term before him had us spending money. host: i have to leave it there because the house is in session. the lights are on. the lawmakers are gathering on the floor and our cameras are in the chamber. we are allowed to bring our cameras in for the first couple of hours of today's opening day of the 114 congress and then the house will resume control of those cameras. for now, live coverage here on c-span of opening day of the 114 congress.

>> this being the day fixed by public law 113-201 pursuant to the 20th amendment to the constitution of the united states, to the meeting of the 114th congress of the united states, the house will come to order. the prayer will be offered by father conroy.

chaplain conroy: let us pray. loving god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. we gather on this most significant day when once again recelebrate the peaceful transition of democratic government. though many return from the 113th congress this people's house is a new legislative assembly. may the service of all the members here gathered give you glory and equip well the charge entrusted to them by their fellow citizens. give each member an abundance of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that they might know best how to proceed in the work they have been given to do

as well as the courage to act once they have discerned where your spirit might lead them. may all that is done this day and all the days of the 114th congress be for your greater honor and glory, amen. >> the representatives-elect and their guests will please remain standing and join in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> as directed by law the clerk of the house has prepared the official rolls of representatives-elect. certificates of election

covering 435 seats in the 114th congress have been received by the clerk of the house and the names of those persons whose credentials show that they were regularly elected as representatives in accord with the laws of their respective states or of the united states will be called. the representatives-elect will record their presence by electronic device. and their names will be reported in alphabetical order by state beginning with the state of alabama to determine whether a quorum is present. representatives elect will have a minimum of 15 minutes to record their presence by electronic device. representatives elect who have not obtained their voting i.d. card may do so now in the speaker's lobby.

[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 clerk of the house: are there additional representatives elect in the chamber who wish to record their presence? if not, all time has expired. 401 representatives elect have recorded their presence. a quorum is present. credentials, regular and foreign, have been received showing the election of the honorable pedro r. pierluisi as resident commissioner from the

commonwealth of puerto rico for a term of four years beginning january 3, 2013. the honorable eleanor holmes norton as delegate from the district of columbia. the honorable madeline bordallo as delegate from guam. the honorable stacey e. plaskett as delegate from the virgin islands. the honorable amata coleman radewagen as delegate from american samoa. and the honorable gre goreo sablan as delegate from the commonwealth of the northern mariana islands. the clerk is in receipt of a letter from the honorable michael g. grim in new york indicating he will not serve in the house in the 114th congress. without objection, the letter will be placed in the record. pursuant to law and precedent, the next order of business is the election of the speaker of the house of representatives.

for the 114th congress. nominations are now in order. the clerk recognizes the gentlewoman from washington, mrs. mcmorris rodgers. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: madam clerk, it is an honor to address the house at the start of the 114th congress. if there's one thing i learned as a legislator is that we cannot achieve great things alone. take the willingness to come together, find common ground, and advance solutions that make people's lives better. in that spirit i welcome america's new congress, one that will chart the path toward a government that is more open, transparent, and trustworthy. to lead us on this path, the republican conference has nominated a man of great character and conviction. the second oldest of 12 children he grew up mopping floors and waiting tables at his family at that verne --

tavern. he ran a successful small business. he was elected to the ohio state house and this house where he served as committee chairman, republican conference chairman, minority leader, majority leader, and speaker. he is a reformer who works every day to make government more accountable to the people. for all of this he calls himself a regular guy with a big job. and that job he says is to listen. because if we listen to the people, listen to one another, there's no telling what we can accomplish together for the future of this great country. madam clerk, as chair of the republican conference, by unanimous vote of that conference, i present for election to the office of speaker, our dear friend and colleague, the honorable, john a. boehner from the state of ohio.

the clerk of the house: the clerk now recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. becerra. mr. becerra: madam clerk, first we would like to recognize each and every member who is taking to this floor to represent the people of the united states as a congratulations to them and to all of their loved ones who are here witnessing this solemn event where we will have an opportunity to lead our country. we say congratulations to them as well. madam clerk, i have the distinct pleasure of nominating someone who is a proven leader someone who already will go down in history as one of the most effective speakers the

house of representatives has ever seen, someone who has shown that it doesn't take a man to get the job done. that it can be done by an american who is devoted to this country. someone who knows her heritage, someone who has worked tirelessly for the american people, but someone who understands first and foremost that the job of this house is to get things done. i have been empowered madam speaker, to nominate on behalf of all working americans, those americans who still believe in the american dream, to put the name of the the gentlewoman from san francisco who will again in the house of representatives, put her name forward for the office of speaker of the house of representatives of the 114th congress, i therefore at this point put before you the name of nancy pelosi to serve as speaker of the house of

representatives. the clerk of the house: the names of the honorable john a. boehner, a representative elect from the state of ohio, and the honorable nancy pelosi, representative-elect from the state of california, have been placed in nomination. are there further nominations? >> madam clerk. the clerk of the house: the gentleman from kentucky. >> thank you, madam clerk. madam clerk i present for election to the office of speaker of the house of representatives for the 114th congress, the name of the honorable ted yoho, a great defender of the constitution and representative from the great state of florida. the clerk of the house: are there additional nominations?

>> madam clerk i have a nomination. the clerk of the house: you may proceed. >> i present for the election of office of speaker of the house of representatives to the 114th congress the name of judge louie gohmert, a representative from the great state of texas. judge gohmert proudly serves the first district of texas. he is serving his fifth term in the house of representatives. prior to being elected to serve in congress, he was elected to three terms as district judge in smith county and appointed by governor rick perry to be the chief justice of the 12th court of appeals. madam clerk, this is not about judge gohmert, it's about establishing a strong check on the executive branch. i think a quote applies to my friend louie gohmert and it's this from mark twain, it says in the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man. and he is grave and hated and scorned. when his cause succeeds, the

timid join him for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. my constituents in the first district of oklahoma are looking for this kind of patriot. the clerk of the house: are there further nations? -- nominations? the gentleman from iowa. >> thank you, madam clerk. i rise to place in election to the constitutional office of speaker of the united states house of representatives a man who has served as speak of the statehouse, a man who respects this institution, a man who understands that power and principle cannot coexist without recognizing the standing at this time of each members' vote in this house of representatives. a man who will restore this institution to the house of representatives. i place in the nomination the name of daniel webster, a congressman from the great state of florida. the clerk of the house: are there further nominations?

the names of the honorable john a. boehner, a representative from the state of house, the honorable nancy pelosi, a representative-elect from the state of california, representative ted yoho, a representative-elect from the state of florida, the honorable louie gohmert, a representative-elect from the state of texas and the honorable daniel webster, a representative-elect from the state of florida have been placed in nomination. there being no further nominations, the clerk appoints the following tellers. the gentlewoman from michigan, mrs. miller, the gentleman from pennsylvania mr. brady the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. kaptur, and the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen. the tellers will come forward and take their seats at the desk in front of the speaker's

rostrum.

the clerk of the house: the roll will now be called and those responding to their names will indicate by surname the nominee of their choosing. the reading clerk will now call the roll. the clerk: mr. abraham.

boehner. adams. pelosi. aderholt. boehner. aguilar. pelosi. allen, boehner. amash, jordan. amodei, boehner. ashford, pelosi. babin, present.

barletta boehner. barr, boehner. barton, boehner. bass, pelosi. beety -- beatty, pelosi. becerra, pelosi. benishek, boehner. bera, pelosi. beyer, pelosi. bilirakis, boehner. bishop of georgia, pelosi.

bishop of michigan boehner. bishop of utah boehner. black, boehner. blackburn, boehner. blum webster. blumenauer pelosi. boehner. boehner. bonamici, pelosi. mike bost boehner. buice knee -- boustany,

boehner. brandon boyle, pelosi. brady of pennsylvania, pelosi. brady of texas, boehner. brat, jeff duncan. bridenstine, gohmert. brooks of alabama, boehner. brooks of indiana, boehner. brown of florida, pelosi.

brownlee of california -- brownley of california, california. buchanan, florida. buck boehner. bucshon, boehner. burgess, boehner. cheri bustos, pelosi. butterfield, pelosi. byrne, boehner. calvert, boehner. capps, pelosi. cap juan -- capuano, pels. cardenas, pelosi.

carney, pelosi. carson of indiana, pelosi. carter of georgia, boehner. carter of texas, carter of texas. cartwright, pelosi. castor of florida, pelosi. castro of texas, pelosi. chabot, boehner. chaffetz, boehner. judy chu pelosi. cicilline.

cicilline. clark of massachusetts pelosi. clarke of new york. clarke of new york. clawson of florida, senator rand paul. clay, pelosi. cleaver, pelosi. clyburn, pelosi. coffman, boehner. cohen, pelosi.

cole of oklahoma boehner. collins of georgia boehner. collins of new york, boehner. comstock, boehner. conaway, boehner. connelly, pelosi. conyers, pelosi. cook, boehner. cooper, colin poul. -- colin powell. costa, costa.

costello of pennsylvania, boehner. courtney, pelosi. kramer -- cramer, boehner. crawford, boehner. crenshaw. crenshaw. crowley. crowley. cuellar, pelosi. culberson, boehner. cummings pelosi. curbelo of florida, boehner. davis of california, pelosi.

danny davis, pelosi. rodney davis, boehner. defazio, pelosi. degette, pelosi. delaney, pelosi. delauro pelosi. delbene, pelosi. denham, boehner. dent, boehner. desantis, boehner. desjarlais, jordan.

deutsche -- deutch pelosi. diaz-balart, boehner. dingle -- dingell pelosi. doggett. pelosi. dold, boehner. michael doyle of pennsylvania, pelosi. duckworth. duckworth. duffy, boehner. duncan of south carolina, gowdy

. dunn began of tennessee. boehner. edwards. pelosi. ellison. ellison. ellmers of north carolina. boehner. emmer of minnesota. boehner. engel. engel. eshoo. pelosi. esty. pelosi. farenthold. boehner. farr.

pelosi. fattah. pelosi. fincher. fincher. fitzpatrick. boehner. fleischmann. boehner. fleming. boehner. flores. boehner. forbes. boehner. fortenberry. boehner. foster. pelosi. foxx. boehner. frankel of florida. pelosi. franks of arizona.

boehner. frelinghuysen. boehner. fudge. pelosi. gabbard. goobard. -- gabbard. pelosi. gallego. pelosi. garamendi. pelosi. garrett. webster. gibbs. boehner. gibson. mccarthy.

gohmert. gohmert. goodlatte. boehner. gosar. webster. gowdy. gowdy. graham. cooper. granger. boehner. graves of georgia. boehner.

graves of louisiana. boehner. graves of missouri. boehner. grayson. pelosi. al green. pelosi. gene green. pelosi. griffith. boehner. grijalva. pelosi. grothman. boehner. guinta. boehner. guthrie. boehner. gutierrez.

gutierrez. hahn. pelosi. hannah -- hanna. boehner. hardy. boehner. harper. boehner. harris. boehner. hartzler. boehner. hastings. pelosi. heck of nevada. boehner. heck of washington. pelosi. hensarling. boehner.

herrera beutler. boehner. jody hice. boehner. higgins. higgins. hill. boehner. hime. pelosi. hinojosa. pelosi. holding. boehner. honda. pelosi. hoyer. pelosi. hudson. boehner. huelskamp. webster.

huffman. pelosi. huizenga of michigan. boehner. hultgren. boehner. hunter. boehner. hurd of texas. boehner. hurt of virginia. boehner. israel. pelosi. issa. boehner. jackson lee. pelosi. jefferies. pelosi. jenkins of kansas. boehner. jenkins of west virginia. boehner.

