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 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: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 5420, to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, to permit the release of information regarding the data of certain investigations. the the speaker pro tempore: the clerk report -- the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: a bill to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, to permit the release of information regarding the status of investigations. 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: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subblet of the bill under consideration -- subject of the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. boustany: i yield myself such time as i may consume.

mr. speaker, tonight i rise in support of h.r. 5420, this bill, which i introduced, reforms the tax code's rules on information disclosures to victims of unauthorized disclosures. in recent years, the i.r.s. has leaked the confidential tax information of numerous groups. the national organization for marriage, crossroads g.p.s., americans for responsible leadership, freedom path and others. disclosing taxpayer information like this is a crime. but current law does not allow the victimized taxpayer to know anything of the status of the investigation into the leak. h.r. 5420 fixes this by allowing victims of unauthorized disclosures to learn about the status of any investigation into their particular cases. additionally, some victims of i.r.s. targeting were subject to the flage rant disclosure of -- flagrant disclosure ofs that i confidential tax information to the -- disclosure of their confidential tax information to the media. yet they were not permitted access about the progress of these violations.

this bill will provide certainty to taxpayers who have been victimized in this manner, to inquire about the status of their investigations. it's a commonsense bill, it's a good reform. i urge a yes vote on this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: thank you very much. i yield myself such time as i shall consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: i support this legislation. when a taxpayer makes a complaint regarding unlawful disclosure of information, current law does not permit the treasury department to provide the affected taxpayer with information concerning the status or resolution of the complaint. under the provision here, the circumstances in which taxpayer information may be lawfully disclosed by the treasury department would be expanded to include disclosure to certain complaint ants -- complaintants of information regarding status and results of any

investigation initiated by their complaint. so i support this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. boustany: mr. speaker, i have no others who wish to speak on this bill and so i am prepared to close, i'll reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: thank you, mr. boustany. i support this bill, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields. the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. boustany: i thank my friend across the aisle. i think if only we could conduct business this way, it might all be good and we could solve a lot of problems. so i thank the gentleman. this is again a commonsense reform, came out of the investigation, i urge its passage. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana yields. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 5420. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without

objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 3043, the tribal general welfare exclusion act. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3043, a bill to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, to clarify the treatment of general welfare benefits provided by indian tribes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. nunes, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, each will control 20 minutes.

the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. nunnelee: mr. speaker, i ask -- mr. nunes: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the subject of the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. nunes: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nunes: i rise today in support of the tribal general welfare exclusion act. this bill would clarify the tax code so that spending by native american tribes on health care, housing, education, care for the elderly and disabled and other programs for the good of the tribe will be excluded from taxes. these programs were traditionally tax exempt, but in recent years the i.r.s. has informally reinterpreted the rules in order to tax more and more of these programs. simultaneously, the agency has subjected tribes to expensive and intrusive audits. with their unique history of

tribal sovereignty, native americans should not be subjected to arbitrary tax enforcement. this bill would put tribes on par with state and local governments and would end unwarranted intrusions into tribal self-government. it is broadly supported across the country and was actually given a zero score by the joint tax committee. thus i urge my colleagues to support the tribal general welfare exclusion act and i will be submitting a more detailed statement for the record that will provide clarity, context and congressional intent for this legislation. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent that my time shall be consumed by the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. kind. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. kind: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kind: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 3043. i was an original co-sponsor of this legislation, i commend my friend and colleague from

california, a member of the ways and means committee, for his leadership on this issue. we're trying to correct a wrong interpretation with the i.r.s. that will treat native americans like we do other sovereign entities in this country. and that's why this legislation would codify existing i.r.s. practice and bring crucial permanence and clarity to tribes across the country. it levels the playing field for tribal governments, treating them more like state governments. it also respects tribal culture, traditions and practices. the bill excludes from taxation income received on tribal general welfare programs. many of which are identical to the tax-exempt federal and state programs in the areas of health care, education, housing, elder care, emergency assistance, cultural programs, burial assistance, and legal aid. it provides necessary deference and flexibility to these tribal governments so that they can develop programs and determine priorities that promote the general welfare in their own communities. according to the joint committee on taxation, this legislation doesn't cost

taxpayers a cent. has no budgetary impact. so we're not adding to the deficit. the bill is supported by numerous national organizations, including business and tribal organizations, regional, tribal and intertribal organizations and a multitude of state-based tribal governments. i want to just take a moment to thank the hoc humbings nk nation of wisconsin, -- hochunk nation of wisconsin, for working tirelessly on this issue. my staff and i greatly appreciate their assistance in getting this in order for tonight. i encourage my colleagues to support the legislation. i again thank my friend for his leadership and i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. nunes: thank you, mr. speaker. i too would like to thank the gentleman for making this truly one of the few bipartisan bills that has no opposition, where we come together for the right reasons, to get something done for the benefit of all of our communities, especially our tribal communities.

at this time, mr. speaker, i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. reed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. reed: i'd like to thank the gentleman for yielding and, mr. speaker, i rise tonight in support of h.r. 3043, the tribal general welfare exclusion act of 2013. first, i would like to thank congressman nunes for his hard work on this legislation. without his leadership, this bill would not have made it as far as it has today. i'd also like to thank ways and means chairman dave camp for his support throughout this process and all my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that have joined in the effort to get this legislation passed and considered this evening. this legislation codifies, mr. speaker, the proper tax treatment of certain services provided by the tribe for education, public safety, to promote its culture and to provide for the general welfare of the tribe. this is an issue of fair treatment of taxpayers. in this case, native american taxpayers, such as those who live in the sovereign seneca nation in western new york in my home district, the 23rd congressional district of new york.

this legislation will ensure that the unique legal relationship and tax issues with regard to members of the indian nations and tribal governments are recognized and respected by the i.r.s. going forward. i urge my colleagues to join us and pass this legislation tonight. it is only fair that we do the right thing by these native american taxpayers. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. nunes: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. kind: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kind: mr. speaker, i don't have any further requests for time on this, but i would ask unanimous consent that this -- to have the following documents inserted into the record. a letter of support from the hochunk nation, which is in my congressional district in western wisconsin, a letter of support from the onida tribe wisconsin, and sovereign

tribes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. kind: since i have no further speakers, i'm prepared of my the remainder time, just ask my colleagues to support this bipartisan piece of legislation tonight. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin yields back. mr. nunes: i'd like to thank the gentleman from wisconsin. at this time, mr. speaker, we have one final speaker left. i'd like to introduce the gentleman from arizona and recognize him for two minutes, mr. schweikert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. schweikert: thank you, mr. speaker. and to mr. nunes, thank you for doing this. thank you for the bipartisan support from everyone and particularly the ways and means committee. this is one of those sort of semijoyous moments where we actually get to do something that's a good legislation and good policy and sometimes you desperately wish around here we had more of this. being from arizona, you know, i have 22 tribes in my state. as a much younger man in the legislature, i chaired the

indian affairs committee in my state legislature. nd we spent years working with our communities to become self-sufficient, to maximize their sovereignty and respect it. and so many of my tribes in arizona now are actually engaging in activities to bolster their population, to provide them the basic benefits that you and i would receive from our city council from our county from our state. and the clarification this provides just puts them on equal footing with what happens in our other communities, for those who live offreservation. that's why this is such good legislation. it's rational, it makes sense. and continues the intend -- to incentivize the right direction, the right sovereignty, the right approach for our native american peoples in this country. and with that, mr. nunes, thank you for doing this and, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona yields back. the gentleman from california is recognized.

