that gives grants that can help me just with my electric bill. it is very hot and humid down here. i have all my other things closed up as far as other bills like the lady was saying, you can't get rid of the internet a couple of calls back. i was wondering if there's a programmer place i can go to for help? guest: there probably is a program, but not barred by hide. it is probably brought by your local electric utility. most people when they pay their electric will get the option to pay for a fund to pay for electricity for low income people. that is designed specifically to help people out who are having trouble paying their electric utility. i would start there. you may get some more help than the federal government. caller: i never thought to ask

that. you think, they are the enemy, they are the ones sending the bill. i have great credit. i just a want to be the one to ask them for help. i have to though, and i will start there. thank you for your advice. c-span, have a great day. host: calvin is up next from georgia. good morning, you are on. caller: good morning. i have to echo the same se sentiment as the lady from chicago. just this year i stopped renting to section eight. lots of problems. you have people moving into the homes, and after they send th signed the lease -- the hud agreement is one thing, the lease is another. you have to comply with the statement to laws. they move in family members who don't keep up the place. i have people who owne as much as $5,000-$6,000, and they

move out. i have no problems with regular renters. i believe hud, there needs to be some tightening up as far as hud is concerned in giving the landlord's more the way or more support. the landlords need more support in dealing with the tenants. you call the local section eight office, lots of problems. they don't care. host: that is calvin in auburn, georgia. is the federal government fighting that there are fewer landlords wanting to take section eight vouchers? is there any concern about not having enough to fill the vouchers they have? guest: the limitations on the program are set by the amounts of money given by washington to pay for these vouchers. it is not the availability of landlords. in fact, there are a lot of landlords in many communities who are effectively slumlords who love to participate in the

section eight program, and are quite happy to use that as an income source. in some cases these fair market rents mean that they are getting paid even more advanced than if they would put those properties on the actual market. there are quite a lot of landlords, but the question is if there are landlords and middle income communities. are the landlord to are willing to do this in areas with section eight vouchers are traditionally not located. that is really the question. host: a viewer puts it this way on our twitter feed -- welfare benefits was policy designed to help poor, but now chazen segregates generations of minorities. your recent story says the obama mr. show is set to unveil

major new rules targeting segregation across the u.s. guest: the obama mr. show has basically said that you have this responsibility to actively desegregate your communities and promote and aggression. when they say that, they're talking about a whole lot of things -- building affordable housing committees where you have not built them in the past, looking at whether or not low income families live near transit stops or have access to jobs. are you helping voucher holders tried to find their way into higher opportunity communities? part of the hope too is that if this program has traditionally contributed to concentrating probably because voucher holders tend to live in certain areas what would happen if we made it easier for them to be dispersed around communities? what some of the challenges be broken up and set of having all

but her holders and one block, having them in 80 neighborhoods around the city? host: what is the effort anndd how long will take the obama mr. should to change this program that has been around for so long? guest: the effort that the obama administration wants to get done is larger than this one program. it is about how you structure transportation networks, etc. local communities have to produce reports every 3-5 years for the federal government saying, we have looked at our segregation patterns, this is what they look like, this is what we want to do about it. hud will follow up and say did you follow through with your goals? hud is not telling local communities, you need to be deploying your vouchers

differently, but doing something different with your voucher program is something that the community can do to promote an ignition. i think that is likely one of the things that we will see communities doing. host: likely an effort that will happen long past the obama administration as well. guest: absolutely. the obama administration is trying to correct what has been a flaw in how the fair housing act has been enforced. these housing patterns have been built over decades and decades. it will take quite a long time to break them up. breaking up both segregation by race and also segregation by income, which is what we are primarily talking about. host: let's go to georgia where armand is waiting. caller: look, meet and my wife -- me and my wife had plans to buy this house and live in it

and retire on disability. what it is of happening is every house on the other side of the road has been bought out by investors and put on the atlanta housing authority. they are being lifted by people on housing vouchers. i promise you. every house is being lived in by people -- they become neighbors from hades. bmi was our white. we are not prejudiced, but we have people calling is why white crackers and honkies. host: are you saying that you are concerned that the housing vouchers are lowering your property income? caller: oh, yeah.

