better and to that. i know several people that had the same problem. i have an acquaintance that their health care don't -- doubled to $6,000. host: want to come on that conversation. by the house about the gavel in for their morning session. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] 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 house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c.,, july 28, 2015, i hereby appoint representative valadao as speaker pro tempore on this day, signed john a. boehner speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders

for morning hour debate. each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and minority whip limited to five mites, but no ent debate shall not go beyd 115 a.m. mr. jones. mr. jones: on july 22, the "new york times" published an article titled afghanistan security forces struggle just to maintain stale mate. by joseph gold steen. he writes because of thhigh casualty rates, there is also a high desertion rate. as a result of the afghan are struggling to maintain adequate numbers in their security forces. meaning it has become extremely difficult for them to keep the taliban at bay. the article is one of great

concern for those of us who have watched the fight against the taliban since 2001. we have lost over 2,355 men a women in afghanistan with 20,000 wounded and spent over $685 billion. the history of afghanistan has shown that no outside military force has ever changed it, from alexander the great to the british, to the russians, yet last year, the obama administration signed a nine-year agreement committing american money and manpower in afghanistan with -- was not voted on by the congress. that is so ironic. we are talking about voting on this agreement with iran, but we did not vote to commit our troops and our money to afghanistan for nine moreears. as a member of the armed services committee, i am concerned by mr. gold stein's report. let me give two quotes about the

ability of the forces to keep the taliban at bay that i found very, very concerning. first, and i quote, a person for the afghanistan defense minister insisted that desertions remain rare and that there has been no effort to ban leaves or start rotations away from the front from the number of people going without leave. second quote is from an army major, and i quote, but interviews with soldiers and police officers repeatedly counter the government's claim and the quote is this. once the soldiers are taken for their breaks, they are unwilling to come back and join their duty. once again, mr. speaker, the afghan government is untruthful and corrupt, yet we continue to spend billions of dollars at this losing cause. it is not fair to the taxpayers of eastern north carolina and the taxpayers of america or

anybody in this country that pays taxes that we will continue to send money there to build an infrastructure and rebuild their roads and then have the taliban to blow them up. it makes no sense. i can assure president gandhi, the president of afghanistan the u.s. will continue to spend billions of dollars so the taliban can continue to destroy what we send over there with the taxpayers' money to be built. we in congress should stop funding this policy in afghanistan, which is basically giving the afghan government a blank check every year and will for the next nine years. we will never change this tribal nation and we should stop trying. let's focus on fixing our economy here in america. god bless our troops and god bless america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes.

mr. blumenauer: for the last three years, i have been coming to the floor, arguing the fawley of our attempting to pay for 2015 infrastructure with 1993 dollars. we haven't adjusted the gas tax since 1993 and that's why we haven't given the american people a six-year robust re-authorization of the surface transportation system since 1998. i found -- i find myself today incomplete agreement with the column by james serec hmp i in the current issue of the "new yorker." he talks about what is going on in the other body might be perceived as progress. might be a good thing. except, and i quote, real

progress except for one thing their complicated plan is only necessary because of the continued refusal by congress to embrace the obvious. economically sensible solution to high --hey funding. currently 18.4 cents. the problem is that the funding mechanisms that these plans rely upon are haphazard as other. their bill would lower the dividend rate paid to banks in the federal reserve system, raising certain customs fees, increasing collection rates on unpaid taxes and selling off 101 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. if you are going to have a

strategic petroleum reserve, you probably should only sell oil from it for strategic reasons not because you want to raise some cash. paying for operating expenses by selling off assets is not a good way to manage your money. he goes on, what is especially infuriating about the bill is that we already have in the gas tax an ideal tool for raising money to pay for highways. it's a user tax, if you don't drive, you don't pay. and if you drive, it costs you less. conservative economists, has been an ardent advocate of the gas tax. indeed, refusal of congress to raise the gas tax is the ultimate expression of how irrational resistance has

become. opposition to higher income taxes has theoretical justification. higher rates it might be a penalty for success. but no such argument exists against the gas tax. all it does is ask drivers to pay for the roads they use. it's not even fair to say that keeping the gas tax at current level is a check on big government. since most federal highway spending goes to rebuilding and renewing roads. even conservatives recognize we must do. highway revenue needs to be raised. congress should raise its spine and stop treating all taxes as bad ones. i couldn't agree more with that sentiment. indeed, we have seen six republican states already this

year show some political spine. they have raised the gas tax in idaho, utah, iowa south dakota nebraska and georgia. it is time for us to assume our responsibilities to rebuild and renew america that used to have the finest infrastructure in the world, but now is locked into a downward spiral. renewing and rebuilding america giving a six-year robust re-authorization bill will put hundreds of thousands of americans to work in a matter of months all across the country and it will make all our families safer, healthier and more economically secure. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. jolly, for five minutes. mr. jolly: mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize someone who

has been described as a pioneer in national substance abuse policy and prevention and a woman whose dedication, drive and compassion made the world a better place. mr. speaker, i ry today to honor mrs. betty simbler after she retires after 15 years of leadership. she has dedicated the past three decades of her life to fighting the war on drugs. in 1976, one of 10 founding members of straight incorpted, a drug treatment program that treated more than 12,000 young people with drug addiction in eight cities nationally from dallas to boston. she then established a national drug policy to combat drug abuse, education treatment, interdiction and law enforcement. she helped form public policy in the united states campaign

through her participation in the white house conference for a drug-free america as a member of the florida governors policy task force and as a board member of dare flar a national organization that provides drug resistance education for elementary and middle school students. she continued her campaign against legalization of drugs. she serves on the board of dare international as vice chairperson and accompanied her husband on both of his missions as united states ambassador first to australia and then to italy. she is the founder and board chair of save our society from drugs and of the drug-free america foundation. both organizations work to educate people about the effects of drugs on individuals, families, from legalizing and loosening restrictions on drugs while also fighting to redues drug addiction and death. she serves on the boards of the

republican jewish coalition and the florida holocaust mum the florida governors mansion foundation and jurisdictional countertraining, jewish policy center and st. petersburg manor. the d.e.a. museum foundation presented its lifetime achievement award for her leadership and commitment to fighting drugs. it is the highest honor be stowed by the foundation and supporting law enforcement, drug abuse treatment and drug abuse education. and she was awarded honorary agent status by the d.e.a. only the second such designation to be given. the bottom line is her work with the drug-free america foundation has positively impacted lives and families around the world and has no doubt saved lives around the world. and mrs. simbler with her grace,

friendship and charm has impacted each and every individual she has touched throughout her life, including this member of congress. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to join me in thanking betty for her work leading the charge, pushing back against dangerous drug policies and promoting public health and public safety. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. gutierrez, for five minutes. mr. gutierrez: i want to make an introduction, mr. speaker, and my colleagues. this is a beautiful island of puerto rico. we own it. it's ours and we are responsible for it. the congress of the united states governance this island. it's our colony and we rule over it and it's $73 billion in debt. the supreme court said, puerto

rico is a territory belonging to the united states but not part of the united states, end quote. and apparently the responsibility to govern puerto rico falls to the congress and not to the executive branch because for the last six months i talked to the administration officials about puerto rico and their response has been that they cannot or will not do anything. the message i received loud and clear, anything to help puerto rico had better happen in congress. but there's no sense of urgency in congress or anywhere else in washington for real solutions. puerto rico's problems are complicated and the people must put direct pressure on this congress for direct action because its problems are the creation of, you guessed it, congress. the jones made act made them american citizens. the jones act also says that puerto rico, unlike any state can issue triple exempt bonds, bonds that are free of federal,

