act, with the exception of the board of governors and of the federal reserve and the federal open market committee. i spoke to that earlier. i found that passing strange. the office of management and budget is responsible for overseeing the umra process. since the independent agencies would be under the direction of .m.b. for purposes of umra compliance, this could comprise -- compromise the independence of those agencies. section 7 will create a new point of order in the house of representatives for legislation containing an unfunded mandate, making it more difficult to enact legislation. section 8 would incorporate a cost benefit requirement from executive order 12866, but it

would not include language from the same executive order directing agencies to perform these assessments to the extent feasible. section 10 would require agencies to provide impacted parties in the private sector but not other stakeholders with an advanced opportunity to provide input on proposed regulations. it would require agencies to conduct consultations with private sector businesses as early as possible before the issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking, expanding this consultation requirement only to the private sector could allow businesses to have an advantage over other stakeholders, as i mentioned previously, such as taxpayers and environmental groups with reference to the development of regulatory proposals.

during consideration of this bill by the committee, one of the members offered an amendment that stated any opportunities or rights afforded to a corporation under this section shall also be afforded to any interested individuals. he amendment was rejected. my good friend on the other side mentioned the fact that i pointed out that we continue to have one house -- one-house legislation that goes nowhere in the senate. and she pointed correctly to the fact -- and i stand with her if it needs corrected -- there were only -- that there were 76 measures that reached the president's desk and that 64 of them came out of the

house of representatives. t knowing all of the statistical imperatives, my belief is the 64 that came out of the house of representatives, a substantial number of them had companion legislation. i question whether or not what we're addressing today has companion legislation until the senate and that's why i feel -- in the senate and that's why i feel it's not going to go anywhere. arguing ne side is that we need to start the 2014 election right now and don't do anything else that is going to allow for both bodies. it's true, as my colleague aid, that the constitution

mentions the house of representatives first, but it did not give the house of representatives autonomy in the nse that they and they alone can pass legislation, so there is a requirement here that is not being met and that is that e senate and house confer on matters of legislation and then offer it up to the executive branch. circumvented that process. i'm fascinated by the fact that i don't believe my colleagues have the courage of their conviction. i doubt very seriously if we would have put a flood insurance measure on the floor, not on suspension -- i doubt very seriously that it would not pass. it will pass if it were to come

to the floor that way. i believe if we offer up a reasonable minimum wage -- i don't think anybody in this country can say that $16,000 for a family of two or more people is sufficient in order for them to be able to meet requisite having to do with food and rent alone, let alone educating their children or providing daycare. i don't think anybody really is against those who paid into the employment system receiving unemployment compensation and yet we find ourselves here repeatedly addressing a significant number of matters. and somebody wrote the other day, if they got a stain on their tie, it would be because of obamacare. goodness gracious, people. we're a legislative body, and we could be about the business of serious legislating and that kind of legislating would require, among other things, not just bipartisan activity,

as this legislation has manifested itself as being bipartisan, but it would allow that we would really sit down and talk through the things that are needed in this country. there's nobody around that doesn't believe that we have bridges that are in disrepair. i haven't found anyone that said that if we invested in infrastructure that it would not create more jobs in this country. the people want us to do this, and not to do one-sided, one- way measures that are not going to go anywhere anytime soon. i am prepared at this time to yield back the balance of my time -- excuse me -- reserve. sorry, dr. foxx. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i hear my colleague on the other side of the aisle. i frankly don't think there's

much serious legislation around here than this piece. i said earlier, umita doesn't come trickingly off the tongue and it's not the most sent lating legislation out there but it has bipartisan support which is what my colleague said we need to be doing. so i'm curious about his going off talking about a lot of other things other than this. i will say, mr. speaker, that multiple provisions in my bill, including sections 8 and 9, would codify general principles, good government embodied in president clinton's executive order 12866 and president obama's executive order 13563. section 8 closes the blatant often exploited loophole inconsistent with legislative intent and spirit of the law, again, i think this legislation is doing exactly what the congress should be doing and that is sticking with

