with presidential records and another concerning government reports. any recorded votes will be held at 6:30 p.m. eastern. the house republican conference will hold leadership elections tomorrow and democrats are expected to hold theirs next week. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. record votes on postponed questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. issa: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to the bill h.r. 4194. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4194, an act to provide for the elimination or modification of federal reporting requirements.

senate amendment. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. issa, and the gentlewoman from the district of columbia, ms. norton, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. . mr. issa: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. issa: thank you again, mr. speaker. i rise to urge my colleagues to support senate amendment to h.r. 4194, the government report eliminations act of 2014. h.r. 4194 passed the house by a voice vote on april 28 of 2014. and an amended version passed the senate under unanimous consent on september 16. i'd like to personally take a moment to thank senator carper

and coal burn as well as the senate homeland security and government affairs committee staff for diligently working on getting this bill passed through the senate. i would also like to personally aoki enators warner and who introduced the campaign onbill in the senate and for working with the o.g.r. and with the house armed services committee and others to get a bill that is so broadly accepted and does so much to eliminate unnecessary and duplicative agency reports. the government report elimination act is part of the committee's effort to reduce waste and duplication in the federal government. we have spent more than a year working with each house committee, vetting each section to ensure that a report that would be useful from an agency is maintained.

the senate amendment reduces to 48 the number of unnecessary agency reports to congress and eliminates or streamlines an additional five. mr. speaker, it's a good start. we started with a much larger report list and we believe that this progress under this bill sets a tone for an annual elimination of reports that have become outdated or unnecessary. it's very clear that each time the congress passes a new piece of legislation or even a new appropriation, there are questions that need to be answered, the executive branch is staffed and funded to answer. however, most reports requested have no termination date. a single report is harmless and generally is accurate to the time of the passing. but one that goes on in perpetuity inevitably becomes outdated and in fact

unnecessary. so, in the future we not only want to continue doing this for ose reports which have an in perpetuity or annual report, but we also want to make sure as a committee that new report requirements written into any piece of legislation have a re-authorization or elimination date. we believe that only through that can we cause the excess reports not to continue in. lastly, i would like to thank the g.a.o., the congress' governmental accountability organization. in 2013 they identified mandates that appeared to be both burdensome and you necessary and they came to the oversight committee and to our counterpart in the senate with these. if not for them, we would not have this bill here today. again, very often the american people see senators on one side and house members on another taking credit for a vote they're about to make or have

just made. not often enough do we realize that not only our personal staffs and our committee staffs, but the staffs that work for congress on a nonpartisan basis, are in fact those who generate most of the good things that ultimately come to this floor. lastly, i'd like to thank this administration. this is one area in which they concurred with us and helped all along the way to try to include as many pieces -- as many reports as they could in this piece of legislation. and with that, mr. speaker, i'd like to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the district of columbia. ms. norton: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. norton: mr. speaker, i rise in support of this important legislation. i am pleased to join my colleagues in support of h.r. 4194, the government reports

elimination act, as amended. i also want to thank my good friend, chairman darrell issa, for his bipartisan approach to this bill. this bill will bring greater efficiency to the overall government of the united states. congress often requires reports from executive branch agencies. and these reports can be a aluable tool to scrutinize performance and assess agency goals. however, with the passage of time, reporting requirements can become outdated or unnecessary or duplicative. congress and the executive branch have recognized that improved coordination across the federal government benefits both the taxpayer and the government. in 2010 congress passed the

government reform -- performance and results modernization act. that act requires the office of management and budget to publish a list of plans or reports that are produced by the executive branch pursuant to congressional mandate. the act also requires the ministration to identify potentially outdated or duplicative plans and reports on whether de views they should be eliminated. in january, 2013, the office of management and budget produced a list of more than 300 plans and reports that are potentially outdated or duplicative. majority and minority staffs of our committee worked together

to review this list. during this process, the views of all other committees of jurisdiction were also considered. a similar process occurred in the senate. h.r. 4194, as amended, will eliminate the statutory requirements to prepare reports that are produced by 17 different federal agencies. implementing h.r. 4194 would reduce the administrative costs of these agencies by reducing the number of reports that must be prepared and printed. the congressional budget office has estimated that implementing the bill would save about $1 million over the next five years. h.r. 4194 provides for greater

efficiency and a more effective federal government. mr. speaker, i strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. issa: mr. speaker, this is a good bill. it's worth the time we've put into discussing it. it's worth thanking majority leader kevin mccarthy for his support on it. and i think a special opportunity to thank both congressman woodall and congressman connolly for their support as original co-sponsors on this bill. it is amazing to me that you can have dozens and dozens of reports senselessly coming back from the administration, not being read, not being needed, obsolete, and then when you point it out, there's no

objection whatsoever to eliminating them. and i think that's exactly the situation we have here. i look forward to working with the majority leader's office and with the minority leader's office to make sure that this is an annual event, until we reach a point where there are zero pieces of reports coming to the congress that are unread or unused or unnecessary. of that i urge passage this bill and i'm prepared to close and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. ms. norton: i just want to join in his remarks about this bill. this bill is the efficiency bill. we've been doing the same thing over and over again until the chairman got the bright idea that maybe we should stop doing. this i think we're in for more efficiency as more federal agencies go through the same

process. with that, mr. chairman, -- mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. issa: once again, urging support for the bill, 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 concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 4194. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative -- mr. issa: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman seek recognition? mr. issa: yes, i seek recognition to ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on this -- pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. issa: mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to the bill h.r. 1233.

the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1233, an act to amend chapter 22 of the of of title 44, united states code, popularly known as the presidential records act, to establish procedures for the consideration of claims of constitutionally based privilege against disclosure of presidential records, and for other purposes. senate amendments. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. issa, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. issa: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. issa: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. issa: mr. speaker, we are here today to consider the senate amendment to h.r. 1233,

the presidential and federal records act amendments of 2014. this bill would introduced by the ranking member who i see is here today and was first passed house on january 14 of this year. and it was passed by a vote of 420-0. let not a unanimous vote belie the fact that the ranking member worked hard to find consensus within the house and to make sure that this was a well-reasoned and in fact tailored piece of legislation. the senate, as it often does, did make some changes. but ultimately this bill, h.r. 1233, which would codify existing executive order and allows former presidents to appeal to incumbent presidents to keep certain presidential documents privileged under the presidential records act, is

the good work of mr. cummings. this bill would lock into statute a process established back when president reagan was in fact in congress. and the president obama in 2009 restored this by executive order. however, like anything that the congress has observed for a long time being done by executive order, the question is, should it be on the whim of the next president, should it in fact be something which statter toly is part -- statutorily is part of the presidential director's act? i think particularly important is the fact that mr. cummings recognizes that past presidents, including president clinton and of course president w. bush, do in fact have a number of things that occurred on their watch which remain sensitive today. allowing the standing of these individuals and the oversight of the current president is a good middle ground and it's one

that balances the needs of the public, something that mr. cummings and i feel strongly about, the transparency and the freedom of information and access, is important but at the same time we recognize that there are times when a secret must remain a secret, an action must remain an action. doesn't change the fact that congress may have an interest or the american people might prevail, this bill does rightfully so and on a unanimous basis now in the house and the senate codify historic federal record keeping. we believe it is good. i want to take a moment to thank mr. cummings personally for his hard work. he not only championed the bill but he worked well in the senate to make sure it came back to us today. with that i'd reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. . mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: thank you, mr.

speaker. i introduced the bill we are considering today, the presidential and federal records act amendments, to give the american people access to records presidents create while they are in office. i appreciate, first of all, the kind words of the chairman and i appreciate the support this bill has received from them. chairman issa as well as the homeland security and governmental affairs chairman tom carper. this passed by a vote of 424-0. and it passed the senate with no opposition. there are not many bills that make it through both house and senate without even a hint of opposition, but this is one of them. when the senate passed the house bill it made technical changes that require us to pass the bill again. i hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this bill again so that we can send it to the president for his signature. the bill will amend the presidential records act by adding procedures to ensure

that the records of presidents and the senior advisors are released to the public in a timely manner. under current law, presidents can restrict access to their records for up to 12 years after they leave office. after that time, presidents may continue to restrict access to their records by asserting that they are protected by executive privilege. under this bill, the records of current and former presidents will continue to be protected for 12 years after they leave office. after that period, however, the bill would create a presumption of disclosure, and president woos have up to 90 days -- presidents would have up to 90 days to object or records would automatically be released. if records are requested more than 12 years after a president leaves office, this bill will replace the burden -- will place the burden on the president to review those records and either assert executive privilege or allow

them to be publicly disclosed. this will have them review their records before they are released. the legislation would also impact the -- would not impact the ability of presidents to protect records because of national security concerns. the bill has also been amended to address an issue raised by the white house. in the original version of this bill, presidents would have had 40 days to review records based on bipartisan, bicameral negotiations, the current version of the bill now extends that review period to 90 days. the presidential and federal records ack amendments would also require -- act amendments would also require a privilege be affirmed by the incumbent by the president or through a court order for the record to be held from -- withheld from the public. this will provide an important

section to ensure that presidents cannot keep their records secret without accountability. the bill also luss language based on an amendment that chairman darrell issa proposed during the committee markup of the bill to address the use of personal email by the federal employees, and that amendment makes the bill even better. this bill will continue to allow employees to use their personal email account for official business when necessary, but it would require employees to copy their official email account or forward their email to their official account. the presidential federal record act amendments updates the federal records act to modernize the definition of what constitutes a record and to allow agencies to use digital reproductions when required to maintain copies of documents. finally, this bill is an important step forward in protecting our historical

records. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 1233 and send it onto the president's desk. again, i want to thank the chairman of the committee for your cooperation, working with me over a good bit of time to bring this to the floor and i really appreciate it and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. issa: i would inquire are there further speakers on the other side on this bill. mr. cummings: no. mr. issa: then i reserve the right to close. mr. cummings: i urge -- i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: i urge all of our members to vote in favor of this bill. it's a good bill. it's been made better because we had the input of both sides of the aisle. and not only both sides of the aisle but also the senate, and so with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. issa: thank you, mr. speaker. in closing, i just want to hit wo points that i think are

noteworthy. historically agencies kept their records for 30 years. the presumption they would keep them for 30 years before turning them over to the national archives. with ranking member's assistance, this piece of legislation also eliminates that presumption. we as a committee felt very strongly as soon as they turn their records over to the archivists the better off it is. in an electronic era where it's a push of one button to transfer data, this piece of legislation not only eliminates the presumption but highly encourages data be transferred rather than mountains of paper or what's called a p.d.f., a print to file, if you will. this is a significant improvement and something minority and majority were able to work on together along with the archivists who was personally involved in this. lastly, i owe a debt of gratitude to the ranking

member. in this bill, the amendment he mentioned is included, but the ranking member also signed onto a letter asking that h.r. 5170 be taken up by the senate, a more explicit attempt to change the record keeping outside of official use within the government. this has been an area in which multiple different cabinet positions under multiple presidents have found themselves with some very embarrassing failure to store and maintain the data. at the end of the day i'm confident that our committee under the ranking member and under the chairman that will likely replace me will continue this effort, make sure that american people know that if a covered individual is required to keep a record of his or her transactions and emails, that it will in fact be in the record and available not just for congress but eventually for the american people to see. we believe that this is an important part of government

transparency and, again, i want to thank the ranking member who personally signed on and will continue on behalf of the committee to make sure that the american people get the full benefit of all records that are in fact created under any administration. with that i urge support for this bill and i thank the speaker and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendments to h.r. 1233. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the senate amendments are agreed to, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5266. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. does the gentleman mean to call up the bill as amended? mr. lobiondo: yes, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 454, h.r. 5266, a bill to re-authorize the national estuary programs, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lobiondo, and the gentleman from new york, mr. bishop, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. lobiondo: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on

h.r. 5266. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lobiondo: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lobiondo: first, i want to thank mr. shuster, mr. gibbs, mr. bishop, mr. larson for helping me bring 5266, the national estuary program re-authorization, to the floor. i also want to thank my colleagues, mr. posey, mr. murphy of florida in helping me get this legislation drafted and ushered through the committee in a bipartisan way. this version of the national estuary program re-authorization is fiscally responsible by reducing the authorization levels by $8 million while ultimately increasing the amount of money each estuary program will receive. this re-authorization will detail just how the e.p.a. is to spend the authorized and appropriated money. unlike many programs under the clean water act, the national estuary program is a

nonregulatory program. instead, it is designed to support the collaborative, voluntary efforts of federal, state and local stakeholders to restore degraded estuaries. unfortunately, national estuary programs have been losing money due to the e.p.a. administrative costs. by setting limits of 5% for administrative costs for the e.p.a., we can guarantee 80% of the funding goes to the end user and the n.e.p. and not bureaucratic salaries and red tape. in this year's re-authorization we set aside 15% of funding for competitive award program. this program will seek applications meant to deal with urgent and challenging issues that threaten ecological and economic well-being of coastal areas by structuring how the money is spent and lowering authorization levels. this legislation strikes the right balance of fiscal and environmental responsibilities. i urge all members to support 5266, and i reserve the balance

of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. bishop: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bishop: i rise in support of h.r. 5266, to re-authorize appropriations for the national estuary program. first, mr. speaker, i'd like to recognize my committee colleague, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lobiondo, and the gentleman from washington state, mr. larson, for introducing this legislation. our nation's coasts and oceans provide a wealth of resources for the entire country and among these areas nowhere is nor valuable than estuaries. they are bodies of water that receive both fresh water from rivers and saltwater from the sea. this mix makes a unique environment that is extremely productive in terms of its ecosystem values. government studies have found that estuaries provide habitat for 75% of the u.s. commercial and 80% to 90% of the recreational fishing catches. perhaps the central problem in the protection and restoration

of estuaries is that they ultimately lie downstream. everything that enters the smallest stream, tributary or headwater in a watershed eventually runs into a single outlet, impacting in some way all the biological elements of that ecosystem and all of the commerce that reinvolves around the estuary. -- reinvolves around the estuary. the -- revolves around the estuary. the first district of new york abutts two estuaries in the program. he long island sound and the petonic bay. their continued health and vitality provide multiple benefits to the residents of long island and to the economic and environmental health of the region. i am pleased that this legislation demonstrates the willingness of this congress to move legislation that protects our water-related environment. the federal seed money that comes from the e.p.a.'s national estuaries program, when combined with other state and local resources, helps to comblment locally drirch

solutions to local -- locally driven solutions. they are closely related to the availability of adequate restoration funds. in the 111th congress, i was the lead sponsor of another bill, h.r. 4715, the clean estuaries act of 2010 that would also authorize the national estuary program. higher, at higher -- however, at higher levels than this bill. this passed by an overwhelming margin. however, the senate failed to ever act on that bill. while h.r. 5266 does represent a significant reduction in the authorization of appropriations for this important program, i commend the bipartisan sponsors of this legislation for ensuring that the new authorization shows some room to increase the funding of these locally driven restoration efforts rather than simply cutting those efforts. too often these days we seem driven to cut federal spending for programs that provide real

benefit to our nation while an awareness of the consequences of these actions. i can only hope in the years to come this chamber will recognize that there are places where the federal government can help and should be making increased investments, such as to repair our crumbling infrastructure or to protect our fragile natural environment. these are only some of the ongoing challenges that face this nation, and we need a congress that is serious about taking on the hard questions and making the right investments, not only for our lives and livelihoods but for those generations of americans to come. mr. speaker, again, i support passage of h.r. 5266, and i urge my colleagues to also support this bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. >> i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for three minutes. mr. posey: thank you, mr. speaker, and i thank the gentleman for yielding and i want to thank congressman lobiondo for his work on this

national estuary program and this legislation to re-authorize this important program for another five years. thank you also for working with me on provisions from my bill which i introduced with representative murphy of florida, h.r. 5117, the estuary urgent needs priority program. our provision establishes a competitive awards program forest wears, to help prioritize funding to estuaries facing urgent needs. and it does so without spending any additional money. we simply reprioritize and require all money appropriated from congress forest wears to actually be spent on estuaries. the national estuary program encourages communities to work toward having healthy estuaries, by providing annual-based grants for projects to improve and to monitor the quality of their water and the species that live in them. healthy estuaries provide a diverse home for flaura and

fawna. estuaries also provide for countless hours of recreational activities and billions of dollars in economic impact. my congressional district is home to one of the most diverse estuaries in the country, if not the world. the indian river lagoon. our lagoon's natural beauty has been central to our community. as a key to improving our quality of life, as a recreational area for fishing and boating with friends and family, and as a significant contributor to our local economy. i raise my -- i raised my family along this lagoon and know firsthand how important this legislation is to makinging our local estuary program a success -- making our local estuary program a success. we've all seen the adverse consequences of sea grass loss and harmful algae blooms. the opportunity to compete for additional funding, which this bill provides, would be a valuable tool in combating the types of issues we've seen in our estuary. the bill before us redirects

money away from ed:'s washington bureaucracy and toward -- from e.p.a.'s washington bureaucracy and toward the nation's estuaries. i encourage my colleagues to support this legislation so we can continue the great work at the n.e.p. provides as it facilitates estuary prks and restoration -- estuary protections and restoration initiatives. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. bishop: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield three minutes to my friend, the gentleman from washington, mr. larsen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. larson: thank you, mr. speaker, -- mr. larsen: thank you, mr. speaker, and i rise in support of re-authorizing the national estuary program. i want to thank mr. gibbs and mr. bishop on the subcommittee and of course my colleague who i share the aviation subcommittee with, mr. lobiondo, for their leadership on getting this bill to the

