to the secretary of veterans affairs and to the house and senate veterans' affairs committee on proposed research studies. research plans or research strategies related to the health consequences of military service during the gulf war. our gulf war veterans suffer from real illnesses. these illnesses require real treatment that can only be found through proper, objective, evidence-based research. this research advisory committee has the potential to find these treatments with the right combination of researchers directing and reviewing research. thank you, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman in -- from florida. mr. miller: there's a gentleman who has been at the forefront of making sure health care is provided in a timely fashion to our veterans, someone who is

himself a combat veteran, i recognize the gentleman from colorado, mr. coffman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. coffman: as a gulf war and iraq war veteran, i'm grateful for your leadership on the house committee on veterans affairs. h r. 4 61, the gulf war health research reform act of 2014, which i sponsored along with ranking member kirk patic right hand -- and full committee ranking member michaud restores the infence of the research advisory committee on gulf war illnesses to perform the role it has historically played. as intebbeded by congress. to improve the lives of gulf war veterans. this bill is necessary because some career v.a. staff have been trying to revive the discredited 1990's fiction that nothing

special happened to gulf war veterans' health and that the problems experienced by gulf war veterans are, quote, what happens after every war, unquote. due to psychological stress factor. because there is no scientific evidence for this position, v.a. staffers have resorted to manipulating research studies and reports to try and revive this discredited theory. a major new v.a. gulf war veterans survey, for example, included the questions necessary to identify ptsd but not gulf war illness. most shockingly, v.a. has manipulated new reserge to the institute of medicine by limiting the terms of its contract. v.a. transformed an constitute of -- an institute of medicine war treatment studied by -- ordered by congress into a report based largely on psychotherapy. the research advisory committee

objected strongly to these action which is threatened to mislead treatment resedge just as science is finally turning the corner. v.a. retaliated by eliminating the independence of the committee. changing its charter to remove its authority, to review the effectiveness of government research programs and replacing the members serving on the committee. the effect of these changes can already be seen. the section of the new 2014 research advisory committee reports detailed research had to be removed because the committee's authority to review the effectiveness of v.a.'s research programs had been eliminated. the independence voice of crit -- independent voice so critical to honest research, will be all but replaced by september be those who seem to bend to v.a.'s will. h.r. 4261 will have the

authority of the committee and provide that its membership, instead of being appointed entirely by v.a., will consistent of -- consist of nine members of chairs and ranking member os they have house veterans affairs committee and the senate veterans afairs committee and three members by v.a. this arrangement follows the long-standing model of bipartisan advisory committees. the bipartisan advisory committee on student financial research at the department of education. current law provides that the research advisory committee membership may include veterans, representatives of veterans and the general public. while there are those who seek to limit veteran members to ill veterans, excluding most veterans service organizations' representatives and others, the research advisory committee has been well served by having both ill and other veterans serve on the committee. it is important to remember that the unwillingness of v.a. to

honestly address this illness is the reason congress created the research advisory committee in the first place. the 1997 congressional research -- congressional report that led to the legislation entitled gulf d.r veterans' illnesses, v.a.- -- i'm sorry. v.a., department of defense continues to deny toxic causes to tronic health problems, unquote. science has made great progress since then. thanks in no small measure to the work of the research advisory committee as well as to the effect of gulf war research illness program that congress created at the congressionally directed medical research program. but this progress is all at risk if v.a. is able to again mislead

science. mislead science down a blind alley. directing research dollars at the wrong target. as often happens -- happened in the 1990's and 2000, it is also portant -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute and a half. mr. coffman: it's also important to ask why the v.a. has pursued this course. last month we learned the answer. on april 22, 2014, military times reported that v.a. undersecretary for benefits alison hickey objected to using the term gulf war illness because it, quote, might imply a causal link between service in the gulf war and poorer health which could necessitate, and then she goes on, disability compensation for veterans who served in the gulf, unquote. even if this policy was morally

justifiable, and saving money was the only goal, it is wrong. it will cost the federal government far less in the long run to face this problem honestly and pursue effective treatments rather than to design benefits and misleading research. and provide misleading research. we have strong support for this legislation from the veterans of foreign wars, the american veterans or amvets and the vietnam veterans of america. i urge my colleagues to support this bill, without an independent research advisory committee, the slow but steady progress toward identifying treatments for gulf war illness will most surely end. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from arizona. ms. kirk pat ex-- mrs. kirkpatrick: i have no further speakers. i want to acknowledge the work

who jim benz in arizona has made countless tripes back -- trips back here to support this bill. we need to do right by our gulf war veterans. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: i urge all members to support h.r. 4261 and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4261. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, the chair declares t

who spoke at the heritage foundation today about national security policy. he's considered to be the next chair of the committee to succeed congressman buck mckeon who's retiring at the end of the year. his remarks are about half an hour. >> well, thanks.

i appreciate the invitation to be with y'all today. and certainly have benefited from heritage foundation's insights on national security since i was a young hill staffer working on defense issues in the early 19 0s -- 1980's. those were exciting and rather contentious times. i think we suffer from a bit of amnesia if we believe that reagan's defense buildup and his fight against communism, alongside margaret thatcher and john paul ii, were some sort of inevitable triumph of consensus policies. in fact, reagan's policies were resisted every step of the way. viciously. and just as steps that we need to take today are and will be resisted. i also think the effort of heritage to look back a century at world war i is good and

needed. partly to prevent the sort of amnesia that i just mentioned and partly because there seems to be an inevitable tendency to abuse history for current political ends. even recent history. we tend to err in one of two ways. either we try to shoehorn whatever the current problem is into some sort of historical analogy, and it's usually munich, vietnam or these days iraq, or -- and thereby make the outcome inevitable. or we tend to forget the lessons of history and thereby fulfill the warning by repeating the mistakes of the past. the truth is, no result is inevitable. it depends on the decisions we and others make, but if we're wise we can learn the lessons of history, take the principles of history and apply them to the circumstances of today. so if i can shortcut to my bottom line, it is that peace