state and local taxes. illinois can't do that, neither can your state. but puerto rico specifically is written out of the bankruptcy laws by congress. they cannot declare chapter 9 or anything else because a special exemption was made. congress creates a tax-free bond haven and wall street jumps in with everything it has to buy puerto rican debt. it has more than 15 times the median debt of all 50 states and bankruptcy is not an option without an act of congress. and get this. the puerto rican constitution says the bond holders must be paid before anything else. wall street is circling the wounded animal and to declare bankruptcy because that could move decisions about who gets paid and what order they get paid into a u.s. federal court

of law. you see, the current situation favors the billionaires and hedge funds because they will get paid before the cops on the beat, the doctors in the hospitals and the teachers in the school. we have to pay the bond holders on wall street first. now, the same people who cash in on the debt in places like greece and argentina are lining up to cash in in the caribbean by stepping up their demand for austerity measures and restructuring on their term that will make them very, very rich at the expense of the people. tomorrow, i'll discuss state hood who needs the votes of puerto ricans in orlando, florida, but today i want to make clear that the sooner the people hear, realize that the people in this chamber are the ones who need to take action,

the sooner we can make real progress and not get distracted by pop particulars and the pipe dream of statehood. for the remaining minute, i want to talk to people in puerto rico in the language they speak around the dinner table. [speaking spanish]

gutierrez thank you and i yield back -- mr. gutierrez: thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: will the gentleman provide translation for the record? mr. gutierrez: absolutely to you, sir. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, since 1983, tens of thousands of students have participated in the congress youth exchange, or cybx, program with germany. this program allows young professionals from both the united states and germany to spend a year abroad to intern and study different cultures while living with a host family. during their experience, students from both countries develop a better understanding of foreign cultures expand their knowledge and leadership potential exponentially. this fellowship provides extensive language training, strong courses of study at foreign universities and the opportunity to be fully immersed in another culture, thereby, culminating in a very unique experience. members of the german hold this program in especially high esteem as they hand select their nominees and build very strong personal relationships with them.

while members of the united states congress are not as involved in the selection process of american participants, the american equivalent would include the prestige of congressional nominations for military academies carry. over the years this program has shown tremendous success in fostering a stronger relationship between the united states and germany, which is why i was particularly disappointed to see the department of state cut its funding by half in 2015. these reductions of cbyx came despite congress' continued bipartisan support over this program for decades. to prevent the collapse of this program altogether germany graciously closed the gap in 2015 by authorizing additional funds to negate the funding cuts that the u.s. had implemented. however, they maintain this was not something they would be able to continue and without the u.s. restoring funding, the continuation of this program was in jeopardy. to further emphasize the

significance of cbyx, german chanceler angela merkel highlighted her disappointed to the funding cuts to president obama during her visit in 2015. during these deliberations she said, and i quote, we were not pleased because we very much value this partnership program, and i believe that all of those who participated as young people have also had unforgettable experiences. especially now 25 years after german unification, we want to continue this program and given the fact there are no longer american soldiers in germany, it's important young people learn as much as possible from another, end quote. in fact, the state department's own u.s. advisory commission on public diplomacy countered the cutbacks during the 2014 annual report. in it the commission is quoted as saying, quote we believe it is against our interest to invest less in our relationships with the german public at a critical time when facing dual threats from russia

and countering violent extremism in europe while trying to secure the trans-atlantic trade investment partnership agreement with the european union. the cutback of the u.s. investment in the congress exchange also sends a strong message to the german public and government that the u.s. does not value the relationship with the critical ally whose public is increasingly skeptical of the united states, end quote. in response, the house-german american caucus and those concerned about the prospect of the cbyx program being placed at a disadvantage voiced our frustration with both secretary kerry and our house colleagues to raise awareness and demand for the restoration of full funding of cbyx and i was pleased this effort amassed bipartisan support in the house. further, the house subcommittee on related agencies conveyed their concern in june, 2015, said this program is integral for the strong relationship

between the united states and germany. the committee does not support the proposed reduction in the program. only the committee included language to restore funding for fiscal year 2016. while this was good news the root of the problem still fell within the state department's lack of support. on july 17, 2015, u.s. ambassador to germany, john emerson, contacted them to relay to the state department's reverse issue to restore full funding for cbyx. as co-chairman of the congressional german american caucus i wasess at that timic to hear this news and i am pleased that the u.s. is holding up our end in strengthen ties to our german allies. many thanks to the agencies such as cultural vistas a.f.s., youth for understanding, ciee, sasse flag and the nasel open door. they are important partners in

the success of the cbyx program. and i'd like to thank congressman keating for the great effort he showed throughout this process as well. this is a great step forward towards continuing our participation in this program and educating our future leaders through such an important fellowship. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. mcgovern, for five minutes. mr. mcgovern: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. mr. speaker, on july 17 i held my second annual food rocks tour in my district to bring attention to the importance of summer meals and usda's summer food service program which ensures that low-income children continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. i was honored to be joined on the tour by usda undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, kevin, as

well as many local, state, federal and nonprofit partners. mr. speaker, for millions of low-income students, summer break isn't as care-free as it should be. for these children summer is a time of great uncertainty. during the school year they have access to reliable healthy school breakfast and school lunches. but when school's out these children and their families are often left scrambling to find enough to eat. the leading national partner on summer meals 43% of low-income families say it's harder to make ends meet during the summer and they must budget an extra $300 a month for groceries when scookids are home from school -- kids are home from school in the summer. these could be daunting challenges. summer should not be a time for increased hunger among our children. that's where usda summer food service program comes in. it's a federally funded, state administered program that reimburses providers who serve healthy meals to children and teens in low-income areas at no

charge during the summer. local sponsors serve meals at community sites on set days and times. sites may be located in a variety of settings such as schools recreation centers, parks, community centers, day camps, housing projects and indian reservations. my summer food rocks tour began at cozell elementary school in ware, massachusetts. we had the opportunity to serve breakfast and speak with kids and their families about the importance of summer meals and share our -- and we distributed sunglasses which they all loved. the second stop was orange hill elementary school. we met children attending day camp who receive breakfast through the summer meals program. we got a chance to play basketball with the kids. the kids were definitely better than us. then we were off to a spanish american center where we were hosted by the center's executive director neri

latimer. we participated in a roundtable discussion about the challenges of the summer meal program. we then had the opportunity to tour the center's newly constructed kitchen and serve lunch to an enthusiastic group of children. undersecretary led a roundtable discussion on national standards for the school lunch program and during the discussion we were treated to a delicious lunch prepared by the worcester public schools nutrition department. we wrapped up our visit by touring two worcester public school food trucks and learning more about this innovative mobile school program that runs throughout the city. mr. speaker, i want to thank everyone who joined me on my summer food rocks tour, especially the undersecretary, the site sponsors and volunteers and the children who remind me why summer meals are so important. a child's need for healthy nutritious food doesn't end when the school year does.

we know that providing children for access to healthy meals during the summer months has clear health, education and economic benefits. since summer meals must be serned in the community setting children have another incentive to participate in summer enrichment and recreation programs that in turn help them return to school ready to learn in the fall. in summer usda plans to serve more than 200 million free meals to children 18 years and under at approved summer meal sites. i have no doubt that they'll achieve this ambitious goal. but there's still a lot of work to be done. usda estimates that only one out of six students that get a free or reduced price school meal during the school year receives a summer meal. as we consider the next child nutrition re-authorization bill, we need to make sure that all students who are eligible for school meals have access to summer -- to free summer meals. and that states and local communities have the funding and resources they need to reach all eligible children. an easy way to find a summer

meal site near you is to text food to 877-877. over august recess, i encourage all of my colleagues to visit a summer meal site in your district. i know that you'll be just as impressed as i was at the incredible work being done right in your own community to ensure that no child goes hungry in the summer. mr. speaker, we can and we should do more to end hunger now. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from alabama, mr. byrne, for five minutes. mr. byrne: thank you mr. speaker. i rise this morning to talk about one of the biggest problems facing our nation. out-of-control spending. at this very moment, the national debt sits at over $18 trillion. we've not arrived at this point because of the actions of one party or one administration. over the years both parties have enacted programs that increased our debt.

