an even effect it in greater respect. it's important to note that all of the polls the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. god of the universe, we give you thanks for giving us -- for giving us another day. as the members of this people's house deliberate these days, give them the wiz dm and magna anymority to lay aside what

might divide us as a people to forge a secure future for our country. we pray for all people who have special needs. may your presence be known to those who are sick, that they might feel the power of your healing spirit. be with those who suffer persecution in so many places in our world and bless our troops who are engaged in the easing of those sufferings. to all who are afraid or anxious or whose minds are clouded by uncertain futures the peace and confidence that comes from trust in your goodness and mercy. inspire the men and women who serve in this house to be their best selves, that they may in turn be an inspiration to the nation and the world. may all that is done here this day be for your greater honor and glory, amen. the speaker pro tempore: 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 approve the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. foxx. ms. foxx: please join the pledge to our wonderful flag. 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 pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina eek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wilson: an alarming admission has shown itself in the june unemployment report. more people are dropping out of the job search than finding a new job. more people are giving up than

succeeding. this means the real unemployment rate is 11.2%, not 6.4%. hardworking americans are suffering and losing jobs at the hands of a failed job policy, at the hands of the president's pen. ow 14 million more americans depend on food stamps under his failed policy. a definition of success is having a job, not being forced to depend on food stamps. house republicans will continue working to create jobs by passing legislation that puts americans back to work in good-paying opportunities. over 40 jobs bills have passed the house but now are stuck in the senate. when more americans give up jobs than succeed, it's a problem. when it happens that many times in a row, it's a failure. god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. the recently revised downward first quarter g.d.p. numbers show the economy contracted by 2.9% in the opening months of 2014. we have a social safety net that is already forecast to run perpetual deficits for decades to come and diminished economic growth will hurt our already underfunded entitlement plans. for as long as i've been in congress, republicans have been working to enact structural reforms to put our budget back in balance. the recent g.d.p. reports make those reforms more urgent. these long-term reforms need to be considered. in the short run, let's hope the recent economic contraction will spur the president and senate majority leader harry reid to act on the dozens of house-passed job billion -- jobs

bills waiting action in the senate. these will help put america back to work and expand our economy. ill the president act? 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. >> i wish to speak about the internet tax freedom act. interstate commerce has blossomed with the internet connectivity we have been blessed with the last couple of decades. the internet tax freedom has prohibited your internet access bill from lighting up like a christmas tree as it has on the telephone bill. mr. chaffetz: it has aided those who want took sess this internet by allowing costs to stay down without burdensome taxes added on. if ever there was an invention that's truly interstate commerce , it's the internet.

we can be standing side-by-side and send each other a tweet or an email and it can go through a whole host of states to get to you. only two people voted against the internet tax freedom act and every four years we need to renew it. now chairman goodlatte is bringing this up again to make it permanent. i urge passage of the internet tax freedom act. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on july 14, 2014, at 11:19 a.m. that the senate passed senate 1104, senate 653, senate 2056,

senate 2057. that the senate passed without amendment h.r. 1376, h.r. 1813. signed sincerely, karen l. hawes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1rk the >> the house gavels and 55 minutes for legislative business, including a series of legislative bills. we spoke with a capitol hill reporter earlier today. >> joining us is ian swanson. thank you for being with us. have been talking about the republican loss against brock obama.

>> we believe the house rules committee will vote on whether to move forward with the lawsuit. we fully expect that to happen. the rules committee is dominated by republicans. helping the lawsuit to the floor. i'm not sure we will get a vote on the floor this week. certainly within the last three weeks congress will be in before the august recess we are going to see the house vote on whether to go forward with the lawsuit. we expect them to move forward with the lawsuit. >> are republicans united on this lawsuit? guest: i think there are a couple of things going on. you have a division among republicans over whether the president should be impeached. there are some republicans that want to go that far. many more who don't, who think that would be something that isn't worth doing at all because

it would go nowhere. they think that it could also bounce back and hurt them politically. so some people see this lawsuit as a way to sort of contain that fire for impeachment that could maybe backfire and hurt republicans ahead of the mid-term elections. there's also a lot of just general anger at the president among the republican party, republicans in the house in particular. and this is a way of sort of answering that anger with some kind of an action that will say, hey, we're trying to do something about this. host: another topic that has been in the news and on the minds of congress is this idea of an emergency supplementary funding to address the border crisis. will people on both sides of the aisle talking about that. what are we likely to see there? guest: that's the other huge story of july that we'll be covering. the question is whether congress can get that supplemental to the president's desk before they all leave town for the august recess. i think there's a lot of motivation for both sides to get something done before they leave, but there's really significant differences between

democrats and republicans over how that package should look. the big thing is whether you're going to change the law so that it's harder for people who are coming into the country from central american countries to get these automatic asylum hearings. there's a law that they changed in 2008 that's really leading to a lot of people crossing the border right now. and democrats and republicans disagree on how much you should change that law to try to prevent more people from trying to come into the united states. host: what about the highway trust fund deal? a lot of outrage from governors at the national governors association meet who are very worried congress won't reach a deal. do you see one in sight? guest: yes. in fact, at the end last week it looked like the house and senate were becoming really close on a deal that will provide some $10 billion to stop a shortfall in the highway trust fund. it's possible that they'll be able to move on legislation as soon as this week to get that done.

out of all the things we're talking about, i think that's the vehicle that seems the most likely to get done right now before the august recess. host: one last question for you, ian swanson. we have heard that senate democrats are moving forward to come up with some kind of legislation to address the supreme court's recent ruling on what's been known as the hobby lobby case. what can you tell us about that? guest: senate democrats are expected to move forward with legislation this week. it's going to get a vote, but this is a little bit like a lawsuit vote that we are talking about earlier against premeditate. premeditate in that -- against president obama in that it's likely to not pass the senate. if republicans in the senate are able to prevent them from getting the vote necessary to proceed. so i guess i should say it's a little different from the lawsuit in that the lawsuit is at least likely to get through the house but not the senate. this is something on the hobby lobby case they'll be able to vote on in the senate, will motivate the democratic base, but it will not get through the house and will not even get

through the senate. host: ian swanson, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us this morning. guest: thanks for having me. them again, the houses back at 3 p.m. eastern for legislative business. we will have live coverage when members gavel back in. iseland security jeh johnson planning to meet tonight with the conservative wing of the to urge a 3.3ty billion dollar spending address to address the us of -- the influx of unaccompanied minors crossing the border. to offerpared legislation that will make ,hanges to 2008 trafficking law allowing children to voluntarily return home to their families rather than to wait deportation hearings. expanding self deportation rights of children will result in sending young people back to places they won't be safe, which the 2008 law sought to address.

reminder at 5 p.m. eastern him of house rules committee will debate a bill extending road bridge and transit projects. live coverage at 5 p.m. eastern. c-span2 has a house in veterans affairs committee hearing, examining the v.a. health care system. focusing on the processing of benefit claims. in andl be able to join share your thoughts both on facebook and on twitter. for over 35 year c-span brings public affairs offense from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings, and conferences. and offering complete gavel to gavel coverage of the u.s. house, all as a public service of private industry. we are c-span, created by the cable tv industry 35 years ago and brought to you by a public

service -- rock you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. >> the national governors association summer meeting concluded on sunday with a speech by the ceo of best buy. we also heard from the incoming current device chair john hickenlooper. >> good morning, everyone. everyone survived the wonderful entertainment we had last night. what a fantastic way to close off our last evening of our national governors meeting. such a wonderful job. >> i think he should sing for us.

dam it makes you want to sing. a little kick in your walk. a fantastic trip and a wonderful meeting. we want to thank your sponsors and your hosts, certainly with our nga staff. this is our closing session of our 2014 summer meeting. been a great pleasure to serve as your chair. one of the reasons i chose my chair's initiative for to ensure job was that the changing business climate matches the education needs and also our workforce these at home. of all governors are keenly aware of how technology and innovation have forever changed and altered our national economy and affected our schools and ailey life. we should also pay attention to our large cities, small cities, and employers large and small.

our businesses on main street have long been the bread-and-butter of our economy. very pleased this morning that our next speaker comes from a unique perspective, leading a company that succeeds on both main street and e street. beginning has a company in 1966, the name was changed to best buy in 1983. the company has more than 140 thousand employees globally and more than 1400 retail locations in the united states. each year, about one billion people shop online at best buy.com and 6 million shoppers visit their u.s. stores. it is a great pleasure that we have with us our guest speaker, the president of best buy. i want to say this right -- did i do good? i have been working on it all week.

i especially look forward to hearing the talk about the future of america's brick and mortar stores. it is something the governor has focused on and talked about a lot. best buy to our local stores that can succeed in an ever-changing economy. he has a strong reputation of being able to turn around companies and chance for them and bring his expertise and also, the french division of electronic data system, and in the three years there, the company reversed its revenue slide to an annual revenue of 2.1 billion, while significantly increasing its profit margin. prior to joining best buy, he was a ceo, and before coming to carlson, he led a unit and grew from 8 billion to 25 early in in four years.

a remarkable history. to our governor secured today and our guest's that have joined us, let's give a warm welcome. [applause] >> thank you so much, governors, to speak with you this morning. despite my accent, i am from minnesota, a place where 2500 companies are headquartered and a wonderful place to live. we also have winters but we will not talk about that. i am the 14th executive officer of this company and it is a great honor to have the opportunity to speak with the

governors of the states in this great united states of america. this is really an important topic to be speaking about. it is important because of the importance of the retail industry and economy of all the states. retail is about one quarter of the gross to messick product of the united states -- gross domestic product of the united states. when you take into account the people working for retail who build the stores and so forth, it is about one quarter of the jobs in the united states. it is enormous. from a states standpoint, do i need to tell you the sales tax, it is about 250 ilion dollars?

on average 30% of the revenue of each of the states. we are happy to provide $2.6 billion. the impact of retail goes beyond this. active members of the communities in which we operate, beyond the jobs we provide, we contribute today's charitable causes, given the last 15 years. 140,000 hours of volunteer time, employees per year throughout the states. we also have a recycling program. probably most of you know the citizens of your states can come

to our stores and recycles our electronics. in the last four years, we will have recycles one billion pounds, helping the planet. a big impact in many ways. this is also a timely topic because of the rise of e-commerce. that is significantly transforming the retail industry throughout the u.s. it is now $250 billion and growing rapidly. that is about 17% compared to the previous year. in our industry, e-commerce is about 20% of the industry. it is very significant. beyond that, it goes beyond that because the shoppers of information available online now, when you buy something significant, more than $500, in 80%, you start your shopping

journey online, researching the product, comparing the product. in 80% of the cases, some -- the shopping journey starts online. more traffic is going down in contrast. more traffic in december was down 14% year-over-year. that is very significant. the question is, is it in the future the best of main street? we have to ask this question. what is main street need to do to thrive in an environment where technology is significantly transforming the shopping experience? what do we need to do to be successful in that context? i am trying to answer this question. with the benefit of the experience of the transformation we started two

years ago when i became the ceo there, in my message this morning, i will say of course this is not the best of main street. it can thrive provided it transforms itself significantly and innovate the customer experience, marrying physical brick and mortar, which we can do online through a multichannel customer experience. i will base my remarks on the transformation of best buy. governor, you highlighted a bit of our history. it is one of these amazing american success stories. in the u.s., it is a $35 billion company and has been very successful. 15 years ago, i was the ceo of a videogame company providing games to best buy and i saw how great of a company it was. it was the best in the business. probably five or six years ago, it started to go sideways. that is something that happens

to companies that are very successful. you can become complacent. a group of amazing competitors and the group started to grow significantly. of course, we are competing with some of the foremost companies on the planet. walmart, costco, and so forth. emphasis on the customers, we got distracted, and all of this led to a bit of a drama a few years ago that was highly publicized in the media. i love challenges so i was not suicidal. [laughter] in the fall of 2012, we did a diagnosis of the situation and found that we had two problems, but they were significant. we also took the time to identify our assets.

we had amazing assets. most of your customers. you talked about 140,000 employees passionate about customer service. 70% lives within 15 minutes of a best buy store. that is an amazing asset and this combined with the relationship with our vendors turned out to be a great opportunity. we are the only place of scale where they can really showcase the fruit of the billions of dollars of our -- r&d investment. products are complex and difficult to understand and they need a place to showcase this. they had her website, which was significant at the time. we had these assets but we

needed to transform the company. we needed real chance formation efforts. the heart is a real focus on efforts. to illustrate what mainstream needs to do, let me illustrate our playbook. the first thing we need to do was decide prices needed to be competitive. in a world where information is pervasive and we sell other peoples products, there was no way we could not be competitive. show roaming is a phenomenon where people go to our store and spend 30 minutes with blue shirts about our product them and buy it internet. that is frustrating to our blue shirts. these are people who come to our stores and create tensions. their hours to lose. the decision was to mac's internet price. we will -- match internet price.

that was not good enough because it is not just about the price. we studied strategies to focus on providing advice, service, convenience, at competitive prices to customers, particularly those interested in customer service but need help. i need help shopping because it all changes all the time. advice starting on this side, on the shopping site, how to write shoes a tv, how to i compare with which content videos, a lot of advice on the site. we have invested significantly in the training of our lou shirts. we is all -- we have also worked with our vendors to make the

shopping experience great. companies like samsung that have invested hundreds of thousands to really explain -- to really display how everything works together. we have super trained blue shirts. if you're walking in, you probably do not know you need a high -- an hdtv. you do not know and then you talk to one of our lou shirts. i guarantee you they will then know, and the only question is which and when. this technology is very complex. in terms of help with your design, setting it up and transferring data from your old phone to your new phone, they

will need to take care of you and set out -- send you out walking and ready to go. when you need help using the product, we are proud to be celebrating the 20th birthday of our geek squad. that is one of our secret weapons. advice, service, and convenience. about 50% of the orders on our website, the customers decide to pick up the orders in one of our stores are the customer decides to go to our website and they decide to go to our store because of the convenience.

now is good for the customers. you like what you're seeing and you can get help and advice. we have throughout the country 12 distribution centers. all of our stores can ship to our customers directly. when people go to the site, even though we do not have the product in one of the distribution centers, we will get it from the stores. or, we do not have a product in that particular store, but we will get it to you. convenience is returned. all the way, you have a big tv you do not know what to do, we

will take care of it for you. convenience is how we fight the battle. a significant transformation for everybody in the country, if you think about it. i think i have highlighted some of them. everything is being transformed significantly. let me illustrate that with the marketing function. 10 years ago, marketing was focused on tv, the insert in the sunday newspaper. with the data we have about our customers we have the opportunity to have targeted and highly relevant digitized marketing communication and really develop relevant communication with our

customers. for that summer, i can talk to you about some games. you bought a camera and maybe you want to talk about lenses. i can talk to you about how we can help you move and get equipped in your new place. we cap -- we have a customer database that we are leveraging to be helpful to our customers so it changes the game significantly. not all the transformations are fun and painless. we have taken out in hundred $50 million of costs into the system. because we are very advanced, our focus now is shifting to growth. it is not always easy. the tv from this year is much cheaper than two years ago. great opportunities around new technology. there is a lot of talk about health and fitness technologies. we have a summit next week with an insurance company, a hospital system, to see how we can work

together to the benefit of customers and reduce health care costs and improve lives. everything in our homes are now connected. how can we help our customers take advantage of that? we are focused on a high-definition tv. significant growth opportunities for us. this hopefully gives you a flavor of the counter opposition that are not unique. companies like the ones from nebraska. you want to go to their store to discover what they can do. also a great company from a

direct consumer. very much emphasizing service. 50% of their business is now direct consumer. all of these companies now combined stores and online to the benefit of their customers. the key drivers of these transformations are refocus on the customer, levering -- leveraging a niece -- unique aspect of the best buy story. we need to innovate, to the benefit of our customers. from that standpoint, it is still early days in that revolution. i have an interview with the famous is author in the idea that you have to try a great number of things. we have 14 the -- 14 stores. the bicycle theory, it is very

difficult to direct the bicycle. you fall. but if the bicycle is moving, if it is not moving in exactly the right direction, it is not a problem. you can always course adjust. a lot of things need to take place. in that contest, my comments about the future of main street would be incomplete if i did not talk about the help from governors. this is about the marketplace. in 2014 in this country, retailers who do not have a physical presence do not collect the sales tax. it is not about the internet versus brick and mortar. we do collect sales tax on our website.

we do not can should be to the communities and so forth. we think it is an unfair situation. we thank you for your leadership on the matter. this is an issue that needs to be fixed. i do not know anyone who thinks the governors should be the winners. we are ready to fight in the level of the governors should not take the witness. alas last revenue. into the university of tennessee. the last opportunity from a revenue standpoint is $25 billion. what the states will do, many states have said they will lower the taxes. a famous economists concluded based on a thorough study that if we change the law, this is the opportunity for the country

to create 1.5 million jobs. many states will reduce the tax burden and this will facilitate growth. this issue needs to be solved because of jobs. the number of stores that are closed, 15,000 store closures in the past few years, 5000 were announced this year. in income margin by about 3.4%. while we match internet prices, i cannot match the sales tax.

i cannot fight with an eight percent price advantage. jobs are being lost every day and decisions about store closures are made every day influenced by this situation. the situation needs to be solved urgently because of the base at which business is moving online. the good news is it is an issue that can be solved and can and must be solved this year. i know he was here earlier this week and spoke to you about this this week. i was with washington with members of the house. i know today is the final game of the soccer world cup. the united states, we do not

like that game because we get beaten by the germans every time. if we all work together, we can push this over the finish line this year and -- for the employees and the country. speaking to leadership, it has the opportunity to be very helpful. i am delighted to hear that you're working on this. this is a fight that has almost bipartisan support. it is a fight supported by an extremely broad mainstream coalition. trade associations, economists, and so this is something that is a common sense solution. in conclusion, i want to again thank you for inviting me again and giving me the opportunity to speak to the governors of the

state and talk about our industry. it is on -- an honor for me and i am happy to take time for any questions from anyone out there this morning. so thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much for coming. this is a critical issue for all of us. existing businesses don my now? >> for best buy, depending on the quarter, it is high single digits. eight percent. online, it is lower than the physical world. >> thank you for being here. we are honored to have you here.

you say we are on the five yard line and we can probably push it across the finish line here. what do you think the options are? there are options here and we will try to put up a stiff defense i expect. can we get a vote on this before the august recess? what are our challenges? >> and this is an issue, there is broad agreement that this issue needs to be fixed. not that anyone is saying the current construct needs to be fixed. the decision in the supreme court in 1992 was made before e-commerce existed and we talk about how important e-commerce is, so everybody agrees any to be fixed. the senate voted last year. it is now in the house. a congressman from utah, jason

chaffetz, who was done terrific work, there were some issues in the senate bill. he has worked each of them to make sure that the solution is simple, is fair, and be implement it, that it can be phased. the states that have some influence on how it can get done, so there is excellent work that has been done. my understanding is there is an important law that expires on november 1, which is the not taxing internet access. the house will have the opportunity to expand the moratorium on not taxing the internet. my understanding is the senate then wants to attach a bill. whether the it is the original bill or coming from the house is

not for me to say, but it is a brilliant move because it makes it clear that it is not about not taxing the internet, it is about establishing fairness in the marketplace, so that it comes back to the house, and then leaders of the house will have to make sure it gets done either in september or later. instead of talking about the obstacles, it is good to talk about what we can do. each governor talking to their delegation can have both on the senate and house side, highlighting emergency -- many states have highlighted the opportunity to lower the tax rate. in some states that is very impactful. in fact, for us to discuss how the states should use the proceeds, there is a great thing in this country, which is called democracy, and it is a federal system, so it is for the states to decide this, so for the governors to clearly talk to their delegations, say you can do this with leadership, and press the urgency of the matter.

there is no technical obstacle today to solving this. the reason why the supreme court 20 years ago decided against it is they felt it was too complex. we are the country that took man to the moon and of these extraordinary things, calculating facts, software can do this. there are many companies that provide the software. it is not difficult. we do this every day. it is limited, the ability to audit, because it was a consent about so many states auditing more companies at the same time. i think the work that has been done in the house will solve this.

there is no technical obstacle, so i would like to say that defining what to do is often easy. defining how to do it sometimes is more difficult. just doing it, that is true in business, that is why i take the analogy of the five-yard line. if we push together and talk to everybody who will make a decision, we know who the decision-makers are, let's just get it done. it will be good for the country. i see it now. my perception is -- all of you have done so much, and after 10 years, it can feel that you are tired. no, this is the five-yard line, so this is the time to push. >> any other questions? >> can i just say one more thing? it is an interesting time, and you hear talk about corporate greed and some of the challenges that we have in me marketplace out there. best buy is a remarkable store, you started in 1968, really a success story that we can all

learn from. i did note that forbes magazine named you the best top company in america here a few years ago, but just as impressively, they named you the top 10 most generous corporations in america. tell us a little bit about your philosophy at best buy, and how does your giving back -- i think here in the national area, you probably have three or four stores right here in tennessee. what is your philosophy of giving back to the community as part of your corporate mission statement? >> governor, thank you so much for this question. this is something that is very dear to the heart of everyone at best buy. we feel that when you lead a major corporation, we have responsibilities as do all of the stakeholders. of course we have a big response will be because we have shareholders. we completely get that. we have a big responsibly for our customers, for our employees, and we have a big responsibility for the communities in which we operate. we are very grateful for the hospitality that each of your states provide, and we feel we are in the boat and rowing together.

this is from the dna of minnesota. what i went to minnesota six and a half years ago, i felt very clearly that there was a sense of common responsibly, the common good of the community, and everybody in minnesota gets in the boat and rows. we have our charitable activities. we have the best buy children's foundation. we are very focused on kids and technology. each year we do a big fundraiser in minneapolis. we ask all of our vendors and partners to contribute, and we raise the several millions of dollars to contribute from that standpoint. it also means getting involved. many of us are involved in local institutions. the program that is the most remarkable i think at best buy is the recycling program. recycling, of course the planet -- we really care about this planets, and being able to

recycle in the last four years one billion pounds of electronic products is a great contribution to the common good and the planet. and because of our relationships with various vendors and so forth, we then take the raw materials that are in these products and recycle them, so it is not that we just get them out of the home, we do something with them. i am not alone speaking. many corporations in america and around the world feel the same. this is not just about making a buck -- this is about contributing to the common good, and through the jobs we provide but also through the impact we have on the community, so we are very passionate about this, and we thank you for your question, governor. >> based on your hospitality or your generosity, i appreciate that particularly in my neighborhood of minnesota, in particular in the twin cities, some people may not know this, but it was just announced by the nfl that the super bowl is going to be in the twin cities, and i

thought i particularly feel generous because it makes my commute to watch the packers plan a super bowl much shorter than it normally is, so i appreciate that. [laughter] >> we are not a true competitor with that team. do you have a professional law team in your state, governor? >> i think the 13 world championship that we have compare with zero i think there are in minnesota, but [laughter] i also was probably a little more they dig when i said it. i am a good midwesterner, and i think it is only right for our neighbors because it is probably

closest a vikings fan will ever get to the super bowl, so that is pretty good as well. [laughter] >> thank you for sharing that story. [laughter] this was the great case of the community in minnesota getting together to get this outcome, so the governor and the sub companies in minnesota all got together and said we want to get this done, and my friend who got the super bowl 20 years ago, and mitchell davis, the chairman and ceo of u.s. bank, all of us got together and we provided the ipads for the presentation and so forth, and this was the case of a team effort to get this done, so we like to get together and do great things, and yes, i know, we have got some work to do. we will keep working on this, governor. >> all right. thank you so much. we appreciate your time today. it was very exciting to hear how the transition of your company and integrating e-commerce with main street and how all of that works. you gave us so many ideas to take back home. we appreciate it. >> thank you so much. >> let's give a round of applause. [applause] thank you. thank you very much.

