mr. broun: in the united states constitution, article 1, section 8, where it anew mexico rates the powers of congress, one of those powers is to coin money, regulate the value thereof and a foreign coin. in 1913, congress abdicated its responsibility and its duty over to the federal reserve and it's unconstitutional we have done so and has caused some disastrous effects. i thank mr. meadows for yielding bill e to speak on this known as audit the fed. this passed this in 2012. this is a vital piece of legislation that will help to usher in a new of transparency in this nation's monetary policy and i'm pleased to speak on its

behalf with my colleagues. over the century since its inception in 1913. the federal reserve has controlled our country's monetary policy and our economy under a veil of secrecy. congress has only exercised a relative small degree of oversight of the federal reserve. this lack of accountability has led to grievous consequences and this must end. for instance, since the federal reserve was established in 1913, the value of the u.s. dollar has fallen 95%. in other words, the value of today's dollar is approximately worth one nickel of what a dollar was worth in 1913. what this does is cause a dramatic decline in the value of the u.s. dollar and driven by easy money policies of the federal reserve.

what does this mean in practical terms for the american people? it punishes savings and overroads the value of those savings and harms older americans living on fixed incomes. it has led to an unstable environment of booms and busts that have risked the financial stability. this hurts poor people and senior citizens and middle class the absolute most. wall street bankers and the big money folks are fine because policies of the federal reserve hurt poor folks. it hurts senior citizens. it hurts the middle class. it's not fair. since the 2008 financial crisis the federal reserve's balance sheet has grown. since 2008, has grown at an unprecedented rate and now

contains $4 trillion worth of assets. at the same time, the enactment of dodd-frank financial reform has granted it a greater role in overseeing the regulation of our financial system. -- yet, in spite of the mr. meadows: i yield to the gentleman as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. broun: despite of the importance of federal reserve it prohibits audits. in 2011, a partial audit required by the dodd-frank law found that the fed has loaned $16 trillion to financial institutions some of which were not even american between 2007-2010. this incredible sum was quietly

loaned out with no public notice and no congressional oversight. if this activity is brought to light by just a partial audit, then i believe further insight -- this further highlights the necessity of a full audit. this bill require will require a full audit. the board of governors and federal reserve within 12 months of enactment. the federal reserve is a creation of congress and must therefore be subject to the oversight and regulation of congress. i must recognize and commend the leadership and years of work by dr. ron paul on this important issue. last congress, dr. paul's bill amassed bipartisan coalition to see this legislation pass in 327-98 vote. i'm deeply honored to carry on this legacy of dr. paul. i urge my colleagues to support

this important piece of legislation and i urge our friends in the senate to take up this bill's counterpart of senator rand paul's s. 209. and i yield back. mr. cummings: does the gentleman from other speakers? i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i would like at this point to yield to the gentleman from mr. cky three minutes to massie from kentucky. mr. massie: i thank the gentleman from north carolina. i rise today in support of my friend and colleague, congressman paul broun's federal reserve transparency act otherwise known as audit the fed. a mutual friend, congressman ron paul first introduced this bill back in 1983. his voice and courageous efforts

to shed light of the federal reserve have paid off over 30 years later. in july of 2012, congressman paul's audit the fed bill passed by 327-98. sadly, it has yet to receive a vote in the senate. as congressman ron paul stated here on the house floor in 2011, in words that remain current and relevant today in 2014, quote, throughout its 100-year history, the federal reserve has presided over the near complete destruction of the united states dollar. since 1913, the dollar has lost 98% of its purchasing power aided by the loose monetary policy. how long will we stand by while hard-working americans see their savings eaten by inflation. bankers benefit from inflation.