legislative intent and making sure that we are looking after the fact that the laws we pass are adhered to. since title 2 of umra says that agencies must develop a written statement describing the effects of their regulations on state, local and tribal governments as well as the private sector unless otherwise prohibited by law. some agencies have concluded that general statutory language, limiting the consideration of economic costs and setting regulation, prohibits them from preparing a written statement evaluating the noncost element. recertificating legislative intent, this section of my bill prevents this loophole from being exploited for purposes of ignoring umra requirements by clarifying that agencies must conduct umra analyses unless a law expressly prohibits them

from doing so. this simple wording change makes a world of difference by clarifying that agencies must conduct umra analyses unless a law expressly prohibits the disclosure. another way umra's cost disclosure requirements have been exploited by ambitious rule makers is by deeming a proposal an emergency and thereby forgoing the notice of proposed rulemaking or nprm process, which is the avenue through which the public weighs in on proposed regulations. without compromising the ability to issue mandates and emergency scenarios, section 9 of the underlying bill removes the perverse incentive for agencies to forgo nprm's by requiring them to fulfill umra cost disclosure requirements within six months of issuing the urgent decree. modest bipartisan provisions such as these highlight

additional reasons for my colleagues to support the rule and underlying bill. and with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. but am prepared if the gentleman -- to close if the gentleman from florida is prepared. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you very much. ask d allow that i unanimous consent to enclose the statement of administration policy. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hastings: and i will only lift one paragraph and that's the last paragraph and sentence. h.r. 899 would unnecessarily robust he already analytical rulemaking process. in particular, h.r. 899 would create needless grounds for judicial review, unduly slowing the regulatory process. in addition, it would add layers of procedural steps that would interfere with agency

priority setting and compliance with statutory mandates. and i guess not surprisingly to my friends on the other side, if h.r. 899 were presented to the president, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill. mr. speaker, contrary to my friend's favorite rhetoric, the free market does not solve all problems. markets fail. we've seen that, haven't we not? government is the actor of last resort when the market does not create the necessary incentives for businesses and individuals to protect the public goods. what's more, federal regulations are not strangling the economy or preventing growth. in fact, it's quite the opposite. as the office of management and budget has reported, major federal regulations issued over the last 10 years resulted in

annual benefits from $193 billion to $800 billion while costs are only between $57 billion to $84 billion. it seems to me that an $84 billion investment with an $800 billion return is not a bad thing. mr. speaker, if we defeat the previous question, i'm going to offer an amendment to the rule to bring up legislation that would raise the minimum wage to $10 tp 10 an hour -- $10.10 an hour and give at least 5 million americans a well-deserved pay raise. -- 25 million americans a well-deserved pay raise. jackson's ice cream raised it because they feel the pain of the people that work with them and that they made a fair profit and wanted to share it with them. the american people are calling for an economy that works for

everyone, not just those at the top. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record, along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, urge my colleagues to vote no and defeat the previous question, vote no on the underlying bill and i now yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you. and i thank my colleague from florida. mr. speaker, as proud as i am of this legislation, i realize its passage on friday will not be front page news. i understand that, quote, bipartisan group of lawmakers ban together to close technical loopholes in umra" isn't exactly a rivetting headline, but what we're doing here is important. in congress we often focus our energy and attention on those issues that are most divisive

and controversial. there are real substantive disagreements between the two parties and among the american people. but congress must do the hard things and every now and then we get an opportunity to do something easy. this should be easy. the reforms in this bill are low-hanging fruit. these are modest reforms supported by republicans and democrats alike. some of these changes merely codify sdemreck tiff orders issued by the -- executive orders issued by the last two democrat presidents. some of my colleagues have suggestions for improvement and have offered amendments to this bill. great. these will be discussed tomorrow in an open and transparent process. in fact, mr. speaker, every democrat amendment that was submitted has been included in this rule.

i hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting this sensible legislation that had enhance transparency, accountability and awareness of federal mandates. i urge my colleagues to vote for this rule and the underlying bill. i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are the speaker pro tempore: those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. members will record their votes by electronic device. . this is -- pursuant to close 9 of rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of adoption of the resolution.

this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on his vote the yeas are 22 --

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 225 and the nays are 189. the speaker pro tempore: on his vote the yeas are --

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 225 and the nays are 192. the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the resolution is --

mr. hastings: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. hastings: on that i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 227 and the nays are 190. the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to house resolution 475 and rule 18, the chair declares in the house of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 3193. will the gentleman from north carolina, mr. holding, kindly ake the chair. the chair: the committee of the whole house on the state of the union which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to amend the consumer financial protection act to review the financial stability of oversight council of regulations issued by the bureau of consumer financial

protection and for other purposes. the chair: when the committee of the whole house rose earlier today, the request for recorded vote on amendment number 4 printed in part b of house report 113-350 offered by the gentlewoman from wisconsin, ms. moore, had been postponed. purn to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will now resume on those amendments printed in part b of house report 113-350 on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order. amendment number one by mr. rigell of virginia. amendment number 3 by mr. desantis of florida. amendment number 4 by ms. moore of wisconsin. the chair will reduce to two minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote in this series. the unfinished business is request for recorded vote on amendment number one printed in 350 b of house report 113-

on which further proceedings were postponed and the yeas prevailed by voice vote. the clerk: amendment number one printed in house report number 113-350 offered by mr. rigell of virginia. the chair: a recorded rote has been requested. those in support of a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 250 and the nays are 167. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is request for a recorded vote on amendment number 3 printed in part b of house report 113-350 by the gentleman from florida, mr. desantis on which further proceedings were postponed and

yeas prevailed. the clerk: amendment number 3 printed in house report number 113-350 offered by mr. desantis of florida. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 227 and the nays are 186. he amendment is adopted.

the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 4 printed in part b of house report 113-350 by the gentlewoman from wisconsin, ms. moore, on which further proceedings were postponed, on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk: amendment number 4 printed in part b of house report 113-350 offered by ms. moore of wisconsin. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise nd be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 179 --

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 181, and the nays are 236. the amendment is not adopted. the question is on the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is adopted.

accordingly, under the rule, the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration the bill, h.r. 3193, and pursuant to house resolution 475 reports the bill back to the house an amendment an amendment -- and an amendment adopted in the committee of the whole. is a separate vote demanded on any amendment to the amendment reported by the committee of the whole? if not, the question is on

adoption of the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: a bill to amend the consumer financial protection act of 2010, to strengthen the review authority of the financial stability oversight council of regulations issued by the bureau of consumer financial protection and for ther purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will be in order. >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: would members respectfully take their conversations from the floor. clear the aisles. find a seat.

he house will be in order. would members of the house remove their conversations from can loor so that the house be in order.

for what purpose does the gentlelady from new hampshire seek recognition? >> i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentlelady opposed to the bill? i am in its current form. the clerk: ms. shea-porter of new hampshire moves to recommit the bill, hrment r. 3193, to the committee on financial services with instructions to report the same back to the house for the -- forthwith with the following amendment. ms. shea-porter: can we get consent to end the reading. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentlelady seek unanimous consent? that the motion is considered read? s there objection? >> object. the speaker pro tempore: objection is heard. the clerk will continue. the clerk: section 6, rule of construction regarding data breaches, financial fraud and predatory lending, nothing in this act or the amendments made by this act may be construed as prohibiting the agency responsible for the regulation

of consumer financial products and services pursuant to the consumer financial protection act of 2010 from the following. one, in the case of a company that has had a data breach resulting in the release of financially sensitive personal -- mr. hensarling: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. hensarling: i'd ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection? o ordered. the gentlelady from new hampshire is recognized for five minutes. ms. shea-porter: thank you. this is the final amendment to the bill and will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. if adopted, the bill will immediately procede to final passage as amended. mr. speaker, just a few years