through strength is one of those principles that we can and should relearn, refresh and apply over and over again. now, some people may ask whether this slogan really has any application in today's world. there are some who seem to believe that the national security challenges we face today are far too complicated for the simplistic approaches of some bigone era, that what we need is someone who is not tied to the past, who is nimble and smart enough to find just the right balanceed approach for every single problem that we face. today at west point the president has said to begin an effort to explain his national security policy to us. according to press reports, we, the american people, don't really understand just how daft the president's policies of hitting singles and doubles in

foreign policy really is. the problem is us. but if we let him educate us, then we will come to have a greater appreciation of his more sophisticated, nuanced approach to these sorts of issues. maneuver as he will, the united states does face a wide, complex array of threats. mr. putin has reminded us that europe is not the peaceful place that many people had assumed. despite the administration's best efforts to persuade us otherwise, the terrorists have not all gone away. in fact, in many ways the terrorist threat today that we face is more diverse and more difficult than ever before. i noted a story in "the new york times" the other day ago where the new director of the f.b.i. said that before he was sworn in he underestimated the terrorist threat. quote, i didn't have anywhere near the appreciation i got after i came into this job just how virulent those affiliates

had become, he said. there are both many more than i appreciated and they are .tronger than i appreciated of course boko haram is just the latest to remind us of that. the dangers posed by outlaw states such as north korea and iran are greater now than they've been in some time. afghanistan we'll talk about a little more in a minute but we have to keep sight of the point that whatever policy we have in afghanistan has repercussions next door to the nuclear state of pakistan. the re-emergence of al qaeda groups in iraq coupled with the safe havegen in syria poses higher risk as europes -- europeans and others travel there and back again. new domains of warfare and, -- in cyber and outerspace continue to develop and we struggle to keep up. a few weeks ago i traveled to asia with majority leader cantor as we heard the same talking points from one high ranking chinese official after

another. i must confess that my heart sank. because they clearly see china as a rising power, they clearly see the united states as a declining power, they clearly have historical grievances that they think this is the time to correct, they are clearly aggressive and confident and all of that made me think of germany before world war i. now, i don't see conflict with china as inevitable, there are probably as many differences as similarities with kyser's germany, but again it depends on the decisions we make. and how they view those decisions. the other point that was made clear from that trip is that friends and allies and other countries who are not necessarily friends and allies are watching very carefully whether the united states keeps its commitments and means what it says. today there's reason to doubt

not only in asia but in europe and the middle east and africa, south asia as well. so maybe it's no surprise but it's still a little bit unsettling to see people like richard haas, president of the counsel on foreign relations, write, quote, american foreign policy is in troubling disarray. we are witnessing an accelerated movement toward a post-american world. or david brooks in "the new york times," quote, all around the fan rick of peace and order -- the fabric of peace and order is freying. -- the world is disorganized and the superpower is not taking the lead. he went on to say that he intends to argue to president obama that if he doesn't lead, then find a country that will. now, these are not exactly your typical obama bashers. across the spectrum there's

concern that under barack obama america is in withdrawl mode. and there's a fear that the president thinks and acts like he can make things happen in the world just by giving a speech. that he can protect america with his rhetoric. now, look, i'm a fan, a big fan of churchill and reagan. i have a lot of appreciation for effective communication. but that communication has to be backed up by something and backed up by someone who is willing to make the tough choices and then defend them. what we say is important, what we do is more important. the president has taken speak softly and carry a big stick and just turned it on its head. more people are coming to realize that, unfortunately, more often than not for this administration short-term

political tactics take precedence over protecting longer term strategic interests. david ignacious, not a typical obama critic and one who admits he has sympathies with obama's foreign policy goals, writes that the benghazi emails, quote, shows that the administration spent more time thinking about what to say than what to do. and he goes on to write, under obama, the united states has suffered some reputational damage. this damage unfortunately has largely been self-inflicted by an administration that focuses too much on short-term messaging. consistent with this short-term political focus is the unprecedented micromanagement of all aspects of national security by the white house staff. from secretary gates' book and other accounts, it's clear how frustrated people in the

departments have been in trying to carry out their responsibilities. and i have heard from them firsthand about how difficult this is. remember, the biggest scandal of the reagan administration was an operation run out of the national security council staff and yet that happens every single day in the obama white house. so, the president's going to educate us. and -- about how these critics are wrong and how enlightened his policies truly are. well, what are the fruits of the obama approach? well, aggressor are emboldinned, friends are unsure, neutrals are making new calculations and according to the yearly index published by freedom house, freedom is in retreat. declining for the eighth consecutive year. again, this morning "the washington post" editorial board writes that the afghan decision would be

understandable had mr. obama's previous choices proved out. but what's remarkable is that the results have been consistent. consistently bad. end quote. the president loves to set up strawmen arguments. his opponents are either isolationists or interventionists and of course he knox them down, comes right down the middle with the only reasonable policy approach. that's an approach to argument that we can expect i guess from a law professor but that's not leadership. this world does not operate in split-the-difference, neither-this-nor-that mode. the world wants to know, what will america fight for? what does america stand for? can america be counted on? yesterday the president announced that we would keep 9,800 troops in afghanistan after december, cutting that

number in half next year and then pulling them all out by the end of 2016. i can't be the only one who suspects that we got to 9,800 because it sounds a whole lot better than 10,000. and i suspect i'm not the only one who suspects that this is another example of the president calculating what the minimum necessary to get by is, but his heart really isn't in it. now, listen, if you're a friend or ally of the united states, does this decision give you more confidence in your friendship with us? here's a harder question. if you're one of those 9,800, do you think the president really supports your mission? we started out talking about learning the lessons of history this morning. again, "the washington post" in this morning's editorial notes that we left afghanistan once, 9/11 happened and we vowed we

