get an understanding of the alleged individual who has been leaking the n.s.a. i've been restrained to call him anything until the law determines who he is. but i do believe that we're now tipping the scales of fairness, when more and more is coming out in a foreign country and i do believe something has to be done. i'll be introducing legislation on the reduction of private intel utilization, explanation of court opinions and strengthening the fisa court because i believe that it is extremely important in strengthening the public trust, for strengthening the rights of the american people and we have to do it and we have to be able to find this gentleman quickly so that the intelligence that will protect americans will be solid. i thank the gentleman. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

mr. gohmert: i realize there are many in schools not taught as much history as they should now because they're teaching to this ridiculous test. but it is important we learn from history. right now in syria, we have rebels backed by al qaeda and this administration an even some in this building want to -- want to rush to the aid of the al qaeda-backed rebels while there are others that say, well, maybe we'd be better off in assad stayed in power. it's a lose-lose situation for the united states and when that's the case, it's time to stay out. maybe early on before alchi go -- before al qaeda got so powerful it would have been time to do something but when it is a national security risk when we get involved in an entangling situation like that it's time to look back. what caused world war r? entangling alliances.

does the entangling alliances involving russia and so many other countries ring bells? it's time the bells rang and we stayed out. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced spoifl january 3, 2013, the gentleman from georgia, mr. collins, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. collins: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the subject of my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. collins: i rise in another of the republican freshman class special orders this time to focus on the nation's need for regulatory reform and regulatory relief. i value the role of responsible regulation. many regulations were designed with personal safety in mind and make our work force stronger. all too often the federal government des regulations

that achieve little benefit at high cost. they affect the men and women of northeast georgia and across the nation. over the next hour we'll discuss the growing problem of regulation and why we so desperately need regulatory relief. i am pleased to yield five minutes to -- to the the president of the freshman class, my dear friend, mr. messer. mr. messer: i want to thank my good friend mr. collins for leading this freshman class special order on regulatory reform. i want to commend him and the gentleman from florida, mr. yoho, for their initiative in creating the freshman regulatory reform working group, of which i am pleased to be a member. a recent editorial written by george washington university professor jonathan turley declared that, quote, our carefully constructed system of checks and balances is being

negated by the rise of a fourth branch, an administrative state of sprawling departments and agcies that govern with increasing autonomy and decreasing transparency, end quote. the voice of the american people is marginalized when this so-called fourth state of government, our federal agencies, fail to follow the wishes of their elected representatives. or make policy in the absence of direction by congress. and the american people are paying the price of this regular willer to maze created by this unelected government. for example, the heritage foundation has found that annual regulatory costs increased by more than $23.5 billion during president obama's fourth year in office. the total cost of regulations during the president's first

term were nearly $70 billion, a level unmatched by any previous administration. it's time to unshackle america from the stranglehold these regulations have on our economy. i again want to thank mr. lls and mr. yoho for leading efforts among the freshman republicans to eliminate and streamline burdensome federal regulations, i look forward to working with them and all members of the house to help create jobs by allowing america's businesses to grow and innovate by reining in the unelected bureaucracy standing in their way. thank you. mr. collins: i thank the gentleman and you bring up a great point, the unelected bureaucracy that is forcing, sometimes, businesses that want to create and want to expand. this matters

when we matter to mai street people understand what we're trying to do up here. mr. messer: i would add, i think this comes from both sides. in other words there are times when laws passed by congress are intentionally vague so that the bureaucracy steps in and leaders are able to say,y, blame it on the regulators. i think we have a responsibility to make sure we're making laws specific enough and simple enough to be understood by the american people. mr. collins: i agree with that i thank the gentleman from indiana for his work on this. it is now my pleasure to represent not only someone who has come to congress and is fired up about the issues that are going on but has become my working group and bringing forth a lot of things that need to be brought forward and a fresh perspective from florida, it is my pleasure to yield five minutes to the gentleman from florida, mr. yoho. mr. yoho: i thank my good friend for yielding and appreciate the

content. i like the titetholve talk, burdensome regulations. more than $14,000 every year -- $14,000 every year. that's what the average american family loses out on because of federal regulations, either in taxes or lower wages because their employers are carrying that burden. how do we get these regular ligss? more than 6,000 regulations just this year. it happen whence the executive branch goes around congress to create their own policies. some people call this legislation through regulation. i call it the dysfunctional government tax. it's the $40 a day every american has to pay because of the executive branch won't go through congress. it won't work with those of us here tonight because we were sent here by the people. in many place -- in more places in my district you could take your spouse out for a nice din for $40. a person could fill uper that gas tank in a mini van for about