since its inception, the federal reserve has operated in the shad oost. while the conventional excuse is while this is intended to reduce the fed's susceptibility, the reality is that the fed acts as a foil for the government. whenever you question the fed, they will refer you to the treasury and vice versa. the federal reserve has on the one hand many privileges of government agencies while retaining benefits of private organizations such as being insulated from freedom of information act requests. the federal reserve can enter into agreements with foreign governments and the g.a.o. is prohibited from auditing these agreements. why should a government agency has the federal law enforcement powers and whose notes have legal tender status be allowed

to enter into agreements with foreign powers with no oversight, particularly because the fed has operated swap lines and provided hundreds of dollars of bailouts. the fed's negotiations with the european central bank, the bank of international settlements scrutiny. increased given the current crisis in europe and the prospect of the fed propping up foreign governments or banks invested in european debt, this issue is of pressing concern. congressman ron paul's words are even more true today. thank you -- his words are even more true today than they were then. and that's why i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill. it's time to force the federal reserve to operate by the same

standards of transparency and accountability to the taxpayers that we should demand of all government agencies. thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. cummings: we continue to reserve. mr. meadows: at this time, we have no additional people wishing to speak on this particular bill, but i would like to read one statement from senator rand paul. he said it's time for more transparency in virtually every part of our government. i think most americans can agree on that. and the fed is the most logical place to start. i hope the house passes this bill and look forward to pushing this bill in the senate. mr. cummings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i will be brief. but i urge members to vote against this legislation. it's a giant step in the wrong

direction. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. tonight we have heard from the distinguished the gentleman from georgia, who not only has authored this legislation, but has pushed at every attempt to make sure that we have accountability and transparency. the american people deserve that. when much of the crisis, the financial crisis was happening in 2008, you know, this body, this very body, debated over and over again on whether a stimulus should be put forth to stimulate the economy. at the same time, mr. speaker, the federal reserve was making investment dollars that made that stimulus package look very small in comparison. and yet, we are to assume that like other government agencies that they're doing everything correctly, well, we know,

history has shown us that that is not always the case. i urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting this particular bill, to support transparency, to let the accountability be with the american people. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 24 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative -- mr. meadows: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? mr. meadows: mr. speaker, i move

that the house suspend the ruse and pass h.r. 5169 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5169 a bill to amend title 5, united states code, to enhance accountability within the senior executive service, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. meadows, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. congress looks to the senior executive service or s.e.s., to provide leadership so that the government may successfully deliver services to the american

people. in 1978 law created the s.e.s., intended to be an elite corps of leaders serving the high level presidential appointees. he roughly 8,000 s.e.s. member across government agencies and intended to be that link between the political appointees and agencies' career work force. in a budget-constrained environment, they must be stewards of the taxpayer dollars so citizens receive the best value. unfortunately the oversight committee has time and time again identified s.e.s. members embroiled in agency scandals. this has created a need to restore the public confidence by increasing accountability and performance within the government's executive corps. in february of 2012, the committee began investigating

allegations that the internal revenue service was inappropriately scrutinizing. documents and information showed lerner s. member lois was extensively involved in the targeting of conservative groups while working to maintain a veneer of objective enforcement. in april of 2012, the committee tarted investigating jeff neel ey for impermissible wasteful taxpayer dollars. at a luxury resort in las vegas. he directed those planning conferences to make it over the top and it came no surprise when photos showed him relaxing in a

las vegas hot tub on the taxpayers' dime. senior executive members chose to conceal problems within the v.a. health care system. with more than 20 veterans' death linked to substandard care. the work of the v.a. inspector general pains a very disturbing picture. in response to all of this, h.r. 5169 gives agencies tools to better manage their senior executives. the bill eliminates the provision in the current law that allows to remove an that ve and i might add that averages $161,000. the bill makes senior executives subject to suspensions without pay for less than two weeks instead of a simple republicry nned in the same manner as

frontline employees. makes accountable for conduct contrary to the efficiency of the federal service. the bill extends a probationary period for senior executives from one year to two years. and use properly, that probationary period gives an effective tool to ensure that executives are productive. . if they're not performing at top executive level they will be terminated. the accountability for poor and high performance, at least 30 days in writing before the appraisal cycle begins. following the committee's consideration, we have worked on a bipartisan basis to address concerns by the minority, mr. speaker. first, the bill before the house today reflects the adoption of the amendment offered and withdrawn at the markup of the bill by the delegate from the

district of columbia and maintains requirement for agencies to provide 30 days' advance notice to senior executives facing termination. second, the bill requires agencies to make a decision on termination and other disciplinary action within 30 days of receiving the employee's response to that proposed action. and finally, the bill ensures that senior executives fired for misconduct return any salary and leave -- any salary accrued while on nonduty status. this means the executive retains his or her avenues to appeal but in the end if terminated, it is required -- is required to make the taxpayer whole. combined, these changes bring needed accountability to the federal government's executive leadership corps. i urge the members of the house to support this measure, joining me in providing agencies additional tools to address instances where senior government officials are