johnson of georgia. pelosi. johnson of ohio. boehner. eddie bernice johnson. pelosi. sam johnson. boehner. jolly. boehner. jones. webster. jordan. boehner. joyce. boehner. kaptur. pelosi. katko. boehner. keating. pelosi.

kelly of illinois. pelosi. kelly of pennsylvania. boehner. kennedy. pelosi. kildee. pelosi. kilmer. pelosi. kind. pelosi. king of iowa. webster. king of new york. boehner. kinzinger of illinois. boehner. kirkpatrick. pelosi. kline. boehner.

knight. boehner. custer -- kuester. pelosi. labrador. boehner. lamalfa. boehner. lamborn. boehner. lance. boehner. langevin. pelosi. larson of washington. pa lows -- larsen of washington. pelosi. larson of connecticut. pelosi. latta. boehner. wlaurns -- lawrence.

pelosi. lee. pelosi. levin. pelosi. lewis. pelosi. ted lieu. pelosi. lipinski. defazio. lobiondo. boehner. loebsack. pelosi. lofgren. pelosi. long. boehner. loudermilk.

boehner. love. boehner. lowenthal. pelosi. lowey. lowey. lucas. boehner. luke myer -- luetkemeyer. boehner. ben ray lujan. pelosi. michelle lujan grisham. pelosi. lummis. boehner. lynch. pelosi. macarthur. boehner. carolyn maloney. carolyn maloney.

sean maloney. sean maloney. marchant. boehner. marino. boehner. massey. -- massie. yoho. matsui. pelosi. mccarthy. boehner. mccaul. boehner. mcclintock. boehner. it mccollum. pelosi. mcdermott. pelosi. mcgovern. pelosi.

mchenry. boehner. mckinley. boehner. mcmorris rodgers. boehner. mcnerney. it pelosi. -- pelosi. mcsally. boehner. meadows. webster. meehan. boehner. meeks. meeks. message. -- meng. meng.

messer. boehner. mica. boehner. miller of florida. boehner. miller of michigan. boehner. moolnar, boehner. -- moolenaar boehner. mooney boehner. moore, pelosi. moulton, pelosi. mullin, boehner. mulvaney, boehner. murphy of florida, pelosi. murphy of pennsylvania, boehner. nadler.

nadler. napolitano pelosi. neal, pelosi. neugebauer boehner. newhouse, boehner. noem boehner. nolan, nolan. norcross pelosi. nugent webster. nunes, boehner. nunnelee.

nunnelee. olson, boehner. o'rourke pelosi. palazzo, boehner. pallone, pelosi. palmer sessions of alabama. pascrell pelosi. paulsen, boehner.

payne, pelosi. pearce boehner. pelosi. pelosi. perlmutter, pelosi. perry, boehner. peters of california pelosi. peterson of minnesota pelosi. pingree of maine pelosi. pittenger, boehner. pitts, boehner. pocan, pelosi. poe of texas, boehner.

poliquin, boehner. polis, pelosi. pompeo, boehner. posey, webster. price of georgia, boehner. price of north carolina. price of north carolina. quigley, pelosi. rangel. rangel. ratcliff boehner. reed, boehner. reichert boehner.

renacci boehner. ribble boehner. rice of new york, pelosi. rice of south carolina boehner. richmond, pelosi. rigell, webster. roby boehner. roe of tennessee boehner. rogers of alabama, boehner. rogers of kentucky, boehner.

rohrabacher boehner. rokita, boehner. rooney of florida, boehner. roskam, boehner. ros-lehtinen boehner. ross boehner. rothfus, boehner. rouzer, boehner. roybal-allard, pelosi. royce, boehner. ruiz pelosi. ruppersberger pelosi.

rush pelosi. russell, boehner. ryan of ohio pelosi. ryan of wisconsin, boehner. salmon. salmon. linda t. sanchez pelosi. loretta sanchez pelosi. sanford, boehner. sarbanes pelosi. scalise, boehner. schakowsky, pelosi. schiff pelosi.

schock, boehner. schrader, pelosi. schweikert, boehner. scott of virginia, pelosi. austin scott boehner. david scott pelosi. sensenbrenner, boehner. serrano, pelosi. sessions boehner. sewell of alabama, pelosi. sherman, pelosi. shimkus, boehner.

shuster, boehner. simpson, boehner. sinema, lewis. sires, pelosi. slaughter pelosi. smith of missouri boehner. smith of nebraska boehner. smith of new jersey, boehner. smith of texas boehner. smith of washington, pelosi.

speier pelosi. stefanik, boehner. stewart, boehner. stivers, boehner. stutzman, webster. swalwell of california, pelosi. takai of hawaii, pelosi. takano of california pelosi. thompson of california pelosi. thomps of mississippi -- thompson of mississippi,

pelosi. thompson of pennsylvania boehner. thornberry boehner. tiberi, boehner. tipton boehner. titus pelosi. tonko of new york. tonko of new york. torres pelosi. troth -- trott boehner. tsongas, pelosi. turner boehner. upton, boehner.

valadao, boehner. van hollen, pelosi. vargas pelosi. veasey pelosi. vela pelosi. velazquez. velazquez. visclosky, pelosi. wagner, boehner. walberg, boehner. walden, boehner. walker boehner. with a lors key, boehner --

walorski boehner. mimi walters boehner. walz pelosi. wasserman schultz pelosi. maxine waters. maxine waters. watson coleman, pelosi. weber of texas, gohmert. webster of florida. webster.

welch of vermont. welch of vermont. wenstrup boehner. westerman, boehner. westmoreland, boehner. whitfield, boehner. williams, boehner. wilson of florida pelosi. wilson of south carolina boehner. wittman, boehner. womack boehner. woodall, boehner.

yarmuth, pelosi. yoder, boehner. yoho yoho. young of alaska. young of alaska. young of iowa boehner. young of indiana boehner. zeldin, boehner. zinke, boehner.

the clerk of the house: the clerk will now call the names of the representatives-elect who did not answer the first call of the roll. the clerk: boehner. boehner. carter of texas.

carter of texas. cicilline. cicilline. clarke of new york. clarke of new york. costa. costa. crenshaw boehner. crowley. crowley.

duckworth. duckworth. ellison, pelosi. engel. engel. fincher, boehner. gowdy. gowdy. gutierrez, pelosi.

higgins. higgins. lowey. lowey. carolyn maloney. carolyn maloney. sean maloney. sean maloney.

meeks. meeks. meng. meng. nadler. nadler. nolan. nolan. nunnelee. nunnelee. price of north carolina. price of north carolina.

rangel. rangel. salmon, banger. -- boehner. tonko of new york. tonko of new york. velazquez. velazquez. maxine waters. maxine waters.

welch of vermont. welch of vermont. young of alaska. young of alaska. the clerk of the house: is there any representatives-elect who did not answer the call of the roll that may comele to well and vote at this time. -- come to the well and vote at this time.

the clerk of the house: the tellers agree in their tally that the total number of votes cast is 408 of which the honorable john a. boehner of the state of ohio has received 216 votes. the honorable nancy pelosi of the state of california has received 164. and the honorable daniel webster of the state of florida has received 12. the honorable louie gohmert of the state of texas has received three. the honorable ted s. yoho of the state of florida has received two. the honorable jim jordan of the state of ohio has received two. the honorable jim cooper of the state of tennessee has received one. the honorable peter a. defazio of the state of oregon has

received one. the honorable jeff duncan of the state of south carolina has received one. the honorable trey gowdy of the state of south carolina has received one. the honorable john lewis of the state of georgia has received one. the honorable kevin mccarthy of the state of california has received one. the honorable rand paul of the commonwealth of kentucky has received one. the honorable jeff sessions of the state of alabama has received one. the honorable colin powell has received one. with one recorded as present. therefore, the honorable john a. boehner of the state of ohio having received a majority of the votes cast is duly elected as speaker of the house of representatives for the 114th congress.

the clerk appoints the following committee to escort the speaker-elect to the chair. the gentleman from california, mr. mccarthy. the gentlewoman from california, ms. pelosi. the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise. the gentlewoman from maryland, ms. mock morris rogers. the gentleman from south

carolina, mr. clyburn. the gentleman from oregon, mr. walden. the gentleman from california, mr. becerra. the gentleman from indiana, mr. messer. the gentleman from new york, mr. israel. the gentlewoman from kansas, ms. jenkins. the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro. the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. foxx. the gentlewoman from maryland, ms. edwards. the gentlewoman from california, mrs. mimi walters. the gentleman from maryland, mr. van hollen. the gentleman from texas, mr. sessions. the gentleman from new mexico, mr. ben ray lujan. the gentleman from north carolina, mr. mchenry. the gentlewoman from north carolina mrs. adams and members of the delcation, ms. kaptur, mr. chabot, mr. tiberi, mr. ryan, mr. turner, mr. jordan, mr. latta, ms. fudge mr. gibbs, mr. johnson, mr.

renacci, mr. stivers mrs. beatty, mr. joyce and mr. wenstrup. the committee will retire from the chamber to escort the speaker-elect to the chair.

>> madam clerk, the speaker-elect john a. boehner, representative from ohio state and the escort committee.

ms. pelosi: my colleagues of the united states house of representatives, it is a high honor to welcome you and your families to the 114th congress t to our newest members, it is a special pleasure to give you an exceptional welcome and congratulations. welcome to our newest members. as was indicated by the vote, many of our colleagues from the state of new york are not with us because they are attending the funeral of governor mario cuomo. i extend condolences to our colleagues from the state of new york and have extended the sympathies of many in this body to governor cuomo's widow and

to his family. as an italian american, i'm especially proud of his leadership and send sympathies to his family. thank you, new york delegation. none of us would be standing here without the support and the strength of our families. today i'm going to thank my dear husband of 51 years paul pelosi, and my five children and nine grandchildren, all the pelosi's. but as we are standing let all of us applaud all of our families. to my constituents and my democratic colleagues, my constituents in san francisco, i thank you for the privilege

of serving in the house, but to my colleagues i thank you for the honor of serving as leader, but all of us should applaud all of our constituents for sending us here. so let us again applaud our constituents. each one of us, mr. speaker, each one of us as you know represents republicans, represents democrats independents, and others, and we should always pay tribute to the american people. the american people have called upon each of them, each of us to serve them. they have entrusted us with their hopes, their dreams, they have asked us to address their challenges. the financial stability and strong middle class and those who aspire to it is the bedrock of our economy and the backbone

of our american democracy. we have a moral imperative to ensure that working men and women enjoy the bounty of their unprecedented productivity and to expand purchasing -- the purchasing power of families. to that end today democrats will put forward a legislative package to put americans back to work building our roads and bridges and meeting the needs of the american people paid for by bringing our tax dollars back home to increase the paycheck of america's working families. we invite our republican colleagues to join us in supporting the stop corporate expatriateation and invest in america's infrastructure. it's time to stop rewarding companies to move overseas and instead use those dollars to create good-paying jobs here at home. we ask for republican support

and action on the c.e.o. employee pay fairness act, legislation to ensure that workers share in the fruit of their productivity denies c.e.o.'s the ability to claim tax deductions on income over $1 million unless they give their employees a well deserved raise. we must have an economy that works for everyone not just the privileged few, and we hope republicans will join us to achieve a better infrastructure and bigger paychecks for the working people of our country. better infrastructure, bigger paychecks. we open this 114th congress in the year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the voting rights act. one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in our history. president lyndon johnson and congress passed it, the president signed it, reverend martin luther king jr. and others along with our own john

lewis fought for it and inspired it. we must continue to inspire the engagement of every american. it is the vote that preserves our democracy, ends injustice, advances dreams, and sustains our freedom. and in terms of protecting our freedoms, let us recognize and salute and thank all of those brave americans who protect our rights, indeed protect all of our liberty, our men and women in uniform, our veterans, and our military families. mr. speaker, today we are the start of a new year and a new congress.

