sanctions designations of individuals and entities that have happened since the gpoa, we in new york are also looking to take further action on the basis of the very crippling regime that exists. i'm well over time let me just maybe if i could speak to the paragraphchant issue. . they must work with issues of concern. this is the formula that is used by the iaea and iran in addressing possible military dimensions which is of course why you're so concerned about parchan and that includes parchan. what the gpoa says is a comprehensive solution requires not just the final step but also resolution of concerns which is understood, again, to hit the military dimension. so the more plain english to put it is the interim, the oa, addressed some subset of

issues. we only offered very, very modest reversible and temporary sanctions relief in return. parchan is exactly the kind of issue that's on the table now in terms of the longer term negotiations. >> thank you, madam chair. >> i'll call on members now alternating between majority and minority based on arrival time, as we've done before. i want to remind members that you have five minutes for your question and the response so today, when you have two minutes remaining, it will go into a yellow light. and, again, we'll have -- i think this will allow us to have multiple rounds. we'll call first on mr. diaz-balart. >> thank you very much, madam chairwoman. ambassador, thanks for being here. i would be remiss without first thanking you. i've even written you a letter which you responded very quickly, by the way. for i think in the

administration nobody has been more forthcoming on support and solidarity with those who are struggling for freedom around the world. you have done so repeatedly on social media, which is crucial. whether it was, for example, during the issue in cuba or the students in venezuela who are trying to recapture democracy. you have been exceedingly forth right. and for that, as i did so in writing, i want to publicly do so now. thank you for that really three issues i'm going to throw out really quickly. let me do that really quickly and then you can respond. in march a u.n. panel issued a report to the u.n. security council concluding that the july illegal shipment of weapons to north korea from cuba in fact violated sanctions and constituted, by the way, the largest amount of weapons interdicted going to north korea since the adoption of the resolution 1718 in 2006.

i don't have to talk about all the details about it. they were clearly trying to hide it. so given the discovery of cuba d north korea's regime frankly conclusion to violate u.n. sanctions, what action is under way to hold those two regimes responsible for violating -- for obviously violating u.s. sanctions? point number one. if i can then jump to venezuela where again, like you have been in cuba, you have been very vocal, very, very vocal. you cannot underestimate the importance of those statements you have been making on twitter. for those repressed and oppressed. i don't have to tell you what's going on in venezuela. you're very familiar. what is the administration or what can or are you doing specifically through the united nations to bring attention to the -- frankly the horrible

situation in venezuela where students are being arrested where frankly one of the main opposition leaders have been in prison over a month and all of the human rights violations in venezuela? again, i encourage you and i know you'll continue to do your part publicly, but what is the u.n. looking at that and what can be done there? lastly, to a fiscal issue that you talked about, and i think i still have a little bit of time, specifically concerning the issue of the peacekeeping funds so that the president's budget request is more than $800 million for peacekeeping. peacekeeping in your account. the concern is the assessed rate for the united states continues -- it continues to rise above what is frankly authorized by u.s. law. so then meanwhile the u.n. approves new and expanded peacekeeping missions that are frankly very costly. and then we don't see a lot of

reductions or proposals for the elimination or reduction of missions that have been around for decades. for example, such as the one in the western sahara. so there, what is the administration doing to reduce or to eliminate hopefully outdated u.n. peacekeeping missions? why should the committee -- this committee support and continuously fund when there is very little, frakly, if any discipline being shown in budgeting for those current peacekeeping missions? and what is being done to bring a resolution for those, like the western sahara? we have a very strict chairwoman and so we try to be very cooperative with her. [laughter] exactly. i know my place, madam chairwoman. >> given how important each of the questions are, i'm very nervous about the 54 seconds i have left to answer them all.

so i hope -- i hope the chairwoman would give me just a little bit of indulgence so i can at least seek to do some justice. i suspect the issue of the fiscal climate and the peacekeeping funds will come up and will be raised by other members so maybe i can elaborate in greater detail. let me start, if i could. you rightly note that the peacekeeping request that we are making or the peacekeeping funds that we are asking for are -- we're asking for more this year than we did last year. that is only to a couple key issues. the first is mali last year occurred after our regular budget cycle. by mali, i mean the takeover of 2/3 of the country by violent extremists and as a result, part of what we're asking for here is funding to make up for a mission that was authorized outside the regular budget cycle. but the other reason is that south sudan tragically,

devastatingly has degenerated into horrible ethnic conflict just since december of this year and we had to expand the number of peacekeepers in south sudan. in addition, although it's not actually reflected in the president's budget request, because this has just come on, we are going to be requesting funding, as the chairwoman indicated in her opening state, for the -- statement for all likelihood and this is what we're beginning to consider with you all on. i hope to speak to the devastation of what's happening there. but you're right, it's not enough to simply say the real world is presenting these emergencies and we have to respond to them because we live in a fiscally challenged climate. and so what we have done over the course of the last five years and i was actively involved in this at the white house as the president's u.n. advisor, we brought down the costs per peacekeeper. it is 16% lower than what it was when we were seeking costs. the pie is bigger because the real world emergencies -- you only have to read the newspaper

to see that the world is presenting successive challenges to us, but per peacekeeper we are bringing down the costs. that has involved eliminating duplication. again, i won't go into the details here. i hope we'll have a chance to elaborate on some of the measures here. we just last year closed down the mission in sierra leon. you heard me say these peacekeeping missions we find them essential but they need not be eternal. i think there is a habit once a mission gets set up to not be efficiently assessing the original reason that the congress and the u.s., you know, came to support a mission and assessing whether that mission is appropriately configured given the circumstances on the ground. you know, there are reductions happening, but in a responsible way in haiti, liberia, ivory coast. i think we are tremendous gains have been made. again, i can speak more to that. on venezuela, we have a responsibility, of course, as

the united states to speak up on behalf of those who are seeking their freedom. and i really appreciate the tremendous leadership you've shown always in standing up to repressive regimes. i think nearly 40 people have been killed in these protests, these peaceful protests where people are airing their legitimate aspirations and grievances. you talked about the criminal dissent. that is something we have been outspoken about. we've called for a third party to get involved in some mediation because it's in everybody's interest for this crisis to en. but that third party mediator needs to be credible for both sides. until recently that was a sticking point but progress has been made. at the u.n. at the human rights council we issued a joint statement on venezuela and listed the number of countries to join us. it will not surprise you that given that the u.n. is filled more than half of u.n. member states are nondemocratic, it is to pull easy for us