engaging in behavior contrary to the principles of public service. i reserve the balance of my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. cummings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cummings: the jovet -- i want to thank the government oversight committee and chairman issa and the gentleman from michigan, mr. walberg for working with my democratic colleagues, representative lynch and norton, to address some of our concerns. although much progress has been made in improving this legislation, i believe there remain additional constitutional issues to cause concern and therefore i must reluctantly oppose h.r. 5169, the senior executive service accountability act. i understand that this legislation was meant to address recent allegations of misconduct and management failures by

senior executives at various agencies. while the allegations are trouble, i don't believe they justify government-wide changes to executive -- senior executive service that will bring senior executives much closer to becoming at-will employees. i'm concerned that the provisions in this bill that would extend the probationary period for senior executives from one to two years and authorize suspensions for less than 14 days would give agency heads and political appointees the opportunity to terminate or suspend career senior executives for politically motivated reasons. and it is a very real possibility that this would go unchecked simply because there is no third party review of an agency's actions under these circumstances.

i fear this could result in the politicizatin addressed by the act of 1833. this would require an s.e.s. member removed from federal service to pay back the salary and accrued leave he or she received in the period pending removal. i think it is highly likely that the courts and the system would construe this provision in the same way they construe involuntary or enforced leave. the fourth circuit court of appeals in the msspb have held that the imposition of

involuntary or forced leave constitutes a constructive suspension requiring an agency to provide procedural due process to the employee before placing him or her on such leave status. these procedural rights must include notice and opportunity to respond, an agency decision, and appeal rights. although this clawback requirement is limited to those senior executives placed on some form of leave with pay but without duty, they would never have been given the chance to challenge the agency's decision. moreover, the practical and real effect of this provision is that senior executives -- is that the senior executive is removed from federal service upon notice of removal which is in essence an at-will employment. for these reasons, i urge my colleagues to join me in

opposing h.r. 5169 and with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is ecognized. mr. meadows: i yield such time as he may consume to the author of this piece of legislation, mr. walberg. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. walberg: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank the gentleman from north carolina. i thank you for your comments on this legislation. you laid it out extremely well. congress expects the senior executive service to provide leadership so the federal government may successfully fulfill their obligations to the american people. that's what it's all about. we serve at their will and for their purpose. and so does the senior executive service. we also look to senior leaders to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars so citizens can have

confidence that their hard-earned tax dollars are being utilized sensibly. unfortunately and especially in light of numerous scandals at the i.r.s. and veterans administration, perpetuated by senior executive branch officials who let things happen and get out of control, we need to take legislative action to restore public confidence and increase accountability and performance within the senior executive service. the bill i've introduced, the senior executive service accountability act, gives agencies common sense tools to hold senior leaders more accountable for their taxpayer-funded work and make it easier to remove official who was been found, and let me make this clear, who have been found to have engaged in misconduct, specifically. it eliminates the current loophole that allows an executive who have been removed

for poor performance and placed in a new federal job from retaining their executive salary. it promotes fairtons make s.e.s. employees subject to the same employment standards as the employees they supervise. it provides greater transparency on the number of the senior leaders at each agency and their exact job requirements. it eliminates the amount of time an agency has to finalize its decision on whether to terminate an employee who has engaged in misconduct, thereby preventing bad actors from receiving their paychecks for months after they were found to have committed acts of misconduct. having said that, mr. speaker, i ask support from my colleagues for h.r. 5169 and mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is

recognized. mr. cummings: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. we me does: i yield -- mr. meadows: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from ohio mr. jordan. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. jordan: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i thank the gentleman from michigan for his bill this bill is about account -- is about accountability. accountability for senior executive people, people like lois lern, the ranking member of the committee who i have a great deal of respect for stated in his opening comment that he's nervous about this legislation because it might, quote, politicize senior government officials. well, that's what we have now. what could be more political than a high-ranking official at the internal revenue services targeting people who disagree with her political views? this is all about holding people account who believe do the very thing the ranking member talked about. we need this legislation because lord knows the justice department is not doing their job. they're not holding anyone