with fresh opportunity for the american people. today is the feast of the epiphany, the visit of the magi, let us have our own epiphany, for this moment on this day, we are not just republicans and democrats, we are americans. not just in name but in spirit. standing on the higher ground, higher ground than the last election. my hope is that in the inevitable exchanges and clashes that may happen in the months ahead, we will not lose sight of the truth that is as fresh as this ceremony is today and as historic and our republic, that the ideals that unite us are stronger than the issues that divide us. in this house. that does not mean we are dispensing with all disagreements in this debate. our democracy is robust

precisely because we have beliefs, and we stand proudly, even persistently for them, and our democracy endures and prevails because in the end we are humble enough to find a way forward together. so, my fellow colleagues of the 114th congress, let us uphold our deep and different convictions, but let us honor our common obligation to our country. in this congress we will do so under the leadership of speaker john boehner. this house will continue to be led by a proud son of ohio and

a happy fan of the ohio state football team. the speaker: yes. ms. pelosi: a man of abiding faith, great heart and deep dedication, john boehner is truly a gentleman from ohio. congratulations to john, to mr. speaker, to debby, to your daughters, lindsey and trisha, and the entire boehner family. thank you for sharing john boehner with us. god bless you and your family, mr. speaker. may god continue to bless the members of this house of representatives.

this is the people's house. this is the people's gavel. in the people -- in the people's name, it is my privilege to hand it to the speaker of the house for the 114th congress the honorable john boehner. mr. speaker. god bless you, mr. speaker. god bless america. the speaker: thank you, thank you. friends, colleagues, countrymen, especially the people of ohio's eighth congressional district, thank you for sending me here. and let's today walk all -- welcome all of new members and all of their families to what we all know to be a truly

historic day. we welcome all of the members back, who were re-elected, we want to welcome your families as well. and i want to thank my family. i was doing pretty good on the walk over here from my ceremonial office until i ran into devon nunes' three little girls. my three biggest fans. one of them came running over and gave me a kiss. i was a mess. this has been a day the lord has made. let us rejoice and be glad. rejoined that our new members and families are here, we want to welcome them. we're glad and humbled to begin anew as servants of the people's house. here it is our duty and our

privilege to lend a willing ear to the people, to make laws and tune with their priorities and within the limits of their constitution. in recent months our economy has shown signs of improvement. and after difficult years, it maybe a temptation to except what i'll call the new normal. but america did not become exception albie ease. far too many americans remain out of work and too many are working harder only to lose ground to stagnant wages and rising costs. we can do better. we can build an economy that furthers better paying jobs, more growth and more opportunity for the nation's middle class. this is our vital task. we'll begin this endeavor on common ground, both in letter and in spirit. it was actually my predecessor who changed the order of things

so that all members now take the oath of office at the same time. he called this innovation a time-saving device. sounds like my kind of guy. but this shared ritual is no passing formality. it's a frontier where words end and where deeds begin. now, the pessimists don't see us crossing this channel. they say nothing's going to be accomplished here, that the vision is wider than ever and so gridlock will be even greater. frankly, fair enough. the skepticism of our government is healthy and in our time quite understandable. but one problem with saying it can't be done is that it already has been done. or at least started. in the last congress, this house passed a number of jobs bills with broad support from the majority and the minority. and we'll begin our work on this common ground, taking up measures to develop north

american energy, restore the middle class workers and help small businesses hire more of our veterans. i invite the president to support and write this bipartisan initiatives into law. it would be a good start and more. it will be a sign that the large 'em is breaking and a foundation on which to address the bigger challenges in the pursuit of freedom and security. now, this won't be done in a tidy way. the battle of ideas never ends and frankly never should. as speaker, i'll ask and frankly expect that we disagree without being disagreeble. in return i pledge to help each of you carry out your duties. my door of course is always open. don't get carried away with it,

all right, but it's always open. my colleagues will see this as shadow boxing and show business. but let me tell you and the american people that it's real work. it's a grind. as it should be in striving to preserve the things that we all hold dear. every day you and i come out here and try to plant good seeds. cultivate the ground and take care of the pests. and then with patience and some sacrifice and god's grace there will be a harvest. and along the way we may falter , but we americans do not fall away from the task. we do not quit. so let's stand tall and prove the skeptics wrong. let's make this a time of harvest and may the flutes of our labors be ladders, our children can use to climb the stairs to the stars.

thank you all and god bless the united states of america. thank you. thank you. thank you. it's still just me. i'm ready to take the oath of office and i'd like to ask the dean of the house, the honorable john conyers from michigan, to administer the oath of office. mr. conyers: if the gentleman from ohio would please raise his right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all

enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purposes 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? the speaker: i do. mr. conyers: thank you very much. i pronounce you speaker of the house. the speaker: thank you. thank you, thank you. according to the president, the chair will swear in the members-elect en masse. so the members of all -- all members will please rise. the chair will now administer the oath of office. all members will raise their right hands. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies,

foreign and domestic, that you will bear truth true faith and allegiance to the same, that you will take this obligation freely, without any mental 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're now members of the 114th congress.

the speaker: the house will be in order. the house will be in order.

the house will be in order. the chair roadway -- recognizes the gentlewoman from washington state, mrs. mcmorris rogers. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: i'm directed by the conference to notify the house officially that the republican members have selected as majority leader the gentleman from california, the honorable kevin mccarthy.

the speaker: the house will be in order. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. becertificatea. mr. becerra: thank you, mr. speaker. as chairman of the house democratic caucus, i have been directed to report to the house that the democratic members have selected as minority leader, the gentlewoman from california, the honorable nancy pelosi. the speaker: the chair recognizes the gentlelady from washington state, mrs. mcmorris rogers. mr. rogers: odges as chair of the republican -- mrs. mcmorris rodgers: i'm directed to notify the house that the republican members have selected as majority whip the gentleman from louisiana, the honorable steve scalise. the speaker: the chair recognizes the gentleman from california.

mr. becerra: mr. speaker, as chairman of the democratic caucus, i have been directed to report to the house that the democratic members have selected as minority whip, the gentleman from maryland, the honorable steny hoyer, and as assistant democratic leader, the gentleman from south carolina, the honorable james clyburn. the speaker: for what purpose does the gentlelady from washington state? mrs. mcmorris rodgers: i offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 1, resolved that karen l. haas of the state of maryland be and is hereby chosen clerk of the house of representatives. that paul d. irving of the state of florida be and is hereby chosen sergeant at arms of the house of representatives. that ed cassidy of the state of connecticut be and is hereby chosen chief administrative officer of the house of representatives.

and that father patrick j. conroy of the state of oregon be and is hereby chosen chaplain of the house of representatives. the speaker: the gentlelady from washington. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: mr. speaker, i yield to the gentleman from california, mr. becerra, for the purposes of offering an amendment. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker: the house will be in order. members will take their seats. the gentleman from california. mr. becerra: i thank the gentlewoman for ruling. i have an amendment to the resolution. before offering the amendment i ask there be a division of the question on the resolution so we may have a separate vote on the chap -- chaplain. the speaker: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. becerra of california. that drew hamill of the district of colombia be and is hereby chosen clerk of the

house of representatives. that wendall primus of the commonwealth of virginia be and is hereby chosen sergeant at arms of the house of representatives. and nadine yoshami of the commonwealth of virginia be and is hereby chosen chief administrative officer of the house of representatives. the speaker: the question will be divided. the question is on agreeing to that portion of the resolution providing for the election of the chaplain. those in favor indicate by saying aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. this portion of the resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the question is on the amendment by the gentleman from california. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes -- the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to.

the question is on the remainder of the resolution offered by the gentlelady from washington state. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the resolution is agreed to. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the chair will now swear in the officers of the house. the officers will gather in the well of the house. if you'll raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic. that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties on the office of which you are about to enter, so help you

god. congratulations. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, over a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 2, resolved, that the senate be informed that a quorum of the house of representatives has assembled. that john a. boehner, a representative from the state of ohio, has been elected speaker. and that karen l. haas, a citizen of the state of maryland, has been elected clerk of the house of representatives of the 114th congress. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the

resolution is agreed to and without objection the the motion to reconsider is. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. mccarthy: i offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. the clerk: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 3, resolved that a committee of two members be appointed by the speaker on the part of the house of representatives to join with a committee on the part of the senate to notify the president of the united states that a quorum of each house has assembled and congress is ready to receive any communication that may be -- that he may be pleased to make. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resolution is agreed to. and the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. pursuant to house resolution 3, the chair appoints the following members to the committee on the part of the house, join a committee on the part of the senate to notify the president of the united states that a quorum of each house has assembled and that congress is ready to receive

any communication that he may be pleased to make. the gentleman from california, mr. mccarthy and the gentlewoman from california, ms. pelosi. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia, mr. lewis, seek recognition? mr. lewis: mr. speaker, i offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will read the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 4, resolved, that the clerk be instructed to inform the president of the united states that the house of representatives has elected john a. boehner a representative from the state of ohio as speaker and karen

l. haas a citizen of the state of maryland as clerk of the house of representatives of the 114th congress. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resolution is agreed to. the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. mccarthy. mr. mccarthy: i offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 5, resolved, that -- mr. mccarthy: i ask unanimous

consent that the resolution be considered as read and printed in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the reading is dispensed with. the gentleman from california is recognized for one hour. >> mr. speaker. mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from the district of columbia. ms. norton: mr. speaker, i rise to offer a motion that is at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: norton motion to refer rules resolution. ms. norton moves to refer the resolution to a select committee of five members to be appointed by the speaker not more than three of whom shall be from the same political party with instructions not to report back the same until it has conducted a full and complete study of and made a determination on whether there is any reason to deny delegates voting rights and the committee of the whole house on the state of the union in light of the decision of the united states court of appeals for the district of columbia in michael vs. anderson 14-f-3-d-626,

1994 upholding the constitutionality of such voting rights and inclusion of such voting rights in the rules for the 103rd, 110th, and 111th congresses. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. mccarthy: mr. speaker, i have a motion to table at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mr. mccarthy of california moves to lay on the table the motion to refer. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to table. those in favor say aye. those opposed say no. the ayes have it. ms. norton: mr. speaker, on that i demand the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered.

