house here on c-span. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] the spker: the housel be order. r will be offered da our guest cpla, verend

goples lya high school, los les, lirnia. chaplain: good afternoon. alighty godweomtoday t thisoly mbof democry, ious ogreat gifts and conscious of thgreat ppl for wh we use thesiftin service. come tos,emain wit enlig our hrts. gius cge andtrength to yol, make iour n, and to le in ourwnives enable us t upholthe rhts oths d neveret us b mied bgnorance or corrupd by fear and favor. unites he bd your unconditionalove and keeus faithfulo all that istrue y bealwyseer justiith yourove so o decions ar pleasing to youndearn f t rewased to all o your good aaithfu servants

and wthis ie name o yo ses christ, , am. rp the chair h exaned e thpeaker: the cir h nee ou othe las day's pedgs announces to thehohiappral ereof. the pledgof alliancwille led by the gentlemanrom pennsvania, mr. thomps mr. thompson: i pl allegnce the flag of the ited staof americando t repubr which it stands, e naon und god, indivisible, with libertynd justicfor all. the speaker whout objection, theentleman f california merra gniz for onnute mr. becerra: tha you, speaker. i unimousonsent to revi anextend m rks. the spear: without jectio . becerra: i recognize the father, a member ciy of the jeitand psident of high school, los angeles to the united states house of representatives. we thank him for delivering

today's opening prayer. he's one of los angeles' finest public servants. he has dedicated his life to educating our country's next generation of leaders. loyola high school an all-boy school in the po union area of los angeles, ranks one of the finest secondary institutions. young men are motivated to become educated in the full sense of the word. not only do students at loyola go on to complete college at the finest universities in america but they graduate loyola having donated more than 1.5 million hours of community service to inner city schools and neighborhoods over the past 25 years. this year loyola high school will celebrate its 150th anniversary. making it the oldest continually operated educational institution in southern california. under the visionary stewardship of father gothos, loyola is poised to graduate another era of american heroes and leaders. for that mr. speaker, i ask my

colleagues to join me to applaud the father for his dedication to his faith and to our leaders of tomorrow. we will remember his words of prayer this morning. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the chair will lay before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant with my appointment to the house financial services committee, i hereby resign from the house agriculture committee and house foreign affairs committee. it has been an honor to serve on both. if there are any questions, please feel free to contact me. thank you for your attention to this matter. signed sincerely, tom emmer, member of congress. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resignations are accepted. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, i hereby resign from the committee on homeland security. signed sincerely, patrick

meehan, member of congress. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resignation is accepted. for what purpose does the gentlelady from washington seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, by by direction of the house republican conference, i ask for a privileged resolution. the clerk: house resolution 272, resolved that following named members be and are hereby elected to the following standing committees of the house of representatives, committee on financial services mr. emmer of minnesota, committee on foreign affairs, mr. donovan, committee on homeland security mr. donovan. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resolution is agreed and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair will entertain up to 15 one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, seek recognition? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, thank you, mr. speaker. this evening i will have the honor and privilege of presenting the national eagle scout association distinguished eagle scout award to mr. john graham, president and c.e.o. of the american society of association executives. the distinguished eagle scout award was established in 1969 to acknowledge eagle scouts who have received extraordinary national level recognition within their field and have a strong record of voluntary service to their community. mr. speaker, the over 100 million scouting alumni over the last century, less than 4% attain the rank of eagle and of these eagles only one in 1,000 will be awarded the distinguished eagle scout honor. renowned distinguished eagle scouts include president of the united states -- the president of the boy scouts of america secretary bob gates, supreme court justice stephen breyer, president gerald ford, astronaut neil armstrong and

steven spielburg. i ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating mr. john graham on receiving this prestigious award. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. hahn: thank you, mr. speaker. for months we've been calling for a long-term surface transportation bill to replace the one that expires at the end of this month. in recent weeks, i've joined many of my colleagues as we counted down the days left for congress to act. without a funding solution, the jobs of over 600,000 american workers are at risk. the gas tax, by the way, hasn't been raised in 20 years and is no longer sufficient to pay for repairs to dangerous roads, highways bridges and rail lines needed to protect americans. we're being asked to vote this

week on a band-aid approach that only runs to july instead of a real solution to this infrastructure crisis. this is often what happens here but it's not the best way to govern. states and local transit agencies need this certainty that a long-term funding will be available as they make important decisions about construction projects to meet our needs well into the future. let's pass a long-term transportation bill now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection so ordered. >> mr. speaker i rise today to congratulate a manufacture in indiana on a tremendous milestone for not just the company but our communities in southern indiana. just this month, toyota manufacturing in princeton, indiana, impressively surpassed 5,000 employees and the plant

plans to add an additional 300 positions by the end of next year. mr. speaker, these are good-paying jobs that support our families and our local economy. in addition to the work force growth, the plant recently celebrated the production of its four millionth vehicle which is a testament fought best work force in america. these dedicated hardworking men and women are making top-notch products in indiana that are being shipped across the country and around the world. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield it's back. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? from new york, sorry. mr. higgins: i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: yes, the gentleman is recognized. mr. higgins: mr. speaker, the infrastructure investment can be an economic game changer. in western new york, the federal highway bill funded the reconstruction of furman boulevard which reconnected our community with its waterfront resulting in new private sector investment.

from fill more avenue to ohio street in buffalo, main street in williamsville kenmore avenue tens of millions of federal dollars are contributing to transformative projects in our community. the construction of these projects has economic benefits as well. 660,000 jobs depend on federal road and transit investment yet, today, the house will extend for just two months the federal transportation program that is weak and inadequate. we can do much better. american needs a long-term bill that provides funding we need to create jobs and bring our infrastructure to a state of good repair. last week i introduced the nation building here act. congress should be humbled that it has allowed our infrastructure to fall in such disrepair and we need these two months to pass a long-term bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> to address the house for one

minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to observe mental health awareness month. approximately one in five americans have a mental illness. that is roughly 43 million americans. these invisible wounds are just as serious as physical ones. and it is vital we understand the health care needs of individuals living with mental illnesses. race, sex, age gender, mental illnesses do not discriminate. many of the americans who suffer from ptsd and t.b.i. are veterans and are true heroes. i'm familiar with their struggle. this is why i introduced the cover act. recently passed in the veterans' affairs health subcommittee which gives veterans choices to seek alternative therapies and treatments for p.t.s. and t.b.i.

as we observe mental health awareness month, let us all remember these invisible wounds deserve our attention as much as physical ones. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. veasey: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. veasey: mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the sam houston texans on their soccer team in their hard fought journey to the 6-a interscholastic league semifinals. these 25 young men not only demonstrated their athletic talent but exemplified the teamwork and perseverance needed to complete a successful season. i also want to congratulate samuel wuerta, eddie rodriguez of the sam houston high soccer team to be named to the first team 6-a all-state team. the young men of sam houston soccer team continue a tradition of success through

hard work, drmation and pride. i'm proud to represent arlington independent school district and sam houston high. to all the coaches, parents and teachers and students at sam houston high school, congratulations on this incredible athletic accomplishment. you've made north texas proud. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mrs. ellmers: i rise in support of the justice for victims of trafficking act. today marks a significant milestone in the fight begins human trafficking and i'm honored to see my amendment adopted into this legislation. having served as a nurse, i recognize that members of the medical community are the only outside aid to have direct contact with trafficking victims. mr. speaker, my amendment will educate and train health care professionals on proper

techniques in order to better administer care. more importantly, it empowers members of the medical community so they can intervene on behalf of those being trafficked. it has been an honor to work with my colleagues on this pivotal piece of legislation, and i am thrilled to see this legislation and my amendment move to the president's desk to be signed into law. thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from michigan seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. dingell: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, there are only two legislative days left until the highway trust fund expires on may 31 and we do not have time to waste. across the country 6,000 critical construction jobs are in jeopardy and 660,000 good-paying construction jobs are hanging in the balance. in michigan we know how desperately this funding is

needed. 17% of our roads are rated in good shape. only 17%. 38% of our roads are in poor, some dangerous not fair, poor condition. it's unacceptable. we must work together to find a long-term solution to repair our roads, bridges and transit. today our republican colleagues have introduced a plan that just kicks it down the road again. this must be the last time. funding the highway trust fund is about this nation's future. it's about our competitiveness. it's about -- it's about providing businesses and local and state governments the certainty that they need and it's about good-paying jobs for working families. it's time to end this culture of crisis and bring to the floor a long-term sustainable solution to authorize the highway trust fund. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentlewoman has expired. for what purpose does the

gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? . >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized. mr. wilson: i'm pleased with the decision to attack abu sabat. i hope this is a change of course where the president takes action to prevent attacks on americans. sadly, i saw murderers holding a third of iraq, revealing the president's failure to negotiate a status of forces agreement. this fol throes mass murder of muslim pilgrims in pakistan, the egyptian christians in libya. radical islamic attacks run creasing worldwide with the murder of jews in paris, the killing of troops at fort hood and the stabbing in london. incredibly the president continues negotiations with the murderous ideology in tehran

where they continue to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles to continue their goal of death to america and death to israel. hopefully the president will start a legacy of peace through strength. he can avoid a legacy of terrorists declaring war on the american people. may god bless our troops and may the president by his actions never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> thank you mr. speaker. i rise to honor the service of mr. dumont and mr. jackson who served in world war ii. mr. kildee: both gentleman from emy hometown in flint, michigan are in town today to visit the world war ii memorial and pay their respects to their fellow men and women in uniform who

paid the ultimate sacrifice. mr. jackson served honorably in the 3758th quartermaster truck company throughout world war i and -- world war ii and retired from the artillery in 1946. mr. dumont served hon rahly -- honorably in the golden acorns from 1942 through 1945. these men risked their lives to defend freedoms that we cherish and often take for granted as americans. and our country is and should be forever grateful to them for their service. mr. jackson, mr. dumont, on behalf of the people of the fifth congressional district and on behalf of the entire 114th congress, i thank you for wearing the uniform of the united states and defending this great nation. you will forever have our lasting gratitude. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition?

>> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, ordered. >> mr. speaker policies that support free enterprise and open markets are key to building a strong economy. mr. marchant: texas is a prime example. for the 11th year in a row, texas has been ranked by chief executive -- by "chief executive" magazine as the number one state to relocate your business. for more than 20 years straight, texas job creation has outpaced the rest of the country by a factor of two to one. behind this lasting success are policies that have enhanced economic freedom and allowed texas-made goods to be sold in markets across the world. it's no surprise texas has also led the nation in exports for the last 13 years running. allowing free enterprise and open markets to thrive has fueled decades of texas growth.

it has also created until -- millions of good-paying jobs for texas families. let's build on these successful free market policies and bring lasting strength to our american economy. i yield become. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from kale seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> from city halls to the halls of congress there's universal agroment that our national infrastructure, once the envy of the world is eroding around us. it's eroding from simple political inattention and inaction. mr. lowenthal: we must stop short-term fixes for long-term infrastructure. we must develop a sustainable funding solution to repair, restore, and to upgrade our

infrastructure. the remaining question is how do we solve it here and now? are we going to do a responsible long-term funding solution or are we just going to kick the can down the road? are we going to wait for more bridges to collapse or trains to derail or roads to fall into gridlock? we must come together to solve this problem. the safety of every american, the efficiency of every business, and the momentum of our national economy depend on us and our -- and are at risk. thank you and i yield become. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? >> seek permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. peterson: mr. speaker, i rise today in honor of -- >> mr. speaker, i rise today in honor of chief bill munn who retires today after decades as chief of the st. cloud fire department.

after graduating from apollo high school in 19 7 and serving in the united states navy he returned to his hometown. mr. emmer: he dedicated his career to his hometown community, joining the st. cloud fire department 32 years ago. before becoming st. cloud's fire chief, he was the assistant chief to his predecessor, mike holm. now as chief, he's overseeing five fire stations and 63 fire fighters that respond to approximately 4,000 incidents each year. thank you for all you've done for the st. cloud community, chief munn. enjoy your retirement. you deserve it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the jlt from nebraska seek recognition? -- does the gentleman from nebraska seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise today to honor and remember six heroic united states marines who died last week serving the country in a humanitarian life-saving mission halfway around the world.

they were killed in a tragic helicopter crash in nepal as they delivered badly needed supplies to the nation's suffering earthquake victims. mr. ashford: among the six, two men with close ties to nebraska. 29-year-old captain dustin lucacevic. prior to serving in nepal, he was deployed in afghanistan. he leaves behind a wife ashley and one daughter. ashley is also pregnant and due to deliver next month. 22-year-old lance corporal jacob hugg, a deck kated combat videographer -- dedicated -- -- a decorated combat videographer was also killed. he was capturing images of the marine corps' efforts in nepal. prior to that, he filmed marines from south korea guam and the united states. please join me in keeping these

brave, selfless individuals and their families in your thoughts and prayers. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise today to pay tribute to a great hoosier a true patriot, and my friend, major general r. mar inum barger of the -- r. martin umbarger. he started mr. messer: he started his service in 1969. he rose through the ranks and stood out as a remarkable leader. in 2004, then-govepbor mitch daniels appointed him adjunct general of the state of indiana. where he served as the highest

ranking military officer in our great state's national guard for more than 10 years. general umbarger is a true hoosier hero. his shoes will be big ones to fill. best of luck in your retirement sir, and thank you for your incredible service to our state and our nation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from nevada seek recognition? ms. titus: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. titus: today the united states immigration and customs enforcement was supposed to begin accepting deferred action for parental accountability or dapa, applications. it was to be a day of hope not disappointment, for millions of families across the country. but because of a politically motivated decision by a texas judge, implementation has been halted. now 17,000 hard working men and

women in clark county, nevada, must wait for relief in fear of being torn from their family. nevada is the state with the largest share of undocumented immigrants as total population, 210,000 people or 7.6%, and that is equal to 10.2% of our work force. they are our colleagues, our neighbors, our classmates, and our friends. and they play a vital role in the success of our community. congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform so families across the country and in nevada can come out of the shadows, legally work and go to school and contribute to the only community they call home. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i rise today because i realize, like my friends across the aisle that we

find ourselveses in a crisis situation of our own making. the federal highway trust fund is set to run out of money and with our current infrastructure needs, the funds moneys are simply not enough. instead of addressing the issue in the last several congresses, short-term fixes have been passed an congress has kicked the can down the road. we need more rhetoric on the importance of infrastructure, we need solution. on thursday, i'll introduce the prioritizing american roads and jobs act this bill will roll back 100% medicaid expansion reimbursement rates to be equal to traditional medicaid rates with the saving transferring to the highway trust fund this bill will add $15 billion a year to the trust fund and put it back on the path to finance -- financial stability for the long-term while freeing up $150 billion for deficit reduction over the next 10 years. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina seek reck necessary?

>> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. mrs. adams: i rise in support of continued investments in early childhood education. head start programs give students the opportunity to start out strong and help close the achievement gap that plague many low-income communities. as a mother, grandmother and retired educator i realize that early education provides students with the resources they need in the most critical learning years. more than 27% of the people in my district live below the poverty line. students in low income families have obvious disadvantages that are exacerbated when they arrive in kindergarten less than -- less prepared than their peers. more than 3,000 children in my district benefit from head start programs. they give many children the jump start and confidence they need. research shows that children enrolled in high quality education programs are more

likely to graduate from high school, go to college, and secure higher paying jobs. an investment in early education is an investment in our future. i will continue fighting for early learning initiatives and commonsense education reform that prepares all our students to succeed. i call on my colleagues to do the same. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> today i rise to commend cadet jonathan chase strickland for being selected as the top rotc candidate in the nation. mr. collins: he was also selected as cadet command cadet of the year. he was selected out of 5,617 rotc across the nation based on outstanding performance, physical fitness and academic record.

a factor in his record was successful completion of the development assessment course. he's a native of gainsville, georgia and will graduate university of north georgia with a degree in international affairs. he'll be commissioned into the army as a second lieutenant in military intelligence he plans on attending the infantry officer leadership school in fort benning and the ranger school. after watching chases grow up, his father and grandfather and his fine family, it's not surprising he rose to the top. join me in congratulating cadet strickland on his accomplishment and wish him success. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? mr. polis: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection so ordered. mr. polis: today should have been a celebration of hope and relief for the millions of hard working immigrants who would be able to register for extended

daca and dapa programs. daca's expansion and the dapa program would allow illegal immigrants to pay a fine register and get right with the law. unfortunately, they sit in limbo while they wait for a judge to the side the fate of the daca and dapa programs. it should be incumbent on any politician who seeks to thwart or undermine these programs to propose a legislative solution through congress. that's everybody's first choice, only congress can provide a pathway to citizenship, only congress can permanently replace our broken immigration system with one that work one that restores the rule of law, secures our border and provides a path to citizen ship. i hope the fifth circuit will rule on the side of justice and the rule of law by lifting the injunction. no matter what happens this judicial mess is further proof of congress' failure to act. i call upon congress to address our broken immigration system and move forward with restoring the rule of law and i yield back

the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the chair lays before the house the following communications. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on may 19, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. that the senate passed without amendment house concurrent resolution 43. with best wishes i am signed sincerely, robert f. reefs, deputy clerk. the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the designate on may 19, 2015, at 11:27 a.m. that the senate passed without amendment h.r. 2252. with best wishes i am signed

sinl serial, robert f. reeves -- sincerely, robert f. reeves, deputy clerk. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition? mr. newhouse: mr. speaker, by the direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 271 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 33, house resolution 271, resolved, that at any time after adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r. 1806, to provide for technological innovation through the prioritization of federal investment in basic research, fundamental scientific discovery, and development to improve the competitiveness of the united states, and for other purposes. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against

consideration of the bill are waived. general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on science, space, and technology. after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on science, space, and technology now printed in the bill, it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of rules committee print 114-15. that amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. all points of order against that amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived. no amendment to that amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution. each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member

designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. all points of order against such amendments are waived. at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as may have been adopted. any member may demand a separate vote in the house on any amendment adopted in the committee of the whole to the bill or to the amendment in the nature of a substitute made in order as original text. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. section 2, at any time after adoption of this resolution the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the

committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h.r. 2250, making appropriations for the legislative branch for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2016, and for other purposes. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. the bill shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill for failure to comply with clause 2 of rule 21 are waived. no amendment to the bill shall be in order except those printed in part b of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution. each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall

be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. all points of order against such amendments are waived. at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as may have been adopted. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. section 3, upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill h.r. 2353, to provide an extension of federal aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit, and other programs funded out of the highway trust fund, and for other purposes. all points of order against consideration of the bill are

waived. the bill shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except, one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on transportation and infrastructure, and two, one motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized for one hour. mr. newhouse: mr. speaker, during consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. i now yuled the customary 30 -- yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from colorado, mr. polis pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks . the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, so ordered, and the gentleman from washington is recognized for such time as he may consume. mr. newhouse: thank you, mr. speaker. on monday the rules committee met and reported a rule, house resolution 271 providing for consideration of three important bills. this rule provides for consideration of the america competes re-authorization act of 2015 and the legislative branch appropriations act of 2016 under structured rules, and the highway and transportation funding act of 2015 under a closed rule. it is important to note that this combined rule allows for separate consideration of each bill. this house will separately debate and consider these important issues. the legislative branch appropriations bill is traditionally considered under a structured amendment process and that practice is continued today. the america competes act makes a dozen amendments in order with more than half, eight

amendments coming from democratic sponsors. mr. speaker, h.r. 1806 is a fiscally responsible, pro-science bill that re-authorizes civilian research programs at the department of energy the national science foundation, the national institute for standards and technology and the white house office of science and technology policy. the bill keeps our nation competitive and on the global stage and works to refocus the federal government's primary scientific role to fund basic research. this reprioritization of basic research will help ensure future u.s. economic competitiveness and security and will spur additional private sector technology innovation, which is crucial to the united states' remaining a world leader in scientific and technological advances. this bill keeps overall funding for these programs equal to the

fiscal year 2015 appropriated levels and is consistent with the cap set by the budget control act, prioritizing taxpayer investment in basic research without increasing overall federal spending. the emphasis this legislation places on federal investment in research in the physical sciences and engineering helps to develop and advance knowledge and technologies used in fields by scientists who are dedicated to improving the lives of all americans. i've seen firsthand the importance of these investments while visiting the pacific northwest national laboratory one of our seven -- 17 national labs, which i am proud to represent in my district, washington's fourth. the work being done at pnnl and at the national labs and research universities all across the country is critical

to our country's future and to the prioritizations and reforms in this bill will enhance the work being done to the benefit of all americans. additionally h.r. 1806 reduces by $1 billion the administration's large and unjustified programs such as late-stage commercialization, which picks winners and losers that compete with the private sector. we must be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, and this legislation will prevent duplicative and wasteful research activities by requiring the department of energy to certify that work being done is original and has not already been conducted by another federal agency. overall, the america competes act will establish -- re-establish the priority of basic research in the core physical sciences and biology at the nation's civilian

science agencies. this bill sets the right priorities for our nation's civilian research and will promote u.s. innovation, ingenuity and competitiveness, all without increasing our national debt our deficit. this rule also provides for consideration of h.r. 2250, the legislative branch appropriations act of 2016. this legislation provides funding for all operations of the united states house of representatives, the u.s. capitol complex, the capitol police, the congressional budget office and the many other agencies that are so important to the day-to-day functions of congress. h.r. 2250 provides the legislative branch with $3.3 billion in fiscal year 2016, the same amount as fiscal year 2014 as well as fiscal year 2015. continuing this chamber's

commitment to leading by example during these times of huge deficits and out-of-control debt. the activities this bill funds are critical to the operations of the capitol complex, which must be protected, cared for and maintained. visitors from my district in central washington as well as visitors from across the country and throughout the world travel countless miles to visit this remarkable institution, which is a symbol of democracy and freedom for so many. for these and many other reasons, we must ensure that the capitol remains in this pristine condition and is able to withstand the test of time so that many future generations are able to visit this truly unique and historic place. finally, this rule provides for the consideration of h.r. 2353, the highway and transportation funding act of 2015. h.r. 2353 would extend the

highway trust fund's expenditure authority for two months, from may 31 to july 31. it will also provide an extension for many important federal highway and public transportation programs, such as the motor carrier and highway safety programs as well as the hazardous materials transportation program through july 31. . last august, congress passed and the president signed the highway transportation funding act of 2014 intended to provide enough funding for the highway trust fund to remain solvent through may 31 of this year. however, the funding is now lasting longer than was originally predicted and this bill will extend the trust fund's expenditure authority so transportation funding spending is able to continue through july. while congress works to find a solution that will ensure the trust fund remains solvent for years to come.

