there's lots of cyber security companies selling products for businesses to protect their networks. but even the best ones had a hard time protecting against what is known as "social engineering," which is somebody checking an employee to put on a bad link and that affects their system. that is the big issue to that it's a be dealt with. host: we will have to leave it there as the house is about to gavel in. they are taking up to cyber security bills today. thank you very much for your time. you can go to cs monitor.com for more from michael farrell. that doesn't it for today. thanks for watching. we will back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 6, 2015, the chair will now recognize members from lis smiedy the mori a mority leaders for morning hour debate. thehair will alternate

recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the jotyndinit leaders d the noty whip limited to five minutes but in no eve shall debate continue beyond past 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman, mr. fleischmann, for five minutes. mr. fleischmann: mr. speaker, chattanoa, tenssee the great state of tennessee and our nation lost a wonderful man last friday. scotty probasco my dear friend, passed awa suddenly. all this week we have had memorials tributes, eulogies, all justly deserved for this great man. i was wondwhearg i was going to say today as i put togethe these notes but i wantll of america to know about this special man and my dear frnd.

scottie was born on november 26, 1928. he attended the bride school in chattanooga. he attended the baylor school in chattanooga. dartmouth college and thethe wharton school at penn. he was a gifted man a very bright man. a great business man. but he was a giver. as i was thinking thiseek what i was going to say about scottie was what did scottie mean to me and what did scottie mean to our communitynd to our nation. scottie was something else. he'd walk into a om and he would smile. i think of scottie's smile. aaysn optimist. in our profession, sometimes you have good days and bad days. whenever i'd run into scottie he'd always smile and encourage

me. but he didn't do that with me, he did that witeveryone. i proclaim chattanooga as the greatest mid sized citin america and sometimes i would y the world. it's because of people of scottie that we got there. scottie was truly outstanding. he gave and he gave and he gave. as a community leader, whether it was the united way or any other charity, he ws always there. as a man of christ, he was there for the first presbyterian church. is survived by his loving wife, betty their four childre scott zane, ellen d ben 12 wonderful grandchildrenut as i think what our nation need today morehan ever are more scottie

probascos. folks that will always accentuate the positive, always oking for the good in people and always encouraging us to do our best we all feel the loss we feel that dearly. i feel that dearly. but when i think for generations to come the generosity, the philanthropy, the kindless of scottie what that means -- the kindne of scottie what that means as a people, this will be his legacy and i'm going to say something to him and to his great family today, scottie, thank you, dear friend, thank you for a job well done. and god bless you. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield it's back. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. gutierrez, for five minutes. mr. gutierrez: mr. speaker, this past weekend we witnessed the most gruesome example of authority that's becoming ever more common. hundreds of my grants are missing and fear dead. some more because of the smuggling boat that they were packed on capsized off the coast of libya. it was on the front page of every newspaper. right now along our southern border illegal immigration is at historically low levels but we, too, have a border that's known for smuggling, tragic loss of life, no less embrazened and indifferent than those off the libyan coast. for great opportunity for work and freedom on the other side, migrants are risking their lives in the hopes of living a better life.

they're in the peak of illegal immigration to this country a decade or so ago. one person died every day, died of dehydration in the desert or died in trucks or box cars or perished as stowaways. now we're hearing about the beast, the train carrying my grants from mexico to the border with our country. think about hundreds of people, most of them children and teenagers, clinging to the outside of a moving train while they are preyed upon by smugglers, sexual predators and every other kind of deviant. they're fleeing drug and gang lords. they're literally risking life and limb for a better chance on this side. europe is responding to the migrant crisis to committing to more rescue operations. the right wing anti-immigration parties across europe see this as a validation to build a big

wall around fortress europe. there are few people here in this congress that wants to build a wall just like them. but most people in europe understand that building civil societies and economies in the southern hemisphere will entice people to stay home. economic development is not dirty words in europe like they are here. the policy set in washington directly relate to the instability of neighboring countries in southern america, the caribbean. trade policies in this country have had devastating consequences in rural areas across our hemisphere, driving people from the land and driving people into drug cultivation. and it is our insatiable enforced with u.s. guns that creates and maintains a lot of the instability and chaos that drives people from their homes to america. yet, almost every budget that's considered in this congress cuts mental health and drug