after a financial meltdown that crashed our economy and punished middle class families, some politicians here want to go back to the days when wall street wrote its own rules and consumers got the short end of the stick. we all know how that worked out. it brought a tremendous financial crisis. the consumer financial protection bureau emerged out of the ashes of that financial disaster. >> mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady will suspend. once again, would members of he people's house take their conversations from the floor so that the gentlelady can be heard? the gentlelady may continue. ms. shea-porter: thank you. congress had learned a hard lesson. consumers needed a watchdog. that's what the consumer financial protection bureau is

all about. it's a watchdog for consumers. it stands up for people, including students, seniors and veterans who are often targeted by predatory financial lenders with shady products. why on earth would we want to hamper the cfpb? in its short lifetime, the bureau has secured more than $3 billion for nearly 10 million consumers, including members of the military. it has received more than 270,000 consumer complainlts and has taken action against any payday lenders or debt collecters who take unfair advantage of our nation's consumers. the cfpb is working to protect consumers from some of the worst abuses in the financial marketplace. but the bill we're considering today would undermine its work. first, the bill changes the structure of the cfpb to a five-member commission instead of a single director. in a congress that's so divided, and dysfunctional,

it's not fair to mire the bureau in political gridlock and make it less able to carry out its mission. second, this bill would defund the cfpb. under the guise of transparency, its opponents want to cripple the bureau by tying it up in congress. they say this will result in significant cost savings. if they don't fund it properly, of course it will end up in savings. we'd also save money on food inspection if we would only stop inspecting food, but that doesn't mean we'd be better off. . protecting the bureau comes at the expense of protecting american consumers.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady may continue. ms. shea-porter: the bill allows bank regulateors who fail to protect consumers to overrule the cfpb and our constituents don't want us to weaken consumer protections. they want us to extend consumer protections to include protection of our personal data and information. today's motion to recommit builds on this work and makes sure that congress is focused on consumer protection. this motion assures that seniors, service members, students and other consumers affected by security breaches are promptly notified that their data has been compromised. even more importantly, it makes sure that consumers know what steps to take to recover from and how to prevent additional financial fraud. in the event of a personal data breach, companies need to do more than simply alert consumers

that it happened. they need to work with the bureau to inform consumers about how to remove fraudulent charges and monitor their credit going forward. the motion addresses the growing problem of predatory lenders targeting our service members and their families. these levenders are taking advantage of loopholes in current law to profit from bad loans that have outrageous interest rates and take advantage of our service members. some lenders target our service members looking for home mortgages. this activity is reprehensible and congress should stop this activity. students is another population this this motion would protect. they were investigating school-issued debit cards that students use to access financial aid. they have hidden fees that can add up for students and families who are struggling to pay for college. what makes this even worse, many

freege campuses don't have -fee a.f.h.'s. the buyer oofer needs to make sure they aren't taking advantage of our students. mr. speaker, this motion to recommit will make sure that we pass a bill that's fair to consumers, not just banks. i urge all my colleagues to vote yes on these commonsense changes and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from texas. for what purpose does does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. hensarling: i rise in opposition to the motion. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. hensarling: first, i'm just very pleased that our friends on the other side of the aisle actually found somebody to offer

were .r. since they having trouble finding speakers to come to floor to defend what is the most powerful and least accountable accountable government agency in the history of the republic. and it would be difficult, it would be difficult to defend this agency. but let me dispense with the motion to recommit. mber one, as we read this, dodd-frank did not grant the cfpb power over data breaches. so this part of the m.t.r. is irrelevant. the other portions are redundant. but, mr. speaker, more important point is how can anybody come to the floor to defend an agency that is collecting such massive quantities of data?

