the nature of the legislative process. you come together, you compromise and you put together the best product that all of you can agree on and that's what we've done. and to not pass this at this point is to jeopardize our national security and to not support our troops. i think this is an excellent compromise and something that needs to be passed. i think we would all agree that we wish we could have done through the normal conference committee process, but the senate has their rules and they had difficulty getting to that point, but i want to assure everybody that this was a fully negotiated piece of legislation. we engaged the senate, both republican and democrat, chairman mckeon and i worked very closely together, our staffs worked very closely together. this is an excellent, important bill that needs to be passed for all of the reasons that chairman mckeon mentioned. the steps forward it makes on sexual assault, the troops it gives to their troops as they are in battle in afghanistan in trying to protect our national security elsewhere. so i really want to urge everyone to make sure they vote

for this and support this and i want to use my remaining time to talk a little bit about the budget resolution -- the budget conference committee that we are going to talk about later. i completely agree with chairman mckeon. in the spirit what i said about the ndaa, about the necessity of getting our job done, we need to pass a budget. i know it impacts all manner of other pieces of government but i'm most familiar with what it does to the department of defense to not have a budget, to not have appropriations bills, to have to go from c.r. to c.r. to government shutdown threat to actual government shutdown to another government shutdown threat, you simply cannot function as well as you should or as well as you would if you had a dependable budget that said here's what you have. it would never be what all of us want. it is better of the predictability of having an appropriations process. it's critical we pass national defense authorizing act, it's critical we pass the budget. we have to function as a government.

we all know how low our approval ratings are. i think it's great. democrats take great comfort in the fact that republicans aren't popular and republicans take great comfort in the fact that democrats aren't popular. what it means to me is none of us are popular. we have two opportunities today to show the american public that this body if you think, it works and will live up to its responsibilities and in the case of the defense act, we must do that. i urge everyone to support thisres. legislation and support the budget resolution coming later today. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is reserved this gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: i yield to the the gentleman from texas, mr. thornberry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. thornberry: thank you, mr. chairman. first let me commend the chairman and ranking member of

the committee and the staff for getting us to this point. in all the 52 years of the national defense authorization act, i think this has been one of the most channeling years to get a bill actually passed. not only have they done that and -- or about to do that, get taos this point, but it's a good bill with many significant provisions that enhance our national security. among those provisions are those under the purview of the intelligence and emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee that authorize more than $85 billion worth of critical national security activities and programs to include cybersecurity and operations, combating weapons of mass destruction, combating terrorism, defense intelligence, and special operations forces, science and technology and research and a host of areas. i want to express my appreciation especially to the subcommittee staff for the work they have done on it. as we look ahead to the threats and theals capabilities that are

coming before us in the future, we also have to update our oversight mechanisms here in congress. in this bill, there are provisions known as the oversight of sensitive military operations act which are a big advance to make sure that we can conduct the proper oversight even as activities are conducted by various weapons systems, even as they happen all around the world. finally, mr. speaker, let me reiterate what the chairman and ranking member have said, this bill, combined with a budget agreement don't solve all our problems in defense but they provide absolutely needed stability so that we can return to a way where military leaders and private sector leaders can plan for a change. we have not been in that situation in recent years so passing this bill, passing the budget bill are significant advances for our country's national security and i hope all

my colleagues will agree. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from california, the ranking member of the air and land subcommittee, congresswoman sanchez. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. sanchez: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you both to adam smith and to my fellow californian, buck mckeon, chairman, for getting us to this point. it was very, very difficult, i know that on the tactical air and land forces subcommittee, chairman mike turner, his leadership, really led us to be able to get our work done. our subcommittee looks at equiping our troops in particular. everything from body armor to what types of planes they fly in, how we transport them, etc. and this ndaa i believe reflects the needs of the troops in the

field and our high priority acquisition program as reflected in the president's budget. it authorizes an adecisional $400 million for the national guard and reserve accounts and m1 er $90 million for abrams upgrades in the army national guard. the bill includes $1.3 billion for the u.s. marine corps ground equipment and we continue to support global hawk through 2014. one of the most important things we do in our subcommittee is oversight of these very large acquisition programs, and in particular this year, we took a look at the s-35 jones strike fighter and the body armor program for our troops. how do we have the right body armor for men and women? how do we make sure we're upgrading and keeping it moving

forward in a time when we're bringing back troops and getting out of two ground wars. of course the f-35, our only production plane for the next 20 years. which we share with some of our allies. so it's important to make sure that we get that cost down. these are the types of oversight we've done. the bill also includes $746 million in targeted reductions to eliminate wasteful spending in the d.o.d. i wish to thank all of the staff who helped us on this bill, in particular doug bush, john waston, jesse, john sullivan, tim mccleese, thank you very much and i urge a we vote on this. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: i yield two minutes to -- to my friend and colleague, the chairman of the sea power, the gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes.

>> with the chairman and ranking member's leadership, i believe this bill supports our men and women in union forl. as to the sea power and protection subcommittee effort, i continue to be --ed about the size and composition of the navy's fleet. mr. forbes: i am also concerned about measures that embowden potential agrezzors. navy admirals indicate sed quest ration may reduce the structure by 2020. the commandant of the marine corps indicate he is sees the beginning of a hollow force we have fought thoord avoid. i think this bill does a good job of reversing these negative trends and moves us in the right direction by authorizing eight combat ships and ensures we retain and modernize our fleet until the end of its design service life. it also provides surety to the

continued construction of our aircraft air ka -- carrier and attack submarine structure. the negative fiscal trendlines are not only resonant within the naval forces but are also significantly impairing the ability of the air force to project power this echief of staff oh thaferse -- of the air force indicated he expects a 10% reduction in the air force's force structure. this is not sustainable and erodes combat capability. while i'm pleased with the efforts of the subcommittee with projection of global force capabilities, we have a long way to go. the bill provides tra tiegic air force investments in terms of both the tanker program and the long-range striker bomber. these are critical capabilities that need to be nurtured carefully. this bill also includes important cost saving niche tiffs that provide the navy and air force with the ability to procure the embing-2-d hawkeye and other aircraft using

multiyear authority. for all of this i hope we'll support this bill and give the added resources that we need for our men and women in uniform and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from california, mrs. davis, the ranking member on the military personnel subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. davis: i rise in support of the national defense authorization act of 2014. as ranking member of the military personnel subcommittee i'm pleased this bill includes a number of provisionings that con ours commitment to our armed forces. i want to thank chairman joe wilson for working with me in a bipartisan manner to support our service members an their families. mr. speaker, i also want to recognize the chairman of the house armed services committee, buck mckeon, and adam smith, the ranking member for their excellent, wonderful leadership. i want to thank the hardworking staff as well, the military personnel subcommittee, debra,

greg, janette, tom and colin. sexual assault has been a focus of this committee for the last several years and this bill continues to make significant progress toward increasing victim empowerment and holding commands accountable at all levels. the portions of this bill addressing sexual assault send a clear message. if you can't contribute to a safe and respectful environment, then get out. beyond sexual assault, the bill provides additional separation authorities as the services redeuce their end strength. these authorities will be crucial to the department's ability to execute the drawdown in a responsible manner while ensuring that all serving members and their families who also serve are compensated appropriately. additionally this bill continue

ours oversight responsibility and commitment to prisoners of war and those missing in action. the bill requires the deputy assistant secretary of defense for p.o.w. and missing personnel affairs to disseminate appropriate information on the status of missing persons to family members. it also requires a report detailing statistical data on the recovery of remains of missing service members in various conflicts. the bill before us continues to recognize the sacrifices of those who serve our nation in uniform. during -- during a time when thousands of americans still remain in combat. we in congress have an obligation to ensure that these men and women and their families are supported and provide them the resources they need to carry out the mission. i urge all my colleagues to support this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: i yield two minutes at this time, mr. speaker, to my friend and colleague chairman of the military personnel

subcommittee, the gentleman from south carolina, mr. wilson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, thank you chairman mckeon and ranking member smith for your leadership. this provides the support our military members and families need, deserve and have earned. it supports reforms related to combating sexual assault in the military. reforms as initialed by congressman turner and congresswoman tsongas include stripping command orse they have authority to dismiss a guilty finding, significantly limiting commanders' ability to modify a court-martial sentences, establishing minimum sentences for sexual assault related offenses, reforming article 32 process to protect the victim, other provisions would reaffirm our commitment to the reserves by requiring minimum notification before deployment, require the secretary to improve the integrated disability evaluation system and

