>> i have not read it and i certainly will read yesterday's decision. am i accurate that the fcc decided in 2004 that internet access services would not be classified as telecommunications services? is that true, chairman powell? >> yes, sir, that's correct. >> and if that decision were to be revisited, that could be revisited by the administrative agency? is that accurate as to how it could proceed? >> it is accurate. it could. >> if there were to be a revisiting of the 2004 decision that this is not classified as telecommunications services, then there would have to be an

extensive period of review and there would have to be some sort of high level determination as to why a different decision were to be made, is that the way it would work? >> yeah. under administrative law even with deference, the agency has to provide a reasoned explanation for its change in policy. it would require a notice and comment proceeding which is open. i wouldn't -- the suggestion has been made that somehow it would lead to instant clarity. it would lead to another three to four-year period of conflict and litigation. >> chairman copps? >> i would say it wouldn't take forever to compile that record. i, and a lot of other people i know, would be happy to contribute to the rationale for that sort of action. it's not really starting. a lot of that information is out there with just a route not

taken and now we need to go back and look at it. >> and the fcc's reclassification would be considered arbitrary and cap rishs unless there was a period of comment and refreshing the record and some sort of heightened standard, is that accurate legally? >> yes, sir. they have to follow administrative procedure act obligations. >> i'm certain they would. >> i would presume that would be the case. fin finally, the decision could be appealed to the supreme court but it's not clear whether either side is likely to do that? >> correct. >> thank you very much. my time is expired. >> thank you. now turn to mr. long from missouri. i think our last member to ask questions. please go ahead. >> thank you, chairman. and chairman hundt, last night you said that you spent quite a bit of time trying to go through the court ruling of yesterday. and most of the congressmen were home trying to read through

1,562-page bill that we're going to vote on this afternoon. i ordered my staff to bring a copy of that to you. if you could peruse that over your lunch hour and kind of decipher it for me, i would appreciate it. earlier in your testimony, chairman hundt, you said that -- i didn't understand your point concerning the auction. you said if i remember right that we need a cap so people know what they're buying. can you tell me what -- in full disclosu disclosure, i come from a 30-year auctioneer career. >> i remember very well that in our first auction we had senator byrnes -- >> conrad byrnes, you bet. he's from missouri. now he served for montana but he's originally from missouri. that's two of us. >> he did claim that particular

heritage. he did great job. i would recommend chairman wheeler, that he should come and ask you to conduct the auction. >> i'm not worried about conducting as much as i am how it's put together. what was your comment? i didn't understand you said we need a cap to people know what they're buying. what did you mean? >> in any auction when folks come in, you want high bidder to walk away with whatever was auctioned. the way to do that, i believe, is to make sure that everybody bidding in that auction knows the following. what are the rules about how much you can buy? it doesn't have to be a cap. it could be -- some people think it should being agrigation leve. as they are about to put in the high bid, they ought to know they can walk away with whatever

they can buy instead of having to have another proceeding where they ask the fcc or the department of justice later am i permitted to walk away with this because i don't know whether i violated any of your aggregation rules. this congress did say that the fcc should create a generally applicable aggregation rule so everyone going into the auction can estimate in advance whether or not what they buy is -- what they bid on and win on is what they walk away with. >> talking to interested parties interested in buying this spectrum and they have told me, probably a topic for another day, if they can buy a, b and c spectrum, maybe they want to buy l, m, n, o, p later. if they can't buy a, b, and c, then if they can't buy that too

then the first three things they bought -- it's a very confusing situation. any of you have any staff or anybody that want to get with my staff we can talk about and sort that out, i would appreciate that. i want to move to the chairman for a minute. if you turn on the tv at night, the only reason it's not 100% phone company ads and cellular companies and things because it's interspersed with auto insurance ads. seems like there's quite a bit of competition out there now. as far as the auction that i was talking about with chairman hundt, the wireless market appears to be extremely competitive. you do have larger companies, at&t, verizon, t-mobile, sprint and given that it doesn't make sense that the fcc -- why will they -- they shouldn't handicap bidders to get the most money for the taxpayers and have the best auction they can. some people want to limit who can buy what. can you kind of walk me through

that? >> my view is that the auction ought to be available, open to all. i think if congress really wants to see the maximum amount of revenue derived in order to support the public safety network we're going to have to pay broadcasters, it's a very complex process. i am concerned about the fact that we start to begin to limit people in this that you're going to find you're going to have less revenue than might be otherwise anticipated. i think a free auction ought to be open to all. >> people would attend my auction i was interested in having the most people there and having spend the most money that they could and if they didn't want to bid, i would bid for them and tell them to hold their hand up in the air and when they paid enough, i told them to take it down. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> quite an auction. >> i want to thank our distinguished panel of witnesses

for your prior government service and your interest in public policy to assist us in our mission and goals in updating the communications act. i draw attention to those who are observing our hearing. they can go to our hash tag at comsactupdate. it's in front here. give us your information. a lot of people have been doing that during the hearing. we appreciate that. another reflection of how technology is changing the world. we need to keep up with it. thank you for your participation. our subcommittee stands adjourned. --

i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: i rise today to bring to the floor, madam speaker, an amendment to the senate amendment on h.r. 3547. this is the consolidated appropriations package that will fund the government for the remainder of the 2014 fiscal year. this omnibus contains all 12 regular appropriations bills for fiscal year 2014, funding every aspect of the federal government , from our national defense to critical transportation infrastructure, to the education

of our kids. in total, it provides $1.012 trillion in discretionary funding, the same level delineated in the ryan-murray budget agreement. i'm pleased that senator mikulski and i were able to come to this fair, bipartisan agreement on funding the government. although our differences were many, and our deadlines short, we were able to come together to draft a solid piece of legislation that meets the guidelines of the ryan-murray agreement and keeps the government open. i understand that not everyone will like everything in this bill. that's the nature of compromise. but i believe this legislation reflects the best possible outcome. we made responsible choices to realign the nation's funding priorities, targeting precious

tax dollars to where they are needed the most. we have continued the four-year trend of reducing federal discretionary spending. making a total of $165 billion in cuts since fiscal year 2010. in fact, this is the fourth straight year that we have cut discretionary spending. that's not happened since the korean war. and we have remained committed on our side to our republican principles. reducing regulatory burdens, fortifying our national security, and enforcing stringent oversight on the executive branch. throughout the bill we have maintained pro-life policies and protected senate amendment rights. we have made sure that this bill provides no new funding for obamacare, and have even cut

existing obamacare funds to the tune of over $1 billion. the appropriation's committee in the house and senate working side by side went line by line through thousands of agencies and the like, through the 12 regular appropriations bills to ake sure that each program was waived individually and received a funding level that supports their most current needs. we prioritized funding for the most important and effective programs. and reduced lower priority programs at the same time. for example, we did not include ny funding for high speed rail or three new department of homeland security buildings, but we targeting -- targeted funding to he essential defense activities, critical law enforcement programs, and

lifesaving efforts such as medical research. this bill also includes an important provision fixing the bipartisan budget act to ensure that those who have given the most in military service, the approximately 630,000 medically retired personnel and survivor benefit plan recipients, our disabled veterans. that they will receive their full yearly cost of living increase. before i close, madam speaker, i'd like to take a moment to thank the many, many people who were integral in getting this bill to the floor today. first, the ranking member of the appropriations committee, mrs. lowey. thanks to her partnership, her dedication, we were able to wrap up this omnibus by the deadline, and i know her drive extends to

our next challenge, the 2015 bills that we'll start next month. in fact, the pass ang of this bill -- passage of this bill will allow the appropriations committee to get back to regular order, as they say. get the train back on track so that next year, this coming year, we can do 12 individual bills, brought to the floor separately, as is the practice and is required. i want to thank her for her leadership in helping us get to that point. secondly, our counterparts in the senate, whose open minded approach to negotiations, led to many honest and reasonable discussions throughout the many stages of that process. i don't know of any appropriations bills that has gone through as much reasonable tests, and i think wise decision processes as went into this bill.