$40. or take your children to a matinee movie on the weekend for $40. when i'm at home in my district i hear from people who own their own business and people who just care about how federal regulations are making it harder to make ends meet. we're going to talk about a few of these regulations tonight but let me tell you about a few stories from north central florida. there's a lumber company in my district that has to aim lower. by that i mean, versus aiming higher to expand the business, and this is because of the burden of the affordable care act. they would love to hire more people, many workersing or buy that extra piece of equipment but there's no telling what the plines cost of the a.c.a. will be. not only that these poor folks are subject to the rules and perhaps fines based on the discretion or interpretation of whatever inspector happens upon them that day, there is no certainty. enge that's one of the biggest role we was to do is create certainty in the environment of the workplace so businesses can go forward and expand their

businesses. to create a stable economy we need a stable environment for businesses to work in. the overreaglations we have seen in recent years create neither. an example i want -- i just heard this today. i got a fellow in our district, he's a watermelon grower and an interpretation of a rule if the food safety modernization act commonly called fsma, says that the use of water bottles can't be used by workers in the field when they're pick the melons. i don't know if words can describe just how hot and humid it gets in florida this time of year but it gets pretty darn hot. not allowing water in the fields is tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment. even more ridiculous are the protesters place odd then esite that talk about -- or the posters put out to talk about heat stress. what you see here is a poster put up by a regulatory agency

warning people about heat stress but you can't take water into the field to pick watermelon. these are regulations that don't make sense. and it causes confusion in the workplace. another example comes from florida, has to do with the poultry recycling program this act was amended in 1997 to include new definitions, poultry products that have been below 26 degrees farne hite may not be labeled as fresh. such labeled product is considered misbranded. a company i know had a usda inspector come out and identify poultry labeled fresh and said the product was below 26 degrees fahrenheit. due to the ruling the product was detained, keep in mind that as a veterinarian i can tell you that this poses no safety risk to the average consumer. to any consumer. after four months of engaging the agency with time and money spent on litigation, the usda changed this rule to allow poultry frozen below 26 degrees farne hite to be labeled fresh as long as they sold the product

to end users like hospitals and restaurants. precisely. this is the business that this company was selling their product to all along. bottom line is, it wound up costing them four months of lost revenues and the rule cost this business $681,000. and it they had no awo -- no way to recoup their losses. these things have to cheage because thigh wind up stifling the entrepreneur. what we have is regulatory agencies start out to make the public safety on the job, on the highway, or in the foods we eat, aened it's a good thing. but they often overstep their authority and often it is the interpretation of that rule by the inspector that gets the misinterpretation and the end as a result the owner gets fined and sometimes has to shut down until the situation is resolved. yes, we want safer workplaces, safer highways, cleaner air wand auto-- air and water but we shouldn't impede the people

trying to create job. our government agencies should be a facilitator to our businesses not a the de-bill tator to these businesses. after all work the lack of extra regulations up to this point in our history, enge it's worked pretty good that we shouldn't overstep that boundary and have commonsense regulations, and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the -- mr. collins: i appreciate the gentleman from florida. the things we are hearing, i want to extend an invitation,est especially to our freshman class, but others who want to join us in this working group, we'd love to hear your input as with we go forward. it is my pleasure to welcome and recognize for time the gentlelady from missouri, ms. wagner. ms. wagner: thank the gentleman from georgia, congressman collins, for putting this special order together.

mr. speaker, in his time served in office thus far, president obama has said he's for the reduction of government red tape that places an unnecessary burden on the american people. again and again he's extoled the virtues of transparency and bipartisanship in an effort to put people back to work. but, if we look at his track record, this has simply turned out to be yet another string of broken promises and a failure of leadership. in his first term alone, president obama has finalized 130 major rules, a shocking 160% increase over the previous term under president george w. bush. this alarming growth in government is an assault on our free enterprise system and on our individual liberty -- liberties. either the president is not interested in keeping the american people's trust or he simply does not have a handle on his own federal agencies.

given recent events, either of these could very well be true. the truth, mr. speaker, however, is that costs from new regulatory burdens on americans increased by nearly $70 billion during president obama's first term in office which are based on his own agency's estimate. it is very possible that the real costs far exceed this number. and with major regulations in dodd-frank and obamacare still yet to be implemented, these burdens on small businesses and the american people will only skyrocket. dodd-frank alone required government bureaucrats to write nearly 400 new rules and yet three years later we have barely pleated a third of them. most of the laws -- law's provisions have little or no connection to the financial crisis that prompted their creation in the first place. as a member of the financial

services committee, i have witnessed firsthand the arbitrary and irrelevant -- how arbitrary and irrelevant these rules can be and how they cost the american people jobs and their hard-earned savings. we can and must do more to hold these agencies accountable and stop this governance by fiat and the bypassing of congress, we, the people. this is why we must pass the rains act which i'm a proud co-sponsor. this legislation would rein in federal agencies and require congress to approve every new major rule proposed by the executive branching having an annual economic impact of $100 million or more. it would allow congress to regain our constitutional authority by limiting the size and scope of the rule making powers of government bureaucrats who were not elected. mr. speaker, the american people

