flow into the iranian economy. it is expected that much of this wind fall, estimated to exceed $100 billion, will pass through iran's economy to entities like hezbollah, which has dedicated itself to war with israel since the early 1980's. mr. royce, your discussion with the chairman makes it clear. a wealthier, more militarized iran poses a significant threat to the stability of our allies in the region. especially to our friend israel. given the ayatollah's continued public incitement of violence against israel, what steps can congress take in tandem with these approval of the joint agreement to bolster israel's security and stability in the middle east? >> well, representative foxx, let me share with you my concerns in terms of what i saw

close on the basis of iran's transfer. mr. royce: on the basis of iran's transfer of military capability to hezbollah. in 2016 when i was chairman of the -- 2006 when i was chairman of the terrorist subcommittee, anti-terrorism subcommittee, we were in haifa when it was being shelled. by the hezbollah regime. and at that point forces were on the ground. iranian forces were assisting. they maybe had 10,000 rockets and missiles in the inventory. in haifa they were slamming these missiles, each one had 90,000 ball bearings, into the center of town. there were 600 victims in the trauma hospital. so when we talk about how are we going to prevent iran from building on the tragedy that we've already witnessed, the first question is this -- we've already shown an incapacity to stop iran from transferring what was 10,000 rockets and now

is 80,000. but this is the recent statement that the iranian government has made. they now say, what we need to do is to transfer, and this would be a violation, right, of the old arms embargo, but it's one of the reasons they wanted that lifted, they want to transfer to hezbollah the g.p.s. capability or the ability to direct these missiles so that they can be fired precisely at a given target. no longer will they just slam into the center of town, now they can hit the airport, or they can hit a skyscraper in tel aviv, or they can hit jerusalem at a specific location. that's the capability the iranian regime is trying to transfer. it's hard to do it when you don't have the resources but if you have $100 billion worth of money that's held in escrow and that goes into the hands of the irgc, then they're going to have that capability.

they've also -- it was reported in the "wall street journal," iran is looking to rebuild the tunnels. now myself and eliot engel were in one of those tunnel, there were 33 of them that have been discovered. they need to be rebuilt apparently in the eyes of the ir grmbings c in iran. so -- irgc in iran, so that government is offering to rebuild those tunnels for hamas, resupply hamas with eapons and the question i have is, in the middle of this negotiation you have the head personally who led a raid into israel, who helped overthrow the government in yemen, one of our allies, who has led forces in syria and in iraq, who has killed 500 americans, this individual to tedly made a trip over russia. i wonder what he wanted.

when one of the things we know he wants is greater capability in offensive weaponry, missiles and otherwise, and now the russians are talking about sending to iran new missiles. those are the types of weapons that iran would like to put in the hands of hezbollah and now that they're in syria, by the way, they're on the border and recently iran has been charged with firing missiles from syria into israel. so what i see here is a need to really focus on the fact that this trauverage of cash into the hands of these military leaders in iran, and these forces on the ground that help hezbollah, is going to give them the opportunity to open up in very short order a new front, so if this goes through and the sanctions are lifted and the arms embargo is lifted, these are the worries i think we have. but by the way, it's not just israel, i'll just reprinald

you. our friends in the region -- remind you. our friends in the region, it wasn't just yemen who fell. jordan has concerns, the gulf states have concerns, ejiment has to live with all the money live with t has to all the money that iran puts into the muslim brotherhood. think of where this money is going to go and how many of our friends and allies are going to be threatened as a result. ms. foxx: mr. chairman, i know we are spending a lot of time here today and i ask one more quick question, if i might. the administration has assured us that some u.s. sanctions will remain in place like those related to iran's deplorable human rights violations. in your view, mr. royce, how effective will these remaining sanctions be in altering iran's behavior? mr. royce: think about this, if you will. members of the rules committee. iran takes the lives of about 2,500 of its citizens every year, you hear about the cases

of the torture and the kiltings -- killings. those are the individuals who have views, religious views, that differ from the regime. think about the four americans that have been held by iran and the fact that they're not released. so we had one measure of leverage besides the drop in the price of oil. and that was the sanctions that we were holding on iran. that gave us, if we were to double down on the sanction, and make it harder on iran, that gave us our best hope of changing the behavior of that regime. who now will be empowered? when we lift the sanctions? as i said before, who controls in iran the bank accounts? theirs is not a frue economy. the ayatollahs a -- free economy. the ayatollahs, the clerics and the commanders of the irgc, of their military, are the ones that control the major companies, because, after the 1979 revolution they were therefored to those

individuals. so -- thfered to those individuals -- transferred to those individuals, so as the money goes through society, they're the ones with the leverage. up until now iran has been on the ropes. now lift the sanctions and those individuals will be empowered and unfortunately they're true believers in terms of their cause. when they say death to america, when they say death to israel, and you saw rouhani himself marching in the street, well, this is a story that "the new york times" carried. they said, the crowd behind him were saying death to america. the signs in front of him, death to israel. they quote rouhani and they ask him, how does the future look, he says, with this deal, the future looks very bright. wouldn't it have been better if we at least had got them to change their rhetoric? terms of their threats -- rhetoric in terms of their threats? talk about telegraphing a punch. the iranian regime has been very clear in terms of its

objectives since 1979 and the neighboring countries can attest to the fact that they're not only destabilizing the region, they have very real designs on what they would like to do in those neighborhoods in terms of sewing terror and they proved they can do it whenever they can get their hands on hard currency. they're going to have a lot more hard currency, unfortunately, if this deal goes through. ms. foxx: thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. ms. slaughter, you're recognized. ms. slaughter: thank you, madam chairman. i would like to ask unanimous consent to insert in the record the statement ofed a straveg policy. ms. foxx: without objection. ms. slaughter: thank you. and i'd like to read from it and let the administration speak for itself here this afternoon. the administration strongly opposes, as we all know, the -- and it just talks about who is in the p-5 plus one, it would effectively block the international community from peacefully and verifiably preventing iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, would allow

for the resumption of the unconstrained and unchecked iranian nuclear program, and would lead to the unraveling of the international sanctions regime that was sustained because the administration sought to diplomatically resolve concerns regarding iran's nuclear program. further, enactment of this resolution would deal a devastating employee to america's credibility -- blow to america's credibility and could ultimately result in the exhaustion of alternatives to military action. if this resolution were enacted, the hard work of sustaining a unified coalition, to combat iran's destabilizing activities in the region, would be much more difficult, as would america's ability to lead the world on nuclear nonproliferation. preventing iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon has been a top priority of the united states and the administration. it's been the long standing policy to retain all options to achieve that objective, include possible military options.