the kind of coalition of the willing, shall i say, across but that is with a we seek to do. we seek even if we can't get overwhelming vote counts, we seek to kind of create alignments of people who share the same democratic values, speaking out on behalf of venezuela. i'd welcome any ideas you have about further steps we can take within the u.n. system and agree that it's important to raise it there and the human rights that is meant to be at the heart of the u.n. charter. lastly if i could, just on the dprk in cuba, sanctions violations, we -- there is sort of a lot of very bureaucratic things we are doing at the u.n. on this particular case. it was the largest armed seizure. we are very grateful and thank panama for stepping up and meeting its responsibilities as

it is doing in a remarkable way, really, across the whole host of issues, including venezuela. we have through the sanctions committee issued a public -- sought to issue a public implementation assistance notice to share lessons learned with member states and correct cuba's claims about how they're nterpreting the -- and the report that came back rejected the cuban arguments which we thought was important given that u.n. reporting can sometimes be uneven is important to stress. we're seeking to impose sanctions -- this is challenging because u.n. sanctions, of course, come by consensus and so we need to get china, russia and other members of the security council to come along board but that is a work in progress. we are trying to release the incident report which i think

rejects frontally cuban claims on this issue. thank you, madam mayorwoman. >> thank you very much for this hearing. ambassador power, good to see you again. i had the great -- i led the congressional black -- [no audio] secondly, just as defendants of the trans-atlantic slave trade, current day human rights issues, discrimination, both in -- [no audio] thank you very much for your support for human rights and civil rights, minority rights. the united nations is a

critical body in our world ommunity and we [no audio] engage the united nations and the international community to ensure a safer world. we get a huge bang for our buck [no audio] the peacekeeping missions next year, it's pointed out that the bill, the omnibus bill underfunded significantly our peacekeeping [no audio] by some estimates we've come up $350 million short which puts us in many ways in an arrears position. could you explain this audio] ping [no and how arrears will affect our

ability [no audio] large part by our own nation's landmark disability law, i can't for the life of me understand why we would not or why the senate would not, you know, pass the treaty, the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. so we need to know why this is so important to support disability rights around the world so we can, i don't know if we can figure out a way to move on this from this side. i think hearing about this and having this on record is extremely important. south sudan, the security council's decision to deploy reinforcements of course will enhance the ability to carry out civilian protection mandate. so can you kind of discuss the u.n.'s efforts to ensure the safety of displaced civilians at u.n. ought refuge

compounds in the last several months? and then of course afghanistan. what is the u.n. role going to be after 2014, if any? could you just explain that? thank you very much. good to see you here. >> thank you. let me start if i can on the peacekeeping issue and that allows me to add a little more billion ast to the response i offered the -- ballest to the response i offered the congressman. peacekeepers are going places and protecting civilians in combating extremism so we don't have to. and it's incredibly important to bear in mind when malli takes over by extreme -- mali takes over by extremists as they were, of course, the french staged an intervention

d the united nations stepped up, but to ensure that militants remain vanc wished, we need to support peacekeeping. that's what the peacekeepers are there to do. in sudan, protect people -- south sudan as a country, newly independent country, has historic relationship with us, with many college students around the united states, even high school students now are exercised about the plight of people in that country. the united states led the effort with many people here in this committee, including you and frank wolf and virtually all of the members to bring about this country. and now it's the united nations that are there at a time when we are winding down our mission in afghanistan and of course have ended our mission in iraq. it is incredibly important to u.s. interests that peacekeepers do that work. e gap between the -- what we owe the u.n. in terms of

peacekeeping and what was appropriated i think is explicable in a couple ways. one i mentioned already the mali mission came on the books after the regular budget submission. but second, the -- our assessment rate right now is 28.4%, and there's a cap and that i would appeal to this committee to lift that only allows us to pay a share of 28.1%. again, reflected in the members' comments so far, the reason we don't want to pay more is because we were paying an awful lot. that makes sense. the formula which this percentage is negotiated is based on the ability to pay and i have made it a huge priority up in new york to try to ensure that others are paying their fair share. in the recent scaled negotiations, which were before my time where our assessment went up from 27.1% to 8.4%,

russian and chinese assessed rates also went up. our challenge with some of the emerging economies, you know, the brazils and indias, which have also gone up marginally. brazil quite substantially. this formula is calculated on the basis of per capita g.d.p. and debt burden. so you get a discount if you're a country that is growing but has still huge amounts of poverty that you deal with in your country. now we are seeking to change that methodology. but the next scale negotiation is in 2015. and while again it's the 28.4% is not ideal. we are going to fight to get it back down. it's been much higher in the past. in the 1980's and 1990's it was 31%. we are significantly lower than we once were and we're trying to find savings within the peacekeeping missions that exist. i would ask you, if you could lift the cap in order to give

us the resources we need to fund these really, really important missions. and please know that i will work with you hand in glove, again, to try to bring this back down. on your other questions briefly on the disabilities convention. the great champion of this is senator bob dole who has made this his great passion, and for him the fact that veterans come home from war in iraq and afghanistan, so many more veterans now suffering the loss of limbs and so forth and rehabilitating here and getting to take advantage of the a.d.a. and the accommodations we have here in this country but then being told that the -- while you're able bodied counterparts can have jobs overseas, only the a.d.a. extends across the commonwealth of the u.s. and it's not fair to our vets, it's not fair to persons with

disabilities. what this convention would do is simply allows the united states -- allow the united states to be party to a convention that enshrines the provision of the a.d.a. and as a party of that convention we would press other countries to bring their standards up to ours. and it is critical for us to be part of that convention in order to show real leadership on disability rights. it has strong bipartisan support in the senate. and we are still working again with senator dole, senator mccain, senator barrasso, senator ayotte and the democratic supporters to bring about ratification. lastly on the u.n. role in afghanistan, forgive me, congresswoman, there's a lot here, i would say a couple things. first, it is clear that the u.n. will likely maintain a political presence. they have a critical human rights monitoring role, and we're seeing right now the centrality of the u.n. in supporting the afghan-led election process. and those are all things that don't cease to be necessary, you know, in the wake of any

u.s. drawdown or even eventually, you know, when, you know, all troops are -- all american troops are out of afghanistan. because president karzai has not signed the b.s.a., the president has not made his decisions what the u.s. troop presence will look like after this year and i think the u.n. is waiting to understand that better. we've seen just with the monstrous taliban attacks that occurred in the last few weeks in addition to all those that preceded those attacks just how precarious the security is, particularly for civilians who are trying to aid the afghan population. and so that is a challenge. thank you. >> welcome. let me ask you. we talked about the fact we spend a lot of money on the u.n. and over the years there's been an awful lot of effort in congress to bring about reforms to the u.n. and one of the -- one of the