counseling, adirection treatment and prevention and does little to address our role in fueling instability. and with specific regard to immigration and asylum, in this congress we are debating laws to make it harder for children to apply for asylum. laws to make it easier to deport children and put families into lengthy and expensive detention. so people -- and to add insult to injury, the judiciary committee just approved a measure to allow those who want to homeschool their children but who are prevented from doing so by their own government, they would institute a special class of oppressed victims to be considered eligible to apply for political asylum in the u.s. so people from germany and sweden who want to homeschool their children, that is the kind of oppression that congress responds to. people from central america whose governments are unwilling or unable to protect children from murder and sexual assault, not so much. the reality is that we need to do more to engage and

strengthen our neighbors. much more to make sure that actions, trade and consumption of our people are helping, not hurting. and to make sure we have secure borders by also remembering to put doors on those borders so people can come with visas in a controlled way and not with smugglers risking their lives. and first and foremost, we must remember the message that pope francis reminded us when he said of those who drowned in the ocean, quote, these are men and women like us, our brothers seeking a better life, starving, persecuted wounded, exploited, victims of war, the pope said. they were looking for a better life. let us not forget that migrants are human beings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas for five minutes. without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor former brazos county

judge, randy symms, who passed away on april 2 of this year. judge symms served the brazos valley area for decades. he served from 1972 to 1976 and again from 1981 to 2001. he also served on the brian city county from 1987 to 1988. he lastly served as brazos county judge from 2003 to 2010. arthur symms was born in 1939. mr. flores: he graduated from stephen f. austin high school. during his high school days he was quite an athlete, playing both baseball and football. he passed up a chance to play professional baseball to get a college education. legendary coach bear bryant recruited him to play for texas a&m university. not only was randy a top running back for texas a&m but he also held a long-standing record in the southwest conference for kicking a

52-yard field goal. following graduation from a&m randy remained in the brazos valley. in may of 1960 he married brenda bryan. they were married for nearly 55 years. randy and brenda had one son and one daughter and are blessed with nine grandchildren. in the mid 1960's, randy opened a restaurant called randy symms barbecue which operated for 27 years. randy was a great cook and his restaurant carried recipes from brenda's dad and from brenda's brother, red bryan and sonny bryan. randy was a loving father and he cherished his family time. and he quickly learned how to balance his career to spend quality time with his family. last year the bryan college station chamber of commerce named them their citizens of the year. this award was bestowed on them for their long and dedicated service to our community. as an active community leader, randy symms served tirelessly on various boards and organizations including the

state of texas regional review committee, the presidential library committee the bryan college station economic development corporation, the bear bryant scholarship foundation, the brazos valley fellowship of christian athletes the solid waste advisory board the brazos beautiful initiative, the brazos valley museum of natural history, the grace bible church deacon board and the bradsoast county 911 board. -- brazos county 911 board. it included serving as a bryan i.s.d. host volunteer, part of the chamber of conference, as chair of the brazos county health board district. mr. speaker, randy symms was a great leader and a dedicated public servant and an outstanding family man. his selfless devotion to our community will be greatly missed. he will be remembered as a great public servant to our

community and as a loving father husband grandfather and friend to his family and friends. my wife gina and i offer our deepest sympathy and our heart felt condoleanses to brenda and her family. we also lift up the family and friends of randy in our prayers. in closing i ask americans pray for our country during these difficult times, for the men and women in uniform that are protected from external threats and for our first responders who protect us here at home. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield it's back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, mrs. torres, for five minutes. mrs. torres: mr. speaker, i rise to recognize national public telecommunicators week. after working 18 years as a 911 dispatcher, i know firsthand the challenges our public safety dispatchers face. the stress that they are put under and the critical importance of their work.

this is why last week i was proud to introduce a resolution commemorating national public safety telecommunicators week. i remember working the graveyard shift four floors below ground taking calls from people from all walks of life. often during their most vulnerable moments. 911 dispatchers hear it all. they are the first point of contact for public safety and no matter the crisis, losing control is simply not an option. public safety telecommunicators week also provides us with the opportunity to remind our constituents the importance of maintaining emergency lines open for just that emergencies. 911 isn't an information line. local governments have limited

resources. they can't afford to have 911 lines tied up with nonlife-threatening emergencies. simply put there is no excuse for 911 abuse. i encourage people to familiarize themselves with their local police and fire departments' nonemergency phone numbers, have them readily available or refer to 311 or their local info line where available. keeping 911 lines clear is crucial to ensuring dispatchers are readily available during an emergency. . they provide comfort and reassurance, and they are an integral part of our law enforcement team. yet too often their work goes unrecognized. when you need a calming voice to guide you through a crisis, when