were never going to leave again. to make that sort of premature decision. even a president with rhetorical gifts cannot finesse his way out of military weakness or a loss of credibility in the world. power and influence in the world comes from having the capability plus the will to use it. we acquire military capability with our defense budget, last week the house passed the national defense authorization act for 2015, the vote was 325-98. having bipartisan support, of course the president promptly threatens to veto the bill. in part because we rejected, as did the senate armed services committee, a lot of the proposals that he had made. for four years in a row, the administration has sent congress budgets that hide the full effect of their defense cut business including a number of proposals that they know

neither the house nor the senate, neither republicans nor democrats, will agree to. defense spending this year is 17% of the federal about budget. that's the lowest it's been since world war ii. does congress bear some of the responsibility for these declining budgets and loss of military capability? absolutely. both parties and both houses bear some of that responsibility. although i have to say, i do think mr. putin has helped enlighten some of our republican colleagues about the reasons that we always put national security first. but what we see over and over again however is that there is never any substitute for presidential leadership on matters of national security and when it is lacking, american security suffers. where are we heading with the budget? we if we don't find a way to replace the budget caps with

something more reasonable, we are headed toward the smallest army since world war ii, the smallest navy since 1931 and the mallest -- smallest air force we've ever had. we have already arrived at a place where we have a nuclear weapons complex that is falling apart, just as the challenges in dealing with those aging complex machines is mounting. and the reason is we have not kept the funding commitments that were made in exchange for the senate ratification of the new start treaty. we've already arrived in a place where our national security space program is dependent upon russian-made engines. so meanwhile, what's the rest of the world doing? according to the economist magazine, if you look at the last 10 years of military spending, china is up 170%, russia is up 110%, even india, with all of its domestic challenges, is up 45%. the u.s. is up a meager 12% and

some of our best friends, britain, france and italy, all went down. of course it's not just about how much money is spent. it's also about how that money is spent. and we clearly have a lot of work to do to see that our defense dollars are spent more wisely, that we get more defense out of the money we spend, and we have a bipartisan, bicameral effort to work with the pentagon and with industry to help reduce overhead and also improve our acquisition policies. but on the bigger budget picture, the administration resorts to political blamesmanship, accusing congress of just being interested in parochial interests, for not agreeing to their defense cuts. is there some of that? sure. always has been, always will be. is that the reason so many members of congress in both parties have real doubts and concerns about where this administration is taking our

country's security? i don't think so. i disagree with a lot of the president's proposals really for two reasons. one is i'm not sure they're well thought out. last year they came to us and proposed that we keep the u-2 airplane and retire the global hawk. this year's budget proposal just reversed it. and wants to retire the u-2 and keep the global hawk. when you flip-flop completely within one year, it doesn't give you a lot of confidence that these proposals have been thought out. i know this, if you talk to the commanders in korea, they want to keep them both, with the volatile young leader who is now in charge in the north. but the other reason i'm not willing to accept many of the administration's proposals is that i'm not willing to accept that we have to have a smaller military or a smaller role in the world. most republicans and many democrats are not willing to throw up our hands in retreat and resign ourselves to a smaller military and that smaller role.

because we know that as the united states retreats, others will fill that void. and those others will not move the world toward greater freedom and greater prosperity. the united states is exceptional and it's exceptional in a way that no other country in the world is. the president also accuses republicans of wanting to use military force in every situation. well, i don't. i think that's another of the president's strawmen arguments. i do believe in smart power. i served on the smart power commission that issued its report in 2007. we talked about having the full range of tools of national power and influence so that you could use the right tool for the right situation. some of those tools however need to be big hammers. and every one of the tools are more effective if they are backed up by a credible

military power. but, see, that's the rub. we have to have the military power. and it has to be credible. and we have to be credible about its use. david ignacious wrote that the intangible factors of strength and credibility are in fact the glue of a rules-based international system. see, that's what's fraying, our strength and our credibility. and that's the reason for the disarray. cutting through it all was former prime minister tony blair whose advice to us is, don't worry so much about being loved, just be strong. what the world needs now is for you to be strong. of course no one could say it better than president reagan. memorial day, 1986, over at arlington, quote, and we owe

them something, these boys. we owe them a promise to look at the world with a steady gaze and perhaps a resigned toughness, knowing that we have adversaries in the world and challenges and the only way to meet them and maintain the peace is by staying strong. that of course is the lesson of this century. lesson learned in the lands of poland and hungary, czechoslovakia and cambodia. if we really care about peace, we must stay strong. if we really care about peace, we must, through our strength, emonstrate our unwillingness to accept an ending of the peace. we must be strong enough to create peace where it does not exist and strong enough to protect it where it does. end quote. the theme of this month here at heritage is protect america. the only way to do that, the only way for us to have peace, the only way for the world to have peace, is for america to

be strong. and for america to be credible. peace through strength applies as much now as it ever has. thank you. [applause] >> 10 minutes or so for questions. nybody that might have them? you can use the microphone. we'll be broadcasting this. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> you can watch all of this event at c-span.org. we leave it now to go live to the house as members are returning for voteds. postponed votes will be taken in the following order. house resolution 599 by the yeas and nays and h.r. 503 by the yeas and nays. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. the remaining electronic vote will be conducted as a five-minute vote. the unfinished business is on the motion of the gentleman --

of the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, to suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 599 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 599, resolution urging the goth of the people's republic of china to respect the freedom of assembly, expression and religion of all fundamental human rights and the rule of law for all its sit certains and stop censoring discussion of the 1989 tiananmen square demonstrations and their violent suppression. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to the resolution? members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. 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 379, the nays are one. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are not suspend -- are suspended, the resolution is agreed to and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the house will come to order. he house will come to order. the house will come to order. please take your discussion off the floor, please take your seats. please cease your conversations on the floor. please cease all conversations n the floor.