mr. nunes: thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to thank the gentleman from arizona for his kind words. mr. speaker, in closing, i want to say a special thanks to chairman dave camp, ranking member levin, all the ways and means staff that worked on this legislation. this is legislation that has been around for several years. and especially i'd like to thank in mr. nelson from my staff who has been on this doingedly since he found out the in-- doggedly since he found out the injustice that was going on in tribes across america. so i'd like to thank him. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 3043. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the able.

the clerk: h.r. 4137, a bill to prohibit assistance under the program of block grants to states for temporary assistance for needy families for being accessed through the use of electronic benefit card for any store that offers marijuana for sale. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from washington, mr. reichert and the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, each will

control 20 minutes. mr. reichert: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this subject on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. reichert: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. reichert: mr. speaker, i rise today to urge support of h.r. 4137, the preserving welfare for needs not weed act. federal welfare benefits are an important means for many individuals and families to get critical assistance for basic necessities until they get back on their feet. shockingly, as a result of recent state laws legalizing recreational marijuana in colorado and my home state of washington, we are seeing new abuses of these benefits. in these states ar person can

walk into a pot shop and use their welfare benefit card to pay for pot. these are federal taxpayer dollars and they are being used to purchase something that is illegal under federal law. it is exactly this misuse of tax dollars that this bill is designed to stop. this bill which i introduced earlier this year as chairman of the ways and means subcommittee on human resources, subcommittee with jurisdiction over the program that we are talking about tonight and is being abused, will block access to welfare cash in stores selling marijuana. and mr. speaker, i know firsthand the struggles that families can go through during my hard times in my own childhood growing up and from what i witnessed as a law enforcement professional for 33 years. from the time i was a cop on the street in king county,

washington, through my days as the sheriff there, i witnessed there how too often, the lack of job, living in a crime hiff ---ridden neighborhood vrp torn families apart. for instance, we have millions of long-term unemployed struggling to get back to work during the so-called obama recovery. many turned to benefits like which is a temporary assistance for needy families. if program tan provides low-income americans to transition to work and support their children while they are doing that. can business is a flexible grants to states but includes rules to ensure that our tax dollars are being spent

appropriately. sadly, people are spending welfare benefits in liquor stores, ca sign oost and strip clubs. in 2012, congress passed a law that blocked states to block welfare benefits from being accessed in those places. and president obama rightly signed that law -- signed it into law. since then both washington state and coloradoville legalized marijuana opening up a new hoop hole, the pot shop loophole which the bill before us would close, along with the other shots that i mentioned before have closed the use of your benefit card. this bill just adds pot shops to that list. this isn't an idle concern. a report examining welfare transactions in colorado revealed over $5,000 in welfare

benefits were accessed in stores selling marijuana in the first month such stores were opened. with other states considering legislation to legalize, it is important to close this pot shop loophole. when it comes toll spending welfare benefits, money that taxpayers provide, we are drawing a line. taxpayer-funded welfare benefits should be spent on children and families' needs and not weed. i urge members to support this commonsense fix and support the needs of low-income families and children and not support drug use. this builds on good policy this chamber has crafted and passed in the last congress. it has no congress, according to the congressional budget office and most importantly, mr. speaker, it's the right thing to

do. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: i yield myself such time as i may consume. this bill is designed to prevent individuals from using their tanf electronic benefit transfer cards in establishments that sell marijuana. this restriction would add to a current law prohibition or transactions in casinos, liquor stores and adult entertainment clubs. while it is important that benefits under tant be used to support the basic needs of struggling families, it is regrettable this is coming to the house floor without any markup, hearing or discussion within our committee.

such discussions usually raise questions that are worth examining before legislation is considered on the floor. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. reichert: does mr. levin have any speakers? mr. levin: i have one. it's my pleasure toll yield five minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett, ranking member of the subcommittee on human resources. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. doggett: the needs not weeds act. that is a pretty catchy title. i think it could fit on a bumper sticker, perhaps it already has. unfortunately, this proposal has only a little to do with weeds and nothing to do whatsoever with the needs of our neighbors who are trying to move out of poverty and into the middle class of america. the people that are down there

on the bottom economic running that are trying to -- runk, that are trying to climb up. this congress is indifferent. their hopes have just gone up in smoke. on the very day that we are considering this proposal, we are being called upon by the same folks to approve a companion republican resolution that once again cuts resources for temporary assistance for needy families. not one cut, but two cuts, $14 illion each year from the tanf contingency he fund to help people find jobs and other services and $$14 billion cut annually. those are the dollars that permit us to determine whether

our tax dollars are being spent effectively for job training and other services. you've got to wonder what these republicans are smoking. how can they tout their suppose he had commitment to preventing waste and eliminating the very dollars that are designed to prevent waste and help us determine whether our tax dollars are being spent efficiently and effectively. my experience in this congress, i understand that facts will be ignored by republicans when they conflict with republican ideology. in this case, abandonning any research concerning how our tax dollars are being spent makes no sense. indeed it makes no dollars and cents. these $30 million in cuts continue the republican effort to reduce the real purchasing power and dollars available for

temporary assistance for needy families. they follow a prior cut of over $300 million in employment assistance and cash benefits through the tanf program. and this is also amidst the growing inequality in this nation. we have the lowest level of poor families receiving direct cash assistance from temporary assistance for needy families in almost 50 years. in my home state of texas, only about one in 20 poor children receive tanf assistance directly and when they get it, they don't get very much. this is the 50th anniversary of president johnson's war on poverty. isn't it time that we renew that effort in a meaningful reformed way instead of waging war on those in poverty? time and time again my republican colleagues have

fused to enact a long-term reorganization of the tanf program. instead they favor this three-month extension programs. because each of those short-term extensions offers them an opportunity to stereotype the poor, the old welfare cadillac image. just blame the poor for being poor. well, i support every reasonable effort to reduce fraud and reduce abuse. and i don't oppose this bill. what i oppose is dealing with the peripheral, instead of tackling the substantive problem of helping folks climb out of poverty into the middle class. as was mentioned, we previously on one of these short-term tanf extensions prohibited poor people from the evil of withdrawing their funds from a strip club or casino. i supported that.

this win will prevent from using their cards at a place that sells marijuana. well, perhaps in december when we are back on the next extension, we can prohibit them from using their funds and withdrawing them from a massage parlor or cadillac dealer. i meet with these families. i have met with them in san antonio, in lockhart and san marcos. they are hard-working families and many cases they hit a bad bump in the road. today's bill does nothing to address the at that timered safety net. i would ask the gentleman for another minute. each year we do less and less for those who struggle while the gap continues to widen between those who have little or nothing and those who are incredibly

wealthy. i believe that poverty should be viewed as a major national problem that needs resolution by working g together not to score election points. the real poverty that is at stake this week is the poverty of cooperation, the poverty of seeking a bipartisan answer to the struggles of so many american families. so long as this congress ignores the hard work of developing solutions to help those in our communities that are most disadvantaged, we will have less as a nation to celebrate. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: are you ready to close? >> i'm ready to close. mr. levin: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: as the gentleman from

texas has left giving his speech, i just want to say to him, i applaud what you have said. it's late. it's 9:30 at night. it's hard to know who's listening. ut words as expressed by mr. doggett need to be heard. in addition to the reduction in tanf funding, including for research, i think we should also be reminded at this late hour that because of the unwillingness of republicans in this u.s. house to follow the ipartisan lead in the senate about three million -- i think more than three million people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, who are looking for work, have essentially been out in the cold

