congress to say we need a solution. man up. get the job done, and be done with it. and that's all i got to say. thank you very much. host: ok, robert. we'll get an opportunity probably later this afternoon to hear from you again. of course, facebook.com/c-span for your comments and @c-span on twitter. the exact agenda a little bit uncertain with the continuing resolution now passed in the senate and likely up next or later this afternoon in the house so look for another opportunity to call in later this afternoon. let's go live to the house floor here on c-span. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered today by our guest chaplain, reverend william vanderbush, cathedral of peace, austin, texas. the chaplain: let's pray. my gracious, heavenly father, i stand in awe and gratitude at your goodness and your grace for my nation. i pray today that you would grant our congress, our representatives and our president a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you and of your love. fill them with your holy spirit and may you give them visions and dreams and new ideas that will shape the course of history for your glory. may they display in every decision the states united and not divided. jesus, let us be one with each other just as we are one with you. i pray for their families that you would bless them in their

sacrifice and service, and i declare healing, grace, wholeness and peace for all of our representatives and our nation today. let your kingdom come and let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. in jesus name, amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> mr. speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule 1, i demand a vote on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker: the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor indicate by saying aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the journal stands approved. the gentleman from california. mr. lamalfa: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this are

postponed. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from delaware, mr. carney. mr. carney: please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: without objection, the gentlelady from south dakota, mrs. noem, is recognized for one minute. mrs. noem: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to thank reverend bill vanderbush for serving as guest chaplain for this body today. when i was a little girl living on a ranch in south dakota, my four ld load us up on a dsmobile diesel truck and he would turn the radio on to kwat and hear henry vanderbush's

voice fill the cal carr all the way to town. my dad loved him. he was known as the cow barn preacher and he spoke to us every single sunday growing up and when i hear his voice today my eyes fill of tears thinking of my dad and how much he loved him. in a god-ordained meeting a few years ago, i had an opportunity to meet bill vanderbush, his son, on an airplane. they have prayed for me, they have lifted me up and been wonderful friends and prayer partners throughout that. i want to thank him for coming today and opening this house with a prayer. i continue god to bless him and his ministry. they are trying to expand it not just for people in the country but people across the world. they carry a burden for people's hearts and their souls. i appreciate them and i ask god to richly bless them and nair family. with that i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the chair will entertain up to 15 further requests for one-minute speeches on each

side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from utah is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i sit by a friend sam johnson to recognize three american heroes in my own hometown. mr. stewart: a brave police officer and two sisters, bree and kailee. last week a man broke into their house and began to viciously attack these two sisters with a knife. they defended each other, they supported each other, they fought for each other's lives. fortunately, a police officer was in the area and when they heard their dreams screems they ran to the rescue. just seconds before this intruder was expected to take bree's life, this heroic police officer entered the scene and saved her. speaking to this police officer, bree said right when we made eye contact i knew i was safe. it's a miracle that he had so much composure. he was our angel.

i'm proud to serve in a country where police officers put their lives on the line every single day to save us. i'm proud to serve in a country where we know that the country isn't great because of the actions of the government, it's great because of heroic and courageous actions of individuals which is why i would like to present this police officer with my first profile encourage award. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition? mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, this friday, october 2, is manufacturing day, a day to celebrate the american manufacturing industry that has made our country great and to highlight emerging opportunities in the field of advanced manufacturing. my home state of rhode island is the birthplace of the american industrial revolution. it was in pawtucket, rhode island, where samuel opened the cotton spinning factory that marked the beginning of a new

era in american innovation. to the ship yards in new port, good manufacturing jobs helped thrive rhode island and all across our country. today, advanced manufacturing fields like 3-d printing, renewable energy offer the promise of new opportunities to a new generation of rhode island and american workers. it's critical that we seize these opportunities to help our country lead the world in manufacturing. let's honor the great manufacturing history of america by investing in policies that create good-paying american jobs. i urge my colleagues to stand up for commonsense policies that will enable the american manufacturing industry to lead the world. let's move forward in a bipartisan way with our make it in america agenda. i thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker.

mr. speaker, this weekend was gold star mothers day, a day we set aside each year to honor the women who have lost a child or grandchild who was actively serving in our great nation's military. it's time to honor their strength, will and perseverance. it's also a time to honor the memories of their loved ones. freedom is not free. there's a cost, and that cost is paid first by our veterans and their families. that's why i'm glad this week the house also did something to honor america's gold star fathers with the gold star fathers act. this bill grants these men the same status as gold star mothers regardless of their eligibility for civil service. to all gold star parents, please know your nation supports you and that we are

grateful for the service and sacrifice of your loved ones. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from delaware seek recognition? mr. carney: i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from delaware is recognized for one minute. mr. rney: thank you, speaker. i rise today to recognize the life and work of mr. jim gilliam sr. he was one of delaware's most prominent leaders. he fought tirelessly for social justice, gave voice to the voiceless and created opportunities for generations of delawarians. we are unquestionably better off because of the work to which mr. gilliam devoted his life. mr. gilliam served our country as a buffalo soldier in the u.s. army. afterwards he served delaware in many positions, being a peacemaker after the

assassination of martin luther king and part of the community housing. i was proud to work with him in new castle county and often sought and respected mr. gilliam's counsel. he never men'sed words or pulled punches when giving you his opinion. i joined mr. gilliam for lunch and he challenged me to take on those in congress who were getting in the way of progress. mr. gilliam was a great leader and real delawarean whose legacy will live on for those who continue to fight for fairness and equal opportunity for all americans. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from indiana seek recognition? mrs. walorski: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from indiana is recognized one minute. mrs. walorski: harry webb has help curb the meth epidemic. it's affected americans,

consuming working class americans who build meth labs in rural areas using household products and ingredients. make no mistake, indiana's meth problem is appalling. in 2013, the hoosier state had more meth incidents than any other state in the u.s. but harry and his team, the citizens action committee, are working to curb meth production by partnering with local and state officials and pharmacies to reduce sudafed rin sales, the active ingredient in producing meth. they've marketed drug abuse resistant products to their customers. this is a critical issue for the whole country, but i'm grateful for harry's dedication and work to reduce the amount of meth labs in our communities. mr. speaker, once again, join me in honoring harry webb for his meth lab reduction program and his service to our state and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from florida is recognized for one minute. mr. speaker, today

is wear red wednesday to bring back our girls. all summer we heard reports of boko haram's atrocities. the summer of savagery and brutality left us fearful for the fate of the nigerian girls. but with the change of the season comes renewed help. with the reopening of public schools in borno state, the very region where the girls were kidnapped over 500 days ago simply because they wanted an education. this reopening of schools gives us hope that once the girls are returned they will receive the education boko haram tried to steal from them. there are also negotiations taking place for the release of the girls. until these precious girls are returned and boko haram is defeated, we will wear red every wednesday and we will ontinue to tweet, tweet, tweet

#bringbackourgirls. weet, tweet, tweet #joinrepwilson. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, obamacare is simply failing rural america. mr. lamalfa: a recent report showed that rural americans are with skyrocketing costs. a knee replacement is $43,000 but the same price tag for that same service for a knee replacement in los angeles is $27,000. in addition, residents in north california faces a 7% increase r $483 a month or $4,600 a year under covered california. our health industry needs competition. the key to driving costs down and creating options for quality care. unfortunately, the a.c.a. has only discouraged competition,

especially in rural areas, where providers are closing up rather hindering small businesses with more red tape, let's encourage competition and reward innovation so we can tackle the nation plaguing rural health care, such as the staggering dock daka nurse shortage and increasing barriers and untimely care. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from washington is recognized for one minute. >> it looks like congress will narrowly avoid another costly and unnecessary shutdown, that's the good news. the bad news is congress will have the same night again just before the holidays start. why does this place keep playing the same dysfunctional record over and over? in my region, the last shutdown caused furloughs at military

installations, olympic national park hurt its -- closed its doors, hurting local employers, tribes and local service providers had disruptions in funding. mr. kilmer: this place is spending a lot of time and energy obsessing about who the next speaker will be. that's one job. we should be concerned about the thousands of jobs we need to grow and keep not just in my district but around the country. congress needs to end the brandstanding, come to the table, reach an agreement that ends the across the board sequestration cuts and focuses on this nation's economy and long-term growth. with that, i yield back the black of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new hampshire seek recognition? without objection the gentleman from new hampshire is recognized or one minute.

mr. guinta: i rise to reck nizz sheryl for her service to the local community. a nurse in the emergency ward she's a cons hat -- consummate teammate to her co-workers, frequently going above and beyond the call of duty. outside work she donates her time as part of the greeters association to welcome home local troops. she's an active participant in sara's ride to raise money for the firefighters association. she lends her expertise and bedside manner to others in need of home care. and she teaches new hampshire's young about the valuable work she's 10eu6ring ions bills

we've sent them unless we discard the budget and put our country back on the road to bankruptcy. today we've reached the fiscal deadline. a temporary funding bill is necessary to keep the government open and i would support it if the house and senate leadership announced a timetable to complete our work and pledged to keep to that timetable. but without this announcement a

short-term c.r. simply continues us on an unsustainable course. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address my house for one minute and rhett let's -- and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> this week, we took part in hunger action month. but here in congress as september comes to an end, i'm not sure hunger action month ever began. nearly 49 million americans, including 15 million children, live in food insecure households. that's shameful. hunger touches every community. every community. in my own florida new york palm beach and broward counties, about 15% of households are food insecure. that's nearly half a million people who don't know where their next meal will come from. thankfully, the generosity of our community and work of groups

like feeding south florida help keep hungry families fed. but those with the greatest power to end hunger are right here in the united states congress. mr. deutch: as pope francis said to this chamber, just last week, the fight against poverty and hunger must be fought constantly and on many fronts. let's heed his words. this week i will introduce the food security improvement act of 2015, a bill to ensure snap benefits reflect the real costs of feeding a family in need. i invite my colleague to join me in sponsoring this legislation. let's mark the end of hunger action month by taking action here in the house. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> today i rise because september is childhood cancer awareness month. every year, countless children

are diagnosed with different cancers, altering their lives forever. 14-year-old caitlin jankowski of corpus christi was diagnosed last year with acute limb to astic lieu chemo-- lymphoblastic lieu chemoyasm we should take inspiration from caitlin and thousands of others. that's why i introduced house 102 to introduce september as -- a day in september as national peedyat rake bone cancer awareness day. mr. farenthold: we wish caitlin and all the other children living with pediatric cancer well. survival rates for pediatric bone cancer rates have not changed in over a quarter century. for caitlin and others we must change that. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady

seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady from north carolina s recognized for one minute. mrs. adams: i rise to talk about a topic near and dear to my heart, sickle cell anemia. it's a disease that causes extreme pain, damage to vital organs. my sister died just two weeks before her 27th birthday. i remember the many trips to the emergency room to get care for her. back then we didn't know much about sickle cell disease. today treatment has evolved and thanks to the affordable care act. we must still support federal efforts to fund additional research and treatment opportunities. i'm proud to co-sponsor the sickle cell research prevention and treatment act which supports

funding for advance medical treatment and research. my colleagues, join me in recognizing september as sickle cell awareness month by supporting legislation to treat this disease. by keeping our government running so critical sickle cell research and treatment can continue at the national institutes of health. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to call attention to house sequestration and the current dysfunction in the house that's hurting the american people, our infrastructuring our education, our national security and our veterans. sequestration has caused a severe slowdown in our country especially as it affects the middle class. we have seen potential loss of 800,000 american jobs. these are job my constituents of baltimore county region

desperately need. mr. ruppersberger: yesterday, my staff met with a constituent from owens mills, maryland, laid off from a defense contractor due to sequestration kits. the current f.y. 2015 housing and appropriation bill cuts tiger grants, used to fund critical highway, transit and important investments by approximately $400 million. that is less than the f.y. 2015 level and $1. billion less than the montana's request. we need this transportation money for jobs. our infrastructure is failing wefplg cannot stay competitive without investment. sequestration is not the answer. continuing resolutions are not the answer. passing the buck is not the answer. it is time for congress to stop and nip -- stop our nip and tuck tactics and make decisions about our pry it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 the chair will postpone further

proceedings today on the motion to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or on which the vote incurs objection around clause 6 of rule 20678 any recorded vote on the postponed question will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass s. 2082, the department of veterans' affairs expiring authorities act of 2015. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 2082, an act to amend title 38, united states code, to extend certain expiring provisions of law administered by the secretary of veterans affairs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from florida, mr. miller, and the gentlelady from florida, ms. brown, each will control 0 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. miller. mr. miller: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislate i days to revise and extend their remarks an senate 2082. the speaker pro tempore: without

objection. mr. miller: i yield myself such time as i consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: thank you, mr. speaker. this bill which is sponsored by our senate colleague, senator isakson, chairman of the senate v.a. committee, would extend a number of expiring authorities at both the department of veterans' affairs and at the department of labor. these include extensions for veterans health care and homeless programs, benefits for disabled veterans, vocational rehabilitation programs, home loan programs, and a variety of advisory committees, pilot programs and medical facility projects. of passage of these legislation today, these noncontroversial programs are set to expire at the end of this fiscal calendar -- or calendar year. the costs have been fully offset or consumed in the budge for 2015. furthermore, both the majority

and minority of the house and senate committees on veterans affairs have worked on this language and agreed on the need to extend all of these programs. in addition in addition to the extension, this bill would deal with the enver medical project to go to $1,675,000,000. this is an increase of $625 million above the amounts that have previously been authorized for this project. to ensure that the many egregious mistakes that v.a. has made in denver are not repeated in the future, this bill would put into place initial reforms for managing the most expensive v.a. construction projects. namely, these reforms include creating a new classification category called a superconstruction project. now, superconstruction project would be defined as the

construction, alteration of a v.a. medical facility involving the total expenditure of more than $100 million. and each superconstruction project would be managed not by v.a. but instead by a nondepartment federal entity such as the army corps of engineers. importantly, the bill would classify the denver project as a superconstruction project. while i'm supportive of the provisions of this bill up to this point, i vehemently oppose and disagree with the department's proposal to cover some of the increased costs of the denver project. this bill could allow v.a. to proceed with the department's proposed plan to use $200 million in offsets from the medical services account and through delayed activations of other construction projects. mr. speaker, towns the

magnitude of the management incompetence of the department of veterans affairs as it relates to construction, i think a little history is in order. the replacement of existing denver v.a. medical center began as a discussion item back in 1999. the project was first envisioned as a shared facility on the former fits similaron army base in aurora, california -- fitzsimmons army base in aurora, california. it was first $328 million. after undergoing numerous scope changes over a period of several years, v.a. requested appropriations in 2010 for a stand-alone medical center replacement with a total estimated cost of $800 million. however, in december of last year, with less than 50% of the facility complete and staring down the $800 million authorization cap, the civilian board of contract appeals found v.a. to be in breach of its contract with its general

contractor, turner. as a result, v.a. had no choice but to come to congress and finally admit the severity of the mismanagement and the cost and schedule overruns that have come to characterize the denver project. in june, following an assessment to determine the probable cost of completing the project, the army corps of engineers got the final to complete the project, $1,675,000,000. several weeks ago, v.a. provided the committee with their plan as to what budget resources would be made available to fund the remaining dollars necessary for this project. this bill assumes that v.a.'s plan is an appropriate way to move forward on this project. v.a. first proposes to use $100 million in offsets derived from the higher than budgeted medical collections v.a.