floor. estuaries are a critical habitat for salmon, for birds, for many other species in the pacific northwest. where we know that protecting our natural resources is good for our environment and good for our economy. my district is on puget sound which is our country's second largest estuary and a key driver of our economy in washington state. trade, fishing, tourism and outdoor recreation in our region create and sustain thousands of jobs and all of these activities are dependent upon a healthy puget sound. i've long supported estuary restoration in the pew jet sound region -- puget sound region including the largest title marsh estuary project in washington state. estuary restoration can also be a key component for absorbing carbon emissions and increasing resiliency to the effects of climate change. a recent study of an estuary located in my district found that currently planned and in construction restoration projects will result in at least $2.-- 2.55 million tons

of co-2 sequestered from the atmosphere over the next 100 years. that's the equivalent of a year's worth of emissions from a half a million automobiles. so this bill's important. it's important for all of us and i want to thank my colleague again, mr. lobiondo, for his hard work on this legislation. i look forward to continuing our productive bipartisan relationship on this and many other issues. and i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 5266 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. lobiondo: i reserve the balance of my time. i do not have any more speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. bishop: i thought i had one more speaker, mr. speaker, but he's not here so i will yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. lobiondo: thank you, mr. speaker. again i thank my colleagues, mr. bishop, mr. larsen, mr. shuster and mr. gibbs, and urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 5266 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass s. 1934. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of

the bill. the clerk: senate 1934, an act to direct the administrator of general services to convey the clifford p. hansen federal house to teen to county, wyoming. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. meadows, and the gentleman from indiana, mr. carson, each will control 0 minutes. chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on senate bill 1934. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. senate bill 1934 would direct the g.s.a. to convey property in wyoming for fair market value. the land was originally donated to the federal government by the county for the purposes of a courthouse. however, once built, the

courthouse has been rarely used by the federal judiciary and no other federal use has been identified for this building. the bill would sell the building to the county for fair market value for the purposes of a county courthouse and county courthouse functions. selling this property for fair market value will ensure that the taxpayers receive the best return on the property and provide for the continued public use of the facility and i thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana. mr. carson: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. i rise in support of senate bill 1934. introduced by senator brassow. directs the administrator of the general servicesed a sfration to transfer the clifford hansen federal courthouse and the land underneath the titon county,

wyoming. g.s.a. has indicated to the committee that the agency has no need for the facility. this directed sale support g.s.a.'s efforts to downsize and dispose of underutilized properties. however this bill breaks with precedent. although the local municipality is required to pay for the fair market value of the building, the bill directs the land undermeeting the building to be sold for nominal value. typically the land, the building and the land underneath, would all be valued at a fair market value when being sold. the committee has consistently upheld the bipartisan principle that taxpayers are entitled to the full value of their assets in any sale. nevertheless, the committee is supporting this unusual transaction because the underlying land was originally donated to g.s.a. by the local municipality. which is why i'm supporting

selling the land back to them for nominal value. the bill provides taxpayers with further protections, mr. speaker. the legislation requires that the future use of this property be restricted to public purposes. i urge g.s.a. to interpret this language consist went restrictions typically used by g.s.a. examine when considering land transfers for -- when considering land transfers. i continue to support efforts to strengthen the federal footprint where appropriate while protecting taxpayer interests and i urge members to approve this legislation and, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for his support of this legislation and concur with him in terms of he is insurgenting a precedent, that's not something we want to do. this has a unique set of circumstances where the county had conveyed the property to the federal government at no

cost and so certainly would agree with my colleague opposite that we need to make sure that we taxpayers get the best return and that this is not setting a precedent. we have no other speakers on this so we're prepared to close. we reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana. mr. carson: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman again and i would urge all of our colleagues to support this legislation on behalf of the american taxpayers and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 1934. 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 north carolina seek recognition? mr. meadows: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass s. 898. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 898, an act to authorize the administrator of general services to convey a parcel of real property in albuquerque, new mexico, to the amy beal high school foundation. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. meadows, and the gentleman from indiana, mr. carson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on senate bill 898. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. senate bill 898 would direct the g.s.a. to convey property

in new mexico to the amy beal high school foundation for fair market value. the amy beal high school is a public charter school that has been using the building since 2006. while the school currently leases the facility from the general services administration, g.s.a. only receives a nominal rent, making it more costly to the taxpayers to maintain the property. in fact, the amy beal foundation has invested funds to renovate, restore the building for the use as a school. g.s.a. has determined that there is no federal need for the property and has concluded that the cost of managing the building exceeds any revenue. selling this property for fair market value will ensure the taxpayers receive the best return on the property. i thank you, mr. speaker, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana. mr. carson: mr. speaker, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

mr. carson: mr. speaker, i rise in support of senate bill 898. 898, mr. speaker, directs the administrator of g.s.a. to transfer the old federal postoffice in albuquerque, new mexico, to the amy beal high school foundation in exchange for its fair market value. the amy beal high school is a public charter school sponsored by the foundation that was founded in 1999 and has been residing in the old old post office building since 2006. currently, public charter school has a long-term lease agreement with g.s.a. for nominal rent. g.s.a. has indicated to the committee that the agency has no need for the facility and that this directed sale supports g.s.a.'s efforts to downsize and dispose of underutilized properties. my own subcommittee has approved a near identical bill. now, mr. speaker, i would also

like to acknowledge the memory of amy beal. ms. beal was a 26-year-old scholar, working in south africa when she was tragically attacked and killed in 1993. in the aftermath, amy's parents, linda and peter beal, started a foundation to build on their daughter's work toward peace. reconciliation and multiculturalism in south africa. the new school, which is located in new mexico, builds on this great work. now, approving this bill to transfer the building at a its fair market value will provide mote amy's legacy and benefit the taxpayers. i support this bill, mr. speaker, and i urge my colleagues to approve it. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman yield back? mr. carson: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker.

i'd like to thank the gentleman for his support in a bipartisan manner and for reminding us all of the importance of this legacy, not only the vision of why this school was created, but the importance of that mission. it is certainly a pleasure to work in a bipartisan way with the gentleman, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana. mr. carson: mr. speaker, i yield five minutes to the gentlelady from new mexico, madam lujan grisham. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. lujan grisham: mr. speaker, thank you. i'd like to thank my colleagues, both representative carson from indiana and my colleague from north carolina, mr. meadows, for their support on senate bill 898. as you just heard, this is a companion bill to a nearly identical bill. my bill h.r. 3998, which passed this body on june 17. we've also heard that this is to sell a federal building at fair market value which costs

more in its current lease arrangement than it does to -- in this transaction and arrangement. you also heard this is an incredible school memorializing an incredible legacy, but what we don't -- what you haven't heard today is the foundation has raised more than $3 million to continue to invest not only in the purchase of the building but to expand their educational footprint in new mexico. in my district in albuquerque, we have difficulties reaching out to a high poverty, hiatt-risk high school group. this school has incredible outcomes. they're seeing an 80% -- 100% graduation rate, 80% grad ration -- graduation rates out of college. of all those they continue a very aggressive community relationship. part of this school's

requirement is not only do you meet your basic high school curriculum but you have to invest considerably in community work in a variety of nonprofit and charitable work. i want to also give a special thanks and gratitude to senator tom udall for working with me on this bill, to chairman shuster and rahall for their help in bringing this legislation to the floor. with that, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this bill, that helps the amy biehl high school continue to provide albuquerque students with the first-rate education while also preserving an historic piece of downtown albuquerque. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from indiana reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: mr. speaker, we'll continue to reserve the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana. mr. carson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield four minutes to my good friend from florida, representative murphy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. murphy: thank you for yielding.

thank you, mr. speaker. i support the bill before us and appreciate the hard work of my colleagues to bring it to the floor. today i join my colleagues in speaking in support of re-authorizing the national estuary program because our local economy on the treasure coast and palm beaches relies on healthy water. this important program helps protect and improve some of our nation's most at-risk waterways, including the indian river lagoon located in the district i am proud to represent, which has been devastated by toxic algae in recent years. negatively impacting not only the health of this unique ecosystem but also our local economy. the national estuary program funds local projects that help improve water quality, protect threatened species and coordinate local agencies to respond to other urgent needs. in our own back yard these projects include wetland restoration, fresh water discharge management and other approaches that benefit the health of our local waterways on the treasure coast and

across the nation. i'm very pleased to see a competitive award program included in this bill, that i proposed, along with the gentleman from florida, to help estuaries most at risk where recurring harmful algae blooms, sea grass loss and evasive species are threatening the ecology of these water systems. i hope my colleagues will support this effective program, not only because it benefits to sustaining important estuaries across the country, but also due to the urgent need to address the serious problems facing many of these waterways, including the indian river lagoon, the most diverse estuary in the united states. mr. speaker, i thank the house for coming together and acting so swiftly to re-authorize this bipartisan and cost-effective bill necessary for our country's coastal ecosystems and the economies that rely on their well-being. i hope the senate will act expeditiously to do the same, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from indiana

reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. medme mere -- mr. meadows: mr. speaker, we have no additional speakers at this time. we're prepared to close. we reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from indiana. mr. carson: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. meadows: i thank the gentleman for his bipartisan effort to make sure that this important piece of legislation gets passed, and i urge all of my colleagues to support it and with that we yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 898. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house

in recess until approximately 6:30 p.m. today.

6:30 eastern with live coverage on c-span. in the meantime from today's "washington journal," a preview of the rest of the lame-duck session of congress. candice mie appreciate your time this morning. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back with david drucker to talk about the lame-duck congress. what is the biggest item on the agenda? it depends on what you talk to and what the election democratsan for the to ram through before the majority expires. they need to pass more spending because the continuing resolution, basically the bill that is funding the government, runs out december 11. tight to that is the -- tied to that is the approval to arm and train the syrian rebels to fight

the islamic state of iraq and syria. i know members want to vote on a measure that would grant the president new authority to fight this war, which is essentially what it is, even though the administration says they have all the approval they need going back about 10 years. so, i think for republicans and for democrats, they will have to decide -- we need to fund the government, do we do something big, clear the decks, get a lot of things done, and let it run deep into next year through the end of the fiscal year, or do they do something short set the full republican congress that will convene in january with republicans controlling the senate and the house, and then vote on something more expansive and have the power to direct spending that way? host: go ahead. guest: i was going to say related to that is to deal with crisis. isis.is a feeling --

there is a feeling among republicans that it should be the newly elected congress that should deal with that long-term and not the outgoing congress. all of this is part of the calculation. finally, i would throw you in on whether the president follows through with his promise to illegal immigrants some form of amnesty or the right to any in the country through executive action. that would depend on how republicans in the house in particular deal with the government funding bill in december, and that could really affect the politics of this, and it could affect how republicans look at things in december and affect whether they want to do something short term to get to january, or have the fight right then and there. host: both sides are waiting for an opening salvo. has there been that yet?

the president said he would act on immigration. guest: he has done that and both mitch mcconnell, the incoming majority leader, and speaker john boehner said do not do it, it will cause problems. whether or not you think this is the right thing to do, whether or not you think republicans are correct in not wanting the president to do this, the truth is if you talk to not just very conservative republicans, people affiliate with the tea party, but the establishment-minded republicans, people that do not want to pick unnecessary fights, talk to them what a large-scale legalization move, up to 5 million -- talk about what that would mean. that would mean to them the president was infringing upon their constitutional authority and place in our system of government and it would leave them no choice but to fight back, and to fight back aggressively, using really the only means that they have, which

is the power of the purse. that is when the expiring resolution -- continuing resolution -- excuse me, becomes a very big deal. it also means, they could decide let not have the fight in january. so, everything gets caught up in this back-and-forth over immigration, isis, ebola funding, funding the federal government? guest: i think ebola funding can be done separately. most want the government to effectively deal with a ebola so we can probably deal with that separately without getting it cut off. also, fighting isis is something that could be dealt with separately. again, there is wide, bipartisan agreement that has to be dealt with. there could be differences in terms of how it should be funded, how the war should be prosecuted.

a lot of this will depend on for.the president asks because republicans control the house and will control the senate, they will not give the president a blank check , but they want the president to spell out the war-fighting powers he wants approval for, and that is probably something the democrats will demand as well. the vote to grant the president additional authority for isis which everyone wants and necessary, ands the administration has said is good for the country, it depends on if the administration sends a resolution, and depending on what it says, congress would tweak it on the floor, so it is a long process. you could separate that out from other things along with ebola,

but immigration could affect everything else. out: could use separated from the money needed to fight isis because the administration wants another $6 million for this. guest: there could be some quibbling on either side of the aisle about the money, but the big thing is what is the strategy. you will see hawkish republicans -- if you look at how the senate an taliban,you have anorak war veteran, putting that together with the -- dan iraqvan, and a rack -- an war veteran, putting that together, it becomes easier to spend money on the military and a war on terror type of action. i do not think that is as problematic as it would have orn, let's say a year ago, two years ago, when republicans

were looking to cut everything including the military and the libertarian wing at an extended influence on foreign policy. host: the lame-duck congress convenes today. david drucker taking your comments and questions about what this congress will do. the phone lines are open. start dialing in now. talk about the other factions of the party. you say the republicans would like to do certain things. when it comes to the continuing resolution, in passing some sort of funding bill, is the tea party of the republican party on board with the spending that they want to do? guest: well, we do not know until we know what the bill looks like. if we are talking about what is going to happen in december, the tea party and the budget option the republican side will still wield enormous influence in terms of getting 218 republican votes on the house side.

you still have a democratic senate and a republican house. the president, i am sure, just wants to make sure the government is funded. it could be easier to do something that is bipartisan, sort of, across-the-board. it is the same way we saw the last continuing resolution get a broad, bipartisan majority, because nobody wanted to shut of thee government ahead elections. a much of an internal fight the republicans have -- how much of an internal fight republicans have depend on what they do after the new congress convenes. host: we'll get to phone calls in a minute, but let's talk about what happens this week. guest: ok. host: much on the floor. what is happening off of the floor? guest: new member initiation. it is like the first day of school. you are dealing with eight new republican senators elect, and at least one dozen republican

members of the house that are members elect, and at least two .emocrats that i know of they will be here to figure out where their office spaces, where the bathrooms are, when recess is, when do they get to eat lunch, and they will start to put together their staffs and try to figure out the mechanics of running a congressional office. --ngs like writing a bill you read a bill and it reads like chinese. they need to hire people that know how to do that and turned their visions and agenda into legislation. host: who teaches them all of that? guest: well, i know in the senate each member-elect, each new member, if i'm not mistaken, as a, sort of, mentor that they work with, both of their party and of the other party. it is what they try to do in the senate to keep things collegial content issupposedly

nature of the senate, and it helps them establish relationships, which in the senate are extremely important. in the house, i think it is something similar, but you end up with leadership staff working with new members to help them higher chiefs of staff, and other aids that are going to help guide them. itt: and this orientation, is not like it is one day -- it is about two weeks time. guest: correct. they said in a lot of classes, get a lot of direction. i do not want to over-simplify it or diminish it, but in some ways it reminds me of college orientation. i remember 20-something years ago, before my first day at school, you know, they sent us through one or two days of classes to help us navigate the university, figure out where everything was, and how to go about it, she what we were there to do. get to calls.

sharon in minneapolis, democratic caller. thank: good morning, and you, c-span, for taking my call. i have two questions -- ok, i want to know more about what president obama wants to do with the immigrants, the illegal immigrants that are in the united states. i want to know what the republicans want to do, and what is the pro and cons of doing nothing? also, my second question is about health care. if the republicans appeal the health-care law, what will happen to all of these people that do not have insurance? i does not affect me because am 66, and you know, my insurance is fine, but what will happen, and how long will it whento get things running they do come up with some

suggestions on health care? host: ok. all right, sharon. the health-care bill will not be repealed because the president will not sign it. the senate will try to move it on the same time that they try to move their own suggestions for overhauling health care post-obamacare, but the president is not going to sign any of it, so the most you're going to see, possibly, is a repeal of the medical device tax that helps fund the affordable care act, and possibly rewriting the law to move the official work week back from $40 to 30 hours, which republicans think has been a huge drag on hiring and employment. continue to try to repeal all the way up to 2016? think first of all, i you're going to see repeal votes because republicans voted against this or ran on repealing

it, and they just won a pretty big victory so there is no reason for them to feel they should not hold is votes. they will control the senate and the full congress, so they have the power to put a repeal bill on the floor and put other health care overhauls on the floor, and i think you see them try to move it through. if they can get it to the president's desk, which is not necessarily that possible, but if they can get it partially to the president's desk, he will veto it. republicans will have to try to sell the overhaul and hope they get something done after the presidential election in 2016. with immigration, with the president is looking to do is take a broader population of undocumented immigrants and so that their status they can live in the united states has legal residents. the question is, does he do

something small on the level of 500,000 or so, but does he go two 5 big, 1, 2, 3, 4, up million, which is what a lot of democrats think he will do. it depends on your opinion of that policy as to how good or bad it is. republicans, although they have different ideas for immigration reform and whether or not the system should be reformed than the president does, the issue for them, if the president goes big, he comes constitutional in their minds. it is not so much we do not agree with your policy. it is you do not have the legal authority to do this. therefore, we have to fight it. host: some of our viewers will be interested in this story on the front page of "the washington times" this morning

that, in order from the obama administration, according to comments made during this lawsuit. "the washington times" has that front-page story if you're interested this morning. daniel, virginia beach. republican. you are up next. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. i do not think there is a thing wrong now that could not be fixed if he would simply reform entitlements. there is too much money going out of the treasury. it increases every year. the other day i was looking at some numbers on paper. i made a couple of tweaks that would save hundreds of billions of dollars every year if we just find the courage to do that. thank you. host: ok, daniel. what do you think, david drucker? guest: republicans are going to try to move some bills.