, i guess some of them have applied for tanf, but when you look at the data that mr. doggett has put forth, i think we need to take a look whatever s the hour of the day or night at what has been happening in terms of the addressing of overty in this country. so i'm glad we've had this discussion and i now yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. schweikert: thank you, mr. speaker. after listening to my -- mr. reichert: thank you, mr. speaker. after listening to mr. doggett's comment, there's a lot of things he said that i agree with. he knows that. we've known each other for a while. he's the ranking member on the human resource subcommittee. and we've been working together on lots of legislation that

helps address foster care and families and welfare and food stamps and aid to needy families and those are things that he knows that i care about passionately. and i know that the republican party, even though tonight you may not think so, cares about people passionately and want to solve these issues to help our most needy find employment, find an opportunity and hope in this country to provide for their family. and that's what both sides i think really want. as my colleague knows, you know, we spent hours earlier today debating continuing resolution for 2015. that debate will continue tomorrow. the reason we're not debating tanf re-authorization right now is because the c.r. includes a provision that will extend the tanf program at the congressional budget office baseline level through december 11 of this year.

so that bill, not the one before us, provides for the extension of the program that the gentleman had earlier talked about. i'd also like to point out a letter that's dated july 31, 2014, date stamped, to senator sessions from the secretary. and it says, just the first paragraph, mr. speaker, thank you for your letter to former secretary sebelius expressing concern that temporary assistance for needy families cash assistance is being used to create an increase in drug dependency. i'm aware of the media reports related to individuals withdrawing cash at automated teller machines, a.t.m.'s, located in establishments selling marijuana in colorado. which has legalized the use of marijuana. i agree that any inappropriate expenditure -- i agree that any inappropriate expenditure of public funds is a cause for

concern and should be addressed immediately. this is a commonsense fix so welfare funds are used as intended to help needy families temporarily, to help them find jobs, get back on their feet, provide for their families. i urge support and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington yields. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 4137. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. . in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 4994, the improving care e post-acute transformation of 2014. the clerk: a bill to amend title 18 of the social security act, to provide for standardized post-acute care assessment data, for quality payment and discharge planning and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. brady, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from texas. mr. brady: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the subject of the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. brady: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. brady: mr. speaker, today i rise in support of the impact act. this bill has a clever name, it will do what it says, it will have a positive impact on the medicare program. much work has been done to investigation how to improve -- investigate how to improve care for seniors. last june the ways and means subcommittee held a hearing on care delivery after a hospitalization or what we call post-acute care. much like the impact act, the hearing was bipartisan. and focused on post-acute reforms that the president advanced in his annual budget. it's been over a decade since meaningful changes have been made in the care of medicare patients after hospitalization is paid.

we've recently made progress. site-neutral payments for long-term care hospitals and the value-based readmission programs for nursing homes have been signed into law. these changes are a positive step in the right direction. talks of broader reform have been ongoing as concerns of the impact of the solvency of the major sources of funding for this care, medicare hospital insurance h.i. trust fund, persists. the medicare trustees have explicitly told us the trajectory of spending from the h.i. trust fund is unsustainable. the trustees' current estimate is that the h.i. trust fund will be insolvent by 2030. since 2008, the trust fund has been spending more money than it's been taking in. no wonder the h.i. trust fund has not met the trustees' formal test of short-range financial adequacy since 2003. this is a major problem. the h.i. trust fund is a ticking time bomb.

the impact act is not the full solution, but it's a vital step on the path toward the solution. the impact act lays the foundation for future reform. the act establishes standard data and metrics across all of medicare's post-hospitalization settings, including nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. this important information will allow congress to make fewer you to -- future reforms armed with the facts. we all owe it to the seniors across america to catapult the medicare program into the 21st century, and that's exactly what this bill does. caring for our seniors after they're in the hospital is important. and we need to ensure the trust fund is solvent, to allow us to continue to provide this care to our children and grandchildren. this is just plain good, commonsense policy. i'm voting in favor of the impact act and i urge my colleagues to do the same. with that i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair will note this bill is being considered as amended. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: thank you very much. i yield myself such time as i shall consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: this legislation is truly a bipartisan effort, i congratulate mr. brady and all of the colleagues on both sides of the aisle on the committee who worked on this. and i think, mr. brady, you'd like to join me i'm sure in thanking the staff for their very considerable work on this. the affordable care act is making major strides towards improving our health care system, including moving toward accountability quality-driven care. this legislation furthers its quality effort in the

post-acute care space. it is also the first step towards modernizing post-acute care payments to medicare providers. the current lack of apples to apples quality and patient assessment data in post-accuse settings makes it difficult to evaluate the quality and cost effectiveness of these providers. this bipartisan, bicameral legislation crafted with my colleagues on the ways and means and senate finance committees requires post-acute providers to report common data elements across settings, including patient assessments of function and mobility and quality and resource use measures. over time these data will enable health care providers, patients and their families to determine the best post-acute

setting for that patient's particular condition and preferences. the legislation also asks the secretary and med-pac to provide suggestions and models for how congress may reform post-acute care payments in the future. as we continue to strive for quality and value in the medicare program, it is important we do not discourage providers from caring for complex patient populations. that is why this legislation directs the secretary to study the effect of individual socioeconomic status, health literacy, english language proficiency, and other factors on quality and research use measurement. and then incorporate those findings into value-based performance programs. lastly, the impact act ensures

quality within the hospice benefit, by requiring the providers are surveyed by an appropriate accreditting agency at least once every three years. overall, the impact act is supported by a multitude of stakeholder organizations. so i encourage my colleagues to vote yes and to take this important step and i want to underline that, this important tep towards modernizing voytal post-acute care -- vital post-acute care. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. brady: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to a key member of the ways and means committee and a champion for affordable health care, the gentleman from new york, mr. reed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. reed: i thank the gentleman from texas for yielding and,

mr. speaker, i rise tonight in strong support of the impact act. h.r. 4994. in particular i would direct my comments tonight in regards to the provisions that deal with hospice care in america. and i would thank the ranking member, mr. levin, a friend who has stood with us in regards to this act and i echo his support and request for support for its pass and this evening. when we drafted the hospice opportunities for supporting patients with integrity and care evaluations, otherwise known as the hospice act, i was glad to bring those issues to the forefront in the debate that's been incorporated in the impact act tonight. to me hospice care is the right thing to do for our fellow americans that face those hard decisions as we deal with health care at the end of our lives. to me the hospice act and the provisions in the impact act go to ensure that there's quality care when it comes to hospice care for our fellow americans. these reforms are necessary,

they are the right thing to do and they will ensure that hospice in america is done in a quality, well-conducted manner for all of our fellow americans. i would like to thank my co-author on this, mr. mike thompson from california, with his bipartisan support, and with my colleagues on the other side joining us in regards to these reforms to hospice care across america. and with that, mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: thank you. you ready to close? o i'll close just briefly to reiterate. this is a product of months and months of work. across the aisle. staffs working together.