electronic vote, members will have 15 minutes. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 230. the nays are 160. the motion is adopted. without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the gentleman from california is recognized for one hour. >> mr. speaker, i yield the

hour to the gentleman from texas, mr. sessions, and i ask unanimous consent that he be permitted to control that time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from california, the majority leader, mr. mccarthy. mr. speaker, for the purposes of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from rochester, new york, ms. slaughter, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. during consideration for -- of debate it is for debate only. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: i yield to the distinguished majority leader from california, mr. mccarthy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. mr. mccarthy: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i want to thank mr. sessions

for putting the rules package together today. today the house will adopt these rules to govern the 114th congress and dictate how this house will function over the next two years. and as you will hear over the course of this debate they are a recommitment by the republican majority to govern transparently. the rules ensure that both members and the public have a chance to read bills before they come up for a vote. institute more accurate accounting for the economic effect of legislation and restore the tunal balance of power between the -- constitutional balance between the legislative and executive branches. with these rules in place the house can now proceed in tackling the challenges facing america today and pass legislation that creates jobs, grows the economy and promotes freedom for all americans. i urge adoption of the rules package and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, thank you very much. and i want to thank the distinguished gentleman from california, the majority leader, mr. mccarthy. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert for the record a section by section analysis of the resolution as well as a july 21, 2014, memorandum prepared by the office of parliamentaryian to the overcriminalization task force of the committee on judiciary. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is reserved. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank my friend from texas for yielding me the time, and if i could just take a minute to wish everybody a great new session. it's good to be back. mr. speaker, we rise today to set a new course for this congress. though with the record of past congresses we know we have a lot of work to do. during our tenure the majority has karined from crisis to

crisis and suing the president for doing his job closed debate with the most closed rule in a single congress in our nation's history. chase nonexistent scandals in benghazi and at the i.r.s. and since 2011 had this house vote more than 50 times to take health care away from their own constituents. this legacy of dysfunction of partisanship and of prioritizing political gains over the public policy has dealt the american people a bad hand. by governing this house in such a haphazard way, the majority has closed down the process and shut out the american people. and sadly, the majority's poised to double down on the partisanship and even reinvent the mathematics of public policy. by using what is called dynamic scoring to pretend the tax cuts pay for themselves, republicans will require the nonpartisan congressional budget office and joint taxation committee to use

math that bruce bartlett, an economic advisor for both presidents ronald reagan and george h.w. bush to call, quote, smoke and mirrors, end quote. this new math cooks the books in favor of a majority to pretend that tax cut bills are revenue neutral. time and time again, the falsehoods of dynamic scoring have come to light. the first president bush even called this tactic quote, voodoo economics, end quote. but even still the house republicans want to change the rules and inject the partisan ideology into even mathematics which underlies our nation's public policy. rising above partnership, the house democrats will propose today two measures that would do a measurable good for the american people. first, giving average americans the paychecks that they deserve. our commonsense legislation would deny c.e.o.'s the ability to claim tax exemptions on

incomes over $1 million unless their own employees get a well-deserved raise first. and this will ensure that average workers share in the fruit of the nation's productivity, not just the millionaires and the billionaires. today is our tax -- as our tax code stands, c.e.o.'s get a break and their workers are left out. the c.e.o.'s get the money the deduction on taxes and we get the bill to pay for that deduction. it is destroying the middle class. second, democrats will bring forward the stop corporate expateryation and invest in america's infrastructure -- expateryation -- expatriateation and invest in america's infrastructure act. it's time to stop rewarding companies that move overseas and instead use those dollars to create good-paying jobs here at home and rebuild our nation's crumbling infrastructure. by closing this loophole and ending the so-called tax inversions, we would raise an

estimated $33.6 billion to invest in our roads, railways and bridges falling apart all over the country. last fall i stood by 100-year-old bridge that has fallen into such disrepair that firefighters stopped using it for fear the engines could -- bridge could not bear the weight of the engines. it endangered the safety of the people they were expected to serve. in my home state of new york, 40% of bridges have been rated structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, which is even worse. i wonder what the number is for the united states. this is an unconscionable state of repairs. repairing our nation's highways and bridges is now life or death. we can do it with the democrat proposals. we can and we must. now, these are the types of bills we hope to be bringing to the floor in this session of congress. .

that's what congress is about. that's what congress is about. not a legislative branch that silences half of this nation by bypassing the committee process, bringing to the rule emergency bills that silence the representatives of half the people in the united states. it is my fervent hope that the new congress will bring about an era of willingness to tackle the big problems facing our nation. a renewed call for true bipartisanship and a culture of enliveren -- enlivened debate and i promise that our side will be a willing partner. in describing how the bill of rights came to be, the former supreme court justice, the late harry blackman, said, that the founding fathers survived, quote, a crucible of disagreement. to give us a more perfect union. in forging through that chris crews billion is not only good for the legislative branch but good for the nation. truly, it is a debate that makes us stronger and time and time again debate in the house has been stalled strangling

policies and solutions that could have benefited the nation. sadly, this is the legacy of the last congress. i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of justice blackman's speech into the record. the speaker: without objection. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, the past does not dictate the future. we can write our path forward. we may be able to prioritize the american people will win over politics and today we have the opportunity to do that. with the beginning of this, the 114th congress, and, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i too want to welcome the gentlewoman from rochester, new york, the ranking member of the rules committee, as we begin another session in this new year and i'm delighted to note that the rules committee will be ready and available to handle not only the pieces of legislation that the

gentlewoman spoke of in terms of helping the american people to understand what congress' role is in working with the president to help policies that will get this country back to work. mr. speaker, just a year ago we recognized as we came back to washington that we were at a g.d.p. growth of a negative g.d.p. we had to fight out of these terrible, terrible tax increases and the things that are occurring to our economy. and the american people found new footing this year because it was the republican majority who gave new meaning and life to, we're going to make this place, meaning washington, d.c., and government smaller and make things bigger and better for people back home. we've now lived through what has become a reality with republican policies on energy, for competitive marketplace for there to be alternative

fuels that are available, that have dominated the marketplaces and put other countries on their heels and given an advantage to american drivers that are here, families who are trying to make a go of it. gasoline at the pump has dropped. we still have much to do. as we know, the first year that president obama was in office, food prices began doubling. energy prices began doubling. republicans now are giving the american people a sense that we can manage our country better so that they can not only have a job and keep a job, but that they can take care of their families. we're going to aim this year on a lot of things, but today we're here for the rules package that will enable the opportunities for all of our members to know what the rules are and become engaged. four years ago, mr. speaker, we pledged to the american people that speaker boehner through

the rules of this house and our package that would we would have, would allow members from both sides of the aisle to engage in robust debate during an open process, and i'm proud to say that following through with that promise, we now have a new, larger group of republicans because the hard work that we have done and consulted the american people about, effectively managing their affairs in washington, d.c., and republicans have put forth all sorts of reforms, not just in the house of representatives, more transparency, more opportunities for debate, but the opportunity for the american people to see that what we're trying to do is to give the american people a chance to debate and vote and move forward legislative ideas not just about jobs and not just about a better economy and not just about more freedom and not just about trying to take

care of energy, but also to protect the men and women who protect this country. the 114th congress is going to present also an opportunity i think for all of us to up our game, to work together. now we have a chance to know that the house and the senate, because they're in republican control, instead of things being road blocked and set aside and stacked up, over 300 bills, mr. speaker this past term that were waiting for senatorial action, we now can work together to enact legislation, we can talk with the american people, we can fashion transparency in bills for accountability, something that the american people want and need. it also represents an opportunity for us to jump-start our economy. we're here to serve people back home. we're here to make things better for people back home. not to give away our country,

but to make it stronger, a chance to empower people in their communities to make their own decisions and hopefully the rewards that come from that. many times it's not just about the creation of a job, but really sustaining these families that are trying to work and make things happen and make more decisions about themselves. and their future. to begin that process today, as we open the house for the 114th congress, we have a rules package. as we begin, i want to say, let's not forget why we're here. we're here because those from our individual congressional districts, mine the 32nd congressional district of texas, sent me here to accomplish things on their behalf. to make life better for them, to create better opportunities for people today and a better america in the future. so that we are able to extend

our lead among other nations with i believe, american ingenuity and opportunity, american exceptionalism, as we say it in dallas, texas, mr. speaker. american exceptional power, whether it is leading in the united states military or providing leadership for freedom, that is what we're best at. and we have a privilege by serving in this body. we must also be held accountable, i believe, to the constitution. the constitution which we have all of us today, as we raised our hand to support and defend the constitution of the united states. it doesn't mean certain parts of that constitution, it means the constitution. and by us being here today, we're once again reaffirming that, in this rules package, the support to the constitution , that basis of power that is so, so important that we understand the house, the

senate, the presidency, but most of all the power that lies with people. the rules package helps us to achieve these goals. h.res. 5 is a continuation a of house republicans' efforts to streamline processes to increase transparency, and to improve accountability. specifically, it preserves the important reforms that were made in the previous two congresses. it also adds a few perfecting amendments and ordered to help further advance our twin goal of transparency and openness for all the members of this body. i'd like to take a few minutes if i can to highlight some of the key parts of this rules package, if i can, mr. speaker. first, it builds upon the fiscal restraint imposed upon the federal government by house republicans in the last two congresses. we've seen in the last four years that the american economy is able to grow when the government shrinks, and less taxpayer money is used to support the government.

more freedom and opportunity, we should have a smaller government and a larger free enterprise system. that's a goal. limited government means unlimited opportunity for people back home. in 2011 the federal government was spending 24% of our g.d.p. in the economy -- and the economy was suffering. thanks to the leadership of house republicans, the federal government spend something now down. in fact, the federal government now spends 19.9% of our g.d.p., which is nearly 5% less than just four years ago. this has come through fiscal restraint. this has come through making sure that we spoke to the american people about government that was getting too big, costing too much money and had too much power. the american people understood that because the government was getting in the way, not playing their role of making sure that -- to make life better for

people, but rather getting in the way and making onerous decisions on our economy, on the people's jobs and perhaps worst of all stifling families and the american dream. in turn, we're finally seeing now as a result of these five years where we have held government spending that has decreased from 24% of g.d.p. to 19.9%, we're seeing an economic growth rate that the american people i think want and deserve. are we where we want to be? absolutely not. what's the approximate level we need a g.d.p. growth of 4%, we need a g.d.p. growth not just in dallas, texas, but all over this country where we have people who are able to, in their homes and their cities and their regions, be able to take care of themselves, sustain their economies, and take care of their infrastructures in a responsible way.

so, this congress, republicans are going to provide for fiscal discipline that restrains spending and gets the government out of the way. getting government out of the way means you take money away from them, which either does one of two things. leaves more money back home for people or it simply gives people more opportunity to invest in the marketplace. to grow jobs. this rules package will ensure that congress has the necessary budget enforcement tools in place to continue our work that will help create jobs and grow the economy. we have a brand new budget chairman, one of the finest members of the republican conference. the gentleman from georgia, mr. price. and mr. price has been not only a professional at his job, as a physician, where he healed people. he came to washington to do the same for us and his aessential to be the chairman of the

budget committee will offer this country and i believe more specifically this body a re-evaluation of the important attributes of having a good economy through better budgeting and ways that we can restrain the federal government from unwanted and unnecessary spending to that which is done for the american people that makes sense. tom price will become a household name and he will earn the accolades that he will get from his chairmanship. second, the rule package includes a commonsense requirement for congress when we consider legislation that will have a larger impact on our economy. in short, the house is going to require the congressional budget office and the joint committee on taxation to provide nonpartisan macroeconomic analysis for legislation that costs .25% of projected g.d.p. what does this mean? this means that now we're going to be able to recognize on a

percentage basis point how close the impact of our decisions that we make and to project them out to where we're able to actually know what the impact will be of the legislation that we passed in order to create more jobs. it is meant to err on the side of people in the free enterprise system as opposed to stymieing what would end up to them and erring on the side of growing this government. this means that the house will take time to analyze how legislation that we consider will really impact the american economy, where we can reject what it will be as a result of including billions of dollars back into the economy for economic growth and development on the side of the free enterprise system. this is going to allow us to measure the impact of

legislation, it's going to help us to use some projects -- proximates on how our ideas are going -- projections on how our ideas are going to affect the bottom line. we've been through four years where we saw high taxes, high spending, big government, that caused america to fall not only in relative power to the rest of the world, but it placed on the american people disillusionenment, unemployment, high taxation of people who could not pay their bills, a loss of their own identity within their own systems, unemployment up to -- unemployment, up to 23 million people unemployed and underemployed. we've now turned that corner. we will continue to turn that corner and extrapolate out how we want to get to all sectors of our economy to have a better shot at jobs in their hometown in their region, and ones that they can keep, not have, and then lose again.