so i appreciated the work of the gentlelady and -- on the senate side, the chairman of the committee there, ms. mikulski, and senator shelby of alabama. we had wonderful times at christmas and new year's. listen, next time, as much as i love these people, i'd rather be with my family. lastly, i want to thank the members and staffs of the committee. they gave up countless hours of family time at christmas, during the holidays, new year's, in order to complete this bill. they really are an a-team and i'm lucky to have all of them working for this committee. without their hard work, their expertise on the issues, and their commitment to this legislation, we would not be here today. and we should all be grateful for their service, and i hope

that you will say something to them as you pass. i'd particularly like to recognize the clerk of the agriculture subcommittee, martin delgado. after 16 years, this is his last bill with the committee. and how fortunate we have about to have had him until the end. no one knows the ins and outs of agriculture appropriations like he he does. he's a true expert in every sense of the word. we'll miss him dearly and wish him godspeed. let me also mention the clerk of the committee, the chief clerk, will smith, who sits beside me. he has led the effort from day one. he's put in untold numbers of hours, day and night, weekends, all nights, and the like to bring us to this point. he has been a great staff leader and he has done a fantastic job,

and i want you to say something to him. on the other side of the aisle his counterpart, david pomerantz, has been just a terrific asset to the committee and to the piecing together of this very difficult complex bill. we want to say thank you to david for his great work. and jim, who also sits beside me, the number two clerk in the committee, has been valuable, invaluable, if you will, in getting us to this point. madam speaker, in closing i'd like to once again remind our colleagues that providing funding for our federal government is one of our chief duties as members of congress. in fact, i think it's the chief duty. one that we can't shirk. the people elected us to fulfill this duty and govern.

and to govern you've got to pass these funding bills for the government. and as we pass these funding bills, the imprint of members of congress on these funding bills directs agencies of the executive branch to follow the will of the people represented here in this body. and so this bill is a reflection of the need for members of congress under the constitution decide how and when and why money is spent by the executive branch. the people elected us to fulfill that duty and this bill does just that. and 3 1/2 months into the fiscal year, i would say it's just about past time that we pass this legislation. so i urge an aye vote on the omnibus. we can send it to the senate today for their approval and get it to the president for his signature as soon as possible.

certainly before saturday. with that, madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair lays before the house an enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 3527, an act to amend the public health service act to re-authorize the poison center national toll free number, national media campaign, and grant program, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for 30 minutes. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: congress' misguided rush towards austerity has hurt our economy, slashing critical investments that create jobs and make us more competitive. discretionary spending, which represents only 1/3 of the budget, has borne a disproportionate share of cuts.

the december budget agreement and this bill set us on a path to fulfilling our basic responsibility of annual spending bills. chairman rogers, i commend your leadership. it has been a delight working with you and i, too, look forward to a holiday season where we won't be in constant contact. thank you, it's been a pleasure. this bill makes key investments that will bolster job creation and economic growth. . we should not have federal furloughs again this year. education, head start, new pre-k initiatives will help working families and restore teaching slots. and infrastructure investments will support construction jobs and safety upgrades. other vital priorities fell short.

it's incredibly disappointing this package doesn't restore unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed. in addition, i was very pleased that we received $1 billion more than last year for biomedical research at the national institutes of health, but it is still funded below the 2012 level, forcing scientists to shelf promising research. by not authorizing a change to the quota for i.m.f., the international monetary fund, we neglect the united states' vital role in the global economy. it is an important tool to promote international financial stability and support u.s. jobs, exports and markets. this is not the bill that i would have written, but it is the result of the negotiation that required significant

compromise and protected the appropriations process from political warfare by dropping most of the new contentious riders. finally, i would like to praise the tireless work of david pomerand and all of the appropriations staff on both sides of the aisle. this bill was a huge undertaking, possible only with the hard work of such dedicated staff, including one of our longtime professionals who will soon be leaving the committee. and on behalf of the entire appropriations committee, i thank david reisch for his 30 years of service to the house and 17 years of exceptional contributions to the full ppropriations committee, the

labor-h and other subcommittees. thank you and we wish you luck. now, at this time before we close, i also want to recognize judy terry, the chief clerk of debate. as i understand it, unfortunately, she will be retiring and go on to other things and we thank you for your service to the house. now, in conclusion, i wish we had completed this process last october when this fiscal year actually started, but better late than never. the president's budget will likely arrive late, giving congress' tardyness in completing our work -- tardiness in completing our work for fiscal year 2014, but i hope that the bipartisan spirit within which the omnibus has been reached has been

preserved in the cycle to come. i will support this omnibus and work in the coming year to address the shortcomings. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, i yield three minutes to the very hardworking and longtime classmate of mine, frank wolf, chairman of the commerce, justice, science subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for five minutes. mr. wolf: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. wolf: i want to thank mr. rogers. we came here together in 1981. i think what mr. rogers and mrs. lowey have done, along with senator mikulski and senator shelby, have been amazing. i want to thank mr. fattah for his partnership and help and, you know, just thank you. you've done a great job. i want to acknowledge the staff diane, as lie, jeff,

well as bob and matt. they have done an incredible job. if the american people could have seen the hours, and i want to thank them. this bill totals $51.6 billion which is $1.4 billion below the enacted 2013 level. we have reduced spending by more than $12 billion for agencies funded in the c.j.s. there's no reason why anyone would vote against this bill. we're even $200 million below f.y. 2008, and so it's done an incredible job. the bill includes $8.3 billion for the f.b.i. to fight crime and protect the nation from further terrorist attacks and expand the f.b.i.'s capabilities. also, in addition is $1 million for an independent review to report to congress, to be conducted by an outside commission to look at the progress made over the last decade on the implementation of the 9/11 commission.

i lost several hundred people from my district who died and we lost 3,000 americans. we want to find out what recommendations were made, how well the f.b.i.'s doing and so that is very, very important. i expect the f.b.i. to cooperate, and i know they will. we also establish, and i appreciate mr. fattah and mr. mull has, who is not here -- mr. mullihan, who is not here, a task force on federal corrections. we cannot put men and women in prison for years and do nothing. i think this provides an opportunity to reform the prison commission system. then, mr. goodlatte and the judiciary committee can do amazing things. the bill brings about repatriation, programs that brings jobs back to america, not to have companies go abroad, and i appreciate the secretary of commerce really cooperating and working. lastly, it funds the science at a very, very high level. and with regard to nasa, the

bill includes $17.65 billion for nasa, including funding for america's next generation space launch system. the owe ryon vehicle as well as full -- orion vehicle to keep america competitive. i want to close by congratulating and thanking mr. rogers. we came here in 1981. we were considered reagan robots. i wasn't supposed to be here. chris smith is still here. mr. rogers. they will be the leaders of the class that's left. we have 54. i just want to thank him for what he's done and the staff on both sides and the members for bringing this bill and the returning to regular order. again, mr. fattah, my fellow from native philadelphia, thank you for everything you have done. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. and the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the

gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur, the ranking member of the energy and water committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. ms. kaptur: i thank the ranking member from new york for yielding me time. madam speaker, i rise today in support of the fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations measure. critical, critical step in the direction of regular order. and my hat is off to chairman rogers and to ranking member lowey for their diligent efforts to bring this important agreement to the floor. i also want to thank chairman simpson, our subcommittee members, our senate counterparts as well as our exceptional staff, rob blair and tonya berklam, for their dedication and hard work over the holidays in crafting this legislation. the energy and water bill makes america work. for example, it keeps the west alive, funding critical water projects across 17 states. we support science activities necessary to americans' manufacturing and future

competitive and contributes to our national defense, importantly. over the last 10 years, our country has spent $2.3 trillion importing foreign petroleum rather than being energy independent here at home. in fact, those imports are a key strategic vulnerability. we must have the wisdom, the will and the fortitude to invest as the solution for our people. this agreement restores an all-of-the-above energy strategy, including renewable energy programs and help on sustainible energy programs for the next generation. the bill increases funding for the corps of engineers, one of the most important jobs programs we could support in our nation, to improve our nation's waterways that provides foundation for economic growth. in terms of job creation, this bill makes critical investments in this country from coast to coast. you can't really move cargo unless you have open harbors. the compromised bill that we will vote on today is an

important step in that direction, and even more importantly a step toward regular order which this member certainly welcomes. again, i rise in support of this legislation and urge my colleagues to join me in voting for the entire measure but certainly on the energy and water portion of this bill, so vital to america's future, and i yield back my remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, most of the provisions in this bill was written by the subcommittees on the house and senate side and worked out between them. and one of the chief writers of the bill is rodney frelinghuysen, the new chairman of the defense subcommittee of the appropriations committee. his part of the bill was by far the biggest of anybody else's. it was only $572 billion, so the gentleman is recognized for two minutes to explain it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes. mr. frelinghuysen: i thank the chairman for yielding.

