friend was on the phone with me. i wanted news, because of course, there's a great deal of activity in conakry. and the president of côte d'ivoire, liberia, sierra leone and guinea are meeting in conakry to discuss the very thing. and i do believe they are considering very, very serious measures to try to stop this as best they can. but i'm quite certain, and you are yourself, i'm sure, the entire international community must lend a hand. this is bigger than all of us. >> turning to congo domestically, congo has had robust economic growth, and the latest imf report from congo was positive. tell us, sir, how you plan to invest more of congo's wealth to improve the health, education

and economic welfare of your citizens. >> let me say that with regard to education, if i can turn to that first, our country has always been very, very strict about improving the enrollment of children at schools. and we've always been at the list of countries doing most to that end. and we are at 100 percent enrollment of kids at school. now, wherever children are in my country, they go to school. and official education is offered free up until the age of 16.

so free public education through the age of 16 to youngsters everywhere, wherever they are, from six years of age through 16 years of age. and i think it's a fair point to say, without exaggeration, that when we take a look at the state of our budget, this is a quite considerable achievement. about 25% -- i'm talking about a fourth of our budget-- is earmarked for education. i think that's significant. and we are, in fact, strengthening the system, because, okay, we have 100 percent enrollment. all of that is fine and well. but we are looking now at the quality, at the level. we are training the trainers now, putting great emphasis on that, improving the school infrastructure. there's a lot to be done. we are, at present, building high schools in every one of the

provinces of our country, including the equivalent of charter schools, the high caliber excellent level high schools, and are building a university in brazzaville. our country has always led great store by education. >> what are you doing to improve the private sector in the country, to make it less dependent on the west and more self-sustaining? >> well, let me say first that the government has been taking significant steps to improve the business environment, to create an enabling business environment.

less red tape, less bureaucracy. our minister of finance is here. and he always knows that i am very clear about how much i insist on him doing what he can to avoid the mushrooming of levies and taxes, things that make business ever more difficult. we want to move toward simplification. we also have with us our minister who is tasked with small and medium-sized enterprises. and they can tell you that we are very, very much aware of how critical it is to foster an enabling business environment for small and medium sized enterprises, to set up a single window at the customs level, the one-stop-shop, as they call it. and the government 10 above and

beyond that is setting up a fund, a guarantee fund, to assist these small and medium-sized enterprises of the private sector, to get going and to grow strong. this guarantee fund, we hope, will help the young, particularly, who are entrepreneurs, who have something to give, who are interested in doing something, to get the necessary loans from lending institutions, under the overall guarantee fund that the government is now offering to that end. let me say a word about our external partners. the borders of the republic of congo are wide open. and we have seen how business partners have come to us from very far away, as far away as australia, certainly europe, the united states, and are active in

various sectors of our economy. and we are all in favor of that. we're very pleased to see it, because this will spur the development of our smes, but also certainly will redown to the benefit of our larger companies in the sectors of oil, iron ore, phosphates, and numerous other important industries that exist in our country. at the government level, we have set clear guidelines, set a clear course for the next 15 years, such that a major investment will be made in the industrialization and the modernization of the country. our vision of industrialization will be certainly also based on the development of agro industry and agriculture, both.

>> you have been in office a lengthy period. and according to term and age limits set forth in your country's current constitution, your second and final term as president ends in 2016. there is talk of efforts to amend the constitution to allow you to serve a third term. you support these efforts. and, if successful, will you seek a third term? and you have to realize, we are getting ready for our own american presidential election in a few years, where there are term limits. but a number of people are inquiring about your future plans. >> on the matter of constitutional reform, there is ongoing discourse in my country

on the subject. that's no secret. and people are debating, legitimately, whether this makes sense, whether the constitution should be reformed, not so much let me say because of me personally. the issue has to do with the limits that are set in the constitution. it is, it's not a question of one or another person. it is truly a constitutional issue. so the debate is being held. it is a free debate. and people are giving the matter some thought. should the constitution be reformed to allow further mandate? that is something that the people of the republic of congo themselves will have to decide.

and there would have to be a referendum to that effect. so it's entirely up to them. it will, in any event, be the people itself that will speak out. this cannot be, in any way, something that flows from any one individual's desire to cling onto power. this is a bigger and broader question. it's an open question, and one that really has to do with our future, with the visage that the country itself has of itself. so i just let the debate go on, and we'll see where it takes us. >> thank you. in my introductory remarks, i mentioned how you are devoting your government to protecting human rights. nevertheless, there are some human 11 rights organizations, such as amnesty international and freedom house, who feel there are still restrictions on

press freedoms, the rights of assembly, and the rights of free expression. as you answered the previous question so thoroughly, i wondered if i could ask you, what will you do to continue to advance such freedoms in your country? >> well, these freedoms exist. i spoke earlier of countries in africa that have numerous different political parties. i think in the case of the congo, for four million inhabitants, we have -- let me see -- i think 150 political parties, at last count, give or take a few.

these are legal, legally established, formally incorporated political parties that carry on their activities as they see fit. there are trade unions that are freely established and are certainly very free in conducting their business as they see it. and the press is perfectly free in my country. we are, i think, in a sense, a mecca for the press. there isn't any freer press than the press in the congo. there is a law that has been voted upon by parliament that protects journalists. no journalist can be arrested or thrown into prison for his or her opinions. the freedom of the press, freedom of speech are absolutely guaranteed by law in the republic of congo.

and so, if 150 political parties are conducting their business freely, and trade unions and the press too, i don't -- i don't know a single person who has been detained for his or her opinion. the ngos are free. as i say, there's freedom of assembly, freedom of speech. i think it's a reach to think that there is a limit. i think there is quite abundant freedom, at least as far as i can tell. >> thank you. i thought it was important to ask the question. and i'm pleased you gave a very detailed answer. we are almost out of time. but before asking the last question, we have a couple of housekeeping matters to take care of. first of all, i'd like to remind you about our upcoming events and speakers. on monday, august 4th, his excellency jacob zuma, president of south africa will be our

guest of honor, on the 20th anniversary year of nelson mandela speaking at the national press club as president. and i'm pleased that we have with us today, as a distinguished guest, his excellency ibrahim rasul, the ambassador of south africa. [applause] on september 17th, john g. stumpf, ceo of wells fargo will be with us. and on september 19th, larry merlo, president and ceo of cvs corporation. and stay tuned for more speakers planned by our speakers committee, under jerry zremski and donna leinwand for the remainder of the year. and now, i'd like to present you, sir, with our traditional national press club mug, which we are always pleased to do for our distinguished leaders. [laughter] i know you may have other mugs. but this one is very special. [laughter] and i would like to ask --

i'd like to ask any journalists who interviews president sassou-nguesso in his office, to report back to me if you don't see that mug there. [laughter] >> well, i will take my morning tea in this -- in this mug. thank you very much. [applause] thank you. >> our final question is generally in a lighter mood. but this is a question not meant to be light or serious, but a real practical issue. how often is your country confused with the democratic republic of congo? and how do you answer? how do you handle such errors? how often is your country confused, the republic of congo,

with the democratic republic of congo? and how do you handle such misunderstandings? >> how often? all the time. and we'd like very much for the drc to become zaire again. that would do it. [applause] >> i wondered whether i should ask that question. and i'm glad i did. thank you so much, your excellency. and thank you all for coming today. [applause] and thank you to you all.

thank you again to our partners in the world affairs council, d.c. we are adjourned. please return your receivers to the table outside. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] washingtonext journal, todd akin and his new book firing back that focuses on his political career and his the republican party. after that, a conversation with crystal williams about their role in the ongoing debate in congress over immigration legislation. then newsweek senior writer kurt aiken walt discusses his article on how conspiracy theories pose a national security risk. we will take your phone calls i aook for comments vi facebook and twitter. beginning live at 7:00 a.m. on c-span.

