madison, e in wisconsin, go ahead, anne hi, i was calling. host: i apologize to you. that we have to -- i have to house is cause the about to come in for morning session. and, of course, we have to stick mission here of covering it gavel-to-gavel. to you.gies ray cross at the university of wisconsin systems. i want to thank you this morning for your time. we really appreciate it. to the go now coverage -- live coverage of the house of representatives here on c-span.y and

minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip , mited to five minutes each but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. black, for five minutes. mrs. black: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, standing in this hallowed chamber of democracy, where laws are debated, amended and passed, one must stand in awe of our courageous forefathers who created this institution. in fact, 227 years ago when our constitution was created and signed by 39 brave men, it created the first government of its kind, a government of the

people, for the people and by the people. these men, well aware of the consequences of all the powerful european monarchies, created a democratic system of three co-equal branches of government, each with its own unique role. the brilliance that these men instilled in this document is ill alive and well till this day. as we watch each branch of government perform its role, keeping checks and balances on the others to make sure that the will of the people is obeyed. mr. speaker, this constitution day, let us give thanks to these wise and brave men who birthed our constitutional republic and our nation. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. gallego, for five minutes.

mr. gallego: thank you, mr. speaker. this morning i'd like to highlight one of the really interesting towns of west texas as we continue the journey through the 23rd district which encompasses nearly 24% of the land area of texas, nearly 800 miles from one independent of the district to another. ith the population of over 800 people, sanderson was originally named strobridge and it was known as a switching point for the southern pacific railroad. in 1882 a roundhouse was built there and the name of the town was named to sanderson, after thomas sanderson, who was in charge of the construction. in the following year in 1883 a post office opened in

sanderson. in texas, there is a person named as roy bean who was known as the law. judge roy bean opened a is a loan in sanderson in the early 1880's, but he couldn't compete with charlie wilson's cottage bar is a loan. after bean opened his is a loan, wilson allegedly spiked the whiskey with coal oil and judge bean soon had to move eastward and sanderson was dubbed as being too mean for bean. those were the years of railroad workers and cowboys which filled the area. at the turn of the century in 1905, the once unrulely sanderson became the county seat of carroll county and it remains the seat till this day. sanderson started looking more and more like a town on the move, but as time passed, sanderson left behind its wild west origins and became a

crossroad, a midpoint, if you will, between san antonio and el paso. the courthouse was built in 1906 and near the courthouse some years later in 1931, an art deco-style high school was built and sanderson population continued to grow to about 3,000 people during the first half of the 20th century. sheep and goats became the main goods as part of the livestock industry and they're still main commodities of the area today. for example, in 1970, over a million pounds, over a million pounds of wool and mohari were shipped out of sanderson. in 1965, sanderson was devastated by a flash drive. the sanderson creek overflowed and claimed 24 lives. after the tragic event, 11 flood control dams were built around sanderson by the army corps of engineers to make sure that would never happen again. sanderson was built around the railroad, and its state has

largely been determined by the railroad in a series of decisions altered decisively sanderson's growth. during the 1970's, the new construction of interstate 10, -10, bypassed highway 90 and left sanderson out of its path. it had a detrimental affect on the community but today sanderson fights to maintain its rich history in the tradition of railroads, cowboys and west texas. sanderson high school, known as the sanderson eagles, they produce a lot of incredibly talented kids who go to universities from rice to my own alma mater in alpine. in fact, many of the kids that i went to school with were from sanderson, texas and many of their teachers have their degrees there. in more recent times, sanderson

has put out a number of people, my immediate predecessor in the legislature, judge harrison, was from sanderson, and flores, the first latino judge who is serving now. so if visiting that area, i want you to know that you will have access to an extensive variety of memory are a biel museum he taylor county and this is still the cactus city. i want you to stop by sanderson if you ever stop in the 23rd district. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the mr. man from michigan, walberg, for five minutes. mr. walberg: thank you. men to dedicate this to

this to - dedicate coach crabtree for his dedication, loyalty and integrity. throughout the last four decades at saline high school, coach crabtree has left lasting impressions on his students, his players and izz staff. in the classroom, he -- and his staff. in the classroom he taught civic engagement through his history, economics classes. in fact, my staff has been blessed by the impact of one of his former students. as head of the physical education department, coach crabtree emphasized the value of working hard until the whistle blows. but he certainly is most well-known in the community for dedicating a large part of his life to football. and under his leadership created the storied football tradition which exists today at saline high school. in 1988, coach crabtree's

success on the field was affirmed when he was inducted into the michigan high school football coach's hall of fame. however, jack crabtree has been more than just the football coach for the community of saline, michigan. he always knew the most important play on the football field was the next one. and he passed along his focus and persevering spirit to young people in saline throughout his four decades as teacher, coach and mentor. his dedication to hard work, discipline and integrity has shaped and motivated thousands of his students and players to achieve great things in their personal and professional careers. jack crabtree embodied his personal credo that in the long run, a man's dedication is the only true measure of his greatness. i'm grateful to coach crabtree for his continued commitment to

the community of saline and i ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing his many years of service and i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, in murphy, for five minutes. thank you, madam speaker. i rise today to speak out against the alarming surge of anti-semitic demonstrations across the globe. sparked by the latest confrontation between our greatest ally, israel, and hamas terrorists, synagogues and holocausts memorials have been vandalized, jewish stores have been attacked, israeli products have been boycotted and the israeli and american flags having desecrated and emblazoned with swastikas. these cowardly acts are in direct contrast to our democratic values of freedom, liberty and equal justice under the law. with a frightening number of

such despicable acts being reported across europe and latin american america, our nation must -- latin america, our nation must speak out against these condemnations and must be a global leader of stopping the surge of anti-semitism making it clear to other nations that such intolerance and hatred have no such place in our global community. by allowing anti-semitism to flourish, nations risk fostering an environment in which violence can grow in impact, not only jews, but all religions, ethnic and other minority groups. that is why i'm proud to be working with my good friends, mr. diaz-balart, and mr. deutch of florida and mr. kingston of georgia in leading a bipartisan coalition of over two dozen members of congress on calling on the united states to continue its efforts in combating anti-semitism, especially in the wake of this troubling rise in such demonstrations. i also want to commend our local jewish community relations council for their leadership on this crucial

issue, which remains at the forefront of our community. partnering with several other local and national organizations, all well respected for their work on combating anti-semitism, they will be hosting a forum in the district i am so proud to represent regarding this growing crisis. i applaud their continued work, standing up against bigotry and raising awareness, both at home and abroad, of the threat of rising anti-semitism. madam speaker, we must continue to work together to stem the rise of anti-semitism wherever it occurs and help foster an environment more conducive to long-term peace throughout our global community. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i rise today to discuss the clean water act which was passed in 1972 and was designed as a state and

federal partnership. the law's success can be attributed to the recognition that states have the primary responsibility of regulating and protecting waters within their individual boundaries. for the past four decades, this framework has served to improve pollution control and continues to be supported by democrats and republicans alike. unfortunately, a recent proposal by the environmental protection agency, commonly known as the waters of the united states, would undermine its partnership and intrude upon state and local prerogatives related to land use and planning, environmental stewardship, economic growth. this past week, the house passed with bipartisan support h.r. 5078, the waters of the united states regulatory overreach protection act. this legislation prohibits the federal government from moving forward with this misguided proposal and protects our farmers, our landowners and

local municipalities by upholding the federal-state partnership that's yielded success in protecting our environment and enhancing water quality. thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer, for five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from oregon, ms. bonamici, for five minutes. ms. bonamici: thank you, madam speaker. as we prepare to debate and vote on the continuing resolution to fund the government through december, i rise to urge that the house stay in session until we can also take up several issues that are not resolved in the legislation we will be voting on. things our constituents are struggling every day, unemployment, adequate support for our seniors, college affordability and climate

change. ese issues deserve our attention and the toll it takes is in districts all across the country. for millions of men and women who are still struggling to find a job, emergency unemployment insurance was their lifeline. after numerous pleas to call for a vote when unanswered, millions of americans are now unable to fill up their gas tank or pay their rent. for some on the precipice of homelessness, this is the tipping point. these people can't move on without the support provided by unemployment insurance, so let's send a signal that we haven't abandoned them and take up a bill to extend these critical benefits. and let's not forget how many people could get back to work if we would set aside our differences and pass a long-term transportation bill and a comprehensive overhaul of our tax code. enough of these policies that incentivize businesses to go overseas. we need policies that keep them

bringing jobs back home. we should also think of our seniors, the older americans act changed the way our seniors age in this country. it contains social and nutritional programs that help them live full, independent lives, but the act expired more than three years ago. meanwhile, the number of americans turning 60 continues to grow. i introduced a bill to re-authorize and update the older americans act so seniors can age with dignity and not in poverty. however, the house has yet to consider this important bill. home health care, and protection from elder abuse. my bill is closely aligned with a bipartisan compromised introduced in the senate and it deserves consideration. let's not forget the millions of students who are returning to college campuses across the country this fall. the cost of college is leaving too many of them with massive

debt and decades-long repayment plans. that's a drag on our economy. we need legislation that allows students to refinance their current loans just like people can refinance their mortgage to get a lower rate. we must address the rising cost of college. higher education needs to be accessible for everyone. we should not create barriers by maintaining a system in which higher education involves exorbitant student loan debt. finally, the threat of climate change continues to loom. this, too, is a concern across the country and around the world, but it's particularly alarming to my coastal and agricultural portions of the district. greenhouse gas emissions are a record high, leading to a warming planet, melting glaciers, and rising sea levels. farmers, fishers, and others who rely on our natural resources are already feeling the stress. we must have a serious discussion about how we can curb increasing carbon emissions.

let's make this an opportunity to develop new and innovative technologies that can reduce carbon emissions while growing and advancing our economy through the creation of clean energy jobs. let's do it for our children and our grandchildren. let's not wait. yet if continuing resolution will continue to fund the government for a short time. it will prevent another disaster and a government shutdown, but it's a short-term fix that leaves numerous immediate problems unaddressed. we must do better for our constituents. they will bear the ramifications of our inaction. i urge my colleagues to setaside our differences. let's work together to find solutions our constituents deserve. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from alabama, for five minutes. mr. byrne: thank you, madam speaker. i rise today to remember the life of my dear friend, judge

michael mcmacon, a long time district judge from mobile county and a true servant leader. he was born in oklahoma in 1947. the son of an army officer, he grew up on various army posts around the world. he attended college at purdue university in indiana and later received his master of business administration and his law degree from my alma mater, the law school at the university of alabama. a true outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting, fishing, scuba diving, and almost any sport, judge mcmacon always wanted to live on alabama's golf coast. he got that chance when he moved to mobile to serve as an assistant district attorney. for them mobile district attorney and now presiding circuit judge, charlie braddock. while working in the d.a. office, he taught criminal justice at the university of south alabama. he eventually went on to private practice until being encouraged by many people, including me, to run for district judge in 1986.

after winning his first election, judge mcmacon would go on to serve as a district judge in mobile county for 25 years. he was instrumental in the creation of the mobile county drug court, which helps gives those struggling with drug addiction, opportunities to beat their addiction and better themselves. that drug program became a model for other counties in alabama and across the southeastern part of the united states. outside of the courtroom, judge mcmacon was a forceful advocate for civic responsibility. he was a founding member and first president of the board of directors for the mobile child advocacy center, which helps children who have been preyed upon by people who would do them harm. he also served as the president of the board of directors of good will easter seals. he was actively involved with the boy scouts program in alabama, and a member of the

governor's drug advisory council. judge mcmacon retired from the bench in 2012, but remained very active in our community. in the late 1980's, around the same time he and his wife were expecting their first child, judge mcmacon was diagnosed with leukemia. he fought this dreadful disease for over 25 years. never relenting in his crusade for justice or his public service. he never let this disease beat him down. sadly on september 7 judge mcmacon finally succumbed to this disease. mike is survived by his loving wife, kathy, and two wonderful children, in addition to a number of cousins and many, many close friends. madam speaker, i believe mobile county circuit judge brooks said it best, he said the older i get, the more i know how rare it is to meet someone like mike.

i couldn't agree more. what matters most is not what you take with you when you leave this world, but rather what you leave behind. judge mcmacon left behind a legacy of compassion, justice, community service, and civic responsibility. the city of mobile, mobile county, and the entire state of alabama, will be forever grateful for the life and service of judge mcmacon and for his remarkable career throughout our community. we extend our greatest condolences to his family and friends. and i thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer, for five minutes. mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: madam speaker, sadly the majority is pressing forward

later this week with two partisan messaging bills cloaked in the rhetoric of creating jobs and expanding opportunity. ills that actually do neither. we will today and tomorrow for the most part, i think, proceed on a bipartisan fashion. where we'll have views on both sides of the aisle that agree and that disagree. with the actions we will take on the continuing resolution. and the amendment that will be considered to give authority to the president of the united states to train and equip. -- equip those who are confronting issel. however -- isil. however, after we have considered that, we will proceed again on the partisan messaging bills of which i spoke. this unfortunately, has been the pattern throughout the 112th and 113th, this congress. the american people are

rightfully disgusted. in some cases dispairing. and certainly tired of the partisan games that lead only to gridlock. that have made this congress the most unproductive congress in which i have served. this is my 17th congress. the american people are tired of watching the republican majority walk away from their responsibilities to govern in a bipartisan way. they are tired of republicans walking away from our middle class when they refused to raise the minimum wage. which has a majority of votes on his floor for passage. the minimum wage today, if it was in 2014 dollars and 1968 levels, would be $10.77 cents.

that means those at the lowest ranks of earners in america have seen their buying power degraded by over 40%. since 1968. and yet we won't even bring it to the floor -- when i say we, the republican majority, won't even bring it to the floor for a vote. and it has majority votes if my opinion. it won't bring a bill to the floor that ensures equal pay for equal work. every woman in this house and every man in this house, except for the leadership, are paid exactly the same thing. irrespective of their gender. americans believe that's the right thing to do. we can't get a bill to the floor . we need to make higher education more affordable, student loans

have the ability to be refinanced just as mortgages could be refinanced. we can't get such a bill to the floor. they are tired of republicans' obsession with undoing the patient protections and cost savings of health care reform. we spent four years pretending that we were going to repeal it as opposed to fixing that which could be made better on behalf of the american people. they are tired of watching republicans walk away from every opportunity to get our fiscal house in order. as they did with the biden talks, the boehner-obama negotiations, the supercommittee composed of an equal number of republicans and democrats. walked away from averting the see quester, shut down the government. and several -- sequester, shust down the government, and several portunities to pursue fiscal

stability. the american people are distressed, dismayed, and indeed angry at the congress. all of us because they see their board of directors of the greatest country on the face of the earth not working. they are tired of republicans' failure to move forward with bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform. that again has the votes on this floor. to pass. but they don't bring it to the floor. the republican congress has made it clear that their message to america is you're on your own. you're not earning enough minimum wage, you're on your own. you lost your unemployment insurance, you're on your own. sandy comes and visits the atlantic katrina, visit it, and what did we do on sandy, we said you're on your own. the majority of republicans, overwhelmingly, voted against helping those who were struck by sandy. export-import bank, a business

that's trying to export goods, getting a little help. you're being competitive with the rest of the world. what does this congress say? you're on your own. yes, we are going to extend it for a short period of time, but there are a majority of votes on this floor to extend it for a number of years, which will give confidence to the economy and exporters, and lenders, that it will be in place. but what have we said? you're on your own. want to buy a home? well, the chairman of the financial services committee wants to eliminate fannie and fred qui and say, yes, you're -- freddie and say, yes, you're on your own. need terrorism risk insurance to build and get a loan, commercial construction? it's not on the floor. ou're on your own. the american people are upset with us, and rightfully so. i'm upset with us.

this republican congress has made it clear that it's about political messaging and nothing else. that's what they said to women had when they voted against the violence against women act. an act which had passed overwhelmingly in a bipartisan fashion when it was adopted and when it was re-authorized. but this congress could not get a majority of the republicans to vote for it. it passed after eight months of delay because democrats voted overwhelmingly for it. for what they said to small business owners when they voted against that sandy relief, and it's what they told unemployed workers when they voted not to extend emergency unemployment. house republicans are using september to continue sending messaging to the american people, house democrats are talking about lifting up the middle class, giving a jump-start to the middle class. this month will be one of sharp contrast.

yes, next month. and yes, november. there are choices to be made, sharp contrast, the overwhelming majority of the american people are for every one of the issues that i just mentioned. poll after poll after poll shows them to be so. there will be a contrast between obstruction and progress. between republicans who have said their number one priority is winning an election, and democrats who want to win the battle for economic quality and economic opportunity for the american people. . the american people deserve a congress that is on their side, and house democrats are doing what is needed to jump-start our middle class, create good jobs and open doors of opportunity for all americans. jump-starting the middle class means helping more of our businesses make it in america and create jobs that pay well. we, by the way, passed yesterday make it in america

legislation, good legislation, bipartisan legislation. it was done on a voice vote. the reason it was done on a voice vote is because there was some concern that a large number of republicans might vote against it. that would be a bad vote for them so we passed it on a voice vote. it means equal pay for equal work and greater access to affordable childcare. it means enabling more americans to own a home, save for retirement and know with certainty their children will be better off than we are and that they were. that, madam speaker, is what the american people expect us to do. it's so sad we haven't been doing it. it's so sad we cannot have the house work its will, which is, of course, what the republicans said in their pledge to america