at the same time, the administration has worked diligently with the congress and our international partners to achieve a peaceful, diplomatic solution, recognizing that a negotiated understanding offers a more effective, a verifiable and resolution. jcpoa achieves this by reinforcing the prohibition against iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. a verifiably cutting off all of iran's potential pathways to a nuclear weapon and instituting the most comprehensive inspections and verification regime ever negotiated to monitor a nuclear program. the jcpoa makes the united states and the world safer by removing the gravest threat that iran could pose to the middle east, including israel and our gulf partners. the jcpoa will verifiably cut off iran's ability to pursue a nuclear weapon through iranian enrichment, through a plutonium

pathway, or through a potential covert plan. iran is bound under the treaty of the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons to never seek a nuclear weapon and jcpoa provides the tool tones sure that iran cannot use a peaceful program as a cover to pursue a nuclear weapon. jcpoa is not based on trust, but on an unprecedented inspections monitoring and transparency regime. under the jcpoa there will be 24/7 monitoring of iran's key nuclear facilities. inspectors will be able to get timely access to the places they need to go for inspections or iran will be in violation of e jcpoa and risk the re-imposition of sanctions. which, let me add, would probably only be possible if we have this treaty or this agreement, rather. and because the other nations in this agreement would not go along with re-instating

sanctions and they have said so. for decades the inspectors will have access to iran's entire nuclear supply chain from the uranium mines and mills to the centrifuge facilities. this means in order for iran to covertly acquire a nuclear weapon, it would need to build an entirely separate undetected nuclear supply chain. the jcpoa also facilitating the agency's ability to complete its report on the possible military dimensions of iran's pre-2003 program. it also ensures that iran has powerful incentives to keep its nuclear commitment. before getting phased relief from secondary nuclear-related sanctions, iran has to complete all of the major nuclear steps which will extend the amount of time it would take iran to acquire enough fizzle material for one weapon from the current two to three months to at least a year. for example, the core of iran's

heavy water reactor at iraq will be pulled out and filled with concrete, rendering it unable to produce plutonium that could be used for a weapon. 2/3 of its nearly 20,000 currently installed centrifuges will be removed, its current stockpile of enriched uranium will be reduced by 9 % and it must put in place the monitoring surveillance and access measures that will ensure the ability to verify thates nuclear program is used exclusively for peaceful purposes going forward. f iran fails to abide by jcpoa commitments, all relieved sanctions, both unilateral and multilateral, can snap back into place. the administration's fully committed to continuing to brief and closely consult the congress as we work with our international partners to ensure successful implementation of the jcpoa. as we address our concerns with iran's nuclear program, the

administration remains clear-eyed and shares the deep concerns of the congress and the american people about iran's support for terrorism. its destabilizing role in the region, its human rights abuses. and that is why we will continue to vigorously enforce our sanctions against these activities and work closely our partners in the region to counter them. using a range of unilateral and multilateral tools. the jcpoa must be assessed by what it achieves on its central goal of preventing iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. the administration urges the congress to fully consider the stakes for our national security of walking away from the international community. without the jcpoa in place, iran would likely resume the advancement of its nuclear program that any of the constraints or transparency required by this deal and without the international unity of our sanctions regime, which

would be the worst of all possible worlds, leaving us in a position of weakness, not strength. the president's made it clear that he will veto any legislation that prevents the successful implementation of the jcpoa, if the president were presented with h.j.res. 64 he would veto the resolution. and i yield back the balance of my time. ms. foxx: thank you very much. mr. cole, you're recognized. mr. cole: thank you, madam chairman. i want to begin by thanking both our distinguished members for being here. particularly want to thank the chairman who i think has been exceptionally articulate and astute and the discussion that we've had. and i also want to posite a couple of things up front. first, i don't question anybody's motives in this debate. i really don't. quite frankly, on the president's side, look, about two out of every three people that have an opinion in the country are against this deal. and most americans think, i saw

another poll today, that if a majority of congress disapproves, as it likely will, that the president shouldn't veto that. so -- and, you know, from the president's standpoint, the future democratic leader in the senate is opposed to this deal. chairman democratic of the senate foreign relations committee is opposed to this deal. i believe both the current ranking members of the senate and the house foreign affairs committee, both democrats obviously are opposed to this deal. so if you're willing to push ahead under that, then you certainly must believe in the deal. so i don't have any doubt the president believes in what he's doing. i don't have any doubt the secretary believes in what he's doing. i also want to posit the same thing's true on the other side. we've heard a lot of rhetoric out of the white house that republican opposition is simply partisan obstructionism.

they're saying -- they were singing a little different tune six weeks ago when the trade promotion authority got passed overwhelmingly by republican vote to give the president what at that point had been his biggest foreign policy victory of the year. and frankly if he negotiates successfully deals and trans-pacific partnership and the equivalent agreement with our european friends, it will be overwhelmingly republican votes that pass if a thank if he chooses to submit an agreement. so to suggest republicans aren't willing to support the president simply because there's a partisan difference is wrong. i think actually they've demonstrated -- or isn't correct. they've demonstrated repeatedly their willingness to support it if they think he's right. which i assume is true for our democratic members who opposed him on the trade issue, because they thought he was wrong. i don't doubt their motives. but they didn't support the president for partisan reasons. i would hope they'd grant we're not opposing him today for partisan reasons. there are a lot of things about

this agreement that caused me a great deal of concern. mr. chairman, i want to address my first question to you. there have been all sorts of news reports about seek red side deals between -- secret side deals between iran and the iaea. have those agreements been fully disclosed to the committee or to the country, does the administration even have detailed knowledge about those agreements? mr. royce: i have asked for those agreements in writing. the two side agreements. and, no, we have not received them. mr. cole: in your opinion, could those agreements materially impact whether or not this is a good agreement or not? mr. royce: if we go to the issue of self-inspections, i had always presumed that international inspectors would be doing the international inspections. erosion of the

original concept of anywhere, any time inspections, to first 24 hours and then, as michael hayden, former head of the c.i.a., explained, into a position where it becomes a political decision, not a technical one, in which iran has a say, russia has a say, china has a say in terms of cess, i think a debate about that mechanism for verification is one that could have an impact upon members' decisions about whether or not this will be effective in preventing iran from obtaining a weapon. mr. cole: is there any reason to believe that the international atomic energy agency or the iranian government would make these agreements public so we would all know what the nature of the inspection regime is, you know, who can come, who can't come,

under what conditions? mr. royce: this is why i wrote to the white house asking that they be made public and i don't see any reason why they shouldn't be. so that they can be part of this debate. mr. cole: do you know if the administration has asked the international atomic energy agency and the iranian government to make them public? mr. royce: i do not know the answer to that. i would certainly hope that they would. and if they haven't to this point, that they do. mr. cole: let me move to another part of the agreement that we know a little bit more about. and that's the easing of sanctions in terms of the financial windfall that will come to the iranian regime. as i understood it, when we initially announced and the president initially announced our objectives in the negotiations, things were supposed to be linked so that as confidence was accumulated, that the iranians were keeping their word, sanctions would be gradually eased. there would be a sort of process of quid pro quo as that unfolded. is that indeed the nature of the agreement today?