expects it will receive in fiscal year 2015 and 2016. under law, v.a. medical care collection funds are retained by v.a., medical facilities to supplement their budgets to care for veterans. thus, their proposed offset actually reduces v.a.'s medical care budget by $100 million in fiscal year 2016 to partially fund the remainder of the denver project. i would have reservations about reducing v.a.'s medical care budget in any year, but i'm particularly concerned this year because just a few weeks go i am sure the -- ago, i'm sure the members will recall, care in the community for fiscal year 2016 are short. v.a. also stated that they would need to shut down the whole hospital system, the whole hospital system would have to be shut down if additional funds for fiscal

year 2015 were not provided. as a result, congress met v.a.'s 11th hour plea with an additional $3.34 billion to ensure that veterans were not denied the care that they had earned. obviously v.a.'s proposal to cut medical care funds to complete the denver replacement hospital when the public record clearly reflects, clearly reflects v.a.'s previous testimony over lack of funding in the medical care account is entirely inconsistent and inappropriate. frankly, it borders on an attempt to mislead this congress. secondly, v.a. proposes to use $100 million in offsets derived from reductions in construction and leasing activation costs due to schedule adjustments associated with several projects. when i asked what v.a.'s plan was to address the funding for these adjustments, v.a.'s response was this. the department would ensure

that they request efficient activation funding in future budget years to account for the reductions of the other projects. in other words, it's not really an offset. they're going to ask for the money back. so by reducing other projects $100 million and one year only to ask congress for the funds to be replaced, strange credibility, once again, for the department of veterans affairs. this isn't an offset. it's nothing more than a delayed supplemental request. in other words, v.a. is expecting the taxpayers to bail them out again. to agree to such a tactic would be akin to taking a child's allowance away for misbehavior only to increase it later to make up for the reduction. offsetting the biggest sfrux failure in v.a.'s history by cutting money from v.a.'s medical services account and delaying facility activation costs until next year punishes

the veterans of this nation and the taxpayers for v.a.'s incompetence. now, i appreciate the challenge v.a. has in identifying available money and producing a way ahead for this project that's fair to taxpayers and veterans alike in a tight fiscal environment. however, v.a. continues to be oblivious to the need to prioritize their spending. for example, as i addressed -- address this house this afternoon, v.a. officials from across the country have gathered 40 miles away in leesburg for a leadership conference that is costing the department $1 million. that may seem like a small amount, but this is in addition v.a. $33.4 million that reported spending on conferences so far through the end of the third quarter of this fiscal year.

to repeat, v.a. has reported spending $33.4 million so far to the end of the third quarter with at least one and likely several other costly conferences that have yet to be accounted for. what's more, monday, the v.a. inspector general released a report on v.a.'s relocation expenses program which found that senior veterans' benefits administration officials had misused their positions for their own personal and financial benefit. these senior officials engineered the transfers of other senior officials as a way to increase pay for themselves and to other senior executive service employees and work around the pay freezes and bans on performance awards for senior leaders. one v.b.a. leader alone received almost $300,000 in

relocation expenses when she moved from washington, d.c., to philadelphia. in total, v.b.a. spent over $1.7 million on reassignment expenses, including almost $1.3 million on relocation expenses for senior executives for fiscal years 2013 and 2015. and now yesterday, the v.a. office of inspector general substantiated allegations that the st. louis v.a. health care system mental health clinic inappropriately changed the status of mental health consults to complete prior to a provider actually completing the appointment with a patient in 60% of sampled consults. to make matters worse, the i.g. substantiated that in a review of fiscal year 2013 facility performance pay assessments,

eight full-time outpatient psychiatrists received an erage of nearly $14,000 in performance pay. seven of the eight psychiatrists met or exceeded the productivity goal, and as a result, each received an erage of around $2,900 for prove to be faulty productivity achievements. this is in keeping with the wanton and abusive v.a. spending practices that v.a. has uncovered at v.a. facilities across our country. for example, the committee recently found that the palo alto v.a. health care system has spent at least $6.3 million n art -- on art and consulting services. these projects include an art installation on the side of a parking garage that displays

quotes by abraham lincoln and eleanor roosevelt in -- wait code that moors cost $285,000. it actually lights up. a large rock sculpture and a courtyard in the middle of the health center that cost $1.3 million. for a rock. a stainless steel, an aluminum sculpture in the entrance that ost $ 365,000. another sculpture that i am at a loss to describe, in an exterior lobby that cost $305,000. a sculpture in the shape of a half arc that is located inside the mental health center that .ost $330,000

as many of these projects are not yet complete, these costs actually could actually increase. let me be clear, spending money on conferences and relocation expenses for v.a. employees and on art installations for v.a. facility is not -- it is not more important than taking care of the veterans of this nation, providing them the health care that they have earned. it is simply beyond me why v.a. would choose to pay to complete the denver project by cutting medical services and medical facility dollars but not the exorbitance conference spending or bloated relocation expenses or art. i remain committed to finding a way forward in denver, and i'm going to be supporting the bill today. however, i am equally convinced that we must ensure that the offsets that v.a. uses in colorado do not come at the

expense of v.a.'s most important mission -- providing high-quality health care for veterans. and unfortunately, v.a.'s plan offers no assurance. i'm also frustrated that the department's plan that this bill presumes is appropriate offers no measure of accountability for those responsible for allowing this project to balloon out of control. the v.a. senior executives in charge of the denver disaster collected massive bonuses as projected costs increased and delays stretched on for years. they've all retired with full retirement benefits. it's inexcusable to allow rewards, bonuses and full retirement benefits to be retained even when the facts indicate that an employee has not performed at the level expected, is not only wrong, it is blatant and woeful misuse of taxpayer dollars. i said repeatedly that the

great majority of v.a. employees are hardworking public servants who go to work every day to live up to president lincoln's words -- to provide quality health care and benefits to our nation's veterans. what's more, i believe that the majority of v.a. employees who are dedicated to the mission and purpose of the department are just as frustrated and demoralized as we are when they see problem employees receiving bonuses or performance awards in spite of poor, unethical and sometimes illegal job performance. we would commit to breaking v.a.'s vicious cycle of rewarding poor performance. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida is

recognized. ms. brown: how much time do we have? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady has 20 minutes. ms. brown: and how much time does the chairperson have? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida has 4 1/2 minutes remaining. ms. brown: thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. brown: i rise in support of senate 2082, the department of veterans' affairs expiring authorization act of 2015. this bill is an important and necessary bill for us to take up and pass today and send to the president. let me repeat that. this bill is important and a necessary bill for us to take up and pass today and send to the president. senate bill 2082 makes sure that some of the vital programs we have in place to take care of

our veterans continue past the end of the fiscal year and continue to help our veterans. i want to highlight just some of those important programs. senate 2082 ensures that several programs serving the homeless veterans continue, including the homeless veterans and homeless veterans with children reintegration program. senate bill 2082 ensures that there is adequate authorization levels for much-needed assistance and support service or veterans care givers. senate bill 2082 continues a successful pilot program that counsels new separately women veterans in retreat settings. this is an important program. i have a bill, h.r. 1575 that

would take this program it's ntly and begin to, passed the committee of veterans affairs and i hope it will be brought to the floor soon so we can vote for it. senate bill 2082 also extends the authorization of the national academy of science to continue its research into the health consequences of agent orange exposure, providing the necessary links for the veterans to make disability presumptions. i am disappointed that the provisions mandating the secretary to make these presumptions is not in the bill and i know that we will all work together to make sure that the v.a. does the right thing for our veterans. senate bill 2082 extends the authorization for the v. toomplet provide transportation grants for highly rural veterans and the ability of v.a. to

provide transportation to and from v.a. facilities. this is important to ensure that our veterans have access to care. senate bill 2082 extends the authorization of the v.a. to provide rehabilitation and vocational benefits for our wounded warriors. and finally, senate bill 2082 provides for an increase in the authorization level for the denver regional v.a. medical center. this center will provide district care for all which is include montana, wyoming, colorado, nebraska, utah and idaho. we need to finish this project and better provide health care for our veterans. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. miller: i yield to a distinguished member of the committee, the gentleman from

colorado, mr. lamborn, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. lamborn: i thank chairman miller for his efforts to extend authority for various v.a. health care, benefit, disability, housing, education, job training and other assistance programs. part of this bill also ensures that colorado veterans will receive a completed state of the art new hospital in denver. in addition to funding the hospital, though, senate bill 2082 ensures that the type of construction mismanagement and cost overruns will not happen on future large scale v.a. construction programs. the v.a. has shown us on multiple projects, denver being unfortunately the largest, that they are not properly equipped to handle these large construction projects with their own in-house capabilities. the bill requires that the corps of engineers, the army corps of engineers or a different construction agency, but not the v.a., will take on the task of managing these large

construction programs. we must be good stewards of the taxpayers' money and use that money wisely to care for the veterans. this bill is a step in the right direction to get v.a. construction back on the right path while pull filling the -- while fulfilling the promise made with the hospital for the nation's veterans. we have a sacred trust to take care of the men and women who have defended our country. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from florida is recognized. ms. brun: i yield four minutes nevada, tlelady from ms. titus. ms. titus: i rise in reluctant support of this bill, the v.a. expiring authoritying act. as my colleagues have outlined this legislation will extend authorization for some very good programs at the v.a. that provide valuable support and service for our nation's heroes.

i have serious concerns, however, about one provision included in the bill. title 5 raises the authorization for the denver medical facility by more than $600 million. this facility is already $1 billion over budget and years behind schedule. the bill, however, does not explain how we're going to pay for this increase. that will come later today when the house considers a continuing resolution to keep the government running, excuse me, for another 10 weeks. buried in the c.r. is a provision that allows the v.a. to play a shell game within their budget to pay for the denver project. now we all believe that veterans everywhere, including in denver, should have access to the best health care possible. but the funeds for the denver project should not come at the expense of veterans in nevada and in other parts of the

country. nonetheless, the v.a. has identified the $600 million to pay for the denver facility and has said that these specific cuts are designed to, and i quote, minimize the impact on veterans. this couldn't be further from the truth and it ignores reality. it's the epitome of robbing peter to pay paul. let me remind you that in the summer of 2014, we passed an emergency choice act of some $15 billion to help the v.a. with the health care backlog. then the v.a. come comb -- came back to us this summer and said they would have to close hospitals if we didn't allow them to move some money out of the choice act. then the v.a. came back and said they needed $200 million just to keep the denver project going for a while. and now the v.a. is saying, oh, no problem. we can just move $600 million out of existing programs so we can help denver without it hurting veterans. how can they possibly do this?

the v.a., i can tell you, they have proposed cutting i.t. services, despite the fact that many of their i.t. systems are 30 years old and need to be replaced. they want to cut funds for a program that helps recruit and retain the best personnel to serve veterans at a time when they are struggling to recruit and retain qualified employees including specialists and doctors. they want to cut eight construction projects around the country from operating rooms to a dialysis center. now how can you say these cuts won't hurt veterans? we know a thing or two about sure things in las vegas. i can tell you, it's a sure thing that soon enough the v.a. will be coming back to congress -- reclaiming -- proclaiming yet another doomsday if we don't refill these accounts that they are now robbing. so i say to you, congress needs to do its job and actually pay for what we've bought.

wars are expensive. we need to recognize that. we can't keep playing budget games and nickel and dime the services that the brave men and women who fought in these wars need and deserve when they come home. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. miller: there's one person who's been at the forefront of this entire fight, looking at cost everruns, mismanagement, the gentleman from gern, mr. thsh the gentleman from denver, mr. coffman -- the gentleman from kench, mr. coffman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. coffman: i rise to voice my support for the veterans affairs expiring authorities act of 2015. this will continue numerous programs of critical importance to our nation's veterans including a pilot program to increase women veterans access to health care, nursing home care authorities, and measures

to combat veteran homelessness. i am proud that this legislation will allow for the completion of the v.a. replacement hospital in aurora, colorado, an absolutely critical project which will serve veterans not just in colorado but also in utah, montana, wyoming, and parts of four other states. in spite of the incredible mismanagement of this project by the v.a. and a shocking lack of accountability for those responsible, completing the hospital in aurora has been my number one legislative priority. we must not punish our nation's veterans for the sins of incompetent v.a. bureaucrats. finally, this bill would accomplish a goal that i have worked toward for over a year, getting the v.a. out of the major construction business once and for all. for decades, the government accountability office has highlighted enormous construction management deficiencies by the v.a. after the g.a.o. highlighted

hundreds of millions in cost overruns in april of 2013, the house passed my legislation which would have handled over -- handed over the worst v.a. projects to experts at the army corps of engineers. worse, billions of dollars have been wasted by v.a. on mismanaged construction projects which could have gone instead toward veterans health care and benefits. i am proud that this bill will finally leave the construction management of large projects to the experts, organizations like the army corps of engineers and allow v.a. to focus back to its core competencies, providing health care and benefits to our veterans. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentlelady from florida is recognized. ms. brown: i would like to yield to the gentleman who can give us a little institutional memory on

the denver regional hospital, the gentleman from denver, who has been the -- at the forefront of this hospital and its regional problem from the begin, mr. perlmutter. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado. mr. perlmutter: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank the ranking member, ms. brown, for yielding me time. i want to thank the chairman of the committee for bringing senate bill 2082 to the floor for debate and hearing today. i rise today to support senate bill 2082, the department of veten b -- veterans affairs expiring authorities act. the legislation before us passed the senate unanimously last week. and it's important for a number of v.a. programs our veterans rely on day in and day out. in addition to these important v.a. extensions this legislation will authorize completion of the v.a. medical center under

construction in aurora, colorado. this center is part of a major medical campus that includes the university of colorado medical school as well as children's hospital of denver. the professors at the university of colorado are also many of the doctors at the v.a. medical center and the center will include a full range of medical, laboratory, research and counseling services as well as a 30-bed spinal cord injury unit serving hundreds of thousands of veterans throughout the rocky mountain west. as the charnle mentioned, this hospital's genesis began under president clinton. in 1999. with the secretary of v.a. at that time. under george bush, it went through four secretaries of v.a. and under president obama, now

two v.a. secretaries. it is moving forward and with this bill will continue to move forward. there is no doubt the v.a. mismanaged this project from the start. and as disappointing and unacceptable at this situation has been, we are where we are and under the leadership of secretary mcdonald and deputy secretary gibson, the v.a. has admitted their mistakes on this project and they are both personally involved in completion of this facility. today, today construction continues on this project in earnest. the facility is more than 50% complete. the u.s. army corps of engineers has been brought in to oversee completion of the medical center . bringing in the army corps is important so we as a congress can be certain that any additional funds spent on this project are spent appropriately

and the facility is completely without further delay. the contractor, keywood turner, and subcontractors have shown tremendous commitment to our nation's veterans by building a world class facility, and i am confident they will deliver this facility to our veterans throughout the rocky mountain west. this bill requires the v.a. to use a nonv.a. federal entity like the army corps to complete ajor construction projects valued over $100 million. this is critically important towards ensuring accountability and preventing these large projects from being mismanaged again. i want to thank mr. miller and ms. brown, as well as congressman charlie dent and bishop for their work with me and mr. coffman who now represents the district. there has been a great deal of anger at the v.a. recently, and much of it is well deserved, but through the help of the veterans' affairs committee and the appropriations committee, rocky mountain veterans will

eventually see this medical center completed and receive the health care they earned by service to the united states of america. with that i yield back and thank y friend from florida. the the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. >> i thank mr. perlmutter for working so closely with mr. coffman a true bipartisan effort to see this project to completion. mr. miller: i would ask how much time i have remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida has 1 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. miller: mr. speaker, might i inquire from ms. brown if she would yield three minutes of her time? ms. brown: i was trying to find out how much -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida has nine minutes remaining. ms. brown: mr. chairman, i have nine minutes and i have no further speakers. so you can have as much time as you and your side needs to consume. mr. miller: we would ask for five minutes. ms. brown: i yield you five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields five minutes to the gentleman from florida.