please take your conversations off the floor. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? mrs. capps: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mrs. capps: mr. speaker, today i rise with a heavy heart. on friday night my home community was rocked by unspeakable violence which left six students and their assailant dead. and 13 others injured. the ram pages shook the communities of eye la vista and the university of california in santa barbara and the nation. last night i joined with my community at ucsb to honor those we lost. together we have taken the first steps toward making sense

of the senseless. but it will be a long journey. we have many questions and over the weeks and months ahead, perhaps more will be posed than we can answer. but we will work through it together. and while we all struggle to make sense of this tragedy, i want to thank you, my colleagues, and the communities across the nation for your prayers, your kind words and your support. this act was fueled by hate, but in the wake of this tragedy, we as a nation have shown that in a dark time we do not walk alone. we do not grieve alone. so we will not have to heal alone. day we remember the victims, , david wang, ames

katherine cooper, christopher ss michaels martinez and veronica wise. we send our deepest sympathies to their families and to their friends. we lend support to the injured. and we pledge to stand with the santa barbara community and all those touched by violence to do all we can to prevent the sort of -- this sort of tragedy in the future. mr. speaker, i would now like to ask that the house observe a moment of silence for the victims, for their families, their friends, for the u.c. santa barbara community and all who mourn in the wake of this senseless tragedy. the speaker pro tempore: if you

haven't already risen, please arise for a moment of silence. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 503 as amended, on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 325, h.r. 503, a bill to authorize the national desert storm memorial to establish the national desert storm and desert shield memorial in the district of columbia and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended.

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

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 370, the nays are 0. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on h.r. 4660. mr. wolf: and that i may include tabular material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, ordered. pursuant to house resolution 5 5 and rule 18 -- 585 and rule

18, the chair the claires the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h.r. 4660. the chair appoints the gentlewoman from missouri, ms. wagner, to preside over the ommittee of the whole. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 4660, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriationers in departments of commerce and justice, science, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2015, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the bill

is considered read the first ime. the gentleman from virginia, mr. wolf, and the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fattah, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. wolf: i thank the chair. madam chair, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wolf: i'm pleased to begin consideration of h.r. 4660, making appropriations for the fiscal year 2015 for commerce, justice, science and related agencies. the bill has far-reaching impact from the safety of eople in their homes and communities to exploring the farthest reaches of space. the bill before the committee today reflects a delicate balance of needs and requirements. it addresses what i consider responsible bill for f.y. 2015 spending levels for the department and agencies under the subcommittee's jurisdiction. we have had to carefully prioritize the funding in the bill and make hard choices about how to spend the scarce resources.

i want to thank chairman rogers for supporting us and helping us move the bill forward. i also wanted to thank the subcommittee ranking member, mr. fattah, who has been a valued partner and colleague. i appreciate his commitment, his understanding of the wide variety of programs in this bill, and i understand him for his help -- and i thank him for his help. i also want to thank all the members in the subcommittee for their help and assistance and mrs. lowey, the ranking member of the full committee. i want to thank the majority staff for their hard work, leslie, jeff, diana, cullen and taylor. and i appreciate the professionalism and cooperation of the minority staff, in particular i want to thank bob and matt for the help during all the long hours spent putting this bill and report together. the bill totals $51.2 billion in discretionary spending, a reduction of $398 million or

approximately 1% below current fiscal year. since the beginning of the 112th congress, the committee has cut the total amount of the c.g.s. bill by $13.3 billion or 20% over five fiscal years. we have focused limited resources on the most critical areas. fighting crime and terrorism, including a focus on preventing and investigating cyberattacks and boosting u.s. competitiveness and job creation by investing in exports, manufacturing, science and space exploration. for the department of commerce, the bill includes $8.4 billion, $391 million below the president's request. the bill provides funding above the request for the national weather service operations -- operation's weather research and satellite systems that will result in more timely and accurate warnings and forecasts. severe weather events often result in the loss of life and economic ruin. we saw this again recently with

a devastating tornadoes in arkansas, mississippi and elsewhere. these investments save lives in arkansas and mississippi and they will save lives wherever the next severe weather event strikes. the bill makes critical investments in manufacturing, export promotion and job creation, including the commerce department and task force to incentivize u.s. companies to bring their manufacturing and service activities back to the united states. the bill also includes $856 million for research standards, their work is critical to innovation and competitiveness, including $130 million for the manufacturing and extension partnership program to help advance job growth in the manufacturing sector. it also funds the cybersecurity center of excellence to work with companies to bolster cybersecurity in the retail sector and encourages development of a cyberbreach database, especially in light of the attacks on target and

niemann marcus that impacted millions of americans. the primary focus in the bill this year is scientific research, innovation and competitiveness. investing in basic research is key to growth and job creation and the foundation for the economic security of future generations and enables us to stay ahead of china. the bill includes $7.4 billion for the national science foundation, an increase of $232 million or 3.2% above f.y. 2014 for basic research and science. despite the constraint allocations, this is a high water mark for the basic research funding that will keep america's economy strong by setting the groundwork for the development of new technologies, again, to stay ahead of, not to be competitive with, but to stay ahead of the people's republic of china. a communist government. with increased funding comes increased responsibility. i would expect the n.s.f. to

follow through on the commitments it has made to the committee to increase accountability and transparency in its grant decision making. no funny grants is what i'm trying to say. a new director must take every necessary step to ensure that research grants are scientifically meritorious and the funding allocations reflect national priorities and the taxpayer investments in science have been used wisely. developing -- developing a well-educated stem force is also critical to american competitiveness. more than $1 billion is provided throughout the bill for these efforts including $876 million for n.s.f. programs to improve the quality of science education. for nasa the bill includes $17.9 billion, including funding above the request to keep the development schedule, inflate milestones for the owe ryan crew vehicle and the space launch system which will provide the capability for the u.s. to return to the moon and go to mars.