a constructive dialogue in congress is needed on this issue, one that will give states the certainty they need to build the roads, the bridges, and other infrastructure that our communities and our economy need to thrive in the 21st century. mr. speaker, this is a good, straightforward rule. i support its adoption and i urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bills. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: i thank the gentleman from washington for yielding. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. polis: i rise in opposition to the rule and the underlying bill. we should be celebrating today the start of the deferred action for child arrivals expansion and the deferred actions for parents of american citizens program. the -- that president obama launched in light of the continued failure of this

congress to finally fix our brokesen immigration system this congress hasn't brought forth a single immigration bill, not secured our border, not ensured that employers follow our law and only employ legal american workers, but rather, at every opportunity it has sought to thwart the executive branch doing what they can with the powers they have under our u.s. constitution to restore the rule of law without the help of this body. and these three bills before us today are yet another way of kicking the ball down the road and refusing to address our broken immigration system a problem that will continue to get worse until congress steps up and solves it. i hope that the deferred action for child arrivals program expansion, known as daca already a great success, with additional success along the way with a new expansion and the deferred action for parents of american citizens or dapa program are soon unclogged by the courts to at least reduce the size of this sometimes

insurmountable problem that congress continues to refuse to tackle. and that's the alternative. if congress continues to bring up three bills every week and none of them about border security, none of them about immigration, you know what instead of there being 10 million people here illegally, there can be 15 million or 20 million here in 10 years. that's where this republican congress is leaving us -- is leading us in america, where someday there may be more people here illegally than legally. this first bill we're considering is not immigration reform. it is instead a two-month extension of the current surface transportation. our transportation system the life blood of our country. it dictate ours ability not only -- to move and manage not only people but products, commerce, and jobs. by failing to pass a long-term re-authorization and ensuring our shis -- highways and transit systems for more than 60 days,

we're putting our nation's life blood in jeopardy. the second bill before us today is not immigration reform. the second bill is not immigration reform. the second bill instead is a partisan intent to inject the ideological priorities of my republican colleagues into education, opposed by the very titans of research for whom this bill is ostonsably designed and i'll talk more about that in a moment they feel third bill before us today, i'm hopeful is it immigration reform? i ask the gentleman from washington is the third bill before us today immigration reform? i'm happy to yield to the gentleman for an answer. reclaiming my time. he's speechless. he's speechless because he knows the truth. the third bill is not immigration reform. the third bill is actually the funding bill for the legislative branch of government.

maybe if the legislative branch of government was doing its job we'd have a legislative reform bill before us but no. my colleague is speechless because he knows as well as i do that this is not immigration reform and is instead a funding bill for members of congress' salary and the salaries of our staff. i guess that's more important than securing our border. i fwess that's more important to the republicans than restoring the rule of law. let me get into these three bills. the surface transportation act would extend authority of the government to fund our highways for two months. only two months. now, what that means is we risk wasting $51 billion and jeopardizing that funding, risking over 660,000 jobs, by failing to do a long-term authorization of the highway trust fund. we all have an interest in this. any one of us can talk about the importance of transportation in our districts. if you've ever been to colorado, you know that there's one major

artery to get to our world class ski facilities and unparalleled peak. if you've ever taken it on friday or sunday, you may have sat in your car at a dead stop. if you've been to fort collins, the largest city in my district home to one of our great universities, you may have found similar circumstances around rush hour on highway 25 north. waiting 45 minutes in traffic to go five or 10 niles -- miles is something my constituent do every day doubling, tripling, their commuting time. these stories are not unique to colorado or to my district. i bet every member of congress can share the importance of transportation. that's why ostensibly every congress member can say, we support roads. there's no republican roads and democratic roads, there's roads. by continuing to fail to provide a long-term funding structure for them we're playing games with the livelihoods of american

people hurting our economic life blood, wasting people's time sitting in traffic throwing into jeopardy the status of jobs and contractors and subcontractors and risking lives by continueing to repair to bridges and structures that have accumulated safety problems. i urge my colleagues to consider that i'd also like to talk about the america competes act. the original genesis of this bill passed in 2007, was to help america compete in increase -- increasingly global environment across the sciences and to ensure our innovative spirit. my district is a hub for scientific research and we're excited to have the university of colorado at boulder, colorado state university noaa, enral, research that's done in colorado has ramifications and positive effects across the country. like our space weather lab in boulder which helps make sure that air traffic controllers and

pilots have access to up to the minute information about solar flares that could alter their trajectories in realtime. now this bill, instead of continuing the bipartisan legacy that the original competes act set out or instead of replacing our broken immigration system with one that works for our country, instead seems to cherry pick winners based on ideology and overturns historic priorities of the bill. why else would the dean of research at c.u. boulder oppose this bill? why else would our widely respected secretary of energy oppose this bill? dozens of the largest scientific organizations -- this is supposed to be a science bill. they're saying, don't give us this bill, it will hurt science and our country. how does that make sense? the efforts of the republicans to hijack this legislation for ideological interests are utterly transparent. scientists are say, go home, federal government. don't help us with this bill. but again, in yet another

federal overreach, the republicans are imposing their versions of science on those in the field doing work. finally, this rule brings forth h.r. 2250, also a bill that's not immigration reform, but does make sure that members of congress get paid, i'm sure republicans can go home happy about that make sure our hard working staff gets paid, the buildings get repaired. i'm not against those things. those are fine things. if we had an all volunteer legislature, we probably wouldn't have the fine caliber of statesmen we have tackling our national problems here today. but it's not immigration reform, mr. speaker. it doesn't secure our border. and it will only continue to increase the number of people here illegally in our country while congress continues to punt and undermine the efforts of the president to do what he can with the powers he has through daca and dapa which were scheduled to

start today. i do want to point out that the underlying draft of this legislate branch act is another example of failure to address many of the needs of our country. there was an effort by my colleague, debbie wasserman schultz, put forward an amendment to ensure that house cafeteria workers received a living wage. you'd think we'd want to be an example of a model employer. i would hope that we as custodians of the united states capitol should take some pride, we're a model employer, a microcosm of what employers should do. but there's a senate employee who is homeless because on the salary he get he is can't afford to rent here in washington. people who work every day here in the nation's capitol are living in poverty. and i think that we can do better as a model employer. if this was my company, i would take no pride in that. and i'd like to think that this is our company it's the united states of america. we're the board. let's have employment policies

that we as employers can be proud of. i urge my colleagues to vote against this rule and instead bring to the floor immigration reform or better versions of these bills that -- a science bill that maybe scientists support. maybe. transportation bill that maybe funds our highways more than two months. so people can plan. it's time we begin working for the american people, not against them. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. newhouse:: thank you, mr. speaker. i share the gentleman from colorado's -- the issue of immigration reform is huge. it's one of the biggest issues facing this country today. i agree we need to give it adequate debate and time and

consideration although today is not the day. mr. polis: will the gentleman yield for a question. mr. newhouse:: i reserve my time and will continue with my remarks if i may. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington may continue. mr. newhouse:: we recently heard from colleagues on the other side of -- side of the aisle that combining multiple bills in a single rule can lead to fragmented debate. so to lead our debate today i would like to call on the gentleman from texas to refocus the distinguished chairman of the science committee, mr. smith. the speaker pro tempore: for how much time? mr. newhouse:: six minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman, mr. smith is recognized for six minutes. mr. smith: i thank the gentleman from washington and a former member of the science committee himself for yielding me time. h.r. 1806, the america compete regular authorization act of 015 is a pro-science fiscally responsible bill that sets america on a path to remain the

world's leader in innovation. this bill re-authorizes civilian research programs at the national science found eags, national institute for standards and technology, the department of energy, and the office of science and technology policy. since january, the house science committee has held numerous hearings that have provided input into this bill. this includes budget hear wgs the nsf director, the acting nist director, secretary of energy and the assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy. our consideration of the provisions in this bill began long before last year. in the last congress, the science committee held numerous hearings on the topics addressed by this bill as well. many of the provisions in the bill were debated during the science committee's consideration of the first act last congress which assign -- which the science committee passed in may. title 1 of the bill re-authorizes the national science foundation for two years and provides a 4.3% increase for

research and related activities. the bill prioritizes funding for the directors of biology computer science engineering and mathematics and physical sciences and recognizes the need to make strategic investments in basic r&d for the to us remain the global lead for the science and innovation. the bill reprioritizes research spending at national science foundation by reducing funding for the social, behavioral and economic directorate and geosciences. the bill instead focuses funds on the physical sciences from which almost all of the scientific breakthroughs that drive new technology, new businesses and industries, job creation and spurs innovation. tight federal budget constraints require all taxpayers' dollars to be spent on high value science in the national interest. unfortunately, national science foundation funded a number of projects that do not meet the highest standards of scientific

merit from climate change musicals to evaluating animal photographs in "national geographic," to studying human set fires in new zealand in the 1800's. there are dozens of other examples. the bill ensures accountability by restoring the intent of the n.s.f. act and require that all grants serve the national interest. title 2 represents the science committee's commitment to enhancing stem education programs, a healthy and viable stem work force is critical to american industries and ensures our future economic prosperity. the definition of stem is expanded to include computer science, which connects all stem subjects. . title 3 includes three bipartisan bills the science committee approved in march. those bills, h.r. 1119, the research development and efficiency act h.r. 1156 the international science and

technology cooperation act of 2015, and h.r. 1162, the science prize competitions act passed the committee by voice vote. two of these bills were sponsored by democrats. title 4 supports the important measurement standards and technology work taking place at the national institute for standards and technology laboratories. the manufacturing extension partnership program, and recently authorized network for manufacturing innovation. title 5 re-authorizes the department of energy office of science for two years at a 5.4% increase for fiscal year 2015. it plyor advertises basic research that enables researchers in all 50 states to have access to world class user facilities including super computers and high intensity light sources. this bill also prevents duplication and requires d.o.e. to certify that its climate science work is unique and not being undertaken by other federal agencies.

title 6 re-authorizes the d.o.e. applied research and development programs and activities for fiscal year 2016 and 2017. h.r. 1806 refocuses some spending on late stage commercialization efforts within the office of energy efficiency and renewable energy through research and development efforts. title 7 proposes to cut red tape and bureaucracy in the d.o.e. technology transfer process. currently the private sector has little incentive to build reactor prototypes due to regulatory uncertainty from the nuclear regulatory commission. h.r. 1806 sets the right priorities for federal civilian research which enhances innovation and u.s. competitiveness without adding to the federal deficit and debt. i encourage all my colleagues to support this bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. poll cloins the gentleman

from washington shares a desire to address the broken immigration system. i know the chair of the rules committee, mr. sessions, has indicated similarly. and just as i have posed to mr. sessions in the past, i would like to pose to the gentleman from washington if he has a time frame when we can expect immigration legislation on the floor of the house. be happy to yield to the gentleman from washington. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman continues to reserve the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado is recognized to continue. mr. polis: well sometimes silence speaks louder than words. i yield three minutes to the gentleman from oregon, a member on the committee on ways and means, mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for three minutes. mr. blumenauer: i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy. i want to speak to just one aspect on the floor of this rule. my colleague from washington made a statement that we are dealing with two-month extension because we found some extra

money to let it last longer. no the reason that we are having a two-month extension is because we have not been able to resolve this problem. i made the remarks on the floor of the house last summer that extending it to may is not going to get us any place, and we would be right back in the same spot. i could dust off the same speech. what is happening is that you have a little tiny bit of give, but it doesn't mean that we have enough money and that there aren't consequences. there are states across the country because of the uncertainty of the republican funding approach are already cutting back on construction projects this summer. this will be the 34th short-term funding extension. it is a symbol of the failure of my republican colleagues to do

anything in 55 months that they have been in charge to deal with transportation funding. they've never even had a hearing. now, i will say that this is over the last 22 years, there have been some bipartisan failures to step up to it. ironically the solution is clear, thoroughly studied, and broadly supported. raise the gas tax for the first time since 1993. the republican leadership doesn't have to do anything extraordinary. just allow the ways and means committee to follow regular order. have some serious committee hearings. listen to the experts invite in the stakeholders that build, that maintain, and use our transportation system. let's have at the witness dais heads of the afl-cio, u.s.

chamber of commerce who agree we should raise the gas tax. the head of transit, the american trucking association triple-a by sick list -- bicyclists, they could refer to republican leaders of the past. dwight eisenhower established the gas tax to fund the interstate freeway system. ronald reagan, the conservative icon, called congress back in october -- excuse me, november of 1982 and called on them to more than double the gas tax, which ronald reagan and tip o'neill did. in fact, my republican friends could involve republican leaders today. six republican states have raised the gas tax already this year. idaho, iowa, nebraska, utah,

south dakota, georgia -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is granted an additional 15 seconds. mr. blumenauer: not exactly liberal bastions. this is something that we can and should do. let's step up solve this problem, avoid this continual uncertainty for people around the country. they deserve better. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. new house: thank you mr. speaker. -- mr. newhouse: thank you, mr. speaker. just a note to my colleague from colorado. i agree that this is an important issue that you keep bringing up of immigration, and will i certainly ask my chairman any time frame and i will look forward to working with you and all my colleagues on solving this important issue. but today we are talking about highways. we are talking about science. we are talking about keeping this place running smoothly and to get us back on subject. i would love to yield three minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. weber. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas, mr. weber

is recognized for three minutes. mr. weber: i thank the gentleman from washington. i'm glad to hear i am getting us back on subject. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of the rule and h.r. 1806 the america competes re-authorize act -- re-authorization act of 2015. this is fiscally responsible legislation that cuts wasteful government spending and prioritizes innovative scientific research and development. a key reform included in the america competes act is reining in spending at the department of energy's office of efficiency renewable energy or eere. the budget has grown by almost 60% in the last decade. president obama's fiscal year 2016 budget requests for eere is over $2.7 billion, with a b dollars which is a requested increase of another $800 million over last fiscal year. the department of energy's approach to energy research and development has also become more

and more on balance with the e. eere's continued growth. the president's proposed budget for eere r and did is more than double the budgets for nuclear, fossil and electricity are indeed combined. in addition, the work prioritized by eere is far too focused on increasing the use of today's existing technology. many eere programs are focused on reducing market barriers for existing technology or funding r&d activities already prioritized by the private sector, not conducting the fundamental research to build for its future breakthroughs. with our national debt at $18 trillion and rising, and spending caps guiding budgets on everything from energy to national defense, congress cannot rubber tamp this kind of out-of-control spending. it is time to adjust the department of energy's budget to reality. the america competes act refocuses federal investment on energy research and development.

not deployment of today's technology. by funding the basic research and development prioritizing the america competes act, the department of energy can build a foundation for the private sector to bring innovative energy technologies to the market and thereby grow the american economy. so i urge my colleagues to vote yes on this rule and yes on h.r. 1806, the american competes re-authorization act of 2015. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from maryland, the ranking of the science space, and technology subcommittee on space, ms. edwards. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from maryland is recognized for three midgets. ms. edwards: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today both as a member of the science committee and the highway -- transportation and infrastructure committee. i can't think of a worse rule, frankly, we could bring to the floor. we could have had bipartisan

cooperation on america competes so that we can invest in our science and research and technology, and yet that is not what is happening here today. to the highway transportation and funding act, it doesn't allow for any amendments to the legislation that would fix and fund our nation's crumbling infrastructure with predictibility stability, and for the long term. the highway trust fund and the current surface transportation authorization as we know are set to expire on may 31, leaving just three legislative days to extend it or 4,000 transportation workers will be laid off, and work would stop on federal highway programs all across the country. right in the middle of prime construction and building season. now, the responsible among us know that we can't walk away from the highway trust fund. millions of jobs and thousands of businesses hang in the balance. but we also know that what's before us today is the least most responsible way to fund our infrastructure. two months at a time. can you believe it?

two months at a time, mr. speaker. no long-term projects, no opportunity for planning, no relief for workers, and another pivotal moment in the construction season. as a member of the transportation and infrastructure committee today i am joining ranking member defazio and eleanor holmes norton in introducing the grow america act on behalf of the administration. this bill would serve us well to provide $478 billion over six years for our highways, bridges transit, rail, and highway safety programs. this long-term and robust funding bill is a 45% increase over our current spending on our tattered and crumbling infrastructure. it is the type of plan that we have to ensure that our major league economy does not have the infrastructure that wouldn't even fit children playing t ball. while my colleagues on the other side of the aisle twiddle their thumbs two months at a time, america is falling apart, and

one of the leaders in the world in quality infrastructure we are now number 16, according to the world economic forum. according to the american society of engineers, the overall assessment of our nation's infrastructure ranks with a whopping d-plus. now look at my home state of maryland 5,305 bridges are deficient, they are falling apart. that's 27% of the bridges in our state. just a few months ago, one of my states was driving along suitland parkway minding her own business when a chunk of cement fell and hit her car hood because the bridge was in disrepair. though it's not my reference, we have to extend the highway trust fund today. i challenge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to use this time to go through a bipartisan negotiation on how to pay for our long-term and fully funded investments to construct and rebuild our roads, bridges, transit, and rail infrastructure. 35 extensions of the highway trust fund, 52 votes against

a.c.a., come on, let's get serious, move away from the kids' table, get to the grown-up table, and fund our highway transportation and infrastructure. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentlewoman has expired. the gentleman from washington state is recognized. mr. newhouse: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington reserves his time. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. poll cloins mr. speaker, the reason you hear so many people talking about different topics is there's three completely unrelated topics with this single rule. there's the funding for all of the legislative salaries, people who work in this building. that's one bill. another one funds roads but only for two months across the whole country. and the other one is the one that they say is for science but all the scientists oppose. that's why it's confusing. there are three completely inrelated bills in here. none of which do a thing about illegal immigration. mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from vermont, a member on the committee of energy and commercers -- commerce, mr. welsh. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont, mr. welsh, is recognized for two minutes. mr. welsh: i thank the

gentleman. mr. speaker, we neal a bill a surface transportation bill. the last thing in the world we need is this bill. a two-month extension. if this short-term plan was a necessary step to get us to a long-term bill, that would make some sense. but as speakers have noted, this the 33rd time in the past five years where congress has failed to provide long-term and sustainable funding for our surface transportation needs. . this is a habit, not a plan. mr. speaker, bill follows on the heels of the bill we passed nine months ago and that was a nine-month extension to surface transportation paid for by, quote, pension smoothing. you can't make that up. we lowered the obligation corporations pay to pensions in order to put money in the highway transportation fund, we traded a pothole in pensions to

fix potholes in the highways. makes no sense. but you know what? now we're here on a two-month plan. good job congress. we were given some assurances we'd have a long-term bill. the fact of the matter is mr. speaker, there are good long-term plans out there. congressman rene chee has a plan. the president has a plan. congressman delaney. congressman blumenauer. there are policies out there. we don't need a policy debate, we need a decision. the reality is we have got to make congress work do, its job, pass a long-term funding bill, that's going to allow this country to modernize its airports, fix its bridges, and to make its railroads safer. to make our ports dredge deeper. we have to bring our 20th century infrastructure into the 21st century and the only way we're going to get that done is by stepping up to the responsibility that we have to pass a long-term funding plan.