i do not know how much will make to the president desk, how much he will sign, but with paul ryan as the chair of ways and means, which will happen, you will see house republicans act on this. you will see senate republicans put her on the floor and move elements of entitlement reform. floor and movee elements of entitlement reform. the question is, can it pass? democrats, i am sure, will use the filibuster just as aggressively as democrats have -- republicans have in the minority. host: paul ryan will be heading up the tax-writing committee, the ways and means committee in the house. what about tax reform? somewhere mitch mcconnell talked about as an area where he hopes the public and the democrats can find consensus, and there is a hope with the changing of the guard on capitol hill and more of a

truly divided government you could get the president to come around on tax reforms impacting individuals that he has not been in favor on. the big disagreement on tax reform is that the president is all about corporate tax reform, which the republicans are, too, but he has wanted no part of their plans for individual tax reform -- glowing individual -- lowering individual tax code, broaden the base, flattening out the code. so, it is possible -- and democrats in the senate also have no desire to do that, at least not the leadership. hoping, in are controllable houses, they could negotiate a compromise. of wyden, the ranking member the senate financing committee, who could play a key role, has been where the republicans are on tax reform, generally speaking. baucus, the last top democrat on finance, but harry reid has never been there.

the changinge atmospherics on the hill could help bring this about. it is at least something republicans are pushing as "hey, here is a big area we can compromise." they want to find some areas of compromise to prove to the american people they are wavingng among not just a red dashed governing, not just waving a red flag. host: orrin hatch -- guest: he is a dealmaker. he famously cut deals with ted kennedy. orrin hatch is the quintessential senator -- he is a dealmaker, conservative, but he feels he is there to legislate. it is something he would like to do, but again, it is going to come down to whether or not the president is interested in this and that opens up space for 60 votes. democrats will need -- you will need to find six or seven democrats, maybe up to 10, depending on where the republicans are, to do

bipartisan tax reform bills, and it seems that is how you will see tax reform, in the senate, it is bipartisan. jesup, georgia. democratic caller. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: let me get my thoughts -- i want my republican -- do what the republicans did, of struct, obstruct, of struct. this is mike much into you, mr. drucker. i have heard -- this is my question to you, mr. drucker. i have heard the republicans have sent bills and they will not come to the floor, but you have heard of the whip count. of the bills, how many were for

abortion? 40-something for a motion. obamacare.l i cannot remember how many it was for the keystone pipeline. this is my question to you, namely -- name me one bill the republican house sent the senate to create jobs. not two bills, but one. please do that for me, sara. host: i did not -- all right. guest: i did not come with my cheat sheet, but the republicans will tell you they said dozens of bills to the senate that were never brought up for a vote and caused him frustration to know -- especially republicans who had not been in congress and came here with a schoolhouse rock view of how things were going to work -- where if we pass a bill, they have devoted down -- democrats did not choose to do that. passed on the house

side conservative priorities like pro-life issues, repealing the affordable care act, and other things that democrats would find either politically offensive work, just to prove a political -- or, just to prove a political point. i think it is fair to say the same way house republicans did not want to do anything senate democrats wanted, that senate democrats did choose to ignore a number of economic and jobs related bills passed by republicans because he simply did not agree with them, but they did choose to ignore them, and it did happen. do we know -- assuming that harry reid becomes the minority leader for democrats, what will will he play? harry reid is a very skillful parliamentarian. he was a minority leader before and ran circles around then send majorityate republican leader bill frist.

he was effective at wielding the filibuster and keeping bill frist with a 55-member majority, -- iur member republicans renumber republicans thinking they could do anything they want, and harry reid nature that did not happen. -- made sure that did not happen. they have found that even if you have majorities, if you do not have 60, there are a lot of things you cannot do. i think you will see harry reid, as minority leader, if he is reelected this week, which we expect him to be reelected, i think you will see him be a very able follow to mitch mcconnell oe to mitch-- fo mcconnell as majority leader. it will be somewhat entertaining and i am going to enjoy it. when harry reid was the

,inority leader to bill frist many times he threatened a nuclear action. he never actually pulled the trigger. senator harry reid did. i cannot tell you how much it made senate republicans want to slow things down even more. some democrats say they could not have slowed it down even more. but said republicans reacted to -- nuclear option by saying senate republicans reacted to the nuclear option by saying we will cooperate even less. the question has been, for mitch mcconnell, because he was opposed to that move, will the reverse it? will a vote to put the rules back to the way they were? it is something he said will be discussed. he said he wants to rinse it to regular order, give committee chairman there power back, "to

amendment. -- open up the floor to amendments. there are political reasons to think that will happen. whether or not he sets the rules back, i am not sure. the one thing that is different this time around for harry reid as minority leader and republican majority leader, there is a democrat in the white house, not a republican, so it will be different in terms of the decisions made and how they are viewed by the public. host: really quick, leadership elections are this week, and house republicans next week, and next week house democrats. any races to watch, or will we see the same leadership team? guest: it looks like we will see the same leadership teams. on the republican side, you will see a lot of status -- status big.ecause they won

sometimes they are rewarded when they lose. they are definitely rewarded when they win. you are saying a race for the nationalhip of the republican senatorial committee between dean heller, the republican from nevada, and roger wicker, the republican from mississippi. interesting thing about dean heller is if harry reid is on the ballot in 2016, he is from nevada as well, there is no love lost between those two, and that would make things interesting. i know whicker is trying to tell his colleagues he is one of the they were able to survive a run up against a tea party candidate. scarsdale, new york. cragg, a republican. thanks for hanging with me. caller: thank you very much for taking my question. my question is, is there another

part to the nuclear option, where if they wanted to go further, there is a way to do that? someone said they did not go all of the way last time as far as pushing the envelope. host: all right. david drucker? the one thing harry reid did not do -- let's be clear what the nuclear option is. it takes a vote of 167 members to change a senate rule. senate rules are not written. you create your parliamentarian rules within it. when harry reid did was change the senate along a simple majority. that is really what was nuclear because if they had done it with 67 votes, they never would have had the votes to do it harry reid did, which was to bring the number of votes it takes to break a filibuster down from 60, basically to 51. what harry reid did affected

executive branch nominees, including executive branch nominees for judges, except for the supreme court. so, what could be done to go further? you could basically take away the ability to have a 60-vote filibuster for supreme court nominees. i do not expect republicans to do that. there are actually republican and democratic analysts who would probably be in favor of doing that, and just say let the president have what he wants to we fight it out in the elections, but i do not expect mitch mcconnell to push this further, but you never know what another congress, another majority leader does not the rubicon has been cross. host: brandywine, maryland. you are up, joe. caller: good morning, greta, c-span, and mr. drucker. one of the problems we have with our government is we need a realignment. the supreme court has become the head of congress, and they are

the ones making the laws, and congress is supposed to make the laws. they need to realign the thing, and put it back into -- example -- give us an example of where the supreme court is making the law. take for --caller: instance, the affordable health care. host: ok, let's take that example. guest: that decision will come down in the spring, for the end of june, and it will deal with whether or not the federal government has to follow the letter of the law which said to receive a subsidy to purchase health insurance you need to be buying insurance from a state exchange. many people are buying from the federal and change put in place to deal with states that did not create their own exchanges, except the medicaid expansion. so, i think the question here is what does the supreme court

decide, and do they make any decisions that are similar to what the supreme court did in the main obamacare decision, which was ruled that it is not a mandate, but attacks. they said they were not raising taxes, but forcing you to buy a product. thread the chief justice areneedle, he said mandates illegal, but taxes are fine and i am calling it a tax. that is how it survived. some people want the supreme court to interpret the purpose of the law, even if it was not written in a certain way. others want people to interpret the law as written, and sometimes laws can be open to interpretation because they are so unclear, and it is the --reme court's job to make a what we refer to as a final interpretation at least until another law is passed. have about 15 minutes

here or so with david drucker of "washington examiner." taking questions about congress -- the lame-duck returning to washington. they will be in session for about 12 legislative days, out for thanksgiving, and then adjourning for good in mid- december. george. knoxville, tennessee. independent. greta. good morning, i guess the question i have for david is, in my view, the biggest security problem, and the biggest problem for this country is our huge debt. i know the administration has been making a lot of noise the last two years because of the improving economy and some .egree of control by the house they have reduced the annual deficit, but we still have in

the order of active a billion dollars -- i mean half of a trillion dollars a year of annual deficit. do you think the lame-duck congress,or the next is going to do anything effective on the national debt? know, effective is the operative question. i would not look for anything in the lame-duck. i do know republicans say in the new congress there plan is to try to rein in federal spending and try to rein in the regulatory regime that has built up over the -- under the current administration. if you're looking for areas where republicans will openly pick fights with the obama administration, it is going to be on spending, because the main power congress has is the power to set spending limits. look for them to attack us. the question is whether or not they can reduce spending over

the long term and reduce the debt -- it is a different question. the president still has a veto and a large role to play. a federale spring for budget that he proposes to see how much different it is from the budget resolution you can expect the congress to pass next year. see how -- far apart they are to see where they might end up coming together. there is always a difference in washington in terms of spending, because you know, one man's waste of money, is another man's necessary object and program. i think it is the best way for the country to deal with the debt problem -- more jobs, and faster economic growth, because that speeds the increase of tax revenues into the federal government. host: on our line for republicans. bill. virginia beach. caller: thanks for taking my call. how are you? host: good morning.

caller: i will make a statement and then ask a question. my statement is i do not think a whole lot will be a college in the next two years, mainly because until we get a republican -- accomplished in the next two years in the mainly because until we get a republican in the white house we will have a problem getting enough votes to overcome -- presidential veto. i think it will be mostly gridlock for the next two years. my question is do you know of any ideas that are on the drawing board or republican bills that have been conveniently pushed under the desk by the democrats and not brought to the floor for consideration which would reduce the cost of health care under the new health-care law? i will stand by and listen to your answer. host: all right, bill. guest: it is a great question, because what republicans have been trying to grapple with is how do they fix health care from their vantage point in a post-obamacare environment. plans, and there

were a lot of them, were based --a paris obamacare three-obamacare world. or republicans were trying to figure out what to do was what do we propose to overhaul the new system, because what they are posing to do -- and there is one bill out there put together by a group of conservative republicans in what we call the republican study committee, which is a collective of the more conservative elements of the house republicans congress, everyone is a member these days. they had a bill dealing with the health care system as it stands today. a lot of the proposals have to do with -- just loosely speaking, giving them the ability to purchase insurance across state lines and having more control over which dr. dacey, and things of that make

-- which dr. they see, and things of that nature. any bill that would go away with the end of this congress would be reintroduced. what i would look for, if you're looking for republican proposes to do with health care as it currently is, and there is a huge amount of support in public to continue reforming health care -- look for a joint proposal coming from paul ryan and marco rubio next year. both of them might run for president. one of them might run for president, but they both spent a lot of time on this. you might not like it, but it will probably be the very first serious proposal to reform the obamacare system of health care the republicans have put out. in the partylout stared a bill like that could go far, especially paul ryan in ways and means. host: let's talk about immigration again. we learned that chuck grassley the senator from iowa, decided not to try for them finance committee chair should. he will stick with you dish era,

the committee immigration legislation will have to go through. he is adamantly opposed. he was around 1986 when they passed immigration reform with ronald reagan, and he said anything is amnesty. he is up in 2016. he could have been in charge of a panel like finance where he could have cut a deal in tax reform, it decided to stay as chairman of the judiciary committee and be the foe for obama on immigration. does that set him up well for 2016? guest: i think, especially if chuck grassley is going to be looking over his shoulder in 2016 with a republican primary, it does. i do not know if he has to worry about a primary. they love him there. if tom harkin had not retired, he would be easily reelected. chuck grassley, who was the republican on the debate, he made a decision on where he wants to be in the work he wants

to do. he has been here so long. it is interesting because there are a lot of agricultural interests in iowa, but chuck grassley feels very strong about this. i think it signals what most people already know -- republicans are not going to be moving a, sort of, broad-based, comprehensive immigration reform bill like the one that passed the senate in 2013 again. you could look for president bill having to do with border bills,y -- targeted maybe having to do with employment revocation and things like that, but you will not see -- employment verification, and things like that, you will not see what the president wants, which is a broad bill. does notck grassley have a republican challenger yet, but "the des moines boblenger" reported that

krause is exploring a run. he explored this last year and threw his support behind the credit candidate jack hatch. frank, fort lauderdale. i need clarification. the press makes like even though the republicans have both houses, no legislation can be passed. what exactly do they need in the senate in votes to override vetoes? 67 votes tot: override vetoes, which means you will need 12 more votes than they currently are going to have. well, currently, they will need 13 more votes. if bill cassidy wins a runoff in louisiana and ousts senator mary landrieu, they will need 12 more votes. the key then is they would need six more votes to get to 60. democrats had a 60 vote majority and it was how they were able to

get most of the affordable care act through. there is a narrow window, early next year, with the budget resolution, to avoid a filibuster and pass a piece of legislation with 51 votes. it is not a grab bag. basically, one, thing. they will probably use it to pass an obamacare repeal -- not a full repeal, but a basic gutting of the law by getting rid of the individual mandate and a couple of other provisions. the president will veto it, but basically you're dealing with the need for six more votes and to override a veto in the senate you need to get to 67, and you need to get to something on the nature of 290 or something in the house to override a veto. host: one last phone call for you here comes from jordan in d.c. democratic caller. caller: hi, am i on the air? host: you are, go ahead. i have a two-part

question given congressional accountability given the fact that we have a lame-duck congress. is there any truth to the rumor that mr. mitch mcconnell's father-in-law shipped drugs into kentucky and contributed about $2 million to his campaign? stop youdan, can i --where did you hear that? aller: i heard it on broadcast on c-span. one of your callers called in and informed everyone. i would like to know, if it is true, what is going to be done about hearing this and asking questions, and possibly holding mr. mitch mcconnell accountable? host: all right, jordan. for the was in kentucky last five days of the senate campaign, and with every tough race, there was millions of dollars and adds thrown at him and some regulations, the mcconnell camp found egregious.

it is compared to those found typically egregious. this is one that was never heard. i think democrats would have been happy, and it would have if itmart to dig it up existed, but if we have not heard it, i do not think there is anything there. go, this storyu -- in private polling, both sides saw the gop wave coming. what did you learn? guest: these are the polls the candidates depend on to make correct strategic incisions. if their message is not working, they need to try another message . they need to know that. usually, some of the best polls out there are some of the private ones you never hear about. one of the reasons is when things are going back, and for instance, he for number democrats, things are going bad, -- for a number of democrats,

they are going bad. they start to release internal polls and it shows them waning, but they are not releasing the real private poll, which shows we are in trouble. all of the private polling showed republicans having a good night, but some public polling did not show how good was going to be. the private polls, by the final few days of the campaign, were very clear, unanimous on both sides. we are in trouble. you'll never hear the losing side that says i have a private poll that will show me losing. they will never do that. the democratic pollsters in 2012 were just as good in 2014, but it was not as good of a night. for republicans, their polling was suspect in 2012. they felt they would have a good election. they did not. they went back and changed methodology. they were cautious as time. they gave democrats credit for expanding the electorate and do with turnout what they were promising to do. they do not want to get caught

flat-footed. even in the campaign, my cautious republican sources had grown bullish and said we are in for a great night. host: if you want to read t >> washington journal d live on c-span every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. the house of representatives is in recess until 6:30 p.m. eastern time. when members come back to vote

on a bill to eliminate some government reports. also this evening in the house, three new members will be sworn in. democrat donald norcross of new jersey, democrat alma adams of north carolina and republican dave brat of virginia. they all won special elections to replace congressmen who resigned so they're taking office ahead of the new freshman class at that comes in in january. those three and the rest of the new members of congress taking office in january arrived in washington today for new member orientation. we spoke with congresswoman candice miller, chair of the house administration committee, about the new member orientation. >> chairwoman miller. a question on who gets invited to orientation because there's still a handful of races out there that have yet to be called the week after election

day. >> yes, that's true. although they're quickly being called here but there's still a handful that are outstanding. so of course everyone that has been elected as a new member of congress is ex tebledsed the invitation. then we also extends an invitation to both peters, both candidates, i should say, until -- if those contests have not been concluded yet, they haven't been called. so there are a couple of those situations which is pretty much par for the course, i understand. this is my first time going through as a chairperson for new member orientation. but i know every cycle there's always one or two that are outstanding and the new member orientation is taking place and we want to make sure whoever is successful in their contest is right up to speed so we invite both of them. >> in terms what have happens at new member orientation, "roll call" newspaper on capitol hill likened it to college orientation. they talked about getting to

know you fellow freshmen meet hundred, attending panels about the institution, imposing for a class photo. what do you make of the analogy to college orientation? >> i suppose there's some bit of truth in that. i can remember when i was a freshman, it's often been characterized as trying to take a drink of water out of a fire ho sembings. something to be said for that. but we have really tried this time to improve on what was already a very good new member orientation and try to understand what we can do to present all of this information in an easily understood way, and something that -- the kinds of things that they really, really need to know. keep in mind, of course, we are not talking about any kind of politics or policy or any of that. this is just about the mechanics of being a member of congress, it is totally bipartisan. and it just is talking to the new members about ideas that we

have on how they should approach setting up their new office. certainly their office in d.c. but just as importantly how do they set up their district office or offices. some of them only will have one district office. some them with huge territories could have a handful of district offices. so how do they set their offices up? what is their budget that they are looking at? we did a salary study so we'll try to give them an idea of what the average range is, if you will. although there's wild fluctuation. but the sort of range of salaries for a chief of staff, for a deputy chief of staff, for a press person, for a scheduler, for your legislative people, and your district director and all these kinds of things. because that's really the by aic things that people want to know -- basic things that people want to know. how much about will their budget be and what -- when they're looking at a staffing up here, how do they approach that. >> and what is the budget for a new member of congress?