mr. royce: i think one of the things we ran into is the attitude of the military in iran, which early on boasted that they're not going to give access to their military sites for inspection. that they're not going to have that in their dreams, to quote the irgc leadership. so what evolved was a situation where because we weren't going to achieve the original goals that we sought in terms of -- because it involved into manage access and then this question of a side agreement, iran just held its position and said, no, we want all the sanctions lifted. and the very real question is, how then do you verify that iran is keeping its side of the agreement? as michael hayden said, the worry we always had was not just the facility we might want

to look at but all the facilities where they might be doing additional work that we couldn't gain access to. so we end up with self-inspections on the iranian side of the equation and we end up giving ground in terms of lifting the sanctions without having that verification. so i think it goes right to the conundrum that you point outside, mr. cole. mr. cole: you alluded to this, but can you give us some idea of what the people in the region, the friends and allies of the united states, what's their reaction been? mr. royce: i received a call om the ambassador from the u.a.e. who indicated that their -- no nt was no longer longer felt bound by the agreement which we call the gold standard on

nonproliferation, which the u.a.e. had signed. he indicated to us that, in his your worst enemy has achieved this right to enrich. it's a right to enrich now that your friends are going to want to -- too. and we want be the only country. so i have heard critique of this on an ongoing basis. myself and my ranking member have had lunch with the representative of saudi arabia, we've heard fromed leadership of all five plit -- from the leadership of all five parties in israel from labor, to from center left, from center right, we've heard from the governments in lebanon about their concern. let me just frankly say that as this process went along, we heard concerns from those in the region who feel that iran might become the hedge monday

in that region. especially with the lift of sanctions. we heard their worries about the negotiation. mr. cole: so that would suggest that this could easily ignite an arms race of sorts in the middle east between our friends who feel somewhat abandoned or at least vulnerable. mr. royce: we've much testimony before the committee about those who are concerned, that we had a nonproliferation regime to which now iran has carved out an exception. and what then will be the reaction? we already know the reaction from the united arab emirates from that conversation the ambassador what with -- had with me, but who else will follow down that road? that is why it's very important, when you have a negotiation, to remember that the end goal here is to have something which really could control the right to enrich and

also the verification. mr. cole: one of the things that concern mess about this, and i'll try to be quick -- concerns me about this, and i'll try to be quick, we hear a lot of comparisons between the reagan negotiation with the old soviet union and this one. it strikes me that the key difference was ronald reagan walked out. he said, the deal isn't good enough. and lo and behold, when he a deal later that was good enough. -- we had a deal later that was good enough. unfortunately i think that critical moment was probably in april of this last year, when the deadline for the negotiation was up. and i think had the president said, everybody's negotiated in good faith we just can't agree, we're leaving, but the sanctions of course stay, if you want to change your mind and give us a call, we'll be happy to come back to the table and sit right back with you and see if we can find a way forward, i think that was really a critical error. i think most negotiations i've seen, if you're extending the deadline, you're the guy making the con essentials -- concessions.

mr. royce: i think that was a fundamental errer in judgment. instead, by lifting -- at a time when iran was on the ropes, by lifting sanctions by $700 million a month, that gave iran the breathing room then and the confidence to believe that if they waited this out, maybe they did not need to give concessions. it was not just on that front, but also the transfer of, you know, the gold sales from turkey. there were areas where iran was beginning to test, to see what would we do to prevent iran from busting sanctions? and in a situation like that, if you don't do what ranging -- what reagan did, you know, show your resolve, as he showed his resolve in walking away from the deal, if instead you give in and you start to lift the sanctions and you say, ok, you've got the right to enrich in the meantime, you know, a fair deal would have been to

say, ok, you shut down your enrichment and we'll give you something in return. but ultimately out of that unfortunate situation we lost the pressure for the right to enrich. but it wasn't just that that we lost in the negotiation. because as we went forward, we got rolled on every one of those four issues that i raised and then amazingly, at the 11th hour, russia came to iran's side in this debate and said, by the way, we also want the arms embargo itself lifted on icbm technology as well as regular conventional arms. and they got that in the negotiation. mr. cole: are you aware, this would be speculative, you might not be able to answer definitively, but i appreciate your opinion on it, because it's well informed, were there any gains from april, we signed a deal in july, did the deal somehow get better for us? i can see a number of ways it got better along the way for the iranians but it's very

different from the objectives that the president announced at the beginning of the negotiation. are there areas that we seem to get the upper hand in? any? mr. royce: i did not see areas where i felt we were gaining ground. and this goes to the issue that i and mr. engel and my committee brought up in the prior congress. when we suggested that if we had additional leverage in iran, on iran, if we had passed that legislation which would have cut iran's access, you know, to its financial sector and actually give the ayatollah that tough choice between real compromise on his nuclear program or economic collapse, that that was the leverage we needed. at a time when iran was fighting a real financial problem, with hyperinflation, very high unemployment, the price of oil going down, that was the time to leverage. but the administration did not

want to put that additional leverage on and despite a bipartisan vote of 400-20 in the house, they blocked that legislation in the senate. so i think we lost our opportunity to leverage for what we needed in the agreement. mr. cole: i'm going to yield back time. ms. slaughter: before you yield back, would you yield to me for a second? i think i've got the answer to one ofy your questions. my -- one of your questions. my staff has given this to me. about the question about the side agreements, with iaea. there is no secret side deal hiding loopholes to the nuclear agreement with iran. iran has the same sort of agreements with iaea that the united states has. iran is a party to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, so it has so-called, quote, safeguards agreement, with the iaea that contains among other things verification protocols agreed to by iaea and iran. the iaea has these safeguard

agreements with 180 country, including us. we have one of our own. each one of them are separate. these extremely sensitive agreements, including the u.s.a.'s agreement with iaea, are all confidential because if they were public none of the 180 countries would agree to iaea oversight. if lawmakers from iran asked the iaea to see the safeguards agreement with the united states, the iaea director he did would say no and the same when he told our lawmakers that he could not show them iran's agreement. mr. cole: reclaiming my time. ms. slaughter: thank you for yielding. mr. cole: absolutely. i just would point out, there's a big difference between the united states, which hasn't violated the nonproliferation agreement, and iran, that has repeat lid violated it. that's why there was a negotiation. because they had been in violation repeatedly on this. so the idea that they should

have the same treatment as people that have kept their word and kept the agreement i think is suspect. regardless, at the end of the day, you know, i think it has to be made available because this is all about a country that has repeatedly broken its word and not kept its commitments. so that would suggest you need to have a little extra insurance on our side. ms. slaughter: again, this is an international agreement with the iaea and the 180 countries. ave all ined -- signed on. mr. cole: i didn't say unilaterally. i think the iranian government frankly ought to disclose it. i think the iaea -- in this case, it's a little bit different. this is a country that has broken its agreement, so we're saying, it should have all the privileges under this that everybody has that keeps their word. i'm sorry, i just don't have that kind of confidence in the people in tehran. that's my concern.