it's these current opportunities that lie right before us and the gentleman from georgia and the gentleman from -- the chairman of the ways and means committee, mr. ryan, are perfectly suited for selling to this body and the american people why we believe that we've got to look at and change the way we authorize bills. . so under one method, which is called static scoring, which is what we have, we ensure that legislation does not change economic behavior. they just plug a new number in and then we assume nothing really happens. but in fact we know when you raise taxes you lower the opportunity for people, not only to create more economic benefit, but you take that incentive away. our friends, the democrats, would leave you to believe that taxation is a zero some game,

that when rates go up revenues come that way and aren't we for making sure we balance our budget? well, let me tell you what, it didn't work that way. we were spending hundreds of billions of dollars more. instead of an economy that was working, we were paying unemployment compensation, people not to be employed, people to be at home, a terrible cost not only to humanity but also to our treasury. we need people to go to work, and encouraging them to do this through our tax code means that people can have the dignity of work, the opportunity to make their life better and perhaps more importantly a chance for america to grow its g.d.p. we have examples over and over that we've seen about how taxation legislation affects behavior, and certainly in my home state of texas, i remember in the 1980's and the early 1990's when revenue was at a

premium for the democrats who ran our house and senate in texas and, of course, they wanted to raise more revenue and they were always looking for ways to raise revenue and i remember them looking when i was just out of high school at personalized license plates. and they looked at how much money came in for personalized license plates and i want to say it was $30 for the plates and so they needed more revenue so they just doubled that amount of money that it would cost knowing they would get twice as much revenue. but it didn't work that way, mr. speaker. not surprisingly, fewer texans bought more license plates, but to the democrats it was a simple matter under static scoring of just saying they wanted more money and they were going to increase the rates. it doesn't happen that way because the american people or citizens understand they would

no longer buy something at a different rate. the same thing is true of tax rates, mr. speaker. we have the exact same problem where people who are working and working hard, when you take away their money, there's less money that they can put into the economy, to grow another job, to give somebody a chance at a new job. and these are the things we are going to be looking at, how we can maximize through the effort of dr. price, through the effort of paul rian, the ways and means committee, the -- paul ryan, the ways and means committee, the budget committee, to show the leading ideas and so no, it's a zero sum game. you can't raise taxes. you can't give money back to people because oh, my gosh, the federal government would be in trouble. well, we're not. it would change from unemployment compensation to people working, and republicans believe in work. we believe in empowering

communities and people to stand a chance to go from unemployment and welfare to a chance to have a job. we're going to get this done. let me be clear. republicans are not arguing that tax cuts always way for themselves. they don't. but instead we're acknowledging that when it's done right, when you study what you're doing, you can make an effort to have a tax cut to grow the economy. i believe republicans understand that the american economy and americans are better off when they keep more of their paychecks. lastly, this third -- this rules package defends the house's constitutional role in our system of checks and balances by providing for continuation of legal actions against the executive branch. it will allow the house to pursue its lawsuits and to enforce subpoenas. for instance, in the fast and

furious investigation, where we've seen guns that were sold by the united states government put into hands of very dangerous people all around our world, including in mexico and other places, only to find them come back and appear where they were involved in murders in the united states. it's a lawless action that was taken by our department of justice. it's wrong and we're going to continue pursuing this. so it means that we're going to look at those things that this federal government is doing that we believe are unconstitutional and should change also. we also believe in a lawsuit against the executive branch regarding the implication of the affordable care act. in short, this package makes it perfectly clear that our constitutional order still matters, and it's congress' job to write the law and for the president to faithfully execute

it. we're not going to stand by and watch this president go and write laws and to execute them down the block. we're going to make sure we do it the way the constitution spoke about. certainly, we know that ipab, which is part of the president's package where he has this group of people that have unlimited power to make decisions over health care, over people as opposed to a physician, we're going to limit that authority. we believe we're within the right of doing this because the american people want and need a health care system that works, not one we cannot afford and we cannot find a doctor and where the government and the bureaucrat makes decisions as opposed to a physician and a patient. regardless of what one thinks about obamacare, all members of should should be united to preserve and -- should be united to preserve and protect the rule of the united states citizens and our ability to

make laws on behalf of people and work with the president. finally, the package is going to allow the speaker to recognize members for the reading of the constitution on any legislative day through january 16, 2015. i believe it's vital, and we saw this several years ago mr. speaker, where we came down to the floor of the house and took turns at reading the constitution. it is a vital part of our history. it is important that we understand it serves this great nation that separates us from so many other countries. the rule of law and constitutional guidance. the rules package that i've outlined will better enable the house to perform our duties. it will help us with our obligations, our integrity and transparency and accountability and it's going to help us to make sure we work well together with each other, our friends, whether they're republicans or democrats, elected members of this body. i'm very proud to say that this resolution represents so many great things. i think it's a balanced

package, and i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is preserved. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to four minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the democratic whip, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for four minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. unfortunately, i don't have time to respond to many of the representations that mr. sessions made with reference to our economy, but we can all agree that our most important responsibility as members of the congress is to grow this economy, create the kinds of jobs that americans need so that they can succeed and support themselves and their families. but i want to speak about a couple of things in this rules package. traditionally, democrats will vote against and republicans will vote for because traditionally this is a

partisan vote. i urge the rules committee chairman to adopt a couple of changes which i thought would make this rules package a better one. first, i asked the house to move to ban discrimination against gays lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered employees. we provide in our rules you can't discriminate people based upon race, nationality, gender and other arbitrary distinctions. we should have added this as we have in so many of our laws. currently, there are no protections for congressional staffer fired or refused promotions simply for lgbt status. i regret that the rules committee was unprepared to offer such a protection to our employees. secondly, since republicans assumed the majority in 2011, delegates from the district of columbia, the u.s. virgin islands, guam, samoa and the northern mariana residents as well as the resident commissioner of puerto rico have been denied the

opportunity to vote in the committee of the whole. they can vote in committees and the committee of the whole is, of course, a committee of the house. it is not a final arbiter. when i was majority leader i offered that amendment in the rules. it passed. my republican friends took it to court and the court said that it was sustainible. and sustained it. this effectively unfortunately denies representation to nearly five million americans. americans. one of whom is on the republican side of the aisle from american samoa. so this is a bipartisan concern that i have. unfortunately this rules package put forward by the republican majority does not include either change. in addition, this rules package does not live up to the responsible governing the american people expect and deserve from congress. mr. sessions spent a long time talking about scoring.

static scoring versus dynamic scoring. dynamic scoring, i would suggest to the american people, is a gamble. it is a gamble that your projection is correct, and if your projection is not correct, as it so often has been, then you end up putting the deficit even higher because you bet on the come. the more conservative policy, i would suggest, would be to get the money first and then decide how you're going to apply it. don't gamble on the fact that you're going to get the money, which is what dynamic scoring, and the gentleman admitted, he did not argue that cutting taxes always paid for themselves. in fact, alan greenspan said lactly that in the last decade. what -- said exactly that in the last decade. what that means is the republicans will hide the true costs of tax cuts behind the mantra that tax cuts pay for themselves. they do not. and this provision will allow

them to explode the deficit, as they did the last time they were in charge. the last time the budget was balanced was not under the brucks when you had a republican -- bush administration when you had a republican congress, republican sflat and republican senate. it was -- senate and republican president. it was when president clinton was president. it threatens to politicize the congressional budget office which has maintained its role as impartial and nonpartisan arbiter on budget scoring for four decades which makes us be honest, which is what the american public expects. rely on the figures that are not political figures but are independent, analytical figures on which we can rely. the rules package -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. hoyer: i urge my colleagues to vote against this rules package. it can be a better package. it should be, and if it's defeated we can adopt a better more fair package.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is reserved. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the distinguished returning ranking member of the committee on budget, mr. van hollen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for three minutes. mr. van hollen: i thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my colleague. it's absolutely astounding that within minutes, minutes of us being sworn in our republican colleagues want to pass a rule that will stack the deck in favor of trying to give another big tax cut, not to the middle class, but to millionaires, the folks at the very top. that's what their budget does. and what's equally astounding is that this economic theory of trickled down economics crashed and burn in the real world between 2001 and 2008. our republican colleagues say, if you give millionaires these tax cuts, you know, they're going to spend it and a little bit will trickle down to the

middle class and people -- and boost everybody up. what happened? sure, the folks that got the tax cuts at the top did better. nobody else did. in fact, real wages went down. what went up, the deficit, and everybody has to pay for that deficit. now, i heard the speaker this morning say he wanted to deal with the issue of wage stagnation. that's what we should be focused on. we shouldn't be talking about tax cuts for the wealthy and a trickle down theory. we should try to build this economy from the middle class out and from the bottom up, and i'm glad the speaker said that because we're going to give him an opportunity to vote for something that will address wage stagnation. i'll offer a motion at the end of this debate. it's called the vow -- c.e.o. employee paycheck fairness act and it addresses this issue. if you look back in the 1960's and 1970's when workers were working hard, they got paid more, but beginning around

1979, they kept working hard productivity kept going up but their wages got flat. . what happened during the same time? c.e.o.'s took care of themselves. their pay started to go up and up and up. it used to be about 20 times that of the average worker. in other words, the c.e.o. and folks at the top got about 20 times what they were paying their employees. but as you can see, it's now shot up so that c.e.o.'s and the top guys get paid about 300 times what their workers are getting paid, so we have a simple proposition. that corporation should not be able to deduct the bonuses and compensation for their c.e.o.'s and other executives over $1 million unless they're giving their employees a fair shake a fair wage, right? why should the taxpayers be subsidizing that? you know, in the last three

years they took about $80 billion thereabouts, in deductions for bonuses for performance pay when they were sometimes laying off employees cutting their paychecks. so we say, hey, ok, pay yourselves what you want, but if you want the taxpayers to allow you to deduct your bonuses and performance pay for goodness sakes, you bet beer --er you better be giving your employees -- you better be giving your employees a fair shake. deal with wage stagnation. let's help the workers, not just the c.e.o.'s. let's vote for the c.e.o. -employee paycheck fairness act. i thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, i thank you very much. there they go again, more tax increases. bigger government, the democrat party. i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is reserved. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i have to yield

the gentleman 30 seconds to respond to that. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. van hollen: what we're talking about, mr. speaker, is a republican plan that actually cuts the top rate for folks at the top from 39% to 25%. the nonpartisan tax policy group has said that will actually leave the middle class family, typical family, paying another $2,000 so that you can give the folks at the very top another tax break and when you increase the deficit, guess who pays the bill? everybody. all the taxpayers do. so you give a tax break to the folks at the top, increase the deficit, and everybody else left to pay the bill. that's not the right way to go. vote for this motion. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: we reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from connecticut who has been successful already about inversions, ms. delauro. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady from connecticut is recognized for two minutes. ms. delauro: i rise in opposition to the republican rule avoid taxes by moving their mailboxing overseas. but they leave their operations here. effectively renouncing their u.s. citizenship in order to dodge taxes. these companies benefit from american education, research and development incentives, and infrastructure, all taxpayer-supported. but when their own tax bill arrives, they hide overseas and are no longer american corporations. they even have the temerity, and this is legal under the law today, and it shuent be, they have the -- and it shouldn't be, they have the temerity then to apply for federal contracts.

but they deny their u.s. citizenship when it comes to paying their taxes. what this amendment would do is make sure that they pay their fair share. the extra revenue goes to the highway trust fund. that trust fund runs out of money in may if we do not act. anyone who has drisk an car lately knows how badly our roads need investment, our highs -- highways are crumbling beneath our wheels. 65% of our major roads are in less than good condition. one quarter of our bridges require impair or -- repair or improvement. at the time when globalization is gathering a better,

stronger, more sustainable economy. this amendment puts us back on the right track. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: i continue to reserve. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from south carolina, mr. clyburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for three minutes. mr. clyburn: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. speaker, like most americans, i spent the holidays with family and friends. reflecting on the blessings of the past year. there were many. since 2009, the stock market has sored nearly 10,000 points -- soared nearly 10,000 points. in 2009 our budget deficit

stood at $1.4 trillion. today, according to current projections, we have sliced that deficit to $514 billion. and we have created 10 million new jobs. the longest stretch of private sector job growth in american history. when i left home yesterday, i left my wife with a full tank of gas and i did so paying less than $2 per gallon. it was the first time i've been able to do that in five years. we have achieved much progress over the past several years. now we must get about the work of making sure that progress is shared by all.