that said, we have reached a point where we must get serious about reining in our out-of-control spending or else we may fall victim to a similar fate that many nations throughout the history have experienced. our spending problems are reaching crisis levels and we are effectively leaving behind a cast trophy for the next generation. the basic of the american dream is if you work hard you can leave behind a better future for your children and grandchildren. that fundamentally american vision is in jeopardy due in part to our irresponsible spending. i am a new and very proud grandfather. my grandson, mcgwire, is about to turn 1 and already his share of the national debt, before his first birthday, is over $40,000. we cannot turn a blind eye to this problem and pretend it will just get better. let me explain why. mr. speaker when most people think of the federal government they're probably thinking about discretionary

programs. this is many that goes to things like our military, highways, national parks agriculture and medical research. the good thing about discretionary spending is that each year congress has the ability to control these spending levels through the appropriations process. since republicans took control of the house in 2010, we've had some success in cutting funding to various federal agencies. for example, agencies like the i.r.s. and e.p.a. have seen their budgets cut in response to egregious executive overreach. . mandatory spending. it is on auto pilot mandatory spending does not require annual

appropriations from congress. as long as someone meets the requirements, these programs dole out money. within these means-based entitlement program like medicaid, obamacare, food stamps and the like. in fiscal year 2012, the federal government spent almost $800 billion on over 92 programs aimed at lifting americans out of poverty. despite that record spending, americans stopped looking for work. the system is failing the very people it was designed to help. while these programs have good intentions, they aren't supposed to be permanent. these programs are supposed to lift people out of poverty and not keep them there. it shouldn't be surprised during the recent economic downturn spending ballooned. what is springing if the economy has improved, the spending on

this program have not gone down. spending remains at all-time high. republicans and democrats both agree that americans shouldn't be stuck in poverty and we should put party politics aside and come together to address the dangerous cycle. we need to reform these programs and work force training to connect americans with the skills they need that meets work force demand. we could block grant money to state governments and allow them to craft poverty funding programs based on their state's economic needs. mr. speaker, i know that reforming these mandatory spending programs won't be easy, but i didn't run here for congress to make easy decisions. before i leave this body, i want to look at my grandson and know i have been part of a real

effort and put our nation on a fiscally stable path. i call on my colleagues to join me. let's come together and make the tough choices and get our spending under control and leave behind a better america for the next generation. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from massachusetts ms. clark for five minutes. ms. clark: i want to talk about a medical condition that is masked by silence and stigma and affects more women than diabetes or stroke or breast cancer and it is post part emdepression. here are words from women. i was experiencing anger and rage and suicidal thoughts. i didn't know what was wrong but i can't take care of this baby and i'm miserable all the time. from jody, my son was sick again

and i was crying so hard, i could barely text my mom to have her come over immediately. i waited anxiously at the door with an ill child and handed over my son and saying i can't do this anymore. and from heather, soon after the birth of my son i knew something was wrong with me. i couldn't fall asleep and if i did, i couldn't sleep for long. i couldn't eat. i forced down every bite of food and spent most of my time crying. these women are not alone. in 2013, there were more than 3.9 million births in the united states. and of these births, one out of every seven mothers were affected. women suffering from maternal depression often report overwhelming and isolating feelings of sadness, anxiety

fear and guilt. this could include anger, thoughts of death or suicide and even negative feelings towards their baby. children of mothers can become withdrawn and have behavioral problems and higher risk of inchingsity disorders, toxic stress. even though this condition affects hundreds of thousands a year, many do not seek medical help. many moms report that they are too embarrassed to admit their feelings or worried they might be seen as failing or being bad moms. it doesn't have to be this way. the good news is treatment works. 90% of women going through depression can be treated effectively. and that's why i'm introducing a bill to make sure new moms are not on their own when it comes to dealing with depression.

the bringing post-partum will offer grants to states to treat new and expectant moms. states and professional groups have made great progress and we need to support them as they move to increase awareness and consolidate resources. we need to help doctors recognize depression and provide access to appropriate treatment. this is commonsense legislation to help the over 400,000 women annually who suffer from maternal depression. we need to stand up and tell moms they are not alone. needing help does not make them bad mothers and help is out there, but we need to make sure those who need it can get it. i ask my colleagues to co-sponsor our legislation and take this concrete step towards supporting healthy moms and healthy babies.

thank you. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from from alabama mrs. roby for five minutes. mrs. roby: i spent almost a year since the director of the central alabama veterans health care system was fired after numerous reports of mismanagement and fall feesance surfaced, the missing patient x-rays, falsified records, the employee who took a veteran to a crack house and all of the utter lack of discipline and order. the removal was possible under new authority granted under the v.a. reform law that we passed last year and i was hopeful that this action was indicative of a new v.a. leadership that finally got it, that was willing to cut through the bureaucracy and make decisions necessary to turn around failing medical centers. i did hear a lot of nice

promises, commitments to work through the system to make sure that the problems were physicaled. mr. speaker, the problems were not fixed. communication and coordination between various levels of management are still badly out of sync. it seems like every time we are in a position to make real progress in central alabama something falls through the cracks and the ball gets dropped and an opportunity is missed. and every time, every time the v.a. leadership goes through the various layers of bureaucracy for why these problems exist promises, excuses, but not action. mr. speaker, i believe the problem is that we have just been depending on a broken bureaucracy to fix itself. i believe the problem is that we have been asking the v.a. leaders to intervene in this troubled system rather than requiring them to. i believe it's time to change

that and wading through the bureaucracy to get results on behalf of our precious veterans. what happens when a public school continues to fail to meet basic standards? the state department of education steps in to take over. and it takes charge of turning the place around. it is a process that isn't pleasant, but everyone from principals to teachers to students and parents understand the consequences of the failure to improve. mr. speaker, i believe we need a similar mechanism at the v.a. when medical centers continuously fail our veterans. today, i'm filing legislation to excel the department of veterans affairs officials to intervene and take over failing v.a. medical centers. it's called the failing v.a. medical center recovery act and offers the v.a. new tools to turn around the worst of our health care centers and put responsibility for doing so

squarely on the secretary of the v.a. the v.a. needs a team of leaders who are equipped with the expertise to identify solutions and the authority to execute. under my bill, the v.a. will recruit teams of the best managers and medical professionals that can rapidly deploy to failing medical centers to take over and take charge. these takeover teams would be managed through the newly authorized office of failing medical centers and would have new legal tools needed to make a difference at each location. this is an anti-bureaucracy bill. this is a team that no complacent v.a. employee wants to see coming because they know the status quo is about to get shaken up. just like a failing school, that can serve as a motivation to keep performance from dropping off. and this is very important, the determination of the failing

medical center will be based on data, not the secretary's whim or what media attention is -- it is garnering, my bill sets up an automatic trigger that compels the v.a. to act under the law. i'm glad the secretary has taken control of the situation in phoenix, but why not month gentlewoman erie and take control of the second worst situation in our country especially after we have repeatedly asked and pleaded him to do so. i'm tired of asking and that's why my bill requires the v.a. to step in and take charge. mr. speaker, some might mispuerto rico seef this as a an attack on the v. a a. and it is not. but reform-minded leaders should welcome new tools and new resources to fix medical centers and help veterans access care. i have spoken to many of my

colleagues about this bill and i'm pleased how well it is being received. i look forward to working with chairman miller and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move this legislation forward. let's have a real conversation about getting results on behalf of our veterans. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado mr. coffman, for five minutes. mr. coffman: i stand in recognition of the late major general andrew cooley, a dear friend and tremendous patriot who dedicated his life to serving our great nation, a true leader and combat veteran. he served for 38 years leading from the front and accomplishing much along the way. his career was marked by several tours of duty at home and

abroad, including the command of an army division and he participated in combat operations in korea, vietnam, lebanon, somalia bosnia kosovo and angola. in 1951 general cooley enlisted in the united states army and at the age of 17 and wept on to receive his commission after having successfully completed officers' candidate school in georgia in 1955. as a second lieutenant. over the course of his career, he served in various staff and command positions including the principle representative of the department of defense to the lebanese-israeli negotiations and commanding general of the

