et. i have many ideas for that. but the st. lawrence seaway development corporation should be allowed to remain functional and not harmed by a 10% cut. i yield back my remaining time. mr. price: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: time is yielded back. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. dent: thank you, mr. chairman. i certainly appreciate the gentlelady's comments from ohio and i understand the difficult choices here. i do intend to work with her and any other concerned members about these offsets and maybe find a way to alter them at some point. i just didn't have time to do it tonight. but again i believe this is a reasonable amendment and it will do -- it will do what we need to at least to help with respect to the inward facing cameras on amtrak trains. that the time i'd like to yield one minute to my friend from new jersey, frequent amtrak rider himself, mr. lance. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. . mr. lance: thank you very much mr. speaker.

three weeks ago, the tragic amtrak accident in philadelphia led to death, injury and destruction. and those who were injured included two of my constituents with whom i had been meeting earlier in the day here in washington. while the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation, we know that certain measures can be take ton ensure safety and preparedness and changes can be implemented moving forward for public safety. inward facing cameras are an appropriate step in modernizing train safety transportation. the national transportation safety board has been advocating for this simple and relatively inexpensive reform for years. i urge support of mr. dent's amendment to bring this reform to fruition and i thank mr. dent for permitting me to speak. the chair: the gentleman has one minute remaining. mr. dent: i urge my colleagues to support this amendment that would provide $9 million for

inward facing cameras on amtrak trains. this is absolutely essential i believe, to helping us hopefully prevent and certainly after the fact determine the causes of these types of tragedies when they occur. wish we weren't at this point but we need to do this, it's important, amtrak wants to move in this direction. national transportation safety board has urged this for some time and it's time that congress act. again, i urge a yes vote on the amendment. at this time i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from pennsylvania. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois seek recognition? the clerk will designate the amendment.

the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. -- ms. bustos of illinois, page 2, line 13, after the first dollar amount insert reduced by $500,000. page 2 line 24, after the dollar amount, insert reduced by $500,000. page 60, line 16, after the dollar amount, insert increased by $500,000. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 287, the gentlelady from illinois and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from illinois. mrs.bustos: thank you, madam

chairman. i would like to thank chairman diaz-balart and the ranking member for their help on this. i hope my colleagues will join me in improving rail safety by approving money for the rail and pipeline safety commission. this organization's purpose is to protect public safety. until just a few years ago, our nation's railroads transported very little crude oil. now in due in part to the crude oil formation in north dakota and other areas, approximately 1.1 million barrels are transported by rail in the united states every single day. the pipeline and hazardous materials safety administration conducted tests on this crude and found it to have a higher degree of volatility than most other u.s. crude.

last year railroads carried almost 650,000 carloads of oil, compared to only 9,500 carloads in 2008 this impact is especially felt in illinois, my home state, where we have the second most number of miles of rail track in the entire country. in fact, about 25% of all u.s. rail traffic passes through chicago, illinois. improving rail safety is extremely important to our region, our state and our entire country. this issue is especially personal to me and the people i serve in my congressional district. that's because in march, earlier this year, a train carrying crude oil derailed near galena illinois, in the northwest corner of my state and it's one of the most beautiful regions of not only my congressional district but the entire state of illinois and i think in the entire country. while we were lucky that no one

was harped, several tanker cars exploded and the crude oil spilled a few feet from a slew that flows straight into the mississippi river, which is the drinking water supply for millions of people. because of the bravery and the dedication of first responders and local, state, and federal cleanup crew, no water was contaminated. we were also lucky that the derailment took place in largely a rural and uninhabited area. but imagine what would have happened if the derailment like this were to occur in chicago or los angeles or new york or any more populated area. in light of several other high profile train re-- derailments including those in west virginia and north dakota involving cars carrying crude oil, communities across the country are becoming increasingly concerned about the safe movement of crude oil and with very good reason. while i am encouraged that federal agencies and industry leaders are working together to take steps to make transportation of hazardous

materials safer congressman -- congress must also do its job and step up and provide adequate resources to keep our energy transport system safe and secure. that's why i asked today for your support for my effort to ensure this appropriations bill includes additional funding for the agency that ends up helping the safe transportation of energy products including the shipment of crude oil by pipeline and by rail. thank you, madam speaker and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from illinois. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the

desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. meehan of pennsylvania, page 2, line 13 after the dollar amount insert reduced by $4 million. page 2, line 20, after the dollar amount insert reduced by $4 million. page 44, line 13, after the dollar amount, insert increased by $3,500,000. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 287, the gentleman from pennsylvania and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. meehan: thank you, madam chairman. i want to thank my good friend and colleague from florida for his indulgence and working with me on this amendment. we have benefited here across the united states in recent times with a boom in energy and moving toward energy self-sufficiency. much of this has been due to the ability to take advantage of our natural resources including

crude oil which is increasingly being developed from the western parts of our country. in fact, more than 33 million barrels of crude oil are shipped by rail each month in the united states and that's a 50-fold increase from more than five years ago. shipments from the region in my own district of pennsylvania thnd the entire philadelphia area and has created energy opportunities throughout the nation. now despite the fact that nearly all the shipments are shipped safely, accidents are on the rise. i want dents in ontario west virginia and other areas call to mind the need for safety measures. my amendment seeks to transfer funding from the office of the secretary, general salaries and expense accounts, and put $3.5 million into the federal railroad administration to fund

additional cars to inspect the more than 15,000 miles of crude oil rail routes nationwide. this funding would expedite the use of remote track inspection capability which will increase inspection mileage while reducing costs. for more than 30 years the automatic track inspection program called atip has provided accurate track geometry and performance data to assess compliance with the federal track safety standards. collected data is used by the f.r.a. railroad inspector, and railroads to ensure track safety is being maintained. immediately following atip track survey, railroads use the day to to correct problems. often they use it as a quality assurance track on their own track inspection and maintenance programs. america's energy boom has brightened communities across the country and as crude oil grows by -- goes by rail i want to help protect those

communities. madam chairman, i thank you and i thank the chairman and i thank chairman price for the diligent work on this bill and your willingness to work with me on this issue. i urge the amendment's adoption and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman is recognized. mr. meehan: i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from pennsylvania. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> madam chair, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. burgess of texas. page 2, line 13 after the first dollar amount, insert $4 million. page 2, line 18, after the

dollar amount insert reduced by $500,000. mr. burgess: i ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered as read. the chair: without objection, the amendment is considered as read. pursuant to house resolution 287, the gentleman from texas and a member opposed each will control five maines -- five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. burgess: i thank madam chairman for the recognition. this is to add $4 million to the national highway traffic safety administration operations and research. here at the beginning of this congress, i took the gavel of the energy and commerce subcommittee on commerce, manufacturing and trade. this was the gavel previously held by our good friend chairman literry. there was some unfinished business as this congress started and one of the biggest issues left over from the previous congress was the issue of air bag energetic deployments andruptures and the subsequent recall of those air bags. there was a hearing done in december right at the end of the

last congress and it seemed like there was no activity from the national highway traffic safety administration but two weeks ago, they announced a recall of 34 million vehicles. recall massively expanded. and the manufacturer of the air bag admitted their six of their manufacturing designed were defective. takata has identified 11 auto manufacturers that used the defective inflators. 34 million vehicles have been subject to this recall and this may not be the end. the national highway traffic safety administration and takata have not identified what is the cause of these energetic disruptions of the air bag inflators. yesterday the commerce, manufacturing and trade subcommittee held a hearing to receive an update on the situation. among the witnesses was the administrator of the national highway traffic safety administration dr. rosekind he

took over just weeks after the last subcommittee's hearing in december. during yesterday's hearing, one they have themes we heard repeatedly was that nhtsa would have been able to identify and mandate recalls if they had more resources. it's a refrain we're used to hearing here in congress. his argument was with more money they could have saved more lives. i'll take him at his word on that. for fiscal year 2016, congress is proposing funding the national highway traffic safety administration account poe responsible for the policing of auto manufacturers' products for $15 million. it's an increase and for that i'm grateful. it is in the interest of good faith however that with the new chairman, from the new chairman of the subcommittee to the new administrator of nhtsa i want to take an additional step and