they're stacking the deck for those with the highest incomes and for voodoo trickledown economics. house democrats' first priority is to put americans in a better place by creating jobs, standing up for working families and growing the economy for all. the contrast cannot be more stark. mr. speaker, house democrats' numbers may be smaller in the 114th but we are stronger in our unity and resolve, to grow and strengthen middle income americans. today with our votes on the new rules, mr. speaker we will be demonstrating our support for hardworking american families. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: we'll continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance

of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, a valued member of the committee on rules, mr. mcgovern. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is roadwayed for two minutes. mr. mcgovern: thank you. and i thank the distinguished ranking member for the time. mr. speaker i suppose i should simply take this time to say to my colleagues, welcome back and happy new year and i missed you. technically we are considering and debate and voting on the republican majority's, quote, rules package unquote. but that's sort of a misnomer. the word rules as most of us understand it means a set of procedures that someone is required to follow. but if my republican friends -- if my republican friends have demonstrated anything over the past few years, it's that they have absolutely no intention of following the rules of the house. they are waive or ignore or break the rules of the house whenever it's convenient or politically expedient for them to do so. the gentleman from texas says the speaker of the house promised the most open congress in hiftrifment i hate to remind him that the republicans

presided over the most closed congress in history during the 113th congress. let me just mention a couple of the most egregious provisions in this package before us today. first, my republican friends believe we should adopt the voodoo economics of so-called dynamic scoring. under this fairy tale they would have us believe that the tax cuts for the very wealthy don't increase the deficit. never mind that time after time after time in our list, those tax cuts for the rich have caused an ex explosion in our deficit. second, this package would allow committee staff from the ways and means committee, financial services energy and commerce, and the science committee, to take depositions under oath. currently only the oversight committee has that authority. mr. speaker, i served as a staff member in this house for the late congressman our staff members are dedicated public servants who work increditably hard. but this provision goes too far. we ought to be spending our time on rebuilding our aging infrastructure and increasing

workers' paychecks rather than making it easier to conduct more political witch hunts which the american people are fed up with. mr. speaker i'm honored to serve on the rules committee and that word rules used to mean something. my hope is that in this congress enough of my republican colleagues will demonstrate the political courage to make it mean something again. vote no on this resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. doggett: mr. speaker, to those who have wondered what would be the top priority of this republican-controlled congress, what would they do on day one well now we know. it's deception. what some could even rightly call tax fraud, since this amounts to deliberate misrepresentation of tax data. republicans are admitting right here on day one that they don't know how to balance the budget. when the budget numbers will

not add up when the arithmetic just doesn't work for them, they change the numbers with magical new math. where the books won't balance, with the numbers that you've got, republicans say use the numbers you would like to have. all their previous talk about budget discipline and balancing budgets was really about trying to dismantle democratic efforts to provide an opportunity ladder up for all americans. to ensure dignity and retirement and to protect families from the risk of illness. now to free themselves from the hard work of responsible balanced budgets republicans are compelling the house for the first time in american history to rely upon something they call dynamic scoring. that's just a euphemism for

whimsy, speculation and wishful thinking. the thin very near for a failed -- veneer for a failed political ideology. s been said that instead of this scoring gimmick that they're using today, he'd rather they just simply belly-up to the bar and admit up front that they can't lower rates without adding to the deficit. today's actions remind me of a riddle attributed to president abraham lincoln. how many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? four, because calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg. and calling a budget balanced when it doesn't have adequate revenue does not make it so. passing a budget requires hard work. republicans would rather use a sleight of hand than a helping hand from all to get that job done. vote. no the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: republicans are going to use a doctor to get

the budget done this time. i'd like to yield three minutes to the young chairman of the budget committee, the gentleman from georgia, mr. price. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for three minutes. price that the -- i thank the gentleman from texas -- mr. price: i thank the gentleman from texas for his leadership on this. i'm actually -- well, i'm not surprised, i thought we might actually go a day without having the kind of hyperbole that we've grown used to from the other side of the aisle. i want to speak to the issue of macroeconomic analysis. as the incoming chair of the budget committee. for the other side has said that this is a gamble that we're gambling, that the projections are going to be correct. mr. speaker, this is craziness. that's not so. in fact, all economic projections, all static, dynamic, all of them, have a level of uncertainty. we've heard that it's quote, stacking the deck or that it's cooking the books in favor of tax cuts. nonsense. nonsense. it doesn't game the system at all. all that we're trying to do is

make certain that members of congress have more information upon which to be able to make decisions. that's the kind of commonsense things that our folks back home want. . scoring here, the congressional budget office works hard works hard to try to determine what the effect is of the kind of policies that we adopt around here. they will tell you right now that now it's inaccurate. now it's inaccurate. what we're trying to do is simply say that if a piece of legislation is going to have a large affect on the economy, that we include that effect in the official estimate. so if you think the bill will help or hurt the economy, help or hurt, they ought to let us know how many more jobs will be created, what kind of tax revenue will occur, is it going to harm jobs. the people that prepare our cost estimates, i tell you they're the best in the business and they've been working on this for years. mr. speaker, it may come to as a surprise from our friends on the other side, but they

already do this kind of analysis, they already do the macroeconomic analysis. we don't it in the cost estimate because of the rules, because of the rules and we should and that's why we're offering this change today. we don't predetermine the outcome. we simply make it so that congressional budget office is allowed the score keepers -- the score keepers are allowed to have a more realistic score. i have come -- come to no surprise, talking to economics a couple of weeks -- a couple of months. to a person, individual says economic scoring the effects of legislation that we passed it's an inaccurate science. it's hard -- it's hard to do, but what we want to do is to make certain that they had greater opportunity to get that scoring correct. to give us the kind of information so we can make wiser decisions. so mr. speaker, this isn't about cooking the books or gaming the system. this is about trying to do the hard work of the american

people, trying to get the policies that we adopt here in this congress correct so that we can get the american people back to work and get this economy thriving again. so i commend the gentleman from texas for the work that he's done and urge adoption of the rules and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york, 7 1/2 minutes remaining. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to yield two of those minutes to the gentleman from california chairman of the democrat caucus, mr. becerra. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. becerra: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. time to get to work. americans don't care who won or lost in the election. they just want to us get our work done. they want us to work together to solve the problems that they see every day. they want us to boost job growth. they want us to build an economy that works for all americans not just the privileged few. the rules of the road that should guide this congress should be built on the foundation that has increased

opportunities for american families over the last few years, nearly 11 million new jobs, 57 consecutive months of job growth, the longest streak in our country's history. 10 million more americans with health insurance, which means health security for those americans. the deficit cut by 2/3 since 2009. what's the one piece of the puzzle that we now need to work on? well, in that span of time that we've seen things go bitter, the economy has grown by 12%, corporate profits have grown by 42% and the stock market by 92%. what hasn't grown? the paycheck the average american get for working to dual those things to make it possible for the stock market and corporations to succeed. so it's time for us to focus on the middle of america that works hard every month and gets a paycheck but doesn't see that paycheck grow.

this rules package requires congress to use fuzzy math. so-called dynamic scoring to make it easier to give massive tax breaks to special interests and the wealthy. is that what the middle class wants? no. republicans also added a midnight change to this rules package that rigs the rules against 59 million americans who currently receive social security and to the 160 million americans who are working today to get social security in the future and don't know if social security will be there based on these rules. that's not what americans in the middle want. congress should be in the business of making life better not worse, for everyday americans. so let's establish rules of the road for this congress that let us build on the economic progress of nearly 11 million americans going back to work, 57 months straight of job growth. what we don't need are rules of the road for this house that give a green light to reckless legislate, that favor special interests and the privileged few at the expense of the middle class and america's social security. i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas 4 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. sessions: we reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield to a member of the ways and means committee, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: mr. levin is recognized for one minute. mr. levin: what was said by the budget chair is not correct. this is not about more information. this is about these cost estimates really depart of the enforcement of the budget resolution. so what this is, in a few words republicans today are extending their embrace of voodoo economics by wrapping their arms around voodoo score keeping. again, it's not more about more information, but it's able to cook the books to implement their long-held discredited notion that tax cuts pay for

themselves. i think the former reagan and george h.w. bush administration official said it best, bruce bartlett -- and listen to this. it's not more information. as he said, i quote it's not about honest revenue estimating. it's about using smoke and mirrors to institutionalize republican ideology in the budget process. that's what this is all about. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you mr. speaker. we'll continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, may i inquire from my colleague if he has any speakers? i don't want to use up all my time if -- mr. sessions: well, thank you very much. i have one additional speaker and then i'll close. ms. slaughter: all right. let me yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, the democrat leader, and almost speaker today, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute.

ms. pelosi: thank you mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady for yielding and i thank her for her wonderful work on behalf of the american people as the ranking member on the rules committee for such a long time and in such a very strong way. my colleagues, i congratulate you on -- and your families on your swearing in today. we had a lovely ceremony, i think, earlier. eventually it became that after we knew the outcome of the vote. but it's clear that election at the polls in november demonstrated that american people are hopeful that this new congress can work together to grow our economy and in turn grow paychecks for american workers. honoring that trust, house democrats today are putting forward a legislative package to increase paychecks for working families and put

americans back to work, building roads and bridges our country needs and paid for by keeping our tax dollars here at home. i talked about this a little bit earlier as i introduced the speaker. what we are proposing sadly is in sharp contrast to what the republicans have in this rule. the first vote that republicans are asking this congress to take in the new congress will be to advance additional tax cuts for the wealthy and special interests. when they talk about dynamic scoring, when they talk about dynamic scoring it's a very bad deal for middle-income families in our country. in sharp contrast to them, we will bring forward the top -- the stop corporate expatriateation and invest in america infrastructure act which prevents corporations from renouncing their american citizenship in order to dodge from paying their fair share of

taxes. it's type to stop rewarding companies that move overseas and instead use those dollars to create good-paying jobs here at home. every chance any of us get, we have to make that point. i don't see anything partisan about it. i would think -- and many republicans have voted in this manner in the past. so this was supposed to be something where we had common ground. house democrats will also put forward the c.e.o. employee pay fairness act, and that's legislation to ensure that workers share in the fruit of their productivity denying c.e.o.'s the ability to claim tax deductions on income over $1 million unless they give their employees a well-deserved raise. the american people are owed an open and transparent debate on these issues. today, with this rules package, republicans are shutting out debate for democrats and republicans. and republicans with their

extending the amount it takes for democratic members to put forth a motion to instruct, they are shutting down debate. they are rejecting transparency and openness. that is what the american people want, transparency and openness. and all that we do in congress we must keep the hopes, dreams and aspirations of the american people in the forefront. we must be committed to do this in a bipartisan way and open and transparent way. this bill today rejects that. now, what i want to say is we all in reading our christmas cards and all the rest, but one of the ones i want to share with you, which is irrelevant to our discussion today, is from my friend, jack trout. what he said in his seasonal greeting for the times. to borrow a biblical reference, the money changers have taken over the temple. what's behind all of this, he