kind of glaring dysfunctions of the u.n. is the u.n. security council because that's supposed to bring peace and security on an international basis but it doesn't seem to always work that way. if you look at syria, the efforts to end the conflict there, i think there have been at least three times where china and russia has vetoed efforts to do that. and so you wonder how it can meet its goal when its permanent membership are divided. so i would ask you two questions. to a o you think that certain extent the security council has lost a little bit of its credibility? maybe a loss to a little bit of its legit mass see? if so, can the u.s. do something to regain that? the second part of that question, if you look at the other side, it seems just about

every veto that we've put forward in the last 25 years is vetoing something with israel and israel doesn't get treated very well. i know you've been working hard to see that israel gets treated fair across the board at the u.n. take those few things and talk about that. a, what kind of reforms can be brought to the security council or in a broader sense? b, how you think you're doing to make sure that israel gets treated more fairly in the u.n.? thank you. >> thank you, congressman, and thank you, generously, three minutes to answer your questions. let me say about the security council that you have put your finger on it. when the permanent members, particularly russia, most recently, backed by china, decides not to fulfill its responsibilities under the u.n. charter to enforce international peace and

security because they are veto holder, that leaves the council vulnerable. and there's no question that the council's legitimacy has suffered greatly not responsible responding to the humanitarian catastrophe in syria and the profound threat to international peace and security when you have millions of people spilling over into neighboring countries, many of which are fragile like that in iraq and lebanon. and when you now see also foreign extremists take root, you see a regime brutalizing its people using barrel bombs, chemical weapons, scuds. the fact that russia can use its veto in circumstances like this really reflect a vulnerability, as you say, in the council structure. and we've had to work in other ways. working through the arab league. working through the human rights council which, as you

know, is very problematic on issues related to israel but has created a commission of inquiry that has produced really important reports for syria that will be used someday in some form of accountability to hold the perpetrators of these, again, horrific crimes to task. so we've had to do work on syria. on chemical weapons and recently on humanitarian issues, we did manage to get two resolutions finally through the security council and on chemical weapons we have seen, as you know, just 50% of the weapons removed. the deadline for the overall removal operation is not until june 30, but the syrians are missing a number of milestones along the way. so we're very concerned about the pace of removal and elimination. there i would say russia has worked more constructively clearly because it sees its interest as imperiled, first, because of the threat of force that hung over the -- hung over syria back in august and september. but also because of their

concern that chemical weapons will fall into the hands of terrorists and so forth. so we can still see russia a la carte can see its interests engage that coincide with ours but the humanitarian situation, though we got a resolution recently, there's not the same energy put into enforcing that resolution and we're seeing very disappointing results on the ground which i can speak to later. what i would say, though, is that in complementing or at the very same time we're seeing this, as you put it, dysfunction on syria and obstructionism might be a better word on the part of russia because there's more accountability on that, we're also seeing the security council go about its business. we have seen in the midst of the ukraine crisis, we passed a resolution granting the international community, the ability to interdict stolen oil that ends up in the high seas from libya. as the u.s. special forces did

a heroic job retrieving some of that oil but this is a phenomenon that could persist and russia went along with that. we're renewing mandates and enhancing mandates for u.n. peacekeepers in congo and expanding the mission in south sudan in response to the situation on the ground. the council is still doing important work for the special interests but also the vulnerability is there because of the russian obstructionism. >> thank you, madam chair. ambassador, it's good to see you. i'll try to ask my questions in a compressed way also so you can have most of the time to answer. want to focus more on the palestinians' pursuit of statehood or recognition by u.n. agencies. and understanding that our policy is that we withdraw from those agencies and cease funding when a unilateral action is taken like that.

how can we -- if you could walk us through your thoughts on how perhaps unilateral -- a unilateral approach to that concern, which is obviously a very significant concern, may not be the best strategic approach for us instead of maybe a focus in an a la cart way, to use your term, with the i.c.c. and -- or the iaea, if we were going to try to leverage our participation in a way that is more microtargeted pproach to respond to wildly inappropriate actions like the palestinians. the other issue is on israel's treatment in general at the human rights council and our ability to leverage our membership in the human rights council, what are we doing to

get the human rights council, how are we using our membership with the human rights council to stop almost exclusively focusing on their obsession with israel and actually focus on very significant serious human rights abuses in syria and iran and venezuela and cuba, just to name a few? then just a couple others. on humanitarian assistance, it's been the entire -- for the entire existence of the united nations that we've essentially shouldered the burden of financing much of what it does. how do we encourage more cost sharing from, you know, wealthier countries that actually have the ability to step up and how can we use u.n. security council 2139 to encourage other donors to do that? particularly rich gulf nations,

for example, that have the resources but choose not to use them. and then lastly, if you could just cover the issue of u.n. reform, because i know the united states' position is that reform and economy, accountability, integrity, excellence are all essential. so what are we working on in that regard? >> thank you, congresswoman. i mean, on the palestinian question, i would just underscore that we will oppose attempts at upgrades in status anywhere. we are in very close touch now. we have a monthly meeting with the veilies where we look out at the -- israelis where we look at the seas of organizations including treaty bodies and coordinate with them and also try to understand whether they are prioritizing in particular ways sort of along the lines what you're

suggesting. the i.c.c. is of course something that we have been absolutely adamant about. secretary kerry has made it very, very clear to the palestinians, as is the president. i mean, this is something that eally opposes a profound threat. to israel it's not a unilateral action that will be anything other than devastating to the peace process which is again where all of our efforts should be placed right now. we, you know, before the peace negotiations started between the two parties restarted with secretary kerry's and the president's leadership, we were fighting on every front contesting unilateral efforts on every front and that is what we would do in any event because we don't think this is a productive approach. we don't think there are shortcuts. and we know that these -- that

this can be an effort to delegitimize israel. it's a great way to upgrade palestine's status. my point on the waiver and the funding issue is that the american people and the united states are so much better off when the united states is in good standing within these organizations, defending our interests, fighting for our friends and not surrendering the playing field to those that would do -- like nothing more than the united states not to be in these organizations. so we're not punishing the palestinians if we cut off funding to these agencies. we're punishing u.s. interests. and that is why, again, we need to deter precisely the moves with the spirit behind the legislation, to deter palestinian action, that's what we'll do all the time and we'll continue to do. but you can't surrender the

u.s. interest in the process. very briefly, on the humanitarian assistance, cost sharing, let me talk about that since it has not come up before. the kuwaitis have been the one in the syria context to host the last two conferences and we think it's progress and an example of the kind of leadership. and they've really shown tremendous leadership on the humanitarian situation. we seek to mobilize resources from the countries that you've alluded to. and you have seen emerging economies, you know, like brazil and others make contributions in a new way in light of the, again, the scale of the catastrophe but we think there's a lot of room for others to be doing their fair share and particularly those wealthy countries in the region, a region that stands to be very destabilized, again, by the effects of this crisis. i'll leave it there. >> thank you, madam chair.