24th infantry division. upon retirement from the army, cooley was instrumental in instituting a forward-focused logistical infrastructure that remains instrumental to our nation's defense. without a doubt, general cooley's many accomplishments deserve to be honored. however his accomplishments can only be realized with the support and commitment of his wife of 37 years. joan and their two children. mr. speaker, i stand here today humbled by the many accomplishments of a true patriot and it is migrate honor to recognize the late major gernl cooley for his friendship and service to our great nation. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

chair recognizes the gentleman from california mr. lamalfa, for five minutes. mr. lamalfa: thank you mr. speaker. just this past week a federal district court in california found facilities built to hold illegal immigrants -- they were not properly operated and ordered the release of thousands of illegal immigrants within 90 days. the lawsuit alleged that despite the fact that detention facilities provided schooling for underaged detainees, they believe that the facilities are insufficiently hospitable. advocates of illegal immigration will use any avenue to expand and promote policies that entice immigrants to make dangerous journeys and put themselves under the influence of smugglers and human traffickers. the ruling gave the government until august 3 to submit a plan releasing the illegal immigrants within 90 days. of course, the department of

justice's own data tells us what will happen when they release 85% will never show up for their immigration court hearings. the end result of this lawsuit will simply be the release of thousands of illegal immigrants who have not been vetted for criminal backgrounds, outstanding warrants or any other characteristics that should prevent the release into our society. the situation raises a number of questions. why did illegal immigration -- immigration advocates file a lawsuit in california rather than in texas for these detention -- where these detention facilities are located? california is home of courts like the ninth circuit which most times is overturned -- many times overturned at higher levels of courts. they figured they could get a loose deal. why did these illegal immigration advocates filed a lawsuit knowing fully well that the administration will release

the detainees? as even the most cursory review of illegal immigrants to determine they are dangerous too much for these attorneys? will this ruling simply support their goal of unrestricted illegal immigration and policies which ensure the vast majority of illegal immigrants who are detained are released into our country almost immediately? mr. speaker, i believe we already know the answer to these questions. both the obama administration and lawyers who file these affirmative russ lauths suits have one interest. continue unrestricted illegal immigrants which places us in danger. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. woodall, for five minutes. mr. woodall: thank you mr. speaker. i appreciate the time. i come often to this floor to talk about community and

service and the notion that if we work to put a little less emphasis on figuring out how to control people from washington, d.c. and a little more emphasis on trying to serve one another back home in our communities that america will be moved in the right direction. mr. speaker, i come today to have that same discussion and to put a face on that conversation. for me in north georgia mr. speaker that face is judy waters. mr. speaker, in 1979, judy waters was known as the best hairdresser in all of snellville. by the end of 1979, she was known as the first female ever elected to the snellville city council, and her path of service continued from there. mr. speaker, for more than a decade, as snellville grew into the first suburban from rural community in i go net county, judy -- gwinnett county, judy's

fingerprints are on absolutely everything that you see in the foundation that has allowed snellville to become what it is today. mr. speaker, after serving the city of snellville, seeing that our county was going through some of those same challenges, in 1992, judy answered the call to serve gwinnett county. she ran for the district three county commission seat and was sworn in in 1993 to that post. over the eight years that she served, gwinnett county's population almost doubled to 600,000 people and her hand helped guide that development. mr. speaker, our motto in gwinnett county is gwinnett is great, and judy's emphasis on ensuring that that was true absolutely every single day earned her the love and devotion of an entour

community. but her service does not either begin or end with these kinds of public roles, mr. speaker. in 1992, she ran for that post but in 2004 she answered the call to serve the northeast georgia community foundation. mr. speaker, the motto of the community foundation in northeast georgia is connecting people who care with causes that matter. connecting people who care with causes that matter. mr. speaker this foundation, under judy's leadership, grew its assets by more than $20 million, has plowed back into service projects in our community more than $52 million since 1985. thousands upon thousands of lives in gwinnett county impacted in no small part to

the love, devotion and commitment of judy waters. mr. speaker, it's my belief that all of the individual deeds we see in our lives are woven together to make us more than who we are. judy set out early in her life to make sure that no one would be giving back more than she did, and she exemplifies exactly the kind of person that i am surrounded by in my community absolutely every single day. when people ask, mr. speaker, how can you give away washington's power and influence and return that to the community, my answer is judy waters. mr. speaker, no matter how well-intentioned the folks in this building are they will never care more about my community than folks like judy waters do, and judy lived that commitment every single day. mr. speaker, she retires from her service at the community foundation, her official

retirement is august 22. i want to add my heart felt thanks to her for her decade upon decade upon decade of service. judy, we are all better off and grateful for all that you have done for our community. but mr. speaker we are all better off and grateful just for the opportunity to have known her. mr. speaker there's no measurement of how many judy waters there are out there across the country, but there is a measure of what judy waters has done for our community. you see it in the faces of the elderly. you see it in young families and you see it in the children in our community systems. thank you to judy waters for all that she has done for gwinnett county. with that mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from connecticut ms. delauro, for five minutes.

ms. delauro: mr. speaker, next week marks the 90th birthday of a great american business pratman whitney. it all started with 26 employees and 12 machines and an old car plan in hartford, connecticut. nine decades later, they employ more than 9,000 people in connecticut and ranks among my state's biggest employers. engines from there carried charles lindhberg, amelia earhart and wiley post. during world war ii, the company powered half the u.s. aerial fleet. later, pratman whitney developed jet engines for iconic aircraft like the b-52 the black bird and the boeing 747. its technology even helped power the apollo 11 moon

lander. this tradition of excellence continues today. pratman whitney engines built in my district provides a beating heart of the f-35 lightning 2. the company remains a key player in an industry that helps to safeguard our national security. it is my honor to congratulate pratman whitney on 90 years of achievement. we thank you and to the men and women who work there, we say again, thank you for your service to our great country. with that mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until 12:00 p.m. today.

which cartel it's associated with but we definitely see a lot of drugs coming in from the border, sir. mr. goodlatte: thank you very much. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you the other gentleman, mr. forbes. mr. forbes: did your organization or have you done any studies to look across the country at the faith-based programs that have worked

incredibly successful in trying to stop recidivism, have y'all done an analysis of that? and specifically have we looked at their success rates and also impediments that we are now putting in front of them to stop them from doing some of the works they are doing, did y'all make any kind of investigation of that? >> not really, sir. there really isn't another model to compare it to. mr. forbes: oftentimes we love to create new wheels and reinvent the wheel but we have had some incredibly successful programs around the country that we have put one impediment after another to doing -- in a complementary role with what you're doing. at some point in time we need to take a look at that and analyze that. mr. riley, let me ask you this question following up on the chairman's statement. you know, we had testimony in here, if we look across the country, the gang membership in this country would equal the fourth largest army in the

world and we also had testimony -- this is both the administration -- it's not just a push on just one -- the violent gangs, at least 85% of them are coming in here illegally so they're bypassing any prevention programs or anything we're doing getting in these gangs. it shocked us the other day to find out the secretary of homeland security didn't know if we were asking people if they were members of violent gangs before we released them. do you have any connectivity as to just how important those gangs are in this distribution process? administrator riley: sir, i think they've become almost crucial to the mexican cartels. speaking just to chicago and the midwest there are over 150,000 documented street gang members. largely they make their living from putting drugs on the street, supplied by the cartels, heroin is now their drug of choice and the way that they regulate themselves sir,

is by the barrel of a gun. so this is an enormity in terms of what we're seeing across the country and it's extremely toxic. that's why it's really important for law enforcement to be involved to attack the organizations, not just what's occurring on the street. .