i thank him for his leadership and i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. frelinghuysen: first of all, it's a pleasure to rise to support this bill, and let me say specifically address the defense portion, which is indeed our primary constitutional responsibility, a strong national defense. first, i want to thank my ranking member, mr. visclosky, for helping craft this bill. it was a hard task given the short deadline. i think this meets our national defense needs. thank all of the committee members and our professional staff for their hard work. a few words about our allocation, which is the direct result of the decision we made in mid december, the base allocation is $486.9 billion, which is $29 billion below the president's budget request. $25.7 billion below the bill we passed -- defense bill we passed in july. the overseas contingency allocation was $85.2 billion which is $4.5 billion above the

request. even with the small increase in the overseas contingency allocation, which we essentially used for buyback readiness, the subcommittee's task was formedible. we cut $24.5 billion from the administration's budget request. i want to assure my colleagues that not many programs were left untouched. we did our best to protect critical major weapon systems to avoid significant disruption to vital programs. importantly, we gave our military leaders much badly needed predictability about future expenditures and preserve jobs in our defense industrial base. and most importantly, too, we protected residents, our constitution's first priority is to provide for a strong national defense. if the commander in chief needs to call our troops, they'll be ready and prepared. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves, and the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i

yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from indiana, mr. visclosky, he is the ranking member of the defense subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. visclosky: i thank the ranking member for yielding time, and i want to begin my remarks by expressing my great appreciation to chairman rogers and ranking member lowey. the fact that we're standing here today on the verge of passing a 12-bill omnibus measure is a testament to their acumen as legislators. further, i would be remiss if i did not thank every staff member of the appropriations committee for their dedication, hard work and sound judgment in helping develop this package. with regard to the defense portion of the bill, it was a pleasure to work with chairman frelinghuysen in crafting a bipartisan and collaborative piece of legislation. he and his staff have ensured

that the defense subcommittee continues its long-standing tradition of collegiality. the agreement that we're here for today implements the bipartisan budget act. as a result, substantial reductions were made to the department of defense programs. in total, overall spending in the defense portion of the bill, including base funding and the overseas contingency operation account is $572.6 llion which is $61.1 billion below fiscal year 2012 level. while the agreement makes substantial reductions, it does protect the readiness of u.s. forces, provides for personnel and their families and supports national programs that reflect bipartisan congressional priorities. overseas contingency operations of funding total $85.2 billion, an increase of $4.5 billion. the increase is essential to ensure the readiness of u.s. forces.

it provides for orderly retrograde and reset of equipment from theater and supports deployed forces still serving in afghanistan. the agreement also includes $25 billion above the request to implement a sexual assault special victims program. the agreement also includes language that prevents the use of funds in controvention of more severe language and penalties in the fiscal year 2014 national defense authorization act. finally, the bill protects technological edge for u.s. forces. it includes $175 million above the request for the defense rapid innovation program, to incorporate small business development. i ask my colleagues to please support this bill and i'd yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves, and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the chairman of the subcommittee on appropriations for transportation and housing and urban development, the gentleman from iowa, mr. latham. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from iowa is ecognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. latham: i thank the speaker and thank the chairman for the time and thank him and chairman oyd for -- and thank him and representativelow wie for their work on this madam speaker, representatives a return to regular order, an example of fair negotiation between the house and senate. we strive to maintain important infrastructure and transportation investments and maintain housing programs for low income citizens and veterans. we authorize the map 21 authorized levels for highways and transit. for the f. ample a. we provide funding to fully support operations of air traffic controllers. we also include the next round

of investments and the so-called next gen air traffic control system. we do not fund high speed rail as we have yet to see any plan that outlays how such a system would work and how it would be paid for. for rail we added policy reforms and oversight mechanisms for amtrak to ensure that resources provided to amtrak are put to best use. for housing we provided assistance for 2.2 million families serviced by the housing choice voucher program. e also provide $75 million for 10,000 new veterans' housing vouchers. finally we provide a little over $3 million for the community development block grant program. this program has many flexable -- flexible uses and helps strengthen communities across the country. i urge members to support the bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves, the gentlewoman from new york is recognized.

mrs. lowey: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. serrano, the ranking member of the financial services subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. without objection. mr. serrano: i thank ranking memberlow wie for yielding me timism rise in support of this legislation. as ranking member of the financial services subcommittee i wanted to discuss many of the improvements we made to that section of the bill. before i begin, i want to thank chairman rogers and crenshaw and ranking memberlow wie for their hard work and diligence throughout this process. i also want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle who spent time away from their families during the holiday season to work out a compromise thing both sides can support. my colleagues know that the sequester put the appropriations process under an unworkable financial strain and this legislation helps fix that problem.

the financial services section of this bill is funded at $21. billion, more than $1.5 billion above last year's sequester level and almost $5 billion higher than what was approved by the committee last summer. with this increased funding, this subcommittee was able to resolve nofe most urgent funding problems created by the sequester. we kept postal service six-day delivery, restored funding for the election assistance commission and included additional funding for numerous priorities of the district of columbia this bill also removes many harmful riders, riders that would have impacted the implementation of the affordable care act and riders that would have affected thee theable of the s.e.c. and i.r. stomplet do their jobs properly. this is not a perfect bill but on balance it is a good bill and i intend to vote in favor of it and i urge my colleagues to do the same. i want to take a second in bidding a certain early farewell to my colleague, mr.

wolfe, to thank chairman wolfe and to thank ranking member fattah for allowing language in their bill which was asked for by the president which was at times a little hanging on the ropes, language that would allow for the first time in 115 years the neesm commonwealth of puerto rico to vote on their political future. i thank personally for that and i stand ready to vote for this bill as soon as it comes up for a vote. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the agriculture subcommittee on appropriations. the gentleman from alabama, mr. aderholt. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. aderholt: thank you, madam speaker. for the time. mr. chairman, thank you for the time. and also madam speaker, i want to just personally thank the chairman for his work and his staff because shepherding all

12 of these propings bills is no easy task. as it comes down to the issues that are the toughest issues to discuss and come to a conclusion to at that time, so mr. chairman, thank you for your work and your staff and how you conduct your staff in these negotiations. i'd also like to echo something that mr. rogers said in his opening comments about one of our subcommittee chair, or clerks, martin delgado. he's retiring from the subcommittee after 16 years as was mentioned, he is someone who knows the subject matter of agriculture very well he gos beyond and has gone beyond the call of duty in his job as clerk of the appropriations subcommittee on agriculture and so he is someone that's going to be missed and from this body, but we wish him the best and wish him well in his new endeavors. and of course i do want to rise

in support of f.y. 2014 consolidated appropriation act this agreement encompasses the work of, as i mentioned, all of 12 appropriations subcommittees and is the culmination of work that began last spring when we first started hearing after the president's hearing -- president's budget was submitted. i would like to assure my colleagues that contrary to what they may have heard, the bill has not only been read but every word and every number has been scrutinized and there are no surprises in this bill. as has been said, this legislation, while funding the federal government for the remaining part of the fiscal year, it continues to reduce spending and that the overall spending level in this agreement is lower than the f.y. 2009 enacted spending level. most important it's $191 billion less than president opa ma submitted in his f.y. 2014 budget request. the agricultural division of this agreement, which i worked

most closely with other the last year, has critical funding for the department of agriculture, the food and drug administration, the commodities future trading commission and the farm credit administration. funding in this agreement will ensure that american producers can continue to produce the most abundant and safest food supply in the world. agricultural research is funded at $2.6 billion, which will keep america at the forefront of the cutting edge of reserge and competitive around the globe. i would encourage my colleagues to vote yes on this bill and again, i thank the chairman for the him. -- for the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro, ranking member of the labor, health, and human service subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes.