are fed up with this big government agenda. it's time to hold this administration accountable for the gross overreach of their powers, whether it's regulation from the e.p.a. or regulation implementing dodd-frank or obamacare, enough is enough. the american people are tired of this government overstepping their constitutional authority. and i yield back. . >> i thank vote and she's right. that's how angry we feel. i appreciate those words. mr. collins: it's now my pleasure to yield time to the gentleman from kentucky to provide an insight into what a re seeing right now as regulatory problem. >> i appreciate the opportunity to participate in this special order this evening. this is a very important topic and i applaud my colleagues for forming the freshman working group on regulatory reform and

regulatory reform is desperately needed in this country, to get our economy back on track. we have seen persistent high unemployment in our country for the last five years. we got another bad jobs report just last week. 7.6% is the unemployment race. mr. barr: but even more alarming than our persistent high unemployment rate is the fact that we have underemployment in this country. only 58% of the american people who are eligible for employment, who are of working-age population, are actually employed. only 58%. yes, we have a high unemploymen persistently over 7.5% for the last five years. but even more troubling is the fact that only 58% of working-age people in this country are explode.

-- employed. that's 5% below the average employment rate for working-age people prior to the recession. and that number has been static for the last five years. so the question we have to ask ourselves is why is this happening? why are the american people not getting back to the work? well, one of the primary impediments to economic recovery, to job growth and job creation, is the avalanche of new rules, regulations and red tape coming out ofall which im on businesses and create a destructive environment of uncertainty in the private sector. and it affects virtually every sector of our economy. it affects the health care sector with obamacare and the reams of regulation that's coming out of h.h.s. it affects the financial services industry with dodd-frank and all of the rulemaking. you know, dodd-frank authorized over 400 new rules and

regulations. a little more than half of those have been issued. according to certain estimates, compliance with those regulations equals about 24 million hours annually in man hours, to comply with the dodd-frank rules and regulations. to put that in perspective, 20 million man hours was what was required to build the panama canal. this is literally an avalanche of rules and regulations, crushing our financial institutions and impeding access to credit for entrepreneurs and small businesses. it's affecting the energy sector , where environmental regulations are destroying jobs and in my home state, the coal industry has been devastated by the e.p.a.'s assault on the coal industry. through overregulation of the energy sector. in most countries that conduct mining activities, about two years is the average length of

time for a regulator to review an application for mining. in the united states today, it takes seven years for e.p.a. regulators just to review and approve a surface mining permit. so this backlog and this overregulation of mining activities is resulting in massive layoffs. mining in central appalachia is at its lowest production level since 1965. we've lost four -- 4,000 coal mining jobs in just the last couple of years in eastern kentucky. as a result of the e.p.a.'s overzoleous, overregulation of the -- overzealous overregulation of the coal industry. it's driving utility rates higher, yes, it is certainly bad in terms of low-cost electricity for our manufacturers and small businesses and our seniors on fixed income. but it's also costing jobs. and it's having a negative impact on all of those people whose paychecks take care of

their families. we talked about the impact on health care. i had an administrator of a local small hospital in central kentucky tell me that it used to be that they took care of patients. today they take care of paper. a small banker, community banker, in eastern kentucky, told me that it used to be in the community banking business that they would provide loans and make a business decision based on the credit-worthiness of the borrower. whether it was a farmer or a small business owner or an entrepreneur. today this banker says that the government makes that decision for them because of the avalanche of new rules and regulations. there's another important dimension to this. in addition to impeding economic recovery. and that's our constitution. for the last 80 years the growth of the administrative state has en a huge detractor from the

original meaning of our constitution. it has been offensive to the separation of powers doctrine and one need only look to article one, section one of the u.s. constitution which simply reads, quote, all legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a congress of the united states which shall consist of a senate and a house of representatives. mr. speaker, the word all should be recognized as granting the congress exclusive legislative power. and yet for the last 80 years, as the administrative state has grown in washington, the congress has delegated its lawmaking powers to unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats in the executive branch. and so bha we need to do in congress is -- what we need to do in congress is we need to rehabilitate what's known as the nondelegation doctrine. the idea that congress shouldn't delegate away its lawmaking powers to another branch of government. in the last several years we've

seen a dramatic growth in the regulatory burden on the private economy. the pages in the code of federal regulations hit an all-time high of 176,000 pages in 2012. that's an increase of more than 21% during the last decade. in 2012 the cost of federal rules exceeded $1.8 trillion. roughly equal to the gross domestic product of canada, which is about $1.81 trillion and india, $1.82 trillion. the regulatory burden costs each u.s. household approximately $14,768. meaning that red tape is now the second largest item in the typical family budget after housing. and in 2012 4,062 federal regulations were at various stages of implementation. the government completed work on