i find it ironic that the m.t.r. is concerned about data breaches to a government agency that is collecting 53 million data on 53 million borrowers who took out mortgages since 1998. the person in charge of the project has testified that it is easy to reverse and engineer the identities of 95% of these records. the cfpb in their credit card data base is collecting at least data off 991 million credit cards held by roughly 60% of the adult u.s. population. where is the anxiety and the concern for the possible data breaches of cfpb? how about their consumer credit panel where they are collecting the credit reports on 8.6

million americans? i mean it seems to be a contest n.s.a. on who can collect the most data on american citizens. and yet, stay tuned on who wins that competition. and yet, mr. speaker, we have an agency that notwithstanding it's -- its be nining or wellian title is denying consumer rights. we have had the rule promulgated where the federal reserve says one-third of black and hispanic homeowners can no longer qualify for their mortgages. where's the logic there, core logic, which is the firm that collects data. when fully implemented, this rule of this agency that is supposed to protect our consumers half, half of the

mortgages would no longer qualify. so no wonder democrats were having trouble finding speakers to defend this. and last but not least, an agency that has no accountability and sets its own budget and notwithstanding the testimony of the head of the agency who said he was not building a pal ace, yet they take 145 million of hard-earned taxpayer money to renovate $150 million building they don't even own. on a square-foot basis, mr. speaker, this is three times the average class a luxury renovation space in washington, c. on a square foot basis it costs more to have their headquarters than it costs to build the trump world tower. on a square-foot basis, it costs more to renovate their

headquarters than it it is to hotel, the llagio single most expensive hotel. renovate than tallest ld the building in dubai. mr. speaker, again, this is one of the most powerful and least accountable agencies in the history of the republic. true consumer protection is about competitive innovative and transparent markets that respect the dignity and the liberty of every american citizen to buy the mortgage, to get the credit card that they want that's best for them and their families. let's respect them and let's hold accountable government.

let's dispense with the motion this actit and vote on . the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the previous question is ordered. the question is on the motion to recommit. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. the gentlelady from new hampshire. ms. shea-porter: i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those requesting a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, this five-minute vote will be followed by a five minute passage. if ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 194, the nays are 223. the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 194, the nays are 223. the motion is not adopted. the question is on passage of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. >> i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by

the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 232, the nays are 182. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? -- the gentlewoman from new york, excuse me. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that i may here after be considered to be the first sponsor of h.r. 3729, a bill originally introduced by representative andrews of new jersey, for the purposes of adding co-sponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule 12.

thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair is prepared to entertain one-minute requests. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to congratulate the pennsylvania state university i.f.c. dance marathon, otherwise known as t hon, for -- thom. the largest student philanthropy in the world, it is a year-long fundraising effort where students work in numerous ways to raise money

for the cause. the efforts culminates with a final 46-hour event where over 700 students partake in a no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon and thousands more cheer on their efforts. all proceeds benefit the organization dedicated to battling childhood cancer. this year i had the honor of attending the dance. the energy and enthuse yass much for those in atens -- enthusiasm for those in attendance was nothing short of breathtaking as the students went on to raise $13.3 million, surpassing the $12.4 million last year. penn state has raised over $110 million in the history. mr. speaker, as a proud penn state alumnist, i want to thank all the students and families for providing this outstanding emotional and financial support to the children, families, researchers and the staff of the four diamonds fund and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the

distinguished gentleman from lorida seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. today i rise to commemorate black history month. i'm humbled by leaders in my district like lawrence mccain, a pioneer who opened up homestead to new settlement. officer clifford hollis, the first african-american police officer in florida city in homestead, as well as chief roll, the first african-american police chief. there have been numerous historic accomplishments in my district thanks to people like doris ison and colonel heartily who helped in health care and provided a difference to african-americans in south dade. we have also seen the torch of public service passed down from the late reverend ferguson and senator bullard to florida city commissioner brown, senator dwight bullard and commissioner

moss and long-time civic educator and activist, rosemary fuller. mr. garcia: we must always remember the great leads that are have come before us and are marching forward to fight for civil rights and equality for all. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. tonight i honor one of the most respected dairy leaders in the state of florida. red larson. as he celebrates his 90th birthday. in the 1930's he worked as the local paper, saving and investing his money until he could purchase his first dairy cow. by the time he graduated from high school, he owned six cows, renlted eight more and had 21 calves. after a half century of hard work, red merged 37 dairies into the three that now make up larson dairy incorporated.