offer $4 million more dollars to provide them with what they need to ensure more lives are not disrupted by these defects. i hope that nhtsa can use this additional funding to find a permanent solution to the problem. commerce, manufacture and trade subcommittee is closely watching and waiting the release of a report by nhtsa's inspector general on their office of defects and investigation, we hope it will be released soon. the offset comes from the department of transportation off the secretary for salaries and expenses. it seems like an extremely worthwhile investment and i urge the subcommittee's adoption of my amendment. i'll reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. . the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. burgess: again, i wapt to thank the subcommittee -- i want to thank the subcommittee for hearing my amendment. i want to thank the chairman of the subcommittee. i yield back the balance of my

time. urge adoption of the amendment. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his 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 agreed to. the clerk will read. the clerk: page 4, line 1, research and technology $11,386,000 of which $8,218,000 shall remain available until september 30 2018. national infrastructure investments, including transfer of funds, $100 million to remain available through september 30, 2018.

the chair: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk designated waters 048. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by ms. maxine waters of california. page 4 line 18 after the dollar amount insert, increased by $1,150,000,000. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. diaz-balart: i reserve a point of order on the gentlewoman's amendment. the chair: the point of order is reserved. pursuant to house resolution 287, the gentlelady from california and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. ms. waters: thank you, madam chair. i rise to offer an amendment to invest in transportation infrastructure for the 21st century. the transportation funding in this bill is woefully insufficient to meet our country's infrastructure needs. the cuts to the tiger program

are particularly egregious. tiger, form early known as transportation investment generating economic recovery, is a competitive grant program that creates jobs by funding investments in transportation infrastructure. this bill cuts tiger from the 2015 level of $500 million down to a mere $100 million in 2016. america needs new infrastructure for the 21st century. the american society of civil engineers gave the public infrastructure of the united states a grade of d-plus. in 2013 an estimated -- it was estimated that we will need to invest $3.6 trillion by 2020 in order to improve the conditions of our infrastructure. indeed, tiger needs to be expanded. not cut. the president requested $1.25 billion for tiger in the coming

fiscal year as part of an expanded tiger program that will create jobs encourage innovation anded earnize transportation infrastructure for --ed a monday -- and modernize transportation infrastructure for the 21st century. i sent a letter to the appropriations committee urging support for the president's request and 144 members of congress signed my letter. our economy is still struggling to recover from the recession. according to the bureau of labor statistics, our nation's unemployment rate stands at 5.4%. furthermore unemployment among hispanics is 6.9%, among african-americans it's 9.6% and among teenagers it is 17.1%. an expanded tiger program will create meaningful employment building safe roads, bridges and public transit systems in communities throughout the united states. my amendment increases tiger

funding to $1.25 billion in order to fully fund the nation's request for this critical program. with that i would yield time to the gentleman from north carolina, congressman price. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. price: i want to commend my colleague who does such distinguished work in housing and financial services on her committee, for coming in to this debate today and calling attention to the importance of the tiger program. i would just like to ask her to respond. i'm looking at the figures for this year, there's a $500 million appropriation for that program in the current year. is the gentlelady aware that the department of transportation has already received $950 -- 950 preapplications, totaling $14.5 billion? that's 29 times the amount available.

what does that suggest about the need for this program? ms. waters: well, you have accurately and appropriately identified the need for the program, based on those applications. not only is it a very popular program, it's a program that creates jobs. and our local communities need this very much and they're strong advocates for it and i would hope that my colleagues here in the congress, on both sides of the aisle who have benefited from the tiger program boo see the need and remove -- would see the need and remove all obstacles, support this program and let us move forward with getting the infrastructure repairs and the building that we need to do. mr. price: i machado high -- i thank my colleague for offering this amendment. i calls attention to the gross underfunding of this bill, not only of tiger but virtually of every h.u.d. and transportation program, so that it's very hard of course, to find offsets. there's very little money in

this bill. we should be breaking out of that mold. we should be having a budget -- we should be going after a budget agreement that lets us write a decent bill and meet this country's needs. her amendment, better than anything we've heard thus far tonight, underscoring that need. i thank the gentlelady. ms. waters: thank you very much and i would yield back. the chair: the gentlelady from california yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. diaz-balart: the amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in this bill. the amendment is not in order under section 3-d-3 of house resolution 5, in the 113th congress which states the following. it shall not be in order to consider an amendment to a general appropriations bill proposing a net increase in budget authority in the bill unless considered en bloc with another amendment or amendments proposing an equal or greater decrease in such budget authority pursuant to clause 2-f of rule 21. the amendment proposes -- does propose a net increase in budget authority in the bill in