let me yield back if i may. but i just want to thank my friend, the chairman, and i want to thank your ranking member as well for the manner in which you both have conducted yourself through this. the hearings. it's been informtific, it's been helpful. to those of us who have not been on your committee. look forward to hearing more in the days ahead. ith that i yield back. mr. burgess: the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: thank you very much. let me say at the outset, i support this deal. i think it's a good deal. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> the house rules committee meeting continues live on c-span3 and c-span.org. here on c-span, back to the house floor for a vote on a bill debated earlier today. rep of the bill. clerk clerk an act to allow manufacturers to meet warranty and labeling products by displaying the terms of

warranties and for other purposes. the court: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. mord. this is a 15-minute vote. fund fund house of representatives house of representatives

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 388, the nays are two. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are rules are suspended, -- the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. memberses will take their conversations off the floor.

for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on transportation and infrastructure be discharged from further consideration of house concurrent resolution 70 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: house concurrent resolution 70, concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the capitol grounds for the district of columbia special olympics, law enforcement torch run. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the consideration of the concurrent resolution?

without objection, so ordered, the concurrent resolution is agreed to. and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on transportation and infrastructure be discharged from further consideration of house concurrent the clerk: concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the capitol grounds for the second annual fallen firefighters congressional flag presentation ceremony. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the concurrent resolution? without objection, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent that

the committee on transportation and infrastructure be discharged from further consideration of house concurrent resolution 74 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: authorizing the use of the capitol grounds for an vent to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the million man march. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the consideration of the concurrent resolution? without objection, and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i be removed as a co-sponsor of h.r. 3412 the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. he house will come to order.

members will take their conversations off the floor. the chair will flow entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> i request unanimous consent to speak out of order. the speaker pro tempore: i ask hat the house come to order. the gentleman is recognized. >> i would ask that the members of the virginia delegation join me here in the well. the speaker pro tempore: so ordered.

he gentleman will suspend. members are advised to take their conversations off the floor. the gentleman is recognized. >> madam speaker, colleagues, along with my fellow members from the commonwealth of virginia i rise on the morning of august 26, we were shaken which a tragic incident in which wbdj jourmists were killed in an eartbreaking violence. and she has recently been discharged from the hospital and continues her recovery. alice son parker was 24 years old and graduated from fartherinsville high school and patrick henry clelling and james

madison university. after she graduated, alice son joined a news team in north carolina before last year landing a job reporting for the morning show where she worked on the news team with adam, a tv station that broadcast into her hometown and adam's hometown. adam ward grew up in our zict. he started attending school in the seventh grade. later playing football for salem high. adam fulfilled another dream by attending virginia tech and a proud member of the hokey nation. they were cheerful, hard-working and much loved members of the wd bmp j family who will continue be to be missed.

our community is grieving. we are asking for comfort and healing. we are focused on their lives and playing for vickie's recovery. i ask my colleagues to join me, my colleagues from the commonwealth in a moment of silent prayer. the speaker pro tempore: the jabts. for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio seek recognition? the gentlelady is recognized. >> i rise this evening to pay tribute to an historic and

former distinguished member of this chamber, congressman louis stokes of cleveland, ohio. congressman stokes passed away on august 18 at the age of 90 with his loving wife of 55 years, jeanette, by his side. on behalf of the people of ohio and the ohio delegation, woy like to express our deep sadness and enduring gratitude for the life of congressman louis stokes. growing up in cleveland and public housing with his brother karl, life was hard. ut lou triumphed to become a voice to the less fortunate. he served three years in the army before using the benefits he earned under the g.i. bill to attend college and law school. e worked closely with the ne crmp p and he argued a case before the you s supreme court.

he served as an ever present voice for people of color and vulnerable communities across this country, playing a role to help found the congressional black caucus in 1971. he was a foundational figure. his leadership was also historic as he was the first african-american member of congress ever elected to represent ohio. lou's resume was chairman of the select committee that investigated the assassinations of president kennedy and martin luther king, chairman of the house ethics committee, member of the house select committee that investigated the iran-contraaffair and serve on the house appropriations committee and chaired its subcommittee on veterans, housing and urban development. a month before his passing, he gave an interview and he said, i was a very blessed guy.

i have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in the opportunities and provide opportunities that in many cases. we stand here today in the footsteps of this historic champion. it is we who have worked along side congressman stokes and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife jeanette, his baffle aughters, angela, shelly, lou, and chuck and seven grandchildren. on behalf of the ohio delegation, i ask that the house observe a moment of silence in mory of former congressman louis stokes. the speaker pro tempore: members will rise for a moment of silence.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: i ask unanimous consent to address the house. ms. ros-lehtinen: this week, we will debate and vote on one of the most consequential national security and foreign policy issues that we have faced in quite sometime, the iran nuclear agreement. this deal allows iran to continue to enrich uranium and keep in place every key aspects of its nuclear programs and provides a lifeline to the iranian regime with billions of dollars which will fund support for terror and other acts of terror. this deal lifts the embargo on iran and lifts sanctions on its

ballistic program and lifts sanctions on the international revolutionary guard corps. this is not a partisan or a political statement. this is the grim reality of the situation. this deal, as it has been presented to the congress and the american people will not prevent iran becoming a nuclear weapons state. it is incumbent upon us to reject this iran nuclear agreement this week. thank you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? without objection. >> i would like to take a minute to join with congresswoman kaptur and congresswoman fudge and congresswoman beatty in honoring the life of congressman stokes. we attended his funeral a few weeks back and i just want to

say there were so many great stories that came about through his passing from his family and grandkids who gave beautiful you'll ogies and stories of their grandfather. when i first got to the united states congress as a young congressman at 29 years old, it was congressman stokes who sat in my office and gave me counsel and was always there and always in a good mood. also joking and playing around and took his job very seriously. took being a member of congress very seriously. but the striking and remarkable thing about him no matter how high up the ladder he moved, he always had time whether it was for a young boy or girl in cleveland or a new congressman from youngstown, he had time, he shared his advice and shared his

counsel and he was such a remarkable man. when you think of the word gentleman, that was congressman louis stokes. he was a gentle man and embodied the kind of character we want our young men to look up to and aspire to be and i wanted to take a minute to thank him for all he did for me and all he did for ohio and this country. he is a great man. he will be missed. and our heart and prayers go out to him and his family. thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. speaker, this

week, the house went against the nuclear arms race in the middle east. the house will vote against mr. putin getting new missiles, iran hits europe, even america, with a nuclear bomb. the house will vote against giving iran 50r billion dollars to hand to isis, hamas, hezbollah and al qaeda al qaeda. the house will vote for american christians held in jails in iran. the house will vote for the survival of our greatest ally, israel. world peace means american leadership. it will be seven years of

america leading from behind. i ask my colleagues to join me in voting for a new american leadership and world peace. vote to disapprove president obama's deal with iran. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> rise to address the house for one minute. >> in the past year, our nation has witnessed an unspeakable tragedy, law enforcement officers. from ferguson to baltimore the individual targeting and murdering of police officers, our nation is at a cross roads. we find ourselves asking when will the rule of law and those who enforce that law once again be respected. how many more violent protests and chapts for those who bravely wear the badge will have to put up with.