mr. speaker, i've indicated to the speaker himself that this is a tough job, putting a bill on the floor, always tough when congress has to pull the trig own what's that revenue source going to be. i'll support any plan that's reasonable and sustainable. the only plan i won't support is no re-knew plan at all. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman from vermont has expired. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. newhouse:: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from washington, a member of the committee on appropriations, mr. kilmer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. kilmer: i thank the gentleman from colorado for yielding. prior to coming to congress i worked at the economic development board in tacoma. in my office i had a sign that said, we're competing with everyone everywhere, every day forever.

that sentiment was echoed in a report by the national academies last decade called rising above the gathering storm which was the main influence behind the bipartisan america competes act. the report provided us with a pathway on how to increase american competitiveness so that we don't fall behind our global competitors. its findings were stark. the report told us that if we are going to compete as a nation if we want innovation to happen here in america, if we wants jobs to be created here in america, we need to make significant investments in basic research and double the funding dedicated toward research and development. that's from that report. but that's not what we're doing here today. in fact, funding for basic research in the bill that we're currently debating fails to keep up with the rate of inflation. it fails to live up to the standards set forth in that bipartisan report. when this bill was first considered in the space, science and technology committee last congress, a group of my fellow

members of the new democratic coalition developed a set of principles we thought should guide re-authorization of an american competes legislation. it included stabilizing funding for research and developing and supporting policies that spark innovation. we were disappointed when the first act strayed away from those policies and we're disappointed now that this act makes it harder for america to compete. the amendment i offered does not call for increasing research and development spending. the amendment but put forward was a compromise. unfortunately this amendment was made out ofed or eand in the brought to the floor for consideration. mr. speaker if we fail to make critical investments in research and innovation america will fall behind. let's take up a bill that his up to the spirit of bipartisanship and the goals laid out in "rising above the gathering storm." let's compete everywhere, every

day, forever. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. newhouse: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from california who represents one of the strongest science clusters in the united states in san diego, mr. peters. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. peters: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you to mr. polis for yielding. our country, as mr. kilmer pointed out is facing an ever increasing global competition for scientific research. we can't afford to cede the lead we have built up in innovation, can't afford to cede that to other country. but the level of funding in the current bill does not provide adequate and constant funding for our base exscientific endeavors. it cuts energy efficient by and -- efficiency and renewable energy by 37%. cuts research by 30% and cuts the advanced research projects agency for energy or arpa-e, by

50%. these levels will not maintain strong foundations for scientific research and will make it harder for us to retain young scientists in the united states. the scripps institute on oceanology noted the harmful cuts to the geosciences program used to improve prediction for events like earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, droughts and storms. at a time of extreme weather, we should be investing in research not cutting it. unfortunately, the amendment offered by mr. kilmer, ms. esty and many to -- and many to increase fund big a small 3.5% was not given a chance to have a vote here on the house floor. i ask my colleagues to oppose this rule and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. muhouse: could i inquire of the gentleman from -- mr.

newhouse: could i inquire of the gentleman from colorado how many speakers he has left? mr. polis: i yield two minutes to the gentlelady from new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. does the gentleman from washington continue to reserve. mr. polis: i believe this is my last speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mrs. maloney: i want to thank the gentleman from the great state of colorado for yielding and for his leadership on the rules committee and on so many other important issues before this kuok. mr. speaker, the highway trust fund, which finances highway and transportation projects all across this country, is set to expire at the end of this month it's coming right up. passing a short-term fix is necessary because the republicans have ignored our nation's transportation needs

for the past 10 months. since the last short-term extension was passed. we don't need a short-term extension. we need long-term planning. and investment in our infrastructure. the sad reality is that the united states is not investing nearly enough in its infrastructure. as a share of gross domestic product, we invest about one-half of what europe does. we invest only one quarter of what china does. and as you look at this chart, this shows the amount of road traffic volume is up 297%. yet the public spending on road maintenance is so much lower, 125%. it's nearly 2.5 times faster that we are spending and having volume go up but we're not investing in our infrastructure to keep up with this volume. one out of every four bridges is

structurally deficient or functionally obsolete in the united states. we've had two bridges that literally collapsed in recent history with cars on them. the question of whether to fix our infrastructure is not about the money. we're already spending the money. fixing our cars when they hit yet another pothole or wasting our time sitting in traffic. why do we have high speed -- why don't we have high speed rail like the rest of the world? let's save ourselves some time and money by investing wisely to support our transportation infrastructure through the highway trust fund. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington continue trose serve. the gentleman from colorado will be recognized to close debate for the minority and the gentleman has five and a half

minutes remaining. mr. polis: thank you. i yield myself the duration of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for such time as he may consume. mr. polis: mr. speaker this rule under this debate covers three significant but entirely unrelated bills. that's why you're hearing people discuss highway funding. you're hearing people discuss the legislative branch, and you're hearing people discuss science. but on the day that daca expansion and dapa were scheduled to go into effect to make sure that people who are here illegally can pay a fine, get right with the law, and then be employed legally rather than illegally, we are doing nothing relating to restoring the rule of law, securing our borders or anything to address our broken immigration system. we are making sure that members of congress and our staffs get

paid. you know that's not the wrong thing. our hard working men and women who work here should get paid. it's a question of priorities. i would like to see us do something about the 10 million or 12 million people here illegally before we start paying ourselves and our staff. what about highway trust fund? again, this is an example of congress kicking the ball down the road. two months here, two months there, a month here a month there. all the contractors and subcontractors don't even know how to present bids when they don't know whether a year long or two-year project will be funded for more than two months. taxpayers wind up paying more for the same amount of work because we lack the certainty. and then there's the competes act, the science pill -- science bill, which targets certain kinds of science which apparently republicans don't like. for instance, the physical sciences, the geological sciences by handicapping the physical sciences it hurts our ability to recognize the causes of things like wild fires and floods that affect my district

in colorado or see patterns leading to events like the great western drought in california. it seems like if anything there should be a focus on a very relevant form of science that impacts quality of life every day. they also apparently don't like, for political reasons, the social sciences. again, going after the social sciences would harm our abilities to adapt for historic storms like hurricane sandy or the flood in new orleans with katrina. and mitigate against formerly unimaginable floods like those in colorado. there's an interface between the physical sciences and people and that's the work of the social science programs. how public health looks. how flood evacuations look. how disease control looks. these are important considerations and should not be politicized by this body. which is why not only i oppose this bill, but dozens of the largest scientific associations and coalitions oppose this bill

that ostensibly is for the cause of science. having all these bills under this rule is what we call a grab bag approach. just jamming unrelated legislation into ineffective packages that seem to con feuds and muddle the meaningful debate that needs to occur. since 2011 when republicans won the majority of the house, this practice of jamming several unrelated bills together into one rule has increased by 400% and this rule is an example of that and it's why the american people suffer from the somewhat disjointed debate around it. one person talks about highways, another counters a point about science, another one talks about the legislate i branch. it's because they're all in here. this is a christmas tree bill. now if it had immigration reform in it i could support this christmas tree. incompetent swallow the others. but unfortunately, it's not. the very people that should be benefit freg -- from the rules we are reviewing today, like

scientists, are opposing these bills. that should be a signal that this body is not understand og heeding the needs of the american people. we can reject this rule, we can tell congress to get back on course. we can tell congress to do a long-term re-authorization of transportation fund, we can tell congress to pass a competes act that actually fosters innovation and makes america more competitive and a legislate i branch appropriations bill that furthers the ability to have this body to deliberate and be a model employer for those who work here. how do we do that, mr. speaker? we do that by rejecting this rule. if we can bring down this grab bag christmas tree rule, we can set this congress right. i urge a no vote and i yield the balance -- yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from washington, mr. newhouse is recognized to close debate for the majority. mr. newhouse: thank you mr.

speaker. americans have sent us here to get things done. they are tired of gridlock. year in the 114th congress are on track to be one of the most productive congresses in modern history. house republicans that have an aggressiveard forward-looking agenda to help our economy recover and help create high-paying american jobs. the use of the compound rule which provides for separate consideration of each underlying measure under a single rule helps expedite legislative business. it the consideration of one rule allows the house more time to debate the underlying measures or to consider additional legislative business. we have a lot to do and this is an efficient way to get our work done. . i apreesh great the discussion we have had over the last hour. although we may have our differences of opinion, i believe that this rule and underlying bills are strong measures that are important to the future of our country.

this rule provides for ample debate on the floor. the opportunity to debate and vote on three bills and numerous amendments sponsored by both democrat and republican members of this chamber. this rule will provide for a smooth and deliberative process for sending these bills to the senate for their consideration. these bills are solid. substantial measures that will address several critical issues facing our country. h.r. 180 , the america competes re-authorization act of 2015 is a pro-science bill that will keep america competitive in the 21st century, global economy by prioritizing taxpayer investments in basic research without increasing overall federal spending. h.r. 2250, the legislative branch appropriations act of 2016, keeps funding for the legislative branch level with

fiscal years 2014 and 2015. and will be used efficiently and effectively for the opportunities of the legislative branch of the federal government. and h.r. 2353, the highway and transportation funding act of 2015 will allow transportation spending to continue through july while we in congress work diligently toward a next step to close the shortfall in the highway trust fund. currently highway and transit spending authority expires at the end of this month. officials at the department of transportation are concerned that federal cash infusions to transportation projects around the country. in my state would slow or even fault as the summer construction season begins. unless we extend this temporary extension. overall, this is a strong rule that provides for consideration of three important bills. i urge my colleagues to support

house resolution 271 and the underlying bills. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington yields back the balance of his time. without objection, the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the resolution is agreed to. without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. mr. mr. polis: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: on that i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on adoption of the resolution will be followed by five-minute vote on the motion to suspend the rules and pass s. 178.

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

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 242. the nays are 179. the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion from the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte, to suspend the rules and pass s. 178, on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 178 an act to

provide justice for the victims of trafficking. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 420. the nays are 3. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. members will please remove their conversations from the floor. the house will be in order.

for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. shuster: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the question of adopting a motion to recommit on h.r. 2353 may be subject to postponement as though under clause 8 of rule 20. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. shuster: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 2353. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. shuster: mr. speaker, pursuant to house rule 271, i call up the bill h.r. 2353 to provide an extension of federal-aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit, and other programs funded out of the highway trust fund and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2353 a bill to

provide an extension of federal-aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety transit, and other programs funded out of the highway trust fund, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 271, the bill is considered as read. the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. shuster and the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. shuster. mr. shuster: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: first the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. members please remove their conversations from the floor. the house will be in order. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. shuster: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of h.r. 2353 the highway and transportation funding act of 2015. this bill will extend federal surface transportation programs for two months through july of

2015. h.r. 2353 is a clean extension of the surface transportation programs. funded at the authorized amounts for fiscal year 2014. no transfer of funding to the highway trust fund is necessary because the trust fund will remain solvent during the period. however, we will more than likely have to pass another short-term patch before the august recess and take steps to ensure the trust fund remains solvent. i hope all of you will support h.r. 2353, but i have to say short-term extensions for the end of july was not our prefer path forward. our hope was to extend the surface program through the end of the calendar year that would have ensured reliable funding for states through the construction season. a longer extension would also have allowed us to focus on finding a long-term funding solution within the context of tax reform without the distraction of needing to address a shortfall in the highway trust fund later this summer. unfortunately, we were unable to reach an agreement on a

seven-month extension and so we are left with a two-month patch. we have an immediate critical need to extend the current surface transportation law. if congress fails to act, over 4,000 department of transportation personnel will be furloughed and the states will not be able to be reimbursed. transportation projects and jobs across the country will be at risk. i appreciate chairman ryan's attention to this pressing issue, as well as his commitment to addressing the long-term solvency of the highway trust fund. a long-term re-authorization bill will continue to be a top priority for this committee. i look forward to working with chairman ryan, ranking member defazio, and others to achieve a long-term bill. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: well, here we are again yet another short-term patch. it's the heck of a way to run a great nation. our system's falling apart. 140,000 bridges and national

highway system need repair or replacement. 40% of the surface national highway system is in such bad shape we have to big up the roadbed and resurface. we have an $86 billion backlog in transit to bring up the existing transit. it's so bad we are killing people in the nation's capital unnecessarily because the state of disrepair of the metro system. it is embarrassing. the united states of america has gone from number one in the world unparalleled in terms of its infrastructure in the eisenhower era and through a good deal of the latter part of the last century to 26 and falling fast. we are investing less of a percent of our g.d.p. in infrastructure repaired and maintenance let alone building out a new system than virtually every nation in the world. we are down around 1%. there are many developing nations who are investing much, much more because they know they have to move their people and their goods more efficiently in

a world economy. we cannot continue to kick this can down the road. the road is at a dead end. today we will reluctantly go along with a two-month patch because if we do not act today on the -- at the end of this month, the first of june 4,000 people will be laid off at d.o.t. and all federal funding for surface transportation and transit would stop. . states that had bills pending couldn't be paid and states that would want new commitments wouldn't do it, a tragedy at the height of the construction season. so 60 days should be enough time to negotiate a long-term bill. today we introduce the grow america act, written by the administration. it has many -- many good points to it, especially the spending levels. we need to enhance spending. we can't pretend, oh, we're going to do more with less. we're past that point.

look at what has happened to the purchasing power of the gas tax which hasn't been changed since 1993. 2 1/2 times faster, road traffic volume is going up than we're dealing with the funding issues. so we are in a huge deficit situation, and there are many, many ways. many have been proposed on a bipartisan basis to deal with this. we should be able to work that out. but more importantly this committee writes the policy. we introduced the bill that sets the levels $487 billion. it's an increase in transit to deal with the backlog, an increase in highways to deal with the insufficiencies there, a new dedicated program for freight and it puts more money into rail, commuter rail in particular to deal with positive train control and other issues. so we believe that this is the last wake-up call to give congress time. 60 days is more than enough

time to write a long-term authorization, and for the ways and means committee to figure out a way to fund it. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. shuster: mr. speaker, i now yield two minutes to the chairman of the subcommittee on highways and transit mr. graves. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i also want to thank in addition to this patch, i want to thank chairman shuster and chairman ryan for their hard work towards a long-term re-authorization of the federal highway bill. mr. speaker, my home state of missouri has nearly 35,000 highway miles and over 10,000 bridges that are practically begging for our attention. as chairman of the house subcommittee on highways and transit, every single day i hear about the need to improve and repair our roadways in this country. as you can imagine this is not a simple task this is a job that's going to take years to complete. it requires the hard work and cooperation of thousands of men and women. and most importantly, though,

the task of this magnitude requires that those responsible for planning each project, the state and local governments are able to do so with confidence. it needs certainty, not only in this year's budget, but about the budgets in the next five or six years. this two-month extension does not come under ideal circumstances, but it's going to ensure that states are reimbursed for their expenses on federal projects and it's going to give us time to craft a bipartisan long-term re-authorization that we so desperately need. long-term re-authorization is critical for everyone who plays a role in improving our nation's highways and bridges and too often they've been forced to work off short-term extension after short-term extension. this congress we have a huge opportunity to secure a long-term highway bill that's going to improve, where he build and modernize -- rebuild and modernize america's highway systems. i hope this extension gives us time to come one that agreement that we need and with that again, i want to thank both chairmen for their hard work and i look forward to finalizes

the long-term re-authorization. i yield back the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: i yield 2 1/2 minutes to the ranking member of the surface subcommittee, ms. eleanor holmes norton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. norton: i thank my good friend for yielding. by july when this new patch expires, mr. speaker we shall have spent a full year since the last patch, not even trying to make progress toward a long-term authorization bill. we've acquired a dangerous habit, 33 cents the last long-term bill of patches that create no urgency to get a long-term bill done. the ways and means committee, the funding committee for this bill is holding its first hearing next month. the frustration in the states

has accumulated as fast as the untenable backlog of projects. another construction season has already been sacrificed. the reason we are here today is a comment on congressional neglect of the nation's infrastructure. states have slowed down their request for reimbursements from the trust fund because of un-- because the unreplenished fund together with the short-term patches make it impossible for states themselves to even begin projects of any size. mr. speaker, the states have already scaled back their plans for 2015 that would have created -- many federal employees in my district and thousands of others throughout the country. if congress fails to take action by may 31, many federal

employees will be furloughed, federal reimbursements will stop and the highway and transit programs will shut down. the hidden cost are even worse. the many economic development projects in the country that can't be started until roads bridges and transit to accommodate them are done. today, the democrats on the transportation and infrastructure committee have introduced the president's grow america act. we're putting a good bill on the table. change it or do your own substitute, but do not leave the nation's infrastructure twisting in the dust of another delay. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. shuster: thank you mr. speaker. i now recognize for two minutes the gentleman from arkansas, mr. crawford. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. crawford: thank you, mr. speaker. first, let me thank chairman shuster, ranking member defazio

for their hard work and to the rest of the committee for the hours of work already done on a long-term transportation bill. i rise today in support of h.r. 2353 to prevent the shutdown of funding for infrastructure improvement. i believe there's shared commitment between the transportation and infrastructure committee and most of the members of the house to pass a fully funded multiyear highway bill. with the debt crisis we continue to battle, it's becoming more and more difficult to deal with our most critical needs. that leaves few options at our disposable. members of both the transportation committee and the ways and means committee will have to take a closer look at potential funding alternatives and be creative in how to finance a reliable and modern infrastructure system. and at the same time we need to work towards getting our country back on the path of fiscal solvency. as we work on a long-term solution we need to prevent finding ourselves in the same position over and over. a consistent funding mechanism paired with a more transparent

system that demonstrates effective use of taxpayer dollars will put us in a better position to fund critical infrastructure projects and instill more confidence on the part of our constituents. i hope my colleagues will join me in supporting h.r. 2353 so we can continue work on a multiyear transportation bill to ensure our nation's growth. failure to act threatens our general contractors and their employees, suppliers and puts at risk the jobs that are both directly and indirectly supported by these projects. mr. speaker, if we want to keep our folks in business and continue any meaningful growth in our economy then we must find a reliable, long-term solution. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. nadler. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, i rise in support of this bill but with reservations. the last surface transportation bill map-21, expired last fall. at that time we passed an

extension to the end of this month to give us time to work on a long-term bill. we have known for months that this day was coming and yet we have made no progress finding a solution to fund highway transit and other important surface transportation bill. map- 1 itself was only a two-year bill. breaking the tradition of congress passing five or six-year bills to complete long-term capital plans and projects that require a commitment beyond one fiscal year. the last long-term bill we passed with safetea-lu in 2005. that was 10 years ago and that bill was underfunded because of the resistance of raising the gasoline tax or identifying new revenue sources. for over a decade we have failed to address the funding challenges necessary to break the cycle of underinvestment and put this country back on a competitive path with the rest of the world. today we spend about 1.7% of g.d.p. on infrastructure while china spends 9%, europe 4.5% to 5%. we used to spend 4.5% to 5%

also. there is a $800 million backlog. public transit has an $ 6 billion backlog of critical maintenance and repair needs which increased by $2.5 billion each year as bus and rail infrastructure ages. while infrastructure crumbles around us, we don't fill the gap in the highway trust fund just to do a long-term bill at current levels. but this week they will put on the floor a tax extenders that will cost $182 billion over 10 years completely unpaid for. i'm concerned that we will pass this two-month extension and be right back here in july having the same conversation. i will support this extension but only with the understanding that we must spend the next two months once and for all making transportation funding a priority so that our citizens don't have to risk unsafe transportation, so we can invest in our infrastructure and we can be competitive in our economy going forward.

i thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. shuster: thank you mr. speaker. i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from ohio, mr. gibbs. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. gibbs: i thank you, chairman, for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in support of 2253, the highway and transportation funding act of 2015. although we must construct a long-term highway bill, this legislation is a compromise that will provide states of certainty through the vital summer construction months. by extending the highway trust fund to the end of july, states will not have to worry about reimbursements from the federal government while they are in the middle of the busiest construction season of the year. following passage of this extension i look forward to working with my colleagues on the transportation and infrastructure committee to construct a long-term highway bill which is a sustainable funding mechanism. upon its enactment in 2012, map-21 consolidated federal highway programs and streamlining the approval process. the next highway bill should build on map-21 success to cut

red tape and ensure highway trust fund dollars are spent sponlly. we must also be good stewards of taxpayer dollars tone sure that the next surface transportation bill will create jobs and keep our nation competitive. my constituents and the hardworking people all over this country need reliable roads and bridges to commute to work, take their children to school and get home safely at night. unfortunately, the president's funding proposal is not viable and i believe will encourage more inversions or takeovers of american companies. i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 2253 and encourage them to commit to crafting a long-term fiscally responsible highway bill that will provide the much-needed certainty to states, industry and the american people. i thank the gentleman for the time and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. blumenauer: i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy and i appreciate his leadership on this matter. he hit it right on the nail.

we are in a situation i'm sad to say having listened to my colleague a moment ago the states will still have to worry. two months doesn't give them a straight shot at a construction season and there's still uncertainty. i could have dusted off the speech i gave last summer where i said we'd be right back here in the same spot with uncertainty around the country and the local governments the state governments, the contractors don't deserve that. but it's not the problem of the t.n.i. committee as much as ways and means. you can't craft a bill unless you know how much money you've got to spend. i am embarrassed as a member of that committee that in the 55 months my republican colleagues have been in charge we have not had a single hearing on transportation finance. we hear certain things are off the table, not acceptable. it's interesting, we haven't raised the gas tax in 22 years

but six states, six red states have raised the gas tax already this year. utah idaho georgia south dakota. these are not flaming bastions of -- these are people who looked at the problem and decided they needed to step up and they stepped up, not to take the place of the federal responsibility but in anticipation that at some point the federal government would meet its obligation for almost half of the major construction projects. i'd respectfully request that we dive in and see what we can do over the course of the next couple months but that ways and means committee spend one week listening to the men and women who build, operate and use our nation's infrastructure, spend a week, look at the items, consider maybe what ronald reagan thought was a good idea in 1982, raise the gas tax. we can pass that bill out of

committee in one week, and you can have the next couple months to give america the bill it needs to rebuild and renew this great country. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. . the speaker pro tempore: the the gentleman from nevada vedged. mr. hardy: thank you mr. speaker. i rise today in support of a long-term highway funding. i will support the bill on the floor today. but let's be clear, this is a long-term problem that needs to have a long-term solution. we gather in hearings, we gather in meetings to discuss the various options we have for revenue. we now have to gather to make a decision long-term decision. we were elected in congress to represent our constituents and to make difficult decision that is will help us guide our nation forward. it's time for us to accelerate

and produce a solution to our highway funding problems, our highways and our bridges are falling into disrepair. before i became involved in public service i was a contractor in nevada. where i worked on roads, brings -- bridges, and dams. i know the wear and tear of our infrastructure that it is experiencing. i know the uncertainty that states are facing when it comes to highway projects. our inaction has created a difficult environment for the states to make decisions. so i stand here today to support a long-term funding. it's a long-term problem that requires a long-term solution. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from pennsylvania roists. the -- reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: with that i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, miss johnson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. miss johnson: thank you -- miss johnson: thank you very

much -- ms. johnson: thank you very much, mr. speaker. let me thank the leadership of this committee for getting to this point. i'm very, very sorry this is another kick in the can down the road, but we don't have much choice. but to support the bill before us today. we have missed a major construction season already. bridges are falling. accidents are happening. traffic jams increase because of the crumbling infrastructure. this is all very costly. and it's more costly when we have a winter just the way we have had it that hits already crumbling infrastructure. we must address this costly negligent -- neglect of our infrastructure around the country. it is not partisan. there are no democrat and republican bridges or streets. we must address our responsibility to this nation. sensible large projects must have time to plan the long-term

projects. we cannot do that. no city or state can do that kind of planning without knowing whether we have a long-term source of funding that will keep it going. it is unwise for us to continue just to put this off. we've got to pay for it no matter when we do it. the time is now. we have extended this time too long. the nation has suffered too long. traffic is jamming, accidents are happening. and it will not get better until we take on our responsibility. i would urge all of us today to support this short-term bill for the last time. it is time for us to have a long-term infrastructure bill for this nation. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from oregon reserves. mr. defazio: i inquire of the balance of time remaining. the speaker pro tempore: 19 minutes remaining.

the gentleman from oregon has 19. mr. shuster: how much minutes do i have? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania has 22 minutes remaining. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. shuster: it's now my pleasure to yield for two minutes to the gentleman from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. >> mr. speaker, the funding and authorization for our federal highway program expires in just 12 days. this is a deadline that congress the department of transportation, and the american people have known about for almost a year now. and the bill before us today is not the long solution that we were hoping for, but it is the necessary step forward at this time while we continue to work on a longer term solution for our highway funding. i appreciate very much the attention that chairman shuster has given to this important issue. he's taken a very keen interest on what we need on a national level, and many of us from the

houston area appreciate him coming to our part of america to learn and see what our needs are in the state of texas. i'm confident that the chairman and those of us on the relevant committees in the house and senate will come together and deliver a long-term solution for our highway programs and strengthen them for every texan and every american. and while this bill before us isn't ideal the choice is very simple. i urge my colleagues to join me in voting yes on this bill to keep our state departments of transportation on the job through the summer building months and congress working on a long-term solution. i thank you mr. chairman and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: i yield the gentlelady from florida two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida is recognized for two minutes.

ms. brown: thank you mr. speaker. here we go again passing another extension and failing in our duties to provide a world class transportation system. transportation program is much too critical to our economy to be delayed any longer. unfortunately, the republican leadership in washington continues its long running failure to fund surface transportation infrastructure programs. just last week house republicans passed a bill cutting taxes by $269 billion for the richest 1% of americans with no offset but failed to pass a real transportation authorization bill that put america to work. we know for every billion dollars we invest in transportation it generates 44,000 permanent jobs. in closing second anthony foxx said all of us have a role to

play in shaping our -- secretary anthony foxx said all of us have a role to play in in shaping our nation's infrastructure. as we saw last week during the tragic train derailment in philadelphia congress urgently need to increase funding for our passenger rail systems to make things safer for all of the traveling public and prevent future tragedies on our nation's rails. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. shuster: i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: i yield to the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker.

let me thank mr. defazio for yielding and for the work that he does on this committee. let me also say to the chairman of the committee mr. shuster, how pleased i am at the kind of work that he does on the committee. very frankly mr. shuster is committed to getting things done and working in a bipartisan fashion and that's good for this house and it's good for his state and it's good for the country. i thank him for his leadership. i rise in support of this 60-day extension because it's essential that we do this. the consequences of not doing it would be very, very negative. but i also rise to lament the fact that we have gone 10 months knowing full well that this date was upon us and that

theoretically we thought that funding as well as authorization would end on the 31st of this month. we have now found that funding will not end. this bill is necessary to authorize not to fund because funding is available for the next 60 days from the 31st. but i also rise to urge this house under the leadership of mr. shuster and mr. defazio to do the work we were sent here to do. to invest in america. to invest in the growth of our economy. to invest in the creation of jobs. to do, in fact, what the board of directors of the greatest country on the face of this earth ought to have done many years and certainly months ago.

i am absolutely convinced that this house has the capacity the intellect, and the ability to in 60 days from now, or within 60 days, come to this floor with a bill that will invest in our infrastructure and provide sufficient funds to make america competitive and to pay for it. not to pass the expense along to future generations. my children, my grandchildren, my great grandchildren. they are going to have to buy for themselves the infrastructure of their generation, and they ought not to have to pay the bills of our generation. mr. defazz -- mr. defazio: additional minute.

mr. hoyer: it is more than a responsibility that this generation pay for the investments it needs to make in the infrastructure that will be used today and tomorrow. mr. shuster, i know, wants to do that. mr. shuster and mr. defazio have the courage to do that. the issue is going to be whether this body on both sides of the aisle come forward with a responsible, paid for infrastructure bill, particularly for highways and roads and bridges, but other investment as well. i want to tell mr. shuster and mr. defazio that i will work closely with you. that i will urge the members on my side of the aisle to work closely, mr. shuster, with the members on your side of the aisle, to effect this end. but let us not pretend that we

can extend until december 31 on july 30, or to a year from then let us commit ourselves today to using the next 70 days, approximately, to come up with a paid for six-year re-authorization that will make america stronger grow our economy, and be a pride of the american people whom we serve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. hoyer: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. shuster: thank you, mr. speaker. i just want to thank the distinguished whip for his kind words. and with that i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: may i again inquire to the amount of time remaining on my side?

the speaker pro tempore: 14 minutes. the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio: with that i yield two minutes to the gentleman, member of the committee, mr. nolan, from minnesota. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. nolan: mr. chairman, members of the house this failure to write a long-term, paid for surface transportation bill for this country has become a national embarrassment. quite frankly, it's an international embarrassment. the simple fact is passenger trains and oil trains are coming off the tracks taking lives causing untold amounts of damage . the simple truth is we can't fix those lives that are lost, but we can fix our transportation system. isn't it about time that we do that? it's not only a national embarrassment, our failure here, but it's a failure of the

congress. it's a failure of the legislative process. it's a failure of the committee process. that's what's happening here. we held hearings in the last session. we heard from the chamber of commerce. we heard from the unions. we heard from the retailers. we heard from the truckers. everybody said three things. number one, our transportation system is falling apart. they had that right. number two, it's hurting our ability to grow our economy and create jobs. they had that right. and number three,, number three they said we need to find some new revenue. none of it can be more obvious. and yet the transportation committee held hearings from all those people in the last session. we held hearings again on this session. but we never took up the markup and the writing of a transportation bill. that is the simple truth. mr. speaker, i'm calling on the

leadership here to either instruct the transportation committee or allow the transportation committee to write a transportation bill. i have absolute confidence that we can come together if we do. it's through the committee process that we find common ground. that's where we reach our bipartisanship. that's how we fix things here in the congress. that's how we get things done. . we will write a transportation plan for this country that gets this country moving again, saves lives and builds an economy. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the president of the united states. the secretary: mr. speaker i'm directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives a message in writing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. shuster: i continue to reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio: i'd yield two minutes to a member of the committee, ms. titus from nevada. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from nevada is recognized for two minutes. ms. titus: thank you. why are we debating an extension of the surface transportation authorization instead of doing a right thing by passing something that invests in our future? we should not bet on the come, as they say in nevada. for the two million residents that live in the las vegas valley and the more than 42 million visitors who come to our city from around the world, we must commit to the passage of a long-term surface transportation bill this summer. we can't do yet another extension that creates uncertainty, stiffles development and puts us further behind. we must pass a bill that includes investment that is real sustainable and goes beyond just maintaining our current infrastructure but instead sets our nation on a road that is built to last.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. shuster: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio:. all right. with that i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from florida, a member of the committee, ms. frangle. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida is recognized for two minutes. ms. frankl: thank you, mr. speaker. i just want to start thanking mr. shuster and mr. defazio for their bipartisan leadership. i'm going to vote for this two-month extension to the highway trust fund in order to avoid a shutdown of america's transit building and repair. with that said mr. speaker, this legislation is like fixing our roads and bridges with silly putty. it's just not strong enough to hold our nation's crumbling infrastructure. so i join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to say it's time to make those long-term investments necessary for people and goods to get to their destination safely and

timely. mr. speaker, transportation moves our economy. it's time for congress to get going. thank you and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio: at this point i would yield -- i would yield the gentleman from new jersey, a strong advocate for all things transportation, a member of the powerful ways and means committee, mr. pascrell three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for three minutes. mr. pascrell: thank you, mr. speaker, and thank you, mr. ranking member, thank you, mr. chairman. i'm not going to vote for this piece of legislation not even close. everyone talks about how we must maintain the roads. if you listened over the last 45 minutes, all of these infrastructure issues are in bad shape, terrible shape. we know the problem.

so long speeches about this and the problem don't make much sense. here's my question to every member of this body. what are you prepared to do? make believe you're doing something, hide under the desk in your office? how much have we used, mr. speaker from the general fund to bail out transportation? and the percentage of general funds increases each budget that we are using. so without a clear source of long-term funding, our states cannot plan the future. in fact, many states are not putting money into their trust fund. my own state the state of new jersey, i guess the money's going to fall out of the sky.

so two months, four months, seven months it's all a joke. ensuring the solvency of the trust fund is not only a key component of many of our transportation challenges, it's our job. the ways and means committee has not even had one hearing, mr. ranking member, mr. chairman. how many states have put themselves in the same position as the federal government? i understand that some members are already planning another short-term extension in july because they say, now we're ready to have a long-term solution but you are already planning for another short term in july. in fact, we're moving towards the omnibus bill where we'll put everything together. it will be like a stew, trade transportation lollipops, put them all in there. put it all in there and then we'll vote on it and have some of our members vote against

motherhood so that they will be on the block a year from this november. look, let me suggest something novel for this group. let's spend the next eight weeks resuscitating a system where users of the system pay to maintain and grow the system. international tax can be a part of the solution. it's not nearly enough money, mr. president, mr. congress. a group of us presented a bipartisan plan, republicans and democrats, to fund the federal highway trust fund through democratic presidents, republican presidents, through democratic houses and republican houses. we've always been able to come to a resolution on this until the last three or four years. why? why is this? can i have one more minute? half a minute? mr. defazio: i yield the gentleman an additional minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute. mr. pascrell: thank you, mr.

speaker. look neither party has the wherewithal to deal with the problem. i believe our model must receive serious consideration as the clock counts down on the trust fund's expiration. our legislation has the support of both business and labor. i'm done with extensions, and i plan to vote no today and i ask my colleagues to show support for a long-term bill and co-sponsor the renacci-pascrell plan because if we don't change something we will be right back here in july talking to each other. thank you very much mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from. mr. shuster: continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio: and my time remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 6 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from pennsylvania has 20 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. defazio: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: well, first off, i

want to join in what many others have said. transportation, infrastructure has not been historically nor should it become a partisan issue. i appreciate the chairman's willingness to work together on many aspects. we will at time disagree over elements of bills, but in general we agree that what makes this country great, what makes us competitive in the world is a world-class system of transportation, infrastructure and other critical infrastructure and that today we are deficient. i talked during my introductory remarks about some of the needs. let me just talk about the revenues. back in 1993 when the gas tax was raised by a bipartisan coalition in the house -- actually on the republican side led by the chairman's father, bud shuster -- we paid about

14%. every time you went to the pump with the increase in the gas tax in 1993, 14% of your bill went to invest in the nation's infrastructure. yet today, some 22 years later, 7% goes to the infrastructure. road miles population has grown, road miles has increased and the eisenhower infrastructure has aged. you know, infrastructure doesn't just age you know, a little bit each year. it reaches a point where it accelerates dramatically so a bridge that you could fix for $15 million or $20 million today, two years from now, you might have to totally replace for $100 million. so delaying these needed investments, unless you want to see people deall the rivers around the world -- people

detouring the rivers around the world just to save on efficiency. now, states have stepped in to fill the void. 14 states have voted to raise their own gas tax since 2013, as the gentleman from oregon pointed out, six deep red republican states have voted to raise their gas tax this year. just to assure my colleagues, for those who raised it before the last election, nobody lost their election because they raised the gas tax in those states. people recognize it as a user fee. they're tired of blowing out tires and car repairs because of potholes. they're tired of detores. the trucking industry is tired of detours and they don't want a proliferation of tolls across america. the solution is a federal partnership. the chairman held a hearing recently where we had the department of transportation director from wyoming, deep red state, talking about the fact they had increased their gas tax but they still need the federal partnership.

it's critical. we have the governor of north carolina as one of the highest gas taxes in the country, deep red state these days, saying the federal partnership was more critical than ever. the mayor of salt lake city, the federal partnership is critical. no state can do it on their own. now, if i propose that we index the gas tax, the construction cost inflation, fleet fuel, the economy, that means the gas tax will go up 1.7 cents and i'd like to see the member of congress who thinks they're going to lose their election over a 1.7 cent investment in america's infrastructure to avoid those potholes, the congestion, the detours, the delays or additional tolling to maintain what we have. it won't happen. it hasn't happened recently in red states that have raised it much more than 1.7 cents. but if we index to inflation, fleet fuel economy inflation

cost, inflation, we can borrow upfront for the trust fund, let's say $150 billion. a nice increase over the current levels of spending and we could pay it back in about 15 years. with that increment. just the indexed increment that would grow a tiny bit each year. and again, you drive by the gas station on your way to work and when you drive home at night, exxonmobil has raise it had a nickel because there was rumors of war in the middle east or a refinery had an outage or something or this. where did that nickel go? it went in the pockets of exxonmobil and speculators on wall street. it didn't go into the infrastructure. the american people would sure as heck pay 1.7 cents to rebuild our system and make america more competitive and hundreds of thousands of to work than in the pockets of exxonmobil and wall street speculators. it's time to suck it up around here, act like men and women who were sent here to make tough decisions, to regain our legacy, to begin to bring

america back toward a world-class infrastructure. it would take many years and many tens or hundreds of billions of dollars to reclaim the legacy of the eisenhower era, but it's only a lack of will. will that prevents us from doing that. there is no major impediment. nobody is going to lose their election over 1.7 cents a gallon. in fact, people will thank you at home. the trucking industry is begging, begging for an increase in the diesel tax. the american -- the united states chamber of commerce when's the last time they asked for an increase in the tax? and look all across, retailers, the spectrum, the business community all across this country, people are saying help us. get us out of congestion. fix the system. bring it up to state of good repair. there's americans saying we need jobs. there's no more certain wan than to create -- way than to create jobs, there are

engineering jobs in the case of mass transit they're high tech jobs, they are small business jobs, they are disadvantage business enterprise jobs. it goes through the entire economy. no american would be left behind. we can make america number one. all we lack is the will here in the house. let's say this is the last 60-day delay. let's work together and get a real six-year bill by the end of july. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. shuster: i continue to reserve. i'm prepared to close if the gentleman is prepared. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio: well, just -- ok. staff is consulting. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 15 seconds seconds. mr. defazio: grow america act comprehensive bill which we could begin policy constructions, h.r. 2410, with 19 co-sponsors. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time.

the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. shuster: thank you, mr. speaker. i always appreciate the ranking member mr. defazio's passion on these issues and i have to say that much of what was said on this floor by both sides, i agree with the need to invest in our infrastructure is real, it's critical. our infrastructure is crumbling all around us. i also agree that we need to find a long-term solution to the trust fund to make sure it's fiscally responsible and most importantly i agree that we need to act. this two-month extension was not my preference. what my preference is to buckle down, work hard, find the dollars and have a long-term surface transportation bill that's sustainable. so again, i stand here today in urging all my colleagues to vote for this essential two-month extension, to get us through to july. i'm committed to continuing to work to find the solutions so we can have a long-term bill, but a vote against this bill is a vote in favor of shutting down these vital programs, stopping work of thousands of

highway projects around the country and laying off thousands of construction workers and federal employees. so i urge a yes vote on this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 271, previous question is ordered on the bill. third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the clerk: a bill to provide extension of federal aid highway safety, motor carrier safety transit and other programs funded out of the highway trust fund. >> i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentlewoman opposed? the clerk: ms. et ceteray moves to recommit the bill and report back to the house forth with with the following amendment, at the end of the title 1, add the following, passenger rail

positive train control funding. passenger rail positive train, control funding. section 201 of title 29 united states code is amended by inserting and $750 million for the period beginning october 1 2014 and ending on july 31, 2015 after 2013. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise. mr. shuster: i reserve a point of order. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule gentlewoman connecticut is recognized for five minutes in support of her motion. et cetera et cetera mr. speaker this is the final amendment of the bill which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. ms. esty: my amendment provides funding to passenger railroads to help them implement positive train control. tragically last week amtrak 188

derailed killing eight people and injuring more than 200. my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their loved ones. unfortunately last week's tragic accident is just the latest in a series of incidents that are unacceptable and largely preventable. according to the national transportation safety board member who is the lead investigator of last week's amtrak derailment in philadelphia quote, had positive train controls been installed on the section of the track, this accident would not have occurred. what is positive train control? positive train control commonly referred to as p.t.c. is a communications and signalling system that uses sensors to communicate train location, speed, restrictions and moving authority. and most importantly p.t.c. can save lives.