ambassador, thank you so much for joining us today. there's so many topics to cover and so little time. we appreciate the work of all of our diplomats and leaders around the world. thank you for your leadership. certainly with -- we talked about syria and north korea, russia. continuing to be, i think, perhaps on a lot of our minds is the nuclear threat from iran. i now you've spoken about that this morning on several of the questions. i have some specific questions for you, just like to get your thoughts on as we as a congress look at what our future foreign policy should be. as we come back to the iranian nuclear desires, i know we're in a diplomatic mode now. should those diplomatic efforts fail, is military action still on the table if iran does not abandon its nuclear program? and how are we articulating that today? would that military action require u.n. security approval to move forward? would you seek -- i know we're

dealing in hypotheticals. not damage any current effort. i respect and appreciate the way you're going to have to try to articulate your answer here, but would you seek -- u.n. security approval and would you be -- would the country be willing to move unilaterally without that approval? did the united states' war and action in iraq require u.n. security approval? do we believe that that did in retrospect? and then second topic, the administration has called for certainly a reset with relation to russia? in past years. what can we do to successfully deter valid minute putin moving forward? how do we reset those relations again because clearly that didn't work as successfully as probably anybody would like. and you were in the white house and witnessed the struggle in our country over the murder of the ambassador in benghazi.

continues to be a very big topic in our country. and certainly before congress. what the united states did to prevent that attack. following that attack for the then ambassador on what led to the attack. i guess seeing that firsthand and now you're the united states ambassador to the united states to the u.n., what have we learned and specifically what are we doing differently in the security and how would we treat something like this differently in the future? thank you. >> ok. thank you so much, congressman. let me -- as you anticipated it will not shock you that i'm not going to engage in hype theycals -- hypotheticals, so i think it's more appropriate to describe the president's position which is that even today he has taken no option off the table as it relates to iran.

consistently he has made clear on any issue that if america's vital national interests are at stake he's going to act to protect the american people and our vital national security interests. and what that means is that, you know, in the event that the security council does not accommodate our -- his need to lead and perform his duties as the commander in chief, he's still going to pursue what he deems the right policy on behalf of the american people. in terms of the retrospective question you asked, again, i don't think it's appropriate for me here in my current role to be going back over decisions that were made. we're focused at the u.n. but across the administration is trying to shore up the security situation in a country that

unfortunately in recent months for the y taken a turn worst in terms of the penetration of terrorists, the seizure, as you know, by terrorists of iraqi towns, owns that very brave americans expended, you know, made great sacrifices to try to secure for the iraqi people. so we are focused, the u.n., special representative there is working hand in glove with our embassy to try to defoote that crisis, to try to ensure that the coming elections go off without causing, provoking or being accompanied by more violence. that is our emphasis on iraq. on putin, i would just say that the steps that have been taken even just since the so-called referendum in crimea and the so-called annexation which we reject and which the united nations has rejected now in an

overwhelming way, the step that -- steps we have taken already had an effect. you're seeing investor -- investing plummet. you've seen if there is not a rule of law in russia and clearly taking part of someone else's country doesn't reflect a respect of rule of law, whether domestic or international, that that is a very perilous market environment. and so, again, you know, we do believe that this economic and political isolation that president putin has chosen for himself is going to have an effect. and we are in addition to that, of course, supporting, thanks to the house vote and the senate vote on this issue robust financial assistance for ukraine so that, you know, x number of years from now we see a prosperous ukraine that is

thriving, that isn't forced to choose between east and west and where the people see the benefits of the kind of economic integration available to those countries that play by the international rules. >> thank you, madam chair. welcome, ambassador. at the outset, i want to just express my support for that flexible funding mechanism for u.n. peacekeeping missions. regrettably, given how unstable the world is right now, it's not a question of whether we'll need to support such operations, only where, and i would much rather make that kind of investment than have american boots on the ground or suffer the effects of total state failure and collapse and all the related risks that we ultimately face as a result of those failed states. i wanted to just direct my question to syria. syrian civil war has claimed the lives of at least 150,000 people. 1/3 of whom are civilians.

the observatory for human rights announced yesterday millions more have been forced to flee to jordan, turkey and even iraq and millions more have become eternally displaced, their faith hanging on the ebb and flow battle. it's minority populations and especially syrian christians who are at most at risk. as you know, ambassador, these are some of the oldest christian communities in the world. town which is predominantly armenian christian were attacked and the town was emptied in a bloody assault. many of the residents are victims of the armenian genocide. can you tell us what efforts the u.n. and its agencies working in and around syria are working to safeguard armenian communities? many are seeking resistance and

other n.g.o. facilities out of fear for their safety and are us more likely to be displaced persons. is it on the agenda in new york with reference to syria? and finally, is there any diplomatic movement at all in resolving the syrian conflict or is assad so confident of his military advantage now that any hopeful diplomatic resolution is essentially gone? >> thank you, congressman. first, on the peacekeeping response mechanism, thank you for raising it. let me just say a word on that. knowing that not all may think it's the right thing from the beginning. this mechanism comes about because what we've gone through in the last few budget cycles where real-world exjensies like that in mali, potentially in

the central african republic, arrived after our budget. the bad guys in the world are not responsive to our budget cycles and we're trying to prevent the rise of extremism and protect civilians, you know, meet humanitarian needs. this is not something where the money would be spent on anything other than the kind of emergencies that this committee, subcommittee and the larger committee have expressed and proven their support for over the years. and one of the things that i was -- that we would be very eager to discuss with you is how could we create some kind of consultative process where you felt at the heart of the decisionmaking around the use of such a mechanism. ut we are finding ourselves -- our decisions base shrunk in new york when a crisis arises because of the prior year's