and we all like to shop at best buy, so we appreciate that. we're counting down to our final few moments at the closing session of the national governors association, and may i just say that it has been a great honor and a great pleasure to serve as your chair this year. i really have enjoyed getting to know even better our fellow governors across our nation, and it makes me very proud of the great work that we do together in a bipartisan way, both democrats and republicans, talking about our best practices, public policy, issues, challenges, opportunities facing our very states, and certainly working with our corporate sponsors, our different organizations that also belong to the nga, we appreciate your parents as well because this gives us great insight, great expertise from your very industries to have you as members of the national governors association.

before i leave today, i also have to thank someone was stuck by my side during this year because as you can imagine, governor hickenlooper, it does take a little extra time to begin national chair, but that is my husband, wade christiansen. [applause] i appreciate it, honey. thank you for everything. i also want to thank our executive board. we are getting ready to change over, and i know some of our members have already had to leave, but our incoming chair, governor john hickenlooper. governor hickenlooper and i have worked closely over the past year on many different issues that we find commonality on, so thank you, governor hickenlooper. i'm looking forward to your service. governor branstad, we appreciate your service on the executive committee. governor bullock, governor

herbert, governor walker, thank you so much, and we also have governor beebe and governor dayton, who has already left, so thank you for your service on the executive committee. once again, thank you to governor haslam and his team, your staff. i know it is not only you and christie by your staff that have worked very, very hard to make this possible and all of the tennessee hosts and sponsors as well as all of the people that are in the rooms today as our corporate sponsors. i also want to thank the nga staff members because it takes a tremendous amount of work you put on his conferences, and there are many of them across the nation, not only our summer meeting, our winter meeting, but also the congress as we have on health care, transportation, homeland security, education -- you name it. cyber security. they do work all year round and provide great seminars for our staff. i also want to recognize our great team with the nga, and there are a lot of people, but i

want to start out with the top executive leadership. dan, thank you for being our executive director. we appreciate you. where is he? [applause] you tell him great job. we appreciate him. david plum, david moore, jodi omar, did i say that right? [applause] thank you all. shelley irby and also on my project, america works, richard lang, garry gross, and art palmer did a knockout job. thank you very much. just a bang up job on that. they did a super job putting together all of the materials and giving us something that we can all take home with us. and i have to tell you that when i was nominated to be the national chair, i went back to my staff and i said guess what, we got nominated to be the vice chair, which means that in a couple of years, you will be the chair.

i won't repeat the words of what my chief of staff said to me -- [laughter] but she did say she would not be with me any longer. but she is here today, and we have spent 20 years together working through various positions, but my chief of staff, denise northrup, i want to give her a round of applause. [applause] thank you very much. katie, who is our policy director, works very hard with all of your stuff across the nation. chelsea barnett, alex wentz, our communication strategist, taking pictures right now. travis brower, who was put together all of our materials, and there are many other people, but these are the core people here today. thank you to my staff. [applause] it has been a great pleasure. i know governor hickenlooper, you are going to have a ball. it is a lot of fun to work with our fellow governors and our corporate partners throughout the nga, so now i would like to

call on our chair of our nominating committee, governor earl ray tomblin, who is to share our executive committee nominations. >> thank you, governor chair. we would like to say thank you for your great organization over this past year, and we want to let you know that your committee has worked very hard, very diligently over the last 72 hours to come with the recommended ages for leaders of this organization, from 2015. we look north and we look south, east, and west, we did background checks, we did hear, we did all kinds of things, but it is really my privilege and honor to officially nominate the following governors to lead your innovation through 2015. i will start with the nga executive committee, governor terry branstad of iowa, mark dayton of minnesota, pat mccrory of north carolina, steve bullock

of montana, you, madam chair, mary fallin oklahoma, dan malloy of connecticut, and scott walker of wisconsin. and as nga vice chair, governor gary herbert of utah, and as nga chair for 2015, governor john hickenlooper of colorado. madam chair, i move that the nominations. >> thank you for your work. all those in favor say aye. >> [all] aye. >> all those opposed nay. the motion carries. governor hickenlooper, congratulations as the new chair of the national governors association. [applause] all right. i turn it over to you. >> well, thank you, mary. you have been a truly outstanding leader for the national governors association,

and i'm excited to continue the work that we have started together. i am looking forward to work with our new vice chair, gary herbert, and we have a history of working on those organizations. we have all committed to that role that we can influence and stressed the importance of governors, states working within the nga. i think we believe in governors and their role of directing the laboratories of innovation, democracy, we believe in the nga. the nga's role in helping governors do better. there has certainly never been a greater urgency for governors to play that role, and governor fallin, you have done that. -- is no small work over the last year that governor fallin has been remarkably dedicated to the work of the nga, to better connecting the educational systems of our states to the job markets of the future, and on

behalf of all of your colleagues, i would like to tell you i have never had so many people come up and just say what a great job somebody has done. i'm honored to present you with this gavel, commemorating your year as the chair of the nga. >> oh, wonderful. [applause] thank you. >> don't hit it yet. during the last year, mary and i both started a consistent message, states leading this nation forward, governors from across political spectrum and from literally all parts of the country are working to improve the way government operates, putting politics in place that improves the lives of our citizens in every corner of this country. some of us may believe that governments should be larger, some of us believe it should be smaller, but we all believe that government has to work. the work that we do collectively through nga is so important and

so valuable through that enterprise. as we have seen this weekend, sharing our stories and best practices with each other really helps each of us to do a better job managing the challenges we face. each year, the nga chair chooses an initiative of importance to them and importance to other governors across the country. this year, we're going to broaden the focus a little bit. state government today touches numeral aspects of people's lives and delivers an array of services from building and operating new highways to broad social programs. governors are poised to make these operations work in the most efficient, cost-effective way possible. in colorado, we've than saying efficient, effective and elegant to drive home that part of

customer service at the end. focuss why i've chosen to on the national government association for what is going to be called delivering results. collectedf revenues by states as well as those in the federal government, those overseeing operations in both scope and scale makes it more important to harness the human talent, innovative management practices, new and emerging technologies, and sophisticated analytics to increase performance and deliver results. my governor friends are taking advantage of initiatives on how do we deliver better results and there are some truly cutting-edge ways to do this, including the best and the brightest in the situation and

employing modern practices to keep government lane. usingut not least, technology to drive results, track progress and create innovation. community,large including academics, think tanks and skilled consultants that have assisted governors in this work. by showcasing these successes in various states and providing an opportunity to share best practices with each other, we can work to streamline state government and look to improve lives across the nation. i think like all states, we are going to gain much more than we give will stop my initiative will convene experts from state government, universities and innovators from the public sector, including non-government organizations to explore the

cutting edges of innovation and state operation and policymaking. the knowledge gained from these meetings will lead us -- >> we believe these are remarks to go live now to the floor of the u.s. house where there is debate on up to 20 suspension bills and work on funding for the treasury, federal judiciary and payment and the district of columbia. live to the floor of the house. n postponed questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5031, the stem education act of 2014. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5031 a bill to define stem education to include computer science and support existing stem education programs at the national science museum. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, and the gentlewoman from

connecticut, ms.estity, each will ntrol -- -- ms. -- each control 20 minutes. mr. smith: i ask that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may require. 24e stem education act of 20 -- the stem education act of 2014 is bipartisan legislation that ensures computer science is included in the definition of stem education for programs and activities at federal science agencies. it also supports and strengthens ongoing stem education efforts at the stharble science foundation. i thank ranking member eddie bernice johnson, representativesestity, rep dis ken disand wilson for their

initiative on this bill. earlier this year the science committee held a heerning stem education. the discussion that took place at that hearing helped to illustrate the importance of stem education and why we should include computer science as a component of stem education. frankly, it's hard to believe it hasn't been done before. today, a variety of jobs from banking to business to medicine require familiarity with computer science. according to the bureau of labor statistics, computing and mathematics will be one of the top 10 fastest growing major obblingpational groups from 2010 to 20 20. and by 2020, there will be over four million u.s. jobs in computing and information technology. unfortunately, america lags behind many other nations when it comes to stem education. american students rank 21st in seaverage -- in science and 26th in math and that must change for

the better. we need to ensure that young adults have the scientific and mathematical skills to strive and thrive in a technology based economy. but we have to capture and hold the desire of our nation's youth to study science and engineering so they'll want to pursue these careers. h.r. 5031 also includes language to support informal stem education programs and activities at the national science foundation. these activities reach students outside of the classroom and strengthen student's engagement in stem subject areas. the stem education act ensures that teachers working toward a master's degree in stem subjects can participate in the robert noyes master teaching program. this provides more opportunities for teachers who want to strengthen their teaching skills and now will encourage more teachers to pursue advanced degrees. a healthy and viable stem work forest, literate in all stem subjects including computer science, is critical to american

industries. a well educated and trained stem work force ensure ours future economic prosperity. more graduates with stem degrees means more advanced technologies and a more robust economy. we must work to ensure that students continue to go into these fields so that their innovative ideas can lead to a more innovative and prosperous america. i encourage my colleagues to support this bill and mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves his time. the gentlewoman from connecticut is recognized. ms. esty: i s i -- yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. esty: i would like to thank congressman smith for his work on promoting stem education and i'm glad that we can advance these provisions in a bipartisan fashion, thanks in large part to

his willingness to work across the aisle. i would like to thank eddie for the niece johnson and representative lipinski for their work on the committee and their thoughtful guidance on these issues. the stem education act of 2014 provides critical support to teachers and advocates of stem education who are preparing our students with the skills they need to succeed in our increasingly competitive global society. as chairman smith said, the bill includes three provisions to support and promote stem education in this country. it supports teachers who are passionate about stem education. codifies the importance of informal, hands on stem education, and expands the definition of stem education to explicitly include computer science. as a mother of three, i know firsthand the importance of having teachers who are engaged and passionate about being in the classroom, particularly science and math teachers. for my own experience, my son just graduated from college with

a degree in astrophysics and from our time studying these issues on the committee, we know that when children are excited about science projects and math problems, at a young age, they carry that passion with them throughout their lives. that's why we must encourage talented people to go into teaching and this bill does just that. it expands the robert noice master teaching fellowship at the national science foundation so more people who are enthusiastic about the sciences can teach our children. i'm grate to feel see that portions of my bill, the stem jobs act, are included in the legislation before us today. currently the teaching fellowship provides mentoring, training and financial support to people who have master's degrees in stem discipline and who want to enter the teaching profession. the program is designed to ensure that these passionate individuals have the tools they need to become highly effective math and science teachers.

in connecticut, the university of bridge port's master teaching fellowship program is dedicated to placing physics teachers in high needs schools and at uconn's teachers for tomorrow program, we prepare teachers to effectively teach math to elementary, middle and high school students. the bill before us today expands the master teaching fellowship so those who are working toward a master's degree are also eligible to apply. this expansion will allow more gifted individuals to be in our classrooms, preparing our children to become the next generation of engineers, scientists and even astronauts. however, no matter how great your math teacher is, studies show that all students thrive in a hands on learning environment. we're fortunate in connecticut to have a terrific partner in the experimental stem education at the connecticut science museum which opened in 2009 to support stem education in our

schools. when students visit the center, they can navigate throughouter space, use lasers to learn about sight and sound, experiment with forces in motion and explore our very own connecticut river. these interactive learning environments also provide structured support for teachers and for students. for example the connecticut science center trains more than 800 teachers annually in teaching skills and content to support our school curriculum. these teachers then return to the classroom, across the state of connecticut, and provide our students with high quality education that they need to succeed. programs like these are hosted by museums and science centers around this country. this bill directs the national science foundation to continue to award competitive grants to support these out of school, hands on stem learning experiences. finally, as chairman smith noted this bill takes an important, in

fact, a critical step forward in expanding the definition of stem to include computer science. computer science is a critical component of stem education. as he noted the bureau of labor statistics projects there will be more four million computing and information technology jobs by the year 2020. students who study computer science can be leaders in diverse fields such as energy, manufacturing, defense, and health care. unfrnlt, computer science has -- unfortunately, computer science has all too often been overlooked at elementary, middle, and high school levels. even more concerning, only 25% of computer scientists are women, though women make up 57% of the work forest. -- of the work force. manufacturing is the back bone of our economy in connecticut and i know from conversations with our manufacturers that they are desperate for high school and college graduates who have the computer skills necessary for our manufacturing jobs, high

tech manufacturing jobs, today. our need for graduates with these skills will only continue to grow. and that is why it is so critical that we focus on building these skills in our elementary, middle, and high school students today. i'm proud we've put together a bipartisan bill to support and advance stem education. preparing our students with the skills they need to thrive in a global economy transcends partisan politics. again, i want to thank chairman smith, ranking member johnson, representative bucshon and representative lipinski and all the committee staff for their hard work on the stem education act. this bill is an important step in securing our children's future. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to again thank the gentlewoman from connecticut for her interest in this subject of stem education and for her contributions to this bill as well.

mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. collins a member of the science committee and a co-sponsor of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. collins: thank you, chairman smith, for the opportunity to speak in support of the stem education act. legislation that i have co-sponsored to help create a new generation of innovators. as a graduate in mechanical engineering i quickly learned years ago of the important role a stem background plays in u.s. manufacturing. later as i started my own business ventures, i have continued to learn how hard it can be to find new graduates with back grounds in science, technology, engineering or math. these are jobs that drive our economy and we need to act now to encourage students to realize the benefits in choosing one of these fields. among these stem fields is computer science, which is the primary driver for job growth among the four stem fields of

study. by 2020, there will be an estimated 4.2 million computing and information technology jobs. yet, at the current rate of students graduating from american universities and colleges, these jobs will be vastly underfilled. we cannot let that happen. that is why we need this no cost legislation to direct federal agencies to include computer science as one of the definitions of stem. this will allow the federal government to expand on this focus and help address the future gap in computer science. further, this bill will help teachers find ways to score student interest in stem. with more than 40 years separating us from the last moon land, we need to find the spark that interests students in stem. whether it's a robotics competition or an after school science competition, these are the next e'll develop

generation of innovators and inventors. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized. ms. esty: i yield such time as the gentlelady from texas, the ranking member of the committee, may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 5031 and the three other science, space and technology bills being considered today. earlier this year, all of my democratic committee colleagues joined me in introducing h.r. 4159, the america competes re-authorization act of 2014. three of the bills considered today are similar or identical to the provisions we included in our competes bill. and the fourth is included --

fourth bill similarly flects long-standing bipartisan effort that -- reflects long-standing bipartisan effort that reflects these bills. i want to thank mr. lipinski and ms. esty for introducing h.r. 5031, the stem education act of 2013. while we still have much work to improve high-quality access for stem education for all young americans, this bill is a good step in the right direction. american students and american companies are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to having a well-prepared information technology work force. while there's no silver bullet, it is important that we include computer science in the definition of stem. this bill also authorizes informal stem education grants at the national science foundation. learning happens in all settings at all times of the

day, not just in the classroom. while we know that informal stem education holds great promise to increased engagement nd learning in stem by diverse populations, r&d and n.s.f. helps ensure that we're developing and implementing the most effective program. and finally, h.r. 5031 amends n.s.f. north master teacher fellowship program to expand eligibility to current math and science teachers who already have a bachelors degree in the stem field. this update ensures that we are tapping into our entire pool of talented stem teachers who might serve as master teachers in their schools and districts. i urge my colleagues to support this good bill. next, i want to thank my fellow texan, mr. neugebauer, who introduced h.r. 1786 legislation that would re-authorize the national windstorm impact reduction

program. the nwirk. the last several years has been bad for natural disasters. tornados have resulted in significant loss of life and property across the midwest. superstorm sandy caused widespread destruction and death along the eastern seaboard, and it was not so long ago that hurricane katrina devastated the gulf coast. we cannot stop these windstorms but we must make sure our communities have the tools they need to prepare and respond to and recover from these disasters. h.r. 1786 re-authorizes nwir, an important program that helps several agencies and communities to develop and implement new building codes to minimize the loss of life and property during windstorms and to reveal effectively and safely after such storms. i urge my colleagues on both

sides of the aisle to support he important bill. i also want to thank mr. bucshon and mr. peters for introducing h.r. 5056, the research and development efficiency act. i think we can all agree that when federally funded researchers are spending more than 40% of their time on administrative burdens rather than doing science we are not getting the most we can out of our investments in r&d. while we must continue to prioritize both safety and accountability in federally funded research, we should not be creating piles of unnecessary paperwork for the scientists and the lab. much of the burden is caused by a lack of consistency and uniformity in policies and requirements across our federal science agencies. i applaud my colleagues for ensuring that the science agencies, along with ostp and o.m.b. continue to look for

ways to harmonize and streamline federal requirements affecting the conduct of r&d in our nation's great research institutions. and i urge my colleagues to support this bill. and finally, i want to thank mr. lipinski for introducing h.r. 5029, the international science and technology cooperation act of 2014. in 2012, national academies report rising to the challenge, u.s. innovation policy for a global economy, knows that it presents valuable opportunities for all u.s. firms and federally funded research institutions to capitalize on offshore r&d initiatives and rowing pools and -- of science and technology talent. we have led the latest discovers coveries and talent much of which have relevance to everyday life.

nanotechnology, energy technology and water resources are all right for greater international engagement and cooperation. in many cases we simply cannot afford to do it all alone. and in some cases in this interconnected world, going at it alone could lead to significant unintended roadblocks in the future. the better coordinated we are as a nation, the better positioned we are to lead on these issues globally. h.r. 5029 helps us achieve these goals, and this is a good bill and i urge my colleagues to support it. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i have no other requests for time on this side, and i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from connecticut is recognized. ms. esty: i thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. lipinski.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized . mr. lipinski: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 5031, the stem education act. like mr. collins who spoke earlier, i am also a mechanical engineer. i understand, as all of us do, the importance of improving stem education. it's one of the most important tasks our nation faces if our children are going to be able to compete in the global economy of today and tomorrow. the language in this bill, which affirms support for informal science stem education at national science foundation is language i offered to the n.s.f. authorization bill in markup. i'd like to thank chairman smith for including it in his bill. about 65 million visits to museums and science centers occur each year including 13 million from schoolchildren.

however, museums and science centers are much more than an inspiring field trip destination. their educational programming and inspirational exhibits links the classroom curriculum making museum and science centers natural partners for schools in science education. programs supporting these programs are probably the most innovative teaching around. passage of this bill would be a clear signal that congress supports these programs funded by the national science foundation and wean sure that they continue. i'd also like to thank my ms. from connecticut, esties, in the scholarship program at n.s.f. chairman smith provided language of including computer science in the definition of stem education. i urge my colleagues to support this bill, and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, we have no further individuals who have requested time so i'm ready to yield back if the minority is ready to yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. ms. esty: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i'll yield back the balance of my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5031. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1786, the

national windstorm impact reduction act re-authorization of 2014, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 282, h.r. 1786, a bill to re-authorize the national windstorm impact reduction program, and for other purposes . the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, and the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. esty, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.r. 1786, the bill now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smith: and mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, h.r. 1786, the national windstorm impact reduction act re-authorization of 2014, introduced by my texas colleague, congressman randy neugebauer, re-authorizes the activities of the national

windstorm impact reduction program through 2015. this important program supports federal research and development efforts to help mitigate the loss of life and property due to wind-related hazards. millions of americans live in areas vulnerable to tornados, hurricanes and other windstorms. according to the latest report, in 2011 windstorms in the u.s. caused an estimated $11 billion in total direct property losses, injured nearly 7,000 people and took nearly 700 lives. in texas we are all too familiar with the harm that excessive wind can cause. according to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration storm prediction center, 179 tornados and 1,586 windstorms were reported in texas in just the last two years. the effects of these disasters can be felt for years.

initially established in 2004, the national windstorm impact reduction program supports activities to improve our understanding of windstorms and their impacts and helps to develop and encourage the implementation of cost-effective mitigation measures. h.r. 1786 establishes the national institute of standards and technology as the lead agency for the program, improves coordination and planning of agency activities in a fiscal responsible manner and improves transparency for how much money is being spent on windstorm research. and i want to thank representative neugebauer for his continued efforts to support this program. he and representative frederica wilson worked to ensure that h.r. 1786 was orpped reported out of the science committee with bipartisan support. i encourage my colleagues to support the bill, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. lipinski: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may

consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lipinski: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 1786, legislation that would re-authorize the national windstorm impact reduction nwir. , or last november illinois was struck by 24 tornados on one day, resulting in seven fatalities, hundreds of injuries and significant economic damage. where we cannot stop a tornado or hurricane from happening, there is much we can do to save both lives and property when windstorms and other natural disasters happen. in addition to responding quickly and with sufficient resources in the aftermath of a natural disaster, we must also invest in preparedness and resilience. studies of fema's predisaster mitigation program have shown that for every dollar we invest

in mitigation activities we save $3 to $4 in recovery costs. nwirp is a primarily mitigation program. -- essens economic life and economic and life damage and to make sure this is translated into improving building codes and emergency planning, but it needs investment to reach that potential. i was pleased that when this bill was considered in the science, space and technology committee we worked in a bipartisan manner to make several improvements to this bill. i want to thank my colleagues chairman smith, mr. neugebauer for working across the aisle in a smooth and productive process. we worked together to increase the authorization for fema which is the nwirp agency's task for translating the research conducting in other agencies into effective mitigation tools and techniques and helping communities across the nation implement mitigation

measures through outreach and partnership in addition, we worked together to add language to the bill adjusting human factors and reducing windstorm impacts. this is not just a building engineering problem, it's also a social science and human response problem. people in the path of a windstorm have to make smart decisions no matter what structures that they are in. in order to design effective strategies to prepare for, resfopped and recover a disaster, we must take into account how people respond during natural disasters and we must understand how different groups of people may respond differently to tailor outreach appropriately. i was pleased we were able to trenten the legislation by adding this important language on human factors. often in a compromise like this one you do not get everything you would like. i would like to see increases in the authorization levels across the board.