the same house is worth $30,000 because of the event the housing vouchers. guest: one of the things that this new from the obama administration decided to do is say to atlanta, what is going on that you have all of your housing vouchers clustered in this one community? wises program continuing to concentrate poverty went one of the goals is to de-concentrate poverty? the idea is that it would force communities to pay attention to matters like the one the caller is describing. it is an unfortunate reality that this program, which was designed to give people opportunities to live anywhere it ends up giving people the opportunity to live in a few places and concentrates all of the low income people in those places. there's a whole cascading set of

negative consequences that happened because in reality these soldiers are not used openly on the market anywhere. sometimes that is because they are predatory landlords that will buy properties and say that they will make a lot of money being a section a landlord. host: let's go to clearwater florida where debbie is waiting. caller: good morning. i was on section eight and my brother took me off in 2011. i would like to know because i went into a nursing home, i got sick -- i would like to know, when can i get back on jekyll island living on a fixed income, paying market rent, and it is hard for me to do anything. guest: in a situation like that if you had a voucher in the past and you lost the voucher or give up your voucher, or all of a sudden you earn more income see did not qualify for it, if you

want to get back on the program, you have to apply and get all the way back on the end of the line, probably get on a waiting list. if you have benefited from this in the past and you're not making right now and you need to benefit from it again, you have to go through this whole process all over again. host: wanda is on the life or the housing voucher recipients in north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. i am calling on section eight. i'm 73 and i live in a renovated school that was set up for seniors, 65 and older. we had a real strict program on our section eight. when you are accepted for section eight, you have to spend a whole day at the housing authority going through all their rules and regulations.

at my place, if you want someone to come and visit, they are only allowed to stay seven days, unless the management gives special permission for longer. if you stay longer than that then you have to go on believe leave, your bet would change -- rent would change. there really strict about it. you get and asked action -- an inspection once a year. they come in our apartments and check them out. we have to get re-certified. we get and sections on that. i don't understand how the people just get somebody to move in and don't have issues with it. you can get by with a here. we've had people that had to move in. if you move some of it and they stay here, you can get elevated.

-- conevicted. it is a wonderful place to live especially for seniors. my problem is like the gentleman who called about the electric bill. old school that is renovated, it is declared a historical building. old windows had to stay in. our power bills are between $200-$300, and im in a one-bedroom, and i am very frugal about everything because i have a lot of medical issues. i have to watch every penny because i never know when something will happen. the power bills are sometimes as high as the rent. host: thank you for telling us about your situation. emily badger, i will let you comment. guest: one of the things the all of these scholars have pointed out is that there is tremendous variability between -- depending

on which community live in -- what the public housing agency does. the rules about what your orientation looks like, if you get a voucher, what classes you have to go to, what are the rules that are established for exactly what you can and cannot do as a tenant. these are things determine and enforced at the local level. the federal government can't come in and check in on all 2.2 million families that are using these vouchers. i think the variability is a reflection of the fact that somehow the agencies are smaller, they have less of a case load, it may be easier for them to stay on top of these things. host: we talked about the obama administration requesting $220 million for the housing choice program. how has that been received on capitol hill? what is the politics surrounding that budget request?

guest: that would be a large amount of money that this program has had in a while. the number of families that have been served by the program was cut down significantly by the sequester and is only just now getting back up to the number that it had been. the idea of spending more money -- i think within the broader context, a lot of anti-poverty programs are a hard sell in washington right now, and this is one of them. the section eight program in particular has the stigma attached that a lot of the people that benefit from this are just receiving government handouts, they don't have to do any work to get it. it is not like the welfare program where you can stay on indefinitely. has been a lot of concern about who are the people who action get to use this program. this is not a popular program, i

think that is true of a lot of antipoverty programs and general. $18 million, $19 million says that the -- sounds about right. i don't know they will get $21 million. host: do people and a movie out a going to shelters? do know the breakdown of people who move off from the program? guest: i don't know the statistical breakdown. a fair number will -- maybe they get a second job or a little more income to where they are no longer qualifying for. a lot of people may be moving cities entirely. if you have a housing voucher and chicago and you want to move to las vegas, you cannot just a cup your voucher -- just pick up your voucher and move. the voucher is attached to the city. to the extent that people are moving around, they may be leaving the program because they are moving to another community, not particularly because they're

doing better off. i think a lot of people will look at this program not necessarily as a way to get people to better housing the future but a safety net for people who otherwise would have no options. we have to get these people housed, that is the primary thing that these agencies are worried about. host: emily badger is with the "washington >> the house of representatives is back at 6:30 p.m. eastern for votes on some of the legislation debated today. among the bills on today's agenda one that seeks to improve protection of the president. allows the secret service to hire more agents and head of the secret service subject to senate confirmation. another bill would require the t.s.a. to expand its precheck program which allows people who

have been enrolled in the program to go through faster screening. the house back at 6:0 p.m. eastern and when they're back, live coverage is here on c-span. >> c-span gives you the best access to congress. live coverage of the u.s. house congressional hearings and news conferences. and every morning "washington journal" is live with legitimated officials, policy makers and journalists and your comments by phone, facebook and twitter. c-span created by america's cable companies and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. and tomorrow on c-span 3 a house hearing on the iran nuclear agreement.