accountable. think about this pattern. you've got the f.b.i. leaking to the "wall street journal" in january of this year that no one is going to be prosecuted in the i.r.s. scandal. you've got the president's now famous remark on super bowl sunday on national television where he says there's no corruption here, not even a smidgen. talk about prejudging the outcome of a case, when you're the highest ranking official in the executive branch, and now we have the lead attorney, we've known for several month the lead attorney at the justice department on this case gave $ 50,000 -- gave $6,750 to the president's national committee. the jus tit -- the justice department isn't going to hold anyone to account. there is one bright spot, mr. chairman, mr. speaker. this house in a bipartisan fashion told the attorney general we need a special prosecutor. every single republican voted for that measure. more importantly, 26 democrats

said this is so egregious, this is so wrong, we not only need mr. walberg's legislation, we need a special prosecutor in the justice department to hold people to account. when i talk with folks back home, every single day i'm out and about, they walk up to me, someone needs to be held to account for systematically targeting our fundamental right, our right to speak out against our government, that was targeted and people need to be held to account for it. that's why i aplude the gentleman from north carolina for his work on the committee and the gentleman from michigan for sponsoring this great piece of legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from -- mr. cummings: continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield to the gentleman from virginia, the chairman of the judiciary committee, three minutes, to mr. goodlatte. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman from virginia has three minutes. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from north

carolina for his leadership on this issue and managing this bill and i thank the gentleman from michigan for his leadership and introduction of this legislation. mr. speaker, the bills on the floor this evening represent our ongoing effort to get to the bottom of the i.r.s.'s targeting effort of innocent american citizens on the basis of their political beliefs and to ensure that such malfeasance never happens again. as i have stated repeatedly over the past year, it's imperative that we find out who ordered the targeting, when the targeting was ordered and why. i commend my colleagues on the oversight and government reform and ways and means committee for their tireless pursuit of justice for the american people. the judiciary committee has been an active partner in this effort. on may 15 of last year, attorney general eric holder promised me and judiciary committee members that he would conduct a fair, impartial investigation of the

i.r.s. targeting matter. the attorney general made his famous pledge that, quote, this will not be about parties. this will not be about ideological persuasions. and anyone who has broken the law will be held extable, end yet. unfortunate -- held accountable, end quote. unfortunately, that seems to be where their commitment to pursuing this investigation ended. on may 7, of 2014, following a year of no apparent progress in the investigation, the house passed house resolution 565 calling on the attorney general to appoint a special counsel to investigate the i.r.s. targeting of conservative groups that resolution, which laid out in detail the case for a special counsel, passed by a bipartisan vote of 250-168. significantly, 26 democrats joined in calling on the attorney general of the united states to appoint an independent special counsel.

since h.res. 565 passed the house, other events have bolstered the already solid case for appointment of a special counsel to investigate this matter. incredibly, on june 13, the i.r.s. announced it had lost an untold number of emails belonging to lois lerner which were sought by congressional investigators. the lost emails covered the period between january 1, 2009, and april, 2011. a period when the i.r.s. targetting of conservative groups was occurring regularly. how convenient. not two weeks ago, the i.r.s. announced it had also lost emails from five other employees involved in congressional investigations including two agents in the supposedly rogue cincinnati office. again, how convenient. on july 30, we held a hearing to

probe the i.r.s. matter. we heard testimony -- at that hearing, we heard that the justice department had demonstrated it can no longer justly oversee any further investigations into the ongoing targeting scandal and only opportunity for justice lies with an independent special counsel. unfortunately, mr. speaker, the obama administration has repeatedly demonstrated its unwillingness to work with congressional investigators to ensure we all know the full story behind the i.r.s. targeting of conservative groups. their attempt to pull the wool er the american people's ice speaks vol -- eyes speak volumes. we need to bring these important bills to the floor. i urge my colleagues to vote for

them and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. cummings: reserve. mr. meadows: mr. walberg and i are prepared to clause and i yield as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. how much time is left? mr. walberg: i thank the speaker and i thank the gentleman from north carolina. allowing me the opportunity to make a few closing comments on this issue that i wouldn't have introduced if i didn't feel it was important. senior executives have the opportunity to lead, to set policy and to expand capabilities at their agency. this is a tremendous opportunity and privilege, a privilege of service we must not take lightly. i hasten to quickly state that a