were there any barriers that you would suggest are problematic that we could work on eliminating for you? >> that recent arrest is a prime and great example of the cooperation that we have in hampton roads and between chesapeake, and u.s. attorney's office and d.e.a. and f.b.i. we have worked together quite while on many cases and in this case i did not see any obstacles as everyone was aware of what was going on as far as

the investigation and it was organized, the city execution of the search warrants. you did state the amount of heroin and the moneys that they were making off of this. one thing i would like to point out, in one of those homes, a search warrant was executed, there were many children in that home and 50,000 was counted every other day in that house with those children there because of the heroin sales and that heroin was cut and prepared on the dinner table. and i think that when we look at that and the children who are exposed to this, there's just -- we've got to do something. mr. forbes: my time has expired. and i yield back. >> the gentleman from south carolina, mr. gowdy. mr. gowdy: thank you for your service and bring together the

credit of your agency. i'm not very good at math which means i'm in the right line of work. i need you to help me a little bit. i think that it takes 28 grams of cocaine base to trigger the five-year mandatory minimum? >> i believe that's true. mr. gowdy: 28 grams of base would be 120 doseage units --.2.5. you need 112 doseage of crack cocaine and 500 grams of powder to reach the same five-year mandatory minimum which would be 500 doseage unit. >> yes. mr. gowdy: heroin, it takes 100 grams of heroin to reach that same threshold but that is

3,000 doseage units. why can you go to prison for five years for 28 doseage, 112 doseage units of crack cocaine but 3,000 doseage units of heroin to trigger that five-year mandatory minimum. that seems absurd to me. >> well, clearly on the law enforcement side we're cops. we're doing the best we can with the laws that are currently out there. mr. gowdy: which is why when there is a discussion about reforming mandatory minimums, it is important to hear from law enforcement officers. one thing we could do is equalize what it takes to trigger a mandatory minimum. i mean if you are having a problem with heroin and it requires 3,000 doseage units to reach that five-year threshold but it donald takes 100 doseage

units of crack cocaine, it's pretty even for me to see what will be done with respect to heroin. everybody in congress doesn't like mandatory minimums. most folks in law enforcement likes them but most folks in congress does president like them. how many folks are serving federal prison sentences for simple possession of a drug? >> i have been doing this for 30 years, nobody as a result of my investigations -- mr. gowdy: i couldn't find anybody sitting in a federal prison for simple possession of a controlled substance. how about -- another phrase i hear from time to time low-level non-violent drug offenders, how many did you target for investigation when you were a d.e.a. agent? >> none, sir. mr. gowdy: d.e.a. wouldn't target them. they would go to the state

prosecutor, right? >> we would go after the largest traffickers we could identify and the largest organizations. this mythology that our federal prisons are filled with low-level nonviolent offenders your statistics do not bear that out? >> not based on the investigations i have been involved in. mr. gowdy: i have a colleague who is a prosecutor in a former life joey kenny a great colleague from the very first day he set foot in congress, shared with us his concern about the heroin epidemic, and he wanted and is asked in the past, the relationship between prescription drugs and heroin. who can speak to that on behalf of my colleague mr. kennedy who raises a pretty good question? >> there is a real concern here.

as we talked about before the fourth, fifth users of heroin started using prescription pain medication because of the economics of what it costs to buy prescription medicine on the streets, we see that transition and i think this is where intervention and treatment and diminishing the vast overprescribing of prescription pain medication that's happening right now is particularly important right now. mr. gowdy: drug court, tremendous believer in drug court, saw lives changed. heroin is hard to get off. it was the hardest drugs for folks to quit. what do we need to do with heroin where more folks are getting off of it through drug courts? >> i spoke this morning 5,000 people from across the country who are saving lives by giving people a second chance by giving them good care and treatment with accountability.

part what we know to be effective is that medications when combined with other therapies become critically important and evidence that people with prescription drug addiction without medications fail significant portion of the time. and so we have actually been working with our treatment programs with our drug courts and using our federal resources to support increased access to these medications as part of a comprehensive strategy in terms of what we know to be the most effective treatment for people with these disorders. >> the gentleman from michigan, mr. bishop. mr. bishop: thank you for the panel and thank you for your testimony on this important issue. as a former local prosecutor myself, i had the opportunity to prosecute many drug-related offenses and i can tell you in

my experience, i never saw this level of heroin in the marketplace and it's troubling -- especially i had school-aged children and i hear too many stories. it's very disconcerning for a parent and someone like me who is in elected government looking for solutions and i appreciate your willingness to be part of the solution making process. i met with a group of local law enforcement officers my local county sheriffs and several others to talk about the others. and our sheriff in livingston county, and the statistics that they shared are alarming and they have piqued my interests. in livingston county, 34 heroin

overdoses that resulted in deaths last year alone. in oakland county, 40, 45 related overdoses. but last year, that number has increased on an average of 200. and the other county that i represent, which includes the capital of our state lansing 28 heroin-related deaths last year and that number has increased every year. and so i would agree that this issue has caused -- one that deserves our immediate attention. i thank the chairman of this committee, the main committee chairman goodlatte and chairman of the subcommittee for raising these issues and making sure we identify these as primary concerns and that we do whatever we can to address them.

but director, i would like to start with you if i could. it's clear from what i'm hearing in my district that this issue cuts across all kinds of democratic -- demographic lines. what are we doing to ensure that the response to this epidemic is comprehensive? are we engaging with these local leaders, local law enforcement? when i was a local prosecutor we had all kinds of collaborative efforts between local law enforcement and d.e.a. and i appreciate your comments about drug courts and alternative sentencing that is available. can you share more about what you're doing. >> we acknowledge the fact that why we can have a federal response state and local response is where the rubber meets the road and obligation of our office that states and

locals have the resources to be able to do their work and identify the issues and work at the state and local level. we have a number of initiatives in addition to additional treatment funding we support the high intensity drug trafficking areas which are counties designated as drug trafficking areas to work with state and local law enforcement to share intelligence, to go after cases. many of them are focused on heroin issues. and many of our programs are continuing to support prevention and education programs as well. they try to work across the spectrum. our office supports drug-free community programs and these are programs and grants to support community-based locally driven community. every community needs to have all of the key players on board as part of the solution. so we really acknowledge and try to continue to support state and local efforts because we know

that we can do as much as we can at the federal level but requires state and local partnership to really make it real. mr. bishop: i'm wondering if you can share with me, legalization of marijuana at the local and state level. tell us how it is influencing these markets and whether or not it has led to the increase in heroin in our country and if it's shifted the focus away from marijuana on to -- and now focused on methamphetamine and heroin and other type of drugs? >> i think it goes to the market genius of the cartels in particular. they've seen and i do believe they've seen the spread of prescription drug abuse and know at some point that availability does cease thus begins that long road to heroin. and we have seen that across the