>> then on wednesday, the special house committee investigating the 2012 attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi hears from jon finer at 10:00 a.m. wednesday on c-span 3. on friday the authority for programs that are provided by the federal government for highways, transit and highway safety expire, meaning no new authorization of projects can

take place. some of them had no other choice but to cancel projects. the state of georgia has canceled $715 million worth of projects already tennessee $400 million louisiana and other states said we can't with the uncertainty we can't go forward with projects that we

won't have dollars for. even now the states are already beginning to cut back and people are going to see the impacts. host: the executive director of the american association of state highway and transportation officials. give us a brief overview. guest: it represents the 52 and include the district of columbia and puerto rico state departments of transportation. we provide a variety of technical state.'s and advocate for them in washington, d.c.,. many of the policies under consideration by the congress have a direct on state.'s because they are the primary deliverer of the programs that are of the federal government. they have a great stake of what happens here in washington, $41 billion flows through the federal highway program and most

of those are delivered to the state.'s. host: give us a sense of what the highways and bridges and highways are like. host: take us through what happened with the highway trust fund and where we stand today and the action that congress needs to take this week. guest: there are two different tracks going on. the house two weeks ago passed a short-term extension five-month extension that would carry programs through december 18 and provided $8 billion of additional revenue necessary to make payments to states. their approach is one that says if we have enough time this fall to look at international tax

reform that would give us the means to fund these programs for a full six years. the house has already taken that action. the senate is in the process of trying to enact or to pass a multi year bill this week. it would be a six-year bill and contain only three years' worth of funding and find $49 billion of so-called pay-fors or offsets. they would like to go multi year right now that state.'s and others who need to carry the program forward. host: do you have a preference if that six-year deal goes forward where the pay-fors come from? there was talk about using some funding from i believe it was social security for those who have warrants against them to pay for that and that was taken off the table and a sale from

the strategic petroleum reserve. does it matter? guest: it is long-term and sustainable and we are past that point now. sustainable means user fees. the highway trust fund has been funded by user fees over the past 60 years. politically passing a gas tax increase is not just on the table at the moment. but given that fact we don't have an opinion on the pay-fors. we know this highway spending is important and the economic impacts of not doing what the congress is about to try to do is significant. so we don't have a position on the pay-fors. host: why is the federal gas tax not on the table. it currently sits at 18.four cents a gallon. for diesel, 24 cents.

guest: we think it's something that has been shown to have the support of citizens. if you look around the country, a number of states have increased their own gas taxes and have not suffered the political consequences that many fear here in washington. but in fairness, it's not something that has been supported by republican leadership in the congress nor has it been supported by the administration or democrats. while there is a bavelg understanding of this is a system in which the users should pay for the benefits they receive, any tax increase, but especially gasoline, a sort of middle class tax increase is seen as political toxic. host: we are taking your calls and questions. but we'll start with pauline in brunswick, ohio, line for independents. pauline. caller: i want to ask one

question. what is the money going to? what is all the money for our streets -- i look at my street is broken up. the whole country is broken up. where's all the money. just tell me the truth. thank you. guest: much of the money that is provided through the federal programs is directed toward what i would call the interstate system which all of the people in this country are familiar with is one of the primary responsibilities of the federal program, but another enlarged portion of those dollars goes to what we call the national highway system, that 160,000 miles or so of the roads that predominantly move interstate commerce and roads and streets that are four-lane divided roads and ones that provide for connectivity across state lines. when you are talking about the

federal program, you are talking about those roads that carry high volume and ones that carry a lot of truck task and many dollars that flow to other purposes, but when you think about the purpose of a federal program, there has to be a national perspective and higher order roadways. there are issues on those higher order roadways. we have deficient bridges and there are a lot of needs to be met. local streets and roads, predominantly those are not ones funded through the federal program. host: talking about the highway trust fund and what will happen if the deadline passes. here's a chart talking about the cash flow of the highway account of the trust fund. see the lighter blue line is the outlays and blue line is the re

seats. and 2022. these numbers in the $20 billion in the red if the highway trust fund is allowed to expire. we are talking with bud wright of the american association of state highway and transportation officials about some of the con see quenses. arkansas line for republicans. caller: i'm so glad this is on this morning. i just got off a two-week trip going west from arkansas and wept through seven states. the roads are horrible. you cannot blame bush for this. it was supposed to be shovel ready when owe baum h -- obama came in and laughed when it wasn't. i don't know how the people in oklahoma and new mexico -- how