which he and his two grandsons currently own and operate. larson dairy produces 120 million pounds of milk annually, making it one of the largest dairies in the united states. mr. speaker, the larson name is synonymous with florida dairy. truly a constant source of knowledge and experience, larson served on the usda dairy advisory committee and has been inducted into both the dairy hall of fame and the florida agricultural hall of fame. mr. rooney: i'm honored to recognize red larson on his 90th birthday and thank him for his long standing dedication and contributions to the u.s. dairy industry and i yield back my time. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? without objection. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. to ch deutch today i rise

recognize national diseating disorders week. they effect both women and men and span over socioeconomic and racial demographic. due to widespread stigma, those who struggle, struggle alone. these are the most deadly forms of mental illness. between 10 to 20% do not survive. anorexia, binge eating and other eating disorders lead to organ failure and heart disease. despite this grave threat to public health, our research, prevention and treatment efforts remain shamefully underfunded. this week, i urge my colleagues to take action and to join me, co-sponsor h.r. 2101, federal

response to eliminating eating disorders act. we can and must do better. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does zrashed the gentlewoman from missouri seek recognition? mrs. hartzler: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. hartzler: it's time for washington to quick wasting money and the good place to start is to get rid of duplicative programs. the inspectors general found is wasted by on ailing to enact cost-cutting measures. and i fought to eliminate the catfish scheme. it has spent $30 million of your money and has president

inspected a single fish and this is one example. the people of this nation deserve no less than a government that is transparent and spends the money of the taxpayers. i'm sponsoring legislation that addresses wasteful spending and get government out of the way. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? >> address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. mr. paulsen: i recognize peace corps week and celebrate its 53rd anniversary this saturday. it is doing great work with 7,200 volunteers working on projects in 65 countries. however, none of this could be

accomplished without the great volunteers. these volunteers come from all around our country. but from my home state in minnesota, we have a pretty good track record of producing members. there are over currently 200 people from minnesota volunteering in the peace corps d they come from the third district. and 30 was one of the highest performing in the country. mr. speaker, i had the chance to welcome and join the acting director to come to minnesota to participate in a recruiting event and after 5 years, the desire to volunteer for the peace corps is as strong as ever. i commend all the volunteers, past and present, for their service, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. he clerk: leave of absence for upton of michigan for today.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. he request is granted. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. po rmp an, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. pocan: i rise on behalf of the progressive caucus. and we want to discuss with the american public issues of the american public that are timely and important. we are here to talk about a number of issues, one being the important need to raise the minimum wage in this country. but before we start that dialogue, we want to talk about another issue that has happened just recently in this country and that has a little bit to do

with my background growing up. wisconsin.n kenosha, we had american motors company and made pacers and grem lynns gremlins and stood out in history. but american motors did something amazing for the community we grew up in. we grew up in a strong middle-class community. we had families supporting wages and the reason is not only because of the american motors company but also because of united auto workers union, a union that worked with the companies that were there in committee northbounda and made kenosha and delivered they delivered a good quality

product. unfortunately, all too often we see these attacks across the country on unions, making it harder and harder for people who work for a company to have a voice in their company. and what happened just two weeks ago was there was a union election at a volkswagen plant in tennessee. they had an election that was conducted by the national labor relations board where workers were deciding whether or not to have a collective voice. they were deciding whether or not to unionize and join the united auto workers. first, the company was neutral. the company had made the

decision to stay out of the choice. this is a decision to be made by the workers. we have seen time and time again how employers can interfere with this choice by workers. they write your paycheck and decide whether or not you get that promotion and they can fire you. the employer can wield powerful influence over the workers as to whether or not they want to unionize and yield that power lawfully or unlawfully. volkswagen said this is the workers' decision and let's leave it up to hem them. the employer chose to imbrace the notion that it had the freedom to choose and that happened in tennessee. but there is a second extraordinary thing that happened and that is despite the fact that the employer was neutral, a free and fair election was still rendered impossible because of interference and threats from