re-authorize many special pace and bonuses for our service members. the bill does not include the request for military retirees to pay more in fees. from the beginning the military personnel provisions have been a bipartisan process. i want to commend the ranking to ers, additionally i want express dedication and appreciation for the dedication of our subcommittee staff, john tapla, who is truly a virginia gentleman of the v.m.i. tradition along with debra, david, colin, along with military assistant chad and military marine fellow chad duncan. i urge my colleagues to support the defense authorization act for 2014. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: thank you, p mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to ms. boar dal he of guam.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. bordallo: i rise in strong support of the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2014. in a time of tight budgets it is important that we provide the resources to make sure our forces are properly trained, equipped and appropriately manned. that is the essence of military readiness. our military must maintain a high level of readiness to address a wide rang of -- range of threats across this tpwhrobe and in this bill it helps to achieve that goal and this is all about keeping our nation secure and safe. in particular, this bill makes progress in advancing our posture in the asia pacific region. the bill upholds our commitment to modernizing our force, posture, which is a critical component to the rebalance of the asia pacific region. in particular, mr. speaker, freeing up japanese funds for the realignment of marines from

okinawa is financially prudent and confirms our support of the guam international agreement. i thank chairman mckeon, ranking member smith, my chairman, mr. wittman, our partners in the senate, the staff on the committee and in my personal office for their support in developing this important bill. i urge my colleagues to support this measure and pass it so the senate can act on this critical measure which is so important to our men and women serving this nation in defense. i thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, the chairman of he tactical air and land subcommittee, the gentleman from ohio, mr. turner. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. turner: i support the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2014, the 52nd consecutive national defense authorization act. i had the pleasure of serving as chairman of the tactical air

and land subcommittee of our committee. loretta sanchez, ranking member, superb staff, ours is truly a bipartisan nature. this reflects congress' bipartisan and bicameral efforts to construct meaningful reforms aimed at combating the pervasive issue of sexual assault within our military. want to thank chairman mckeon and ranking member smith for their dedication that this body's solution on these issues have been absolutely bipartisan. these legislative initiatives are unprecedented and the most powerful steps made to date toward the eradication of sexual assault in the military, specifically, the bill includes all provisions of the be safe act and coast guard strong, which was introduced by congresswoman tsongas and myself. it includes bipartisan measures introduced by representatives heck, walorski, noem, duckworth. additionally, it includes significant efforts made by

senator boxer and representatives speier, tsongas and myself to reform article 32 process and ensure victims are not subjected to unnecessary intimidating tactics. enin stead of searching for ways to remove a commander's authority, this will provide military leaders with the tools they need to ensure that victims are cared for, that perpetrators are brought to justice and that that commanders are held accountable for what goes on within their unit. this bill enhances the rights of victims, strengthens military protection laws, increasing training requirements and improves in ways the service needs to respond to sexual assault reporting. it ensures that perpetrators are held accountable for these serious and violence crimes. in addition to sexual assault, the bill includes provisions adding $90 million for abrams nk upgrade and $75 for heavy vehicle recovery. lastly, the bill strongly supports the joint strike fighter program.

i yield -- i urge everyone to support the bill. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield one minute to the gentlelady from massachusetts, ms. tsongas, ranking member of the oversight and investigations subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from massachusetts is recognized for one minute. ms. tsongas: mr. speaker, congress has come together every year for half a century to pass the ndaa and support our service members. this ndaa includes the be safe act, which it was my honor to work with -- work on with with representative mike turner. it takes significant steps towards combating military sexual assault, an egregious crime that exists across the services. it makes changes to commander authority, removing the ability to overturn a jury verdict. it mandates a dishonorable discharge for those convicted of sexual assault and makes sure that every victim of military sexual assault gets an attorney. this ndaa is necessary to require the pentagon to continue important sexual

assault prevention measures, such as the successful special victims counsel program that could fall by the wayside if not mandated by law. it also includes many other reforms advanced on the bipartisan basis by many other members of the committee. while we have more work to do, i want to thank chairman mckeon and ranking member smith for their dedication in getting an ndaa done and rest tiffs turner, davis, willen -- representatives turner, davis, wilson and many others who address these great -- the great challenge of sexual assault in the military. i urge the house and senate to pass the important -- this important bill. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, the chairman of the strategic forces subcommittee, the gentleman from alabama, mr. rogers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama is recognized for two minutes. mr. rogers: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support of the f.y. 2014 national defense authorization act and h.r. 3304, the underlying bill that would waive the time limit for the president to consider awarding the medal of honor to

a handful of american heroes, including mr. benny atkins, along with several other deserving veterans. while this honor has long been delayed, we thank them by this action today. i would also like to thank the hardworking people that help our men and women in uniform. it would provide them andle the installations in the third district of things they need in the coming year. i will highlight some of the oversight -- the f.y. 2014 ndaa includes. first, this bill fully funds the b-61 life extension program. the bipartisan and bicameral armed services committee agrees this program is vital to our national security, our strategic deterrent and the extended deterrence we provide to our allies in europe and asia. i'd also note the agreement makes clear that congress will not provide one penny to implement the new start treaty reductions unless the administration first comes up here and tells us what it plans

to do and gives us a chance to state whether or not we agree. secondly, this bill provides $358 million for missile defense, including our cooperation with israel. this bill also includes an important national security space provision that ensures the u.s. will not -- is not relying on space capabilities of the people's republic of china and it promotes more cost-effective procurement and commercial satellite services. mr. speaker, we would not be here today without the leadership of chairman buck me keyon. i want to thank him for his leadership -- buck mckeon. i want to thank him for his leadership and all he does for our men and women in service. another year, we may see eye to eye on football. i doubt it. i ask unanimous consent that the bill -- that the full text of my remarks be included in the record at the appropriate place and in the appropriate manner. with that i ask my colleagues to vote yes and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. andrews: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. andrews: i'd like to thank chairman mckeon and ranking member smith for all their hard work on this bill. a brave man brought the country to its feet in ending the reign of terror in osama bin laden. their heroism on that night is something that makes us proud even today. that success, though, was rooted in many things that happened many years before that. there were scientists and researchers that made those night vision goggles that made the raid possible. there were engineers and technicians that made the stealth helicopter so successful. and most importantly, i think, there were men and women in our intelligence community that helped sift through all the haystack to find the needles necessary to make the operation happen. the quiet, methodical work that protects our country is the essence of this bill. it is research and development, it is readiness, it is all the things that are necessary to

act and act decisively in the decisive moments in history. it's important that all members support this bill because those who raise their right hands and swear allegiance to the country are worthy of this support. i'm pleased that both republicans and democrats will support this bill today. i'm happy to join in that support and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to my friend and colleague, the chairman of the readiness subcommittee, the gentleman from virginia, mr. wittman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes. mr. wittman: mr. speaker, i rise today in strong support of the national defense authorization act, and would like to thank chairman mckeon and ranking member smith for their hard work on this as well as madeleine bordallo. this bill addresses the impact of sequestration on our national security and perhaps most importantly, the most damaging effects on our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. over 51,000 of whom are fighting for us today in afghanistan. specifically, this bill

allocates nearly $3 billion readiness dollars across the components of the active, guard and reserve components, provided needed funds for critical programs including the flying hour program, facilities, maintenance and sustainment, combat support. the bill boosts the d.o.d.'s ability to respond to crises like benghazi, by adding $75 million for the expansion of the marine security guard program at our diplomatic posts around the world. prohibits d.o.d. from initiating another round of brac to ensure appropriate focus on the orderly and secure withdrawal from afghanistan in a well-informed assessment of our nation's defense strategy moving forward. it also provides $11 billion for milcon projects for urgently needed base infrastructure. it re-authorizes $1.1 -- 1.5 million acres of public land for training range access to ensure our forces have the ability to train the way we expect them to fight. and ensures adequate funding for reset and retrograde from our nation's longest war in

afghanistan. as we vote, we need to be mindful that our highest duty is to ensure the readiness of our forces. this starts with providing our men and women who volunteer to wear the uniform with the right training and equipment to do their missions with the advantage of overwhelming military superiority. we must ensure that they never enter a fair fight on our behalf and they can complete their missions and come home safe. i'd like to thank the staff director, the entire staff, especially the readiness staff in michelle, ronnie, dave, nicholas for their diligent and dedicated work to get this bill completed. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. can you tell us how much time remains? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington has 9 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from california has 11 minutes remaining. mr. smith: thank you. with that i yield one minute to a member of the committee, mr. courtney. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from connecticut is recognized for one minute. mr. courtney: i rise in support of this defense measure. in the last two years, we have had the following -- the national security review in 2011, the quadrennial defense review and the nuclear posture review and all of them had the same consistent theme on this issue which is that the u.s. navy' preeminence and the undersea domain must not be neglected and that this is a critical insurance policy from any emerging nuclear force. with that in mind, this measure invests $9.5 billion in the virginia class submarine program. it will fund two submarines in 2014, advance procurement in 2015, has $1 billion for the ohio replacement design work which the is the best guarantee we will have a cost-effective production of that critical vessel. and finally the virginia payload module which will increase the missile capacity the virginia class subare a