mr. miller: i am now pleased to introduce a member of the committee that has worked very hard on this particular issue, especially the expiring authorities bill, the chairman of the committee, mr. abraham from louisiana for two minutes. mr. abraham: thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. abraham: i stand today in support of bill 2082, however i would like to note i am also deeply disappointed we are not voting on the house bills which would have limited awards and bonuses to v.a. employees. it is my belief we have missed an opportunity to bring much needed accountability to the v.a., and know that i will work tirelessly to bring accountability to the v.a. for the american people. senate bill 2082 also known as the department of veterans affairs expiring act of 2015 includes multiple necessary provisions supporting our nation's heroes, including veterans who are homeless, disabled, or suffering from ptsd. as chairman of the e.a. committee -- subcommittee committee on disability

assistance, i introduced a particular revision in 2082 to extend contract exams for veterans applying for disability benefits. extending contract exams is a commonsense measure to cut through the bureaucratic red tape and ensure our veterans are getting the care they need when they need it. many veterans undergo a v.a. medical examination in support of the application for disability benefits. the problem is that there are not enough examiners to perform these evaluations in a timely manner in the v.a. system. expanding contract exams will make it easier for the v.a. to arrange for the veterans to get disability examinations by permitting a licensed physician to conduct these examinations anywhere in the united states as long as a doctor is under a v.a. contract. this is commonsense and i urge passage of the bill. i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana yields back. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. miller: mr. speaker, i have

one more person that has requested time. the former chairman of the veterans' affairs committee, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith, a stalwart supporter of america's veterans. i recognize for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. smith: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i served on the house veterans' affairs committee for a quarter of a century, including stints as vice chairman and full committee chair. i believe our nation's veterans are fortunate to have a great champion with you, chairman miller, at the helm. chairman miller has led the committee with aggressive oversight and accountability of the often troubled department. he has shepherded numerous bills into law including the v.a. choice program which expand timely and local access to health care for veterans and working so closely in a bipartisan way with ranking member brown. ensured that the v.a. has the resources and the authorities to meet evolving needs. you are always, you always, mr. chairman, put veterans first and

their dependents. chairman miller explained the bill. i'll take a brief moment to comment on title 3. title 3 re-authorizes a number of provisions from a law that i wrote back in 2001. known as the homeless veterans comprehensive assistance act, or public law 107-95. that law established the grant programs that included female veterans, homeless veterans with special needs, children with serious mental illnesses. the act authorized dental care, we learned through our hearing process you don't get a job with broken teeth. it certainly affects your digestion. oral health was critical. we put that into the bill. job training and expanded domiciliary care. it also authorized the advisory committee and homeless veterans to launch a national goal which has been replicated and attempting to end chronic homelessness. we also did the labors homeless reintegration program. the proof of the pudding is in

2001 the estimation from v.a. was 300,000 veterans were homeless at some point during that year. by fiscal year 2013, that number had decreased to approximately 140,000 veterans. of course we have a different -- alternate way of calculating. unfortunately on any given night 15,000 veterans are still on the street. this legislation will go far and do much so that no veteran is on the street and suffering homelessness. we need to bring them back into society and again, chairman miller, thank you forure extraordinary leadership. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman from new jersey has expired. the gentlelady from florida is recognized. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized to close debate on this bill. ms. brown: thank you, mr. speaker. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting senate bill 2082

and send this important bill to the president so that vital programs helping our veterans to continue past the end of this fiscal year. thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. miller. i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from florida has yielded back her time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. miller: i want to thank ranking member brown for her courtesy of giving an additional few minutes for some of our members who wanted to speak. i, too, think it's very important that we pass this piece of legislation today. but our job here is not finished. we must ensure that the appropriators now do their job and make sure that v.a. doesn't, as ms. titus said, rob peter to pay paul. it's important that we not take necessary dollars away from veteran health care in order to pay for their massive mismanagement of this particular facility. i urge a positive vote on this

senate bill and yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida has yielded back the balance of his time. all time having now expired, the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate bill 2082. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended -- the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. miller: on that i demand the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays have been requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

pursuant to clause 12-tafment of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess subject to the call of the chair.

>> want to take you live to the white house. josh has been briefing reporters for 15 minutes. likely he'll get questions about government funding. he certainly has had questions so far about the raids by russia in syria. we'll listen in. watch this. and wait for the house to return. live coverage when they do here on c-span. >> highly functioning work relationship we had have been

able to advance the president's agenda. but ultimately while the administration will certainly be involved in these budget discussions, leader reid and leader pelosi and their support is going to be necessary to get this done. >> have you guys indicated that you're willing to consider something that house democrats or senate democrats haven't? >> i don't quite know exactly hat their thinking is on this. senator mcconnell does these conferences on the hill. you might ask him. i would say that the president is also mindful of the fact that democrats in the house and democrats in the senate will need to support this legislation for it to pass. so in the same way that it would be foolish for leader reid and speaker boehner to try to

circumvent democrats in congress, the president wouldn't support that effort, either. it seems unlikely the president would support the kind of budget agreement that wouldn't also get strong support from democrats on capitol hill. to me that's a hypothetical exercise. the fact is the president understands quite directly that a budget deal will not be possible without the support of democrats in congress, which is why it would be foolish to leave the democrats in congress out of his negotiation. >> on that issue, if republicans think that the most effective way for them to negotiate is directly with the president, the president certainly has done that in the past, why not just have direct one-on-one negotiations between leader mcconnell and president obama, come up with a plan, and go present it and protect the interest of democrats and carry

sway in both houses, and republicans would be responsible -- >> there are a variety of reasons for that. the first one is that there is a basic constitutional responsibility that congress has which is pass the budget. and that's what members of congress were elected to do. that's their basic responsibility. and the american people are counting on them to get it done. the second thing s. the last time we were faced with thisdy lema, the last time congress was challenged to pass bipartisan legislation to keep the government functioning, at a level that appropriately invested in our economic and national security priorities, that was an agreement that was reached in bipartisan discussions that took place on capitol hill. smart patty murray and house republican paul ryan sat down across the negotiating table and hammered out a good agreement. it's not an agreement that anybody thought was perfect. but it was an agreement that represented a genuine compromise.

and it's a compromise that succeeded in passing officially a two-year budget agreement, which is why it's been two years since we last had this standoff. but the unfortunate thing about last time is that the country had to go through a 17-day shutdown before republicans would agree to those kinds of conversations. we are hopeful that republicans will agree to those kinds of conversations before a government shutdown this time. i guess the shorter answer to your question, justin, is that we owe -- that is a strategy that works and we know that that is a strategy that seengsly consistent with the -- essentially consistent with the constitution. >> josh, back to syria. what is the president's strategy regarding syria right now? >> john, first and foremost the president's top priority when it comes to syria is making sure that the national security interests of the united states are protected.

that has involved the use of military force by the united states against extremists that are operating inside of syria. you have seen recent announcements from the pentagon about the -- about an isil -- leading isil operational figure who was killed inside a military air strike inside syria last month. the department of defense reported earlier this month that a u.s. air strike in syria over the summer led to the death of an extremist not affiliated with isil, but an extremist who was actively engaged in leading efforts to strike the united states and the west. and we have talked quite a bit about the u.s. military operations the president ordered inside of syria that resulted in the death of that leading isil official and the exploitation of some intelligence material that was located there. there are a list of other

extremists and leader we can go through. that is the top priority. the second priority has been the effort that's been made by the united states and our coalition partners to back the efforts of opposition fighters on the ground inside syria. these are fighters like syrian kurds, syrian arabs, even some turkmen fighters inside syria that have had some success in pushing back isil. the president you recall earlier this year made a decision to resupply kurdish fighters in kobhani who were under siege from isil fighters. because they were resupplied sews kurdish fighters did mount an offensive against isil fighters and drove them out of kobhani and drove he them out of a large swath of northern and northeastern syria. there have been elements of that strategy that have been successful against isil. ultimately despite that important military activity that is critical to protecting the basic fundamental national security interests of the united

states, the president is keenly aware of the fact that there is no military solution that can be imposed by russia or anybody else on to syria. and that the root of this problem can only be solved with the kind of political transition that results in president assad leaving power. >> you listed some priorities and you listed some operations that have taken place. give me in short what is our strategy? >> our strategy first and foremost is to protect the basic core national security of the united states. that basically means preventing extremists like isil but other groups, who may be trying to capitalize on the chaos inside syria, to establish a safe haven that can be used to plot and carry out strikes against the united states or our allies. that is the overriding priority. what the president's also made clear is that we are not going to commit u.s. military rsonnel to a drawn out

offensive ground operation against isil or anybody else inside of syria. so that said, we are going to need ground fighters inside syria, and there have been a couple ways we tried to build build that effort. one way has been the department equip se train and operation that we have been pretty blunt about the fact that asn't worked out so far. the department of defense is considering changes to that program that could improve the results. what has been more successful, significantly more successful than that. is the support of the united states and our coalition partners for those kurdish, arab, and tirkmen fighters inside syria that had success in driving isil out of some parts of syria. we have also been able to enlist the support of other u.s. allies, including turkey, in an effort to try to close the border between turkey and syria. this is a border that stretches

some 500 or 600 miles. there is now a very narrow corridor that isil is operating in to get access to the border that's only about 60 miles wide. we have more work to do, but we are enlisting our allies in that effort. but ultimately the root solution here to this problem is a political transition that results in president assad leaving power. >> given the failure of our , a rts to train and equip modern opposition in syria, and given the significant change in the facts on the ground now you have the russians conducting air strikes and moving in, significant military personnel and equipment, is there an effort to rethink the entire approach, review of our strategy? >> i would not describe it that way. when it comes o opposition fighters, i routinely conceded and i would once again that our training and equip operation has not performed well.

>> a failure. four, five -- >> there's a dramatic way to say it which is what you described. i think we can agree it certainly has not performed well. the point i want to make is that those are not the only opposition fighters on which we can rely. there are other reliable pposition fighters who we have backed both by providing them some assistance and also by carrying out military air strikes in support of their operations on the ground. so there is a fighting force on the ground inside syria with whom we are able to make progress against isil. but the reason that we have considered this training and equip operation is because we'd like to see more of those fighters. that's why the department of defense is considering changes to that program that would improve its performance. >> one last quick totally different topic.

we learned today the vatican confirmed that the pope met with kim davis while she was here -- was here in washington. what is the white house reaction to that? >> i don't have a specific reaction to the meeting. the president did note in his comments over the weekend that it's important for americans across the country to say clearly that our religious freedom doesn't grant us the freedom to deny our fellow americans their constitutional rights. so the president talked about the importance of religious freedom. when the pope was at the white house on the south lawn last week. the president has been just as clear that the religious freedom doesn't grant us the freedom to deny our fellow americans their basic constitutional rights. >> the president would disagree with pope francis that kim davis acted courageously? >> secondhand. i think what i would say is our position about mrs. davis is

quite clear. that the president believes strongly in the rule of law. that's a principle that applies to those who are engaged in public service, starting at the level of the president of the united states, but even going down all the way to the level of in kentucky. rk >> following up on the comments on television. inaudible] >> i was wondering what the white house reaction is to mccarthy's remarks might be and whether there is a difference opinion about whether the committee -- [inaudible] >> i think everybody here at the white house takes mr. mccarthy at his word, congressman mccarthy at his word. i think the things that's

happening here is leader mccarthy has committed the classic washington gaffe saying something that everybody already knows is true. and i think that's quite apparent what happened on fox news last night. >> can i follow up? >> sure. unless you want to talk more about mr. mccarthy. >> on syria, you said that it isn't particularly surprising what has occurred with russian-led air strikes. russia is saying today that are illegal and russian strikes are legal because they were requested by assad. my question to you is as the white house is trying to wrestle with what constructive, definition of constructive, offensive action might be by the russians, how is the administration going to assess

what russia's positions are, how the strikes are being called in, how they are being identified, what the results are, and what the implications might be for the western coalition trajectory? >> there are i think three ways for us to do that. the first would be that one of the things that both president you putin and president obama -- putin and president obama have asked their teams to do is consult. i would anticipate that secretary kerry and the foreign minister will have additional conversations about russia's activities inside syria. they have been consulting regularly about this, and i know hey have met -- probably up to four or five times. ey probably met four or five

times now just this week in new york to discuss these issues. that ongoing consultation will . one channel the second would be that there will be these practical operational level discussions between u.s. military options and russian military options geared toward deconflicting our activities inside syria.. will give usations a sense of what exactly russia's operations are. the third is that we have a variety of ways, particularly given our presence in the region, to evaluate exactly what russia's military operations are resulting in. that's something that our department of defense will continue to look at. there is one other aspect of your question i wanted to remind you directly. we talked about this here before, but it had been a while so i thought i would remind all of you the legal justification we have cited for the actions of

united states and coalition partners inside syria. so i do want to take this opportunity to get this back on the record again which is the united states provided public notification to the united nations security council. that the united states is using force against isil in syria in the collective self-defense wils a sense of iraq. and in u.s. nationalself defense consistent with art igbicle 51 of the u.n. carter -- charter. it may have even been a year since we talked about this, but the concern that we have long had, and i think it was -- this was a concern that was justified, is that isil would use the chaos inside of syria to establish a safe haven and then use that safe haven inside syria to expand their operations into iraq. and that's what we saw that they did in the summer of 2014. and that is what has precipitated the kind of action that the united states military and coalition partners have

taken inside syria. that's entirely consistent with article 51 of the united nations charter. is th the u.s. coalition, it differed doctor matically over the russians what the strategy is, is the u.n. the body that the united states and russia would disagree together would appeal to the u.n. based on what you just heard? >> i think the kind of practical operational discussions that would take place between u.s. military officials and russian military officials would be geared toward preventing the circumstance that you just presented. and that's why both president putin and president obama have acknowledged those kinds of deconflicts conversations are a priority and that's why i would expect those conversations to take place in short order. i don't think there's any indication that either side believes that that kind of conflict would be in the nterest of either country.

>> is nato involved in those deconflicting discussions? >> not that i am aware of. you might check with the department of defense. my understanding based on the conversation between president putin and president obama is that those deconflick shun talks would take place between u.s. military officials and russian u.s. russian and military officials bilaterally. what russia is doing seems to have no strategic purpose against isis and it looks like they are hitting just kurds opposed to assad. and this is proof that their focus is not isis. is that the consistent with what you're saying? if so, how is that going to affect what the coalition is trying to do? >> that's something i'm not prepared to say at this point of

the the russian military activity inside syria is something the department of defense is closely reviewing. it's possible that source was at the defense department and may have access more information more than i do. these operations have only been taking place for a few hours. that is underi way at the department of defense. the priority we have right now tanthicalto get those level conversations to -- tactical level conversations to deconflict. russia shares that priority. u.s. military officials have already been in touch with their counterparts to try to arrange those talks. i would anticipate those talks will take place in short order. >> is that the shared priority, if that were true, wouldn't that even they would have these conversations before they start air strikes? isn't that an indication they are not as committed to that kind of communication being a priority? >> again, i think the way we'll

be able to tell this is how serious russia is in participating in these discussions. based on the conversation between the two presidents, and based on the conversations that have already taken place between u.s. and russian military officials to charge those talks, and based on the pretty obvious observation that it's hard to see how russia would benefit from their activities coming into direct conflict with u.s. and coalition military activities, i think we can have some confidence they'll engage in that process seriously. we'll see. >> they haven't started that process, which was agreed to and then rare high level meeting, doesn't this indicate that they are not as serious, they didn't have that contact before they actually began? >> there was contact between u.s. and russian officials to set up those conversations, but those conversations haven't begun yet. i would anticipate they'll take place in short order. if we find that the russians don't participate in those talks or if russia is less than cooperative in participating in those talks, then i think we

would have grounds to raise some questions about how serious they take this matter. but at this point i think it's too early to reach that assessment. based on what president putin has said both publicly and privately, i think -- and based on the obvious strategy calculation -- strategic calculation, i think is evident from the fact on the ground it's in everybody's interest here for these talks to occur. >> we know that u.s. -- based on the press release that went out that u.s. air strikes are continuing as planned. we know that obviously even without this communication going on, we know that there's no risk of these two operations getting in the way of each other. we know that the russians don't see the u.s. prioritized targets as their targets. after the bilateral meeting we heard ben rhodes say that it seems that the russians are focused on isis.