they exist. they keep their cars going. it's big holes. it jolts your car. i don't know -- where has the money gone? you cannot blame bush for this? guest: that's the reason why we need the certainty of this federal program. many of the state.'s can't make commitments to the longer term projects, the ones that would require dollars because of the uncertainty they have faced now over an extended period of time. the last time at the federal level that we had a multi year authorization of programs was 10 years ago. the states are forced to look at short-term relatively routine maintenance-type projects because they can't be sure what the federal government is going to be providing as we go forward. if we can get the bill done and

if the states have a road map of what the next four five years of funding would hold, you will see a dent in the kind of roadway projects. host: terms shovel ready reminds me of stimulus dollars. what is the status of the stimulus spending when it comes to highways and transportation? what do you think the legacy will be in spending in that area? guest: one of the misconceptions with regard to the recovery act was that a huge portion of those highway dollars went to expenditures. the total of $700 million was for transportation and those dollars were used effectively and got out the door quickly. they are on projects that did make a difference and most importantly they provided for employment opportunities, not just those directly involved in

the employment and building roads and improving roads, but those able to get the jobs. those who were able to actually carry out the business they carry out. host: what's an example of a project that was funded of that that you might recognize? guest: it was a lot of repaving jobs and construction jobs on highways. all of the the states that the people would recognize. host: milton, massachusetts. joe on our democrat line. caller: i think people would probably support it if they could be assured that the money would go far. but the problem is that -- >> we are going to break away from this. votes under way.

electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on -- the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 1482, a bill to apply settlements from antitrust laws. 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 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: the yeas are 378, the nays are zero. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the house will be in order. the house will be in order. members will please take their seats. the house will be in order. members please remove their conversations. members will please take their seats. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? mr. boustany: i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. boustany: i rise today with a heavy heart with a horrific violence that killed two victims and injured nine others in my hometown of lafayette, louisiana. it is known for its working

together and play together it's a great community, close knit and has been recognized as the happiest city in america by an organization. but last thursday, our community was shaken to the core as a man, a lone gunman opened fire at the grand theater on johnson street killing a 31-year-old musician, local artist and businesswoman and macyibreaux. senseless, horrible violence. it would have been a lot worse if not for the heroics who were on the scene but i want to relate, one school teacher jumped in front of another school teacher to save her life. both were swrird and one of them

had the wherewithal to hit the alarm to signal something bad was happening. last night i attended a vigil for the victims where our community took time to reflect on the lives that were lost and now as our community tries to make sense and come to grips with what happened, i ask my colleagues to stand with me and colleagues from our louisiana delegation for a moment of silence. the speaker pro tempore: stand and join for a moment of silence. . the chair lays before the house

an enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 2499 an act to amend the small business act to increase capital for veteran entrepreneurs to help create jobs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the unfinished is the business on the vote on motion. and which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1656 a bill to provide for additional resources for the secret service. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. 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 365 the nays are 16. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from new york, mr. katko, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2770 as amened on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2770, a bill to amend the homeland security act of 2002 to provide for maintenance of certain projects at airports. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. 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: the yeas are 380, the nays are zero. 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 georgia seek recognition? >> i send to the desk a

privileged report for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 380, providing for consideration of the bill h.r. 427 to amend title five major rules of the executive branch shall have no force or effect unless a joint resolution is enacted into law, providing for proceedings during the period from july 30, 2015 through september 7 2015 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent that the committee on house administration be discharged from further consideration of house concurrent resolution 64 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution. the clerk: concurrent resolution

authorizing the use of the capitol visitor's center to present the congressional gold medal to the monument's men. the speaker pro tempore: the congress current resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> i seek unanimous consent that representative clark of massachusetts be removed as co-sponsor as h.r. 336 as her name was added in error. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, the chair will postponefurther proceedings on additional motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or on which a vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. any recorded votes on postponed questions will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 675 as amended the veterans compensation cost-of-living adjustment act of 2015. the clerk: union calendar number 155, h.r. 675 a bill to increase effective as december 1 of 2015, the race of compensation for veterans for service-connected

disabilities and rates of indemnity for certain disabled veterans. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida, mr. miller and the gentlewoman from nevada each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: i ask members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and add extraneous material. i yield myself such time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: thank you, mr. speaker, and i would urge all members to support h.r. 675 as amended. the bill includes several important provisions that would help our nation's veterans including the annual cola increase, changes to the court of appeals for veterans' claims requirements for v.a. to pay benefits improvements to claims processing and would encourage

americans to observe two minutes of silence to honor our nation's heroes on veterans' days. many disaked veterans depend on benefits to pay for housing food and other necessities. it is essential that it keep pace with the rate of inflation so our nation's heroes are able to make ends meet. the original text dr. abraham, would authorize the annual cola increase to veterans' rates. it will be determined by the consumer price index which establishes the cola for social security beneficiaries. h.r. 675 as amended would incorporate legislation that was originally introduced by

