recess until 3:30. we'll have live coverage when they come back to debate a measure to curtail prescription drug abuse. also a debate on consumer financial protection advisory bill. now to live coverage of the house here on c-span. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray.

eternal god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. lead us this day in your ways that our nation might be guided along the roads of peace, justice and good will. grant strength and wisdom to our speaker leaders and members of both the people's house and the senate, to our president and his cabinet and to our supreme court. bless as well the moral and military leaders of our country and may those who are the captains of business, industry and unions learn to work together toward the mutual benefit of all, walking in the ways of righteousness and working for the highest good of our beloved land. bless us this day and every day and may that is done within the people's house be for your greater honor and glory, amen.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approl erf. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the distinguished gentleman from michigan, mr. kildee. mr. kildee: i ask all to please join us 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, invibl tbey and justice foall. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? >> request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you mr. speaker. mr. emmer: i rise in -- for jay cruz in st. cloud, minnesota. they have been named the minnesota small business person

of the year by the u.s. small business administration. last year the st. cloud area chamber honored them as well as the small business of the year. jim cruz opened j.f. cruz 15 years ago. from humble beginnings using second-hand jewelry cases to a newly built facility and a team of 17 people, the father-daughter duo built a dynamic business that has seen steady growth year after year. family-run businesses like j.f. cruz are the backbone of central minnesota, and i know i speak for everyone when i say congratulations and good luck in competing for the national title. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kildee: thank you mr. speaker. well, the contrast between democratic and republican priorities in congress could not be more clear after the first 100 days here.

instead of passing legislation that would help american families buy a home or put away money to save for their kids' college or save even for a secure retirement we've seen begin and begin tax breaks for the wealth guest -- again and again tax breaks for the wealthiest. instead of focusing on growing paychecks and improving our infrastructure, a vital need one that should be a bipartisan effort, we just continue to vote for more tax giveaways to the wealthiest special interests. mr. speaker it's long past time that this congress work on the priorities of hardworking middle-class americans, priorities that are simple. own a home, help your kids prepare for their future, having something set aside for retirement, take care of our crumbling infrastructure, reinvest in our future. i know we stand ready to work together on these big questions. it's time congress set aside

the needs of the few and focus on what we were sent here to do and that's take care of the american family. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to applaud the house of representatives for passing h.r. 1105, the death tax repeal act, last week and to call for its swift consideration and passage in the senate. this devastating tax, which requires families to pay as much as 40% of the value of an estate they inherit above a certain threshold, has damaged our economy, hurt small businesses and force many families out of a legacy they worked hard to build. in my district of georgia, many of those hit hardest by the death tax are our family farms. hardworking americans who have paid tax ons their -- taxes on

their property only to have it taxed again when they try to pass it on to the next generation. mr. allen: oftentimes children are forced to sell the land, ending a family business, costing real jobs and destroying a family legacy. unfortunately this is not a rare occurrence. as a proud co-sponsor of this bill, i applaud my colleagues in the house for passage of this legislation, to repeal the death tax and urge quick consideration and approval in the senate. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from hawaii seek recognition? mr. takai: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. takai: aloha, mr. speaker. april is the month when pools, beaches, streams and lakes across the united states open up for the spring and summer months. as a former collegiate swimmer, i feel compelled to ensure

everyone is safe in the water during the upcoming months. i am proud to introduce bipartisan house resolution 205 with another former college swimmer, representative jim bridenstine, on behalf of u.s.a. master swimming association and their president to declare april as national learn to swim month. 3,335 americans unintentionally drowned last year. the number of american adults and children that are unable to swim can be reduced, and we are in a position to speak -- to speak out and prevent this. swimming proficiency is a problem we can solve together and with the help of state governments we can highlight this so that we are able to make water activities safe for everyone. please join me, mr. speaker, in declaring april as national learn to swim month. mahalo. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i

rise to ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, it's been more than five years since the 2009 shooting in fort hood texas. the whole country was shocked by this senseless activity. finally earlier this month the 47 soldiers and surviving family members of this tragic event did receive purple heart medals for their sacrifice. and they will be provided with every benefit that this commendation obliges. following the shooting back in 2009 i went to fort hood. i met with families of this attack's victims, i saw firsthand the devastation and sacrifice. none of them, none of them should have had to wait this long for the recognition. and although the delay can never be made right i'm relieved that these families and victims have finally received the recognition for their sacrifice. mr. speaker, senator cornyn from my state of texas, representative carter,

representative roger williams put a lot of effort into this but i also need to recognize the thousands of constituents, not just in texas, but across the country who phoned emailed, sent letters asking that this omission be made right. i'm happy to say and acknowledge their -- to their efforts that it finally has been. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mr. schakowsky: on acknowledgment of the nurse's society their 40th anniversary, i want to thank them for oncology and cancer care. o.n.s. is an organization of thousands of nurses and health care providers dedicated to providing health care to those in the most difficult stages of their lives. since 1975, the oncology nurse

society has worked tirelessly to lead the transformation of cancer care. o.n.s. is the primary source of education for all nurses providing care to people with cancer regardless of the setting. in illinois alone, my state have 10 chapters of o.n.s. with more than 1,600 members. in addition the o.n.s. chicago chapter is the oldest chapter in the country. oncology nurses are there for patients through one of the most challenging times in their lives. they help patients and their loved ones by caring, teaching listening and simply being present. as congress works to work to increase access to quality care, i praise the commitment of o.n.s. and the care of cancer patients. i'd like to congratulate all the members of o.n.s. on the occasion of its 40th anniversary and wish them many more years of dedicated service to the country. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minut mrs. walters: mr. speaker, the recent passing of dr. june chino has left many in his community with a heavy heart, including me and my family. dr. chino was the eldest son in a farming family who moved from an internment camp during world war ii. despite their financial circumstances in the post-war years, june managed to get a premed degree at stanford and graduated from the university's medical school. following residency at los angeles county u.s.c. general hospital and having achieved board certification as an orthopedic surgeon, he practiced for 52 years in orange county. he served in leadership positions on countless medical

organizations and was esteemed by his peers for his skills and for dedicating himself to staying on the cutting edge of developments in his field. dr. chino is survived by his wife and his daughter. he will be dearly missed by all who knew him. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? >> i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you mr. speaker. in less than 40 days the highway trust fund runs out of money which means 90% of the surface transportation projects in this country will stop. mr. delaney: to help congress appreciate the magnitude of this looming crisis, i reached out to my constituents and asked them to give me their stories about their infrastructure and we received hundreds of responses. one of them was from mangus in hagerstown maryland, who talks about a major highway, route

181, which runs through hagerstown, which he describes as death valley because he feels like he reads a story in the local newspaper about someone dying there almost every other week. he also commented about how it hurts economic growth for the region and the region has not been able to attract the businesses it needs to grow its economy. mr. speaker, the american people deserve a bipartisan solution to fund the highway trust fund and we should be working on it now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from indiana seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the chamber for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mrs. brooks: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor a true patriot and public servant major general r. martin humburger. after serving four decades in the national guard, including past 10 as our general i extend congratulations to him on the occasion of his retirement. as commander of the fourth largest national guard contingent in the united

states, major -- when communities in southern indiana were torn apart by tornados, it was he and the national guard who came to the rescue. when the global war on terrorism began, it was the general and our 21,000 national guardsmen who survived our most critical operations. the general is truly an extraordinary leader who has displayed a steadfast commitment to protecting americans' freedoms at home and abroad. he also started the hoosier youth challenge academy in knightsville which works to give so many kids a brighter future. the major general is a hero in every sense of the word. it's with pride that i recognize his tremendous legacy and i wish him and his wife a very -- the very best as they celebrate a well-deserved retirement. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the

speaker, house of representatives sir pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on april 21, 2015, at 10:56 a.m. that the senate agreed to, without amendment, house concurrent resolution 34. signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until approximately

twelve twelve twelve snoo

the e.p.a. is now coming under increasing pressure to lower the ethanol mandate. this begs the question, how has the act affected u.s. and especially midwest communities? come to ours and you we'll show you. welcome to milan a town of 5,092 people in southeast michigan. like many small midwest towns, the local economy has traditionally reinvolved around agriculture. corn is the main crop in the milan area. for decades this corn was used only as food or animal feed but recently another option has arisen. turning the corn into ethanol fuel. what is ethanol? >> renewable energy sources are the ones if we can figure out how to harness them well are inexhaustible. so that's wind currents. that's solar energy and biomass

as well on different types of plant material we can use for either creating electric power or if we turned it into ethanol on other forms of biofuels used in our automobile engines. >> how do we make it? >> we have a technology to make ethanol which is derived from the ancient technology of making booze. >> and he's right. ethanol is a highly refined alcohol and that is similar to making moon sideline. when the corn is delivered to the plant it's first ground. the ground corn is then cooked with various enzymes that break down the starch and create a liquid corn mash. this mash is then fermented and repeatedly distilled until only the ethel alcohol is left. which is ready for our cars. >> ethanol production has skyrocketed in the past 15 years. but what is responsible for this phenomena? was it market based or was there some other driving force?

>> corn ethanol is used in so many different ways. subsidies. tax credits money. the other support is a mandate that a certain amount of ethanol has got to be blended into the nation's gasoline supply. and that's been a growth. >> and what a growth it has been. they have benefited immensely from the mandate. >> the ethanol impacts specifically on corn has help elevate our prices by about a quarter. >> if we did not have ethanol right now corn would probably be $2 a bushel and you can't survive. we're already below production costs at average yields. >> but more than helping farmers, ethanol has helped hundreds of thousands of jobs to a downtroddened midwest economy. >> it has largely replaced harmful mtbe's previously used

as on jenade in gasoline. >> when you get it in the groundwater it's a serious polluter. ethanol is much cleaner, it burns cleaner. >> that mtbe that's in gasoline, a tablespoon to all of that can contaminate enough water the size of an olympic swimming pool forever. >> is the reputation as a grine fuel accurate? >> pulling co-2 out of the air whether or not you use that crop for fuel. when you burn any lick rid wind fuel, the type that comes out of the tailpipe is about the same. you look at the cornfield since the corn from ethanol is coming from cornfields that were already planted, that cornfield isn't removing any more cen o-0 in the air, it is the same last year. we didn't reduce the amount of co-2 coming out of the

tailpipe. we didn't take more co-2 so where is the benefit? in fact, there is none. >> corn is shown to have higher water, fertilizer, pesticide and energy needs, all of which have an impact on the environment. >> even this does not account for the previously unused lands. >> but corn production has drastically slowed. that's because ethanol has reached the mandate cap leaving facilities like this one in the background desloate and half built. >> using plant residue such as corn sulfa or dedicated energy crops as they call them -- such

as switch grass, you know show promise as being greener although it being ramped up has -- >> how much less? 2013 the e.p.a. mandate was for 6,000 gallons. the benefits of cellulosic ethanol sin credible. >> it can reduce emissions by 60% to 100%. >> but unfortunately economic viability and research has been the limiting factors in cellulosic ethanol production. so how does this fit together? >> it has raised corn prices and is not a green alternative to regular gasoline. >> however ethanol has replaced harmful mtbe's in gasoline. production is mainly in the midwest and has strengthened the regional economy.

>> with this in mind we recommend that congress start to shift away from corn ethanol and devote more resources towards research, development and implementation of advanced cellulosic ethanol. these cellulosic ethanol such as corn stovers and switch grass is not as viable as corn ethanol but with research and time they will become better green alternatives. ethanol -- >> ethanol is not the fuel of the future but it's the step in the right direction and the biofuels will be an answer to the problems of the 21st century. >> to watch all of the winning videos and to learn more about our competition, go to c-span.org and click on student cam. also, tell us what you think about the issue these students addressed in their documentary on facebook and twitter. >> the baltimore sun reports a

story involving police officers has captured national attention. anthony batts met with the officers in the arrest of freddie gray the man's whose death sparked a protest. an email he assured them and -- and i will assure you that we'll following the facts. the facts, not emotion, will follow the case. they suspended six police officers as they look into the death of 25-year-old freddie gray. he's been hospitalized since his april 12 arrest and was in a coma when he died on sunday. well, back in january we spoke with the baltimore police chief about the use of force issues during our q&a program. >> i had two of the most

exciting meetings that i've had in the two years i've been in baltimore where we had very honest, open conversation. meeting number two was police excessive force and so that's how it started out. as the conversation progressed it went away from training police officers and conduct of police officers to poverty schools, what the responsibility of the community is as a whole and for the first time -- it was a little bit of a change and different for me. in southern california we talked about race openly. it was something that there was enough trust and because there was so much diversity you had to talk about. it wasn't so much race but diversity was the conversation. northern california in the oakland area, very progressive community. it had to move beyond race and diversity as a whole. when i came tore baltimore it is about black and white racism in that city. it's about the things you dealt with in the 1960's, communities -- although baltimore, you may

have a black community here, a caucasian community next to it. you may have an italian community there. greek community next to it. you have a lot of people living in a very short range. what i want to get the community to -- working with my mayor is to have those authentic conversations to bring people to the table where we start having conversations about race and we start building a new city that is working together to break down those barriers those neighborhoods, those communities. >> here are a few of the book festivals we'll be covering this spring on c-span2's "book tv." in maryland the annapolis book festival hearing from alberto gonzales and "new york times" reporter james risen. and we'll be back in maryland at the gaithersburg book festival with tom davis and martin frost. and david axelrod.

and close out -- then in the first week in june we're live for the chicago tribune printers for a lit fest, including our live in depth program with pulitzer prize winner lawrence wright. that's this spring on c-span2's book tv. >> we'll return to live coverage of the u.s. house at 3:350er7b. right now a discussion on young people's attitudes toward running for political office from today's "washington journal." >> "washington journal" continues. host: our guest is the co-author of the book "running from office, while young americans are turned off to politics." she is jennifer lawless, joining us now. why is the turn of happening. go guest:? guest: ultimately, it young people who want to save their

communities think of every other option except for running for politics. host: is that because they are not exposed to politics or because they don't have interest in a? guest: for a long time there was the sense that they were tuned out. what we find in the book, which is based on a survey with high school and college students, they are tuned out for a reason. they are turned off. they become so hypersensitive to the negative aspect of politics that they would like nothing more than not be involved in politics in their life. host: given choices of what they would like to do -- mayor of a small town did not turn out very well. tell us what is happening in this chart. guest: people were much more inclined to say they would like to go into business or education that being a mayor, in fact, being a man and being a

salesperson is not very different in a young person's preference order. the same is true with elite professions. member of congress fares worse as well. it seems that young people who are ambitious and what a high level of success, one that outside of the realm of politics. host: the chart goes on to say that being a mayor of a small town -- police officer better, journalists was better. going lower, secretary, salesperson, mechanic. guest: the only thing that was less desirable have to do is very specific trade interests. if you want to be a plumber or mechanic, you need a specific trade degree. basically any broad range profession fares better than local, state, or federal office holder.

host: you as parents what they think about their kids entering politics. what was the reaction? guest: they said that their parents would be proud of them doing anything, but they would rather anything the sites that. politics is ugly. both in the surveys and when we interviewed young people for long. the time -- for long. thost: a lot of it is based on perception. what is the largest shaper of that? is a parents are other factors? guest: family socialization has always been a big factor. civic engagement. it is not only family. the messages are encouraged by teachers who do not encourage them to run for office, coaches and the media. both in terms of mainstream

media, but also political satire is or pundits on tv, reinforcing the most negative aspects of the political arena. host: our guest will talk about young people and their perception of politics. "running from office, why young americans are turned off the politics." (202) 748-8001, republicans. (202) 748-8000, democrats. (202) 748-8002 independents. we have also set aside a line for people that we consider young people aged 18 to 30, (202) 748-0003. guest: we found that college students were more likely than high school students to consider running for office, but overall

89% of the next iteration had already ruled it out as an incredibly unattractive endeavor. host: when you talk to them, is it a street paper survey, an interview? how did you come up with the people you talk to for the book? guest: it is both. the survey was an online survey of a national random sample. we supplemented that survey with about 115 45 minutes on our phone interviews with kids. the phone interviews allowed us to understand in more depth the reasons behind the interest in running for office. host: what are some things that struck you as far as their perception of politics and whether they would go to politics or not? guest: one has to do with the disconnect between what they think a good leader is like and what politicians are like. time and again, they told us they thought they were

cooperative, able to get along well with others good problem solvers, and that there was no place for it is kind of skills in of local arena. they would reference the stalemate, the government shutdown, for example, and highlight that these are the types of problems that they don't think politicians are taking seriously. host: when you talk to them, are they shape by specific leaders? going back to president bush president clinton, president obama? guest: we asked them about their first clinical memories. for some it was bill clinton. their memory of bill clinton was the monica lewinsky scandal and a president lying his finger and saying, i did not have sexual relations of that woman, which turned out to be a lie. for others it is george bush, which has to do with misleading people about weapons of master structure. whether it is bush or clinton it happens to be embedded in things that were not true. host: does president obama have

any role as far shaping their perceptions? guest: people who admire political figures are more inclined to say they would be interested in running for office. these them with our overall quite low, but ones who admire president, in this case, barack obama, are more willing to say they would run. there is a race gap there. african-americans and latinos were more likely to say that they admired obama, and as a result, were more likely to be interested in running for office. host: jennifer lawless, our guest. the first line call for use from woodstock, illinois. go ahead. caller: i'm calling because of the time i went to school, "lord of the flies" was essential reading. -- was required reading.

ted cruz use that book to describe the political arena. in my opinion, it is important to consider that book when considering whether or not ted cruz could be the equivalent of politics today. also, we need to ask, the title of the book refers to something. when you had someone on interviewing, i think, jessica stern, about what to do with isis. the suggestion was that young people could contribute their savvy and electronics. i want them to ask, through the venue of "lord of the flies," the translation of that name is build a bomb. host: let's take the idea of electronics. it seems like young people are

seeking information, particularly about politics. what are you finding? guest: the irony here is that accessing political remission is easier than it has ever been. with the touch of a device, you can get any political information that you are interested in getting. that means the raw material is therefore young people to find out about the political system and engage in it. the problem is what they find, they don't look, and they stop looking. i think we have an opportunity here to engage the generation in the way that they like to communicate, but in doing so, we have to be creative because less to their own devices, they are actually using the devices for anything other than political news. host: so the best way for engagement would be what? guest: and the book, we propose a series of solutions. one of them is to actually let people think that politics could be useful. we have a situation now where young people and adults alike tend to view politics through a

lens. they look at the most the functional -- dysfunctional aspects in washington and think that it translates. the overwhelming majority of people who occupy less and offices are not involved in gridlock. they are not doing this just out of their own self interest and quite frankly, i don't think most federal officials are either. if we can go around federal politics and let people know how to solve problems and communities, and all the things that running for office could address, we could be off to a good start. host: joe is from maryland. independent line. caller: i don't know if a doing your research -- one thing i keep you in from young people's is the appearance of a lack of integrity. you've seen all the scandals with members of congress, and so forth. there was one issue that came up a number of years ago. first of all, the president had

to put, when he was elected, all of his investment into a blind trust. however, members of congress are not required to do so, yeah, they probably have more influence over rules regulations, and so forth than the president does. a bill was introduced by senator to do that. yet, it was voted down, one vote for it and the rest against it. i don't understand why we can't have members of congress held to the same standards as the president and therefore not have the influence over making decisions or rules and regulations that will favor certain companies or industries where they then can invest and reap some sort of award from that. guest: i think we have reached the point in time now where most people can identify problems with the way the political system works.

problems that it is the elected officials responsible for creating the reform necessary to change their behavior. the good news for young people is that their general discussed and distaste is not linked to specific policies. it is not linked to specific actions or bills. it is this general sense that the people in washington are not interested in doing good and solving the country's problems. i think that one of the things we can do is call on elected officials to realize that there are these long-term implications of their behavior. they can stymie everything and think they will have to pay the price later on. i doesn't matter what issue we are dealing with. not getting anything done in suggesting that obstructionism is a real policy option i think is turning people off. host: georgia, marie's is next. democrats line.

caller: number one, it is entirely too hard to get on this program. i have been trying for years. that is an aside. ms. lawless, i have not read the book yet, by hope to do so in the near future. what i have come up with and what the president has talked about is the idea of mandatory voting. i think that would go a significant amount of the way to get people involved, obviously. i think mandatory voting in association with public financing of campaigns and other elements that would bring people to the process, get them in, and get them more involved would filter down to the local level and obviously get young people more involved in the process. guest: i certainly don't think there's any downside to encouraging more people to get involved in the political process, whether it be by voting or engaging in other ways. what i can tell you though is that regardless of levels of

voter turnout, it seems that the extent to which today's young people are running for office is much greater than in the past. there have not been other national surveys of young people's political ambitions, so we cannot do a direct comparison, but when you look at kids of today compared to kids of the 70's talking about politics, we see substantial decreases. they are not necessarily less likely to vote. i think it is making them realize that they need to be more engaged than just casting a ballot. host: in your book, one survey on political activity when engaged with parents from watching election coverage, it goes to going to a vote. guest: that is good news.

that seems to be where the civic engagement ends. parents will tell kids that that is the way you express your voice in a democracy. that is where they stop short of than suggesting that their kids get involved in politics. for example, only about 2% of the people that we surveyed said their parents regularly encourage them to run for office. host: from texas, republican line, choices up next. -- joyce is up next. caller: my granddaughter is not just in politics at all. she's a freshman at college this year. she did vote. that is true. they are voting. when i tried to talk to her about real issues that will affect her directly, or even my grandson, who is in high school, they have absolutely no interest. it's like they are not connecting with that, it's not part of their life right now not relative relevant to them.