this bill includes a lower total authorization level than what was authorized for this program in fiscal year 2008. nevertheless, i understand the need to re-authorize this important program. finally, i want to thank my colleagues on the transportation and infrastructure committee which i also serve on, for working with us on this bill as we share jurisdiction over this program. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: i yield five minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. neugebauer, a member of the science committee and also a sponsor of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. neugebauer: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate chairman smith's support of this legislation as well as ms. johnson, ranking member. i rise in support today of h.r. 1786, the national wind storm impact reduction program.

this is an important piece of legislation because what we know is that tornadoes and tornadic type winds have caused huge amounts of -- amounts of destruction and loss of life in our country. last year alone there were 1,300 recorded tornadoes in our country, causing over 70 deaths and 1,500 injuries. these storms not only cost live bus they also damage property archast year alone, or the s about $400 million a year, except in 2011 when we saw a bad year and the damage was over $28 billion. natural t just a disaster. i had an opportunity firsthand to find out exactly how devastating these tornadoes can be because in my hometown of lubbock, texas, a tornado ripped through our community and killed

26 of our citizens. it was an area, fortunately i was not injured, but it's an area i lived in at the time and i had the opportunity to see firsthand the tremendous amount of devastation that can happen from these storms. and very quickly after that orm in 1970, dr.erness heisling with texas tech began to study at texas tech these tornadoic winds and begin to look at ways to build strurktures more effectively, to build shelters and to study the impacts these storms have on building materials and what materials hold up the best. we have been talking about the statistics, but really what's impacted is the lives of people that are impacted by these storms. when someone loses their home, they not only rebuild their home but in many cases, they're going to have to rebuild their lives which one of the primary reasons that i introduced this important

piece of legislation. what does it do? it basically begins to, as i mentioned earlier, what was going on at texas tech, not only study the building materials and different types of wind activity and the materials in the structure and construction techniques that are used in those materials, but also to begin to have a better ability to predict how these storms form and in the future be table look -- give more warning but just doing the research overall of how we can do better at predicting and also helping the american people, you know, do mitigation against these kinds of storms. understanding the mechanics of those storms. so basically, what this nwirp does is takes four agencies, pulls them together in how they spend money for this important research, it takes noaa, the

national science foundation, fema, and the national institute of standards and technology, or nist, and makes sure they're coordinating and also sharing that information. what is so important about doing research and using federal tax dollars to do that is to make sure we're transforming that out into the general public and so as we learned about these techniques and we begin to make suggestions of how building codes, or building standards, or building techniques can be improved in the future, thereby saving lives and property down the road. that's an important part of this what we learn is that for about every $1 we spend in mitigation that we save $4 many response down the road and so not son-in-law this a piece of legislation that will help save lives, save property, but a really novel idea of saving the american taxpayers money at the same time. so this is a common sense piece

of legislation, passed out of committee in a bipartisan way, it will save lives, it will save money and it will save property. i encourage my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from illinois is ecognized. >> we have no further speakers. i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i thought the gentleman had yielded back his time. we have no further requests for time on this side, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. >> i also yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1786 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 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. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. smith: i move suspend the rules and pass the bill h r. 5056, research and development efficiency act. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5056 a bill to improve the efficient sthoif federal research and development and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, and the gentleman from illinois, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to eth are rhett their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 5056, the bill now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mr. smith: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: i'm pleased to join my colleague, mr. bucshon, in support of this legislation. in the recently released report, they found that researchers voted 42% of their time to regulatory acts. this takes away from time for science. this requires the director of the office of science sfoil establish a working group under the national science and technology council to review federal regulations that affect research and research universities. the working group is tasked with making recommendations on how to harmonize, streamline and eliminate duplicative federal regulations and reporting requirements and make recommendations on thousand minimize the regulatory burden on research institutions.

h.r. 5056 is an important step to ensure federal research dollars are being spent on research and not on regulatory requirements. i encourage my colleagues to support this bill and i resthemb balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. lipinski: i yeast myself such time as i may consume. sproup think gentleman is recognized. -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lipinski: i rise in support f h.r. 5056. i'd like to thank mr. bucshon and mr. peters for introducing this bill. as rnk ragging member on the subcommittee, i've been working on the topic of research regulations for some time and i'm pleased to be a co-sponsor of this bill. recent reports found that thoroughly funded researchers face significant administrative burdens, spending about 40% of their time on paperwork, instead of what they do best which is

conducting research this could mean a edelay in research progress and lengthening the time for the next scientific breakthrough. it is certainly not the best use of some of our nation's greatest science and engineering talents or of taxpayers' investments in those talents. i want to stress that administrative requirements are very important and some of them, many of them are in place for a reason. we must have a system that ensures that participants are being protected and that our resources are being used wisely. we've heard from those most affected by these requirements and they fully agree. that being said, we also agree that we need to find the right balance that meets our safety and accountability goals but still allows researchers to advance science for the gheefed nation. right now, we are now -- for the good of the nation. right now we are not striking the appropriate balance. h.r. 5056 was originally

introdussed -- introduced by representative bucshon in a bill that had similar language with the same goal this bill requires the office of science and technology policy to establish a working group of federal research agencies to figure out how to better standardize and streamline the administrative requirements on their grantees. mr. peters helped strengthen the provision during subcommittee consideration of the first act, with an amendment that ensures that those take holders who are affected by all the requirements have a means to provide input and recommendation to the agency working group. the result is a bipartisan bill we're considering today. through a recent o.m.b. process to overhaul their guidance for federal grants and contracts, some progress has been made to streamline and harmonize administrative tasks. some agencies are taking

additional steps on their own. for example, considering requiring certain administrative information from researchers only if the proposal has been through scientific merit review and is likely to be awarded. these are important efforts but significant work remains. every week in the science committee, we hear expert testimony on challenges with no easy solution. the challenge of having a patchwork of uncoordinated and sometimes duplicative administrative burdens on federally funded researchers should be a solveable problem. h.r. 5056 is an important step in the right direction. once again, i want to thank chairman bucshon, mr. peters for their leadership on this issue, i urge my colleagues to support their legislation. thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is ecognized. mr. smith: i yield such time as

he may consume to dr. bucshon, also chairman of the research and technology subcommittee of the science committee and sponsor of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bucshon: thank you, mr. speaker and thank you, chairman smith. i was pleased to work on this bipartisan effort to reduce the administrative burden placed on federally funded researchers. last year in my new role as chairman of the subcommittee on science and technology, i participated in a university tour across the state of indiana this tour focused on federally funded research in the state of the a and included constitute of technology and university of indiana. the issues of concern these higher education institutions have surrounding federally funded research. along with the input i received during last year's touring we have also received feedback and input at various hearings the

committee has held pertaining to this regulatory burden this legislation would establish a working group to review federal regulations that affect these universities and others. it would be required to obtain input from stake holders including federally and nonfederally funded research, higher education institutions, small businesses and scientific disciplinary societies. the bill also requires a report on what steps are taken to carry out recommendations of the working group. i would like to thank chairman smith, ranking member johnson, my colleague, mr. peters from california, my colleague, mr. lipinski from california for their work on the bill and i'm hopeful this bipartisan legislation can see movement in the senate and from there we can help to alleviate some of the burden placed on our research universitys so they can get back to the main goal of conducting science research. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois. mr. lipinski: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lipinski: i want to take this opportunity to thank mr. bucshon and chairman smith for not only this bill but the series of bills we're debating today. the subcommittee that chairman bucshon is chairman of and i'm ranking member, have been very active in this congress. we have been working on the first act, and i'm very happy that although there were some disagreements over that bill which did pass through committee, today we are considering pieces of that bill and other legislation that we have worked on in that subcommittee and on this committee in a bipartisan manner. i'm very happy we've been able to do that. there's a lot that we need to accomplish, and we are moving

forward now with accomplishing on the science, space and technology committee, and for that i want to thank chairman smith and chairman bucshon for their work on that and hopefully we'll continue as we move forward in this congress, and i urge my colleagues to pass this bill and i'll yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: i want to thank the gentleman for his comments. we have lots to thank him for on this bill and many other bills in which he's shown a leadership role and contributed much to many bills under consideration today. mr. speaker, i'll yield back the balance of my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5056. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed,

and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5029, the international science and technology cooperation act of 2014. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5029, a bill to provide for the establishment of the body to identify and coordinate international science and technology cooperation that can strengthen the domestic science and technology enterprise and support united states foreign policy goals. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. lipinski, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and xtend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.r. 5029, the bill now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mr. smith: and mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, science and technology research addresses the major challenges facing our nation. these include energy production, public health, national security and economic development. h.r. 5029, the international science and technology cooperation act of 2014, will improve our collaboration efforts with international partners on scientific issues, and i thank the ranking member, mr. lipinski of illinois, for his initiative on this issue and as i mentioned a while ago, his initiative on other bills being considered today. better collaboration with our international partners will strengthen the u.s. scientific activities and promote the exchange of ideas with other nations. while many agencies are engaged with others on science and technology projects, there is a need to coordinate these projects across the federal government and to provide opportunities for additional

collaborations. interagency coordination ensures that tax dollars are used efficiently and that u.s. priorities are consistently addressed when working with our international partners on science and technology issues. the international science and technology cooperateation act directs the council to identify and coordinate the u.s. interagency strategy for international science cooperation. further, this council will make recommendations for how to improve u.s. engagement in u.s. science and technology cooperation with our global partners. this will ensure that the u.s. maintains its leadership in science and technology, research and discovery. the bill strengthens activities, improves security and supports u.s. foreign policy goals. for these reasons i ask my colleagues to support h.r. 5029, and i, again, thank mr. lipinski for his leadership on this particular issue, and i'll

reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from illinois, mr. lipinski, is recognized. mr. lipinski: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lipinski: mr. speaker, the u.s. has a great tradition of using science diplomacy to strengthen our ties with allies and open the door to building better relationships across the globe. that's why i introduced h.r. 5029, the international science and technology cooperation act of 2014. scientific issues know no boundaries and deal with problems and opportunities of the highest importance to the entire world. improvements in such areas such as energy security, infectious dses, space exploration, telecommunications and the internet and many more are due in part to international cooperation, to the benefit of all nations involved. by collaborating with international partners on science, we strengthen u.s. scientific enterprise which helps us get the best return on

our research investment. this bipartisan bill will improve international science cooperation by requiring the national science and technology council at the white house to maintain a body that would identify and coordinate the u.s. interagency strategy for international science and technology cooperation. many federal agencies already work with international counterparts on science and technological issues, but until recently there is no coordinating body to identify new partnersships and to fully leverage existing collaborations. while the administration is taking steps to formulate a strategy for international science collaboration, this bill would ensure that the process moves forward with the appropriate congressional oversight, something i think we can all agree on. the u.s. scientific enterprise is admired across the world. in addition to helping our own researchers solve problems of

national and global importance, more efficiently international cooperation helps to demonstrate the value of the free flow of ideas that is the foundation of american democracy. one other thing i wanted to raise, if anyone has any questions about the importance of collaboration when it comes to scientific endeavor, i certainly recommend the documentary "particle fever" ich is about the work at the lab in switzerland. it sounds like it would be an incredibly boring documentary to watch, but it is just fascinating to see and to see the international cooperation that goes on as they do this search. it's a great example of what international collaboration can do in the scientific enterprise. i want to thank chairman smith and ranking member johnson for working with me to improve the bill we have before us and to

bring it to the floor. when this bill was considered in the 111th congress, it passed the house with overwhelming bipartisan support. i'm hopeful we can pass it again today and see action in the senate as well. i ask my colleagues to support this bill and i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i'll yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. lipinski: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5029. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. mr. smith: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- mr. smith: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays on this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking is vote by the yeas and nays

will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and ass h.r. 4185. the clerk: union calendar number 386, h.r. 4185, a bill to revise certain authorities of the district of columbia courts, the court services and offender supervision agencies for the district of columbia and the public defenders service for the district of columbia and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentlewoman from the district of columbia, ms. norton, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and to heir remarks

include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. gosar: this legislation, introduced by ms. norton, would provide increased flexibility to the district of columbia courts and related entities. among other provisions, h.r. 4185 would allow the d.c. courts to collect outstanding employee debts or overpayments and authorizes its executive officer to purchase and provide uniforms for employees whose responsibilities warrant wearing uniforms. the bill authorizes the court services and the offender supervision agency to develop and operate incentive programs for sentenced offenders such as vocational and educational training. and it allows the public defender service to accept volunteer service. i want to thank ms. norton for all of her work on this bill and i urge all members to support this. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from the district of columbia is recognized. ms. norton: thank you, mr. speaker.

such time as i may consume and i ask that my full statement be included in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. norton: i rise in support of the district of columbia courts, public defender service and court services and offender supervision agency act, h.r. 4185. first, i want to thank my good friends, chairman of the full committee, mr. issa, and our ranking member, mr. cummings, for their work together with me on this bill and especially chairman issa for seeing to it that this bill got to the house floor today. mr. speaker, this bill makes important -- really quite minor changes but they are important to the district of columbia and to the federal agencies involved. they happen to be federal agencies that uniquely serve the district of columbia. i will not bore the house with the -- all of the elements of this bill because they will seem quite minor to the house,

though as i indicate, they are of some considering importance to the agencies involved. for example, and i will use examples only, for the courts. it allows the courts to collect debts owed to the courts by employees such as debts for ss of damage to property and improper credit card payments. this is the kind of authority the court would now have. where there were erroneous payments to employees, those mployees would get a hearing before any such collection was charged to them. the court would have the authority to purchase uniforms. as you can imagine, mr. -- as an example, as you can examine, mr. speaker, in our courts, it would

be important that everyone who has the authority to enter the courts have the same kind of uniform, given the kinds of secure hearings that take place here in the district of columbia, even more so than in most other courts, federal courts of the united states. as an example for the public defender's service, the board of rustees should be treated as federal employees or public defender employees. they were formerly treated as district of columbia employees because this used to be a district of columbia agency. as an example from the court services administration which our offenders who are under court supervision, there's

exampletant section, an to allow toyota use incentives based programming and not alone sanctions because all of the cumentation shows that incentives along with sanctions, not sanctions alone, are best to get compliance with supervision and there are a number of others. i thank the committee for bringing this bill, important to the district of columbia, to the floor before the end of the august recess. i thank my good friend from arizona for yielding and i am prepared to yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield such time as i may consume. i urge all members to support me

in support of this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4185. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid n the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: i move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 451. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h. reform 451 a bill to ezzig nate the facility of the united states postal service located at 500 north brevard avenue in cocoa beach, florida, as the richard k. salick post office. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr.

gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five ledge lative -- legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. gosar: h r. 451, introduced by my colleague, mr. bill posey of florida, would designate the facility of the united states postal service at 500 north brevard avenue, cocoa beach, florida, as the richard k. salick post office. richard was a dedicated member of his community in cocoa beach, florida. was a renowned surfer who competed on world teams in the 1960's. he was diagnosed with cancer in 1973 but he persevered.

he became a tireless advocate with the national kidney foundation hetch founded the national kidney foundation's surfing festival which donates its provides to the national kidney failure. e passed away in 2012. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. cummings: i am pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of h.r. 451 a bill to designate the facility of of the united states postal service located at 500 north brevard avenue in cocoa beach, florida, as the richard salick post office. richard salick was born in wisconsin in 1949 and come peed for national and world -- and competed for national and world surfing teams in the 1960's and 1970's. at the age of 23 he was diagnosed with kidney failure.

after undergoing a kidney transplant, he was told his surfing career was over. less than a year after the surgery was over he, developed an innovative paddling technique that allowed him to return to his beloved sport. he was inducted into the cur of -- surfing hall of nasme dedicated his life to helping others suffering from kidney disease. 1976, two years after his initial kidney transplant, he and his brother helped organize a surfing competition in cocoa beach, florida, to benefit local dialysis centers. that event has become the largest charitable surfing festival in the world to support -- and raises millions to support patient education and research programs. we should pass this bill to recognize richard salick's strength, his perseverance to

excel at the highest level of his sport and his tireless dedication to improving the lives of others fighting kidney disease. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. gosar: i yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from florida, mr. posey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. posey: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i'm grateful for coming in contact with a lot of people during my lifetime and richard salick is certainly one of them. i think so much of rich and his selfless giving to others, i introduced this legislation, h.r. 451, to designate the u.s. post office on north prevard avenue in cocoa beach as the richard k. salick post office. rich salick who passed away july

2 of 2002 was a local hero and true champion to many people. rich was a champion surfer through much of the late 1960's and 1970's but he was also a life-long sufferer of kidney disease and a longtime advocate tore supporting kidney transplantation an kidney disease -- in kidney disease patients. but what made rich a champion was not the number of trophy he is won, which was considerable, but the battles he willingly and personally waged on behalf of others in need. at age 23, at the high point of his professional surfing career, rich fell ill and was told by doctors he would die if he did not get a kidney transplant. aided by his twin brother, phil, kidney donor, st rich recovered but was told all physical sports were out of the question in his future.

after a year of recover ofry he, developed a unique padding system to protect his transplanted kidney and went on to win surfing contests and proudly displayed one of his trophies in a hospital in florida he routinely caused -- called kidney patients to offer them messages of hope. but his work didn't stop there. rich and phil began hosting small surfing events to benefit those on dialysis. every year, these events grew larger and larger and larger and culminated into a hugely successful annual surf festivities. these events have raised millioners in national kidney foundation are -- and are smotcht largest charitable surfing events that the world. when i was serving in the state legislature, it was not uncommon o meet rich salick walking the

halls of the capitol, advocating for kidney patients, trying to find fixes to flawed laws to help make lives better for other people. the national kidney foundation tells us 90,000 americans with kidney disease die each year and approximately 100,000 americans are waiting for a direly needed kidney transplant. every year, i join hundreds of others in our community to participate in the annual cocoa beach kidney walk known as footprints in the sand to support those who suffer from kidney disease and to honor rich's commitment. despite suffering from kidney disease for most of his adult that those oved with the same condition can truly accomplish anything they set their minds. to he was the first professional athlete ever to receive a transplant and return to his sport at a professional level. in 2000, he was inducted into the surfing hall of fame and in

april of 2008, he was also inducted into the martial arts hall of fame, a man of many talents. he received a prestigious nancy caton award in 1977 for his worldwide humanitarian work. i'd like to thank chairman issa, ranking member cummings and the members and staff of the committee for moving this bill to the floor to honor a great american and a true champion. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. smith: i urge all members to support this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 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. -- on the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 606. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 606, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal surface at 815 county road 23 in tyrone, new york, as the specialist christopher scott post office building. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous con -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. gosar: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. gosar: h.r. 606, introduced by representative tom reed of

new york, will designate the facile thoif united states postal service located at 815 county road 23 in tyrone, new york, as the specialist christopher scott post office. specialist christopher scott was proud to serve his country in after dwan stan he made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. in 2011, he was killed in kandahar vo pro vince in an attack. at the time of his death, he'd been scheduled to return home in 12 days to be married to his thian say. he was just 2 -- to his fiance. he was just 21 years old. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings is recognized. mr. cummings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 606, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at

815 county road 23 in tyrone, new york, as the specialist christopher scott post office. christopher scott was raised in dundee new york and graduated from dundee central school in 2009. christopher exceled in both the classroom and athletics as a member of the football, track, and cheerleading teams. christopher enlisted in the united states army in july, 2009, where he served as a military policeman. he was assigned to the 561st military police company, 716th m.p. battalion. specialist scott was attached to the squadron regiment, second brigade combat team, fourth infantry division upon his deployment to afghanistan in 2011. two months into his first tour overseas, 1 days before returning home to get married,

he was tragically killed while conducting a dismounted patrol with afghan uniform police partners in kandahar city. he was awarded the bronze star, the purple heart, national service ribbon in the combat -- and the combat action badge for his honorable service. we should pass this bill to recognize the valor of specialist christopher scott and the extraordinary sacrifices made by him and his family. with that i urge all members of congress to vote in fare of this legislation and with that -- in favor of this legislation and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from new york, mr. reed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. . mr. reed: i thank the gentleman from arizona for yielding as well as the support of my colleague from maryland.

mr. speaker, i rise today in support of my bill, h.r. 606, to rename the post office at 815 county road 23 in tyrone, new york, after specialist christopher scott. mr. speaker, specialist scott gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country on september 3, 2011, at the young age of 21 years old, and i'm honored to recognize him here today. a 2009 graduate of dundee central schools, christopher was an engaged student who was active on both his school's football and track teams. in addition, he was the only meal cheerleader on the varsity -- male cheerleader on the varsity squad. he was skilled in martial arts and was part of the coon hunting club. he wanted to serve his country as a military policeman and he was assigned to the 716 military police battalion, the 101st brigade, 101st airborne, air assault stationed in

kentucky. and he was ultimately deployed in july of 2011. is fellow soldiers commented on him. he was tragically skilled while on patrol in afghanistan. just two weeks before he was to return home to be married. the news devastated his tight knit community of 1,500 people. his heroism gave him the badge star, the medal of valor, the global war on terrorism service medal, army good conduct medal, the nato medal. specialist scott personifies patriotism. given the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. the least we can do is to pay tribute to his bravery and dedication by naming the tyrone post office in his honor, to help preserve his legacy as one of new york's true heroes for generations to come. i urge all my colleagues to support this legislation, and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i urge all members to support the passage of h.r. 606 and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 606. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2223. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 223, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 220 elm avenue in munising, michigan, as the elizabeth l. kinnunen post office building.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. gosar: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, h.r. 223, introduced by my colleague, representative dan benishek of michigan, would designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 220 elm avenue in munising, michigan, as the elizabeth kinnunen. she immigrated from finland in 1903 and operated a boarding house in michigan and had 11 children. uring his life, ms. kinnunen

had a loss, two of her sons died in service. her son was killed at the battle of the bulge in 1945 and son raymond was killed in korea in 1952. mrs. kinnunen passed away in 1974. mrs. kinnunen sacrificed and the sacrifice of thousands of others like her and their continued perseverance demonstrates the courage of the american spirit and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of h.r. 223, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 220 elm avenue in munising, michigan, as the elizabeth kinnunen post office. elizabeth kinnunen came to the united states from finland in 1903 with hopes of a better

life. after marrying oscar in 1909, elizabeth worked alongside her husband to run a boarding home for timber and mining workers in marquette, michigan. eventually elizabeth, oscar and their 11 children moved to munising, michigan, where they continued to work tirelessly so that each of their children could achieve the all-american dream. mrs. kinnunen made many sacrifices on behalf of her children and two of her beloved sons made the ultimate sacrifice, so on behalf -- sacrifice on behalf of our great country. iso kinnunen was killed in action during the battle of the bulge in 1945 and shortly thereafter in 1952, mrs. kinnunen became a two gold star mother when raymond kinnunen lost his life in the korean war. it is difficult to fathom, mr. speaker, the devastating losses mrs. kinnunen endured but we

can honor her hard work, her dedication and her sacrifices by naming this post office in her honor. and with that, mr. speaker, i urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield as much time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from the state of michigan, mr. benishek. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. benishek: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank my colleagues from maryland and arizona for bringing this bill to the floor. i rise today in support of h.r. 2223, a bill to name the post office building in munising, michigan, after the late mrs. elizabeth kinnunen. born in 1893, the former elizabeth postel, emigrated to our country from finland in 1903. she came, like many in northern michigan, and throughout our great land for freedom and opportunity and for a chance at

the american dream. she married oscar kinnunen in 1909, and together they had 11 children. to provide for their family, mr. and mrs. kinnunen operating a boarding house in marquette, michigan. they provided lodgings to timber and mining workers in marquette county and eventually moved to munising where oscar worked at the paper company and mrs. kinnunen worked as a cook. she continued to provide for her family after her husband died and was part of the church in munising. her life was marked by tragedy in two great wars that defined this country. two of her sons, iso and raymond, were killed overseas defending the american people and our freedom. iso was killed in action during the battle of the bulge in 1945, and raymond lost his life in korea in 1952.