says in his effort, a concerted effort by wealthy companies and people to protect the status quo and their vested interest. the result is a sad fact that middle class gets squeezed while the rich get richer. this squeeze is why the consumer-led economy has been so slow to rebound after the financial crisis. what people fail to realize is the single fact that middle class are the real job creators in america. they generate demand which in turn builds markets. they, the middle class, put mary into merry christmas. -- put merry into merry christmas. i mention this because it is true that when the consumer economy, which is what we are, is alive and well and thriving, it does -- spend money inject demand in the economy, creates jobs and our economic recovery

is accelerated. dynamic scoring suppressing debate, some of the other things that are contained in this rule are contrary to that and antagonistic antagonistic to the financial stability of the middle class. so i hope our colleagues -- and there are so many reasons to go through it -- but what it means more to working families is their financial stact. and on that subject alone were it not to even other things in this bill, which we could talk about all day that should be rejected, but just because it is again -- has a negative impact on the growth of our economy when it comes to supporting the financial stability of the middle class we should vote no on this. the democrats offer a sharp contrast. the motion to -- the motion that will be to call on the previous question is one that calls for us to talk about

building infrastructure of america. the motion to recommit that will be put forth by mr. van hollen is one that is fair in terms of pay to our workers. and so for many reasons mr. speaker, i urge our colleagues to vote no. this isn't what was talked about in terms of ideal and values this morning. this is about putting the squeeze on the middle class, doing it in a nontransparent way and doing it under the rules of the house. i urge a no vote and yield back the balance of my time to the gentlelady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i would like to -- i believe the gentlewoman has an additional speaker so i'm going to reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is reserved. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. israel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for three minutes. mr. israel: i thank my friend

from new york, the distinguished ranking member. mr. speaker, i congratulate all of my colleagues on our swearing in. i just hope that it doesn't trigger two years of swearing at and it really does not have to be that way, mr. speaker. democrats in this house will work with the majority to find commons solutions to ease the squeeze -- commonsense solutions to ease the squeeze, to support paycheck growth for the middle class, and what better middle ground than the middle class, mr. speaker? the problem with this rules package is it is stacked against the middle class it is stacked against tax cuts for the middle class it is stacked against paycheck growth for the middle class. . here's what house democrats are proposing. number one, bigger paychecks for the middle class. under the current rules that the majority supports, mr. speaker, a c.e.o. can get $1 million bonus and deduct that $1 million from taxes. that shifts that tax burden to

an underpaid worker for that c.e.o. now, how is that fair? how is that fair? it's not. it is bad enough that middle class workers' paychecks are squeezed, but sticking the middle class worker with a bill for the c.e.o.'s taxes as a result of that $1 million bonus is unconscionable. and we have a better way. a better contrast. something that will grow paychecks for the middle class. second, under the rules in the stacked deck that the majority supports, a big corporation can ship jobs overseas, with those jobs overseas, build bigger bridges, better roads, better airports faster airplanes. meanwhile in my district on long island, mr. speaker, the average middle class worker has to drive through pot holes, longer delays, slower trains, antiquated transportation systems, delayed airplanes because all of the

infrastructure's being built abroad. it is bad enough that corporations are given intendtifics to shift jobs overseas. it is unconscionable that under these rules those corporations are able to build infrastructure in those foreign places while america decays. under our contrast, mr. speaker, we will invest in america we will rebuild america, we will create new jobs in america improving our infrastructure. it is bad enough to be underpaid, mr. speaker, but to be underpaid and have to drive through pot holes, that is even worse. mr. speaker, on this first day of this new congress until the very last day of this new congress, the american people are going to want to know who's side we are on. -- whose side we are on. and with these two votes, we clearly demonstrate and clearly establish who is on whose side. i urge my colleagues in this majority, on this first day, to establish for the american people whose backs they have.

the special interests, tax deductions for million-dollar bonuses foreign corporations or rebuilding america and rebuilding american jobs. i thank the gentlewoman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. 4 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. sessions: thank you very much, mr. speaker. at this time i'd like to yield four minutes to the gentleman, the chairman of the judiciary -- chairman committee, mr. goodlatte. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. chairman, i rise to -- in support of the rules package for the 114th congress. i'd like to begin by taking this opportunity to thank you chairman sessions, the speaker's office and the other committee chairmen for working with me to hone and clarify the judiciary committee's criminal law jurisdiction. for many years the house rules have given the judiciary committee jurisdiction over, among other things the judiciary and judicial proceedings, civil and criminal and criminal law enforcement. the judiciary committee's jurisdiction over criminal law dates back to the creation of

the committee in 1813. in recent years, however, we have become aware of an anomly in the referral pattern that occasionally prevents the judiciary committee from obtaining a referral when a bill criminalizes new conduct without actually addressing the penalty portion of the criminal law. in other words, while the judiciary committee would have had jurisdiction over the underlying statute when it was enacted, it is sometimes unable to assert jurisdiction when the statute is amended in such a way as to criminalize new conduct. the result is that new criminal offenses are being created without being considered by the lawmakers on the judiciary committee, which is the committee best situated to provide valuable expertise in drafting and resolving potential conflicts with existing criminal law. last congress the judiciary committee created a bipartisan overcriminalization task force with the goal of examining the problems associated with a bloated, disorganized and often redundant collection of federal criminal offenses.

the congressional research service recently reported to us that there are nearly 5,000 federal criminal laws on the books. and unfortunately congress continues to add to this number at a rate of roughly 50 new crimes per year. one of the recurring themes from both the witnesses who appeared before the task force as well as the members of the task force is that it is crucial that the judiciary committee have the opportunity to review all new federal criminal law. throughout its existence this bipartisan task force endeskered to closely examine the -- endeskered to closely examine the problem posed by overcriminalization and overfederalization and identify potential solutions to combat the regrettable circumstances that inevitably arised from the tangled web of federal criminal provisions. examples of similarly situated defendants convicted of the same conduct under different statutes with different penalties were individuals convicted of offenses without proof of any level of criminal intent, sb have -- have been detailed in our hearings and

are far too commonplace. the rules package today clarifies the committee's jurisdiction over criminal matters by adding one word -- criminalization -- to our existing jurisdiction over criminal law. by making this change, the judiciary committee will have a new jurisdictional interest only in those relatively rare instances that a bill criminalizes new conduct by amending a statute that is attached to a criminal penalty without amending the penalty itself. in this instance, the judiciary committee will look to work with the other committee to ensure -- on ensuring that the new conduct is worthy of criminalization and that the attached criminal penalties are appropriately drafted. the judiciary committee is not looking to insert itself into the regulatory schemes under the jurisdiction of other committees. however, to the extent that another committee chooses to use the criminal justice system to enforce the regulation under its jurisdiction, we would like to be involved, so that we may ask the important question

together as to whether a particular conduct should be criminalized. in conclusion i believe this small clarification of the judiciary committee's jurisdiction will allow us to address many of the problems associated with the tangled web of federal criminal laws, and again i would like to thank chairman sessions and his staff for working very closely with us on this issue and express my strong support and urge my colleagues to vote for this rules package. the speaker pro tempore: both sides have 30 seconds remaining. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm prepared to close. i assume mr. sessions is as well. mr. sessions: that would be correct. slaught lawsuit all right. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognize -- ms. slaughter: all right. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. slaughter: we have a broken institution, broken bipartisanship and recals trance. i urge my colleagues to change course in the 114th congress, to encourage openness transparency, true bipartisanship. if we can achieve this we will come together. if we defeat the previous question i will move to amend

the resolution to bring up the stop corporate ex patriation and invest in american infrastructure acts of 2015 to stop giving up american citizenship to avoid paying taxes. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. slaughter: i urge my colleagues voluntary vote no. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, overall this package demonstrates republicans' commitments to an open process for members on both sides of the aisle on the issues of the day that need to be debated on legislation that will make a difference in the lives of the american people. we've heard from the chairman of the republican -- republican chairman of the budget committee, republican chairman of the judiciary committee. i believe this is a great package, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on orting the previous question on the -- ordering the previous question on the resolution. those in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. the ayes have. it previous question is ordered. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: on that i ask 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. members will record their votes by electronic device. members will have 15 minutes to record their 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 rage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker: that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental 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're now members of the 114th congress.

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 239, the nays are 168. the previous question is ordered. the house will be in order. would members take their conversations from the floor. clear the aisles.

would members of the house please take their conversations from the floor. clear the aisle. the chair will receive a message. mark: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the sna to inform the house that the senate has agreed to h.res. 2, informing the house of representatives that a forum of the -- quorum of the senate is assembled. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? mr. van hollen: mr. speaker, i have a motion to commit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mr. van hollen of

maryland moves to recommit the resolution, house resolution 5, be committed to a select committee composed of the majority leader and the minority leader with instruction to the report this back to the house with the following amendment. at the end of the resolution, add the following new sixes. section 6, c.e.o. employee paycheck fairness act of 2015, not later than january 31 -- the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from maryland. the previous question is ordered on the motion to commit. the question is on the motion. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. ayes have it. the gentleman from maryland. mr. van hollen: i 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. members will record their votes by electronic device. members will have 15 minutes to

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

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 168.

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 168, the nays are 243. the motion is not adopted. the question is on adoption of the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. ms. slaughter: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. members have 15 minutes to record their votes. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 234. the nays are 172 with one member voting present. the resolution is adopted.

without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from washington seek recognition? >> madam speaker i send to the desk for a resolution and ask for its meet consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 6 resolution electing members to certain standing committees of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to consideration of the resolution? ms. herrera butler: i ask unanimous consent that it be considered as read and be printed in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek

recognition? >> madam speaker, by direction of the democratic caucus, i offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate resolution. the clerk: house resolution 7, resolved, that the following named members be and are hereby elected to the following standing committee -- mr. becerra: i ask that the resolution be considered as read and be printed in the recording. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the reading is suspended. without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. becerra: i offer a resolution and ask for its unanimous consent for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 8, resolution providing for the designation of certain minority employees. mr. becerra: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the consideration of the resolution? mr. becerra: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be considered as read and be printed in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. sessions: madam speaker, i offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 9 resolved, that unless otherwise ordered the hour of daily meeting of the house shall be 2:00 p.m. on mondays, noon on tuesdays or 2:00 p.m. if no legislative business was conducted on the preceding monday, noon on wenses and thursdays and 9:00 a.m. on all other days of the week. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin seek recognition? mr. ryan: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 22 the higher more heroes act of 2015. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 22, a bill to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to exempt employees with health coverage under tricare or the veterans administration from being taken into account for purposes of determining the employers to which the employer mandate applies under the patient protection and affordable care act. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. ryan, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 22 currently under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. ryan: madam speaker i yield myself such time as i may

consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. ryan: madam speaker, only a law as bad as obamacare would penalize a small business from hiring a veteran. madam speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the gentleman from wisconsin deserves to be heard. the house will be in order. please take your conversations off the floor of the house. the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. ryan: madam speaker, right now the law says if you have at least 50 full-time employees you must give all of them health insurance even if they're already getting health insurance elsewhere. in fact, over nine million veterans are already getting health care through the v.a., but they're not exempt. every employer has to cover

them anyway. so here is what is happening. businesses have an incentive to turn away veterans, not because they don't want to hire them, because it's too expensive to hire them. this is serving as a penalty to hiring our nation's veterans. madam speaker, nobody works harder than men and women that serve us in our military. they fought for our country. they sacrificed. the least we can do is remove this penalty from putting a veteran on your payroll. the way i see it is we owe it to them. we should make it as easy as possible for them to find a job and that's what we're trying to do with this legislation. what this bill says is if you're already getting health care through tricare or the v.a., then you're exempt from the mandate. anyone can hire you without any fear of this penalty. i think we can all agree that more veterans on the payroll means a healthier economy for all of us. now, i think all families need