she is just try to get through her exams, which she is doing very well. being interested in what is going to affect them in the future doesn't seem to be a part of what -- i'm trying to make them understand. what they do in the senate will affect them. the loss that come in. they need to know. i think we're losing them before they ever get to college because they are not being taught what they need to know about politics , and about the judicial system and the executive branch, and the legislative branch, and how important this is to them. our country was founded on these things. they don't take an interest in it. they could lose it all. host: sorry caller. go ahead. guest: we found that about 25% of young people we interviewed fell into the category that the

caller described, whether it is blatantly no interest at all. others have decided against being interested because they are so appalled by what they see. the good news is if you take a government class and high school, a political science or government class in college, you are more likely to be tuned in. the more today and are, the more likely you see both the positive and negative aspects of politics. to the extent that we can encourage teachers and professors to integrate into their classes, even those that are not about politics, some aspect of politics, that could potentially go a long way. host: we have the numbers on the screen. also, don't forget, a line for those of you between 18 and 30 years old. (202) 748-0003. fort lauderdale, florida independent line, jack. caller: ms. lawless, your book sounds very interesting. i think is being very naive. i think you should be really

pushing the younger generation to vote in this country. i was a you why. i have traveled all over the world and you realize that the countries that are so jealous of the united states because of the democracy type of government that we have in the united states? i was over in russia when gorbachev was in charge. i was in china when -- i had a driver an interpreter and my driver had to hold his hand on the horn because they were all bicycles. when i told people i was an american, they treated me with so much respect. if you're not how they're pushing the young people to go out and vote, then our country will be ready for some type of dictatorship, and then you will have major problems. i think you and the other people being so naive, i mean very very naive -- this is a democracy. this country was set up as a

democracy because we were ruled by that u.s.. we have been a democracy ever since. we are one of the greatest countries in the will because of that. i think that you people, instead of being so naive, should really get out there and push together people because if they don't get involved, then god help the united states. thank you very much. guest: i think people should vote. i think in people should vote. the problem is there are already a lot of civic engagement organizations and allied groups focusing on the franchise and making sure that young people vote. those efforts tend to stop there. what we want to do, in this book, is call attention to the fact that there are half a million elected offices in this country and if we do not get the best and brightest to consider running for them, we will have more problems in the future. host: from pensacola, florida

on the line for those 18 to 30. caller: i'm from florida. isolated comment -- i just wanted to comment. you talk about how we need to get young people into politics. i agree. i think myself being a young person as well, there is a general discontent with the people in bc right now. i feel like a lot of people don't want to touch that. hillary clinton accepting millions of dollars from foreign nationals. people we don't even know. if i accepted money in the military from a foreign national, i would lose my security clearance, i would be fired. what kind message does that send my beer try to like someone like that to lead our country? i think that is the root of the problem. people don't want to touch that. guest: to some extent that is true. one of the biggest barriers and we found to people running for office has to do with their

view of politicians. we found negative characteristics were far more common than positive ones. in part, this is because that which is negative garners more media attention. if you are only looking at the headlights, it is unlikely that you read much about political success. to encourage people to be more interested in politics can go a long way because as they are for be through the channels or turning the pages, they may come across something that is somewhat positive. host: you make the case in the book that besides studies extracurricular activities take up a large amount of young people's time. student government is about 18% of those who registered with you. that followed by a debate. and then college democrats or college republicans at 12%. it seems like in the world of extracurricular activities

politics is not winning out either. guest: exactly right. i strategically activities, the website you look at, the things you watching tv. then just thing about the figure is the most prominent activity has to do with community service which suggests that young people do care about their communities, care about their country and the world, and want to make it better. however, they don't think of politics as a venue to do that. that is the challenge we have to face. host: from nathan in saint louis, missouri you are next on the line for those 18 to 30. caller: i am 23. i think this is a very serious issue that needs to be brought up. i know most of my friends -- and not even just younger people but older people i know -- do not like talking about politics. i think one of the big issues is television and entertainment. most people don't understand, or just don't have any education about what is going on in

politics to have a feeling about what is going on. as far as people not liking what's going on and not way to get involved, i remember a quote saying the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. i think people need to get involved. guest: it is really difficult to find portrayals of politics as a noble profession. we don't talk only about polls suggesting that parents don't feel this way our kids don't feel this way. if you look at popular culture it is not the norm. i grew up in the 1980's watching "family ties." there, you had families and children on complete opposites of the political spectrum having debates at the kitchen table.

now, politics rarely makes its way into any tv show that is not about politics. you have house of cards or others but geared towards a specific audience. it is not in the mainstream. host: from bloomington, illinois. caller: good morning. how are you this way? host: you are on. go ahead. caller: ms. lawless, i would like to make a couple of comments. i've 81 years old. i have 12 children, 39 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. we talked politics every election. we get together -- they are scattered all over the united states, but when they get home it is usually politics. i was raised a democrat. i'm still a democrat. half of my family is republican now, which i have no qualms with

because we get a good voice between the people. what i am saying is we need term limits. we also need to get big money out of politics so that these people -- younger generations from 18 to 32 -- will get a grasp of what what the world is about when it comes to politics. i don't understand why we have to spend $1 billion to elect the president. and have all this money coming in for no reason whatsoever because if we had term limits, the younger generation could get in there and get rid of the old people that are fighting us. host: when you talk to your kids at election time, is it just during the election season or does it a long time discussing the you have about politics? caller: it is long.

we get on the phone sometimes when they have an election night down in north carolina or something and they will call me and asked me what i think. we will talk about on the phone. we go to arizona flagstaff. sometimes it gets pretty heated. we talk about elections all over. even in kentucky. host: got you. thank you. guest: i think there are a lot of political reforms that could encourage more people to think about running for office. as far as term limits are concerned, we do have elections every two years. if we could get people run for office, the elections could serve as term limits. what is important and what we are tried arguing the book is that young people who are not that well versed in politics or do not necessarily know the specifics about different policies are still not at all interested in running for office. that is because of this broader

sense that is not a way to get things done, or solve problems, and it is not noble. that is the challenge i think. it is not about specific changes to the system, which certainly couldn't hurt, but it is about casting a wider net and letting young people realize that electoral office is a way to solve the problems they see. host: angela is next. go ahead. angela, good morning. caller: iron here. -- i am here. one reason i think my generation doesn't do anything is because we were raised with technology. we are kind of spoiled and take credit for other people's work. we don't go out and actually search for the information. we don't actually do anything. it's like, why would anyone actually go out to change the world? you know? on top of that, i don't know. i'm so sick.

if you say something on facebook in this generation about politics or even religion, you are demonized for it. everyone in this generation will turn around and chastise you. it's like they don't want you talking about it. you know what i'm saying? it's like socially shunned and all kinds of things. if you start speaking the truth or stand up for what is right and what you believe in. that's how we were founded. it just takes one person to stand up and what they believe in and what they believe is right. i just don't understand why this generation can't stand up and do what's right and what's right for the nation and our children, and for the future. thanks. bye. guest: 50% of this generation does want to improve the world. they do want to make the world a better place.

i think there is something to set about the way they interact with each other. something that came up in interviews consistent with what we just heard, which is that people want to stay away from it because they don't want to fight with their friends or generate disagreement. they don't want to potentially get into conflictual situations. that, in part, is linked to the way we see politics operate in washington dc. the notion of a civil, normal conversation where two people with different positions come together and have a conversation , and walk away still respect each other is not normal. i think young people have decided that that must be the way that talking about politics exist and they opt to not do it as well. host: you have a chart in your book about discussions that kids choose to have with their friends. politics comes dead last. guest: yes. dead last. current events a little higher than that. we thought initially maybe that

is good news, but when we asked them what they think of current events, they mentioned the kardashians, taylor swift. for the current generation, current events are not political events. it surprised me that pop-culture is what is defined as a current event. people who are 40, in their 50's, were 60's, people equated politics with current events. when here, people who say they are on top of what is going on they are talking about washington or their own communities. host: here is connie from brooklyn. caller: i find her very interesting. i have to agree with a lot of her comments. i have seven g grandkids. they do get involved in politics. the school actually encourages it. i retired at 70. not wanting to really, but i

found myself more involved in politics because it's on my doorstep as far as running into certain situations. the younger generation hasn't been -- except for maybe student loans -- the younger generation hasn't been pulled into the cons of politics. i will tell you one thing. the hill does not set a good example to i don't people. i think that is another reason why they are turned off. there is so much fighting between the parties that they think, i want to do something, but they are fighting with each other. it is not a very good example to give the young people. the older people kind of understand, but older people also came from a different generation where we have less television.

we grew up with hearing more and talking more. i think the kids are under pressure today to get, like my one granddaughter, she is great at homework, but she comes home, does her homework, eat supper, and goes to bed. the pressure them so much with schooling that they don't really get involved with politics on tv or read about politics. they have so much else going on. i don't mean entertainment. there are seriously get people out there who want to do something, except the government doesn't give them a good example. host: we will have to let our guest respond. guest: it is true. they don't get a good example. i'm a little reluctant to conclude that most children are like your grandchildren. we asked them how they spend a day and how they spend their week, and what they do.

97% of young people play video games on a regular basis. about that percentage of the people in our sample said they watch at least two hours of television every day. the average young person sense about 90 texts a day. they have plenty of time to communicate them plenty of access to information. it is our incentive to make sure they have access to political information. i do not think they are not running for political office because they are busy with schoolwork. host: wouldn't make a difference if younger candidates ran for political office? guest: i think inspiring candidates matter. inspiring candidates that you can trust. i don't know if age matters. if there is a politician that you admire, you are far more likely to say that this is something you consider doing in the future. we asked only about four

candidates at the time. we asked about barack obama hillary clinton, sarah palin and mitt romney. i think a new model of politicians, someone who is reaching out to young people in particular can play a big role, by don't think a person needs to necessarily be in their 30's. host: here are the responses. it is from the book "running from office, why young americans are turned off the politics. go donnie from kentucky. you're next. caller: i have an idea that might fix all of this. what if we took the best and brightest from college and had

them serve in the senate and congress. we elect the president but it truly would be serviced by the people for the people. they would get paid a decent wage why -- 50,000 or $60,000 -- and after the service they get their college pay for ending go into the private sector. guest: that is an adjusting idea. we propose an idea that is similar. we had peace corps, teach for america, which generally reward people for giving back to their communities. there is no comparable national service program that rewards political service. we propose a national political service program where if young people are willing to step up and work in the communities in political ways and potentially meet politicians to run for political encourage young people

to run. i don't think we are in a position to compel a person to serve, but providing incentives goes a long way. right now, you can get into a very good college knowing virtually nothing about the way the political system works. we saw community service skyrocket because college admission offices like that. if we can get college admission offices to put a premium on young people knowing how the government work, i think we would see more incentives for young people to get engaged that way. host: is the stephen from grand rapids, michigan. caller: i was wondering if your book did a poll on a group of people that are in the belief that it is too convoluted.

there is too much covert going on, as opposed to the overt. we are too much of an oligarchy. was there a group that just said without a revolution, call it what you will, it will never happen? guest: we did not uncover that broad sentiment. what we did find in general was that people had such negative ideas about the way that business action against on whether it be because of behind-the-scenes or self-interest of politicians that is not congruent with constituents. not necessarily as evolutionary as what you may have described, but certainly this negative sense of -- i wouldn't want to have engage in a behavior to make things happen. host: this is ed from washington

dc. democrats line. caller: good morning. i find it very interesting. i'm concerned about our young people participating in politics. i'm going around and trying to encourage of people to get involved in politics, and what is going on today will determine what kind of world they will grow up in. i think c-span is responsible for some of the negative things going up. some of your guests -- right-wing haters that call in. the thing is we need to discourage that. you need to get a microphone and asked them their opinions. you go down south, in the role

of areas, all you can hear is right-wing noisemakers. they don't believe in fact checking. they believe in saying negative things about our president. these things have to stop. young people are affected by that. when they see this, they don't want to be a part. they want to be involved in politics but don't know how. your guest, i want to buy your book. i think this is very important. host: just a reminder, we do open our microphones to all different political perspectives. guest: two things i would know. i have not looked at c-span's

demographics lately, but my hunch is that it is not mostly got people that are watching. that is the case across the board. the problem is not what anyone show or any set of pundits, or any network, is doing. the problem is when every turn on the tv or the internet it takes only about three seconds before you find someone saying something incredibly negative. even if you have positive coverage it is very easy, given the 24 hour news cycle, for people to come across negative tidbits and then they take on a life of their own. part of the challenge is having people watch more. we found that if you are able to wade through the mud, you find positive things too. host: one more call. thomas in berlin, wisconsin. independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning, pedro and jennifer.

my point is this. the age groups that you research from high school to early college, if they are basing their negative aspects of politics on ethics and morals, they have only begun to scratch the surface of their own personal ethic and moral base. i was around in the 50's, 60's, 70's. i spent a lifetime in california in the early 60's and 70's. that generation -- i was worried. i said, one of these days these people will be running our country. that was a troubling thought. look at what has happened. i have six sons and two daughters. you have to be between the ages of 26 and 32. that is when they start to level out and develop a better sense because they have been around long enough and seen a lot enough. there is a timeframe here. younger generations has not have not

changed. it is an age group. you might want to consider that when you do these service. they simply have not been around a long enough to develop a good sense of ethics and morals from the standpoint. thank you. i will take my hands off the air. guest: two things i would know. first, there are studies that suggest that the career aspirations of people who are 15 or 16 match for a well to things action do in their 30's. although it is not perfect, if you write off something as a digital career as a teenager chances are to come back later in life. the other thing i would know, we have done surveys of potential candidates. adults in professors that would most likely lead to political careers. although they are more likely to run for office that other people, we run into a gender gap there. that is the same that we see in

our high school and college students. that suggests that once you decide not to do it, it is hard to change that. host: t >> the hust house will be gaveling back in in about 20 minutes, they'll be working on a measure to curtail prescription drug abuse, also energy efficiency and advisory committees. tomorrow they'll debate cybersecurity legislation. we'll have the house for you at 3:30 eastern here on c-span. an update following the death of a young black man in custody of police in baltimore. they have released the names of six officers suspended with pay. the officers include lieutenant brian rice a member of the baltimore police department since 199. police say rice was the officer who made first eye contact with

gray and another man and after making eye contact police say gray ran for police -- ran from police before he was tackled and detained. he was arrested on april 12 after an officer said he fled from police unprovoked, according to the police report. police said they use nod force while arresting gray who was put into a transport van while complaining about asthma. about a half-hour later he was unresponsive and in critical condition. police continue to investigate what caused his injuries while witnesses in west baltimore's gilmore home said they saw him being beaten. earlier this year we spoke with baltimore's police commissioner during our "q&a" program and he touched on his approach to police discipline and how he would deal with corruption on the force.

>> if you go out and hurt this community do something corrupt out of the malice of your heart i'll hold you accountable and be the first one to put handcuffs on you. i will stand for them as they get their job done but i will not stand for them being unconstitutional or hurting our community. >> she was considered modern for her time. called mrs. president by her detractors. and was outspoken about her views on slavery and women's right. as one of the most prolific writers of any first lady, she provides a unique window into colonial america and her personal life. "abigail adaments" sunday on c-span's program "first ladies," examining the private lives of the women who filled the position of first lady and their influencen e-- on the presidency. from martha washington to

michelle obama. and as a complement to the series, c-span's new book is now available, "first ladies: presidential historians on the lives of 45 iconic american women," providing lively stories of these fascinating women, creating an illuminating, entertaining inspiring read, available as a hard cover or ebook through your favorite book seller. >> house about to come in for legislative work, live coverage at 3:30. right now a discussion on trade policy and lgbt rights from this morning's "washington journal." we have representative jared polis from colorado who serve the second district. good morning. we sit as both the house and senate gather, negotiators -- gather negotiators on both sides to work on the budget. tell our viewers what is at

stake and what you are looking for. guest: i guess you can say there is a little and a lock and from the democratic perspective there's not enormous differences. what did because of have put forward in their alternative and the house, chris van hollen and many senate democrats, trying to bring down the sequester equally. when talking about whether you reduce the sequester on the defense side it hardly makes sense from a budgetary perspective. one typical republican with tax and spend policies, spending money they do not have, and on this case on defense. we need to find cuts per that is really not what the discussion is about. it is, do we go above and beyond this cap on the defense side? if you're looking at doing it equally saying, look, we are going to undo part of the sequester and find alternative cuts -- as far as i know, that is not the discussion occurring.

host: as far as alternative cuts, what programs could possibly make the cut, so to speak? guest: i have offered dozens of cuts and amendment spirits of half past he has two different forms. whether it is cutting ag subsidies or defense programs that even the pentagon says they do not need or whether it is removing budgetary tricks that we use, i think there is ample room thomas certainly ideas, the people have put forward on the tax side. frankly, you can do a lot on the revenue side without raising taxes at all. you can cut taxes and increase revenue. you can look at tax amnesty, which my home state of colorado did. it grows the tax base and gets more people into the system. you look at something like taxing marijuana in states where it is already legal, like a federal excise tax. it would not affect the states where it is illegal. there is a lot of revenue on the

table. if you look at online gaming that would be another one. tens of billions of dollars of lost revenue we lose to overseas companies every day. host: again, jared polis is our guest. % for republicans. -- democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents 202-748-8002. what you think about the efforts? guest: i am thrilled we have moved off of this fast-track approach. it became an albatross around the neck of our trade negotiators. that was a proposal and twitty 14 at when -- that was a proposal in 2014. when we started moving towards a smart track approach, that gives congress the right oversight

role. no one wants congress to micromanage every aspect of negotiations. you cannot negotiate a treaty with 535 people to congress, rightly so, myself as a congressperson, does not want to be locked out or kept out of the details that we want to see. i think they have done a good initial job trying to strike the balance. host: what if you cannot offer an amendment to have to vote up and down? guest: first of all, we lock and how much time members of congress have to see the proposal. two, each committee and jurisdiction can see whether our congressional trade objectives were met in their areas. they can delve down and see. at the objectives were met, it is reasonable for congress to have an of or down vote up it would a lot of members of congress wanted to see and why fast tracks were so unpopular is we really have to dig down and

make sure that what we are actually saying is met it is not just come to us as one bill for an up or down vote. host: people talk about concerns over these deals, or with asia-pacific nations. do you think the tpp is a good thing for american trade and for the consumer at home? guest: the short answer to that is that a good tpp would be a good deal for american consumers. how successful negotiators are and the final details, the devil is always in the details. the president and the administration cannot complete tpp or any of the other agreements without trade promotion authority. what does congress want to see at of the straight deals? when we get to tpp, it will be -- did the administration of congress are congress wanted to see? that is a multilateral question. if they try their best and

countries like japan refused to open markets and the one that be at tpp successfully presented to congress, to fight we have our own domestic politics, so do our trading partners. i am optimistic that we will get a good trade promotion authority bill and then we will move away and end this fast tracks approach. and we get a good tpp that opens up markets to american products, and i think that will be a great thing for job growth in our country and colorado. host: in the past, you have started businesses to they have been very successful. what is your approach of a businessman's perspective? another member of congress may not have the same background. guest: i did not do much international business. it was mostly domestic. we did a flower business. some of those were imported from other can't -- countries to most were to mastic. i had discussions with my constituents back on. we had small business roundtables. there are a big if mrs. in my

district. dozens and dozens of small businesses. -- there are big businesses in my district. we have the outdoor industry associations that are based in my district with the most members. when you look at the job growth in my district car but it is around these products -- when you look at the job growth in my district, a lot of these products -- they were very excited. i'm concerned about higher trade deals. i june on not there is so much concern about this one. there is certainly concern about the transparency. part of the fear is they do not know what is in this deal. i have gotten letters saying we should be more forthcoming with the details. but they're worried about some of the things in nafta being in it. they're worried about last tracks. they have a lot of legitimate concerns about the latest efforts and the environmental standards. i would make sure that investors

state that arbitration does not interfere with our own environmental regulations that we want to pass. we have been focused on getting good information. we had the u.s. trade office out twice. the australian ambassador visited our district. local small businesses have been going to speak out to talk about how this will help them add jobs in our state. host: jared polis joining us for a discussion. he is democrat from cholera colorado first call is from oklahoma city. -- he is a democrat from colorado. first call is from oklahoma city. caller: thanks for having me. i was watching the previous guests when they were talking about the trade issues and stuff . it seems like the focus in all of our systems is toward the upper income, the multinational companies, the big corporations. there is some emphasis on the

smaller businesses and stuff but it seems like it comes to the greater good of our country the dollar is in the politics, especially in the republican party, and that trumps the importance of the people. the previous guest was talking about how great germany was after somebody pushed her on germany's economic and manufacturing, how great they are doing to it what she did not mention is that in germany if a company ships the jobs are, they cannot sell the product back into germany. that looks out for the people. we do not do that here. germany just outlawed fracking. here in oklahoma, it is fracking central. we have earthquakes every day now. it is all about the big dollars. can you address that? guest: germany as part of the world's largest free-trade zone, and that is the eu. that has absolutely been part of the secret to germany's success.