violation of such section so i ask for a ruling from the chair. the chair: does any member wish to be heard on the point of order? if not, the chair is prepared to rule. the gentleman from florida makes a point of order that the amendment offered by the gentlelady from california violates section 3-d-3 of house resolution 5, section 3-d-3 establishes a point of order against an amendment proposing a net increase in budget authority in the pending bill. as per swacively asserted by the gentleman from -- persuasively asserted by the gentleman from florida, the point of order is sustained, the amendment is not in order. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? ms. waters: madam chair, i have an amendment at the desk, designated waters 049. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by ms. maxine waters of

california. page 4, line 18, after the dollar amount insert increased by $400 million. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. diaz-balart: i reserve a point of order on the gentlewoman's amendment. the chair: point of order is reserved. pursuant to house resolution 287 the gentlelady from california and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. ms. waters: thank you, madam chair. i rise to offer an amendment to restore some of the transportation funding that was cut drastically in this bill. this is my second of two amendments to increase funds for the innovative tiger transportation grant program. this amendment increases fiscal year 2016 tiger funding to $500 million, thereby restoring tiger to the 2015 level. states, local governments and transit agencies depend upon

the tiger program to finance projects to repair aging infrastructure and develop new highway and transit systems. a safe, efficient, modern and accessible transportation system is vital for a growing economy. the chair: the gentlelady reserves? ms. waters: i would reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? mr. diaz-balart: i am again still reserving the point of order. the chair: point of order is reserved. the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. waters: madam chair, we cannot afford to cut tiger below the current funding level. and i'm here this evening to urge my colleagues to vote for

my amendment and invest in infrastructure for the 21st century. i recognize that a point of order has been raised on this issue. but i also recognize that what i'm advocating is vital for this economy and for this country. and i would hope that somehow we would be wise enough creative enough and caring enough to dispense with the rule as it has been identified on my first amendment, and move forward in a very creative way to do what is necessary to help our failing infrastructure in this country. the stories about the failing bridges, the stories about the unsafe highways the stories about the need for transit system improvements are stories that we hear day in and day out . given the information that has been made available to us about the needs for infrastructure

repairs i would hope that we would not simply treat this in such an ordinary fashion and apply the rule that basically says, well if i did not find the money to fund it, then somehow it cannot be in order. certainly this amount of money is not easy to locate and certainly i do not have an answer to where this money would necessarily come from. but i would hope that my colleagues would take into consideration again the desperate need of our economy and our communities and not rule this out of order. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. diaz-balart: i thank the gentlewoman. madam chairwoman, this amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill. the amendment is not in order in this section 3-d-3 of house resolution 5, 114th congress, which states the following. it shall not be in order to

consider an amendment through a general appropriations bill proposing a net increase in budget authority in the bill unless considered en bloc with another amendment or amendments proposing an equal or greater decrease in such budget authority pursuant to clause 2-f of rule 21. the amendment proposes a net increase in budget authority in the bill in violation of such section. i ask for a ruling from the chair. the chair: does any member wish to be heard on the point of order? the chair is prepared to rule. the gentleman from florida makes a point of order that the amendment offered by the gentlelady from california violates section 3-d-3 of house resolution 5, for the reasons stated in the previous ruling, and as per swaceively asserted by -- persuasively asserted by the gentleman from florida the point of order is sustained, the amendment is not in order.