how much money do they get to set up everything they need to do, to be a freshman member of congress? >> everybody -- actually, everybody gets just about the same amount of money. i want to say it's about $1.1 million i think is generally what it is. there is a little bit of variation because when the committee is putting together the budgets, try to take into consideration, i mean, obviously if you have to rent a district office in downtown manhattan, your rental rates will be different than they would be in fargo, north dakota. so we do try to make some accommodations to make sure people are accommodated in that way. but it's pretty much the same. and everything comes out of that. and so as a new member, you are essentially looking at -- i would say it's almost like setting up a small business and you have to do it very rapid fire because you're trying to get it set up so that when you are going to be sworn in, right after the first of the year, in this case on january 6, that

you are ready to go. i mean, you don't have to have every hire done certainly. but you need to be as far along as you can so that you can have the most success and be most impactful for your constituents. so we're really trying to help them with that. for instance, what kind of equipment they might want to think about. because what happens is, historically you inherit whatever type of equipment your predecessor had. well, if your predecessor had very antiquated equipment, maybe your predecessor wasn't really into technology, you know, you're probably going to make an investment on that. i mean, i remember when i got there, i had that situation. and i actually did not hire one particular staff position and i instead spent the money on equipment. on the other hand you might be able to walk into an office that has, you know, everything really up to date. so we help them with those kinds of decisions. what kinds of equipment you might want be to be purchasing that's within the house

contracts. and then of course we help them with talking to, for instance, house officers. they're going to have a session where they will meet the clerk of the house, who will say, you know, you're now on the floor of the house and this is how you vote, when you get your card, you insert it niece voting stations and this is how this goes and they'll be hearing from the parliamentarian who will tell them, you know, what is germane and what is not germane during a debate. how you ask for unanimous consent, when it's appropriate to do a one-minute or what a special order is. and they'll be hearing from legislative counsel who is a will say, look, you've all got great ideas and i'm the person in the shop here that can really help you turn your great ideas into a drafting, into a piece of legislation that you can then drop in the hopper. >> congresswoman, highlights of the week tomorrow, a session on how to set up your office for members. on monday a session on congressional ethics and income

a lot of members looking forward to choosing their own office in that lottery what thaps. before we let you go, what's the one question you get most often from a new member of congress? >> [laughter] how do i get from my office over to the capitol building. sometimes it's just logistically trying to figure out where everything is located at. so we try to help them with all of that. but really probably the most thing, is you know, what kind of budget am i looking at? because they know everything is coming out of that budget. and also they're going to be advised that it happens not very often, but occasionally if a member actually runs over their budget, they have to pay for that personally. you can't pay for it out of campaign funds or anything else. it has to come out of your personal pocketbook. so pay attention to your budget, which is always good. >> congresswoman candice miller. the chairwoman of the committee on house administration. we appreciate your time this morning. >> thanks so much.

>> the house of representatives in recess until 6:30 p.m. eastern when members come back to vote on a bill to eliminate some government reports. earlier today the house approved a bill to update the presidential records act, which would allow current and former presidents to continue to restrict access to certain records from their time in the white house. so again the house will be back at 6:30 eastern time, live coverage here on c-span. right now, though, from today's "washington journal," a conversation on the role of women in congress. >> "washingto" continues. host: and we are back to jennifer lawless who is the director of american university's women and policy institute here to talk about campaign 2014. the headline the next day, after november 4, women had a good women. 100 and one what did you find? my feeling was:

even though i did not want to diminish that, we went in with governors before the election and five after, and just a net gain in the house, it did not seem like a year of the woman. and 2036 does not look good either. what you mean? guest: the eternal pessimist. [laughter] when women are not competing in a lot of races, there are not chances. we disk -- discovered a gap in political ambition among adults, and the report he put out is the gender gap in the interest in running for office is just as big. unless there is a jolt to the system and real change, there's no reason to expect the next generation will look much different than this one. host: why the lack of ambition?

guest: is not a lack of ambition overall. young women and young men are interested in wanting to improve the world, achieve success, and do well in their careers, but women are less likely to enter politics were couple of reasons. the first, they do not think they are as qualified as men, and this is the case for college students as well as adults. we have done surveys of male and female lawyers, business leaders, educators, and political activist. 60% of the men think they're qualified to run, and fewer than 40% of the women thing they do. on paper, you were not able to tell them apart. men they do not think they are qualified still give a serious pause. women not only doubt the qualifications, but let self-doubt hold them back. the second reason is women are far less likely than men to be encouraged by anyone to run for office. we compare this country to other countries with women in politics and government roles? fare well.o not

99 nations surpassed united states in the percentage of women serving the legislature, and that is not only because of quotas. many of the design of us do not have gender quotas, so we are well below the worldwide action --average. host: what are these countries doing differently? quotas, so make sure women appear on the party list running for office. in united states there is no evidence of voter bias, that women cannot raise as much money as men when they run, and at least at the congressional level, there is no evidence to suggest that the volume or substance of media coverage is any different. if women can get on the campaign trail and get to election day, they are just as likely to win their races, they are less likely to put themselves out there. host: what about reelection? guest: just as likely to win reelection. this election cycle is an example. at and women challengers won

equal rates. host: where talking to jennifer lawless from american university about the role that women played. take a look at the report. only one-third -- how does the selection compared to previous elections? it is pretty typical from what we have seen. some states are seen a net decrease in the percentage of women serving. at the congressional level, to have an additional two or three women each election cycle has become par for the course. when you did this poll, the gender gap and political addition, and you asked if you ever thought about running for office, more women thought about it than men do. guest: that is have not thought about it. host: have not thought about.

ok. what is going on there? collegence you get to you see a gap emerge, and what happens at that point is men and women start to sears to consider what they want to do with their lives and women look at the political system and say absolutely not. we found that substantial perceptions of bias in the electoral arena. even the women do just as well as men when they run for office, most do not know that to be true, and that could be part of the reason they got the qualification, why women do not think about throwing their hat into the ring. you think you would be too difficult and it would not be treated fairly. we want to disseminate the information that once you are on the campaign trail and you make it to election day, you have just as good of a shot. host: what you think needs to be done -- a policy option like the needs to be quotas like there are in other countries? guest: that is not going to happen here. i am not sure quotas solve the

problem. quotas suggest you have to, and you will see women are capable. .ere, we have a supply problem what has to happen is the parties need to make a concerted effort to put forward martin -- female candidates. the good news is when women are encouraged to run for office, even by a collie, family member, or friend, the suggestion resonates. a lot of parties are waiting to do this and we can all get out the door and if i women that we think would be great candidates, young women -- identify women that we think would be great candidates, young women in particular. host: does this have to be a cultural shift? guest: it has to be a cultural shift in terms of how proactively are. most public opinion polls reveal they think there should be more women in government, but they do not often have a chance to elect one because she does not appear on the ballot. host: let's get to calls. john. herndon, virginia. democratic caller. caller: good morning.

thank you for taking my call. i am four me angry is daughters, and i always tell them if you work hard enough, you will get paid this amount is anyone else. what makes me angry is when i see a republican congresswoman denying the equal pay for men that she works for, saying we do not need that -- the democrats are playing games. that is nothing to do with it. there are a lot of young women graduating universities, smart enough to get any position they want. way, women are the ones that raise the men, and they can do better assessment in any situation than men as far as i'm concerned. and knowd to stand up that it means something for them. we need to educate young college girls to understand that you have to climb the ladder, and you need to understand that you have to speak up in order to get what you want. host: ok. all right, john. guest: there is no question that

that is true, and i would have couple of things that the first is that pay equity and student loan interest rates are two the great opportunities organizations that care about getting women involved in politics to appeal to college women on because these are the issues that will matter to them so soon after graduation. it is important not to conflate female candidates with democratic and republican party edibles. it is true that about 70% of female elected officials are democrats, whether there is a democrat or republican in front of their names tells us more about how they will vote as opposed to whether they will have an x or y chromosome. what about issues -- he started talking about women needing to get paid as much as men, and that sort of thing. that has been an issue in this campaign. i mean, democrats ran on equal pay. they ran on minimum wage.

do those issues propel a female candidate to run? democrat,she is a maybe, but a lot of those issues propel mail democratic candidates to run as well cared we have reached a time where party polarization has made it such that the sex of a candidate is a most irrelevant in terms of the policy agenda and the way you are she will cast a vote if elected. askingou also do a poll folks about her congressional career -- if the following jobs paid this amount of money, which would you most like to be. what do you think these numbers say? the mostthink important fact coming out of that graph is that young people hold congress in just as low average american citizen does, and this is an indictment against government. it demonstrates how the solution people are common and it also suggest something has to change if you want the next generation to pick up the mantle of public service. even though the gender differences are important, the more telling finding coming out of the data are that people,

young people, have no interest whatsoever in running for office. host: so, the call to serve is not there. guest: i think the call to service their. the call to serve as an elected official is now falling on deaf ears. host:,, kentucky. republican caller. i voted on abortion, the bible speaks against a, of course common sense speaks against it. if i see somebody doing something wrong, and i go along with them, i am just as guilty as they are, so a lot of people have got blood on their hands. i do not understand how anybody can do that. host: we are going to leave it there and move on to jerry in reno, nevada, independent caller. caller: what about the war on men? host: why do you say that,

jerry? caller: there is all this hype about the war on women, which there isn't. men love women. host: ok, so where do you see the war on men? caller: well, because it is always this juncture between keep -- women host: jerry, are you still there? caller: i am still here. women keep saying we are fighting them. we are not fighting them. women have the same opportunities we do. host: ok. guest: there is a polling about differences and politically relevant extrinsic in high school and college and jerry brings me back to that if you i am wondering are majoring in political science and are more likely to run for office, or if you have a

family who is politically active, are you more likely, so yes, there are certain circumstances that propel ambition for men and women, so those are a politicized upbringing, if you take political science classes come if you talk about policies with your family and friends come if you follow a lot of political ifsites or political media, you play a competitive sport it what is interesting and important as that women are less likely than men to have those experiences, so although those experiences propel ambitions for both young men and women, men are more likely to have the ingredients required to do so. host: why is that? guest: and part when they get to shackles come off, women and men get to make their own decisions. in high school, often parents tell you what to do and what are to be super taken, your teachers tell you, you are competing with your male and female counterparts in high school to get into the best college. once you get to college, you kind of get to do what you want, ambitions stay

flat and men go through the roof, and so they gravitate toward the politicized science classes, they migrate toward mock trial and debate and other competitive sports teams where they can really showcase their competitive spirit, and that reinforces or might even trigger running for office. host: we are taking a request and sent comments about women in politics with jennifer lawless. here are the phone numbers for you -- .ostdemocrats, (202) 585-3880 republicans, (202) 585-3881. and independents and all others, (202) 585-3882. the phone lines are open. what percentage of women make up the electorate in this country and what is that percentage in congress? guest: women make up the majority of the electorate like they do the majority of the population and they are slightly en tolikely than m turn out to vote, but their

numbers and all other comparisons pale in comparison. 81% of the u.s. house of representatives are men, 45 of the 50 states have male governors, more than 90 of the largest cities have male mayors, elected officials are men, so there is a clear disconnect. host: when can we expected it to change and be more reflective of the electorate? guest: not anytime soon. what we need to do is really engage in systematic efforts to encourage more women to run for office, and the party needs to make a concerted effort to ensure that they have women on the bench who are ready to run and special elections, who are ready to run an open state contest, and who are ready to take on an vulnerable incumbents. the majority of women run as democrats, so as long as women's electoral fortune are tied to the clinical environment, we are

never going to see substantial gains. this means when democrats have a bad year, women disproportionally have a bad year, so until the democrats in a book and start fielding comparable numbers of female candidates, the opportunities for it is almost absent. host: although this year in 2014 we did see the republicans send part of theenators, 114th congress, and this is the first time for these states, and west virginia and iowa. guest: that is right, and with joni ernst going in iowa, that leaves only mississippi as a state who is never got to washington here to 49 of the 50 states have had one woman in their congressional delegation at least once. host: you say either ho pretty y differential, so when a new senate convenes in january and 70% will 20 women,

still be democrats. host: do we know how many states of never had a female senator? guest: i do not know those numbers, but iowa which is never had a fema governor or female senator and only had one woman in its congressional delegation of the state.-- that is not to say there were not interesting independent gains. joni ernst is the new republican senator, mia love in utah became the first african american woman republican in congress. there are certainly milestones that were achieved. in totality, the election cycle did not fundamentally shift the landscape for women. host: let's hear from shauna next, republican. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. it sounds like it is not "a war

on women come go in my opinion, it sounds like what the guest that there is just a lack of women interested in the political arena because if you think about it, most women graduate from college, a lot more our career minded, but they take on roles that are conducive of heading a family, and a lot of the times when you have republican women like myself, we are scrutinized because we have conservative values and a lot of women who do feel that they have conservative views, they kind of keep it to themselves because they do not want to be criticized for those values. it just seems like in this country if you are a democratic woman, you are allowed basically i am a everyone, hey, democrat and i am interested in politics, but if you are a republican, you have to keep that closed mouth because you are criticized. -- it is notif we about a party, it is not about

being a republican or democrat, it is more about getting women more interested in wanting to country in a direction that best suits the american people, and i think women can do that. women just need incentives to what to be in that arena. guest: a couple of things, and this is actually good news, which i do not offer much of. andfirst is that we found, this is the case in the population as well, very few differences in the interest in politics or willingness to produce a paper between women and men, so the really drop off for women is when we get to running for office. it is not at they are not interested in community events or current affairs or serving their society. but the interesting thing is the gender gap in political ambition is the same size for democrat and republican come so democratic women are less likely than democratic men to run come in the same is true for republican women. that it played no

role, which is somewhat counterintuitive. we have reached the point where women are now accustomed to balancing worklife and responsibility to become the new normal for women, so those impediments are no longer holding women back. the factor means that on both side of the aisle, women are less likely than men to be recruited to run. host: all right, north carolina, marie, an independent. caller: hi. i just wanted to ask the lady t heir opinion on whether we can continue to call our electoral process fair and democratic where we completely excluded such a large portion of the through citizenry artificially manufacturing such a large prison population of primarily black males, and since

black males do make up such a large portion of our citizenry, yet they are often incarcerated -- host: we are talking about women in politics. i don't know if there is summit you want to address there, jennifer lawless. guest: there is no question of voter suppression efforts across the board or the gree re-enfranchisement across the ballots, there is nothing to suggest the man women feel differently or minimum in a popular generic testing their votes are being excluded any differently now. women are taking full advantage of the franchise and their suffrage, they're just not running for office. what about redistricting and the method of allowing incumbents to really solidify their reelection prospect? has that led to a slower pace of getting women into office? because you have from earlier

times, 10, 20 years ago, men who were in politics and are reelected every year, every two years or every six years. guest: right. it is true that the incumbency advantage is an impediment. state level, 16 states have term limits, which is whether incumbency is proving to be a potential barrier, and what scholars have found is that states with term limits actually don't have a better record of electing more female candidates because not only are men term limited out, women are, too, so there are more open seats, but women do not get the benefit from the incumbency advantage, and in open seats, more men think about throwing their hats into the ring, so incumbency would prove to be more of an impediment than we might see it to be right now if women and men had equal likelihood of running for office. at this point they don't, so term limits or worrying so much

of skiers the big issue, which is that women are less likely to even consider a clinical career. -- consider a political career. host: john is next. mader: a caller or two ago my point, when he sees the way republican women are treated by the liberal media, and sarah palin is a glaring example of that, if i were a conservative woman, why would you even consider putting yourself up with the ridicule and things womenhe liberals heap on candidates who are of the conservative bent? host: john, democrats were the same around the way hillary clinton was treated, the things the media looked at, they would not have done that with a man. guest: that is true, possibly at the presidential level, but i would argue that that is not what actually happens in most cases.

hayes, a professor at george washington university, and i have analyzed all of the newspaper coverage in the 2010 midterm elections that all of the candidates received, and we are doing is in thing for 2014, and we found that men and women were equally likely to receive coverage, the same volume of coverage, were equally likely to be talked about with their leadership, the same range of issues, and only 3% of the articles, more than 6000 articles, mentioned the candidates' apparent that all, and men and women were equally likely to garner those missions. while at the presidential level we might scrutinize appearance, we might engage -- we might have a punditry that talks a lot about superficial consideration, the mainstream media simply does not do it. a lot of reporters do their job, if there did, and there is no incentive to do so. there is no incentive to treatment and women differently if it is going to be calling

attention to what will be seen as underlying sexism. if you ask chris christie whether he has been treated well or when we think back to paul ryan, i am not sure those candidates were say that they were not treated a little bit superficially as well. host: what about how the candidates treat each other as a barrier for women to enter politics? it can get nasty. the attack ads that are out there, whether it is on their appearance or not, it can get nasty. guest: it can. it is a contact sport. there are 500 20,000 elected offices in this country, and it is only at the residential level in the only hotly contested that are all offices where we see this kind of contention and debate and fighting and this kind of money being spent. encourage people to do is stop trying to use national politics by the lens in which they assess everything in the political arena and think about the other half million offices that need occupants, most of the local level, most involved very little money, not a lot of campaigning. host: start small first.