they have been able to access markets both in western europe as well as trade with eastern european countries that are part of the european zone. we already have a trade bloc with canada and mexico, and this would really enlarge the american trade block to include some of the pacific rim countries. my state in my district are also part of this fracking discussion . four the five biggest menace abilities in my district have either banned or have moratoriums on fracking. i support their right to do that. it is an intensely local decision. there are some counties in colorado where it is quite popular. there are other counties that do not want it, including the county i live in. the oil and gas industry has filed suit against the cities that have tried to ban it. i hope that those cases are found to be frivolous. as for whether it is big

companies, small companies -- and my district, it is small and mid-sized companies. 10 to 15 people to 100 people. we do not have a lot of large countries in my district your day few would benefit from tpp but it is mostly these small healthy, outdoor lifestyle companies with 4050 people. they're the ones i'm hit -- with 40 to 50 people. i am hearing about access to the japanese market. a developed country, what the country to we already have access to the australian and new zealand market. we already have an excellent trade deal. we export much more than we import with other countries that we have trade agreements with. host: indiana, since any, good morning. -- cynthia. caller: good morning. my question is -- you guys were talking about paying back

income-wise. why won't the parties work together to address that? like food stamps and things like that, the welfare program knowing that you cannot keep supplying something. it will not be there eventually. there will not be a means to give people food stamps speared sometimes a strong no is as good as a good yes. i think it would be for the good of the country and the people. cannot keep spending something that is not there. guest: i think the question was about food stamps and our social safety net programs. i think there is interest from both sides on improving and reforming those programs. i do not and he answered -- when people propose to just cut them without any other reforms, that does not have much support from my side of the aisle.

there might be ways to save money, but it will not be simply a cut. it might be a policy change. for food stamps, i have supported things like removing some of the more unhealthy foods, like candy or soda pop from eligibility. we already include cigarettes and alcohol. we can have more of a sliding scale of assistance where we encourage people to make more money and get off of food stamps . same with medicaid, which president obama's affordable care act helps establish. when you look at medicaid some obviously a much more costly social safety net program than food stamps, the historic problem with medicaid has been -- let's say a family of three, somebody making $11 an hour, if they were given a raise to $11.50 or $12, they would have to not take the raise because

they would lose their medical coverage because they would be put one dollar about the medicaid limit. with the affordable care act and the sliding scale of assistance all the way up to roughly an income of about $80,000 for family of four, so you do not lose your entire medical care just because you earn too much. it is a sliding scale. it is all about incentives. i think there is ample opportunity in the social security disability realm. we encourage for them to provide an incentive to get back to work rather than saying you cannot work or you lose your incentives. host: a call from nevada, republican line. you are on. caller: hello, thank you for taking my call. i have a broad question regarding currency manipulation on a global scheme. how does currency manipulation impact manufacturing jobs in the u.s. today?

and if the asian trade agreement were to pass, how and if the new agreement tpa, will impact currency manipulation in the future, if it can at all? guest: right now there are no checks on currency manipulation with the countries that we even have trade agreements with, no less those we do not have agreements with. we operate in a world where there are no checks. the administration has expressed interest to provide some linkage on currency manipulation in the tpp agreement. they have to work out the language with the fed and other entities in our own country but also engage in what could arguably be called currency manipulation. so they are trying to figure out what we can do that does not interfere with the fed's

monetary policy. they can provide some check on currency manipulation. the biggest check on currency many galatian, at least in democratic countries, is always going to be democracy itself. turns out that people do not take very kindly if their wealth is reduced by 30% to 40%. prices go up. they are likely to vote out from office in the party that delivers on making them poorer. i think that would happen in other countries. that does not mean on the margins that countries cannot engage in currency manipulation. they do it. but this will likely be the very first trade agreement that puts any parameters around currency manipulation. host: >> see the rest of this conversation at c-span.org. we'll leave it here. live now to the u.s. house as members are preparing to return from recess. on the agenda this afternoon, debate on a measure to curtail prescription drug abuse and

debate on consumer financial protection advisory bill. tomorrow and thursday, we'll see members take up cybersecurity legislation. live coverage of the u.s. house as always here on c-span.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair will receive a message. michael: madam speaker, a message from the president of the united states. the secretary: madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i am directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives a message in writing. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspd e leon whica coed vote or the

yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote incurs objection unr clause 6 of rule 20. record votes on postponed questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill s. 535. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: an act to promote energy efficiency. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from kentucky, mr. whitfield, and the gentleman from vermont, mr. welch, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. whitfield: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials in the record on the bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mr. whitfield: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. whitfield: mr. speaker today we are considering s. 535, the energy efficiency improvement act of 2015. a bill to address energy efficiency in federal buildings, energy conservation through the continued use of grid-enabled water heaters and energy information for federally leased commercial buildings. i also want to thank the gentleman from vermont, mr. welch, for working with us on this important legislation. both sides of the aisle came together in this legislation and i want to thank all of them and the staff for the work that they've done. the first title in this bill would establish a tenant star program, a voluntary certification and recognition program within energy star to

promote energy efficiency in separate spaces. this program allows for a voluntary, market-driven approach to aligning the interests of commercial building owners and their tenants to reduce energy consumption. d.o.e. would also be required to complete a study on feasible approaches to improving the energy efficiency of tenant-occupied spaces in commercial buildings. the second title in this bill relates to hot water heaters. there are approximately 250 electric cooperatives in 34 states that utilize large electric-resistant water heaters in demand response programs to help with reliability and consumer costs during peak periods of energy use. now, in march, 2010, the

department of energy issued new energy efficiency standards for large electric-resistance water heaters that would in effect prohibit the manufacturer of these water heaters that are 55 gallons or larger in favor of heat pump technology for water heaters of 55 gallons or larger. these standards took effect last week. now, i might say that american people i frequently hear are totally frustrated by the micromanagement of the government in almost every aspect of their lives, and this regulation about water heaters is just one example. at the hearing that we held on this regulation, the manufacturers testified that this regulation would basically

double the cost of these water heaters. so we have a situation where many heat pump water heaters are not compatible with certain utility thermal energy and response programs that allow utilities to reduce our shift their load during certain periods of energy use. so this title 2 would allow for the continued manufacture of large resistant water heaters above certain gallons specifically for use in these energy savings programs. so this is a very commonsense, congress responding to concern by the general public that the department of energy is trying to micromanage this small part

of the energy sector in the united states. i might mention that third title of this bill requires that federally leased buildings without energy star labels benchmark and disclose their energy usage data where practical. so federally owned buildings are already subject to benchmarking requirements pursuant to section 432 of the energy independent security act of 2007. title 3 simply requires d.o.e. to complete a study of best practices regarding state and local performance benchmarking and disclosure policies for commercial and multifamily buildings in addition to the impact of utility policies for providing aggregated information to owners of multitenant buildings to assist

with benchmarking programs. so this is a common sense piece of legislation. it's passed the house and the senate. the senate bill was a little bit different than ours. we're taking up their bill. and i'd like to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from vermont is recognized. mr. welch: thank y very much, madam speaker. and i thank the gentleman for his excellent work. today's a very good day in congress and in our country as we send to the president's desk bipartisan legislation that will do, one lower energy bills for families and businesses create good jobs manufacturing american-made energy efficiency products and, three, improve our environment by reducing carbon emissions. and i'm hopeful that common ground we found in this bill sets the stage for further cooperation by both parties and

by both chambers in addressing many of the challenges facing our country. i want to thank chairman upton. i want to thank chairman whitfield, ranking member pallone and ranking member rush for working with us to advance this important legislation. and thank you, especially representative mckinley for partnering with me this term and last on this issue. your background as an engineer and as a small business owner has provided much-needed expertise on our committee. and i'm grateful to you for your partnership and leadership on this issue. the bill before us today, as mr. whitfield said advanced by senator she houston and portman in the senate, also includes great ideas from many members of this house. representatives kramer, doyle latta, loebsack cantor -- pardon me -- castor and

kinzinger. thank you for your contributions on this good bipartisan bill. madam speaker, i've long believed that energy efficiency is an issue that lends itself to looking past partisan differences to find common ground in our congress. we may disagree on the causes of climate change and the best fuel mix to meet america's energy needs but we can all agree that using less of whatever energy source is more. we can all agree that creating demand for american-made energy efficiency products will create good jobs. we can all agree that cutting the energy bills of homeowners and businesses in the federal government is a very good thing. in vermont, it has been a leader for a long time in energy efficiency. madam speaker, we were the first in the nation to establish an energy efficiency utility to provide assistance to homeowners and businesses who are seeking to lower their energy bills. in 2013 alone, the work of efficiency vermont yielded lifetime customer savings of

$206 million for vermonters. that's real money. the bill before us today takes an important step towards making america more energy efficient. it includes the better buildings act, also known as tenant star, which will drive private sector innovation in the energy efficiency sector. it includes the homes -- homes and buildings consume 40% of our energy in the united states. that's 40%. in commercial buildings, owners report that tenants consume up to 50% or more of the total building energy. and one of the challenges facing commercial buildings has been the issue of split incentives. building owners and tenants are not always on the same page when it comes to energy performance. and part of the problem is that only one party is paying the energy bill, the other part of the problem is that while we recognize energy efficient buildings throughout -- through our energy star program, we

have no similar recognition program for tenant spaces. our bill creates a voluntary tenant star recognition program for separate spaces in commercial buildings. when we combine energy star buildings with tenant star rentals we can optimize energy efficiency in shortened payback periods. a good example of this energy can be found in the energy star certified vermont innovation center located in burlington, vermont. the vermont energy investment corporation is located in this building as well as my own district office. veic took aggressive actions to optimize the efficiency of its tenant space in the building. it converted the overhead florescent lighting to highly efficient l.e.d.'s and applied six inches of spray foam inlakes -- insulation. making these improvements

optimized an already efficient tenant space. veic expects to save nearly $11,000 a year in energy savings. however, there's no recognition in the program for these improvements, and we don't know what else veic could be doing to increase energy savings. under this bill, we will study the best ways to optimize commercial tenant spaces and recognize such spaces with a new tenant star label. by combining energy efficient tenant buildouts with energy star buildings, we will double down on a successful program and optimize energy savings in commercial buildings all through voluntary action. in addition to tenant star, this legislation includes two other important efficiency provisions. first, the bill makes much-needed changes to energy efficiency standards for large water heaters used in demand

response programs. and mr. whitfield, thank you for your leadership on this. these water heaters act as a energy storage devices and allow utilities to curb energy demand during the peak hours. second the bill will require the disclosure of the amount of energy consumed in federally leased buildings and begin benchmarking their energy use. in the coming weeks, i look forward to working with my colleagues to pass additional bipartisan energy efficiency bills including the more expansive version of the mckinley-welch-she houston-portman legislation before us today. we should also pass legislation to encourage performance contracting in federal buildings and streamline the federal green school efforts. madam speaker, energy efficiency is not a partisan issue, and i'm encouraged by the steps we are taking today and look forward to working with my colleagues on additional initiatives that cut efficiency bills, create jobs

and improve the environment. i urge my -- i urge our members to vote for this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. whitfield: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from vermont is recognized. mr. welch: i yield to the gentleman from illinois, mr. rush. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rush: i want to thank the gentleman for yielding. madam speaker, i rise in support of s. 535 the energy efficiency improvement act of 2015. and i want to join with my colleague, mr. welch, in congratulating all the

leadership, mr. whitfield and mr. welch i want to congratulate mr. pallone and also i want to congratulate the chairman of the subcommittee -- of the full committee. mr. speaker this is a modest but most importantly it's a bipartisan piece of legislation. that combined three separate energy efficiency titles. and this bill was passed by unanimous consent out of the senate just this last month. the bill before us today is also similar to a bill h.r. 2126, which passed out of this house in the last session of the congress on an overwhelming

bipartisan vote of 375-36. the first title of this bill madam speaker is the better building act which was introduced into the congress by my friend and my colleague of west virginia and mr. welch of vermont. this title simply directs the general services administration to develop model leasing provisions and best practices to encourage commercial building owners and their tenants to invest in cost effective energy efficiency measures. these model leasing provisions

may then be used in federal leases and along with the best practices, madam speaker shall be made available to all the states and local governments. additionally, section 103 directs the department of energy to conduct a study on the feasibility of significantly improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings through the design and construction of separate tenant spaces with high performance energy efficiency measures. section 104 directs the e.p.a. to develop, quote, tenant star

quote programs to promote energy efficiency in separate spaces leased by tenants in commercial buildings. this data can then be used to establish an energy star ratings system to recognize a commercial -- recognize -- to organize tenants in commercial buildings that voluntarily achieve high levels of energy efficiency in spaces. title 2 of this bill the water heaters bill was introduced by my colleague and good friend chairman whitfield along with mr. welch, mr. latta, mr.

kramer, and mr. doyle. this section establishes a separate energy efficiency standard for grid enabled water heaters which are used in utility and thermal storage programs. finally madam speaker, title 3 of this bill, the energy information for commercial buildings bill which was introduced into the congress by my friend and colleague ms. castor of florida requires federal lease buildings without energy star labels to benchmark and disclose their energy usage data in most cases. it also requires the department of energy to complete a study of best practices for and impact of

one state and local performance benchmarking and disclosure policies for commercial and multifamily buildings and two, utility policies for providing aggregated information to owners of multitenant buildings to assist with benchmarking programs. in addition, madam speaker, the d.o.e. is required to maintain a database to store and make available public energy related information on commercial and multifamily buildings. madam speaker, in recent history we have not been able to pass bipartisan energy legislation through both chambers and into law. so it is important that we move

this bill to the president's desk so that we can demonstrate once again to the american people that this congress is still capable of functioning properly and legislating on their behalf. madam speaker, i urge all my colleagues to vote for this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. whitfield: madam speaker, i don't believe we have any additional speakers on our side i would like the opportunity to close, so i would reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont is recognized. mr. welch: thank you very much, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman from illinois, not just for his remarks on this bill but for his leadership on this issue and other issues in the committee over the years. also, madam speaker i ask for

unanimous consent in order to insert into the record the statement of the ranking member of the energy and commerce committee, mr. pallone of new jersey. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. welch: finally it is a good day when we can come together to do something constructive and do it together. this legislation finds that spot frge efficiency where we can join in embracing the enormous benefit of creating ways where homeowners and business owners of commercial buildings can figure out how to cut down on their bills. whatever fuel source they use, if they've got a lower bill that's a good thing. and to achieve that goal, we have to put americans to work. a lot of trades folks who have got real skills and need a place to use them b because they are ones that retrofit these buildings, commercial buildings and homes, and then by the way there's an incidental benefit,

we reduce carbon emissions since we're using less fuel. this is tremendous and i want to thank mr. whitfield and mr. upton for all the good work they did. madam speaker i see no other speakers here, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. whitfield: thank you very much. i want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle once again specifically senator sheehan and portman, congressman mckinley and welch, mr. upton and mr. pallone and certainly mr. rush of illinois. all of whom worked very diligently on this and i know they are committed to efficiency. i'm pleased that this legislation will stop the department of energy's regulation that would prohibit the manufacture of heat resistant water heaters above 55 gallons.

if that regulation had been allowed to continue it would have cost the american public a lot more money going to the heat pump technology. so this legislation is -- has stopped that. it's going to improve efficiency and i would urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i would yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill -- and pass senate bill 535 ? those in favor say yes. those opposed, no. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from tennessee seek recognition? ms. blackburn: i move that the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the titetholve -- title of the bill. the clerk: a bill to improve enforcement efforts regarding prescription drugs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn and the gentleman from vermont, mr. welch, each will control 20 minutes. mrs. blackburn: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the record. i would like to include an exchange of letters between the committee on energy and commerce and the committee on the judiciary. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in strong support of h.r. 471, the ensuring patient access and effective drug enforcement act of 2015. this critical legislation combats inappropriate use of prescription drugs by bringing greater clarity and transparency to the requirements for safe and secure distribution of these medicines. it accomplishes these goals by clarifying some key terminology in the controlled substances act. this comprehensive approach to the legislation will result in better protections against diversion and abuse of controlled substances. what it does is, it provides the d.e.a. with the clarity to collaborate with the very people responsible for ensuring that

these medications get to the patients who need them without hurting and harming that distribution change and while clamping down on diversions and abuse. these collaborations will lead to improved policies to prevent diversion while allowing legitimate patients to have access to the medications they need. now like so many components and pieces and -- in bills and parts of legislation, the best example of why this is needed is a story that comes from home. and in the case of this bill, we had a constituent who called our office after one of the recent ice storms that we saw in middle tennessee this winter. it seemed as if these storms would never stop. the ice would come, and then it would not melt. and so we had a constituent who

has a son who has a severe seizure disorder and he takes three different medicines to control these seizures. and although his medicines are not open yoids two of -- -- are not opioids, two of them are controlled substances this mother decided she better get herself to the drugstore before the storm hit. and she did just that. to refill his prescriptions. she was anticipating that the prescriptions would run out before the ice melted and she'd be able to get to the store. at the drugstore, she was told that she could not refill them because it was too early. she explained the situation the pharmacist sympathized but the pharmacist went on to say, if the prescription were to be filled early there would be problems with the d.e.a. and other agencies. the pharmacist was worried that

his legislation -- that his license might be lost. our legislation is simply too ensure that -- simply to ensure that patient who was a legitimate need for medications can receive them while we are battling diversion and abuse which truly is a problem in this country. so madam speaker, i encourage all of my colleagues to support this effort and i reserve the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: vote reserves the balance of -- the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from vermont rise? mr. welch: to speak on the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. welch: thank you. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i'm pleased that the house is taking up, again bipartisan action today to address the

serious issue that impacts families in each of our districts, prescription drug abuse. in vermont, like tennessee, and many states around the country, it's grappling with the serious openat epidemic. in addition to alarming increases in heroin abuse, admissions for treatment of prescription drug abuse increased 361% between 2005 and 2013. as we've experienced in vermont, we're most effective in dealing with this public health crisis when all of the stakeholders, the providers, public health officials, law enforcement, distributors and pharmacists come together to tackle the problem head-on. today the distributors of prescription drugs alone -- along with local pharmacies are experiencing unpredictable enforcement from the d.e.a. this has led to disruptions in the supply chain which limits patient access to prescription drugs for legitimate uses, as was evidenced by my colleague's

story. the ensuring patient access and effective drug enforcement act will encourage collaboration between law enforcement members of the supply chain -- law enforcement, members of the supply chain, and public health providers and officials, while ensuring parents have access to the treatment their doctor has prescribed. it's been a pleasure to work with representative marino, representative blackburn and representative chu, who has been a major leader on this. and i thank them for their efforts and their leadership and i thank chairman upton and ranking member pallone for making this issue a priority of the energy and commerce committee. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 471 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont reserves the balance of his time. for what purposdoes gentlom om tennessee rise? mrsur tnkou mr. speaker. at this time i would like to

yield five minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania mr. marino, and i think it's so important for us to note he has been the primary author of this legislation and he brought to the table to work on this bill his experience. seven years as a u.s. attorney, 10 years prior to that as a district attorney. and seeing firsthand and dealing with these drug diversion, drug enforcement issues, and dealing with the needs of patients. at this time i yield five minutes to mr. marino. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. marino, is recognized for five minutes. mr. marino: thank you. mr. speaker, in early 2013, a pharmacist told me about a problem he was having accessing necessary prescriptions for his customers. many of whom were older cancer

patients suffering with chronic pain. what started out as a simple conversation with a constituent soon turned into serious concerns about problems in the prescription drug supply chain. problems that we need to address here today by passing h.r. 471, and ensuring patient access and prescription drug enforcement act. any legislate business involved in -- legitimate business involved in distributing or dispensing descriptions welcomes appropriate oversight and regulation. further we know these businesses value the collaborative working relationship with agencies like the drug enforcement administration. manufacturers distributors and pharmacies alike are on the front lines every day in the fight to end prescription drug abuse epidemic. they are making efforts to educate prescribers and patients about the safe use and

disposal of prescriptions and working to implement prescription drug monitoring programs that will reduce the illegal diversion of powerful opiate pain relievers. despite a strong commitment to being part of the solution, distributors and pharmacists are finding that the unnecessaryed a never sarial regulatory environment created by the d.e.a. is putting effective enforcement outcomes in jeopardy. as a former district attorney and a united states attorney i have fond memories of working with desclafini agents to put away drug -- d.e.a. agents to put away drug dealers. to say i have the highest regard for the d.e.a. and the work they do does not even begin to convey my respect for the agency and its employees. that is why i am so passionate about this subject and why i think it is necessary to pass h.r. 471 today. this bill will bring much-needed clarity to critical

provisions of the controlled substance act. in doing so we will ensure that the d.e.a.'s authorities are not abused and threatened by future legal challenges. foster greater collaboration, communication and transparency between the d.e.a. and the supply chain. create more opportunities to identify bad actors at the end of the supply chain. and most importantly be certain that prescriptions are accessible to patients in need. we are all in this together. we cannot enforce our way out of this epidemic. education, treatment and enforcement are all critical to addressing the problem. but so is collaboration. the clarity that h.r. 471 brings will ensure that the current regulatory culture evolves into one that rewards

cooperation and brings more successful diversion control efforts in the future. i want to thank my friend, congressman blackburn, for working closely with my team and me to develop the bill. i want to thank our champions on the other side of the aisle, dr. judy chu and representative peter welch, for their leadership and efforts to bring us here today. we could not have achieved this without the efforts of chairman pitts and chairman upton and their staff on the energy and commerce committee. i must thank house judiciary committee chairman goodlatte for his fourth right suggestions -- forth right suggestions that made this a more effective, efficient measure worthy of consideration by this house. and, again, i want to stress the fact that this is bipartisan. the democrats and the republicans saw the importance of this and got together and we worked it out and i thank everyone involved. with that, mr. speaker i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. mrs. blackburn: i reserve. reserve the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman ene reserves the balance of her time. for what purpose does the ntleman from vermont seek recognition? mr. welch: to things. first, i ask -- two things. first, i ask for unanimous consent to insert into the record a statement from mr. pallone, the ranking member on energy and commerce. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. welch: secondly i'd like to yield to one of the lead sponsors of this legislation, representative chu from california. i yield to her such time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for such time as she may consume. ms. chu: prescription drugs improve quality of life for millions of americans. they treat illnesses, alleviate pain and help cure disease. but the ease of abuse has turned a solution into a problem. each year nearly 15,000 overdose deaths are attributed to prescription pain relievers. more than heroin and cocaine combined. our government and private entities in the prescription drug supply chain must do what

they can to prevent drug abuse and diversion. at the same time, we must ensure that pharmacists who are our nation's most accessible health care providers, are able to dispense drugs to patients who are in legitimate need and have proper prescriptions without groundless disruptions. the bipartisan bill we vote on today that i'm proud to have introduced with my colleagues, would do just that. our bill encourages collaboration between stakeholders and the drug enforcement administration to ensure effective enforcement of abuse, while also ensuring that patients will continue to have safe access to the drugs they need. this will lead to fewer disruptions for pharmacists and in turn ensure that patients will not be left behind. i urge an aye vote on this very important bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california yields back. the gentlewoman from tennessee is recognized. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr.