outside parties. and what we saw here was unprecedented and the shameful actions by outside parties interfered in a private decision by 1,300 workers whether or not they would organize for a better life. i would like to yield to mr. miller from california. mr. miller: i want to join you in your remarks in expressing outrage about this situation. in this case, these outside parties included well-funded interest groups and publicly-elected figures stopping the workers from joining the union. it wasn't enough that these outside parties to say publicly they didn't like unions. it wasn't enough for them to say publicly to say hey, it is best for you and your family, vote against the union. it wasn't enough for them to say, we don't want unions to get a toehold in the south. they were angry at volkswagen

who was neutral. they were angry that volkswagen had a long track record of working with labor unions through joint work counsels that reduce company costs and were angry that majority of the workers signed cards saying they wanted the u.a.w. to represent them and were afraid if the process was on the level. in the end, free and fair union elections became their biggest fear. a free and fair election became their biggest fear. if volkswagen wouldn't scuttle these elections, they would. on the eve, they launched their assault. a barage of untrue statements, the kind we see from union busters all the time to scare and intimidate and bully and to bully and bully hard, working ought oove plant workers into

rejecting the union. one of these third parties, an elected official, went to the press on the first day of the voting, the first day that the workers had a chance to vote and he said, he had been quote, assured," if the workers voted against the union, they would launch a new line of the s.u.v.s. this led to a press frenzy, banner and barage of reporters a said they were on the line with this vote. never mind that the company denied it and the elected official's claim wasn't true. he said he had been been assured and i would like to yield to the gentleman from from wisconsin. >> i thank my friend from california. mr. pocan: volkswagen put out a formal denial of the claim

making clear there was no link between the vote and the placement of the s.u.v. facility in chattanooga and this elected official went out and did it again. he moved to discredit the company suggesting that the company was using old talking points and had the company's new talking points and what happened here wasn't someone just expressing their view. it was someone communicating a promise of benefits if workers voted one way, backed up by some mystery assurance. what happened here, someone communicating a threat that jobs would be lost if the workers voted another way, backed up by some mysterious assurance. the national labor relations board is the act. many heroic americans in the last couple of generations gave heir lives to freely associate

and improve their lives, to bargain for better wages, better job security, health care, fair wages and safe workplace. these workers were always brave and did not give in to thugs and battles. this national labor relation act outlaws bribes and threats and does so for a reason. those acts are not speech. they are more than speech. they render a free and fair election impossible. and in the case of u.a.w. and volkswagen in chattanooga, there was no opportunity to secure them. the votes were cast and after three days, the election was over. and after the election, there vokesw three nonunionized wag an plants -- volkswagen

plants in the world. mr. miller: the reason these worker councils, why volkswagen is neutral because the counsels have helped them to be one of the largest and most successful automobile companies throughout the world and in fact they used councils in counsel plants all around the world because that's the mechanism in which they continue to be a eader and continue to have the growth they have had had and the products they have had. and somehow as you point out, in russia, china and now in chattanooga, that model is being rejected, not because volkswagen reject d it but because the election process was not allowed in china and russia but rigid during the election in the united states. i thank the gentleman for taking this time. mr. pocan: thank you, while we

definitely want to make sure we are talking to the issues to this country and minimum wage is one of them. we want to highlight what happened two weeks ago and we hope this will be cured. outside officials shouldn't be allowed in the election. that election was not fair. thank you very much to the gentleman from california for your many years of service. we would like to discuss something that is very important. the democrats this week took on what sometimes is considered a very unique measure in this house, a discharge petition, because we have been fighting for over a year to try to raise the minimum wage in this country. there is a bill introduced by the gentleman from california, and senator harkin from iowa, that would raise the minimum 10.10. $ if we ke