. that's what the young guns told us they were going to do. we've had more closed rules than any congress in which i've served. that means that ideas can't be put forward. madam speaker, the american public will have a choice between stark contrast of who's on their side. let's hope the next congress is a congress of which the american people can be proud. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from missouri, mrs. wagner, for five minutes. mrs. wagner: thank you. thank you, madam speaker. i rise today to talk about one of the greatest threats to the united states of america and our allies, an evil that is so barbaric and ruthless that it can'ting ignored but only dismantled and destroyed. madam speaker, i'm talking about the islamic state of iraq

and levant, also known as isil. many of you -- many of all of us have watched in horror as two american journalists, james foley and stephen sotloff, and a british citizen, david haynes, were gruesomely murdered by isil. as a mother and as an american, my prayers and thoughts go out to their families and to all the victims of this vial terrorist group. madam speaker, isil is the most ruthless and well-financed terrorist group in the world. their goal is simple. kill the innocent and ultimately tare rise the united states of -- terrorize the united states of america and our allies. we have an obligation, one that has been long overdue to stop this barbaric terrorist organization before they strike us at home. madam speaker, we must not let

that happen. we must stand together, stand together as a nation, a people, a unified bipartisan fashion to stop isil once and for all. make no mistake about it, we are at war with radical islam. isil must not have a safe haven in syria or anywhere else with the time and the space to operate and carry out attacks against our allies and our homeland. they must be destroyed. our commander in chief has asked for the tools to defeat isil, and, madam speaker, i will support the president in our effort to complete the mission and to defeat the enemy, but i do remain concerned that the president does not have the long-term vision and the will to complete the mission. americans, we should want

the president to succeed. the cost of failure is far too great. however, the cost of not acting is even greater. the president's rhetoric must match his actions and his resolve. madam speaker, the president must answer the call of the american people and give the president the tools that he's asked for while providing rigorous oversight and requiring accountability for the duration of this military campaign. we must complete the mission. i, for one, stand ready to work with anyone to defend our national security and protect our way of life. madam speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. deutch, for five minutes. madam speaker, the

affordable care act is working in florida for a very simple reason, no one wants to be uninsured, people want affordable health insurance. florida enrolled more people in health insurance coverage than any other state using healthcare.gov. this only illustrates just how high the demand there is for affordable coverage in our state. during the first open enrollment period, some 983,000 floridians signed up, more than 90% were eligible for some type of financial assistance under the law which drove premiums down to an average of $79 a month in florida. in the span of a few months, our state's uninsured rate dropped from 25% to under 20% and i'm confident that when open enrollment begins again this fall even more floridians will take advantage of the opportunity to get covered.

unfortunately, madam speaker, there are 1.06 million nians who won't have that opportunity -- floridians who won't have that opportunity. they don't -- they've denied -- they've been denied the medicaid coverage that they're eligible for by governor rick scott and by our g.o.p. state legislature. health care reform was designed to help more americans afford private health insurance and provide basic coverage for low-income people through medicaid. to do so, the law extended eligibility for medicaid to people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level. talking in terms of the federal poverty level seems abstract but for the millions of americans working hard for little income, the hardships they face are very real. earning 138% of the poverty level means barely making ends meet. for a full-time minimum wage worker, it means scraping by for less than $16,000 a year.

for a family of four, it means making less than $32,000 a year, struggling to buy food and other basic necessary its. in florida, it means going uninsured. that's unacceptable in 2014 when there's a federal law in the books that says they don't have to be. and unfortunately, as a member of the house medicaid expansion caucus here in congress, unfortunately, i find myself in position where i have to ask governor scott and my former colleagues in the florida legislature just a few questions. are two young parents working fast food jobs in miami less deserving of primary care visits than a couple working at the sameburger chain in colorado? -- same burger chain in colorado? are the cronics aches of a home eaner worse than -- any less wort worthy of treatment in virginia? 1,060,000 less

worthy? these are the most hardworking people in our state. they're proud moms and dads. they're cashiers, office clerks, landscapers. they are veterans of iraq and afghanistan. they're adults who've gone back to college to further their careers. our desire to give florida families the same shot at leading a healthy, productive life as americans in any other state should be enough to commit -- convince governor scott to call the state legislature back into session tomorrow to get it done. to promote public health isn't enough, economists have also found that no other state has more to lose by rejecting medicaid expansion, by rejecting medicaid expansion than florida. just this month, mcclatcher analysis of the urban institute

data concluded that the florida's decision to deny medicaid to 1,060,000 will cost our state an astronomical $66.1 billion by 2022. florida's hospitals are expected to lose $22.6 billion over that same period and will continue to bear the burden of providing expensive emergency room care to uninsured patients for nothing in return. the billions and billions of dollars at stake for florida through medicaid expansion will do more than extend basic coverage to more than these people. it would generate new growth and opportunity throughout florida's economy. that's because when hospitals are actually paid for their services, their balance sheets improve, they have more room to invest and to expand. when they build a new surgery wing, they put more -- they put to work more engineers and construction contractors, and they hire new staff and they jobs good, well-paying

in our state. the economic growth injected into florida's economy would deliver about 63,000 new jobs between now and 2017. missing out on that kind of opportunity would be devastating for our state and failing to cover those 1,060,000 floridians would not deliver real savings to taxpayers in the long run. it's time for governor scott and the florida legislature to vote less on politics and more about helping floridians, parents, students, veterans and workers get the coverage they desire and that they're entitled to. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. carter, for five minutes. mr. carter: thank you, madam speaker. today i rise in support of five commonsense bills that will hold the government accountable to the people it was created to serve. it's amazing that we have an

internal revenue service to which we have surrendered almost unlimited power for the purposes of collecting revenues of this country. arguably, american citizens will tell you that the i.r.s. has control over their lives, their liberty and their property and some would argue without due process of law. you don't tell your tax man i'm not going to answer that question, i'm going to take the fifth, because immediately it will seize your property. and yet we witnessed on television as we found out that the i.r.s. was being looked into for being incompetent and corrupt and maybe the most incompetent and corrupt federal agency in the country and that they were actually out investigating groups who were voicing their absolute constitutional right to express their opinion in the political

arena and the right to gather and meet, which is guaranteed by the constitution but, no. the first thing we get from the person in charge is i'm going to take the fifth amendment. as you -- as many can see, we have been battling in the committee process in congress over and over with the i.r.s. they have abused our tax system to target conservative political organizations, and this abuse has to be stopped and they have to be held responsible. of course, when we've actually have someone that we see is responsible, the quickest solution for the i.r.s. is transfer them someplace else. well, i'm proud the house has taken action to curb the power of the i.r.s. by streamlining the removal of federal bureaucrats who've engaged in misconduct or destroy federal

records. you know, federal district courts, you try destroying federal records to bring before them and see what that federal judge will do to you. we're also voting to prohibit the i.r.s. individuals from using personal emails to conduct official business, putting fairness back into the appeals process and ensuring taxpayers know the status of an i.r.s. investigation. this is not much to ask, just tell us what's going on. these bills are important steps towards a level of accountability the obama administration has been unwilling to take. this is good legislation. it sets our bureaucrats straight. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from tennessee, mr. duncan, for five minutes mr. duncan: mr. speaker -- mr. duncan,: foif -- mr. duncan, for five minutes. mr. duncan: mr. speaker, i voted for the first gulf war about the great threat against saddam hussein. and then i watched those same ite troops to -- and i realized then that the threat had been greatly exaggerated. a few years later we rushed to war against weapons of mass destruction that were not there. the threat at the time of the second gulf war was greatly exaggerated and i'm glad that i voted against going to war that time. . after the horrible beheadings of two american citizens i felt we should respond and i publicly supported limited air strikes. i hope we can at some point if not doing so already send in a special operation team or teams to get those who committed those

beheadings just as we did osama bin laden. however do i not support thousands of young americans as combat troops on the ground in the middle eastern civil and religious wars. the primary responsibility for fighting over there should be up to the countries in that region. and i do not believe we should have some fake coalition where most of the fighting and most of the funding come from the u.s. military as in the iraq and afghanistan wars. while isis or isil, it's been referred to as both, as a threat, we have faced far greater threats at other times in our history. some of our leaders clamor for war to prove how tough they are. someone to be little churchills. many believe they don't support the strongest possible action they are afraid they'll be blamed in something happens. however both our president and homeland security secretary said our intelligence officials have not evidence of any credible threat against the us us at this point. in addition we have sent $716 billion on homeland security since 9/11 just at the federal

level. not counting the billions spent by state and local governments and private companies. just one company, fedex, told me a couple years after 9/11 that they had spent $200 million on security that they would not have spent had 9/11 not happened. on top of all that, we spend much more on defense each year than the next top 10 nations combined. and almost more than all nations combined since the poor nations spend very little on defense. if we devote our entire federal budget to the middle east we cannot stop all the fighting or solve all the problems of that region. if we spend our entire federal budget on homeland security, we cannot make our country 100% perfectly safe. some radical islamic fanatic may at some point do something bad in the u.s., but we are already spending all we can and doing all we can if we are going to meet the needs of our own people. the first obligation of the u.s. congress should be to the american people. and the people of the middle east are going to have to solve most of their own problems on

their own. we do not have the money or the authority to try to run the whole world. and we certainly shouldn't panic or overreact to this threat from isis. just a few weeks ago, their numbers were supposedly between 5,000 and 10,000. now we have them up to 20,000 to 31,000. but we have over one million in our military and supposedly many other nations are going to help against isis. and the leaders of isis have proven themselves to be cowards by beheading unarmed defenseless men in front of cameras in undisclosed locations. we fought against al qaeda in iraq and afghanistan and with al qaeda in libya. a yearing a our hawks wanted to take out assad in syria. now we want to have him with us against isis. i agree with what judge andrew napolitano wrote a few days ago, quote, what should congress do? it should declare once and for all that we will stay out of the muslim civil war of shiia versus

sunni. we have been on both sides of it. each side is barberous. in the 1980's we helped the sunnis. now the shiias. last year mr. obama offered to help the islamic state by degrading the adversaries. we have squandered innocent and squandered fortunes in an attempt to achieve temporary military victories that neither enhance freedom nor fortify safety. we'll only have peace when we come home. when we cease military invention in the area of the world not suited for democracy in which we are essentially despised, unquote. i agree with jung napolitano. tsh-judge napolitano. finally, madam speaker, i say again we cannot take care of our own people and our owntry if we are permanently at war in the middle east. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. lamalfa, for five minutes. million lamalfa: -- mr. lamalfa: thank you, madam

speaker. last night in the town of weed, california, my own first congressional district, over 100 of my constituents' homes were destroyed or damaged by fire, along with an elementary school and timber mill, one of the area's largest employers. thousands of my constituents are under evacuation orders and the fire's not yet contained. aside from this tragedy, hundreds of thousands of acres of northern california forests have burned so far this year. in fact, the combined impact of the fires in my district is already larger than last year's rim fire nero sem at this. unfortunately, while the rim fire received nonstop news kverage last year, most of america's probably unaware of this year's calamities. the unfortunate truth is that rural california and much of the west experience massive wildfires like these every year. over the past decade, wildfires in the west have only grown in size and severity. mr. speaker, it doesn't have to be this way. we know why our forests are burning decades of mismanagement caused by federal bureaucracies,

excessive regulations, and red tape. they have an attitude in many cases of just let it burn. we suffer from these road closures, inaccessibility to our forests, poor management, earn certainly the ability to stop fires when they are -- and certainly the ability to stop fires when they are started because of these policies. our forests are not managed or they are not even poorly managed. they are entirely unmanaged. as a result, are overgrown, unhealthy, and ready to burst into flame any time. i am he' supported several measures to address the crisis and last night's event create more emergency for this congress and administration to act. i am a co-sponsor of a bill to restore common sense forest management to require the forest service to manage and reduce fuel loads and improve forest

health. it's high time the senate act on this measure or produce its own so we can negotiate a final product. this would be as part of the now 384 house bills languishing over in the senate that need action. the chairman's bill, h.r. 3992, another measure i'm supporting and co-sponsoring, will end the diversion of forest manage the funding to firefighting by treating fires like other disasters, allowing flexible wildfire disaster funding. the forest service is increasing use of forest management funds for wildfire suppression means we are no longer in the business of managing forests. instead of just putting them out or trying to when they burn. this deserves a hearing in the committee and action on the floor before the session ends. mr. speaker, without action on these bills, our forests will continue to burn. our constituents will continue to see their homes and livelihoods destroyed, and rural communities across the west will continue to suffer.

the actions have been happening here in the house this year, we hear about do-nothing congress. we hear about the least productive congress. the house of representatives has been doing its job. we have 384-plus bills sitting over in the senate languishing, waiting for action, than its misnomer that action is not going on in the house. indeed it's a do-nothing senate. the people of the west, the people in line of these fires, the people suffering, demand action of their government. when they are not getting it, then they are the victims. madam speaker, we leave before the end of this year to -- we need for the he end of this year to take serious action on the management of our forests and allowing timber to be cut, processed in order to achieve forest health. we have an overload of inventory in our forest which is much more than can be sustainable on the number of trees per acre, on what's safe and healthy for the

trees as they compete for a limited water supply under ground. therefore stressing the trees, causing them to be susceptible to be more if danger of insects that weaken and kill the trees, thereby a self-perpetuating prophecy of forests that are weak and burn. madam speaker, it's high time as my constituents have suffered for weeks and now starting last night a weed, california, suffering from this mismanagement. the nonmanagement, the incompetence even what some people feel criminal treatment they are getting from their federal government. because of inactivity. madam speaker, it's high time we pass these measures and do what we need to do to make our forests healthy, safe, as well as help the economies of those people because certainly in this place, in congress and government, we certainly use a lot of wood and paper products. why should they not come from california or our western

states? madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, mr. garrett, for five minutes. madam speaker, i rise today to honor the memory of joan della an drow and recognize her mother as well, rosemarie. for her tireless dedication to victims rights and child safety. it was back in 1973 that joan was sexually molested and murdered by her neighbor, joseph mcgaoen. after she simply went to his house to deliver girl scout cookies. joan's body was found some three days later on easter sunday in new york state's hariman's state park. joseph was later convicted of first degree murder and

sentenced to life in prison. joan was 7 years old back when she was murdered. and this month she would have celebrated her 49th birthday. so in the four decades since joan's death, her mother, rosemarie, has used this tragedy of her daughter's death as a motivation to ensure the protection of other children. rosemarie has mounted several successful campaigns to keep her daughter's killer behind bars, and she has worked tirelessly to strengthen laws against child predators. back in the 1990's that rosemarie launched a grassroots movement to pass what is called joan's law. this legislation imposes a life without parole sentence on anyone convicted of molesting nd murdering a child under 14.

governor christie todd whitman signed the bill into law in 1997 and president clinton signed a federal version of this law in 1998. but even with these successes rosemarie continues, continues to do even more. earlier this year she unveiled a butterfly sculpture and garden in hills dale, new jersey. this sculpture really is a tribute to joan's life and it also serves as a reminder to each and every one of us to be diligent about keeping our own children safe. i ask my colleagues to join me, to come together in remembering joan's birthday. but moreover than that, i ask you to join me in thinking and thanking rosemarie for all that she has done to protect countless other children. we will never fully understand the grief that rosemarie has suffered all these years, but we hope, we really do hope she

finds comfort in knowing that she truly has inspired by her own determination to make the world a safer place. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule what is in this continuingh resolution? at its stopgap will keep the government and other federal agencies woult import bank through next summer.

it would also extend a moratorium on taxing the internet and new money for finding the ebola virus. host: what about this question of aid to the syrian rebels? to arm them and train them? is that money included and is the authorization included in the continuing resolution? caller: there is no new money included in the continuing resolution to arm syrian rebels. lawmakers in do -- the house are going to debate this authorization as an amendment to the continuing resolution on the floor this week. it would provide a short-term authorization through mid-december for the u.s. to train and equip syrian rebels to fight against the islamic state. it does not commit u.s. combat forces.

it would put several checks in place requiring the pentagon to report to congress regularly on the progress of the mission. the white house to give congress notification before any missions begin. house appropriators believe there is no current funding for the pentagon to move money around in the short-term. host: how was the boat shaping up in the house? -- how is the vote shaping up in the house? caller: at this point, it looks like it will get quick passage. things turn on a dime really quickly up here on the hill. you never know what can pop up. at this point, it is poised for a quick passage. host: how long will there be on the syrian aid? will they set aside a chunk of time for that debate? caller: we will see more debate

than usual on this syrian amendment. sometimes they can only be debated for 10 minutes on the house poor. this particular provision will get six hours on the floor. we will see a debate on tuesday and final passage on wednesday. host: how is it likely to shake out over on the senate side? caller: senate leaders have been pretty cautious to say too much. they're waiting to see what the house sends over. at this point, it looks like it is poised for easy passage over there. it seems like a pretty clear pass at this point. host: what happens after mid-december? .aller: the question mark this will depend on the results of the november elections. appropriators are pushing

for a big wrap up in december like we saw earlier this year. a trillion dollars to fund the federal government through the rest of fiscal 15. ted cruz and others have been for republicans to pass something until march and then rework it. they think they will have more control over the process. that is very much an open question for december. host: democrats expected to hold a press conference here shortly. underway now on our companion network, c-span3, we are hearing testimony on the threat that isis poses on the obama

administration strategy. we heard from defense secretary chuck hagel, he is testifying now. and general martin dempsey. both appearing before the senate armed services committee, outlining the administration's plan with isis, which includes expanded air strikes and additional u.s. personnel in iraq. you can watch that underway right now on c-span3. let us know what you think online during the hearing. you can share your thoughts with other viewers. we have a question up on facebook -- do you think the obama administration is pursuing the right strategy regarding isis? you can weigh in at facebook.com/c-span. for democrats on the select committee on benghazi, expected to hold a press conference shortly.