majority of federal workers, including senior executives, are hard life working public servants doing the job they have been asked to do. and i recognize those hard-working men and women. unfortunately, the recent scandals that we talked about, like that at the v.a. and i.r.s. have shined a light on those who have abused their position. lois lerner abused her position and american taxpayers will never understand how she was placed on administrative leave on may 23, 2013, and then retired four months later on september 23, 2013, successfully avoiding termination after she acknowledged the i.r.s. wrongfully scrutinized conservative groups for years. mislerner continued to receive full salary during this time,

roughly $60,000 which the average american would have to work 15 months to earn and members of our oversight and government reform committee know the full story, the story of the so-called secret agent man who was allowed to not show up for his department work under the ruse of being a c.i.a. agent. there was an unbelievable breakdown in the senior executive oversight, i might state. now, american people need to have confidence that these executives are acting honestly and responsibly, mr. speaker. the senior executive accountability act is an important attempt, an important step towards holding bad actors accountable and restoring the public trust. i ask my colleagues for their

support of h.r. 5169 and yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia. mr. cummings: how much time do we have? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland has 16 minutes. >> i heard you say georgia. i yield myself such time as i may consume. we do oppose this legislation. we understand the intent of the sponsor and applaud him for his efforts. i think we have to be very, very careful with people's constitutional rights. i have stated my opposition, and with that, i urge members to vote against the legislation. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: i yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meadows: i'm going to close with just a few remarks. perhaps the i.r.s. and the scandals that have been surrounding that is not a big deal to address this piece of legislation. perhaps a picture of a gentleman in a las vegas hot tub is not the reason to address this piece of legislation, but i can tell you that our veteransr mr. speaker. those facts that have been the headlines for far too long really are at the core of what we are as a body, that we must protect the men and women who have fought so valiantly for our country and for their freedoms. and if we cannot hold our senior executives accountable for the sake of our veterans, then what good is there of any law?

so what we must do -- i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this for the veterans of our country, to make sure there is more accountability on behalf of the american taxpayers so we once again can start to trust our government. and with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5169 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? mr. meadows: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5170 as amended.

the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: a bill to improve federal employee compliance with the federal and presidential recordkeeping requirements and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. meadows, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings will be recognized for 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. compliance with the federal records act and the presidential records act is vital in preserving the history of our government and ensuring its

continued transparency. unfortunately, too frequently of late, congress has heard examples of agencies and individuals failing to comply with the basic provisions of the federal recordkeeping law. the most recent illustrations, is the i.r.s., they failed to follow the law by not disclosing the potential loss of federal records relating to ms. lerner. the oversight committee learned that tom perez used his personal email account almost 1,200 times over a four-year period to conduct official business. we should not tolerate this type of behavior. democracy requires transparency, mr. speaker. the public has the right to know the actions that a government takes on their behalf. this principle of a right to know has been enshrined in numerous statutes at the

federal, state and local levels. these include open meeting laws, freedom of information act processes and record laws. at the national level, two bedrock transparency laws are the federal records act and the presidential records act. together these two laws ensure that our nation's key documents, whether they be emails, maps, agendas or any other type of media are preserved as a clear record of the government's operation and decision-making process. unfortunately in recent weeks, particularly in the relation to the events at the i.r.s. surrounding the events of loss emails are not's being followed. the testimony before this committee on june 24 stating that the i.r.s., quote, did not

follow the law in failing to notify him of the potential loss of federal records of ms. lerner's hard drive. records can be lost due to unintention. we should not tolerate any of these excuses. but inextensional destruction of records, mr. speaker, in particular, is a criminal act. federal employees found to have committed such a crime should be fired. i'm pleased today that we are considering the federal records accountability act of 2014, a bill i was proud to introduce. this commonsense legislation will make a number of reforms toll hold federal employees to the requirements of the federal records act and the presidential records act. the bill creates a process to fire employees who were found to have been willfully and unfully,

altered, removed or destroyed a federal record. the bill bars federal employees from using message electronic accounts unless that communication is disclosed in full within 15 days to the government. failure to do so would be a considered a willful and unwith full destruction of federal records and subject the employee to termination. the legislation will require agencies to disclose on their b site notice a threatened loss of federal records. this expands that agencies only in form the archiveist. this bill requires agencies to appoint and reconfirm a senior agency official for records management. this individual would be responsible for ensuring full agency compliance with record