law enforcement, fire safety, and rescue personnel are in need of seamless coordination at a moment's notice, when every second counts, 911 dispatchers are on the other end of the line. they are the unsung heroes of the first responder community. this national public safety telecommunicators week let's recognize and honor the hundreds of thousands of public safety telecommunicators working around the clock to keep our community safe. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from texas mr. conaway, second for five minutes. mr. conaway: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. mr. speaker, i would like to recognize april as the national financial literacy month and highlight the key role that the american institute of certified public accountants as state c.p.a. societies and across the country play in educating all

americans about their personal finances. the national financial literacy month is a reminder of the importance of working to improve americans' understanding of the personal finances. for over 10 years, its members and state c.p.a. societies have been the leaders in financial literacy campaign by providing free programs, tools, and resources for all consumers. thousands of c.p.a.'s across 55 states and jurisdictions are volunteering their time to educate consumers to understand their personal finances and their financial goals. the ascpa along with the states and like-minded financial institutions play an essential role in educating all americans so that they'll have the knowledge to make decision force a lifetime of financial well-being. by focusing on financial education as a lifelong endeavor c.p.a.'s are encudging children to learn the value of money and teaching adults the importance of saving for a secure retirement. mr. speaker, we have thousands

of college students who are unfamiliar with the impact student loan debt will have on their early career. a financially lit ral college student will understand those implications and ramifications and will be better served and better suited and better able to make better decision was respect to whether or not to take on that debt as they pursue their college education. all americans from high school students to older adults need the tools and resources to make educated decisions about their personal financials. through the aicpa's flagship 360 degrees of financial literacy program, cpa's across the country are volunteering to help all americans understand their personal finances through every stage of life. the program combines grassroots advocacy with free public resources and tools for c.p.a.'s to educate americans of all ages. there's an urgent need to improve the financial literacy of all americans. a recent survey showed that 47% of american households are not saving any of their current income for retirement. this means almost half of all americans are living paycheck to

paycheck and without any savings plan for financial hardships or retirement. providing all americans with the information necessary to make educated decisions will help households understand the v.a.w. ue of -- value of savings for retirement and lead to a life time financial well-being. again, like to congraduate the afcpa and state societies for helping americans become more financially literate. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. speier, for five minutes. ms. speier: thank you mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. speier: last week before the transportation infrastructure committee on pipeline safety, i called the pipeline and hazard materials safety administration, a toothless tiger that has overdosed on quaaludes and passed out on the job. today i stand before you to say i was wrong. i was wrong to call them a toothless tiger. they are actually a toothless

kitten, a fluffy industry pet that frightens absolutely no one. this has been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt by yesterday's excellent politico investigation of their ineffectual can't do attitude written by elaina shore and andrew. allow me to highlight some of the shocking incompetence brought to light by this article. all rules undergo peer review by two advisory committees, one on oil and gas. in theory the committee is made up of five members, each from industry government, and public sounds good, right? that might be true except the committee's current rosters are missing seven members on the government and public side. this means the industry is calling the shots and voting for their own initiatives. on these committees there's almost no form of resistence to doing the industry's bidding. that's what debra, former head of the national transportation safety board meant when she said quote, for the regulator

to delegate too much authority to the regulated to assess their own system risks and correct them is tantamount to the fox guarding the hen house. as we have seen in my district and in so many others, the fox has very little incentive to prevent oil or gas from spoiling the hen house or to prevent the hence from blowing up. of course, everyone is very sorry about the fact that the will to prevent these accidents in the first place is simply not there. that's what happened in mayflower, arkansas, in 2013, when they let exxonmobil operate an oil pipeline that was known to be faulty for seven years. and then it blew up. nowhere is this more obvious than their pitiful fines. fines are supposed to be a deterrent, yet the fines are so pathetic compared to the cost of pipeline leaks and explosions that they can't even be seen on this graph. here you see that over the last