sunday on "book tv," ron paul. he has written more than a dozen books on politics and history with his latest "the school revolution, on america's education system. join the conversation. live three-hour sunday at noon eastern on c-span 2. tv next weekok while congress is in recess. 8:30 pm., andht: covering book fairs and festivals from across the country. book tv, television for serious readers. president obama held a news conference on friday to talk about border security and other foreign and aggressive policy issues. like the israeli-palestinian conflict and interrogation tactics by the cia hear it from

the white house preferred room, this is 50 minutes. >> good afternoon, everybody. happy friday. i thought i'd take some questions, but first, let me say a few words about the economy. this morning, we learned that our economy created over 200,000 new jobs in july. that's on top of about 300,000 new jobs in june. so we are now in a six-month streak with at least 200,000 new jobs each month. that's the first time that has happened since 1997. over the past year, we've added more jobs than any year since 2006. and all told, our businesses have created 9.9 million new jobs over the past 53 months. that's the longest streak of private sector job creation in our history. and as we saw on wednesday, the economy grew at a strong pace in

the spring. companies are investing. consumers are spending. american manufacturing, energy, technology, autos -- all are booming. and thanks to the decisions that we've made, and the grit and resilience of the american people, we've recovered faster and come farther from the recession than almost any other advanced country on earth. so the good news is the economy clearly is getting stronger. things are getting better. our engines are revving a little bit louder. and the decisions that we make right now can sustain and keep that growth and momentum going. unfortunately, there are a series of steps that we could be taking to maintain momentum, and perhaps even accelerate it, there are steps that we could be taking that would result in more job growth, higher wages, higher incomes, more relief for

middle-class families. and so far, at least, in congress, we have not seen them willing or able to take those steps. i've been pushing for common-sense ideas like rebuilding our infrastructure in ways that are sustained over many years and support millions of good jobs and help businesses compete. i've been advocating on behalf of raising the minimum wage, making it easier for working folks to pay off their student loans, fair pay, paid leave. all these policies have two things in common -- all of them would help working families feel more stable and secure, and all of them so far have been blocked or ignored by republicans in congress. that's why my administration keeps taking whatever actions we can take on our own to help working families. now, it's good that congress was able to pass legislation to strengthen the v.a.

and i want to thank the chairmen and ranking members who were involved in that. it's good that congress was able to at least fund transportation projects for a few more months before leaving town -- although it falls far short of the kind of infrastructure effort that we need that would actually accelerate the economy. but for the most part, the big-ticket items, the things that would really make a difference in the lives of middle-class families, those things just are not getting done. let's just take a recent example -- immigration. we all agree that there's a problem that needs to be solved in a portion of our southern border. and we even agree on most of the solutions. but instead of working together -- instead of focusing on the 80% where there is agreement between democrats and republicans, between the administration and congress -- house republicans, as we speak, are trying to pass the most extreme and unworkable versions

of a bill that they already know is going nowhere, that can't pass the senate and that if it were to pass the senate i would veto. they know it. they're not even trying to actually solve the problem. this is a message bill that they couldn't quite pull off yesterday, so they made it a little more extreme so maybe they can pass it today -- just so they can check a box before they're leaving town for a month. and this is on an issue that they all insisted had to be a top priority. now, our efforts administratively so far have helped to slow the tide of child migrants trying to come to our country. but without additional resources and help from congress, we're just not going to have the resources we need to fully solve the problem. that means while they're out on vacation i'm going to have to make some tough choices to meet the challenge -- with or without congress. and yesterday, even though they've been sitting on a bipartisan immigration bill for

over a year, house republicans suggested that since they don't expect to actually pass a bill that i can sign, that i actually should go ahead and act on my own to solve the problem. keep in mind that just a few days earlier, they voted to sue me for acting on my own. and then when they couldn't pass a bill yesterday, they put out a statement suggesting i should act on my own because they couldn't pass a bill. so immigration has not gotten done. a student loan bill that would help folks who have student loan debt consolidate and refinance at lower rates -- that didn't pass. the transportation bill that they did pass just gets us through the spring, when we should actually be planning years in advance. states and businesses are raising the minimum wage for their workers because this congress is failing to do so.

even basic things like approving career diplomats for critical ambassadorial posts aren't getting done. last night, for purely political reasons, senate republicans, for a certain period of time, blocked our new ambassador to russia. it raised such an uproar that finally they went ahead and let our russian ambassador pass -- at a time when we are dealing every day with the crisis in ukraine. they're still blocking our ambassador to sierra leone, where there's currently an ebola outbreak. they're blocking our ambassador to guatemala, even as they demand that we do more to stop the flow of unaccompanied children from guatemala. there are a lot of things that we could be arguing about on policy -- that's what we should be doing as a democracy -- but we shouldn't be having an argument about placing career diplomats with bipartisan support in countries around the

world where we have to have a presence. so the bottom line is this -- we have come a long way over the last five and a half years. our challenges are nowhere near as daunting as they were when i first came into office. but the american people demand and deserve a strong and focused effort on the part of all of us to keep moving the country forward and to focus on their concerns. and the fact is we could be much further along and we could be doing even better, and the economy could be even stronger, and more jobs could be created if congress would do the job that the people sent them here to do. and i will not stop trying to work with both parties to get things moving faster for middle-class families and those trying to get into the middle class. when congress returns next month, my hope is, is that instead of simply trying to pass partisan message bills on party lines that don't actually solve

problems, they're going to be willing to come together to at least focus on some key areas where there's broad agreement. after all that we've had to overcome, our congress should stop standing in the way of our country's success. so with that, let me take a couple of questions. and i will start with roberta rampton of reuters. >> thanks. i want to ask about the situation in the middle east. and why do you think israel should embrace a cease-fire in gaza when one of its soldiers appears to have been abducted and when hamas continues to use its network of tunnels to launch attacks? and also, have you seen israel act at all on your call to do more to protect civilians? >> well, first of all, i think it's important to note that we have -- and i have --

unequivocally condemned hamas and the palestinian factions that were responsible for killing two israeli soldiers and abducting a third almost minutes after a cease-fire had been announced. and the u.n. has condemned them as well. and i want to make sure that they are listening. if they are serious about trying to resolve this situation, that soldier needs to be unconditionally released as soon as possible. i have been very clear throughout this crisis that israel has a right to defend itself. no country can tolerate missiles raining down on its cities and people having to rush to bomb shelters every 20 minutes or half hour. no country can or would tolerate tunnels being dug under their

land that can be used to launch terrorist attacks. and so, not only have we been supportive of israel in its right to defend itself, but in very concrete terms -- for example, in support for the iron dome program that has intercepted rockets that are firing down on israeli cities -- we've been trying to cooperate as much as we can to make sure that israel is able to protect its citizens. now, at the same time, we've also been clear that innocent civilians in gaza caught in the crossfire have to weigh on our conscience and we have to do more to protect them. a cease-fire was one way in which we could stop the killing, to step back and to try to resolve some of the underlying issues that have been building

up over quite some time. israel committed to that 72-hour cease-fire, and it was violated. and trying to put that back together is going to be challenging, but we will continue to make those efforts. and let me take this opportunity, by the way, to give secretary john kerry credit. he has been persistent. he has worked very hard. he has endured on many occasions really unfair criticism simply to try to get to the point where the killing stops and the underlying issues about israel's security but also the concerns of palestinians in gaza can be addressed. we're going to keep working towards that. it's going to take some time. i think it's going to be very hard to put a cease-fire back together again if israelis and

the international community can't feel confident that hamas can follow through on a cease-fire commitment. and it's not particularly relevant whether a particular leader in hamas ordered this abduction. the point is, is that when they sign onto a cease-fire they're claiming to speak for all the palestinian factions. and if they don't have control of them, and just moments after a cease-fire is signed you have israeli soldiers being killed and captured, then it's hard for the israelis to feel confident that a cease-fire can actually be honored. i'm in constant consultation with prime minister netanyahu. our national security team is in constant communication with the israel military. i want to see everything possible done to make sure that