means and -- submarine and replace the force that will be going off-line over the next 10 years. the sea power subcommittee, led by my friend, mr. forbes, has held a number of hearings which again have re-emphasized the critical need for this in both security.nd i urge members to vote for this and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: i yield two minutes to the former chairman of the oversight and investigations subcommittee who was recently moved from our committee to the appropriations committee, and she will be southerly missed, the gentlelady from alabama, mrs. roby. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from alabama is recognized for two minutes. mrs. roby: mr. speaker, i rise to express my support for this national defense authorization act. i want to express my gratitude to chairman mckeon and the entire armed services staff for their hard work and commitment to our men and women in uniform. while i will no longer be serving on the armed services committee, i know that chairman mckeon and his team will continue their good work. mr. speaker, providing for the

common defense is one of fundamental -- one of the fundamental duty that the congress spelled out in our constitution, and i'm proud to represent two military installations, one in montgomery and the other in the wire grass. these installations and others like them around the world will be better able to prepare our men and women thanks to this year's ndaa. one important part of this bill i want to highlight is focused on helping our military assets respond to global threats while remaining within our nation's fiscal constraints. during my time as chairman of oversight and investigations subcommittee, we focused on the rights of afghan women and ensuring that our military is better postured to respond to any future attacks, like the one on the consulate in benghazi, libya, last september. i am pleased that the ndaa provides provisions offering the appropriate guidance on both of these issues. the bill also addresses the important issue of sexual assault in the military in a responsible and reasonable way, and i know my friend,

representative walorski, will address that in a moment, and i appreciate her and others' leadership on that issue. i encourage my colleagues in the house to pass this critical measure to ensure that our military men and women receive the resources and policy that they need to do their job. thank you, again, mr. chairman, for your work and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman from washington. mr. smith: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from rhode island, mr. langevin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. langevin: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding and i rise in strong support of the house amendment to h.r. 3304, the national defense authorization agreement for f.y. 2014. this legislation represents the

best path forward for the work we must do in order to support our men and women in uniform and our national security. i applaud chairman mckeon and ranking member smith for their efforts to ensure that it is enacted. i'm pleased the bill continues its strong support of the virginia class submarine, the payload all of which are critical to our future capabilities. i'm also pleased that it improves on key aspects of the house-passed defense authorization, including a number of issues designed to confront sexual assault in our military, policies making progress toward the administration's goal of closing the detention facility at guantanamo bay, and improved -- improvements in missile defense. i'm proud to work closely in particular with chairman macthornberry on the numerous -- mac thornberry on the numerous provisions. we have prioritized resources

for our special forces as well as advancements in -- advances in advanced technology research and development. while clearly more must be done by d.o.d. and the whole of government to address the challenges our nation faces in cyberspace, there are many ositive things in this bill, including ensuring u.s. cybercommand has proper personnel and authority, and supplementing cybercommand with other disciplines. i'd like that thank chairman mckeon and ranking member smith and the entire committee staff for their assistance. i urge swift passage of this crucial legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. i yield one minute to the gentlelady from indiana, mrs. walorski. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one

minute. mrs. walorski: i rise in support of the national defense authorization act which includes historic reforms to ape dridsd -- address the growing epidemic of sexual assault that's shamefully tarnishing our armed forces. i want to thank representative loretta sanchez for helping with a provision that protects whistleblowers from being retaliated against for reporting sexual assault. it will encourage victims to come forward without fear of retribution if within their own ranks. passing this ndaa is a step in the right direction toward eradicating the horrific problem of military actual -- sexual trauma in the militarism urge my colleagues to support this bill, quickly sign it into law so our service members have protection. thank you and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington.

mr. smith: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from hawaii, ms. hanabusa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. hanabusa: mr. chairman, i rise in support of this bipartisan legislation. the ndaa has been approved with bipartisan support for 51 consecutive years so i'm pleased our committee was able to reach an agreement the bill includes over $400 million in important funding for military construction in the state of hawaii that will solidify our position in support of the asia-pacific rebalance. as you know, hawaii is america's gateway to the asia pacific. i would like to thank the chair and ranking member for working with me to include critical provisions for hawaii and thank my bipartisan colleagues on the committee for helping me authorize new money for the maritime guarantee loan program which will be used to preserve national security and ensure the long-term viability of the american maritime industry. i am pleased that the bill includes language to help further critical research objectives in hawaii for the office of naval research from

organizations like the pacific international center for high technology research. this will allow hawaii to thrive into the future. thank you everyone for your hard work on this year's bill and i call my colleagues -- call upon my colleagues to vote for this important legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: may i inquire as to the remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 2 and a half minutes remaining. the other side has 5 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. mckeon: i'll be the concluding speaker, i reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: i yield one minute to the gentleman from arizona, mr. barber, a member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. barber: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i rise today to urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan national defense

authorization act. i call attention to a provision in the act that will preserve the a-10 a core component of our nation's combat power and military read iness. this is -- readiness. this is a national security asset i've been fighting for since before i became a member of congress when i was congresswoman giffords' district military affairs lea. this national defense authorization act states the air force will not be allowed to retire or prepare to retire or place in storage any additional a-10 aircraft during 2014. a-10 pilots are trained at davis mountain air force base in dueson, arizona, to fly a plane that is unsurpassed in its ability to provide support for our troops on the ground. in today's military environment, the a-10 is best suited to continue this very important mission for decades to come. we simply cannot adequately

support the war fighter to continue on the ground if we get rid of this proven aircraft. i'm proud to support the ndaa and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington. mr. smith: we are down to our last speaker on our side, which is a long way of saying i yield myself the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 4 1/2 minutes. mr. smith: i want to take a moment to thank again the people who worked to make this possible. our staffs on the armed services committee, both bipartisan, majority, minority, have done an amazing job over a long period of time, i want to thank the chairman as well for his determination to get this bill done. it's never is the the same path twice, which always makes it interesting. but the one thing we have very much in common is an absolute

determination to get the bill done for the reasons that the chairman and i stated earlier because of how important it is that we do our work and maybe sure we provide for the troops who are serving us. but we could not do it without the incredible expertise and tireless work of our staffs. i particularly want to thank my staff director, paul, for pulling all of this together as we bounce back and forth between whether or not we'd do a formal can conference or do this that work they've been doing over the last several months is critical in making this possible. i again close in emphasizing two big points. we need to do our work as congress. people depend on it. they deponed the united states government functioning. passing the national defense authorization act is a critical piece of that so we can continue to provide for the common defense as we are constitutionally mandated to do and i urge everybody to support it. every little bit as porn as the budget agreement coming up later on. we have all to some degree on the armed services committee, and many elsewhere, railed

against sequestration. the vote coming up this afternoon is not a choice between this budget agreement and what each one of us individually would like. it is a choice between the budget agreement and sequestration, a c.r., and further threats of government shutdown. i will just emphasize that the impact that would have on the department of defense and its ability to do the job we are asking them to do would be devastating. i know we've heard everyone claim sequestration would be a big deal and it happened and the sun came up the next morning and everything was fine. look, two things about that. number one, it had a profound impact on a lot of people. not everybody, to be sure, but it did have that profound impact they have second big point is it gets worse. the first year was tough. but there was uncosted balances, there was things you could do. they've been running on fumes for a while. if we continue sequestration those fumes run out.

and the cuts will be devastating. and we will not be able to do what it is that i think we need to do to provide for our national security. which isn't to say that the defense budget can't be cut, it's being cut. it's going to be cut. but there are cuts and then there are the nonsensical cuts of sequestration. and the only way out of that right now is the budget agreement. and lastly, i'll say, that applies to a lot of other aspects of government, transportation, housing, head start, we've heard all the stories about the devastating impact of sequestration on all those programs. late they are afternoon we'll have our first real opportunity to reverse that. it is critically important that we do so. with that, i will simply urge passage of the national defense authorizing act. again, thank the chairman, i very much value our partnership given the desire for bipartisanship out there today, people are always asking me, do you have any republicans that you work with? and i do. the chairman of our committee, who has done a great job in that capacity an i very much value our friendship and partnership and hopefully we get the senate

to get this done and make it 52 years in a row. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: how much time do i have sfleft the speaker pro tempore: two and a half minutes. mr. mckeon: i yield myself the balance of me time. i want to thank the other committee members who work closely with us all year. i especially want to thank our staff directors, bob and paul. they have worked tirelessly as have all these other people who have been putting in countless hours to get us to this point. this legislation addresses a wide array of policy issues, including supporting operations in afghanistan, strengthening our partnerships in the mideast, reinforcing our capabilities in the pacific, combating sexual assault in the military, enhancing missile defense, and maintaining this nation's nuclear deterrent. though the significant cut to the defense budget continue to have a profound effect on readiness, our modernization