many, many hours. i think probably at various hours of the day and night. maybe even as late as it is tonight on other days. so i think we should be proud of this product and i hope all of us will support it. i thank mr. brady for his work on this and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan yields. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. brady: mr. speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. brady: the bill began with an open letter to stakeholders as ranking member levin said. and following our bipartisan call to action, we received over 70 comments in response to our letter, asking for specific recommendations to improve care for seniors. there were three central themes that stakeholders urged us to pursue. and they are very simple. one, create a common measure set with standardized data to assess equality -- quality of health care, the way it's

delivered. carefully research and study to care's post-acute set, inform -- settings. and then third, place emphasis on informing the patient and team of caregivers during the discharge planning process in order to more effectively coordinate care. the impact act achieves these important objectives. support for impact comes from hospitals, nursing homes, home health care providers, leading quality groups like the national quality forum, and leading beneficiary advocates. i'd like to highlight a few. we are supportive of the goals of the impact act and fully support the patient assessment and discharge planning process. from the american academy of physical and i reserve the balance of my time.tive medicine who represents rehab physicians, quote, the presence of these quality measures will ensure that patients are receiving the best possible care in the most

appropriate setting and from the national coalition on health care who represents many medicare beneficiaries says quote, payers, providers and family caregivers can work together to identify the best care setting for each individual and policy makers can grin reform. on behalf of chairman dave camp, i want to thank the ranking member, mr. levin, and his staff for all their good work in joining us in this bipartisan and bicameral effort. time to support our seniors and improve the medicare program on which they rely. i urge you to vote yes and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4 94 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. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5462. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5462, a bill to amend title 49 united states code to provide for limitations on the fees charged to passengers of air carriers. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. hudson and the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee,

each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. hudson: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and stepped their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hudson: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 5462, a bill i introduced to address executive overreach affecting the traveling public. this bill would lower fees for certainly airline passengers by clarifying congressional intent and setting a cap that they collect for round trips. they helped to defray security costs and ensure that our net wrork remains safe. when fees were increased. t.s.a. thought it could collect

a higher amount than congress intended and eliminate its cap. bipartisan members of the house and senate and authors of the budget act agree that t.s.a. is not authorized to collect higher fees from travelers which will add $70 million to the cost of travel. h.r. 5462 looks to correct this overreach and save american taxpayers tore shell out millions of dollars. reducing the burden on airline passengers benefits everyone from helping families on vacation to cuttings costs to small businesses. i urge my colleagues to support the bill. and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina reserves. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of h.r.

5462 and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. jackson lee: at the outset i would like to commend the chairman of the subcommittee on transportation for the bipartisan approach he has taken with this legislation. i know that mr. thompson and mr. richmond has joined him on this legislation. h.r. 5462 seeks to remove any confusion about a key provision of the bipartisan budget act of 2013 as enacted into law on december, 2013. section 601 of that law provided for the aviation security fee that transportation security administration collects to increase from $5.60 for one-way trip. since 9/11, this department was created and the fees have been utilized to continue to protect the homeland, fees that are assessed by the airline and utilized by transportation --

assessed on the airlines utilized by the transportation security administration. we are attempting to make sure that the process is fair. the language did not specifically cap the fee for round-trip ticket but common sense would tell us that congress intended the fee for a round trip to be twice of that a round trip for $11.20. t.s.a. missed this intent resulting in passengers being assessed an excessive fee. we are to provide the kind of oversight that treats the t.s.a. fairly and ensuring they are protecting the traveling public and ensuring they are trained and acknowledging the important work that they do. but we ask likewise the traveling public and balance that that the fees that are assessed are not excessive. the legislation clarifies that the passenger security fee should be capped for round trip

at twice the rate assessed for a one-way trip. mr. speaker, for the better part of five months, the committee has been engaged in back and forth with t.s.a. on this issue. with this guidance, this will resolve this issue once and for all for the american flying public. it is important to be balanced and fair. mr. speaker, simply put, this straightforward bipartisan legislation will ensure that passengers are no longer charged air transportation fees above and beyond what congress envisioned and intended. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the the gentlewoman from texas reserves. the gentleman from north carolina. mr. hudson: i have no further speakers. i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: i yield myself such time as i may consume.

with that, let me thank chairman hudson for his leadership on this issue and the give-and-take that has gone on. i want to add two more points and urge my colleagues to support this bill so t.s.a. can no longer charge security fees above and beyond what congress has intended. mr. hudson will agree with me on the importance of the work and the improvement of training that we have seen officers and the line of defense, if you will, that they serve in the nation's airports. with that, i want to acknowledge an incident that occurred allegedly occurred or occurred with an officer in nigeria. i want to express to the federal air marshals, my concern for that issue and that incident and to the particular air marshal who was in the line of duty having been attacked with a

needle that we expressed our concern and we are pleased that there are continued negotiations garding the process of those people going through international airports. lastly, i would say and i hope we would engage in this discussion. i know chairman hudson is having a number of meetings. we are aware of the backdrop of the meeting we will have on isil, the potential on the impact on the homeland. we have about 100 american passport individuals who have left for the fight, foreign fighters. and so i am looking to interviews in very short order, legislation that are indicates no fly for foreign fighters act of 2014, which gives greater details and assessment of the

no-fly list, watch list, to make sure those with american passports who have gone to the fight, cannot be on american -- on our airlines. so i'm looking forward to working with the committee on this issue. and i only offer that, mr. speaker, and mr. chairman, because of the important work of the transportation security committee and the responsibilities that we have here on that -- on the securing of the homeland, really is a strong component of the transportation security committee. and you have been a leader along with the ranking member. i look forward to working with you. and i believe the homeland security committee and the homeland security agency is a y factor in this threat of isil in making sure that americans are safe. i conclude by asking my colleagues to support h.r. 5462

and to support the idea of fair and balanced assessment on passenger security fee. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas yields back. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. hudson: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i would like to thank ranking member thompson and ranking member jackson lee for their work on this issue and i appreciate the comments the gentlelady had tonight and i would echo that i appreciate the bipartisan nature in which she works on issues on the homeland security committee. i appreciate the relationship weave's had and respect the gentlelady very much and respect the advice that she has given me and the cooperation under which we have worked throughout this congress. and i think this product that we bring to the floor today is an example of bipartisanship of the

best kind where we can come together, republicans and democrats, and work to the betterment of the american people. and i thank the gentlelady. at this time, i would like to submit a letter from the airline industry in support of this bipartisan bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hudson: as chairman of the transportation security committee, i would like to reduce taxes and makes air travel more accessible and leading to more frequent trips and more dollars invested in our local communities. i urge my colleagues to vote yes. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5462. 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, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. on thaton: mr. speaker,

vote, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mrs. capito of west virginia for today and mr. holt of new jersey for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted.

for what purpose does does gentlelady from texas wish to be ecognized? ms. jackson lee: thank you for your kindness. i thought it was extremely important to rise today to congratulate the president on recognizing the crucialness of the fight against this horrific disease ebola in africa. i have been in africa over the last four, five months. ebola is devastating to the west african countries. they have been fighting on their own, but it has been recognized that they do not have the infrastructure to be able to contain the disease. by sending 3,000 of our men and

women of the united states military, but as equally important, providing for the containers so the self-made hospital containers that can be utilized to provide the infrastructure for these countries to be able to fight ebola. there is no medical system existing now because everyone is fighting, and therefore everyone in essence, ensuring that the illness is not taken care of. this is a crisis. we need to be engaged and fight against ebola so it can be extinguished. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> address the house for one minute. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. . i was with the president in going after isis but not with

people we can't trust. the people the president wants to support actually are guilty of beheadings themselves. but apparently they're moderate beheadings. it's also important to note that hezbollah has reached -- released a statement saying that president obama is not determined enough to confront i.s. and they say those who delve deeper into the american stance will notice americans except sigh sis in our region -- isis in our region while trying to pretent is from spreading to their country. this is not the way to go. these people cannot be trusted. it's time for us to stand either help the kurds since turkey is not willing to face this crisis by the putting boots on the ground and actually fighting i.c. for us, then -- i.s. for us, then arm the kurds. i know the turks are afraid of that but we're more concerned about i.s. help the curds and let's wipe out i.s. but not with syrians

we cannot trust. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman have a motion? mr. gohmert: at this time i would move that we do now hereby adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m.