we will never know the devastating grief their family must have soffered after such an enormous loss -- suffered after such an enormous loss and fathom the somber dignity mrs. kinnunen must have felt. in the president of lincoln, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the alter of freedom. mrs. kinnunen died in 1974 at the age of 81. while mrs. kinnunen is not a household name, her hard work to provide for her family and the terrible sacrifices she and her family endured, much like many throughout our country, form an important part of our history. naming this post office in her honor is a thoughtful and lasting way for the community of munising to celebrate her life and accomplishments. the city of munising, the board of commissioners and the american legion post of 131 in munising have worked for years to honor mrs. kinnunen by renaming this post office in her name. it's my honor to represent the

citizens of northern michigan today and worked so hard to recognize the sacrifices mrs. kinnunen made for love of life and country. mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to support this legislation and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i urge all members support passage of h.r. 2223 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the ill h.r. 2223. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3534. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill.

the clerk: h.r. 3534, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 113 west michigan avenue in jackson, michigan, as the officer james bonneau emorial post office. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, h.r. 3534, introduced by my colleague, representative tim walberg of michigan, would designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 113 west michigan avenue in jackson, michigan, as the officer james bonneau memorial post office.

police officer james bonneau served in the jackson police department in michigan. while he was responding to a domestic disturbance call, he was shot and killed on march 9, 2010. a veteran with two years on the police force, he was loved and respected by his community. officer bonneau was 26 years old when he died during his duty for his community and his country, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, is recognized. mr. cummings: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to -- i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cummings: i'm very pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of h.r. 3534, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 113 west michigan avenue in jackson, michigan, as the officer james bonneau memorial post office. james bonneau was a native of canton, michigan. he graduated with a degree in criminal justice from eastern michigan university in 2006. james graduated at the top of

his class from lansing community college's mid michigan police acadney and subsequently joined the jackson police department. on march 9, 2010, officer bonneau was following up on a domestic disturbance call when he was tragically shot and killed. bonneau is survived by his parents, mark and amy bonneau, as well as his fiancee rachel maloney. passage of this bill will help recognize officer bonneau's police service as well as his dedication and commitment to his family, to the police department and his community. i urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation, and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield as much time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from the state of michigan, mr. walberg. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. walberg: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank my colleagues from arizona and maryland for their support in bringing this

forward. it is with a heavy heart that i rise today in support of h.r. 3534, legislation i introduced to designate the postal facility located at 113 west michigan avenue in jackson, michigan, as the officer james bonneau memorial post office. just after midnight on march 9, 2010, officer james bonneau was killed in the line of duty as he and a fellow public safety officer responded to a domestic disturbance complaint. although he later succumbed to his wounds, officer bonneau was able to call for help and relay information about the scene that saved the life of his fellow public safety officer who i've met and talked to and appreciates his colleague so much for that saving of life, who had also been shot. in recognition of his exceptional acts of bravery, officer bonneau was awarded the law enforcement congressional badge of bravery in 2011.

four years after his passing, he remains in the hearts and minds of the jackson community. the officer james bonneau memorial scholarship fund was named in his honor and helps local students who are pursuing a degree in criminal justice. a graduate of the eastern michigan university with a degree in criminal justice, bonneau went on to graduate from lansing community college's mid-american or mid michigan police academy at the top of his class academically before joining the jackson police force. being an officer was a job he always wanted to do since he was a kid, according to officer bonneau's parents. to those who knew him best, he was described as loyal, genuine, and good hearted. in passing this legislation today, we take a small step forward in memorializing his sacrifice and ensuring future

generations remember the heroism of officer bonneau. to his mother and father, amy and mark, and the rest of his family, we offer our sincere gratitude and condolences and to his fellow officers at the jackson police department, we thank you as well for continuing to put your lives on the line each day as you protect our communities. as officer bonneau's father put it, and i quote, it's hard to say, but at least he died loving what he did. that was his dream. that was what he lived for. officer james david bonneau gave his life in service to the jackson community. we acknowledge his ultimate sacrifice and will never forget what he lived for, duty over self. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. gosar: i urge all members to support passage of h.r. 3534 and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3534. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid n the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: i move that the house suspend the rules as pass a.h. 4355. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4355, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service cated at 201 b street in perryville, arkansas as the

harold george bennett post office. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consumism ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. . gosar: mr. speaker, h.r. 4355, introduced by representative griffin of arkansas, would designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 201 b street in perryville, arkansas, as the harold george ben in it post office. he was born in arkansas in 1940 and joined the army at the beginning of the vietnam war he volunteered to serve in south vietnam as a special forces advisor. in late 1964, he was captured after a fierce fire fight. after his capture, bennett was a

prisoner of war for 179 days. he was executed by the vote congress on june 25, 19 -- by 1975678cong on june 25, he was 24 years old when he died and was the first american p.o.w. murdered in vietnam. his remains have never been returned to the united states buzz his bravery and perseverance will be remembered. i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings is recognized. mr. cummings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i'm pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of h r. 4355, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 201 b street in perryville, arkansas, as the harold george bennett post office. harold bennett was born on october 16, 1940, in perryville, arkansas.

bennett and his brother served in the united states army. sergeant george bennett was trained as an infantryman and served with the 82nd and 101 aaron borne division. while serving as an infantry advisor to south vietnam's army in ecember 29, 1964, he was a village that had been overrun by the vi tembings tcong. upon land, his group was confronted by enemy forces. sernlt bennett and his radiooperator were captured. jerget bennett was the first american prisoner of war to be executed by the vietcong. as a prisoner of war, he deplaced -- displayed remarkable courage, and devotion those country. he was reportedly executed for injuring one of his kapturs in one of his three escape attempts. he was posthumously atwheard

silver star. we urge all members of the congress to vote in fare of this legislation. -- in favor of this legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman from arizona. mr. gosar: i yield such time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from arkansas, mr. griffin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. griffin: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of my bill h.r. 4355, to designate the u.s. post office located at 201 b street in perryville, arkansas, as the harold george bennett post office. staff sernlt harold george bennett is one of arkansas' finest sons. he dead nated -- dedicated his life to serving our country. he was born october 16, 1940 in thornburgh, arkansas, a small town near the outskirts of a national forrest. a graduate of perryville high school he, enlisted in the u.s. army in 1957. sergeant bennett served as an

airborne infantryman in the 82nd and 1501st airborne division. he completed special forces training in 1963 and 1964 volunteered to serve in south vietnam special forces advisor to mill tafere assistance command. on december 29, 1964, his unit was airlifted to a small village after it had been overrun by a division of vietcong. immediately on land, his unit was confronted by a well dug in regiment of enemy forces. despite fighting furiously, his union was overrun. concerned with the safety of his fellow service members he, device directed american helicopter pilots attempting to rescue him to stand down and was captured by the vi tembings cong he spent 179 days as a p.o.w. and attempted to escape three

times. in his last attempt he injured an enemy soldier and his captors executed him on june 25, 1965. as a prisoner of war the only thing more remarkable than the resistance he displayed tout throughout his captivity was his devotion to his country. only 24 years old, sergeant bennett was the first american p.o.w. killed in vietnam. like many other u.s. variousmen who lost their lives there -- servicemen who lost their live there is, his remains have never been returned. in 2004 he was inducted into the ranger hall of fame at fort benning. in 2006, his family was presented with his combat infantrymen's badge. national defense service medal. vietnam service medal, prisoner of war medal, army good conduct medal, and purple heart in 2010, his family was presented with

his silver star. sergeant bennett was a selfless young man who answered his nation's call to service and placed duty and honor above all else. though he may no longer be with us, the example and selflessness of this brave young arkansan will forever live on in our hearts. while a grateful nation could never adequately express their him, weness to men like honor their sacrifice on our behalf. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: i ask all members to support h.r. 4355 and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4355. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 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. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2802. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2802 a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 418 liberty street in covington, indiana, as the fountain county veterans memorial post office. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume and i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized.

mr. gosar: mr. speaker, h. reform 2802, introduced by representative rokita of indiana, will designate the facility of the united states postal service in covington, indiana, as the fountain county veterans memorial post office. america as a nation is indebted to those who have risked their lives to uphold the freedoms we hold so dearly this designation for this post office will remind the citizens of fountain valley of the sacrifices made by their men and women in sacrifice of their country. it also honor -- hon norse families and loved ones who made the sacrifice of parting with and for those still worried about loved ones overseas. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i'm pleased to join my colleagues in supporting h.r. 2802 a bill to ezz dig nate the

facility of the united states postal service at 418 liberty street in covington, indiana, as the fountain county veterans memorial post office. the legislation before us hon norse brave men and women in fountain county, indiana, who have served in our armed forces. these service members put this country before themselveses by dedicating their lives to defending the freedoms we as americans hold so dear. their sacrifices should never be taken for granted, nor should they ever be forgotten. with that, i urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield as many minutes as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from the state of indiana. mr. rokita. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rokita: i thank the gentleman from arizona for yielding time and for his -- and for his leadership here in the

house of representatives, especially this evening with the good work he's managing here on the floor. i know, being his friend, it's a labor of love for him as it is for almost all of us, so i want to here, on the record, thank him for his continued service in the house. i want to thank the ranking member for his willingness in addressing and considering this legislation. it is important to the people of indiana and i'm grateful for his leadership as well. mr. speaker, i rise in support of this legislation that i was honored to introduce and support in memthroif fallen soldiers of fountain county, indiana. lance corporal josh whitsman was a marine from covington, indiana, and was so proud to have been born in the united states and especially indiana which he often referred to as god's country. lance corporal whitsman firmly lieved in the documents that enshrine our american

exceptionalism. he felt humbled by and honored to be fighting to uphold those freedoms and standards which we talk about so often here on the house floor and that americans talk about throughout the country. he was not only humbled to serve his country but he was humbled to serb next to his fellow military brothers who he would often boast to about how great indiana was. and mr. speaker, he loved his family. he would often call his mother at home and sing the song "paint me a birmingham" only to swap in his hometown of covington for birmingham. he couldn't wait to return home to indiana to be with all of them. sadly, mr. speaker, that day never came. you see, lance corporal whitsman died in the line of duty in his second tour of duty in afghanistan while serving with weapons company second battalion fifth marines on may 30, 2012. he was just 23. josh's service and sacrifice

were the inspiration for this bill and it started with an idea from one of josh's closest friends that friend, noah townsend was in a supermarket and overheard a young hoosier ask who josh whitsman was. at child's parents explained he was someone who had given his life to preserve her free freeh dom. noah wracked his brain trying to think of fating memorial for josh and and the service of his. he would be driving down liberty street and as he drove past the post office, it hit him. congress renames post offices for individual who was made some contribution to their city, state, or country, and undoubtedly it's all deserved. certainly, josh's sacrifice and that of his family is worthy of recognition in any number of way, including a names -- naming

a post office in the city he called home but recognition of his own work wasn't josh's way. before noah townsend came to me with this idea he, talked to josh's parents. josh's mother was thankful for the gesture but could hear her son in the back of her mind say, mom, it's not just about me. this young man who gave his life for his country and his mother's interpretation of what his wishes would have been, i think, is exactly correct. there are so many hero who was given their lives for this country worthy of similar recognition. in fountain county there have been nearly 50 family who was lost someone in service to their country. let me assure you, fountain county is not a large population cent ter in yane. as wonderful and welcoming as it is, foufl great hoosiers, it's a farming community. it's not big.

50 families had someone die serving their country. that is why this legislation does not mention josh's name and i am proposing that we rename this post office on behalf of not only the witsman family but all of the nearly 50 families in fountain county who have lost loved ones in service to this nation. it's my hope, mr. speaker, that this will serve as an ever-lasting sacrifice. i want to thank the entire indiana house delegation for their support on this legislation as well. on behalf of josh witsman's family and all of those who have sacrificed i urge my colleagues to support that -- this bill and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i urge all members to vote for this legislation, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2802. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3027. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3027, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 442 miller valley road in prescott, arizona, as the barry m. goldwater post ffice. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. gosar: i rise today as the house considers a piece of legislation i introduced, h.r. 3027, which would rename the postal facility at 442 miller valley road in prescott, arizona, as the barry m. goldwater post office. as we know barry goldwater was a businessman turned statesman who served five terms in the united states senate and was a republican nominee for the presidency in 1964. he served arizona and our nation with honor and integrity for decades. leading up to the 1964 presidential election he earned the moniker, mr. conservative, for being so influential in the revival of political conservativism. after the 1964 election, he returned to the designate. because of his experience as a senior officer in the army air force reserve, he took particular interest in national security issues. serving as the chair of the senate select committee on intelligence from 1981 to 1985

and then serving as chairman of the armed services committee from 1985 to 1987. he was instrumental in crafting e goldwater-nichols act of 1986 which brought about the most important department restructuring in nation. to goldwater's service to this nation, i sponsor this legislation which the house is considering today. the entire arizona delegation, oth republicans and democrats, co-sponsors of the bill and i thank each one of them. it's a fitting tribute to an honorable arizonan, one who served this nation in so many ways. i thank my colleagues for each of their support and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of h.r. 3027, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 442

miller valley road in prescott, arizona, as the barry m. goldwater post office. i have think we are all aware of the remarkable service of the five-term senator from arizona, barry morris goldwater. he was born in phoenix, arizona, on january 2, 1909. in 1930, senator goldwater took over his family's business, and in 1934 he maried margaret peggy johnson with whom he had four children. during world war ii, senator goldwater be served as a pilot and flew over the himalayas to deliver supplies to the republic of china in their fight against the empire of japan. senator goldwater was a man of courage. he was dedicated public servant who spoke his mind, stood firm on his beliefs and worked tirelessly for his constituents. mr. speaker, we should pass the bill in honor of senator goldwater and remember his legislative accomplishments,

his skill in forging compromises and his commitment to saying what he believed. so i urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation, and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. gosar: you know it's a fitting tribute for the citizens of arizona and particularly those in prescott, arizona, who want to pay tribute to one of our great senators in arizona history, barry goldwater. he had a love affair with arizona, from the grand canyon to its people, from the indigenous people, from the different tribes, to the way of communicating the art of conservatism to people across this country. it's a paying tribute we look to barry goldwater, to honor us with his name on the post office in prescott, arizona, and with that i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3027. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3085. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3085, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 3349 west 111th street in chicago, illinois, as the captain herb bert johnson -- herbert johnson memorial post office building. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona.

mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and to heir remarks include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, h.r. 3085 proposed by my colleague, representative daniel lipinski of illinois, will designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 3349 west 111th street in chicago, illinois, as the captain herbert johnson memorial post office building. fire captain herbert johnson was an outstanding member, proudly serving the city 32 years. tragically johnson passed away on november 2, 2012, while battling flames. a decorated firefighter, he earned the medal of honor for the rescue, of several children rescuing them from a burning

apartment. captain johnson was only 54. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 3085, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 3349 west 111th street in chicago, illinois, as the captain herbert johnson memorial post office building. i want to thank representative dan lipinski for introducing this measure to honor a hero from the city of chicago. captain johnson was a 32-year veteran firefighter who was remembered by friends an family as an all-around great guy and great family. johnson comes from a family of push servants. three his brothers serve as chicago police officers. his sister is a retired policewoman and another brother is a chicago firefighter. captain johnson died after sustaining heavy injuries while responding to a fire in the

gauge park neighborhood of chicago. captain johnson, who had just been promoted three months before the death, survived by his wife, susan, and a daughter and two sons. mr. speaker, we should pass this legislation, and i urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of it and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the distinguished sponsor of the bill, mr. lipinski. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for three minutes. mr. speaker, that my sk to -- 3085, a s support h.r. bill to designate the facility

of the united states postal service located at 3349 west 111th street in chicago, illinois, as the captain herbert johnson memorial post office. he died fighting a house fire on chicago's south side. captain johnson heroically served in the chicago fire department for over 32 years. he learned public service from his family. three of his brothers are chicago police officers. a sister is a retired chicago police officer. another brother is a chicago firefighter. so his family knows the dangers of being a first responder. captain johnson served in almost every chicago neighborhood as a fight fighter but his heart belonged to the southwest side, especially to close-knit community of mount greenwood. over the years captain johnson taught over 1,000 recruits as an instructor at the robert j. quinn fire academy. he's finally remembered by

those he taught. after the horrible terrorist attacks of 9/11, herbie johnson went to new york city to volunteer with the rescue efforts. in 2007 he was awarded the state's highest honor for firefighters, the illinois medal of honor, for rescuing several children from a burning apartment building. captain johnson's life came to a tragic end on november 2, 2012, while battling flames in the attic of a two-story home on chicago's south side. he's survived by his wife of 28 years, susan, two sons, thomas and michael, and daughter laurie. he also left behind so many others in mount greenwood and the surrounding area who knew him well, not only as a courageous and dedicated public servant but also as an outgoing and caring neighbor and friend. the outpouring of grief after his death demonstrated the

impact he had on so many people. naming a postal facility honoring fire captain johnson is just a small tribute to our community's appreciation, not only for him but all first responders who bravely put their lives on the line every day for people they do not know. this post office naming will ensure that captain herbie johnson, his family and the sacrifices of all first responders will always be and ered and appreciated hope inspire more to follow in his footsteps. mr. speaker, i'd like to thank all my colleagues in illinois for co-sponsoring this bill, and i ask all my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 3085 d honoring captain herbert "herbie" johnson. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman's time has expired.

the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i ask members to support the passage of h.r. 3085 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3085. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 2/3, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the clerk: h.r. 4416. a bill to redesignate the facility of the united states post office located at 161 live oak street in miami, arizona, as the staff sergeant manuel v. mendoza post office building.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, h.r. 4416, introduced by representative kirkpatrick of arizona, would redesignate the facility of the united states postal service located at 161 live oak street in miami, arizona, as the staff sergeant manuel v. mendoza post office building. staff sergeant mendoza was born in arizona in 1922. mendoza entered the united states army in november of 1942 at the outset of the u.s.'s entry into world war ii. mendoza was a highly decorated

soldier. he was awarded the medal of in italy his action on october 4, 1944, where it is said he broke up a german counterattack on his own. mendoza also served with distinction in the korean war. in addition to the medal of honor, mendoza earned a number of other medals and the bronze star. staff sergeant mendoza passed away in 2001. and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: thank you very much. mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentlewoman from arizona, representative kirkpatrick, for introducing h.r. 4416, a bill to redesignate the facility of the united states postal service located at 161 live oak street in miami, arizona, as the staff sergeant manuel v. mendoza post office building. 1922 mendoza was born in

in miami, arizona. manuel was known as a man who worked hard to provide for his family. he married his wife, alice, in august of 1942 and was drafted into the army in november of that same year. just this year manuel was posthumously awarded the medal of honor for his actions on october 4, 1944 in italy -- 1944, in italy. on that day he's credited with breaking up a german counterattack of 200 troops. after world war ii, staff sergeant mendoza went on to serve with distinction in the korean war before being honored -- honorably discharged in 1954. staff sergeant mendoza passed away at the age of 79 in 2001. he was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. in addition to the medal of

honor, he also received the bronze star, two purple hearts and a host of other honors and distinctions. we should pass this bill today to recognize staff sergeant mendoza's service to our nation and bravery and combat. and with that -- bravery in combat. with that i reserve the balance of my time. i urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona reserves. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield four minutes to my distinguished colleague, the sponsor of the legislation, representative kirkpatrick. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from arizona is recognized four for -- for four minutes. mr. kirk: mr. speaker, i rise today to -- mrs. kirkpatrick: mr. speaker, i rise today to commemorate manuel mendoza. an american hero who was born in my arizona district. and to urge support for my bill to rename the united states post office in miami, arizona, in his honor.

staff sergeant mendoza was born in 1922 in the eastern arizona mining town of moifment at the age of -- miami. at the age of 20 he was drafted into the united states army where he was nicknamed the arizona kid for his heroism in battle. staff sergeant mendoza posthumously received the medal of honor for is single-handedly repelling a 1944 german assault on itsly's mount during world -- in italy during world war ii. that afternoon the germans launched a fierce counterattack against allied forces, but due to staff sergeant mendoza's determination, bravery and selflessness, he was able to kill 30 enemy troops and successfully defend the allied position. later in his service, he went on to fight in korea. after retiring from the armed forces, mr. mendoza returned to

mesa, arizona, where he died in 2001. he is survived by his wife and three children. it is my honor to have introduced h.r. 4416, which redesignates the facility of the united states postal service located at 161 live oak street in miami, arizona, as the staff sergeant manuel v. mendoza post office building. staff sergeant mendoza's service was in keeping with the highest traditions of military service. as he demonstrated outstanding heroism above and beyond the call of duty. to name a u.s. post office in my district after such a man is not only a credit to him, but to the state of arizona and our armed forces. on behalf of arizona's entire delegation, i thank you, mr. gosar, for your support on this

bill, and i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 4416 when it comes to a vote later today. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from arizona yields back. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady for acknowledging all the members of the arizona delegation for looking forward to the post office in miami to be looked at in fond remembrance of the arizona kid. it's fitting that today is an arizona day for post offices here on the house floor. and with that i ask all members of congress to pass, their support of h.r. 4416 and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 4416. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair,