guest: you don't even have to add the first. he could just go small if you do not like the idea of the media possibly rifling through your trash pure differently i have got to tell you i ran for congress in 2006, and i lost my race, but when i got really heated and competitive, it would not have bothered me is a reporter was going to my trash. host: where did you run? guest: in rhode island, second congressional district in the democratic primary. host: we go to marcy, independent caller. caller: good morning here it i have been interested in politics as i was a child, and i am now 59 years old. that withted to say all of the special interest money being in the race is now with the citizens united decision, you have to be and really beors out there asking for money, and i think -- i had the opportunity cosmetics one time,

and i just went on and paid for it myself versus asking people for money. ithink that is a barrier, and do agree that you start small, maybe with the school board, county elections and that come of thing -- type of thing. example, if as an have a hard time asking for money from people. thank you. guest: i had a very difficult time, too. the first eight months of my to dogn i did not want it. then when we could not pay the rent, i had to start picking up the phone. it is a terrible experience, but you get accustomed to it and it is part of the job. when you do not like doing it, but men do not like doing it, either. money and politics might account for why we do not have the best candidates in the highest quality people we might want to see, but it does not do much to account for that gender gap.

and women are just as effective as men when they decide to raise money. host: what about if hillary clinton to make a second bid for the presidency? 2016, wase to win in sort of message do you think that was sent to women to get involved? guest: i think it would send an important message and a very vital one because it would illustrate that the united states actually walks the walk. we would have cracked the highest, hardest glass ceiling, as hillary clinton called it in 2008. it is important for everyone to keep in mind that if she runs and if she wins, although that achieves one level of success, and that is a huge milestone, that is only part of the problem. that is not automatically mean we are then going to see 40% of the u.s. congress he women or that we are going to have 50% of state legislators women. there is nothing to suggest that she alone can trigger political ambition and interest in the next generation and the generation after that the

pipeline a female presidential candidates is not very deep on either side of the aisle. most presidential candidates are governors are currently will have five female governors, one who will be starting her first term, and the other two are relatively recent to the governor's mansions in their own states. host: all right, cameron in california, democratic caller. hi, there. caller: good morning and good morning, jennifer. guest: good morning. caller: i have been listening to you come in here is what i see. it all has to come down with colonialism, and that is what you guys are fighting with, the women trying to get into politics. it is already an uphill battle. i hope you guys get it, i hope hillary clinton gets in there and wins. she even went, you will see people on tv, looking at their spouses. look at hillary's spouse, why would shouldn't we vote for her?

her spouse used to be the president of the united states. going in anden getting into politics, and here is what i see, in this is what i have heard, when i talk politics with my friends, is -- why are women in politics? that is what i hear a lot. host: and what is the answer, cameron? caller: my answer is i think that they are in there because they will do a heck of a lot better than the menfolk have. look where we are at now. host: all right, kristin gillibrand tweeted this out recently -- research shows that when more women are elected to office, more legislation gets passed that actually helps families. does the research shows that? guest: over time, women have been more likely than tmen to prioritize issues that have to do with family and children.

there are not that many interparty differences anymore, but within each party, women are more likely to focus on those issues.inds of there has been commentary about --ocrat and republican women republican women are just as likely as a rubble in meant to win their primaries and just as successful in the general election. host: angela in georgia, republican. caller: good morning, jennifer. guest: good morning. caller: i just feel that women who have to work -- families are somehow affected, and i think unless your children are grown, that being an elected official even makes it harder for the families. what is your opinion of that? guest: you are right in that women are still disproportionately responsible for the household tasks and labor, and that is the case even for her profile working women

who have reached the pinnacle's of professional success, but the havenews is that they figured out a way to balance this, so our studies show that women who are married, who are not married, and let children, who don't have children, who have children who are no longer home, women who shoulder the majority of the response ability for women who don't, are all equally less likely than men to be interested in running for office, so this is not to say that we do not have a problem in this country and that there has been no kind of shift on the homefront in terms of the distribution of labor, but it is to suggest that that is not what is keeping women from running for office. host: what about women who are elected to congress and the positions that they hold with in congress, whether it is leadership roles or the top republican or democrat on a committee? guest: this election cycle was actually bad for women in that way because again the majority of women are democrats, so in the senate, they lost the committee position that they had when the republicans come to

power they will no longer hold those positions. given security plus being a democrat pretty much determines whether or not you hold these positions, women are just not going to fare valerie well. we've only had one woman, nancy pelosi, who has been speaker of the house. chaired aughter committee in the house, but we have a lot of work to do on that front. host: her race has not been called for this election cycle. guest: right. --ez is not been called, and her race has not been called. ourl onis is the line for democrats. caller: i am really -- i do not think that we havea woman as head of state

here -- the only reason that -- a woman as president of the united states i do not think is possible because we have heads of state are women, and that is what the states need because we to be a headwomen --state as well as minorities are handled the same way. host: ok, jennifer lawless? guest: it is important to remember that when we say we do not value women as head of state , we really only have one so wee and one case, should be clear how these variances of hillary clinton in 2008 might not be indicative of the spirits of of a female presidential candidate or even her eighth rinses if she decides to run in 2016. not only was she incredibly unique because she was a senator, a former first lady, her husband was beloved and

knocked and be loved again, but in ae was also involved primary campaign against a candidate like nobody ever seen before, who also by one election would make history, so it is important for us i think not to take too much about gender from what happened in 2008 and assume it will apply in other circumstances. host: has any research been done on the impact of having sarah palin as the vp candidate? there have been other female bp candidates, too. any research that shows that has had a negative or positive impact? guest: it really does not matter because in a presidential level, partisan vote their party, and by the end of the election cycle, sarah palin's presence on the ticket was not shoring up in a kind of independent support. it might have motivated the base initially. host: thomas, you are our last four jennifer lawless.

caller: i am only 22, but in my experience, i have noticed that we tend to raise young girls and more feminine roles. we give young girls dolls and teach them how to cook and do all these things while we are giving men interactive tools like legos and interactive video more that spawn critical thinking or how big of a role will talk at education play in getting women involved in politics in the future? andt: childhood education parental enforcement and socialization patterns of , but wey matter did not see the gender gap in high school students, so that suggests that up through high school with the girls are not necessarily being socialized if early or if they are, it is not having a differential effect on their ambitions. what happens is when they have more freedom and they are not sort of pulled in by that kind of socialization we see a regression to the mean and what we would expect in terms of these gendered roles.

intervention on college campuses early on to sustain and trigger women's interest in politics are the way to go. host: jennifer lawless with >> tomorrow's washington journal, tim ryan joins us to talk about what to expect during the lame duck session of congress and new congress that is seated in january. nnis hastert on the mid-term elections and on republicans controlling both houses of congress. and president obama's neutrality which would ban internet with aster download speeds. "washington journal" live on c-span at 7:00 a.m. eastern. the house of representatives in recess until 6:30 p.m. eastern

when members vote on a bill to eliminate government reports. and three new members will be sworn in. democrat norcross of new jersey and democrat adams of north carolina and republican brat. they will be taking office ahead of the new freshman class that comes in in january. those three and the rest of the new members of congress taking office in january arrived in washington, d.c., today for a new member orientation. c-span spoke with congresswoman miller about the new member orientation. >> we are joined on the phone by congresswoman miller, who chairs the congressional committee who oversees freshmen orientation this week and next. a question on who actually gets invited to orientation because there is still a handful of

races out there that are yet to be called. >> that's true. although they are quickly being called but there are a handful that are still outstanding. everyone that has been elected as a new member of congress is extended the invitation and we send an invitation to both parties, both candidates, i should say if those races -- if the contests have not been called, so there are a couple of those situations, which is pretty much par for the course. this is my first time going through as the chairperson for new member orientation. every cycle, there are always one or two outstanding and the orientation is taking place and whoever who is successful in their contest is right up to speed. >> in terms of what actually happens at new member orientation, "roll call" likened

it to college orientation and getting to know you, attending panels about the institution and posing for a class photo. what do you make the analogy to college orientation? >> i suppose there is some sort of bit of truth. i can remember when i was a freshman, it has been characterized of trying to take a drink out of a fire hose. but we have tried this time to improve on what was already a very good new member orientation and try to understand what we can do to present all of this information in an easily understood way and something and things they need to know. keep in mind, we aren't talking out politics or policy or of that. this is about the mechanics of being a member of congress and

totally bipartisan and just talking to the new members about ideas that we have on how they should approach their new office and new office in d.c. and just as importantly how they set up their district office or offices. some of them with huge territories could have a handful of district offices. how do they set their offices up, what is their budget they are looking at. we did a salary study and give them some idea of what the average range is, although there is wide fluctuation, but the range of salaries for chief of staff, for a deputy chief of staff, for a press person, for a scheduler, for your legislative people and district director, because that's the basic thing. how much will their budget be and what and when they are

looking staffing, what is the approach. >> what is the budget, how much money do they get to be a freshman member of congress? >> everybody gets the same amount of money. it's about $1.1 million. there is a little bit of variation, because when the committee is putting together the budgets, try to take into consideration, if you have to rent a district office in downtown manhattan, your rental rates are different than they would be in fargo, north dakota, so we try to make some accommodations so people are accommodated in that way. but it's pretty much the same and as a new member, you are essentially looking at, i would say like studying up a small business and you have to do it rapid fire, because you are trying to get it set up so when you are sworn in right after the

first of the year on january 6, that you are ready to go. you don't have to have every hire done certainly, but you need to be as far long as you can so you can have the most success and most impactful for your constituents. we are trying to help them with that. for instance, what kind of equipment they might want to think about, because what happens, historically, you in rnt whatever type of equipment. if your predecessor had old equipment, maybe he wasn't into technology, you are going to make an investment on that. when i got there, i had that situation and i actually did not hire one particular staff position and instead spent the money on equipment. on the other hand, you might be able to walk into an office that has everything up to date. we help them with those kinds of

decisions, what kinds of equipment you are purchasing that are within the house contract and we talk to all of the house officers. they are going to have a session where they will meet the clerk of the house who says you are now on the floor of the house and this is how you vote it and you insert it in the voting stations and this is how this goes and will be hearing from the parliamentarian who will tell them what is germane and not germane, how you ask for unanimous consent, when it is appropriate to do a one-minute or a special order and legislative counsel who will say you have great ideas and i'm the person in the shop here that can help you turn your great ideas into a piece of legislation that you can then drop in the hopper. >> a few of the highlights of the week. how to set up your office.

on monday a session on congressional ethics and a lot of members looking forward to choosing their own office in that lottery that happens next wednesday. what's the one question you get most often from a new member of congress? [laughter] >> how do i get to my office over to the capitol building. trying to figure out where everything is located. so we try to help them with all of that. probably, the thing is what kind of budget am i looking at, because they know everything is coming out of that budget and will be advised, it happens not very often, occasionally, if a member runs over their budget, they have to pay for that personally. you can't pay for it out of campaign funds. pay attention to your budget, which is always good. >> she's the chairwoman of the committee on house

administration. we appreciate your time this morning. >> thanks so much. >> the house is coming back into session now. members will vote on a bill to he eliminate some government reports. live coverage on c-span. eas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4194, an act to provide for the elimination or modification of federal reporting requirements, senate amendment. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment? members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: have ll members cast their votes?

the speaker: on this vote, the yeas are 382. no members voting in the negative, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the senate amendment is agreed to and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the house will be in order. members will please take their seats. the house will be in order. the speaker: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable, the speaker, house of representatives, sir, i have the honor to transmit a stamped copy of a letter received from honorable new jersey lieutenant governor secretary of state, indicating that according to the preliminary results of the special election held november 4, 2014, the honorable donald w.

norcross was elected representative to congress. i am signed sincerely. the honorable speaker, house of representatives, sir, i have the honor to transmit herewith a stamped copy of a letter received executive director of north carolina state board of elections indicating that according to the preliminary results of the special election held november 4, 2014, the honorable alma adams was legitimated representative to congress for the 12th congressional district, state of north carolina. with best wishes, i am signed, sincerey, karen l. haas. sir, i have the honor to transmit herewith a stamped copy of a let received from commercial of commonwealth department of elections

indicating that according to the preliminary results of the special election held november 4, 2014, the honorable david a. brat was elected representative to congress for the 7th congressional district of the commonwealth of virginia. 'm, signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker: the house will be n order. members will please take their seats. he house will be in order.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? mr. pallone: i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from new jersey, the honorable donald w. norcross be permitted to take the oath of office today. his certificate of election has not arrived, no question has been raised with regard to his election. the speaker: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina ise? mr. coble: i ask unanimous consent that the gentlewoman from north carolina, the honorable alma adams. her certificate of election has not arrived but there is no

contest and no question has been raised with regard to her election. the speaker: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte rise? r. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from virginia, honorable dave brat, be permitted to take the oath of office today, his certificate of election has not arrived, but there is no contest and no question has been raised with regard to his election. the speaker: without objection. would the representatives-elect please come to the well of the house and will all members lease rise. will the representatives-elect please raise their right hands. do you solemnly swear you will

support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic and you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and that you take this obligation freely without any mem reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god? congratulations, you are now members of the 113th congress.

the speaker: without objection the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone is recognized for one minute. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to congratulate and welcome our new colleague to the new jersey delegation, congressman donald nor cross. let me tell you -- -- donald norcross. let me tell you. you will all learn to love donald norcross the way i have. he comes from a union background and he's a fighter. he always fights for the little guy. and he also is bipartisan, he wants to work with the republican side to get

legislation passed as he did in the state, as he did in the state senate and he has a reputation in the state senate where he chaired one of the committees of actually passing legislation. the speaker: if the gentleman would suspend. would the house please with with -- be in order. the gentleman may proceed. mr. pallone: as i said, you will learn to love him he will be a great congressman. you'll learn over the next few year house effective he can be. congratulations again, donald. thank you. and i'd like now to teeledyeeled to my colleague from new jersey, r. lobiondo. mr. lobiondo: i join the congratulations to donald norcross. i have known him for years as a

state legislature he will always put his constituents first, always put his district first he, will be a great asset to this congress and i look forward to working with you, donald. congratulations. mr. norcross: good evening and thank you very much. mr. speaker, leader pelosi, congressman pallone, congressmen lobiondo and the -- and my colleagues from new jersey. the young man standing next to me is my grandson. and a very special in my person in my life who keeps my life in order, my lovely wife andrea. she's up there with my daughter, kory my son gregory, my son donald jr., and his wife janette and my granddaughter natalie.

reat to have you here. and the one person who is truly the leader of my house is my mother, carol. hey, ma. and many friends, family, supporters from new jersey including my three brothers george, john and philip and my extended brother robert. good to have you here. to my extended family in labor who i have worked closely with over the last 25 years and certainly the supporters and volunteers who worked with us other the past 10 months, many thanks. life always brings souse many twists and turns and you never know where you're going to be. i grew up in the profession as an electrician. and look where we are now. member of the house.

this is truly the american dream and i'm proud to be part of it. i look forward to working with all my colleagues on behalf of this great nation and the people who live in it. thank you very much. the speaker: without objection the gentleman from north carolina, mr. coble is recognized for one minute. mr. coble: thank you, mr. speaker. colleagues, alma adams -- representative adams has served our area in the north carolina general assembly in excess of two decades. in raleigh, she is known as the legislative lady with the hat. mr. speaker, i am pleased to

present to you and to my colleagues the legislative lady with the hat, alma adams from orth carolina. and mr. speaker, i yield to the gentleman from the fourth district, david price. mr. price: mr. speaker, i thank the dean of our delegation, howard coble, for yielding and i want to add to his words of introduction for our new colleague, alma adams. elected this past election to fill the unexpyred term of mel att, our colleague mel watt -- who has taken leadership of the federal housing finance agency. s the 12th district of north carolina. alma adams was born in high point, north carolina, she attended college at north carolina a&t university, took her doctoral degree from ohio state university and became a teacher. she had a 40-year career as a

professor at bennett college in north carolina. her introduction to -- the speaker: if the gentleman would suspend. he house will be in order. the gentleman may resume. mr. price: alma adams' career in politics began on the greens bro school board. she was appointed to the general assembly in 1994 by governor jim hunt and elected in her own right for successive terms. she's had a distinguished term of service in our general assembly. known for her unceasing desire to improve the lives of women and children and families, her issues include domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, afordable health care, public education. she chaired the legislative black caucus and chaired the bipartisan women's legislative

caucus. so alma adams, my colleagues, comes to us very, very well equipped to be a productive and constructive and cooperative member of this body. it's my honor and pleasure to introduce you to her tonight. lma adams. ms. admsspak thank you, mr. speaker. dmb mrs. adams: thank you, mr. speaker. the journey to congress is not made alone. i could not have made it here without my faith, my family, and my friends. i want to take a moment to give special thanks to my mother, who could not be here today, to my children, billy and janel my son-in-law todd, my four grandchildren, one is on the floor with me tonight. to my siblings and everyone who

made the trip to share in this momentous occasion with me. i stand here on the shoulders of the fearless women who shattered the glass ceiling. by coming to congress and representing our country with pride, tenacity and integrity. it is with great honor that i stand before you tonight as the 100th woman in the 113th ongress. the women who have served before me have proven that when women succeed, we all succeed. as i traveled across the 12th congressional district, i heard the calls for taos work together, to create jobs, invest in education, and to be a voice for the working men and women struggling to make the ends meet. i'm answering their calls by

pledging to work with the members of the north carolina delegation and each and every member of this chamber. to the people of the 12th congressional district, 10 months of no representation stops now. i'm here and i'm rolling up my sleeves and i'm getting to work. mr. speaker, i yield back to you. the speaker: without objection the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte, is recognized for one minute. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i would like to welcome the newest member of the house of representatives from virginia,

mr. dave brat of glenallen, virginia, to this chamber. dave is joining this body as a new member representing the seventh district of virginia. over the past year, he has talked with his friends and neighbors about the challenges facing our nation and what congress can do to help grow our economy and help the private sector create jobs. dave is uniquely positioned to -- positioned to work on issues relating to american jobs and the economy. with an uh undergraduate degree in business administration and ph.d. in economics, his background in economic policy will help this body deal with the most pressing issues of the day. for the past 18 year, dave has been a faculty member at randolph macon college where he served as chair of the department of economics. he's also a strong family man and with his wife, lawyer remark has two children. mr. speaker, it is my pleasure

to welcome dave to the united states house of representatives. joining us today are our fellow members of the virginia delegation who welcome you and look forward to working with you. gentleman, to the mr. scott, for his remarks. mr.scott: i rise to welcome brat to our delegation. our delegation has a history of working together. we may not always agree on every issue, we will always try to work together for what is best for virginia and our nation, it's the virginia way. dave will be replacing majority leader eric cantor and at the end of the congress we will lose two of our more senior members, frank wolf and jim moran. our delegation's power wane a bit but i know it will be reinvigorated by new members

like congressman brat committed to working together for our commonwealth. dave comes to congress after a career as an economics professor at randolph macon college, he's been appointed to state boards and commissions by several virginia governors including the joint advisory board of economists. i know he'll put these experiences to good use. i welcome dave and hi family to congress and look forward to working with him on issues critical to the richmond region and the entire commonwealth of virginia. i yield the balance of our time to our newest colleague, the gentleman from virginia, mr. rat. mr. brat: mr. speaker, thank you very much. thank you to my new colleagues and thank you to the people of virginia's seventh district who have entrusted me with the honor of serving as their

representative and many of them are with us tonight in the gallery. thank you for coming. we are proud that the seventh district is the home of the father of the constitution, james madison. and the voice of the revolution, patrick henry. it's been a long road and very few gave me a chance when the journey began. i want to thank my wife, laura, and my children, jonathan and sofia, for believing in me and i want to thank god, as this would not have been possible without his assistance along the way. throughout my campaign as president reagan said, i tried to appeal to people's best hopes and not their worst fears. i strive to elevate the dialogue and focus on solutions especially on economic issues facing our country. . thank you all the, god bless you all and may goth god continue to bless this great nation. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. thank you all.