>> again waiting for democrats to talk about the work they have been doing on the benghazi investigation. this is the head of the first public hearing, which is scheduled for tomorrow, you can have live coverage of that on c-span3. theill be talking about attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, that killed four americans. some of the witnesses tomorrow include government officials involved with the investigation into that attack. again, live coverage of that hearing, the first public hearing, tomorrow on c-span3. as we wait here for a press conference to begin with democrats on the house select committee.

>> good morning. thanks for coming. today, the democratic members of the select committee on benghazi are announcing the release of

benghazi on the record. this new resource collects in one place as much information as possible regarding questions that have artie been asked and answered about the attacks in benghazi. benghazi on the record, includes two parts. first is the asked and answered database. this interactive website includes hundreds of questions and statements by members of congress that have been addressed in previous reports interviews, and hearings -- all of which are now linked online. second, it includes a 133 page compendium of investigative resources. this document addresses each question in greater detail, based on a wide range of investigative resources that have been made public. both the website and the

compendium are intended to be used as a tool for the american people. many americans do not realize how much work has already been done investigating the benghazi attacks. some may know that the accountability review board, and seven different committees, have issued nine separate reports. many are not familiar with the content of these reports, or their key findings. now, anyone can go online and have access to a huge amount of information. this includes reports, hearing testimony, and interview transcripts right at their fingertips. is also on the record intended to be a resource for congress. when speaker boehner established a select committee four months ,go, he held a press conference

where he explained the select committee was needed because and i quote, there are so many unanswered questions". the select committee had to investigate three questions. one, why request for more security were not provided. , why there was no response on the night of the attacks. and finally, why the administration described this attack in the way they did. providedrces we have answers to all of those questions and more. why there was an adequate security and benghazi, the accountability review board chaired by investor thomas pickering and admirable michael roland issued a blistering report. systemiced from

failures in leadership and management efficiencies at senior levels, within two bureaus of the state permit. -- state department. our goal was to include the facts, good and bad, even if they are critical. the point is, these questions have been investigated and answered. and now, you can see exactly what the answers are. benghazi on the record also includes information that rebuts unsubstantiated claims. there was a claim that secretary clinton personally signed a state department cable authorizing security reductions in benghazi. this claim was inaccurate, and it received for pinocchio's from the washington post fact checker. yet it was repeated on national television just six weeks ago. benghazi on the record does not answer every conceivable

question, but it answers many of the primary questions that people have about the attacks. finally, we hope this resource will be utilized by our own select committee men. i spoke to the chairman yesterday, i gave him a copy of this report, told him what i had told him many times before. we need to set forth concrete objectives, adopt a timeline for our work, and allocate our resources responsibly to achieve these goals. he was gracious, as he always has been. today, more than four months after the house establishes a select committee, we still do not have a timeline for our work. we have not adopted committee rules, and we have no investigative plans. my hope is that our efforts here with benghazi on the record will help the select committee to find it scope. we need to make full use of the

extensive investigations that have come before us already. we need to avoid duplication. conserve taxpayer dollars, and help improve the security of u.s. facilities and personnel around the world. with that, i will turn it over now to representative adam smith, the raking member of the house armed services committee, which has conducted its own extensive investigation. >> thank you very much. i want to thank our staff for putting together this information. it is incredibly useful to have it all put together in one website to show people just how much this has arty been investigated, and are ready been talked about. these questions have already been answered. there are a couple of main points. the armed services committee did its own investigation, i concluded that the military did everything it could under the circumstances. there was analysis of how in the future we could better move our

assets around to be prepared to respond. at the time, a series of tough questions were answered. the chairman himself said dod did everything it could, and yet questions continue to persist. myths continue to be brought up. the whole issue of the standdown order, which was never given. piece of this, the folks who were in tripoli. there was a soft team there, that was securing the embassy in tripoli. as we have seen with attacks like this, you never know where they are going to go. when benghazi happened, the concerns of people in tripoli sure thewas to make american people there were protected and taken care of. once they did that, they asked for permission to go on to benghazi. they were told to stay where they were out, make sure they secured the situation in tripoli. onesel gibson, one of the originally asking to go, said

later that staying where they did probably saved individuals lives. they did not insert themselves into a situation they didn't understand. more importantly, they protected the people in tripoli, who potentially could have been vulnerable under those circumstances. more than anything, this is yet another question that has been asked and answered. we continue to argue about it, but you cannot argue that it has not been thoroughly investigated. the questions haven't been asked, and the questions have been answered. they have. i want to close by sharing raking member cummings concern that we are so far into this, and we still don't have an outline of what it is we are doing as a select committee. if this was headed towards a particular point, they could easily look at everything that has been done the last couple of years, and say ok. here are the three things we want to know. this is where we are heading, what we're are doing. they haven't done that. it looks at this point like just a fishing expedition. i will share it alleges hope

that the majority will take this asset is something to look at and analyze, and decide how they want to go forward. i think this website will be in credit would helpful, to let people know just how much has arty been done on the subject, and why come as democrats, we always believed there was no point in putting together this committee. ,he questions have been asked people have been held to account, there had been a thorough analysis of what was denied believe -- undeniably a tragedy, and loss of life. we have looked at it. we don't know where this committee is going. hope this website will help clear up those questions. i thank again the staff for the incredibly hard work involved in making that happen. i will turn it back over to mr. cummings. >> thank you very much. now, covers woman tammy duckworth, who sits on the oversight committee with me will address the pentagon alleged

failing to deploy strength. >> thank you. i also get to sit on the house services committee as well. through many of these questions, multiple times in both committees. we should not be spending the time we have on this committee reviewing questions that have already been answered. i have seen the same questions answered in both committees over the past year and a half that i have been here in congress. if we want to make sure that no american diplomat, no american life, no american service members ever put in the same set of jeopardy again, we need to move beyond the questions that have already been answered. an important example of the ongoing criticism that has already been addressed is that the pentagon failed to deploy f-16's to support our diplomats and service members in benghazi. it is clear from the reports

that have been compiled by the thee on services committee, accountability review board, and the senate select committee on intelligence, but no f-16s or other strike aircraft could have responded in time to save lives. by eightdrafted republican members of the house armed services committee of february of this year concluded that given their location, and the readiness status, it was not possible to dispatch armed aircraft before the survivors had already left benghazi. on thetisan report select committee on intelligence concluded the same thing. no u.s. military resources in position to intervene in short order to help in benghazi, to help defend the temporary admission facility and its annex on september 11 and 12th, 2012. two former secretaries of defense, the current chairman of concluded commanders the same thing. this wasn't a matter of want or

willingness, but a problem of distance and time. last year, i questioned and inallah -- admiral mullen's a hearing on this issue. he explained to me the impossible logistics of getting f-16s there in time. issaid you know the military willing to go to high risk places, it just wasn't going to happen in time it. we all know admirable -- admirable mullins service. i would like the committee to move forward to seeing what do we need to do in the future, so that we never have a situation where the military cannot respond in time. especially as the risk analysis shows in the case of the 9/11 date, but there may be increased risk. why would we not put our military on some sort of alert status so they could respond in time if an should ever a situation like this were to be happening again.

that is my focus. but stop talking about whether or not those f-16s could have returned or redeployed in time to protect benghazi in 2012. let's talk about what we need to do so that they can be there in time in case american lives are ever put at risk again. thank you. i turn it back over to mr. cummings. >> thank you. tomorrow, we will be holding a hearing, the first hearing with regards to the recommendations of the arb, the account ability review board. adam smith who made that recommendation, we have concerns about the very thing that mr. duckworth just talked about -- making sure that our people are safe all around the world. we want to know exactly what has been done with regards to those ifommendations, and exactly things have not been done, we want to know why not.

if things are being done, we want a timetable to hold them accountable. it is a pleasure to introduce adam smith, who recommended to german dowdy that our first hearing be in regards to that issue. >> thank you. this summer, the house intelligence committee voted in a unanimous in bipartisan to the to send a report benghazi attacks the tragically took the lives of americans. it is my hope that the work can be declassified soon, so that the public can see the exhaustive effort the committee reduced and the questions and answered. that report reached the same conclusions other committees did. the initial talking points provided were flawed. because of conflicting assessments, not an intention to deceive. there was no standdown order, that the diplomatic facilities lacked adequate security, and that our personnel at the scene

acted bravely, appropriately, and with great courage. some of these questions that have been repeatedly asked and answered were asked again in the wake of a campaign to promote a new book on the benghazi attacks. contrary to the claims made in connection with the book, however, we found that personnel acted properly in trying to secure local assistance and avoid ambush. did not find evidence that a different course of action would of saved rather than jeopardized more lives. both the house and senate intelligence committees interviewed these two contractors, and concluded there was no improper standdown order. to second-guess these decisions made in the fog of battle is both unfair to the brave personnel involved, and highly responsible. it is a question that has been asked and answered not only by the intelligence committee, but by the armed forces committee. it does not need to be relitigate it all over again. hearing on the limitation of the arb report,

which i appreciate the chairman scheduling, the committee will need to determine what it can productively do that it hasn't done already. define the scope of the committee's work, in advance, this committee may be a committee in search of a mission , taking on a life its own and costing taxpayers untold millions. >> thank you. and now, we will have cumbersome on linda sanchez -- congresswoman linda sanchez address the politicization of the talking points. >> good morning. i'm confident woman linda sanchez. and as my colleagues have stated, we are proud to unveil this new website and compendium to provide answers to key questions surrounding the benghazi attacks. the amount of time and resources that have been dedicated to answering what happened on the night of the attacks in benghazi is unprecedented. ,he accountability review board

and seven different congressional committees, have issued nine separate reports. yet we keep hearing that questions remain. one question that continues to be raised is whether the talking points used by admin's ration officials in the days following the attacks were politicized. based on the work of his art he been done, the simple answer to that question is no. indicated, no shifts the house committee on intelligence adopted reports on a bipartisan basis. this report was the result of two years of extensive work. of committee sent thousands hours reviewing intelligence assessments, cables, notes, and e-mail. according to the committees ranking member, this bipartisan report concluded the following -- quote the process used to develop the process -- the talking point was flawed, but it

conflicted immediate recall of in the crisis. he goes on to say there was absolutely no evidence in documents or testimony that the intelligence community's assessment was politically motivated in any way. in other words, the talking points were developed based on the information available in the hours and days following the attack. they were not developed to serve a political agenda. we want this database and this compendium to be a resource for congress, and for the american people. and for those of us on the select committee, we needed to define for americans what the scope of the select committee pass investigation will be. given all of the questions that a party been answered, it is incumbent on the select committee to explain how they plan to use $3.3 million of taxpayer money, despite all of the reports that a party been generated.

to date, the select committee has no investigator plan. we have no idea what we are going to be doing after tomorrow's hearing. this just shows some of the problems with the lack of information or deliberate misinformation that has swirled around the events that happened on that tragic day. hopefully, this compendium and website will show that many of these questions that continue to be raised have in fact been asked and answered. the site to direct witness testimony and transcripts, to the seven other reports that a party been generated. hopefully it will help narrow the scope. thank you, i would like to return the microphone back to our ranking member, mr. cummings. >> thank you. i will take a few questions. [indiscernible] it's a new provision that could show us out from covering the

select committee. are you aware of that? >> we are aware of that. this is a provision that was put into a resolution that established this very committee. resolution, the committee was exempted from having written rules with regards to various things. attention totheir it was the press, there was an issue in regards to the press. the next thing we knew, they handed us the cr. we want the press to be present. let me say that again. we want the press to be present. we want to be transparent. we think that is the only way to do this. that herman has said wanted a fair hearing, a fair hearing of this matter. he wanted to make sure that we were transparent. i think this goes against that.

again, by the way, we had no notice of them putting it in the cr. we found out about the same time you found out. >> what is the worry? >> you will have to ask him about that. site, -- we don't have to have a rule, a written rule with regards to press availability. we want the press in everything. we think the press ought to be there. i think those are questions you might want to direct towards the republicans. response tove any reagan maxwells comments from yesterday, that while deputy at the state department saw the clinton aide separating out documents, they interviewed him several times by oversight by foreign relations. apparently he said this before, but it's the first time it has come out. were you aware of this claim? >> maxwell was interviewed by

our committee. issa --alled by german chairman issa. he never talked about this. he had plenty of opportunities to talk about this. but he didn't. we had allegations come out every week. mr. schiff just talked about the three contractors that had been interviewed. they come out with the standout allegations. not bring maxwell did that to our attention when we interviewed him. we interviewed him extensively. and so, that is my answer to that. >> you have had conversations obviously with the chairman. is there any of her station -- indication in those conversations that this is going to be more substantive than i think you expect?

is there any indication, i know, obviously, you want an outline, a plan. is there something to give you promise that this will uncover when we put together this website that we have been talking on this morning, as we went through it, we discovered that the questions had been answered. sure exactly where we are going. you must keep in mind, the republicans are in charge. one thing we do not want, is we do not want to be going over things that happened asked and answered in this time of austerity. we do not want to be wasting taxpayer dollars after we have

arbseven reports and the has gone through it essentially. thousands upon thousands of hours going through documents, appearing at hearings, and so what we wanted to do, and i told chairman gowdy, at the beginning, and i said let's figure out what we can agree on. thingswhat we have here, that have already been answered. have somew so we can type of scope. i do not think you can go out there without any kind of plan, any kind of expectations, and just do a thorough

investigation. position, we're at a where we are trying to figure out what we are looking for. hopefully those answers will come soon. i want to thank you all. yes? >> [indiscernible] say that again? >> [indiscernible] >> that is up to -- all we know is we have had all of these investigations. we will let you draw your own conclusions with regard to clinical motivations. me -- we havetold our concerns, going back to your

question, when we have issues of possibly not having organizational meetings. the press is still left up in the iar. -- air. we want to make sure that we zero in on several things. one, the things that we will be talking about tomorrow. making sure that our men and safe across the world are and that the recommendations have been adhered to and are being put into place. anything if there is that this committee will do it the hopefully be to open up world to all of the information that we already have. if we accomplish that, that will be a lot.

thank you very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] as we heard, a hearing tomorrow on the house select committee on benghazi. we just heard from the democrats of the committee. live at 10:00 eastern tomorrow on c-span3. of the houseloor for debate on the cr to fund the government. also work on an amendment that would authorize the administration to train syrian rebels against isis. chuck hagel and general martin dempsey are testifying now on the strategy with isis you can watch that live on c-span3 and join the conversation with facebook.

do you think the administration is pursuing the right strategy regarding isis. you can send us a tweet. and thoughtssis about what congress should do regarding the president's proposal. this is from today's "washington journal.' elch is back at our table this morning. the chief deputy whip for the democrats on the house side. that's begin with this vote that's going to be taking place tomorrow as part of the continuing resolution to fund the government. authorizing the president to arm and train the syrian rebels. will you vote yes? i don't know yet. this is a serious escalation of american engagement. there has been a lot of support for how the president has handled this situation so far. he used air power very

effectively when isis was going to slaughter the azitis. -- wercumstances there have the kurdish government on the ground. on bombing when they were moving towards baghdad and instead focused on the heart of the problem, the sectarian maliki.ip of the whole problem with the liki put his was ma cronies in leadership positions. that is why the baghdad army folded when they got attacked initially. he has held off on getting in the middle of the syrian civil war. there are 1500 different groups that are fighting their. -- fighting there.

how do you train people and retain their loyalty? what's happened now is that the collective revulsion that we have in congress and that the american people have at the sight of these rules and ghastly beheadings is putting a lot of pressure on us to act. isis is terrible. whethertion for us is we are going to be able to micromanage with i've hundred million dollars -- $500 million in a way that will be effective. what does that do to the underlying conflict going on for centuries? we're getting continuous briefings. a lot of us who want to make the right decision here are going to be listening carefully. aid: don't hide the syrian voice.