speaker. at this time i want to recognize one of our colleagues from the appropriations committee handling commerce, justice state appropriations -- justice, state appropriations. mr. jolly from florida. the speaker pro tempore: for how much time? mrs. blackburn: two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. mr. jolly: i thank the gentlelady, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support today of this commonsense measure that will help us more effectively fight prescription drug abuse. but will also ensure that americans are able to get their needed pain medications. florida has been at the epicenter of the debate concerning combating prescription drugs or drug abuse while ensuring legitimate patient access to critical pain medications. florida was one of the first states to be affected by the proliferation of pill mills and took strong action to shut them down under the stellar leadership of our state attorney general. we've seen similar challenges nationally and the d.e.a. has

taken action but unfortunately federal agencies have not coordinated their efforts to ensure appropriate access to prescription controlled substances. in florida and elsewhere we are seeing legitimate patients who are getting caught up in the efforts to stop prescription drug abuse. my own father was one of those patients. an 80-year-old retired minister prescribed a legitimate medication for chronic pain and yet unable to fulfill that prescription at his local pharmacy. all of the best intentions in the world, by all of the actorsers but unfortunately very un-- actors, but unfortunately very unintended consequences for a patient who needed care. the issue is largely due to the d.e.a. policies and extremely poor coordination between d.e.a. and f.d.a. the key to this legislation is collaboration and coordination. this bill requires h.h.s. and d.e.a. to collaboratively assess the obstacles patients like my own father face and how to more effectively coordinate those efforts to prevent diversion and abuse of prescription drugs, while including the intellectual put of private sector stake hold --

the input of private sector stakeholders who are vital to these efforts. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. mrs. blackburn: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from tennessee continues to reserve. the gentleman from vermont is recognized. mr. welch: i want to thank my colleagues particularly mr. marino. the practical application of sort of commonsense approach here we're on the -- where on the one hand you have this enormous health need that the people that we represent can have some of their suffering alleviated, if they can get access to the appropriate prescription drugs. on the other hand, we do have an abuse. folks get stuck on them and we've got law enforcement out there trying to make sure they're enforcing the laws. but the need for law enforcement and the need for proper access to prescription medication have to co-exist. in this practical presentation that was spear headed by somebody who knows how law enforcement works is committed

to the principles of good law enforcement, i think really gave this congress a boost in coming up with the practical bipartisan approach to i think, finding the right balance. so i thank my colleague, mrs. blackburn as well, mr. jolly i thought for that very helpful statement, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from tennessee is coiz. mrs. bckrnthk yo m speaker. at this time i yield one minute to a member of the veterans committee who has worked through this issue with some veterans, mr. costello of pennsylvania. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. costello: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 471. we've all seen reports in our local newspapers about the fight against prescription drug abuse by our local law enforcement officials and the damaging effect that prescription drug abuse has on families and communities across this country. according to the c.d.c. since

1999 the amount of prescription painkillers prescribed and sold in the united states has quadrupled. there is indeed a trend in abuse of prescription painkillers, which is in part attributed to the changes in how providers prescribe painkillers. the best way to crack down on prescription drug abuse is to have a broad coalition of specialists, including supply chain stakeholders and regulators, to encourage a constructive dialogue to help minimize the impact of this serious public health issue. this legislation does just that. our federal agencies will be required to consult with our local pharmacies and stakeholders on how best to prevent prescription drug abuse while not taking away the access for individuals who rely on these drugs for needs. i commend the efforts of congressman marino and congresswoman blackburn to create a more constructive environment between manufacre, ers retail pharmacies and enforcement agencies to crack down on this epidemic. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from vermont has yielded back his time. is the gentlewoman from tennessee prepared to close? mrs. blackburn: yes mr. speaker, i am. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for such time as she may consume. mrs. blackburn: thank you mr. speaker. as our colleagues have heard today this is a bipartisan effort and mr. marino has really worked diligently with his team and with all of us on this legislation to make certain that we got it right the first time and we didn't have to come back and revisit it. i thank him and mr. welch and ms. chu for efforts they have put into this and also chairman pitts and chairman upton, for the diligence that they have shown to the issue, to make certain that we moved the bill through the process. as i said earlier, this is about access to the supply chain and making certain that those with a legitimate -- with legitimate needs for these

medicines have the ability to access them in a timely manner. also bringing our pharmacists andment d.e.a. into a collaborative -- and the d.e.a. into a collaborative process with clarity so that they make certain that this supply chain remains open to those that need it and that the d.e.a. has the ability to continue to fight diversion and drug abuse. prescription drugs kill more people than heroin. . this is something we need to realize is a problem, at the same time those who need these medicines, we need to make sure the supply chain is clear. i encourage an aye vote and yield back the plans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. all time having now expired on this, the -- on this legislation, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 461 as

amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed no in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition?

>> mr. speaker i move to suspend the rules and pass house concurrent resolution 21. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 22 house concurrent resolution 21 concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the capitol grounds for the greater washington soap box derby. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. barletta, and the gentlewoman from maryland, ms. edwards each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. barletta: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on house concurrent resolution 21. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, ordered. mr. barletta: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. barletta: house concurrent resolution 21 authorizes the use of the capitol grounds for the annual greater washington soap box der bee on june 20. i want to thank the gentleman

from maryland, mr. hoyer, for introducing this resolution. he's been a longtime supporter of this event and the children involved each year. this event occurs annually on the capitol grounds. the soap box derby encourages children to show off their dedication work, and creativity as they compete for trophies. the winners of each division are qualified to compete in the national all american soap box derby held in ohio. i support pass abbling of this resolution. thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from maryland rise? ms. edwards: thank you mr. speaker. i ask that you yield me such time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. edwards: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank representative highway wrer for every year introducing this legislation on behalf of the washington regional delegation and i rise as an original co-sponsor this

event encourages boys and girls ages 9 through 16 to construct and operate their own soap box vehicle. the children come from all over the national capitol -- capital reswron to participate in this fun event. the derby has become quite a tradition in washington. the d.c. metropolitan area has hosted this tradition for over the last 20 years. it provides a terrific opportunity for children to appreciate the workmanship necessary to build a vehicle and for the thrill of competition. winners of this event go on to compete in the national competition in akron, ohio where they compete against children from all over the world. on race day, every greater washington soap box der bee participant starts the race day with a chance to become a world champion. the greater washington soap box der bee organizers will work with the architect of the capitol and the capitol police to ensure the appropriate rules and regulations are in place and

that the event remains free to the publicism support this terrific opportunity for children of the washington, d.c. metropolitan area and i urge my colleagues to support this passage of this resolution and with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from maryland reserves the balance of her time. does the gentleman from pennsylvania have additional speakers? mr. barletta: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. the gentlewoman from maryland is recognized to close debate on this matter. ms. edwards: we may have one additional speaker, mr. speaker. but i would like to say that the children who participate in this event do so with a lot of creativity and ingenuity. they spend an entire year designing their vehicles and then they test their vehicles, they experiment with their friends and then they put them out on race day for the soap box

der bee. now i haven't had the privilege mr. speaker, of participating in a soap box der bee but they sure are fun to watch. and each year, representative hoyer makes sure that all of our delegation in the metropolitan washington region gathers to organize to make certain that children from ages 9 through 16 are able to construct those vehicles, operate them -- operate them themselves, and compete in the competition. as i said before mr. speaker, the great challenge is that on race day, in the morning, all of the young people participating in the soap box der bee get up and on that day, first thing in the morning, every single one of them is a champion. right up until the finish line. and so it's an exciting time for these young people and of course they go on to compete in a competition in akron, ohio. where there are kids gathered from all over the world who also

do the same thing, build those soap boxes and participate. so the washington metropolitan region is really grateful to be able to host this soap box der bee and of course with the good graces of this congress to be able to do that on the capitol grounds with the cooperation of the architect and with that mr. speaker i would be grateful to yield such time as he might consume to our whip, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for such time as he may consume. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentlelady for using some of the time so i could get to the floor. i appreciate that very much and thank the gentleman for his leadership. mr. speaker, i rise in support of this resolution. which i have sponsored. for many -- which i have sponsored for many congresses to permit the greater washington

soap box der bee for its annual competition. i'm sure the chairman and the ranking member, ms. edwards have said that. this year will be the 74th soap box derby held on june 20. on that day young people from around washington, d.c. will gather at the capitol for an event that is both fun educational, and a teacher of responsibility and making things in america. the greater washington soap box derby began in 1938 with norman rocka out maneuvering 00 other racers to win the inaugural race. each year since, dozens of boys and girls, ranging in age from 8 to 17, have competed in three divisions. stock, superstock and masters. the winner in each will qualify to compete with racers from across the country in the

all-american soap box der bee in akron, ohio. called, and i quote, the greatest amateur racing event in the world, america's soap box der bees bring parents children, and friends and neighbors together. they teach hard work leadership, sportsmanship, and pride of achievement. these values not only make great soap box racers, but great american innovators and leaders in business, government, science, and the arts. participants are often sponsored by community groups, police departments, fire departments, service organizations and others who see future great promise in these children and teenagers. mr. speaker, i've been sponsoring this resolution for 24 years. because i'm so proud of america's soap box der bee tradition and proud of those from maryland's fifth district

who participate. my district has celebrated a number of der bee champions, including the winners from 2007 2008, 2009 2012 2013, and 2014. my district is sort of like jon wooden's ucla or the duke blue devils, maybe. or the maryland terrapins. young marylanders won the greater washington race in 2007 and 2008 went on to win the national championship. i want to thank my colleagues who have co-sponsored this resolution, represent i have chris van hollen, jerry connolly, eleanor holmes norton, donna edwards who brought this to the floor, and barbara come stock. i hope -- barbara comstock. i hope all members of the house will support this legislation

and will come to watch the soap box der bee in action on june 20. again i thank my colleague from maryland, ms. edwards, for making sure i got here so i could once again say how proud i am of those who participate in the soap box der bee. good luck to all of them. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland yields back. does the gentleman from pennsylvania have further remarks? mr. barletta: i want to once again thank the gentleman from maryland for his commitment to our youth and for once again introducing this great piece of legislation. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from maryland is recognized. ms. edwards: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time having now expired, the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house concurrent resolution 21. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. barletta: i move to suspend the rules and pass house concurrent resolution 25. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 23 house concurrent resolution 25, concurrent resolution authorizing use of the capitol fwrounds for the national peace officers memorial service and the national honor guard and fight band exhibition. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. barletta, and the gentlewoman from maryland, ms. edwards, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. barletta: i ask unanimous consent that all members have

five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on house concurrent resolution 25. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. barletta: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. barletta: house concurrent resolution 25 authorizes the use of the capitol grounds for the national peace officers memorial service and the national honor guard and pipe band exhibition. i am pleased to be the sponsor of this resolution along with the gentleman from indiana, mr. carson. these events are held each year as part of police week to honor the men and women who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. this year, over 125 federal, state and local law enforcement officers will be honored for their ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives in the line of duty. four of these officers are from pennsylvania including one from near my district, corporal brian

dickson, the second of the pennsylvania state police -- brian dickson ii of the pennsylvania state police. he was killed after he and trooper alex douglas were shot in an ambush targeting police officers outside the blooming grove barracks. the suspect cowardly hid in the woods while local, state and federal law enforcement searched for him. he was finally captured after a seven-week man hunt. corporal dickson was a united states marine corps veteran and served with the pennsylvania state police for seven years. he left behind a wife and two young sons. three other pennsylvania officers will also be honored including officer richard champion who was killed during a vehicle pursuit in december. trooper david kedra of the pennsylvania state police who was accidentally shot in a

training exercise. and sergeant sheryl piece -- pierce of the south londonderry police department who died from a deadly illness contracted while carrying out her duty. the sacrifices of these officers and those like them should not be forgotten. these episodes should remind all citizens of the dangerous jobs our men and women of law enforcement courageously volunteer for. they put their lives on the line to protect us daily and for that we should always remain grateful. i support passage of this resolution, thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from maryland seek recognition? ms. edwards: mr. speaker i seek permission to speak on the resolution and i would yield myself such time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for such time as she may consume. ms. edwards: thank you, mr.

speaker. house concurrent resolution 25 authorizes the use of the capitol grounds for the annual national peace officers memorial service on may 15. and a national honor guard and pipe band exhibition. both events will be coordinated with the architect of the capitol and the capitol police. the national peace officers memorial will honor law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty in 2014. according to preliminary estimates, over 125 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty just this last year. a 24% increase over the 102 officers killed in 2013. firearms-related incidents were the leading cause of death among law enforcement officers in 2014, with 50 officers slain by firearm. the second leading cause of death from law enfoe -- for law enforcement officers were traffic-related fatalities with 49 officers killed in that manner. in the state of maryland, there

was one law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty in 2014. officer jamelclyget. mr. speaker, i know that we are honoring and recognizing peace officers who were killed in the line of duty in 2014 but i would like to make a personal note that in the state of maryland alone just since the beginning of this year, three officers were killed and one police dog was also killed in the line of duty in maryland. just a couple of weeks ago a federal protective service officer lawrence buckner, was killed outside of the census bureau on april 9. just a few weeks before that a police officer, brendan rabin,

was killed in an automobile accident on march 7. and then just prior to that, in january, a police officer from baltimore, craig chandler, was also killed in a vehicle accident. k-9 bella, from the maryland division of correction in maryland, was killed in a fire incident, also just a few weeks ago. it is a stark reminder of the jeopardy that officers place themselves in and a reminder of what they do every single day to protect each and every one of us. i have such a deep admiration and appreciation for the fallen officers who will be honored on may 15 and the ultimate sacrifice that they've made on behalf of all of our local communities. i urge members to join me in supporting this tribute to our law enforcement officers across

the country who died in the line of duty in 2014 and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from maryland yields the balance of her time. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. barletta: mr. speaker i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time having now expired on this resolution, the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house concurrent resolution 25. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- mr. barletta: mr. speaker. on that i reque e asn nays. thspeaker pro tempore: the gentleman requests the yeas and nays. all those in favor of tang this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i rise to bring up for consideration h.r. 1195

the bureau of consumer financial protection advisory boards act. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman request general leave on that bill? the gentleman from texas. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials on the bill, h.r. 1195, to amend the consumer financial protection act to establish advisory boards and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, pursuant to house resolution 200 and rule 18 the chair can he claires the house in the committee -- declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 1195. the chair appoints the gentleman from tennessee, mr. duncan, to preside over the committee of the whole.

the chair: the house is in the committee of the us who whole house on the state of the -- of the whole house on the state of the union. the clerk: a bill to amend the consumer financial protection act of 2010, to establish advisory boards and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the first time, the gentleman from texas, mr. neugebauer, and the gentlewoman from california, ms. waters, each will control 30 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. neugebauer: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, today the house considers h.r. 1195, the bureau of consumer financial protection advisory boards act. this bill is essential to provide small businesses a voice in the regulatory process and to help ensure community banks and credit unions continue to have a voice in the

cfpb going forward. small businesses are the backbone of our economy, yet our regulatory system silences these hardworking americans. regulations mean -- meant for large corporations trickle down and have disproportion impacts on main street businesses. we must remember that businesses are by and large owned and operated by our neighbors and friends. they represent a life's work and a vision of the american dream. the cfpb was created to protect consumers in the financial marketplace and it would seem impossible to responsibly undertake this endeavor of protecting the american consumer without consulting the institutions that are more closely associated with the american consumer, small businesses and community financial institutions. h.r. 1195 is a straightforward and bipartisan piece of legislation. it would amend the dodd-frank act to create a small business advisory board to advise the cfpb. this bill would also codify two other advisory committees

created by the credit union advisory council and the community bank advisory council. under h.r. 1195, each board or council would advise the cfpb regarding concerns of established -- the concerns of its established membership. the director of the cfpb would be required to appoint at least 15 but not more than 20 members to each board or council. this bill is publicly supported by the following organizations, the credit union national association, the national association of federal credit unions the texas land title association, the american land title association, the u.s. chamber of commerce, the independent community banks of america. mr. chairman this is truly a commonsense and bipartisan bill. last congress an identical piece of legislation passed the house by a voice vote. this congress h.r. 1195 passed out of the committee by a vote of 53-5. the ranking member, who is with us today, has voted for this

bill two times. yet we find ourselves here debating the merits of providing a voice for small businesses and community financial institutions. this week former secretary of state hillary clinton was questioned about the health of american businesses. she said she was surprised to learn that small businesses were struggling. mr. chairman h.r. 1195 is just one small and commonsense step to providing a voice for our small businesses and community financial institutions in a regulatory process. it helps ensure that politicians and washington bureaucrats aren't surprised to learn the polite and struggles of these main street pillars it. gives these hardworking american -- pillars. it gives these hardworking americans a voice and a seat at the table. democrats are going to say that our disagreement is on how the bill is paid for. let me address that for a minute. house rules require that any increase in mandatory spending be offset with a reduction in mandatory spending elsewhere. the c.b.o. says that h.r. 1195

will cost $9 million over the next 10 years. republicans simply reduce the maximum amount the cfpb can draw from the fed over the same 10-year period to offset this cost. to put this in perspective, the cfpb by statute can draw approximately $6.7 billion over the next 10 years. this offset that we're debating today amounts to $1.-- 1.1% of this amount. if democrats really want to claim that .01% reduction in a $6.7 billion that the cfpb can spend over the next decade really threatens the bureau's mission, perhaps it's time to examine the bureau's current spending practices. i am quite confident that we can debate -- i'm quite confident that we can debate spending problems at the cfpb for the rest of the afternoon, should we need to. just to reiterate, h.r. 11 -- h.r. 1195 will not cut spending on consumer protection. let me repeat.

that h.r. 1195 will not cut spending on consumer protection. it will provide a voice for mall -- for small businesses. let's help our small businesses succeed. let's help main street prosper and let's vote today to move h.r. 1195 forward. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from texas reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? ms. waters: mr. chair, i yield to myself as much time as i may consume. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized for such time as she may consume. ms. waters: thank you mr. chairman. i want the members of the house to pay very close attention to this bill today. because this bill represents tricks and games in ways that people don't often understand. but this is a prime example of how you take a good idea and mess it up. so i rise today in opposition to h.r. 1195, a measure that

is, again, a shining example of how far republicans will go to squander, compromise -- squander compromise, consensus and good faith to advance and ideological anti-consumer agenda. the bill before us today is just the latest instance of financial services committee republicans snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. it makes clear that their commitment to do all they can to undercut the consumer financial protection bureau, let me say that again they have spent so much time amendment after amendment, attempt after attempt, to try and gut and dismantle the consumer financial protection bureau, and they've gone so far with this bill to undermine our efforts, to be of assistance to small businesses and include

them in a stronger advisory way to the consumer financial protection bureau, because they hate the bureau so much. well, again they do all they can to undercut this agency, this bureau an agency with an extraordinary record of success protecting consumers reining in bad actors, and ensuring that we do not return to the predatory practices that put this nation on the verge of economic collapse less than 10 years ago. . plf mr. chairman, as originally written, it was a good and decent measure offered by my colleague mr. heck from washington state, and again i applaud him for his leadership. the straightforward proposal would codify two of the advisory boards that the cfpb voluntarily

created related to community banks and credit unions while also creating a new small business advisory board for small businesses. along with many other requirements of the bureau, these boards create additional avenues for input from the entities that they have been given the power to regulate under the dodd-frank wall street reform act system of here's what we're talking about. the bureau itself had created a number of advisory committees. mr. heck saw room for strengthening the ability for small businesses to have an advisory role so he created this bill but because again my friends on the opposite side of the aisle, the republicans, hate the consumer financial protection bureau so much, they decided that they were going to play tricks and games and create an opportunity to reduce the

funding so that they could try and limit the bureau's ability to do its work by adding all of these amendments and i'm going to point out the tricks to these amendments as we go along here today. so in a rare show of bipartisanship, the financial services committee passed h r. 1195 by a -- h.r. 1195 by a vote of 53-95. i -- by a vote of 53-5. i and many of my colleagues supported the effort to make cfpb to be responsive but as usual that bipartisanship was short lived as chairman hensarling added an amendment designed to pay for this measure by undermining the cfpb's authority and independent funding. i find this ironic that this house has determined now is the

time to offset the cost of legislation. don't forget we have the pay for kings and queens on that side of the aisle. they said, and they worked for, and they made a big issue that everything must be paid for except when they decide to try and slip something in that they don't pay for and they've done that on this floor with some of these bills that we'll be talking about. but with this bill, they decided a new kind of trick and that is let's find a way to take it from the consumer financial protection bureau because not only will this pay for it but this will reduce their ability to do their job paying for other things. so just last week, the house majority voted to repeal the estate tax without paying for it at a staggering cost of $269 billion. at a time when far too many americans are struggling with

stagnant wages and historic income inequality. my republican counterpatients seem all too willing to add to the nation's deficit in order to pass giveaways for the richest .2% of americans. yet when it comes to a reasonable bill to enhance the voice of small businesses and community banks and credit unions, which they claim to care so much about, the republicans insist that the only way to pass the legislation is by custing the cfpb, an agency that 84% of small business owners support -- by cutting the cfpb an agency that 84% of small business owners support. the truth is after several years attempting to cap cfpb funding, the republicans have chosen to transform mr. heck's bill into a vehicle to make drastic cuts to the cfpb's budget.