the speaker pro tempore: under clause -- the speaker: under clause 5-d of rule 20, the chair announces to the house that in light of the administration of the oath to the gentlewoman from north carolina, the gentleman from new jersey and the gentleman from virginia, the whole number of the house is now 435.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek

recognition? mr. sessions: mr. speaker, i send to the desk a privileged report for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: who were to accompany house resolution 748, resolution providing for consideration of the bill h.r. 5682, to approve the keystone x.l. pipeline. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. will members please take that you are conversations off the house floor -- take their conversations off the house floor. he house will be in order. members, please take your conversations off the house floor. the house will be in order. please take your conversations off the house floor. will the members please be in

order. take your conversations off the house floor. the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania eek recognition? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend. and the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. the house is not in order. the house is not in order. we cannot begin until the members take their conversation off the house floor. the gentleman will resume. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, today congress returns to session with little time to

complete business on a range of important matters which is why i'm calling on the senate to take swift action on the national defense authorization act. the ndaa, which passed the house in may, authorizes policy for the pentagon and this year includes reforms to ensure our troops are more adequately trained and equipped both mentally and physically. a recent army study found that nearly half the soldiers who reported suicide attempts indicated their first attempt was prior to enlistment. i'm proud to say the house version of the ndaa includes provisions identical to the medical evaluation parity for service members act i introduced earlier in the year. that will help address this challenge. it enables the pentagon to establish a baseline to properly track changes in a service member's behavioral health by instituting a requirement that all incoming troops undergo a mental health assessment upon enlistment. it's time for the senate to act on this bipartisan legislation that has the support of over 40 veterans and military advocacy groups. i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the house is not in order. will the members please take their conversation off the house floor. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio seek recognition? illinois. sorry. without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize my sorority, significant ma gama row, which today proudly celebrates 9 years of service. established in 1922, at butler university, it engrained in me and countless women the value of public service. jerry kelly sisters include -- mr. kelly: sisters include -- ms. kelly: sisters include my colleague, the honorable congresswoman corrine brown of florida, patty mcdaniel, the first african-american woman to receive an academy award.

it played an integral role in the civil rights movement as members fought to overturn jim crow laws and advance women's equality. today it continues their service in promoting education and awareness in communities on issues like health equality and financial literacy. for 92 years it has been on the front lines of making our nation better through scholarships, sisterhood and service. i'm honored to be a part of this legacy and wish many more years of success to my sisters. i yield whack about a -- i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania eek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. everyone remembers the promise the president made while promoting his health care law. if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. he broke this promise. we just learned that one of the law's chief architects,

professor john gruber, has come clean and admitted the deceit used to get the law passed. but professor gruber also revealed a stunning contempt for the american people. mr. rothfus: he called us stupid. this reminds me of when lucy was trying to get charlie brown to kick the football. charlie says to lucy, i don't mind your dishonesty, half as much as i mind your opinion of me. in this case, mr. speaker, the american people mind both the administration's dishonesty and its opinion of them. the professor now regrets his comments, but does he regret that my constituents, don and karen of johnstown, pennsylvania, and millions of other americans have lost their health care plan because of obamacare? does he regret that workers in beavers county, pennsylvania, and countless others are seeing their health insurance premiums skyrocket? more importantly, mr. speaker, does the president regret it? i thank the speaker and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio seek recognition?

without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. beatty: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the extraordinary service and selfless sacrifice of our nation's veterans. each year on the 11th day of the 11th month, we pause to pay tribute to our veterans. the men and women who serve this country with honor and distinction. almost 2 million veterans in the united states -- 22 million veterans in the united states and the 43,000 veterans live in my congressional district. i am here to say thank you for your service and sacrifice. you answered the call of service and never wavered. whether at home or abroad, whether at war or at times of peace, you kept our nation safe and protected our freedoms. in gratitude and humility, it is now our turn to serve you, providing the benefits and the

resources you deserved and earned. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. ms. kaptur: mr. speaker, today nato's commander said in bulgaria, we have seen columns of russian equipment, primary russian tanks, russian artillery, russian air defense systems and russian combat troops, entering into ukraine. in response, ukraine has redeployed troops to the east to counter the insurgency. but these soldiers are severely undersupplied. ukraine had an election just a couple weeks ago, the most transparent, the most free and most pro-western election in history. but pro-russian parliamentarians received less than 10% of the vote. but today once again ukraine faces war as the ceasefire there collapsed as russia attempts to reassert its influence by sinister and illegal means.

ukraine's young soldiers don't have proper boots or weapons or defensive equipment. how many times must ukraine be invaded before we call it an invasion? i call upon the house to pass h.r. 5190, the bill i introduced with my fellow ukrainian caucus co-chair, jim gerlach of pennsylvania, to provide meaningful humanitarian aid and security assistance to ukraine. the senate has passed, the other body has passed, s. 2828, that does much the same. let us stop the advance of this tyranny in the new century. liberty is calling. let us measure up in this lame duck session. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. are there any additional requests for one-minute speeches? are there any additional requests for one-minute speeches? there being none, the chair now lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. al green of texas on november 12, mr. honda

of california for today and ms. sheila jackson lee of tnks on november 12 -- of texas on november 12. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. foxx, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we are here tonight to pay tribute to the dean of the north carolina delegation and our beloved colleague of many years, howard coble. howard coble has been a dedicated public servant to the people of north carolina and a champion for honest, effective

government. for three decades he has taken great care to represent the values and concerns of six district -- sixth district residents. it's a profound honor to call howard a dear friend and it saddens me to think about coming here in the next congress without his wisdom or signature which the. wearing his trade -- wit. wearing his trademark plaid jackets, howard has been a champion for his constituent, where in washington or back in north carolina. he never backed down from a challenge to do what was right for north carolina and always pushed washington to work better for those he represented. . always ready with a cheerful greeting and welcoming smile for whoever crossed his path, it's clear howard cares about the little details that mean so much to average north carolinians. those who met him know of his characteristic penchant for inquiring about their alma mater

and rattling off the correspond enmascot. perhaps the most fitting summary of howard's personality is that he is the essence of what it means to be a southern gentleman. someone who simply exudes kindness, charm, and compassion. and let's not forget that he was named the sexiest bachelor in congress by buzzfeed earlier this year. he is also known for his dead pan humor and loves a good joke, even if it's at his own expense. however that wit can sometimes be a two-edged sword. in 2008, his sense of humor almost killed someone. at the north carolina g.o.p. convention, he cracked a joke to robert pittinger who now represents north carolina's ninth congressional district. robert nearly expired after choking on his meal in mid chuckle.

reliable sources have hinted that the joke might have been a variation of howard's feisty mountain woman one-liner that he routinely uses to describe me. fortunately, former presidential candidate governor mike huckabee was there to rescue robert from howard's humor with a well-placed heimlich maneuver. all kidding aside, howard is a man of integrity and principle, a representative who has stood for what is right and who has fought on behalf of what makes america a great nation. today i salute howard coble my friend, for his many -- howard coble, my friend, for his many years of service. we will miss him greatly. with that, mr. speaker, i now yield three minutes to our colleague, mr. price. the speaker: the gentleman is recognized. mr. price: --

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. price: i thank my colleague for yielding and for scheduling this special order here on our first night back in town for the very important purpose of paying tribute to our dear friend and colleague, howard coble. i'm happy to join in this, as many other colleagues will be tonight as well. i've served with howard since i first arrived here in 1987. he had beaten me by two years. first elected in 1984 to represent north carolina's sixth district. i think when you hear the tributes tonight from both sides of the aisle, you're going to quite accurately conclude that howard coble is one of the best-liked members of this body. and that that affection extends across the entire political spectrum. howard is always ready with a kind word for everyone, from fellow representatives to capitol police and constituents. it's difficult to walk anywhere with howard in washington.

in north carolina -- or in north carolina. without being stopped several times, because he has so many friends who want to catch up with him. i've always especially enjoyed introducing my staff to howard. his first question is usually what high school did you go to and the second question is something like, what's it like working for this scal wag. -- for this scalawag? we've disagreed on politics and policy, but we have had many occasions for fruitful collaboration on issues important to north carolina. we have worked for years, for example, on promoting textile reserge search and worked on disaster -- textile research, and worked on disaster relief after major hurricanes. i have come to appreciate howard as a smart and able legislator and more than that, i've come to value him as a person.

value his friendship. my staff would want me to add my district staff would want me to add how much we all admire howard's skit service. when it comes to working with our constituents and dealing with federal agencies, party lines don't matter. often the district lines are a little indistinct and we have to figure out whose district someone is in or get a case referred back and forth. howard's staff is invariably cooperative, competent, it's not an accident that he has a superb representation in -- reputation in north carolina for the best constituent service around. he has been a dedicated member in this body, in washington as well, an effective legislator, especially distinguishing himself in his leadership positions on the judiciary committee. and he's done all this with a

certain grace and smile. he reminds us of a time when our politics were less hard-edged. as he retires at the close of the current congress, we wish him all the best. he leave this is body with immense afeck and respect. our state and the house of representatives have greatly benefited from the service of howard coble. god speed, my friend. ms. foxx: mr. speaker, i now recognize our colleague, mr. jones, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. jones: thank you very much. i thank ms. foxx for putting this together. tonight is a sad night but a very special night. i think for those of us who have had the privilege to know howard coble as long as i have, go back to 1983 when i was a freshman democrat in the north carolina house of representatives and he was a member of the north carolina house of representatives as a republican.

why we met, i don't know, but eventually we became pretty good friends at that point. then he left the north carolina house and came to washington and my father, congressman walter nes sr., was chairman of the committee and mr. coble came from north carolina and was on that committee because he's a former member of the coast guard and he was a natural because of the work they did on that committee. my father became a friend of howard coble. then i came to washington, mr. speaker, as a republican and now we have been friends for many years and this man to me is very special as a human being and i nicknamed him, i heard mr. price say the dean, but i call him the leader -- like leadah. mr. coble likes to tell people that's because those of us from eastern north carolina we don't

know that the word leader has e-r instead of a-h. i did that because at the time we became the majority in 1995, there had been a gentleman here a democrat, for a number of years. mr. coble, being the kind of man he was he, said, i don't want to be called the dean. as long as he's here in congress, i want him to remain the deal. and i think that says a heck of a lot about who this person is. so mr. speaker, i decided that he should be known as the leadah and therefore so many people in the house of representatives from both parties they call him the leadah, some with a northern accent, some with a west coast accent, but it still sounds the same. for me personally this night is sad because i have spent many nights in the last few years, mr. coble and i, having dinner together at the capitol hill club. reminiscing about yesterday but also thinking about today. and for me, is a personal

relationship that i have had like family, quite frankly. and for me to know that i have been re-elected for another term and to know that mr. coble will go back home and enjoy the love and affection of the people of reens bro, it still been -- of greensboro, it still is sad for me personally. he has given so much not only to the state of north carolina but to our nation. he's been a great leader of the house, been a great legislator, been able to get thing dones in the judiciary and other committees. he will always be remembered new york my heart and my family, as a member of my family and to you, howard coble, i love you as a brother in christ, you are a special man who has given so much to not only north carolina but to america. and you will always remain a member of my family.

od bless you, sir. ms. foxx: mr. speaker, i now recognize our esteemed colleague from eastern north carolina, mr. mcintyre for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. mcintyre: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, howard, for your spirit and service and standard of statesmanship. howard and i have had a spirit of friendship that has been something we have always enjoyed together here on the floor and often asked me about what the latest score was or when the next game is their beloved tar heels were playing. in any sport. not just football and basketball. but the baseball and many other sports the team engages in. but our spirit has gone even beyond that great school spirit that we share and congressional spirit and the spirit we have shared in our lord and how god has touched our lives. our fellowship together we have

had across the hall in the congressional prayer caucus and even on the steps of the capitol here one evening, several years ago, i'm sure you remember that we shared together, howard. second his service, in addition to his spirit of friendship and friendliness to so many people and the spirit we have shared in our lord is his service, the longevity of service he has given. it hasn't been just mundane or in and out service. it's been service done with life and laughter and with latitude. he has life in what he does he always shares a smile and makes you laugh and not take things so seriously that you can't enjoy what you're doing. we all should want to be able to enjoy this great opportunity of service. the also takes the latitude to spend time with you, the latitude to literally work across the aisle, symbolized by the comments you heard tonight and the friendship he is has across the aisle. third with that spirit and that

service, is also his standard of statesmanship. i think, howard, when we flew together with the commandant of the coast guard, you being a coastie yourself and how we talked about the coast guard and how it serves us well in north carolina and nationwide, we flew down with the commandant, and howard came to my district to honor wilmington as the nation's first coast guard city on the east coast. we shared that time together. he was that kind of person that would travel and spend time with you and whether it was on the coast in wilmington or whether it was it was on the pitching mound together as he and i and representative foxx and price shared at our alma mater, u.n.c. chapel hill, this past spring, he knew how to show that friendship and that standard of statesmanship in that situation. thank you, howard, for bringing people together. with your disarming smile and your friendship you've shown

what exemplary statesmanship is all about. you've shown the spirit of fellowship and friendship, and given that longevity of service and most of all you've shown that standard statesmanship to which we all should ascribe. god bless you my friend, my christian brother and my fellow tar heel. i yield back. ms. foxx: mr. speaker, i now yield three minutes to the congresswoman from north carolina, congresswoman ellmers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes. mrs. ellmers: thank you very much and i am honored to stand before you to speak on behalf of my dear friend, the dean of our delegation, howard coble. he has been a source of wisdom and esteem -- a source of wisdom, an esteemed colleague, and a loyal friend to all since taking office in 1985. one of the finest memories that

i have of howard was when i had the privilege of watching him berghoff award, awarded to him for his unwavering support of the brave men and women serving in the united states coast guard. when i arrived at the ceremony, i wasn't surprised to find the committee room packed from wall to wall. seating was scarce and there was hardly any standing room left. for supporters. everyone was there to show support and appreciation for our good friend, howard. just as he had been there to show support and appreciation over the years to all of us. while speaking at the ceremony, admiral pat shared some words of advice howard once gave him. always take care of your shipmates. howard, you have truly embodied this piece of advice through

your service in congress, especially when taking care of your constituents. you have always taken care of each of us, your shipmates, through both your dedicated service and loyal friendship. on a personal note, i have had the incredible honor of following howard in representing brandoff re and counties in district two and i must say, you are truly loved and respected and i have very ig shoes to continue to fill. your retirement marks the end of an era here in congress but launched the beginning of another incredible journey for you. i wish you a long and relaxing retirement and i will be forever grateful for your friendship and guidance through the years. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, mr.