representative costello that would modernize our court of appeals for veterans' claims. to ensure that it is able to meet the anticipated increase in the number of appeals that are coming in the next years. the bill would extend the temporary expansion from seven to nine judges through 2020. the bill would also authorizize the chief judge to recall retired judges to serve more than 90 days if necessary. they would help that the cavc could decide cases in a timely fashion. 675 as amended would revise the qualifications for the chief judge and make judges eligible for the retirement service credit benefits that are offered to other federal appellate court judges. h.r. 675 also includes

provisions that would help veterans for more than one medical condition. v.a. would be required to make interim payments for disabilities found to be service-connected while the department makes determinations with respect to claims for individual conditions that have yet to be adjudicated. this bill would require v.a. to establish a two-year training program to ensure that processors have the skills necessary to accurately decide claims for beneficiaries. the bill would address another serious problem for veterans and their families that many veterans die before the v.a. is able to decide their claim for benefits. processing a claim for benefits can often take years. if a veteran dice before ajudication of a claim, v.a. pays any accrued benefits to

qualifying member, spouses, dependent children and dependent parents. if the veteran dice without any surviving member, v.a. keeps the benefits. this legislation includes language authorized by representative zeldin to require that they pay any benefits to the estate of the veteran unless the state would everyone escheat and they will receive the benefits that the veteran was entitled. and this would help remind the american public of the true meaning of veterans' day. h.r. 675 as amended would direct the president to issue an annual proclamation calling on the people of the united states to observe a two-minute moment of

silence to honor our veterans' service and sacrifice. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from nevada. ms. titus: i would yield myself as much time as i may consume. the veteran payments for veterans and families and survivors. i thank the chairman and ranking member brown for their help and work on this important legislation. since 1976, congress has consistently increased the rates of basic compensation for disabled veterans and the rates of indemnity compensation for their survivors and depend events. this is in order to keep pace with inflation. however, unlike social security cost of living adjustments, congress must act each year to

provide veterans with the benefits they deserve. this legislation will bring it to the same level as social security recipients for this year. this action is very important in the short-term, but i look forward to the house concerning h.r. 7677 the cola act of 2015 which i introduced along with chairman abraham. this would eliminate congressional gridlock by making the increases automatic just like they are for social security. i would like to highlight an additional provision included in h.r. 675 that will ensure our veterans receive the benefits they have earned in a more timely fashion. title 3 of this legislation is the text of h.r. 1414, the pay as you rate act which i introduced earlier this year. the v.a. pays veterans when

their complete claim has been reviewed and processed. the pay as you rate act would expedite the benefits claims process by requiring the v.a. to veterans as individual components as their claims are reviewed rather than at the completion of the entire claim. the average benefits claim for our iraq and afghanistan veterans contains over eight separate components. each medical condition is individually adjudicated but the veteran receives benefits when the entire claim has been processed. the pay as you rate act is a commonsense change will reduce the backlog and provide families financial support and i'm pleased it has been included as part of h.r. 675. this legislation also includes h.r. 2139 introduced by representative owe rourk which

requires the -- o'rourke which requires the v.a. to turn it around. the intent of this legislation is to aid veterans as they determine the most appropriate manner for filing their benefits claim. lastly included in this bill is h.r. 995 introduced by representative lynch. this legislation would honor our veterans by formalizing a veterans' day moment of silence. i thank the chairman and subcommittee chairman abraham on behalf of their work of our nation's heroes and continue to work with them in a bipartisan fashion to ensure our veterans are receiving the benefits they earned and deserve. thank you. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: i yield four minutes to the gentleman as a member of our committee, from the 6th

district of pennsylvania, mr. costello. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. costello: i rise in support of the veterans cost of living adjustment act of 2015. i applaud the chairman and ranking member and our committee staff for bringing this commonsense legislation to the floor today. this bill would take a step to ensure that the benefits are eligible for cost of living adjustments like our seniors are eligible for benefit adjustments. this bill would take steps towards ensuring that our veterans are able to receive timely and prompt review of their appeals. this contains legislation that i introduced earlier this year, h.r. 1067. this measure is a proactive step to ensure that the u.s. court of appeals for veterans' claims is

able to meet the growing demand for review of veterans' claims benefits. not only would it ensure we have an adequate number of judges, it ensures that we continue to a tract qualified and capable individuals to serve our veterans on this panel. mr. speaker as you know particularly from my point the philadelphia v.a. office has been excessive wait times and not the only v.a. facility. as we continue to fix the mess, we need to make sure we promote and support efficiency within the v.a. and ensure there is no additional interruption in the benefits review process and service provided to our veterans. . president reagan signed the bill