relief from obama crare -- obamacare. all of us need relief from this law that we think will collapse under its own weight, but i can consider this bill as an installment plan, as one piece of our ongoing efforts to fully repeal and replace this law. we have an enormous generation of talented men and women who have served this country so honorably overseas in the recent years, the least we can do is make it easier for them employer to hire them and remove this penalty that puts a price tag on hiring the bravest among us. most of all, i want to thank congressman rodney davis for bringing this issue to our attention. i want to thank congressman davis for introducing this legislation and with that i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: thank you. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: first of all i'd like to congratulate mr. ryan

on your selection and election, i guess, as chairman of the ways and means committee. we look forward to working together. i support this bill. this bill encourages the hiring of veterans. the unemployment rate has continued to decline for post-9/11 veterans and these improvements are part of a larger economic recovery. in november, 2013, the unemployment rate for these veterans was nearly 10%. one year later, the rate has dropped to 5.7%, the national average. yet, for female post-9/11 veterans the unemployment rate remains high, above 8%. this bill continues as part of

our national commitment to help the veterans of this country. i want to emphasize this, if i might. as we legislate, we need to balance priorities. we need to maintain very differently than just spoken. the basic structure of a.g.a. -- of a.c.a., which is providing millions and millions of americans with insurance and with coverage they never had. we also need to encourage the hiring of the veterans of this country who have served this nation and served this nation so well. that is a supreme obligation of this institution. therefore, i support this legislation and reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. ryan: madam speaker, at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from topeka, kansas, a member of the ways and means committee, ms. jenkins. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kansas is recognized for two minutes. ms. jengins: thank you. i was a freshman lawmaker in 2010 when the president -- ms. jenkins: thank you. i was a freshman lawmaker in 2010 when the president's health care bill became law. i thought this would lead to unintended consequences that would hurt american families. now that the law is being implemented, we can see that this is indeed true. the employer mandate penalty tax is troublesome and it's confusing within the president's health care law. the americans want to see it fix. the legislation we're debating law would exempt those who employ veterans from the

employer mandate. because our current and former service members already receive health care from tricare and v.a., it simply does not make sense to force small businesses to treat these folks as they do not have health insurance, which drives up the cost of doing business, leaving less for employee's salaries. in fact, the current law -- employee's salaries. in fact, current law punishes those who hire heroes. i was a proud co-sponsor of this legislation last congress and i am proud to stand in support of this commonsense amendment. i ask that you support it and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from kansas yields back. the gentleman from wisconsin reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: it's now my pleasure to yield as much as she shall consume to someone who has served this nation and now serves all of the people of hawaii, and i think once again,

all of the people of this country, ms. gabbard. the speaker pro tempore: for how much time? mr. levin: as much time as she shall consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from hawaii is recognized. ms. gabbard: thank you very much, madam speaker. i'm rising today in very strong support of this hire more heroes act introduced by my friend, the gentleman from illinois, mr. rodney davis, someone who i've been privileged to work with and am proud to co-sponsor this legislation. when he first came to this idea it was a no-brainer that i would support it because of the key constituencies that this legislation serves, our veterans and our small businesses. in addition to that, i think as we kick off this 114th congress, it's a great message and exactly the right tone that we're focused on these two constituencies. by exempting veterans who have health insurance through the v.a. or from the d.o.d. from being counted toward that 50-employee limit under the

affordable care act, this legislation creates important incentives. it encourages small businesses to grow and expand their work force and it establishes an incentive to hire more veterans. there are many people who already receive insurance because of their service to our country. i used to be one of them. i was covered under tricare for a long period of time after both of my deployments to the middle east, and it just makes sense that these individuals who already have great medical coverage would not have to count towards the numbers of employees that would trigger the employer mandate under the affordable care act. most importantly this bill is about serving veterans. service members who are transitioning to civilian life bring exceptional training critical skill sets and proven leadership ability back to their local communities. unfortunately, as a country we're facing an unacceptable number of unemployed veterans,

people who are experienced, who are capable and energetic, who are coming back from serving oftentimes in conflicts overseas. these are veterans who will serve as a great asset to businesses and organizations of any size because they come with a built-in unique work ethic, a great deal of training and real-world experience. . they know how to work as a member of a team and put the mission first and they are servant leaders at their very best. this bill provides incentives to hire veterans and help these veterans be successful in the transition to civilian life. this commonsense legislation benefits businesses and small businesses while growing our economy and i urge our colleagues to support this bill. thank you very much. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from hawaii yields back. mr. ryan: i would like to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from indiana mrs. walorski. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. walorski: today, i honor the 54000 veterans in my district and 20 million veterans across america who deserve the opportunity to have a job with the hire more our heroes act. the bill makes a change to obamacare and encourages more businesses to hire veterans to exempt veterans as long as they have health insurance. the mandate under obamacare requires that all businesses with more than 50 employees provide health insurance. but according to the bureau of labor statistics, the union employment rate for veterans was 6.6%. those who served on active duty after 9/11 was 9%.

both of these percentages were higher than the national average of 6.3%. no veteran in the united states of america should be jobless because of obamacare's mandate. our brave men and women returned from saving our nation while facing many challenges. getting a job should not be one of them. this bill will ensure employers can and will hire veterans and won't be penalized. i urge my colleagues to support this bim. we must do everything in our power to do ensure that men and women who come home have every opportunity we promise them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: i yield five minutes to mr. davis.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for five minutes. mr. davis: thank you for this opportunity today. thank you for your support of this piece of legislation. a new congress was someone in today. each one swearing to uphold and defend the constitution of the united states. a new congress is another opportunity to further the ideas and priorities of our constituents and put our nation on solid footing for an even brighter future. i'm horpped that this 114th congress is opening with the hire more veterans act and an idea that didn't come from washington, d.c.,. it began with a constituent of mine, who is up in the gallery today. brad he had this idea and as superintendent of the madison of the superintendents commission

i'm proud to have him here today to see the culmination of what that idea turned into and the support on this house. he helps 35,000 veterans navigate the v.a. system and find other resources including helping our veterans find employment. after explaining obamacare to veterans in southwestern illinois and how it impacts their health care benefits, he was wondering why they were subject of the employer mandate. brad raised this concern with one of our meetings and shortly after we began work on the hire more heroes act. this will hire more veterans by making a commonsense change to obamacare. in a few months, the president's health care law will mark its fifth anniversary. five years of delays, canceled

policies and increased out of pocket expenseseses. the law's problems don't end there. we continue to see its impact on our economy as small businessesedly hiring, cut hours and in some cases reduce payroll. the national small business association found that 91% of small businesses have seen increases in their health care costs and 2/3 of their members listed as obamacare as the reason of holding off investing in people. i must remind that investing in people is how we create jobs. the hire more heroes act exempts veterans already enrolled through the department of defense or through the v.a. being counted as part of the employer mandate. by making this change to the

law, we will not only provide small businesses with much needed relief but help our veterans find work. despite receiving some of the best training in the world post-9/11 veterans are consistently faced with higher unemployment rates with that of other veterans. as more of our veterans return home, those who have sacrificed our country will give them a leg up. last congress, this legislation passed this house overwhelmingly by a count of 406-1. almost as bipartisan as you can get. but it was held up in the senate. the hire more heroes act is one example of the bipartisan bills that the house will bring up this congress. later this week, we will further the american people's call for american energy independent to approve the keystone pipeline

and helping americans restore the 40-hour workweek. if the president is willing to work with us, we have the opportunity to end the stagnation in washington and make our government work for the people again. i ask all of my colleagues to defend the oath they have taken and help hire more of our heroes by voting yes on this piece of legislation. madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. members are reminded to avoid references to occupants in the gallery. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: might i ask the chairman do you have other speakers? i reserve the balance of my time. mr. ryan: we have additional speakers. we have four additional speakers. does the gentleman have additional speakers to catch up on time?

mr. levin: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from cincinnati ohio, mr. chabot. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for three minutes. mr. chabot: madam speaker, in the fall, we made a commitment to the american people, a commitment to produce solutions that grow our economy and create more opportunity and help our small businesses and make life better for working families. today, the new american congress begins the work of making good on that commitment and we start with a bill that helps two groups critical to america's success, our veterans and our small businesses. the hire more heroes act is a bipartisan bill which passed the house as been mentioned before with more than 400 votes last year. it would make it easier for small businesses to hire veterans to exempt those

veterans who receive health care at the v.a. from obamacare costly health care mandate. it addresses one of obamacare's failures and there are many. as i have said many of my colleagues believe that obamacare should be repealed. it may take a while to do that, but we may do other things in the meantime, and this will do that. it is placing burdens on small businesses looking to grow and individuals looking for work. this bill alleviates one of the many burdens that obamacare places on our small businesses and helps our war fighters find meaningful work. small businesses are responsible for the majority of new jobs created in america today. and as the new incoming chairman of the small house business committee, my job will be to

make life better for america's small businesses so they can innovate and create jobs for more americans. even though unemployment has come down, we need to do a lot better. this bill is an important step toward that goal to create more jobs, real jobs in the private sector and i would encourage my colleagues to support the bill. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. ryan: i would like to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from tennessee, mrs. black. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. mrs. black: in my home state of tennessee we have 25,000 veterans who have served their country in war and peace,

veterans like my son steve and husband dave. today too many of these americans are struggling to find work. in fact the unemployment rate among post-9/11 veterans is higher than the national unemployment rate. and i believe we can do better. after all, our veterans have sacrificed for our country. congress should, at the very least, make sure that washington does not stand between them and mr. ackerman: cease to a steady job. the act will help accomplish this by exempting veterans whoville health insurance from being counted under obamacare's employer mandate, meaning business owners can hire the veterans without being fear without being slapped with an obamacare penalty. this body passed legislation by an overwhelming vote of 406-1 last year.

unfortunately, our efforts were stonewalled in the democrat-controlled senate. today, we have the opportunity to start new. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on the hire more heroes act and i thank the gentleman from illinois for his work on this critical measure. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. mr. ryan: i yield myself such time as i may consume. this is basically how it is supposed to work. a constituent in central illinois, brad leviti approaches his congressman, congressman davis, and says there is a problem with the law affecting our nation's veterans. his congressman does the research and writes legislation to fix the law and here we are. this is how it is supposed to work. this is how the founders

intended the congress to work. and here's what we're fixing. we are saying that we aren't going to have a penalty based on this health care law, a fix to our veterans. we've got a great new generation. we have read the books and heard the stories and it's true of the world war ii generation. we now have a great generation. the men and women since 9/11, who have bravely fought for this country and sacrificed for us, are a generation of people who have developed the kinds of leadership skills, the kinds of courage the experiences, the sacrifices that their families made and they are bringing that home to serve our country even further. and they are bringing this great experience and talent and skills to our economy. we need to remove every conceivable barrier that exists

that prevents them from sharing these talents with us. this bill takes us in a very good step in the right direction to removing this barrier, that disincentivizes a small business from hiring a veteran and instead turns it into an incentive so we can hire our heroes our veterans. i reserve the balance of our time. we have no more speakers. i'll let the gentleman say -- and then i'll conclude. mr. levin: i yield myself the balance of my time. as i said at the beginning, we need to, as we legislate priorities and we have here arp very different view of the a.c.a. as has been pressed by several, but that isn't the point of this legislation. this is about the veterans of

this country. this isn't about keystone. we'll debate that some other time. and we have very different views. this is in no way a precedent for that. we'll debate the 40-hour week later this week. we have some very different views to put it mildly, about the legislation entitled the 40-hour week. i should also like i should also point out regarding the a.c.a. that businesses with under 50 employees aren't even required to contribute to or offer insurance to their employees. this bill is called the heroes act because the focus of this bill is to make sure that there isn't any