speaker. i now yield three minutes to our colleague, richard hudson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for three minutes. mr. hudson: thank you, mr. speaker. you may notice my sharp jacket tonight. it's a jacket worn in honor of my dear friend and colleague, howard coble. howard was not only -- was not always known for just his colorful jackets. when he first came to town, howard coble was known for his many colorful suspenders. in fact, i don't know how many colors he had but he was well known that he would always have bright colorful suspenders on. next he became known for wearing distinctive hats. in fabblet, -- fact, in the 1990's tim russert used to refer to him as the man with the hat. then it was tim russert's son, luke, who first noticed the jackets a few years ago eands put on his twitter account, mr. speaker, that the jacket howard coble is wearing tonight looks like a, quote, exploding turtle, end quote. so the russert family has long

acknowledged howard's unique sense of style, as have many of his constituents and his friends here in congress. howard coble has been known for his sense of humor. he once remarked that if he put on a brand new suit it would immediately look rumpled like an unmade bed. however has always had a self-deprecating humor and a personality that draws people to him. everyone loves him. and i learned that as a candidate for congress, mr. speaker, because i inherited three counties from howard coble's former district. so when i would ask people for votes, they would -- i had to immediately tell them i wasn't runs a -- running as howard coble because otherwise they wouldn't want to talk to me. he's legendary in his constituent service. he's always taken care of his constituents. they know they have a friend in their congressman, howard coble. he's set a standard, mr. speaker, to which we can all aspire to. in terms of the integrity with which he's conducted himself,

the love for people that everyone knows and can sense and is drawn to, and the constituent service. mr. speaker, it's been a privilege to get to know howard coble. it's been an honor to serve with him and call him friend. i will miss seeing him in congress every day. but i know that he will not be a stranger and i just say god bless you, howard coble. and god speed. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield two minutes to our distinguished colleague, mr. pittinger. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for two minutes. pittsburgh pirates thank you, mr. speaker. -- mr. pittinger: thank you, mr. speaker. much has been said and written about the ratings of the united states congress. and the approval of what the american people think of us. somewhere right around 10%. let me tell you, those ratings don't take into consideration howard coble. mr. pittenger: my esteemed

friend in this congress is regarded by his own constituents as a family member. howard coble chose not to be married. but what became his family were his constituents. what became his friends were his colleagues in congress. both sides of the aisle love howard. and i'm one who loves seeing you out there on that back road every time i walked in -- row every time i walked in with a big smile and a good story and everybody would come by and say hello to howard. during the course of the session. just to see you because you're special to all of us. yes, my good friend, congresswoman foxx, did tell a story about how my life was spared as i was chewing some chicken and i realized i couldn't chew and laugh at the same time. as i tried to swallow that chicken and then here came mr.

huckabee to give me the hime lick and save my life. well, i was in the primary a year after that with 11 people in the primary and the one good thing about that is i got a sympathy vote from mike huckabee and he endorsed me. o that was a good thing. but, howard, thank you. thank you for being committed in your job on judiciary committee, on transportation committee, you're faithful in every respect, to do the right thing for north carolina, for your district, and frankly for the american people. we are all in debt to you for your service, to this great country, a country that's better off today because of the life of howard coble. thank you and god bless you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield three minutes to the distinguished chairman of the judiciary committee, mr. goodlatte of virginia. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from virginia is recognized for three minutes. mr. goodlatte: i thank the gentlewoman for yielding and it is just a real honor to be here tonight to tell my friend, howard coble, how much he means to me and how much i'm going to miss him here in the house of representatives. he has not only been an outstanding leader on the house judiciary committee, and by the way, i hope the gentleman from north carolina, mr. jones, will compile all those wonderful offenses and put them into some kind -- photo graphs and put them in some kind of binder or book even so all of us can ee and enjoy all those historic caricatures that have been created in howard's honor over these many years. but not only has he been a great member of the house judiciary committee, he has been a close personal friend of mine for more than 20 years. in addition to serving with him on the committee, he is

somebody who is always turning to others, taking an interest in them. he has an uncanny ability to remember the mascots for virtually any high school or college that someone attended. and his ability to always ask others how they are feeling. with respect to this last point, he used to diffuse more than a few difficult conversations by asking people, how's your back feeling? inevitably, especially if someone is older, they begin to talk about back problems and forget about what they were so exorcised about. he's also a great tennis player. for nearly 20 years, i've had the honor of playing tennis with him very early on wednesday mornings and howard is known for moving arbleds the court really fast -- around the court really fast but the thing about him is he always was there where you hit the ball and he always put it back just

exactly where he wanted it to go. an amazing accomplishment. so, howard, thank you very much for that. i want to tell one story in conjunction a field hearing that was -- that took place in nashville. shourd a great fan of -- howard is a great fan of blue grass music and country music in general. a field hearing that took place in nashville, when the f.j.s. fairness and music licensing bill was under consideration in the late 1990's, a meeting was arranged with garth brooks. howard, who was serving as the then subcommittee chairman, was a life-long fan of blue grass and traditional country music. he didn't know who brooks was and was far more interested in arranging a meeting with grand pa jones from the grand ole opry. but he knows who he is now. in fact, garth is making a comeback and howard, you will enjoy many, many more

opportunities to enjoy the music that you love. he would always ask me how things were in the star city, which is my hometown of roanoke, virginia, and took an interest in me and what i was doing. and on the committee, as the chairman of the courts, the internet and intellectual property subcommittee where he serves now and has served on a number of occasions in the past , he stood very strong for the rights of the private property rights of people who are creators of music and motion pictures and great products that they seek patents on and so on. and his work will serve for a long time in the future to protect that great american incentive to create and create jobs. his work has created many jobs for many americans. he's a true son of the sixth

district of north carolina. i'm from the sixth district of virginia. but in his case, he's a life-long son of the sixth district. having been born in greensboro, educated in the sixth district, and been a county attorney and an assistant u.s. attorney and with the -- he's been a revenuer with the north carolina department of revenue. but what i didn't know was that his first six years in his professional life he was a claims adjuster for the state farm mutual automobile insurance company. so here in the closing days of his service, i'm still learning new things about my friend, howard coble. so, howard, thank you very much for not only being my friend and a great colleague to all of us here in the house, but for being a great american. thank you and god bless you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield four minutes to the

chief deputy whip and our colleague from north carolina, patrick mchenry. mr. mchenry: i thank the secretary of the republican conference, my colleague and classmate from north carolina, virginia foxx. but today i stand in tribute with the fine friends of a man named howard coble. congressman, state representative, secretary of the north carolina department of revenue, captain of the united states coast guard. school bus driver. that's where it all began, in high school. that was his first public service. john howard coble has held a variety of titles during his time and during his years. but to me he's always been known as the dean. the dean of the north carolina

delegation, which he has been for the last 15 years. the longest serving republican member of this body in the history of the state of north carolina. and my friend. and i'm here to pay tribute and to thank him for his time in public service. he is what a member of congress should be. and that is concerned for his constituents and being their voice here in washington and having an impact. and you certainly, my dean, have had a huge impact on my life, those that are paying tribute say thank you tonight, but also your constituents and the american people and we thank you. now, there are a number of stories about the dean. number of them i like to tell over the years and most of them are in fact true. but this one story i want to tell tonight, actually two if i may, it goes back to the first time howard ran for congress. in 1984. the campaign committee for the republicans brought up folks in

tough, challenging races to have some video and film shot with president ronald reagan. help with his popularity, to help get some folks across the finish line in 1984. and howard was so nervous that he forgot to shake the gipper's hand. and so one of the campaign committee staff, they were coming to coble's district and howard said, where were you? and he said, i was just in alabama with president reagan. oh, really? he says, yeah. i told him i was going to greensboro. and president reagan looked at me and said, well, tell that son of a gun that didn't shake my hand, i said hello. and so howard got a little flustered and was a little embarrassed and everything else until everybody started laughing. but howard's had a great sense of humor and that shows the real testament to howard's integrity. but the other thing about howard is fiscal conservatism. a goes back to what he said in his first campaign. he's going to bring a sharp

pencil to the washington budget. and he in fact has. in fact, it wasn't very well appreciated during his early service in congress. there's a member of congress who was furious who said, that sharp pencil might actually get your ticket written out of congress. and howard told him that he thought, well, i believe there's life after congress. and let the guy go on his way. well, thank thank guy was not re-elected and howard's been re-elected 14 times during his time here. so true proof that fiscal conservatism can still win. there are a number of other stories that we'll talk about over perhaps a drink afterwards. but the one thing is, everybody from his district knows, and those of us from north carolina know, that he knows every high school mascot in the state of north carolina. and every child that i see that comes through congress is

simply amazed that their dean knows where they're from and knows their high school and their high school mascot. that's because he cares. and so we're grateful tonight and we want to say thank you to our friend, our dean, our leader, howard -- john howard coble. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield such time as she may consume to the gentlelady from ohio, ms. capture. ms. kaptur: i want to thank the secretary of the republican caucus for granting me this time tonight. i rise from a member of the loyal opposition who has great opposition, friendship and admiration for my neighbor in the rayburn building. i would say that congressman coble, represents the values of

entlemanly behavior, affability, some of us would call it a courtly manner that i always associated with the south. he is not just a man of character, but he is a character. and his personality and demeanor represents the type of college yalt that is so important to bring this institution together. ive no doubt he has well represented the constituents of his north carolina district, the 6th district, and who probably share migrate affection for this wonderful man. i say that knowing that we disagree issue-wise on almost everything, but i think howard coble is the kind of person who

represents what congress should be, individuals who may disagree on issues, but who become friends through their years of service. that is really remarkable, because many people who go to work in this country, they go to work with people who think they like they do, they are in business and surrounded by those who agree, but what makes howard coble special is, he can be fun with people who disagree. those who disagree with him, might come from his own party and one comes to mind in particular, someone he has kindly called the lady of the harbor. i don't know if former congresswoman bept lee is listening, but she has a few rememberances of howard as well.

we became great friends. and it makes the service bearable. it makes it berl. howard is my neighbor in the rayburn building and isn't a time in the hall, he says good morning, good afternoon, how are you doing? an compassion nate really is extraordinary quality where people come from strongly held views. i didn't know he was the longest serving republican in north carolina history. he was helped this instrution to hold together. so thank you howard coal for teaching us how to behave and how to be effective in our service. may god bless you in the days and years ahead.

you know you always have family here. we appreciate your service and we thank the people of north carolina for sending you here these many years. god speed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina. ms. foxx: i now yield such time as he may consume to our distinguished colleague from texas, mr. lamar smith. mr. smith: let me say that i'm absolutely privileged to talk about such a good friend, howard coble, if i were to describe howard in two words and and this is a compliment, he is a gentleman and scholar and aren't too many people who succeed in achieving those two distinctions. howard, it is nice to with with

you and we honor you for being the great person you are. i have often said ap i mentioned this to him in person, if there were such a thing as a congressional class ppt, it would be howard coble. we continue have such a thing, but if we did, i think howard would be nominated, voted upon and voted upon. he is that popular and dearly loved and respected by all of us. i have had the privilege of sitting next to him on the judiciary committee for many, many years. and during that time, i have watched him work, speak and he has been chairman of three subcommittees on the judiciary committee, first crime, second administrative law and third intellectual property and that is the most recent. he has chaired another subcommittee early on on the

transportation committee which means he is one of those rare members of congress who has chaired four subcommittees in the house of representatives. throughout all that time and all my years of being with howard, he has exhibited wonderful attributes and those qualities are graciousness, smartness and plightness. but those are the attributes that we see in howard on a daily basis. we share something else in common and that is that we often are half of a congressional doubles team that have been playing tennis for years and years and years. i would like to say we are the better half and maybe that is true half the time. but there have been a number of members who have participated in these doubles matches and two primary members that are on the other side of the net from howard and me are representative

goodlatte and fred upton and they have been joined by maybeentatives capito and i should say when shelly was playing with bob or fred we had our hands full. and we held our own. and it has been a real pleasure to enjoy those times thation of anybody else who is a better volleyer than you. if anyone got a tennis ball past you in the past 10 years, i did not see you. i appreciate your tennis prowess as well. we are here to honor a great man, both for his public service, for being an example to all of us in the house and also to so many of us being an

exceptionally good friend. howard, thank you for being with us for these wonderful years that you have been in congress and done so much for your constituents and done so much for us, your colleagues and friends in the house and as well. it is a privilege to be here. fooks fox i now yield two minutes to the the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. ms. jackson lee: i thank the manager of this special order and it gives me great privilege to stand here today. as i look at congressman coble, i think of the men and women who love this institution. and i love it and i had the privilege of serving on the house judiciary committee which is the holder of the founder fathers' dream. i have seen nothing but his love

the broad depth of the house judiciary committee and might i say the power. congressman, you have used that in with gentlemanness, representing your philosophy. we had tough battles in the house judiciary committee, but i have seen and known howard coble to be a gentleman. and i'm reminded of how many days and moments and minutes and months that we have been here in this place and howard, i believe that every time we have seen each other, we have said hello with a smile. i thank you for that. and it represents your love of this country and your love of the system of justice and democracy and the respect for difference of opinion. let me say i have a different text from my daughter and she

loves texas and now an legitimated official and wept onto the university of north carolina at chapel hill and duke. and one of the persons that she knew, bipartisan manner, your work, as they studied in those two campuses, they knew congressman howard coble. let me say to you on behalf of those who work with you over the years, democrats and republicans, time that i had the privilege of serving in this house, what a mighty thank you, and to recognize the service you have given to the nation, to your constituents and certainly the teaching you have given to all of us. well done, my good friend. we will miss you and wish for you long life and enjoyable time to serve the united states of america. thank you so much. we love you, howard. i yield back.

ms. foxx: i now yield five minutes to our distinguished colleague from north carolina, mr. holding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. holding: i rise to speak for a few minutes to speak about the 30 years that he has had. during the continuous confidence of your constituents for three decades, mr. speaker, a tremendous honor and one that representative coble has performed with remarkable humility, never taking it for granted he would be re-elected and earn the respect of your staff, members of your staff and the many stakeholders who he has worked with on a daily basis as

a legislator is a testament to his commitment to public service and a testament to his personal character and charm. many of the laws have been politically and in complex areas, copyright, patent and they are difficult to negotiate and they are important to the american economy that we get it right and he has gotten it right. he has producted the rights of inventors and authors just as the authors have intended them to be. fair dealing among all parties have been important in these difficult areas. and howard's commitment to public service have be combun long before 1984.

public service has expand 50 years. he has performed these duties with a sense of grace, compassion and respect, respect for people, respect for his colleagues, respect for the process, respect for the institutions and government, as all have have been echoed here tonight. i spoke to his staff to hear the reflections that they had. and a number of them recalled some poignant moments. one recalled the lessons, one of the longest, told me he was impressed to learn how howard went back to his district to meet with constituents who were unlikely to support him. so he didn't only meet with his supporters but the folks that didn't support him. and he explained the congressional seat didn't belong to him but it was his seat and

all his constituents needed to know they have a congressman who thinks about them and represents them in washington. that he will represent them. another staff member echoed the sentiment recalling how refreshing it was to work for a member to stay true to his ideas, someone who appreciates real people. another staff member remarked that she was so impressed how other members responded to him. she recalled at the beginning of a judiciary committee markup right before howard's father passed away, that chairman hyde started with a moment of silence. and the first two members to express sorrow for his loss was representative lo tmp t and representative della hunt, two colleagues across the aisle who

shared consoling. it taught her a lot about the importance of treating people in a humane fashion and howard treats everyone how humanely. whether a meeting with constituents or high-level officials and celebrities or meeting with staff members after a long day, having him to come over his office, calling staff members after a long markup and telling them that he really appreciated the work that they did today. . howard stated, i've been richly blessed with good friends hyperand also back home. and i will continue to embrace those friends, even though i'm leaving. well, mr. speaker, it's us who have been richly blessed by howard. and we will continue to embrace

our good friend howard because he's a friend and a mentor to us all. forever. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. our peaker, i want to give colleague from north carolina a moment to respond, if he wishes make any comments about the comments that we have made about him. i'm not sure i want to just yield such time as he may consume, but my hope is that if he wishes to respond, he will take the opportunity to do so. mr. coble: mr. speaker, as many of my colleagues know, my middle name is brevity. if it can be said in five minutes, it will take 25 minutes to say it. you all surely know how to make an old man feel good. i thank you for this. you've embellished many areas of my life which i have

embraced as well. but i must correct what patrick mchenry said. i do not know every mascot in north carolina. i think virginia's given me credit for that too. but thank you to all of you who took part in this special order. you made me feel very special nd for that i thank you. ms. foxx: mr. speaker, i want to thank all of my colleagues who have come down tonight. i did not thank them on an individual basis because i wanted to save as much time as possible for people to make the comments that they made. i think the fact that we've had such a bipartisan presentation here tonight supports the comments that have been made tonight. the comments that is have been made, notwithstanding what our colleague said, have been extremely eloquent and i want to thank everybody for coming down. i want you to know that we did

our best to have this event earlier this year. but we could not get on mr. coble's schedule because there were so many parties going on on his behalf that we had an awful time finding a night to do it. i don't know anybody who has more people paying him tribute than our friend howard coble. we are going to miss him tremendously and his north carolina values of hard work, common sense and sacrifice on behalf of those he served. it's been a personal joy for me to work alongside howard coble in the congress for the last 10 years. and it really is hard to imagine how we will go on without him. his friendship and leadership on our state delegation will be dearly missed in the coming

years. but his legacy of service and devotion to our home state and all north carolinians will continue to be a standard for current and future leaders to follow. he will always be our dean, he will always be our leader. and, mr. speaker, with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, for 30 minutes. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. i just wanted to also express my love and appreciation for howard coble. there's not a more honorable, in all mble, able man of congress and it's been a great opportunity and a great

blessing to me and my life to be a friend of howard coble and to pray with him, to worship with him, to study with him, to discuss with him and i will always be grateful to the most eligible bachelor in all of congress. i don't know who will fill that role when howard coble's gone. but thank you. ou will be missed. it's amazing, a man that's given so much of his life as howard coble has to this institution, to working to make the country better, safer, efforts to make it more free, to help free up the economy so

high can achieve the plateaus that it could reach if the government would release the boot from off the neck of the economy. his honesty, whether you agreed with howard coble or not, his honesty stands in stark contrast to what we have learned about recently with respect to the man, jonathan gruber, who was not elected but was selected by the united states president. president obama had gotten him basically to be what they lled the arc a tect of the obamacare bill. -- architect of the obamacare . ll

its name on the bill was the ford fore. actually, the real name of the bill involved being a one-time tax deduction for first-time homebuyers who were veterans and for other purposes. but the senate took that bill, they stripped out every single word of the bill that would have helped veterans, and instead after deleting every word of the bill to help veterans, substituted therein about 2,500 pages of something that people now call obamacare. and we find out, having most of us seen the video of obamacare architect jonathan gruber saying, quote, the bill was written in a tortured way to make sure that c.b.o. did not score the mandate as taxes. if c.b.o. scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies.