cycles. if you look at the refugee funding, they've found a way, because refugee is unpredictable to embed, i'd gather, within refugee programming allowing for the kind of consultation that would allow real-world emergencies and real-world peacekeeping missions, exjensies to secure funding in a nimble way. on kasab, it is an issue of huge concern and the broader faith of minorities and all the syrian people is of pressing concern. in terms of what the u.n. is doing about that particular -- the takeover of that particular town, the security council has met recently. i believe it was just -- i've lost track of time. my preparation for this hearing. i think it was late last week on friday where we discussed the humanitarian situation in syria generally and most of the

councilmembers raised the issue of kasab calling on the u.n. to do more to try to meet the needs of these people. this was in a closed consultation on the humanitarian situation in syria in compliance with the humanitarian resolution. you know, i would note that unfortunately the extremist group that has taken -- appears to have taken hold of that town is not one that the united states or the united nations has a huge amount of leverage over. and so our emphasis now is on supporting the moderate opposition in syria that is taking on these extremist groups and making sure that the u.n. has the funding it needs and the resources of all kinds that it needs to accommodate refugee flow or -- in the case of the armenian -- syrian-armenian community and internally displaced flow. so its resources, strengthening the moderate opposition which is taking on the very group that appears to have taken over that town, making sure that none of the neighbors are

giving support to terrorist groups or extremist groups which would aid their efforts in seizures like that and going on a funding drive internationally because only a very small percentage of the u.n. funding appeal for syria generally has been filled at this point. >> thank you, madam chair. good morning. and following up on mr. schiff's questions with respect to syria, the u.n. security council has demanded that the government of syria and opposition groups allow humanitarian aid to be delivered. the secretary general's report last week made it clear that the syrian government is violating the security council resolution i believe adopted in february. the administration is also on record that the syrian regime is in violation of the security council's demands and many of my constituents, i think i mentioned to you, i have the largest syrian community of any

in congress, help the syrian people and this subcommittee provided a significant amount of funding and increase for humanitarian aid to help meet those particular needs. what will the united states and the u.n. do to ensure that aid can get to the syrian people? that's my principle question to you. >> well, the first thing we sought to do was to get russia onboard with a humanitarian resolution that included in it a list of very specific demands which capture at least some again the spirit of your question, a demand to lift named besieged areas, allow cross-border food access reaching up to three million to four million people that is in hard-to-reach areas, and although the russians have --

and the chinese had vetoed three resolutions on things roughly related to the humanitarian fate of the syrian people, in february they finally came onboard and supported a strong resolution. that was a resolution also that threatened further steps in the event of noncompliance. and now because of the noncompliance you allude to, i mean, really just a drop in the bucket compared to the set of demands i just laid out, we are consulting with our partners about what further steps we can take, recognizing that russia's history on this issue does not leave us wildly optimistic, that they would be enthusiastic for another security council product but still needing to follow through on the commitments that we have made. what the u.n. on the ground is doing is seeking to leverage this resolution intactcal ways and what they can report here or there having this resolution has allowed them to get through one cross-border checkpoint that they weren't able to get

through before. you know, a lot of bureaucratic fixes, more visas, a committee set up by the government but it's nowhere near sufficient to deal with the needs of the people on the ground, and i will say in addition to regime obstructionism which is by far the primary culprit here in terms of noncompliance with the resolution, the fact of the terrorists and extremist groups in syria has not made this task easier for the u.n. >> also, i just wanted to ask, too, since you mentioned the russians, ukraine. anything that can be done at the u.n. outside the security council at this point, because the russians would obviously veto anything, what can be done at the u.n. to help provide assistance to the people of ukraine right now? again, outside the security council? >> that is exactly the approach we take when we see that the security council is blocked, we look for alternative u.n. venues within the broader u.n.

family. and i think there are two of the use we've made so far and we need to look at other mechanisms. the first is we had a very trong surprisingly suspenseful vote on ukraine status and on the legitimacy and the legality of the referendum last week. i say it was suspenseful because roughly analogous vote on georgia that occurred back in 2008 passed by a count of 14 yes votes -- i think i have the numbers right, 12 no votes and 105 on extensions. whereas this vote we had broad cross-regional support. 100 people said this referendum has no validity and will not be respected and only the venezuela, sudan, sear yarks dprk, etc., voted with russia. so it was a very strong vote

and it has real legal consequences because now legally the u.n. finding, as it ere, is the referendum was ill legitimate. the big difference we can make at the u.n. is monitoring and the secretary general has now set a -- sent a team of 25, 30 monitors to ukraine, principles plea deploying to ukraine. that is alongside an osce monitoring team that is doing election monitoring and human rights monitoring. >> can i submit a question for the record? >> if we all stick to five minutes we can do another round. >> as we are wrapping up this hearing, given the turmoil in the world, given the public's questions about what's happening in syria, what good is the u.n., what is happening

in iran, i could go on and on and we mentioned so many of the troubled spots, i thought i'd give you an opportunity in summing up how is the u.s. involvement in multilateral institutions, such as unicef, unfpa, help in solving global challenges? what benefit is there to the united states in participating through these institutions? why is participation in the u.n. and on national security interests, and how is your office continuing to work towards updating and increasing the efficiency and transparency of u.n. operations and management practices? how does the u.s. oversee the operations of the united nations and other specialized agencies? how are results measured and evaluated? >> thank you. >> make your case for why we should continue to support the

united nations? >> well, let me start by noting that we go to work every day recognizing that this is not a perfect body. it is a body filled with 193 governments. and we all know that overnments are challenging creatures and not executing the way we would execute. when you combine that with half of the member states are, again, nondemocratic, it gives u also some insight into the scale of the challenge sometimes. but there are vast regions of the world, and it feels like ever more, sadly, where civilians are being targeted, where women are being subjected to horrific sexual violence, where children are being recruited as child soldiers

where terrorists and extremist groups are seeking to spread their bile, shall we say, and recruit others to their cause. and we, the united states, do not want to be in all of those places. and yet the american people have made clear their long-standing generosity, their humanitarian impulses, their solidarity with the victims of sexual and jendered base -- with victims of the tsunami or any kind of humanitarian catastrophe, america always stands up and steps up first. often it's the american people doing so through private charities right alongside the contributions they make through this subcommittee and the committee in the congress. so we don't want to be deploying our troops around the world to be dealing with every crisis of the nature that i've described. while we pay a good healthy