2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2291. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2291. a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 450 lexington avenue in new york, new york, as the vincent r. sombrotto post office. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the

gentleman is recognized. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, h.r. 2291, introduced by representative maloney of new york, would designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 450 lexington avenue in new york, new york, as the vincent r. zom brattow post office -- sombrotto. vincent sombrotto was born in an maten -- man haten in 1923. carriers the letter in 1947. he passed away in 2013 at the age of 89. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may cufmente the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i thank my colleague, congresswoman maloney of new york, for introducing h.r. 2291. and i join her in supporting this bill to designate the facility of the united states

postal service located at -- located at 450 lexington avenue in new york, new york, as the vincent r. sombrotto post office. mr. vincent raymond sombrotto was born in new york on june 15, 1923. he joined what was then known as the post office department in 1947 as a part time letter carrier after serving with distinction in the navy during world war ii. in 1971 sombrotto was elected president of the new york city branch of the national association of letter carriers. the 78 he was elected as national president, a position he held until 2002. he was an active supporter of the muscular dystrophy association, helping to raise millions of dollars to fight neuro muscular diseases. sombrotto passed away in 2013 at the age of 89.

he was survived by his wife, seven children and 14 grandchildren. mr. speaker, we should pass this legislation. i urge all of my colleagues to support it and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i continue to yield. or reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: i yield four minutes to the distinguished sponsor of the legislation, mrs. maloney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for four minutes. mrs. maloney: i thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership on the oversight committee, i thank him and chairman issa for moving this legislation through the committee. and it would rename a united states postal service facility located at my district at 450 lexington avenue after vincent r. sombrotto. who was one of the most significant labor leaders of his generation. like many of his postal service colleagues, vincent sombrotto traded his military uniform for a letter carriers' uniform and

he wore both with great distinction. as a letter carrier at new york city's grand central station in the district i represent, mr. sombrotto led the 1970 wildcat postal strike that led congress to re-organize -- reorganize the modern united states postal service. later elected as president of the national association of letter carriers, their 16th president, serving from 19778 to -- 1978 to 2002. he worked to increase letter carrier wages, moving them from poverty-level into middle-class levels. in 1992 he began the national association of letter carriers food drive, which has developed into the country's biggest one-day food drive in the entire country. since it started, the drive has provided more than $1.-- 1.2 billion pounds of food for food banks in communities throughout the united states. as a firm believer in civic

responsibility, mr. sombrotto worked with united states postal service and emergency services organizations to establish carrier alert. carrier alert is a nationwide program allowing postal carriers to perform humanitarian deeds on their routes, including saving lives, finding missing children and pets, and looking after the elderly. i urge my colleagues to honor mr. sombrotto who worked to improve the lives of letter carriers, their families and their communities, by supporting h.r. 2291. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: with that i urge all the members to vote in favor of the bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i urge all members to join me in support of this bill and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 2291. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4197. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 390, h.r. 4197, a bill to amend title 5, united states code, to extend the period of certain authority with respect to judicial review of marriage systems protection board decisions relating to whistle blowers and for other purposes -- whistleblowers, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona.

mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which -- within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. gosar: in november, 2012, the president signed into law the whistleblower protection enhancement act. this legislation was needed to update existing law to better help protect whistleblowers from retaliation for helping expose waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. some rtunately managers were using loopholes to punish well-intentioned employees for bringing bad behavior to the light of day. these actions lightly disswayed some whistleblowers to -- from coming forward. during the oversight committee's work on this legislation, it became apparent that other whistleblowers may not be getting a fair shake in federal circuit court.

therefore, the legislation created a two-year pilot allowing for all circuit review of whistleblower appeals enabling whistleblower cases to be appealed outside the federal circuit. in the 18 minutes since the law's enactment, have you few appeals have been heard outside the circuit giving congress an insufficient sample size judging to see if this is an appropriate venue for whistleblower appeals. this extends the two-year ircuit review pilot for an additional three years. we seek to determine the most fairest and efficient way for whistleblower cases to be heard under the federal court system. we must do everything in our power to help defend those who seek to do the right thing by protecting americans and their hard-earned tax dollars. i want to thank chairman issa and ranking member cummings for their work on this legislation and i support this legislation. i reserve the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. cummings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: thank you, mr. speaker. i introduced this bipartisan bill to protect an important due process right for whistleblowers. i want to thank the original co-sponsors of this bill, oversight committee chairman darrell issa, federal work force subcommittee chairman blake farenthold, and ranking member gerry connolly, and longtime whistleblower advocate and my fellow member from the state of maryland, representative chris van hollen. h.r. 4197 provides an extension in the whistleblower enhancement act that was signed into law on november 27, 2012. under that law whistleblowers were allowed to file appeals in any federal circuit of appeals with jurisdictions during the two years following enactment. the two-year period will expire

on november 27 of this year. this bill would extend the all-circuit review provision for an additional three years. without this provision, whistleblowers could only appeal a decision by the merit systems protection board to the united states court of appeals for the federal circuit. the federal circuit has become increasingly restrictive of whistleblower rights in its decisions over the years, allowing other circuits to consider appeals in whistleblower cases provides a peer review process and the check on the federal circuit. the oversight committee approved this bill on a bipartisan vote on -- in march. following the committee's action, the make it safe coalition, a group of more than 50 organizations supporting whistleblower rights, issued a statement. here's some of what they said. the house government reform committee deserves credit for bipartisan leadership on this experiment in in structural due

process reforms. whistleblower protection is a southerly needed provision to make sure that the w.p.a. to make sure that is done what congress intended. two years is not enough time to evaluate the all-circuit review provision works as intended as only a few cases have made their way to other circuits so far. i note this will would also allow the office of personnel management to file for reviews, mspb decisions in circuits other than the federal circuit for an additional three years. protecting the rights of whistleblowers fosters an environment where employees feel safe coming forward with information, including employees like the brave doctors, nurses, administrative staff who've come forward to xpose mismanagement in the

department of veterans affairs. whistleblowers exploit waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government and we need to do all we can to support them. with that i urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and with that i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield as much time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from the state of california, mr. issa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. issa: thank you, mr. speaker, thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, ranking member cummings. the most important function that the oversight committee does is in fact to expose waste, fraud and abuse in the federal bureaucracy. to that end, foia and whistleblowers are the two most important tools we have, because ultimately whistleblowers coming forward lets us know of something and the freedom of information act in addition to congressional powers are the only way we can wrench the truth out of bureaucracy that often tends to be closed and in fact protecting of mistakes and of

outright failures, including fraud. the ranking member rightfully so and very kindly mentioned a scandal that's under way, a bipartisan effort is under way here in the congress to deal with the crisis in our veterans hospitals. a crisis that only last week whistleblowers testified under oath of retaliation they had seen when they came forward to explain the problems they had. doctors, health care professionals and administrators finding that even in a caring organization like the veterans administration and their hospital system should be that if you simply talk about secret lists or about failure to provide care, you might very well experience retaliation and they did. so i think this is a particularly appropriate time for our committee, under the leadership of our ranking member and this bill, h.r. 4197, to bring this bill to the floor to let people know that

we intend on wrenching open further the protections for whistleblowers because they are and have been critical to the american people's right to know, both through their congress and through the public. so i want to support the legislation. i want to thank mr. cummings for his work on it and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i again want to thank chairman issa for all of his support. couldn't have not done it without his hard work on this issue. there is something that we are clearly bipartisan on. that is making sure that whistleblowers are protected is so very, very important. they play such a vital role. certain information that we will never get. no circumstances if it were not for them and if they're not protected or if they feel threatened that by exposing

problems in government that they'll be harmed, that is not -- that's not healthy for our government. it's not healthy for our country and certainly makes it almost impossible for us to be -- to reach the highest levels of effectiveness and efficiency in our committee. so i want to thank him and want to thank all the members of our committee and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i urge all members to support 4197. a great attempt at trying to make sure there's fair and equitable access to the facts and to the fair facts so that justice can be served. i urge all members to support the bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4197. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. he gentleman from arizona is recognized -- for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. the clerk: to change the default adjustment fund under the thrift savings plan and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 2340eu7bs. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under

consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. gosar: the smart savings act, h.r. 4193, would change the default investment fund for thrift savings funds, or t.s.p. f.'s to an age appropriate allocate fund. consistent with the governing board. it would ensure that t.p.p. participants are better prepared for retirement for giving funds that will yield funds. and it is in the g fund and remained invested until they can reallocate their fund balance into one or more other funding options. the g fund comes with some risk. the t.s.p. warns g fund investors their account may not grow enough to offset the purchasing power that results

from inflation. the t.s.p.'s asset allocation funds are makes of the t.s.p. offerings designed to yield higher returns while decreasing risk as individual participants near retirement. while the funds expose participants to market risk they address such risk in their design. in making its legislative recommendation to congress, the t.s.p. found that they had the assetting aalcation funds been the default investment option since the beginning of automatic enrollment in 2010. participants would have achieved greater returns. participants who do not want to assume the market risks associated with the old fund will of course maintain their ability to maintain their own allocation. that can include, for instance, transferring their entire balance to the g fund if that is their desire. i appreciate the bipartisan support of representatives cummings, woodall, lynch, farenthold, connelly and delegate norton and urge support of this bill and i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, as an original co-sponsor of this bill, i want to thank chairman issa and congressman farenthold and congressman lynch for working with me on this bipartisan legislation. the smart savings act would amend current law to change the thrift savings plan default investment option from the government securities investment fund, the g fund, to the life cycle fund, the l fund. this is a commonsense change that would help our federal civilian employees save more effectively for their retirement. the federal retirement thrift investment board, which manages the t.s.p., has said that many t.s.p. participants are not actively managing their accounts and therefore not faking full advantage of their investment options. the thrift board data shows

that 33% of participants who were automatically enrolled in t.s.p. accounts when they were hired have not changed their investment allocations and remain totally invested in the g fund. many of these participants are young employees who would benefit most from long-term investments in a diversified ortfolio such as the l fund. although there is little to no risk in investing in the g fund, over the long term the return on investment is only about half that of the l fund. it does not make sense to have our federal employees miss out on the potentially higher returns that the l fund may provide over the long term. there's precedent for this in the private sector. of eys show that nearly 80%

private employers use life cycle funds as the default investment option for the 401-k plans offered to their employees. in implementing this legislation, it would be important for the thrift board to thoroughly explain to t.s.p. participants that the l fund is subject to market fluctuations. i understand that there may be some workers who may be concerned about the market risks of the l fund. this bill would preserve the ability of all employees to change their allocations and transfer their contributions to the g fund if they so desire. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this bipartisan legislation. i want to thank, again, chairman issa and all members of our committee for making this happen, and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield as much time as he may consume to the distinguished

colleague from the state of california and the chairman of the full committee of government reform, chairman issa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. issa: thank you mr. speaker and thank you, mr. chairman and thank you, ranking member cummings. we are the board of directors for the government of the united states. our committee oversees the equivalent of an i.r.a. or a 40147b k in the private sector, known as t.s.p. . so what sounds like a lot of initials and can be confusing to the federal work force, it's really quite simple. we have, through oversight, discovered with the 2015 investment board that in fact we've done a disservice to the federal workers. by putting them into an absolutely positively safe investment that does not keep up with inflation, effectively

the dollars they contribute and matching dollars from the government as an employer are shrinking every year in constant dollars. their investments are in fact smaller if they stay in that fund. now, near the end of somebody's career, in those last couple years, they may want to lock in, with absolute certainty, the size of their retirement fund to use in some way after they leave government. but in the first days, it is clear that in the long run, the only way for an investment to grow greater than inflation is to make the kinds of investments that are possible in the other offerings under t.s.p. which again is the equivalent of a 401 k in the freist sector -- 401-k in the private sector. this was well thought out by the board, well researched and brought to our committee. it is one of those simple things that should have been done sooner. and so i appreciate that the committee marked it up quickly,

we're bringing it to the floor only a short time later, and that i hope the senate will hold it and quickly allow the president to make it law because once it's law, federal workers will for the first time have a default that keeps up with or exceeds inflation. the decision to make it quick is not because we're in a hurry, it's because every day federal workers by default, through no fault of their own, unwittingly are finding them is he -- themselves in an inappropriate savings plan in their 401-k, known in government as t.s.p. so i know that it's always one of those things where people say, why are you in a hurry? had in this case we're in a hurry -- in this case we're in a hurry because we realize we should have gotten it right sooner, we certainly are glad that we got it done now and on behalf of the committee that oversees the federal work force we hope that they'll appreciate that they have, if you will, a

bit of an apology that we didn't act on this even quicker. it is important to make sure that the federal work force has a good pay and benefit package and in this case they have a good retirement package through t.s.p. that was underperforming for many of our federal work force. i believe today the default will make it perform better, while not taking away any of their inherent choices. so i thank the chairman and ranking member for bringing us here today and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: continue to yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona continues to reserve. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: i want to yield for such time as he may consume to the distinguished member of our committee who has worked very hard on these issues and been a strong advocate for our federal employees, mr. lynch from massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. lynch: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from maryland for yielding and for his kind words.

as ranking member of the federal work force subcommittee, i rise in strong support of h.r. 4139, the smart savings act. this legislation would change the default investment option as has been previously described for the 2015 savings plan, for those participants from the g fund to the life cycle or l fund. the l fund uses age-appropriate investment allocations. which results in the higher returns that have been discussed here earlier. first, i'd like to thank my fellow co-sponsors, the gentleman from california, mr. issa, ranking member cummings from maryland, congressman farenthold from texas, congressman condoleezza ricely from virginia and congressman -- connolly from virginia, and congressman woodall from georgia, for working together on this bipartisan bill. the 2015 savings plan is an important component of federal workers' retirement assets. given the negative impact of pay freezes, furloughs and

other challenges on the pay and benefits of our federal work force over the last few years, i feel it's appropriate for congress to provide investment options that will help federal employees maximize their retirement contributions and savings. changing the default investment option to the l fund makes a lot of sense because the l fund s have substantially outperformed the g fund. however, the bill would also allow employees who are risk-averse the ability to opt out and change their investment options. the house passed a substantially similar bill in the 110th congress, but it was never enacted. this time around i'm hoping that this commonsense proposal will become law, as a substantially similar bill in the senate was recently approved in committee. h.r. 4193 is supported by many stakeholders including the federal retirement 2015 and investment board, the employees 2015 advisory council and

various employee organizations. this provides the dedicated men and women of our federal work force a reasonable option that i believe will help them more effectively provide for their own retirement. i urge my colleagues to join all of the co-sponsors in supporting h.r. 4193. i thank the gentleman from maryland for his kindness and courtesy and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, with that i urge all of our members to vote in favor of this very important piece of legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i urge all members to join me in support of this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona yields the balance. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 4193, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair,

2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 4195. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 387, h.r. 4195, a bill to amend chapter 15 of title 44, united states code, commonly known as the federal register act, to modernize the federal register and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under

consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. gosar: the federal register modernization act is an important bill that will allow our government to better adapt to 21st century technology, while both serving the public better and saving money. much of the federal register keeping and document publishing includes outdated requirements for printed version of documents. this is especially true for the federal register. oday there are only 124 paid subscribers to the print version of federal register. despite this fact, the federal government is legally required to continue to produce a print version of the register. moreover, statutes biased towards paper-based communication also require federal agencies to submit multiple physical copies of the same document for publication. the result is an nonsensical situation where agencies must hand over c.d.'s to the office of the register with identical documents saved on it.

this commonsense legislation will fix both of these issues. first, it will allow the register to be published rather than printed, allowing for an event switch -- eventual switch . second, it will streamline the document submission process to eliminate the requirement for multiple copies and give the register more freedom in how documents may be submitted. importantly, this bipartisan proposal has the support of the administration and i encourage all members to support this legislation and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i want to thank chairman issa for introducing this, i'm happy to be an original co-sponsor of the federal register modernization act. this is a good government bill that will reduce waste and save taxpayers money. this bill is based on a legislative proposal from the national archives and records

administration. the archivists of the united states sent a letter to congress last november and said, and i quote, this legislation would modernize the federal register, to take advantage of modern technology to increase efficiency. the bill would give the office of the federal register the flexibility to publish the federal register electronically. it also would allow agencies to stop sending unnecessary paper copies of documents when they send materials to be published in the federal register. the national archives estimates that this one step could save almost $900,000 over five years. this is exactly the kind of legislation congress should be passing. it's bipartisan, noncontroversial and will make a modest update that will make the government more efficient and effective with regard to information being accessible. i urge my colleagues to support

the legislation and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield as much time as he may consume to the distinguished colleague from the state of california, the chairman of the committee, chairman issa. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. issa: thank you, and i would inquire if the ranking member was yielding back so that i can close? thank you. then i will close. mr. speaker, the federal registry modernization act does exactly what the title suggests. it modernizes the federal registration act. when you look at a well-intended bill that hasn't been addressed since the 1930's, it comes to mind how easy it is to ask something to go on and to have a federal bureaucracy actually do a good job. the national archives and many of the institutions here in washington do work. but from time to time you ask

the question, at what cost? the modernization act seeks to do two things. one, simply lower cost for printing that is no longer necessary in a digital age. and in fact to open the door for what i believe is the modernization that goes beyond that. since 1994, when the office of federal register first published its electronic edition of the federal records -- federal register, we have in fact -- registry, we have in fact had an opening for our government to go digital beyond just any minor amount. today many people ask a question and i'm going to ask the question here today. if the i.r.s. has 50 years worth of your tax returns, why wouldn't we capture the workings of government digitaly, hold them, and at the appropriate time make them available for our children and

our grandchildren, for whatever purpose they may help in studying the history of what we do here today? this small modernization is about cost savings but it's also a recognition that in this day and age we can capture everything digital -- -- digitaly, we can store vast amounts of it and we can make it searchable and valuable to the next generation. so for that reason a small recognition that it's time to get off paper, save money, and have the federal registry accessible online to offices, homes and public libraries, not simply print paper because in the 1930's that's what we said to do. so i believe when we look at the last decade in which the annual page count exceeded 75,000 pages, we recognize that those pages were made possible by the same computers, the same auto mation that allow us to -- automation that allow us to no longer print paper.

i ask the conference and the congress to vote for h.r. 4195, to remove these outdated statutory requirements, i urge passage and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 4195. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. mr. gosar: mr. speaker. mr. speaker. i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered.

pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to uspend the rules and pass h.r. 1192. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. bill to : h.r. 1192, a redesignate mammoth peak in yosemite national park as mount jesse benton fre'mont. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. mcclintock, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. mcclintock: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and

include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcclintock: i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, h.r. -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcclintock: mr. speaker, h.r. 1192 would redesignate mammoth peak in yosemite national park as mount jesse benton fre'mont. the bill is brought to us by a group of local park enthusiasts. its purpose is to recognize this pioneer who played a significant role in establishing yosemite national park. jesse benton fre'mont was the daughter of senator benton, a prominent democrat, who is with a a leading proponent of the western expansion. she married john c. fre'mont, an american military officer, explorer and later a presidential candidate. she traveled to california in 1849 and soon thereafter became one of the most influential

advocates for establishing yosemite national park. when we think of yosemite we think of john muir. ironically, john's first visit to the park didn't occur until four years after the park was established. it only came to his attention as it came to the attention of so many because jesse benton fre'mont saw the -- jessie benton fre'mont saw the beauty of the valley, she began a passionate crusade to -- for the american people to enjoy. she was herself a gifted writer and used her skill to transform her husband's travel and exploration into popular narratives that was used by ioneers to guide their travels west. yosemite became her passion. she published many accounts of the valley and host of scores of dignitaries to sees his wonders. it was her love of yosemite,

her boundless energy and her political connections in both parties that set in motion and drove the events that led to congress passing and presidential abraham lincoln signing the yosemite grant act 150 years ago. and remember, she did all of this in an age when women were expected to be seen and not heard. she set an example of leadership that gave inspiration and guidance to the next generation that ultimately produced the movement toward women suffrage. the yosemite grant act was revolutionary in its age. the words of the act, on the expressed condition that the premises shall be held for public use, resort and recreation for all time. this act led ultimately to the creation of the national park service in 1916 and to the preservation of so many landscapes for the american people to enjoy for their use and resort and recreation.

the norman and kings of old set aside vast tracks of land ander that exclusive preserve in which only a select view with their blessing could enjoy. yosemite grant was the very opposite of that. it set aside the most beautiful land in the nation entirely for the people. the current name of the peak, mammoth peak, has absolutely no historical significance. the name was conferred on that peak because it was big, that's it. furthermore, this naming will eliminate a constant source of conversion with mammoth mountain, a place we've all heard of. that's the major ski resort just a few hours outside of yosemite national park. the mammoth peak we're referring to is inside yosemite. if you find that confusing, well, so, too, do so many tourists. but the fine point of the matter comes down to this. other persons who are lesser or comparable roles in establishing yosemite are all commemorated by attaching their names to prominent features of

the park. horace greeley, carlton watkins, thomas star king and is and nators john conn edward baker. but the person who made them forward, jessie benton fre'mont, is nowhere to be found within the features of the park. this is creantry and a half oversight that -- this is a century and a half oversight that we can correct today by passing h.r. 1192. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, h.r. 1192 would designate mammoth peak in yosemite national park as the mount jessie benton fre'mont, to honor jessie fre'mont's role in the early preservation of yosemite valley. jessie fre'mont was enchanted by the beauty of yosemite valley and lobbied for its

protection. her efforts led to the passage of the yosemite grant and ultimately the creation of the yosemite national park. not only did she work to permanently protect the yosemite valley, many americans of her time became familiar with the vast unexplored west from her recounting of her husband's earlier explorations of the earlier west with scout "kit" carson. i want to thank my colleague, mr. mcclintock, for recognizing the contributions of american conservationists such as jessie fre'mont. she not only is an important figure in the conservation movement in this country, she is an important figure in women's history as well. her accomplishments came at a time when women faced severe discrimination, making her achievements even more remarkable. and so i urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation, and with

that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland yields back. the gentleman from california. mr. mcclintock: i thank the gentleman from maryland for his kind words and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1192. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair lays before the house the following enrolled bill. act to k: h.r. 1376, an designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 369 martin luther king jr. drive in jersey city, new jersey, as the judge shirley a. tulintino post

office building. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until approximately 6:30 p.m designee of the minority leader. miss nor yot: -- ms. norton: thank you, mr. speaker. we are approaching the end of the session, and i know republicans, my good colleagues on the other side, recognize

that they are on track to beat last year's session where we had the distinction of being the the t -- the congress with lowest productivity in recorded united states history. there seem to be some members looking around to make up for lost time. what to do? well, there's always the district of columbia, if you want to fatten your agenda, why introduce a bill having to do with the district of columbia. that ought to bring enough wry. after all the district of columbia has a member of congress who can't even vote against your bill. hy not try that? i find as i look at the record of members who do that that

there's a pattern there. these are often members who have introduced very few bills that would benefit their own district. next week the financial services bill will be on the floor. it happens to contain the district of columbia appropriation. now, of course, unless you are familiar with this bizarre situation, you will wonder what in the world is the district of columbia appropriation doing here in the first place? it shouldn't be here. because it doesn't have a dime of federal money in it. it's an undemocratic an ac roism in that allows this house to somehow approve a bill from the district of columbia where not a member of this house except me is accountable to the voters of the district of columbia. how's that for democracy?