for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. dold of illinois. page 6 line 9, strike and the secretary and all that follows through percent on line 10. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 287, the gentleman from illinois and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois. mr. dold: thank you, madam chairman. i rise today in support of this amendment, to change a provision in the bill relating to tiger grants. put simply, this amendment would put all transportation projects on an even playing field and allow all qualified projects to fairly compete for these grants. regardless of whether they take place in an urban area or a rural area. my district is heavily reliant on all forms of transportation. the chicagoland area is the hub for the nation's transportation network. over 925 million tons of

freight move in and out of chicago each and every year. and each work day tens of thousands of citizens of the 10th district use commuter rail. the chicago regional transportation authority estimates that it needs to find $13.4 billion over the next decade just to maintain the system in its current condition. that is why it is more important than ever to find funds to pay and maintain and rebuild our nation's transportation system. . in the transportation funding bill, there's a clause which discriminates against you are ran areas. tiger grants can be awarded to projects across the entire nation, however it provides that projects in urban areas receive a federal match of 50% of the funding while those in rural areas can receive up to 80% of

the project's funding. madam chair, this is unfair and unjust. the tiger grants are competitive discretionary grants that should be awarded to the most deserving projects. the bill's language allows rural areas to leverage local dollars at a four to one ratio allowing them to put two of every $10 needed in the project. urban areas only have a one to one ratio making it harder to secure funding needed to complete the projects. my amendment is a commonsense and just solution to the problem and would place all projects, no matter where they occur on an even playing field. madam chair, it is time to bring equity back to transportation funding and i urge my colleagues to support this amendment and put all qualified projects on an even playing field. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is

recognized. mr. diaz-balart: i respectfully oppose the gentleman's amendment. tighter is a national program and we support cities of all sizes having a chance to get a grans. we work to ensure there's a balance between urban and rural areas. i'm afraid the well intentioned amendment of the gentleman seeks to undo that delicate balance at this time. i would like, madam chair, to yield the remaining part of my time to the gentleman from north carolina. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. >> i thank the gentleman for yielding and i, too, want to reluctantly express my opposition to this amendment. mr. price: i take second place to no one in this body as a champion of the tiger program, as i hope was evident in my supporting of ms. waters' amendments just now. but we are underscoring in this amendment, while it's worthy in its intent and i'd love to be able to add a lot more money

than this to the tiger program, its justify set is very worrisome and one that i think should lead taos oppose this amendment. it comes out of the federal aviation administration's operations account. $100 million out of that account. the bill provides a -- an increase a slight increase for f.a.a. operations. but it's still $67 million below the president's request. this is the account that provides the funds needed to ensure aviation safety and security and so cutting this account is ill advised. so i for that reason -- yes, happy to yield. >> i think you're talking about a different amendment. mr. dold: my amendment doesn't take anything from any account. it's talking about changing the percentages between urban and rural to allow competitive grants so it competes in a level playing field. i respectfully think you've got a different amendment which i appreciate but it's not the one i think we're talking about.

mr. price: the gentleman has an amendment that fit misdescription? mr. dold: we have withdrawn that that one. mr. price: thank you for the clarification. my remarks will await the proper amendment. the chair: the gentleman from florida. mr. diaz-balart: i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from illinois has 2 1/2 minutes left. mr. dold: thank you, madam chair. as we talk about transportation and infrastructure, it is so critically important critically important for our economy critically important certainly for our urban areas, and if you look at a map of the city of chicago in the center of our country we've got six of seven major rail lines that go through there. used to be a third of all the freight in the country would go through chicago, now it's about a quarter, but still a tremendous amount and really impacts the global, or at least the nation's economy. we can get a rail car from los

angeles to chicago in two days, it takes nearly two days to go from one side of chicago to the other side of chicago. this does have an impact. we need to be focusing the same -- focus, the same rail we have here has commuter rails on it. we are talking about an infrastructure that goes back to the roosevelt administration, and i don't mean f.d.r., i mean teddy roosevelt this amendment is not talking about moving dollars around. it's -- it's talking about trying to ro provide equity so that urban projects, which i would argue we desperately need are at the same level as rural projects. if we were to lose mass transit or other projects in the city of chicago, we talk about increased congest oon of 50% on our -- congestion of 50% on our roadways. this is an amendment i hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would embrace. at least let's talk about a

level playing field where we're not getting preference to the urban rather than -- to rural rather than urban areas. this is an amendment that i think is a commonsense amendment and i would hope that i would get some support from my good friend from florida and maybe we could get him to reconsider. but i hope i'm not barking at windmills on that one, madam chair. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from illinois. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to.