ok, so it's written to do that. in terms of risk-rated subsidies, if you had a law which said that healthy people re going to pay in, you made explicit healthy people pay in and six people get money -- sick people get money, it would not have passed. the lack of transparency is a huge political advantage and basically, call it the stupidity of the american voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass. look, i wish mark was right, that we could make it all transparent, but i'd rather have this law than not. staggering. the man who designed obamacare admitting that if the american public or even the democrats in congress had known what was in obamacare, the democrats alone

would never have passed it. it was not transparent, as the president had promised. it was a travesty forced upon the american people without a single republican vote. not one single republican vote. and i still hear people say, well, you know, nobody read it. i read it. and knew how bad it was going to be. it should never have passed and if the administration, the obama administration, and our friends, our democrat friends, had been honest, then it would not have passed. but i have a very dear friend from texas -- well, i was going to yield to my friend, lamar smith. i think the world of his opinion. i yield. mr. smith: i'll just say that i purposely stayed on the house floor just because i respect and admire the gentleman and what he has to say and i happen

to have agreed with everything he mentioned tonight about obamacare. and let me say also that the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert, oftentimes speaks on the house floor and he's speaking to an audience that is listening to us on c-span and we do appreciate his speaking truth. we appreciate his bringing out the facts. and we hope that those who are in a position to make changes or to even repeal obamacare will do so and if that occurs it will be in large part a tribute to louie gohmert's persist ebs in pointing out the flaws -- persistence in pointing out the flaws in obamacare. i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. gohmert: i thank moo my friend from san antonio. you know, it's ironic. there's so many people here, and a lot of new people have gotten elected, three were sworn in here tonight, and the ones i've come to know they appreciate honesty. it was in the national

media not long ago, with dennis kucinich. and people were surprised, well, even though you and dennis kucinich disagreed, you seem very friendly. like you were friends. dennis kucinich and i are friends. and the big reason is, even though i think he's wrong on a lot of issues, the man's never lied to me. he's always been honest. such an n this body is important commodity. and certainly howard coble is one of the most honorable -- honest men that have ever served. and that stands just in such stark contrast to what the statements have been, as discovered by the obamacare architect, jonathan gruber. there's another story from foxnews.com and they found this. of course he had been

commenting, oh, well that was just off the cuff and just kind of kidding around. and then another tame was found, a video -- tape was found, a video of him talking and he referred to the so-called cadillac tax on high-end health plans and he said, quote, they proposed it and that passed because the american people are too stupid to understand the difference. the article says, he suggested that taxes individuals would have been -- taxing individuals would have been politically unpalatable but taxing the companies worked because americans didn't understand the difference. gruber said the, quote, lack of transparency, unquote, in the way the law was crafted was critical, quote, basically call it the stupidity of the american voter, whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass, unquote. en gruber went on msnbc to

express regret tuesday. he said, quote, i was speaking off the cuff and i basically spoke inappropriately and i regret having made those remarks. well, it's interesting, he never says he regrets having those opinions. after the video and then the second video came to light, where the designer, the architect of obamacare called the american people stupid, too stupid to realize how bad obamacare was, his apology is not that he is sorry that he thought the american people were stupid or that he didn't really think they were stupid or that he's sorry there wasn't more transparency or that he's sorry that the democrats in congress were the only ones that voted for the bill in the house and senate or the

american people were snookered. he makes no apologies for dereceiving the american people, deceiving the democrats in the house and the senate into voting for a bill through their dishonest shenanigans. no regrets for that. he only regrets that he said these things so they were caught on video. if the man were out of the same cloth as a howard coble, a man of honest candor, then he would come before the american people and he would say, yes, i was the architect of this bill, obamacare. it wasn't right to trick the american people and to trick the democrats into voting for a bill they hasn't read, when some of us knew how bad it was going to be.

that was wrong and i apologize for tricking the american people, for lying to the american people, for not having ransparency and i think real nobility would require someone who helped with obamacare, even the president, to say, you know what? back in 2008, when i was senator obama, i was running for president, i promised the american people, if you give me the presidency we will have a debate on c-span, we'll do it all transparently, we'll have it owl there for everyone to see -- out there for everyone to see and everyone to hear who's taking what sides, because that's the way the health care debate should be. completely transparent. he puts gruber in charge and we

get a bill that tricked the american people, was non transparent. and i just want to mention back what he brought up, the cadillac tax, when he said the american people are too stupid to understand the difference. that cadillac tax, it's not going to be a cadillac tax, but in the original bill, they were clever enough to put that 40% 2016 to place after the election. so that democrats can run for president in 2016 and say, no. no. it's all right. it's going to be ok. when they know good and well hat under the massive 40% tax,

as if the middle class and the poor haven't been slammed enough with this terrible economy and with the lower wages and with he part-time work, if they are fortunate enough to find an employer who gets any kind of decent health care plan. any amount the health care plan costs over $10,200, even if they pay for it, it's going to be 40% above $10,000 200 ,200 policy. ,200, 500licy costs $15

er the amount over the individual policy, then that poor middle-class, hard-working union member, because union members will have policies that will work, so that poor union member that is just already soaked to the gills with taxes d charges and fees, will pay nother 40% tax on the $5,000 extra spent on that policy. in other words, a guy that is just getting a barely decent health insurance policy is going to have another $2,000 that that middle-class individual is going to have to pay to have insurance

at may give them $$5,000 deductible. yeah, there are people that have -- is so many people that we have heard from, most everybody is y office has heard from, amounts paying massive more. d up to $5,000 and our premiums went up. what is affordable about obamacare? we can't afford it? we can't afford to pay $5,000 in health care before the health insurance kicks in and then we have a co-pay and all kinds of other requirements. and i heard one female couple in

their 60's saying the last thing they ought to pay for is maternity care. they are right. under obamacare, it doesn't malter if you are 80 years old, you are going to pay for maternity care if you buy insurance. o the best we can do is return individual americans' control of their own health care back into their hands. and there are many of us, republicans who have had proposals for health care bills. i had a bill, could never get c.b.o. to score it. and just remind, mr. speaker or members that may be listening, it was c.b.o., the congressional budget office that does official budget scoring that obamacare

st $1.1 trillion and the president was upset that it would be lower, so the head of the congressional budget office, came back and redone $800umbers and said it was billion and the president said, after it passed and the c.b.o. said it is going to be over a trillion and said it might be $1.7 trillion and others said it could be $ trillion and as i said before and i will continue to say if the scoring than tits margin of errors, it's time for

a new scoring entity and we can do that. chief architect f his economic proposals and unlike mr. gruber, he is honorable and brilliant man. he is a brilliant guy. that we are proposals have that would not even cost a trillion, that would return the control back to the patient. but, mr. gruber, has been caught and has said it over a year ago, and finally been caught, admitting that the only way they got obamacare passed is that the

american people were too stupid. and on the cadillac tax, he said if they were going to pay the % tax on anything over the over, they never would have gone along with it. instead of saying the individual was going to pay for it, we said the corporation will pay for it and therefore it won't cost the individual anything. well, that's about as dishonest and insane as people in the administration telling our senior citizens, don't worry about the fact that obamacare cut medicare. don't worry about that, because that only goes to the doctors and the hospitals and, you know, the people that provide the

won't affect you at all. in this election, the seniors are a lot smarter than mr. gruber gave them credit for. many of them were fooled to hen they were lied to by the administration. you said that cut to medicare that obamacare did wouldn't affect me and now, i can't get my knee surgery, i can't get my back surgery or my pacemaker or the things i need. apparently, that was a lie as well. it did affect seniors. it is affecting seniors and it will affect seniors until the day it is finally repealed. and i know there are people out there, mr. speaker, that have

said, there were a couple of things that were good. we ought to leave the good things in it sm. and they point to two things. number one, a young person who's living at home and under 26 years of age can have their -- share their family insurance with their parents and that neglects to recognize the fact that when the democrats controlled the house, the senate, and the house with president obama, we offered repeatedly, look, guys, let us have say in this bill. in fact, why don't we pass a free-standing bill and the democrats wanted to cut it off at 26 years of age. and if the economy is bad and a young person is living atlanta

home, 26, 27, i don't care, if you are living at home with your parents they got health insurance and willing to pay the health insurance to add another family member, let them be on their family's health insurance. we welcomed that. and we are never ever given the chance. we were told the votes to pass it. we don't need your input. as a former chief justice and judge and trial attorney in prior lives, i have seen a lot of insurance litigation and i have seen cases where they acted unfairly in cancelling people's policies when it was wrong and unfair and where they said you have a pre-existing condition,

republicans offered to work to fashion a bill that would deal with the issue of unfairness and even times fraud, dealing with the insureds, unfairly and using he gimmick of a pre-existing claim. we were working to work with them on a bill like that. most of the insurance companies don't act like that. and even though they do occasionally, not all the time, in fact, in fact most of the time. but we were ok with a bill that would address those issues, but it should have only applied to licies that affected state

lines. and i know texas we have a commission, they are people that are watching over these issues and it's a whole lot easier to file a complaint in your state capital ven it is to file a omplaint and deal with the mor asse in washington, d.c., in all of the heels of lies that were told to pass obamacare that have now come out, article today -- -- orry, monday, at least and the title is h.h.s. lowers obamacare enrollment expectations a says the officials at the department of health and human services projected up to 9.9 million

would be enrolled in obamacare. millions fewer than congressional budget office estimates. and it says this. federal health officials are p projecting that it will include 3.1 million fewer people next ar than congressional budget analysts thought. being off in the nature of 30%. hat's a plus or minimum us margin of error is 30%. not really so good. we need another vehicle of competition for scoring that would be less expensive and more accurate and only way you could get it accurate is if you have come pgs and you begin to score the scorers. what they have done on these

enrollment expectations, i mean they are just outrageous. and any way, plnt of articles about the american people being too stupid according to the man who designed the obamacare bill. it is unfortunate that they felt that the american people were too stupid and too gullible. and unform, since there are honest p.m. in government, people like mr. gruber, who were away health to take care rights and things that would prolong their lives, things that would make their lives more comfortable, is just a tragedy. but there are honest people in government. now people will have to be more

cynical then they already were of government. . but this interesting survey was done by kelly ann conway. this article from november 7 this year. the survey, and the article points out, a majority of respondents, 76%, consider, quote, laws that require voters to present a photo i.d. before casting a ballot, unquote, to be, quote, mostly fair, unquote. a total of 69% of americans consider it, quote, not a urden at all, unquote. amazing. another point mentions, when asked, do you agree or disagree that president obama should through executive action allow illegal immigrants to remain in the united states, 63% disagree , that's 53% strongly, 10%

somewhat. only 30% agree. another point of the survey, corruption in the federal government continues to be a serious concern among voters, with 92% now saying they consider it a serious problem. that's 92% of americans consider corruption a serious problem. perhaps the fact that mr. ruber was getting paid and had a motivation, financial motivation, for being out there selling obamacare on being such a great thing ass ands he says now lying about -- thing and as he says now lie being it so much and obscuring the truth as much as he did, that kind of helps contribute to the 92% of americans, rather of voters, saying that they had serious concerns about corruption in

federal government. survey also indicated a full 80% said that the federal government has become, quote, less transparent, unquote, or, quote, stayed about the same, unquote, over the past six years. when asked about ballot integrity or voter fraud, 74% considered it a problem. so much for those who try to say it isn't a problem. it is a problem. i think because of photo i.d.'s being used, for example, in texas this time we had better election integrity. i know the indiana law was upheld that required photo i.d.'s. texas largely modeled their law after indiana. but it is a matter of protecting ballot integrity. and i've been over to the department of justice. and i find it interesting that

the attorney general who is outgoing right now requires you cannot get in to see the attorney general unless you can produce a photo i.d. apparently the incoming or the nominated candidate for attorney general thinks photo i.d.'s for elections are a problem and it will be interesting to see if she changes the policy. if she gets confirmed. the senate needs to make a thorough investigation, needs to take their time and do it right. but we will see if this stands as a policy that photo i.d.'s should be required to see the a.g. but not to vote. and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields

back. does the gentleman have a motion? mr. gohmert: at this time i move that we do now hereby adjourn. the the speaker pro tempore: -- the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. accordingly the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. replace congressman who resigned. are taking office ahead of the new freshman class. tomorrow, republicans hold leadership elections. mccarthy are kevin

among those expected to retainer offices. onare expecting a houseboat legislation to approve the keystone pipeline. lame-duck session of congress is underway. the issue of keystone pipeline has risen to the top. lopez.ed by laura let start in the senate. -- what wase says the senator saying on the floor? landrieu against passcassidy -- a need to keystone. she requested unanimous consent. up senate is poised to take the vote on keystone next week.

she was saying there was a clear message set during the election leadere senate majority harry reid and mitch mcconnell -- everybody should be on the same page. the firstne xl be thing we compromise on. what she did get the unanimous consent. -- >> she did it unanimous consent. i believe we can have this debate on the merits and one not reject -- object bringing the bill up for vote. >> yes, that is correct. -- you can expect them to vote against the pipeline. they are not supporters of it. she is positive that she can bring over the votes. thereime they tried this,

were 57 votes in support of the keystone next a pipeline. 11 of those were democrats. she says that she can get five more. them well over 60. >> step back for a bit and tell us what the bill specifically would do. in the end, the president has the say on whether the pipeline is approved, correct? >> yes, that is correct. he does have the final say. if the house and the senate both passed -- it would approve construction of the pipeline immediately. that would send the bill to the president's desk. obama will either veto it or sign it on through. yes, she has not received the commitment from obama, but she feels that he will sign it. she is confident that because of the fact that they are compromising that this can

convince obama to say ok. >> the house will take up the keystone bill. this is sponsored by bill cassidy. he is running against the senator and the louisiana on december 6. how is that expected to go? that comes up for vote on thursday. >> yes, that is correct. the house will vote on the keystone excel pipeline bill from cassidy -- and that is expected to pass. the house has passed multiple bills to approve the pipeline before. so, there is no expectation that that would not be able to go through. it is looking rough in the runoff because of these issues. that is why she is making a latched -- last ditch effort, if you will.

also, recently, mitch mcconnell said that he was going to appoint cassidy to senate energy it, if he wins the runoff. about keystone xl pipeline coming up in the house. it is lauren looked as you think you for the update. fifteenths didn't cam video competition is underway. it is open to all middle and high school students to create a 5-7 minute documentary on the theme, the three branches in you, showing how policy, law, branches ofe government have affected you or your community. it is 200 cash prizes for students and teachers, totaling $100,000. for a list of roles and how to get started, go to student cam.org. sylvia barack testify in the

senate hearing about the federal government's effort to prevent the spread of the ebola virus and protect americans from the outbreak in west africa. worked in doctor who west africa was recently released from the hospital after being declared free of the virus. secretary burwell is joined by cdc director and the head of the national institute of allergy and infested -- infectious diseases. it is two hours and 45 minutes. good afternoon, everybody. the full committee of the appropriations committee will come to order. the purpose of today's hearing is on the united states government's response to fighting ebola and protecting

the united states of america. today, we will hear what we are neededwhat resources are do that fight. first of all, congratulations are in order to some of our colleagues who have one to we want to acknowledged of the totories, and we want congratulate them and of their victory. today is a day where we really have to pay attention to an international and national challenge that we are examining. it is a horrific, infectious

disease in a key continent in west africa, and also threatening united states of america. be the last will full committee hearing that i will chair. before we go into the substance and i make my statement, i want to thank senator shelby and his staff for the wonderful way that we have been able to work together. though we will exchange gavels, we will continue to exchange of use and the way we have. i have found and senator shelby and the other side of the aisle, a tone of civility and candor, and an ability in this committee to try to work together and find common ground. to do with americans problems in a way that achieves sound results and in a way that is

affordable. that is characteristic of our committee. i hope that as we move ahead, we will continue to do so. i would also like to particularly note that senator cochran, who chaired this also,tee before and who a senator'sime of passing, was an important bridge as we moved into new roles. i want to acknowledge your graciousness and wisdom. 3, we are about to change your controls the united states senate. until now, this committee is chaired by me and i look forward to working with my colleagues to omnibus --oving an and we on december 11 will be voting an omnibus that meets

are 2015 fiscal responsibilities and the urgent need we will here today. i am deeply concerned about ebola. so was all of america. .ut the home and abroad there is a national consensus that agrees that we need to contain the disease and we need to eradicate it. diminish the fear that it generates. 13,000 500 cases of ebola in west africa. here in the united states of america, there are currently no cases of ebola. we look forward for that to be ratified or corrected by our esteemed panelists. the united states of america has ebolad nine patients with , to have contracted it in