ms. delauro: while i will vote for this budget despite having major reservations, i'd like to say a few words about how labor, health and human services and education programs are handled here, keeping in mind that of the 12 subcommittees of appropriation, the labor-hhs subcommittee never even had a subcommittee markup of the bill. after defense, the labor-hhs subcommittee has the largest portfolio of programs that deal with people's everyday lives, the lives of ordinary americans. the allocation for labor-hhs was only $217 million above the 201 presequester levels. only 12% of the nondefense funding increase even though labor-hhs makes up 32 noveget nondefense budget. and this also despite the fact that we had over $1.4 billion in funding holes that had to be

filled. the holes existed primarily because of some critical problems living off money appropriated a number of years ago and that money is now all gone. unlike all of the other appropriations bills, we were prevented from using all options at our disposal to ensure reasonable funding levels for our important priorities. as a resultmark critical programs here are still seeing deep sequester cuts. national institutes of health, the key driver of biomedical research in america, spurring innovation, economic growth and hope for millions of merps. yet only 58% of the cuts are restored in this budget, it's $700 million short. job training services part of the core essential role of government, help responsible people succeed because of their hard work. businesses secure the employees they need to grow. job training programs only restored by 81%. title 1 which is at risk children. idea for children with

disabilities, two fundamental building blocks of our k through 12 education, only restored by 85%. this bill does include welcome and funding for other priorities, to that i am grate to feel ranking member lowey and the devoted staff david and lisa. those priorities include mental pelt -- mental health, head start, child care. we need to do more. given the decades-long trends downward, labor funding is not enough. we endanger our families and future by shortchanging these programs and while i support this budget as we move forward, we can and we must do better by america's families. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. ms. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: may i ask the time remaining on both sides? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york has 17 1/2 minutes remaining.

the gentleman from kentucky has 12 minutes remaining. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. moran, ranking member of the interior subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes. mr. moran: i thank my good friend and committee ranking member for her leadership. so this is a bill that should have been supported from the beginning. in fact, no offense to the budget committee, but at the appropriations -- if the appropriations committee had been given these numbers from the beginning there wouldn't have been sequester or shutdown or furloughs. we could have gotten this done because this is a package of chosen priorities and funding compromises. that's what we do in the appropriations committee. so that's why we ought to support it. and in fact we ought to have such a strong vote that we send

a signal to all those ankle biters and naysayers who say we can't get anything done. we're going to get this done. we're going to fund the agencies on the superior committee, we met all our obligations, we paid for the fire costs from last year that had been incurred. we provided sequester ref leaf for every agency funded in this bill. there won't be any agency furloughs. every agency is going to be able to carry out important if you thinks without the sort of sequestration hanging over them. it provides $5.8 billion, more than the initial house allocation which chairman rogers himself pointed out was inadequate. these numbers, while they're not as much as i wish they were, they're reasonable. it's a compromise. and we're table provide adegreesal resources to a host of important programs, they range from clean air and water, natural resources, native

americans and the arts. a whole host as well of some of the worst environmental legislative riders that shouldn't be in an appropriations committee that are more appropriate for the authorizizers if they have that kind of debate. but those aren't in this bill and didn't belong in this bill in the first place. i want to commend our new subcommittee chair, ken calvert, carry the very high standard set by mike simpson. we like to work together when we're given a reasonable allocation. that's the way this congress as a whole ought to work. i want to thank chairman rogers and ranking memberlow wie and all of my colleague -- ranking member lowey and all my colleagues and i want to thank the appropriations staff. they worked every day through the hollidays. one member of the staff had a gallbladder operation and she didn't ms. any work. they were in every weekend. they deserve a round of applause and let's give it to them. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york

reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one and a half minutes to the gentleman from idaho, the chairman of the energy and water subcommittee on appropriations. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one and a half minutes. mr. simpson: i rise in support of this incredibly important piece of legislation. it's an important move back to regular order. the energy and water total is an increase of $77 million. the bill provides critical increases for our nuclear weapons stockpile and our nation's water infrastructure will supporting a balanced fsment -- investment in our energy resources. i want to thank the ranking member, marcy kaptur and former chair of the subcommittee, rodney frelinghuysen, for bringing this to the house floor in regular order. i would like to recognize senators feinstein and alexander for their work in put together a bipartisan bill. these members are passionate

advocates for their positions and their prior triities are not always the same as mine but the long hours we have put in in the last month have paid. they energy and water portion is a true compromise. the largest increase in the energy and water bill is the support for our nuclear weapons stockpile. there is no room for mistakes in this work. the reliability of the most destructive weapons ever developed depends it as does our national security. the bill also increases funding for the army corps of engineer lissbrs -- by $749 million over the 2014 spending level. these will go to support our neigh's waterways, work which literally touches every one of our districts. finally let me say, madam speaker, that i want to second what mr. moran just said. while most americans, in fact, most of us, were enjoying the holiday wours families the staff of the appropriations committee on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the rotunda were here at work trying to get this done and we

owe them our gratitude for the incredible time that they spent doing this. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves and the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from north carolina, mr. price, the ranking member of the homeland security subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for two minutes. mr. price: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of the bill. i want to commend chairman rogers, ranking member lowey for reminding the house that members can work together on a bipartisan basis to get the people's business done. we didn't merely set aside our differences. we laid them on the table and we worked through them. the result is far from ideal. it bears the marks of the majority's misguided budget strategy, which has cut appropriations time and time again while leaving the main drivers of the deficit, namely

tax expenditures and mandatory spending, largely untouched. the dire results are most evident in the labor-health-education title of this bill with devastating cuts to community health centers, medical research and other vital investments. but it could have been worse. the december budget agreement allows us to avoid another mindless round of sequestration and to stitch together 12 bills that have gone through at least some of the appropriations process. along with chairman john carter, i've had particular responsibility for the homeland security title, and i want to thank him for the open and cla are a tiff process he's led -- collaborative process he's led on our subcommittee. we worked cooperatively to make the most effective possible use of constrained resources. the agreement provides substantial increases for new customs officers at ports of entry, to improve security and expedite travel and commerce. it provides significant increases above the request for coast guard operations, for new

aircraft and vessels, to help the coast guard fulfill its critical homeland security and maritime safety missions. it provides increases for i.c.e., to pursue domestic investigations, including those related to human trafficking, child exploilt ace, money laundering. the bill provides -- exploitation, money laundering. the bill provides anti-terrorism grants, for cyber, infrastructure programs and for research and development of new technologies to improve capabilities across a full range of the homeland security enter prices. i urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan agreement. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves, and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the subcommittee chairman that drafted the financial services part of the omnibus bill, the gentleman from florida, mr. crenshaw. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. mr. crenshaw: i thank the chairman for yielding and,

madam speaker, i rise in strong support of this omnibus appropriations bill. i think it demonstrates that even though we have a divided government, when we get together we can sit down, we can set priorities, we can reduce spending and we can meet our constitutional responsibility of funding the federal government. as chairman of the financial services subcommittee, i'm proud of the work, along with my ranking member, mr. serrano, and other members of the subcommittee, the work we've accomplished. we produced a bill that in the end is a lean funding. we provide critical moneys for those high-performance agencies, and we rein in spending on some of the programs that aren't quite as efficient or downright wasteful. i think we all remember the i.r.s. scandal when the i.r.s. was singling out individuals, groups of individuals based on their political philosophy and harassing and bullying them. they were wasting money on lavish conferences and videos.

well, we said we're going to reduce your funding, i.r.s., until you demonstrate to us that you can spend money in a wise and efficient way. we say no more can you spend money to harass individuals, groups of individuals based on their political philosophy, but we do carve out money to provide taxpayer services, to have moneys to pursue people that cheat on their taxes. we adequately fund the federal judiciary. we adequately fund -- fully fund the small business administration loan program. we help small businesses, we help entrepreneurs because we recognize about 75% of all the new jobs in our country are created by these small businesses. and finally, the regulators, like the s.e.c. and the f.c.c., we fund them at lean, mean level. we ask them to do more with

less. we ask them to provide smart regulation, not job-killing, excessive regulation. at the end of the day, there's been a lot of hard work, a lot of negotiation but mostly a great deal of cooperation. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i'm delighted to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fattah, the ranking member of the commerce, justice and science subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. fattah: i want to thank the committee, the staff and my fellow members of the appropriations subcommittee. this helps move our nation forward, and i rise in support of the bill. i want to also thank my great friend, the chairman of the subcommittee, which i have the privilege of being the ranking member of.