it is also important for the u.s. to end, end our reliance on russia. for crew access to the international space station as soon as possible, which is why commercial crew development is funded at $785 million with instructions to nasa to find the fastest and safest way to close this gap. this also includes an increase of $100 million for aeronautics research. aerospace is the pillar of the american manufacturing sector and one of our leading exports. this investment will boost our aviation competitiveness and improve air safety. the president's request for a nasa science program would have inhibited progress on planetary science goals including missions to mars and europa. this includes $5.2 billion for nasa science which restores those cuts. the bill also includes important resources to address critical security gaps

throughout nasa. as the recent espionage case further demonstrated, countries like china are engaged in an unprecedented effort to steal cutting-edge technology from u.s. labs and companies. this includes the ground breaking space and aeronautics research done at nasa every day. we need to make sure we're doing everything possible to prevent the theft or unauthorized disclosure of this technology. last year the committee's direction of national academy public administration, led by former attorney general, conducted an external review that found troubling vulnerabilities in nasa's security controls and practices. they found nasa's systems were compromised and a troubling culture threat that failed to prioritize security. funding is included in this bill for nasa to protect its cutting-edge technologies with improved i.t. security, export control training, additional counterintelligence staffing and the operation of a new foreign national access

management program. the bill also calls for nasa to submit a follow-up report by the end of f.y. 2015 on nasa's progress in implementing the recommended improvements. the committee will continue to hold nasa accountable for the implementation of these security provisions. for the department of justice, the bill includes $27.8 billion, $384 million above the current level. the top mission priority of the justice department is defending national security from both internal and external threats. the bill was $8.5 billion, an increase of $125 million for the f.b.i. including funds to prevent and combat cyberintrusions which director believes may overtake terrorism as the number one threat facing the nation. every major company in the united states has now been hit by the chinese with cyberattacks. many members of congress have had their computers stripped by the chinese. the f.b.i. continues to build a nationwide capability for

cyberinvestigations and the last work -- justice for the first time charged five officers of china's people's liberation army with economic cyberespionage, the first time foreign state acters have been so charged. i commend the administration but as having served in the army and been a private, a private never did anything, a sergeant didn't tell him to do. a sergeant didn't do anything the lieutenant didn't tell him to do. the lieutenant didn't do anything until the major and right up to the commander in chief so this is not just five low-level chinese officers. this goes to the highest level of the chinese government. this case is an example of the great work that many -- the men and women of the f.b.i. are doing with those investments in this bill over the last several years to confront cyberattacks and we thank the f.b.i. these efforts are necessary to stop the plundering of america's innovation, jobs and trade secrets. the f.b.i. is also at the forefront of the effort to combat violent gangs.

this bill increases, increases funding for safe street task forces to check this growing problem and better support state and local law enersment efforts to deal with gang net, with in their communities. the bill also includes $8.5 million for the national gang intelligence center and gives the center a new name, an additional mission to provide and coordinate intelligence on human trafficking networks nationwide and to disseminate that intelligence to law enforcement partners. the bureau of prison is responsible for the care of more than 250,000 federal offenders and 119 constitutions nationwide -- institutions nationwide. this includes $7 billion for the safe and secure operation of the federal prison system. it includes funding for the chuck colson task force in federal corrections. he dedicated his life when he got out of prisonen to reform the prisons and we have named this prison reform commission after chuck colson which will

recommend reforms to recommend public safety, improve offender accountability and reduce recidivism and control cost in the federal prison system. this effort will destill lessons learned from he innovations at the state level. many states are farther ahead. texas is farther ahead. many others farther ahead than the federal bureau of prisons and enable these forms to take hold in the correction system nationwide. the bill also directs the justice department office of victims of crime to provide the survivors and families of the victims of the november, 2009, terrorist attack at fort hood all possible and appropriate assistance. if we're going to help the victims of fort hood and their families, we're going to require the office to report to congress, quote, what if any role the classification of the attack as a workplace violence incident rather than a terrorist attack played on in determining what types of ssistance would be provided.

you look at emails this was a terrorist attack. it was not workplace violence. the bill also includes a number of important provisions in support of second amendment rights to include a new provision prohibiting the implementation of the arms trade treaty by executive order or otherwise. the bill also includes $2.1 billion for justice grant programs that support states, localities and nonprofits. this is a reconduction of $73 million from the current level. in fact, since 2009 these programs have been reduced by 49% and i know we're going to get amendments here complaining, but we had an allocation and we had to work within that allocation. despite the reduction, the bill provides proven high priority programs including burn justice assistance grants, state criminal alien assistance, violence against women programs, human trafficking grants and nadarkhani backlog reductions -- d.n.a. backlog reductions. this is a significant bill for reducing violence against women and providing services to victims of domestic violence,

sexual assault and stalking. the bill includes $425.5 million for these programs. more than the current level and more than the president's request. in this bill is more than the current level and more than the administration's request. also the bill triples the current level for human trafficking task forces and victims services. we are determined to make a difference, to bring an end, an end to the heinous crime that is happening not only in other countries but right here in the united states. we triple the current level, not just talk, not just rhetoric, words, but we triple the amount and every f.b.i. office is involved, every u.s. attorney has to have a task force to see if we can actually end this, perhaps the same way that the slave trade was ended. it also directs the attorney general to hold a national conference on sex trafficking with governors, every governor,

every u.s. attorney, federal, state, local law enforcement to evaluate and elevate the awareness and share the very best practices of what's going on in texas can be done in virginia, what's going on in pennsylvania can be done somewhere else. but this national conference, they'll all be together with the idea of ending this. the unacceptable backlog of d.n.a. tests at crime labs and law enforcement agencies demands action. the bill includes $125 million for existing d.n.a. programs and an additional $36 million to address the backlog of sexual assault kits at law enforcement agencies nationwide. the bill includes funding for prescription drug monitoring, thanks to chairman rogers, and also significant increase for the diarra's tactical diversion squads -- d.e.a.'s tactical diversion squads to address prescription drug abuse. after the virginia tech shooting in 2007, congress passed a bill to improve the national background check