into law to establish the cavc as a court of record in the appellate system. it plays a critical role in ensuring the timely and accurate review of vet reens claims. currently the court is authorized to have seven permanent judges and two temporary additional judges, but absent legislative action the court is expected to revert back to permanent seven judges without the two additional temporary judges. this legislation would, in order to handle the increase in claims enable nine judges through 2020. as we continue to see reports of mismanagement, data manipulation, excessive wait times and lost claims it is imperative that this measure, as included in h.r. 675, is passed to proact ily address potential complications that could hinder the effectiveness and efficiency of the cavc to review and

process claims. i encourage my colleagues to pass h.r. 675 and i thank the gentleman from louisiana for introducing the legislation and working with member os they have committee to get this well-rounded legislation to the floor. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentlelady from nevada. ms. titus: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from louisiana, dr. abraham. mr. abraham: i rise in support of h.r. 675. as chairman of the disability assistance and memorial affairs subcommittee i would like to thank the veterans affairs committee as a well for their role in getting this important bill to the floor. i am proud to have introduced the veterans' compensation cost of living adjustment act of 2015, also known as cola.

the bureau does provide a cost of living adjustment increase to the veterans' disability compensations and other veterans' benefits for 2016. the amount of the incress is the same given to social security beneficiaries. we all understand how important it is for the v.a. benefits to keep pace with the rate of inflation and our nation's veterans depend on these veterans be paid for house, food and other necessities. congress' -- congress previously passed similar increases with wide bipartisan support, because both parties see the need in making sure that our american heroes get credit that they are most markedly deserved. i would also like to thank ranking member representative titus for her support as an original co-sponsor of this h.r. 675. these benefits are instrumental in supporting those who have honorably served our nation. passing a veteran's compensation

cost of living adjustment act of 2015 provides our veterans a much-needed peace of mind so they know the benefits will be secure each year. we must demand highest protection for our veterans and their financial security. our veterans are our nation's heroes and this bill, which enjoys bipartisan support, gives congress a chance to give back to those who have already given so much. with that, i urge passage of this bill, h.r. 675. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from florida reserves this gentlelady from nevada. ms. titus: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: i would like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from the first district from the state of new york another valued member of the committee mr. zell din.

mr. zeldin: i thank the gentleman for his work on this and the staff on both sides of the aisle. it's a pleasure to serve with all of you. i rise in support of h.r. 675, which has been amended to include my bill h.r. 1569, the veterans' of state transfer act or vets act. i'm honored to represent the first congressional district of new york on the east end of long island. my district is in the county of suffolk, which has the largest veteran population in new york, the second highest of any county in the entire country. so with so many veterans in my home county i'm extremely proud to serve on the house veterans affairs committee. with the pass odge of the veterans compensation adjustment act of 015, h.r. 675, which has been amended to include my bill, h.r. 1569, veterans are securing a bill victory here in the halls

of congress. the vets act is a commonsense reform to v.a. benefit payouts that will help veterans on long island and across the country. it would require the department of veterans affairs to pay certain benefits earned by a veteran to the veteran's estate. under current law the veteran passes away while v.a. is reviewing the claim, they no longer have to pay the benefits. currently on a -- only a veteran's spouse or minor child can receive the benefits. now zult children could also receive benefits earned should there be no other beneficiary. i encourage all my colleagues to support h.r. 675 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentlelady from nevada. ms. titus: thank you, mr. speaker.

i have no further speakers at this time, soiled just simply urge my colleagues to support passage of h.r. 675 as amended and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: i also urge passage of h.r. 675 as amended and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 675 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: on that, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those favoring a a vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question are postponed.

le for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1607 as amended, the ruth moore act of 2015. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 156, h.r. 1607 a bill to amend title 38 united states code to approve the disability comp sailings evaluation procedure of the secretary of veterans affairs for veterans with mental health conditions related to military sexual trauma and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from florida, mr. miller, and the gentlewoman from nevada, ms. titus, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: i ask unanimous

consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material that they may have on h.r. 1607 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. miller: i yield myself such time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: i urge all members to support h.r. 1607 as amended which would help veterans seeking benefits for conditions that arose as a result of military sexual trauma, or m.s.t. tragically, m.s.t. has been a serious problem in the u.s. military, although in recent years d.o.d. has been taking steps to reduce these assaults. we owe it to our veterans who are subject to personal assault during their military service to ensure that v.a. expeditiously and accurately process mental health claims for conditions related to m.s.t. such as depression anxiety, or ptsd.