you would get a clean up and down vote on this amendment to aid the syrian rebels. they may not have to do that vote. guest: it's outrageous. the american people have a right to know where we stand. this is a major escalation. if we are not training 5-6000 people -- they are not going to get in the fields four months. -- for months. what is this going to do with respect to assad? does that make us stronger if we fight isis? everyone of us in congress should be required to say yes or no. a second issue here that is very important. how are we going to pay for this? we are in sequester right now. the economy is not doing well for everyday people.

the 1% or own stocks and bonds, you're doing a ok. folks getting a salary have not had a raise in 10 years. we have not passed a long-term highway bill. host: explain why it's off the books? guest: overseas contingency funds. for.ars were never paid there has been nobody making the ffgument that if we do stu $500 million, we still have to pay for it. books right off the now. that's another important question that has not been addressed. host: the washington post editorial this morning. short on firepower. question that is

rightly asked by us now. the biggest challenge in the whole region and that sunni belt -- isxtends from mosul to governance. enial of access to inclusion in the politics of population. the question that has to be asked now is, will we deal with that with an american-led free syrian army? host: would you be a yes vote if it comes to it? an authorization for this expanded military campaign into syria? guest: i have not decided that

yet. i have been very supportive of how the president has been acting. he acted with force in a situation where it's effective. he put real pressure on the baghdad government to get rid of maliki. i have real reservations and skepticism about the wisdom of us getting in the middle of the syrian civil war. turn for understandable reasons. i have to make my decision after i've had all the briefings. host: do you think the president has a majority of democrats in the house? guest: it looks like he has a majority in the house. speaker boehner is being a cooperative. we are going to get an up or down vote. he has taken it seriously.

the commander-in-chief is asking for the house to take action and he is putting us on the floor. that suggests to me he will get a majority there. --re is a lot on our side the idea that isis can run rampant. one question that has not still been answered is, as a threat to the country, what is the threat of isis? whether issue for us going to war are putting america's money at stake is, what is the direct threat to the dei states -- the united states? host: theresa in illinois. democratic caller. caller: thank you for c-span. i have a question for our representative. my question is on the funding. i'm wondering -- i thought there

is some sort of fund in the pentagon or the military bank. what is that all about? i do believe there should be a yes or no vote in the house, absolutely. saying a yes or no vote on this broader question of what the president is doing? campaign the military campaign and his.. should there be a yes or no vote on that now? -- expanding the military campaign in syria. i want to know what my representatives and senators come where they stand. there is a provision in the budget called the overseas contingency fund. that is the fun that's used to fund these operations abroad. -- fund that's used to fund

these operations abroad. overwill increase debt by $20 million -- and that by over $20 million. we are in sequester now. set it uping to favorably for them where they can get a bias toward the military side of spending. i have big problems with that. this new money does not have a revenue source. the rule that we are following right now in congress is coming few are going to spend more money, you have to take it from somewhere else. we are pretending that will does not apply. one of the big challenges is, if something is really important to the united states to do, we have to pay for it. that applies whether it's fixing potholes on our roads and bridges, coming up with eight so we can make housing more

affordable or defending america from a threat. are not talking about how we are going to pay for this is irresponsible. host: president obama's plan to train and equip syrian rebels in appeared against isis headed for quick passage this week. -- these are two separate questions. the debate over arming and will be syrian rebels six hours. that begins today with a final vote on the overall package on wednesday. on twitter -- guest: no, we don't. specific numbers have not been provided to us. it will be quite expensive. -- if theyk is also

divided this vote, are we going andelp the free syrian army then later we may have an authorization to use military force. the heart of the question will be decided tomorrow when we make this vote. once you make that, you are crossing the rubicon. we decided tomorrow if we are going to get into this. we're going to be taking sides in a couple kids civil war. that is us being engaged for a multiyear effort with a questionable outcome. host: you think tomorrow's vote is a test vote on this overall question? guest: it is more than a test vote. it's a commitment. we are supporting baghdad. baghdadist challenge in is for there to be a nonsectarian government.

fundamentally, the way we are going to succeed and crush isis is by having the sunnis be empowered. and deny any safe haven to isis. this is what happened when general petraeus had the sunni awakening. this was part of the surge. you have to get the sunnis who live there in the area were isis has support to have a stake in their own future. once he succeeded in doing that, the al qaeda affiliates in the region were crushed. there.as a huge success the baghdad government unraveled everything general petraeus did. it was a political outreach and inclusion that was important. host: donna in georgia. republican caller.

guest: thank you. -- caller: thank you. my question is whether or not service members are going to be eligible to receive benefits if their killed in action. -- if they are killed in action. guest: they certainly should be and they have been. the answer to that is yes if i have anything to say about it. we are not talking about american boots on the ground, but we are talking about american pilots. we already have advisers were there -- who are there in harms way. and the american killed as a result of this action, absolutely that service members family should beginning full benefits. host: mike from baltimore. independent caller. he knows what he is talking about.

we need someone like him to be at the helm of the effort. isis will disappear, probably. sunnisagreement with the -- maliki imprisoned over 50,000 sunnis. some of them tortured. that is egregious and at the center. that is what the movement from rose towards baghdad. we should isolate them economically and politically. guest: i do agree. there is another point here. this civil war extending from -- thehrough iraq

regional layers are the ones who are immediately affected. uae, saudi arabia stepping up? the have about 1000 planes between them. overaudi military is 200,000 men. it's a fair question for the united states congress to ask if the united states is quick to participate and play a helpful role, what about the regional players? the things they have done that have made this problem worse -- a lot of the money that went to the radical islamic groups, including some elements of isis, came out of saudi arabia and qatar. a lot of the financing is ause oil isec

coming out of the ice is controlled areas and is being sold in the black market in turkey. areas. controlled there is a lot that those countries should be required to do before america steps up and takes the lead in what is it problem in the sunni-shiite divide. host: this 26 countries gathering together to form this broad coalition with arab countries divided saying that they are hesitant because they view any action led by the -- they ares worried about their sunni populations. guest: this free syrian army will be financed, trained, equipped by the united states. that came questions

up when i listened to our best military commanders is, what is the quality of this army going to be? one said that the quality of an army is as good as the country it serves. we are fortunate. we have an army that will defend this country at all costs. , whenee syrian army crunch time comes, who are they loyal to? they don't even have a country recruiting them. they are recruited by the united states. i think there is some questions there. host: roger in north carolina. independent caller. whyer: i would like to know -- we have been over there for 10 years.

there is nobody over there in that region we can trust. -- who can you trust over there to give money to that they won't turn against us? guest: he has a good point. we spend billions of dollars training iraqi security forces. billions and billions of dollars. and they folded in the first conflict in northern iraq. there has been rampant corruption there. maliki took colonels and generals out of the army who were competent and committed and replaced them with cronies. the scholar has a good point. host: why not going to the --ted nations for coalition go into the united nations for a coalition? guest: i don't know the answer

to that. secretary kerry is clearly making an effort to get this broader coalition. europe is concerned and united , ifes is concerned individuals from europe and the united states go over there and get trained and come back. that is a real threat. host: are you willing to amend the visa waiver program would address that concern? -- to address that concern? threat.hat is a the immediate threat of conflagration in the divide going on in that region for centuries is something that lyrically has to be resolved. -- that politically has to be resolved.

what are they actually putting in? they have armies and air forces. are they putting some skin in the game? host: wilson in miami. independent caller. caller: i have one question and one comment. that a lot ofad people are knowing the fact that arming the rebels is arming isis. what would be a solution to everybody being so concerned about this? we feel like our money is going to the wrong place. how do we fix this? guest: you have raised a question that was a concern that the president had when he held off on arming the free syrian army. how do we guarantee those weapons don't end up in the hands of isis? that didn't happen in

other radical groups. that did happen in iraq. seeing these images of u.s. heavy equipment being enemies. by our so that is a big challenge. and the cia and the military folks are going to do their best. but once things get handed over to other individuals, if they battle, if they get scared and run away, if they then that s, equipment that we provide could end up being used against us. chicago heights, illinois. independent caller. you're on the air with peter welch. ahead.o caller: good morning, i'm an independent. will be why don't we country. out of the because the people just want to kill them all at this point. the money you're going to spend war that the people

did not ask for, wouldn't it be this spent here in country where people are homeless and people that are hungry? i don't understand why do have to go fight wars when people in this country are hungry and homeless. host: congress ann? guest: two things, nation of ding at home makes a lot sense to me. i'm amazed that congress a month ago when we passed the bill, we put it on life support. we didn't include a long-term funding program for roads and bridges. we gave it a tiny little amount of money to keep it going for months.even confident countries don't do that. little nd issue is a more complicated. america does have a role to play in leadership. middle east is a vital region. t is an important source of

about 20% of them that comes to the west. playing a ld be constructive role there along with our allies, including the -- the arab states. the question to me is not if role.a has a we do. we should exercise our leadership. but we have to ask practical best to do out mow it. the iraq war was not a good decision. good way for america to exercise its leadership. we now have this incredibly situation where there's a collective revulsion against isis. make sense in response to that for us to be getting in to the -- wading to war.syrian that's the question. host: on the line for republicans, connie, north carolina, go ahead, connie my point is if the united states is going to move in with all of the weapons and for f them are left behind

the iraqi people, both weapons the up in the hands of wrong people. why this military corrected the our troops were on ground with many billions of dollars that we spent in the me try, i want seemed to ike this would already have this under control. guest: we don't have it under control. heartason we don't is the of this problem is the lack of governance and the rampant exists in syria and baghdad. if you have a political system where one large group in the excluded, constantly here baghdad puts its crushing boot on sunni aspirations, then it's a breeding ground for discontent. when you have economic problems youth unemployment.

they make no effort to disclose it. they have violence in that country. repression, not political inclusion, it's going to go on and on. a pretty good question. host: steve in lar g, o, republican caller. welcome to the conversation. you?r: hi, how are host: good morning. he's r: a follow up, if hungry, most americans should go live in vermont. rom what i understand, that's the highest state in the union, i >> you can watch the rest of this conversation online as we take you for the house on a continuing resolution to fund the government. conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving god, we give you thanks for giving us another day.

in these waning days of deliberation before members leave to focus on the upcoming election, bless them with focus on the pressing matters of these days. y they be filled with wisdom and a spirit of goodwill and cooperation that good solutions to unfinished business might be arrived at together. finally, bless our world with peace and all those seeking an end to violence. may all that is done be for your greater honor and glory. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from virginia, mr. wolf. mr. wolf: everyone, join me in the gallery. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america

and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to highlight one of my favorite months of the year, initiated in 1991 by congress, september is known as national rice month with the healthy atributes, it should be no surprise that the typical american will consume 25 pounds of rice this year. mr. crawford: i represent the largest rice producing district in america and co-chair of the congressional rice caucus. i've seen first hand the hard work of putting in the crop that feeds us here at home and countless others across the world. as we stop and consider all the products here at home we've

come to enjoy that include rice, let us also remember that our rice producers export over three million metric tons of rice to markets over the world this year. they are feeding us here at home, mr. speaker, and they're also feeding the world. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. quigley: mr. speaker, this week the american people, through their representatives in congress, will welcome an ally and a friend. when ukraine's new president, petro poroshenko, addresses a joint session of congress on thursday, he will do so at a pivotal moment in his country's history. kraine is facing an -- a threat against russian's aggression. president's putin's arming of separatest -- president putin's arming of separatist rebels

must stop. i will push for even tougher sanctions if put putin continues to disregard ukrainian sovereignty. the people of ukraine are fighting for democracy. the united states stands behind them in their efforts. let this week's address only strengthen the long-standing alliance and friendship between the united states and our friend, ukraine. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from virginia, for what purpose do you rise? mr. wolf: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. wolf: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise to submit for the record a statement on my concerns about the troubling increased anti-semitism in europe, here in the united states, particularly on college campuses. the coal mine of a nation's religious freedom and tolerance, meaning the jewish population is threatened, so, too, will others in time. for the religious freedom, the safety of all people, we must

speak out against these disturbing trends and anti-smetic acts around the world. i'm calling -- anti-semitic acts around the world. i'm calling for an update on anti-semitism on college campuses to review recent trends and look at what recommendations, if any, first base implemented. -- have been implemented. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? ms. hahn: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. hahn: i rise to express my concern and disgust of the nfl's belated and inadequate response to violence against women and children by its players. if the league were serious, it could use its significant resources to have a positive impact and help change how society views the issue. just as teams have raised money and awareness to fight breast cancer. but i'm not convinced that the nfl commissioner, owners,

coaches and players want to change. are they sincere or just doing damage control before continuing business, by the way, a very profitable and tax-exempt business? i believe the big, not just the big bucks, stops with the commissioner. because he's failed, i believe that goodall must resign or be outed by the owners. my colleagues and i will be watching to see if the nfl truly reforms and we will be revisiting congressional oversight and legislation related to the nfl. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentlelady has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, in last week's "washington post," a columnist said beyond the strategy's half-hearted substance, obama's reluctance and apple biff lens are obvious. this is a man driven to give

the speech by public opinion. it shifted radically with the televised beheading of two americans. every poll shows the americans overwhelmingly want something to be done, someone to lead the doing, end of quote. isil's conquest in iraq and syria is the consequence of the administration's failed policies that do not achieve peace through strength. the president ignored evidence of increasing terrorist safe havens across north africa, middle east, central asia as the southern border is now porous. the united states must effectively defeat isil to stop attacks on american families. i hope the president shows real leadership and takes effective action to achieve victory over those who vow mass murder of american families. in conclusion, god bless our troops and the president should take action, remembering september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. johnson to request the body for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, so ordered, the gentleman is recognized. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to urge the house to stop the free flow of excess defense department military weapons and equipment to local law enforcement. our neighborhoods need to be protected but americans oppose blurring the line between the police and military. when law enforcement using military emrats on main streets, our country is not a war zone and should not feel like one. that is why representative raul labrador and myself are introducing the stop militaryizing act. this is a commonsense and bipartisan bill to update the department of defense 1033 program to stop the free flow of equipment from the battlefields directly to the streets of america. i ask my colleagues to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition?

>> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered, the gentleman is recognized. mr. speaker, e.p.a. will soon propose a new lower ozone standard. we've made important gains in air quality, but this new proposal is so low that most of america, including all but five national parks, will be out of compliance. is new rule will mean lost jobs and lost opportunities. it means no new permits for mom and pop and their american dream. hey will struggle to grow.

that's why tomorrow bob latta of ohio and i will be introducing the clean air strong economy act. this commonsense bill requires e.p.a. to protect health and consider whether a new rule can be met. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to help us balance clean air with a strong economy and american jobs. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. veasey: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized. mr. veasey: mr. speaker, i rise today to qual on house republican leadership -- call on house republican leadership to stop playing games and start governing. we are scheduled to debate 36 bills this week but many are just repeated failed attempts that went nowhere beyond this house because they will do nothing to create jobs or strengthen the economy. instead of passing -- instead of working to pass

comprehensive immigration reform or raising the minimum wage or decreasing income disparity between men and women, we are instead repackaging and repassing partisan talking points and special interest handouts. this congress is on track to be the least -- the least productive in u.s. history. we've seen valuable time and tax dollars wasted in trying to sue the president, over 50 failed attempts to repeal the health care act and attempts to legitimize flimsy conspiracy theories. house democrats will stand ready to work with house republicans. we're ready to jump-start our economy, make it in america, reunite families and bring back jobs from overseas. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. poe: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. poe: mr. speaker, evil isis has arrogantly beheaded yet

another werner. this time a british aide worker, david haynes, was executed. his assassins with an isis masked outlaw with a british accent. isis has been turning those in canada and the united states. these american passport holders are particularly dangerous since they can easily slip back into our country undetected and bring isis' reign of terror to our homeland. that's why i introduced the f.t.o. passport revocation act. this legislation would authorize the revocation or denial of passports and passport cards to individuals who fight with foreign terrorist organizations. the benedict arnold traitors who have turned against america should lose their right to re-enter the united states. this bill will help law enforcement locate these individuals overseas by preventing them from traveling internationally so they can be captured and brought to justice. once americans cross over to the dark side and go to war

against us, they are not welcomed back unless they're in handcuffs, and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. he gentlelady is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. ms. fudge: golden week will voter ohio a one-stop to allow absentee ballots but the supreme court ruling against the g.o.p.-led general assembly, ohio voters would not have this opportunity. according to a lawyer's committee on civil rights report, african-american voters made up 78% of all early voting ballots in the country. there are people working in every state to make it more difficult for citizens and particularly people of color to exercise their right to vote.