how many more taunting will be toller ated before community organizers before those at the levels say enough is enough? when we will hear it is not ok to kill police officers? mr. speaker, my colleagues and i are here tower honor those who have fallen and also to call to an end to of this violence and call for the restoration of law and order and protection of the men and women who put their lives on the line every single day, those who choose a profession to make neighborhoods safer. these are not just police officers, they are mothers, fathers, husbands and wives and sons and daughters. mr. speaker, their matters, too. i yield back. in god we trust. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania

for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i polled my constituentses in pennsylvania's eighth district, one of the true swing districts in this house, shows that they disapprove of the administration's nuclear deal with iran by a 2-1 margin. mr. fitzpatrick: these returns are in line with recent national polls showing that americans as a whole overwhelmingly disapprove of the agreement by a similar account and have every right to. what we've learned about this deal is that it does not go far enough to achieve its ultimate goal. to prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon. in fact, it would allow just that, when it sunsets. in the meantime, any time -anywhere inspections of iran nuclear sites were neutralized to provide up to 24 days' notice prior to any inspection. in addition, this deal precipitates a nuclear arms race in the middle east, a reality we are already seeing as nations like egypt, jordan and saudi arabia have already begun building up their nuclear

infrastructure in response. and the hundreds of billions of dollars in sanctions relief provided by this deal will no doubt be used to fund and further tehran's state sponsorship of terror. a nation that has a nine-figure line item in the budget to support terrorism like attacks that devastated our nation on september 11, 2001. -- 2001, is hard to trust. unfortunately what we have is a bad deal. one that makes an already volatile and unstable middle east less safe, clears the way for a nuclear iran and gravely endangers allies like israel. i urge my colleagues to disapprove it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, one of the issues that i have been most passionate about is stopping the horrific crime of sex trafficking and protecting young victims. earlier this year congress took action and passed a package of bipartisan bills, including one that i authored, aimed at

combating this crime. i said at the time this legislation would save lives. mr. speaker, -- madam speaker, in the short time since these laws have gone into effect, we're already seeing results. recently a provision in the legislation that allowed local law enforcement to coordinate their efforts with the u.s. marshals service was used to help find a kidnapped tennessee teenager. the 14-year-old girl was rescued in virginia and her abductor, a known sex offender, was taken into custody. madam speaker, ending human trafficking requires vigilance and a bipartisan commitment to ensure that children are safe from those wishing to exploit them. the actions we've taken to combat this awful crime are making a difference and saving lives. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: thank you, madam speaker. i rise tonight to honor the accomplishments of ernie pello, a man who dedicated his life

and career to his community of franklin and to his region, housing industry. mr. pello was recently awarded the pennsylvania builders association distinguished achievement award which has only been given to a handful of that organization's members over the past two decades. madam speaker, ernie's a accomplishments are extensive. he's the founder of builder services incorporated and creator of the homebuilders show. he's also received numerous awards including builder of the year in 1996 and the executive office service award from the pennsylvania state senate. perhaps more importantly than all of this, madam speaker, ernie served his nation bravely and since then has participated in more than 1,000 honored guard events. i'm one of the many elected officials who have relied on ernie's advice and support in the area of home construction. i congratulate him on this award and his continued service to his community. thank you, miami, i yield back the balance of my time -- thank you, madam speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for

what purpose does the gentlewoman from tennessee seek recognition? mrs. blackburn: to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam speaker. as you know so well, one of the top issues that people in our districts are discussing is national security. the reason for that is because they are seeing the issues of national security, domestic security played out on their streets. i want to stand with my colleagues who are going to do a special order in just a few minutes to honor the work that our first responders, that our men and women in uniform, are doing every single day to keep our communities safe. a police officer is tasked with not just enforcing the law, which they do, they are also tasked with protecting the community. and often they find themselves with the duty to protect the community from itself. whether that is to stop the

motorist who is driving wrecklessly in a school zone, or having to thrust themselves into the middle of a domestic dispute and to restore order. i will tell you, so many times as i talked to first responders, as i was in my district in the month of august, they said, there is no such thing as a routine stop any longer. they know they face danger. we thank them and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute ks revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: this august the h. canyon facility at the u.s. department of energy savannah river site near akin, south carolina, celebrated 60 years of service. h. canyon is america's only hardened nuclear chemical separations plant still operating and its dedicated staff play a vital role in our

nation's history and in the future. during the world war h. canyon was vital for victory, promoting national defense by peace through strength. today it continues to process nuclear materials safely and securely and delivers fuel to the tennessee valley authority. h. canyon is also a pioneer for the future, developing plutonium-powered batteries for the national aeronautics and space administration, for deep space exploration. we saw the results of this incredible technology this summer, with the historic close range photo graphs of the most remote planet, plupe pluto -- pluto. i am grateful to the h. canyon solutions and their employees for operating this remarkable if a sifment i am also grateful for -- facility. i am also grateful for the president and c.e.o., site manager and the support of the partnering contractors. in conclusion, god bless our troops and may the president, by his actions, never forget september 11 and the global war

on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. lamalfa: thank you, madam speaker. one of the most important votes we'll maybe ever do in this house will happen probably later this week. i'm talking about the iran deal. inkeyed, the original premise of -- indeed, the original premise of the iran nuclear deal is that iran would be a nuclear-free, nonmilitary nuclear zone. that has already been conceded to in the deal we'll be voting on here soon in the house and i guess over in the senate as well. this is going to greatly effect the security of our allies, like our good, solid ally israel, as well as others we do trading with in the middle east. and if you don't think it affects u.s. homeland, then why is the deal including provisions not only after five years for being able to trade arms in the open market for

iran, but for them to have intercontinental blissities mickles within eight years? -- ballistic missiles within eight years? what do you do with them? i guarantee it isn't delivering bouquets to the united states. our security is on the line in this deal. 73% of americans don't even believe that we can strike a deal with iran and have them keep their word. associated press, this is a real kicker, reported here recently that iran would be self-inspecting, self-reporting on the deal. we can put no faith that they will uphold this deal and that they will adhere to any of the provisions in it. we need to vote no on this measure. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. ms. mccollum of minnesota for today -- ms. mccollum of minnesota for today and ms. roybal aa lard of california for today -- ms. roybal-allard of california for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the