for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> madam chair i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: if the gentleman will explain what page and line his amendment is on. >> page 9 line 19. the chair: the reading has not progressed to that point. the clerk will read. the clerk: page 7, line 1. financial management capital, $1 million to remain available through september 30, 2017. cybersecurity initiatives. $7 million to remain available through september 30, 2017. office of civil rights. $9,600,000. transportation planning, research, and development $5,--

$5,976,000. working capital fund. $181,500000. minority business resource center program $336,000 as authorized by 49 united states code 332. in addition, for administrative expenses $597,000. small and disadvantaged business utilization and outreach $4,518,000 to remain available until september 30 2017. payments to air carriers, airport and airway trust fund, $155 million. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. mcclintock of california. page 9, line 19, after the dollar amount insert reduced to

zero dollars. page 156, line 15 after the dollar amount insert increased by $155 million. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 287, the gentleman from california and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. mcclintock: thank you, madam chair. this amendment eliminates the $155 million of discretionary spending that's wasted on one of the least essential programs in the entire united states government, the so-called essential air service. that's the program that subsidizes empty and near-empty planes to fly from small airports to regional hubs just a few hours or less away by car. this was supposed -- supposed to be a temporary program to allow local communities to readjust to airline deregulation in 1978.

not only is it still going on today, it has doubled in cost in the last four years from $130 million in 2011, roughly $260 million in 2015. $155 million of that is in our control. this amendment zeros it out and puts it toward deficit reduction. now we're often told, well don't worry, we've enacted all these reforms. we have caps on subsidies. well, those caps, $200 per ticket, are only for flights under 210 miles. it continues unlimited subsidies over that distance. actual subsidies per passenger can be as high as $980 per ticket paid by hardworking taxpayers. year after year we're promised refrm and year after year the cost goes up and up. by the way, essential air service flights are flown out of merced and vizalia airports

serving my district trust me a tiny number of people actually use it and the alternative is hardly catastrophic, it's typically an extra hour's drive to a regional airport. but i guarantee you, everybody who hears about this waste of their money is outraged by it. it's true there are a few tiny communities in alaska like one of 700 citizens that have no highway connections to hub airport bus they have plenty of alternatives. in that case, they have year-round ferry service. in addition, they're served by a thriving air market and the bush pilot. rural life has great advantages and some disadvantages but it is not the job of hardworking taxpayers who choose to live elsewhere to level out the differences. apologists for this wasteful spending tell us it's an important economic driver for small airports and airlines and

i'm sure that's so. whenever you give away money the folks you're giving it to are always better off. but the folks you're taking it from are always worse off to exactly the same extent. indeed, it's economic drivers like this that have driven europe's economy right off a cliff two. years ago, one member rushed to the microphone to suggest this was essential for emergency medical evacuations. it has nothing to do with that. this program subsidizes regular scheduled commercial service that practically nobody uses. if it actually had a passenger base, it wouldn't need to hand out $100 bills to the few passengers who use it. an airline so reckless with its funds would quickly bankrupt itself. the same principle holds true of government. the "washington post" doesst not known as a bastion of fiscal conservatism but i cannot

improve on an editorial a few years ago when it said, quote ideally e.a.s. would be zeroed out but the millions we waste on it devoted to a truly national purpose perhaps deficit reduction military readiness or the social safety net. alas, "the washington post" goes ton write, alas, if congress and the white house were capable of making such choices, we probably never would have had sequestration in the first place, end quote. madam chairman, there are many tough calls in setting fiscal priorities but this isn't one of them. if the house of representatives were all appropriation -- it's the house of representatives where all appropriations begin with the republican majority plenged to stop wasting money, can't even agree to cut this useless program off from the trough how does it expect to be taking seriously on the much tougher choices that lie ahead? i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from north carolina. >> i claim time in opposition.