system, a critical tool for eeping firearms out of the arm s of certain people. the bill for the second straight year includes funding of above the request for grants to states, above, it's above, to improve the records. this bill includes $58.8 million, an increase of 6% above the president's request, and $40 million above the f.y. 2013 level. the bill also includes $2 million for the national center for campus public safety, which the community established with the virginia tech family foundation. this serves as a clearing house for the dissemination of information and best practices. . there was no money requested for this but we wanted to fund it. additionally the bill includes $75 million for the comprehensive school safety initiative, the national center will study mental health as well

as exposure to violent video games, some of the violent video games and violent movies and school violence in the k through 12 level. for o includes testing mental health intervention in schools. they are seeking approval for proposals for studies of factors causing consequences in the funds. the cuts that were necessary against he fight crimes and against violence against women and boosts preparedness. contains the efforts to improve weather forecasting accuracy. we have tried hard to produce the best bill possible within the resources we had to work with. i urge all members to support it and i reserve the balance of my

time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. fattah: i rise to offer to the house our support for the base bill. the chairman of this committee, who i've had the honor to work with for a number of years, has laid out in some detail some of the appropriations in this bill and as our constitution requires, no dollar out of our treasury shall be appropriated except by act of congress so we are here in our constitutional role. i want to thank chairman wolf for all of the courtesies extended to the minority. obviously if we were drafting the bill we might have a different set of numbers in different areas for legal services or for cops but in the ain, this is a bill that every

effort that could be done to accommodate the minority, i think the chairman has extended himself. i want to thank him for his work with me over these many years inas much as this will be the last bill he will carry on the floor. this bill, i think, represents a set of priorities important to our nation that he has laid a predicate for that will be carried on even by others who may assume the role that he sits in today. as for the democrats, i want to say, a number of things. one is that we're very pleased that in this bill, the science accounts have been a coe fuss of high priority for nasa, over $17 billion for the national science foundation, $7.4 billion, as has been indicated the highest amount to date. the office of science and technology and the white house, fully funded at the president's request.

i think some of us know now that i consider the science activities in this bill to be very, very important and in particular, superior among equals in terms of science related activities, neuroscience. here again you'll see an extraordinarily significant increase, one of the highest increases in any of the science accounts. the world health organization says over a billion people suffering from brain related diseases and disorders, national institutes of health, national institutes of health says some 50 million americans suffering from dementia and epilepsy and all manner of neurological based diseases and disorders, in this bill we continue to fund a neuroscience initiative that was crafted and the chairman supported me in this effort in our very first bill and we continue to lay important foundations for our effort to

actually come to grips with some of these challenges so i'm very pleased about that. the manufacturing initiative, the manufacturing partnership, very important. we have today -- we lead the world in manufacturing but what -- our lead that was absolute is now relative and we see other countries who are moving aagressively in this field. the chairman led an initiative in terms of reshoring these jobs. i focused on trying to bring in more technology into our manufacturing plants but the two of us share a concern that america has to be a country where we make things and where the manufacturing sector is is secured in terms of being an important part of our economy's future. i want to also mention the focus on youth mentoring. it's above the president's request. the boys and girls clubs of america, which is a congressionally chartered

organization, which is serving some four million young people, big brothers, big sisters, girls incorporated, we could go through the hist -- go through the list. national, evidence-based organizations making a difference in the lives of young people and the committee is aware of the great work these organizations are doing. so we have seen fit and appropriately so with the chairman's support to raise even above the president's request our appropriations in this regard. so there'll be a number of amendments that we'll debate. democrats may have a different opinion on some of these items from our colleagues on the other team. there may even be circumstances where there'll be intra-mural differences on some of these differences. but at its base, the c.j.s. bill we present today, i think reflects the nation's priorities. obviously if we had a larger allocation, we would invest even more in a variety of these

priorities. i think some of the points the chairman has pointed to in human trafficking and err naughtics investments on the manufacturing side, there are a number of areas where you can see clearly that the chairman has taken extraordinary care to make sure that a number of items get the appropriate revenues that are needed so that we can truly make a difference. so we're anxious to have debate and get to the amendment and have the house work its will. i want to thank the majority as we come here today. we have an open rule. so the house will have an opportunity to work its will and yield -- at this time i reserve the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. wolf: i recognize mr. rodgers, chairman of the full committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is ecognized.

mr. rogers: i rise in support of this bill and i want to congratulate and thank chairman wolf and mr. fattah, the ranking member, especially and all the members of the subcommittee and staff for bringing us a bill that i think we can be proud of and support entirely. this is the third of the 12 appropriations bills that make up our work and this is the third we've brought to the floor this year and i think this bill, like the other two that passed, deserves our support. we're moving at a very fast clip on the committee. that should allow us to complete our appropriations work for the 2015 fiscal year on time. and i promise that my committee will do everything it can to make that a reality. as chairman wolf has said, the bill provides $51.2 billion for the department of justice,

department of commerce, nasa, the national science foundation, and related agencies. this very for row piece of legislation, which was approve -- approved by the committee, by the way, on a bipartisan basis, makes clear that our priorities of keeping our nation safe and growing is a priority. to achieve these goals, the committee has targeted precious tax dollars toward those programs with proven results and economic benefit. for example, they increased the funding for the department of justice by $383 million over last year and within that total, the bill targets f.b.i. funding toward counterterrorism programs and programs that fight cyberintrusion, gangs, human trafficking. we also work to fight drug traffic big providing the d.e.a.