for instance positive train control technology can detect if a train is going too fast and use onboard equipment to automatically slow or stop the train. mr. speaker last week's derailment is not the first time that ntsb has recommended positive train control. this recommendation has been made since 1969 following an investigation of a head-on collision of two penn central trains collision in my home state. that collision killed four people and 43 injured. 46 years after that deadly collision in connecticut, the ntsb is demanding and waiting for action. during this time, the ntsb has investigated 144 accidents that would have been preventable if railroads had installed p.t.c. not surprisingly it has been on the most wanted list of safety

improvements since 1990. 144 accidents over 43 years. try and think about that, try to comprehend 6,532 preventable injuries. 288 preventable deaths. and this just isn't an issue only on the northeast corridor. in 2008, a tragic accident in california killed 25 people and injured 102. after that accident, this house enacted legislation requiring p.t.c. on commuter and inner sfi passenger rails by december 31 of this year. protecting lives requires leadership from this congress. the american public transportation association asked congress to provide federal funding for 80% of the installation costs on passenger rails. we in congress can help. we can and must make this

investment before another terrible accident, before another life is tragically and needlessly lost. we can't afford to wait. less than two years ago a metro north railroad engineer fell asleep at the train he was operating sped up to 82 miles an hour to a tight curve. the restriction for that section was only 30 miles an hour. as a result of the derailment, four people died and 61 were injured. with tragic predictability the ntsb investigation determined that positive train control could have prevented that tragedy as well. how many more times does the ntsb need to repeat its recommendation before p.t.c. is implemented? there is no reason why this congress should continue to ignore its responsibility to help passenger railroads implement the life saving

technology as soon as possible. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this amendment to provide the necessary funding to help railroads implement p.t.c. across the united states. let me be clear, the funding would prevent every single accident. the fact that p.t.c. will not prevent every accident should not, cannot be an excuse for this congress' failure to act. failure to act today on implementing positive train control is wrong. it's unworthy of a great country. a great country does not respond to crises with duct tape, a great country leads with action. join me to vote for this amendment and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. shuster: i rise in opposition and wish to withdraw my point of order. the speaker pro tempore: point of order is withdrawn.

the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. shuster: i oppose this motion. we certainly know the tragedy that happened in philadelphia, my home state, this really is not the place to address this. we need to pass a clean extension. we have to pass it and get it to the senate so we make sure that these vital programs keep people working and projects moving forward that they don't shut down. again, this is a clean extension. we want it to be a clean extension because we know time is of the essence to get it to the senate and pass it. 4,000 people in the federal government furloughed, thousands of workers across america that projects will stop and they won't be working. again, we have immediate need to extend the highway and safety transportation programs and committed to working with chairman ryan, but this is not the time to slow this down but get it done and get it to the senate as quickly as possible. i'm opposed to this motion. i urge a no vote on the motion.

and continue to ask my colleagues to support the underlying bill that gets the job and gets us past this critical time. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. without objection the previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit. question is on the motion. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. >> i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: those favoring a vote by the iowas will ry. further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

the clerk: to the congress of the united states. section 202-d of the national emergency act provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the president publishes in the federal register and transmits to the congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. in accordance with this provision, i have sent to the federal register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to the stabilization of iraq was declared in executive order 13 of 330 of may 22, 2003 is to continue in effect beyond may 22, 2015. obstacles to the orderly reconstruction of iraq, the restoration and maintenance of peace and security in the country and the development of

political, administrative and economic institutions in iraq continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the united states. accordingly, i have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency with respect to the stabilization in iraq. signed barack obama, the white house, may 19, 2015. the speaker pro tempore: reported to the committee on foreign affairs and ordered printed. chair lays before the house the following enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 2252, an act to clarify the effective date of certain provisions of the board patrol agent pay reform act of 2014 and for other purposes.

the speaker pro tempore: for

what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on consideration of h.r. 2250 that -- and that i may include tab lar material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. pursuant to house resolution 27157bd rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h.r. 2250. the chair appoints the gentleman from georgia, mr. carter, to preside over the committee of the whole. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the safety union for the consideration of -- state of the union for the consideration of h.r. 2250 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for the legislative branch for the fiscal year ending september 30 2016, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the

rule, the bill is considered read the first time. the gentleman from georgia, mr. graves, and the gentlewoman from florida ms. wasserman schultz, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. graves: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. graves: when i joined the appropriations committee a little over four years ago, i said that i wanted this committee to be known as a place where taxpayer money was saved and not spent. in recent years there's been a major change in the perception of this committee. thanks in large part to the leadership of chairman rogers and the members of the committee, the process is open and it's transparent and this committee has made a priority of ensuring every taxpayer dollars is spent wisely. in keeping with that trend, the bill that we're here to debate today holds the line on spending. it's a bill that honors and respects the taxpayer. while preserving the beauty of the capitol campus, providing essential security for visitors and staff and ensuring that we are able to provide the services that our constituents

expect and deserve. this bill is a total of $3.3 billion for the legislative branch excluding all senate items. the bill continues the freeze on funding for the house of representatives, including leadership committees and member office budgets. it also continues the member pay freeze that was put in place in 2010. all this represents a 14% reduction in funding for the house of representatives since republicans have gained control of congress in january of 2011. more specifically, this bill increases funding for the capitol police and allows small increases for several other agencies, but while trimming budgets in less critical areas. this bill recognizes the continuing challenges faced by our architect of the capitol. there's a balance that must be struck between preserving these historic buildings and funding other critical projects, including safety projects. overall, the architect's budget

is one that was trimmed. this bill puts a new emphasis on transparency and accountability and major construction projects under the architect. that's why this bill transitions to direct appropriations for the cannon restoration project rather than continuing to use the house historic building revitalization fund. this change will significantly improve the committee's ability to provide oversight for this major project. additionally this bill includes language that places a 25% cap on the amount available for larger projects within the legislative branch. in order to receive the remaining 75% of their appropriations, this new oversight features -- requires a plan for any project over $5 million to be submitted to the g.a.o. and our committee for approval. the plan must address any projected changes to the project's schedule and cost and it must include a description of the safeguards taken to ensure that the project remains

on time and on budget. regarding the library of congress this bill includes funding to meet the library's current needs, including an increase for the copyright office, to reduce claims processing and analyze possible process improvements. additionally, the committee will be working with the library in the upcoming months to track its progress and addressing its critical i.t. infrastructure problems which have been identified in a recent g.a.o. report. in closing, i'd like to thank ranking member wasserman schultz, chairman rogers, mrs. lowey, and the members of our our subcommittee and full committee and staff for their hard work throughout this entire process. this is a product that we can be proud of. mr. chairman, i'll reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from florida ms. wasserman schultz, is recognized -- is recognized. was was mr. chair, i yield -- was was was mr. chair i yield -- ms. wasserman schultz: mr. chair, i recognize myself. i want to begin by congratulating chairman graves

on his maiden voyage as a chair of a appropriations subcommittee. i know that he was diligent and focused and we found agreement where we could and where we could not agree i appreciate his willingness to discuss it in a congenial and thoughtful manner. today we consider the smallest of the appropriations bills. while that is the case, it is one that does fund an entire branch of our government. the bill provides, as the chairman mentioned $3.3 billion to the legislative branch without senate items and is equal to the amount provided in fiscal year 2015. unfortunately this represents the third year in a row of flat funding for the overall legislative branch. certain agencies, the architect of the capitol, and the government publishing office, are cut below fiscal year 2015 to support increases in other agencies. i know if there was overall relief in the budget allocation we would see more investment in the staff and facilities in the legislative branch. but we are starting to cut into

bone in some places and it is truly unwise, it is regrettable that this bill is, as are all of the other appropriations bills, bound by spending limits set by the republican budget resolution, that continues sequestration. the president put forward a plan that will avoid sequestration's harmful budget cuts and reduce the deficit in a balanced way. unfortunately the republican budget does not at least meet the president's plan half way. as we look to conference with the senate later in the year on appropriations bills, i'm hopeful that both parties and the president can come together for another reasonable bargain that gives us more room for discretionary programs. this bill is being considered under a structured rule as is tradition. 20 amendments were filed. seven of which were filed by democratic members. regrettably the rules committee only made three republican amendments in order. all of which would further erode the legislative branch's funding. no democratic amendments were made in order even though several were aimed at improving the lives of our restaurant workers, whose plight was

played out in very public display in the last several weeks. last night in the rules committee i asked the committee to attempt to find some parity, mr. chairman, between the majority and minority with regard to amendments made in order. instead of that, the minority was completely shut out of the process. as a result of the allocation, several infrastructure projects with life and safety elements are not funded in this bill. even though we have been committed to funding those in past years. cutting necessary upgrades to our elevaters will not get us out of debt. what it will do is get people stuck in our elevators. we should not be surprised if an accident happens because we didn't address important life safety projects. this bill, as i have said many times before, is not the sexiest of the 13 appropriations bills. but it is one that is incredibly important and it is important that we keep the people who visit the capitol and work in the capitol safe and this bill makes it less likely that we will be able to do that. there are not many new initiative notice bill given the allocation but i am pleased that the bill recognized the importance of the nation's copyright laws by

providing some of the requested increase. the copyright office must improve the backlog of registrations as well as their business processes. currently customers can only submit documents on paper which the copyright office turns into a digital format, which is a glaring inefficiency. it's 2015, the 21st century. our copyright office should not be conducting 21st century business in a 20th century format. the copyright office said it best itself in a report released in february of this year. there is a widespread perception that our licensing system is broken. songwriters and recording artists are concerned that they cannot make a living under the existing structure which raises serious and systemic concerns for the future. music publishers and performance rights organizations are frustrated that so many of their licensing activity is subject to government control. so they are constrained in the marketplace. record labels and digital services complain that the licensing process is burdensome and inefficient, making it difficult to innovate. so i'm glad to see that this bill is beginning to address necessary upgrades.

mr. chairman, i'm also concerned with the cuts to the government publishing office in the underlying bill. this office was form early known as the government printing office -- formerly known as the government printing office. the office publishes information online and plays a vital role in congress' transparency. unfortunately g.p.o.'s request to continue to improve its online site, as it has been allowed to do each year before this one, even under full sequestration, was denied in the bill. the cuts to g.p.o.'s online site continues to raise concern from some that g.p.o. could ultimately decide to charge the public for access to legislative documents, as was recommended to them by the national academy of public administration in 2013. i agree with representatives miller and brady, the chair and ranking member of house administration, who wrote the g.p.o. stating, charging the public to access legislative data and documents would be a colossal setback for the progress congress has made to improve transparency and access to legislative information. they also said, charging the

public would be a direct assault on our ability to engage americans in a process that is of great consequence to their livelyhoods. g.p.o. indicated at the time of the letter that it had no plans to charge users for what should be public information. but what choice are we leaving them if we don't continue investing in their online systems? also included in the bill is a requirement of the architect -- that the architect seek approval from the house committee on appropriations and the government accountability office for any project or phase of a project over $5 million. i support strong oversight. as i've demonstrated many times over the last eight years. but i do question whether or not the low threshold would unnecessarily hold up the progress of essential projects. we should require the assistance of g.a.o. to review projects on a scale of the cannon building restoration. i've asked g.a.o. to come in and get involved very specifically in a number of things where accountability was a concern. but i question the use of g.a.o.'s resources on projects as small as $5 million. that begins to micromanage

beyond what is reasonable. to end on a more positive note i am pleased that we were able to provide $10 million to add to the house historic building's revitalization trust fund. we have been banking funds for large projects over the last several years which similar pertive to keep us from getting caught flat-footed. as i conclude, i want to again think chairman graves for an open dialogue as we crafted this bill. i had a lot of opportunity to talk to him about the details of this bill and offer suggestions, many of which he took. and, again, i look forward to continuing to work with the chairman as the bill moves to the senate and then on to conference. i particularly want to thank our incredible staff, one of whom is sitting next to me sholanda, and the rest of our staff on the majority side. thank you so much and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from georgia is

recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. chairman. before i recognize our full committee chairman, i do want to thank the ranking member for her work on this, her input and she worked diligently through the process and was supportive in subcommittee and full committee and i want to thank her for that publicly. now, mr. chairman, if i could, i'd like to yield as much time as he may consume, chairman rogers of the full appropriations committee. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. chairman, thank you and chairman graves, thank you for yielding the time. and thank you for the great work. this is a first bill that chairman graves has brought to the floor of the house. he's the newest cardinal that we have. one of the 12 subcommittee chairmen, they're called cardinals. and this is his first bill. i want to congratulate him and ranking member wasserman schultz for putting together what i think is a pretty high standard for fiscal

responsibility for the house, freezing funding at last year's level, $3.3 billion. that's the third year in a row, mr. chairman that we've frozen the budget of the house of representatives, making good on our promise to rein in spending and do more with less. this level maintains the 14% reduction in house funding that began when we took over the house four years ago. in addition, we've continued the freeze on member pay that's been in place since 2010. we believe that in order for us to ask others to sacrifice throughout the government, that we have to sacrifice ourselves. -- ourselves first. and that's what this bill does. the bill includes numerous provisions designed to

guarantee that the house and its support agencies are spending their tax dollars appropriately and to keep them accountable to the taxpayers. this includes enhancing oversight of the cannon building restoration project and making sure that congress approves any large scale construction project. . especially important given the historical significance of our buildings and the importance of their use. this three 3.3 billion bill provides for the house to support the most important functions of our legislative branch, keeping our member and committee offices open for business, protecting the safety of those who work in and visit the capitol complex and

improving the way we support our agencies and the importance of doing just that. for instance, the capitol police budget has been increased by $21 million to ensure our men in blue have the resources needed to protect this hallowed building and its grounds. and where we have seen issues in the agencies funded by the bill, for example, i.t. infrastructure challenges at the library of congress, we have taken the steps to make sure that these will be fixed moving forward. again, i want to thank chairman graves ranking member wasserman schultz this great staff that works hard on this bill. they have demonstrated their love of this institution and the grounds by the hard work and devotion making it possible.

we want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle for putting together this small but mighty bill. so thank you for all the good work. mr. chairman i'm proud that the house can lead by example when it comes to restoring fiscal discipline to the operations of the federal government. this bill will allow the house to fulfill its core duties within a responsible realistic budget and preserve the democracy that makes this nation so great. mr. chairman, thank you for the time. and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from georgia reserves. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: i yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from new york the ranking member of the full committee. the chair: the gentlewoman from

new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i want to thank chairman graves and the ranking member wasserman schultz for their hard work on this bill. today, during what the majority has labeled innovation week we consider the smallest of the appropriation bills, which funds the operations of our nation's legislative branch. mr. speaker, there absolutely nothing to debate about this bill. without senate items, the bill is $3.341 billion despite years of tightening our belts. the majority has yet again kept funding flat and further damaged this institution's reputation and ability to function at the highest level. member representatives -- member representational allowances

would be frozen for a third consecutive year and will continue to strain the house's ability to serve the american people due to fewer staff for constituent case work, the inability to effectively communicate with our constituents in fewer district offices. furthermore, we will consider amendments to the bill, which would compound the problems legislative branch agencies face. our buildings are crumbling life and safety projects are postponed and agencies have fit the lilts with they can do. further cuts proposed today will have even greater implications for the operations of the congress. i am concerned that the majority continues funding for a partisan lawsuit against the president at a time we are putting appropriation bills under tight budgetary restrictions.

this waste of taxpayer dollars only distracts us from the serious work that congress should get done. notwithstanding my misgivings, i want to congratulate the chairman for putting forth his first bill and working with the ranking member where possible. we need more cooperation between the majority and the minority and i thank you very much. i yield back. the chair: the gentlewoman yields. the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. graves: i reserve as well. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: at this time, i would like to yield five minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from california, mr. farr. the chair: the gentleman is

recognized. mr. farr: thank you very much, mr. chairman and thank you for yielding. i rise on this bill as a member of the subcommittee with very mixed emotions. there are some very good things in this bill, but there is also some bad stuff and the question is whether the bill is 51% good or 1% bad. i came to congress to believe that government can play a positive role in american lives. government is not the enemy. it makes me wonder why this body refuses to invest in the tools to do the job of government and by extension, to do the job of the american people. this bill contains the same funding levels it did last year and that is $172 million less than the budget request. any good corporation plots its investments so the company can prosper. in terms of the house of representatives, that would mean

setting spending at a level that would maximize its ability to serve the people. by failing to make those investments, we disrespect the american people. we tell them that we are not worth the investments not worth the effort, not worth doing the job well. this bill fails to invest in the very institution we depend upon to make government function properly. this body is being given short shift. i'm on the appropriations committee. i think it is our responsibility to meet the needs of the nation in every respect. and that includes investing in the legislative branch of government so it can do its job. those low polling numbers that congress gets, everybody here talks about how low it is, i think they are self-fullful prophecy that congress doesn't give itself the tools to serve the public. skippinging isn't going to make

this place work better. having said that, i'm supportive of what the committee brought to the floor in a program called world leadership. it's operated out of funds from congress with the library congress essentially what members may not know is this program was begun as the brainchild of the late ted stevens and library of congress to expose young leaders in russia and former eastern bloc countries like ukraine, georgia. i think president putin would love to see this program go away the way usaid has left the region. see how city councils work and school boards work and see the united states with state

legislators and judges. the program belongs in the legislative branch because peer-to-peer relationships do work. the program reaches out to all 50 states. more than 23,000 rising leaders have been hosted by the united states government since the program's inception. 80% of those have met with members of congress and visited their congressional districts. this is a very robust exchange. and i had a group in my district and one of the visitors had been a member of the duma and told me he had been invited by our country to be here about a dozen times but only visiting communities and seeing local government in action did he really understand what democracy is all about and not just learned visiting washington or taught in the classroom. the value of hands on from the ground up diplomacy is the lesson that can't be learned from a book. open world experiences show

these participations that democracy is not just a dream, it is actually a working reality, one they can have in their home countries if they work at it and america shows them how. the ratcliffe amendment that is coming up and i hope members will reject that amendment to delete this program. mr. chairman, i really appreciate the work of our new chairman. has done a great job. i hope that we will spend a little bit more money investing in this institution to get the job done and not talk about how we can cut, squeeze and trim and sacrifice the ability of congress to be at its best. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields. ms. wasserman schultz: i resmb my time. the chair: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from georgia is recognized.