that is why it is critical for each of us to do all we can to protect it. i support the voting rights amendment act of 2014, and i encourage my colleagues to do the same. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentlelady has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from indiana seek recognition? without objection, the entlelady is recognized. mrs. brooks: i rise today to recognize the 11th national preparedness month and urge all americans to be disaster prepared. according to fema, less than 40% of all americans have an emergency plan. this startling fact is a reminder that our nation must continue to prepare for all types of disasters. as congressional co-chair of national preparedness month, i hope all members will join me in promoting the importance of preparedness. the first 72 hours after a natural disaster or a terrorist attack are critical. this september, urge your constituents and families to take action by creating an

emergency kit that includes things like water, nonperishable food, phone chargers. families should have communications plans and designate a meetup point in case they get separated. lastly, we should follow our first responders and red cross on social media. taking these kinds of steps can save lives when disaster strikes. mr. speaker, this month and every month, let's pledge to be disaster-aware and take action to prepare. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentlelady has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek ecognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> i rise today to recognize september as children's cardiomyyopthi awareness month. it's a chronic disease of the heart muscle and increases the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. sudden cardiac arrest claims almost 300,000 lives in the u.s. every year. it's a leading cause of death

for schoolchildren. mrs. capps: that's why i introduced the teaching children to save lives act, which would teach children across the country the life-saving skills of c.p.r. and how to use an a.e.d. recently i introduced the safe play act to help ensure the health and safety of children who are athletes. ome of them have card -- cardiomyyopthi as well. is an issue facing people all cross the united states. i urge participation in the first a.e.d. hunt on the hill tomorrow, and co-sponsoring the teaching children to save lives act because together we can make a difference. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized. >> i've introduced a bill to notice to a. using appear forms as i.d.: mr. marchant: after first denying -- as i.d. mr. marchant: after first denying it to the press, the t.s.a. admitted they are using notice to appear forms. those who violate our laws should never be held to a lower security standard than law-abiding citizens tasms serious security risk, it is unfair to honest americans, and it must stop now. i call on my colleagues to support this legislation. t.s.a. must stop giving illegal immigrants special treatment. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: this is constitution week, the week we honor our constitution, drafted in 1787, september 15, and signed on the 17th. i spoke to a class about it in memphis and i looked at the class, which is almost entirely african-american and i thought about the constitution having in it slavery -- slavery and not having in it a woman's right to vote. then i watched when turns' "the roosevelts" and thought about how teddy roosevelt would think about where we are today. teddy roosevelt said the constitution was for the people, not the people for the constitution. and he put right first and he fought the trusts and he looked after labor and he looked after the average american worker. he would have been repelled at the idea of the not having a

voting rights act. as he had booker t. washington, the first african-american, into the white house. he would have been concerned about what this congress is doing today and the prospect of war and our power to declare war and not acting, not exercising our constitutional prerogatives. ken burns' series is a tribute to two great men, a great family, teddy and franklin roosevelt, that made america better. i wish this congress would do the same. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i'm proud to stand up in support of legislation i co-sponsored that the house will consider later today, h.r. 24, the federal reserve transparency act. as the creator of u.s. monetary policy, the federal reserve is one of the most influential institutions in our government.

unfortunately, it is also mentioned as one of the most secretive institutions of government. this act would require the federal reserve system to submit itself to a full, fair, and open audit process. president harry truman from the great show-me state, once said that secrecy in a free democratic government -- and a free democratic government don't mix. in all of government, including the federal reserve, openness, transparency and accountability are ablutely required. hundreds of my fellow missourians have contacted me asking to fully audit the federal reserve in the first 15 months i have been in office. mr. smith: it's time to audit the fed. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized, without objection. mr. moran: we are about to begin and difficult debate and both sides have

strong, credible arguments. but i would urge those who are opposed to what the president has suggested to offer their own alternative. because it does seem as though, while the president has chosen a bad option, it's the best of all the alternatives. and that's the difficulty. isis is expanding exponentially in terms of the size of its force, its financial and military wherewithal. if isis was, for example, to be able to lay siege to baghdad, where we have a substantial presence of american personnel, what do we do then? clearly we would have to be militarily engaged. this is a difficult debate. but i would urge those who chose any of the credible reasons for voting against it to tell us

what they would do instead. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to act ng and -- acknowledge and honor paul and margaret mcnamara of champlain, illinois, for being recognized as angels of doption by the congressional issues on adoption. they are parents of six children, four of whom they adopted. mr. davis: they made the decision to adopt thaws bay understood that countless children without -- across the globe are without a family. after the births of their first two children, they began looking into adopting children with special needs. they adopted joseph from india, and when they learned his

-- needed to be adopted they adopted him as well. adoption is a selfless act of kindness and it is truly an honor to have them in my district. their dedication and community support are unprecedented and we should take a moment to appreciate those who adopt both at home and abroad. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from -- for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of pancreatic cancer awareness. there are no early detection methods for pancreatic cancer and treatment options are limited.

over 300 million americans suffer from chronic diseases. like pancreatic cancermark have no cures and limited treatment options. mr. bilirakis: this is a bipartisan effort to get cures and dreams to patients more quickly. millions of americans who suffer from cancer, including the nearly 50,000 with pan cry -- pancreatic cancer, will benefit from this initiative. i held two round tables in my district in august to hear from patient, patient advocates, researchers, clinicians and representatives from medical device companies. pancreatic cancer advocates participated as well. together we can raise awareness and find cures and treatments for chronic and deadly diseases like pancreatic cancer. thank you, mr. speaker, i appreciate it. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> i want to congratulation susan rice on the 25 years of service to our community as head of cornerstone advocacy service. her work began in 1989 when it was just a few volunteers working in a church in bloomington. under her leadership and vision for preventing domestic abuse it's grown to 80 employees who provide around the clk crisis counseling, emergency shelter services and transitional housing to 10 cities across the county. i spent time at cornerstone myself and have seen firsthand the services they provide for adults and children who have been traumatized by domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking. the impact of cornerstone's success is a reflection of susan's hard work, her dedication an her passion. mr. paulsen: i'd like to thank susan for helping save lives, for serving our community and congratulate her on her tenure

at cornerstone and wish her the best in her retirement. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: weather -- without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> i have a radical idea, let's let parents choose where to send their kids to school. let's make it easier for them to save for their children's education. let's give every kid in america access to a great school. our current education system works for many but it's failing too many others. mr. messer: today i introduced a bill to change that. my bill, l. 5477 -- my bill, h.r. 54 7, lets federal education dollars follow students. it lets parents use education savings account on pre-k through 12 education. it covers eligible savings

accounts and allows funds to be used for homeschooling. some may say our current system is the best we can do but deep down we all know that we must do better. let's give all students a chance, no matter where they live. let's pass the enhancing educational opportunities for all students act and make that dream a reality for every child. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so order. the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: today i rise to recognize our nation's case managers and the role that case management plays in our health care and our social services sectors. caseer 12 through 18 marks management week. during this time we recognize the role they play in educating individuals about health care options across a continuum of

care. while all too often overlooked, case managers are critical in improving health care outcomes for individuals across the country, promoting quality health care for patients. as we continue to look at ways to improve health care delivery in america, let us not forget the role case managers play in cost effective outcomes for patients. today i offer my thanks and praise for our nation's case managers. during this upcoming case management week, let us all recognize the value that case management brings to the health care a' in a. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on september 16, 2014, at 11:09 a.m., that the senate passed, without amendment, h.r. 5134.

with best wishes, i am, signed sincerely, karen l. hawes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek reck snigs? -- seek recognition? >> by direction of the committee on rules i call up house resolution 722 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: resolved that upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the joint resolution, house joint resolution 124, making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2015 and for other purposes. all points of order against consideration of the joint resolution are waived. the amendment printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution shall be considered as adopted. the joint resolution as amended shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the joint resolution as amended are waived. the previous question shall be

considered as ordered on the joint resolution as amended and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except, one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. two, the further amendment printed in part b of the report of the committee on rules if offered by representative mckeon of california or his designee, which shall be in order without intervention of any point of order, shall be considered as read, shall be separately debatable for six hours, equally divided and controlled by representative mckeon of california and representative smith of washington or their respective designees. and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question. and three, one motion to recommit with or without instructions. section 2, section 4-c of house resolution 567 is amended by adding the following new paragraph.

seven, the provisions of paragraphs f-1 through f-12 of clause 4 of rule 11 shall be considered to be written rules adopted by the select committee as though pursuant to such clause. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for one hour. mr. cole: mr. speaker, for the purposes of debate only, i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlelady from new york, my good friend, ms. slaughter, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. cole: during consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for purposes of debate only. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks . the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. cole: mr. speaker, yesterday, the rules committee met and reported a rule for consideration of h.j.res. 124, the continuing appropriations resolution for fiscal year 2015. the rule is a structured rule

which provides for a consideration of a short-term continuing resolution, keeping the government funded until december 11, 2014. the rule provides for one hour of debate equally divided between the chairman and the ranking member of the committee on appropriations. in addition, mr. speaker, this rule provides for the adoption of a technical amendment by chairman rogers. that amendment provides the authority for the secretary of defense in coordination with the secretary of state to train and equip appropriately vetted elements for the syrian opposition and other appropriately vetted syrian groups or individuals. this amendment, the rule provides six hours of debate equally divided by chairman mckeon and ranking member smith. the rule also provides for one motion to recommit. finally, mr. speaker, the rule correct a tech nablinge -- technical error and puts in rules regarding media access to the hearings and meetings of

the benghazi select committee. mr. speaker, i want to commend my friend, chairman rogers, for bringing a bill to avoid a government shutdown to the house. as a member of the appropriations committee, it's frustrating that we are forced into acting on a short-term continuing resolution when we spent much of this year both in committee and on the floor updating congressional funding priorities for fiscal year 2015. this house has done its work. i wish i could say the same for the other body. when the senate has chosen not to pass even one appropriations bill on the floor, this house has passed seven. and while the senate appropriations committee has passed eight of the 12 appropriations bills out of committee, the house appropriations committee has approved all but one. and if the senate would work with us, i believe we could pass all of our bills on time. this continuing resolution -- the c.r. we are considering today is a clean bill,

continuing the funding of government operations at least year's levels and includes only 26 so-called anumber lease, all within the total -- anomalies all within the total level of funding. this is to address current immediate needs, like addressing the ebola crisis, the aggression towards ukraine and other former soviet union countries and funding to ensure appropriate treatment of veterans and continued oversight of the v.a. in addition, mr. speaker, this bill extends the export import bank through june 30 -- export-import bank through jean 30, 2015. i know some of my friends will disagree with me, but i believe the export-import bank provides a vital service. in an era when foreign governments are subsidizing their industries, our companies are in need of a level playing field. i believe the export-import bank does that. in my home state of oklahoma since 2007, financing provided by the export-import bank has supported over $1.1 billion of

sales by u.s. companies that would not have existed otherwise. in addition, the export-import bank has returned over $2.6 billion to the united states treasury since 2008. finally and most significantly, the mckeon amendment would provide the president with the authority he's requested to train and equip appropriately vetted elements of the syrian opposition. the amendment ensures congressional oversight by requiring detailed progress reports on a plan, a vetting process and procedures for monitoring unauthorized end use provided training and equipment. it would also require the president to report on how this authority fits within a larger regional strategy. mr. speaker, when we look back on what brought us to this point, there are at least three significant failures we can point to. first, former iraqi prime minister maliki was given the opportunity to create a

multiethnic, multisectarian, inclusive state of iraq but instead he squandered it. secondly, president obama didn't insist forcefully enough to keep a residual american presence in iraq. and third, mr. speaker, when isil expanded out of syria into iraq, both prime minister maliki and president obama were slow to respond. it flew to isil, their indecisive leadership encouraged this terrorist organization to surge itself in the middle east. mr. speaker, the asailing discussion is not about the past and how we got here but rather about the future and what we must do now. i agree with the president that isil represents a clear and present danger that must be dealt with, confronted and destroyed, and i am willing to give the president the authority and the funds needed to accomplish this mission. this amendment gives the president what he's requested while maintaining an appropriate role for congress. but i do disagree with the

president on several important issues. i don't believe he has the inherent authority to use military force in syria and nothing in this amendment authorizes him to do so. and i believe that going to war on the authorizations that were passed in 2001 and 2002 which dealt with very different times, places and peoples is shaky at best. in fact, mr. speaker, a vast majority of my colleagues, including myself, were not even here in congress when those authorizations were approved. when we return in november, i hope we repeal the 2001 and 2002 authorizations and replace them with ones that reflect the views of this congress, not the congress of the last decade. additionally, i disagree with the president's choice of tactics. regardless of whether he intends to use them or not, i believe the president was far too quick to rule out options and tools that he in fact may need later. war is the most unpredictable

of all human enterprises. history shows that it's vital for a commander to maintain as much complexibility as -- flexibility as possible. i do not believe the authorities and resources that the president requested will not be nearly enough to achieve the mission he outlined. it's going to take far more from our country, our allies and our friends on the ground to destroy isil than envisioned in this legislation. mr. speaker, i don't believe the president can succeed in the effort to destroy isil without bipartisan popular support, and i hope he will take this opportunity to build on that. in war, we are not republicans or democrats but americans first, and the commander in chief has asked for our support in the underlying legislation. he should get it. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: good afternoon,

mr. speaker. and i thank my good friend, the excellent representative of oklahoma, mr. cole, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for as time as he she wishes to cob consume. ms. slaughter: when james madison declares the congress the power of the purse in the we alist papers, i fear have achieved dishonorable stagnation. rather than coming up with a long-term fix for our nation, we have resorted once again to short-term measures. in the four years since republicans took control of the house, not a single regular appropriations bill has been signed into law. instead, we've had manufactured crisis, brinksmanship, fiscal cliffs, near defaults on the national debt, massive omnibus bills and government shutdown. now, this continuing resolution may avert a national crisis in the short term by funding the

government until december 11 of this year, but its further demonstration how the house majority has failed to do its most basic job. it sued the president, investigating a nonexistent scandal in benghazi and held more than 50 votes to repeal the affordable care act. they have not funded the government. it's clear that under the current how majority, the power of the purse has turned into dishonorable stagnation. not only has the house majority found new ways to procrastinate on finding long-term solutions, they insist on passing the most closed rules in a single congress ever. in fact, just last week they celebrated the 75th closed rule, which makes this their diamond jubilee. they continue to pass closed rules which stifle debate and impeds the work of this -- impedes the work of this chamber. and through this tactic, half of the country's representatives have been

silenced by the house majority. even though democrats received over a million more votes than republicans did for the house in the 2012 election, we are shut out. our nation's districts have been so gerrymandered our representative democracy have been skewed beyond recognition. i also impose the inclusion of section 2 in the continuing resolution. that provision, which further excuses the select committee on benghazi from adopting written rules to govern its work does a belong in a rule for much-passed funding bill. rather, the benghazi select committee, just like every other committee of the house, should be required to meet, debate and vote in open session on its basic rules and procedures that will govern its work. the house majority previously tried to free the benghazi select committee from its responsibility when it passed

h.res. 567 and established the committee last may. a month later they realized on the eve of the select committee's first meeting that h.res. 567 was not adequate, and so they inserted at the last minute a provision that rather ironically now excuses the select committee from expressed requirement contained in clause 4 of rule 11 for committees to adopt written rules to ensure that meetings open to the public may be covered by audio-visual which is, quote, inconformity with acceptable standards of dignity, propriette and decorum, -- propriety and decorum, end quote. when h.res. 567 was brought to the floor for a vote in may 186 democrats voted against it. let me reiterate that what this bill was doing is excusing the select benghazi committee from having written rules like every other committee of the house is

required to do. not a single republican joined us in voting against this bill version -- what we normally do. and many of us subjected the creation of the select committee on benghazi in the first place as a partisan pursuit. because seven different congressional committees issued nine separate reports that answered the key questions about what went wrong in benghazi. many of us believe that to the extent any legitimate questions remain, the standing committees of jurisdiction, along with select committees on intelligence, are fully capable of addressing those and overseeing the implementation of a needed reform. it is unfortunate that not everyone seems to have the same confidence in the work of their colleagues. we also object it because h.res. 567 skews the process by failing to equalize majority and minority representation and

resources and by seeking to excuse the select committee from following the basic requirements that are required from the other committees of the house. basically, that says we have on the minority side been shut out again, no guarantees, no discussions, no openness, either in resources, ability to see documents or to ask -- call for witnesses. i offered an amendment to address many of these concerns, but the effort failed. after much debate about whether even to participate in select committee's work, democrat members of the house ultimately agreed to do so in the hope that republicans would fulfill their promises of a bipartisan, fair and transparent process. just as we were guaranteed an open process at the beginning of the term, we have been had yet once again. inserting a last-minute provision in the rule on this must-pass funding bill will

allow the select committee to avoid negotiating over or adopting the basic rules and procedures, and it does not honor the promise of openness. it will not win the public's trust. you cannot continually shut out half of the congress. benghazi select committee, like every other committee in the house should be required to meet, debate and vote in open session on the ground rules that will govern its investigation. what the c.r. does is fund the government and the rule for it should not be the meaners in house majority to change the language regarding the highly political benghazi select committee. programs and services all over the country cannot continue to run, as we are going to continue to ask them to do, on a month-to-month basis. they need certainty and reliability which they clearly aren't getting. instead of investing in emerging

technologies and medical research, the majority lurches from stop-gap to stop-gap and now the strategy has caught up with us. running the united states government in three-month traunches is a true recipe for disaster. the c.r. does extend funding for operations of all federal agencies, programs, and services until december 11 of this year and provides funding at the current annual rate of just over $1 trillion. however, it does include changes to existing law that are needed to prevent catastrophic, irreversible, or detrimental changes to government programs, specifically to address current national or global crises. regarding ukraine, the c.r. continues the current funding flexibility with state department and usaid to respond to the ongoing crisis in ukraine. congress and the united states must continue to support the crew yainian people and their fight for free and democratic country.

it is -- the ukrainian people and their fight for free and democratic country. it is with great honor we invite the ukrainian president to our chamber late they are week. we must continue to investigate claims about medical care and we all agree when our troops come home, they deserve the best medical care and this increase in funding will help ensure we provide just that. finally, regarding our involvement in confronting the rising threat to the islamic state, isil, while i'm disappointed in the process that led to the continuing resolution, i do agree the house must debate at least one portion of the president's plan. we as representatives need to debate if and how we arm rebel forces in syria as well as other tactics in a broader effort. however, i have deep concerns about the ever-louder drum beat against war.

the wars in iraq and afghanistan claimed the lives of 6,640 of our men and women in uniform. nd it critically wounded 50,450. 50,450 come home to an already stressed v.a. system. that cannot adequately care for them. the true cost of a war is not just in dollars, but in lives taken and the stroyed and i urge my colleagues to seriously consider the path before us. mr. speaker, with this continuing resolution, we have an opportunity to avoid short-term crisis. but if we continue to postpone the fundamental work of congress, the nation's economy will be at risk. i reserve the plans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves he gentleman from klahoma.