but knowing what another administration official said just today and knowing that what they are doing is in no way related or at risk with what the coalition is doing, does that change your view that they are focused on isis? does that raise serious questions? >> again, i think at this point it's -- the other thing that the two presidents agreed 307b -- upon in their discussions if he u.n. -- at the u.n. on monday was the risk that isil poses to u.s. interests, to russian interests, not just in the region but around the world. both countries share that priority. though, is uestion, what can we discern about russia's military strategy? i think i would just -- i'm certainly no military expert, it does seem unwise to start of firm hose kinds conclusions based on military

have just taken place over the last few hours. we'll have a variety of ways to get greater insight into their eventual strategy strategy. that will include conversations between secretary kerry and the foreign minister. that will include the operational level talks. and it will include the department of defense's analysis about exactly what targets russia has hit and what the result of those strikes has been. >> the fact that no one is saying they seem to be hitting anything to do with isis, does that not bother you? >> i'm saying our experts are taking a close look at this. it's too lerloy -- early for me to share conclusions with you. the department of defense if they have greater analysis i'm sure they'll share. >> putting aside the question of what was targeted today, did the president or anyone on the u.s. side said to president putin or others in the russian government, we are arming, we are backing some groups in

syria. do not target them? have you issued that warning? >> that would be part of the kind of -- let me say a couple things. i can't account for all the conversations. and certainly would refer you to the state department for a little more texture about the conversations between secretary kerry and the foreign minister. president putin and the russians are keenly aware of the strategy that i described to john earlier in this briefing, which is that the united states recognizes that boots on the ground will be required to stabilize the situation inside of syria the department of and ultimately to root out isil. the president's made clear those not be u.s. boots on the ground. i think we have seen some indications from the russians that they are reluctant to put russian boots on the ground. they are aware of the fact that the united states has made some progress against isil by relying

on other opposition forces inside of syria. i think the other thing that bears mentioning is that president putin, in the context of his meeting with president obama, noted the importance of a political transition inside of syria. now, he's not willing to make the same commitment that we are or same observation that we have that president assad has lost legitimacy to lead. but implicit in -- even in president putin's description of the need for political transition is the need for some kind of functioning opposition. that you can't really have a political transition in which the politics don't change. so i think president putin understands that at some level there is going to have to be more of a political contribution from the opposition inside syria. that's why the united states has worked hard both to build up the capacity of the military --

military capacity of the modern syrian opposition inside syria, but also worked to support the u.n.-led troops to facilitate conversations between the assad regime and moderate syrian opposition. >> you're not able to say that there's with any certainty there was a warning issued to the russians, do not touch this modern opposition we are supplying and back and training? >> what i'm willing to say is that there was not this kind of operational level discussion between president obama and president putin. as you would expect from two commander in chief it was a relatively high level conversation. certainly when it comes to deconflicting our efforts, that would include making sure that russia's not taking military strikes against u.s. military forces or other force that is are advancing the same goal that we are in coordination with our coalition.

>> the u.s. would take a dim view of any attacks that targeted groups that u.s. equipment is being used by that we are training. whether or not they are operating against isil. some of them are also operating against the syrian regime. >> i think -- let me say it this way. we have sought a russian contribution to our counter isil campaign that's constructive. there are 65 nations that have worked with the united states to advance our strategy inside syria that includes backing opposition forces on the ground. there are a variety of ways those forces can be helped. in some cases that is providing some military air support. other cases that is providing them some military assistance. some cases it's even providing assistance like m.r.e.s and medical equipment that can be useful to fighters on the battlefield.

the united states has provided the last tally is about $400 until that kind of assistance to syrian operation fighters. we certainly wouldn't want russian military operations to come into conflict with that ongoing effort. which is why both president obama and president putin have ion ed a priority deconflict talks. >> in the newfound zeal, did putin suggest to the president that maybe the u.s. and its coalition partners should, maybe a bert word, but stand down on the air strikes in syria? let us handle this, attitude, in the meeting? >> the focus of their conversations with regard to our -- with our ongoing military operations and their planned military operations was the need for ensuring those operations were properly deconflicted. both president obama and president putin placed a

priority on those talks taking place at an operational level. and shortly after that meeting concluded, u.s. officials were in touch with their russian counterparts to begin arranging that meeting. those talks haven't occurred yet, but i would expect they would occur in short order. >> there was no suggestion let us handle this? >> no, there's no specific request like that. not in. >> can you confirm that a russian commander informed iraq that the strikes would take place within an hour? do you think this is appropriate -- dering [inaudible] do you think that's a slap in the face? why don't you take it seriously? >> first, let me say i believe the state department has confirmed some version of that notification. i refer you to them for the details. the second is i don't know that

-- exactly what time that took place. but based on the way that i learned about this i suspect that took place overnight. i don't think it would be accurate to say that both secretary kerry and the foreign minister were inside the same building at the same time. presumably they were both asleep. i think your point, that gets to the point i would like to make, which is simply that beginning these military to military conversations, by deconflicting our activities, is important. and the kind of notification that you just described is obviously not the most efficient way for us to ensure that our military activities are deconflicted. that's why both presidents have ordered military officials in their countries to coordinate at an operational level to more formally ensure those operations re deconflicted.

it >> said that you invited president putin to the middle east. inaudible] >> the short answer to your question is, no. the longer answer to your question is to observe that russia has treated syria has a client state for quite some time now. five years ago that client state was pretty stable. and right now it's a client state that is in utter chaos where the leader that they have propped up for years is losing its grip on power. that's a pretty clear indication that russia is not flexing its muscles when it comes to syria. right now they are trying to

prop up an investment that's about to go south. we have made clear that any sort of effort to double down on their support for the assad egime is a losing bet. i think that's -- that's the first observation. the second thing that i would say is that we would welcome a constructive russian contribution to the counter isil campaign. there are clearly priorities that we share. both -- leaders of both nations recognize the threat that is posed by isil. both nations, the leaders of both nations, recognize that there is a fundamental political problem inside of syria that has led to this chaos. that has taken the form not just of isil but other extremists that are hoping to use the chaos in syria to carry out attacks against countries around the

world. it also has precipitated a terrible humanitarian crisis in a flood of refugees fleeing violence inside syria. that kind of refugee move is not in anybody's interest. there is plenty when it comes to and nterests that russia the united states should be able to find such that russia could be a constructive participant in our counter isil campaign. thus far that's not been the strategy that they have chosen to pursue, and if they are not going to be integrated into our broader counter isil effort that includes 65 nations, then we want to make sure that any russian military activities that are taking place inside syria, that are unilateral, are activities that are at least formally deconflicted with our

ongoing operations inside syria. and president putin agreed that that should be done. >> would shift to the dynamic to the degree it might speed up or delay -- >> after one day it's hard to tell. what we have said is that if russia uses its military assets side of syria to prop up the assad regime, that -- that will make the political transition more difficult. the reason for that is simply, it's only going to ensure that the assad regime alienates even more of the population and could essentially be run counter to the goals that both president obama and president putin say they share, which is the defeat of isil. by further alienating the population inside syria, you make -- you essentially serve as a recruitment tool for the

extremists operating inside syria. why we believe that doubling down on assad is a bad bet for the russians. and it's why we have encouraged them to contribute constructively to our effort there. >> two domestic questions. one you recall last february the president was rush pushing the department of labor to adopt a fiduciary rule. today a house committee is marking up a bill to delay that. would the president veto such -- >> as you point out they are still marking up some of this legislation, but it clearly -- i'm not prepared to issue a veto threat at this point. but what you described certainly runs counter to the priorities that this administration and this president has placed on making sure that we are protect the retirement savings of middle class families. there's some studies indicate that because of this rule is not in place, that american families

lose $17 billion in retirement savings every year, $17 billion. that's a substantial risk that is not worth taking. the fact is, this is a case we have made, the fact is that responsible financial managers wouldn't have to do anything differently. rather this is a rule that would ensure that there is no conflict of interest. and that the retirement savings of middle class families is effectively managed. and failing to implement this rule puts at risk $17 billion in retirement savings. that doesn't seem like a good idea. that's why the president and thised a mcmorris rodgers have moved forward with this particular rule. and we certainly would take a dim view of efforts by republicans who are acting at behest of wall street interest by the way, to block it. >> slightly different. is the white house far more concerned now with speaker boehner stepping down about

at theing the debt limit end of november, december? >> well, to be direct about it this is an important responsibility of the united states congress. when you are talking about something this important, and you're dealing with a congress that has been this unreliable, there's always going to be a source of concern. i think that's the concern i would articulate to you whether the speaker of the house is john boehner or kevin mccarthy or frankly anybody else. so it's something we are certainly mindful of and tracking closely. but ultimately this is the responsibility when you are of congress. we are hopeful that they'll do the responsible thing to their credit that they have done two or three times since 2011 which is ensured that the debt limit was raised without a bunch of drama that would unnecessarily inject additional volatility

into the financial markets. that certainly wouldn't be good for the economy. it wouldn't be good for middle class families. republicans in congress focus on those priorities, then we won't have anything to worry about. hopefully they will. chris? >> thanks. given that the confirmation given by the pentagon what was essentially a knock on the door at the u.s. embassy in baghdad and we established both presidents have agreed they look at each other and agree it was a priority to deconflict, was an hour's notice what president obama had in mind when he spoke with putin? >> let me start by saying this, chris, which is that it there that there ich is was no persuasion to make deconflickion a priority. both acknowledged that. it wasn't a matter of trying to persuade one side or the other this should be a priority. both presidents readily agreed

because it so clearly in the interest of both our countries to make sure that our operations don't come into conflict there. hours? an one's -- one hour's notice? >> u.s. officials would be in military russian officials to set up talks to engage a formal process to deconflict at a formal level. the outruche has occurred -- outreach has occurred, but the actual talks have not taken place. i'm confident that they will take place in short order. >> one hour's notice at least violate the spirit of that conversation? >> military officials the spirit of the quf is the construction of a more formal process where u.s. military officials and russian military officials can engage in a regular dialogue to deconflict their activities. that's the spirit of that agreement and that's what we expect to be set up in relatively short order. >> in the meantime, given the russians have launched air strikes, does the u.s. just in

the interim trust that russia is not going to conflict with u.s. military operations? >> i think the russians have made clear they are not interested in provoking a conflict. that's something that they have said and their actions thus far indicate that that's what -- that that's what they believe. but ultimately the more effective way and more efficient way for these activities to be properly deconflicted is for these talks to place -- take place between military officials at a tactical operational level. we expect that will take place soon. april? >> josh, i want to ask you a couple questions on a couple different subjects. the relationship with the u.s. and russia is complicated at the

very best. higher ground he and talking about the situation that happened with russia and syria. what's the level of tension here at the white house with russia's actions, especially as you try to deconflict? >> i was asked earlier about whether or not this russian action would prompt a comprehensive re-evaluation of the situation inside of syria. it won't. the fact is president putin and the russians have been trying to prop up assad for a long time. and the fact that they are now having to ramp up that support is an indication that their previous efforts to prop him up weren't successful. and the reason they are trying to prop him up is because this is essentially the client state they had in the middle east for quite some time, they are eager to try to preserve that toehold in the region. so that's -- that principally is

why we are seeing what we are seeing there. at the same time, the president believes it's important for russia's military activities to not come into conflict with our efforts there. if russia is willing, we would welcome their constructive contribution to this effort. the fact this neff not -- that they have not decided to make a constructive contribution to our effort, means that russia's not doing exactly what we would like them to do in syria, and that's not unusual in the relationship between our two countries. but i think i also pointed out on a couple occasions here there are areas of common interest that we have inside syria, and that relates not just to the priority placed on deconflickion, but also the priority based on begrading and ultimately destroying isil. that's the hele goal of our coalition and goal that president putin would say he

shares. there also was an acknowledgement on the part of the russians that our view of the necessity of a political transition inside of syria is correct. that at root this is a political problem and that the problems that isil has caused will not be solved over the long term until a political solution is reached. what that means is it means that russia's not going to be successful in imposing a military solution inside syria. they'll be no more successful in that regard than the united states was in imposing a military solution in iraq in the last keak and certainly no more successful than russian efforts to impose a military solution in afghanistan three decades ago. >> what was the level of surprise after the meeting and finding out what's happening today? here in the white house? >> quite low. again, the reason that we have been having conversations about russia's military commitment inside syria is because all of

you were keenly aware of the fact that russia had moved all kinds of military equipment, including fighter jets, into syria. that wasn't a secret. therefore it's difficult to be taken by surprise. it's entirely consistent with the kind of efforts that they have undertaken in the last five years to prop up the assad regime. so it certainly represents an escalation, but the trajector is the same. -- trajectory is the same. obviously we would like to see russia do something different. i'm not trying to suggest to you this is what we would like to see russia do. but i'm surprised that anybody would say that it had taken them by surprise. >> another question. how much time did you have to look at the pope's itinerary -- >> how much time? >> did you see his itinerary

prior to his arrival in the states? >> there was a broad -- i think that all of us had the opportunity, all of you had his public schedule. we were aware of his itinerary. you were getting at whether or not we were aware this meeting was taking place? i wasn't aware of the meeting and i don't know to what degree anybody else was, either. >> were you taken by surprise by that? > by anything. >> wait until you see what happens tomorrow. i guess i hadn't had sufficient time to consider really the quonses -- consequences of this particular meeting. i did not know it had occurred. i don't know if anybody else around here did, either. i guess i would -- in terms of the reason for the meeting and what the objective was of the pope in having the meeting, i

would refer you to the vatican. >> did the president say anything, especially since he followed the media on his blackberry, did he say anything to you about this kim davis meeting and what she said, keep doing what you're doing? did he say anything to you about that? >> that's a secondhand account. >> it's her account. she was there with the pope. that's her account. >> i don't know that her lawyer was there. it was his comments. that's what makes it a secondhand account, right? >> she was the person giving the information. >> the point is, i don't have a specific reaction to the actual meeting. our position on this issue has been quite clear from the very first day this person had headlines and that position hasn't changed. >> touch base on afghanistan before i double back on syria. you mentioned earlier that there had been a number of air strikes to assist afghan forces as they attempt to reclaim the sixth

largest city in that country. is the white house aware of special forces on the ground, american personnel, as well as engaged in firefighting there? >> kevin, for these kind of operational questions i refer to you the department of defense. they can give you the most reliable information. my understanding based on the information i received before i came out here is that there were three air strikes that were carried out. as a part of this effort. and they were carried out to protect u.s. and coalition force that is were providing advisory support to the ongoing afghanistan effort to retake the city. so that is to say that clearly u.s. coalition forces that are operating in that advisory role in afghanistan are operating in a very dangerous place. it's important for us to -- it's important for the military to carry out the president's

mission which is includes force protection. but i think the military would say it's not accurate to describe them as being engaged in that firefight. their role they have is to provide advisory support to the afghans that are participating in that effort. as i said once gf and i'll just repeat again, that is not in any way to down play the risk that these brave soldiers are taking on. it's just an effort to try to describe to you precisely what their role is while they are there. >> i want to get a big picture view on syria. there have been people over the last couple days, in particular josh, that have suggested that putin is really running circles around the president. strategicically he's always one step ahead. in response to that, what would you say to people who feel like the president is being outwitted, outstrategized, even outsmarted by putin? >> that doesn't reflect the facts. the fact of the matter is the russians are respond interesting

a position of weakness. they are seeing the client state they have maintained inside syria progress over the course of five years from being a relatively stable state where they could exercise significant influence to a country that's torn apart by chaos and that risks the status of the leader that they have supported there for years. . that has prompted russia to ramp up their involvement there. the second thing is that russia continues to suffer from the -- russia economy's continues to suffer from the kind of international isolation and economic costs that have been imposed on them as a result of their destabilizing activities inside of ukraine. russia, again, as a result of broader economic forces and the sanctions that the united states and our european partners have imposed on them have led to a bunch of negative outcomes when it comes to their economy. coordinate to the i.m.f., the russia economy will contract 3% to 4% this year and will remain

in recession into next year. that's stands in stark contrast to the remembers of the world's economy, including those that rely on energy exports that are projected to grow this year. just in the last three years, we've seen the russian economy plummet in size from being 1/8 the size of the u.s. to being 1/16 the size of the u.s. economy and russia rates as 15th largest in the world coming in right after spain. so with all due respect to our friends in spain, that is not a country that is thriving right now. this is a country right now that is sustaining significant economic costs and responding to a situation where they see their influence anyonishing and the prospect of -- diminishing and the prospect of a significant long-term investment in syria going down the tubes. so that's -- i guess that's the