share of the u.n. budget in terms of humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping, the regular budget of the u.n., it's the other countries of the world that pay 3/4 of the budget by and large, particularly when it comes, again, to the u.n. regular budget and peacekeeping, it's other countries that pay 71%. and it is in our interest to pool the resources of the world to deal with these crises. i give you just a few examples. i think the peacekeeping mission in mali where terrorists and extremist elements had virtually taken over that country and with the u.n.'s help, led by the french, the africans, the united states, pushing to roll back those extremists, mali now has a chance and that's a chance not only for the people of mali which i think we would, of course support, but it's also a chance to wipe out a threat that at some later stage could

come home to ruste for us. -- roost for us. somalia, a place where it was almost, you know, a poster child for state failure now has an actual chance. they're building a government. the african union has provided troops. we have helped support that, again, thanks to this committee's flexibility, and al al back is on the run -- shabab is on the run. it will take a very long time for the state to be fully recovered there. but that is another example, again, where we don't want to be sending u.s. forces to somalia and we want other countries to be doing their share. we've spoken a lot about iran today. the sanctions that we have gotten through the u.n. security council are a force multiplier. you can see through the iranian sanctions regime and, again, we will wait and see what happens in these negotiations. nobody is trusting that we're going to be able to get where we need to get, but the reason

we are in the position where we need to be because how vital that sanction is and everyone is bound to those sanctions. that's the force of doing things through the united nations. >> thank you. >> thank you, madam chair. ambassador, in our last round of question, i had a third question that we didn't get to so i thought i'd give us a chance to answer it and hopefully take a full time. the question is on lessons learned from benghazi. and i know there's a lot of oversight committees and investigations going on. for our purposes today and where we're putting dollars forward, where we finance operations, given your position in the white house during the benghazi crisis, i guess i wanted your thoughts on what we -- what we could have done differently, what we learned from it. and how as a nation we can move forward to ensure it never happens again. >> thank you, congressman. i guess what i can speak to

probably best or at least more nowledgeably is -- knowledgeabley is the precautions we take and how we're operating and, again, there are other individuals in the government who would be more expert at precisely what accommodations that we have made and what resources we're deploying where. but, you know, i, you know, have at least some visibility into the extent to which every mission is being scrutinized to make sure our diplomats who are out there serving the american people, in the case of chris stevens, one of my real heroes in the government just by the way he chose to operate, i mean, he was always at one with the people. always reaching out in the internet cafes and trying to be out there, really hearing from the libyans how they saw their future.

and it's tragic that in the wake -- it's tragic we no longer have chris, one of the great human beings and diplomats this country has ever seen and it's tragic that an attack like that unfortunately has us meeting in particularly dangerous places like libya to curtail that kind of action. and we had already in the wake of 9/11 beefed up our embassy security, of course, all around the world and that had big resource consequences which you're well aware of. and now we've done, you know, of course another overlay on that in order to answer to make sure that the president and the congress and the american people are satisfied that our diplomats -- well, this hearing shouldn't last -- >> well, this hearing shouldn't last much longer. you can see it on c-span.org. we'll break away as the u.s. house is coming into session momentarily. this afternoon they'll take up a bill that would change the

full-time work provision in the health care law. votes later on this afternoon. senate's also in session today. they voted earlier today to move forward with legislation that would extend the unemployment -- the long-term unemployment insurance benefits. final votes on that are expected sometime thursday afternoon. you can follow senate coverage on that debate and more on c-span2. and we're also covering today the markup of the republican budget plan, an all-day markup in the budget committee. that's on c-span3 and also online at c-span.org. ms. kaptur: -- [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] be inrder. the prayer will be offered by our guest chaplain, reverend dr. bryan smith, first baptist church, roanoke, roanoke, virginia.

the chaplain: lord we thank you for today, for the life that you have given to us, the riches of your blessings of froo -- blessings, the freedoms we enjoy and for your gracious and tender mercies. forgive us for our transgressions against you and help those gathered here today to work together in the knowledge of your truth. i thank you for these leaders who are here by your authority. please bless them and their families. give to them the wisdom, discernment, humility and guidance thatty -- they will need in fulfilling the obligations and responsibilities entrusted to them. may they be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. may their weakness be the avenue for your strength. may their purpose for gathering today be honorable in your sight and may the work that is accomplished promote your righteousness and peace

throughout our nation. in your holy name we pray, amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? >> thank you, mr. speaker. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, i demand a vote on the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. mr. larson: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing. a sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this will be postpone the pledge of allegiance will be -- allegiance will be led by mr. kourtney. mr. courtney: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the

united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: without objection, the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte is recognized for one minute. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. speaker. it's my privilege to welcome dr. bryan smith a constituent of the sixth congressional district of virginia and a friend who has offered the opening prayer today. i hope the doctor's prayer offer this is body guidance and wisdom for the task before us. he serves as senior pastor of first baptist church of roanoke. during his time at first baptist i have known dr. smith to be a man who believes in putting faith in action, working tirelessly to help others grow spiritually. dr. smith and his wife mary have served in ministry together for more than 25 years. they have two children, he's a

graduate of mobile college, new orleans baptist theological semi-- seminary and mid western waptist theological seminary. i want to thank him for serving as guest chaplain today. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 one-minute requests for speeches on each side of the aisle. the gentleman from texas is mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: thank you. let me tell you about a young american and one of my constituents from mckinney, texas, who's doing her best to make a way for herself. gillian, a college student, has worked part time at a local grocery store to help pay for her school expenses. for many years, gillian clocked between 30 hours and 40 hours a week until was suddenly cut down to 15 hours to 18 hours a week.

gillian learned the cuts were due to obamacare. the new definition of full-time employment is 30 hours instead of the traditional 40 hours. fewer work hours not only mean less take-home pay but also less experience and less opportunity. that's not the america we know and love. that is not the america we want to leave to our children and grandchildren. that's why i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 2575, the american workers act, to restore the traditional 40-hour workweek and help millions of hardworking americans like gillian. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. defazio: well, it's here. e've been waiting for the ryan budget. perhaps some of the biggest and immediate problems confronting our nation, things that will