>> i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for such ime as he may consume. mr. cole: the reality is, this house majority has repeatedly brought bills to the floor and moved them across the floor. unfortunately, our counterparts in the democratic majority in the senate, have not been able to co--- to do that, for whatever reason. it's hard to have an appropriations process when the united states senate won't bring a single appropriations bill to the floor, largely because the majority on that side is evidently afraid of voting on any sort of amendments to an appropriations bill. if you actually look at the record in terms of who has been open and who hasn't, i remind my friends that the democrats' 2006 manifest toe, a new direction for -- manifesto, a new direction for america, states, bills should come to the floor

under a proceeda -- procedure that allows full and open debate that offers the minority a chance to offer alternatives including a substitute. the fact remains, when the democrats took control of the house they did just the opposite. throughout the 111th congress, democrats, in the final two years of representative pelosi's time as speaker, the house never considered a single bill under an open rule. that's the definition of a closed process. on the contrary, under republican control, the house has returned to consideration of appropriations bills under an open process with 22 open rules. this year alone, the house has considered 404 amendments during the appropriations process, 189 of which were offered by our democratic colleagues. contrast that to the united states senate where that process has not happened at all. when you compare the record of the republican majority to the most recent democrat majority, any fair analysis will show republicans are running a much more open, transparent house of representatives.

let me also if i may, mr. speaker, turn to the issue of the benghazi select committee. i know that's caused considerable concern. i think largely based on misunderstanding. clause 2-g-1 of rule 11, which applies to all standing committees and the select committees, mandates that the meets of the select committee be open to the public, including the press, unless there's a vote conducted in open session to close such a meeting. the rule today only ensures that the logistics for media covering the hearing follow the standing rules of the house. there's no change to the rules governing public access to the meets of the select committee. might i just for the record, mr. speaker, read the relevant portion of the rules here. quote, number seven, provisions of paragraph f-1 through f-12 of clause 4 of rule 11 shall be considered to be written rules

adopted by the select committee as though pursuant to such clause. essentially, applying to the select committee our own rules. that's the only thing that's being done here. it's a technical amendment, certainly no effort to short circuit the process or make it less transparent system of with that, mr. speaker, i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: let me yield myself 30 seconds. i know we had this debate before and this discussion before, blaming everything on the senate, but the fact is we have not done our job here in the house. there were several appropriations bills that had committee approval but none of us had a chance to vote for them, they were never brought to the floor. i'm now pleased to yield five minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts a valued member of the committee on rules, mr. mcgovern. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. mcgovern: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to this rule and in

opposition to the amendment on syria that will be offered later today and voted on tomorrow. if it was a bad idea before to get involved in syria's civil war, why is it now a good idea? is it only because isil has expanded its operations over a fluid border into iraq? how long will we support the syrian free army? who are these people? how much will it cost? what happens if and when our weapons fall into the wrong hands? what are the country -- what other countries -- what are countries in the region offering in terms of substantive solutions? what is the clearly defined mission? how does this end? do we have answers to any of these questions as we prepare to vote? we're talking about war, mr. speaker. when you drop bombs on people, that's war. and we can talk all we want about so-called boots on the ground but unless some of our soldiers weren't given shoe, we already have boots on the ground.

we need to be honest about that we have trained and equipped iraqi soldiers for over a decade and for what? to watch them shed their uniforms and to turn their weapons over to isil? is that what we're doing here again, mr. speaker? if the real purpose of u.s. military operation in syria is to bring the kills of the two american journalists to justice, then perhaps good intelligence and a well prepared special forces operation could do so. just like we hunted down osama bin laden. and immaterial to be perfectly clear on one other point. any amendment to provide authority to train and equip syrian opposition forces must not be seen in any way as an authorization for u.s. armed forces to engage in hostilities in iraq or syria. it must not be seen as a substitute for specific con gregs -- congressional action. authorization to carry out sustained military actions is

not something that should be stuck into a conference report. there should be nothing back door about it. that would be an insult to our uniformed men and women, an insult to their families, an insult to this house, and an insult to the american people. on july 25, this house voted 70-40 -- 370-40 in favor of my resolution to require specific congressional authorization for sustained combat operations by u.s. armed forces in iraq. yet since august 8, the u.s. navy and air force have flown more than 2,700 missions against the islamic state in iraq, including 156 air strikes. these air strikes have occurred almost daily over the past six weeks. last week, the president announced that those operations will escalate and likely expand into syria. this morning, they expanded to targets near baghdad. if that doesn't qualify as

sustained combat, mr. speaker, i don't know what does. so if this house is serious about what it said in july, then we should demand a vote this month on congressional authorization for u.s. military operations in iraq and syria. anything less would constitute yet another failure on the part of this house to carry out its constitutional duties. anything less would make a mockery of that vote that this house took in july. but if this leadership gets its way, we will leave washington for nearly two months without such a vote. i expect, i think we all expect, that during that time u.s. combat operations in iraq and syria will expand and escalate. i know this is a hard vote. i know it's politically difficult. but we were not elected to duck the hard votes. we weren't elected to afford -- we were not elected to avoid difficult choices. war is a big deal. we need to do our jobs.

so mr. speaker, i will vote no on this rule and i will vote no on the syrian amendment. with that i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: thank you very much. first i want to respectfully once again disagree with my friend from new york on the appropriations process. the reality is, we brought bill after bill to this floor. every member has had the opportunity to offer any amendment on seven different bills and to vote yes or no in their final disposition. the senate hasn't brought any and at some point the senate's failure to do its job begins to impact our ability to do ours. it is very difficult to get time on the floor and use it, knowing there's not anything going on on the other side. that's just the reality of it. so if my friends can talk the senate into beginning to move, i think they would actually find the house which is already far ahead of them, would continue to

work with them and we would actually begin to pass bills. but until the senate will bring a bill to the floor of any kind for an appropriation, very difficult for us to get our work done over here. now i want to address myself if i may, to my friend and colleague on the rules committee, mr. mcgovern. there is much in what he says that i agree with. frankly, i think he is correct when he says that we need at some point a full authorization, a full debate, full discussion. he's absolutely right. and i want to commend him for the action he took in his amendment on iraq in july that we voted on, i was happy to vote for it. in substance, i find very little to disagree with in what my friend has to say. i do point out a couple of things, though. first, and i think my friend is aware of it, the speaker has actually taken the position that we need a full authorization debate and discussion.

and i am told that he conveyed that to the president. and actually said, you know, he thought this institution, or country, which i know is what we care about supremely and the president himself would be better off under such a discussion. that is a viewpoint that i agree with. and i think many members on both sides of the aisle and with both points of view on the issue also hold that opinion. so this is actually a decision that's been largely made in a sense by the president. we have been trying to respond in a short period of time to what the president has asked us to do. that's an important point to remember in this. this is not a fight on this floor between democrats and republicans or even for proponents. i think it is, at another level a difference in perception about what the authority the president has, his view versus probably congress' view on a bipartisan

basis and i think it's, you know, a challenge in terms of timing. it is extremely difficult for the leaders of either chamber to look like they're undercutting the president in a time of danger and when he's come with this request. it's my hope that again, we set six hours of debate aside for a reason. the president's original request was to drop this measure in the continuing resolution, to have no vote and no discussion at all. our side, and your side, insisted it be pulled out and that discussion occur. i would hope when we come back, and again i share my friend's opinion, i'd be prepared to do it before the election, i see no particular need in waiting, but i don't get to make that decision. i will yield in just a second. but at the ent of the day -- at the end of the day, again, we're giving the command for the chief, what he's asking for. so with that, i think we're trying to be both responsible and helpful.

we've actually curtailed considerably what the president asked for. we noted specifically that this does not authorize use of military force in syria. we've required reviews. i suspect we will be revisiting this issue again. i certainly would hope so. i look forward to working with my friend to make sure we do. with that, i yield my friend time for question. mr. mcgovern: thank you, i want to thank the gentleman. i appreciate his words about his view that we ought to have a vote here in the congress with regard to authorizing any kind of military operations in iraq and syria. i appreciate his comments last night in the rules committee. i think what he is say, what i'm saying, reflects the sentiment of most democrats and republicans, this is not a partisan issue. . the gentleman is right, the piece we are voting on today is nothing to do with bombing in syria or iraq, but yet that continues. that has escalated. my concern is that we may very well adjourn by the end of this

week and not come back until after the elections, and that involvement in both those countries will have deepened. and we may not -- we have not yet been promised that we will actually have that vote. i think members of both sides would feel a little bit more relieved if, in fact, the speaker would give us an ironclad promise that there will aumf. te on an mr. cole: reclaiming my time. i don't presume to speak for the speaker. i know we have this vote largely because the speaker wanted to make sure we had a vote. i know the request that he made of the president. look, i'm not condemning the president in this, either. i understand all executives try to tell you they have the authority to do everything they want. ours do when we have a republican. democrats do. so all i can say is that at the end of the day we have a robust debate. we have an opportunity to register opinion. but i want to continue to work with my friend and make sure we have precisely the kind of

debate and discussion and vote that his own amendment in july actually envisioned. i think my friend is correct. i think this is an issue of constitutional propriety. i think it's an issue ultimately of war and peace and i think we ought to vote on it. i would be happy if we did it before the elks. i'll work with my friend to make sure we do it as quickly as possible. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma reserves his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: let me give myself 30 seconds because i can't resist it. we can't really blame it on the senate that we have not done our work over here. the house was able to find times to vote -- time to vote 55 times to kill the health care bill which is providing health insurance for americans, eight million of them, who didn't have it before. for goodness sakes we could do that once a week, but we couldn't do the appropriations bills. i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from vermont, mr. welsh.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont is recognized for two minutes. mr. welch: i want to thank the speaker and leader pelosi for working together to give us an opportunity to vote on this question of developing a free syrian army. make no mistake, the decision that congress will make on that question is of great importance because it, in fact, is a messagor escalation in u.s. involvement. there is collective revulsion at what isis did in the beheading of two young americans. and there is a good -- good people here in this country where parents saw the possibility of their own son being in that circumstance. everything in all of us wants to react to that. the question is, is the prospect of creating a free syrian army the good step at this time. the administration is briefing us. all of us are doing all of the consideration we can. we are going to have a debate on that. i want to ask some questions

that i think are important to us to come to a conclusion. first, i want to compliment president obama. he did use airpower to stop the slaughter of the people in that circumstance. he had ground forces, the peshmerga, and reliable ally in the kurdish government. number two, the president was wise not to bomb when they were threatening baghdad because he saw rightly that the problem was mr. maliki, who had created sectarian division and had really undercut the capacity of his army by putting cronies in instead of good leaders. third, the president has exercised great restraint about not having us be involved in the maelstrom of the syrian civil war. that is a sunni-shiia civil war that is across the entire belt of syria and iraq. but what do we do? our allies who are in the region, qatar, the united arab emirates, saudi arabia, egypt,

what are they going to contribute when they are the principal object of this threat? they have over 1,000 planes among them. they have armies. we haven't seen that. second, the vetting process. how on a prack techal level will that work? 30 more seconds? -- practical level will that work? 30 more seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. welch: we want the moderate syrian rebels. in fact we are going to be working with egypt, with saudi arabia, they would nics must -- nix muslim brotherhood participation. they want extreme folks who support the regime, the very concern for the regime in the saudi arabia. we are creating a very practical dilemma in the potential success of the so-called free syrian army. finally, is the fundamental issue here one of military leadership or is it one of political reconciliation between sunni and shiia?

is that a problem that can be solved by our military? r is it a problem, age old centuries old in that region, the conflict between sunni and shiia? when i consider the contributions that the men and women of our armed forces made to iraq where they through out saddam hussein and they -- threw out saddam hussein and created stability and gave an opportunity for the people of that country to decide to live civilly together or in civil war forever, we gave them the chance they deserved. we gave them the chance that they can grasp. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. welch: i yield back. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to yield three minutes to my good friend, fellow member of the appropriation committee, and fellow subcommittee chairman, mr. kingston from georgia. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for three minutes.

mr. kingston: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. cole, i wanted to make three points about the continuing resolution. number one, as an appropriator i would be remiss in my duty if i did not say we do not like continuing resolutions because we on the appropriations committee have worked hard to pass our bills. we passed seven off the house floor. and the senate was unable to move one single bill. as a result shut down the appropriations process. but the reason why members should be attuned to this is, during an appropriation process you find out about a lot of programs that need to be discontinued. some that need to be modified. some that need to be enhanced. some that need to be eliminated all together. we passed those bills on the house floor through a very vigorous amendment process and that is a superior way to handle appropriations compared to the continuing resolution method which just continues programs and really empowers more the

executive branch over the legislative branch. i believe that chairman rogers and speaker boehner have worked very hard to return this body to the regular order process of 12 different appropriation bills. we were well on our way to have that happen when the harry reid senate shut down the process. that's why we are here with the c.r. today. having said that, i'm hopeful we can go back into these bills and improve on the continuing resolution. i do stand in support of it. number two, let me say this about the bill. it has appropriate and important funding to take on the ebola virus that is -- has broken out in west africa. this bill provides $88 million. $30 million for the c.d.c. to put staffers on the ground and to address the needs there. and then $58 million to the biomedical advance research and development authority which is working on possibility of 12

different vaccines for ebola. they are not in the marketplace right now. we do not have a vaccine. we need to do this research. that's why this amendment has been put in the continuing resolution and it's something that all members should be attuned to. i want to remind the speaker that 2,500 people have already died because of ebola, and the number who have been infected is somewhere between 3,800, and may be as high as 4,500. maybe higher. getting the number itself is difficult to do. thirdly, let me say this about the use of force in the mckeon amendment we are having. i think members do deserve to have a separate vote on this. it's important for the educational process. it's important for the discussion and the debate for the entire country. even though as i look at the 2001 and the 2002 authorizations

for military force, i believe that the president -- would the gentleman yield another -- mr. cole: yield an additional minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one additional minute. mr. kingston: i believe that the president is probably right. i haven't come to a 00% conclusion on that, but -- 100% conclusion on that, but i believe he does have that authority. i believe it would be far better off for everyone to have a separate vote. i'm hoping we can have that happen sooner than later. in the meantime this vote is very significant. members need not fool themselves that the mckeon amendment does help move this process forward. i want to say this about p when we talk about air strikes only and training only, and we have made this decision not to have ground troops, we do not need another half pregnant war in the middle east. if it's important enough to fight, it's important enough to win. we need to give the commander in chief all the resources that he

needs to have this victory. people often say, air strikes will get the job done. and they point to the nato operation in yugoslavia in 1999. 1,000 aircraft, 38,000 combat missions, 2,300 missiles. the reality is that war only ended when the president took the next step, and that was to commit ground troops. that's how important this is. with that -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. cole: yield an additional 30 seconds. mr. kingston: i want to be sure members look back because that is the example where people say air strikes alone are sufficient. when they point out the operation in yugoslavia that was rom march 24, 1999 to june 10, that even though we did not have grouped troops, what the supreme allied commander in europe,