while my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will claim otherwise, the cfb; -- the cfpb estimates that chairman hensarling's poison pill bill will cut its budget by $100 million over the next 0 years, capping it substantially, currently less than the amount they're currently able to request. that mean this is vote is one to weaken an agency with the explicit mission of standing up for consumers and taxpayers who have been subject to the deceptive practices of unscrupulous corporation. the chairman's amendment guaranteed that this otherwise bipartisan proposal will never become law. garnering significant opposition in the senate and a veto threat from the obama administration who said this measure was, and i quote, solely intended to impede the cfpb's ability to carry out

its mission of protecting consumers in the financial markets and further, they said, could result in, among other things, undermining critical protections for families from abusive and predatory financial products. end quote. mr. chairman, republicans could have chosen any number of offsets to account for the cost of this proposal. or as they have done so many times before, waived their cut-go rules. make no mistake about the intent of the hensarling amendment. it is designed to back democrats into a corner by attaching and unacceptable provision cutting the cfpb's fwouget a proposal that democrats supported in committee. the important work of the cfpb will not be undermined on our watch. and this back door attempt to cut its budget sets a dangerous precedent of using bipartisan bills as a way to sneak through

measures that undermine the bureau's independence and its ability to protect consumers. mr. chairman, we don't understand on this side of the aisle why it is that our republican friends hate the cfpb so much and have done so much to undermine them, to undercut them, to try to reduce their funding. they know as well as we know that prior to the establishment of the consumer financial protection bureau that we put into dodd-frank's reforms, consumers had no protections in the government of the united states of america. our regulatory agencies were not doing their jobs. they said they were focused on safety and soundness but who was working for the consumers? nobody. and so now we have a bureau working for the consumers that's doing a wonderful job and here we have every attempt that you can dream of, every scheme that you can think of being levied

by our friends on the opposite side of the aisle because they want to kill the consumer financial protection bureau. as i have said, not going to happen on our watch. they can try any trick they want, we're on it. with that, mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. neugebauer: thank you mr. chairman. i would just remind the ranking member that the republicans during the rules committee hearing asked if they had a pay-for that they would like to offer in substitute for that. and they chose not to. so i think what we're hearing that the minority is choosing to say that small businesses in this country aren't worth $9 million. and what $9 million is, is in three minutes that will be the increase in our national debt in this country system of republicans do take our deficit serious. and the rules of this house take

that serious because the rules of the house require that when you have an increase in mandatory spending you have to have an offset to that and what republicanning were trying to do is follow the rules of the house. it's now my pleasure to acknowledge the gentleman from north carolina, mr. pittinger, one of the primary sponsors of the legislation, yield him such time as he may consume. the chair: the gentleman from north carolina, mr. pittinger, is recognized for such time as he may consume. mr. pittinger: thank you mr. chairman i do rise today in support of h.r. 1195, the bureau of consumer financial protection advisory board's act. the consumer financial protection bureau continues to issue regulations designed for massive, systemic risks if -- systemic risk financial institutions. considering how those same rules harm small business community banks and credit unions. that's why my good friend and

colleague denny heck joined with me to establish an advise board in the cfpb. the goal is simple, to advise and consent with cfpb to consider how any regulations would impact the small business community. members of the board must represent a small business dealing with financial services products. the legislation also encourages the cfpb director to ensure participation of women and minority owned small businesses when appointing members to the board. h.r. 1195 also makes permanent the credit union advisory council and the community bank advisory council, both of which are currently voluntary but they could be eliminated at any time at the discretion of this the cfpb director. credit unions and community banks are struggling under enormous compliance burdens

designed for too big to fail banks. they're hiring compliance officers instead of loan officers. meaning less access to capital for small business to grow and create jobs. clear and open communication between the cfpb, small businesses community banks and credit unions will improve rule making and lead to better outcomes for consumers. h.r. 1195 is supported by the credit union national association, the u.s. chamber of commerce, the american land title sorblingse and the independent community bankers association. this legislation also enjoys strong bipartisan support having passed out of the financial services committee by a vote of 53-5. allow me a moment to address the concern that was raised by the ranking member and other democratic colleagues. their objection of how we

propose to pay for the advisory boards. the c.b.o. estimate this is legislation will cost taxpayers $9 million over a 10-year period. in those same years, the cfpb will have access to $6.7 billion in operating funds. we pr propose making a very small reduction, just 0.1%, to the amount the cfpb is allowed to draw, which will pay for the advisory boards without additional cost to taxpayers. if the cfpb can't find $9 million in savings over 10 years out of a to tall potential dru of $6.7 billion they need another advisory board of small business owners who will travel to d.c. to teach the cfpb how to budget. you know mr. chairman, our

economy is growing today at a tepid rate of 2.2%. we have in reality about 12% unemployment. when you consider that under-- when you consider the underemployed and those who have given up. small banks and lending institutions and other lending institutions are under enormous compliance restrictions and guidelines, the same as the major banks. they need a voice at the table. we need opportunity. we need people to be able to expand their businesses. yet they can't get capital through these small banking lending institutions. that's what this bill is all about. it's all about jobs. it's all about families and people's lives and their futures. the cfpb is supposed to be focused on protecting consumers not protecting bureaucrats fiefdoms and perks. our commonsense, bipartisan legislation helps focus the cfpb

on their sole, core mission of benefiting consumers. small businesses create jobs. bureaucrats create rules. please join me in supporting h.r. 1195 so that heavy handed d.c. regulators are forced to take time to consider how their burdensome and unnecessary regulations negatively impact small business and make necessary adjustments to protect consumers while allowing small businesses, credit unions and community banks to help grow the economy and create good paying jobs. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time to the gentleman from texas, mr. neugebauer. the chair: the gentleman yields back. does the gentleman from texas reserve? mr. neugebauer: reserve. the chair: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. waters: thank you, mr. chairman. the next gentleman you're going to hear from this side of the aisle is the author of the

legislation that certainly would have given small business a seat at the table at the cfpb he worked very hard on this bill and he's one of those persons on our committee that reaches across the aisle all the time for bipartisan effort. the gentleman from washington, mr. heck who i yield 10 minutes to for his presentation. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for 10 minutes. mr. heck: let us be clearly prior to this bill it was mr. pit enengineer, who worked hard for nearly the past two years so we might have an opportunity to vote upon it. i cannot ex ag engineer ate to

you, how how surreal i find it, but i stand here now and ask my colleagues, vote no against this bill. oppose the bill that i have worked so hard on for nearly two years. its content, prior to its arrival in rules has been laid. credit union advisory codify the small community bank and create a nonbank advisory board for the appraisers, the real estate agents, all people that the bureau regulates and with whom they have a conversation going with respect to the proposed regulations. it wasn't easy getting here before rules. it was a lot of back and forth and compromising along the way. we had to allay fierce from the consumer groups. we accepted amendments, we broadened the bill and did a lot of things but with a collaborative spirit, we did

pass the bill out of committee 53-5. and then a torch was put to it. a torch was put to it. as has been described, the bill includes so-called pay-for cap to lower the funds by $45 million by the year 2020 and $100 million by the year 2025. it is bad policy and bad precedent and completely unnecessary. the amendment was inserted under color of being a pay-for. i have a couple of problems with that. the first is obvious, c.b.o. projection is $9 million and cap of $45 million and $100 million and second is the fact about how the rule is applied, which has been heralded here and as an important rule to provide for

pay-fors when there are expenditures caused by a proposed legislation. the motivation is inscrupettable to me. i don't know how you do it with a straight face. literally a matter of hours ago, voting for $300 billion with a b with no pay-for and stand up here and say we have to have a pay-for for $9 million. but $300 billion was ok. i say sincerely you i don't know how you do it with a straight face. there is so much that i find surreal. much of the debate was questioning practices by the agency. the truth of the matter is g.s.a. took over construction two-plus years ago, but that's the issue. write an amendment to the g.s.a. budget don't punish cfpb.

the funding is unique and has to be curtailed? maybe that's true. check the history. it was a republican who wanted it funded by the fed. mr. shelby. may be unique in that way. it has been suggested that cfpb is nonbudgeted, so, guess what? so is every other bank, regulator agency in the federal government. the fdic, the fed itself, f.h.f.a. they are all nonbudgeted. but let's pick this one out of the pack. there is so much about this that is surreal to me. i have -- i believe there is a bit of a trial under way here today and we are laying a marker down on april 21 on whether or not we are actually going to be able to function in a bipartisan

way. we did. it took hard work. 18-plus months. 53-5 in committee and now as i say, we are putting a torch to it. we are going to decide -- this is a test. are we going to use the cfpb as a piggy bank to pay for all other matter of agendas and ask them to swallow this poison pill in the goal of getting a bipartisan bill passed. it's a test of whether or not we are going to do it and it is an experiment to see how radical we can change bills and still keep yes votes in the matter of consistency although there is no consistency in the proposed pay-fors and that legislation that passed last week. in addition to the estate tax and sales tax totalling $300

billion. nobody offered pay-fors on those. so it is inconsistent. this is surreal. standing here asking you to oppose the bill that i worked so hard on with mr. pirt enengineer. it is surreal. i'm reminded of my favorite passage. everything would be nonsense, nothing would be what it is because it would be what it isn't. and what it wouldn't be, it would you see. this is surreal. i saved my strongest assertion that what is the most sad about this and i said this in rules and i'm going to say it now, you know, you know you're killing this bill. you're killing it and evidently

don't care. 18 months of hard work out the window to do something good and worth while. but you know you are killing the bill. you know you are killing it because you're not passing it veto proof and the administration has as the ranking member suggested already stated the administration policy. this bill will never see the light of day in the united states senate. you are killing the bill we worked on for two years to help non-bank businesses have a better structured instution nationalized relationship and you are doing it by inconsistently applying a house rule which you grant waivers left and right when you were of a mind. this is good legislation. my friend from north carolina has worked hard and frankly and i'll say it, he deserves better than this. this bill deserves better than this. the businesses that are regulated than to kill this

bill, which is what you are assuredly doing. vote no on my bill. thank you very much. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair will remind members they are to direct their remarks to the chair. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. neugebauer: recognize myself for one minute. i appreciate the gentleman's comments. i want to remind him that the g.s.a. only took over the management of the project, not the budget. so g.s.a. doesn't have control over this entity's budget. and i think that is troubling me is my colleagues are talking about a drastic cut. so you got an entities that can draw $6.7 billion over a 10-year period and $7 million is a drastic cut.

basically, the c.b.o. says this bill is revenue neutral and these numbers that are coming up $45 million. those are cfpb numbers. but these are the nonpartisan c.b.o. numbers. so i think one of the things we have to do is deal in the facts and reality here and this is a small amount of money. at this time mr. chairman i recognize the gentleman from illinois, mr. dold, for three minutes. the chair: the gentleman from illinois, mr. dold, is recognized for three minutes. mr. dold: i thank the chairman for yielding the time. i rise in strong support of this bill. and i thank my friend from north carolina for his work and my friend from washington on his work as well on what should be a bipartisan bill. honestly, i think the american public, mr. chairman, look at what's happening on the floor are going to be baffled by it as

well. as a small business owner, let me tell you, there are 29 million small businesses in our nation. 99% are considered small businesses. 56 million americans work in these small businesses. last i checked, labor participation rate is near a three-decade low. new jobs are created by small businesses. 2/3 are created by small business. this is a bill that would basically say to the cfpb, we want you to have a small business advisory board. with all of the businesses that are out there, the consumer financial protection bureau, an agency in washington that sets the rules and regulations which has far-reaching impacts completely fails to ensure that small businesses have a

permanent seat at the table when they are making decisions decisions that impact the lives of millions of americans and businesses across the land. this is a commonsense piece of legislation. if we are going to talk about small businesses, my goodness, please, let's have small business representation at the table. mr. chairman, there's a lot of decisions that get made in this chamber. there's a lot of decisions that get made in washington. i have to tell you, one of the things i try to do, is i try to surround myself with people it impacts. if we talk about health care, i surround myself with physicians nurses and patients to determine how a bill that comes to the floor would be impact. surround yourself and educate yourself. the fact that the cfpb doesn't already have a small business advisory board or voice at the

table is unacceptable. unacceptable in today's day and age. this is something that we need to support. and frankly, i want it to be a bipartisan bill. and the underlying substance of it is bipartisan and only at the last minute are we talking about not making this a bipartisan bill over the pay-for. mr. chairman, i want you to think about this for a second, as a business gets regulated time and again, they don't come with a pay-for there. they said this is what we need you to do and you find a way to pay for it. this body should be saying to the cfpb, mr. chairman -- the chair: recognized for one more minute. mr. dold: to the director we are saying, get small business input into what you arey thinking. and in order to do that, the

dollars that are out there, mr. chairman are talking about trying to fly people in, small businesses in. that's where the dollars are coming from. we think the c.b.o. has scored this at about $9 million out of the budget over 10 years. surely this can't be the thing that's killing the bill. there's got to be something that is killing the bill. the american public are going to roll their eyes and say you got to be kidding me. we are going to disregard small businesses to weighing in on something that is going to impact the economy because they don't want to take which could be $9 million in air fare to get the small business advisory board to come to washington. if we find there is a problem i will be the first one to say we need to fix this. this is a problem that we need to solve and i encourage my colleagues on both sides of the

aisle to get small businesses engaged. the chair: time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? ms. waters: i would like to remind the gentleman from illinois, that mr. heck worked hard to put small business advisory at the table and to codify the other businesses that the cfpb had already put at the table. they snatched it right away from the table. they took away small business. i yield to the gentleman from minnesota, the gentleman who is the co-chair of the progressive caucus and a member of the financial services committee, five minutes. the chair: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for five minutes. mr. ellison: i thank the gentlelady for the time. the bill was bipartisan, but the amendment was not. and the amendment, which was rigidly partisan is what has put this good idea in a spice of

being very partisan on this house floor. you would have thought that after the hard work that mr. heck put into this bill, that maybe somebody would have listened to him and said, you know, mr. heck, you put your time in on this bill, we're not going to do this to your bill but going to stick with that bipartisan that we all along, but that has gone missing in this place. . be and no small business person listening to this debate should be bamboozled, tricked or led astray to believe that rhetoric on this floor is about helping them. the fact is a lot of small business people are protected by predatory lenders that the cfpb stops.

a lot of small business people open their business with a credit card. you rely on the cfpb to keep the predation away from them. they are in fact the beneficiaries of the work of the cfpb. but i want to say that all of these bills to attack the cfpb harm the american people. these bills make it easier to steer them into costly loans strip their wealth. these bills divert the cfpb resources from protecting consumers to costly, unnecessary, bureaucratic activities. last week we had a bill to repeal the cfpb rules that protect buyers of manufactured homes from what had before been dodd-frank a predatory market. enough democrats voted enough on h.r. 650 to sustain the president's veto. that's a good things. we should not remove consumer protections for high-cost loans, targeted buyers of manufactured homes. but also last week the g.o.p.

brought another bill which would weaken the cfpb protections against controlled business arrangements in real estate transactions. today, the republican majority takes what is a good idea. h.r. 1195 would require the cfpb to establish a small business advisory council. pretty fair idea. you could argue that it's already there, but if you don't believe it is not at all a highly objectionable bill. in fact, it has merit. what's wrong with a little bit more input from small business? that's a good thing. but the fact of the matter is it is a trojan horse used to attack the cfpb all over again. my question is this -- why would you want to destroy an organization that has identified $5.3 billion, which

is the approximate amount of relief to consumers ordered by the cfpb enforcement actions? $5.3 billion they have saved hardworking americans from predatory lenders. why in the world unless you favor predation in financial markets, would you be against the cfpb? 15 million consumers who receive relief because of the cfpb, 15 million people and i hope they let their voices be heard all over across the united states against these people who relentlessly try to rip down the cfpb. $208 million is the amount of money that is ordered to be paid in civil penalties as a result of cfpb enforcement actions against people who do not help the market, they distort the market. the cfpb helps business because good honest, decent businesses are full of them. the ones that play by the rules, they get harmed when a

cheater goes without being punished. when a business that cuts corners and abuses consumers does not get eliminated from the market or punished because of their bad behavior, it means that playing by the rules is no longer profitable thing to do. the cfpb makes the market work as it should. 145 banks and credit unions under the cfpb advisory -- supervisory authority as of june 2014. that's a good thing. 30 million consumers with debts in collection larger -- consumer with debts in collection, larger debt collection companies are now under federal supervision for the first time because of the cfpb in the amount of $30 million. the fact is the cfpb is a good institution. vote no on this trojan horse

bill. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized. >> mr. chairman, i recognize myself for one minute? mr. barton: i'm delighted to hear my colleagues on the other -- mr. neugebauer: i'm delighted to hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are concerned about the millions of dollars. i wish they would be -- the cfpb would spend $216 million in luxury renovations of a building they do not own and to find out that taxpayers are also going to get to fund a two-story waterfall that falls into sunken gardens and with a glass staircase. four-story glass staircase. and how about the spending of $14 million on marketing and advertising? and how about the $61.3 million they spent on management consulting fees? it's -- it should be affront to

small businesses around the country that an organization that can't control their spending is being asked not to spend $9 million additional so we can have small businesses to have a voice he had table. with that, mr. chairman, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. pittenger. the chair: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for an additional two minutes. mr. pittenger: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. chairman. really, what we're talking about is the merits of entitling this enormous agency, the largest in the history of this country the consumer financial protection bureau, accountable to nobody accountable not to the executive branch, not to the congress. they are able to do whatever they want to do. they make all their own rules. they determine the winners. they determine the losers.

they have zero accountability. so then let's discuss their funding. $6.7 billion over a 10-year period and, yes, what we're talking about is an offset to pay for an advisory board to protect small business. $9 million. that's .1%. let's look at the priorities, then of the cfpb. truly would any of us lease a building, not own it and spend $216 million on renovations? that's more per square foot than any luxury hotel in las vegas. yes how about a two-story waterfall into a sunken garden? how magnificent. is that more important than an advisory board that's for small business to ensure we can create jobs? how about a green roof?

four-story glass staircase? cost millions. is that more important than an advisory board for small business? how about a tree bosk and a timber porch? how lovely. so their employees can have a place of restful contemplation and meditation. do bureaucrats really need a serene place to rest while they're on the job, or are concerned about their plight? my goodness, here are the struggling, hardworking, tax-paying americans trying to build their businesses trying to find capital, looking to community banks who are under siege with burdensome regulations, the same as the major banks. this isn't right. this makes no sense. this is not fair. we need to get priority -- give priority where priority is due.

the chair: the gentleman from north carolina's time has expired. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. waters: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield to the gentlelady from wisconsin two minutes. she serves on the financial services committee and a strong supporter of the consumer financial protection bureau, two minutes to ms. moore. the chair: the gentlewoman from wisconsin is recognized for two minutes. ms. moore: thank you so much, madam ranking member. i really -- i rise in opposition to h.r. 1195 and not because i don't think it's a wonderful idea that mr. heck has come up with, along with his colleague from the republican side for a small business advisory panel at the consumer financial protection bureau. you know prior to the consumer financial protection bureau, we had example after example after example of wall street preying on consumers and treating working class americans just like an a.t.m. to feather their bonuses. but here today we find yet

another not so veiled attempt to defund the cfpb. and i guess i could take the pay-go rules a little bit more seriously if just last week we hadn't repealed the estate tax to the tune of $270 billion for the 6,000 wealthy americans who will benefit from that. it's a tax where only 6,000 people benefit from it. and i'm certainly not looking for a pay-for. i'm just pointing out the hypocrisy with the notion that we have to offset this $9 million for the cfpb. as has been mentioned, the cfpb has returned $5.3 billion to more than 15 million consumers that have been harmed by financial fraud. and i think pay-go is just more of a convenient excuse to cut the cfpb than an actual

principle that we follow here. and i urge my colleagues to stand up for the american consumers and oppose these attempts to attack the cfpb and to expos our constituents to these -- expose our constituents to these emboldened financial fraudsters. let's reject h.r. 1195 and i yield back to the gentlelady from california. the chair: the gentlewoman from wisconsin yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. neugebauer: can i inquire how much time remains on both sides? the chair: the gentleman from texas has 11 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentlewoman from california has five minutes remaining. mr. neugebauer: mr. chairman i'll reserve. the chair: the gentleman from texas continues to reserve. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. waters: mr. chairman, i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from maryland, ms. edwards. the chair: the gentlewoman from maryland, ms. edwards, is recognized for two minutes.