put people back to work, boost the economy. for me number one is the highway trust fund. the federal government will end all new authorization for state highway projects and bridge replacement and transit for eight months to 10 months because the highway trust fund is depleted. if you look through the ryan budget, it is the subject of three pages of narrative but a close reading gets to his blueprint for the future for the national transportation system. he has a simple solution. we will end it. we will end it. the legacy of dwight david eisenhower and a coordinated approach to a national transportation system in the ryan budget it ends. he will deinvolve it to the states -- devolve it to the states. the states and territories will be responsible for having their own transportation system. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. defazio: let's stop this madness.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition? >> request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to highlight the government's back door funding of abortions through grants to abortion provider planned parenthood. 45% of the organization's entire revenue, totaling roughhely $445 million in 2013, was provided directly by the american taxpayer through government grants. planned parenthood performed 327,000 abortions in 2012. mr. byrne: planned parenthood states in its own budgetary report in 2013, we are the most effective advocate in the country for policies that protect access to abortion. my constituents find the practice of abortion morally abhorrent and threatening to the social fabric of this country, and they should not be forced to subsidize abortions

nationwide. i call on this body to respect the conscience of millions of americans by ending the practice of government funding for abortions. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, yesterday we learned the details of the ryan budget, a proposal that would have devastating impacts on my western new york community. mr. higgins: it would put seniors on the road to privatization, forcing them to fend for themselves to find quality health care. this budget slashes pell grants that provide young people the opportunity for a college education. ends americorps, a program filling a critical need for urban schools and neighborhoods and eliminates all support for the national endowment for the art. the ryan budget would gut infrastructure, education and medical research, cutting nation building here by $791 billion in less than a decade. a budget is a clearest message

of a nation's values. the ryan budget abandons seniors, students, patients awaiting medical breakthroughs and struggling families. this is not who we are as a nation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. 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 to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise today to celebrate the month of the military child which is celebrated every april. for generations, military children have supported those who serve by making their own sacrifices and persevering through tough times. especially those in families with parents in active duty or deployment. for a child, there are few things more difficult than being apart from a mom or dad deployed overseas. just as 2001, there were two million military children who experienced a parental deployment. currently there are approximately 1.2 million children of active duty u.s. members worldwide. sometimes overlooked, military families move three times as

often as nonmilitary families and share many of the hardships. children, spouses in these circumstances also experience anxiety and higher rates -- in higher rathes than than -- higher rates than their nonmilitary counterparts. i know life in the service can be trying, but we thank these soldiers and their families for keeping us safe. mr. speaker, let us give praise to these soldiers and their families for their service and their sacrifice. they demb as much. thank you, mr. speaker -- they deserve as much. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut seek recognition? -- the gentlewoman from connecticut seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> these students, part of the connecticut pre-engineering program at danbury high school, won best in state on the second annual verizon wireless app challenge. jack tracy and linda kim bell, they created -- kimbell, they

created an app that helps people with their doctor's contact information. ms. esty: as a co-founder of the congressional student app competition, i am a strong believer in hands on opportunities like this. in fact, this weekend i will be hosting an app workshop in waterbury. when students create and design their own app, they transform from passive consumers of technology into active innovators, problem solvers and entrepreneurs. i thank jolie, lexi, you. congratulations on winning best in state. i can't wait to see what you come up with next. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. and i rise to recognize the contributions of dr. burr nardo

"bernie" fernandez to medicine in south florida. dr. fernandez will soon assume the post of c.e.o. of baptist medical health group and he is an accomplished doctor with a record of success as c.e.o. of cleveland clinic florida. his leadership in the field of medicine earned him the distinction of being named one of america's best doctors and the title of fellow at the american college of physicians and the society for vascular medicine and biology. dr. fernandez has given back to the south florida community by actively participating in charitable groups and supporting our shared alma mater, the university of miami. however, none of this was done in a vacuum and is only accomplished with the love and support of his wife, rosie, and their children, steven and christina. again, i congratulate bernie for his leadership, and i know that our south florida community will continue to benefit from his more than 25 years of experience. congratulations to bernie.

thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut seek recognition? mr. courtney: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, these are heavy days in the state of connecticut where both the uconn men and women are in the final four shocking the world. mr. speaker, there's also been another teamworking hard in the state of connecticut. that's the sisters, navigators, insurance agents, community health centers, faith-based groups, who have been enrolling citizens in the affordable care act in a frantic pace. as of monday night, they've enrolled 197,000 connecticut citizens, even though the target that h.h.s. gave last summer was only 100,000. they doubled the target that was given to the state of connecticut. and why? because these people said, like mary ann martinez said, i heard a lot of stories who hadn't had insurance or seen a doctor in years. some thought it would cost them $500 and it turned out to be

$40 or $100. it was a breath of fresh air. congratulations to all those individuals who are helping, helping people in this country t access to health care and, go, huskies. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. smith: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. smith: the administration claims historic deportation numbers. immigration agents only attempted to send home about 1/4 of the illegal immigrants they encountered in 2013. and 68,000 of those released back into our communities have criminal records. when the administration puts criminal illegal immigrants back in our neighborhoods, it can have tragic results. not only do these illegal immigrants take jobs from unemployed americans, but they also pose a threat to the safety of innocent americans. these dangerous criminal

illegal immigrants are likely to repeat their offenses. in 2012, the congressional research service determined that over 26,000 illegal immigrants were rearrested almost 58,000 times. suspected crimes included theft, robbery and murder. the president's immigration policy threatens the safety and lives of thousands of americans. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> on sunday, the intergovernmental panel on climate change released a new report lay ought the way this is a climate change has already impacted our economy. climate change threaten ours coastal communities through

ocean acidify case and sea level acidification and sea level rise. it makes hurricanes like hurricane sandy more frequent and more intense. mr. -- ms. brownley: california faces a future where less snow and earlier snow melt will strain our already scarce water resources. 2014 is already one of the driest years in our state's history. who know what is 2015 will bring . i call on all my colleagues to come together in a meaningful and bipartisan way to tackle climate change. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is

recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: yesterday, house budget chairman paul ryan unveiled his vision of a budget which will reduce washington's out of control spending and put our country back on a path to prosperity. for years the president targeted our military in order to support his big government agenda. last month the administration anouned plans to reduce the size of armed forces to levels prior to world war ii. putting american families at isk. representative ryan's budget proposes to strenlten national security. the primary function of national government is to maintain a strong national defense. i appreciate chairman paul ryan for committing to ensure the safe i have to every american at home and abroad. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one

minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. titus: in las vegas and across the country, we have made clear that we should bolster a stroming middle class. this republican proposal, however, shrinks investment in infrastrubblingture and education, cuts funding to research and development, eliminates the safety net for our most vulnerable citizens and breaks a promise to seniors by once again attacking the medicare guarantee theesms cuts undermine our short-term recovery and shortchange critical investment this is a will keep us competitive in the global economy. in short, republicans ignore solid american values, instead, doubling down on inconsistent assumptions and budget gimmick this is a just do not add up this budget should have been