general wesley clark said, he was convinced that planning and preparation for ground intervention in particular pushed milosevic to concede. we need to be very, very careful and mindful about this. if it's worth fighting, it's worth winning. if it's something we are going to win, we need to give the commander in chief all the tools that he needs to have a victory. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. mr. doggett: thank you. the middle eastern tragedy in which this resolution will further entangle america is directly related to the wholly unnecessary bush-chaney -- chen yea invasion of iraq. having learned so little from

that conflict, the congress now approves greater involvement in a syrian civil war that has already taken almost 200,000 lives. the administration has affirmed this very day that what it's talking about is definitely a war while aration of it seeks to avoid this congress declaring that war, a congress in which too many of the people's representatives fear making a decision today on whether to declare war. instead, we vote on an amendment here to authorize the administration to do what it's already doing in jordan while declining to consider a vote on what it should not do without specific congressional authorization. reliance on the resolutions approved by this congress on this floor over a decade ago in 2001 and 2002 is very instructive. first, it shows the dangers of

open-ended authorizations. such a resolution as we have today will likely govern not only the actions of president obama but of future presidents. second, once begun, this congress, even under democratic control, has shown little ability to contain war. and third, despite billions expended and with courageous americans on the ground, the results of more than a decade of trying to successfully train iraqis and afghans are not particularly encouraging, indeed the reality is american taxpayers have been compelled to pay for the arms for our enemies as well as for our allies. nor do we have any explain -- explanation today as to how taking a few syrians for training in saudi arabia, a country with its own brutal history of regular beheadings, financing extremists around the

world and opposing democracy most everywhere, how that will work better than our previous training on the ground with americans, rejecting the resolution today does not mean that we should do nothing. when americans are brutally murdered, the president already has the necessary authority which he should use forcefully to go after these barbaric murderers. there is a significant difference between confronting the savagery of isis and initiating a multiyear war in the region. with a steadily growing number of u.s. military on the ground in iraq now approaching 2,000 and recurrent demands from the same people that led us wrongly into iraq in the first place, that we add even more on the ground, the danger of escalation is very real. ms. slaughter: i yield the gentleman another minute.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. ms. pl doggett: and now -- mr. doggett: and now with the concession that isis is a threat and would kill as many as it could if it could, but with it being a regional threat not a threat to our homeland today, the question arises of why the countries in the region who are more directly impacted from isis, why aren't they providing the bulk of the resources necessary to confront it? they're always content to have americans kill as many of their enemies in their centuries-old conflict as we will kill. they would let the americans do all the bleeding and all the paying for this conflict. a photo op with 40 countries does not an army make. ultimately, this resolution, like our previous unwise invasion, will make our families less secure, not more secure.

and that should be the ultimate test of our actions. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: i want to note, i agree with a good deal of what my friend has to say. i do want to correct him on one item. the amendment we're talking about is not like the authorizations of 2001 and 2002. mostly because it is very finely tailored to limit the executive branch. it actually runs out on december 11 or earlier if we actually pass a national defense authorization act and deal with it, the syrian issue new york that context system of it's -- issue in that context. so it's very limited in terms of time, very limited in scope. it specifically states it does not authorize military action in syria. with all due respect, i would suggest most of my friend's

disagreements are with this administration. they are largely disagreements with the president. the speaker is doing what he can for us to debate and express that in the continuing resolution and i'll work with my friend to make sure we have a fuller, more robust debate, because i think the country deserves that and i think my friend is right to demand it. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. he gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: if we defeat the previous question, i'll offer an amendment to the rule that makes two changes. first it would strike a special waiver for the benghazi special select committee that lets them avoid the transparent and deliberative process of debating and voting on their own written rules for media access which every other committee has to do and second, would bring up representative heck's bill to re-authorize the export-import bank for seven years, freeing -- bringing certainty and stability to an agency that helps to create jobs in the united states and to discuss our proposal, i

yield four minutes to the gentleman from washington, mr. heck. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. heck: ladies and gentlemen of the house, i rise to oppose the previous question so that i might indeed offer h.r. 4950, to re-authorize the export-import bank for seven years, instead of what the underlying continuing resolution would do, re-authorize it for nine months. i do so for two reasons. you were in one, the argument of certain -- number one, the argument of certainty. here's the truth, nine-month extension of the export-import bank is not certainty. here's the truth. we are already losing business because of the cloud of the debate that hangs over this chamber with respect to the continuation of the export-import bank and that's documented, i might add. so we need certainty. everybody who comes from the private sector has made that

argument on this floorism come from the private sector, i make that argument. the truth of the matter is here is the truth. the number one advocate for eliminating the export-import bank likes the idea of a nine-month extension because it plays into his hands of getting rid of it. now i take the gentleman from oklahoma at his word. i know him to be a gentleman of honor and integrity. and i appreciate deeply his words of support of the export-import bank. but the export-import bank will be weakened with this language and will be subject to termination at the end of june 30, when it is isolated and left alone. one of the arguments that's offered for nine months is to give time for an effort to develop a reform proposal. i know of one such effort under way, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. fincher, and he is operating in good faith. there's no question in my mind he's working hard to get there. there's equally no question in my mind that the effort to extend the ex-im, we do it for

just nine months, will be severely weakened. severely weakened. there's no assurance. there's no certainty that it will go beyond. we have a proposal that would do that that has 201 signatures on it as co-spore so -- co-sponsors, i might add. the second reason, the export-import bank makes america stronger. it created 205,000 jobs last year. it reduced our nation's deficit by $1 billion in october. when that amount of money was transferred to the u.s. treasury. it creates jobs. it creates good-paying jobs, manufacturing jobs. it enables america to compete in an increasingly global economy. most people lose sight of the fact that just since the year 1980, global trade has increased five-fold. i beseech the house, do not unilaterally disarm.

here's the truth. 59 other, virtually every developed nation on the face of the planet, has an export credit authority. and most of them are larger than ours, expressed a either in terms of absolute dollars or percentage of their gross domestic product. for us to allow the export-import bank to expire is to unilaterally disarm in an increasingly global trade driven economy. for taos re-authorize the export-import bank for nine months is to tee it up for elimination. you know this in your heart you know this in your heart because the advocate for doing away with it thinks this is a good idea and has as much said that it tees it up for elimination. the export-import bank is good for america. it makes america stronger. it creates jobs. it creates good-paying jobs. and it enables taos compete in a global economy.

i ask you, defeat the previous question so that we might offer a longer term re-authorization of the export-import bank. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: i want to thank my friend from washington for his kind words. i couldn't agree more with him about the export-import bank. i think it's a very important institution that ought to be re-authorized and i intend to work with my friend to make sure that happens when the time comes. i don't think as a rule re-authorization in a continuing resolution is a good idea. i think it's much more appropriate, particularly far mat they are controversial and this serious -- for a matter this controversial and this serious, and i again agree with the substance of what my friend says that we go through a normal committee process and come to the floor and have a normal debate. this isn't the vehicle for that. while i look forward to working with my friend on the

re-authorization of the export-import bank, i doubt it's going to happen on this familiar vehicle. hopefully in the new congress, as we make persuasive arguments, as my friend has advanced, we'll find that we get the broad, bipartisan support we need to do that re-authorization. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: may i inquire of my colleagues if he has further speakers? if not, i'm prepared to close. mr. cole: i'm prepared to close whenever my friend is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady has four minutes remaining. ms. slaughter: the majority's insistence on brinksmanship and short-term solutions threatens the nation's economy and regular appropriations bills have been replaced with fiscal cliffs, temporary stop-gap measures, massive omnigus bills and government -- omnibus bills and government shutdowns. it is time that we work to provide stability to the

american people. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous conent -- consent to insert the text of my amendment in the record, along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, it will appear in the record. ms. slaughter: i urge my colleagues to vote no, defeat the previous question, vote no on the rule and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for seven minutes. mr. cole: mr. speaker, i yield myself the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: thank you, mr. speaker. i do want to revisit in closing this issue of appropriations and openness. i want to remind my friends on the other side of some recent history. 2010, when my democratic colleagues controlled the house they only considered two appropriations bills. at that time, by the way they also had control of the senate. so i presume it would have been easier for them to cooperate with a democratic senate than

for us, but perhaps not because they only got two appropriations bills done the last year they were in the majority. my colleagues deviated from the long-standing practice of open rules for appropriations bills by making in order only 40 amendments that year. you heard that correctly. democrats considered two of 12 bills with only 40 amendments made in order. republicans this year have considered seven of 12 bills, considering 404 amendments, 189 of them which were offered by my democratic colleagues. i'll let the american people the side who has the better record in actually bringing appropriations bills to the floor and opening them up for full consideration by this house. mr. speaker, i want to congratulate all of those who spoke today for the sincerity and the thoughtfulness of the debate. i particularly know that we probably find ourselves on common ground on wanting to make

sure the government doesn't shut down, pass the continuing resolution, it's interesting to me that was not the subject of a great deal of contention so i would hope that is something that brings us together. something certainly the speaker wants to accomplish. but the president and the majority leader want to accomplish as well so surely we can find a bipartisan amendment for that. obvious the great issue of the day and this week is going to be this discussion over the syrian matter. again, i want to congratulate my colleagues for the seriousness with which they're approaching this. i think we've all learned some very hard lessons in the last 13 years and i'm pleased that the amendment we're bringing to the floor, an amendment the president didn't particularly want, just recall for the record, the president wanted this authorization for title 10 authority for him to train syrians to simply be dropped into the continuing resolution. it was the speaker and the --

with the support of democratic leadership as well, that wanted to make sure we had a separate vote and discussion on this issue. i think that's a very good thing. i'm -- i agree with my friend, mr. mcgovern, i would prefer a much more robust and fuller discussion and i hope we reached that point. i think that's exactly the course that the speaker recommended to the president, i think the institution that i preside over will be better served, i think you will be better served, i think the country will be better served if we have that debate. i know the speaker made every effort to get to that point. others have a different point of view. i expect the president, like most chief executives, had to -- takes a very expansive view of his authority under the constitution. some people, frankly, are concerned about having this vote ahead of an election. personally, i would prefer to do it ahead of an election. but i don't get to make those

decisions. i think the speaker has done the best that he can do in reck re-con siling all all the conflicting opinions between the senate, the house and the executive branch and has managed to bring us at least something that is a serious debate and will be taken seriously by the country. moreover, i'm particularly pleased that my chairman, mr. sessions, on the rules committee, made sure we will have not a cursory debate, but six hours of debate. if any member wants to voice their opinion, six hours is an awful lot of time. i suspect they'll have the opportunity to come down here and do that, and i hope they will. i think what we'll see is probably a bipartisan opposition to the amendment and bipartisan support. frankly, in issues of war and peace that's probably the better way for us to proceed. so i think it's a challenging situation, but i think all concerned are trying to work together and do the right thing and present clarity and i want

to go on record once again personally as hoping that as soon as possible that we come back, that the president asked for broad authority, that we repeal the 01 and 02 resolution, something the president has asked us to do before, that we work together and present the more precisely defined resolution that gives him the authority to act robustly in the defense of our country, to punish people who commit the barbarous acts we've seen in recent weeks and to do the things that are necessary with the full bipartisan support of congress to secure the security of the united states. mr. speaker, the mr. speaker, the underlying resolution upholds the responsibility the american people september us here to do. ensuring the continued funding of the government. while not my first choice, passage of the continuing resolution is better than any

alternatives. additionally it provides the president the additional authority he has requested to degrade and destroil isil. i would urge -- destroy isil. i would urge my colleagues to support this rule and underlying legislation. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: all time has expired. the question is on ordering the previous question to the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, noes have it. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in favor of a request for -- voting for the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes y electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule -- pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 20, the 15-minute vote on ordering the previous question will be followed by five-minute votes on adopting the resolution if ordered and

suspend the rule and passing s. 2154. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 224. the nays are 188. the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yapes are requested. those favoring -- yeas and nays are requested. those favoring the yeas and nays will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device.

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

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 221. the nays are 19 . the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion by the gentleman from pennsylvania mr. pitts to suspend the rules and pass s. 2154 on wit the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 2154, an act to amend public health service act to re-authorize the emergency medical services for children programs. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 410. the nays are four. 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair lays before the house the following enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 4197, an act to amend title 5, united states code, to extend the period of certain authority with respect to judicial review of merit system protection board decision relating to whistleblowers and for other urposes. the speaker pro tempore: the

ouse will be in order. members, please take your conversations off the floor. nd clear the well. he house will be in order. members, please take your conversations off the floor.

for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? mr. rogers: mr. speaker, pursuant to h.res. 722, i call up house joint resolution 124 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. the clerk: house joint resolution 124, joint resolution making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2015 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: members, the house will be in order. pursuant to house resolution 722, the amendment printed in part a of house report 113-600 is adopted, and the joint resolution, as amended, is considered as read. the joint resolution shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority

member of the committee of appropriations. after one hour of debate on the joint resolution, as amended, it shall be in order to consider the further amendment printed in part b of house report 113-600. if offered by the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon, or his designee, and shall be considered as read, shall be separately debatable for six hours divided equally and controlled by the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon, and the gentleman from washington, mr. smith, or their respective designees. the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers, and the gentlewoman rom new york, mrs. lowey, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: may we have order, mr. speaker? the speaker pro tempore: members, please clear the chamber of your conversations.

the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and their remarks include extraneous material on h.j.res. 124. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i rise today to present h.j.res. 124, a short-term continuing resolution to keep the doors of the federal government open after the end of the fiscal year on september 30. h.j.res. 124 is a critical measure that ensures that hardworking americans continue to have access to the government programs and the services that they rely on and helps avoid the unnecessary uncertainty and economic harm caused by the threat of a government shutdown. the bill continues government operations at the current rate at $1.012 trillion into the

next fiscal year and lasts until december 11, 2014. that level is in line with the ryan-murray budget agreement that this house approved last year. my committee sought to draft a responsible restrained bill that does not have controversial riders and does not seek to change existing federal policies. however, it does make several very limited adjustments to prevent catastrophic or irreversible damage to critical government programs to address pressing global crises that have surfaced in recent months or to ensure good government. these are changes i believe all of my colleagues can and should support. these include provisions, mr. speaker, one that increases funding at the department of

veterans affairs to help deal with the disability claims backlog and further investigations into wait list allegations. two, to boost funding for ebola research and response. three, to provide some funding flexibility within the c.p.b. and i.c.e. to meet border security needs. and to continue a surge in funding for state department programs to help counterregional aggression against ukraine and other former soviet states. each of these provisions is funded within the total discretionary funding level of $1.012 trillion. the c.r. will also extend authority for certain laws currently in place such as the internet tax freedom act for the duration of the c.r., and the export-import bank through

june 30 of next year. later, the chairman of the house armed services committee will offer an amendment to this bill to address the president's request for the authority to train and equip syrian rebels to fight isil. this critical amendment will address an issue of great importance to our national security and attaching it to this continuing resolution will allow its enactment within a swift time frame. it does not involve any new or additional funding for these activities, and i hope that my colleagues in the house will support the adoption of that amendment. mr. speaker, this is a good bill, but we cannot address each and every aspect of federal agency budgets within the scope of a continuing resolution like this one. these line-by-line budget

decisions must be made in full year regular appropriations legislation. i'm very proud, mr. speaker, that the house made great strides toward completing this vital work which is our constitutional duty. by approving 11 appropriations bills in committee out of the 12 and seven of them on the floor of the house, all before the august recess, dealing with some 400 amendments to those seven bills on the house floor. the house made a good-faith effort to complete all of these bills, but unfortunately the senate has failed to approve a single appropriations bill, which is why we're at this point today in trying to pass a continuing resolution. it's high time that the senate leadership allows us to complete critical legislation

to fund the entire federal government in an up-to-date line-by-line way and regular order. this continuing resolution will allow us the time, hopefully, to do just that. however, as we move forward, we cannot and should not continue to fall back on stopgap funding bills like this one. these lurching short-term bills only postpone the tough budget decisions, heighten our nation's mistrust of congress and cause uncertainty within our federal agencies and the economy. at this point, though, the best way to avoid causing serious damage to the country is to pass this continuing resolution. it's our most clear path forward. it allows us the time we need to draft bicameral pieces of legislation that reflect our real and urgent budgetary

requirements and utilize our nation's taxpayer dollars in the most responsible representative way. before i close these remarks, mr. speaker, i would like to acknowledge the service and hard work of the staff of the committee on both sides of the aisle. but i especially want to acknowledge the service and hard work of the clerk of the defense subcommittee, tom mclemore, over his years on this committee, he's been an integral member of the staff. no more so than his time as defense clerk. sadly, this will be his last bill before he moves on to greater pastures. we'll miss him a great deal. i want to thank tom for his service to this committee and to the nation. with that said, mr. speaker, we have just under two weeks left until the end of the fiscal year

on september 30, so i ask that the house pass h.j.res. 124 today without delay. i also urge the senate to pass this bill and submit it to the president for his signature as soon as possible. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. who seeks recognition? the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: thank you, mr. speaker. while it was my sincere hope that we could have completed action on all 12 appropriation bills before the end of the fiscal year, i understand chairman rogers' desire to quickly pass the c.r. and prevent another disastrous government shutdown. this continuing resolution gives the house and senate appropriations committees roughly three months to reach agreements on each of the discretionary bills and the

important programs they fund. of great importance in these negotiations will be the funding levels in the labor-health-and human services and education bill. unfortunately, it has the dubious distinction of being the only one not even brought to the full committee for markup. denying members on both sides of the aisle the opportunity to a fullmendments and have open debate about these critical programs. yes, today ranking member delauro and all the democratic members of that subcommittee introduced our version of the bill that we hope will help clarify our priorities for the process in the coming months. the c.r. portion of this legislative package contains much needed funding to address

urgent crises, including the spread of ebola, ensuring critical work continues to develop and manufacture treatment therapies as well as work on a vaccine. however, i do regret that the majority's proposed c.r. resorts to one of the worst legislative mechanisms to reduce scoring and across-the-board cut. this type of provision shirks one of the most fundamental responsibilities of this committee, making difficult decisions about program levels. it is misleading to the public and creates and illusion that program levels remain at last year's level when they are in fact lower. i also have concerns with the length of the extension of the xport-import bank. the president spoke forcefully about the threat of isil last week.