as members return here on c-span. secretary chuck hagel announced an increase in air strikes against the islamic militant group isis. next on c-span. and debates on the house floor. on the strategy to combat isis. about the ebola outbreak and the decision to send troops to combat the virus. iteriss congressman luis joins us on immigration issues. we will continue the conversation on higher education. "washington journal" is live every morning on -- at 7 a.m. eastern you can join the conversation on facebook and

twitter. our campaignnd 2014 debate coverage continues. friday night at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span. of the arkansas governors debate. debating the former administrator of the dea republican asa hutchinson. saturday night at eight p.m., let coverage of the debate between kerry -- governor terry branstad and state senator jack hatch. the director of astrobiology caleb sharf life on earth and debates on how it began. later life as a double

agent. marking the 50th anniversary of the war and commission set up to investigate the assassination of president kennedy. counsel and staff members described their investigation and sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. houreal america," the two special report detailing the warren commission's fighting -- findings. find out television schedule at www.c-span.org. call us. @comments @ c-span.org. like us on facebook. follow us on twitter. >> military commanders testify about president obama's strategy to combat the group isis.

the committee is chaired by senator carl levin of michigan. additional u.s. personnel war"]ing "no [chanting "no more war"]

[gavel] >> you can either take your seats and be quiet or please leave. this morning the committee receives testimony from the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. and the threat posed by the islamic state of direct -- iraq in the levant. and generalgel dempsey, we welcome you both. we look forward to your testimony. the iraqierrorized and syrian people, engaging in and attacking schools,

hospitals, and cultural sites. isis has brought home its barbarity with the beheading of american journalists. a british aid worker. while isis is focused on building an islamic caliphate in the middle east, it's poisonous ideology is hostile. not only to the region but to the world. there is real risk that the area it controls can become a launching pad for future terrorist attacks against the united states and our allies. this rate is amplified by foreign fighters who travel from western companies to join with isis and then return to their countries of origin with advanced training and fighting experience. i returned from iraq where u.s. airstrikes are helping kurdish forcesand iraqi security break the momentum.

our military leaders and intelligence experts uniformly say that airstrikes alone will not be sufficient to defeat isis. a number of elements of a successful strategy are embodied in the approach outlined i the president last week. a participation of key arab states in the region will be critical to the effectiveness of any international coalition. if western countries act in iraq and syria without visible anticipation and leadership of arab nations they will play into the pop -- propaganda picture. we are -- that are interested in dominating iraq and syria. the poisonous strand is a threat to all muslim countries and can only be purged in a lasting way by mainstream islam and the arab world. conferences were a good start. with a number of arab states declaring their shared

commitment to develop a strategy to destroy issa wherever it is including in iraq and syria. and joining in an international pledge by whatever means necessary. our assistance has been requested by the government of iraq which has made a commitment to govern in an inclusive manner. the effort to rid iraq of isis cannot be successful without the support of all elements of iraq he society including shiites, kurds, and religious minorities but also the sunny -- sunni tribes who strongly opposed the maliki government. and the world of the isis poison. third, the president has

announced that combat operations in iraq and syria will be carried out by iraqis and syrians. but the support of a broad international coalition. that is the better approach because in this part of the world, the use of military force by western nations can be counterproductive if it is not done correctly. in the absence of a western target on the ground, isis' actions will undermine its own cause because its brutality will continue to be targeted at fellow muslims. we should be fully engaged in training and equipping iraqis, syrians, kurds and other local forces that are willing to take on isis, but we should try to counter the narrative of fanatics who attack western combat forces on the ground as an occupation. i believe the president under both domestic and international law has the authority to conduct the type of limited military campaign that he outlined last week. however, bipartisan,

congressional support will make it easier for the president to build an international coalition, including the open and visible support of arab countries. we should have the chance before we leave to vote on legislation that would authorize the u.s. military to openly train and equip the vetted moderate opposition in syria, and i hope that congress can come together to support it. senator inhoff. >> thank you, mr. chairman. after a year of the white house indecision and hand wringing, the president finally presented to the american people his strategy to defeat isis. however, that was announced last week fell sort in two vital areas that i want to share with you. first, the president again failed to acknowledge the seriousness of the threat that isis poses to the united states national security and its homeland. his claim that america is safe may support his political narrative but it is not true. secretary hagel, i appreciate

your honesty when you described isis on august 21st. you said it is an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it's in iraq or any place else. i agree with you. isis has reported 35,000 fighters. nearly three times larger than it was in june. it's tripled since june. it is growing larger every day. it is estimated that at least 2,000 fighters hold western passports and at least 100 are u.s. citizens. that's coupled with their vast resources, large safe haven, blood thirst to kill more mens is a recipe for disaster. the administration continues to say no specific evidence of thoughts against the homeland exist. i want to remind everyone we didn't have any specific evidence or plots against the homeland before 9/11. now we face an extreme disorganization that is larger, more brutal and better networked and better funded than al qaeda ever was. i believe it is critical to have in the record that we

established today how isis is fundamentally different from al qaeda. first of all, al qaeda hides in caves. isis takes holds and governs territories the size of my state of oklahoma. secondly, al qaeda has small groups of specialized fighters using terrorist tactics. isis is an army with tanks, artillery, using conventional insurgent and terrorist tactics. al qaeda is based in remote regions of the world, isis sits on europe's doorstep. al qaeda outdated propaganda -- used outdated propaganda in arab language media but isis uses sophisticated media in multiple languages, including english. al qaeda spent $1 million -- this is very significant, mr. chairman. they spent $1 million on 9/11. isis we are going to say until today takes more than $1 million every day. there's an ap story it morning that shows very convincingly

that they have access to an additional $3 million every day. now the second thing that i think is a vital area. the president's strategy to defeat isis is fundamentally detached from the reality on the ground. let's be clear. isis commands a terrorist army surprised of tens of thousands of organizers fighters who have tanks and high-tech missiles and artillery. its conventional battlefield successes have allowed it to triple its ranks in size in only three months. it will take an army to beat an army. but instead the president presented the limited counterterrorism strategy that he compared to his approach in yemen and somalia. the difference between al qaeda in yemen and somalia and that of isis are enormous and our streej for each should reflect that reality. taking this one-size-fits-all is destined for failure. the architect of the successful u.s. air campaign that destroyed the taliban army on the

battlefield in 2001 said, this is a quote, "we need to institute an aggressive air campaign in which air power is applied like a thunderstorm not like a drizzle. furthermore, air strikes can only be fully expectative especially in urban areas and isis is entrenched in. when paired with skills of the trained air controller on the ground, the president already ruled out boots on the ground. there was a selective sigh of relief at isis headquarters in syria when they heard him say that. his claim of no boots on the ground is an insult to the men and women in iraq today who are serving in harm's way. we already have boots on the ground in baghdad and throughout iraq. we should ask the pilots dropping bombs over iraq whether they think they are in combat. pilots who face the real threat of having to eject over isis-held territory. i'm not advocating an army division or combat elements on the ground, but it is foolhardy

for the obama administration to tie the hands and so firmly rule out the possibility of air controllers and special operators on the ground to direct air strikes and advise fighter forces. it sends the wrong message to our troops, to the enemy and their partners. furthermore, if congress does authorize the training and equipping of the syrian moderate opposition, and then pushes them into combat without advisors on the ground, that effort is most likely to fail. and we still don't have answers to the most important and fundamental questions about what we're ultimately trying to accomplish such as what does a defeated or destroyed isis look like. finally, i hope we get answers today, not only to the president's strategy but also about the current state of our military residents. general dempsey, nothing significant has changed when you warned on february 12th of last year -- not this year -- that our military is on a path where the force may become "so degraded and so unready that it would be immoral to use force."

with six years of massive budget cuts and another round of defense sequestrations on the horizon, we're still on that path. despite this, the administration is still calling on our military to support its pivot to asia, bolster our european allies against a growing russian threat, successfully transition or missions and launch military operations against isis in iraq and syria. unlike what the president seems to believe, you can't have it both ways. fr9rgridx$ñ on one hand while expecting our military to do it on the other. if we want our military men and women to go into harm's way, defend this country, we need to give them the training, tools and support they need to sucsu succeed. the trademark of this administration -- a lot of tough

talk, not backed by meaningful action. i was hoping we could debate these broad dly important issue but we have not been able to do that. looks like, mr. chairman, this is it. thank you. >> thank one senator inhoff. secretary hagel. >> chairman levin, senator inhoff, members of the committee. chairman dempsey and i very much appreciate the opportunity -- >> okay. we're asking you again to please sit down and if not we're going to ask you to leave. no, thank you. thank you for -- would you please now leave? would you please now leave? i'm asking you to please leave. >> you're acting very war like yourself. would you please leave. >> no military solution to this. no more war. no military solution. no more war. >> thank you.