country. so i believe it's as much as it was 10 years ago when we were battling methamphetamine. with the help of congress, we were able to legislate the preoccursors out and we see a drastic reduction in the amount of domestic laboratories. the cartels recognize that there still was a tremendous did he addiction issue. they were able to produce methamphetamine and provide that to the areas in which previously had been supported domestically. as i look at this problem sir, i think it truly is battling the new face of organized crime and i'm so glad the committee recognized what's been troubling me for a while is the connection between domestic street gangs and the cartels. it truly is the new face of

organized crime as i see it in this country and law enforcement needs to be fluid enough to adapt and attack that relationship, because by doing that, we can solve violence on the street but at the same time, attack the organizations that are responsible for all the drugs. mr. sensenbrenner: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from idaho, mr. labrador. mr. labrador: i thank all the witnesses for being here today and your important testimony in the rise of heroin use across the united states. one area in particular concern that i have and i would like to address, if the expanded population of heroin users. mr. riley, in your written testimony, you mentioned in 201 169,000 people over the age of 12 used heroin for the first time with the average age at around 25 years old. you also cited data and of those

initiate -- 86% of them were prior prescription drug users. your agency is developing a task force to confront the use abuse and trafficking of heroin in america, what is being done to address the rising addiction from prescription drugs? >> i think what we are doing today is important. awareness is really important. prior to leaving chicago i attended a meeting about two years before i departed and there was about 100 scornse people in the room. i attended that same meeting and there were 1,000 people concerned. and many of them were parents. and strikes me most many of these parents had no idea their kids and talking high school aged kids were involved in prescription drug abuse, which led to heroin. and many of them didn't find out

until they were on their way to the emergency room. law enforcement attacking the organization is crucial and that's what we do around the clock and we are doing great work. but the awareness of everybody in the community to this issue is really going to strengthen us as we go after these organizations. so when we look across the board, parents educators community leaders faith-based practitioners, everybody plays a role. while we'll do our job going after the bad guys, we can't do it alone. we need the help of everybody especially parents. mr. labrador: many of these users are receiving prescription drugs through legitimate means leading to an increase in usage. what does the agency propose for addressing the fundamental problem of addiction? >> we are working with a variety of different agencies to try to get the word out.

one of the problems we faced and again awareness issue today's heroin on the issue is being smoked and snorted initially. so initially garners the fear of aids or hepatitis because of a needle. we are seeing younger people try heroin almost as a recreational drug. the statistics show that they eventually will go to needle use, but it does have a lot to do with why we are seeing younger and younger addicts. >> to your point focusing on the prescription drug problem is a top priority. and we really need to rein in prescription medication and we have proposed continuing medical education education for every prescriber and make sure not to have the pend you -- pend due

lum swing the other way. we know that about 70% of people who start misusing them are getting them free from friends and family. we need to get the drugs out of people's homes become equally important. we have vr monitoring programs that allow physicians to check data bases to see if someone is going from doctor to doctor as well as law enforcement responses. and we just got briefed by the d.e.a. in terms of a huge takedown in terms of bad doctors and bad practices in the south. so we know that this needs a response. mr. labrador: you mentioned the need for snting reforms to address low-level nonviolent offenders with no alternative

for addressing their problems. and have resulted in wasting valuable resources, what is the best alternative for addressing addiction and the cost of drug abuse giving your experience where drug abuse is pervasive within the culture? >> i have been doing this for many many years sir. and you know, it always comes down to resources and monies for drug treatments and what we see over and over, same people in and out in and out without appropriate resources new mexico is one of the -- is one of the poorer states. we don't have the tax base to provide services. but a program that it is pre-arrest and pre-booking that can show us to save money and go

into treatment that these individuals need because that's where it's at. someone who is in the cycle addiction, they need as much support as possible and we are transferring resources from the back end to the front end to help them and keep them out of the system. mr. sensenbrenner: the time of the gentleman has expired. this concludes today's hearing and thanks to our witnesses for attending. without objection all members may have five legislative days to submit additional questions for the witnesses and additional materials for the record. and without objection, the hearing is adjourned. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> we are wrapping up a live hearing here on c-span 1. the house is in session today. a break in the house now as members prepare for legislative

work later this afternoon. they're coming back in at noonan little more than half an hour at now. congressional approval for all executive regulations deemed to have an economic impact of $100 million. the rule for this bill limits access to the house floor during pope francis' speech to congress and that's scheduled for september 24. we'll have more live coverage of the house when members return again at noon eastern here on c-span. to take us up to the noon hour, a look at this morning's "washington journal" and we looked at the highway and mass transportation bill now working its way through congress. es. host: we are back with ray lahood former transportation secretary, who served seven terms in the house and is the cochair of building america's future.

let's talk about the highway debate between the senate and the house. do you like what the senate is doing? they have a six-year bill. they will not fund it by raising the gas tax. guest: i like the fact that there is real bipartisanship between senator in half and senator -- between senator in hofe and senator boxer. this is the same thing that happened when she was the chair. this is the bipartisan part of it that i think is a good signal. transportation has always been bipartisan. there are no republican or democratic bridges or roads. this is about what we can do for our friends and neighbors around the country in terms of putting them to work and filling potholes and fixing roads and bridges. i prefer a six-year, fully funded bill.

i prefer raising the gas tax. it has not been raised in 20 years. but the idea that the senate has come together and is working together, i think it is a very strong signal. it is a good signal. host: "the wall street journal" editorial board way in this morning. they said it would really keep the status quo, that it would increase funding by 76 billion dollars above current law, 3% per year. politicians in washington will still pick winner and loser states, as they have since eisenhower. the bike trails, scenic overlooks, and trolley cars that consumed $.25 on the dollar since 2014 will proceed as scheduled. guest: i would prefer a $500 billion bill over six years. i think that sends a strong signal, but we are where we are. the idea that senator infhofe and

senator boxer and people on the ep w committee, in both parties, have come together. it is a little bit of congress. it is not everything i would want, but it is progress. we should be applauding them for doing that and encouraging the house to take a close look at it. host: is that how it works, though? federal politicians in washington get to choose winner and loser states for transportation funding? guest: the wall street journal does not have it quite right. this bill is a bill that really reflects what needs to be done around america. we need to fix up the interstate system, which is crumbling. we need to fix a lot of bridges many of which are in a state of bad repair, one of which here in washington, the bridge that leads to arlington cemetery, is about falling down. there are a lot of bridges like

that. there are plenty of roads and bridges all over america without any politician picking them, and really then it is up to the governor's and people in the states to make those decisions. in the era of no earmarks, the idea of picking and choosing does not really exist. the idea of saying to states here is the amount of money that is going to be allocated to you and then there are also opportunities for other funding. host: "the wall street journal" says "the virtue of gas taxes is user paid, user benefit. if the taxes become less of a proxy, prioritize federal highway money for the most urgent national needs and evolve more power to the states and cities, which can use tolls and their own fuel levies to lay asphalt." guest: a lot has not been happening in washington.