ms. edwards: thank you, mr. chairman, and i thank the ranking member for yielding. i came to this floor opposed to this version of h.r. 1195, and as i've wlistened to the debate, i have -- listened to the debate, i've become more opposed to the legislation. most fifth graders know a trojan horse when they see one and this legislation is indeed a trojan horse and let me tell you why. once again republicans are trying to roll back and limit consumer protections. once guenther' attacking the consumer financial protection bureau by adding -- once again they're attacking the crppingcrpping by stripping funding from the cfpb -- the cfpb by stripping funding from the cfpb. and they go pretending to help small businesses and community banks and credit unions but gutting the agency that's responsible for protecting consumers.

we saw the fallout of the financial crisis. right in my district in prince george's county, in baltimore city where homeowners lost their homes and it was black and latino families who suffered the most in prince george's county and baltimore city, and it's not over for us. many of those homeowners were small business owners, and what they did is that they used their homes to leverage their businesses and they can't do that anymore because they're still underwater and because the rules are still set against them. we're still in crisis and we need a robust, unencurvered, unburdened consumer financial protection bureau to protect consumers homeowners and small businesses that are still struggling and are vulnerable. we need a robust lifeline cfpb, and our credit unions and community banks are struggling because they need real relief that is hiddened behind this trojan horse legislation. many of my republican colleagues have long opposed the cfpb, and they long sought

to dismantle it. this legislation is no different. it needs to be defeated, and if they want bipartisan legislation, we need to start all over again and do something that really is in the interest of consumers. and with that i yield the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman from maryland yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. neugebauer: mr. chairman, i continue to reserve. we don't have any further speakers on our side. the chair: the gentleman from texas continues to reserve. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. waters: thank you very much, mr. chairman. i think that we've done a very good job on this side of the aisle of exposing what is happening on the opposite side of our aisle as simply an attempt to try and gut and demean the consumer financial protection bureau. let me just deal with this argument that they made about the cost of renovation for the cfpb.

bloomberg businessweek in an article entitled "republican attacks on cfpb office renovation don't add up" found that republicans took liberties with their math, using data from a report prepared by the cfpb's inspector general, bloomberg found that renovation would only cost $421 per square foot if you inflate the price by including rental of temporary space and paying for movers compared to the g.o.p. claim of $590. actual construction costs are only $283 per square foot, half of what the republicans claim. however, and i think this is very interesting, there's one very expensive renovation happening in washington, d.c., right now. it is the cannon office building which houses members and committees of the house of representatives all in cost of the renovation for the cannon

building, approved by speaker boehner will be $753 million, or $911 per square foot. . if we want to talk about high costs, look at ourselves here in congress for what we are doing. having said that, i just wonder why the continued attack on the cfpb. maybe because somebody else is being protected. let's look at some of the work. a settlement against jpmorgan, after uncovering a scheme where loan officers illegally referred customers to affiliated businesses in exchange for cash and marketing services. and look at july, 2014, settlement against rome finance

for a predatory lending scheme by hiding finance charges and withholding billing statements and engaging in illegal debt collection practices. july, 2014 against payday lender, for $10 million for trapping consumers in a skikeal of -- cycle of debt as well as illegal debt collection practices. i could go on and on and on. how the consumer financial protection bureau has taken on some of the biggest corporations, biggest businesses in this country to protect consumers. what is it you are afraid of? what are you worried about? why are you trying to applaud them for making sure that the consumers don't continue to be taken advantage of the way they were prior to 2008 when we

didn't have any consumer protection. i ask you to question yourself about why you hate the consumer financial protection bureau so much. the chair: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. neugebauer: i have read h.r. 1195. and let me tell you what it doesn't do, first. it doesn't shut down the cfpb and doesn't prevent the bureau of carrying out its consumer protection. what they have been saying, what they have been doing in a positive way, they can continue to do that. nor will the employees of cfpb have to take a pay cut. nor will the construction project and the other consulting fees that keep passing out, will those be impact pakistanned in

any -- impacted in any way. you need to go back and read the bill. the bill doesn't say anything about killing the cfpb. what does 119 do? it provides a voice for small businesses in this country, the number one job creators in this country, the people that are on the front line, it allows them to have a voice, but an agency that has a huge impact on the future of this country and codifies that community banks and credit unions have a voice at the table in the future. one of the bill's sponsors said he is sad. i'm sad people today are on this floor arguing that paying for a program that will provide a voice for our small businesses is a point of contention.

that somehow we are not acting in a bipartisan way. this is a bipartisan bill. it passed by voice vote in the last congress and passed overwhelming 55-5 in the fin hshal services committee a week ago. so -- i think we have to focus on what this bill does. and this bill does make sure that small businesses have a voice moving forward. if we have a government that doesn't listen to the people, then we don't have good government. this bill is about good government. saying to the american people that the bureaucrats may not have the answers. so it's good to have the people that are out there running businesses that have expertise in those areas that this agency is trying to regulate and set precedence for. it's good for government to listen to these people. and so, mr. chairman, i

encourage my colleagues to pass and vote for 1195. with that, i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from texas yields back. all time for general debate having now expired on h.r. 119 . pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. the amendment printed in part c of house report 114-74 shall be considered as adopted and the bill as amended shall be considered as read. no further amendment shall be in order except those printed in part b of the report. each such further amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report by a member designated in the report. shall be considered as read, shall be debated equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to demand for siffings of the question.

it is now in order to consider amendment number one printed in part b of house report 114-74. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new hampshire seek recognition? ms. kuster: i have an amendment at the desk, amendment number one and i offer that amendment at this time. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: printed in part d of house report 114-74 offered by ms. kuster of new hampshire. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 200, the gentlewoman from new hampshire, ms. kuster, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new hampshire. ms. kuster: my amendment is straightforward. the underlying bill encourages, but does not require, the director of the consumer financial protection bureau to include women-owned small

businesses and minority-owned businesses on the board. it encourages the director to include financial institutions serving underserved communities in the membership of the credit union advisory council and the community bank advisory council. my amendment would change the underlying bill to make the inclusion of these groups a requirement to ensure that a broad and diverse range of voices are included in these bodies. federal regulators should listen to stakeholders when writing new rules and this help will be more representative of the american people. with that. i urge support for my amendment. and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman from new hampshire reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. neugebauer: mr. chairman i claim time in opposition to this

amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. neugebauer: thank you, mr. chairman. the underlying language in this bill was a bipartisan agreement that was worked out in the last congress. when we were marking up this bill previously, it was brought up that minority representation would be important to this bill and so the chairman of the committee, mr. hensarling, stopped the deliberation there and worked in a bipartisan way to work with ms. waters to put language in the bill that would encourage the director that small business advisory board were taken into consideration and so, we have addressed that and we kept that language that was agreed to and was passed by a voice vote. mr. pittenger accepted that amendment and the bill reported out of the committee 53-5. basically, we have kept our word

and kept in the spirit of the agreement that was negotiated in the previous congress and that language is in this underlying bill. i would encourage folks not to vote for this amendment and i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from new hampshire is recognized.sk for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: does the the gentlewoman from new hampshire yield back? ms. kuster: i do. mr. neugebauer: i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from new hampshire. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it and the amendment is not agreed to. ms. waters: i request the yeas and nays. the chair: does the gentlewoman request a recorded vote? ms. waters: yes. the chair: pursuant to clause 6,

rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from new hampshire will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 2 printed in part b of house report 114-74. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new hampshire seek recognition? ms. kuster: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk, amendment number 2 and i offer that amendment at this time. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2 printed in house report 114-74 offered by ms. kuster of new hampshire. the chair: the the gentlewoman from new hampshire, ms. kuster, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new hampshire. ms. kuster: the underlying bill before us today sthorses a small business advisory board to advise the protection bureau on small businesses and practices. i agree that small businesses

must have a seat at the table when federal regulators make decisions with wide-arranging consequences for our economy and i appreciate that this legislation encourages the participation of women-owned and minority-owned businesses on the board. these entrepreneurs have unique prospecttives and concerns and they would be well served by leading their input. similarly, as a member of the veterans affairs committee, veteran-owned entrepreneurs have experiences in the economy and i believe that the small business advisory board would be strengthened by the inclusion of veteran small business owners. my amendment encourages the cfpb director to include veteran-opened small businesses in the membership of the small business advisory board. after fighting to protect the american dream for all of us, many veterans have realized that same american dream by starting

their own business upon their return to civilian life. we owe it to our returning heroes to support their success. i urge support for my amendment. and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. neugebauer: i claim time in opposition to this amendment, although i'm not opposed to it. the chair: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. neugebauer: thank you, and i would like to yield to the the gentleman from knew -- new hampshire for four minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. guinta: we have the highest amount of veterans per capita. and the gentlelady from new hampshire and myself understand the importance of working together to support our veterans

and veteran-owned businesses. there are hundreds of these businesses in new hampshire alone and need to ensure our commitment does not end with their term. i thank the gentlelady. and the full house to support this amendment and i would encourage them to support h.r. 1195, despite the objections in the pay-for that was earlier discussed, and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman is recognized. mr. neugebauer: we support this thoughtful amendment and we yield back. the chair: the gentleman from texas yields back. ms. kuster: i yield to the gentlelady from california such time as she may consume.

ms. waters: thank you, very much, mr. chairman. i rise in support of this amendment. i would like to thank the gentlewoman from new hampshire for offering this measure to ensure that the concern of our nation's veteran-owned businesses are represented on the small advisory board this legislation creates. our nation veterans who put their lives on the line for this country. and when they come home and decide to start a small business they are carrying forth that patriotic duty by taking a risk for the betterment of our nation just as our nation has the responsibility to care for those who return from battle, we have the duty to ensure that those who served in our armed forces have a voice at the table. early on, the cfpb recognized the unique needs of service members veterans and their families by creating an office targeted to address their needs.

likewise, small businesses owned by veterans comprise a subset of our nation's economic backbone that should not be ignored. this amendment views it in the same manner as small business owners. while i support this amendment, i believe in its goals, i remain strongly opposed to the underlying bill which would impose cuts to the consumer financial protection bureau and would set a precedent that could ultimately lead to a time when the nation's leading consumer advocate is cash strapped and underfunded and financially unable to unable to ensure that the views are appropriately taken into account. i thank you and i would reserve the balance of my time if there's any left. . the chair: the gentlewoman

cannot reserve. ms. kuster: i yield back the balance of my time. thank you. the chair: the gentlewoman from new hampshire yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from new hampshire. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. neugebauer: madam chair, i move that the committee do now rise. the chair: the question is on the motion that the committee rise. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed no. the ayes have it, the motion is adopted. accordingly, the committee rises.

the speaker pro tempore: madam chair. the chair: mr. speaker, the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h.r. 1195 directs me to report that it -- has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chairman of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union has had under consira h.r. 1195 and has come to no resolution thereon. the chair lays before the house a message. the clerk: to the congress of the united states, i am pleased to transmit to the congress pursuant to subsections 123-b and 123-d of the atomic energy act of 1954, as amended, the text of a proposed agreement for cooperation between the government of the united states of america and the government of the people's republic of

china concerning peaceful uses of nuclear energy. i am also pleased to transmit my written approval authorization in determination concerning the agreement and an unclassified nuclear proliferation assessment concerning -- assessments statement concerning the agreement. the joint memorandum submitted to me by the secretaries of state and energy and a letter from the chairman of the nuclear regulatory commission stating the views of the commission are also enclosed. an addendum to the naaps containing a comprehensive analysis of china's export control system with respect to nuclear-related matters including interactions with other countries and -- of proliferation concern and the actual or suspected nuclear dual use or missile related transfers pursuant to section 108-w of the national security act of 1947 is being submitted separately by the director of

national intelligence. the proposed agreement has been negotiated in accordance with the act and other applicable law. in my judgment it meets all applicable statutory requirements and will advance the nonproliferation and other foreign policy interests of the united states. the proposed agreement provides a comprehensive framework for peaceful nuclear cooperation with china based on a mutual commitment to nuclear nonproliferation. it would permit the transfer of material equipment, components information and technology for nuclear research and nuclear power production. it does not permit transfers of any restricted data. transfers of sensitive nuclear technology, sensitive nuclear facilities and major critical components of such facilities may only occur if the agreement is amended to cover such transfers. in the event of termination, key nonproliferation conditions and controls continue with respect to material equipment and components subject to the

agreement. i have considered the views and recommendations of the interested departments and agencies in reviewing the proposed agreement and determined its performance will not have unreasonable risk to the common defense and security. accordingly, i have approved the proposed agreement and authorized its execution and urge that the congress give it favorable consideration. signed barack obama, the white house, april 21, 2015. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on foreign affairs and ordered printed. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess>> "washington journal"

continues. host: our guest is the co-author of the book "running from office, while young americans are turned off to politics." she is jennifer lawless, joining us now. why is the turn of happening. go guest:? guest: ultimately, it young people who want to save their communities think of every other option except for running for politics. host: is that because they are not exposed to politics or because they don't have interest in a? guest: for a long time there was

the sense that they were tuned out. what we find in the book, which is based on a survey with high school and college students, they are tuned out for a reason. they are turned off. they become so hypersensitive to the negative aspect of politics that they would like nothing more than not be involved in politics in their life. host: given choices of what they would like to do -- mayor of a small town did not turn out very well. tell us what is happening in this chart. guest: people were much more inclined to say they would like to go into business or education that being a mayor, in fact, being a man and being a salesperson is not very different in a young person's preference order. the same is true with elite professions.

member of congress fares worse as well. it seems that young people who are ambitious and what a high level of success, one that outside of the realm of politics. host: the chart goes on to say that being a mayor of a small town -- police officer better, journalists was better. going lower, secretary, salesperson, mechanic. guest: the only thing that was less desirable have to do is very specific trade interests. if you want to be a plumber or mechanic, you need a specific trade degree. basically any broad range profession fares better than local, state, or federal office holder. host: you as parents what they think about their kids entering politics. what was the reaction? guest: they said that their

parents would be proud of them doing anything, but they would rather anything the sites that. politics is ugly. both in the surveys and when we interviewed young people for long. the time -- for long. thost: a lot of it is based on perception. what is the largest shaper of that? is a parents are other factors? guest: family socialization has always been a big factor. civic engagement. it is not only family. the messages are encouraged by teachers who do not encourage them to run for office, coaches and the media. both in terms of mainstream media, but also political satire is or pundits on tv, reinforcing the most negative aspects of the political arena. host: our guest will talk about

young people and their perception of politics. "running from office, why young americans are turned off the politics." (202) 748-8001, republicans. (202) 748-8000, democrats. (202) 748-8002 independents. we have also set aside a line for people that we consider young people aged 18 to 30, (202) 748-0003. guest: we found that college students were more likely than high school students to consider running for office, but overall 89% of the next iteration had already ruled it out as an incredibly unattractive endeavor. host: when you talk to them, is it a street paper survey, an

interview? how did you come up with the people you talk to for the book? guest: it is both. the survey was an online survey of a national random sample. we supplemented that survey with about 115 45 minutes on our phone interviews with kids. the phone interviews allowed us to understand in more depth the reasons behind the interest in running for office. host: what are some things that struck you as far as their perception of politics and whether they would go to politics or not? guest: one has to do with the disconnect between what they think a good leader is like and what politicians are like. time and again, they told us they thought they were cooperative, able to get along well with others good problem solvers, and that there was no place for it is kind of skills in of local arena. they would reference the stalemate, the government shutdown, for example, and

highlight that these are the types of problems that they don't think politicians are taking seriously. host: when you talk to them, are they shape by specific leaders? going back to president bush president clinton, president obama? guest: we asked them about their first clinical memories. for some it was bill clinton. their memory of bill clinton was the monica lewinsky scandal and a president lying his finger and saying, i did not have sexual relations of that woman, which turned out to be a lie. for others it is george bush, which has to do with misleading people about weapons of master structure. whether it is bush or clinton it happens to be embedded in things that were not true. host: does president obama have any role as far shaping their perceptions? guest: people who admire

political figures are more inclined to say they would be interested in running for office. these them with our overall quite low, but ones who admire president, in this case, barack obama, are more willing to say they would run. there is a race gap there. african-americans and latinos were more likely to say that they admired obama, and as a result, were more likely to be interested in running for office. host: jennifer lawless, our guest. the first line call for use from woodstock, illinois. go ahead. caller: i'm calling because of the time i went to school, "lord of the flies" was essential reading. -- was required reading. ted cruz use that book to describe the political arena.

in my opinion, it is important to consider that book when considering whether or not ted cruz could be the equivalent of politics today. also, we need to ask, the title of the book refers to something. when you had someone on interviewing, i think, jessica stern, about what to do with isis. the suggestion was that young people could contribute their savvy and electronics. i want them to ask, through the venue of "lord of the flies," the translation of that name is build a bomb. host: let's take the idea of electronics. it seems like young people are seeking information, particularly about politics. what are you finding? guest: the irony here is that accessing political remission is easier than it has ever been.

with the touch of a device, you can get any political information that you are interested in getting. that means the raw material is therefore young people to find out about the political system and engage in it. the problem is what they find, they don't look, and they stop looking. i think we have an opportunity here to engage the generation in the way that they like to communicate, but in doing so, we have to be creative because less to their own devices, they are actually using the devices for anything other than political news. host: so the best way for engagement would be what? guest: and the book, we propose a series of solutions. one of them is to actually let people think that politics could be useful. we have a situation now where young people and adults alike tend to view politics through a lens. they look at the most the functional -- dysfunctional aspects in washington and think that it translates.

the overwhelming majority of people who occupy less and offices are not involved in gridlock. they are not doing this just out of their own self interest and quite frankly, i don't think most federal officials are either. if we can go around federal politics and let people know how to solve problems and communities, and all the things that running for office could address, we could be off to a good start. host: joe is from maryland. independent line. caller: i don't know if a doing your research -- one thing i keep you in from young people's is the appearance of a lack of integrity. you've seen all the scandals with members of congress, and so forth. there was one issue that came up a number of years ago. first of all, the president had to put, when he was elected, all of his investment into a blind trust. however, members of congress are not required to do so, yeah,

they probably have more influence over rules regulations, and so forth than the president does. a bill was introduced by senator to do that. yet, it was voted down, one vote for it and the rest against it. i don't understand why we can't have members of congress held to the same standards as the president and therefore not have the influence over making decisions or rules and regulations that will favor certain companies or industries where they then can invest and reap some sort of award from that. guest: i think we have reached the point in time now where most people can identify problems with the way the political system works. problems that it is the elected officials responsible for creating the reform necessary to change their behavior. the good news for young people is that their general discussed

and distaste is not linked to specific policies. it is not linked to specific actions or bills. it is this general sense that the people in washington are not interested in doing good and solving the country's problems. i think that one of the things we can do is call on elected officials to realize that there are these long-term implications of their behavior. they can stymie everything and think they will have to pay the price later on. i doesn't matter what issue we are dealing with. not getting anything done in suggesting that obstructionism is a real policy option i think is turning people off. host: georgia, marie's is next. democrats line. caller: number one, it is entirely too hard to get on this program. i have been trying for years. that is an aside. ms. lawless, i have not read the

book yet, by hope to do so in the near future. what i have come up with and what the president has talked about is the idea of mandatory voting. i think that would go a significant amount of the way to get people involved, obviously. i think mandatory voting in association with public financing of campaigns and other elements that would bring people to the process, get them in, and get them more involved would filter down to the local level and obviously get young people more involved in the process. guest: i certainly don't think there's any downside to encouraging more people to get involved in the political process, whether it be by voting or engaging in other ways. what i can tell you though is that regardless of levels of voter turnout, it seems that the extent to which today's young people are running for office is much greater than in the past.

there have not been other national surveys of young people's political ambitions, so we cannot do a direct comparison, but when you look at kids of today compared to kids of the 70's talking about politics, we see substantial decreases. they are not necessarily less likely to vote. i think it is making them realize that they need to be more engaged than just casting a ballot. host: in your book, one survey on political activity when engaged with parents from watching election coverage, it goes to going to a vote. guest: that is good news. that seems to be where the civic engagement ends. parents will tell kids that that is the way you express your voice in a democracy. that is where they stop short of

than suggesting that their kids get involved in politics. for example, only about 2% of the people that we surveyed said their parents regularly encourage them to run for office. host: from texas, republican line, choices up next. -- joyce is up next. caller: my granddaughter is not just in politics at all. she's a freshman at college this year. she did vote. that is true. they are voting. when i tried to talk to her about real issues that will affect her directly, or even my grandson, who is in high school, they have absolutely no interest. it's like they are not connecting with that, it's not part of their life right now not relative relevant to them. she is just try to get through her exams, which she is doing very well. being interested in what is

going to affect them in the future doesn't seem to be a part of what -- i'm trying to make them understand. what they do in the senate will affect them. the loss that come in. they need to know. i think we're losing them before they ever get to college because they are not being taught what they need to know about politics , and about the judicial system and the executive branch, and the legislative branch, and how important this is to them. our country was founded on these things. they don't take an interest in it. they could lose it all. host: sorry caller. go ahead. guest: we found that about 25% of young people we interviewed fell into the category that the caller described, whether it is blatantly no interest at all. others have decided against being interested because they are so appalled by what they see.