palestinian civilians are not being killed. and it is heartbreaking to see what's happening there, and i think many of us recognize the dilemma we have. on the one hand, israel has a right to defend itself and it's got to be able to get at those rockets and those tunnel networks. on the other hand, because of the incredibly irresponsible actions on the part of hamas to oftentimes house these rocket launchers right in the middle of civilian neighborhoods, we end up seeing people who had nothing to do with these rockets ending up being hurt. part of the reason why we've been pushing so hard for a

cease-fire is precisely because it's hard to reconcile israel's legitimate need to defend itself with our concern with those civilians. and if we can pause the fighting, then it's possible that we may be able to arrive at a formula that spares lives and also ensures israel's security. but it's difficult. and i don't think we should pretend otherwise. bill plante. >> mr. president, like that cease-fire, you've called for diplomatic solutions not only in israel and gaza but also in ukraine, in iraq, to very little effect so far. has the united states of america lost its influence in the world? have you lost yours? >> look, this is a common theme that folks bring up. apparently people have forgotten

that america, as the most powerful country on earth, still does not control everything around the world. and so our diplomatic efforts often take time. they often will see progress and then a step backwards. that's been true in the middle east. that's been true in europe. that's been true in asia. that's the nature of world affairs. it's not neat, and it's not smooth. but if you look at, for example, ukraine, we have made progress in delivering on what we said we would do. we can't control how mr. putin thinks. but what we can do is say to mr. putin, if you continue on the

path of arming separatists with heavy armaments that the evidence suggests may have resulted in 300 innocent people on a jet dying, and that violates international law and undermines the integrity -- territorial integrity and sovereignty of ukraine, then you're going to face consequences that will hurt your country. and there was a lot of skepticism about our ability to coordinate with europeans for a strong series of sanctions. and each time we have done what we said we would do, including this week, when we put in place sanctions that have an impact on key sectors of the russian economy -- their energy, their defense, their financial systems. it hasn't resolved the problem yet. i spoke to mr. putin this morning, and i indicated to him, just as we will do what we say we do in terms of sanctions, we'll also do what we say we do

in terms of wanting to resolve this issue diplomatically if he takes a different position. if he respects and honors the right of ukrainians to determine their own destiny, then it's possible to make sure that russian interests are addressed that are legitimate, and that ukrainians are able to make their own decisions, and we can resolve this conflict and end some of the bloodshed. but the point is, though, bill, that if you look at the 20th century and the early part of this century, there are a lot of conflicts that america doesn't resolve. that's always been true. that doesn't mean we stop trying. and it's not a measure of american influence on any given day or at any given moment that there are conflicts around the world that are difficult. the conflict in northern ireland raged for a very, very long time until finally something broke, where the parties decided that

it wasn't worth killing each other. the palestinian-israeli conflict has been going on even longer than you've been reporting. and i don't think at any point was there a suggestion somehow that america didn't have influence just because we weren't able to finalize an israeli-palestinian peace deal. you will recall that situations like kosovo and bosnia raged on for quite some time, and there was a lot more death and bloodshed than there has been so far in the ukrainian situation before it ultimately did get resolved. and so i recognize with so many different issues popping up around the world, sometimes it may seem as if this is an aberration or it's unusual. but the truth of the matter is, is that there's a big world out there, and that as indispensable as we are to try to lead it,

there's still going to be tragedies out there and there are going to be conflicts. and our job is to just make sure that we continue to project what's right, what's just, and that we're building coalitions of like-minded countries and partners in order to advance not only our core security interests but also the interests of the world as a whole. >> do you think you could have done more? >> on which one? >> on any of them? ukraine? >> well look, i think, bill, that the nature of being president is that you're always asking yourself what more can you do. but with respect to, let's say, the israeli-palestinian issue, this administration invested an

enormous amount to try to bring the parties together around a framework for peace and a two-state solution. john kerry invested an enormous amount of time. in the end, it's up to the two parties to make a decision. we can lead them to resolve some of the technical issues and to show them a path, but they've got to want it. with respect to ukraine, i think that we have done everything that we can to support the ukrainian government and to deter russia from moving further into ukraine. but short of going to war, there are going to be some constraints in terms of what we can do if president putin and russia are ignoring what should be their long-term interests. right now, what we've done is impose sufficient costs on russia that, objectively

speaking, they should -- president putin should want to resolve this diplomatically, get these sanctions lifted, get their economy growing again, and have good relations with ukraine. but sometimes people don't always act rationally, and they don't always act based on their medium- or long-term interests. that can't deter us, though. we've just got to stay at it. wendell. >> mr. president, republicans point to some of your executive orders as reason, they say, that they can't trust you to implement legislation that they pass. even if you don't buy that argument, do you hold yourself totally blameless in the inability it appears to reach agreement with the

republican-led house? >> wendell, let's just take the recent example of immigration. a bipartisan bill passed out of the senate, co-sponsored by not just democrats but some very conservative republicans who recognize that the system currently is broken and if, in fact we put more resources on the border, provide a path in which those undocumented workers who've been living here for a long time and may have ties here are coming out of the shadows, paying their taxes, paying a fine, learning english -- if we fix the legal immigration system so it's more efficient, if we are attracting young people who may have studied here to stay here and create jobs here, that that all is going to be good for

the economy, it's going to reduce the deficit, it might have forestalled some of the problems that we're seeing now in the rio grande valley with these unaccompanied children. and so we have a bipartisan bill, wendell, bipartisan agreement supported by everybody from labor to the evangelical community to law enforcement. so the argument isn't between me and the house republicans. it's between the house republicans and senate republicans, and house republicans and the business community, and house republicans and the evangelical community. i'm just one of the people they seem to disagree with on this issue. so that's on the comprehensive bill. so now we have a short-term crisis with respect to the rio grande valley.

they say we need more resources, we need tougher border security in this area where these unaccompanied children are showing up. we agree. so we put forward a supplemental to give us the additional resources and funding to do exactly what they say we should be doing, and they can't pass the bill. they can't even pass their own version of the bill. so that's not a disagreement between me and the house republicans, that's a disagreement between the house republicans and the house republicans. the point is that on a range of these issues, whether it's tax reform, whether it's reducing the deficit, whether it's

rebuilding our infrastructure, we have consistently put forward proposals that in previous years and previous administrations would not have been considered radical or left wing, they would have been considered pretty sensible, mainstream approaches to solving problems. i include under that, by the way, the affordable care act. that's a whole other conversation. and in circumstances where even basic, common-sense, plain, vanilla legislation can't pass because house republicans consider it somehow a compromise of their principles, or giving obama a victory, then we've got to take action.

otherwise, we're not going to be making progress on the things that the american people care about. >> on the border supplemental -- can you act alone? >> well, i'm going to have to act alone because we don't have enough resources. we've already been very clear -- we've run out of money. and we are going to have to reallocate resources in order to just make sure that some of the basic functions that have to take place down there -- whether it's making sure that these children are properly housed, or making sure we've got enough immigration judges to process their cases -- that those things get done. we're going to have to reallocate some resources. but the broader point, wendell, is that if, in fact, house republicans are concerned about me acting independently of congress -- despite the fact that i've taken fewer executive

actions than my republican predecessor or my democratic predecessor before that, or the republican predecessor before that -- then the easiest way to solve it is passing legislation. get things done. on the supplemental, we agreed on 80% of the issues. there were 20% of the issues that perhaps there were disagreements between democrats and republicans. as i said to one republican colleague who was down here that i was briefing about some national security issues, why wouldn't we just go ahead and pass the 80% that we agree on and we'll try to work to resolve the differences on the other 20%? why wouldn't we do that? and he didn't really have a good

answer for it. so there's no doubt that i can always do better on everything, including making additional calls to speaker boehner, and having more conversations with some of the house republican leadership. but in the end, the challenge i have right now is that they are not able to act even on what they say their priorities are, and they're not able to work and compromise even with senate republicans on certain issues. and they consider what have been traditionally republican-supported initiatives, they consider those as somehow a betrayal of the cause. take the example of the export-import bank. this is an interesting thing