yet, nevertheless, it will be before this committee and until we get the same kind of budget you aen to memy -- autonomy that every member's district enjoys for their own local money, you'll find that your time is encumbered by a district of columbia appropriation bill. the real difference between the district of columbia of course and the other bill it's that you will have before you is that our bill is balanced, we have a surplus, the federal budget is unbalanced and has a deficit. there is of course -- there are nam of other -- there are a number of amendments. normally we had driven these amendments down to just one. what i will call the annual abortion amendment. it's become a kind of annual ritual. of course there's lots of hypocrisy in the house, but it really shows up on the annual

abortion bill. 17 states, with members who sit their n this body, allow own localities to spend their own local money on abortions for low-income women, recognizing that the congress does not allow federal money to be spent for abortions. that's even when a woman will be in distress. if she's low-income, she's out of luck. unless the local jurisdiction, of course, allows for such funds to be spent. and of course that's regularly done. except for the district of columbia. where again unaccountable members have stepped in to keep the district of columbia from doing what 17 other states already do.

when the democrats were in charge of this house i was able to get all of the so-called attachments to the district of columbia -- district appropriation off, even the abortion attachment. it has been the only one to return. that to thank the house, one of these attachments has not returned. that of course was the needle exchange attachment that had deadly effects and i choose my words appropriately. because that rider, which was on the a-- attached to the d.c. appropriation, for 10 years literally spread the h.i.v. virus throughout the district of columbia and is singularly

responsible for the fact that the district of columbia has the highest h.i.v. rate, hiv-aids rate in the country. once i was able to get that attachment removed, we have een injection needle-related h.i.v. drop. that will give the house some sense of the great damage that was done by that attachment and i am grateful and i will say to this house how grateful i am that that rider has not returned and i believe that one of the reasons it has not returned is that at least some mbers are aware of its effects and those effects have acted as something of a deterrent to adding that rider again. this year, here comes the

marijuana decriminalization rider. the district of columbia was pretty late in looking at marijuana decriminalization and i will get to the reason it looked at decriminalization in a moment. but, there are 18 states that have gotten there long before us. the first in 1975. when this rider came on, i knew that there was going to be some because john mica in his subcommittee of the government oversight and reform committee actually had a hearing on this matter. he hasn't called a hearing on colorado, for example, which is legal -- which has legalized marijuana, although he's looked at colorado. he could have looked at the district of columbia. we had a whole hearing on the district of columbia. that's what the district of columbia has to abide in this

house. and of course i should not be surprised and i was not that there came a member who decided that he would try to keep the district of columbia from doing what 18 states have already done before it. -- block marijuana decriminalization law. now, look, i had hoped we were in good company because of a . ry recent vote on this floor a healthy 49 republican members voted with many democrats to block the government from prosecuting users and sellers of medical marijuana in states that permit its use.

that happened within the last month or so. and i said, oh, my goodness, we are in ancreasingly good company -- we are in increasingly good company, republicans and democrats alike see that without condoning any forms of marijuana, the tide has changed certainly on medical marijuana. well, i do not have any illusion that because the house mes together even to consensus on any matter that it will apply that consensus to the district of columbia. i must say that it took me almost a decade to get another rider, a rider that blocked us from -- blocked the district from implementing its medical marijuana law.

well, that law has now been implemented and so now we have members looking at our -- at d.c.'s marijuana decriminalization law. at this point, 23 states have legalized marijuana. you're getting close to half the states. i'm sorry, legalized medical marijuana, medical marijuana. as i indicated, 18 states have decriminalized marijuana. that just means you're not going to give someone a record for smoking weed. it doesn't mean you think it's a good thing to do, but it does mean it is not worth a jail record. not so much jail, because people don't usually go to jail, they just get a record that keeps them from getting a job. two states have legalized marijuana and the house should

take note of this. 2014 pew research center poll of now found that 54% americans support marijuana legalization. the district hasn't legalized, most states haven't legalized, the american people are ahead of where we are. but the same double standard that i encountered on medical marijuana i am seeing on marijuana decriminalization. by the way, marijuana decriminalization isn't new. the first was in 1975 and that state was alaska. and if you look at the map of states that have decriminalized

in one form or fashion, you will not see any difference between so-called red and blue states. from california and new york to mississippi and nebraska? and of course the two states shah have legalized marijuana, colorado and washington -- that have legalized marijuana, colorado and washington, we see that this approach to marijuana is spreading. i think most young people don't see enough of a difference between marijuana and a substance that has done far greater harm, alcohol. to understand why they should be criminal -- there should be criminal penalties associated with marijuana. ven if, like me, you don't think that it's a very good thing to go around smoking anything, cigarettes, pot, you name it.

now, nothing distinguished the district's democratically enacted local laws, including those 18 states. we're all american citizens. but you will occasionally hear members say something that only a tyrant would say. the member will allude to the fact that the district of columbia, before had home rule, -- before it had home rule, was subject in every respect to the congress of the united states, in fact all the laws were -- by ssentially the the congress. but what those members will not tell you is that congress

repudiated that power 40 years ago when it gave the district of columbia what we call home rule, self-government. essentially the home rule act says, the congress of the united states will no longer either pass or interfere with the local laws of the district of columbia. . leave that to you the congress did indicate that there were a few exceptions. the hyde act, which prescribes can go in ldings the nation's capital, is an example. another example is the district can't pass a commuter tax. even though many other jurisdictions have those. except for those examples which re very few, there is no brand

of local law that the home rule act does not cover. so you can cite the constitution all you want to, but you must also cite the home le act of 1973 which in fact repudiated the power of the congress. to interfere with the local laws of the district of columbia or with the district of columbia itself. and why wouldn't it? who are unaccountable members, democratic or republican, of the house or senate to have anything to say about either money they didn't raise or laws that have to do only with local oncerns? well, among those you would expect to be most familiar with

the home rule act would be our neighbors, those who live in maryland and virginia. and if i may say so, we have republican members, democratic members in both those states and for the most part they have respected the integrity of the district of columbia through its own local laws. but representative andy harris, i believe he's a second termer, has not yet read the home rule act. and though he lives in the gion, he has not, he has not reacted as a neighbor. he is from the state of maryland. andy harris is. the state of maryland is one of ose jurisdictions that has decriminalized marijuana. now, representative andy harris

was unable to convince his own state not to decriminalize marijuana, so he steps across the border into the district of columbia to try to tell us what to do. happens to be from the eastern .hore of maryland sidents were so enraged that the major d.c. rights organization, d.c. vote, has called for a boycott of the eastern shore of maryland. you know, the eastern shore of maryland is essentially a vacation spot. it depends on people from the region, the district, maryland, there, , to visit

especially during this season. . and the district of columbia has many allies in this region who agree with us that the congress shouldn't be in our business. i don't you know why representative harris would want to stick his nose into the business of the residents of the district of columbia. . i can't understand why he thought that would benefit the economy of the eastern shore of maryland. he's from ocean city. they live off of the rest of the region, including the district of columbia. i looked at his productivity here. to see -- is he busy? not busy enough? he's introduced only 10 bills. i have introduced 63. i'm trying to take care of my residents. the 10 bills he's introduced is very low productivity. i have co-sponsored three times as many bills as he's

co-sponsored. because i try to attend to the business of my own district. i don't know if representative andy harris was fishing around for something to do, but he ought to phish at the eastern shore, and he ought to find something to do with his own residents. because all he's done now is to outrage the people of the district of columbia. and he's done worse. he's patronized us. no, i'm a doctor. i'm a lawyer, too. what does that mean? does that enable you could come into my district and doctor my people? and i don't think marijuana is good for young people. i don't, either. i also don't think that young forle ought to get a record

having used marijuana. 18on't know what propels the states who have legalized marijuana, but let me tell you why the council of the district of columbia decriminalized marijuana. two studies were done. each showed that in the progressive district of columbia , where half the population is ack and half is white or hispanic that blacks were eight to a rate of nine times that of whites for marijuana possession. do you know what that means for young black, particularly a

young black man or boy in this country today? it ruins their lives. they come from across the anacostia, which is a low-income part of the district of columbia, black men in our country, regardless of income or education, are surrounded by stereotypes. let one walk in with a, quote, drug possession, stereotype on his record, and i will tell you ou're looking at a black man who if he starts out in life that way will have his life ruined. because he has a, quote, drug conviction. i don't know why they did this in alaska or mississippi. but i know why they did it in the district of columbia,

although it's none of the business of this house. they did it for racial justice reasons, and we are not going to have it undone by somebody who has no sense of my district. an arrest or conviction of any kind for a, quote, drug possession, and that's what marijuana is, can lead a young man, particularly from poor districts in the district of columbia, to the underground economy, even to selling drugs where he was only possessing them before. because he has -- hasn't got a job because he has a, quote, record. a he district passed marijuana decriminalization law.

is t say that this city well aware of the effects of drugs. this is a big city. it has had its time with drugs, just like every other big city in the united states. nobody in this city fools around ith the notion of drugs. drugs has promoted violence in our city. it has ruined lives in our city. it's the last place in america drugs of encourage any kind. also, we don't know what the effect of marijuana smoking may be.

that's yet to be determined. i know this, for millions of americans, who are in their graves, because we didn't know the effects of cigarette smoking. so the last thing i or anyone in the district of columbia is going to say, go out and be free. smoke as much marijuana as you can find. marijuana smoking could prove to be as bad or worse than cigarette smoking. i only wish we had known for the 100 years or so that people ruined their lives smoking cigarettes. and the district of columbia appears to have recognized that. the bill requires revenue collected from civil violations d civil violation fine to be placed in a substance abuse prevention and treatment fund.

that's administered by the d.c. department of behavior health for substance abuse treatment and preventive programs. it there are four d.c. prevention centers. they are funded by the department of behavioral health. that serves all eight wards of the city. this is what the city has already done, even though interesting to note all the polls show that penalties for marijuana use are not key to determining whether teenagers decide to use marijuana or not. so nobody knows how to steer people away from marijuana. what they do know is that a record for having possessed marijuana can ruin your life. if you are a person of color, it

an even effect it in greater respect. it's important to note that all of the polls in the district of columbia and in the country show hat blacks and whites in the district of columbia and in the united states of america use marijuana at the same rate. so why are blacks not overwhelm ere but across the country given a record more often? i note also and commend councilmember tommy wells, who has introduced yet another bill called the marijuana use public information campaign act of 2014 . it that bill, which was creently introduced, would establish a public information campaign to educate the public on the impact

of marijuana use. i bet you most of the 18 other states hasn't gone to this extent in order to deter people from using marijuana at the same time that they have decriminalized it. the district of columbia has been very responsible. who is irresponsible is representative andy harris, because the irresponsible thing to do is to mess with my istrict. you are not accountable to the voters of my district. you are seeking a free ride through an act of congressional bullying. and that's the way we take it. and like anybody who is bullied, we don't know how to do anything but fight back. we don't like to be patronized. we will not be bullied.

nd we will not have a member tell the residents of the district of columbia who have no way to hold him accountable what hey may or may not do. so i ask members of the house to be consistent, particularly my epublican friends, which are own fellow foot prohibit approach -- footprint approach as a core value. that and the whole notion of local control as opposed to federal control is the hallmark of your values. i ask you simply to apply the same principles to me and to the district of columbia that you

are insisting upon for you and for your own constituents. i remind you that we are all americans. that there are no second class americans. and the americans who live in the nation's capital insist upon being treated fully equally with -- all u t. all of us of you, all of us who are fortunate to be citizens of the united states of

>> at the risk of getting too far into detail, what i was trying to say is that the details are important. i don't want to lead you to suggest that we do care about the details -- don't care about the details. we do. we need to balance these meet the equities, to basic humanitarian needs, to ensure that they receive the due process to which they are entitled, but also to enforce the law. >> that is something you cannot do with your executive authority? >> there are some aspects of that we are able to do. that is why for example the president used his executive authority to deploy additional resources that are part of immigration court systems, that would allow us to process that backlog more quickly. what we're seeking are a couple of things -- resources that

would allow us to increase the number of personnel that have helped the effort. we are also seeking additional authority that can be vested with the department of homeland security so they can exercise their discretion and more efficiently enforce the law. to repatriate those individuals who the immigration courts have decided do not have a legal basis for remaining in the country. >> you would reduce them? accelerate it? you say he would use his resources to move resources and that has reduced significantly the flow. give me an opportunity to clarify. what those resources have done as they have helped address the problem that we are seeing. we have seen a spike in individuals who are attempting to come across the southwest border. that is the backlog in our

immigration system. by deploying additional resources to the court system, we have been able to speed up that process. that backlog though is still significant and remains. is why we're asking congress for more resources to add to that bandwidth, to try to make that system work more efficiently. as the president considers the kind of unilateral take, how is going to is this crisis affect bed. these are two separate but not completely unrelated issues. the current challenge in our broken immigration system is that -- there are a variety of things. there are some, including the

president, who think we would benefit from additional resources being used to secure the border. there is a historic investment --border security that has there are limitations on how much you can do with executive authority. the president's attorneys are investigating what exactly can you do with the other problems that are caused by our broken immigration system. . there are additional steps you can take to level the playing field. there are a lot of businesses that are very rigorous at observing immigration law and that creates an opening for , tonesses to undercut them essentially hire undocumented labor for a cheaper -- for

cheaper. that is not playing a level playing field and it is not fair to business owners across the country. we also have this large question populationabout the of undocumented immigrants already in this country. any of them -- many of them have lived here for quite some time, have been raising children here, paying taxes. these are individuals who in many cases are largely indistinguishable from so many other americans. the question is how do you conference that's challenge that reflects our tradition as a country of immigrants but also a country that enforces the law.

are all very difficult policy problems. the real shame of all this is that we haven't acted a bipartisan fashion to address the problems. since house republicans have signaled that they are willing to block the legislation, that commonsense bipartisan agreement, the president has said, what can we do using only my executive authority. timeframe.e a the president said he wanted to see a federal recommendation in the summer and that he hopes to act shortly thereafter. made it moreis politically fraught? has elevated -- >> we will leave the last minute of this to go live to the house.

>> for savings will resume -- proceedings will resume. the first electronic photo be conducted. remaining electronic votes will be conducted in five minutes. motion. on the

>> a bill to amend chapter 15 of title 44, commonly known as the federal register act to modernize the federal register and for other purposes. >> will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill? members of record their vote by electronic device in a 50 minute vote. -- 15 minute vote. >> the house debated this the beginning of the financial services after the vote. thatuardian is reporting william hague is to resign in a cabinet reshuffle. he will take on the lesser role of leader of the house of

commons. the new foreign secretary will be appointed by the prime minister when he completes his reshuffle on tuesday. we are covering another hearing tonight by the affairs committee. the obama administration efforts to eliminate long-standing backlog to disability claims. hasbacklog of claims dropped to 274,000 as of july 7. will be onverage c-span to starting on 7:30. onmakers are beginning work the spending bill to come to the house floor. here's more about it.

is covering the financial services spending bill that is on the house floor. and is the funding level what areas of the federal government doesn't fund? >> the funding level is $21.3 billion. these are for agencies in the financial services areas, treasury, irs. at the fcc inng small business and ministration.

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 386, the nays are zero. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5029 on which the

yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5029, a bill to provide for the establishment of a body to identify and coordinate international science and technology cooperation that can strengthen the domestic science and technology enterprise and support united states foreign policy goals. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. those 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 346, the nays are 41. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on h.r.

5016 and that i may include tab lar material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: hearing no objection, so ordered. pursuant to houses are ligse 661 and rule 1, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for nsideration of h.r. 5016 the chair appoints the gentleman from new york, mr. collins, to preside over the committee 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. 5016 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: the bill making appropriations for financial services and general government, for the fiscal year

ending september 30, 2015, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the first time. the gentleman from florida, mr. crenshaw, and the gentleman from new york, mr. serrano, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the entleman from florida. the committee will be in order. please take your conversations off the floor. the committee will be in order. please remove conversations rom the floor. the committee will be in order. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. crenshaw: mr. chairman, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. crenshaw: thank you, mr. chairman. i'm pleased to present to the house the fiscal year 2015

financial services and general government appropriations bill. this is a subcommittee that has jurisdiction over a great number of programs and activities, including the federal judiciary, including the treasury, which includes the i.r.s., the federal trade commission, the federal communications commission, small business administration and several other activities. and all the agencies under this subcommittee's jurisdiction play an important role in the functioning of the federal government and so i think it's appropriate that all the members of the house have a chance to offer germane amendments to this bill and the impact of the funds that's provided therein. now the bill that we're considering today provides $21.3 billion in discretionary funding. that's $566 million or $2 -- 2.6% less than last year. and it's $2.3 billion or 9.6%

less than the request. now, the subcommittee's allocation is -- has been reduced but it's one that is necessary to live within the confines of the budget agreement that was put together under the ryan-murray agreement. and the allocation is sufficient to fund the priority programs while it will reduce some of the programs that are not essential to the operation of the federal government or have a history of wasting taxpayer resources. now, one of the main provisions of this bill is funding for law enforcement. the bill provides increased funding for fiscal year -- over fiscal year 2014 for several law enforcement activities. the high intensity drug enforcement area, they receive 6.5% increase, $6.5 million increase. the drug free communities program receives a $3 million increase and the treasury's

terrorism and financial intelligence activities, they're the ones that develop and enforce sanctions, they receive $18 million of increase. and in addition we have ample funding for the operations of the federal judiciary and the d.c. courts. we also have money for the supervision of offenders and defendants who are living in our communities. another priority for the bill is -- the speaker pro tempore: the -- the chair: the house will be in order. please take your conversation off the floor of the house. the committee will be in order. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. >> thank you, mr. chairman. another priority for the bill is supporting small businesses and assisting in private sector job creation, so this bill provides $195 million for the small business association's loan

program and that supports $18.5 billion of lending under a program 7-a and supports $7.5 billion under 504 lending. mr. crenshaw: it also provides increases over the current year for the small business development centers, provides increasers in women's business centers and for the treasury's community development financial institution's fund program. in addition this bill asks several of the regulatory agencies to give a report to this committee to tell us how they're doing as they attempt to eliminate some of the burdensome and duplicative and just plain unnecessary regulations. now in order to live within our allocation, we had to reduce funding in some areas and we actually eliminate funding for nine different programs, including the christopher columbus foundation and also the

elections assistance commission. those are activities that we feel are no longer necessary or certainly aren't vital to the operation of the federal government. so we further reduce funding for more than a dozen agencies and programs that in our opinion they can operate on a little bit less. like the bureau of the fiscal services, the federal trade commission and the federal communications commission. for the g.s.a., we reduced their funding for the federal buildings fund by $240 billion. we continue to require them to regularly report to us on their spending and the state of their building portfolio. the bill provides g.s.a. with enough funds to operate their current building inventory and provides new funding for three land port of entry construction projects. we also continue to push the g.s.a. to push their surplus and vacant space and designate

soment funding to help them consolidate their projects but we make sure they do that only if there are going to be savings in the long run. now in an effort to increase transparency and accountability, we make the consumer financial protection bureau, the cfpb, we make that subject to the annual appropriations process of this congress. when dodd-frank set that agency up, they purposefully left it without any oversight from this congress. we think that's not the best way to go. we think that that's an agency that ought to pr report to us what they're doing, how they're doing it, and how much money they're spending. this bill will correct that flaw. now the bill freezes funding for the white house and the office of management and budget. it includes a requirement that o.m.b. submit the president's budget request on timing

something they've not been able to do the last couple of years, or they'll face a withholding of approximately seven months of their budget until the president's request is sent. in addition, the bill contains a prohibition on funding for the white house to prepare signing statements and executive orders which are -- which continue -- which are contradictory to existing law. now finally i'd ike -- finally, i'd like to touch on the i.r.s. this committee still remains outraged at some of the activities we've seen from the i.r.s. in recent times. first we learn that they were singling out individuals and groups of individuals for additional scrutiny based on their political philosophy. then we learn that they had wasted millions of dollars having lavish conferences around the country and making silly videos. then we learn that the new commissioner paid $63 million in bonuses and awards after the prior commissioner said we're not going to pay those.

then we find out that some of the people that were receiving those bonuses and awards were in fact delinquent on their own taxes. and so last year, we had some reforms on spending, we had reforms on the targeting, but work remains to be done. and so this bill provides the i.r.s. with $10.95 billion, that's $341 million below the level of last year and $1.5 billion below their request. now, people say that's a pretty drastic cut. that actually leaves the i.r.s. funded at the same level they were prior to 2008. but we have to remember that the i.r.s. has bethrade trust of the american people. in a lot of different ways. and it's going to take some time for the i.r.s. to restore that trust. it seems like just about every week we read about a new revelation of some sort of

i.r.s. bureaucratic incompetence or maybe a willful disregard for existing law and sometimes even both. so we want to make sure that they begin to clean up their act in this bill -- clean up their act. this bill provides they can no longer subject people to additional scrutiny. they can't waste money on lavish conferences anymore. they can't pay bonuses, awards to people unless they at least consider the conduct of that individual and whether or not that individual is current on their taxes. we require a certain amount of reporting from the i.r.s. and we require them to tell us how much official time is being used on union activities. now, we also have language in there that says that this new revised regulation that they have put forward regarding the definition of what is an

organization under 50-c-4 of the internal revenue code, that was a rule promulgated based on the investigation taking place about the abuse of singling out individuals. in our opinion, they should wait, the treasury should wait until that investigation is conducted before any kind of new rule has been proposed. the rule was withdrawn after there were 150,000 comment a lot of those comments came from all sides of the political spectrum system of we think there's plenty for the i.r.s. to do in terms of time, in terms of energy, in terms of money before they spend that trying to write a new rule. and we found out just recently that while the i.r.s. asked us to keep our records for seven years, they couldn't keep their records for more than seven months, and last provision here that says they can't destroy any of their records, if it's

outside the existing law. finally, i want to say something about the affordable care kt act -- affordable care act. this committee believes we should not have a role in implementing the individual mandate of the affordable care act. the affordable care act has -- -- the i.r.s. has frayed the trust of the american people. d t t t t t certainly aren't gg to trust them with our health care. at this time when the i.r.s. hasn't shown much ability to self-correct or self-police, the bill says they can't spend any money to implement the individual mandate of the affordable care act and also can't transfer any money from the department of health and human services system of that's it in a nutshell, mr. chairman. i think this is a good bill. it takes the money that we have,

it makes some tough choices and sets the right priorities, spends money in a wise and efficient way. i want to thank all members of the subcommittee for the work they've put in. i want to thank our staff, both the majority and minority staff for the work they've put in, and i want to say a special word of thanks to the ranking member. mr. serrano, the gentleman from new york. his input has made this a better bill. even though he thinks there should be more money and he doesn't agree with everything that's in the bill, he's been a great partner to work with in a spirit of cooperation, particularly in an effort to make sure that we return to regular order where the appropriations bills are brought before this house, so i want to thank him for that with that, mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. serrano: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i

may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. serrano: i'm saddened to have to rise in opposition to this legislation today. as a longtime appropriator, i remember the days when we were always able to come together to determine the funding levels for our government in a bipartisan mearn, with little partisan warfare. unfortunately, this bill isn't a product of those timesism don't say this to blame chairman crenshaw or champlee rogers. they have always listened to the concerns outsiders had and tried to accommodate us when they could. mr. crenshaw is a great working partner and he knows that that famous line is really true in this case, it's not personal. it's about this issue. there are many things we have been table agree on as a result. but they haveles -- but they have also been forced to listen to a portion of their caucus that's not interested in the business of governing and as a result, the good portions of this bill are overbhimmed the problems that this legislation has.