mr. graves: i thank the gentleman from california and great member of the subcommittee, a strong advocate for a lot of elements within our budget and the truth is, we had tough choices to make and it wasn't easy. we are held within the constraints of what current law is and the president may have submitted a budget that didn't comply with the constraints that we have to comply with. that doesn't mean that we can adhere to his budget numbers. so we are $170 million below what the budget request was but within the limits that are provided by law that many members within the body voted for excluding myself, and the president signed into law and at some point we have to grapple with that as a house and understand that is the law. and until that law is changed, tough choices we will have to make. and as the chairman of the full

committee so eloquently stated earlier, it's up to us to lead by example and that's who we are elected to be, leaders and represent our districts by example. these are tough choices no doubt. and i agree with the the gentleman from california. and let me remind -- i know we had a goal as the committee and it was really bipartisan, our objective and that was to honor and respect taxpayers today and preserve the institution for future generations given the limited resources we had to work with. and with that, i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, mr. chairman. let me just point out that the chairman is right. we do have to lead by example. leading by example as we have in the past like last fiscal year, after the president submitted his budget we certainly could have and should have as a congress, sat down with the

president and negotiated an adjustment to the sequester, which we were able to do last year and that was to the betterment of making sure that people who are simply trying to succeed have the opportunity to do so in this country instead of living under the cuts and caps. that is congress' job, which we abdicated. that was not the choice of the minority but the choice of the majority. with that, mr. chairman, i yield three minutes to the ranking member of the transportation and housing and urban development appropriations subcommittee the gentleman from north carolina. the chair: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. price: thank you. i appreciate my colleagues yielding and i appreciate the work that she and colleagues on both sides of the aisle have done on this bill. i want to commend them for their work. i do want to address an amendment yet to come, one that

i hope this body will reject. this is an amendment that will be offered by mr. ratcliffe. it will be an amendment to undo the bipartisan work of our appropriations committee. it would terminate the open world program at the library of congress, which is a major outreach effort of our legislative branch in russia and former soviet and soviet-bloc countries. at a time when democracies and sovereignty is under threat, the open world program is more important than ever. this isn't president putin's favorite activity, as others have stated. that puts it mildly, believe me, but he has not been able to stop it. it's now important important than ever in fragile democracies and would-be dems -- democracies. this is the best program of its kind that i have ever seen and i have a lot of personal experience with open world

groups that have come to washington and come to my district. this is a program unique in both scope and concept. most participants aren't the people that particularly participate in international exchange programs. they are teachers, judges, local officials, young activists, people who live in rural areas and small towns. this program penetrates deeply rather than being another run of the mill exchange program. i invite any colleague to talk to any of our diplomats in these countries and you will learn how valuable the network of open world participants is in the struggle for democracy. in those countries and for the way our country is regarded, and there is a long list of veterans of open world who are now public and private sector leaders in their countries. some may question the placement of open world in this bill. in fact, i think that's a huge

asset. because the program is not tied to a specific administration, with its goals and politics. there's no hurdle to participation. there's no possibility that it will get lost in, as a state department folk says, on our regions or our priorities. unlike the other programs in this bill, sure enough, open borled is -- open world is not about us. it's not about our salaries, it's not about our staffs, it's not about our operations. it's not about us. but i assure you it is about our country. it is about what we stand for at home and around the world. it's about projecting the value of our democratic principles to countries with histories of oppressive rule. the appropriations committee included funding for open world following a bipartisan effort led by representatives fortenberry and farr. hopefully today that wise decision will be sustained. i strongly encourage this body to stand with the pro-democracy advocates many, many brave and

courageous people in a critical part of the world. oppose the ratcliffe amendment. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: at this time i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman reserves her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. graves: just a point of clarification, i know these proceedings will documented well and i know the ranking member stated that sequestration was a decision of the majority and not the minority. and in some aspects she's very correct. because at the time sequestration was implemented the majority of the senate was held by democrats and the concept came from jack lew which is heavily documented from the president's administration. just to make sure there's full clarity here of majority and minority perspectives, there was a different majority at the time when that was taking place. if i could just for a moment

address the open world discussion here. this is a program that's been ongoing for several years. it's been decades, quite frankly, with great intentions in the beginning. and what hasn't been stated today is that its intention was to be one time. a one-time program to assist during the transitional phase of the soviet block countries at that time, back in the bill clinton administration to assist them with some dialogue with free markets and diplomacy and such, as we were experiencing during that time. as we know, with a lot of government programs that have good intentions of being one-time, sing lar, they sbsh singular they tend -- singular they tend to go on. we've heard claims that we don't have enough money to spend on things that have so vital and crit -- critical to this body, to the $1.5 billion in deferred maintenance of buildings, to m.r.a.'s not being enough or whatever it

might be. yet there's still this clinging to $5 million, training european or russian diplomats, civic leaders, is more important, more important than meeting the critical needs that we have here as a body, the library of congress, whether it's making sure that there's security provided through the capitol police, that they're fully funded where they need to be whatever it might be. i would claim mr. chairman, that today we cannot, if we cannot cut $5 million from a program that's duplicative, that there are 95 other programs that do very similar things and a program that has not been transparent a program that has outlived its day that is training russians at a time when russia is causing aggression against our allies and if we can't cut $5 million today, god help us.

when can we cut something from this budget? with that, mr. chairman, i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, mr. chairman. while i intend to claim time in opposition to the amendment that addresses open world a little bit later, i want to point out now that what the gentleman said is not quite accurate. there were a number of options available to the rules committee, if we were taking the $5 million that is going to open world legislative branch bill now and putting it into some other place in the legislative branch bill, life safety programs, restoring cuts to g.p.o. or doing something that is going to make sure that the branch can be competitive and has the ability to get our work done, that would have been fine.

what the majority did is they took an amendment that takes that money and puts it into the spending account. we're already below 2010 levels . we are doing ourselves a disservice and making it difficult for us to do our jobs when we had a ripe opportunity to take that $5 million, which i am for, and put it somewhere in the legislative branch bill instead of sending it out of here. that's not responsible and additionally i will point out that perhaps the chairman's comments about sequestration demonstrate that he thinks that congress's hands are tied and we don't have the ability to actually make changes.

the president has proposed what he believes we should do as an alternative to the sequester. that is his proposed budget. like last year, we also have the ability to set aside and work with the administration, set aside at least part of the sequester, so we could provide improved allocations for each of these appropriations bills and make sure that we can make life better for more americans. unfortunately the majority continues to act as if somehow we are frozen in time and that we are paralyzed by sequestration as the law. last time i checked the founding fathers and the constitution gave congress the ability to change the law. which we should do. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. graves: i'm prepared to close if the gentlelady is. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from florida. ms. wasserman schultz: i look forward to discussing some of

the amendments that we will be debating in a few moments but again i want to thank the chairman for really the opportunity to spend some time focusing on the needs of the legislative branch and giving us the ability to at least move forward in some ways towards addressing our role as a co-equal branch of government. i think this bill could have been far better. it made several positive changes, but as i've outlined, we have places where we disagree. but we did it without being disdryble and with that i yield back the balance of my time -- disagreeble and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. graves: thank you, mr. chairman. i thank the ranking member and i appreciate her acknowledgment of her opposition to the amendment that will arrive earlier. i would point out to you, mr. chairman, that i'm not a member of the rules committee. i did not make that decision as to what an amendment -- what amendment would be adopted or not. there were three amendments very similar. they were bipartisan. so there's bipartisan opposition to this program.

we have an amendment before us that is before us and for the record i will be supporting that amendment. we had unanimous support out of subcommittee we had no opposition that i recall in full committee and so i expect today that we might maintain some of that bipartisanship. some of that ability to get something done here for the american people and show them that we have priorities in place that honor and respects them and preserves this institution for future generations. to sum up what this bill does, and that is, we are here to hold the line on spending. we're keeping it flat funded as we have for the last year or two. and it is a bill that's going to honor and respect our taxpayers. it's one that is preserving the beauty of this capitol campus. it's providing essential security for all visitors and staff and ensuring that we are able to provide the services that our constituents expect and deserve and with that, mr.

chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time for general debate has expired. pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute d rule. bill shall be considered as read. no amendment to the bill shall be in order except those printed in part b of house report 114-120. each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report by a member designated in the report, shall be considered read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question. it's now in order to consider amendment number 1 printed in part b of house report 114-20. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? rat rat mr. chairman, i have an -- mr. ratcliffe: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: amendment offered by mr. ratcliffe of texas.

the chair: the gentleman from texas and a member opposed each are will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. ratcliffe: mr. chairman, i thank chairman graves and ranking member wasserman schultz for their hard work in crafting this bill. mr. chairman, in this fiscal environment, we have to be better stewards of taxpayer dollars and we have to scrutinize every program that we allocate money towards. we can't ever forget that every dollar that we spend is a dollar taken from our constituents' hard-earned paychecks. it's for that reason mr. chairman, that i've offered this amendment to eliminate funding to the open world leadership center. the program started in 1999 and housed in the library of congress with the purpose of bringing leaders from post-soviet countries to the united states to learn about our legislative process. the gentleman from california spoke passionately a few minutes ago about his belief at that we need to have programs like this. but his comments ignore the

fact that there are nearly 90 other similar or nearly identical programs throughout the government aimed at achieving this same goal. at the same time this program has now spent more than $150 million towards that duplicative purpose. so when you consider that duplicative purpose alongside a national debt of $18.2 trillion we've got to honestly examine and reconsider whether this is the best use of taxpayer money. this is especially true when accounts and programs across the legislative branch have seen reductions in recent years, but yet not a single dollar has been cut from the open world program. despite the fact that after this subcommittee's examination of this program chairman graves reported that, and i quote in light of both the lack of quantifiable results from the open world leadership center and its duplication of programs

more appropriately offered by the state department, the program has long outlived its short-term intent, end quote. i agree with the chairman's assessment. which is, by the way, not a partisan one. in fact, this is the all too rare situation, an opportunity where republicans and democrats alike agree that we can cut spending without hurting american citizens. the american people have entrusted us with the responsibility of seeing that their tax dollars don't go to waste and while mr. graves' bill allocates funds to the legislative branch to do the important work that we need to on behalf of the american people the open world program is one area where we can and should make this spending cut. i'd like to yield to the chairman. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. >> thank you mr. chairman.

the gentleman has done a lot of work on this topic. he's new to the body. mr. graves: i think everyone knows that. bheeve -- i support the gentleman's amendment here and appreciate him bringing it forward. thank you. mr. ratcliffe: i thank the chairman and i'd like to yield the bam of my time to -- balance of my time to the majority whip, mr. scalise. the chair: the gentleman from louisiana voiced. mr. scalise: thank you i want to thank my colleague for bringing this amendment. for focusing in on areas where we can actually eliminate spending here in washington. and you have to recognize that in about 35 cents of every $1 spent is money borrowed from countries like china. so we ought to be combing every different piece of this budget and finding areas where we can say, this isn't something that the federal government should be doing. might be a noble program to have exchanges with other country, but to be spending millions of dollars at a time when our country has needs that aren't being met, and that we're borrowing money from other countries and sending that bill to our children this is a time where we've got to be

combing through these kind of programs and i want to thank him for his leadership. this is something that should be eliminated. we shouldn't be spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money to bring people over to this country. if they want to come, we welcome them. many countries do send people over here to observe how democracy works. we send people on occasion to other countries to spread democracy. but there are duplications in so many other areas of our budget where this is already being done and this is just one more area where we ought to be saving taxpayers' money and being fiscally responsible, this isn't something we can afford to do isn't something we should be doing and i'm glad the gentleman's bringing the amendment to eliminate this spending and i support it and hope the house approves it and i yield back. . the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> to claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes. ms. wasserman schultz: this would be the first time i'm

opposing an amendment that cuts the open program. this program was at $14 million initially. we've moved it to the state department bill for every single bill since then, we've not been successful but we're only at $5.7 million now which is a more appropriate amount. were this funding going somewhere else in the legislative appropriations bill it would be more appropriate. since we're sending it out of the bill in a bill that's already inadequately funding -- funded, it's not something i can support. at this time i would like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from nebraska, mr. fortenberry, who wishes to speak in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. fortenberry: i thank the ranking member for the time.

i also want to thank the subcommittee chairman, mr. graves, for the gentlemanly way in which we've conducted this debate. this is a transpartisan issue, we've got democrats and republicans divided on each side of the aisle which is unusual. i support open world leadership center, i'm on its board. it's been mentioned that this is better nested within the state department. the state department does have a myriad of program, however, this is a legislative branch program. we should not outsource our responsibility there. this was formed in the wake of the fall of the soviet union in order to give a chance for the development of legal structures, stabilize civil society and the opportunity for democracy to evolve. while the primary focus was on russia, that component has been suspended and this has taken a substantial cut from $10 million to $6 million now. but to jettison, it gets rid of important deliverables. over 23,000 judges politicians

emerging civil society leaders, young people have participated in this program, including 15 members of ukraine's parliament. 15 members of moldova's parliament. eight russian governors. 51% of the participants are women. the military tell me, send us in last. we will send billions and billions of dollars of lethal military aid to a country but the military says, do everything you can to build up good trust and -- good relationships and trust so we don't have to resort to what none of us wants to. the open world program fulfills that role. i hope we preserve this important legislative priority which cannot be replicated by the state department. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. wast west: can't to -- ms.

wasserman schultz: continue to reserve. the chair: the gentleman. mr. ratcliffe: reserve. the chair: the gentlelady from florida. ms. wasserman schultz: i yield 30 seconds to mr. aderholt. mr. aderholt: i'd like to thank the gentlelady for yielding. as someone who served as ranking member for this subcommittee back several years ago, i just want to express my support and the work for open world leadership center than the opposed amendments offered by the gentleman from texas. i'm sure it's well intended and -- but i do want to say that i think that this amendment is not going the right direction, that we do need to keep this partnership. it is a partnership a relationship that's developed with these former soviet countries. i think it is very important, it has served us well, it is a

program that a lot of people say is duplicated in other forms, other agencies of government but i will say it is unique. and it is a unique approach to working across borders, highlighting the critical role of lemming slative branch and emerging democracies. with that, i want to say that i support this bill as it currently is and oppose the gentleman's amendment. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman reserves. ms. wasserman schultz: reserve. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from florida. ms. wasserman schultz: can you tell me how much time remains? the chair: the gentlelady has 30 seconds -- has two minutes left. ms. wasserman schultz: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from ohio. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. kaptur: i rise in strong opposition to the ratcliffe amendment. if anyone has been watching,

you've seen russia's invasion of ukraine. now more than ever it's critical to engage with rising stars in the former soviet union because the old tactics of soviet russia are still being employed. this program belongs to congress. yes, it is a legislative branch program. so it is small. it is efficient. it is ours. it is our one tool to reach out to these countries, to their rising leaders to expand accountable governments and the rule of law, and who better to teach it than those engaged those of us who communicate with citizens in these countries that so very much want to be free. open world directly connects us with changemakers in this very, very fluid region of the world. it reaches beyond big city into the country side and i personally have greeted some of the leaders that have come from several countries including moldova and ukraine. let me tell you, it will be our generation and the next that will pay the price if this amendment is passed.

we simply must engage with this part of the world. we cannot leave her into the hands of the russian bear. i urge strong opposition to the ratcliffe amendment and i yield back. the chair: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. ratcliffe: how much time does the gentlelady -- the chair: both sides have 30 -- each side has 30 seconds remaining. mr. ratcliffe: how many adegreesal speakers does the gentlelady have? i'll reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. ms. wasserman schultz: at this time i yield 10 seconds to the gentleman from california, mr. farr. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. farr: i'd like to respond that there's no legislative program in the state department like this. you can't transfer it there. they're not operative in these countries. to say this could be moved over. this is legislator to legislator, judge to judge, we need to keep it that way. the chair: the gentlewoman

reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. ratcliffe: i'm prepared to close if the gentlelady is prepared. ms. wasserman schultz: i'm closing in opposition, i believe i go last. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. ratcliffe: my constituents sent me to washington to cut wasteful spending. the open world program is one of many many programs that have the same purpose throughout the federal government. this is a chance to cut $5 million in spending for a duplicative program that we simply don't need. i urge my colleagues to vote in support of passage of the ratcliffe amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from texas yields back. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: thank you, mr. chairman. unfortunately, what this amendment is, is a missed opportunity to be fiscally responsible. i also support not spending money on the open world program any longer and moving it to the state department. unfortunately, the majority has chosen to make a rule in order

that focuses on an amendment to shift the $5.7 million completely out of the legislative branch when we have falling plaster off build elevators badly in need of repair. cuts to our m.r.a., our office accounts our staff isn't well paid enough and it's just not responsible. this is a missed opportunity. i urge member to oppose the amendment. the chair: the gentlewoman's time has ex-chired. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. for what purpose does the gentleman from -- the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. wasserman schultz: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 2 printed in part b of house report 114-120. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. flores: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment.

the clerk: amendment number printed in house report 114-120 offered by mr. flores of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 271 the gentleman from texas, mr. flores and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. flores: i rise to offer a simple amendment to prohibit funds for delivering copies of the congressional pictorial delivery. the pictorial directory is a book with pictures of the members of congress printed by the government publishing office. the most recent edition cost over $200,000 to print and distribute. while i realize this is not much money, i think in an $-- with an $18 trillion debt we need to be looking for the pennies as well as the $100 bills. the most important thing is, this book is no longer necessary to print in hard copy. we're almost six month into the 114th congress, the g.p.o. has still not published the book. for the 113th congress, it took them nine months until

september, to release the pictorial directory. private groups, here's what one of them looks like. private groups make similar directories that are more useful and include contact information and biographies of members in addition to their pictures. i have a copy of the directory dropped off at my office by a trade association in the last few days and unlike the g.p.o. directory, it's up to date and they keep it up to date. and of course pictures of members of congress are readily available for free online. if needed, the clerk could ensure that appropriate photographs of current members are available to create an online pictorial directory. the language of this amendment mirrors several riders in this bill that prohibit funds for the delivery of printed copies of bills and resolution, printed copies of the congressional record and printed copies of statements of disbursements and printed copies of the kayly calendar. i urge my colleagues to support my commonsense amendment and reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek

reck snigs? ms. wasserman schultz: i rise to claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: i think it's worth noting that this amendment would save $9,000 to $29,000. let's bear the full impact of that weighty sum, depending on how it's interpreted this would prevent the delivery of a printed copy, as i have in my hand of the congressional pictorial directory, which by the way, mr. flores, no offense, but some of us use this directory to identify you in the course of this discussion. s that book that is actually necessary. and one that we shouldn't be farming out or relying on lobbyists to print for us. every year we seem to get an amendment that stops some sort of printing or delivery of a paper copy of some document to member offices. just so members know, we have actually made real savings in this bill in the past by, in the

legislative brampling appropriations bill, no longer delivering a printed copy of a bill unless a member requests it, we no longer deliver a copy of the congressional record, we now no longer allow more than 50 copies of the code to go to house offices, we no longer deliver a printed copy of the daily calendar to member offices. all of which cost far more than stopping the printing of these books. it isn't really realistic. do you expect members to print out a piece of paper or staff and figure out and carry around a whole bunch of printed copies of painer to help identify members. we have new members every two years, my point is, we're about out of low hanging fruit here. i hope that this is the last of this type of amendment because if we want to change printing the members have an opportunity to take their grievances up with the joint committee on printing. the distribution of the congressional pictorial directory is set by the joint committee on printing.

maybe the gentleman is unaware of that it doesn't need to be legislated through this bill and we don't need to be creating a false impression that we're actually saving taxpayer dollars that would not have been saved through another means. thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman from florida reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. flores: i think the gentlelady from florida made a great case for putting this book in the same stack of dinosaurs she was talking about when it comes to eliminating other waste in terms of government printing. i have an app that cost me $1.99. that gives me current picturetures of members of congress. i don't have to carry paper around, i don't have to carry this book, i don't have to carry this book around. i just have to have an app. we're a 21st century congress. why don't we behave like a 21st century congress and get rid of dinosaurs like this. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. ms. wasserman schultz: would the gentleman yields for a question.

mr. flores: sure. ms. wasserman schultz: i'm wondering whether that app was privately produced or produced by taxpayers and the $1.99 you spent on it, was that taxpayer dollars you used to pay for it your own personal money. mr. flores: that was my own personal money. i reclaim my time and i reserve. ms. wasserman schultz: my point is, we do need this it would be one thing if a congressional pictorial directory was unnecessary but that's not the case. it is necessary. what isn't necessary is for us to be wasting time in debate on the house floor over something that could actually be handled, if the gentleman or any other member thought that the joint committee on printing should handle it differently, go talk to them. instead what we're doing is pretending we're saving taxpayer dollars. this is about $9,000 and what we shouldn't be doing is outsourcing the things we need

in terms of materials to do a better job serving the public to lobbyists and the private sector. that does not make sense and it isn't necessary. the majority should not leave the impression that they're doing something fiscally responsible here. i reserve the balance of my time. . the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. flores: mr. speaker, this has been a fascinating discussion. the gentlelady from florida says the numbers is between $9,000 and $20,000. if you ask your typical hardworking family, is $9,000 a lot of money? they will say yes, it is. is $29,000 a lot of money? they'll say yes. if you say you're paying for that, would you like the government to stop wasting that money and they would say absolutely yes. i think -- i mean, if the gentlelady doesn't want to waste any time on this vote aye on this and let's stop. i reserve the balance of my

time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from florida. ms. wasserman schultz: it doesn't stop the printing. it stops the delivery of members' offices. it doesn't stop the saving that the gentleman is talking about. it is $9,000 and $29,000. the cost that he's saving is the delivery, not the printing. with that i reserve. the chair: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. flores: i yield to the gentleman from georgia. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. graves: as the ranking member just stated and the argument seems to go around in a circle, it doesn't stop the printing of these items of these directries. it just says that members of congress shouldn't have somebody privately deliver them to their office. if they want one, go get one. if they want to look it up online, look it up online. if they want to spend $1.99 to get an app, get an app. this just says that congressional pictorial directory just is not going to

be delivered to a member's office. i don't know how controversial that can be so i thank the gentleman for his amendment and i plan on accepting it. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. flores: i yield back the balance of my time and i ask my colleagues to vote for this commonsense amendment. the chair: the gentlelady from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: i conclude that the offer that the gentleman is suggesting is now we shouldn't print things we don't use. suggesting that we should print this document but not make sure that it is delivered to members' offices for their utilization, that pretty much sounds like government waste under the classic definition. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady from florida yields back the balance of her time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. is agreed to. excuse me.