that's happened. this is a program in which we help to provide financing to sell american goods and products around the world. every country does this. it's traditionally been championed by republicans. for some reason, right now the house republicans have decided that we shouldn't do this -- which means that when american companies go overseas and they're trying to close a sale on selling boeing planes, for example, or a ge turbine, or some other american product, that has all kinds of subcontractors behind it and is creating all kinds of jobs, and all sorts of small businesses depend on that sale, and that american company is going up against a german company or a chinese company, and the chinese

and the german company are providing financing and the american company isn't, we may lose that sale. when did that become something that republicans opposed? it would be like me having a car dealership for ford, and the toyota dealership offers somebody financing and i don't. we will lose business and we'll lose jobs if we don't pass it. so there's some big issues where i understand why we have differences. on taxes, republicans want to maintain some corporate loopholes i think need to be closed because i think that we should be giving tax breaks to families that are struggling with child care or trying to save for a college education. on health care, obviously their

view is, is that we should not be helping folks get health care, even though it's through the private marketplace. my view is, is that in a country as wealthy as ours, we can afford to make sure that everybody has access to affordable care. those are legitimate policy arguments. but getting our ambassadors confirmed? these are career diplomats, not political types. making sure that we pass legislation to strengthen our borders and put more folks down there? those shouldn't be controversial. and i think you'd be hard-pressed to find an example of where i wouldn't welcome some

reasonable efforts to actually get a bill passed out of congress that i could sign. last question, michelle kosinski. >> you made the point that in certain difficult conflicts in the past, both sides had to reach a point where they were tired of the bloodshed. do you think that we are actually far from that point right now? and is it realistic to try to broker a cease-fire right now when there are still tunnel operations allowed to continue? is that going to cause a change of approach from this point forward? >> well, keep in mind that the cease-fire that had been agreed to would have given israel the capability to continue to dismantle these tunnel networks, but the israelis can dismantle these tunnel networks without going into major population centers in gaza. so i think the israelis are entirely right that these tunnel

networks need to be dismantled. there is a way of doing that while still reducing the bloodshed. you are right that in past conflicts, sometimes people have to feel deeply the costs. anybody who has been watching some of these images i'd like to think should recognize the costs. you have children who are getting killed. you have women, defenseless, who are getting killed. you have israelis whose lives are disrupted constantly and living in fear. and those are costs that are avoidable if we're able to get a cease-fire that preserves israel's ability to defend itself and gives it the capacity

to have an assurance that they're not going to be constantly threatened by rocket fire in the future, and, conversely, an agreement that recognizes the palestinian need to be able to make a living and the average palestinian's capacity to live a decent life. but it's hard. it's going to be hard to get there. i think that there's a lot of anger and there's a lot of despair, and that's a volatile mix. but we have to keep trying. and it is -- bill asked earlier about american leadership. part of the reason why america remains indispensable, part of the essential ingredient in american leadership is that

we're willing to plunge in and try, where other countries don't bother trying. i mean, the fact of the matter is, is that in all these crises that have been mentioned, there may be some tangential risks to the united states. in some cases, as in iraq and isis, those are dangers that have to be addressed right now, and we have to take them very seriously. but for the most part, these are not -- the rockets aren't being fired into the united states. the reason we are concerned is because we recognize we've got some special responsibilities. we have to have some humility about what we can and can't accomplish. we have to recognize that our resources are finite, and we're coming out of a decade of war and our military has been

stretched very hard, as has our budget. nevertheless, we try. we go in there and we make an effort. and when i see john kerry going out there and trying to broker a cease-fire, we should all be supporting him. there shouldn't be a bunch of complaints and second-guessing about, well, it hasn't happened yet, or nitpicking before he's had a chance to complete his efforts. because, i tell you what, there isn't any other country that's going in there and making those efforts. and more often than not, as a consequence of our involvement, we get better outcomes -- not perfect outcomes, not immediate outcomes, but we get better outcomes. and that's going to be true with respect to the middle east. that's going to be true with respect to ukraine. that's going to be certainly true with respect to iraq. and i think it's useful for me

to end by just reminding folks that, in my first term, if i had a press conference like this, typically, everybody would want to ask about the economy and how come jobs weren't being created, and how come the housing market is still bad, and why isn't it working. well, you know what, what we did worked. and the economy is better. and when i say that we've just had six months of more than 200,000 jobs that hasn't happened in 17 years that shows you the power of persistence. it shows you that if you stay at it, eventually we make some progress. all right? >> what about john brennan?

>> the africa summit -- ebola? >> i thought that you guys were going to ask me how i was going to spend my birthday. what happened to the happy birthday thing? >> happy birthday. >> what about john brennan? >> africa summit? >> i will address two points. i'll address -- >> and flight 17? >> hold on, guys. come on. there's just -- >> and africa. >> you're not that pent up. i've been giving you questions lately. on brennan and the cia, the rdi report has been transmitted, the declassified version that will be released at the pleasure of the senate committee. i have full confidence in john brennan. i think he has acknowledged and directly apologized to senator feinstein that cia personnel did not properly handle an investigation as to how certain documents that were not authorized to be released to the senate staff got somehow into the hands of the senate staff.

and it's clear from the ig report that some very poor judgment was shown in terms of how that was handled. keep in mind, though, that john brennan was the person who called for the ig report, and he's already stood up a task force to make sure that lessons are learned and mistakes are resolved. with respect to the larger point of the rdi report itself, even before i came into office i was very clear that in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 we did some things that were wrong. we did a whole lot of things that were right, but we tortured some folks. we did some things that were contrary to our values.

i understand why it happened. i think it's important when we look back to recall how afraid people were after the twin towers fell and the pentagon had been hit and the plane in pennsylvania had fallen, and people did not know whether more attacks were imminent, and there was enormous pressure on our law enforcement and our national security teams to try to deal with this. and it's important for us not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect about the tough job that those folks had. and a lot of those folks were working hard under enormous pressure and are real patriots. but having said all that, we did some things that were wrong.

and that's what that report reflects. and that's the reason why, after i took office, one of the first things i did was to ban some of the extraordinary interrogation techniques that are the subject of that report. and my hope is, is that this report reminds us once again that the character of our country has to be measured in part not by what we do when things are easy, but what we do when things are hard. and when we engaged in some of these enhanced interrogation techniques, techniques that i believe and i think any fair-minded person would believe were torture, we crossed a line. and that needs to be -- that

needs to be understood and accepted. and we have to, as a country, take responsibility for that so that, hopefully, we don't do it again in the future. >> mr. president -- >> now, i gave you a question. >> all right. >> the summit -- the u.s.-africa -- >> we've got a u.s.-africa summit coming up next week. it is going to be an unprecedented gathering of african leaders. the importance of this for america needs to be understood. africa is one of the astest-growing continents in the world. you've got six of the 10 fastest-growing economies in africa. you have all sorts of other countries like china and brazil and india deeply interested in

working with africa -- not to xtract natural resources alone, which traditionally has been the relationship between africa and the rest of the world -- but now because africa is growing and you've got thriving markets and you've got entrepreneurs and extraordinary talent among the people there. and africa also happens to be one of the continents where america is most popular and people feel a real affinity for our way of life. and we've made enormous progress over the last several years in not just providing traditional aid to africa, helping countries that are suffering from malnutrition or helping countries that are suffering from aids, but rather partnering and thinking about how can we trade more and how can we do business together. and that's the kind of relationship that africa is looking for.