case i would make. this is not in inconsistent with the broader case that the president made in his speech to the united nations general assembly, that one of the hallmarks of american influence and american strength is the fact that at least in this situation the united states is leading an international coalition of 65 nations that are carrying out an integrated strategy to the great -- to ultimately destroy isil. that stands in stark contrast to the military action that russia is conducting today. >> is the president comfortable with the idea that russia will take a larger, broader role in the region, even as the u.s. sort of steps back, in particular, in syria, is that accurate, is that inaccurate? josh: well, i think russia would be wise to consider recent history before they take a wider role in the region, that is focused on imposing a military solution inside of syria. recent history makes pretty clear they will not succeed in that regard. they will certainly not succeed any more than the united states

is able to impose a military solution in iraq in the last duck declaration aid, and they certainly won't succeed any more than to impose a military solution in iraq three decades ago. i think this is a backdrop to the russia military inside of syria today. >> the secret service, i know we hear news reports of things -- coming off this week where they've been busy. has the president gone out and thanked the men who not only protect him but protected a number of high level visitors josh: kevin, you make an appropriate observation which is that the men and women of the secret service over the last week have faced the kind of significant challenges that no law enforcement agency -- well, let me say it this way. i think you could make a strong case that this has probably been the busiest week in the

history of the secret service. when you consider they were responsible for protecting the pope during his week-long visit to the united states over three different cities, when you consider they had been responsible for the safety and security of the chinese president during his multiday visit to the united states that included at least two cities, that i'm aware of, and -- and when you add on to that -- that took place while the united nations general assembly was going on where there were more than 100 world leaders gathered in new york, there were a wide range of significant responsibilities that the united states secret service had to live up to. it's not just a matter of keeping those individuals safe, it is to make sure they could travel efficiently around the country and around the cities they were visiting. at least when it came to the pope, trying to balance the desire of the pope to remain safe with his desire to engage with the american public. so this is just -- all of this

is a long way of saying, i admit, that the men and women of the secret service are dedicated professionals who are committed to serving their country and advancing the best interest of their country. and they have a very specific, unique mission for doing that. and there's no denying that over the course of the last week when faced with these very significant challenges that they were anything less than wildly successful. mark. mark: on that point, did president obama phone john clancy that he made publicly on the south lawn yesterday? josh: as you pointed out, the president did have a little bit to talk about this public low yesterday. i don't know if he had a chance to speak directly to director chancey. i know director clancy himself has been busy over the last week. mark: he probably would take his call. josh i bet he would. if that took place i'll get you the information. mark: the 65 nations, the coalition, how many are willing to put boots on the ground?

josh: inside of syria? mark: yes. josh: let me check on the commitments that were made. most of them -- and i thinked' even say the vast majority, if not at all, have like the united states been unwilling to make that commitment principally because they recognize that a military solution cannot be imposed on syria from the united states. rather, there is a premium on backing the efforts of opposition fighters on the ground. that ultimately those opposition forces that are members of the moderate opposition essentially represent what would hopefully turn into a moderate political opposition and would serve as the basis as the kind of political transition that needs o occur in that country. mark: do the nations sign a document explaining their commitment to the coalition? josh there is something like this. -- josh: there is something like this. the state department -- you recall that general allen,

state department employee, retired from the military, has been leading the effort to integrate the contributions of all of the nations who are part of this coalition. and so he's engaged in an effort to make sure the expertise and resources of individual countries are best leveraged to advance the interest of the broader coalition. so i believe that there is a way that they keep track of the kinds of contributions that countries have made to this effort. but check with the state department. they may give you a better sense of how those records are kept. mark: and one more thing. what is the subject of the president's meeting today with state legislators? josh: i believe those state legislators are in town for a more formal meeting, and the president invited them to the white house. and the president will speak to them a little later this afternoon about a range of priorities that he has. some of those state legislators have advanced efforts to raise the minimum wage or to implement medicaid expansion. variety of es the

areas where the federal government and state governments can work effectively together to maximize the benefits for their citizens. and the president will have more to say about this this afternoon. thank you. jessica, i'll give you the last one. jessica: the white house -- does the white house acknowledge that russia's timing is such that it comes just as the u.s. has acknowledged the efforts of syria were not successful? josh: i don't think that's what's going on here. i think we have long acknowledged the kinds of challenges that we face inside of syria. and i think russia has long been involved in ramping up their efforts to support assad. so i'm not sure that there's any turning point you can point to in terms of our activities that would be hooked to any new russian decision. jessica: the narrative that russia felt the need to step in

essentially where the u.s. was failing is not one that you would compare with? josh: i think russia felt the need to step in because assad was failing and russia was concerned of the consequences they would have for their investment in that country. i think there's ample evidence to indicate that's an accurate explanation of what's going on here. jessica: the president said he'd work with russia on the problems. what are the chances of the u.s. accepting russian help going forward given what happened to the air strikes in seemingly being caught a little bit? josh: well, if the russian offered is made that's constructed when it comes to cooperating with the broader international coalition to degrade and ultimately destroy isil, we'll readily accept it but that's not an offer russia has made so far. jessica: meaning to join your coalition? josh: it needs to be integrated with all of the efforts under way there. ok. tara, you emailed me earlier saying you had a question. why don't you tell me what your

question is and i'll see if i can answer it. tara: the flag at the u.n. -- >> we'll leave here. the u.s. house is gaveling back in for short-term government spending, the continuing resolution. live coverage next here on c-span. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] h.r. 719 and consideration of the senate amendment to the house senate amendment to the bill h.r. 719, to require the transportation security administration to conform to existing federal law and regulations regarding criminal investigator positions, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. frons the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? mr. cole: mr. speaker, by direct of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 448 and ask for its immediate

consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the tight. resolution. the clerk: house called number 61, house resolution 448, resolved that upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the concurrent resolution, house concurrent resolution 79, directing the clerk of the house of representatives to make corrections in the enrollment of h.r. 719. all points poits against consideration of the rulings are waived of the the concurrent resolution shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the concurrent resolution are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the concurrent resolution to adoption without intervening or demand for division of the que question except 20 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and minority leader or their respective designees. section 2, upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to take from the speaker's table the bill h.r. 719, to require the transportation security administration to conform to

existing federal law and regulations regarding criminal investigator positions, and for other purposes. the senate amendment to the house amendment to the senate amendment thereto and to consider in the house without intervention of any point of order a motion offered by the chair of the committee on appropriations or his designee that the house concur in the senate amendment to the house amendment to the senate amendment, the senate amendment and the motion shall be considered as read. the motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the motion to adoption without intervening motion. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for one hour. mr. cole: mr. speaker, for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to my good friend, the gentlelady from new york, ms. slaughter, pending which i yield myself such time s i may consume.

. cole: during consideration of this resolution all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. cole: mr. speaker, earlier today the rules committee met and reported a rule for consideration for both house concurrent resolution 79, directing the clerk of the house of representatives to make corrections in the enrollment of h.r. 719 and h.r. 719, the continuing appropriations act c 2016. the rule provides for consideration of house concurrent resolution 79 under a closed rule with 20 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and his deg designee and the minority leader or her designee. in additionle rule makes in order a motion offered by the chair of the committee on appropriations that the house concur in senate amendment to h.r. 719, with 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and the ranking member of the committee on appropriations. mr. speaker, first this

resolution allows for consideration of house concurrent resolution 79 which directs the clerk of the house to include the text of the defund planned parenthood act of 2015 in the enroll the of h.r. 719. this would allow the house to again state its position in opposition to the funding of planned parenthood. as it has already done by passage of both h.r. 3495 and h.r. 3134. in addition, mr. speaker, the rule provides for consideration of short-term continuing resolution. as a member of the appropriations committee, i'm always disappointed when we are forced to consider continuing resolutions, especially given the work this house has done in the appropriations process this ear. for the first time since 2009, the house appropriations

committee was able to complete all 12 appropriations bills and complete them before the august ecess. unfortunately, just as in years past, senate democrats prevented consideration of any appropriations bills on the floor of that body. this leads us to the unfortunate situation of having to put forward a short-term c.r. to fund the government through december 11. this continuing resolution is simple, most programs will continue being funded at their f.y. 2015 levels, however, it unfortunately, certain spending levels for critical needs such as providing $700 million for wildfire suppression activities in the west. and it extends several programs that would otherwise lapse like the collection of recreation fees for public lands. in addition it maintains the moratorium on state and local jurisdictions, taxation of the internet. i hope that in the weeks and months ahead that the house, the senate, and the president can come to an agreement on a path forward which ensures we are not in this same place in december. .

some of my colleagues have stated publicly they could not support this c.r. because it provides funding for planned parenthood. i want to assure my colleagues that no funding for planned parenthood is included in this legislation. first, the majority of planned parenthood funding, about 90%, comes through medicaid and is not subject to appropriations. of the remaining 10%, the largest portion, roughly $28 million, is funded through title 10. these grant programs are competed for every year and are awarded in april, long past the length of this continuing resolution. while i share the same disgust over the evidence seen in the atrocious videos that are so widely known, i want to assure my colleagues that no additional funds are provided for this organization in this bill. i'm encouraged by the hard work of chairman rogers, ranking member lowey and, of course, the speaker, whose leadership has made all this possible. one of the preeminent responsibilities we are tasked

with as members of congress is to ensure that the government continues to function. while a continuing resolution is not the ideal vehicle, the alternative of a government shutdown is not what we have all been sent to washington to do. i urge support of the rule and the underlying legislation, and with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: thank you very much, mr. speaker. and i thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. mr. speaker, when the house shut down in 2013, i happened to be on the floor at midnight. and why at this moment eludes me. i remember when the clock struck midnight i made the comment that the great government of the united states of america was closed. that 16-day exercise took $24 billion out of this economy. at a time when we were struggling really to get our economy back on track.

that money mostly came from mom and pop stores that were in federal buildings or national parks. the inconvenience to the federal employees was enormous. they did get paid but they were worried to death whether they could meet their mortgage payments or to meet the college tuition payments and get so many people -- veterans who came to washington to visit their memorials only to find them closed. and i certainly concur with mr. cole, we do not want to see that again. it was foolish then, it would be doublely foolish now. but we are -- doubly foolish now. but we are on the edge of what we are going to do because we couldn't get anything done. i'm upset today by what occurred on television, and i want to explain it to you because i have said on this floor so many times, mostly during the 54 times we voted to defund health care, that what was going on here was a gigantic hoax.

i said just this morning at the rules committee what we do has only a passing resemblance to what we are supposed to do. and i want to make a quote from what was said last night on fox news by representative mccarthy, who is the presumptive new speaker of the house. he said, and i quote. what you're going to see is a conservative speaker that takes a conservative congress and puts a strategy to fight and win. let me give you one example. everybody thought hillary clinton was unbeatable, right? but we put together a benghazi special committee, a select committee. what are her numbers today? her numbers are dropping. no one would have known anything of that happened had we not fought and made that happen. sean hasity responds, i agree -- hannity responds, i agree. i'll give you credit for that. i tell you what it means, mr. speaker. it means this is a hoax. we concerned ourselves with

that and now we'll see another one of these special committees. the benghazi committee has already spent $4.5 million on top of the money that was spent in committees to point out that there was nothing wrong in benghazi. and once again, i was on the floor of the house setting up special committees about benghazi when i got a call from seals' he former navy mother whose son was there. he knew his risks. would we please stop bringing this up over and over again. we heard basically the same thing from the ambassador's family who said he knew the language. he liked to be out with the people. he could not be confined behind a wall. so what are we doing here today? more hoax? more money wasted? perhaps we -- i told the chairman of rules this morning that we would be happy to give them the rule for the c.r. we want a clean c.r.

i'll get it out when the senate sends as you clean c.r. no, we are not going to do that. we're going to pretend as part of the c.r. rule that we are going to defund planned parenthood, which mr. cole just pointed out, has no money allocated to it directly in the federal budget. so what we're going to defund is i don't know what -- h.h.s., who knows. maybe we'll find out. maybe we won't. but they're doing this hoax again simply to fool some of the people on this side who obviously know about it because it's been in every paper and on everybody's lips that i talked to that we were going to have to probably do that. but putting that on the rule this morning meant that we cannot support it, and perhaps you have the votes to do it by hoaxing people but i don't know. we do know that the most conservative wing has added that vote on the bill even though, as i pointed out, we were very willing to give the votes on our side.

78 the senate voted the majority votes to keep the u.s. senate open and keep congress moving but we don't do that because we'll restrict a woman's access to health care. we do it all the time. we already had 14 votes. did a couple three this week. what in the world is it that makes this majority want to take health care away from people? 54 times to kill health care, 14 times to kill choice which is constitutionally protected, i must add. so across the country, our constituents must be thoroughly surprised of what's really going on here. a lot of money is being spent. $24 million a week it takes to run the house of representatives, and think of the benghazi committees. if you recall at both armed services and intelligence, their chairs, republican chairs -- and bless them for it -- said there is nothing there.

but we find out last night that the whole purpose of all of it was never to do anything except to cause eternal grief to the families of the four people who lost their lives. and to destroy a presidential candidate. could the congress really stoop that low? i certainly hope not. but the facts belie my hope. so we'll be back here in december, december 11, actually, where i suspect we'll go through the same thing. are we going to shut down the government or are we going to try to do our job? we'll do the same thing. we'll have to put some things in to fool people in all the time so that they will think they're voting for something entirely different. frankly, i'm not going to try to explain why this is happening because the people that are meant to appease obviously know we are just appeasing them and it won't last. but it sure is expensive. so i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: i want to first point out a couple areas where my friend and i do disagree. we do disagree about the value of the benghazi committee. i think it's been conducted professionally and seriously about mr. goudy. i think we learned some things we wouldn't have learned, including the fact that the former secretary of state had a private server over which only she had access and control. very unusual arrangement. so i'll just let the committee continue its work and see where we end up at the end of the day. and i want to disagree with my friend, with all due respect, on planned parenthood. i mean, that's just an area where we have a difference of opinion. i don't think it's appropriate that they receive federal funds. there are plenty of other ways. we provide literally thousands -- we provide $3.5 billion to thousands of public health care centers and community health

care centers around the united states that provide the same services. that is appropriate and we should do that. but i also want to agree with my friend. i agree very much with her sentiments on government shutdown, and she's precisely right, in my view, about what happened in the last government shutdown. should not have occurred. this is a sincere effort to make sure that doesn't occur now. the appropriations committee is certainly doing everything in its power to do that. obviously we need the administration, the senate and the house leadership to sit down and give us a framework. we're trying to buy them that time. i think we're doing it in a very responsible way. so while my friend and i may have some disagreements in some areas, on the functioning of government, we have absolutely no disagreement whatsoever. and i'm pleased to be here working with her in those areas, and i'm hopeful that the president, the speaker and the majority leader, respective minority leaders can indeed come to a larger agreement that would allow a normal

appropriations process to take place. first omnibus bill this year and hopefully next year an actual complete appropriations process, such as we haven't seen here in many, many years. so with that i reserve the balance of my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i have request for time, mr. speaker, but nobody appears to be here to take that time. and so i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a -- messages from the president of the united states. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: mr. secretary. the secretary: i am directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives messages in writing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, we find ourselves in a precarious time at midnight tonight, the government of the united states will close yet once again. and mr. cole and i certainly have strong agreement on that

and i'm happy for that. he's a true gentleman, a scholar here in congress. it i continue to say that saddens me greatly because those of us wanted to vote for a clean c.r. this rule will not let us have an opportunity to do that. so i yield back the balance of my time and call for a no vote on the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: i want to thank my friend, again, for also emphasizing the areas where we agree, which is on the maintenance of the government. and while we may have a difference over the rule, i would hope that my friend and many of her colleagues on the c.r. that has been agreed to would look on that favorably and will be able to support the c.r. itself as opposed to the rule. mr. speaker, passage of the c.r. is critical to prevent a government shutdown, and to demonstrate to the american

people that congress can actually govern. the c.r. abides within the budget caps and does not provide any additional funding for planned parenthood, as some have claimed, in addition, the rule provides for consideration of an enrollment correction bill that would make, again, make the position of the house clear in opposition to any additional funding for planned parenthood. i want to encourage my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation, and frankly, i want to encourage those who are now engaged in negotiations to arrive at a framework where the appropriations process can actually go forward. where we can sit down and seriously consider in a bipartisan way how best to fund the government in the coming year, and where hopefully we can get an agreement large enough that we can have a normal appropriations process next year where we actually bring bills individually to this floor, as we did six times, actually do it for the full 12 that would be in order. so that's my hope. that's what i'm going to be

working toward. i know my friend will be working in the same direction. so, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. without objection, the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of the resolution. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on adoption of the resolution will be followed by a five-minute vote on the motion to suspend the rules and pass s. 2082. again, this is a 15-minute vote on adoption of the resolution. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 239, the nays are 187. the majority voting in the affirmative, the resolution is adopted and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion by the gentleman from florida, mr. miller, to suspend the rules and pass s. 2082 on which the yeas and nays are ordered this echloric -- the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 2082, an act to extend certain expiring provisions of law by the secretary of veterans affairs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill? members will record their votes by electronic device.