laws and congress will be able to hold them directly accountable for noncompliance. additionally, thanks to an amendment from my good friend, the ranking member, mr. cummings, this mr. williams: require agencies to require their records in an electronic format. this will end the all too common practice in which agencies require emails and other electronic records to be manly printed out in long-term storage and instead save them on a hard drive. thanks to efforts by ms. speier, the bill will require agencies to automatically capture all official emails, instant messages and tweets and other electronic messages by seniors, their assist ants and others likely to come within contact with a large of federal records.

this process will improve transparency at the most senior levels of government by starting with the presumption that electronic messages are federal records instead of the current process under which officials self-select what constitutes a record. collectively the reforms in h.r. 5170 will send a powerful message that transparency and faithful recordkeeping are a priority of our government. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina reserves. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. cummings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cummings: i rise in strong support of this bill and i want to thank representative meadows for his hard work on this bill. this bill would make the federal government's records more transparent. this bill includes the language

of a bill i introduced, the electronic message preservation act. that portion of the legislation would require the archiveist of the united states to issue regulations mandating all federal agencies manage and eserve their email records electronicically. the bill would direct him to establish standards for the preservation and management of records and to annually certify that the white house has records management controls in place that meet those standards. under this bill, must report one year after the president leaves office on whether the controls used by the president met the required standards. this amendment would move agencies out of the arcane print and file record-keeping systems that many of them still use, a

system which can lead to records getting lost or not being turned over in response to requests. . this bill also includes an amendment by jackie speier. it would provide a clearer standard for agencies to follow with regard to which records have to be kept and for how long. thunder approach, records of senior agency officials would be kept permanently. this bill also provides procedures for agencies to follow if an employee intentionally destroys records. under this bill, employees will be held accountable and they will also receive the same due process rights that they have under current law. a couple of issues with this bill that i would like to point out. one concern is that -- one concern that has been raised is that the bill could have unintended consequences of

encouraging federal employees to save every email. under current law, the national archives works with agency tots establish schedules to define how long an agency has to keep categories of records. agencies can't save everything forever or the volume would be so overwhelming we wouldn't be able to sort out important information from junk. we should evaluate this concern and just ensure that we aren't creating unintended consequences. another concern that has been raised with this bill is that it attempts to restrict the manner in which the president and vice president create records. the bill says this -- the bill says the president and vice president or a covered employee may not create or send a presidential or vice-presidential record using nonofficial electronic messaging account unless the president and

vice president or -- the president, vice president or covered employee take certain steps, including copying an official email account, forwarding a copy of the email to an official account or printing the email and properly archiving it. the presidential records act already requires the president, the vice president, and the immediate staff to preserve their records. i think we should just make sure that we are not crossing the line in the requirements for the president and the vice president. i believe those two concerns should be evaluated and addressed if this bill is considered in the senate. again, i strongly support this bill and urge my colleagues to support it and i reserve the plans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from m.d. reserves. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: thank youing mr. speaker. i have no other -- thank you, mr. speaker. i have no other speakers to speak on this matter, i'm prepared to close if the

gentleman is prepared to close. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. again, i urge members to support this very good piece of legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland yields back. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. as we look at this particular piece of legislation, the real genesis of this came from very troubling testimony that a number of us on both sides of this aisle heard in hearing after hearing. it was not one agency, it's been a -- a plethora of agencies that seem to have communication that is going on, mr. speaker, on a regular basis, that's not being preserved. now part of this is accountability. part of this is historical.