chairman wolf has done an extraordinary of and will continue to. i want to extend to him my public thanks for his cooperation through this entire process. receipt me say a couple things -- let me say a couple things very quickly. i introduced the american discoveries, american jobs act, suggested where we finance investment with taxpayers' money we should require new product that imnates from, the manufacture in america. the impulse of that is embodied in the c.j.s. bill, and i want to thank chairman wolf for that. i want to join with him on the prison reform effort, because it's so critically important that our nation think anew about our criminal justice system. i think that this is an action forcing event that will pay great dividends for our nation through the task force that's embodied in the bill. i want to indicate again that one of our highest priorities

on the committee has been youth mentoring. again, we have a significant investment in that regard. the boys and girls clubs of america, the big brothers, big sisters, all of our national youth mentoring programs and i know we as a nation want to see many more of your young people be successful. that. thankful for working with ranking member bishop on the suicide prevention efforts. this bill represents a lot of progress on these issues. legal service. and then in terms of my day job, nasa, both in terms of space technology and commercial crew and the james webb telescope. i look forward to voting, supporting this and hopefully having the senate support this so the president can sign it. i thank chairman rogers and ranking member lowey for their great leadership on this effort. thank you and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves.

the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: madam speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman, the distinguished gentleman from georgia, mr. bishop, the ranking member of the military, construction and veterans administration. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. mr. bishop: i thank the gentlewoman pour yielding. the milcon-v.a. portion will provide $1.3 billion above 2013. the milcon portion provides funding for military facilities, including family housing, which is adequately funding to meet their needs. the v.a. portion is funded at $63.2 billion. it meets the discretionary budget request in all areas of administrative expenses, research, information technology and facilities. in addition, it contains $55.6

billion in advance of appropriations for medical services, medical support and compliance and medical facilities which is $1.1 billion above the amount provided in f.y. 2013. the bill also takes concrete steps to pinpoint and address the serious issues of the v.a.'s claims backlog and interoperability of d.o.d.'s and d.a.'s electronic health record system. for example, addressing the claims backlog, the agreement includes a 10-point action plan which we believe will give the v.a. additional tools to reinforce resources, training, quality oversight as well strengthen equipment and broadening access through electronic medical records. this plan not only focuses on increasing productivity, it also have claims process accuracy. it will make sure that veterans receive fair compensation at the outset without delays from having to appeal decisions. regarding the merging of the d.o.d.'s electronic health record systems, the agreement makes it very clear that both

departmentes that an interoperable record system that actually works is the chief end goal for congress. no health record system -- new health record system is an important project for both departments to undertake, but the effort will be a futile exercise if the result is not the development of two interoperable systems defined as computer information electronically. before i close, madam speaker, i'd like to recognize our staff, donna and her team on the majority side, matt, on the minority side and michael on my personal staff, for all of the amazing work and time they have put into this bill and supporting our subcommittee's efforts. i want to thank mrs. lowey, mr. rogers, the distinguish ranking member and chairman of the committee, and a special thanks to the chairman of the subcommittee for a bipartisan work product. it's a good bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield two minutes to the author of the homeland

security portion of the omnibus bill, the chairman of the homeland security subcommittee, mr. carter from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. carter: thank you, madam speaker. thank you, chairman rogers. thank you for the time and thank more importantly for the leadership that you and ranking member lowey have shown and completing this process and giving us a physical 2014 appropriations bill. i rise in support of that bill. mr. speaker, the homeland security division of this bill is built on three -- madam speaker, is built on three things. funding the essential security and enforcement, increasing legitimate travel and trade and demanding fiscal discipline and accountability. homeland security division includes nearly 10% increase in office work force, 5% increase in i.c.e. investigations, funding to support i.c.e.'s statutory mandated 34,000 detention beds, more than 13%

increase in privatization of airport screening, nearly 14% increase in cybersecurity, a total of $404 million for the national bioagro defense facility in kansas. significant increases to the border patrol assets, coast guard operations and acquisitions, secret service operations and investigations, fema, first responder grants and bombing prevention efforts. in addition, this bill does more to address the wait times, trade and resource shortfalls in our ports, ports of entry and including a landmark provision for a public-private partnership authority to mandate for them to work with industry on performance of metrics, maintain operational plans for our nation's busiest ports. however, this bill cuts overall d.h.s. budget by nearly $400

million below fiscal year 2013 level and it holds administrative overhead at 2% below the current sequester level. in addition, the homeland security division requires 31 departments to provide expenditure plans, terminates i.c.e. public advocacy programs, zeros out three headquarters offices, new headquarter offices and mandates the most comprehensive accounting in d.h.s. history. madam speaker, this is a bill that's worthy of support. i rise in support of this great work and thank both the majority and the minority staff for their work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york s recognized. mrs. lowey: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from florida, ms. wasserman schultz, ranking member of the legislative branch subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes.

ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of this legislation which funds our government and its many important programs for the remainder of fiscal year 2014. i want to congratulate ranking member nita lowey and chairman hal rogers for working so hard to achieve balance and compromise this legislation begins to reverse some of the devastating cuts caused by sequestration. it ensures we avoid the nightmare scenario of another government shutdown and invests in strengthening the middle class by investing in areas like education, scientific research and infrastructure. these will help create jobs and boost our economy which remains the number one priority of most persons -- americans. i'm thrilled that this bill sets the stage for regular order, which i know my federal appropriators so look forward to, and makes sure we can begin to work again together in the appropriations process. it's been a privilege to work with my good friend tom cole, the chair of the legislative branch committee.

i'm pleased that the bill includes two critically important initiatives which work to combat the threat and danger of one of the deadliest diseases, cancer. it includes $5 million in that the breast cancer awareness for young women program. as a young survivor, diagnosed at 41, i know how important it is for women to know the risks early on and get the health care they need. the bill also includes report language call on the defense department calling on a research force to study metastasized cancer of all types. with better understanding of the causes and treatments of metastatic cancer, we can save lives. i thank chairman lowey who created the original program today. s in the defense i hope that my colleagues can support this bill and i commend it to them. thank you and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield a minute and a half to the supervisor of the interior portion of the bill, the gentleman from california, mr. calvert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for one minns. mr. calvert: thank you, mr. chairman, thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of the fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill. as new chairman of the interior environment committee, i could not be more close pleased we are on the verge of passing the first interior spending bill since fins call year 2012. the interior decision of the omnibus is well balanced, reflects what could be achieved when all sides work together to ind common ground. mr. speaker, i especially want to thank mr. moran for his support. i hope passage of this bill is a sign of good things to come and look forward to working with mr. moran as we move forward on 2015 interior bill.

i'm sorry to learn that he will be leaving congress at the end of this year but i'm happy to have the opportunity to work with him in the coming months. i also want to thank chairman rogers for his incredible support and leadership for his role in bringing this omnibus bill forward and restoring order to the appropriations process. i want to thank you especially, mr. chairman, and i want to thank our wonderful staff who worked so hard in the holidays, virtually every day, including christmas day, to bring this bill forward. it's a good bill, i urge members on both sides of the aisle to support it. with that i thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i am pleased to yield one and a half minutes to the gentlelady from california, ms. barbara lee, a member of the appropriations committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one and a half minutes. ms. lee: thank you very much.