let me discuss just a few of the more serious shortfalls of this bill. starting with a seriously inadequate allocation. this subcommittee received an unacceptably low 302-b allocation that's $566 million below last year's bill. percentage wise, this is a cut of 2.6%. a level that no subcommittee has been force -- no other subcommittee has been forced to take. the result is that there are several agencies in this bill that are not funded properly. primary among these is the internal revenue service. the i.r.s. is funded at $10.95 billion a cut of $341 million below last year this means the agency would operate at a level that's below sequestration. funding levels that were already grossly inadequate. i assume this is being done both as some sort of collective

punishment on the exempt organization's unit for the problems associated with their scrutiny of liberal and nservative 504-c-1 organizations and as a final attempt to disrupt the affordable care act we have eard from the committee that don't believe this committee should be involved in the affordable care act but it was passed by the house and the senate and signed by the president and upheld by the supreme court. rather than trying to prevent the problems that happened previously or ensuring we have the resources to go after tax cheats, the majority has chose ton play politics with the agency that brings in the vast majority of our nation's revenue. unfortunately, these funding levels will prevent the agency from collecting money from tax cheats, expand the tax cap and

increase our deficit. talk about fiscal irresponsibility. securities and exchange commission is also severely underfunded at a level of $1. billion. this is $300 million below the request and is simply insufficient to allow the agency to properly oversee wall street and protect investors include manage retirees who have 401k's and pension plans that are invested in the marketplace. both parties have been -- have created additional responsibilities for the s.e.c. in recent years. the funding has not kept pace. if we keep asking the agency to do more with less, then we cannot be surprised if we experience another financial crisis. there are numerous other cuts to the bill that are harmful as well, including the elimination of the election assistance commission, cuts to the consumer product safety commission, the federal communications commission, and the general

services administration. all of which have negative impacts on the operation of our federal government and private sector job growth. however, i believe that the biggest impediment to reaching compromise on this bill is the large number of partisan riders that have been added. let me name just a few of the more excessive, all of which are major concerns to our side -- to our side of the aisle. there were riders preventing the i.r.s. from implementing the affordable care act and from reforming the 501-c-4 regulations which have caused so much confusion and abuse. there's a rider limiting americans' ability to travel to cuba on people-to-people visas. there's a rider preventing the s.e.c. from requiring publicly traded companies to disclose campaign donations to their shareholders even though there's no indication that the agency has planned to do system of there is a rider that prevents

the provision of abortion services in multistate health plans in the affordable care act and there are riders that prevent the district of columbia from using its own funds to provide legal abortion services to low income women and to determine its own local criminal justice laws with regards to marijuana. this is by no means an exhaustive list. a number of riders on this bill -- the number of riders on this bill seem endless. i have no doubt we'll be asked to add more in debate on this bill. i would point out we have spent a lot of time this year talking about how to ensure a return to regular order in the appropriations process. i would suggest it's extremely difficult to do so when the majority attempts to pack legislation with a laundry list of partisan priorities. this is irresponsible governing at best and they make a mockery of one of this institution's most important functions, to

fund the federal government. when we choose politics over the needs of the american people, we should not be surprised when those same people become cynical about their elected representatives. the creation process is not and should not be the place to add every partisan priority that the other side cannot pass with the regular legislative process. i feel confident the american people would rather have us get on with our jobs instead of rehashing the same arguments over the affordable care act, dodd-frank, and many other issues. our side will attempt our side will attempt to remedy some of these, although it will be difficult to do so. unfortunately, as it is currently written, this is not a bill that i can support. before i finish, let me take a moment to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle for their hard work on this bill. they have all devoted many

hours to creating this bill and report and i know i speak for all the members on our side when i say that we are grateful for the hard work that they have put into this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. crenshaw: thank you, mr. chair. i'd like to yield five minutes to the chairman of the full appropriations committee, mr. rogers. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. chairman, i urge members to support this bill. this is a good bill. to ovides $21.3 billion fund many, many important programs and services that help our government function and our economy grow. for example, the bill includes $862 million for the small business administration. to assist our small businesses. and we all know those small businesses are the backbone of our economy. to help them prosper. it also includes $6.7 billion

for our federal courts, to ensure the faithful execution of our laws and the timely processing of federal cases. but the bill also demonstrates a commitment to keeping poor-performing or miss behaving agencies and program -- misbehaving agencies and programs in check. it cuts funding for the i.r.s., as the chairman has said, by $341 million from last year. nearly 12% below the president's question. -- request. this funding level will allow the agency to perform its core duty you but -- duties but will require i.r.s. management to streamline and make the very best use of its allocated dollars. we've also included language that will help ensure that each and every dollar spent by the i.r.s. is spent legally, responsibly and appropriately. for instance, the bill

prohibits funding for the production of inappropriate videos and conferences that many of us have seen on television, and for employee bonuses or awards unless their performance is considered. the bill also prohibits funding for the i.r.s. to implement the obamacare individual health mandate on the american people -- health care mandate on the american people. in light of the chaotic and dysfunctional rollout of the affordable care act, i don't see how in good conscience we can possibly allow the i.r.s. to fine american citizens when many are just trying to comply with this flawed law. due to the past inappropriate actions by the i.r.s., we've also prohibited funding for certain activities, to prevent a repeat of these abuses. including targeting individuals based on their political

beliefs, determining the tax-exempt status of organizations under 501-c-4, and several other provisions that will help preserve the first amendment rights of all americans. the bill is designed to make sure the government works for the people, not against the people, or our laws. bill-wide, the bill includes stringent oversight, accountability and transparency measures. to make sure each and every agency toes the line. this includes prohibitions on funding for the executive office of the president, to prepare signing statements, and executive orders, that contradict existing law and a provision that will bring the consumer financial protection bureau and the office of financial research under the annual appropriations process, so we can have oversight for the american people.

ensuring that these agencies will remain accountable to the taxpayer. these actions fulfill our congressional duty to the american people, to act as faithful shepherds of federal tax dollars, to force these agencies to respect our laws and our budgets and to encourage a more streamlined, efficient federal government. now, i want to take a minute to thank chairman crenshaw and ranking member serrano, dedicated work on this bill. this is a tough bill to write. in fact, this is the first time, mr. chairman, that the financial services bill has been brought to the floor i think since 2007, roughly. and so these gentlemen and the staff and members of their subcommittees, and gentleladies, have worked hard. they've worked together.

i know mr. serrano's not perfectly happy with every provision in the bill. none of us are perfectly happy with it either. however, we need to thank them for their hard work. we appreciate it very much. and the staff, of course, who labored mightily to bring this bill out. this legislation i think reflects commonsense decisions to prioritize programs and services that are effective, efficient and responsible with taxpayer dollars and i urge all the members to support it. and yield back. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from florida reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. serrano: yes, i'd like to recognize the ranking member of the full committee, my colleague from new york, mrs. lowey, for five minutes.

the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: thank you. i rise in strong opposition to the bill, which fails to prioritize the middle class, create jobs and provide opportunity for every citizen to succeed. yet it contains a misguided political agenda, unworkable funding level, unnecessary riders that inhibit agencies' abilities to crack down on special interest abuses. for our economy to succeed, investors must have faith that regulators do their jobs. especially when we are still recovering from the economic calm caused by risky industry practices. yet this bill could put mom and pop investors and our entire economy at risk with inadequate funding authority for the s.e.c. at $300 million below

the request. this is outrageous. when you consider that the s.e.c.'s funding does not take a dime of u.s. taxpayer dollars or impact the deficit in any way because it is entirely fee-funded. in the last fiscal year, due to budget constraints, the s.e.c. examined only about 9% of registered investment advisors. the number of investment advisors has increased by 40% over the past decade. and assets under management have more than doubled. and yet the s.e.c.'s funding has not kept up with the need. it's clear this bill should do more to protect investors and ensure that industry does not resume practices that endanger

americans' hard-earned money. this bill would cut the i.r.s. budget by more than $340 million to below fiscal year 2008 levels. these cuts would force the i.r.s. to operate with a -- with ,500 fewer staff. 9,500 fewer staff. the rate of response for taxpayers who call the i.r.s. for assistance, which is currently a dismal 61%, would fall to less than 50%. small business owners, taxpayers would waste their time on hold instead of using that time to focus on strengthening their businesses and the economic security of their families or creating jobs. and disturbingly these cuts would result in $2 billion in uncollected revenue compared to the request level.

well, actions at the i.r.s. warrant -- while actions at the i.r.s. warrant further oversight and reform, these cuts are excessive. the i.r.s. should receive the resources it needs to train its work force, to uphold the highest standards. not cut it for the sake of making a political point. these i.r.s. cuts will only make it easier for tax cheats to go undetected and more difficult for law-abiding taxpayers to get assistance. other troubles and measures attempt to dictate local government decisions for washington, d.c., and prohibit implementation of health reforms that have given millions of americans affordable health coverage for the first time. it is also full of riders that unnecessarily involve women's health, needle exchanges, even a denial of funds for d.c.

voting rights. if congress imposed these demands on any other area of the country, and particularly areas represented by some of my republican friends, i expect many would yell from the rooftops that the federal government was imposing on your way of life and in your local decisions. these efforts are unfair to the citizens of washington, d.c., and what frustrate mess most is that my -- frustrates me most is that my republican friends know that government agencies cannot function at the levels they would impose, but would rather vote to slash funding even lower because it suits their political purposes. our constituents deserve better than this cynical, political exercise. vote no on this shameful bill that prioritizes special interests over the middle class.

the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from new york reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. crenshaw: mr. chairman, i'd like to yield three minutes to a valued member of the subcommittee, the gentleman from arkansas, mr. womack. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. womack: thank you, mr. chairman. and thanks to my chairman of this very important subcommittee for giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf and even a friendly gesture to my friend from new york down there who reminds me from time to time about the yankee dominance in baseball. and it's great to have his association on this committee. but, mr. chairman, our subcommittee is aware of our nation's fiscal situation and we closely evaluate it. the budget request for the diverse group of agencies funded in this bill. we held numerous hearings, we listened to the agencies about their priorities and needs, we challenged them with tough questions that reflect the realities of the choices we as appropriators have to make on a daily basis.

using this information, mr. chairman, the subcommittee produced a bill that provides a little over $21 billion in total funding and sees to it that every agency funded under the bill can carry out its core functions. take, for example, our federal courts, which because of this bill will have the resources they need to ensure that our cools are safe and justice is serve -- that our courtrooms are safe and justice is served. our the small business administration which will be able to make entrepreneurs' dreams become a reality, leading to new business, more jobs, thriving communities and a 21st century economy with the funds that the agency receives through this legislation. mr. chairman, as members of congress, and especially as appropriators, we have an obligation to carefully steward each and every taxpayer dollar. and in this bill, transparency and accountability rule the day. in this bill the cfpb, an agency that's operated in the shadows with unfettered power and no accountability, is brought under the appropriations process.

agencies, mr. chairman, that have violated the public's trust and misused taxpayer dollars such as g.s.a. and the i.r.s., they are held accountable. as an example, the i.r.s. budget is returned to below fiscal 2008 levels. ensuring the agency does not have extra funding to target americans based on their political beliefs without hampering the i.r.s.'s ability to enforce our nation's tax laws. . the in closing, mr. chairman, i commends chairman crenshaw and the subcommittee staff for providing a bill that is worthy of this chamber's support. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. serrano: the gentleman mentioned baseball, i want to remind those watching, we are so committed to our job, we're not

watching the home run derby right now. i'm going to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from washington, d.c., elected by the folks from d.c., ms. norton. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. norton: i thank my friend for yielding and for his work and i thank my friends from florida and new york for their work on the d.c. portion of this bill and regret that two riders martha portion of the bill. congress disallows federal money for abortions, but 17 states assert their local prerogative to do so in our federal republic that treasures local autonomy above all. congress maintains that marijuana must be criminally penalized but 18 states have taken state leadership to decriminalize marijuana. and the administration's statement of administration policy respects d.c.'s equal right to do what 18 states have done. so should this house. the abortion ban deprives d.c.'s

low income women of the reproductive rights exercised by other american women and the marijuana decriminalization law deprives african-americans in the district of equal rights under the law. blacks and whites use marijuana at the same rate, but 90% of those arrested for possession in d.c. are black. a black kid in america with a, quote, drug conviction, has his life ruined. abusing pot is a bad idea, but penalizing it is worse. d.c. puts fines collected from civil violations of its new law in a substance abuse prevention and treatment fund a d.c. bill authorizes public education on marijuana use and abuse. at beat what is most decriminalization jurisdictions have done. andy harris, the sponsor of this

bill, has suspended his own professed state's evolution principles, i -- we should not follow him. i yield back. the chair: the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. crenshaw: i would like to recognize mr. gosar far colloquy. the chair: the gentleman is recognized plesm gosar: i rise to thank chairman crenshaw and ranking member serrano for their leadership and the hard work they've dedicated to the subcommittee. i would like to thank the committee for including in the markup a request a made in the request period. it would preclude the agencies funding -- funded by this bill from hiring outside them how ons to teach rulings or defeat

here. i learned about this when i learned from the waste book that nasa and others had money out to learn how to defeat bills in congress. i do not find this a good use of taxpayer money. i humbly request that the chairman push to include such language in a government-wide provisions title of any final bill voted on by both chambers, rather than limiting this to those agencies funded by this bill. it is prnt to me and my constituents that congress doesn't appropriate any money to federal agencies so that those federal agencies can use the money to pay outside organizations to teach agency personnel to support or defeat legislation for congress or so that they may learn about legislative process. there are endless no-cost resources available on legislative committee memberships, budget outlays and the like.

my office has taken meet wgs many agencies and those representatives are free to ask about the legislative process. it should not take multimillion dollar contracts and symposiums to achieve these ends. i thank the chair for his work and the consideration of this request. with that, i yield back to the chairman. mr. crenshaw: i thank the gentleman for yielding and engaging in this colloquy. i thank him for his leadership on this issue and for making great strides regarding the rooting out of government waste, fraud, and abuse. the committee did include the language in question and we were happy to do so. as the gentleman stated, this type of practice surely fits within the same rem of government propaganda which is barred by law. when the conference committee is selected and meets to discuss all spending programs and priorities, i'll work to see the gentleman's request is considered appropriately and amongst all conferees. again, i thank the gentleman for his effort, i look forward to working with him on this item and others. thank you.

the chair: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. serrano spock would it be only -- mr. serrano: would it be possible for you to let us know how much time is remaining? the chair: the gentleman from new york has 16 minutes, the gentleman from florida 8 1/2. mr. serrano: i yield two minutes to mr. langevin for purposes of a colloquy. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. langevin: thank you for allowing me to enter this colloquy. specifically the sfrpblt e.c. security relating to cyberrisks. this is of critical importance not only to our national security but our economic security, affecting every american consumer and investmentful. it's no secret to anyone here that the challenges we face in cybersecurity are immense. the news is rife with cyberpenetrations and attacks,

iran's reported denial of service attacks on u.s. banks or the recently disclosed ongoing attacks on the hedge fund industry. it's been estimated that 1% of global income or $445 billion is lost each year to cybercrime and economicest pe nagy. that's a stunning tally. yet such costs are rarely if ever, reflected in financial statements. detecting intellectual property, trade secrets and custom information must be a priority for government, corporations and consumers. i know this is a concern of yours, i hope it's of equal concern to the committee. institutional investors, consumers, private investors and pension funds need sufficient information to make informed decisions about concerns -- decisions concerning cybercontrols just as members of congress and our staffs must have access to the best information possible to conduct proper oversight and make the

best public policy decisions. the committee rightfully points out that, and i quote, corporate disclosures are at the core of investor protections, end quote. however, there are real questions about the disclosures that companies are making to their boards and shareholders regarding their vulnerabilities in cyberspace. while the s.e.c. made some limited efforts in 2011 with cybersecurity, there's no finish line so it's incumbent on all of taos continue evolving as the threat evolves. in my current positions on the armed services and intelligence committees irk devote a significant am of time to tackling this continuing problem. i remain extraordinarily concerned about this systematic and wholesale theft of corporate property for economic advantage. i firmly believe that we need to do more as a country to secure our nation against the threat of cyberpenetration and attack. would the gentleman yields an additional 15 seconds? mr. se raw noack: i yield.

the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. langevin: i believe we need to do more to protect our country against attacks and investors need the best information available when making decisions. i yield to mr. serrano for any comment he is has. mr. serrano: i thank the secret for bringing this to our attention. cybersecurity is of critical importance to our national security. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. would you care to yield yourself time? mr. serrano: yes, sir. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. serrano: i look forward to working with you as we move through conference to ensure that the s.e.c. can effectively ddress cybersecurity issues. mr. langevin: would the gentleman yields 15 seconds? the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. langevin: i thank you for your continued interest in this issue. i look forward to working with

you as we move to conference to ensure the s.e.c. has the tools necessary to update their cybersecurity disclosure guidance and includes an update on cybersecurity disclosure guidance and i thank the gentleman and yield back. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. the gentleman reserves. the gentleman -- mr. crenshaw: i reserve. the chair: the chair recognizes the swrelt from new york. mr. serrano: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, for a colloquy. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: thank you. i wanted to rise on a provision in this bill that would deny the d.c. council the right to have a different poll sunny marijuana than they've had in the past. i can understand politically the other side not wanting the people of d.c. to have senators and reps because the likelihood is they'd be democrats but to

not let them have self rule smacks of colonialism, colonialism of another era, colonialism of the days of jim crow. for d.c. not to have the right to pass their own laws and to deny them to have the democracy. for this won't stop teens from smoking marijuana, it will cause more teens to end up in jail. they're on the wrong side of history to stop d.c.'s council from having authority and by putting african-americans who to be affected. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from new york reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. crenshaw: continue to reserve. the chair: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. serrano: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee.

the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. -- ms. serrano: i'm sorry, -- mr. serrano: i'm sorry, mr. chairman, i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from florida. mr. crenshaw: does the gentleman have other speakers? we don't have any other speakers. the chair: the gentleman from florida reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. serrano: i would like to take a second in closing to say, mr. cohen's comments were well taken. i think the mistake we make here is we continue to add riders to this bill and a lot of riders in this past had to do with washington, d.c. now, as i've said on many occasions, for me, this is more than a legislative issue. it's a personal issue. i was born in -- in puerto rico, raised in new york and at times

i haven't been pleased with the relationship and the way puerto rico has been treated by this federal government. so i would just hope that as we go along, people continue, continue, continue to realize that the district of columbia has its own folks, its own elected officials at the local level and they should, they should be table conduct their own business. lastly, we do this because this country that we love so well, and this country that i love so well, and that we serve on a daily basis, should not treat any segment of its citizens in a different way than it treats other peoplism realize we have a constitutional responsibility, but we don't have to misuse that responsibility. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. crenshaw: i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. all time for general debate has

expired. pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. during consideration of the bill for amendment, each amendment shall be debatable for 10 minutes, equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent and shall not be subject to amendment. no pro forma amendment shall be in order except the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations or their respective designees may offer up to 10 pro forma amendments each at any point for the purpose of debate. the chair of the committee of the whole may accord priority in recognition on the basis of whether the member offering an amendment has caused it to be printed in the portion of the congressional record designated for that purpose. amendments so printed shall be considered read. the clerk will read. the clerk: be it enabouted, the following sums are appropriated for fiscal year 2015, namely,

title 1, department of the treasury. departmental offices. salaries and extensions. $175 million. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate and report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. sessions of texas, page 2, line 17, after the dollar amount, insert reduced by $1,750,000. page 152, line 15, after the dollar amount, insert increased by $1,750,000. the chair: the chair recognize he the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: i want to thank the young chairman, mr. crenshaw, for not only his great work and presenting this bill

along with mr. serrano, who spoke about their bill, but defended its process and what the attempt they are trying to make today to pass this into law. my amendment would reduce funding for salaries and expenses by 1%. this 1.7 million cut will not only save the government but send a clear signal to the treasury department that they must take seriously their responsibilities off the currency. i have been engaged in a process on behalf of a constituent of mine for a number of years and i'm here finally on the floor today as a result of frustration and what i think is outright lack of effectively doing their

job in the o.c.c. they opened an action against t.-bank with regards to their ocessor, investigating the c.e.o. from dallas, texas. it was a trial that was -- the administrative law judge was picked by the c.o.c.c. as the add tife judge. the judge recommended that all charges by the come trop eller be dismissed on november 8, 2012. most disturbing is the comptroller has refused to render a decision leaving mr. adams all this time in legal limbo. 12 c.s.r. clearly states that the comptroller shall render a

final decision 90 days after noiks that the case has been rendered for final decision. the comptroller has refused to render a final decision 15 months after the final decision. instead the the comptroller has extended it four times, more recently in four may of this year. there is no after noo for the controller to extend such a decision. i believe the delay represents a significant deficiency under the purview of the treasury department. mr. chairman, i will tell you that i have tried to work through this problem with the gentleman from dallas, texas, my

and it is the federal government who refuses to refuse to abide by a decision by a an administrative judge and hold ink this gentleman in limbo at the time of his life when he has spent millions of dollars and the administrative judge ruled against the federal government. it is time that the o.c.c. do their job. and since they are not, i'm here on the floor today and i'm asking members of this body toe take the action that is necessary and i consider reasonable. take my colleagues to this amendment reasonable. >> i'm happy to support this america.

mr. crenshaw: i support thm amendment. mr. sessions: i would appreciate not only his help but also the help of the inspector general of the treasury general and we are waiting for their final decision even though it is 15 months late and take the $1.75 million from an agency who does not live within the law. the chair: the gentleman yields back. mr. serrano: i claim time in opposition. the chair: can ever jarred. mr. serrano: the salaries and expenses of treasury have been cut by $17.4 million this year as compared to lags year. that includes the departmental offices account. that means this portion of the bill is 4.4% below what the administration has requested.

no need to cut it any further. and i urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, the amendment is agreed to. who's next? >> i have an amendment at the esk.

commarmente the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: page 3, line 8, office of four ism, salaries and expenses delrks 120 million. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. grayson. insert increased by $5 million. dollar fter the first amount insert. chirment the gentleman from florida and a member each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. . grayson: budgets are about choices. we have a choice to make and it is interesting one.