programs the defense industrial base, the bill adequately sustains training, critical assembly lines, ship yards, manufacturing expertise to keep our wartime military properly prepared, equipped and supplied. each of these efforts is important for the security of our homeland and our allies. we worked on a bicameral, bipartisan basis to get this legislation done. it's my sincere hope that we can continue working together to limit the damage to our military and their readiness resulting from sequestration. what we're considering here today is a step in the right direction. it's a solid product, thoroughly debated, deliberately considered. i urge my colleagues to support and vote in favor of this legislation. as adam said, we have a great partnership. i think the thing that make ours committee work so well together jobs. not about

sometimes people say well, we just have a defense so that we can provide jobs. we have a defense because the constitution says that we provide for the common defense. we have to be kind of the ones that keep the sea lanes open. the skies free. the -- this nation free from terrorism. i talked to general odeer noah, the chief of the army -- odierno, the chief of the army, last week and he said in 2008 the budget for the army was $250 billion. this year it was $150 billion. for those who say we are not cut, we are slowing the growth rate -- we are cutting. the thing that's been most affected is our readyness. that's what causes lives to be lost. our troops aren't getting sufficiently trained before they

go to afghanistan, before they go into harm's way. and this budget will help as i talked to general dempsey yesterday, this will help them get back on our feet in readiness. i want to thank adam for his true friendship and partnership and i encunl all of our colleagues to vote for this bill, to sustain the efforts of those who are willing to put themselves in harm's way to protect us. i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 441. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are -- >> i request the yeas an nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. . the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceed option the motion will be postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition?

>> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3695, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3695, a bill to provide a temporary extension of the food, conservation and energy act of 2008 and amendments made by that act, as previously extended and amended with certain additional modifications and exceptions, to suspend permanent price support authorities, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lucas, and the gentleman from california, mr. costa, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lucas: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill h.r. 3695. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lucas: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lucas: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 3695,

which provides a temporary extension of the 2008 farm bill. i believe this short-term extension provides certainty to everyone going into the new year, that permanent law will not be triggered while the conference committee continues its work on a new bill. we're making significant progress in our negotiations with the senate, and i am confident we'll be able to finish the conference report in january. in the meantime, the reality is that unless we act today, permanent law takes effect january 1. the press headlines already speak of doom, that we're on the brink of going off the dairy cliff. "time" magazine says, and i quote, people are freaking out about $8 a gallon milk, unquote. and there's widespread speculation about what will happen and when exactly. it's not necessary to have that kind of panic throughout the country for producers and consumers, especially around

the holidays. this bill makes clear what will happen on january 1 and passing it is the responsible action to take given the legislative calendar. furthermore, we're not breaking any new ground. the 2002 farm bill was extended six times before the 2008 farm bill was enacted. mr. speaker, i urge and encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this short-term extension of the farm bill. i reserve the balance of my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time the gentleman reserves the balance of his the gentleman's time is reserved. the gentleman from california. mr. kosta: i yield myself such time as i may consume. -- mr. costa: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. costa: i want to thank the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lucas, for all the work he's done over the years and the appreciation for his efforts in the past few years. it's taken a long time to get here, and certainly he's worked

very hard to produce a five-year farm bill. that said, the bill is not needed. let me tell you why. chairman lucas and ranking member peterson have been working diligently, as i said, with their senate counterparts, and the conference committee has reached an agreement on many of the issues, leaving a few remaining issues to be worked out and we're doing that right now. secretary vilsack, secretary of agriculture, has also indicated, should we complete the farm bill in january, as we are talking about, that there should be any problems regarding the potential impacts of the dairy title being implemented and therefore those impacts of the cost of milk being felt by our consumers. extending the current programs through the end of january, which is what this bill does, when it looks like we'll be able to vote on a five-year

farm bill early next year, therefore, it's not necessary. farmers, ranchers, dairy producers need the certainty of a five-year farm bill. i think we all agree on that. families, those in need, who depend upon the nutrition programs as part of our nation's safety net need a five-year farm bill. american consumers, those who we produce the food for and those around the world, know they can depend upon our farmers, our ranchers and our dairy producers to continue providing the safest and most affordable food in the world. mr. speaker, therefore, this measure is not needed. i urge my colleagues to vote no on h.r. 3695 and support a five-year farm bill which we will vote on early in january when we work the remaining differences in the conference committee. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman yield back or does the gentleman reserve? mr. costa: i reserve.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lucas: mr. speaker, i have a couple thoughts myself and i'll conclude so if he'd like to address anything else? mr. costa: yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. lucas: i yield back the balance of my time -- i yield to myself -- the speaker pro tempore: the chair stands corrected. the gentleman is recognized. mr. lucas: thank you, mr. speaker. just simply to note to my colleagues, my friend from california is exactly right. the importance of completing this cannot be overstated. the progress we made certainly has been incredible and we are on the verge. i would just simply note to awful my colleagues, as i indicated caution and responsibility throughout this entire process, this is an opportunity for members to cast a vote to acknowledge to the folks back home that no matter what happens in negotiations process we will not have a dairy cliff. we will not have unserpt for producers and ultimately the american -- uncertainty for producers and ultimately the american consumers.

members are urged to do what they think is wise. i would urge my colleagues, pass the extension, take care of business and we on the ag committee will take care of our business in january. with that, mr. speaker, 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. 2695, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1447, the death in custody reporting act of 2013. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 205, h.r. 1447, a bill to encourage states to report to the attorney general certain information regarding the deaths of individuals in the custody of law enforcement agencies and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from georgia, mr. collins, and the gentleman from virginia, mr. scott, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. collins: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on h.r. 1447, currently under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. collins: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. collins: the death in custody reporting act of 2000 directed the bureau of

statistics to collect data on the deaths that occur at two important stages in the criminal justice system. first, deaths that occur in the process of arrests or during the transfer after arrest and second, deaths that occur in jails and prisons. the provision of that act expired in december, 2006. according to the bureau of justice statistics, 880 died in the custody of local jails in 2011. in the lowest number of jail mate deaths in the 12-year eath in custody reporting act. most died of illness related deaths. the homicide and suicide rates have decreased over the last 25 years. h.r. 1447 re-authorizes this data collection program and directs the attorney general not only to collect the data but also to study the data to determine how to reduce deaths in custody in the future. the legislation extends the reporting requirements to deaths that occur in federal custody.

although the death in custody reporting act expired in 2006, the bureau of justice statistics has continued to collect this data. they provide a national resource for understanding mortality in the criminal justice system and the collection of this data will help the federal, state and local government examine the relationships between the death in custody and the proper management of jail and prison facilities. it will also provide important information to congress on any need to improve federal custody procedures. because the bureau of justice statistics have continued to collect the information even though the prior law has expired, this law will impose no new costs on the agency. congress passed similar legislation in three congresses with overwhelming bipartisan support. i'd like to thank congressman scott for introducing this legislation, and i would urge all my colleagues to support it and with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is reserved. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to rise in support of h.r. 1447, the death in custody

reporting act of 2013. this bill would require states and federal law enforcement agencies to report to the department of justice information about the deaths of individuals in their custody. we have learned from history how useful this information can be. in the 1980's there was increased focus on conditions in state and local jails and prisons and the problem of prisoners dying in custody. the interests and oversight of this issue was generated partially because of the rise of wrongful death cases brought in relationship to these deaths. press reports in the 1990's concerning prison abuses and those deaths incarcerated being attributed to suicide led congress to develop legislation in response to this problem. the death in custody reporting act of 2000 was an acted to require states to report quarterly to the attorney general information regarding the death of any person in the process of arrest or who was otherwise in custody, including jails, prisons and juvenile facilities.

the reports are briefed, essentially stating who died and a brief description of what happened. the law expired in 2006, which led to an effort to re-authorize substantially the same requirements on states and extend those requirements to the federal agencies as well. and that's what h.r. 1447 would do. with this statistical data, policymakers at the state, local and federal levels can make informed judgments about the appropriate treatment of prisoners and to develop ways to lower the prison death rate. this policy cannot be made if we don't have this information that the law requires. in fact, since the focus on deaths in custody emerged in the 1980's and enactment in the law in 2000, reports showed significant declines in sue sides and homicides for -- suicides and homicides for those in custody. h.r. 1447 will require the state to submit this information and the bill expands the commitment to federal law enforcement agencies as well. the bill also requires the

attorney general to study the information the justice department receives and to issue a report to include a discussion of how the data may be used to reduce preventable deaths. with the enactment of this legislation, we can make even more progress with respect to reducing preventable deaths of those in custody which is surely an obligation of government when it incars rates so many of its -- incarcerates so many of its citizens. this bill has a history of strong bipartisan support, and i thank my colleagues from the other side of the aisle -- on the other side of the aisle, especially the gentleman from georgia and my colleague from virginia, the judiciary committee chairman, bob goodlatte, for supporting the bill in committee and bringing it to the floor today. i urge my colleagues to support reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is reserved. the gentleman from georgia. mr. collins: does the gentleman have speakers?