with $2.4 billion. that includes $367 million to combat prescription drug abuse. which has quickly become our nation's number one drug threat and described by the center for disease control as a national epidemic, prescription drug abuse. the funding in this bill will also have to -- help to protect communities across the country from the risks of devastating natural disasters. if we reject -- we rejected the president's proposed cuts to the national weather service and made sure that adequate funding is provided for hurricane forecasting and tsunami warning grants. we have also made investments in the future of weather forecasting technology. in addition to the efforts in the bill to keep the nation safe, we've also funded programs that will help our nation

prosper. within the national science foundation and the department of commerce, the bill invests in programs that foster innovation and boost our economic competitiveness. this includes funding for programs that conduct research on manufacturing, cybersecurity, neuroscience, and stem education , as well as $5 million in grant funding to encourage the repatriation of overseas jobs. but, as my committee will do with erbil we bring to the floor this year, we have ensured that this funding is responsible, is reasonable, and will make the most of every single tax dollar spent. by scout ought waste and trimming unnecessary spending we produced a bill that comes in nearly $400 million below the

current year. i'd like to note that the committee did this in spite of the president's request, which had $800 million in false savings and offsets and underfunded a variety of critical programs. this bill rejects those gimmicks and makes sure that these programs have received funding levels that allow them to do their important work. to make sure this work does not fall to the wayside, the committee included several oversight provisions that will ensure our tax dollars are being spent responsibly. in addition, the bill includes several provisions that will assure the life, liberty, and property of the american people, such as prohibiting the transfer or release of guantanamo detainees into the u.s. protecting our second amendment rights. and preserving the sanctity of life.

madam chairman, before i close, let me take a moment to thank again chairman frank wolf, mr. fattah, members of the committee and staff for all their hard work on this bill. this is a tough bill to put together. and the allocation was not the greatest in the world that we had to work with. but they have, i think, fit the needs of the country into this bill. i want to particularly draw attention to the chairman of this subcommittee and the author of this fine piece of legislation. frank wolf has served in this house the same number of days that i have. we came together in 1980, january of 1981, and over that 34 years of service in this body, chairman frank wolf has en a stalwart, passionate,

compassionate, legislator, a dedicated, conscientious member of congress and appropriator. his expert work on this committee can be summed up in the legislation really that we have before us today. and i know that when he's gone, frank wolf's absence will be deeply felt. by me and all of his colleagues. and i think by the country. because he has truly served america for all these years unselfishly and with hard work and with compassion. and so, chairman wolf, for all you've done for this bill, the appropriations committee, the house of representatives, your native virginia, and the united states of america, we thank you.

and we will miss you. with that, madam chairman, i urge my colleagues to support he bill. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee yields back. the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. fattah: i yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlelady from the great state of new york, the ranking member, for the democratic team on appropriations, mrs. lowey. the chair: the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: thank you, mr. speaker. the fiscal year 2015 commerce, justice and science bill before us today provides good funding levels for important programs to support public safety such as burn justice assistance

grants and violence against women act services. i thank chairman wolf for working with me to include report language directing the f.b.i. to publish annual reports on the types of records submitted by each state and federal agency to the national instant criminal background check system. it is only as useful as the information it includes and these reports will help improve the system. chairman wolf and ranking member fattah should be commended for fully funding the office of science and technology policy. including its working group on neuro science as well asen crine -- neuroscience as well as an increase of $25.5 million for national science foundation's brain initialtive. investments in research -- initiative. investments in research and development grow our economy, help to ensure the future

scientific breakthroughs happen in american labs, not those overseas. in addition, i am extremely pleased that this bill will provide $125 million for the d.n.a. initiative as well as $36 million for new community backlog reduction program to process sexual assault kits which currently are often untested for years, sometimes decades. when information contained in these kits could help put violent criminals behind bars. however, i continue to be baffled by efforts aimed at limiting the ability of the federal government to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous individuals. an ill-advised and dangerous amendment was included during the markup to make it more

difficult for the a.t.f. in four southwest florida states to be aware of multiple purchases of powerful semiautomobile rifles. a.t.f. already receives this information for handguns, it is unfathomable that we would prevent law enforcement from having this information for semiautomobile rifles. especially when this amendment would make it more difficult to prevent the smuggling of guns to mexican drug cartels. this backwards policy will put lives at risk. we must not let it stand in the final bill. other measures must also be addressed before final enactment. the cops program would be cut wet side llion, the of noaa is also cut including a

40% reduction to fishries, habitat, conservation and restoration, and the complete elimination of the community-based restoration program. and while the bill funds noaa, weather satellites and the national weather service, it includes a sizable cut of 24% to noaa climate research. as the national climate assessment shows, storms and weather events are becoming more frequent, more severe and as a result more costly. we should be investing in research to combat the threat of climate change, not sticking our heads in the sand, pretending that science is wrong because combating such an obstacle would be too costly and inconvenient. while far from perfect in its current form, this is a reasonable bill that i can support.

however, it is imperative that no poison pill policy righters -- riders be included during house consideration. and as i close i want to say to the chairman, chairman wolf, and ranking member fattah, this really is an example of bipartisan cooperation. you work so effectively in putting this bill together and i want to congratulate you. but before i close, i also want thank the retiring chairman for your amazing service to our country. it really has been a pleasure for me to work with you and we know there is never a doubt when frank wolf gets up to speak, he speaks with conviction and power and determination. urso impressive. i do want to wish you and your

family the very best. for me it's really been a delight getting to know you. thank you so much for your service. the chair: the gentlelady from new york yields back. the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. 6 1/2 minutes left. mr. wolf: i yield to the gentleman from texas three minutes. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. when i was first assigned to the appropriations committee i asked to serve on the commerce, justice, science appropriations committee because of my passion for the sciences, for nasa, for law enforcement, but especially to serve alongside frank wolf. i've come to know frank wolf as a model public servant. he's someone who always does the right thing for the right reasons. and the country's generally going to miss this good man. i can't think of a single issue that we have dealt with in this bill that frank hasn't been the first to see the problem