>> mr. chairman, as i was saying, chairman dempsey and i very much appreciate the opportunity this morning to discuss the president's strategy to degrade and ultimately defeat isil. as you know, you all know, today president obama's in atlanta meeting with cdc officials regarding the ebola crisis. then will travel tonight to tampa to receive a briefing from the commander of u.s. central command, general austin, on operational plans to implement his isil strategy. i'll join the president tomorrow in tampa for that briefing. the defense department civilian and military leaders are in complete agreement that the united states and our allies and partners must take action against isil and that the president's strategy is the right approach. however, as president obama has repeatedly made clear, american military power alone cannot,

will not eradicate the threats posed by isil to the united states, our allies, and our friends and partners in the region. iraq's continued political progress toward a more inclusive and representative government in its programs of reform and reconciliation will be critical to achieve the progress required. we believe that new iraqi minister, prime minister is committed to bringing all iraqis together against isil. to support him and the iraqi people in their fight, the coalition will need to use all its instruments of power. we intend to use all of those instruments of power, military, law enforcement, economic, diplomatic, and intelligence in coordination with all the countries in the region. to succeed this strategy will also require a strong partnership between our executive branch and our congress. the president has made it a priority to consult with

congressional leadership on the isil challenge. as have vice president biden, secretary kerry and many senior members of the administration. i have appreciated the opportunities i've had to discuss the president's strategy with many members of this committee and other members of the senate and house over the last couple of weeks. europeani. the world has seen isil's barbarity up close as its fighters advanced across western and northern iraq and slaughtered thousands of innocent civilians including sunni and she a muslims and kurdish iraqis and religious minorities. ais isil's murder of two journalists

exposed their tactics. over the weekend, we saw isil's murder of a british citizen. isil now controls a vast swathe of eastern syria and western and northern iraq including towns and cities in all these areas. isil has gained strength by exploiting the civil war in sear dwra and sectarian strive in rag. and it has seized territory and acquired significant resources and advanced weapons. isil has employed violence acon military tactics. isil has been very adept at using social media to increase its global profile and attract fighters. its goal is to become the new van guard of a global extremist movement and establish extremist islamic calliphatcaliphate.

while isil clearly poses an immediate threat to american citizens in iraq and our interests in the middle east, we also know that thousands of foreign fighters, including europeans and more than 100 americans have traveled to syria. with passports that give them relative freedom of movement, these fighters can exploit isil's safe haven to plan, coordinate and carry out attacks against the united states and europe. although the intelligence community has not yet detected specific plotting against the u.s. home land, isil has global aspirations and as president obama has made clear, isil's leaders have threatened america and our allies. if left up checked, isil will directly let p our homeland and our allies. in his address to the nation last week, president obama announced that the united states will lead a broad multinational coalition to roll back the isil threat. more than 40 nations have

already expressed their willingness to participate in this effort and more than 30 nations have indicated their readiness to offer military support. president obama, vice president biden, secretary kerry and and others have been working and will ten to work to unite and expand this coalition. at the nato summit, secretary kerry akon scrend i convened a of key partners. turkey by virtue of its common interests in destroying isil will play an important role in this effort. turkey joined our meeting in wales and secretary kerry and i continue to discuss specific contributions turkey will make. secretary kerry convened a meeting last week with the foreign ministers from the six gulf corporation councils

nations egypt, iraq, jordan and lebanon. and all signed a communique to do their share in the comprehensive fight against isil including joining the many aspects of a coordinated military campaign against isil. also last week 2 it nations of the arab league calling for comprehensive measures to combat isil.2 it nations of the arab league calling for comprehensive measures to combat isil.it nations of the arab league calling for comprehensive measures to combat isil.t nations of the arab league calling for comprehensive measures to combat isil. nations of the arab league calling for comprehensive measures to combat isil. and french president hollande hosted a conference attended by permanent members, arab leaders and representatives of the eu, arab league and the united nations. they all pledged to help iraq in the fight against isil, including through military assistance. key allies such as united kingdom, france and australia are already contributing military support and other partners have begun to make specific offers. at next week's u.n. general

assembly, we expect that additional nations will be begin making commitments across the spectrum of capabilities. building on the strong chapter 7 u.n. security resolution adopted last month calling on all member states to take members to counter isil and suppress the flow of foreign fighters to isil. also next week, from be will chair a meeting of the u.n. security council to further mobilize the international community. as you all know, former international security assistance force commander general john allen has been designated to serve as special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter isil. president obama is meeting with general allen this morning. general allen will work in a civilian diplomatic capacity to sustain the coalition drawing on

his expensive experience in the region. he will be the administration's point man to build support within the region. he will work closely with general austin to ensure that coalition efforts are aligned at croc all elements of our strategy. in his address to the nation, the president outlined the four elements of this strategy. let me now describe how we are implementing this whole government roach. first, in close coordination with the new iraqi government, we are broadening our air campaign to conduct systemic air strikes against isil targets. to protect americans threatened by isil's advances, and to prevent humanitarian catastrophe, u.s. military has already conducted more than 160 successful air strikes which have killed isil fighters, destroyed weapons and equipment and enabled iraqi and kurdish

forces on get back on the offense and secure infrastructure. these actions have disrupted isil tactically and have helped buy time for the iraqi government to begin forming an inclusive and broad based governing coalition led by the new prime minister. that was one of president obama's essential pre-conditions for taking further action against isil. because the iraqi people must be united in their opposition against isil in order to defeat them, this will require a united and inclusive government. this is ultimately their fight. the new broader air campaign will include strikes against all-isil targets and enable iraqi security forces including kurdish forces to continue to recapture territory from isil and hold.security forces includ kurdish forces to continue to recapture territory from isil and hold.