the office of terrorism and financial intelligence is one of the most important functions. they are should and enforced. and they protect the financial system from criminal and illicit activities and counteract activities from drug lords, weapons of mass destruction, and rogue nations among others. is office provides vital analysis across all elements. i think it's fair to say this office has done excellent work in connection with the iran sanctions act. the committee involved here directs the committee of effect d as well as foreign entities doing business. in addition, this office has

done excellent work with regard cutting back on genocide in the countries. despite the essential functioning of this office with the purpose of carrying out american foreign policy, this has $120 million. i contrast that with the budget being proposed of 158 million for the treasury inspector general. in short, we are proposing to spend $38 million for the treasury inspector general than we are proposing to have the treasury spend on trade sanctions. these functions make our troops safe and keep america safe. without the economic sanctions, we might see troops fighting in

the middle east. it is important that these functions be carried out without eing carried out for a lack of money. i suggest that we reduce the disparity between this is two toounts by adding $5 million carry out its functions for u.s. foreign policy and reduce the budget by a corresponding $5 million. budgets are about choices. our national security is our number one priority and i think that whatever it may be what is being done by the inspector general is being qucted by the i.r. sfment. and with that, i reserve. the chair: 9 chair recognizes -- for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek

recognition? mr. crenshaw: seek claim time in opposition? i rise in opposition, the beil supports the and actually provides $14 million above the request and make sure there is a rebose and program. this bill supports and 81,000 to ensure that the spptor general can keep a close eye. i appreciate the gentleman's support for the t.f.i. everyone knows what has happening and we knee to oversee the i.r.s. and they are doing if good and and programs with a significant increase. i would encourage my colleagues to vote no on the amendment.

the chair: does the gentleman reserve? mr. crenshaw: i reserve. the chair: i yield. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. opinion of the chair the nays have it. the amendment is not agreed to.

the clerk will read. the clerk: page 4, line 1, office of spptor general, salaries and expenses, $35 million. treasury inspector general, alaries and expenses, $158 million. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. posey of florida. after the first dollar amount, page 10, line 7, after the dollar amount insert by $1 million. the chair: pursuant to house resolution the gentleman from

florida and member opposed each will control five minutes. >> i would like to thank chairman crenshaw for his help in this amendment and for this amendment. my amendment transfers 1 million from the enforcement divings to the i.r.s. division of the inspector general. this money must be used to study the impact of the alien requirements on the united states economy. 9 i.r.s. has required all banks in the united states to report to the implet r.s. and and these are people that are not taxpayers. these payments are not subject to u.s. taxes and these reports do not support a single penny. this regulation reverses a

90-year policy that the interest earned would not be taxed or reported. when the i.r.s. first reported this, a bipartisan coalition of 100 members of congress opposed it. and the i.r.s. rejected this proposal. the delegation, republicans and pressats, signed a letter expressing extreme concern and i waser nan esswoman schultz. the house passed my amendment, the red tape reduction and small from enforcing the i.r.s. requirement. the amendment was passed with support but the senate failed to take up the bill.

it places the banks at a global sadvantage that lacks some requirements. e banks hold $500 billion in nonressdent bank accounts. they have been withdrawn from sforn deposit tors. because every dollar generates $ in lending this will be hurting hurting the united states economy at a time we need to be recover ink. a similar program to report information on accounts held. this is already resulted in foreign accounts to avoid complains costs. used toat this money be

include an analysis on capital levels, capital flight and changes to the public confidence. something the treasury is arguably required to do under law but has refused to do. i ask unanimous consent for a letter of the support from the union to be entered into the record and i yield to -- the chair: that request has been recovered under general leave. mr. crenshaw: i look forward to working with the gentleman on this amendment and we are glad o accept it.

this new regulation is detrimental to florida's economy and the u.s. economy as a whole because it weaksen -- weakens the competitiveness of u.s. financial institutions and forces foreign capital to flee our country. regulations burdens u.s. financial firms with additional paperwork and has the unintended consequence of cause manage foreign depositors to take their business and capital elsewhere. hundreds of billions of dollars will flee the economy that will impede small business lending and affect local communities. both the congress and the administration will benefit from a fuller understanding of how the regulation affects banks, their clientele and all the communities. so i urge a yes vote in support of this amendment. the chair: the gentleman yields back. does any member oppose the amendment. mr. serrano: i do, mr. speaker, i would like to claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes in opposition. mr. serrano: i urge opposition to this amendment. the i.r.s. has been cut overall

by $350 million overall from last year's funding level this will prevent the i.r.s. from going after tax cheats and helping people who break the law. insufficient funding of the i.r.s. is one of the most serious problems facing taxpayers. this underfunding will force the i.r.s. to operate with 9,500 fewer staff which means that less than 50% of taxpayers will reach out to the i.r.s. for assistance on the telephone help line will be able to get it, with waiting times for those who do get answers will rise to 35 minutes or longer. as many as 24 million taxpayers would be unable to reach the i.r.s. for assistance. that is unacceptable. the cuts in this bill will also result in $2 billion in uncollected revenue compared to what could have been collected at the request level, thereby

increasing the deficit by that amount. take that -- in contrast that's funded a $1.6 million above last year's level and over half a million more than than was requested. i'm not sure what they've done to deserve an increase they didn't ask for. during our hearing, it became clear that the i.g. didn't fairly represent the findings of its own investigators. its lead investigator reviewed 5,000 -- reviewed 5,500 emails and concluded there was no indication of political motivation. yet, the i.g. failed to mention that until months later after his order was released. you will not hear republicans mention it now. i'm not sure what they're trying to reward but it certainly is not good work. i oppose this amendment and urge that everyone else do so as well and i reserve the time. the chair: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentleman from florida has

30 seconds remaining. does the gentleman from florida wish to reserve? the gentleman is recognized. >> this legislation would not be necessary if the treasury had done what was required by law. when you promulgate a rule that has over a $100 million impact on the private sector, you're supposed to do a cost-benefit analysis and they refused to do it in this case. they took the position that it doesn't cost that much money to fill out a little form and try to rat out foreign bank depositors here. mr. posey: the reality is, as found by other organization, it will have multibillion dollar negative impact. the chair: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, you have three minutes remaining. mr. serrano: i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the

gentleman from florida. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the seament agreed to. -- the amendment is agreed. o -- is agreed to. the clerk will read. the clerk: page 5, line 4, special inspector general for the troubled asset relief program, salaries and expenses $34,234,000. financial crimes enforcement, salaries and expenses delrk $108,646,000 of which -- the chair: the clerk will suspend. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by ms. jackson lee of texas, page 5, line 22, after the dollar amount insert reduced by $200,000. page 9, line 15, after the

dollar amount, insert increased by $100,000. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 661, the gentlewoman from texas and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. ms. jackson lee: i thank the chair. i want to thank the chairman and the ranking member of this appropriations committee for their hard work and working together, mr. crenshaw and mr. serrano. these are important matters and i thank them for the opportunity to present this eafment my seament a simple theory but a very important one. this amendment provides $100,000 for the i.r.s. taxpayer services account. just as parents who have lost dependent children during the tax year with assistance in filing income taxes and support one-stop i.r.s. tax preparation support for parents of deceased dependent children whose child's

f.s.s. number has been stolen and used by thieves. in many instances, we find in our work the issues of giving children incentives and worrying about children's health but this is a very devastating posture for parents to be in. in a hearing held by chairman houston on the ways and means committee, a hearing on social security death records dated february 2, 2012, and i will read the testimony of the statement said, we will hear the heartbreaking story of the agin family whose 4-year-old daughter had her identity stolen shortly after she passed away. only when their tax return was rejected by the i.r.s. did they learn that an identity thief had already filed a return claiming that their child -- claiming their child as a dependent. in an article regarding this

terrible tragedy, it indicates that this little girl had fought for 33 months to fight brain cancer. the family was overwhelmed with grief and medical bills. parents decided to file for a tax extension to get their paperwork in order but within 20 days of filing in october, their return was rejected, somebody has flaud lently claimed their daughter's social security number. i ask that this amendment be considered because in actuality it deals with this very question. it provides, again, as i indicated, more resources to address the question of protecting identity and the identity theft that occurs. my amendment, as i indicated, increases it by $100,000. as parents and grandparents, most of us may not know the pain these parents are feeling but we can do something to make a

necessary obligation easier for them to fulfill. the i.r.s. operates a help line at no change to tens of thousands of families who prepare their own taxes. the funds provided in this bill is intended to be used to have training to allow the i.r.s. to do a better job of meeting the needs of families who have lost a dependent child during the tax year or prior to filing taxes. let's put ourselves in the shoes of this family whose 4-year-old fought for 33 months and in their distress, with all these overwhelming bills, to come and find that a dastardly act of someone stealing the child's i.d., amendment would address these cases where the social security number of a recently deceased child is stolen, used by these -- used by chiefs to -- chiefs to claim tax funds that should have gone to the family. all of us, no matter what committees we're involved in,

we're grappling with the issues of privacy and identity theft. how many of us have had the impact of such, but it has not been as devastating, i would imagine, as identity theft of your deceased child. the crime first came to the attention of several house committees in 2011 as amade note of, sam johnson, the chairman of the committee, subcommittee on ways and means, the social security committee on ways and means, had this issue in 2012. they only need a social security number a date of birth and name of the child. this information would be found on medical records, school records or other forms completed by parents registering a child for various active to tos. this is a crime, this is a shame, my amendment would give some confident to help these parents, thep he i.r.s. to help these parents. i ask my colleagues to support the amendment and with that, i reserve my time. the chair: the gentlelady reserves.

for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? mr. crenshaw: i rise to claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. crenshaw: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the intent of the gentlewoman's amendment, i have great sympathy for the situation that the family found itself in. but i have to remind my colleague that the bill already cuts this by $3.3 million compared to 2014 and our bill increases taxpayer services by $7.5 million. and so i wish the i.r.s. could do a better job of dealing with taxpayer services, that's one of the areas that they really need to get a handle on because there are too many stories like the one she just told. but they do a good work they work with industry to detect and discourage and apprehend money

launderers. i don't think we should cut them further. we increased the funding for the services, taxpayer services and so for that reason, i have to oppose the gentlewoman's amendment. the chair: does the gentleman reserve? mr. crenshaw: i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: how much time do sniff the chair: 30 seconds. ms. jackson lee: let me say to my colleague, i don't think there's much more i can say than the store roif the 33-month fight by this little girl, it's $100,000 we're asking for to help these parent whors desperate and mourning. i ask my colleagues to spend a moment in the shoes of those mourning parents to help avoid the identity theft that comes from a child, because a child is dead, and they have a social security number and so i ask my colleagues again to support the jackson lee amendment and i would ask both sides of the aisle to consider the pain of parents who experience this.

with that, i yield back. the chair: the this gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? >> to oppose the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. crenshaw: i want to say one final thing. in terms of taxpayer services this bill already provides $2.1 billion for taxpayer services. as i point out, that is an increase over last year. ppt 3already cut it by $3 million and so for that reason, i urge my colleagues to vote no on the amendment and yield back my time. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from particulars as. those opposed, no. those in favor say aye. ms. jackson lee: mr. chairman, i would like the yeas and nays. a recorded vote is requested. the chair: prnt to clause 6, proceedings on

the amendment offered by the ntlewoman from will be postponed. the clerk: page 5, wline 22, ininsert 3 $. page 67 line 15, insert reduced $3,330,000. ininsert by $18,669,000. after the dollar amount $1 million 5,000. .age 71 line 3, house r: pursuant to resolution, the gentleman from massachusetts and the gentleman

from oppose he had each will control five minutes. mr. lynch: this amendment would increase the amendment to the office to the financial crimes it rcement network by $3,so remains at its current level. his amendment would would have corresponding decreases and the funding for repair and alteration and rental accounts. if adopted the amendment would ave no effect and reduce outlays. as co-chair as the bipartisan task force on proferingse financing, i worgd with ed royce, the gentleman from california, the financial crimes enforcement network to

strengthen our strategy. and i realize the increaseed flow oftrack a stop the funds to terrorist groups in this port -- in doing this important work. we have witnessed the critical and important work that the financial crimes network engages in. it works every day to stop the flow of funds to aid terrorism from order to our system mounting security threlingts. we know the risks presented by o ause, ice isis and boke haram. and private industry and it's

foreign counterparts has sent supports throughout the world. nevertheless, priorities to move money through means necessitates progress through this area. as the chairman pointed out, it does incredibly important work. the group has played an instrumental role on the ukranian support on efforts to recover billions of dollars in funds. and including former the former president. th today's increasingly come flex and terrorist networks, we

can't reduce funding. i appreciate the chairman's ommalings in trying to balance priorities within this bill and i respect both of these gentlemen, but i support this amendment to make sure the network is properly funded and the balance here is funding for the fingerprint shal crimes enforcement network and reduction in the rental space account for the general services administration. we recognize where the real prites of this congress should be and this is not what the chairman mentioned in his opening remarks. this is not wasteful funding. in is very important funding with respect to the national

security of our country. thank you. and i reserve the ball aps of my time. mr. crenshaw: i thank you for bringing this to our attention and please to support the amendment. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from massachusetts. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. he amendment is adopted. the clerk will read -- report the amendment. e clerk: page 6, recision, $750 million are rescinded. fiscal services salaries and expenses, $184,000 of which $to

remain available until september derived.ts 165 to be clel and tobacco, salaries and expenses, 96 million. united states net, public enterprise fund. production of circulating coins. community development. $ 30 million. commarmente for what purpose does the gentlelady seek recognition? clerks clerks amendment offered, after the dollar amount insert increased by $$500. million.deesed by $1 the chair: murnt to house . solution

are ever ms. jackson lee: i thank the chairman and ranking member of this subcommittee for the wrork they are doing and i want to indicate that i think this is an important ealt as the previous one. for creases funding to the people receiving financial assist fans and for the responsibilities that this agency has. treasury's community development program add mirfer ministers, e c.d.f.i. and funds enables agencies to further goals, jutch s job creation, and commercial and housing development and financial services to

underserved communities. the good news, mr. chairman, this spreads across the nation urbanless if you are in a center. -- it is a ing of es to create scomboo our rueurel communities. ith emphasizes overall skefment jefment and development. and it is taking nation to provide training and proposing to become c.d.f.i. i'm glad for the support and i believe the jackson lee

amendment with the addition of the amount of $500 will help expand the opportunity for there to be increased investment. the loss of wealth of rural communtse should not be for goten and substantial of their wealth are in their home. this restores and continues to restore communities. i ask that the jackson lee amendment be supported. i would be happy to yield. mr. crenshaw: we have no objection to your amendment. ms. jackson lee: i thank the alvery much. with that, let me thank the members of this committee as i indicated. this will be a good amendment to help the good amendment to continue their restoration of

wealth. i ask support. i yield back. the chair: 9 question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have irrelevant. and the amendment is agreed to. the clerk will read. the clerk: interm receive nye, $2 mr. bilirakis:ion. the chair: the clerk will suspend. >> mr. chairman. i have an amendment at the desk. the clerk: offered by mr. roskam of illinois. page , page 10, line , insert reduced by $10 million. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 661. the member from illinois and a member om owesed will control five minutes. roskrombing i yield myself such

time as i may consume. we had opportunity of the ifert r.s. and hours and hours and hours of testimony in the ways and ways pe committee. and the i.r.s. is combrossly over stepped its grounds filing -exempt status. knew think about thisics mr. chairman. the first amendment to the constitution has as its first supreme, our freedom of religion this country and what have we seen. the internal revenue service has reached its long arm and what is to what is happening to prayers. this is a document, a additional

document, department of the treasury to the coalition for life of life of iowa. on page , mr. chairman, of this official document from the internal revenue service, the i.r.s. asked this in writing, please plain the activities at this prayer meetings and provide the percentage of your time with organizations spent on prayer groups as compared about other deprupes. mr. chairman, are you kidding me. the internal revenue service is using its march to try to intimidate organizations that have as their base the faith that they wish to extend and freely wish to communicate. he i.r. assist is.

was so owner ouse. they went after this group and said tell us all about whether each person, board member, key member of their family, has, or was or plans to be a candidate ever public office. you know what that tells me? the the enforcement division of the ires has troop money. the house has already took this action unanimously, not long ago n february bypassing a bill by that is pending in the other body. i'm trying to get the attention of the employees and attention to say you cialer

don't have this kind of monday. and you have this money to spend with american groups and they are being the entity that gets to participate in the public square and who doesn't participate in the public square, they have too much money. here's what i'm trying to do. i'm trying to take money out of that enmorse fnt fund, which has been up to their eyeballs up into this mess and get. i urge its skrgs and i-year-old to the gentleman from florida. . the chair: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. -- >> i reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman from new york. mr. serrano: i claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognize. mr. serrano: i haven't done the math but if we accept every amendment that comes up in the next couple of days against the inch r.s., we would not only reach zero for the budget for the i.r.s., we would probably go under and create a crisis we don't know how to handle. the funds for i.r.s. is cut $172 billion below last year and $141 billion below the president's ." and the taxpayer services account is funded above the requested level. given the lack of funding for the inch r.s., there should be no need to plus up an account that has increased while the overall funding for the agency has decreased. that's just a simple statement

to understand and i understand the immediate to continue to attack the i.r.s. under this belief that they went after just a certain kind ofing organization. they went after no one. they ask questions of both sides, both conservative groups and liberal groups and we -- i guess we're not going to hear the end of this for the next couple of day, might be three days of bash the inch r.s. i urge opposition to the amendment and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from illinois is recognized. to oskam: there's no need attack the i.r.s. if the i.r.s. doesn't attack the public. the i.r.s. is the manipulator. the i.r.s. is the entity that used this power of manipulation to ask this question, explain in detail the activity at your prayer meetings. that is nothing that the i.r.s. has anything to do with.

it's nothing they should have anything to do with. i'm not for a second saying we need to continue to go after the i.r.s. until the i.r.s. says you know what, here's all the emails, we've come clean and so forth. but somehow the i.r.s. being a victim here? no, no, no. the i.r.s. is no victim. the people being targeted unfairly, they're the victims. when they sought to assert their first amendment rights, they're the victims. i'm not asking you to accept every amendment. i'm just asking you to accept the roskam amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. serrano: i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from illinois. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, the amendment is not agreed to. >> mr. chairman, i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the

gentleman from illinois will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i have a less apocalyptic amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the less apocalyptic amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. grayson of florida, page 9, line 15, after the dollar amount, insert increase by $2,800,000. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 661, the gentleman from florida and a member opposed each will control five minutes. mr. grayson: thank you, mr. chairman. i'd like a few more dimes and nickelers in tax counseling for the elderly program. the tax counseling for the elderly program offers free tax help to individuals who are aged 60 years old or older. i'm not there yet but i hope to be there one day. cooperative grant agreements are entered into between the i.r.s. and eligible organizations to provide tax assistance to elderly taxpayers. the funds provided by the i.r.s. are used by organizations to

reimburse volunteers for their out of pocket expenses including transportation, meals and other expenses incurred by them in providing tax assistance at locations convenient to taxpayers. this is important because what we're saying here is that the money leverages volunteer help. there are tens of thousands of volunteers all around the country, including in my district in orlando, that rely upon this funding to be able to provide the services that are needed by our elderly citizens. one of the good things about my proposal here, mr. chairman is that we're not taking this money, this $2. million from any other account. rather, there's a $2.13 billion account for taxpayer services and this simply adds the carve out from that total for tax counseling for the elderly. now let's think about this. there are over 50 million seniors who qualify around the country for this program. that is one quarter of our adult

population. but the percentage of this account for taxpayer services, this $2 billion account, is not one quarter for this program, it's not even 1% for this program. it's one quarter of 1% of the total oment we're allocating for taxpayer services. one quarter of 1%. i modestly propose that we increase that amount for -- from one quarter of 1% to three eighths of one percent. yes. mr. crenshaw: i think that tax ounseling for the elderly is important, i accept the amendment. mr. grayson: i'm happy to accept your acceptance of the amendment. i yield back my time. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, the amendment is agreed to. the clerk will read.

the clerk: page 9, line 23, enforcement, $4,920,000,000. the chair: for what purpose does the gentlelady from tennessee seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mrs. blackburn of tennessee, page 2, line 9 after the dollar amount, insert increased by $1 million. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 661, the gentlelady from tennessee and a member opposed each will control five minutes. mrs. blackburn: i bring a very simple amendment. as the clerk read you saw, it's just two lines. let's reduce another $2 million of that i.r.s. enforcement account and let's move this over to help another federal agency do its job, because we've had one agency that is making life difficult for taxpayers and business owners and now let's have an agency that's supposed

to be doing their job, let's make certain that they do it. what we are doing is redirecting this million dollars over to the cpsc, consumer product safety council, budget for third party test regular leaf to assist them in completing and meeting their statutory requirements. what has happened in august, 2011, congress passed an amendment to the cpsc improvement act mandating that they identify ways to reduce the third party testing burdens facing our american businesses. now that was to reduce the burden. after solicitting comments in vember of 2011, cpsc staff identified 14 ways which this could be done and in october of the following year, 2012, they approved eight of the 14 recommendations, suggesting ways that the commission could move forward. however, as we stand here two years later, after that period,

i'm sure few are surprised to hear that cpsc still has not followed through with this mandate. in fact, the only action taken thus far has been a single workshop held on april 3, to identify materials that may not require testing. in fact, the only action taken thus far on these approved recommendations has been to solicit comments from industry on three separate occasions and to hold one workshop. this is clear that the agency has placed the requirements of burden reduction on the industry, not on the bureaucrats at the cpsc. this is important to note why congress passed our cpsc amendment in the first place. our current economic situation is indeed dire and was then, continues to be, the american people depend immensely on our

american businesses to provide jobs, even more so the american people are depending on us to help create the environment that will spur jobs growth. the third party testing burden hinders the ability of these companies to hire more employees and to expand their product line. it hinders the ability of these businesses to grow the economy. it is detrimental to our work force. additionally, the testing hinders americans who own small businesses as they are the ones who are having to absorb these extra costs. the commission claims that these third party testing are paramount to our safety when in fact our domestic industry spend millions every year on unnecessary testing, including on materials known to never contain harmful chemicals. congress recognized this back in 2011, we took action, we expect the cpsc to follow through and

to take the necessary actions. it's been three years since the mandate went into effect and it is time that we encourage the cpsc to get their act together and to move forward with the implementation on the mandate and i reserve the balance of my time. >> will the gentlelady yield? mrs. blackburn: i yield. mr. crenshaw: this is a very good amendment, i support it and urge my colleagues to vote yes. mrs. blackburn: i reserve. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. serrano: claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. serrano: for a minute there i was willing to believe they were not against the i.r.s. but they're willing to give money to a group they normally don't support to get back at the i.r.s.