can you imagine what our founding fathers would do if they had communicated to one another and never preserved the letter or the commine case that had take -- the communication that had taken place between them? what would our history be? it would be filled with a a number of holes. so from a historical perspective, we have the real duty to require it for our children and grandchildren to understand the -- what goes on in government. but from an accountability standpoint, i think that's where most americans are focusing these days, mechanic. they don't understand why we continue to lose email after email. while there seems to be hard drive problems at the i.r.s. that transcends all logical comprehension of why so many hard drives would have failed. i have a hard time understanding that as well. but regardless of those issues,

if we enact this particular bill, and i thank the ranking member from maryland, because he has indeed with his amendment made this bill better. it's stronger. and i thank him for his support. because when we work together in a bipartisan way to make sure that these records are kept, it not only preserves it for historical purposes but it start it is build back the foundation, block by block, layer by layer, where the american people can once again trust their government. i think it's time, mr. speaker, that we take this act and make it into law. so i encourage my colleagues to support this i urge them to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina yields. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5170 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5418 to prohibit officers and employees

of the internal revenue service from using personal email accounts to conduct official business. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5418 a bill to prohibit officers and employees of the internal revenue service from using personal email accounts to conduct official business. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from louisiana, mr. boustany, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the entleman from louisiana. mr. boustany: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: weather. mr. boustany: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. boustany: i rise in strong support of h.r. 5418. this bill is a response to the ways and means committee's year and a half long investigation of

the i.r.s.'s targeting of taxpayers based on political beliefs. in its exhaustive on boeing investigation, the committee found that some i.r.s. employees risk that confidential information by circumventing official email and using their personal, nonsecure email for official business. h.r. 5418 fix this is problem by prohibiting employees of the i.r.s. from using a personal email account to conduct any official business, ensuring there is a full record of i.r.s. activity and that taxpayer information is secure. there's no reason for an i.r.s. employee to have confidential taxpayer information on his or her home computer without the necessary safeguards against disclosure. this behavior must be stopped and i urge a yes vote on this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: thank you, i yield myself such time as i shall

consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: this is the first of three straightforward bills concerning the inch r.s. it is my hope that republicans will foe -- concerning the i.r.s. it is my hope that the republicans will focus the debate on the straightforward manner that is warranted, and that's what's happening on this bill. currently the i.r.s. restricts its employees from sending emails that contain sensitive, unclassified data outside the i.r.s. network unless approved by senior agency management. but the manual does not specifically reference the use of personal email accounts. this legislation would specifically prohibit the use of personal email accounts to conduct official agency business. i support this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from louisiana is

recognized. mr. boustany: i i would inquire if the gentleman has any others who wish to speak on this bill before we close? mr. levin: i do not. mr. boustany: we don't either. i yield to you yo. mr. levin: i welcome this bill, support it and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields. the gentleman from louisiana. mr. boustany: i think this is a good bill, a commonsense bill, and i urge its support and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the howls -- will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5418. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? mr. boustany: i move to suspend

the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5419 to amend the internal revenue code of 198206 provide for a right to an administrative appeal relating to adverse determinations of tax-exempt status of certain organizations. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5419 a bill to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to provide for a right to an administrative appeal relating to adverse determinations of tax-exempt status of certain organizations. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from louisiana, mr. boustany, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from louisiana. mr. boustany: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. boustany: i yield myself such time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. boustany: i rise in strong

support of h.r. 5419. it thrires i.r.s. to grant the same fair and unbiased appeal process to groups applying for tax exempt status as other taxpayers. we found that groups were being denied the ability to appeal denials due to an unfair administrative practice at the i.r.s. this puts too much decision making power in the hands of washington bureaucrat the same people we now know were depriving certain conservative groups of their right to operate as tax exempt groups. this bill fixes that and provides equal rights to appeal for all tax exempt applicants. i urge a yes vote on this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana reserves. . the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: under current law, tax exempt organizations are not able to request administrative appeal of their initial

classification of tax exempt status. the bill would amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to provide a right to an administrative appeal relating to adverse determinations of tax exempt status of certain organizations. i might add, this would apply to all, whatever their political leanings, provided they meet the requirements of the sta -- of the statute. this would apply to liberal as well as conservative organizations that were subject to the inappropriate standards used by i.r.s. in 2012, the i.r.s. received 51,748 applications for 501-c-3 status and 2,700 applications for c-4 status. in each case, less than three tenths of one percent were deny

nsmed 2014, two tenths of all c-3 and c-4 applications were denid. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. boustany: i have no others who wish to speak at this time so i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: as stated, i support this legislation and urge all of my colleagues to do so. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields. the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. boustany: i think this is again commonsense legislation that's needed, it's necessary reform which came out in the investigation that we've done so far. i urge its passage. the speaker pro tem i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 5419. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the