thank you, madam speaker. let me thank ranking member nita lowey for yielding. i want to thank her for her tremendous leadership on this committee and also i want to thank chairman rogers. both of these brave individuals really have worked together, day and night, to bring this bill forward on a bipartisan basis. i just have to to the salute and thank you both for that. i know it was very, very difficult but we did it and so thank you so much. also to the staff, i, too, want to salute and thank the staff, including my staff for their tremendous work and trying to balance all the priorities so we can have a bill all of us can support. while i voted against the budget resolution i'm encouraged that this bill will restore the majority, not all, but a majority of the harmful sequester and bring relief to struggling communities and family whors living on the edge. as a member of the budget and appropriations committee, i'm encurmed that passing this bill will get us out of the cycle of governing by crisis this bill

makes important investments in early childhood education, h.i.v. and aids, law enforcement, and increase ours support for the united nations and humanitarian relief efforts in syria. even with these increases, funding for these critical programs still are main much too low. yet this bill provides $5 billion more than what the pentagon asked for while failing to extend emergency unemployment insurance for the 1.3 million individuals who lost on december 28 their unemployment. this is just wrong. finally, madam speaker, let me just say as a member of the labor-hhs subcommittee, i think it's shameful that our subcommittee failed to receive a proportionate increase in our total allocations. mind you, labor-hhs is the largest subcommittee after defense and supports programs that impact nearly every household, every community and every congressional district. but this bill is a step forward in our appropriations process. hopefully we can come together and fully refeel the sequester,

restore order in our budget and propings work in fiscal year 2015. may i have an additional 10 seconds. ms. low wook: i yield the gentlelady 10 seconds. ms. lee: i really hope that we don't set until accepting this new norm, quite frankly, that this spending bill sets because it is really far too low for too many people to really achieve the american dream. but i thank you both for coming together and doing the best you can do given the fiscal circumstances, again thank you for yielding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one and a half minutes to the chairman of the house science committee, the gentleman from texas, mr. smith. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one and a half minutes. mr. smith: i thank the chairman of the committee for yielding me time. for more than 20 years the american commercial space industry has benefited from the

ashureps of the u.s. government through federal aviation administration launch indemnification authority. under this arrangement, commercial launch providers are required to purchase up to the maximum probable loss. beyond that the government will cover up to $1.a 5 billion and any amount above that is the responsibility of the original commercial launch provider. the three-year extension of the sharing shm will help the commercial space industry and our economy. the next three years, space launch providers will have the stability and assurance they need to compete in the international market. madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this bill and yield back the balance of my time to the chairman of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i yield one minute to the gentleman from

pennsylvania, a member of our committee, mr. dent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. dent: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in strong support of this omnibus legislation today for a number of reasons. first, for the fourth year in a row, we are cutting overall discretionary spending, that is significant. spending levels will be lower than they were for the first time since fiscal year 2009. again, very, very significant. it's also important that we're not passing another continuing resolution which wastes a lot of money. in this legislation we're putting money where it should be and cutting money where we must. so that's important. finally i want to say this. this legislation will help bring about greater predictability, stability and certainty not only to the budget process but the appropriations process and most important of all to the american people, many people are watching our actions, it will create a better environment for business investment, job creation, extraordinarily important. finally we roll back onerous

regulations, those on incandescent light bulbs, very important for many of us. finally we fixed the issue with the military pentagons where we make sure those who are disabled and survivors will not be impacted in any way by the recently enacted budget agreement. for all these reasons i urge support of the underlying legislation, commend the chairman and ranking member and all those involved with the process for a job well done. thank you, i support the bill, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york reserves. and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from washington state, a member of our committee, ms. herrera beutler. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. herrera beutler: thank you for your work on this bill. there's two reasons i rise in support of this bill. first it will protect and promote the things that

residents of southwest washington hold dear. second, it helps us do something that no congress has done since the korean war. which is it reduces appropriated spending for the fourth year in a row. dollar over dollar. many people have been understandably discouraged with the partisan bickering in washington, d.c. and i believe if we focus on finding common ground and fixing problems we can find solutions we can be proud of. with this bill, i believe we do just that. you north korea i've seen the ports of chinook and others will have critical dredging funds made available. we're improving veterans programs and support for our nation's bravest heroes. we're protecting access by not decommissioning roads and keeping our commitment to cleaning up nuclear waste at hanniford. there's much for folks in southwest washington to like in this bill. while we still have more to do in terms of reducing spending and getting results, i believe if we work together there's no

limit to what we can accomplish. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york. reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one minute to the gentleman from ohio, mr. latta, for purposes of a colloquy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. latta: thank you, i'd like to engage the chairman of the appropriations committee in a brief colloquy regarding the corps of engineers. i was pleased to see the explanatory statement for the water portion of the omnibus which states there are additional funds available to support flood control studies, particularly those that lead to significant economic benefits by avoiding daniels caused by flooding. local communities are often left with economic development plans that may not move forward when these flood control projects face significant delays due to lack of funding. it appears the committee intends that the corps support flood control project studies nearing completion and have

local funding available for match. is that correct and will the corps consider economic impacts in its decision making? i yield to the chairman. mr. rogers: i thank the gentleman for yielding. yes, the gentleman from ohio is correct. the bill includes additional funding for flood control studies and the report direction encourages the corps to consider economic development and job growth when allocating these funds and individual studies. i yield back to the gentleman from ohio. >> i yield back. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. she has five and three quarter minutes remain, the gentleman from kentucky has four minutes remaining. mrs. lowey: in closing this debate, i want to take the opportunity again to thank chairman ronellers, to thank

senator mikulski and senator shelby on the other side of the aisle. it really has been a pleasure to me to work with chairman rogers and all the ranking members on both sides of the aisle to produce this bill that i think we can be very, very proud of. i also want to thank again the appropriations staff on both sides of the aisle who are looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight. they have worked incredibly hard through the holidays but because of them, and because of the partnership, we are very proud to present this bill. 2015 and forward to we will have more time to consider the suggestions from all of our colleagues in working on this bill, i know that we will continue to invest in programs and projects that

strengthen our economy and create jobs. although we could not include it in this bill, i do hope that we will have the opportunity very, very soon to pass an extension of unemployment insurance. oh. and in closing, the great ranking member, mr. farr, has just returned and i would like to yield you the remaining of my -- remainder of my time, mr. sam farr. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. farr: thank you very much. i have no idea how much my time is, but it's the remainer. thank you, mr. chairman, for getting us back into regular order. i praise the work of this committee, i'm proud to be on it, i'm proud of the ranking member. while we celebrate success and this is one, we have to remember that we're still

underfunding americale while we're praising america's need to grow, we're cutting, trimming and squeezing government's ability to meet that growth. population growth, particularly in my state of california. we've got to get back to regular order and allow increases in revenue. we've got to mind the store and cut, squeeze, and trim but what we're doing is leaving the poorest populations in this country at risk. i came out of the war on poverty. there's still a lot of poverty in america. secretary vilsack, chair of the committee that i'm the ranking member on, there's 4 -- pointed out there's 400 counties in the united states that are by census the poorest counties in the united states, that are really, really poor, they're in the third world and they're in the united states. our committee, agriculture outreach and food program sdz and economic development, water and rural electricity and all those things are the solutions and in the communication systems, broadband and so on,

we've got to address this an we don't have enough must be to do that. i praise the chair's ability to get back on order but while i'm going to support this bill, let's hope next year we get back in order and bring the fiscal affairs of the united states in good, sound position, not just cut, squeeze, and trim. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: how much time do i have remaining. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman has two and a half inutes remaining. mrs. lowey: i'd like to thank again the distinguished chairman rogers and all of the appropriations committee and i'd like to say another word in following up with our ranking member, mr. farr. i, too, re-entered government after i raisedd my children and i ran the anti-poverty program in new york state. and i felt so passionately that what most people want is a hand up, not a handout and that's

why the temporary extension of unemployment insurance is so important. just this week i met with a man years old, a licensed electrician. he said for the last 10 years he wanted to work every day as e always d -- did before but he never worked a complete year because in my district, in rochester and rockland, there's 40% unemployment in the construction trade. so i would ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, let's pass this extension of unemployment insurance and make sure as we consider these bills next year, we focus on investments, strengthen the economy, create jobs and make sure that we give every person that opportunity to fulfill

their dreams. thank you again, chairman rogers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york yields back the balance of her time, and the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: madam speaker, if i were allowed to make reference to people in the gallery, which i'm not allowed to, i would say we have over my right shoulder up there most of the staff of this committee who's responsible for this bill. and if i were allowed to say so, i would want to congratulate and thank them for giving us their christmas and new year's and all of the heart and desire they have to bring us to where we are. madam speaker, when you think about this room, this hallowed chamber, where we came together during times of crisis and in times of noncrisis, a place you can almost hear the words echo of mcarthur addressing this

body or churchill or president wilson and you remember that this is the chamber where we all came together to survive the depression, world wars beginning with i and the dire days of world war ii and all the other wars, this was the place where the nation found itself coming together. and i can't think of a more saving time than i've had in this chamber in these years than now in helping bring together across the aisle and across the capitol members of the senate and the house doing what we're supposed to do and that's governing and deciding how we want to spend the taxpayers' dollars for the country and i want to thank all who took part in that. it's been a great chore. had 30 days to put together

$1 trillion-plus spending bill, get it approved in the senate, controlled by another body, and , be signed by the president another party from ours on this side. and it's been a great pleasure working with all of you. this bill's not perfect, i hate to tell you, but it is a good one and it represents the best traditions of the country in coming together, recognizing our common problems, then finding a way out of it. i want to thank mrs. lowey, our colleagues in the senate for all the work they put recognize

gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, an hour.