and i've had conversations over the last several months with u.s. businesses -- some of the biggest u.s. businesses in the world -- and they say, africa, that's one of our top priorities, we want to do business with those folks, and we think that we can create u.s. jobs and send u.s. exports to africa. but we've got to be engaged, and so this gives us a chance to do that. it also gives us a chance to talk to africa about security issues -- because, as we've seen, terrorist networks try to find places where governance is weak and security structures are weak. and if we want to keep ourselves safe over the long term, then one of the things that we can do is make sure that we are partnering with some countries that really have pretty effective security forces and have been deploying themselves in peacekeeping and conflict resolution efforts in africa. and that, ultimately, can save us and our troops and our military a lot of money if we've got strong partners who

are able to deal with conflicts in these regions. it is going to be a terrific conference. traffic will be bad in washington. everybody has been warned about that. what we are looking forward to this, and i think it will be a great success. the last thing i will say about this, because it has been on people's minds, the issue of ebola. this is something we have taken very seriously. as soon as there is an outbreak in any place of the world that might have significant effects, the cdc has made sure we have an appropriate response. this has been a more aggressive ebola outbreak than we have seen in the past, but keep in mind it is still affecting parts of three countries, and we have got some 50 countries

epresented at this summit. e're doing two things with respect to the summit tself. we are taking the appropriate precautions. folks who are coming from these countries that even have a marginal risk or infinitesimal risk of being exposed in some fashion, we are making sure we are doing screening on that end as they leave the country. we will do additional screening when they are here. we are confident that the measures we have taken are appropriate. the cdc and the various health agencies are going to be working very intently with the world health organization to make sure that we have

esources there and organizations there so that we can start containing the problem. keep in mind that ebola is not something that is easily transmitted. that is why, generally, outbreaks dissipate. but the key is identifying, quarantining, isolating those who contract it and making sure that practices are in place that avoid transmission. it can be done, but it has to be done in an organized way, and that means we are going to have to help these countries organize that. all right? somebody finally wish me happy birthday. it is not until monday, you are right. thank you so much. all right, guys. [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> president obama spoke about immigration and border security at the beginning of the news conference, and the house friday passed two bills focused on the issue. next, some of the floor debate on one of the measures that passed 223-189. it approves $694 million in supplemental funding for securing the border, using the national guard and other means. this is an hour. the house floor. he house will be in order. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: this bill, mr. speaker, provides funding to meet immediate border security and humanitarian needs in response to the recent surge of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border. in terms of funding, this

intill essentially the same as the legislation the house considered yesterday. it emphasizes securing our borders, providing humanitarian assistance for unaccompanied children in u.s. custody, and preventing further influxes of illegal immigration. both by funding vital programs and by implementing important policy provisions. this is also a fiscally responsible bill. all funding is offset. so it won't add a pebny to our deficit. however, the bill differs from the version yesterday by adding an additional $35 million for the national guard to allow states, including texas, be reimbursed for national guard activities related to border security and the current influx of illegal immigrants. this brings the new total for the bill to $694 million and

again, it is fully offset. in addition, the bill includes new tweaks to various policy provisions which will help to further tighten our borders and provide solutions to help solve our immigration challenges for the future. mr. speaker, we have a crisis on our hands. and we can't simply get up and audiocassette away. it's our moral responsibility to properly care for and process the thousands of unaccompanied children who put their hands in the lives of criminals to cross our borders. we simply can't turn our backs on this we must pass this bill today. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york.

recognized for -- the gentlewoman from new york is ecognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i rise today to oppose this outrageous bill and the ridiculous process that produced it. just yesterday, this house attempted to consider a bill that went too far on policy and not far enough on funding levels. but apparently, even that wasn't bad enough for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. yesterday's bill vanished into thin air and in its place, we now have this haphazard mess. this bill is the result of some sort of auction with members of the majority. the bill also paves the way for

another piece of legislation to be approved tonight a brand new bill on the so-called daca, deferred action on undocumented children program, related to young people who were brought only s minors by 2007 and know the united states of america as their home. this new bill has not been approved by any committee, contains language that would put thousand -- throw thousands of young people into legal limbo this new supplemental funding bill would add an additional $35 million to reimburse states for deploying the national guard to the border. which is pointless. in other words, u.s. taxpayers in other words, u.s. taxpayers will pick up the tab for

governor perry's campaign stunt. the bill also would change the initial screening process used by customs and border patrol. the u.s. conference of catholic bishops opposes the change, noting, quote, it would make crippling changes to current u.s. trafficking victim protection law that we fear would send these vulnerable children and others in the future who have fled trauma, exploitation, and violence. back into harm's way. likely resulting in continued degradation, injury, and death to many of them. end quote. i ask unanimous consent to insert the letter into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, the house majority needs to make up its collective mind. do they want to provide

emergency funding to enable our federal agencies to respond to the humanitarian crisis on the border, or do they wish to rewrite current law on immigration, political asylum, and due process? we can't do both in an hour of floor consideration. the house should have already taken up bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform. the senate passed more than one year ago. with the support of democrats and republicans. the labor and business communities. evangelicals, law enforcement, and many others. we would have been proud to work together with our republicans on the other side of the aisle to give thoughtful consideration to this

immigration process. the senate did it. we had an opportunity to do it. and instead we are rushing through tonight to put a bill on the floor that has changed many times as it has proceeded through the process. that bill, the competitive -- comprehensive immigration bill, would have helped prevent the crisis on the border today. if we had passed this one year ago, we wouldn't be in the desperate situation we are in now. now we are at a point where it requires emergency supplemental funding that we should provide cleanly, quickly, without the baggage of extraneous policy that caused so much political division. this package crossed the line from being a supplemental spending bill and became a controversial revision of

immigration policy with limited funding thrown in as an afterthought. that's a shame. that's really sad. because we know that the departments of homeland security, justice, health and human services, and state need his money to do the job. mr. speaker, just last year this body allowed a small vocal minority to push a government shutdown over controversial policy ideas. this process today causes me to wonder whether many have learned the perils of such wreck recklessness. i urge my colleagues to oppose this package and start over. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, we are

here with this crisis because the president announced a policy that no one would be deported unless they were a crime cal. -- criminal. that word spread through our central american countries. and families said, hey, the gates are opened. while this president's in office, you go there and you get in and you won't be deported. and the administration knew this two years ago. the work came out -- word came out we were being flooded, increasingly so, from central american countries. so we are here trying to picks -- fix the problem that's an emergency caused by this administration. and the administration's control of the other body rather than help us solve the problem left town at noon

today. without doing anything. so we are trying to clean up their mess. the administration's mess. and this bill will do that. let me yield three minutes to the gentlelady from texas, the chair of the speaker's task force on the border security and the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for three minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for the hard work you put into this difficult situation. we are here tonight because this congress has a responsibility to immediately stop the humanitarian crisis on our southern border. the president has failed to lead, the senate failed to lead , this chamber has to lead. ms. granger: since october, 58,000 unaccompanied minors have made the treacherous 1,000-mile journey from central

america across mexico and through our southern border. tens of thousands more unaccompanied minors are expected to come if we don't act. doing nothing is not an option. i repeat, doing nothing is not an option. the members of the working group i chaired made recommendations for an immediate short-term response. i want to recognize the hard work and commitment of the working group members who made targeted policy recommendations on how to end this crisis. our conclusions included in the bill are to tweak the 2008 trafficking victims protection re-authorization act to make sure that all unaccompanied minors are treated the same as mexicans. prioritize last in, first out. expedite the hearing process within seven days after the children are detained, and hire additional temporary judges to support the accelerated process. to fully support customs and border protection, we'll allow

border patrol unfettered access to federal lands. finally the supplemental includes a sense of congress that children should not be detained in military bases. the congressional budget office has given its assessment of the policy changes in this legislation. they said that because the legislation allows for the children to self-deport, it will immediate to immediate savings. i want to commend -- it will lead to immediate savings. i want to commend chairman rogers on this bill that helps address the crisis immediately, and i urge my colleagues to vote yes on the supplemental. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. gallego. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. thank you, mr.