approaching over the horizon. he's recognized from the beginning, when we were -- when we took the majority several years ago, chairman wolf, chairman rogers, all of us in the majority, as fiscal conservatives, recognize the -- recognized the urgent need to prioritize our constituents' hard-earned tax dollars and target them on those areas that are the highest priority for our nation. mr. culberson: and in this bill, as chairman rogers said, it's a true reflection of frank wolf's priorities, the fact that it's one that we're all able to work on together and without regard to party labels because which found common ground, it's one of the other great joys of serving on this committee, to find so many areas where we are able to work together and find areas of agreement. when it comes to the sciences or law enforcement, the work that chairman wolf has done, for example, in the persecution -- protected persecuted cist combrans -- christians and minorities around the world, all of us, democrat and republican alike, have been there to support him. chairman wolf was one of the first to stop the problem of

cybercrime coming primary out of communist china. frank was one of the very first to ring the fire bell and warn us of the dangers of the people's liberation army and the cyberattacks on this nation and on private industry. and we've now recognized the scope of that problem and it's because of frank wolf's leadership that we're in a position to fight it. frank wolf has led the way in strengthening the f.b.i. and the war on terrorism in fighting human slavery around the world and this bill indiana previous bills to help local law enforcement agencies to clean up the backlog of rape kits, preventing abuys in our prisons, preventing the relose of -- release of guantanamo terrorists into the united states, frank wolf has led the way. it was chairman wolf's bill to create the select committee on benghazi. anywhere he sees a problem and genuinely recognizes in his heart of hearts that that's something for the good of the nation, he's been fearless about stepping forward and dealing with it. in the area of the sciences, we see chairman wolf's leadership in increasing funding for the national science foundation and

nasa and noaa. the country will miss you, chairman wolf. i thank you for your service to the people of america and the people of virginia. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. fattah: i would like to recognize for two minutes the gentlelady from texas who is the ranking member on the science committee, the authorizing committee here in the house, an extraordinary leader on science and innovation. the chair: the gentlelady from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you very much, madam chairman. funding for research innovation and stem education is an investment in our future. perhaps the single most important investment we can make. many of our competitors understand this and are striving to surpass the united states in innovation capacity and in the creation of a highly skilled 21st century work force. it used to be that the world's best and brightest flocked to

our shores. now many of our own best and brightest are finding better opportunities in other countries. we are chasing them away from stem careers altogether. in 2007 and again in 2010, the u.s. congress passed the america competes act, recognizing the importance of increased investment in research, innovation and stem education, signed into law by presidents bush and obama respectively. appropriations have not kept pace with authorization but not from the lack of effort and commitment by appropriations colleagues. c.j.s. appropriations subcommittee chairman wolf, ranking member fattah, chairman rogers and ranking member lowey, i want to thank them, my colleagues, for endour -- for enduring support ever of of science, even when it meant making very difficult cuts elsewhere. as this is chairman wolf's last

bill, c.j.s. bill, i want to express my personal gratitude to him in particular for being a strong and unwaving champion for the national science foundation and for stem education. i will miss him greatly. e all with -- we all will. in sad contrast, last week my own committee debated re-authorization legislation that would turn back the progress we have made in securing our nation's feature -- future innovation capacity and voted out a bill this afternoon, a substitute today, without a single democratic vote. mr. chairman, i urge my colleagues in the strongest possible terms to add their own vote of confidence in our nation's premier science agency, the national science foundation. it is the only agency to fund basic research across all fields of science and engineering. including importantly the social sciences.

the chair: the gentlewoman's time has expired. ms. johnson: i ask unanimous consent to put my entire message in the record. the chair: without objection. ms. johnson: thank you. thank you very much. the chair: the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. and the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. wolf: i yield the gentleman from california two minutes. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. rohrabacher: i appreciate all the great things the chairman has done and i echo my remarks of the praise that was sung by our friends from texas to the great job that speaker or chairman wolf has done in his career. i appreciate, for example, tonight that he's yielding me this time, knowing that he has strong disagreement about which i will be speaking. tomorrow i will be offering an amendment to the c.j.s. appropriations bill, along with my colleague sam farr, dan young, earl blumenauer, mr. mcclintock, brown, polis,

stockman, barbara lee, amash and tight us. very simply, our amendment -- titus. very simply, our amendment would prohibit the department of justice from preventing states from implementing their state medical marijuana laws. importantly, this amendment gives us an opportunity to show our support and how we -- what we really believe about the 10th amendment to the constitution. and it gives us an opportunity to support the intentions of our founding fathers and mothers. they never meant for the federal government to play the preeminent role in criminal justice. it should be disturbing to any constitutionalist that the federal government insists on the supremacy of laws that allow for the medical use of marijuana. so far 28 states and the district of columbia, that's a majority of the states of the union, have enacted laws to allow access to medical

marijuana or its chemical derivatives. they obviously believe enforcing such restrictions on the medical use of marijuana is a waste of extremely limited resources. this amendment has solid bipartisan support. and we have the opportunity now with this amendment to tell the department of justice that they are not permitted to waste limited federal dollars interfering with a duly enacted law of our states concerning medical marijuana. i urge my colleagues, democrats and republicans alike, liberals and conservatives, to support my amendment, respect state medical marijuana laws. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from virginia reserves. and the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. fattah: thank you. i would like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from the great state of california, congressman sam farr. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. farr: thank you very much for yielding and i rise in general debate to talk about

noaa but i first also want to echo everything that's been said about our great colleague, frank wolf. frank is one of the few members of congress who has visited my district, actually went onto my property in big sur, ended up coming back and saying, now i understand why you're so passionate about the oceans. it's an interesting committee that you've chaired, most of you, ranking and chair of the committee, because it's a committee that has all the department of commerce, has all the department of justice and has the science programs, nasa, n.s.f. and the science and technology policy, office of science and technology. essentially the science of america is in your hands and this bill has a lot of it in there, particularly i'd like to talk about noaa. noaa is the national ocean atmosphere administration and what's been happening is that as we've gotten interested in the weather and as we've gotten interested in sort of the sky, we're puttinlo