>> good morning. i want to thank you for coming to our annual state of the state address by the national governors association. it is my privilege to serve not only as governor of the state of oklahoma, but the national state of governors chair. joining me today is the governor of colorado, governor john hickenlooper. governor, welcome. [applause] as governors, we have to make government work during we do not -- work. you do not have the lecture he

of inaction. we have to lead our states while still balancing our budget. we are now midway through the 113thongress and -- the congress and governors are frustrated. doing our part as governors to create jobs and address the challenges facing our states. but we also believe that now it's time for our federal partners to do their part and to take action. but in taking action, the federal government must acknowledge and learn from and work with the states that develop solutions facing our nation. we call this partnership flexible federalism. it is a willingness to give states flex ability to improve programs and policies and to support them in those efforts. for example, governors have outlined what possible

federalism would look like in relation to the issue of deficit reduction. we believe a couple of principles. one is that federal reforms should produce savings not only on the federal side, but also for the states. deficit reduction should also not be accomplished by shifting the cost to the states. and also through unfunded mandates. increaseduld be given flex ability to create efficiencies and to achieve results. congress should not impose maintenance of effort as a condition of funding to the states to so let's go back and look at one year ago. one year ago last january, i stood before you and we reviewed the challenges that the states faced and we highlighted our challenge is for our vision of 2013. cut ass had just had and last-minute new year's deal to resolve the budget impasse.

one year ago. a march 1 sequester by implementing thoughtful solutions to reduce the deficit and to promote economic growth. nga joinsy, the several other organizations in urging congress to complete a long-overdue reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act, fixing the flaws in the no child left behind bill. in march, governors provided congress with principles for tax reform. also offering concrete andestions consistent intertwined with the interest of the states and the federal government by working together. in may, governors laid a path forward in -- and released the recommendation for the water resources development act. we urged congress to pass the act along with encouraging regular communications with governors and developing

strategies that align available water resources with infrastructure needs. may, we called on congress to uphold an existing law and restore the 15% set aside in the cash that is set aside for governors to create jobs, to spur economic growth, to grow family incomes, and to help get people back to work. , nga also fought for senate passage of the marketplace fairness act which upholds the principles of federalism and levels the playing field between main street and e street. governors reiterated the call for the secretary defense and congress to protect our national guard. we asked them to protect the guard from disproportionate and damaging reductions to ensure the capacities and the quality of our national guard. thate to stop and tell you

, in oklahoma, we certainly benefited from a strong national guard during a very tough time for our state in may when when we had the tornadoes and several other storms that swept through oklahoma. and governor hickenlooper also saw the great value of the national guard during his devastating floods that struck the state of colorado. we believe it is important to have a strong national guard for our governors. at the nga august, summer meeting, we stressed the need for certainty and a long- term solution to fund our aging infrastructure. in september, we returned to the budget debate, warning congress of the effects on our states of a federal shutdown. and we called on them to resolve the budget issues and the impasse and to put the budget on a sustainable long-term fiscal path. despite all this, here we stand today with essentially the same

to do list sitting before our congress. states have been dealing with short-term extensions and long- term uncertainty. we are quarter of the way through the fiscal year of 2014 nowjust this week is anticipated that washington may pass an omnibus bill to fund 2014. however, major reauthorization bills governing key states and federal programs are stacking up. in my state of oklahoma and states across the country, the most liberal democrats and the most conservative republicans can't agree that moving from one crisis to another without any long-term plan or vision is a recipe for trouble. washington's short-term thinking and continued inaction are hurting states economies that are repressing job growth and

ultimately they are hurting american families in every state. states been left to the to chart our own path and to pursue their own policies where partisan gridlock has left washington unable to address many of our nations problems. for governors, in action is not an option. where the federal government will not act thomas states are actually stepping up and they are stepping in. , states areact actually stepping up and they are stepping in. we encourage our federal partners to work more closely with us and to take note and to use the policy ideas coming from their state partners. and above all, these do not yet in our weight. -- in our way. but the states solve problems and be our partner give states are also leading the charge forward in providing solutions to improve the nation's future workforce. we know that the best way for american workers to find good

paying jobs is to boost their educational attainment. similarly, in the best way to help american businesses is to improve our workforce. eights are leading the way by improving education and using our educational systems to build a highly skilled workforce for the coming decades. and it is a critical ingredient in the recipe for higher wage jobs and also to increase america's competitiveness and improve our standard and that standard of living for all our families. i chose as my initiative america works education and training for tomorrow's jobs to focus on our workforce and our nation and art jobs and making america more competitive. it is about making significant improvements to our education systems and workforce training programs and to align them with the needs of our businesses and the labor markets to benefit our

citizens and also to benefit our state economies. quohere's why the status won't work in today's desk won't work for today's workers. when you are navigating a pathway to prosperity, as an american citizen, it is much more challenging than it was when our parents are growing up. we know that a high school diploma is no longer a guarantee to a good job or a middle-class life. we know that the new minimum for economic success is either a two-year or a four-year degree or some type of relevant workforce sick to connect -- workforce certificate. and for post secondary education, our children and adults will find it hard to achieve the american dream and just gain access to a middle- class life. if we don't respond to this new reality, our nation will lose its competitive edge when it

comes to a global economic climate. we will failling, to arm the next generation of americans, both men and women and their children, with the tools they need to enter and remain in the middle class or even to achieve better. preparing america's first 21st century -- preparing america safer century workforce calls for national attention and gubernatorial leadership. and my fellow governors are responding. staying competitive as the nation starts with our schools. which is why governors are committed to providing a world- class education for all of our students. we know the responsibility of educating the next generation has always been the responsibility of state and local governments. and for this reason, governors are focused on raising academic standards for all students, to ensure their success in college or a career with a career training program.

our commitment to education is why we came together years ago, to raise academic standards and to increase classroom rigor and to ensure our students could compete on their own in our states. that not only that, but to compete with students around the world. higher standards are called common core state standards. they outline what students need to know to be college or career ready. however, it is left strip lead to individual states, to districts and schools and educators to evaluate the quality of their student education to meet these rigorous and relevant standards. so i want to be really clear. common core is not a federal government program. it is driven and implemented by states that choose to participate. it is also not a federal curriculum. in fact, it is not a curriculum

at all. local educators and school districts will design the best lesson plans or choose appropriate text sorts -- appropriate text oaks and drive -- textbooks and drive essential learning. they will provide them with critical thinking skills and tools that they need to succeed in higher education or to enter into the four kforce -- into the workforce. governors along with other states and local elected officials are also calling on overdues to fix the long- elementary and secondary education act, better known as no child left behind. while the laws in the original intent was good, changes must be made to make it work. today, there are 41 states that are operating with waivers. that is frankly no way to run a program. while waivers will work for some

states, it won't work for all states. moreover, waivers remain a short-term fix to a long-term problem. congress should pursue changes that emphasize both flexibility and local control for the states wishing to pursue innovative policies that meet their own unique needs. only after making these fixes should congress be authorized [indiscernible] however, governors realize that education,s not -- excuse me, does not stop at the schoolhouse door. mobile andly technologically-driven society, workers of all ages must continue to learn and hone in their skills. governors, why, as we are working greatly with business leaders and educators to ensure those citizens have the skills they need and the knowledge required for the 21st century are kforce. states are also working on