speaker. if you read what reporters are already saying, they are saying that this isn't a serious bill that will ever become law. that opportunity was lost yesterday when the original bill was pulled. they are saying this bill does nothing because it isn't going anywhere once it leaves the house. the perception of the press and the american people is that this is all political theater. why don't we prove them wrong? why don't we cancel our travel plans and commit to staying here until we can agree on an actual solution to this border issue that we can put into a bill that might actually have a shot of becoming law? any single one of us who is married knows the importance of compromise. imagine what happens if you walk into your house every day and you tell your spouse, i really don't care what you think today. i'm not interested in your opinion. we are going to do it my way.

well, that marriage wouldn't last very long. anyone who is in a marriage knows the importance of compromise and knows what happens when a relationship is one-sided. we can get together on this. we did it for the v.a. we can and we should do it for this. an opportunity to sit down around the same table, negotiate our way through in a very serious and a very real way without the rhetoric. just simple reason. simple common sense that makes a difference every day for the people on our border. that's what i would ask. and that's what i think the american people are asking. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the

gentleman from louisiana, the newly elected majority whip of the u.s. house, mr. scalise. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from kentucky, chairman of the appropriations committee, for his leadership. the gentlelady from texas for her leadership in putting this working group together to bring a bill to address this crisis. mr. speaker, there is a crisis at our border. the president's refused and failed to do his job to address the crisis. the senate he, in fact, today failed to do their job and left town without passing anything to address this crisis. but the house is here working. the people's house is here working and we are not going to stop working until we get our job done and pass legislation that actually addresses this crisis. and that's what this bill does, mr. speaker. we've got a bill that actually allows the governors along the border call up the national

guard to help secure the border. the president ought to do this job. the president has all the tools to secure the border, but he won't. he has failed to do one of his basic functions in securing the american border, but shouldn't the governors along that border be able to call up the national guard to help secure it if the president won't? not only do we do that, mr. speaker, but we put the funds in place to ensure that it gets done. some other things we do is end this catch and release program. that has been a magnet for thousands of people to come across the border and be released throughout the country. some never to be seen again. we can stop this and we do in our bill. mr. speaker, this is important legislation that actually sends a strong message that we are going to take this issue seriously. we are going to actually solve this crisis. if the senate wants to be serious about doing their job, if the president wants to be serious about doing their job, they ought to come back here

and pass something of their own. but they won't. that's no reason to fail to lead. that's why the house is leading and we are going to pass this bill. we are going to propose a solution to this crisis. i encourage the senate to come back and do their job. i encourage the president to start doing his. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. lofgren, the ranking member of the immigration subcommittee of the judiciary committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for two minutes. ms. lofgren: mr. speaker, we have heard repeatedly that this bill simply treats all children the way that mexican children are treated. it's true that the bill would subject all children to the ineffective border screening that mexican children now undergo. but it actually makes that screening much worse. under the anti-slavery law, mexican children are permitted to withdraw their applications for admission and return to

mexico only if the border patrol screener determines that the child has the capacity to understand what is going ton and can independently agree to withdraw the application for admission. this bill strikes back from the -- that language. under this bill it does not matter whether the child can comprehend that she has been given the option to voluntarily return to her home country because in this bill it does not matter what she thinks. this bill now says that while a child may be permitted to withdraw her application for admission, no matter what, she shall be returned. no matter what, once the border patrol decides that's the end of the discussion, that kid is going home. this is not just about our southern border and children from central america. this new procedure would apply to any unaccompanied minor child who appears at our border seeking asylum. it could mean that the pregnant

chinese teenager fleeing forced abortion in china simply gets turned away. it could mean that syrian christian children fleeing horrific violence and persecution in syria simply get turned away. it would turn aside a child from thailand being trafficked for sex. i don't know that this was necessarily the intention of the authors of this bill, i would certainly hope not. but that is the way the bill is written. that's the effect it would have. and i think it is simply unconscionable. with that, i yield back to -- my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california yields back. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rorblingse: mr. speaker, i yield four -- mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield four minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte, the chairman of the house judiciary committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for four minutes. r. goodlatte: thank you, mr. goodlatte: i thank the gentleman for his leadership on this issue and i urge my

colleagues to support h.r. 5230. there's a crisis at our southern border and it is a disaster of president obama's own making. the obama administration's lax immigration enforcement policies have given confidence to parents who are in the u.s. illegally that they can stay and now they are finding ways to bring their children, who are still in central america and beyond, to the united states unlawfully. although president obama has many tools at his disposal to stop this surge at the border he, refuses to use them and instead proposes to make the situation worse by taking more unilateral actions to stop the enforcement of our immigration laws. it is ultimately up to president obama to end this crisis by reversing his policies that created it. however, since he refuses to do so, we have to act to the extent we can to provide narrow and targeted funding to meet the immediate needs of our law enforcement agencies at the southern border. we have to enable them to do

their job to secure our border and enforce our immigration laws. and we need to tweak the 2008 law about removing unaccompanied minors. need to treat apprehended minors from central america in e same manner we treat apprehended minors from mexico and canada. the president has called for such treatment. d.h.s. secretary johnson said the act of 2008 needed to be amended. quote, in terms of changing the law, he said, we're asking for the ability to treat unaccompanied kids from a central american country in the same way as from a contiguous country, end quote. that's what this bill does. based on language written by representative carter. and it makes the important clarification that all minors from any country who do not have a credible fear of

persecution and have not been trafficked shall be expeditiously returned home. because the president's inaction, we are taking the responsible step today of passing these narrow fixes that will help the american people avoid billions of dollars in additional costs due to the president not trying to solve this problem, but asking for more money to continue to resettle tens of thousands of people into the interior of our country. while the bill is not perfect, it does give law enforcement many tools they have requested. for example, while i was in the rio grande valley earlier this month, border patrol agents is -- agents cited administration created restrictions that bar them access to federal lands as a significant stumbling block to securing the border. one of the mor important po visions of the bill gives border patrol agents access to federal lands so they can stop drug traffickers, human smugglers, and unlawful

immigrants from exploiting these gaps along the border. since the president isn't taking the serious action feeded to address the crisis at the border, the house is doing so today. again, i urge my colleagues to support this bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer, the distinguished minority whip of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two inn miss. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, house republicans have taken two bad bills that failed to meet the challenge of the humanitarian cry soins the border and made them worse. they are worse for children, they're worse for women, they are worse for those who were brought here as children, grew up here and know no other home than america. these bills do not reflect

america's values and our highest ideals. the bills that were put forward yesterday had no chance of seeing action in the senate. neither do these. in fact, retchtive john fleming is reported to have said that the supplemental bill is, and i quote, political cover. and that, and i continue to quote, not a single republican in the house believes it will be signed into law. i believe that statement to be absolutely accurate. chairwoman granger mitigating circumstance friend work whom i served on the appropriations committee, said just a few minutes ago, doing nothing is not an option. and i very politely suggest to her, what we are doing tonight is nothing. but what we do tonight will not

pass, will not solve a problem, will not change policy. and it will not give the need red sources that are necessary. republicans have once again embraced their my way or the highway at constitute, the same attitude that led to last year's shut dunn. instead of reaching across the aisle and working with democrats on bipartisan legislation that can address this crisis and be enacted, we are debating a bill that is not only bad in substance, but that was brought to the floor in near secrecy. republican of the majority's own three-day rule. how ironic. how ironic that majority leader mccarthy said, in an op-ed in "the washington post" today, quote, i will commit to the committee process and regular order. this is neither the committee process, nor regular order. may i have an additional minute, madam chair? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute. mr. hoyer: unfortunately, the

house action tonight does not reflect those words from this morning's op-ed. mr. speaker, we ought to have a responsible, bipartisan measure to provide the needed funds to address the border crisis. but we also must see this as a remind over why we must pass comprehensive immigration reform. speaker boehner himself said the house would act, saying last may, the house remains committed to fixing our broken immigration system. this is not a fix, but tonight we must address the crisis before us. our republican friends should work with democrats on a solution that can pass the house, this probably can. pass the senate -- this cannot. and be signed by the president -- nobody here, as congressman flemming indicated, believes that will be the case. tonight will be a loss for rational humanitarian action and a victory for partisan,