gentleman from texas, mr. culberson, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. culberson: thank you, madam speaker. before i begin, i'd ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the topic of my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. culberson: madam speaker, a t friday, august 28, deputy sheriff who plects my neighborhood in houston, was ambushed and brutally murdered at a gas station that my family and i use regularly, that i go drive past every day. this good man was dish knew this good man. he was well known to my neighbors and i. as a model citizen, as a model officer. you could not ask for a kinder, gentler, better law enforcement officer than garne goforth. he was murdered in cold blood, assassinated by someone who's

motives are not completely clear yet -- whose motives are not completely clear yet. but this atmosphere, this movement of extreme. is -- extremists, of people calling on individuals to attack law enforcement, i wanted to thank my good friend, judge ted poe, for organizing this special order today. we reserve this hour so that the members of the house can come down here today and express our love and admiration appreciation for every man and woman who wears the blue and defends our peace, our liberty, our property, our safety on the streets of america. deputy goforth was a 10-year veteran of the harris county sheriff's department. a loving husband, a father of two precious children, age 5 and 12. and he was just -- he was murdered for one reason. because he worry the uniform -- wore the uniform. because he wore the blue to protect us all, to preserve our liberty, to protect our homes

and our property. he was murdered in cold blood. went to a service, i went to many of the prayer vigils in the neighborhood, at the gas station, where he was murdered, i went to the service last friday, our minister, dr. ed young, second baptist church, conducted the service and it was overwhelming emotionally, it was overwhelming and also encouraging to see the tremendous outpouring of support from the people of houston, from the people of texas, from people all over america who showed up to express their love and admiration and support for the men and women in law enforcement who protect us every single day. it was an outpouring of support like i don't think the people of houston have seen for a long, long time. dr. young's service was particularly compelling, as he pointed out, the only prayer that jesus taught us in the brief time he was here with us on earth was the lord's prayer, and dr. young pointed out that

the lord's prayer concludes as we all know with, deliver us -- deliver us from evil, for thine is -- the he understood that that deliverance from evil, dr. young pointed out, the word deliver is actually -- means shield in greek. dr. young pointed out that the temple priests in christ's time all wore blue as a symbol of the protection that they afforded to the temple goers from evil. and that christ's robe was blue. and it was appropriate that men and women who protect us every day wear blue and we need to remember that they're there to shield from us evil. there's no other job in america that you can go to work and might not come home because of the threat that you face and you're willing to step in front of a bullet or take that risk on yourself in defense of your neighbors and -- neighbors and friends.

as dr. young pointed out in that service, the good thing to come from this is that the people of texas, the people of houston, really the people of america, that's demonstrated by my colleagues being here with us today on the floor, have all stepped forward too let law enforcement community know that -- to let the law enforcement community know we're there for them, we're praying for them and we have their back. one of the members of the second baptist told dr. young and his staff that in -- shortly after this terrible murder of deputy goforth, he spotted a law enforcement officer filling his gas tank at a neighborhood gas station, as the officer was looking over his shoulder nervously. the member of second baptist walked up to the officer and said, don't worry, officer, i've got your back. a concealed carry permit holder. as so many of our constituents and neighbors in texas are concealed carry permit holders, law enforcement others in a concealed carry permit hold

share best friend. the message i want to make sure every law enforcement officer in the country hears tonight from myself and my colleagues, and from the people of texas and america, for every law enforcement officer out there, we love you, we're proud of you, we're praying for you and your family and, most of all, we got your back. i at this time, madam chairman, madam speaker, would like to recognize my good friend and colleague from georgia, mr. bishop. for up to three minutes. mr. bishop: i thank the entleman for yielding and i mr. bishop: commend the gentleman and all of my colleagues coming together in support of law enforcement. the good book tells us no greater love has no man that he lace down his life. that's what our public safety personnel do for us each and every day, 24/7 all across this

country and we are so grateful. hey are black, white, young, seasoned, male and female and in my community in columbus, georgia, we have had all of them to give their last full measure of devotion in defense of our communities to keep us safe at night. i commend my colleagues for that and i thank my colleagues so much for allowing me to invade this special order to give a special tribute to one of my constituents who passed away during our prake. and it is with a heavy heart, madam speaker, in clem remembrance that i pay tribute to a respected community leader tapps barron tapsl senior. funeral services were held at

11:00 at the milford baptist church. he was born in georgia and graduated from baker county high school. he was a teacher and a coach from 1967 until 1974 and a farmer from 1974 to 1986 and served as a managing editor from 197 and wrote the column " plantation peace." he worked at a housing authority and following his retirement he continued to work part-time with community ventures a nonprofit organization including building homes. $15 t grants totalling million. he helped organize youth development opportunities and

ot housing for low and moderate-income citizens. he was a driving force. he served as chairman of the baker commission, chairman of the mitch each collective. a chairman of the baker county historical society and chairman of the south georgia. e was a member of the mitchell corporate board and mitchell high school authority and the southwest georgia, georgia work force board. he was instrumental informing the first volunteer e.m.s. and played a critical role. he was a resolute steward of christ's message and taught sunday school atlanta milford

baptist church. he had the power of love and fellowship. he has accomplished much but none of it would have been possible without the love and support of his wife car i yield back, children and grandchildren. my wife vivian and i along with e more 70 ,000 people salute mike for his dedicated service and i ask my colleagues in the house of representatives to join us in extending our deepest sympathies to mike's family, friends and loved ones during this difficult time. soled and con comforted in the days, weeks and months ahead. i thank my colleague for yielding to me this team. it was very special and i commend him for standing up and

expressing our appreciation for america's law enforcement. the men and women who protect us day in and day out. mr. culberson: i know the state of georgia and admires law enforcement. i recognize my neighbor and colleague from texas, judge poe. mr. poe: i thank the gentleman for yielding. madam speaker, peace officers are really the last strand of wire in defense between the fox and the chickens. they are the ones that stand between the lawful and the lawless. they will protect us from outlaws. sometimes they do so without much appreciation from the public. 11,000 people or more gathered for the funeral of

departmenty darren goforth, second baptist church in houston, texas. many others couldn't get into the service. it was tell advised live. helicopters flew over during the service. it was hot and people stood and . ve appreciation for this man he was married to kathleen, two ava is five ryan, and ryan is 12. nd he had been a harris county deputy sheriff for 10 years. i guess every member of the department was there. canadaere were some from

and united skingdom. i talked to a police officer from connecticut who was in houston for this funeral. he was stunned in a way that in a way -- for appreciation for other peace officers that came for this man's funeral. it feathed the whole community and still does to a great degree for a. i was a judge. i tried cases and i was a judge. nd taste a grim thing that happened when a peace officer is murdered in the line of duty. getting league, he was gasoline at a gas station he stopped regularly and filling up ago.atrol car two cars

an assassin shoots him in the back of the head. he keeps shooting. he emties his clip and 15 times he was shot in the back of the head. the assassin flees but was later captured and a man is charged with capital murder. there seems to be an environment in america that are police officers are being targeted. we'll leave that for a different discussion. but these are real people. they do what most of us would never do. they go out and protect and serve us. and police officers have been referred to as the thin blue line. and as mentioned earlier, blue is a traditional color that peace officers wear.