several factors complicate the process for veterans that seek disability compensation for mental health conditions that might araise from m.s.t. the vast majority of sexual assaults in the military are not reported and even fewer cases are actually prosecuted. as a result, many veterans find it hard to prove that the assault actually occurred. therefore service connection is often difficult to establish. h.r. 1607 as amended which was introduced by representative pingree would also express the sense of congress that v.a. should update and improve its regulations with respect to m.s.p. -- m.s.t. though current regulations purport to reduce the burden of proof for veterans who file claims for ptsd, in practice, v.a. claims processors do not use the broader standard of evidence when adjudicating claims relating to m.s.t.

moreover, these regulations do not address mental health conditions with the exception of ptsd that might arise as a result of military sexual trauma. to help congress conduct better oversight of v.a.'s processing of m.s.t. claims, h.r. 1607 as amended would require v.a. to support annual -- submit annual reports through 2019. these would provide certain day tark including the numb of military sexual trauma claims approved. v.a. would also be required to provide the three most common reasons the department denies such claims. until v.a. updates and improves its regulations with respect to m.s.t. claims the department would be required to provide each veteran who has submitted an m.s.t. claim or has been treated for m.s.t. with a copy of the report most recently submitted to congress. v.a. would have to provide monthly updates on the status of

the changes to the regulations to both congress and the veterans that are affected. and finally, h.r. 1607 as amended would limit awards and bonuses paid to v.a. employees who are members of the senior executive service to not more than an aggregate of $2 million for each of the next three years. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from nevada is recognized. ms. titus: thank you mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. titus: thank you. i rise in support of the ruth moore act of 2015, h.r. 1607 as amended. this very important legislation which was introduced by my friend representative shellie pingree of maine -- chellie pingree of maine, seeks to improve services for men and women who have been victims of military sexual trauma. in particular it sends a clear and loud message to the v.a. by

requiring the department to update its regulations to better serve veterans affected by m.s.t. current v.a. regulations related to m.s.t. are outdated and do not reflect the needs of those who have lived through such awful experiences. v.a.'s existing spoil is to update regulations periodically as they see fit. however, information we have received indicates that v.a. needs to do more for these veterans. recently, they revised regulations to do the right thing for veterans exposed to agent orange which will help vose exposed to the toxins. we now expect v.a. to do the same thing for the men and women affected by military sexual trauma. they, too, deserve proper health care and adequate benefits and they deserve it today, not tomorrow. as we provide for the victims of

m.s.t. however, we must also work on ways to both eliminate it from our armed services and change the culture of the military. i thank you and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. miller: i have no speakers we reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from nevada. ms. titus: at this time, i would like to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from maine, ms. pingree. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from maine is recognized for three minutes. ms. pingree: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding and for her great work on this issue and i want to thank chairman miller, chairman abraham, ranking member broun and my good friend ranking member titus for all their work on this piece of bipartisan legislation. i think it's clear this committee is truly working for our nation's veterans.

mr. speaker almost every day, i hear from another veteran who is the survivor of sexual assault in the military. men and women of all ages and from every branch of the service. i have heard from survivors of sexual assault from world war ii the war in afghanistan, and every conflict in every era in between. there are veterans suffering from ptsd because they were sexually assaulted and they are not being treated fairly. . this is a real injury and needs to be treated that way and should be the same for those who suffer ptsd. 19000 men and women were assaulted, but only a quarter of those assaults were reported and fewer ended up with a prosecution. i'm glad the v.a. has increased

prevention efforts, but let me be clear as you heard, the problem is not fixed. survivors of sexual assault have been blamed and harassed, crimes have been covered up and victims have been the victims of harassment. those who reported sexual assault have reported retaliation. mr. speaker, i want to talk for a minute about a ruth moore a veteran from ruth moore. ruth fought for 23 years before she was timely given the benefits we owed her. when i met her four years ago she could barely tell her story. she has built her trust of people to the point where she is able to tell her story publicly. but there are thousands and thousands of ruth moores out

there who have been fighting for the benefits for years and decades. this is an important step in ensuring we treat these veterans clearly. this