released on groundhog day but i guess that april fools day is just as appropriate. i ask you, don't be fool ismed yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. burgess: i rise today to remember ray hutchison, husband to our colleague, former senator kay bailey hutchison a great texan and even better friend. through his work in developing nearly every public works project in our area, he's least lasting mark on the north texas community. he was a driving force in creating dallas-fort worth airport, one of the largest airports in the country today, as well as dwhoping dallas area rapid transit system. he also contributed to several professional sporting areas, we can thank him for moving the

washington senators to texas and giving us the texas rangers. his accomplishments are too great to list in one minute but i'm proud to have known him. on behalf of the texas delegation i offer my sincerest condolences to former senator hutchison and her children, bailey and houston. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> last week, i signed on the bipartisan immigration reform bill. today i stand with millions across our country to call on speaker bayner to bring h.r. 15 to the house floor for a vote. mr. lowenthal: it secures our borders and increases economic opportunity for all americans. we request a vote. no, we demand a vote. we demand a vote, mr. speaker, we demand this vote because of

the american -- because the american people are tired of living under a broken immigration system and seeing families broken apart. the american people know that passing this bill will save our country $ -- will save our country $900 billion other the next two decades. we know the american people overwhelmingly support immigration reform with a path to citizenship system of, mr. speaker, give the american people that vote. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> not only is april autism awareness month but, today is world autism awareness day. today we join with families across the world in a sign of support and encouragement. mr. yoder: according to the department of health and humaner is virks one in six babies born will be diagnosed with some degree of autism. families with autism are in all our districts, they are our

neighbors, our family and friends, yet far too little support occurs for families raising an autistic child. april is one more opportunity to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of research and advocacy for americans living with developmental disabilities. families dealing with autism deal with their problems lovingly and raise children who contribute to our community in so many ways. i'm proud to recognize april as national autism awareness month. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, on tuesday, republicans released their budget blueprint on the american public. budgets are moral document this is a reflect our priorities as a nation. mr. veasey: republicans have outlined their priorities in this budget, raising taxes on the middle class, cutting taxes for multimillionaires and

hurting seniors by ending medicare as we know it. the budget plan introduced this week offers no real solutions. if your thing is massive cuts to nutrition, health care and other critical support that give lose income children and families a decent chance at life, then the ryan budget is your deal. instead of making these hits on the middle class, we should focus on improving education, investing in domestic manufacturing and paving the way for a good future. also troubling is that the ryan budget rejects the opportunity to enact immigration reform, raise the minimum wage and extend unemployment insurance that will create jobs and strengthen our economy. as elected leaders we owe it to the american people to invest in them, not cut the safety net from under them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. today in my 23 in one journey i'd like to take you to a beautiful city in west texas known as marfa. established as a stop for the railroad it's become a cultural mixing bowl with cowboys and artists alike. located at an altitude of over 4,800 feet, situated on the mar fa plateau -- on the marfa plateau, it's serve had the backdrop to many movie, including "giant" starring james dean and elizabeth taylor. despite a population of only 2,000 people, it's become a hidden cultural hub in the desert. it's filled with cowboys, art galleries, mexican food and texas barbecue. mr. gal lembings go: you'll find one of the most beautiful courthouses in texas and the

antelope literally come out to play. in marfa, the old clashes with the new to form a harmony that's truly american. i'm honored to represent a city so cultured in life and history. thank you, mr. speaker, i invite everyone marfa and yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new hampshire seek recognition? without objection the gentlelady s recognized for one minute. >> the supreme court's conservative majority has decided the wealthiest americans should be allowed to have even more influence in politics to advance their personal or political or business agenda. ms. kuster: the court has allowed more money into campaigns and this threatens to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. today's supreme court decision is the worst affront to democracy since citizens united. congress must take action. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition?

the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: thank you, mr. speaker, i ask for unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman from colorado is recognized for one inute. >> kentucky is a nice state too ut colorado is better. mr. perlmutter: give us a vote on immigration reform. the senate passed a bill in a bipartisan fashion almost a year ago on comprehensive immigration reform. americans want comprehensive immigration reform. we have a bill h.r. 15, which provides for comprehensive immigration reform. it would pass this house. but mr. speaker, for some reason or another, the republican majority will not bring it up. will not allow the house to vote

on it. the senate had the courage to vote on it. the house ought to bring this up and pass comprehensive immigration reform. it can be done this week or next week. let's get it done. just give us a vote. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek regular nick -- recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> the other week i met with leads of the san diego medical community who had a unified message. we need to end the cuts in research that slowed medical innovation for the last decade. i'm proud to be leading the bipartisan effort along with nearly 200 of my colleagues to push for -- for over $32 billion in federal funding for the nmple i.h. mrs. davis: this is a very personal issue. almost all of us know someone who is struggling with a disease where the national institute of

health funding is used to find a cure that person could be a mother, a father, a family friend, or even more heart wrenching, a child. and the disease could be cancer, it could be alzheimer's, diabetes, m.v. -- m.s. or any of the other diseases people face every day. it's more than a matter of scientific research. it's a matter of economics. for a generation, california has been a world lead for the life sciences innovation and our state is home to the most job the most companies, the world's greatest concentration of top tier research institutions. it is time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. mrs. davis: it is time to resers the budget cuts. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i thank the speaker. all across america and around the world, the men and women in the united states military serve us and serve us well.

would you wonder whether or not their families back home would be eligible for an increase in the minimum wage? their families may be blue collar workers or workers in the service industries and here they are, willing to sacrifice their life and we here in the united states congress won't raise the might be many -- minimum wage to $10.10. what an outrage. even the possible compromise that is percolating around has the awe disity to suggest that $7.25 is ok. we'll raise it just a little bit. but you don't understand the facts. $10.10 is over a three-year period. then today on the floor of the house a brilliant idea. h.r. 2575, i believe is the name, and this one wants to eliminate the opportunity of those who are working 30 hours a week to get health care. across the way, in the budget hearing, the republican budget is cutting trillions of dollars

in social services and medicaid. raise the minimum wage, take the american people off of social needs, assistance and stop the tom foolery of turning this country -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker. by direction of the committee on rules i call up house resolution 530 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 95, house resolution 530, resolved that upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill h.r. 2575 to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to repeal the 30-hour threshold for classification as a full-time employee for purposes of the pler mandate and the patient protection and affordable care act and replace it with 40 hours. the amendment in the nature of a substitute