14 states in the last year raised their own gas tax. almost all of them were controlled by republicans. conservative states like utah raise their own gas tax five cents a gallon so they could fix up their roads. in the absence of any leadership in washington, d.c., in the absence of any major transportation bill, wyoming raised their own gas tax. is it easy? of course not. it is hard for politicians to raise the tax, but the one thing they know is when they do that, the constituents they represent realize that potholes are going to be filled, roads are going to be fixed, bridges are going to be fixed, and people see their friends and neighbors doing the work. the money does not stay in washington. it does not go in some politician's pocket, it goes back to the states. people in the states see progress, and that is the reason there is not that much heart and about the idea of raising the

gas tax. host: you served as a republican from illinois and the congress dealing with transportation issues while you were there, served as the transportation secretary for the obama administration. why is the transportation department needed when some republicans get the federal government out of it, that it should go to the states. why do you say the transportation department -- guest: this idea of devolution which is what you're talking about, where you give the money back to the states and they have at it, we would not have a national program. we would not have an interstate system because really when eisenhower signed the interstate ill, there were some governors if you look -- the interstate bill, there were some governors if you look at it that said we are not going to have an interstate through our state. here we are 50 years later with an interstate system because we

have national priorities because we set that as a priority. there are is not enough money in the states to fix of the bridges that need to be fixed up. these range projects are very expensive, in the neighborhood of $50 million to $100 million to fix up a bridge, rather than -- not to mention building a new one, which is very, very expensive. states left to their own simply would not have the resources to do it. they really would not. and we would not have the national priorities for safety safe roads, safe bridges standards that may be some states simply would not adopt. host: what about competitiveness with other countries? anybody that's been to china or asia or south america knows that high-speed rail, new highways, new roads. every time you go to china there is a new high-speed rail line. why?

because the national government has set that as a priority. you build it, they will come. you build it it you develop economic opportunities. and people go to work building this kind of infrastructure. we are being out-cpmompeted by every place in the world. that's why companies are moving to those places. they have good infrastructure. they have good roads. they have good bridges. you build infrastructure, you build economic opportunities. a road becomes an economic corridor. look at how many jobs have been created by the interstate system. they are small businesses. they all employ people. that is what a road or corridor does. infrastructure is a win-win for america. for the people who do the work, for the people who benefit from

the roads, for the jobs that are created once it is in place. this is kind of a no-brainer. if we want to jumpstart the economy, the largest segment of unemployment in america right now is in the building area. these are the people out of work. because there is nothing happening. there is no transportation bill. the highway trust fund is broke. so nothing is happening and a lot of people are out of work. here we are at the end of july. right in the middle of construction season. not much happening in america because we don't have a road program. we don't have a highway program. and the highway trust fund is broke. gas taxes have not been raised for 20 years. you can't think of another thing in america -- a dozen eggs, a gallonwould it be ok if you took off his shirt, because he is jerking off right now -- host: ok.

another caller. caller: good morning. i have written my congressman and my senator and i do not believe that when you raise the gas tax at the federal level. the big project. that is just one of hundreds. it first came in at $2 billion. that hole in the ground in massachusetts. it went out with cost overrun at $22 billion. the money was siphoned off. it is nothing but corruption. kennedy was alive. then when they opened it up, the ceiling fell in because they used garbage up there and it a woman. remember that? we don't trust the people in the

federal government anymore. i was drafted during vietnam and i was a policeman for 25 years and retired. i can tell you this. we have the most corrupt government in the whole entire world right now. until you straighten out, that is why the people don't trust anymore. host: ok. guest: will thank you for your service as a 25 year policeman. we appreciate the work you did. i don't agree with you. i don't think our government is corrupt. i think the big dig was a huge cost overrun. it is inexcusable that that project cost so much money. i'm proud of the work that we did at d.o.t. while i was secretary. we funded a lot of projects that kept a close eye on them and major they were done correctly.

i worked with mayors and governors all over the country. who are people that really want to get things done. and really innovate in infrastructure. but i take your point. that project was a huge cost overrun. host: jim in florida, a republican. caller: the previous caller stole my thunder. i was also going to raise the issue of the big dig. the last four governors of illinois have gone to prison for corruption. republicans used to stand for conservative fiscal policy. this is the old concept of just spend and spend our way out of economic woes and problems.

we have an $18 trillion debt, mr. lahood. your grandchildren's grandchildren couldn't pay that thing off. host: ok jim. let's get a response. caller: i served in congress for 14 years. i am proud to say we passed two six-year bills and fully funded them during that time. speaker gingrich was the speaker and i was part of the majority party. we passed three balanced budgets. though clinton was in the white house. -- clinton was in the white house. we passed major legislation very competence of transportation bills, and balanced the budget at the same time. people in washington can do those things and i think there are people who want to do that. host: how was it funded? caller:guest: the two bills that we

passed were funded primarily by the gas tax. it had been raised in 93 and i was elected in 94. under president clinton's first administration, the gas tax was raised $.18 a gallon. during president reagan's administration, they raised the gas tax five cents a gallon. he was a pretty conservative fella. he saw the need for resources and that is what we need today. we to say the highway trust fund is broke and there is no money there. and it has done a good job helping to build an interstate system and some pretty magnificent infrastructure in our country, which now is crumbling pretty badly. host: beyond raising the gas

tax, how do you pay for the highway fund? guest: there are a number of other things that can come into play. a lot of states have raised their own gas taxes. some in very conservative states. a lot of states are doing tolling. i'm from illinois. i still have a home there. we have done a lot of tolling around o'hare airport. in northern virginia, tolling is -- has come into play in order to build roles. that is one way. public-private partnerships. when i was in d.o.t., we funded the silver line here. that was a public-private partnership. not totally funded by the government, but funded by private funds. public-private partnerships,

tolling -- there are people around the world that want to invest in infrastructure, too. you have these investment bankers that are looking at infrastructure as ways to invest. we don't say it is all through the gas tax. you have to have other resources. host: john, a democrat in michigan. caller: good morning. i drove over the road 22 years. the last truck company, i drove with them for 15. never had a ticket. guest: congratulations. caller: the only way to do is to raise the gas tax. because we were reporting miles and you guys up in washington -- the drug company was paying the

mile maker. they were stuffing them up 22% out-of-pocket. so the easiest way is just to go ahead and raise the fuel tax. most people don't realize. a couple of cents at the pump and we don't have to worry about the roads. host: is that true? guest: well, not really. we need a pretty big chunk of money right now. the infrastructure in america is really really in bad shape. there is a list of bridges at d.o.t. that are in a state of bad repair that need funding. these are very very costly projects. the bridge that leads to arlington cemetery is in a state of bad repair and it costs millions of dollars to fix that bridge alone. we know that the interstate system is now 50 years old.

it needs to be fixed up. there are roads all over america that need repair. we are talking billions of dollars. $.10 a gallon, i would say $.10 a gallon and index it. if the gas tax had been indexed in 1993 to the cost of living we wouldn't have a problem. the truth is gas taxes are pretty low right now. in some places they are below three dollars a gallon. host: do you that happening in this congress? guest: i don't. i am not optimistic and it is very difficult for politicians to raise taxes. host: and independent in san diego. you're next. caller: good morning. i have been in this city for 42 years and i own my own business

for 25 of those years. and i traveled as a salesman all those years. i think san diego has done a terrific job with their roads. maybe there is one exception i would complain about, the toll road from san diego to chula vista that was originally paid for by a company i believe out of australia. you could count the cars on that and i have used it. i had one of those easyz passes and i used it frequently. i am probably one half of 1% of the people that use that road. it was so bad and so underused that it had to be taken over by the state and i don't know how much money we had to pay for that. and secondly, i'm going to ask a few things and then i'm going to hang up. if there is 100 million people in the united states that are on government subsidies of some kind, how is any increase in test tax going to help those

people? and i noticed, mr. lahood how you brushed off the big dig as a big mistake. that was an enormous mistake. and, i mean, that set the highway trust fund back years. host: ok. we will take those points. what does raising the gas tax due to lower income americans who are already struggling? guest: if we raise the gas tax we have the ability to put together a comprehensive bill. there are a lot of people in america that use mass transit. think of the people here in washington, d.c. that use the metro system. it is true all over america. if you have a good transportation program, it is not just for roads and bridges. it is for people who don't want

to own an automobile or can't afford one. but still late to get to work and get to the doctor and get their kids to school. and they need mass transit. that is part of a comprehensive transportation program. you can't have that unless you have the resources and we don't have the resources right now. that's why the senate is struggling. they put together a six-year bill but only funded it for three years because the resources aren't there because the highway trust fund is broke and we need to replenish it. host: what you make of the senate last night attaching reauthorization of the export import bank onto the highway bill? guest: i am a big supporter of the export import bank. if i were serving, i certainly would be supporting that. it was a commitment that the senate majority leader made to people in the senate who support the export import bank. a way to revive it.