12 years they have issued just 44.2 million dollars in fines for incidents that cost over $5 billion. look at these tiny red lines. you can't even see them. you can see these other graphs, points that show how much damage was actually done. but the fines are next to nothing. take the mayflower arkansas example where dumping 200,000 gallons of heavy crude into a neighborhood cost exxonmobil $2.7 million, or .008% of that year's profits. to industry, this measly fine is just the cost of doing business. no need to fix a pipeline. fines are so small it's cheaper to just pay them. but of course dang from pipeline leaks and explosions can't be reduced to just gray bars. in my district, the city of an bruno, where eight people were

killed by a pipeline explosion in 2010, the public remains traumatized by the idea their entire neighborhood could be wiped out by one carelessly inspected or uninspected pipelines. life has risks, but one of them shouldn't be coming home to find your husband and son and mother-in-law dead and your house obliterated as happened to one of the families in my district. that's why i find their other failure to implement more rigorous safety regulations so disgusting. their reasoning that such regulations are, quote, too costly for pipeline industry compared with the expected benefits? unquote, is the reason of movie villains not well-intentioned safety professionals who are supposed to be taking care of the public interest. whose side are they on? one could argue that the low penalties are congress' fault not theirs. after all, the federal energy regulatory commission has power

to impose civil penalties of a million dollars per day. compare that to the relatively paulry $200,000 a day. but that doesn't explain their failure to even start civil penalty cases. even as pipeline incidents increase, they started fewer civil penalty cases in 2014 than in the past 10 years. and proposed 73% fewer fines. for the few fines that are proposed they do that behind closed doors where the public is not welcomed. exxonmobil dumps 63,000 gallons of oil into yellow stone river in 2011 but managed to argue that the original 1.7 million fine should be put down to $1 million. why did they allow this? nobody knows. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. mcclintock, for five minutes. mr. mcclintock: mr. speaker

california is now in the fourth year of the worst drought on record. hydrologists estimated it's the worst in 1,200 years. the sierra know pack today is just 5% of normal. one of our largest reservoirs, on the standnies law river, is just 22% of its capacity with the rainy season now officially over. water rationing is in effect in many communities. many californians face $500 fines if they take too long in the shower or spill a galleon of water on their sidewalks. and yet in the last several weeks, the bureau of reclamation has released about 10 billion gallons of what precious little water remains behind the damn in order -- dam in order to nudge a handful of steelhead trout toward the ocean. that is enough water to meet the

annual residential needs of a human population of about 300,000 for the whole year. how many fish are affected? well biologists estimate it will affect the offspring of about 29 steelhead trout on the standnieslaw river. almost all of which will be eaten by predators before they reach the ocean, that assumes they won't swim toward the ocean on their own as they have been doing without our assistance since time immel morial. with water selling $700 per acre-foot, the cost of this ridiculous exercise is about $21 million. but the real cost will be felt in the fall if the rains don't return. at that point, these releases guarantee there will be no water left for human beings or for fish. all this occurs after a compromise without which the lake below the dam will be

drained below the water intake pipes that serve the population of nearly 10,000 human beings. when are we going to wake up to the lunacy of these current environmental laws and the ideological zellyoss who are administering them? who in his right mind would dump enough water to meet the annual residential needs of a population of 300,000 human beings in order to nudge towards the ocean of offspring of maybe 29 steelhead trout, it could be as few as six, in the worst drought in 12 centuries. that is precisely the policy of this administration. president obama has authority under the existing endangered species act to convene a process to suspend these laws during the drought. governor brown also has the authority to request the president to act yet despite repeated calls to do so neither has responded. ironically before we built these dams, in a drought like

this there would be no rivers or fish. nor is this waste limited to just one reservoir in one river. the prime minister -- the bureau of reclamation is ordering water completely uncaring of the species of homo sapiens. three weeks ago i introduced h.r. 1668, the save our water act. it simply provides that during an extreme drought the requirements of massive environmental pulse loads are suspended. i want to urge speedy consideration and passage of this act, but i fear it will not come in time to prevent the exhaustion of our remaining water supply. i warned of this practice last year and i appealed to state and federal water managers to suspend these water releases during the drought. sadly, i was unable to rally much public interest. i think in large part because few people actually believed that our water policy could possibly be so foolish. well they believe now.