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

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 423, the nays are 0. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition? >> i send to the desk a pri ledge red port from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 449 to provide for consideration of the bill h.r. 447 to prohibit the lifting of sangs on iran until the government of iran pays the judgments against it for acts of

terror and for other purposes. providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany the bill h.r. 735 to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities of the department of defense for mill tear construction and for defense activities of the department of energy. to prescribe military personnel strength for such fiscal year and for other purposes and providing for consideration of motions to suspend the rules. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the question of adopting a motion to concur pursuant to house resolution 448 may be subject to postponement as though under clause 8 of rule 20. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislate i days to revise

and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r. 719 and that i may include tabular material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? mr. rogers spst pursuant to the rule just passed i call up h.r. 719 with the senate amendment to the house amendment to the senate amendment thereto and i have a motion at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill, designate the senate amendment to the house amendment to the senate amendment and report the motion.

the clerk: h.r. 719 with regard to federal regulations owith regard to criminal investigator positions and for other purposes. senate amendment to house amendment to senate amendment. mr. rogers of kentucky moves hat thousands concur in the senate amendment to the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 719. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 448, the motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers, and the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. lowey, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: i rise today to present h.r. 719 a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open and operating after the end of the

fiscal year on september 30. this necessary measure funds government and services at the current rate through december 11 of this year. as in previous years, the c.r. also includes a small across the board reduction to keep within the fiscal year 2016 cap level set by the budget control act. mr. speaker, this is a responsible measure that prevents a harmful government shutdown while allowing time for a larger budget agreement to be reached and time to complete the full year appropriations work for 2016. it also includes a few responsible provisions to prevent disastrous, irreversible damage to government programs or to current -- to address current urgent needs. these changes are limited in

scope and noncontroversial. for instance, these provisions extend the authority for critical department of defense activities that fight terrorism, increases funding for the department of veterans' affairs to help address the disability claims backlog, and provides emergency funding to the forest service to help respond to the disastrous wildfires that are devastating our western states. while i firmly believe this legislation is the best path forward at this time, it's also my strong opinion that congress should do its job and enact actual line-by-line separate appropriations bills ahead of our september 30 deadline. clearly this is not an option at this time, so we must resort to a temporary measure like this c.r. but a c.r. doesn't reflect our

most current budgetary needs. it creates uncertainty across the whole government. it does not adequately address our national security obligations. and it causes needless waste and taxpayer dollars are spent inefficiently and ineffectively. so it's to my great dismay, mr. speaker, that we've arrived at this point once again requiring a temporary band-aid to buy us time to do our constitutionally mandated duty. the house beginning our appropriations work at the earliest date since 1974. the current budget control act's anniversary. and passing six of our 12 bills by july of this year. my committee reported out all 12 bills for the first time since 2009. and yet the senate refuses to

act. gives us -- giving us no choice but to try for a continuing resolution. now with progress stalled, it's clear that all sides must come together to find some sort of agreement that addresses our current fiscal situation in a comprehensive way. and this c.r., while not ideal, is the next step toward that end. keeping the government's lights on as we work to find a solution. with current funding set to expire in just hours from now, i urge my colleagues to do the responsible and reasonable thing and support this continuing resolution today. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is ecognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i ask as a much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized.

mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, we may temporarily avert this most recent crisis if we can get this bill to the president tonight, just hours before the entire federal government shuts down. but it is certainly not a cause for celebration. this very short term continuing resolution avoids the most immediate crisis, but what is step two? after we enact this stop gap measure, are there any firm plans to begin negotiating the full year appropriations bills we should be passing today? remain deeply concerned about the potential of finding ourselves facing a government shutdown again in december. the stakes are very high. we have an economy that is general which win -- genuinely recovering, unemployment is dun, -- down, economic growth is up, but we still have progress to make.

the uncertainty and unnecessary tumult of playing games right up to the brink of a government shutdown is not helpful to our fragile economy. the last shutdown cost the onomy $24 billion in g.d.p., according to standard&poor. this continuing resolution buying us 10 weeks and takes care of only a handful of the most pressing federal responsibilities. provides desperately needed emergency fire fighting funds to address the cat clissic fires rage -- cataclysmic fires raging in the west, providing additional resources for processing disability claims at the veterans' administration, increases the authorization in the small business loan guarantee program to ensure new loans can bed a a ministered to help small -- can be administered to help small

businesses across the country, and extends several expiring authorizations for programs within the department of homeland security. notably the continuing resolution does not address other key priorities that could bolster our economy such as the expired authority of the export-import bank, which has 1.5 d or sustained $-- million private sector jobs at no cost to the taxpayer since 2007 and supported billions in american economic activity. by settling on the short term extension, we fail to provide proposed increases for medical research at the national institutes of health, and the nation's aging transportation system and infrastructure. the president's request for defense funding is shortchanged which would put our national security at risk in a long term c.r.

leaving our federal agencies on auto pilot without the line by line, year by year adjustments that should come from this committee and this congress. this is irresponsible and hurts our ability to grow our economy, create jobs and give hardworking families the services they need. yet with the republican dysfunction that has driven a change in the majority's leadership on the brink of a government shutdown, the prospects for forging a reasonable, responsible solution by december are not good. one more indication of the dire tlook is the cynical gimmick and enrollment correction the majority has put forward today to supposedly defund planned parenthood. fortunately it will have no practical effect on the c.r. for two reasons. first, the senate will ignore it.

and second, there is no need for a correction since, as my friend mr. cole noted this weekend, there's no money in this c.r. for planned parenthood. politifact even confirmed this claim. i will strongly oppose this attack on women's health today, as i support the temporary continuing resolution and urge all of my colleagues to do the same so we can at least avoid a worst case scenario. i again implore outgoing and incoming republican leadership to please engage with the president and house democrats immediately on an agreement to replace the sequester level caps, avert the next crisis, just weeks away, stop playing political games with women's health, and invest in american economic growth and security and i reserve the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield such time as he may consume to a very valued member

of my committee who happen also to be the chairman -- happens also to be the chairman of the labor-h.h.s. subcommittee, tom cole. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. mr. cole: i thank, mr. speaker. first i want to begin by congratulating both my chairman and my ranking member for the exceptional job they've done this year in getting all 12 appropriations bills through the full committee for the first time since 2009. so we really have on the appropriations committee done our work. six of those bills have come across the floor. and frankly, i think we would have had more across the floor if our friends in the senate, who are blocked by the democratic minority, had an opportunity to bring their bills to the floor. i think we're here in part because of inaction by the minority in the united states senate. it's ground the whole process to a halt. but i'm very pleased to see both my chairman and my ranking member here making the argument to keep the government funding

-- funded. i think we all know that shutting down the government is always a mistake. it's a political mistake, frankly, for people that want to use it to achieve some political tactic. but more importantly it's simply the wrong thing to do for the american people. they send us here expecting us to get our work done and the fact that some amongst us have kept that from happening is regrettable and i think a disservice to all of our constituents. i also believe, in this particular case, that we have an opportunity, if we pass this continuing resolution, for those that, as i like to say are above our pay grade, that is the president, the speaker, the majority leader, the two minority leaders, to have time to negotiate the framework for a larger deal. for a larger understanding. that would allow us to move ahead and actually have an omnibus bill where we actually, not as good as moving across

the floor, but a a large bill where we looked at -- but a large bill where we looked at every line, we made concessions to one another, we made agreements, we moved the ball forward, and it could open up a possibility for a normal appropriations process next year. in that regard, i was very heartened by majority leader mcconnell's recent remarks that he's interested in a two-year deal. somewhat similar to ryan-murray in terms of its duration. that would allow this house next year to move appropriations bills across the floor one at a time in a give and take bipartisan manner. i think that's extraordinarily important. if you look at where this committee was at in terms of frozen activity before my good friend, the chairman, became the chairman, you know, he, and again with my good friend, the gentlelady from new york, have brought us back a long, long way. if we don't finish that journey in the next 2 1/2 months, we've got several things that are going to happen.

the worst of which will be a sequester of $40 billion roughly on the american military. that is an unacceptable outcome. and frankly that's something that the commander in chief and the respective leaders on both sides of the aisle in this body need to make sure doesn't happen. i promise you -- i promise you, if the administration, the senate and the house can get to a larger agreement, i have no doubt that my chairman and my ranking member and their counterparts in the united states senate will then introduce a normal negotiating process and we'll get to the right place. so, we have a moment, an opening, a little bit of bipartisanship here, i would expect when this bill is actually voted on we will have large majorities on both sides of the aisle that actually support it. so i urge the other members, again, both democrats and republicans, to seize this

opportunity, to not just focus on where there are differences but focus here where we've come together, bought the time, and where they can, use their influence on both sides of the aisle, in both chambers, and with the president, to make sure that an adequate deal is arrived at. and that we spare the country and certainly the men and women in uniform that defend us each and every day from the agony of dealing with the second sequester. this is not the time for that to happen. it's a dangerous world. we've got russia relitigating the borders of eastern europe, we have china building islands in the south china sea, we've got isil having established a caliphate of sorts in the middle east, we have a dangerous iran. the worst thing in the world would be to not do this c.r. and then not carry it through to a fuller agreement and undercut our military. so i think the stakes what have we're doing are very, very high here and i want to conclude again by commending my chairman, the committee, our

ranking member, for working together as they have this entire year so we can get our bills across as they're doing now -- across, as they're doing now in this process, to buy our leaders time and, frankly, as i now they will do in a normal negotiate on an -- negotiation on an omnibus bill and hopefully on a regular appropriations process next year. again, i urge my fellow members on both sides of the aisle to pass this important piece of legislation. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield to a distinguished member of the committee, the lady from connecticut, ms. delauro, five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized for five minutes. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, i'm disappointed in this bill.

we are faced with this continuing resolution in order to avert a government shutdown. this is no way to govern. america deserves better than a month to month government, forever on the brink of a shutdown and held back by needless budget constraints. those who call this a, quote, clean continuing resolution are mistaken. in fact, it puts in place yet more indiscriminate cuts. it cuts .2% across the board, for most discretionary programs. and apparently we have not learned our lesson about mineless austerity. instead of fighting over women's health care, we should use the next month to negotiate a budget agreement that

addresses the single biggest economic issue that we face in this country. today working men and women in the united states are in jobs that don't pay them enough money. we need to stop spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year on tax loopholes for the wealthy and for big corporations. we need to invest once more in education, in job training, in health and all the other priorities that american families hold dear. and right now we cannot meet their needs. poor children are struggling, their vocabularies are on average 1/3 those of their middle income peers. but since 2010 we have cut over $1 billion in real terms from education. workers need help learning the

right skills. finding work in a tough economy. so that they can support their families. but we have cut more than $1 billion from job training programs. millions of americans depend upon life-saving medical research to cure disease and to improve the quality of their life. i stand here as a survivor of ovarian cancer and i'm here because of the grace of god as biomedical research and yet we will continue to cut biomedical research. we have cut more than $3.5 billion from the national institutes of health. the list of failures goes on and on. we are failing our workers, we are failing working families, we are failing students and medical researchers and first responders and veterans and families and millions of others. our job at this -- in this body

is to provide opportunity for people and during his economic strug -- this economic struggle that we have, we ought to be focused like a laser on the issues that work to better the economic situation of working families in this country. and what we do here is to continue to hold a cap on what we need to move forward and more importantly than that, what we do from the other side of the aisle, threaten a shutdown over the issue of women's health. who are we? what are we about? where are the great values of this nation that help to provide an opportunity so that families could join the middle class of this country and continue to make it strong? that's what our job is today, to do, not to be involved in these mindless exercises that the other side of the aisle continues to move forward on. i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from new york reserve the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yeered -- i yield such time as he may consume to a gentleman from our committee and coincidently chairman of the house ethics committee, mr. dent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. . dent: i rise in support of passing a clean continuing resolution. we should do that. it would be utterly reckless to let the government shutdown for any reason, regardless of one's feelings about planned parenthood is beside the point. we should not shut the government down over that or any issue at this time and it's imperative to pass this c.r. to give thinks time and space we need to enter into a broader budget agreement, hopefully for this fiscal year or the next. so that we can then also pass the appropriations bills as our

very fine chairman rogers mentioned. i'm the chair of the military construction and v.a. committee. this c.r. is essential to make sure that veterans' services go uninterrupted and make sure we can continue moving forward on many of the projects that are ongoing within the v.a. system through the ano, ma'am his but nevertheless we need to move forward on this for that reason. i also want to make a point that we need to stop lurching from one budget crisis to the next and the events of the last few weeks have been dismaying to me personally. that said we're not going to have a government shutdown, that's good news, but we need to get on with the business of this budget agreement. i heard my friend and colleague from connecticut point out that i made a comment about biomedical research in the bill we passed out of the labor, health, human services subcommittee, we did increase funding for the national institutes of health for $1.1 billion and i do hope, in the

event we come to a budget agreement and move the appropriations bills we will be able to see an increase in funding for the n.i.h. be able to provide for our veterans, in my case also the military construction projects. also our friends who are serving overseas, our men and women serving overseas in the armed forces are very much depending on us to do the right thing, to pass appropriations bills, a long-term continuing resolution, not the one we're voting on today but if we do one after december 11 that would have real impacts on our force readiness and our ability for our troops and our men and women overseas to do the jobs that we've asked them to do. so for all these reasons, i'm urging people to vote for this c.r. today, keep the government functioning, do our duty, and then set up a process where we can complete the appropriations process in december and take care of the responsibilities that have been entrusted to us. i want to thank chairman rogers, also ranking member lowey for

their strong leadership on the appropriations committee, for doing all they're doing to try to help us work together and make sure that congress maintains its power of the purse and does exactly what we promised the american people we would do and that would be govern. with that, i thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from new york, mr. israel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. israel: i thank my good friend and colleague from new york, the ranking member. mr. speaker, i have a tremendous amount of respect for the chairman, the gentleman from kentucky. and great personal admiration for him and his leadership. i thank him for his earnest and hard work. what we're doing today is a disappointment to the american people and a disappointment to those of us on the appropriations committee. skiss can't be defined as

avoiding catastrophe. all we're doing today is avoiding catastrophe. the majority's triumph today is not shutting down the government. mr. speaker, there's not a small business owner anywhere in america who would say he had a good -- who would say, i had a good day because i'm not shutting down. i had a good day because i'm not throwing my employees out of work. had a good day because i'm not telling my customers they can't come for service. that's not success. that's failure. that is by itself a catastrophe. mr. speaker, the managers of those small businesses are judged by their performance and success. the managers of this congress, the majority, are judged in the same way. they're judged by their ability as the majority to produce bills, to pass budgets, to do the work of the american people. it's time for them to do their jobs, to stop the gimmicks, to pass a long-term budget that