the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. price: madam chairman, this amendment that the gentleman has offered is about as indiscriminate as it gets. he apparently has ideas and those ideas ought to be heard to reform this program. to make it more efficient and more effective and more targeted. the place to do that is in the authorizing committee. we have forums where we can discuss those ideas and act on them. to come in tonight and offer this indiscriminate amendment which by the way not only cut this is overall program by more than half but also cuts the allocation nor bill which is already so inadequate, it's not an approach that this body should endorse. the program we're talking about essential air services was created after deregulation. it has remained essential to keep service going to many, many small communities and -- in

which couldn't -- in this country including el centro merced and others in california. it's funded through annual appropriations, also funded through overflight fees collected when foreign air carriers traverse u.s. air space. if this amendment were adopted, many small communities would lose air service. this isn't the way to reform the program. so i urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from north carolina yields back. the gentleman from california is recognized. >> i believe the gentleman from north carolina closes. the chair: correct. the gentleman from north carolina closes. >> very well then. madam chairman, this is the kindest cut of all. it's a temporary program that was established 37 years ago and that's -- has become a poster child for wasteful federal spending. mr. mcclintock: i believe the altogether ration ran out years ago -- the authorization ran

out years ago. american taxpayers pay $230 billion a year just in interest costs on that debt. that means if you're an average family paying average taxes $2,000 of those taxes did nothing more than rent the money that we've already spent. continuing to pay for this obsolete and wasteful program with money we don't have is obscene. it makes a mockery of any claim that we have cut spending to the bone. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. price: i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from north carolina yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. mr. mcclintock: i'd ask for a recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california will be postponed.

the clerk will read. the clerk: page 10, line 16, administrative provisions, section 101, none of the funds may be obligated to approve assessments pertaining to funds appropriated to the modele administrations. section 102, the secretary may engage in activities with states related to the reduction of motorcycle fatalities. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. walberg of michigan. page 11, strike lines 1 through 3. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 287, the gentleman from michigan and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. walberg: i thank you, madam chairman. i want to start by thanking

chairman diaz-balart and his staff for their hard work on this legislation before us. mr. chairman, i rise -- madam chairman, i rise today to offer a commonsense amendment with mr. sensenbrenner and mr. ribble of wisconsin, which makes it clear that federal government agencies should not be in the business, again, i say should not be in the business of lobbying state and local legislators. with federal taxpayer money. federal law already prohibits federal agencies from lobbying congress in support or against legislation. thanks in part to the leadership of mr. sensenbrenner in 1998 congress passed similar anti-lobbying language to prohibit the department of transportation from lobbying state and local elected officials. at that time the national highway traffic safety administration was sending

staff to state capitols at taxpayers' expense to lobby in favor of motorcycle helmet laws. at the cost of tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars, these officials traveled across the country to testify before state legislative committees, participate in conferences and produce videotapes and other printed materials with the goal of advancing mandatory motorcycle helmet laws. as the co-chairman of the congressional motorcycle caucus, and a rider myself, who wears a helmet i believe the most effective way to reduce motorcycle injuries and fatalities is to prevent these crashes from occurring in the first place. madam chairwoman, that means putting between the ears as opposed to simply putting on the head. i believe there's an appropriate role in promoting vehicle and highway safety, whether that is focusing on efforts on crash prevention or

rider education. unfortunately language pushed by the administration has made it into the recent omnibus legislation to reverse the lobby ban and that provision has carried over into this bill. whether you ride or not, i would hope all my colleagues agree that this is an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars. it violates the rights of states and local communities we represent and make their own decisions on helmet laws. i ask my colleagues to support this amendment and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from north carolina, for what purpose does he rise? mr. price: i claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. price: we have an amendment before us that would strike a provision that's been carried in every transportation appropriations bill since 2009. this section simply grants the secretary or his representatives the authority to engage in activities with

states and state legislators to consider proposals related to the reduction of motorcycle fatalities. this consultation is entirely voluntary. in 2013 we had 5000 motorcycle fatalities in this country. that's the last year for which we have data. the research and expertise of the national highway traffic safety administration can be extremely helpful. helpful to state highway traffic safety agencies as they consider measures they might want to undertake to improve motorcycle safety. why wouldn't we want to be in partnership with the states as they address this important safety issue? i urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. walberg: i appreciate that.

i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from michigan. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. mr. walberg: on that i ask for the yeas and nays. the chair: does the gentleman ask for a recorded vote? pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from michigan will be postponed. the clerk will read. the clerk: page 11, line 4, section 103, the department's cap -- working capital fund is authorized to provide payments in advance to vendors to carry out the federal transit past transportation benefit program. section 104, the secretary shall post on the website a schedule of all meetings of the credit council.