there is a clear need for an international coalition to execute an aggressive, targeted strategy aimed at degrading isil and later this afternoon the house will begin debate on the administration's request for narrow title 10 authority. lastly, the rules of this c.r. added three technical changes to the underlying text that were needed and which i support. additional language was needed on the ebola funding, on the liheap money, and on recreation fees. mr. speaker, obviously no appropriator ever wants a c.r., but none of us want to repeat last year's shutdown. it is my sincere hope that if this c.r. is enacted we can use the coming months wisely to craft agreement on all 12 bills by december 11. there is absolutely no reason to punt our responsibilities into the new year and new congress. hank you, mr. speaker.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield three minutes to the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on defense, mr. frelinghuysen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i thank the chair of the full committee for yielding. i rise in support of the continuing resolution. we must pass this continuing resolution to keep the federal government opened and operating for taxpayers. mr. chairman, as you know this legislation continues funding to pay our troops for the department of defense operations, for defense, maintenance, research and development, and procurement at fiscal year 2014 levels. but a word of caution to my colleagues, we have heard a great deal of talk lately about -- from some quarters about eeventually extending this continuing resolution through september of next year, 2015. that would be a very bad idea for the department of defense and many other important agencies and programs.

while this approach might hold the line on spending in other agencies and programs, a year-long continuing resolution has proven to be terribly costly for the department of defense. funding under a c.r. promotes budget uncertainty that makes defense planning and managing programs nearly impossible. it's damaging to our men and women in uniform, our military readiness, our defense industrial base, and our defense posture as we face challenges around the world. in the middle east, pacific, africa, or europe. and consider additional actions in iraq and also syria. three months ago our full committee and our defense subcommittee produced a strong bipartisan fiscal year 2015 defense appropriations bill. we hope the senate will now join us to complete the process of allowing us to fulfill our responsibilities under the constitution to provide for a

strong national defense. mr. chairman, i commend your strong efforts and that of the staff. urge support of the resolution. before i to, yield back -- may i also join with chairman rogers n saluting tom mclemore, the clerk to the defense subcommittee on appropriations for his years of hard work on behalf of all members, republicans, democrats, strong work on behalf of a strong national defense for his work with me as -- in my brief tenure as chairman, but for the many years of loyal support he gave to our late chairman, congressman bill young of florida. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from california, ms. lee, a member of the labor-hhs and foreign operations subcommittees of appropriation.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. lee: thank you very much. let me thank our ranking member for her unwavering leadership on our committee on so many issues. thank you, congresswoman lowey. let me thank also our chairman for continuing to try to help us work in a bipartisan way to bring a real labor-h bill to the floor. this continuing resolution, it contains, yes, critical and much needed funding to address the ebola crisis in africa. it also, though, includes across-the-board cuts which will negatively impact my congressional district, all of our congressional districts, and countless households across america. for example, this c.r. includes two different cuts to the temporary assistance for needy families program. it includes a $14 million reduction in the tanf contingency fund, and a $15 million reduction that will eliminate tanf research funds, funds that are used, mind, --

mind you, by the department of health and human services, to evaluate the effectiveness of tanf programs and improving employment outcomes among tanf recipients. these cuts are unnecessary and come at a time when people are literally living on the edge. it's unacceptable that at a time when we are passing short-term funding bills that underfunded public health and work force training programs, we are now providing over $80 billion in war funding. the american people expect congress to create jobs, to strengthen our economy, and to ensure that our security funds are wisely spent. with cuts looming, it's time we focus that spending here at home. finally, let me address the upcoming debate and vote on arm and train syrian rebels. this should not be an amendment to the continuing resolution. national security issues should not an afterthought to funding the government. not a single person in this body thinks that the united states should stand idle while isis

wreaks havoc in the middle east. this is a sectarian civil war where the use of force and arming and training rebels will place us in the middle of a war where most recognize there is no military solution. so before we expand the air strikes in iraq and to vote to provide weapons and training to rebels in syria, congress must have a thorough and robust debate on the long-term implications of taking such action. may i have an additional 30 seconds? thank you. i have grave concerns about the specific proposal to arm and train the syrian free army which will be voted on tomorrow by this house. and i intend to address this further during the debate on the mckeon amendment. how can we assure the u.s. weapons and training don't end up in the wrong hands? how in the world will we know when our objectives have been met and when isis has been contained or eliminated? how will we avoid getting embroiled in the civil war? congress must weigh all the options before us, not just the

military ones, before we make any decision on ate committing the u.s. to yet another long-term war. this is the type of debate we failed to have in the wake of 9/11 and which resulted in the passage of an overly broad authorization that continues to be used today. so we must ask hard questions. not only about the current proposal to arm and train syrian rebels, but about the entire strategy. 10 seconds more? finally, let me just say we cannot become embroiled in another war. the cost and consequences to our national security, to our brave men and women in uniform, and to our ability to continue to nation build here at home must be laid out to the public. that's our constitutional duty and responsibility. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. lee: we get a pass with this concurrent resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized.

mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield five minutes to the distinguished gentleman from indiana, mr. visclosky, ranking member of the defense appropriation subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from indiana is recognized for five minutes. mr. visclosky: i thank the gentlewoman for yielding. also want to add my voice to those who are complimenting mr. mclemore on his dedication to public service in his retirement as clerk of the defense subcommittee. i would tell my colleagues that despite the strong leadership and very best efforts of chairman rogers and ranking member lowey, i am abjectly disappointed we again find ourselves in the position of considering another continuing resolution. tipping resolutions are no way to run a nation. we cannot expect good government if we are incapeable of providing appropriations in a timely and predictable manner. as importantly, i'm greatly concerned about providing

another authority for conducting military operations in the middle east. letters to congress the president has cited the powers granted to him in article 2 of the united states constitution as the legal basis for some of the actions already taken. in recent briefings and public statements, the administration also indicates that the authorize the use of military force resolutions passed in 2001 and 2002 remain the legal foundation for current operations. however, these authorities were approved by the congress in a different time. and for different conflicts. and with a very different membership. the time has come to rationalize the authorities with the needs of the current conflict and for the current legislative body to weigh in on this matter of war and peace rather than to rely on authorities intended for saddam hussein and osama bin laden. i appreciate the president's honesty in pointing out that the

efforts to combat isil will extend into the next administration. so why after three years of civil war in syria are we including this authority in a continuing resolution that will be in effect for less than three months? providing a fleeting authority for what we all will anticipate will be a protracted effort. further, this approach fails to take into consideration the long-term financial costs of conducting this mission which has been estimated to cost up to $500 million a year. i also believe that there is an inherent flaw in this strategy, training and eequipping nonstate actors as the main effort in combining a threat to the region and our national security. the united states invested lies and inknuble rabble injuries as well as a great deal of national treasure to train and equip the iraqi army, only to see the

result of that professional force collapse in the midst of serious conflict. why, then, to we expect the next force we train to behave differently? we must also ask ourselves if we can truly vet these rebel groups beyond their known affiliations and ensure we are not arming the next extremist threat to the region. i would note that recreptly some of our allies and partners in the region have made commitments of equipment, training areas, and financial resources, i believe far more will ultimately be required of them, including leadership and troops of their own to truly degrade and defeat isil. the tasking of fighting isil is complicated. . i'm concerned about the complexities we face while ensuring the safety of our forces. it is for these reasons that i am opposed to the amendment that will be offered by chairman mckeon, and i would yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time.

the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from florida, a member of the foreign operations subcommittee on appropriations, a very hardworking member, mr. diaz-balart. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for three minutes. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank you, mr. chairman. i rise too to support this short-term continuing resolution. this c.r. simply keeps the government funded at the current fiscal year rate which is by the way in line with the ryan-murray budget agreement that was passed by congress last year under the steadfast leadership of chairman rogers of our subcommittee chairmen and chairwomen and the other ranking members, the house is doing its work. the house has done its work. we've passed 11 of the 12 bills out of the full committee. and seven of those appropriations bills have been here under regular order through immense debate have actually passed the floor of the house. and yet the senate has passed

how many appropriations bills? mr. speaker, not even one. so that's why we are here once again with this continuing resolution. our record shows, very clearly shows unlike the senate, the house is committed to actually doing the hard work. to go line by line to find -- to first fund the vital programs and to look at opportunities to eliminate waste and to reduce spending. again, we've done our work. now, we need a willing partner, mr. speaker, on the other side in the senate. to do their part so we can then go to conference and then negotiate the differences. that's not in our hands. that's in the hands of the american people. mr. speaker, we are now at the end of the fiscal year as the chairman said and just couple weeks away and it's key that we can then pass this continuing resolution to keep government running. i look forward to working with my colleagues in the weeks ahead and, again, continuing going line by line, agency by agency looking for waste, making sure that we were doing

what has to be done. and i also know that once again the house will do its job. again, thank you, mr. speaker. i commend the chairman, the members of the appropriations committee. let's get this done. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield five minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. moran, the ranking minority member of the interior appropriations subcommittee and senior member of the defense subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. moran: i thank my very good friend, the ranking member of our committee. i want to join with chairman rogers and chairman frelinghuysen and the shout out to tom mclemore. i trust, as the chairman said, he's going on to greener pastures. he deserves to. mr. chairman, the congress is

an imperfect body. our constituents remind us of that on almost a daily basis. we certainly know that this is an imperfect process within which we have to operate. and the bill before us is an imperfect bill from our perspective and i suspect from the majority's perspective. but that's the world we live in . we have to choose the best option. oftentimes among a host of difficult options. so this is the best option to vote yes on this continuing resolution. it's the most responsible thing to do. to vote no would say that we are willing to let the government be shut down, unfunded. so we don't have a responsible option but to vote yes on this continuing resolution, and i appreciate the work that

airman rogers, the chairs -- ranking member lowey, chairs of the committees and subcommittees have put in to making it as good as we could under the circumstances. we also have an imperfect ption with regard to the ex-im bank. it ought to be extended for five more years. it generates a lot of money to the united states, and we offer fewer subsidies than our allies do to multinational corporations. but to not extend it at least until june 30 is irresponsible. so, again, it's the best option we have for us. and similarly, mr. chairman, mckeon ard to the amendment that would provide 500 million to train and equip syrian soldiers to fight isis,

i don't think we have a better option. i find it difficult to disagree with my colleagues, particularly with colleagues who i am so fond of, such as the gentleman from indiana, but if we're going to vote no we ought to have an alternative. what would we do under the circumstances? and i don't know what better alternative there is. are we going to ignore what isis is doing in iraq? are we going to ignore the fact that the death toll over the last year has been almost 10,000 people, 9,826, excluding deaths from the syrian civil war? 17,000 have been executed in tikrit. 650 were executed in mosul just because they were non-arabs or non-sunni muslims. with ethnic cleansing on an

historic scale, now 20 journalists are missing in syria. many of them are held by the islamic state. the u.n. estimates that more than a million people have been displaced by violence in iraq this year alone. so it's serious, given what they have done, and particularly given the fact that isis is going exponentially. i remember we got a figure of about 12,000, and then last week it was about 20,000. this week it's estimated that there are over 30,000. they're recruiting from all over the world. 15,000 foreign fighters, 2,000 of whom are westerners who hold passports where there is a visa waiver, where they might be

able to get into the united states. some of them are americans. they're making millions of dollars a day in revenue from oil and kidnapping and so on. their assets are estimated about $2 billion. so this is the wealthiest, most lethal extremist, terrorist group that has yet to present itself on the planet. can we turn around and do nothing? the reality is since the united states has the largest, more capable military, larger, more capable than all the other militaries in the world combined, the responsibility falls on our shoulders to lead. and so what we are doing is leading by training, by saying, too, while there will be boots on the ground, won't be primarily americans in those boots. it will be people that know the territory, know the language, know the culture and have been

vetted. we will provide intelligence and air support. this is the best of a long list of bad options. so mr. speaker, i think we need to vote aye and allow the president to proceed on this policy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i want to associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from virginia who made an excellent presentation. may i inquire of the time remaining? the speaker pro tempore: 18 1/2 minutes. the gentlelady from new york has 15 1/4. mr. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from texas, mr. cuellar, a member of the homeland security and oreign options subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cuellar: i thank the

ranking member lowey for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in support of passing this legislation before us. first, i want to thank chairman rogers, and i certainly want to thank our ranking woman, mrs. lowey, for working together to produce this continuing resolution. this continuing resolution will maintain vital funding for the federal agencies that provide services to taxpayers. congress has two major responsibilities. that is to pass a budget and to pay our bills on time. this bill would ensure that while the house and senate will pass this appropriation bill, probably in the form of an omnibus bill at the end of the year, we need to pass this c.r. additionally, this c.r. will contain much-needed funds to respond to the ebola outbreak, re-authorization authority for the export-import bank, and provide the administration flexibility to deal with unaccompanied minors at the border. you know, tomorrow we also will have an amendment to help fight the isis threat, and we must

stand together with our president to fight that threat. i know it's a complicated situation, but doing nothing is certainly not an option. last year, our failure to uphold the basic responsibility of congress resulted in a government shutdown, and we must not let that happen again. we do need the c.r. but, again, we must get back to regular order, pass full appropriation bills, go to conference and get our job done. and i think if we're able to do that we'll be able to make sure we do the hard job that we're sent up here. we're not sent up here to do the easy decisions. again, this is difficult decisions but this is the responsibilities of congress. again, i do want to thank the chairman, i do want to thank the ranking member and, again, i stand in support of the c.r. and the amendment that will be coming in tomorrow to fight the threat that we see with isis. at this time i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve his time. the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentlelady from ohio, ms. kaptur, ranking member of the energy and water appropriations subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes. ms. kaptur: i thank our very capable ranking member, mrs. lowey of new york, for yielding me this time. and i echo the disappointment already expressed that once again the end of the fiscal year has come and rather than this house completing its work on the 12 appropriations bills we are scrambling to pass now another continuing resolution. this is a classic definition of dysfunction, kicking the can down the road, shirking our responsibility to address the priorities of our nation through a clear 2015 departmental funding level and

decisiveness, decisiveness. we get the reverse of that, uncertainty. it hurts job growth. it hurts economic recovery. we must reverse this regression and inertia. congress must make the difficult choices that allows our republic to function with certainty and dispatch again. in the energy and water subcommittee we took great strides to set such a path forward. while did i not agree with some parts of the bill, our subcommittee did its job to fund critical job creation in water resource projects, support science activities, necessary for american competitiveness and economic growth, fund work on critical national defense priorities, nuclear nonproliferation and our cleanup efforts. unfortunately, this continuing resolution stalls that work. contracts cannot be let and leaves us mired in the path. while our bill addresses a limited number of immediate

needs, including flexibility for the department of energy to ontinue ongoing cleanup at the difusion plant, america needs a firmer path forward, and i plea with the leadership of this institution to do that. it is my sincere hope that the short-term continuing resolution provides the necessary time to pass full-year measures so that congress measures up to what the american people expect of us and that is to do our job. 2015 funding levels should match real realities, not political stunts six weeks before election. i yield back any time i may have remaining to the gentlelady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, may i inquire of my colleague if she has further speakers? mrs. lowey: mr. chairman, i do -- mr. speaker, i do not have further speakers. i yield back my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i think, as has been said here numerous times by people on both sides of the aisle, we regret that we're having to bring a continuing resolution to the floor to continue the government over the end of the iscal year. but that is caused because we attempted on the house side, on both sides of the aisle, to pass all 12 of these individual appropriations bills. and we were on our way to passing all of them until the senate decide they weren't going to take any of them up, and they haven't. so it left us no choice but to ask for a continuing resolution to keep the government lights on until december 11, by which, hopefully, we'll be able to put together, cobble together an omnibus approia