we are now reaching a crisis that can no longer be ignored and californians are now starting to realize our environmental laws long ago passed from the realm of reason to the realm of ideological extremism. droughts are nature's fault. water shortages are our fault. we once built dams to store water from wet years so we would have it in dry ones. the same radical environmental laws squandering our existing water supply have also obstructed the construction of any major new storage since 1979 while the state's population has nearly doubled. dr. johnson once said that when a man is to be hanged in the morning, it concentrates his attention remarkably. if any good comes out of this drought, it may be that the american people finally have awakened to the damage these laws have done and are ready to change them and change the

zealots in government or responsible for them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from puerto rico mr. pierluisi, for five minutes. mr. pierluisi: mr. speaker, for the sixth time this year i rise to discuss puerto rico's political status. . the island is blessed with natural beauty, a rich history, a vibrant culture, a sophisticated and diverse private sector and talented and hardworking students and professionals who can compete with anyone anywhere. but it is tempered by realism because to change the world for the better you must first see the world as it is. and the reality is that puerto rico's potential is being squandered. it should be a blooming flower but instead it is withering on

the vine. puerto rico is ensnared in the worst economic crisis in its history. the island's system is in a precarious state. the territory's homicide rate, despite recent achievements, still far exceeds that of any u.s. state and residents of puerto rico are relocating to the states in record numbers. i have heard and argued that leaders in puerto rico should concentrate solely on the immediate problems at hand and set aside the issue political status until those problems are resolved or their severity is reduced. this argument has superficial appeal but it is completely wrong. all of puerto rico's major problems are directly linked to our status. it's rooted in the unequal treatment that puerto rico receives because it is a territory. if you want -- if you want to understand why puerto rico has

always had higher unemployment and poverty than any state, you must recognize that the territory's excluded from the earned income tax credit program, partially excluded from the child tax credit program, excluded from the supplemental security income program and treated unequally under the federal nutrition assistance program. if you want to understand why puerto rico has high debt, you must realize that the territory government has borrowed so heavily in the bond market in order to compensate for its -- this treatment under federal programs. if you want to understand why patients in puerto rico received inadequate care, why physicians and hospitals are not fairly compensated and why the cost of providing health care is disproportionately borne by the puerto rico government rather than shared equitablely by the federal government, it is not treated

fairly under medicaid, medicare advantage and the affordable care act. if you want to understand why drug-related violence is pervasive in puerto rico, then you must come to terms with the fact that federal law enforcement agencies have dedicated insufficient personnel and equipment to port week because states take priority to territories when it comes to the allocation of finite resources. to solve its deeply entrenched problems and to reach its enormous potential, puerto rico must receive equal treatment and to receive equal treatment, puerto rico must become a state. to pretend otherwise is just that, to pretend. that is why less than three months ago i introduced h.r. 727, the most forceful statehood admission bill for puerto rico in history. i'm proud to report that bill is like legal to obtain its

100th co-sponsor as early as today. co-sponsors come from 31 states, the district of columbia and the four other territories. they're both democrats and republicans. indeed about 1,900 bills have been introduced so far in this congress and h.r. 727 has more bipartisan support than over 99% of them. every member who co-sponsors this bill is standing up for a powerful principle which is this, the people of puerto rico are american citizens who have enriched the life of this nation for generations. my constituents have fought and many have died for a flag that contains 50 stars but no star that represents them. if they reaffirm their desire in fearlly sponsored vote to become a full and equal member

of the american family, they have earned the right to be first-class citizens. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. loudermilk for five minutes. mr. loudermilk: thank you mr. speaker. 13 men, the shepherd's men, will take them from the freedom towers in new york city to the shepherd center in atlanta, georgia. every day, service men and women from across our country return from the fields of combat only to fight another battle at home. while this battle may not include heavy artillery or enemy combatants it is just as devastating. posttraumatic stress disorder, ptsd and traumatic brain injury sometimes take years

and at other times a lifetime to heal. they cause unspeakable pain for those suffering and for their families. for this reason, 13 brave men whose mission is to raise awareness and funding for those with ptsd and traumatic brain injuries have accepted the arduous task of running from the big apple to the peach state. with each step forward, the shepherd's men is one step closer to raising $250,000 for the shepherd's center. it is a program that provides assistance and support for service men and women who have sustained mild to moderate traumatic brain injury and ptsd from the conflicts in iraq and afghanistan. while the wounds may have been inflicted years ago, the scars still remain. and that's why the shepherd's men run 911 miles with 22-pound packs strapped to their chest.