and make the claims process more uniform. this bill is named after

ruthmore a maine constituent of representative pingree who spent more than 20 years fighting for her own benefits. other survivors may not be made to repeat her battle. i urge passage of this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the gentleman from florida. the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentlelady from nevada. ms. titus: i have no further speakers at this time so i would just simply urge my colleagues to support passage of the ruth moore act of 2015 as amended and provide support of -- to victims of m.s.t. who have so bravely served our nation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. miller: i urge all members to support h.r. 1607 as amended and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1607 as amended? those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker. a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed without amendment h.r. 876, cited as the notice of observation treatment and implication for care and eligibility act. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois 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. >> mr. speaker, yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the americans with disabilities act and i rise to thank the members of the lake county board for issuing a resolution designating july 26, 2015, as americans with disabilities act awareness day. mr. dold: the americans with disabilities act was a response to an appalling problem, widespread discrimination against people with disabilities. over the past 25 years, the a.d.a. has had a profound impact across our country requiring accessibility across america. in lake county, we are fortunate to have many great organizations that provide resources to people with disabilities and their families. i particularly want to recognize the lake county center for independent living, an organization that provides free life skills train, employment training, and advocacy services to disabled individuals in our community. mr. speaker, i'm pleased to join

with lake county board to celebrate the americans with disabilities act and i remain committed to working for policies that prohibit discrimination of all kinds. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. tonko: thank you mr. speaker. access to affordable quality health care is a fundamental value and medicare and medicaid have helped millions of americans live with economic security and dignity for 50 years. president lyndon johnson signed medicare and medicaid into law in 1965. on the basic principles that access to health care is a right, not a privilege. and certainly no one, no one should be forced into poverty because of health care costs. 34% of those in new york's

capital region that i represent depend on these programs. and we must do everything we can here in the house to strengthen medicare and medicaid. no programs have changed the lives of americans more over the last 50 years. we cannot strengthen these program well, cannot ensure the long-term survival of these programs by passing budgets that turn medicaid into block grants or medicare into voucher system. medicare and medicaid save lives help people live longer and provide the peace of mind of affordable health care that's there when you need it most. moving forward, i hope the housebreaks with its recent tradition and works together to pass meaningful legislation that boosts programs like the affordable care act. happy 50th birthday medicare, happy 50th birthday medicaid, here's to many, many more. thank you mr. speaker, and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: 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 the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. poe: i have asked people on my facebook page what they think about the iranian deal. here are a few of the 300 responses. tammy says, why were our hostages left out of the negotiations? why even trust iran at all to live up to the deal when they hate america? john says why are there no american inspectors? why no instant inspections? jacob says why are they doing a deal with the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism? this used to be called treason. carlos says, ask them if they remember who neville chamberlain was and his policy toward nazi germany. giving in to iran has a similar overtone to what chamberlain and the world did back then. adam says, 24 days' notice, no prisoners coming home, no inspection of their most lucrative site and china and

russian can sell them weapons? the american public wants some candid answers. tomorrow, mr. kerry will testify before the foreign affairs committee. time for some frank no double talk answers from the administration on this iranian deal. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? without objection the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for one minute. >> one out of four child abductions in the united states are not committed by a stranger but instead are perpetrated by a relative. mr. paulsen: law enforcement can't access critical information. we owe it to these children to give law enforcement the tools they need in order to find the more than 00,000 children kid napped by family members every year here in the united states. that's why congress courtney and

i have introduced a bipartisan recoverering missing children act which will allow law enforcement with a court order, to access tax forms that could aid in the search for missing children. this has been endorsed by the national association of police organization, the major county association and the sergeants benevolent association. this is a zero cost, commonsense way to cut red tape and help law enforcement bring these missing children home. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> thank you mr. speaker. well, we have yet another reminder why we need for the senate to take up h.r. 2647, the resilient federal forest act of 2014. mr. lamalfa: we need to bring active management back to our forests.

in california and the rest of the western state the fire season is upon us. the lowell fire is burning near alta and has consumed over 700 acres since saturday and is only 20% contained. this is one of 12 fires burning in california, unknown how many throughout the west. sadly, we have four firefighters who have already been injured in this blaze two from the state two from the federal level. thankfully, three of them have been released though one is still hospitalized with severe burns. thankfully, they're nonlife threatening. nonetheless, our nonmanagement of our forests, roadblocks that get thrown up by a few environmental groups, to the type of wise management we have we need, especialfully a time of drought, at a time when we have millions of dead trees in the western states and california, they should be thinned, they should be managed, they should have a forest that will be better for the has been tet and better for the people involved. we need this bill and we need a

much better attitude on the mofingt the forest. this is hurting our firefighters, putting them at unnecessary risk as well as the homeowners in the area. the wildlife, the habitat and the economy from those areas. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. clausen of florida for today thnd ebalance of the week, mr. cohen of tennessee for today, ms. gabard of haye for today. -- of hawaii for today. mr. al green of texas for today and tomorrow ms. eddie bernice johnson of texas for july 27 through 29th. ms. roybal-allard of california for today. and ms. slaughter for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the requests are granted. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i move that the house now

adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. a bill tomorrow will require the tsa to expand its preaching program.