1,172 and increased -- an increase of 16% over the 1,010 that the feds imposed in 2011. which was a 40% increase over the 722 in 2010. and another measure of the regulatory burden, the pages in the federal register. by that measure, the obama administration did not break the all-time record of 81,405 pages it set in 2010. but the 78,961 pages it churned out in 2012 means that the president has posted three of the four greatest paperwork years on record. mr. speaker, this avalanche of red tape is strangling american economic recovery. it is an offense to the constitution of the united states and it lacks all common sense. for the sake of the u.s. constitution, for the sake of economic recovery, for the sake of common sense and for the sake

of the american people who are suffering in one of the worst economic downturns since the great depression, we need to rein in burdensome regulations. and i thank the gentleman for yielding and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. collins: i appreciate the gentleman. he brings a good point. i think it would be -- behoove all of us. we hear often on this floor, we need to talk about jobs, we need to talk about job creation. and what we're finding right here is the very thing that is coming out of this bureaucracy and this red tape is job killing and i think this is something we can find common ground on. i think it's a little bit of an agenda issue here, though. when you come to congress, you stood those who have before you and i am pleased tonight to yield some time to the gentleman from indiana, sponsor of the reins act, mrs. young, who has fought this fight before we got here and i am pleased to welcome him in as an honorary freshman tonight, as part of the sophomore class, because you've led the way and appreciate that and i'm happen i -- happy to yield time to you

tonight. mr. young: i thank so much to the gentleman from georgia, for working so hard on this issue, mr. yoho of florida, and organizing this, this freshman initiative designed to tackle overly burdensome regulations, ensure that we produce smart regulations here at the federal level. and alleviate some of the pain during this very down economy that so many americans are facing. when you talk about regulations, this is not some arcane issue. these are the rules we live by. just like the legislation that emerges out of this body. it impacts our jobs, our economic growth, the level of personal income that americans enjoy. it impacts the number of long-term unemployed we have in this country and right now we're at a historic low. it impacts these things and so many others. people have too many hassles, too many burdens, too many anxieties and regulations are a big part of the reason why. they're a direct cost of regulations.

they come out of the alphabet, soup agencies that populate washington. they are compliance costs that our small businesses in particular must contend with. there's a great deal of uncertainty associated with the regulations being developed in the buildings around washington, d.c. and regulations lead to an increase in the costs of our goods and services produced, thus making us less competitive economically vis-a-vis our international competitors. regulations reduce often times the productivity of our workers. which drives down their wages. which hurts our competitiveness once again. so what's the solution to this? well, we here in congress, especially folks on this side of the aisle, although i have to say this doesn't have to be a partisan issue, and historically it has not always been, i think that's a good thing, but we on this side of the aisle have been trying to alleviate the pain that many businesses and americans feel about the costliest regulations coming out of washington, d.c.

i think that is proper and i think we should continue to do so. but i also believe it's time for us to consider a comprehensive approach to improving the entire regulatory process. and so that's why i have introduced in this 113th congress the reins act. the reins act establishes a $100 million threshold. this is the threshold established historically by our office of management and budget for a so-called major regulation. and every major regulation after it goes through the public hearing process, under the reans act, it has to go -- reins act, it has to go before congress for an up or down d vote before it can become the law of the land. this would improve immeasurably the quality of regulations that come out of washington, d.c. it would slow down the regulatory process to be sure. but let's remember our founding fathers deviced a system where they wanted people in washington to deliberate before we acted. this would lead to more deliberation, wiser judgment.

this would also allow the american people, the citizens of this great country, to weigh in on given regulations, ones they feel passionately about. and most importantly, the reins act would hold members of congress accountable for the regulations that come out of washington. you know, of course it would allow us to tame some of the executive agencies that have gone rogue from time to time, that passed unwise regulations. but i think more importantly it would allow those who elect us to bodies like this, to hold us accountable for the things that cause pain to them. those impeer ral regulations that are -- imperial regulations which are promulgated from this capitol which our founding fathers were so upset about when this nation was founded. to the issue of congressional accountability, to too -- too many vegas laws are in had -- vague laws are made in this

body. dodd-frank, affordable care act, i could go on and on. we kick the can down the road as is often heard on sticky issues. politically sensitive issues that politicians don't want to deal with. because we know ultimately there will be regulators to fill in the gaps of our vague laws. well, the reins act would prevent that. it would incentivize members of congress to take on the hard issues in the beginning because they'd know that in the end those sloose going to come back and have to be resolved in this body. . when i go home and meet with people and they speak to me about specific regulations that are causing them pain, the best i can do and the colleagues can do is say listen, we'll try and repeal that particular regulation by preventing it from being implemented at the agency, by impacting the funding of that agency. these are very difficult things