mr. scott: yes, i have one additional speaker. mr. mcclintock: i'll reserve. -- mr. collins: i'll reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from virginia. mr. scott: i yield to the gentlelady from texas, four minutes, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for four minutes. ms. jackson lee: i thank the ranking member of the subcommittee, and i thank the nager and as well the full committee chairperson and the ranking member of the full committee. i think it would not be inappropriate to acknowledge that many of us are gathered in the judiciary committee to wish congressman mel watt well, and i will do so on the floor of the house. i am supporting this bill and, again, offer my appreciation for the crime subcommittee's bipartisan effort to look into our problem with criminalization at the start of

the congress, but i am concerned that there are a number of issues that were not discussed but that this particular legislation is an important step, which i know that mr. scott has worked on uite extensively. the bill before us today works to, in essence, provide -- requires states that receive certain criminal justice assistance grants to report to the attorney general on a quarterly basis certain information regarding the death of any person who is detained, arrested, en route to incarceration or incarcerated in state or local facilities or boot camp. h.r. 1447 also imposes penalties on states that fail to comply with such reporting requirements. the bill also requires the head of each federal law enforcement agency to report to the attorney general annually certain information regarding the death

of any person. my focus is to indicate that this is a practical initiative. i personally know that in jures dixes in texas, we have had incidences where individuals have gone into the county jail for minimal violations of the law and came out in a body bag. it happened to a mother of two sons who lost her life because of an infected knee that was not taken care of or individuals who are ill, individuals who succumb to inappropriate behavior by those who have charge over them. it's happened in jails and frizzes -- prisons across america. this is a life-saving initiative because many people will acknowledge that if you're incarcerated, even if you're there in our county jails before you're convicted, we recognize the criminal justice system. but it does not mean that you should lose your life.

however as we come to the end of this first year of the 113th congress, i know my colleagues would recognize as well that we're experiencing one year of the tragic incident that our can -- occurred at sandy hook. there will be those who will be mourning this afternoon, holding a memorial to acknowledge the tragedy of the lives lost. in this congress, to our dismay, we have not been able to pass universal background checks. which could readily be on the floor of the house and be of value to those mourning mothers and fathers who now mourn one ear later and ask the question why. in addition, we have seen over e last year in many of our jurisdictions the excessive violence that has taken up our young people through gun violence, through gangs and other actions that would welcome

this congress exercising its authority on issues dealing with anti-violence, anti-bullying, of course, and again, the ceasing of gun violence. i look forward to establishing a commission in my community, responding to the incidences of 19 individuals being shot and two teenagers being killed, a young man from jack gates high school being killed, another young man shot in the park. as i rise to support this legislation i would simply argue as we move forward on this legislation that there's work to be done and i hope we can join together in a bipartisan manner to do system of i hope my colleagues will vote and support h.r. 1447. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentlelady is expired. he gentleman from georgia. >> we're ready to close. >> i yield myself the remainder of the time --

mr. scott: i yield myself the remainder of the time. i want to thank the gentleman for his work. this is an important bill. we can use this information. i want to thank again all those who made today possible. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman from georgia. mr. collins: thank you, mr. speaker. this is a good way for our judiciary committee to come to an end on something we can agree upon that is a good thing, i appreciate the opportunity to be here. i encourage my colleagues to support this and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia yields back. all time has expire. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1447. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those present having voted in the affirmative, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass house resolution 3509 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3509, a bill to require the secretary of state

to submit to congress a report then status of post-earthquake recovery in haiti. the speaker pro tempore: 3ur sunt to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. royce and the gentleman from new york, mr. engel, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. rice: i'm going to ask that members have five legislative tais to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material in this measure -- on this measure. if i could ask for that by unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. rice: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm going to yield myself such time as i might consume and just share -- mr. royce: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm going to yield myself such time as i i might consume and just share that john january 9, 2010, there was a massive earthquake that struck near the haitian capital, port-au-prince, that left some 200,000 people dead, 1.5 million people were

displaced. since 2010, the united states has made a big commitment in humanitarian relief a big commitment on reconstruction and development assistance in haiti and a good bit of this was alkuwaited -- allocated to the u.s. agency for international development to support an ambitious recovery plan that included housing and it included industrial development. last summer, the house foreign affairs committee received a g.a.o. report detailing a startling lack of progress on u.s. funded reconstruction efforts in haiti. the committee followed up by sending a bipartisan delegation of staff to investigate. and then held an oversight hearing on haiti reconstruction, where members asked tough questions about u.s. aid efforts. one recommendation we heard over and over was that congress needs improved and more frequent reporting to ensure that we are

being kept up to date on reconstruction activities and so that congress can provide tough oversight at a time when much of the funding for haiti has yet to be spent. wasted taxpayer dollars is simply unacceptable here. while we can help, haitians must do better as haiti special coordinator thomas adams noted in his testimony before the committee. the key to sustainable improvement in haiti lies not in the johns re-- generosity of donors but in the creation of economic opportunity in haiti. i agree whole heartedly with the special coordinator but unfortunately, haiti currently lacks a clear and enforceable system of property rights, including effective property registry and titling and struggles with high levels of corruption. these are serious problems which deter the kind of private sector

investment that is the real future of haiti's economy. without significant improvements to haiti's business climate, no amount of donor assistance is going enge -- is going to help. we need to work with the haitian government to improve transparency, rule of law and democracy, so that we can in turn improve the lives and economic well being of the country's citizens. mr. speaker, i want to commend representative barbara lee, the author of this bill, who worked with ranking member engel, chairman ros-lehtinen, and chairman salmon, to craft this strong, bipartisan oversight legislation that will improve relief efforts and i urge my colleagues to support the bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. engel: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman may proceed. mr. engel: i rise in strong

support of h.r. 3509, the assessing progress in haiti act of 013. i'd like to begin by thanking my friend and colleague the gentlewoman from california, ms. lee, for introducing this important legislation. the haitian people are lucky to have a friend with her vision and tenacity. it is difficult to overstate the devastation wrought by the 2010 earthquake in haiti that gave rise to the multinational assistance effort. 316,000 people dead, that's just unbeliefable, including 103 united states citizens, 101 united nations personnel, and nearly 18% of the nation's civil service as well as 300,000 injured. 115,000 homes destroyed and two million people displaced. an estimated 15% of the population of haiti was directly affected by the disaster and related damages. i traveled to port-au-prince, haiti, shortly after the quake and i can attest to the fact

that even those horrific statistics do not fully describe the waste an destruction i sthafle united states could be -- quickly responded to the devastation in haiti and responded robustly. the post-earthquake assistance program remains today one of our most important foreign assistance commitments worldwide, which brings me to the legislation before us. h.r. 3509 should be understood as the culminating step in the ongoing oversight work of the foreign affairs committee regarding that assistance plan. a multiyear and multibillion dollar commitment reflecting the compassion and generous i have to the american people calls for ongoing vigilance in terms of accountability as well as policy direction. our committee commissioned a g.a.o. report on that assistance which found among other things that the administration was not providing sufficient information to the congress to fulfill our oversight role. we also sent a bipartisan staff

delegation to look into specific problems g.a.o. found and held a full committee hearing on the matter. h.r. 3509 is a logical next step. it seeks to fill the information gap by requiring the state department to report on various aspects of our assistance program. it also includes a statement of policy that articulates the direction we think that assistance program should take. i believe h.r. 3509 gos a significant way to achieve that goal. as i seem to do frequently in our committee and on the floor these days, i'd like to once again thank chairman royce and his wonderful staff for working in a truly bipartisan manner on this bill. it is generally -- genuinely appreciated by me and all of my democratic colleagues on our committee. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair understands that the gentleman from california

reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york. mr. engel: i yield five minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for five mins. ms. lee: thank you very much. first let me thank chairman royce for your tremendous leadership and your continued support and true effort to create barren initiatives and legislation from your committee. i served with you on the committee for many, many years and it's very consistent still in terms of trying to reach some bipartisan agreement on the bills. thank you again so much. of course to our ranking member, mr. engel, i thank you again for your leadership and for helping craft a bill that we could get to the floor that is a bill that i think will really put the united states on the right side of history as it relates to haiti. and also for your focus on the western hemisphere. thank you so much.