these courageous men do not run for their own glory but for their fellow service members whose lives may be forever changed by the effects of these conditions. today, one out of five service members returning home from iraq or afghanistan have been diagnosed with one of these debilitating conditions. if left unchecked these injuries could be life threatening. as our service members return home from active duty, it is important for them to know they do not suffer alone. this morning, the shepherd's men are a few steps closer to reaching their final destination. as the sun rose gently, they came to the capital. it is one of the most historic moments where i joined the shepherd's men for a short one-mile run of their 911-mile journey. as i stood in the shadow mr. speaker, of the iwo jima memorial one of the men came

up to me and he said, when we go into combat, we know that we may not come back out. and i lost many of my men in combat and i can accept that. but what's hard is when these men survive combat and they come back home and they lose their life to these debilitating conditions. that's hard to swallow. as a veteran of the united states air force i am extremely grateful to the unwavering commitment the shepherd's men have shown to defend their fellow service men and ensure they have the resources they need to begin their road to recovery. although the road may be long and fraught with setbacks, people across this nation are going the extra mile to ensure our service members are given the help they deserve. to the shepherd's men, god speed on the rest of your journey and thank you for your commitment to our nation's military. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings for five minutes. mr. cummings: thank you very much, mr. speaker. it is with great honor and anmoration that i talk about bishop walter scott thomas sr., recognition of his 40 years of service to god as a pastor mentor and community leader. i'm honored to rise today to share with my colleagues in the united states house of representatives the accomplishment of this remarkable man. for the last 40 years bishop walt irscott thomas sr. has faithfully served as pastor of the new baptist church located in the seventh congressional district of ballot maryland. bishop thomas is a baltimore native who was called to proclaim god's word to the world. he received a bachelor's of science degree from the university of maryland in economics, a master of divinity degree from howard university

school of religion and a doctorate of ministry degree from st. mary's seminary and the university of maryland. in 1975 bishop thomas was called to pastor the new psalm baptist church. he's a spiritual lired who cares about his congregation and the world. under his dynamic leadership, the baptist church has grown to several thousand members. his vision and message of empowering disciples has inspired thousands to make a positive impact in their personal lives communities, the state of maryland and are the country and the world. he's an influential leader who graciously uses his gift to serve clergy and religious leaders. from 1999 to 2002, bishop thomas served as president of the hampton university minister's conference. he has coached and mentored pastors, church leaders staff

and ministry teams all over the country. on july 20 2005, bishop thomas was elevated to the office of bishop of the kingdom association of covenant pastors by ministers from across this great nation. bishop thomas has led multiple outreach initiatives to provide services and resources to the community. these initiatives include assisting economically disadvantaged families and homeless persons providing employment assistance for job seekers and partnering with school principals to provide school resources. in 2013 bishop thomas and the baptist church donated some $40,000 to the baltimore city northwestern police district to renovate the station's entrance and lobby for our police officers and community members. in addition to his leadership in the local community, bishop thomas has been a global leader supporting projects to

improve the quality of life for the world's underserved citizens. bishop thomas and the church support a school in nairobi, kenya, as well as clean water and sanitation projects in africa. bishop thomas has also been the guest of his royal highness, prince philip, duke of edinboro, and u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon to represent the christian faith in the many heavens, one planet conservation event in windsor, england. bishop thomas had the honor of delivering the invocation during barack obama's whistle stop tour at baltimore's war memorial plaza. in 1998 bishop thomas hosted president william jefferson clinton at the new paul baptist church. finally, mr. speaker, bishop thomas is a devoted husband, father and friend.

he's a loving husband to patricia and the proud father of three very successful children joy walter jr. and joshua. bishop thomas is a source of wisdom and encouragement to his family and friends. bishop thomas is a great friend who has inspired me through his faithful leadership of his family and the new psalm baptist church. i'm honored that god allowed our lichese to eclipse and today i wish -- our lives to eclipse and today i wish to thank you him for his dedication commitment to god and his church and family and community. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair will recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you mr. speaker. yesterday i joined the gentleman from north carolina, congressman g.k. butterfield, to introduce h.r. 1906, a bipartisan access to inpatient

rehabilitation act of 2015. coordinated medical rehabilitation provided in an inpatient rehabilitation setting is crucial for medicare beneficiaries with diseases, chronic conditions. unfortunately, beginning in 2010, the centers for medicare and medicaid services began placing limitations on what types of therapy beneficiary could receive. despite the professional judgment of the treating physician. mr. speaker, these limitations restrict recreational therapy from being prescribed despite being medically necessary in many cases. the bipartisan access to inpatient rehabilitation therapy act of 2015 that i introduced with congressman butterfield will undo these unnecessary barriers imposed by c.m.s. that place limitations on what types of therapy a beneficiary may -- excuse me -- may receive.