section 105, the department's working capital fund is hereby authorized to provide partial or full payments in advance for from all federal agencies for transit benefit distribution services. federal aviation administration operations, airport and airway trust fund, $9,847,700,000. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. lobiondo of new jersey. page 12, line 25, after the dollar amount insert, reduced by $3 million. page 13, line 7 after the dollar amount insert, reduced by $3 million. page 16 line 9 after the first dollar amount insert, increased by $3 million. page 16, line 11, after the dollar amount insert, increased by $3 million.

the chair: pursuant to house resolution 287, the gentleman from new jersey and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. lobiondo: thank you, madam chair. i'd like to start by thanking chairman diaz-balart for cooperating with this amendment. the federal aviation administration is dealing with an increasing threat of cyberattacks against a national air space system. this critical threat was recently detailed in a g.a.o. report as well as identified in news reports of reported attempt to hack into flight control systems of u.s. airliner through the plane's in-flight entertainment system. the f.a.a. must protect the safety of our citizens and prevent negative impact on the u.s. economy by developing a comprehensive and multilayered approach to mitigating new and emerging cybersecurity threats. my amendment will transfer $3 million within the f.a.a. to

develop an integrated cybersecurity test bed to evaluate and certify all nextgen and national air space systems. the f.a.a. currently psesses the capability to establish such a test bed at its existing integrated testing environment at the f.a.a. tech center in southern new jersey. the tech center presents a natural host for the f.a.a. partnership with industry and academia to leverage the best ideas in technology to continually mitigate evolving cybersecurity threats. increasing f.a.a.'s capability for creating identifying, defending and solving cybersecurity-related problems for existing national air space and future nextgen systems is vital to the future safety and promotion of our american air space. i urge adoption of this amendment and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey reserves the balance of his time.

the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. lobiondo: i once again thank chairman mario diaz-balart, thank ranking member price. i urge adoption of this amendment and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new jersey. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentlelady from connecticut seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk.

the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by ms. hefty of connecticut, page 12, line -- esty of connecticut, page 12, line 5 reduced by $5 million. insert reduced by $3 million. page 44, line 13, after the dollar amount insert increased by $3 million. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 287, the gentlelady from connecticut and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from connecticut. ms. esty: thank you madam chair. madam chair, i come to the

floor once again to urge this house to invest in rail safety. my amendment adds $3 million to the federal railroad administration for safety in operations, to fund vital rail safety education programs like operation life saver. railroads move the goods that fuel our economy and thousands of commuters in my district rely on passenger rail lines every day. in fact, over 11 1/2 million americans took the trains on the northeast corridor last year, a record high ridership. freight rail traffic is also increasing, reflecting a growing economy and booming energy sector. however as we have seen in the news almost monthly, there have been a disturbing number of rail accidents in the last few years, many of them preventable train derailments and collisions. we in this house stood in

silence a few weeks ago to mourn the loss of eight passengers killed in last month's amtrak derailment near philadelphia. those deaths were tragic and completely avoidable. we must do more to promote safe and reliable train rail travel. i worked hard on the transportation committee and advocated in this house to implement positive train control and other innovative technologies that could protect passengers against the most dangerous rail accidents. but technologies like positive train control cannot prevent all train-related accidents. on february 3, 2015, six people died when a north-bound metro north railroad commuter train collided with an s.u.v. that was stopped at a highway rail crossing. a resident of danbury, kentucky, -- connecticut and one of my constituents was one of those passengers killed. and according to the federal

railroad administration, these sorts of highway rail grade crossing accidents lead to 270 deaths every year. just this morning media outlets were featuring a viral video from an amtrak silver star train colliding with a car and slicing it in half after the driver drove around the lowered gate at a rail crossing in jacksonville, florida. miraculously every passenger survived with only minor injuries. but this video demonstrates that even when with gate and warning lights, human error and miscalculations can have devastating consequences. that's why we need to educate drivers, passengers and pedestrians on how to avoid accidents along railroad tracks and at highway-rail grade crossings. technology safety advances are essential, make no mistake, but they are not enough. we must educate peop