let me also just reference and thank all of our original co-sponsors of the assessing progress in haiti act of 2013 including representative yvette clarke, maxine waters,on conyers, charlie rangel, karen bass and of course ileana ros-lehtinen. i want to thank congresswoman sheila jackson lee for staying strong and steady and supporting this legislation and for all of their tireless work and long-standing commitment to the well being of haitians and the country of haiti. nearly four years ago, i stood as chair of the congressional black caucus and led a special order recognizing the importance of our relationship with haiti. a short time later, i led a delegation to hay he tee and we witnessed firsthand the devastation firsthand. the congressional black caucus has a long history of working with the haitian people and the haitian american community on a variety of issues.

we share a close and long-standing relationship and this has continued under the magnificent leadership of our current chair, chairwoman marcia fudge. on january 12, 2010, a devastating earthquake struck near haiti's -- haiti's capital. it killed hundreds of thousands and left millions more homeless. our government, the american people and the international community pro re-sponded with a tremendous outpouring of support for the haitian people. however, what began as a swift and effective relief effort gave way to a sluggish reconstruction. . a report by the government accountability office found that usaid has missed a number of its own goals and deadlines. most importantly, the g.a.o. found that as of june, 2013, u.s. aid had committed only 52% and dispersed 35% of the -- disbersed 35% of the funding

for earthquake reconstruction. that's why passing the assessing progress in haiti act of 2013 is so important. with so much money yet to be disbursed, we have an opportunity to ensure that our assistance is as effective as possible. my bill helps us understand where our aid efforts stand, where they are going, and how usaid plans to get there. it would require the state department to report on the progress of infrastructure projects, indicators use to measure project success, efforts to combat corruption, measures taken to strengthen haitian capacity and crucials of vulnerable populations -- considerations of vulnerable populations. my bill would give us the information we need to make those assess. s and help get the reconstruction on track -- assessments and help get the reconstruction on track. the road to recovery is a long one. and this legislation is but one small step. mind that keep in

usaid cannot fix the problem on its own. i commend the agency for the work it does around the world and encourage it to continue to address the challenges it faces in haiti. haitian citizens and their government, along with nongovernmental and intergovernmental organizations, must do their part. the haitian government will need to hold free, fair and timely elections. i commend them for the steps they have already taken this week to hold long overdue elections next year. the united nations will also need to vigorously address the cholera endemocrat -- epidemic. there's no question that in october, 2010, after nearly a century of not having cases in the country, cholera was, as reported by -- was introduced by u.n. peace keepers. as i said before, i'm very proud that today we are voting to increase the transparency and accountability of u.s. assistance to haiti on a bipartisan basis.

i strongly urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, i look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure that haiti is truly built back and that the haitian people once and for all have a future and that future will be ensured by the support of the american people. may i have another 30 seconds? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. ms. lee: thank you very much. i just want to thank our staff, chairman royce's staff, chairman engel's staff, and i want to especially thank my staff. pablo and gerard and all of our staffs here for their very diligent and steadfast work. this has taken us probably four years to get this bill to the floor. and so thank you again, chairman royce, ranking member engel, and all of the original co-sponsors for their tremendous support. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from new york. mr. engel: yes. it's my pleasure, mr. speaker, to yield two minutes to the

gentlewoman from new york, yvette clarke. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for two minutes. ms. clarke: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the ranking member, the foreign affairs committee, and the gentlelady from california for yielding time for me to speak in support of h.r. 3509, the assessing progress in haiti act. as representative of the second largest population of first and second generation haitian americans and haitian immigrants, i appreciate the importance of the bill. it is critical that we expand communication between the executive branch and congress to keep track of all monetary aid sent to haiti, ensuring increased accountability and transparency. after the alarming findings of the g.a.o. report, and since january, 2010's, earthquake, haitian's still live in camps, they continue to fight the cholera epidemic and with the haitian government's very

evident challenges in maintaining a sustainable democracy, it is imperative that congress has all the information necessary to ensure that the u.s. foreign aid is being administratively -- administered effectively. mr. speaker, as we look to the fourth anniversary of the horrific earthquake, i am hopeful of the day when we can witness the full recovery and rebirth of the beautiful caribbean nation of haiti. but until then, we have a lot of work to do. and that is why i encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of h.r. 3509, the assessing progress in haiti act, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from new york. mr. engel: i now yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. sheila jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized for two minutes.

ms. jackson lee: let me thank the ranking member and the chairman of the full committee for their leadership, and also for the bipartisan leadership that is noted on the foreign affairs committee and the privilege that i had to serve some years ago, when we worked on a number of issues. let me add my appreciation to the congresswoman from california, barbara lee, who led us, during her tenure as chair of the congressional black caucus, during enormous crisis in haiti, but more importantly, as a supporter of this legislation and efforts to see haiti move into a new era of democracy and reconstruction this legislation, h.r. 3509, is long overdue and i ask my colleagues to enthusiastically support it. i've traveled to haiti on any number of occasions, visiting those who are incarcerated, in jails, even after the earthquake, to find individuals who were suffering, who had

been incarcerated. seeing people who had lost enormously their place to live, children who are out of school, and resources that were looking to be directed but possibly, mr. speaker, not being directed as they should. this legislation, of course, will do several things. it will require a thorough assessment of the progress in meeting the original goals expressed in january, 2011, postearthquake u.s. government-haiti strategy. to assure public accountability and assess whether or not vulnerable populations have been taken into account in the design and implementation of the new programs. it is very important to note, as much work that has been done between the efforts of the international community, including the usaid, up to 3,000 people still live in tent camps, many of whom are facing forced evictions as time moves on. cholera has killed over 8,400

haitians and sickened over 689,400, since the time of this earthquake. hundreds of thousands of haitians have little or no access to portable water or basic health services and haiti's facing an impending food crisis to local -- according to local and international organizations. can i have an additional minute? mr. engel: i yield the gentlewoman an additional minute. ms. jackson lee: so h.r. 3509 i believe will be an important step to gather all those who are of good intentions, even ur particular aid offer, the usaid, to be able to assess where we are, to be able to not only help, but feel the pain of those who have not been helped. and i believe that it will be eye enormously important -- enormously important to look again at infrastructure, as it has impacted port-au-prince, but then as it has impacted the outer areas which i think this legislation will be very helpful to. again, it is bipartisan, we ask that this legislation be passed

quickly in the senate, and more importantly that the president sign it to save lives. finally, we wish for a democratic transition and democratic elections, as haiti goes forward in its elections. let's hope whatever government is put in place, they will liu look to be able to give that -- they will look to be able to give that lifeline that this legislation is talking about, to move haiti forward in the 21st century. and i ask my colleagues to support the legislation and i thank congresswoman barbara lee for her leadership. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from new york. mr. engel: mr. speaker, i have no further people to speak. i would just like to close our side. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. engel: thank you, mr. speaker. as we can all hear from the discussion here this afternoon, this is a very, very important bill and a very, very united ded bill and the states, the most generous people in the world and we need

to give help -- we are the most generous people in the world and we need to give help to this island which has been so devastated, which is really very near us geographically and where we have many, many ties, particularly now with the burgeoning haitian american population as well. this is humanitarian, this is really what's right, this personifies and i think typifies the good intentions of this congress and of our nation. i'm proud to play a part of this. i want to again thank barbara lee for all her hard work and thank chairman royce for, as we always say, the bipartisan effort. this is truly bipartisan and truly something of which we can all be proud. i urge a yes vote and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. royce: thank you, mr. speaker. just in closing, let me point out, again, the fact that we have a very strong, bipartisan coalition of members that have worked a long time on this

issue of trying to forge a focus on repair in haiti. and we thank them for their efforts on the reconstruction. it's important for the people of haiti to know that our efforts are best being used to help get them on solid ground. to help them get the foundation they need to move forward and it's also important for those in the united states to feel that their money is being spent isely and efficiently. and i think that's the intent, those two sbenlts behind this legislation, h.r. 3509. it extends and strengthens i think the critical oversight that we do in the committee over haitian funding and it promotes the holding of free, fair and timely elections in haiti. and i want to thank the gentlelady from california, congresswoman lee, for her perseverance in getting this bill to the floor today and i

want to encourage my colleagues to support it and i want to thank the ranking member, mr. engel of new york, also for his efforts to bring this bill up to -- up today. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time for debate has expired. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 3509. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. -- 3509, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin seek recognition? mr. ryan: mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 438 i call up house joint resolution 59, with the house amendment to the senate amendment thereto and a motion i have at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the joint resolution, designate the senate amendment and

designate the motion. the clerk: house joint resolution 59. joint resolution making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2014 and for other purposes. senate amendment, motion offered by mr. ryan of wisconsin. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 438, the motion shall be debatable for 70 minutes, with 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on budget, and 10 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce. the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. ryan, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. van hollen, will each control 30 minutes. the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton, and the gentleman from california, mr. waxman, will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and on ude extraneous remarks