they also wear a badge or a star and a star in texas for a deputy sheriff, a badge for local police officers, they place that over their heart, symbolic of the shield that protects us from the lawless. they do it all over the country. that's why the badge of star is placed in that location. the badge of star, it really represents everything that's good and right comb law and order in america. and so, when a person, when a peace officer is murdered, it affects -- it affects all of us. and it was encouraging to me and other peace officers to see the mmunity support for darren

goforth, wife kathleen, afea and ryan. a lot of stories were told about this person. being a peace officer was his second career. he liked to make old cars run. muscle cars as we called them in our day. had recently bought his son ryan, captain america tee-shirt and bought himself won. ryan, his son, under his suit, wore his captain america tee short. deputy goforth, he was buried in his underneath his uniform. marvelous individual. a brave and good guy. but the community not only attended the funeral and watched it on tv as the proceedingsal left the church, led by i don't

know how many police officers on motorsick calls and you had the other motorcycle groups going through the houston area going to the cemetery. people stood on the side of the road with their hand over their heart. a lot of money has been raised for darren goforth at the location where he was murdered, chevron station, people are still put urge up flowers and tributes. apparently on more than one occasion, peace officers have been filling up their patrol cars and in houston, houston officers and county officers, they travel alone, there is not two in a car. but while they have been filling up their patrol cars, apparently on more than one occasion, some citizen is stopped, come up to

the officer and said, i gotcha your back. and that was really the message that in our area in houston area, we are saddened by what happened to this individual, but i think it's true that the community like that connecticut officer said, like no other place, it's very supportive of peace officers. their families and what they do and that we do have their back. the community supports them. so we mourn with the family. we mourn with all pearce officers who have lost a brother, peace officer, but we're also resolved and resilient that in the future we are going to have their back because respecting and upholding the rule of law is what these

men and women do and we should support them in that effort. and that's the way it is. and i yield back to the gentleman from texas. mr. culberson: thank you judge. dr. young said i want you to know your father has not died in vein. and he has stood behind every man and woman and i'm proud to recognize my colleague from texas. >> i thank the gentleman from texas. yielding the time and getting this special order together in such a special issue. life today to honor the of deputy sheriff goforth. friday, august 28, deputy

forth was ambushed and refueling his car and i represent part of. deputy goforth was a proud husband and a father of two. tragically his life was cut short for one simple reason, his uniform. it's hard to express my outrage and my contempt for those who hatred. ithed this police officers take an oath to protect and to serve and it's time they receive the same level of commitment and protection in return. in august alone, we have lost five other police officers and 2015, we have seen 24 law enforcement officers gunned down. these brave and women put their

lives on the day every single days for the communities and safety of our families. they deserve our support and our respect and it is a travesty that this has gotten to this point. this isn't an issue of whose life matters most but who is right and wrong. and what we have seen in recent weeks is absolutely wrong and it must end now. our community and elected leaders starting with the president of the united states must stand up for what is right and denounce the hatred being directed at our law enforcement personnel in this country. i personally could not be more thankful and proud of the men and women who police our communities. last week, i was honored i was proud to join in a celebration of the men and women in blue in tyler county, tnks texas, my home, and all over america, as a matter of fact. we also gathered together in

jasper county, texas, on saturday, for a rally of support for america's first responders. much of my staff will be attending an event recognizing the law enforcement personnel of harden county, texas. our lea eners -- our law enforcement officers have a very difficult job and it is a shame that the violent rhetoric of a very few are putting their lives at greater risk. during this difficult time, i along with an overwhelming majority of americans stand in strong solidarity with our law enforcement officers and offer them and their families our unwavering commitment, attention and support. thank you, madam speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. mr. culberson: thank you, the gentleman from texas. at this time i want to recognize my colleague from california to speak on behalf of his constituents and the people of california, their love and respect for our law enforcement officers. >> thank you. i want to thank my colleague

from texas for having -- for hosting this and allowing me the opportunity to speak. my background, many of you know, and i spoke of many times, i'm a farmer in california. and one of the things that i've had the opportunity and sometimes not always the best opportunity, but i've had a lot of opportunities to deal with law enforcement. metal thieves, different folks breaking in houses and doing different types of things. , emember one specific night no idea if there was someone behind me, someone coming up behind me or on the side of me. just a really scary feeling to think that i just drove up on this situation, how many people are out here, what are their intentions, and now obviously i called 911. mr. valadao: when the police showed up, they run into these situations on a daily basis. but the fear that i felt, knowing that there were people out there close to me who could

have been there for the really, really bad reasons, looking to do someone harm, is something that i just -- i couldn't imagine doing that on a daily basis. my wife and irfriends with some law enforcement force -- i are friends with some law enforcement folks in my district, people i grew up with, as my wife did as well. we've had dinners with these folks. you talk to their spouses and kids and you know that their husbands, their wives, go into these situations on a daily basis. they have to run out there, jump into a situation where they know there's someone out there that could have a gun, could have a weapon, could look to do these people harm. they're the ones we always call for backup. they're the ones we always call when there's a desperate situation. these are the people who are being threatened now today. there are so many people out there that put so much into their work. when you look at what our law enforcement does for us, every time we dial 911 or call for help, every time we have a situation that's out of our control, they're the people that step in, without any fear for their own live, and step up and do what we need them to do and to see what's happened,

especially now in texas, other parts of the country, where these people are being ambushed or our protectors, those who keep our families safe are being attacked from behind, is just something that's unmanageable. the fact that we've got a -- unimaginable. the fact that web of got a group of members here today, and i know smeen more, who are stepping up and doing something more for those who support us, i want to thank all of those who put on the badge and step up to protect us each and every one of us, allthrough the country. again, thank you for what you do and thank you, mr. -- madam speaker, and, mr. chairmanner, for allowing this opportunity -- mr. chairman, for allowing this opportunity i yield back. mr. culberson: thank you. i think it's important for each and every one of us. we run across a law enforcement officer, i think it's so important to tell them we got their back. as my colleague from northwestern louisiana, i'm delighted to recognize him for up to three minutes, representative abraham, to talk about law enforcement.