because isil operate as freely and maintains a safe haven in syria, our actions will not be restrained by a border in name only. as the president said last week, if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. the president of the united states as thas the constitutionl authority to use military. and centcom is refining those plans. this plan includes targeted actions against safe havens in syria, include ing its infrastructure. general dempsey and i have reviewed and approved the plan. second, kurdish and iraqi forces and moderate syria operations,

to support them, the president announced he would deploy 475 additional troops to iraq. part of that number includes approximately 150 advisers and support personnel who supplement forces already in iraq, conducting assessments of the iraqi security forces. this assessment mission is now transitioning to an advise and assist mission with more than 15 teams embedding with iraqi security forces at the headquarters level to provide strategic and operational vice and assistance. the rest of the additional 475 troops include 125 personnel to support intelligence, surveillance, and recognizance missions out of erbil. 200 personnel to increase headquarters elements in baghdad and ir beerbil. by the time all these forces

arrive, there will be approximately 1600 u.s. personnel in iraq responding to the isil threat. but as the president said last week, american forces will not have a combat mission. instead these advisers are supporting iraqi and kurdish forces and supporting the government's plan to stand up iraqi national guard units to help sunni communities defeat isil. the best counter wages to isil are local forces and people of the area. in june the president asked congress for the necessary authority for dod on train and equip moderate syrian opposition forces and $500 million to fund this program. we have now secured support from saudi arabia to host the training program for this mission and saudi arabia has offered financial and other support, as well. the $500 million requested in june for this train and equip

program reflects centcom's estimate of the cost to train, equip and resupply more than 5,000 opposition forces over one year. the package of assistance that we initially provide would consist of small arms, vehicles, and basic equipment like communications as well as tactical and strategic training. as they improve effectiveness on the battlefield, we will provide assistance to the most trusted commanders and capable forces. because dod does not currently train and equip mission, the administration has asked congress to proit authority in the continuing resolution it is currently now considering. a rigorous gutting process will be critical for the success of this program. the dod will work closely with the state department, the intelligence community and partners in the region to screen

and vet the forces we train and equip. we will monitor them closely to ensure that weapons do not fall into the hands of radical elements of the opposition, isil or other extremist groups. there will always be risks. there will always be risks in a program like this. but we believe that risk is justified by the imperative of destroying isil. and necessity of having capable partners on the ground in syria. as we pursue this program, the united states will continue to press for a political resolution to the syrian conflict resulting in the end of the assad are a ge regime. assad has created conditions that allow terrorist groups to gain ground.assad has created c that allow terrorist groups to gain ground. the united states will not cooperate with the assad regime.

we will also continue to counter assad through diplomatic and economic pressure. the third element of the president's strategy is an all inclusive approach to preventing attacks on the hope land. the united states will draw on intelligence, diplomatic and economic tools to cut off isil's funding, improve our intelligence,ll draw on intelligence, diplomatic and economic tools to cut off isil's funding, improve our intelligence,ill draw on intelligence, diplomatic and economic tools to cut off isil's funding, improve our intelligence, stem the flow of foreign fighters in and out of region. the department of justice and department of homeland security have launchedage initiative to partner with local communities to counter extremist recruiting and the department of treasuries office of terrorism and financial intelligence is working to disrupt isil's financing and expose their activities. the final element of theed from's strategy is to continue providing humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians displaced or threatened by isil.

alongside the government of iraq, u.s. troops have already delivered life saving aid to threatened civilians on mt. sinjar. in total the u.s. military conducted 32 air drops of food and supplies providing over 818 thurks pou81 818,000 pounds of aid and meals ready to eat. might be, last week the state department announced an additional $48 million in aid for civilian organizations to meet the urgent needs of iraq kiss displaced by isil. our total you humanitarian assistance to displaced iraqis is now more than $186 million for fiscal year 2014. the united states is also the sink guest largest donor of

humanitarian assistance for the millions of syrians affected by the civil war. last week secretary kerry announced an additional $500 million. since the start, the united states has now committed almost $3 billion in humanitarian assistant to those affected by the civil war. all four elementsct to those af the civil war. all four elementset to those afy the civil war. all four elements to those affe the civil war. all four elements require a significant commitment of resources on the part of united states and our coalition partners. mr. chairman, i think everyone on this committee understands fully this will not be an easy or a brief effort. it is complicated. we are at war with isil as we are with al qaeda. but destroying isil will require more than military efforts alone. it will require political progress in the region, and effective partners on the ground in iraq and syria as the congress and administration work together, we know this effort

will take time. the president has outlined a clear comprehensive and workable strategy to achieve our goals and protect our interests. mr. chairman, senator inhofe, thank you for your continued support and partnership. thank you. >> thank you very much, secretary hagel. thank you, would you please leave the room now? we're asking you nicely. we're asking you nicely to please leave the room. look, we're asking you nicely. would you please leave the room. thank you. we'll ask you for the last time. thank you very much. thank you for leaving. as soon as the noise is removed from the room, wild ae would as of you to avoid these kind of outbursts. they are are's not doing anybody

any good including hearing the system and they're not doing you and whatever your cause is very good either. thank you very much. would you please -- i'm asking you nicely to please leave the room. we're asking you again please remove this gentleman. thank you very much. good-bye. thank you. general dempsey. general dempsey. >> chathank you chairman. members of the committee, i do appreciate the opportunity to appear before you this morning. secretary hagel has described in detail the elements of our strategy against isil, the role the united states military is taking is in my judgment approach. job one is empowering the iraqi ground forces to go on the offensive, which they're already beginning on demonstrate.

this requires a partnership with a credible iraqi government which is also showing positive signs of becoming inclusive of all of its population. within this partnership, our advisers are intended to help iraqis develop a mind set for the offensive and take actions consistent with offensive. our military advisers will help the iraqis conduct cam been planning, argue for logistics support and coordinate coalition activities.been planning, argue for logistics support and coordinate coalition activities. if wi reach the point where i believe our advisers should accompany iraq troops, i'll recommend that to the president. as long as isil enjoys the safe haven in syria, it will remain a formidable force and a threat. so while this work in iraq is taking place, we will simultaneously pressure isil in syria. we will begin building a force of vetted, trained moderate

syrias to take on isil. we will work to ensure that they have a syrian chain of command and report to a moderate political authority. this force will work initially at the local and community level and help pull together syrians who have most felt the harsh hand of isil. in conjunction with that long term effort, we will be prepared to strike isil targets in syria that degrade us those capabilities. this won't look like a shock and awe cam been because that's simply not how isil is organized. but it will be a persistent and sustainable campaign. i want to emphasize that our military actions must be part of the whole government effort that works to disrupt isil financing and undermine the isil message. given a coalition of capable willing regional and international partners, i believe we can destroy isil, restore the border and disrupt isil in syria. isil will ultimately be defeated when their cloak of religious

legitimacy is stripped away and the population reject them. our actions are intended to move in that direction. this will require a sustained effort over an extended period of time. it's a generational problem. and we should expect that our enemies will adapt their tactics as we adjust our approach. as the situation in the middle east evolves and continues to demand our attention, we're also balancing other challenges in other regions along with reassuring our european allies against russian aggression. but young men and women in uniform are doing so much more. they conduct hundreds of exercises, activities and engagements every day, actions that deter con glikt and reassure allies around the world. they are performing magnificently. but i am growing increasingly uncomfortable that the will to provide means does not match the will to pursue ends. the secretary and i are doing

what we can inside the department to bridge that gap, but we'll need your help. if we do not depart from our present path over time, i will have fewer military options to offer to the second and to the president. and that's not a position that i wish to find myself. thank you. >> thank u veyou very much. we'll have a six minute first round. we all want to have an opportunity. and then if we go around once and have reasonable hour facing us, we'll try to have a very short second round. general dempsey, let me start by asking you for your professional military opinion of the military strategy which was announced by the president last week. do you personally support the strategy? >> i do, chairman.