the bill. 13r0eu7 without objection. mr. ryan: i yield myself three minutes. rise -- i rise on behalf of the bipartisan budget agreement. s the first time since 1986 that a divided congress has done what we're about to do. here's what the bill does. it reduces the deficit by $23 billion. it does not raise taxes. and it cuts spending in a smarter way. we take temporary, across the board cuts, and replace them with targeted, permanent reforms. and these reforms, they take place immediately. first, we cut waste. we stop paying medicaid bills that deadbeat dads ought to cover. we stop sending unemployment checks to criminals. second, we go after corporate welfare. we eliminate a government ram for energy companies. we eliminate a carveout in the student loan program. third, we start to address the

real problem and that is auto pilot spending. we ask new federal employees to contribute a little bit more toward their retirement. we ask private companies to cover a little bit more of their own pension guarantees. these savings build up over time. and this bill saves more than if we did nothing this bill isn't as far as i'd like. it's not near the breadth and scope of the budget we passed yerler. but that's how it works in divided government. that's the nature of compromise. in a divided government you don't get everything you want. but i think this bill is a firm step in the right direction. it's not perfect, it's a start. that's how it works in divided government. i also think, mr. speaker, it gives us the added benefit of preventing washington from this lurch from crisis to crisis. we're bringing stability to the budget process. that will help build confidence and that confidence will help our economy. i'll be the first to admit, we

have a lot more work to do. i've been bringing budgets to this floor for five years. that -- that balance the budget, that pay off the debt, that reform entitlement programs. that's what we want to do. that's what we're going to keep working on doing. but in this divided government, we're going to take the steps we can take and this step we think is one in the right direction. we need to help strengthen the economy. we need to help create jobs and take-home pay. the bottom line is, this first step is designed to help improve people's lives. it's designed to make this government work at a basic functioning level. and by passing this, we'll reduce the deficit. we came here to get something done, we always lock horns, we always argue, we never agree, i think it's about time for once in a long time, we find common ground and agree and that is what this bill does and that is what i ask my colleagues to

consider in support -- and support this agreement. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from minnesota -- om msmed mr. van hollen: i thank the gentleman. this agreement is far from perfect. it is not the budget agreement i or many of my colleagues would have written. but i do believe that on balance, at the margin, it represents a small but positive step forward. mr. speaker, i would not have been able to say that as recently as this past monday and early tuesday but as a result of changes made, i think this is a positive step forward. i want to commend my fellow conferees on the house side, mr.

clyburn, ms.low wie, as well as the efforts of leader pelosi, to make the changes necessary. as a result of those changes, this is an agreement that many of our colleagues can now support. and that is for many reasons. but most of all, it results in a situation where we will avoid the very deep and harmful cuts from the sequester which if this congress does not act will automatically take effect a few weeks from now. and those very deep and unproductive, across the board cuts will create an unnecessary drag on the economy at a time when economic growth is building but still not nearly where it is. it will have a negative impact on job growth. and it will eat away at important national priorities and investments. as a result of this agreement,

in fiscal year 2014, we will be able to invest $25 billion more in vital national areas than we ere in fiscal year 2013. of those $25 billion investments, $22.5 billion will be in important areas of investment -- domestic investment. in areas of education, research, like medical research at the national institutes of health. it will also provide, as chairman ryan said, some certainty which is very important at this point in time. and without this agreement, you would be guaranteed additional furloughs of federal employees in the coming year. so i think it is a positive step forward. i do, mr. speaker, want to express my extreme disappointment on one -- in one

area. the agreement itself, as chairman ryan acknowledged and senator murray recognized, decided not to include what we call the doc fix and decided we would not include unemployment insurance compensation extension. many of us argued that we should include both of those in this agreement. in fact, house democrats proposed a -- an agreement along those lines. we believe that if we're going to do the doc fix, which we think is important, taking -- making sure that doctors who provide services to medicare patients are fully compensated, we should also make sure that individuals who are on long-term unemployment will not be left out in the cold three days after christmas. it was decided that those elements would not be in the agreement itself, and yet, last night, at the 11th hour, the house republican majority

decided to insert the doc fix within this agreement. we support that doc fix but we are very troubled that we've not even been allowed to vote to extend unemployment compensation. but the reality, mr. speaker, is even without that, if we leave here without this agreement we're not going to get extension of unemployment insurance, because the speaker won't allow us to have a vote on that, so the only thing we would accomplish by defeating this budget agreement would be to go home with a lot of uncertainty and with a sequester guaranteed to hit in january. that is not a good result. this agreement is a better result. i'll talk a little bit later about what we believe we should be doing in this congress. as the chairman said this agreement doesn't match his vision, nor does it match ours. and we put forward a proposal that would focus a lot more on job creation, to try to invest more in our national infrastructure, our roads, our

bridges, our broadband, to put people back to work right now. and accomplish important national priorities. we believe we should be focusing on early education, investing more in our future so we have job growth not only now from additional investments but ensure greater job growth in the future. there are other things that we think were important in part of this agreement which are not in here but we continue to fight for in the days ahead. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: i would like to yield four minutes to the gentleman from kentucky. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. rogers: i rise in strong support of h.j.res. 59, the ryan-murray budget agreement. first i want to commend chairman ryan on achieving a resolution to our immediate budget

challenges. it takes a good deal of courage, it takes persistence, it takes dedication to reach a bipartisan agreement such as this. and i want the chairman of the budget committee to know that we deeply appreciate his hard work on our behalf. great job. while everyone might not like everything in this bill, it is the best product that is achieveable right now. and i urge that it be passed. as our -- this agreement reflects a compromise in policies but not in our conservative principles. not only does this deal hold the line on spending, it actually puts a dent in our annual deficit, a very significant accomplishment. plus it opens the door for future progress on the problem of runaway entitlements.

it paves the way toward budget and economic stability for the next two years. the legislation before us will also accomplish several other critically important goals. first and foremost it will turn off the potentially devastating $20 billion sequestration cut to our national defense. even if congress provided what flexibility we could, which isn't much, a cut of this magnitude would cripple readiness programs and leave us all at risk. second, this bill will allow congress to avoid another shutdown shedown. and help us -- showdown. and help us return to regular order. as i have said many, many times before, the best way to trim spending, ensure wise investments of taxpayer dollar,

and provide stability for our government and our economy, is to do appropriations bills on an annual basis, each one separately brought to the floor, as the constitution intends. this budget conference agreement will now permit bicameral negotiations on the fiscal year 2014 appropriations bills to begin, allowing my committee to get to work and make the hard, thoughtful, responsible, line-by-line funding decisions that are congress' duty to make. it's important to remember that this is just the first step in the current budget process. my committee will now begin to negotiate and craft an omnibus appropriations bill that will fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year with the goal of completing it before the end of the c.r. january 15. the omnibus will reflect the

budget outline that is the ryan-murray bill before us now and will make the hard choices to implement this budget agreement into actual funding levels. mr. speaker, this is a good bill. it makes a significant first step to putting us on a more stable and responsible fiscal path. again, i want to commend the chairman, the ranking member and all the members of the conference committee for the hard work, difficult decisions that they had to make to bring this bill to us now. i urge our colleagues to support it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from maryland. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to my colleague, friend, the gentlelady from maryland, on the transportation committee, ms. edwards. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. edwards: thank you mr. speaker and thank you to the gentleman from maryland, my friend and colleague for all of

your work in getting us to this point. to my friend also chairman ryan for getting us to this point. and to all the conferees. i am in support of the bipartisan budget act. though i support the agreement, it isn't the bill i would have written. it's not the bill that i would have written to fully protect federal employees, today's employees and future employees. it's not the bill i would have written to protect 1.3 million americans who are about to lose their emergency unemployment insurance, 2 2,900 of them in maryland just at the holidays. it's not the bill that i would have written that would have reduced cost of living adjustments for our nation's military retirees. it's not the bill i would have written to protect the commuter tax credit. but you know what, i didn't write this legislation, mr. speaker, it's a compromise, it's a negotiation, it's not perfect but i support it. the agreement does ensure that federal employees, current

federal employees will get their cost of living increases this year, they won't face the uncertainties of furloughs and they will face stability for the next couple of years this compromise rejects the draconian proposals in the chairman's budge that would have made federal employees take 5.5% for their retime at a cost of $20 billion but that's not in this bill. this agreement does roll back sequestration cuts using spending cuts and new revenue. and the agreement increases nondefense discretionary spend big replacing almost 2/3 of this year's cuts, bringing the funding to $77 billion above the republicans' preferred budget levels. the agreement doesn't cut social security, medicare, or medicaid benefits, not by a single penny. what the agreement does is allows congress and this nation to get out of the dysfunction and the on instruction and to get on to the other business of protecting the american people, perhaps allowing us to focus on