invests in the education of our children, that supports job skills for people in careers, that protect ours veterans and our national security. it's time to do their johns, mr. speaker. with that i yield -- to do their jobs, mr. speaker. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i'm pleased to yield -- i am very pleased to yield two minutes to a distinguished member of the appropriations committee from minnesota, ms. mccollum. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minute. ms. mccollum: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you ranking member lowey. mr. speaker, this republican majority has driven the expectations of the american people so low that the very act of funding government operations has become a significant achievement. unfortunately, the cost of the

distraction by the republican extremist for this three-month clean c.r. was the resignation of speaker boehner a good man who has served this house honorably. passing the c.r., however, will keep the federal government working, which is critical to american families, our economy, and the safe and security of our nation. it continues to protect by providing health care coverage for women. in 2013, when the republicans shut down the federal government for 16 days, the u.s. economy lost $24 billion and more than 100,000 americans lost their jobs. the american people cannot afford another republican shut down. passing this three-month c.r. is the first step toward responsibly meeting the needs of the american people. as a ranking democrat on the interior environment appropriations subcommittee, i am pleased that this bill includes $700 million in emergency funds for forezest service to fight wildland fires

in western states. this this is critical funding. the c.r. will keep our national parks open to the public, keep native american health care and education programs operating and prevent the furloughing of tens of thousands of federal employees in the department of interior and e.t.a. i'm going to vote to pass this continuing resolution and i applaud all the democrats and republicans who will vote to pass the c.r. but, we need to work to find a bipartisan path forward to fund the government for the coming year. our job is to serve the american people. the american people expect congress to do their job. today i hope all mens will do their job and vote to pass the c.r. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is ecognized.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i am prepared to close, i have no further requests for time if the gentlelady is prepared. mrs. lowey: i was thinking about that except i believe we have some distinguished members of our committee who are running a little late. mr. as going to -- chairman -- mr. speaker and mr. cannot , i fwather we both reserve while we're waiting for some distinguished members of the committee to arrive so i

would just like to say, mr. speaker, that i'm very pleased that we're here today and i do hope that there will be strong bipartisan support for the continuing resolution. this has been a difficult year. i know how hard our distinguished chairman has worked trying to put together a bipartisan appropriations bill. and although i'm very pleased that we are passing a continuing resolution today, it's really amazing that we should be celebrating in the united states of america the most december -- of america, the most distinguished country supposedly representative of our great democracy, and we are celebrating that we're keeping the government open. i feel very confident, mr. speaker, that if members of the

appropriations committee, both democrats and republicans, would sit down very seriously, we could work out an arrangement whereby we would lift the sequester, just as we did with murray-ryan, or ryan-murray. i was on that committee with some distinguished members of the party and we had some good discussions. we had some differences of opinion. we had some lively debates. but at the end of the day, we came up with a product that we could be proud of. that chairman, i do hope after this continuing resolution is passed, and i think you have another speaker who would like to speak while we're waiting for

our speakers. oh, i am very pleased to yield, mr. chairman, time to our distinguished leader and in closing i would just like to say that i am cautiously optimistic that after the c.r. is passed, we can really do our work and come up with a good, strong omnibus bill that reflects our values and now i'm very pleased to yield to our leader one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady for yielding. i thank her for her leadership as well as that of our distinguished chairman, mr. rogers, to bring this to the floor today where we can vote in a bipartisan way to keep government open. without doing harm to women's health in our country. to shut government down is really bad decision for this

congress to make. the last time we did that, we lost $24 billion. last time this congress voted to shut down government, we lost $24 billion to our economy, 120,000 jobs, our work force, our federal work force which contains more than 30% of veterans in its composition were furloughed or worse. the american people deserve better. so as we go forward from this continuing resolution, which is a good outcome of the conversations that have gone back and forth, a strong bipartisan vote in the senate, i hope a strong bipartisan vote in the house. let us take heed of the words of pope francis who just not even one week ago spoke to us in this chamber. he asked us to work together for the good of the people, for the common good of the people, he urged us that a good leader

would have a spirit of openness and pragmatism, again, to get the job done for the american people. so as we go forward, we'll have some difficult choices to make. we all share the values of strengthening our national security, investing in our children's future, reducing the deficit as we go forward, but as we do so there's some important differences that we share. let's hope that we recognize a good idea wherever it springs from but let us also recognize what our responsibilities are to the american people first and foremost. so i consider this a very positive action taken today. i wish that we were finished all of our appropriations work as an appropriator, i know that that's always the goal of our chairman and our ranking member, i thank congresswomanmber lowey for her leadership and for

the optimism she just expressed that as we go forward we'll do so in a timely fashion, maybe long before deless 11, so we'll have removed all doubt in the public's mind that government will work, that it will function as the pope had asked us for the good of the american people. there are important decisions ahead, though, in erms -- in terms of what our priorities are, and the budget should be a statement of our national values and what is important to us should be reflected on how we allocate those resources. . so we have the omnibus bill to deal with. we also have investments in our infrastructure of our country and our transportation. that will be an important bill that we will be debating at the same time, but has a relationship in terms of how we offset, how we pay for that. and then we have the issue, the ex-im bank, a great job creator for our country, and yet still

unauthorized, long overdue for us to authorize it. and then before thanksgiving probably we will have the issue of a vote on honoring the full faith and credit of the united states of america. the last time that was put into doubt, it was unfortunate because it lowered our credit rating. even though we didn't follow through with it, even though the full faith and credit ended up being honored, just the hreat, the suspicious -- suspicion that it could be undermined lowered our credit rating. so we have really important work to do for the good of the people. again, let us honor our responsibilities in the beautiful spirit of pope francis, i say saint francis because that's the patron saint of my city, of san francisco, and the namesake also of pope francis. but pope francis said, he instructed us as to what good leaders do and good leaders have a sense of humility, to

respect the views of other people and not be condescending in terms of our viewers are the only ones that matter. in that spirit i look forward to working with you, mr. chairman, with the speaker, with others, and certainly the leadership of our distinguished ranking member, congresswoman lowey. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky voiced. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield such time as he may consume to a member of our committee, mr. jolly of florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida voiced. mr. jolly: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, and my compliments to the chairman and the ranking member for shepherding us thus far into this year. you know, i often say the first job of congress is to govern. and that means keeping the government open. and i think what we are doing today is honoring the responsibility we have, our article 1 responsibility, to keep the government open. we talk a lot about congress having the power of the purse. but with the power also comes

responsibility. and so as we have hard conversations as a country and as a congress about whether we fund certain programs, whether we fund certain entities, that is an appropriate conversation to have and i think we have handled that appropriately thus far. you sometimes would not know that based on comments on the other side of the aisle, who continue to try to score political points and use political capital to suggest we are on the brink of a shutdown. the simple fact is we are not. our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have acknowledged today that they intend to vote for what is a responsible continuing resolution that will ensure that our government remains funded. and the irony of some of the criticisms that often come, and colleagues on our committee, is that you know, to finally reach a deal, to finally have responsible governance, it takes a willing partner on the other side of the aisle. and it takes intellectual honesty on both sides of the aisle, of every member of our committee. i would respectfully point out to those on the other side of the aisle who serve on the

committee that we had a debate over and over and over with each markup about the budget control act. and the caps that are in place by statute. there were very good suggestions from both sides of the aisle. about where taxpayer dollars should be invested, which programs they should be invested in, interest defense to transportation to education to health care research and so forth. the irony is that for each good idea on the other side of the aisle about where to invest money, there was a willful ignorance of the fact that in the additional -- that any additional investment must come with an offset under the budget control act. there were good amendments in the committee. frankly many of them would have passed if they'd included responsible offsets. but there were no offsets. and i point that out only for this, not to relitigate all the markups we had in committee, but to suggest that somehow it is the republicans' issue that somehow we have to resolve this. we have not had a willing partner throughout the markup

of all of these bills. so just as the spirit of cooperation is here on the floor, and rightfully so, and we are going to pass a c.r. that funds the government and keeps it open, that highway of goodwill has to go both ways. and rather than just talk about what is not funded, let's talk about how we are going to operate under what is a statute, what is a law of the land that was signed by this president and frankly recommended by this president. as we talk about where spending comes between now and december 11, we have to recognize and be honest with the american people that we operate under a budget agreement that has statutory caps signed by this president. and so there are great ideas on both sides of the aisle about where to spend money. but if we ignore the fact that they are required to be offset, then we have not advanced this conversation one day. it is important that we keep the government open. i am glad that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and enough colleagues on this side of the aisle are saying, yes, we have to keep the government open. we have to keep the department of defense funded. our men and women in uniform

who carry the flag for us every day, we have to ensure that they are funded. our first responders, d.h.s., coast guards men and women, our transportation programs, education, critical health care research is all that we will continue to fund through this responsible continuing resolution. we all wish we had a full year bill that we were considering today but we do not have that. and so the responsible action by this body is to pass this bill, have sufficient numbers on both sides of the aisle, and i would charge those on my side of the aisle who care deeply about certain extraneous issues involved in the debate this week, we have responsible ways to continue to address how we provide critical nonabortion-related women's health care services in underserved communities while we still act today to keep the government open. and as a responsible path forward, i thank you for bringing this forward and for the time. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized.

mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, as i yield back the balance of my time, i just want to reiterate again to my colleagues that i look forward to working in a bipartisan way with the distinguished chairman of the appropriations committee and move the process forward. i particularly think, because it was just mentioned by the previous speaker, that for us not to increase the appropriations of the national institutes of health, this is just one area of the bill that came through the committee, in the committee process. this means research for a whole range of illnesses, whether it's autism or diabetes or heart, we have a responsibility to lift these caps, negotiate a really good bill and provide adequate funding to the american people.

this is important for their health, for their work life. we have to be sure we're investing so we're creating jobs and keep the economy moving. i look forward to that process and a i yield back the balance of my time. -- and a i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: -- and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i shall be brief. i appreciate the work of my colleague, mrs. lowey, ranking member on the committee. and all of the people on her side of the aisle. and of course on our side of the aisle as well. this is a good bill. it's a responsible bill. it does not do anything controversial. but it does do one important thing and that is keep the government operating. we can't afford to abandon our soldiers, particularly those overseas, in harm's way. we can't abandon the people that depend upon the programs that our federal government

provides. and so i urge members to vote yes on this bill. it's a good bill. and it keeps the government operating. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to house resolution 448, the previous question is ordered. the question is on the motion by the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers, all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. rogers: i ask for a vote, mr. speaker. the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman asks for the yeas and nays. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to the order of the house of today, further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

for what purpose does the gentlelady from alabama seek recognition? mrs. roby: pursuant to house resolution 44, i call up house continuing resolution 79 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the con current resolution. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 79, concurrent resolution directing the clerk of the house of representatives to make corrections in the enrollment of h.r. 719. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 448, the concurrent resolution is considered read. the concurrent resolution shall be debatable for 20 minutes, equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and minority leader or their designees. the gentlewoman from alabama, mrs. roby, and the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro, each will control 10 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from alabama. mrs. roby: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks, to include extraneous material on

house concurrent resolution 79. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. roby: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. roby: i rise today in strong support of house concurrent resolution 79, a concurrent resolution directing the clerk of the house of representatives to make corrections in the enrollment of h.r. 719. this resolution directs the clerk of the house of representatives to make several corrections in the enrollment of h.r. 719, the continuing appropriations act 2016, including by adding at the end of the text of the house-passed version, h.r. 3134, the defund planned parenthood act of 2015. the house passed h.r. 3134 by a te of 241-187 on september 18. the bill precludes any federal funds interest being authorized or appropriated for one year, for any purpose to planned parenthood federation of america or any affiliate or

clinic of that organization unless entities certify that affiliates and clinics will not perform and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs elective abortions during such period. the bill also redirected funding from planned parenthood facilities to federally qualified health centers to provide women's health services. this resolution and the related enrollment process sends a signal about this house's commitment to bar funding for planned parenthood and gives the senate the opportunity to limit funding in the continuing resolution. mr. speaker, this is actually the exact same language in the defund planned parenthood act sponsored by my friend, diane black, of tennessee, which the house passed earlier this month. diane is a tireless defender of the unborn and i have been privileged to work with her in several pro-- on several pro-life measures, including a very similar defund correction

to spending bill back in 2011. so why this correction? my colleagues might be wondering if i just saw what happened in the senate. why take up this bill when the votes just aren't there in the senate? the answer is simple. because i believe, as long as there is an opportunity before us to defund planned parenthood, we should take it. because when it comes to this fight, i want to leave it all on the field. i understand that so far we have lacked the votes in the senate to include defund language in the continuing resolution. and i realize this is a last-ditch effort to do this and the chances of this correction maneuver succeeding in the senate are low. but i believe, mr. speaker, i believe that we have to fight until the very end. i've always been up front with those i represent about the low likelihood of defunding planned parenthood, especially in a stop gap spending bill.

pro-life advocates in my state and around this country understand the math and while they hope that the senate democrats will change their hearts, they don't really expect them to. what they do expect is for us to try, to fight to the very end, to exhaust every possible option in our effort to stop tax dollars from flowing to this organization. . that's why, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues in the house and in the senate to support this defund correction and to join me to fight until the very end to defund planned parenthood. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from alabama reserves her time. the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, i yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. delauro: this, quote, enrollment correction, is yet another procedural maneuver. it's designed to destroy health care for millions of american women. it is unacceptable, and we will

not stand for it. the disgraceful right-wing assault on reproductive freedom has become an all-out war on the health and the well-being of millions of low-income american women. each year planned parenthood provides 2.7 million people, en and women, with life-saving services. i would hope that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would open their hearts, open their hearts to health care services for women who don't have the wherewithal to go to the same kinds of private doctors that the men and women of the united states house of representatives have the opportunity to do. open your hearts, because for many, planned parenthood is their only way of receiving

these health care services. the president of the american congress of ob-gyn's have warned without planned parenthood, many patients will be left without a doctor, and that's what these attacks are designed to achieve. the right wing does not want poor women to have health care, period. it is spiteful, it is cruel and it is wrong. we know what happens when funding is taken away from planned parenthood. scout county, -- scott county, indiana, they triggered a full-scale h.i.v. epidemic that health declared a epidemic. do we want to see that repeated across the country? they say they will not accept bills that compromises reproductive freedom. let us in this body respect and trust the health care decisions that women make. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlewoman's time has expired. ms. delauro: i yield myself for 10 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for 10ekds. ms. delauro: let's trust the health care decisions that women make. we must respect their wishes. i urge my colleagues to vote against this disgraceful bill, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from connecticut reserves her time. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from alabama. mrs. roby: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: reserves. and the gentlelady from connecticut. ms. delauro: this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from new york, a -- someone who has spent her entire career working at issues that help working families and their health care and particularly women. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized for two minutes. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, this resolution is mere political theater. all sound in fury, significant anyfying nothing and going nowhere -- signifying nothing and going nowhere. we are proceeding to this resolution even though there is no money, zero money in the

c.r. for planned parenthood and even though we all understand that if the senate also adopts this resolution, it will effectively shut down the government, slowing economic growth and job creation. planned parenthood provides essential preventive health services, including birth control, life-saving cancer screenings, well women exams and advice on family planning to nearly three million women each year. community health centers are not an alternative to planned parenthood. the california primary care association noted, eliminating planned parenthood from our state's comprehensive network of care would put untenable stress on remaining providers. we do not have the capacity for such an increase in care, end

quote. i urge a no on the resolution, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york yields back. the gentlelady from connecticut reserves, and the gentlelady from alabama -- mrs. roby: reserves. the speaker pro tempore: reserves. the gentlelady from connecticut. ms. delauro: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. adams. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized for two minutes. ms. adams: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today as a woman who is angry. these attacks on planned parenthood aren't about some deceptive videos. it's about a woman's right to make decisions about her own body. women's reproductive rights are decisions that she should make. it should be between a woman, her doctor, her family and not a male-dominated congress. so let's be clear. attacking planned parenthood is

part of a ploy to roll back women's rights. what hypocrisy. i wish my colleagues on the other side of the aisle cared as much about the millions of women and children who go hungry every day, or the educational inequities that exist in our most vulnerable communities. i stand with planned parenthood for the services they provide. last year they served more than 2.7 million across our nation and more than 31,000 in north carolina. just through nine centers. more than 21,000 patients received safe contraception. more than 18,000 s.t.i. tests were conducted and more than 2,500 breast exams. real women getting real preventive care. i will continue to advocate for women's comprehensive health care and their right to control their own body. the war on women must stop. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentlelady from connecticut reserves. the gentlelady from alabama

continues to reserve. the gentlelady from connecticut. ms. delauro: i'd like to inquire how much time is left. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from connecticut has five minutes remaining. ms. delauro: at this time i'd like to yield one minute to congresswoman barbara lee from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. ms. lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. first, i want to thank you, congresswoman delauro, for yielding and for your tremendous leadership on so many issues important to women and our entire country. i rise in strong opposition to h.con. rizz 79 which would -- h.con.res 79 which would attempt to defund planned parenthood for one year. this would leave millions of women across the country without access to critical health care services. this shameful resolution is the 15th anti-women's health vote this year. 15th. we know that planned parenthood centers are essential to the health and well-being of women and their families. they serve as primary care facilities for women seeking birth control, comprehensive family planning services, cancer and s.t.i. screenings.