the good news is if you take a government class and high school, a political science or government class in college, you are more likely to be tuned in. the more today and are, the more likely you see both the positive and negative aspects of politics. to the extent that we can encourage teachers and professors to integrate into their classes, even those that are not about politics, some aspect of politics, that could potentially go a long way. host: we have the numbers on the screen. also, don't forget, a line for those of you between 18 and 30 years old. (202) 748-0003. fort lauderdale, florida independent line, jack. caller: ms. lawless, your book sounds very interesting. i think is being very naive. i think you should be really pushing the younger generation to vote in this country. i was a you why. i have traveled all over the world and you realize that the

countries that are so jealous of the united states because of the democracy type of government that we have in the united states? i was over in russia when gorbachev was in charge. i was in china when -- i had a driver an interpreter and my driver had to hold his hand on the horn because they were all bicycles. when i told people i was an american, they treated me with so much respect. if you're not how they're pushing the young people to go out and vote, then our country will be ready for some type of dictatorship, and then you will have major problems. i think you and the other people being so naive, i mean very very naive -- this is a democracy. this country was set up as a democracy because we were ruled by that u.s.. we have been a democracy ever since. we are one of the greatest countries in the will because of that. i think that you people, instead

of being so naive, should really get out there and push together people because if they don't get involved, then god help the united states. thank you very much. guest: i think people should vote. i think in people should vote. the problem is there are already a lot of civic engagement organizations and allied groups focusing on the franchise and making sure that young people vote. those efforts tend to stop there. what we want to do, in this book, is call attention to the fact that there are half a million elected offices in this country and if we do not get the best and brightest to consider running for them, we will have more problems in the future. host: from pensacola, florida on the line for those 18 to 30. caller: i'm from florida. isolated comment -- i just

wanted to comment. you talk about how we need to get young people into politics. i agree. i think myself being a young person as well, there is a general discontent with the people in bc right now. i feel like a lot of people don't want to touch that. hillary clinton accepting millions of dollars from foreign nationals. people we don't even know. if i accepted money in the military from a foreign national, i would lose my security clearance, i would be fired. what kind message does that send my beer try to like someone like that to lead our country? i think that is the root of the problem. people don't want to touch that. guest: to some extent that is true. one of the biggest barriers and we found to people running for office has to do with their view of politicians. we found negative characteristics were far more common than positive ones.

in part, this is because that which is negative garners more media attention. if you are only looking at the headlights, it is unlikely that you read much about political success. to encourage people to be more interested in politics can go a long way because as they are for be through the channels or turning the pages, they may come across something that is somewhat positive. host: you make the case in the book that besides studies extracurricular activities take up a large amount of young people's time. student government is about 18% of those who registered with you. that followed by a debate. and then college democrats or college republicans at 12%. it seems like in the world of extracurricular activities politics is not winning out either. guest: exactly right. i strategically activities, the website you look at, the things you watching tv. then just thing about the figure is the most prominent activity

has to do with community service which suggests that young people do care about their communities, care about their country and the world, and want to make it better. however, they don't think of politics as a venue to do that. that is the challenge we have to face. host: from nathan in saint louis, missouri you are next on the line for those 18 to 30. caller: i am 23. i think this is a very serious issue that needs to be brought up. i know most of my friends -- and not even just younger people but older people i know -- do not like talking about politics. i think one of the big issues is television and entertainment. most people don't understand, or just don't have any education about what is going on in politics to have a feeling about what is going on. as far as people not liking

what's going on and not way to get involved, i remember a quote saying the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. i think people need to get involved. guest: it is really difficult to find portrayals of politics as a noble profession. we don't talk only about polls suggesting that parents don't feel this way our kids don't feel this way. if you look at popular culture it is not the norm. i grew up in the 1980's watching "family ties." there, you had families and children on complete opposites of the political spectrum having debates at the kitchen table. now, politics rarely makes its way into any tv show that is not about politics. you have house of cards or others but geared towards a

specific audience. it is not in the mainstream. host: from bloomington, illinois. caller: good morning. how are you this way? host: you are on. go ahead. caller: ms. lawless, i would like to make a couple of comments. i've 81 years old. i have 12 children, 39 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. we talked politics every election. we get together -- they are scattered all over the united states, but when they get home it is usually politics. i was raised a democrat. i'm still a democrat. half of my family is republican now, which i have no qualms with because we get a good voice between the people. what i am saying is we need term limits. we also need to get big money

out of politics so that these people -- younger generations from 18 to 32 -- will get a grasp of what what the world is about when it comes to politics. i don't understand why we have to spend $1 billion to elect the president. and have all this money coming in for no reason whatsoever because if we had term limits, the younger generation could get in there and get rid of the old people that are fighting us. host: when you talk to your kids at election time, is it just during the election season or does it a long time discussing the you have about politics? caller: it is long. we get on the phone sometimes when they have an election night down in north carolina or something and they will call me and asked me what i think. we will talk about on the

phone. we go to arizona flagstaff. sometimes it gets pretty heated. we talk about elections all over. even in kentucky. host: got you. thank you. guest: i think there are a lot of political reforms that could encourage more people to think about running for office. as far as term limits are concerned, we do have elections every two years. if we could get people run for office, the elections could serve as term limits. what is important and what we are tried arguing the book is that young people who are not that well versed in politics or do not necessarily know the specifics about different policies are still not at all interested in running for office. that is because of this broader sense that is not a way to get things done, or solve problems, and it is not noble. that is the challenge i think. it is not about specific changes to the system, which certainly

couldn't hurt, but it is about casting a wider net and letting young people realize that electoral office is a way to solve the problems they see. host: angela is next. go ahead. angela, good morning. caller: iron here. -- i am here. one reason i think my generation doesn't do anything is because we were raised with technology. we are kind of spoiled and take credit for other people's work. we don't go out and actually search for the information. we don't actually do anything. it's like, why would anyone actually go out to change the world? you know? on top of that, i don't know. i'm so sick. if you say something on facebook in this generation about politics or even religion, you are demonized for it. everyone in this generation will

turn around and chastise you. it's like they don't want you talking about it. you know what i'm saying? it's like socially shunned and all kinds of things. if you start speaking the truth or stand up for what is right and what you believe in. that's how we were founded. it just takes one person to stand up and what they believe in and what they believe is right. i just don't understand why this generation can't stand up and do what's right and what's right for the nation and our children, and for the future. thanks. bye. guest: 50% of this generation does want to improve the world. they do want to make the world a better place. i think there is something to set about the way they interact with each other. something that came up in interviews consistent with what we just heard, which is that people want to stay away from it because they don't want to fight

with their friends or generate disagreement. they don't want to potentially get into conflictual situations. that, in part, is linked to the way we see politics operate in washington dc. the notion of a civil, normal conversation where two people with different positions come together and have a conversation , and walk away still respect each other is not normal. i think young people have decided that that must be the way that talking about politics exist and they opt to not do it as well. host: you have a chart in your book about discussions that kids choose to have with their friends. politics comes dead last. guest: yes. dead last. current events a little higher than that. we thought initially maybe that is good news, but when we asked them what they think of current events, they mentioned the kardashians, taylor swift. for the current generation,

current events are not political events. it surprised me that pop-culture is what is defined as a current event. people who are 40, in their 50's, were 60's, people equated politics with current events. when here, people who say they are on top of what is going on they are talking about washington or their own communities. host: here is connie from brooklyn. caller: i find her very interesting. i have to agree with a lot of her comments. i have seven g grandkids. they do get involved in politics. the school actually encourages it. i retired at 70. not wanting to really, but i found myself more involved in politics because it's on my doorstep as far as running into certain situations.

the younger generation hasn't been -- except for maybe student loans -- the younger generation hasn't been pulled into the cons of politics. i will tell you one thing. the hill does not set a good example to i don't people. i think that is another reason why they are turned off. there is so much fighting between the parties that they think, i want to do something, but they are fighting with each other. it is not a very good example to give the young people. the older people kind of understand, but older people also came from a different generation where we have less television. we grew up with hearing more and talking more. i think the kids are under pressure today to get, like my

one granddaughter, she is great at homework, but she comes home, does her homework, eat supper, and goes to bed. the pressure them so much with schooling that they don't really get involved with politics on tv or read about politics. they have so much else going on. i don't mean entertainment. there are seriously get people out there who want to do something, except the government doesn't give them a good example. host: we will have to let our guest respond. guest: it is true. they don't get a good example. i'm a little reluctant to conclude that most children are like your grandchildren. we asked them how they spend a day and how they spend their week, and what they do. 97% of young people play video games on a regular basis. about that percentage of the people in our sample said they watch at least two hours of television every day. the average young person

sense about 90 texts a day. they have plenty of time to communicate them plenty of access to information. it is our incentive to make sure they have access to political information. i do not think they are not running for political office because they are busy with schoolwork. host: wouldn't make a difference if younger candidates ran for political office? guest: i think inspiring candidates matter. inspiring candidates that you can trust. i don't know if age matters. if there is a politician that you admire, you are far more likely to say that this is something you consider doing in the future. we asked only about four candidates at the time. we asked about barack obama hillary clinton, sarah palin

and mitt romney. i think a new model of politicians, someone who is reaching out to young people in particular can play a big role, by don't think a person needs to necessarily be in their 30's. host: here are the responses. it is from the book "running from office, why young americans are turned off the politics. go donnie from kentucky. you're next. caller: i have an idea that might fix all of this. what if we took the best and brightest from college and had them serve in the senate and congress. we elect the president but it truly would be serviced by the people for the people.

they would get paid a decent wage why -- 50,000 or $60,000 -- and after the service they get their college pay for ending go into the private sector. guest: that is an adjusting idea. we propose an idea that is similar. we had peace corps, teach for america, which generally reward people for giving back to their communities. there is no comparable national service program that rewards political service. we propose a national political service program where if young people are willing to step up and work in the communities in political ways and potentially meet politicians to run for political office, that might be a way to encourage young people to run. i don't think we are in a position to compel a person

to serve, but providing incentives goes a long way. right now, you can get into a very good college knowing virtually nothing about the way the political system works. we saw community service skyrocket because college admission offices like that. if we can get college admission offices to put a premium on young people knowing how the government work, i think we would see more incentives for young people to get engaged that way. host: is the stephen from grand rapids, michigan. caller: i was wondering if your book did a poll on a group of people that are in the belief that it is too convoluted. there is too much covert going on, as opposed to the overt.

we are too much of an oligarchy. was there a group that just said without a revolution, call it what you will, it will never happen? guest: we did not uncover that broad sentiment. what we did find in general was that people had such negative ideas about the way that business action against on whether it be because of behind-the-scenes or self-interest of politicians that is not congruent with constituents. not necessarily as evolutionary as what you may have described, but certainly this negative sense of -- i wouldn't want to have engage in a behavior to make things happen. host: this is ed from washington dc. democrats line. caller: good morning. i find it very interesting.

i'm concerned about our young people participating in politics. i'm going around and trying to encourage of people to get involved in politics, and what is going on today will determine what kind of world they will grow up in. i think cred c.d. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> "washington journal" live every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. live now to the house floor. barletta, suspend the rules and agree to h. concurrentres. 25 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 25 concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the capitol grounds for the national peace officers memorial service and the national honor guard and pipe band exhibition. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote.

[captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representi any u othcledaptioned covera of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly pribited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 410, the nays are zero. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to remove my name from h.r. 707. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the house will be in order. members please take your conversations off the floor.

the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, recently the pennsylvania state university agricultural extension honored anna mickey peters for her more than half severagerir of volunteerism to penn state's 4-h volunteer program. this was just the latest for mickey who was inducted into the agents hall of fame. this honor was only granted to 14 individuals from across the nation who best embodied the award motto, making the best

better. mickey was the only recipient from pennsylvania. since the 1960's he's been an -- she's demonstrated outstanding leadership. she's received the 4-h salute to excellence award thnd ee-- and the center county council award. she's worked with over 500 members and mentored over 04-h leaders. at age 83, she continues to help us all understand that every one of us have the best within ourselves and we all have the exass toy -- capacity to make the best better. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. . >> mr. speaker this marks an

anniversary of world war ii, a critical juncture in america's rebalance to the asia-pacific region. i really believe that further coori between the united states, japan and korea will play a pivotal role towards peace and prosperity throughout the world. mr. israel: next week japanese prime minister will make an historic visit to capitol hill as the first ever japanese prime minister to deliver an address to a joint session of congress. mr. speaker, that address must be honest. that address has to address japan's war time history. it has to honestly address japan's atrocities and enslavement of thousands of women, forced to work as sex slaves or comfort women. to ignore past atrocities mr. speaker, is to ensure a very troubling future. these wounds need to be closed. they need to be healed. and prime minister can do that closure, can do that healing by exposing those wounds to the light of the truth. and an apology. i'm hopeful that he will do this on this floor when he addresses us next week. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, i rise to support legislation that will benefit american manufacturers, farmers and workers. by passing trade promotion authority we can establish fair and strong rules that hold other nations accountable for their unfair trade practices and tear down the barriers that block our goods from foreign markets. passing t.p.a. is critical to ensure that we can get the best deal available from our trading partners that will benefit hardworking americans. studies have shown that jobs supported by trade earn on average more than 18% more than other jobs. in minnesota 775,000 jobs are connected to trade and we can build and improve on that by lowering regulatory barriers, by allowing access to emerging markets. with over 95% of today's world's consumers living outside the united states, we need to create a system of fair rules and he forcements so that american products and -- and enforcements so that american

products can compete on a level playing field. we have an opportunity to enact meaningful trade deals that will build a stronger and healthier economy and it begins with t.p.a. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition? mr. langevin: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. langevin: mr. speaker it's cyber week in the house again and tomorrow and thursday the house will be considering two very important pieces of information sharing legislation and commend the leadership of the intelligence and the homeland security committees for their bills. as co-chair of the congressional cybersecurity caucus, i am glad that the house once again is taking the lead to protect our networks both public and private, from attack, as well as looking to protect privacy and civil liberties. i'm also hopeful that unlike the last congresses, my colleagues in the other chamber and the senate -- chamber, in the senate, will take up their proposals so we can get a bill

on the president's desk. mr. speaker it is particularly important that we codify an information sharing framework so we can turn our attention to other challenges in the cyberdomain. from data breach to critical infrastructure protection, our ever-more connected world ensures that we will -- that there will be further need for -- and demand for congressional action. mr. speaker, i thank the leadership of the committees for their attention to this issue and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you so much, mr. speaker. i rise today to shine the spotlight on a miami constituent who courageously risked his life for a stranger. last tuesday on his way to work william ramirez witnessed miami police officer become pinned down under a hail of gun

fire. mr. ramirez bravely swerved his van into the line of fire to shield the officer, then was able to get the officer to safety. when asked why he did it, william humbly said, how could i not? well, i say william ramirez is a hero. south florida is blessed by the service of petroleummen like the officer who work every day -- patrolmen like the officer who work every day to keep us safe and we are further enstrengthened by residents like william ramirez who sometimes add heroic action to their everyday routine because it's simply the right thing to do. how could we not? thank you mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new yorkee recognio without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to speak about the importance of ambition investment -- ambitious investments in water infrastructure in every

community across our great nation. i recently wrapped up a tour of several water systems in upstate new york and what i saw was infrastructure in urgent need of attention. broken pipes, flooded communities, and a lack of technical support for our municipalities. i've spoken with colleagues on both sides of the aisle here in the house and have heard similar problems. we as a nation must always keep an eye on our debt and our deficits both current and those years down the road and to that end we must realize that investment is needed now to save dollars in the decades to come. we live in a world where we upgrade our phones, our tv's, our cars and other personal items almost every two years. it's time to apply that same mentality to the delivery system that moves around our most precious commodity, water. to my colleagues who haven't already done so, i urge them to get involved in this issue within their own communities. because it's not just h-2-o flooding out of those broken

pipes under our feet it's water plus taxpayer dollars, hard-earned taxpayer dollars with that, mr. speaker -- with that i thank you, -- dollars. with that i thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you mr. speaker. last week we saw a disturbing news of two tas screeners who allegedly -- t.s.a. screeners who allegedly conspired to sexually assault passengers. this isn't the first we heard about screeners exceeding their authority to abuse passengers. we've read about passdowns and strip searches of young children, seniors and cancer patients. instead of reining in screeners, t.s.a. has unilaterally given them the appearance of even greater authority. metal badges, blue uniforms and the title officer. when you dress someone up like a policeman and call them officer, you're misleading passengers about their actual authority. roon most people see a badge -- mr. rooney: most people see a badge and uniform and comply with the screener's demands,

even when those demands are abusive. that has to end. i've introduced the stopping t.s.a. abuses act to prohibit t.s.a. from giving screeners metal badges, police-like uniforms and the title officer. it reserves those rights for sworn officers who have actually completed law enforcement training. when you see someone wearing a federal badge and a uniform, you should have the faith that they actually received the proper training. this bill is an important step towards that goal. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor mayor prayedle of the city of naperville, illinois. a life-long naperville resident, mayor prayedle has spent his life in service to the community that he loves. george was born and raised in naperville and after a three-year detour in the marine

corps, he returned home to become a police officer. known around town as officer friendly, he served on the force for 30 years. one of his proudest achievements during his time as an officer was the dedication of safetytown a miniature town that teaches children about public safety and how to avoid danger. mr. foster: in 1995 he was first elected and served as a mayor for a record-setting 20 years, during a time of great expansion and growth for the city. the mayor led naperville with his signature mix of charm and compassion. his annual tradition of delivering the state of the city address in a tuxedo and silk top hat will certainly be missed. mayor prayedle is also a devoted husband to his beloved wife, pat and a dedicated father to his children and foster children. mayor prayedle, as you step down, and spend time with your family know that your dedication to the community and your energy and enthusiasm for

serving naperville will never be forgotten. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you mr. speaker. today is a very special day for us texans. today we celebrate san jainto day which marks the day texas won its independence at the battle of san jacinto. on this very day in 1836 general sam houston's army desifle defeated the mexican president -- decisively defeated the mexican president and the battle of san jacinta while famously shouting, remember the alamo. i'm honored and producer proud to represent this historic battlefield in the u.s. congress. which now lays home to the san jacinta monument. this monument is a staggering

and stunning piece of architecture that proudly pays tribute to the -- to texas' victory at the battle of san jacinto. since its completion in 1939, the monument has served as a symbol of pride, sacrifice and honor to not only texas but also to our local community. mr. babin: as we celebrate 179 years of freedom, let us remember the brave texas heroes who concurred the mexican forces -- conquered the mexican forces this day. may we also remember the significant sacrifices made by so many during the texas revolution. to achieve the freedoms and liberties that we proudly enjoy today in our great lone star state. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

mr. pascrell: as the united states continues to work with japan to promote peace and prosperity throughout the asia-pacific region, and the broader global community it's my hope that the prime minister visit his -- his visit next week will lay the foundation for healing and humble reconciliation by addressing the historical issue of the comfort woman. i looked for to hearing from the prime minister as japan is a close friend and ally, as is south korea. we want to encourage our close friends and allies to communicate foster ability to work together producttively. that's why i'm proud to co-sponsor resolutions in the united states congress to urge the japanese government to formally acknowledge and apologize for the imperial military's coercion of young women into sexual slavery during the 1930's and 1940's. the recognition of these events by the japanese government through the report released last year on the statement takes a step backward taking

full responsibility for the measurement, pain and incurable wounds suffered by the comfort woman. as a member of the congressional human rights caucus, i will continue to work every day to ensure that our children and our children's children can inherit a world where these types of atrocities are a thing of the past. mr. speaker, i want to recognize mike cond aye, who will be speaking in a little while. thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you mr. speaker. tomorrow is as a veterans' affairs committee member we will have a hearing on the abuses at the philadelphia veterans affairs regional officement we're going to hear a lot about the volume of mismanagement. i want to talk about one individual constituent, just to highlight that we're talking about individual lives, individual veterans that have sacrificed and have not been

treated fairly by the v.a. regional office. my constituent has had to file numerous claims for service-connected disabilities, his initial claim was filed in the mid in the 1990's, he's gone through five appeals. he's provided additional evidence per the v.a.'s request. however per a court order, the philadelphia v.a. failed to respond until well after six months. the philadelphia v.a. failed to provide the medical doctors copies of his records for his exams, on two occasions, once for an he is besses to claim, he was seen by a dwr that had to rely on his explanations of diagnosis instead of his actual file. mr. costa: many times the v.a. has -- mr. costello: many times the v.a. has had errors concerning misplacement of documentation, medical records and ignoring requests by the board. it's time for accountability. thank you, mr. speaker.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. rangel: i ask unanimous consent to address the house and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. rangel: i want to thank congressman hyundai and all the others who are asking that the prime minister of japan try to restore the integrity that has been built up to this great nation since the war. having been a combat soldier i know history will dictate that people are not particularly proud of what viciousness can come out of physical combat. without getting into the years of occupation that japan has caused so many koreans to suffer before the end of world war ii, we now have found that these two nations have rebuilt themselves to be our strongest security and

trading partners. we should remove the stigma of lack of credibility from the government of japan and certainly i think that most americans who remember pearl harbor, i was a kid, but all i knew was that the japanese had attacked us. i can't begin to tell you the visions that they tried to have us. but today they're our friends. let's try to get this behind us and move forward. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. -- >> i send to the clerk a report from the committee on rules for filing urn the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: to improve cybersecurity through sharing about cybersecurity threats and for other purposes and providing for consideration of the bill h.r. 731 to amend the homeland security act of 2002 to enhance multidirectional sharing of information related to

cybersecurity risks and strengthen privacy and civil liberties protections and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. the chair lays before the house the following personal request. the clerk: leave of absence requested for ms. jackson lee of texas for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6 2015 the gentleman from california, mr. honda is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. honda: mr. speaker i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to rhett rith their racks and -- to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. honda: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to

address the ongoing horror and nightmare that is violence against women. whether in times of conflict or disaster, too often we see the worst battles fought on women and girls' bodies. tonight mr. speaker, i am honored to recognize one woman who has survived unspeakable violence. she's a survivor, at 7 years old, she traveled all the way from south korea. her name is li yung su. known to everyone as grandmother li. in 1944 she was lured by a friend of hers to meet with an older japanese man. he took the two of them and three other girls by train, then ship to taiwan. the other girls were force -- there the girls were forced into

sexual slavery, serving four to five japanese soldiers every day for a year. ms. li suffered beatings and torture was infected with venereal disease was fed palt ray amounts faced temperatures so cold that ice formed on her body and was never allowed outside. only the end of the second world war brought her relief. ms. li is just one example of the over 200,000 women from korea, china, the philippines burma, thailand vietnam, ma lay shah, taiwan, indonesia and eastity mor who were kidnapped and sexually enslaved by the japanese imperial army during world war ii. these so-called comfort women suffered serious physical, emotional and psychological damages as a result of their ordeal. over 200,000 sisters,

grandmother li, is zrks grandmother li is but one of a handful of survivors who are still alive. former secretary of state clinton was right when she called these victims rather than comfort women, sex slaves. when the prime minister addresses a joint session of congress next week, he has the opportunity to do right by these women. he can make a full, unequivocal formal apology on behalf of the japanese government. the prime minister's visit is indeed a historic one. he'll be the first japanese prime minister to address a joint meeting of congress. he will address this institution on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii and the 50th anniversary of the normalization between korea and japan.