frankly, that is laying dormant right now because it ran out of its authorization. so the senate majority leader said that there would be a vote on it and obviously there is support for it in the senate. it is a way to get that organization up and running again. obviously it passed. host: what happens at the end of this week? the house says they are not going to take the six-year bill. the senate says they are going to pass it before the recess. let's say they didn't come together before the august recess and the funding runs out. how does the transportation department and the federal highway at ministration respond? guest: i don't think that will happen. as a former staffer of 17 years i think there is a lot of discussion going on between the speaker staff and majority leader staff about putting

together an extension similar to what the house passed. before everybody leaves here on thursday, there will be something.

caller: i am retired as of a couple years now. i was a telik medications engineer. you are correct as -- telecommunications engineer. the department of transportation has basically failed because if they hadn't failed, all of these things wouldn't the in such disarray and horrible conditions and we wouldn't be out of money if it was a true trust fund.

it wouldn't have been rated in order to buy votes. the american pack taxpayer pretty much gets screwed. i think they should fire everybody because when i worked if you didn't take care of business you didn't have a job and it should be that way for the government and everyone else. host: ok. do you have a response to what she had to say about congress and how they work? guest: when i served in congress , we passed to six-year bills. they were good bills. they really put people to work and kept our infrastructure in a state of good repair. i think that is what we need to get back to. host: here is a tweet from one of our viewers who says, you were part of the obama administration, so please explain were all of the stimulus money promised to fix crumbling roads went? guest: we got $48 billion at d.o.t. as part of the $870

billion. within two years, we spent $26 billion on roads and bridges. $8 billion to begin to implement high-speed rail. $8 billion for transit. a billion and a half to start the tiger program which funds projects in cities. $1 billion for airports. that money was spent in two years. host: not enough? guest: of course not. no earmarks, no boondoggles, no sweetheart deals. we did it the right way. put a lot of people to work. host: there is a story in the new york times today. more fees propel airlines's profits and embittered travelers. profit margins for add-ons could be as high as 80%. this is how the airlines are making their profits.

by charging for these add-ons. what do you make of that? guest: i think the fact that energy costs have come down so dramatically, that has been a boon to the airline industry. one of the biggest costs other than buying airplanes for the airline industry obviously is the jet fuel that they buy. as these costs have come down, it has been a tremendous boon to the industry. obviously, charging for a pillow or a meal or a better seat is a great source of irritation. but these are private companies. they have a bottom line to meet. they have a board of directors they have to report to. they have figured out ways to make money. the main reason they are doing so well financially is because their energy costs have come down so dramatically. because gas prices have fallen and the price of a barrel of oil

has gone way down. host: suzy in california independent. you are next. caller: hello. i have a question, but first i want to say shovel ready, shovel ready, shovel ready in 2009, $1 trillion stimulus, about two years later, president obama yucking it up about how shovel ready wasn't shovel ready. i am always on the side of the taxpayer and i wish that every time a politician asked for a tax raise that the whole of america would say, not until you stop disrespecting our tax money. do not disrespect the hard-working taxpayer's tax money. the question is, do you think if a republican president had sat and left with jeff inimill

over a trillion dollars, with a have gotten away with that? guest: um. of the $870 billion from the economic stimulus bill that congress passed within the first 30 days of president obama's first term, we got $48 billion. we spent it all correctly. we put a lot of people to work. we show that when you invest in infrastructure you invest in the american people and provide jobs. so i make no apologies for that. i am proud of the work we did. and we proved that we could put people to work and jumpstart that segment of the economy. as i said earlier, even republican presidents like president reagan raised the gas tax five cents a gallon. because he was a former governor, he saw the need for infrastructure and saw the need

for the kind of resources that were needed. that's the kind of leadership we need today. host: paul in north carolina, a democrat. caller: good morning. i would just like to comment on the fact that we live in one of the highest taxed states in the union. like a lot of other states, they are always broke. no matter how many taxes they put on us, there always broke. they start the lottery a couple years later. they have no money for the highway fund except to help the developers. they build major bridges across the island's so that developers from the north and south can come here and to develop violence and so forth. that they should be developing to start with. even on the lakes they do it. they have all the money to build an entrance into a huge store somewhere, but they can't fix a dangerous intersection out in the community. and they are always broke.

we have a bridge down here on the interstate they have been working on for like two and a half years with stimulus money supposedly. it is nothing more than an advertisement for the realtors to sell the mountains off to people that live a broad and are ruining it for the locals. there are lobbyists pushing down in raleigh to get funds for projects to help develop which is actually destroying our state because we don't have any jobs anymore because they were all off short to china. -- offshored to china. guest: obviously you have a disagreement with the way that your tax dollars are being spent. that is why we have elections, to elect people that are responsive to the people that they serve. host: scott in maine.

an independent caller. caller: back when the stimulus thing was going to rebuild bridges and highways. -- for this fella that is on right now, wanting to raise taxes another quarter on gas. gas is cheap right now because of all the fracking and whatnot. people are catching on to fracking. so gas ain't going to be cheap forever. that quarter you are talking about is just going to add to the burden of people who already have low income jobs and are having a hard time getting the -- you need to stop taxing people. you need to get the congress and the senate together to get rid of half of them or most of them and get some real people in there that are serious about doing something. host: all right, secretary lahood. guest: i am proposing not a

quarter but a $.10 increase. host: so about $.28. guest: that's right. host: a couple of callers have mentioned the safety issues. we had one caller from connecticut saying people were losing their lives almost daily in connecticut on the highway system spirit what is going on with the safety of this country's infrastructure? host:guest: the current administration has placed a very high value on safety. we worked very closely with organizations that promoted bus safety and truck safety and safety on the roads. we have had a whole campaign against distracted driving. texting while driving, which

people weren't even talking about when we came into office. now we have almost 50 states that have passed laws against it. safety is always the number one priority for the department of transportation. i believe it is today. i believe the statement that secretary fox just made in the last few days about safety with respect to the fine that was leveled against fiat for the jeeps that have gas tanks that are troubling and chrysler has also talked about -- they're going to buy back their dodge ram trucks. the largest fine ever leveled against a car company was leveled by secretary fox all around the idea of safety. so nobody is going to take a back seat to safety when it comes to the dot and i'm glad that secretary fox has really stepped up yo.

host: what do you think having a fine or penalty that could exceed one billion -- guest: i think it sends a message to consumers that there is a group in washington at the dot that takes safety as its highest priority. there is somebody looking out for consumers. that is what this message is about. that car manufacturers and anybody involved in the production of automobiles needs to recognize that safety has to be their number one priority. it certainly is at dot and i applaud secretary fox and his entire team for what they have done in the last few days. host: what do you make of the stories about cars, because of the computer systems, that are vulnerable to hackers? what do you make of the future of cars and technology? guest: i think that obviously they are going to have to be

smart people that figure out ways to prohibit hackers from hacking into automobile computers. and the chips that go into those automobiles. i'm sure there are smart people trying to figure that out in the industry right now. host: we will go to randy in texas, a republican. you are on the air with ray lahood. go ahead. caller: good morning mr. lahood. my question is, every year you have to have your car inspected and registered and i was wondering -- that inspection cost in texas is $15 and the average registration is $55. i know it is a lot higher than that for 18 will trucks. i'm wondering where that money goes. guest:

the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. lord, our gord, thank you for giving us another day. be with the members of this people's house and all their undertakings today. you know them through and through. you know how they relate to one another and know them as the american people do as the 114th congress of the united states