unemployment insurance extension, immigration, infrastructure investment and all the things that it takes to protect our economy. i support of this legislation, let's get on with it. with that, i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentlelady has expired. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: i give myself three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. . mr. ryan: mr. speaker, i want to walk you through a chart. in 2011 congress passed the budget control act. that set discretionary spending at this level up here, the blue line. it said that this thing we commonly call the supercommittee, was supposed to go and cut $1.2 trillion out of mandatory spending, auto pilot spending, the nondiscretionary part of the budget, the big, fast-growing part that congress rarely addresses. and if it didn't happen, then the sequester would kick in. that's this red line. that's where we are now, because the sequester has

kicked in. and what we face in january is another round of sequester cuts, $20 billion, that hits solely on defense spending in the military. a lot of us are concerned about that. hen we have 85% of our troops, our brigades not ready, that's a problem. when we have people in afghanistan and we need to reset our equipment and we're not where we need to be, that's a problem. that's a concern of ours. but what we do not want to do is lose any of the fiscal progress that was made by this act. in fact, we want to go farther. so what this bill does is it says, for this -- rest of this half fiscal year, fiscal year 2014, and the upcoming fiscal year, fiscal year 2015, it changes the discretionary .0012 ng to go to $1 trillion and back to $-- $1.012

trillion and back today 1.014 trillion, back to where we are with skeft -- sequester. that means that 92% of sequester is still in tact. for the next year and a half, this bill preserves 70% of the sequester. but we pay for that 30% that is given back. let me explain what that means, just in a quick dollars and cent -- dollars and cents sense. this bill achieves $85 billion in mandatory savings. the things we talked about a minute ago. all those various permanent spending cuts. it gives back or relieves some of the -- from the sequester $63 billion in spending. half to defense, half to domestic spending like mr. van hollen was talking about. the result is a net deficit reduction of $23 billion. so, from the budget control act of 2011, this advances fiscal responsibility to the tune of $23 billion. to put it this way, another way, two years ago when we passed the first house

republican budget, when we came into the majority, the appropriation number we were looking for then was $1.019 trillion. then in 2012 the appropriation bill we were fighting for then was $1.028 trillion. giving myself another minute to explain -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one additional minute. mr. ryan: the budget control act would have had us at $1.058 trillion. this agreement puts us at $1.012 trillion. under this agreement, we would not hit that discretionary spending number of $1.019 trillion, the one we asked for two years ago, we wouldn't hit that number until the year 2017. so with respect to a fiscal track record, we're ahead of schedule. d we are replacing some of these across-the-board spending cuts that don't set priorities, that don't -- that treat the efficient and inefficient programs the same with smarter,

permanent spending cuts in the auto pilot part of spending, that part that congress all too often ignores. mr. speaker, this is good government, it's also divided government. and under divided government, we need to take steps in the right direction, and to make divided government work, you can't ask each other to compromise a core principle because we don't do that here. we ask each other to find some common ground to advance the common good and that's what this agreement does and that is why i ask my colleagues to support it. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. i think this agreement is an acknowledgment, at least a majority on both sides, certainly on the democratic side, a strong majority, that the sequester is a dumb and unproductive way to cut spending or to reduce the deficit. what this agreement does is prevent that full sequester from taking place over the next

two years. we believe that we should address and substitute the remaining sequester through a balanced approach of additional targeted cuts, but, mr. speaker, we also think we should close some of these special interest tax loopholes that benefit nobody except certain narrow interests that sometimes have undue sway here in the congress. but as my colleague said, we have different approaches than our republican -- and our republican colleagues have refused to close a single one of those tax breaks or preferences for the purpose either of reducing the sequester or reducing the deficit. so we have different approaches. we wouldn't have chosen the offsets that are in here. to pay for the sequester replacement. they are the result of a negotiation. but as i said earlier, i believe on balance this is an important step forward. and one of the people who was very important in this process

was my good friend and colleague from new york, the ranking member of the appropriations committee and one of the conferees, mrs. lowey. the speaker pro tempore: how much time? mr. van hollen: two minutes, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for two minutes. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, the budget deal is a breakthrough in a difficult budget year and a dysfunctional congress. as with any compromise, there are elements i oppose, yet this agreement should help us do our jobs for the american people and end the shutdown standoff. it provides some relief from the devastating impacts of the sequester cuts on our economy and american families. keeping sequestration in place through fiscal year 2014 would cost up to an estimated $1.6 -- 1.6 million jobs. now, the house and senate must restore regular order to craft bills that instead create new

jobs and protect important priorities like medical research, security and infrastructure upgrades, and early education. this agreement restores over 60% of the sequester on nondefense discretionary spending in 2014, restores those bills to roughly the f.y. 2013 enacted presequester levels. it would hold defense funding levels roughly consistent with the 2013 level after sequester. the bill before us includes elements frankly i don't like. fails to address others it should. first i'm deeply upset that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle insisted on extending the 2% sequester on medicare providers for an additional two years as part of the package's offsets. we should not extends this sequester burden. it is also unconscionable that the deal does not extend

long-term unemployment benefits. even with the progress our economy has made since the depths of the recession, there is still 1.3 million fewer jobs today than six years ago. four million americans have been looking for work for more than six months, more than 1.3 million of them -- 30 seconds? mr. van hollen: i yield the gentlelady another 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for 30 seconds. mrs. lowey: more than 1.3 million of them will lose their benefits and for some the only income they have, just three days after christmas and three days before the new year. today's bill will provide some economic certainty about fiscal policy over the next two years, which should boost growth and job creation. because we cannot continue lurching from crisis to crisis and despite my misgivings about the extension of medicare provider cuts and failure to address long-term unemployment, i will vote yes.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from iowa, mr. latham, for the purposes of colloquy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from iowa is recognized for two minutes. mr. latham: thank you, mr. speaker. and i will yield the two minutes to the gentleman from vermont, mr. welch. mr. welch: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from wisconsin, regarding the not-for profit student loans provisions. is it your understanding and intent that the not-for profit servicing provision in this act does not require the termination of existing federal loan servicing contracts of any not-for profit services who are currently serving -- servicing federal loans, and it's the further understanding and intent of the gentleman from wisconsin that the education department will continue to enter into contracts with not-for profit services base odd on their performance? mr. ryan: will the gentleman yield? mr. welch: yes. mr. ryan: it is the legislative intent that existing contracts

are not terminated by this bill. and that they will be permitted to -- permitted to compete with the department of education's title 4 services for additional accounts. i yield back to the colleague. mr. latham: mr. speaker, will the gentleman yield? mr. welch: i yield to the gentleman from iowa. mr. latham: i rise to associate myself with the comments of the managers and am pleased to note it is their intent that the use of not-for profit services continues and that not-for profit servicers will be permitted to compete in future -- in the future for additional accounts. i yield back to the gentleman from vermont. mr. welch: i yield to the gentleman from minnesota. >> i thank the gentleman. i also rise to associate with the comments of the managers and am pleased to know it is their intent that the use of not-for profit services continues and that not-for profit servicers will be permitted to compete in the future for additional accounts and i yield back to my colleague from vermont. mr. welch: i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield three minutes to a good friend and colleague, one of the conferees who worked with us to move this agreement to a place where it was supported by many of us on the democratic side, the assistant democratic leader, mr. clipe burn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina -- clyburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for three minutes. mr. clyburn: thank you very much, mr. speaker. let me thank my friend, mr. van hollen, for yielding me this time. and i want to thank him and mrs. lowey, for the tremendous work that they did in keeping this effort moving forward in a very positive way. i also want to thank chairman ryan for the great work he has done on this and the manner

within which he got his work done. we don't talk a whole lot on this side of the capitol about the other side, but i also want to thank senator patty murray for all of her work. i had the great privilege of working with her on the supercommittee and we didn't get much done. i was on the so-called biden group, along with mr. van hollen, and we didn't get anything done. but i'm pleased that this time of year to say that the third time seems to be the charm. this is not the product that i would have written if i were writing it and i'm sure that it's not the product that any of my democratic colleagues would write. i'm always concerned about the

meat ax approach to dealing with the budget. nd so this effort takes that ay and allows us to approach ending in a way that is much more conducive to running a government. we didn't get everything -- nobody gets everything they want in trying to reach common ground. but it's important for me to note at this time some things that were taken off the table. there are no cuts to social security. there are no benefit cuts to those receiving medicare or medicaid. and there's no targeting of federal employees for additional cuts. and the relief from the quester, in both defense and

essential services, is very, very real and significant. it's also important to note what this bill does not do. and i am very concerned about the fact that we were not able to make unemployment insurance a part of this effort. mr. van hollen: i yield the gentleman another 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. mr. clyburn: thank you. and i am hopeful that when we get back here after the first of the year, that we will move and do as we have done in the unemployment insurance, make it retroactive until january 1, so those people who find themselves unemployed for no fault of their own --