>> can you tell us why? >> because the nature of the threat is such that as i mentioned, it will only be defeated when moderate arab and muslim populations in the region reject it. and therefore, the way forward seems to me to run clearly through a coalition of arab and muslim partners and not through the ownership of the united states and this issue. and so the strategy does that. it seems to build a coalition, encourage inclusive go. to address the grievances that have caused this in the first place, it implies u.s. military power where we have unique cape at to do so, and over time it you allows those populations to reject isil. >> and in terms of utilizing the on the ground forces that are

syrian and iraqi rather than western forces, is that part of the thinking at this time, as well, to avoid a western ground force in an arab or muslim country for the same reason you just gave? >> well, i do think that the approach to build the coalition and enable it leads knee leverage our unique capabilities which tend to be as i mentioned the ability to train and plan and provide intelligence and provide air power. as i said in my statement, however, my view at this point is that this coalition is the appropriate way forward. i believe that will prove true. but if it fails to be true, i would of course go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of military ground forces. >> second hagel, you've made reference to this, but i'd like you to elaborate, that the

coalition have strong visible participation by arab and muslim states. >> you've just reflected to general dempsey on your point and i would pick up where general dempsey left off. this is not a west versus east issue. this is not a u.s. european coalition against muslim countries or muslim region. it's important that the world see especially the people in the middle east see that the threat is confronting them first and all of us needs to be addressed by the people of their region as well as all nations and all people in the world.

to have arab muslim nations be present and public about their efforts in this coalition helps that and it's critically important to the ultimate success of winning against all extremist factors and factions in the middle east specifically isil. >> in that same approach of having the people of these countries basically purge of strand of islam that is so poisonous trying to take over in their countries leads, i gather, to one argument of using indigenous national forces on the ground rather than outside and particularly western forces. >> yes. i said in my statement, mr.

chairman, that the most significant powerful force against extremism in the middle east are the people themselves who will not accept that kind of barbarity and brutally. the muslims of the world know what isil represents in no way is what their religion, what their ethnicity, what their b k background represents. and to have local forces be involved, supported by local!sbr people, is the most significant thing i think we can do as we support them, as we are doing and will continue to do in every way to defeat isil and other extremist threats. >> i believe you've testified that the goal is to equip and

train about 5,000 in one year. now, how is that going to match up against the isil numbers and -- well, let me just start with that one. >> well, as i have said and the president said and general dempsey has said and in our briefings here in our closed session briefings we've had with members of the senate and the house and our staff this week, 5,000 is a beginning. this is part of the reason this effort is going to be a long term effort. but we will do it right. we will be able to train and equip these forces through our ability to give them tactical, give them strategic guidance and

leadership. kind of equipment they need where they can move not just as bands of a few people, but as legitimate forces. 5,000 alone is not going to be able to turn the tide to recognize that on this will side. on the isil side, on different estimates that continue to come out, those estimates float, mr. chairman, because it is hard to pinpoint at any one time exactly what the strength of isil is. we know it's significant. we know because of their successes over the last few months they have picked up significant support. we also know a lot of that support is forced support. you will either be part of this or your family is killed or you will be. so it is an imperfect process. but the 5,000 per year -- and we

might be be able to do better. but we don't want to overpromise because we want the right people. our part of the overall strategy that i articulated here as outlined by the president. >> thank you very much. senator inhofe. >> thank you. i'd ask that you turn the maps over. this is just for reference. we put this together where the help of think tanks and the orange is what is under isil control right now. the gray would be the kurdish and brown the annumbitions of i. >> in terms of their ambition, i think that's probably understating. i think if left unaddressed, they would aspire to restore the

ancient kingdom including the current state of israel and runs all the way down to kuwait. >> we're trying to be conservative on this. to let people know that is this a big area. >> i think general dempsey stated it exactly right. >> according to some of the reports, u.s. intelligence agencies believe isil does not represent the immediate threat to the united states. in fact president obama's top counterterrorism adviser occurring his first term, he said members of the cabinet and top military officers all over the place describing the threat in lurid terms that are just not justified. and i appreciate secretary hagel the statement you made when you said that isis poses an imminent threat to every interest we have

whether in iraq or anyplace else. do you still agree with that statement? >> i do. >> and do you, general dempsey? >> i do. >> one of the things that i was glad to see is that the american people, there has been a wake-up call. last week there was a cnn poll that 70 respect about of the people in america believe it's a threat to the homeland. and yesterday a wall street journal poll, the same thing. 70% of the people. so i think that wake-up call has taken. now, president obama said our objective is clear, we would degrade and ultimately destroy isil through a comprehensive and sustained counter strategy. and we've talked about this, this is an army. and i outlined in my opening statement the six basic differences between al qaeda and what we're facing right now. do you generally agree with

that? >> what i generally agree with, senator, is that they have been using conventional tactics until such time as we applied air power. they're beginning to adapt now. >> so you don't agree that that strategy that we would impose against terrorists was appropriate today with looking in terms of the giant army that we're facing? >> no, i agree we have to build the capability of the isf and pesh to include it. >> secretary hagel, i'd like to get in the record here as to who is in charge of the war. we hear the state department saying that they're in line with control. if it's centcom commander austin, then i feel a lot better. is that who is in control of this? is it now military? >> yes.

as i said in my opening statement, i tried to frame some of that up. for example what i mentioned about general allen's role, initial role. as a coordinating role. but i also said he would work directly in that coordination with general austin as the centcom commander. that's why president obama will be with the centcom commander in tampa tomorrow to go over the plan. >> mr. secretary, my concern, i don't want people to be under the dilution that this is just another effort, another terrorist effort that we will be pursuing. asked by a reporter on september 11th to define victory against isil, the white house press said second i didn't bring my dictionary. secretary hagel, you didn't bring yours either. did you describe what victory looks like in the united states against isil? >> well, i believe victory would

be when we complete the mission of degrading and destroying, defeating isil just as the president laid out that was his objective. >> i understand that. i got a different interpretation when he said on the fight against isil, quote, it would not involve american combat troops fighting on soil. american forces do not have a combat mission. let me ask you two question, general p dempsey. in your opinion, are the pie the l pilots dropping bombs a direct combat mission and secondly will u.s. forces be prepared to comb search and rescue? >> yes and yes. >> i appreciate that. and then the last question i have, because i know i've gone beyond my time, we've been

complaining about what's happened in the funding and now we're looking at the sequestration and all of this. in light of all of this that has occurred since we originally talked about the funding necessary, do you think we're adequately funded now to take care of all the things i've stated in my opening statement and you have agreed to? where are we on our funding, are we adequate? >> well, two answers to your question. no is the first bafg answsic an. but the budget that we will be presenting as you know in a few months will contain what we believe will be required to carry forward for the longer term this effort. but in the short term, this is why we're asking for the $500 million authority for the train and equip. plus as you know the president had asked a few months ago for a

$5 billion counterterrorism partnership fnd plus a billion dollar european might be difference fund, as well. so i think what general dempsey said in his statement probably summarized pretty well. as you had noted, all of the different pressures that are now coming down on this country residing a good amount of it at the defense department, one of the things we've been warning about is sequestration. so we will come forward and our budget for the next fiscal year with some new requests. >> on behalf of the joint chiefs, because we've discussed this frequently about our ability to balance, last year we said the size of the force that was projected over the course of

the defense plan was adequate to the task if the assumptions made were valid. and some of the assumptions we made were about commitments and some were about our ability to get pay compensation, health care changes, infrastructure changes and weapon systems. he we didn't get any of those actually or very few, and the commitments have increased. so we do have a problem. there's a base budget issue we have to get. i know that's true but you mentioned the chiefs have come and testified in this room before us that even before these things erupted it was not adequate. as we all know, risk increases when that adequacy is not met. thank you, mr. chairman. >> we have a quorum here now and so i'm going to ask the committee to list the pending

military nominations they've been before the committee. they require a length of time. all in favor say aye. oppose nay. motion carries. thank you very much. senator reid. we've had a debate going on -- >> some boots on the ground. no boots on the ground. it might help us all if you can clarify precisely what our forces are doing in iraq today and you suggested if the situation changes you might come to us with a lem -- recommendation that would enhance their mission. can you clarify what they're doing? >> first of all, i think everyone should be aware when we talk about combat forces. when we bring young men and women in the military, they come in to be a combat soldier or a combat