the prime minister will address this hallowed chamber, where president roosevelt delivered an address to our body as america entered war. there is much to be expected and anticipated in next week's address. according to yesterday's editorial by "the new york times," the success of the prime minister's visit, and i quote depend on whether and how honestly he confronts japan's wartime history. including his decision to wage war its brutal occupation of china and korea its atrocities and slavery of thousands of women forced to work as sex slaves or comfort women in wartime brothels. mr. speaker new york 2007, the house of representatives sent a profound message to the government of japan by passing house resolution 121 which i authored.

the resolution stated that it is the sense of the house of representatives that the government of japan, one, should formally acknowledge apologize and accept historical responsibility and a clear -- in a clear and unequivocal manner for its imperial army force coercing women into sex slavery, known as comfort women, during its occupation of the korean islands from the 1930's to world war ii. two, would help to resolve recurring questions about the sincerity and status of prior statements of the prime minister of japan if the prime minister were to make such an apology as a public statement in his official capacity. three, should clearly refute any trains that the actual trafficking of the comfort women

never occurred, should educate current and future generations about this horrible crime while following the recommendations of the international community with respect to the comfort women. and yet the japanese government has continued to fail to address this resolution. to be fair the government of japan has made important and appreciated efforts to face its history. in 1993, chief cabinet secretary issued a statement saying the japanese military was involved in establishing the comfort station he said the women and girls really from korea and elsewhere, had been recruited against their own will. this was based upon many documents. in 1995 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of world war ii, the then-prime

menster admitted japan's colonial rule and aggression caused considerable damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of asian nations in the hope that no such mistake be made in the future i regard in a spirit of humility these irrefutable facts of history and express once again my feelings of deep remorse and state my heart felt apology. yet in 2006, during his first term as prime minister he, unleashed an international firestorm of criticism when he undermined the 1993 statement, incorrectly alleging that no documentary evidence existed of japan's complicity in setting up and running the comfort women's stations. there was in fact plenty of evidence including the extensive personal testimony of survivors who spoke of being raped 10, 20, up to 50 times per day.

in addition, many international bodies have issued recommendations and conclusions on japan's history and actions. in 2003, the u.n. committee that evaluates japan's compliance with the convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment expressed concern regarding inadequate remedies for the victims of sexual slavery and violence particularly survivors of japan's military sexual slavery practice in world war ii. this committee also recommended that japan provide education to address the discriminatory roots of sexual and gender based violence and provide rehabilitation measures to the victims. in 2008, the committee that accesses japan's implementation of the international covenant on

political rights concluded that japan should accept legal responsibility and apologize unreservedly for the comfort women system and take immediate and effective legislative measures to adequately compensate all survivors, educate students and the general public about the issue and refute and sanction any attempts to defame any victims or deny events. in talking about educating student the books in japan, the textbooks, do not address the history of the military action in asia during world war ii. following this epassage of house resolution 121, many countries followed suit and filed their own resolution. taiwan canada, netherlands, the european union and south korea. mr. speaker, there's nothing more important right now than for a democratic country like japan to apologize for its past

mistakes. a government is a live breathing organism that is responsible for its past, present and future. yet as the "new york times" editorial said, history should have settled history should have been settled, that it's not settled is largely the fault of the prime minister and his right wing political allies who keep questioning history and trying to rewrite it. last year, i, along with 17 of my house colleagues wrote to the ambassador of japan, to the u.s. calling the timing and context of the japanese government report on the statement regrettable, unfortunate, unacceptable and destabilizing. also last year, the administration tried and then failed to get the united nations to partially retract the authoritative 1996 report which called on japan to apologize to the victims and pay reparations

to surviveors who had been forced into sex slavery during the war. most notably this year, the japanese government tried unsuccessfully to try to change passages in the history textbook about the comfort women in world war ii. i believe in the budget of japan, prime minister was able to secure almost a half a billion dollars to effect that kind of change wherever they deemed necessary. now, some say that japan has apologized enough and it's time to move on. to those people i would say, give these -- given these continued revisionist attempts, for every step forward toward piece and reconciliation, the government of japan takes two steps backwards. enough is enough. 70 years later, it's time for prime minister to be clear and unequivocal and issue an

irrefutable apology, something that carries the weight of his government. the german chancellor angela merkel urged the prime minister to face japan's history. germany knowing something about this after world war ii it engaged in a painful coming to terms with the past that ripped open old wounds so they could properly heal. in 1970, on a cold wet day in warsaw the then-german chancellor lay down a wreath at the memorial of the jewish ghetto. then he fell to his knees in front of the memorial. as a reporter who witnessed the event wrote later if this man who wasn't responsible for this crime, who wasn't responsible decides to kneel down, he doesn't kneel for his own sake. he confesses a guilt he doesn't have to carry and asks for

forgiveness that he, himself doesn't need. then he kneels there for germany. and so, seven years later, grandmother li and the hundreds of thousands of souls of the departed continue to wait for their justice and peace. as someone who was put into an internment camp as an infant, i know firsthand that government must not be ignorant of their past. in 1942, during world war r, my country, my government, put aside the constitutional rights of japanese americans and systematically incarcerated thousands of us. 120,000. we were u.s. citizen with us also looked like the men i -- enemy. decades later, we, the japanese american community fought for an apology from our own government. in 1988, congress passed and president ronald reagan signed into law h.r. 442, the civil

liberties act of 1988. now this was a formal apology to the united states citizens of japanese ancestry who were unjustly put into internment camps in world war ii. our government made a mistake, but they apologized for it and healed many wounds as a result. . it still warms my heart to hear my government say, we're sorry. japan must now do the same. they must show the maturity of a democratic country, apologize for their mistake and thereby gain the trust of their sister asian nations. now violence against women continues today. according to the world health organization, women aged 15 to 44 are more at risk for rape and domestic violence than cancer, heart accident -- car accidents war and malaria. by 1993 the registration of

war and genocide crime in bosnia had documented 40,000 cases of war-related rape. a sample of rwandan women surveyed in 1999, 39% reported being raped during the 1994 genocide and 72% said they knew someone who had been raped. as an estimated 23,000 to 46,000 kosovo albanian women are believed to have been raped between august 1998, and august, 1999, the height of the conflict was serbia -- with serbia. in 2003 74% of random sample of 399 liberian refugee women living in camps in sierra leone reported being sexually abused prior to being dismaced from their homes -- displaced from their homes in lie beer yafment 55% of them experienced sexual violence during displacement and even today the u.n. labeled

the democratic republic of congo as the rape capital of the world. there are rape camps that are destroying the lives of babies, young people, boys and girls and women and men. and the d.r.c. 48 women are raped every hour. in addition, according to the recent human rights watch report, the extremist group isil has carried out systemic rape and other sexual violence against women and girls in northern iraq. isis forces took several thousand yazidi civilians into custody in northern iraq's province in august 2014. according to curd stan officials -- kurd stan officials and community leaders. witness says that fighters systemically separated young women anded a less en-- adolescent girls from their families and moved them from one location to another inside iraq and syria. the 11 women and nine girls

human watch interviewed had escaped between september, 2014, and january, 2015. half including two 12-year-old girl, said they had been raped some mument approximately times, and by several isis fighters. near all of them said they had been forced into marriage sold in some cases a number of times or given as gifts. the women and girls also witnessed other captives being abused. violence against women must stop. today there are fewer than 100 surviving women across the asia-pacific. each year this number declines. the survivors are dying by the day. they deserve that has been due to them for the past years they deserve the justice that's been denied them. these women want and deserve an official apology.

in 1991, with the swift courage of kim, she brought to light her story of being a sex slave to the japanese imperial army. her story was a spark that ignited the flames of justice. since then we have the courageous survivors such as grandmother i will who continues to be a voice -- li who continues to be a voice for the voiceless. we also have the courage of ms. jan who now resides in australia. ms. owe person was born in the former dutch east indies known today as indonesia. when she was 19 years old, japanese troops invaded java. they were interned in the japanese prison camps. two years later she was selected, along with several other girls, was told by a japanese military that they were there for the sexual pleasure of the japanese military. as she relaid during the 2007 house foreign affairs hearing on protecting the human rights

of comfort women, a japanese -- she said the japanese officer ran his sword all over her body and forced himself on her. the trauma these women, these girls endured is unmanageable. that is why -- unimaginable. that is why my patience for securing justice for these women is running out. the opportunity to speak to a joint session of congress is an honor that is reserved for the heads of state of our closest allies. now it is my sincere hope that for ms. ohern's sake, for kim's sake for grandmother li's sake, the prime minister will take the privilege to address the joint meeting of congress and finally -- and firmly apologize and commit to educating the future generations honestly and humbly. the spirit of these women these girls, deserve no less. in closing, i'm going to quote

grandmother li's comments when she testified before our subcommittee in 2007. she said if you cannot apologize to me, give me back my youth. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. poe: i thank you mr. speaker. today is april 21.

-- 21, 2015. april 21 is an important day. it's a an important day not only -- it's an important day not only in texas history but i think in world history. but it's most important to my mother because today, mr. speaker, my mother is 90 years young. when i was growing up in texas april 21 was a holiday. we did not go to school on april 21 in houston. and my mother told me the reason we did not go to school was because it was her birthday. and everybody got off from school on her birthday. of course i believed her. and she still says that's the reason we get off. but it wasn't until i took a fourth grade texas history that i learned there was another reason why april 21 was an important day and a holiday. it's called san jacinto day,

mr. speaker. san jacinto day is based upon texas' history that occurred on april 21, 1836 179 years ago. that was the day that the battle of san gentleman jint -- gentleman -- san -- san jacinto took place. near the gulf of mexico. in a place that we now call harrisburg. which is near houston, texas. and it was a battle that was successful for liberty and freedom for people who lived in texas. san jacinto day the battle of san jacinto, was won by sam houston and defeated the invading mexican army led by santa anafment i'll get back to that in a moment. i think it's important, though, we have a little history lesson

so we understand why this battle for freedom is so important to all people who believe in freedom. texas, mr. speaker, was wanted by a lot of folks. the french claim texas, of course the could marchy, -- comanches, apaches and a lot of other american native tribes wanted texas. but spain controlled texas for a great number of years. from 1690 to about 1821. texas, as we know it, was part of spain. in fact, we still have spanish land grants in texas where people own land that they can trace back to the spanish when they controlled texas. but in about 1821, a portion of spain spanish texas and spanish mexico, if you will, decided they wanted independence from spain.

so mexico as we now know it had their war of independence from the european power of spain. and they were successful. defeating the spanish -- successful in defeating the spanish and declaring independence and becoming a democratic republic south of the border. and it's called the republic of mexico. 1821. texas was a part of that revolution. and that rebellion. texans fought in that battle, in those battles. and all went well until about 1835 when a person by the name of santa anna took over the presidency of mexico, a republic, a democracy, and made himself a military dictator. he abolished the constitution, dictators have a habit of doing that, even to this day,

dismissed the assembly or congress, and he was total control of mexico. now, this did not sit well with people in mexico. which includes what we now know as texas. here is a map of the region in about that time. 1821 to 1836. this portion here was texas and it was part of another state in mexico called coxila. when dictator santa anna took control of this entire area, 11 of the states rebelled. they wanted their own independence from this dictator who was destroyed the democracy or the democratic republic of mexico. several of the states rebelled. in fact, some were somewhat successful. the republic of the yucatan

lasted for a while, went back to mexico. gained independence again and was a republic for about seven years in the 1840's and then joined mexico again. there were several other states and i put in the record the names of those states, that wanted independence from mexico to be -- go their own way and some were more successful than others. what santa anna did, he assembled his army and he went through mexico retaking this land. putting down the rebellion of all of the individuals who were trying to be independent from the mexican dictator. and after he had successfully done that he moved across the rio grande river where those texans were causing the same type of controversy of wanting freedom independence. and what started the actual

fighting between the people of texas, and they were of all races, texanos is a special unique name of texans of spanish or mexican birth. texanos, anglos and blacks in that area wanted an independence. not all, but many of them did. there was a controversy and there were political disputes with the mexican government, but what set it all off occurred in a small little town called gonzalez, texas. in gonzalez texas, they had a cannon. it wasn't really much of a can -- cannon, but it was a cannon. and it was to protect themselves from folks. the mexican government decided they were going to take that cannon away from the settlers. the settlers objected. they said you can't have it. and they made themselves a flag that said, come and take it. we still have that flag. come and take it. had a cannon with the words, come and take it.

so the mexican military shows up, the settlers have a skirmish with the mexican military, shots were fired, i don't think anybody was really hurt too bad. but the mexican army retreated, they left, gonzalez -- they left gonzalez, but they left without the cannon. it's an interesting note that the texas war of independence started because government tried to take the firearms the weapons, the guns of the people. . if you recall american history, mr. speaker, there's a little place called lexington and concord up in massachusetts where the british tried to take the guns from the colonists. take the gun fless armory and lexington and concord. the shot heard around the world started the american war of independence. successful, just like the texas

war of independence was successful. but it was started, the fighting started when government showed up to take the weapons of the settlers. in any event, battle of gonzalez took place the fighting was on, texans moved into bexar, which is now san antonio which was the central city in the -- in texas. took that away from the mexican military was there, ran them out of town, that was toward december of 1835. then we get to the early part of 1836. this part of history which most americans are aware of. santa ana is coming across the rio grande river to retake texas and make it part of mexico again as he had done with these other rebellious states in mexico. and he showed up at a little place, a beat up old spanish church that was over 100 years

old at the time in february of 1836. we call it the alamo. the cradele of texas liberty. and a-- the cradle of texas liberty. and assembled at the alamo in bexar, san antonio if you will, same place, for 187 texas volunteers. most of them were not from texas. the only natives there were the tejanos. 11 tejanos fought in the texas revolution at the alamo. but they were from all the states, 13 foreign countries and all races. volunteers, led by my favorite person william barrett travis a lawyer, came to texas and defended at the alamo. santa ana's army, stories disagree how many thousands there were. but after 13 days, we all know the rest of the story, after 13 days of holding the mexican army

at bay santa ana was able to breach the walls and kill all the defenders, all the volunteers at the alamo. after that occurred, people who lived in texas started moving from that direction of central texas toward the east. toward louisiana. it's called the runaway scrape. why were they running? because the mexican armies had invaded texas and are coming after the settlers in that portion of the state, or that portion of texas. so sam houston who has already come to texas, was building an army to fight and defend the state of texas. fight and defend from the invador -- invaders, texas liberty. he was building this army and it's interesting how he got to texas. sam houston was famous in his own right before he made it to

texas. he was from tennessee. he was attorney general member of congress, twice elected to congress. and governor of tennessee. he eventually left the governorship and came back to washington, mr. speaker and advocated on behalf of the cherokee indians who he was living with in oklahoma, what is now oklahoma. and he got in a dispute with an ohio congressman named stansbury. stansbury had impugned the integrity of sam houston and sam houston didn't like that. that conversation apparently by stansbury occurred on this house floor system of one morning, sam houston is coming out of his home, his -- his dwelling over

here on pennsylvania avenue. he sees stansbury. sam houston carried a cane. you may see the pictures of sam houston with his cane. so sam houston comes upon -- get all choked up telling this story, mr. speaker. sam houston comes upon stansbury, he's walking down the street. sam houston, remembering the bad things that stansbury said about him on the house floor he starts to thrash stansbury with his cane. beats him pretty bad. stansbury had a pistol he pulls

it out of his vest, he pokes the pistol in sam houston's chest and pulls the trigger. the gun misfired. and therefore sam houston lived. but he was tried on this house floor for demeaning a member of congress. the supreme court sat in judgment of him. the trial lasted a month. sam houston took the house floor and talked over a full day talking about defending himself. after the trial was over, sam houston was found guilty. ordered to pay a $500 fine for demeaning a member of congress. sam houston was represented by francis scott key. yes, the same lawyer that wrote our "star spangled banner." rather than pay the fine, rather than deal with congress anymore,

and mr. stansbury, he left washington. and then soon ended up in texas. and became a political figure there. they loved sam houston when he came to texas. they didn't care about his troubles here in washington, d.c. he was made general of the texas army. so the alamo takes place. william barrett travis, the commander, they were all killed. sam houston builds his army and he's ready to defend texas against the invading army from santa ana. so, that brings us to april 21. sam houston did not engage santa ana quickly. in fact, he kept moving east. he got as close as he could to louisiana, then he moved south down toward the gulf of mexico. santa ana is chasing him.

finally, sam houston stopped. on those marshy plains of san jacinto, where the buffalo baio meets the -- bayou meets the river. santa ana's army 1,800. sam houston's army, 700, 800. outnumbered. santa ana's army had yet to be defeated, in all those battles in mexico, alamo, place called goliad where santa ana killed all the texas defenders. yet to be defeated. sam houston has yet to fight a battle system of the assemble there. april 19, 1836. most battles even today are fought when the sun comes up. sunrise. and they were then.

they were for thousands of years. everybody expected battle on april 2 at sunrise. -- on april 22 at sunrise. but the texas army did not want to wait. so in the afternoon of april 21 there was a council of war. sam houston decided that now is as good a time as any. less than a mile away was santa ana's army but it's in the afternoon. many of the soldiers in santa ana's army were taking a siesta. legend has it is a santa ana was occupied with a mixed race lady by the name of emily morgan. she was keeping him busy during this time. i don't know if that's true or not. we believe it's true. we named buildings after emily

morgan. we call her the yellow rose of texas that's where that came from. we still honor ladies in texas calling them the yellow rose. anyway. so he's busy, the texans line up in one column. there were only 700 or 800 of them. they didn't have uniform, they were wearing buckskins and frontier clothes, they have bowie knives and pistols in their belts, tomahawks, things like that. juan seguin his cavalry are riding the flanks, so that the texans would not mistake them for the enemy, juan seguin had all of his calvary put in their sombreros, their hats a playing card. so they would know these are the good guys and wouldn't mistake them for the enemy. they're marching single file, if you can imagine, this

odd-looking bunch of folks, leading them was a fife guy another person carrying a flag, it was miss liberty they were carrying the flag of. miss liberty was a partially nude female with the word liberty written across her. the fifer only knew one song. excuse me, mr. speaker. he only knew one song. it was called "come to the bower." the bower was a house of ill repute. so he's playing this house of ill repute song on his fife and the texas army is marching down the hill. ready. mexican army, not prepared new york scouts new york lookouts new york one is watching.

-- not prepared, no scouts, no lookouts, no one is watching. and they charge in broad daylight in the middle of the afternoon. when battles are never fought. santa ana was caught napping. the mexican army was caught by surprise. and in 18 minutes, a lot shorter time than i have already talked mr. speaker, the battle started and it was ended. half the mexican army was killed. the other half captured. more were captured than were in the texas army. texas casualties, nine were killed. the enemy was caught by total surprise. they were caught fleeing santa -- fleeing. santa ana changed his clothes took off his fancy presidential uniform and put on the uniform

of a mexican private. but he was caught and he was brought to sam houston who happened to be one of the few who were wounded. he was shot in the ankle off his horse. the texans wanted to hang santa ana right there from the closest oak tree. sam houston was not about to have a lynching of the enemy leader. he held him for bargaining power later to get a better deal for texas independence. the texans at san jacinto, like at the alamo all volunteers they came from every place. they were of all races. they came from several foreign countries. they came from many of the states. one was from rhode island. another from vermont. several were from new york. in fact, several new yorkers helps in texas independence at the alamo and at san squa sin toe.

-- at san jacinto. but from most of the states and from foreign countries as well. and they succeeded in defeating santa ana. texas declared independence earlier that year on march , 1836, about six weeks before the battle of san jacinto, declared independence from mexico. it was won and was successful on april 21 1836. which we call san jacinto day. today. after that battle was over with military historians say it was one of the most decisive battles in western hemisphere history because of the massive amount of land that changed hands because of one battle. after the battle of san jacinto, you can see what modern day

texas looks like right through here. this area. texas not only claimed what is now modern day texas but claimed parts of oklahoma new mexico colorado, kansas, and all the way up to wyoming. this was the republic of texas. in april of 1836. this land was all claimed by texas. texas established a constitution. it became an independent free nation that lasted for nine years. sam houston was the president of the republic of texas a got elected twice to the republic of texas.