the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 3 printed in part b of house report 114-120. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from tennessee seek recognition? mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. chairman i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 3 printed in part b of house report 114-120 offered by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 271, the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. chairman. first, i want to begin by thanking the subcommittee chairman for his hard work on this effort that is in front of us and for the committee identifying ways to reduce what the federal government spends, especially in the ledge branch.

the fiscal year 2016 proposed funding level is $3.3 billion. that's $173 billion below the president's request, but i think there is more work that we could do and my 1% across-the-board spending reduction will save taxpayers an additional $29 million in budget authority and $25 million in outlays for fiscal year 2016. it is a targeted cut in discretionary spending that exempts the capitol police, the sergeant at arms and security maintained by the architect of the capitol. i want to recognize the work, again, as i said, of chairman graves and his committee. they have done several very important things that i think we ought to highlight. first, this measure continues to freeze member pay in place where it has been since 2010.

it continues a 14% reduction in funding for the house of representatives which republicans began in chair -- in 2011, and i appreciated that chairman rogers brought attention to that as general debate began. third, the bill cuts funding for programs such as the government printing office, which we have just have been discussing. many programs that have outlived their usefulness. that being said, we can cut more and a penny on the dollar is worth the effort. we are a country that has over $18 trillion in debt. financial security has become an issue of national security. admiral mullen had said the greatest threat to our nation's security is our growing national debt. that is the reason for us getting our fiscal house in order and looking to the future generations and saying, let's go in and cut one more penny out of a dollar. and this effort that i bring before you would do just that.

one more cent. doing it for future generations and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman from tennessee reserves the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. wasserman schultz: to claim time in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: i rise in strong opposition to this amendment. it makes a meat ax approach to cutting this bill by over $29 billion with an across-the-board cut by 1%. it exempts the capitol police, as well as the sergeant at arms. if the gentlelady, who i know, offers these amendments over and over again were truly committed to an across-the-board cut then she would just simply offer an across-the-board cut. at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the north whip, mr. hoyer. the chair: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for two minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. i rise in strong opposition to this this is a mindless but easy cut. tough words. this, bri the way, is -- this,

by the way is sequester, which is a republican proposal started about 2011 but really before that with all these across-the-board cuts because you don't have to make any choices, you don't have to make priorities. you just say, oh, let's save money. frankly, so many of the people in this country want this congress to have vigorous oversight of the executive department which has expanded very substantially. while the legislature has continued to undermine its ability to function as an effective oversight agency of the american people. the legislative branch is underfunded. we do not have the capacity to do effective oversight as we ought to be doing. the veterans department is a perfect example of that, where we are not vigorous enough in

oversight to ensure that money was being applied properly. if you want to cut and if you want to say something, this is not good, that's not good, we're wasting money there then specify it. debate that issue up or down. but that is why sequester is so abysmally wrong and why the chairman of the committee called it unrealistic and ill-conceived. this is not obama's proposal of a sequester. i'm not talking about this amendment, but sequester, to say as you repeatedly say on your side of the aisle this is obama's proposal, it's baloney. in fact, jack lieu, the only reason he suggested that to reid as an option was because you -- and i refer to the republican friends on the other side of the aisle, were threatening not to honor the

nation's debt. may i have 30 additional seconds? ms. wasserman schultz: i yield the gentleman 30 seconds. mr. hoyer: that's the reason we passed sequester and no one wanted squesttory go into effect. it was always a backup. and because we have come to an agreement on a fiscally responsible sustainable path, we have repaired to this ill-conceived unrealistic concept of sequester and this 1% across the board is exactly that. it puts intellect on hold, judgment on hold. that's not why the american people sent us here. respect this institution and respect our responsibility to the american people. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. gentlewoman reserves. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: how much time do i have remaining?

the chair: the gentlewoman from florida has two minutes remaining. ms. wasserman schultz: two minutes. at this time i yield one minute and 15 seconds to the gentleman from georgia, mr. bishop. the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute and 15 seconds. mr. bishop: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. i want to say a few things about one part of the bill that i find troubling. this is penny-wise and pound foolish. last year we called it the geopolitical office. the legislative branch subcommittee voted to eliminate the g.p.o.'s federal digital system which provides free digital access to more than a million congressional and other government document titles that has been kown downloaded by the public more than one billion times over the last five years. it doesn't make sense.

cutting this will severely eliminate money to upgrade the g.p.o.'s retrievable system. in recognition of the fiscal pressures we came in g.p.o. asked only we support their commitment to their digital transformation. we said yes to that last year and i'm hopeful we can restore that funding this year. it makes no sense to cut this. there are millions of people in local libraries all across this country that depend on this digital system and we do not need to cut it. this is penny-wise and pound foolish. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from florida reserves. the gentlewoman from tennessee is recognized. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. chairman. and i find it so interesting that this is called a meat ax approach. yes, i do come regularly to offer these amendments because i care what happens with our nation. i care about our future, and i want to make certain that we are on solid financial footing.

we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the taxpayer money. it is their money. and to say this is mindless and easy, how interesting that is. go tell all the governors from coast to coast, democrat and republican that use across-the-board spending cuts to get budgets in balance, tell that to mayors that use this same process. the reason it's done, it works. it works. it helps the bureaucracy hold itself accountable, and that is absolutely what we ought to be doing at this point in time. as you can see cutting is a very emotional issue. cutting brings forward a lot of emotions. talking about doing more with less, being resourceful that is what we should do every single day in order to be a good steward of the taxpayer money. we should want to do more with

less. we should do it in the name of freedom for freedom's sake, for the sovereignty of this nation. ill-conceived and unrealistic, when is operating by a balanced budget and spending and living within the means the taxpayers have said they are going to have for this federal government when will that ever be considered ill-conceived? when will it be considered unrealistic? it is what we ought to be doing, and indeed, if every department did what the ledge branch did of cutting 14%, we would be getting close to budget. to say that we're suspending intellect and judgment you know, that's almost frivolous and almost silly to say. we spend less and should be spending less and should try to continue to spend less and reform this government and hold

it accountable to the taxpayer who is footing the bill, because, yes the nation's future depends on it. our national security yes, it depends on it. and respect, it is respecting future generations and the taxpayer to be a wise steward. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: at this time i yield 30 seconds of our remaining time to the gentleman from california, mr. farr. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. farr: thank you very much. i wish the gentlewoman made that same speech when the biggest spending bill which was defense and didn't offer this amendment at all and i come from the state where the legislators didn't have enough guts to raise taxes so the people went out and did it because they want their government to run wisely and smartly and they didn't have enough money to do it. look it, we're cutting this budget which the senate is increasing their budget by 12%. they're going to be able to give cost-of-living adjustments to every one of their members.

nobody sitting in this room who works for us will get a cost of living adjustments because of cuts like this. this is ridiculous. we're penalizing our whole house, not the senate. this is not a smart way to make legislative business. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. wasserman schultz: how much time do i have? the chair: 15 seconds. ms. wasserman schultz: the bottom line, what will be so fiscally responsible and responsible in general is to not further take a meat ax to a bill that is already flat-funded for the last three years. our employees deserve a raise. we deserve to be a co-equal of government, funded enough to hold the administration accountable, make sure we can do our jobs and this bill does not allow us to do that. i urge the members to oppose this ir responsible amendment and with that i yield back the balance of my time. . the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from tennessee. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the

ayes have it. the gentlewoman from florida. ms. wasserman schultz: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 128, further proceed option the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from tennessee will be postponed. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 1, proceedings will now resume on those amendments printed in part d of house report 114-20 on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order. amendment number one by mr. ratcliffe of texas, amount number three by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. the time will be reduced to five minutes after the first vote in this series. the question is on the amendment prinned in house report 114-120 offered by the gentleman from texas, mr. ratcliffe. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number one printed in house report 114-120 offered by mr. ratcliffe of

texas. the chair: those in support of a request for a recorded vote will rise and be downed. a sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 224, the nays are 199. the amendment is adopted.

the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment -- amendment number 3 printed in the report offered by the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk: amendment number 3 printed in part b of house report 114-120 offered by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 170 the nays --

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 172, the the nays are 250. the amendment is not adopted. there being no further amendments, under the rule, the committee rise -- under the rule, the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration the bill h.r. 2250 and pursuant to house resolution 271 reports the bill back to the house with sundry amendments adopted in the committee of the whole. under the rule, the previous question is ordered. is a separate vote demanded on any amendment reported from the committee of the whole? if not the chair will put them engross. the question is on the adoption of the amendments. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendments is agreed to. the question is on the en-- on engrossment and third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: legislative branch for the fiscal year ending september 30 2016, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on passage of the bill. pursuant to clause 10 of rule

20, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the order of the house of today, pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the order of the house of today, this five-minute vote on passage of h.r. 2250 will be followed by five-minute votes on the motion to recommit on h.r. 23553 and passage of h.r. -- 2353 and passage of h.r. 2353 if ordered. this is a pive minute d vote. -- this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 357. the nays are 67. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion to recommit on h.r. 2353 offered by the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms.esty on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will redesignate the

motion. the chair: motion to recommit offered by ms.esty of connecticut. the speaker pro tempore: members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 182. the nays are 241 with zero answering present. the motion is not adopted. the question is on passage of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it.

the bill is passed. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, on that i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 387, the nays are 35. with one answering present. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i need to remove co-sponsors from a particular bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the following members be removed as

co-sponsors of the bill h.r. 1909. mr. farenthold of texas, mr. hensarling of texas, mr. huelskamp of kansas and mr. thornberry of texas. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered. or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. record votes on postponed questions will be taken later. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. members are asked to remove their conversations from the house floor.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 874, the american supercomputing leadership act. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 87. h.r. 874, a bill to amend the department of energy high end computing revitalization act of 2004 to improve the high end computing research and development program of the department of energy and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. lipinski will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.r. 874, the bill now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: seeing no objection, so ordered. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, h.r. 874, the american super computing leadership act, requires the department of energy to develop a plan to bring the united states into the next generation of super computing. also known as exoscale computing. you want to thank the gentleman from illinois for taking initiative on this issue. the advanced program is the primary federal research and development program for innovation in computing technology. high performance computing has paved the way for breakthroughs in medical imaging genetics research, manufacturing, engineering and weapons development. faster computing speeds have

revolutionized the energy sector improved the efficiency of energy production and aided in distribution technologies. advances in computer modeling offer opportunities for scientific discovery in fields where experiments are too difficult, costly ordaining rouse to conduct. these advances reduce cost and open the door to more innovative discoveries. the country with the strongest computing capability will host the world's next scientific breakthroughs. unfortunately china currently hosts the world's fastest computer not the united states. this bill should reverse this trend and help advance american competitiveness. again i want to thank the gentleman from illinois, mr. hultgren, as well as the gentleman from california, mr. swalwell, the gentleman from illinois, mr. lipinski, the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. esty, and the gentlewoman from oregon, ms. bonamici, for their initiative on this issue. i urge my colleagues to support the bill and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman reserves the balance of his time. does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? mr. lipinski: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has as much time as as he might consume. mr. lipinski: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to co-sponsor h.r. 874, the american super computing leadership act. this is bipartisan legislation that i've had the pleasure of working on with my colleague, mr. hultgren, and others from both sides of the aisle in developing including as the chairman said, mr. swalwell, ms. bonamici, ms. esty. this bill would authorize an exoscale computing program to ensure that the fastest computers in the world as well as their software and algorithms, which will help us use these machines to maximum efficiency, are developed here in the united states. the term exoscale is often used to refer to the next generation of super computers in general. it's used interchangeably with

extreme scale. this determine is often applied to computing systems that are capable of carrying out a million trillion operations per second. that rate is approximately 50 times faster than the current fastest computer in the world. through this legislation, the secretary of energy would be empowered to significantly increase computing power that is accessible to scientists from federal agencies as well as industry and academia. this would give scientists the resources and support they need to flourish. there are numerous fields in research in both the academic and industrial areas that would be greatly aided by this increased computing power. fields such as pharmaceutical development, aerodynamicic modeling for aircraft and vehicle design, advanced nuclear reactor design and fusion plasma modeling, combustion stimulation to assist in the design of

fuel-efficient systems and to reduce energy losses while transmitting electricity. as a result of this legislation, the department of energy would be required to submit regular reports as well as a management plan to congress describing how d.o.e. intends to institute this program in its current progress. lamont illinois', laboratory is a world leader in developing this new capability. i was happy that just last month the department of energy announced a major award to support and significantly upgrade argon's advanced computing research facilities. this bill will ensure that these investments are part of a transparent, long-term coordinated strategy to keep the united states on top in this field. i also anticipate that the benefit that we will see from this legislation may well surpass the impacts that we can even imagine today.

mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 874 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker i yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from illinois, mr. hultgren who is the sponsor of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for as much time as he might consume. mr. hultgren: thank you, mr. speaker. i also would like to thank my good friend and distinguished chairman of the science committee, chairman smith from texas, as well as my good friend congressman lipinski from illinois, as well as my other good friend from california, mr. swalwell, for all helping to bring this legislation to the floor. h.r. 874 will help ensure america stays at the forefront of super computing technology by getting to the exoscale level of computing, close to the speed of the human brain. these capabilities are vital for our national security, the economy and, more broadly, the research capabilities of our nation. while america and americans --

american companies are still leading the way for much of this current technology, it's important to point out that the national university of defense technology in china now houses the world's fastest computer. one of the department of energy's primary responsibilities within the national nuclear security administration is the maintenance of our current nuclear stockpile. this stockpile stewardship responsibility is carried out with increasingly complex situation simulations, as are stock -- as our stockpile ages. the need for improved parallelism capabilities and decreased energy requirements are spelled out in this legislation. to ensure the department carries out a targeted basic research program to overcome the most pressing needs. i would like to point out, however, that i believe in agreement with the secretary that exoscale is not the end point. it's just a step towards the greater goal of american leadership in this field. this legislation len sure that the broader scientific

community has access to these facilities on a competitive merit-review basis. the scientific drivers and the national security responsibilities should be the primary focus for computing research. but we must also make sure that the cross-cutting benefits of this research are not left at the wayside. h.r. 874 would create partnerships with universities, industry and the national labs to conduct this research ensuring that the nation as a whole benefits from this research more quickly and efficiently. with all parties at the table, businesses will be better able to utilize this new -- the new technologies and algorithms that will result. having the pleasure to represent the great state of illinois, i have been able to witness how an ecosystem of innovation can best be fostered. for our nation to reap the greatest yields from our research our research facilities must be open to the public when it makes sense and does not interfere with the core missions of our federal agencies and the labs. the user facilities and our

national labs already serve over 30,000 researchers every year with university researchers taking precedence over others. and other user facilities such as the advanced photon source at argon in illinois have given tremendous research capability to industry partners such as pharmaceutical companies, where research that once took weeks is now done is in -- done in hours, with samples spending more time in overnight mail. the computing capabilities this legislation will help bring about will similarly have tremendous application in health care and drug development. we are just now getting to the point where computer simulations are giving us higher resolution images at themy electric lar level, so we can get with microscopes when trying to understand how diseases our bodies and new treatments interact. and the modeling simulations these systems make available also allow manufacturers to build better prototypes that have -- than have already been tested thousands of times virtually before they come off the line. but perhaps most importantly

these capabilities will keep america competitive on the global scale. and the graduate students and post-docs that learn on these machines will take what they know wherever they decide to go, whether it be business or the department of defense. one college president i spoke with recently put it best. he said, the best form of technology transfer, wear shoes. that is why i thank my colleagues for helping me bring this similar legislation to the floor again this congress and i recommend all my colleagues support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois. mr. lipinski: might i inquire of the gentleman from texas if he has more speakers on this? mr. smith: mr. speaker we have no more speakers at this time. i'm prepared to yield back the balance of my time after the gentleman from illinois. mr. lipinski: let me yield myself such time as i may

consume to close here. i want to thank mr. hultgren, again. he represents firmy lab. i represent a lab. it's good to work with him to advance science and the united states. even though there are a few people who understand what this means, we will all see the results of it. i thank the chairman for moving this bill forward. i urge my colleagues to support it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield back the remainder of my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: all time has been yielded back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 874. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the

gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1162, the science prize competitions act, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1162, a bill to make technical changes to provisions authorizing prize competitions under the stevenson-wydler technology innovation act of 1980. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule the gentleman from texas mr. smith, and the gentleman from virginia, mr. beyer, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.r. 1162, the bill now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: seeing no objection, so ordered. mr. smith: mr. speaker i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized -- the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas for as much time as he may consume. mr. smith: mr. speaker, h.r. 1162, the science prize

competitions act promotes increased utilization of prize competitions within the federal government. and i want to thank the ranking member of the oversight subcommittee mr. beyer, for introducing this legislation. i also thank the bipartisan co-sponsors which include the vice chair of the oversight subcommittee, mr. bill johnson, as well as the full committee ranking member ms. eddie bernice johnson. prize competitions help spur innovation. they give innovators incentives to produce groundbreaking outside-the-box ideas. used effectively, it can have revolutionary resultes that would not happen otherwise. for example, after the deepwater horizon explosion, the x prize foundation sponsored a competition to elicit new oil removal technologies that needed to be better than state of the art. with the incentive of $1 million prize for first place, the winning team designed technology capable of extracting 89% of the oil from the water.

thanks to the incentives provided by the competition, the winner in a few months blew the competition and the then best available oil skimmers out of the water. another example of a novel idea for a prize involves a head health challenge. this is a joint effort by the national football league, underarmour, general electic and the national institutes of standards and technologies to have viable materials that will increase safety and protection for athletes, the war fighter and civilians, under quote. this is a competition that could yield a solution that would benefit a diverse section of the population from athletes to soldiers. h.r. 1162 makes important changes to the prize competition section of the stevenson-wydler innovation act of 1980. h.r. 1162 will have a positive impact on science prize

competitions which have bipartisan support. a letter from the director of the office of science science and technology states, quote, this report details the remarkable benefits the federal government has reached for more than 400 prize competitions and challenges implemented by over 72 agencies to date. the steps the administration has taken to establish a lasting foundation for use of the competes prize authority and detailed examples from fiscal year 2014 of how the competes prize authority is increasing the number of agencies that use prizes to achieve their missions more efficiently and effectively, end quote. again, i want to thank mr. beyer of virginia and mr. johnson for introducing this bill. i urge my colleagues to support it and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. beyer: yes, i do mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman yield to himself?