this legislation will not cost the american taxpayer any money. it will help facilitate access to the appropriate mix of services in an inpatient rehabilitation facility and will provide -- and will benefit patients with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and those who have sustained strokes, amputations individuals living with neurological disorders and a wide range of other conditions. mr. speaker, i stand here today and strongly urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get behind this commonsense bipartisan legislation. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognize the gentlewoman from texas ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the speaker for his yielding. and acknowledge that 1965 is a very unique and special year. it is a commemoration of the

march across the edmund pettus bridge in selma alabama, which symbolized to the world the cry and passion to have your voices heard through the vote. i stand here today asking this body and its leadership to put on the floor of the house the re-authorization of the voting rights act of 1965. a bill that was re-authorized in 2006, 2007 under the leadership of president george w. bush, and the members of the united states congress in a bipartisan manner the vote in the senate was 98-0, and we had an equally impressive vote here in the united states house of representatives. the question would be why a simpletask of updating this legislation to ensure that

thousands, maybe millions are not denied the right to vote. i start with that because the walk across the edmund pettus bridge was particularly brutal, and i want to give credit to all those who marched, many names that i know, our own colleague john lewis josea williams, and many that we have met over the years in selma. though marched and stood nonhaven'tly against violence. might i say under the auspicious of the misinterpretation of the law. those are law enforcement officers misguided of course, that stopped those individuals from expressing their rights. today i come to match the need for the re-authorization of the voting rights act to the enormous need in a bipartisan manner to reform our criminal justice system. over the news airwaves of the last 24 hours right here in washington d.c., there was a

statement about a young father who stood on his door steps in fairfax, virginia, that finally his two beautiful daughters had a settlement from that law enforcement department. he was shot on his door steps. the facts are such that i won't discuss today but one can almost assume that that father did not need to loose his life. yesterday the #marchtojefferson came to the west lawn to petition the government to end racial profiling and to begin to address the question of how do we have a criminal justice system that meets the equality and justice of america. sadly, just a few miles away in baltimore, we understand that a young man was picked up and ultimately went into a coma and died. what happened in the midst of the time where his spinal cord

was nearly severed in the custody of law enforcement officers? let me be very clear as a senior member of the judiciary committee, my commitment is that law enforcement officers go home to their families. in a few days we'll be honoring those who fell in the line of duty. we will be standing and respecting the fact that they provide rdictions use ris citations an nsance

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suor 2 doe wtouth roina is doi cies da. mr.peert is time n to use the cadet for the scncof criminalustice refand bill bl to d trust a he police exbit. i elve --ccountability. beeve at this 50th year of a,r.peaker, push u re-authore th voting right ac ae towards a just iminal justice rm with thack. the eaker pro tempor the gentleman te has ex chir n recognizes the gentomw york, mr reed, for five minutes. mr. reed: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize again, april as sexual assault awareness month. mr. speaker, we must stand up and raise awareness across this country that sexual assault and domestic violence can no longer

be allowed to exist in our country. we must be proactive on raising awareness on this issue. that is why i come to this floor today to do just that. each member democrat, republican, east west, north south, has an opportunity and i hope they join me to do this throughout april to say no more to sexual assault in the united states of america. mr. speaker, every two minutes another american is sexually assaulted. every two minutes. that is 237,868 victims, our fellow citizens a year, that are impacted -- 237, 868 victims, our fellow citizens a year, that are impacted by this assault and violence. one of the things we need to do on top of raising awareness is change our culture in america.

earlier this month a graphic video was shown across this nation and across this world of a gang rape that took place in broad daylight on the beaches of panama city, florida. the victim was clearly incapacitated and was clearly assaulted by several men. on that beach. mr. speaker, those perpetrators should and will be held accountable. justice will be done. but what culture exists in america to allow the hundreds of people that were standing nearby who witnessed this assault and did nothing? bystanders need to understand that in america today, we stand up and say no more to this heinous crime.