supporting, cultivating -- 21st century workforce. states are also working on supporting and cultivating economic growth and creating high wage jobs. where high wage jobs are concerned, governors understand that manufacturing plays an important role. jobs are generated not only in the factories, but also in research and development. new products and new services that support manufacturing. the nga has worked with a demonstration project with california, colorado, connecticut, illinois, and pennsylvania that have recently developed strategies emphasizing advancement fracturing. they are creating public-private partnerships with industry's and advisory councils to guide state policy regarding manufacturing for working to reconnect manufacturers with research and

development, workforce talent and supply chains. large and small businesses must be competitive in this global economy. small or medium-sized businesses in the united states total nearly 30 million and employ about half of the private sector workforce and also the payrolls. thosehen you look at businesses come only 10% of them export their goods. promoting growth in part by leading efforts in the exports of goods and services and attracting international investment. in today's world, our economies are global in our efforts to support growth and identify opportunities for businesses must be global. the federaln to side, congress needs to reauthorize the workforce investment act and provide safe flexibility that we need to be able to offer the most relevant workforce training programs to our citizens.

there are differences between the house and the senate and their approaches. in governors do agree that, streamlining the funding and restoring the governors 15% set- aside to our state workforce will help us create innovative programs. governors access to flexible federal funds to innovate and produce results is exactly the type of flushable federalism we've been talking about and that is needed for helping states-federal partnerships. but the workforce investment act is not the only way that congress can help put people back to work. reauthorization of state trade and export promotion program beyond 2014 will ensure in teen you'd growth in the nation's global competitiveness. it will also help us maintain the program's operations and outlays. and most importantly among create jobs. -- and most importantly, create

jobs. from moving our country scarcity to abundance, from ,ependency to self-sufficiency and energy policy is another area where governors have been leading the charge despite the absence of a company has of national energy land. -- energy plan -- energy plan. many governors have created their own innovative energy plans that are helping state support homegrown energy production and meet the energy efficiency needs. this is helping to advance economic development, lower cost, improve reliability and resiliency. in the process, generating state revenue. can go a long way.

federal policies must complement the efforts to improve our nations energy security and support the diverse range of domestic energy resources. we have called for a 20% decrease in energy use and you will find a similar bipartisan ingrams through the nation states like new york, . . inderstanding which my vice chairman and i have initiated to set the stage for states to affordably convert

cng.leet to they're now using combined purchasing power to save taxpayer money and also encourage a clean source of energy to encourage the development that technology and infrastructure enhancements and frankly to take advantage of abundant low-cost natural gas resource being developed by dozens of states. shell gas development is an area leading practices that address the potential environmental concerns and other impacts but also supporting jobs and energy independence for our nation. hickenloopervernor and i led reform on michelle energy in colorado and we brought together other officials from 20 different states and we shared best practices and we

learn from each other new approaches to responsible development. want to thank you for hosting the shell gas youropment forum and for work on behalf of the national governors association. it's been a great pleasure to work with you. now i would like to invite up to the podium our vice chair of the ,ational governors association governor john hickenlooper of colorado. governor. [applause] >> i can use her glasses if i need them. thank you for your leadership. thank you for your friendship. it's great to be your neighbor, work together, try to solve the side by of our states side. republicans and democrats worked together as governors as i don't think they do in almost any

other part of our national life. we saw this firsthand when he -- when we had our floods. you are one of the first three states to offer and send national guard support -- oklahoma, wyoming, utah, all republican governors. governors don't really worry about party when we are trying to get things done. thank you for helping organize the recent shale energy for a man joining us there. noted, we arellin at the center of the shale energy boom or actively pursuing ways to manage responsible development. our productioned of natural gas by 30% since 2000 five and seriously considering the opportunity and the risk associated with these new drilling technologies. place totrong rules in add transparency about the mix of agreements to be used in

hydraulic fracking and way required groundwater testing free and post drilling. recently, we have proposed rules in concert with the environmental community to reduce the release of volatile organic compounds and methane during production and transport of natural gas using advanced technologies to detect and address leaks. concernsl help address about local air quality and help stem greenhouse gas emissions and foster a better sense of trust between industry and the public. across the nation, governors are leading the effort to make full use of every energy resource, solarl gas, oil, wind, and to reduce the amount of energy that we use. our efforts to develop shale gas along with promoting

the full array of energy resources and energy efficiency strengthen this nation's energy independence. the fact that recent predictions including those by the international energy administrations have predicted the united states will have the potential to become net energy- by 2030 size. we already to use more energy than we import, the first time in many years. bodes well for energy prices and overall economic growth. governors are at the forefront of maintaining and protecting and national guard. never before have they been so well trained as they are today. as commanders in chief of army an air national guard, it is honor and a privilege to stand .ith our men and women

alongside our other first responders, the national guard .elp rescue trapped families it works 12 hour days to make sure we had everyone of our broken roads open before december 1. the guard is ready, capable, and an experienced fighting force that they are also essential here at home. for this reason, we continue to ourvely and loudly champion national guard as they come home maintain thee value of having an active and ready guard. intoansition from war

peace but they should not adversely affect states or, at the expense of last capabilities. instead, we should be leveraging the experience and cost effect in this of the army and air national guard. federalto work with our partners to make sure that the guard remains ready for state and federal missions. the next outcome is not a field or a town but a computer network that supports our own critical infrastructure. cyber attacks, the guard should be mobilized to and be able tos respond to incidents. the government seeks to clarify how it will work with the to better secure cyberspace. states are already moving forward to develop and implement new cyber policies to protect economies and ensure public safety.

they launched the resource center for state cyber security by governor martin o'malley and governor rick snyder. state teams met to share best practices and devise ways governors can guide their efforts and make sure that we measure progress. call to action released for cyber security which gives recommendations to consider, develop, and implement a strategy to allocate appropriate resources. it also advances cyber security efforts in the energy structure. approachesing robust to government examining how to leverage the support and in keeping with the theme of governor fallin's initiative, advancing education and workforce to help meet the growing need for well-trained

cyber security experts. finally, for our veterans, governors, welcome all of them home. at the state level, leading efforts to improve outreach to veterans and their families in a variety of ways. it calls for the federal thertments to break down access to benefits, services that they have rightly earned defending our country. the federal government must work with states to fill the gaps left by federal programs and to better target services to at- risk veterans like our wounded warriors. often one of the biggest is finding meaningful employment. recognizing how critical this is to a transition from military service to civilian life, governors are particularly focused on getting our veterans back to work. in partnership with the u.s. department of labor, working

with a number of states to develop breast -- best practices and facilitate the transfer of .ilitary skills this will help veterans leverage their military training to gain the necessary civilian credentials to perform jobs in industries such as transportation or healthcare. our goal in colorado is to have every returning veteran employed taking care of men and women who served their country remains .aramount for governors no list of priorities would be complete without the mention of health care, like education and jobs, it remains one of the core issues facing state. the politics of health care have become divisive but improving systems and helping states become healthier is not. the national governors notciation, health care is just about the affordable care

act. we should focus on the issue or the issues that unite us, not those that divide us. high-value healthcare that is efficient and cost-effective should be the common goal. in 2013 come in g a hosted more than 52 separate health care meetings with various state officials and included leadership training, policy academies, and learning networks technical assistance and webinars. in october, we joined with the national institute of medicine to hold the first of several in- state retreats designed to help think through different ways to transform their health systems. the first was held in wisconsin with governor scott walker, private sector leaders, and national leaders. we hope to do several more of these across the country. we are holding a national convening of state leaders interested in transforming

health systems and the focus is to share state level innovation as we were collectively to reduce costs and at the same time improve quality for health care and all of our states. to stem the a way growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse. i have the pleasure of cochairing an initiative to help states fight this growing problem. states are implementing strategies that will hopefully lower the number of deaths in emergency room visits for prescription drug overdoses while still giving access to necessary medication. finally, governors came together to identify and share best practices as part of a healthcare sustainability task force led by governor john fromaber and the governor tennessee to strengthen the state-federal partnership and