negative policy. how sad. how wrong. how disappointing. to the american people. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, at least the house is putting a bill on the floor and passing it which solves the problem. if we had the senate here to work with us, we might be able to get a bill the president could sign. but the senate is gone. they've left. so i would hope that the leader of the senate would recognize that his body is getting severely criticized for leaving town without offering a solution to this crisis on our border. mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas who chairs the homeland security subcommittee, mr. carter.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. carter: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. speaker. as chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on homeland security and as a native texan, i'm uniquely familiar with our southern border. i'm also uniquely familiar with the national security crisis and law enforcement nightmare erupting on that border, primarily in my state of texas. mr. speaker, as i've often said, and said yesterday, lawlessness breeds law lissness. the crisis -- breeds lawlessness. the crisis on our border is in large part the result of the president's political decision to not enforce the immigration laws of this nation. the house intends to correct that tonight. in many ways this bill is similar to the legislation the house considered yesterday. but some -- but it has some important improvements. once again, funding for this package is fully offset and

provides the resources needed to address the immediate crisis this bill also includes necessary policy changes to bring parity to the adjews case and reparation of these children. many of these provisions are barred are from -- borrowed from a bill i draft aid long with robert aderholt and jack kingston, the protection of children act. this bill expands the tools available to our border patrol agents and allows them to better and more quickly screen the influx of migrant children. it ensures a timely trial so no child will have to wait in limbo for months or years to find out whether or not they will be able to stay in the united states. it includes crucial language to prevent these children from being placed with criminals, sex offenders or human traffickers. and finally, this bill provides for additional resources to our border -- to our board of governors as they work to

assist federal officials in keeping their citizens safe. i urge my colleagues to join me and others in supporting this strong bill. lawlessness has bred this lawlessness. we must stop it and secure or border. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas' time has expired. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the jerusalem -- the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: before i return -- before i turn to the gentleman, i would like to remind the distinguished chair of the appropriations committee that the reason the senate could not bring a bill to the floor, because not one republican will allow the procedural vote of cho lur -- cloture to bring the bill to the floor, therefore we're having a very important debate but this bill, as you know is going nowhere. i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. price, the ranking member of the homeland security subcommittee on appropriations.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for three minutes. mr. price: i rise in strong opposition to this so-called appropriations bill. i say so-called because it really is mainly about ill-advised and mean-spirited policy changes. rather than providing the necessary funds to deal with the humanitarian crisis at the border this bill mainly reduces protections for young people facing violence that we can hardly imagine. for a while it looked like we might do better than this as the ranking member of the homeland security appropriations subcommittee, i was pleased to take part in a recent delegation, ably led by chairwoman kay gringer a dell fwation to central america. but as successive versions of the republican bill have surfaced over the past two weeks, in a quest for votes only among republicans, they've reflected less and less of what we learned on that trip. that was true when i said it yesterday, and it's even more

true of the bill before us now. and by the way, to respond to a claim we've heard tonight, not a person we talked to any time, anywhere blamed the surge in unaccompanied mynornse president's decision to prioritize the deportation of dangerous criminals. that's just not a credible proposition. the bill under consideration provides less than $1 billion for the departments of homeland security, health and human services, justice, and state, far below what's required to deal with this crisis. and what of the money that is in the bill? most of it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue before us. this isn't a border security crisis. it's a humanitarian crisis. we don't need to deploy the national guard or surge our border capacity. because we're not failing to catch individuals as they cross. in fact, these young people are turning themselves in.

this new, worse, bill brought before us just hours ago would entice texas and other states to use the national guard to militarize the southern border and at the same time underfunds the additional judges i thought we agreed were needed. we all know we need to deal with the claims put forward by these young people who present themselves. so mr. speaker, let's pass an appropriations bill that reflect ours country's values and actually addresses the problems we face. and let's face up to our responsibility to pass comprehensive immigration reform as the senate did a year ago. this bill moves us in exactly the wrong direction. i urge its rejection. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina yields back. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the military

construction-v.a. subcommittee on appropriations, mr. culberson of texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. culberson: thank you, mr. chairman. i've heard several of my democratic colleagues say this bill does not reflect american values. i'm disappointed to hear them say that because it reflects a fundamental, one of the most fundamental differences in our two parties. we on our side believe in the most important american value, law enforcement. the first design on the first coin in the public of mexico said liberty and law. we understand that there can be no liberty without law enforce. . the bill before us tonight is very simple. this is not complecate. s that law enforcement issue. s that law enforcement bill. without respect for the law there can be no liberty. without respect for the law there can be no peace and quiet. my good friend, henry cuellar, who i served with in the texas legislature, understands better than most because laredo is the

largest inland port in the united states, his constituents need law and order in order to be prosperous, to be able to trade with mexico. our most important trading partner that relationship with mexico is essential to texas' economy, to the united states' economy and for that relationship to thrive, there must be law and order. there must be respect for the law and there must be peace and quiet on the streets of laredo so children can play in the streets, so people don't have to worry about whether or not they can send their kids down to the corner store, whether or not they can thrive in the future. it's a tragedy what's happened in nuevo laredo, one of the mideast beautiful cities on the border is now a -- one of the most beautiful cities on the boarder is now a ghost town because of the crime. it is our core value to respect the law, to enforce the law work a kind heart and common sense. . by trust our national garnedsmen to use their good hearts and common sense as

americans to distinguish between the widow and her child who is escaping a terrible situation at home. we are trusting the good hearts and good sense of our immigration officers to know the difference between a tattooed criminal and a drug dealer and a smuggler, and the child who has come here innocently brought up on the -- in the troughs the president of the united states has made inviting them up here. it's a tragedy for them. it's a tragedy for our border communities. it's a tragedy for the country to let these folks come into the country. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. culberson: this is a law enforcement issue. it's a law enforcement bill. i encourage a yes vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am proud to be a member of the congress of the united states of america because i have respect for the law. the comprehensive immigration bill has been sitting out there for over a year. if we could work in a bipartisan way, if we could show that we have respect for the law, we would have had a serious debate and really

passed the law. this bill is going nowhere. as you know the republicans in the senate wouldn't even bring a bill to the floor. and that's why i'm proud to yield three minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. becerra. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for three minutes. mr. becerra: i thank the ranking member for yielding. the corrosive effects of shutdown do-nothing politics is on full display here tonight in the house of representatives. stripping the rights of protections of children is never a good solution in any legislation. whether it's the children huddled at the border alone and afraid, or now including the young dreamers of america who believe in this country. they have now become the targets of this legislation. they are the ones that are being told, it's because of you that we must change the law and treat human beings so harshly.

mr. speaker, if i could speak to those frightened children and our dreamers of america, and those working for a fair solution on their behalf, this is what i would say. [speaking in a foreign language] tonight with this bill we see what happens when for more than 390 days our republican colleagues refuse to allow a

vote on the senate bipartisan solution to a broken immigration system. but for the shutdown, do-nothing politics in this house we could have tackled the humanitarian issues we face down on the border a year ago. but we haven't been able to get a vote to do this the right way. it's time to have that vote to fix the broken immigration system. not blame children and punish them by changing the law to strip them of their rights and protections. we can do better. this bill will not become law and we'll have a chance to do better for those children, for those dreamers, and quite honestly for america. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california will provide a translation of his statement for the record. the gentleman from yield back the balance of his time of the the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: may i inquire of the time remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky has 14 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentlewoman from new york has 12 minutes remaining.

mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. rothfus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. rothfus: mr. speaker, this border crisis is one of the president's making. we are here on a friday night in august because the president has not done his job. his failure to enforce the law and failure to secure the border have encouraged tens of thousands of children to make a dangerous journey to the united states. on the way, they are exposed to traffickers, health trisks -- risks, and other dangers. that's not fair to these children. this is just the latest example of the president's lack of regard for the rule of law and how it has very real consequences. this legislation before the house addresses the crisis with solutions that prioritize resources to expedite the processing of cases, provide temporary housing and humanitarian assistance, return

children to their countries of origin, and deploy the national guard. importantly it will prevent future humanitarian crises by amending current law to allow children to be promptly returned to their native home. this legislation is not a blank check for the president. it is a carefully crafted response to the chaos that the president has allowed to develop on the border, and in these children's lives. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania yields back the balance of hi -- of his time. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield 12 1/2 minutes to the gentlelady from california, ms. lee, a member of the labor, health, and human services, and foreign operations subcommittee of appropriations. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. ms. lee: thank you very much. let me thank our ranking member, mrs. lowey, for yielding me. your tremendous leadership. let me start by saying, yes, as an appropriator i am very

troubled by the shameful first of all inadequate funding levels and the dangerous policy riders in this bill. let's be honest, the bill before us in no way is a genuine effort to address the humanitarian crisis on our borders. we should be trying to help these children by making sure that they are safe and receiving due process. rather than militarizing our southern border. instead, this bill strips protections for children and accelerates deportations of children back to nations with some of the highest rates of deadly violence on the planet. according to a report by the united nations high commission for refugees, nearly 60% of affected children would qualify for international protections and stated that they were fleeing violence. this bill is shameful and does not reflect our country's proud legacy as a nation of immigrants. we should be debating real proposals like comprehensive

immigration reform that can really improve the lives of people and the american economy. we could pass it today. instead, we are here playing politics with the lives of children. this bill flies in the face of our values and does nothing once again to address due process for these children. this was a terrible bill yesterday. it's worse tonight. it will not become law, thank goodness. hopefully all of us will vote no and come back and begin to look at how we really address the needs of these children. they need our help. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york vefpblgt mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentlelady from new hampshire, miss shortstop -- miss shorpe. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new hampshire is recognized for one minute. miss shorpe: mr. speaker, how id a $35 billion eerment for

2012 and maybe 2016 republican presidential candidate, texas governor rick perry, get into this bill? and why is texas governor rick perry chooses to send the texas national guard to the texas border on his own not as a national decision or response, that is his right. but he should pay for it. it's wrong to tax new hampshire taxpayers and taxpayers around the country to pay for a $35 million earmark for a texas governor who acted on his own and now should pay for his decision. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the the gentlewoman from new hampshire yields back her time. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky roists. the gentlewoman from new york vefpblgt mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i yield one -- new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield one minute to ms. pelosi, the minority

leader of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlewoman from for yielding. the time is late. the cause is great. we must, we must have clarity in how we understand what is before us. today we had an opportunity to work together to address humanitarian emergency at the border. instead it is a day of missed opportunity. the republican leadership has rejected our hand of friendship to compromise on this supplemental. instead of bringing legislation forward that could solve this problem really and truly, it has resisted the appeals of humanitarian and religious leaders across all faiths. van gallonical -- evangelicals calls on us to strengthen our country's position to providing safety and ref few to the

vulnerable. this legislation we have before us does not do that. it is wrong. don't take my word for it. the u.s. conference of catholic ishops urges members to oppose 5230, and work together to craft legislation that is more befitting the united states of america and the american people's history of compassion, and generosity to vulnerable children and refugees. the archbishop of miami, speaking on their behalf, has said, of this legislation the two pieces of legislation before us, this is a sad day for our country, the archbishop wrote. a chamber of congress is poised to send vulnerable children back to danger and possible death. it violates our commitment to human rights and due process of the law and lessens us as a nation. that's what the archbishop

said. in their letter, the bishops further state their opposition to h.r. 5232 and say that it stems from its elimination of the deferred action for children's arrivals program. otherwise known as daca. in conclusion, the bishop's right, how our nation responds to this humanitarian challenge is a moral test of our national character. we ask that you oppose h.r. 5230, and 5232 which we feel ail to live up to that test. others such as the american bar association writes, due to their age, lack of education, language, and cultural barriers, and the complex it of u.s. immigration law -- complexity of u.s. immigration law, they face obstacles to face an immigration judge on their own. it is the children most likely to be eligible for some relief

under the law who may least be able to articulate their experiences under this proposed procedure. they have been through a lot of trauma and we want to add to that. yet this has not been enough to stem what the house republicans have -- the path they are going down. to further poison the pie, they offer their caucus the chance to even be less compassionate in their vote to end daca and to deport the creamers -- dreamers. it's not enough for republicans to send desperate children back to violence in their home countries. they must also vote to deport the best young immigrants and brightest in our schools. vote to send victims of domestic violence back to their abusers. vote to hand witnesses back to drug lords. vote to remove the parents of american children. these pieces of legislation dishonor america.

they are a rejection of our values. but don't take it from me. take it from the bishops, the evangelical table, and others. they count -- they one run counter to the respect for the spark ofdy vinity that we believe exists in every person. the respect for the dignity and worth of every person that we share. that these pieces of legislation ignore. house republicans have truly lost their way. i certainly hope that you will consider rereading the paraable of the good smare -- the parable of the good samaritan who helps a stranger. he did not ignore or harm a stranger he saw on the road. perhaps that may be a path back for you. i pray that it's so. mr. speaker, i want to submit for the record the letter of the bishop the evangelical

table and the list of hundreds of organizations, faith-based and due process oriented who oppose these piece of legislation. i urbling my colleagues to vote no and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california yields back. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from indiana, mr. stutzman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. stutzman: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from kentucky for his dedication and hard work to finding a solution to a problem that none of us created here in this chamber. and i rise today in strong support of this supplemental appropriations bill for the crisis that's going on on our border. i'm very proud of our conference this week, seeking input and solutions from members, taking the time to make sure that this legislation deals with the problem and crafting this legislation to

make sure that there's no loopholes and that we deal with the specifics and we actually put a bill on the floor that should be supported. mr. speaker, the obama administration has ignored the law and unilateralliest tablied immigration policy without the consent or the counsel of congress. so unfortunately, the humanitarian crisis on our nation's southern border is a result of the lack of leadership. to solve this problem, this legislation today, the legislation that's here, that we're debating, provides critical funding for the national guard on those states that are seeing an influx. it also authorizes additional judges to hear the increasing case load that they're seeing grow and grow more and more every day. it also makes important reforms

to current law to ensure equal and timely due process for all of those unaccompanied fires. mr. speaker, common sense doesn't often prevail here in washington but i can tell you that common sense hoosiers in my district, they understand that first of all, our border needs to be secure. so that our immigration system can then be reformed. and you know, we are a nation of immigrants. we have all -- we all have a history in our family of those who have -- taken oh this -- taken the effort, made the effort to come to this great country and legal immigrants are looking for those opportunities that they've dreamed of. i thank chairman rogers for his work and encourage my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york. reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. marino. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. marino: i sat here quietly, listening to the arguments from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and i find it absolutely amazing that they say because the president would not sign this bill, and because the senate would not pass this bill, they're right, the senate wouldn't pass it. there are hundreds of bills on harry reid's desk he would not bring to the floor for a vote and certainly the president would not encourage that to be done. but we are doing our job here in the house. we put a lot of time and effort in this. we looked at this law and we realize what had had to be done. i come from a law and order background and we don't have law and order. we have distrust, we have gangs

coming across, we have drugs coming across the southern border and my colleagues on the other side don't want to do anything about it. you know something that i find quite interesting about the other side, under the leadership of the former speaker, and under the leadership of their former leader, when in 2009 and 2010, they had the house, the senate, and the white house, and they knew this problem existed, they didn't have the strength to go after it back then, but now they're trying to make a political issue out of it now. what we need to do is pass this legislation, make sure these children get back to their families, and we need the line -- we need to line up and protect this boarder from people coming across. i did the research. you might want to try it, madam leader. do the research on it. do the research, i did it. that's one