abe abe thank you, congressman -- abe abe thank you, congressman. i rise -- mr. abraham: thank you, i rise today to pay my respect for law enforcement officers, who put that you are lives on the line to protect our communities and to applaud these men and women who take part in their selfless actions every day. we sleep safely at night because we know the men and women who wear the badges are on the streets looking out for us. they look out for our families, our communities, our country, and words cannot convey how grateful we are to them. this year there have been too many reminders that too many of our officers are paying the ultimate sacrifice in the name of service. they risk everything to protect us and they deserve our utmost respect. unfortunately my state of louisiana has lost nine officers in the line of duty this year.

one of the most in the nation and according to the national law enforcement officers memorial fund. this is a statistic i am not proud of and i'll continue to do all in my power so he enthure that all officers in the nation -- to ensure that all officers in the nation are safe. i want to thank those men and women who have sacrificed for louisiana and for the nation. we must always remember that the vast majority of law enforcement officers serve because they want to make their community and their country better places and for that we are very grateful. we must always remember that these officers step out each day in the face of uncertainty, they never know what situation they will encounter, and when routine traffic stop could turn very tragedy. thank you, officers, for putting your lives on the line for our safety, thank you for answering the call to serve, and to protect louisiana and

the country. thank you. mr. culberson: thank you. it is my privilege to recognize a colleague from northeast texas, congressman ratcliffe. mr. ratcliffe: i thank my friend and colleague from texas for holding this special order. and for yielding his time. to protect and serve. those words are much more than just a slogan on the side of police cars across this country. it's a promise. a promise that our men and women in blue fulfill on a daily basis, while they serve to uphold the pillars of law and order that our society depends on. without their work, without their sacrifice, our communities would be lawless and our families, our friends, our neighbors, our loved ones would all be in constant jeopardy. thousands of police officers go to work each day knowing the

danger, knowing that they may have to pay the ultimate sacrifice to provide us with security. officers like deputy goforth of texas have been targeted for execution and have paid the ultimate price simply because they choose to protect our communities. the recent wave of violence against our peace officers simply because they wear a uniform is outrageous. it's appalling. and it must end. mr. speaker, i will continue to stand with our law enforcement and i want to personally thank the men and women in law enforcement in the fourth congressional district of texas that i'm privileged to represent. i want to thank those texas peace officers who have reached out to me personally to express their concerns on this issue. like mike sullivan in farmersville, otis henry in

sherman, terry garrett in ath, jay burch in denson and daniel shiner. thanks to you all, thanks to all the men and women who serve in law enforcement and serve our communities. you are appreciated. we are grateful. and with that i yield back. mr. culberson: thank you. we're here from every corner of the united states to tell our men and women in uniform who risk their lives every day to protect us and the safety of our families and our homes how much we appreciate them and love them and we're praying for them and we got their back. it's a privilege to recognize my good friend and colleague from minnesota, congressman tom emrt, for up to three minutes. r. emmer: -- -- mr. hem emmer, for up to three minutes.

mrs. emerson: -- mr. emmer: during the august district work period, i had the opportunity to participate in an event to memorialize and honor a fallen officer from mopte. officer tommy decker. tommy was an amazing individual who dedicated his life to serving the cold spring community in central minnesota. on thursday, november 29, 2012, while conducting a welfare check, tommy was ambushed. and taken from this world far too soon. at the young age of 31, tommy had already given 10 years of his life to serve his community . my predecessor, michele bachmann, worked tirelessly to ensure that tommy received the recognition he so greatly deserved and two weeks ago we dedicated the cold spring post office in the nation of officer tommy decker, a man who gave his life to the cold spring community. i was privileged to participate in the ceremony on behalf of minnesota's sixth congressional district and to continue the great work that michelle began.

we now have this lasting reminder of tommy, his service and his great heroism to his community. we try to thank our military veterans and the service men and women in uniform as much as possible for their work and sacrifice to protect our freedoms and keep us safe. we should do the same for our men and women in police uniforms. police are courageous and selfless servants in our communities, they patrol our streets to keep us safe. perhaps now more than ever they not only deserve but need our acknowledgment, support and encouragement. every day police officers across this country go to work not knowing what they're going to encounter. all the while knowing that regardless, it's their duty to quite literally serve and protect. tommy and all of the men and women who proudly wear their police uniformses are looked up to me by -- uniforms are looked up to by many and we all owe them so much.

thank you to all the police officers across the united states. we pray for your safe return home tonight and every night. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. culberson: thank you very much. it's important that the law enforcement community know that while we're waiting to hear from the united states -- president of the united states, members of congress are stepping forward tonight to express our love and support for our law enforcement community and i'm privileged at this time to recognize my colleague from california's 25th district, congressman steve knight. for up to three minutes or such time as he may consume. mr. knight: thank you. i appreciate mr. culberson putting this together and allowing us time talk to about our heroes on the street. you know, during your shift as a police officer, as a sheriff's deputy, you go into roll call, you go into a briefing and start your day with info or assignments. you check out your equipment, you go over and you get your car, you go to the gas pumps

and you fill up with gas and you might talk to some of the other officers, the other deputies about what's happening on the street or what happened the night before. and you start your day. your day might start off with talking to your partner and trying to find out a little bit more about them, if you don't know them. because that happens on a day to day basis. new officers are put in with officers every day. and just trying to find out what your thoughts are, what your t.s.a. tactics are, what your train -- tactics are, what your training is and how you feel like you're going to fill out these situations. this is the start of a police officer's day. for 18 years i was a los angeles police officer. and i served on the front lines in a police car for 17 of those 18 years. so as they say, i was out pushing a sled around for 12 hours a day, snooping and pooping, looking for bad guys, and protecting and serving. on the side of my car, that's exactly what it said. was to protect and to serve.

that is what a police officer does. it's not like the shows that you see on tv. some of it's boring time. some of it's high adrenaline. but all of it is service to the community. every second, every minute of your shift is service to the community. so if we're out there enforcing the law, making a traffic stop, as ng an arrest, or just, one used to do, go and respond to the -- see the man, see the woman, and help and just serve. that is a day to day. i didn't know deputy goforth. but i feel like he was a brother in harms -- arms because he was. he was someone who went out and served his community. served him with honor, integrity. and i'm sure that the community is better for his years of service. i'm sure over the next decade or generations that they won't forget deputy goforth's commitment to the community.

there will be a memorial, there will be a yearly service, and people will talk about what he meant to the community. i was in the 990 class in lapd and the very first female officer who died in the line of duty for lapd was in the 590 class. our class was taken out of its normal duty of going and learning how to be a professional law enforcement officer and we went to the service for that officer. and it was very similar to deputy goforth. it was a shooting of an assassination. this will always stay with you when you go to a law enforcement officer's funeral. you will never forget it. and see the thousands of people and