mr. speaker, because this victim was unconscious and incapacitated, it would have been likely, absent this video, that this crime would have gone unreported. that is the norm in america. 68% of the assaults in the last five years were not reported. we need to change our culture. and we need to say no more. mr. speaker, i have been on this floor numerous times and as many of you have seen before i shared my personal story from our family situation with this issue. and i will tell you just as i said the first time i came here, and shared that story with the nation, i say it again. there are no excuses for sexual assault and domestic violence in america. it is time for us to come together as a nation and say, no more. to sexual assault and domestic violence on our fellow citizens. with that, i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until noon today. >> on the first of two cybersecurity bills. this one today would encourage private companies to share cyberthreat information with the government by providing lawsuit protections if they do so. it would create a cyberintelligence sharing center. the house will finish work on a bill that will establish advisory boards for the consumer financial protection bureau. they debated the bill yesterday. and as we wait for the house to come back at noon we'll show

you yesterday's debate here on c-span. uer: 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 >> look for a vote on that bill about 1:15 eastern. the house comes in at noon. about seven minutes away. live coverage who are on c-span. legislative work today will include the first of a couple of cybersecurity bills this week. today's bill would provide liability protection to companies that share cyberthreat information with the government but also create a cyberthreat information center within the office of the director of national intelligence.

we spoke about it this morning on today's "washington journal." ctive is u.s. cyber security?" joining us from boston is michael farrell the cyber security editor for "christian science monitor." they take a look at these issues. he is here to talk about cyber security. michael farrell, let us begin with the question that you post. how effective is u.s. cyber security? guest: thanks for having me on. that is the big question that everyone wants to. -- to know. frankly, they're pretty high profile incidents that show that in some cases it is not very effective at all. you see cases like the high-profile sony hack, the other health-care breaches, and it seems like every week there is a new kind of vulnerability discovered on some sort of popular app or software that we all use. the other side of that is that a

lot of things we don't hear about is that good cyber security measures are preventing things are happening. it is pretty good, but it could be a lot better and that is what we are seeing now in congress. the industry as a whole talking about how to make cyber security more robust and present it a lot of the things from happening that in a way are often the result of not a technology problem, but kind of a human problem. people clicking on e-mails they shouldn't and letting hackers into their systems. there are two sides to the going. some people say it needs to be a lot better but in some instances, it is pretty good. host: how does it compare to other countries who are not only on the defensive when it comes to cyber security, but on the offense of as well -- offense of hisive as well?

guest: comparing the other countries, the one thing to keep in mind is that u.s. companies and assets are one of the most under attack. you talk about the financial sector, the health sector, or the u.s. government agencies. social media companies, they are all sort of -- a lot of that is censored in the u.s.. it is a u.s. centric view, but that is the nature of the technology industry in the financial industry. the u.s. is a bigger target so it has much more to protect. in that way, it is some of -- sort of unfair to compare how u.s. is stacked up compared to the rest the world. part of your question is the offensive act of cyber security and digital offenses and that is sort of more of something that is happening in the government. i think most people would say that the nsa, when they think

about the agency, those revelations are probably the best that carrying out cyber defenses or cyber offenses in that regard. host: how is the administration though in this post edward snowden era, pushing cyber security efforts to combat it while also trying to assure americans that their privacy will be respected? guest: that is a difficult balancing act. what you see happening right now in congress and especially in the house as they consider cyber security information sharing bills is how to balance this issue between consumer and individual privacy and ensure that the private sector and the government is better equipped to handle tax.

with these bills that are moving forward this week in the house the big issue with some of them, and especially from privacy advocates, is that they don't go far enough to protect the consumer identity. they sort of lead the way to the government having more access on individuals than they would have previously. i think what we have learned about the nsa's metadata collection program, sort of bold mass surveillance operation that was revealed as a result of the edward snowden weeks -- leaks. there is this concern about what the government knows about us and what they have access to. that debate is holding up -- especially the white house's efforts to move through the cyber security information

sharing act that obama is pushing for an in favor of. because of those privacy concerns and because the revelations of the nsa, there are certainly privacy advocates who come out strongly against these bills. also many in the cyber security industry say that they are worried about the privacy protections that are in >> a quick note on the senate. they are in today. finishing up work on the human trafficking bill with an eye on the vote on the loretta lynch nomination to the attorney general. that is set for thursday. follow live coverage of the senate on our companion network c-span2. here on c-span the house coming in. they'll finish up work today on the bill establishing advisory boards to oversea the consumer protection bureau and move on to cybersecurity. the first of two bills set for this week. this one today would encourage private companies to share

cyberthreat information with the government. it would also create a cyberthreat intelligence center within the national intelligence director's office. live coverage now to the house floor on c-span. e spea the houwill b in order tayer will bofred reend tom ckerrothe si orl baptischch in mill, noh roli then: with praisan thainweow before u