mr. beyer: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i would like to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. beyer: excuse me? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. beyer: thank you. i'd like to thank two texans, chairman smith and ranking member johnson for their leadership on this important issue and remind them that stanley houston and stephen austin were born in virginia. i'd like to thank my esteemed colleague from ohio, mr. johnson, for co-sponsors. the 2010 competes grants the authority to hold prize competition for science and technological innovations. it supports agencies' increased use of prizes to incentivize more high risk, high reward research and reach out to researchers and innovators across all areas of science and technology. prize competitions go back at least 300 years to the 1714 longitude prize offered by the british government to develop a practical method to precisely measure a ship's longitude. the 1919 or teeing prize

spurred charles lindhburg to make the first trans-atlantic flight. it took eight years from the prize to the flight itself. prize competitions have accelerated technological development for space exploration, public health automobiles, lighting and much more. many of these competitions have been privately sponsored, but several have been sponsored by our federal agencies, including nasa darpa and the department of energy. prize competitions have also proven to be an effective tool to invigorate our nation's pricest innovators from all corners. they allow our science agencies to cast a wide net to draw in new talent. i think one of the most interesting facts is that nasa found that over 80% of nasa prize competitors had never before responded to nasa or other government requests proposals. we're bringing in our best and brightest to solve these problems. if we are to continue leading the world in science and technology, we must draw upon all of our nation's talent, whether they are researchers in a university lab, owners of a

technology startup or independent innovators working in their own garages. imagine if more of our federal science agencies took full advantage of the potential of prizes to address some of our nation's most pressing technological challenges. how might the world change in 2025 from a prize offered today? private organizations have spent years perfecting the design of prize competitions to address big challenges. we hope that our science agencies see the same success and we must continue to support federal agencies as they implement this authority. the legislation we are considering today addresses some real and some perceived hurdles in the 2010 authority that were identified once agencies began to implement prize competitions. it also lines the terminology with the industry standard to eliminate any confusion in the interpretation of the law. these are technical amendments which should make it easier for all agencies to make full use of the 2010 authority. in trying to rebalance our federal budget, we had to make

very hard choices about where to cut funding including in r&d programs. and while prize competitions should never be used such an excuse to cut investments in r&d, prizes do allow the federal government to continue to fund high reward research with minimal risk to the taxpayer. another valuable tool for agencies to deploy to meet their critical mission requirements. i'm proud to sponsor this bill. i ask my colleagues to support this bill. i'm grateful for the chairman for his bipartisan leadership on this issue. thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from virginia for reminding me that stephen f. austin and sam houston were born in virginia. and i have to confess, i have a number of ancestors who came from virginia as well, and i'm told one of them may have been the governor of virginia but that's as much as i'm going to say about the great commonwealth tonight. i will say that i have no other requests for time and so reserve the balance of my time until the gentleman from

virginia yields back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. does the gentleman -- mr. beyer: mr. speaker, i'll yield back also. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas yields the balance of his time? mr. smith: i do, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia. mr. beyer: mr. speaker, i believe i misspoke that i would love to acknowledge the -- my colleague from illinois for -- the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from virginia ask unanimous consent to reclaim his time? mr. beyer: yes mr. speaker. i'd ask unanimous consent to reclaim my time. the speaker pro tempore: seeing no objection, so ordered. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i was just going to say that i concur and agree to yield to the gentleman from illinois as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. beyer: as i slowly develop my master of this parliamentary procedure, i'd like to recognize my colleague from illinois for as much time as he may require. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for as much time as

he may consume. mr. lipinski: thank you, mr. speaker, mr. beyer, thank you very much for yielding. and for your introduction, your authorship of this bill on prize competitions. i want to add my voice in strong support of this bill. i've long been a strong supporter of prize competitions to spur innovation, not as a substitute for federal grants and other aid but as an additional tool. back in 2007 i wrote language in the energy independence and security act that directed d.o.e. to create a hydrogen energy prize, a competition now called the h prize that is currently ongoing and hopefully will yield some results some innovation using hydrogen as a transportation fuel. in the 2010 competes bill i added language to that bill that authorized prize competitions at the national science foundation.

so i believe that these prize competitions are an excellent way to unlock the innovative potential of researchers, the private sectors and even hobbyists working in a garage all while protecting taxpayer dollars. this bill will clarify prize competition authority so that more agencies throughout the federal government will be able to run competitions. so it's a good bill. i thank mr. beyer, again, for introducing it, thank chairman smith for moving it ranking member johnson for moving it, urge my colleagues to support it and with that i will yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois yields back. does the gentleman from virginia yield back the balance of his time? mr. beyer: mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1162, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. smith: mr. speaker i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 119, the research and development efficiency act, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1119, a bill to improve the efficiency of federal research and development, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from smith, mr. smith, and the gentleman from illinois, mr. lipinski, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.r. 1119, the bill now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield as much time as she may consume, the gentlewoman from virginia mrs. comstock the sponsor of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from virginia is recognized for as much time as she may consume. mrs. comstock: mr. speaker, i

rise today to -- mr. speaker, i rise today to speak in support of h.r. 1119, the research and development efficiency act, which i introduced to the chairman and the ranking member of the house science space and technology committee as well as mr. lipinski -- sorry -- as well as the ranking member of the research and technology subcommittee earlier this year. h.r. 1119 requires the director of the office of science and technology policy to establish a working group under the national science and technology council to review federal regulations that affect research and research universities. the working group is tasked with making recommendations on how to harmonize, streamline and eliminate duplicative federal regulations and reporting requirements and make recommendations on how to minimize the regulatory burden on research institutions. mr. speaker, there is a long history to support the need for

this legislation. in 2012, the national academies issued a report that included a key recommendation to reduce or eliminate regulations that increase administrative costs, impede research productivity and deflect creative energy without substantially improving the research environment. last year, the national one in 2005 and 2012, on average, researchers spend 42% of their time on meeting administrative requirementsment this drain on researchers' time and resources to answer regulatory and reporting requirements leads -- leaves less time to spend on actual scientific work. h.r. 1119 does not eliminate reporting requirements because

there is a need for oversight and transparency. the bill would initiate the process which should help researchers and research universities by reducing redundant regulations. this is accomplished by promoting efficiencies and getting the most out of our research investment. the national academy is conducting a study of federal regulations and reporting requirements, paying attention to those directed at research universities. h.r. 1119 would ensure more of our federal research dollars is spent on research and not on regulatory requirements and i encourage my colleagues to support this bill. thank you, mr. chairman, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. lipinski: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lipinski: i rise in support of h.r. 1119. i'm pleased to be a co-sponsor

of this bill and i thank congresswoman comstock and ranking member johnson for introducing the bill. we all gee that administrative requirements serve an important purpose. they ensure transparency, protection of human and animal subjects and the wide use of federal resources. but sometimes they go too far. so we need to find a much better balance than we currently have. a statistic is often cited that it is 42% of researcher's time is spent doing administrative functions. nor is it an efficient use of federal research funds especially as federal spending for r&d continues to decline as a share of the overall budget. back in the 112th congress, the research subcommittee which i serve on and led by -- held an

important hearing to get the ball rolling which led to this bill. h.r. 1119 requires the office of science and technology policy to convene a working group to review the requirements governing the conduct of federally-funded r&d at our nation's institutions. the working group is charged with making recommendations how to harmonize such requirements across the government in order to minimize the burden on universities while maintaining full accountability for federal funds. this administration has long recognized the problems that this bill addresses and interagency working group will not be starting from scratch. the office of management and budget took some small steps in the right direction in the recent rewrite of the writing of research grants and harmonize

the grant proposal process and exploring additional ways to reduce the paperwork burden associated with grant pro possessals. i -- proposals. i urged o.m.b. to reform some of the proposals but there is room to go. there is a detailed review of administrative burdens on federally-funded research. i hope this review will yield specific recommendations to the agencies and how to proceed. while maybe preferable to wait for this report to be published before the committee begins its own work, the academy's review does not preclude the need for interagency group. i understand there are many bureaucratic hurdles to overcome. however, we cannot afford to delay action. the vitality of our nation's research universities and overall competitiveness will suffer if we do not reduce the administrative work load on our

nation's scientific talent. h.r. 1119 is an important step in that direction and once again, i want to thank mrs. comstock and ranking member johnson and ranking member johnson for introducing this legislation and chairman smith for bringing it to the floor. and i urge my colleagues to support it and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i have no other requests for time and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. lipinski: i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lipinski: i want to thank mrs. comstock and ranking member johnson and chairman smith for moving this bill. i used to be a university researcher and i know the heavy burdens that are placed in terms of the administrative tasks that need to be done.

some of these are absolutely necessary, but we now know we can reduce the burden without reducing the protections that they provide. i'm very happy to support this bill. i urge my colleagues to support it. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois yields back. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i want to thank mrs. comstock for introducing this bill and mr. lipinski for co-sponsoring and i urge my colleagues to support it. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1119 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. smith: i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1156,

international science and cooperation act of 2015 as amended. the clerk: h.r. 1156, a bill to authorize the establishment of a body under the national science and technology council to identify and coordinate international science and technology cooperation opportunities. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule the gentleman from texas mr. smith and the gentleman from illinois, mr. lipinski each will control 20 minutes. mr. smith: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. and include ex trainous material on h.r. 1156. i yield myself such time as i may consume. h.r. 1156, the international science and technology cooperation act of 2015 directs the office of science and technology policy to establish a working group to identify and coordinate international science and technology efforts to strengthen the u.s. research

enterprise. i thank the ranking member of the research and technology committee for introducing this bill. i also thank the subcommittee's vice chair and mrs. johnson and mr. hultgren and mr. swalwell for being bipartisan co-sponsors, too. the office of science and technology policy in coordination with the state department represents the united states in meetings with foreign nations. it works closely with government science agencies, nongovernmental organizations and independent research and scientific institutions to promote science and technology initiatives and strengthen global science cooperation. h.r. 1156 improves our nation's collaborative efforts with international partners on scientific issues. while many federal agencies are engaged with international partners on science and technology projects, there is a need to coordinate these projects across the federal government. better collaboration with our partners will strengthen u.s.

scientific activities and further promote the free exchange of ideas with other nations. interagency coordination ensures that taxpayer dollars are used efficiently and that u.s. priorities are consistently addressed when working with our international partners on science and technology issues. science and technology research addresses some of the major challengeses that face our nation including public health, energy production, national security and economic development. coordinated international collaboration on scientific issues which h.r. 1156 promotes will improve economic and national security and support u.s. foreign policy goals. again, i want to thank mr. lipinski for his hard work. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. lipinski: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lipinski: i rise in support

of h.r. 1156, international science and technology cooperation act, which i re-introduced earlier this year. a similar bill which i authored in the last congress passed the house with with overwhelming bipartisan support. i'm hoping we can do the same thing this week and get the bill to the senate and onto the president's desk. i thank mr. moolenaar for co-sponsoring this bill with me and thank the chairman and ranking member in getting it to the house floor. mr. speaker, the laws of science no no -- know no political bouvend dries. the united states has developed some of the greatest technology. no country has the monopoly of great minds. if we want to advance science that benefit americans and the rest of the world, we need to encourage international collaboration. improvements in areas such as

energy security, infectious diseases, space exploration, internet and many more, are due in part to international cooperation to the benefit of all nations involved. by collaborating with international partners on science, we also strengthen the u.s. scientific enterprise which helps us get the best return on our research investment. in addition, international collaborations make possible research endeavors on a grander scale than the u.s. can accomplish on its own. for example, the u.s. department of energy and national science foundation signed a cooperative agreement two weeks ago expanding the collaboration on particle phsyics. it will continue the highest work on the highest energy accelerator in the world it will allow to provide equipment to a new experiment at a lab in

illinois. stern was a site of one of the most technological advances that impacts us every day. in 1989, tim burner lee was working on the problem allowing international researchers to feed data around the globe. the solution that was developed was the worldwide web, which has completely transformed the way we communicate and get information today. h.r. 1156 makes more collaborations like this possible. requires the national science and technology council to continue to maintain a working group to coordinate the strategy for international science and technology cooperation. many federal agencies already work with international counterparts on scientific and technological issues. but until recently, there is no

coordinating body to identify new partnerships and to fully leverage existing collaborations. mr. speaker, it's important we find ways to collaborate with other countries on scientific discoveries that push the boundaries of knowledge and improve our lives. this bill will do that. i urge my colleagues to support the bill. and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: i have no further requests for time and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. lipinski: mr. speaker, i believe that we have no more speakers although we are -- there is a question about that. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lipinski: i want to thank the champlee for his support on this. we passed this bill before with

wide bipartisan support. very hopeful we can do that again today. international cooperation is very critical to doing more than we alone can do. we have the best researchers in the world producing the most advanced technology, but working together with others, we can do even more than we have and the impact it can have on every day lives on americans is tremendous. so i urge my colleagues to support this bill and i will yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: i yield back the balance of my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1156 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is

passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. without objection, the title is amended. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 11 -- 1561, the weather research and forecasting innovation act. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1561, the weather research innovation act to expand commercial opportunities for the provision of weather data and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, and the gentlewoman from oregon, ms. bonn meche, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their rashes and include extraneous material on h.r. 1561, the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smith: i yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. lucas, the chairman of the spines space and technology committee and author of this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lucas: i want to thank the gentleman from texas for his continued work on the science committee. h.r. 1561 prioritizes the -- prioritizes life and property at the national oceanic and atmospheric association. it focuses on research and technology transfer. i echo chairman smith's concerns

that severe weather affects large parts of the country and as the representative from oklahoma i understand the need for improvement firsthand. in 203rks the deadly storms in my home state for a stark reminder that we can do better to predict events and provide longer lead times to protect americans in harm's way. i'm glad that this legislation has a dedicated tornado warning improvement program. the goal is to advance the understanding of meteorological science, allowing detection and notifications that are more accurate effective and timely. constituents in hi home state will benefit greatly from longer lead times which will help better protect life and property. this assures that noaa will continue to protect lives and property through a forward-thinking plan at the research office. it help -- this bill also encourages innovation by

creating a joint technology transfer from the office of oceanic and atmospheric research this transfer is essential to get new forecasting models and technologies out of the research side of noaa and into our operational forecast this bill directs noaa to develop plans to restore our leadership in weather forecasting. many in our weather community are distraught that our weather forecasting abilities have deteriorated in the last few years. while other countries are making advancements in weather forecasting, americans are paying the price with lost lives and property. this bill prompts noaa to consider new commercial data and private sector solutions to further enhance our weather forecasting capacities. this legislation includes a pilot program to provide noaa a clear and credible demonstration of the valuable data of

commercial technologies available today this legislation is substantially similar to last year's bipartisan weather forecasting improvement act which passed the house by a voice vote. the bill before us today updates authorization numbers to reflect current spending levels, adjust dates to reflect current operating status and incorporates minor additions and technical changes to improve the bill's clarity and intent. this is a result of a bipartisan agreement last year and this year. i want to thank the gentleman from oklahoma, the environment subcommittee chairman mr. bridenstine for his active leadership on this issue and for getting us here today. i also want to thank the ranking member of the environment subcommittee, the gentlewoman from oregon, ms. bonamici, for her efforts in crafting a bipartisan agreement and joining in this most worthwhile initiative to save american lives and property through better weather forecasting. finally, the weather research and forecasting innovation act has received numerous letters of support which i'd like to mention including letters from utah state university, space

environment technologies, metro weather, utah science technology and research initiative. once again, the good -- it's a good bill. it's been worked on diligently, we need to pass it. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from oregon. ms. bonamici: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. bonamici: i rise in support of h.r. 1561 the weather research and forecasting innovation act of 2015. this bill, introduced by my friend mr. lucas builds on the work that subcommittee chairman mr. bridenstine and former subcommittee chairman mr. stewart and i did in the last congress. the language before us today is a result of a truly bipartisan effort with extensive discussions and negotiation across the aisle. although the bill is not perfect, it is a good bill and a better bill than the one that passed in the last congress and i ask all my colleagues to support it.

the national oceanic and atmospheric administration has many important tasks at the cutting edge of science and service. their responsibilities for weather forecasting are critical for our cubry. we're proud of the good work of noaa and its dedicated employees. they're a committed work force, responsible for keeping our communities safe in our -- during inclement weather. with the increasing frequency of severe weather events, there can and should be improvements in weather forecasting. forecasts can be more precise regarding what can happen and when. they can provide more lead time to allow people to prepare. forecast information can be communicated more effectively to the public and those in harm's way so we can reduce the loss of life and property. this bill is designed to make sure that noaa achieves these important goals. h.r. 1561 draws upon the model

of innovation used by the military services where researchers work hand in hand with those on the front line to develop innovations that have real world, practical return. the bill connects the research side of noaa, the office of oceanic and atmospheric research, more effectively with the forecasting needs of the national weather service. the bill contains several provisions that will improve interactions and interaction and information sharing between o.a.r. and n.w.s. it alsoest tablies new ways for noaa to hear from and work with the broader community. no asks a is not the only -- noaa is not the only agency that researches weather, so the bill establishes interagency coordination through the office of science and technology policy across the agencies that have these responsibilities. this coordination will leverage our limited resources and more rapidly spread the dppings of best tools and practices across

agencies. h.r. 1561 recognizes that the best forecasts in the world will not fully serve the public's needs unless we have an effective communications system. the bill directs noaa to do more research, listen to experts and improve its risk communication techniques. the bill also re-establishes a program that allows noaa to make awards to people who save the lives of others through the weather program. it also allows noaa to look to the commercial sector for forecasting data. this is an overdue effort to make sure federal dollars are spent effectively and leveraged appropriately. additionally, it requires noaa to run simulations of different forecasting sets so they can look at benefits and costs of different arrays of sensors.

it's important to make sure these requirements are not too prescriptive so noaa is able to use the most efficient, accurate and cost effective model for the situation. i'll continue to work with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle on how to make the provisions work well. in summary, the changes in this bill will bring about advances in innovation and technology. importantly, most of cheese thing -- most of these changes are coming at little or no cost. it's focused on changes to internal processes rather than spending more money. to the degree that the bill does extend the agency's authorization for weather research, it is done in line with anticipated needs in this area. again i want to thank the members on both sides of the aisle for their input and support. i'm particularly grateful to ms. johnson for her support in negotiations as well as mr. lucas and mr. bridenstine. also i want to thank the hard working staff on both sides of the aisle for their efforts to

keep coming back to the table and helping to move this forward. mr. chairman, we also received many letters of support for h.r. 1561 from more than 20 different organizations including the weather coalition, the university corporation of atmospheric research, which represents more than 100 research institutions, the global weather corporation, the american weather and climate industry association the american commercial space-weather association and many others. additionally we received letters of support from a number of individuals who serve on the environmental information services working group which is one of noaa's scientific advisory bodies. mr. chairman, i ask my colleagues to support this bill and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i want to first thank the gentlewoman from oregon for her work on this bill. she has been a strong advocate and an initiator on the benefits

that this bill does promote. mr. speaker, i'll yield as much time as he may consume to the chairman of the environment subcommittee of the science committee, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. bridenstine. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bridenstine: thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to echo the comments of my colleague from oklahoma, mr. lucas and of course the ranking member, ms. bonamici. i think your sumation of this bill is right on target. mr. speaker, i'd like to attest that h.r. 1561, the weather research forecasting and innovation act is the very first step in what will lead taos a day when we have zero deaths from tornadoes. i want to repeat that. this is the very first step of what is necessary to move taos a day where we have zero deaths from tornadoes. those of us from the great state of oklahoma understand this all too well. mr. speaker, i'd like to first thank chairman smith, vice

chairman lucas and the environment subcommittee ranking member bonamici for their tireless efforts to see this bipartisan legislation move forward. the burgeoning commercial private sector for space-based weather data and aviation-based weather data has voiced its support for this legislation and i would like to mention letters to the science committee from planet i.q., tempest global day tark panasonic avionics corporation, geooptics and spire global. h.r. 1561 builds on the foundation laid by my house-passed weather forecasting improvement act from last congress and directs noaa to prioritize activities that will save lives and protect property. this is critically important to my state which is in the heart of trornede alley. in fact, i just went home for the weekend saturday night, about midnight, all of the tornado sirens started going off. my wife and i got up, we got our

kids out of bed, we brought them downstairs, we set up their beds in my closet and my wife and i turned on the tv and we surfed the internet trying to find out where the tornadoes were and where they were touching down. this is critically important and i'm sure my experience this weekend, which is not unique to this weekend, is also experienced by many of my constituents and others throughout the state of oklahoma. we must do all we can to improve our ability to predict the weather. h.r. 1561 will help noaa develop accurate and timely warnings for not only tornadoes but also hurricanes and other high impact weather events. it calls on noaa to develop a plan to regain and maintain our forecasting capabilities that are second to none in the world because right now, we unfortunately are lagging behind our counterparts in europe, the u.k. and canada. the bill encourages better cooperation across noaa offices and enhances collaboration with universities such as the

university of oklahoma which is the national leader in weather research. i'm particularly proud of the new section in this year's version that we have worked closely with industry, noaa and other members of congress to include. h.r. 1561 authorizes a pilot program for noaa to purchase commercial weather data and test it against noaa's proprietary data. it also encourages noaa to publish standards it expects from data purchased from the commercial sector. this has the potential to be a major paradigm shift provision. this is the first step toward changing the business model. i believe we need to change the business model, moving to a day where the government does not purchase own, and operate huge, monolithic, billion dollar satellites but rather utilizes the innovation of the private sector to provide the data necessary to feed our data assimilation systems and numerical weather models. this will ultimately allow noaa

to focus its resources on the research and development necessary to improve our modeling capabilities, our computing capacity and warning lead times outlined in this legislation. mr. speaker, i believe there will come a time when there will be zero deaths from tornadoes. i think this bill will help us implement the necessary steps to get there i once again thank my colleagues on the science committee for all their hard work and look forward to working with our counterparts in the senate to move this legislation to the president's desk. with that, i encourage all my colleagues to support this bill and i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yields recognized. mr. smith: h.r. 1561 has received overwhelming support and i would like to mention letters of support from the weather company, science and technology corporation and