according to an institute in 21% of counties where planned parenthood operates health centers, it is the county's only family planning provider. mr. speaker, for these communities, there are no other options. defunding planned parenthood would hurt the communities that need help the most -- low-income women and women of color. politicians have no business interfering with a woman's personal health decisions that are best for her and her family, and she needs family planning centers to exercise all of her options as it relates to her health care. so this resolution is deceitful. it's wrong. it is past time to end this war on women, and it's time for republicans to listen to the american people. develop a responsible budget and stop their attacks on women's health. vote no on this very backward, egregious resolution. it's going to harm women, it's going to hurt women. it does not protect the health and safety of women. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired.

the gentlelady from alabama reserves her time, and the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized. ms. delauro: at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the distinguished delegate from the district of columbia, ms. eleanor holmes norton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from the district of columbia is recognized for two minutes. ms. norton: i thank my good friend for her incredibly excellent work on this bill. look, a threat to shut down the government over funding planned parenthood's contraceptive and preventative care measures looms again in three months. although 73% of the public is against forcing a shutdown over planned parenthood. i am grateful for the high-quality coverage planned parenthood gives women's health across the board, including abortion services not funded by the federal government. the district of columbia is the only jurisdiction congress denies the full reach of roe v. wade to low-income women by denying the local government the right to spend its own local funds on abortion services for women. for the nation to cut

government funds for medicaid, family planning and preventative care would cut off our collective noses to spite our faces. every public dollar spent on family planning services alone saves $7 in undesired births and other preventative care. for all the heat generated by republicans, planned parenthood is regarded more favorably now than it was before the current fight began. the reason is for nearly a century, planned parenthood's incredibly effective work for women's health has a strong following across our country from both parties. i thank the gentlewoman for yielding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized in as much as the gentlelady from alabama reserves.

ms. delauro: at this time i would like to yield one minute to the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from connecticut has 2 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentlelady from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the gentlelady from connecticut for her kindness and as well, let me thank the chair and ranking member of the appropriations committee, because we know the work they have done. and let me just simply say that i am very disappointed that we are now settling for a c.r. that continues to have a sequester that cuts across and denies border patrol agents, secret service slots and leaves the american people vulnerable. so first order of business is that we are not doing what we're supposed to do in providing for the american people. now we move to another unseemly legislative initiative that is attacking women's health. and what does that mean?

we use it under the guise of planned parenthood. planned parenthood, which has any number of clinics in almost 50 states that deal with women's health, contraception, sexually transmitted disease, places where women who are impoverished can go where they could not go anywhere else. in a hearing yesterday, someone was debating, why didn't they do mammograms? well, those of us who are women know that the doctor refers mammograms, and so this is a bad bill. it's against women's health. the sequester is bad. vote down both bills. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentlelady from alabama reserves. the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized. ms. delauro: i'd like to recognize the gentleman from florida, mr. hastings, for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: for how much time? mr. hastings: i rise in strong opposition of this measure and ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlelady from connecticut. ms. delauro: can you just tell me how much time is left?

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from connecticut has a minute and a half remaining. ms. delauro: thank you. what we're facing here today and what this is about, this so-called enrollment correction , is -- this is a procedural maneuver because the united states senate sent over a continuing resolution that continues to fund planned arenthood, but because the majority is interested in defunding the opportunity for health care services for women, they have asked for this procedural maneuver to defund planned parenthood. it is simply about taking funds away from american women. think about it. think about shutting the

government down because of women's health. the lack of care, of concern, first and foremost, about the 2.7 million men and women that planned parenthood serves every year, that is a grave consequence. but in addition, shutting down the federal government, which the last time cost $24 billion to american taxpayers that held up disability checks for eterans, that in fact held back people's i.r.s. rebates the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. ms. delauro: this denying women's health is crure, it's spiteful, it's wrong and does

great harm to this great nation. vote against this bad piece of legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentlelady from alabama. mrs. roby: thank you, mrs. roby: not everyone in this country is pro-life like i am, but those whor should not be forced to have their tax dollars fund an organization that aborts more than 350,000 unborn babies every year. federal law has long prohibited public funds from being used to actually perform abortions. however, planned parenthood gets millions in grants and reimbursements for other services that they provide, like pregnancy tests, birth control, pap smears and s.t.d.'s. of course, low-income women should have access to these

critical services. why is it necessary for those services to be funded at the nation's largest abortion provider? it isn't actually but the abortion industry and its supporters -- it's what they want you to think it is and they talk about women's health because they dent want to talk about abortion or how ugly it is or how painful it is, not just the mother making a decision but the unborn baby who doesn't have a voice or a say. when it comes to funding they like to present tevend abortion doesn't exist and planned parenthood is the only place where low-income women can get health care. taking away funding from planned parenthood means attacking womens' health. that's not true.

there are more than 13,000 federally-qualified and rural-health centers throughout this country that offer low-cost health care to women. in fact, these sent iris outnumber planned parenthood clinics 20 to one. if those who defend federally funding of planned parenthood truly just wanted to make sure that low-income women have access to health care and not abortion, then why not simply support these noncontroversial community health centers instead? if this argument is really about making sure women have access to health care, then we would all agree right here, right now, to support these community health centers. but you see, mr. speaker, that's not what this is about. you see, while federally-qualified and rural

health septemberers provide a wide range of medical services, they don't perform abortions. and that's what they really want. they want to preserve the pipeline of funding to the nation's largest abortion provider. this talk of women's health is not -- nothing but a charade and a false pretense that more and more americans realize is phony. i urge my colleagues to support this concurrent resolution. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: both sides have yielded back. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to house resolution 448, the previous question is on adoption. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the concurrent resolution is agreed to.

mrs. roby: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the order of the house of today, this 15-minute vote on adoption of the concurrent resolution will be followed by five-minute votes on adoption to concur in the senate amendment to the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 719 and gee to the speaker's approval of the journal if ordered. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 241, the nays are 185, vote nging present, one person. the concurrent resolution is

agreed to. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion to concur on h.r. 719 offered by the gentleman from kentucky, mr. rogers, on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will redesignate the motion. the clerk: motion offered by mr. rogers of kentucky, that the house concur in the senate amendment to the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 719. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to concur. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 277, the nays

are 151. without objection is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the question on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal, which the chair will put to de novo. the question is on agreeing to the approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the journal stands approved.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, so ordered. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house an enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 3614, an act to amend title 49, united states code, to extend authorizations for the airport improvement program, to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to extend

the funding and expenditure authority of the airport and airway trust fund, and for ther purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, this is to notify you formally pursuant to rule 8 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives that i have received a subpoena issued by the superior court for the district of columbia in connection with a particular criminal case that i produce certain official documents and appear to testify at trial on official matters. after consultation with counsel, i will make the determination required by rule 8. signed sincerely, eleanor orton, member of congress. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a

message. the clerk: to the congress of the united states, in accordance with section 502-f-2 of the trade act of 1974, as amended, the 1974 act, 19, u.s.c., 246247b f-2, i am providing notification of my intent to terminate the designations of venezuela as beneficiary developing countries under the general system of preferences, g.s.e. programs, of the 1964 act, 2462-e, provides if the president determines that the beneficiary developing country has become a high-income country as defined by the official statistics of the international bank for reconstruction and development of the world bank, the world bank, the president shall terminate the designation of such country as a beneficiary developing country for purposes of the g.s.e. program. effective on january 1 of the

second year following the year in which such determination is made. pursuant to section 502-e of the 1974 act, i have determined that it is appropriate to by inate the designations uruguay, venezuela, as developing countries under the g.s.e. program. because they have become high-income countries as defined by the world bank. accordingly, their eligibility for trade benefits under the g.s.p. program will under on january 1,2017. signed, barack obama, the white house, september 30, 2015. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on ways and means and ordered printed. the chair lays before the house a message. the clerk: to the congress of the united states, i am providing notification of my intent to terminate the signation of shay shell as a sub-saharan african under under agoa program.

section 506-a-1 of the trade act of 1964, as amended, the -a-1 act, 19 u.s.c. 266 authorizes the president to designate a country listed in 1706 as a of agoa, beneficiary sub-saharan african ben eligible for benefits in 2466-ab act, 19 u.s.c. if the president determines that country meets the elljeblet requirement under section 104 of the agoa 19 u.s.c. 3703, subject to the authority granted to the president under subsections a, d and e of section 502 of the 1974. pursuant to section 502-e of the 1974 act, i have determines that shay shell has become a high-income country and as

beneficiary of a sub-saharan africa country is no long under authority of the 1974 act. accordingly, pursuant to ection 502--- 506-a-1 of the 1974 act, 19 u.s.c. 2466-a-1, i have determined that it is no longer eligible for benefits as a beneficiary sub-saharan african country for the purpose of 506-a of the 1974 act. effective january 1, 1917. signed, barack obama, the white house. september 30, 2015. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committee on ways and means and ordered printed. the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i was shocked and outraged to learn that a ecorated green beret was thrown out for being a whistleblower. when our forces are abroad, our military should uphold american values and that's what he did when he confronted afghan officials engaged in these actions. mr. paulsen: the sergeant was punished for his actions and was taken out of the region despite being a soldier that was critical to the mission. as someone who has worked to protect children and keep them safe from sexual exploitation, it is disheartening to see the military look the other way when children are being assault bid our allied forces. -- by our allies forces. this has to change. steps must be taken to ensure our military upholds american values while overseas. mr. speaker, our military should not be looking the other way when our allies are engaging in wrongful acts, and i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. speaker, i'm honored once again today to serve as a congressional co-chair of national preparedness month. national preparedness month reminds us that we cannot become complacent in our efforts to build and improve emergency preparedness capabilities. coming from the 10th congressional district of the state of new jersey, which has experienced hurricane sandy and the september 11 attacks, i know that the -- that disasters can strike at anytime. as the ranking member of the emergency preparedness subcommittee, i also observed a

concerning gap in coordination between communication of emergency response plans for children in schools. each day more than 65 million children are separated from their parents during work hours for roughly 42% of the parents do not know where to reunite with their children after a school evacuation. parents, teachers and emergency responders should engage with community partners so that responsibilities and resources are in place when disasters strike. mr. speaker, thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. if we didn't already have enough proof that the palestinian authority is not an honest partner for peace with

israel, a speech at the u.n. general assembly today confirmed it and showed that he is a self-serving auto kratt who's more interested in -- autocrat who is more interested in getting rid of israel. his message is clear. he tends to scuttle any prospects for peace, pursue israel at the international criminal court and continue his ploy for achieving unilateral statehood at the u.n. president obama must immediately suspend all assistance to the palestinian authority, and if the palestinians do move to join additional international conventions and organizations, the u.s. law is unambiguous. we must suspend all funding to any of these bodies that accept a nonexistent state of palestine to its membership. mr. speaker, the president has been seeking ways to circumvent and waive these provisions for

years, but we must see to it that the president implements the full intent and letter of the law. suspend all aid now. hank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized 1. ms. jackson lee: -- the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: ooze a responsible member of -- as a responsible member of congress, i voted for a continuing resolution that will take us to december 11. but that is not the responsible way to handle the business of this nation, and it is time now for this congress to put aside partisanship and to begin to have the republican leadership and republicans to sit down with members of the democratic caucus and talk about a real funding bill. yes, we have kept the doors open provided for our employees, but we have

undermine defense and the preparedness of our men and women. we've cut $.7 million from the children's health insurance prarges and we're barely -- we've cut $1.7 million from the children's health insurance program. and other items dealing with law enforcement and provisions for transportation and the environment are all cut by something called the sequester. mr. speaker, the american people deserve better, and we need to get busy starting next week and put forward an appropriations process that funds this government, responds to those who are in need, prepares our young men and women in the military and as well restores that children's health insurance money. shame on us. we need to do it now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

>> mr. speaker, i rise to honor the life of a coach who was a great man, a person of god and a great coach. mr. ryan: and we sent him off this morning at his funeral mass at st. mary's, and i wanted to take a few moments here on the house floor to say thank you on behalf of all of those who coached with him, played for him and in some way he helped shape so many lives and to natalie and harold and ario, his children, norma, marie, manlio, christopher, the entire crew, we want to say that we sent a great man to aven today who embodied john f. kennedy high school, kennedy football.

and the one lesson he always taught, mr. speaker, was to have a strong faith in god, make god your best friend and treat others the way you like to be treated. and he left a major, major impression in the trumble county in the state of ohio and god bless you, coach knapp. you will be missed. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. culberson of texas for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from new york, mr. reed, is recognized as the designee of the majority leader. mr. reed: thank you, mr. speaker. before i begin this evening i ask unanimous consent that all

members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. reed: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today, joined this evening with colleagues on both sides of the aisle, to celebrate the upcoming october 2 national manufacturing day. manufacturing in the u.s. is something that i support fully. u.s. manufacturing is something that i think shares bipartisan support across the country, coast-to-coast, north to south, east to west, because it's about real family-sustaining jobs. when we build things in america, where we can actually manufacture a product here to sell not only to the american economy but to the world economy. and mr. speaker, as i co-chaired the u.s. manufacturing caucus here in congress, i wanted to ask my colleague on the u.s. manufacturing caucus to rise

and open us up on this special order this evening to celebrate u.s. manufacturing. i yield to the gentleman from ohio, a good friend and my co-chair on the manufacturing caucus, mr. ryan. mr. ryan: i thank the gentleman from new york. this is a great opportunity for us to share, i think, as democrats and republicans, my friend from new york represents upstate new york, and that area of our country and the state of new york has a long history of manufacturing. i represent northeast ohio which also has a long history of manufacturing. and i think we recognize the importance of manufacturing jobs and how to create policies that will further allow for investment in the manufacturing, for work force development within the context of manufacturing, and also recognizing what, as we've seen the transition over the last 20 or 30 years in our country, how much we miss these manufacturing jobs. they pay a higher wage, more of

a solid pension for most manufacturers, better benefits. and where people can learn a craft, learn a skill, get into a good company and make a good, honest living. and that's what we're celebrating here today. through our manufacturing caucus, congressman reed and i try to stimulate some conversations and bring real people from your congressional district, from my congressional district, to help educate us on what the best process, what the best issues, what the best approach would be for the united states congress to try to incentivize manufacturing here in the united states. so i know i'll be doing an event on friday, back in youngstown, ohio, and further celebrating in my community. i know you will be as well. i want to just say thank you to my friend and i look forward to us continuing not just the old line manufacturing, that we know a lot about and have lost a lot of those jobs, not just

the advanced manufacturing either, but an issue that you worked on, making sure that we create more of these institutes to try to nurture new ways of manufacturing, but also the additive manufacturing piece, which is happening in youngstown, ohio, at america makes, where the 3-d printing movement, the maker movement's happening and burgeoning in an old warehouse in downtown youngstown it. doesn't get any -- yunkstown. it doesn't get any -- jungstown. it doesn't get any better than that -- youngstown. it doesn't get any better than that. i appreciate your friendship and the opportunity to say a few words here tonight. mr. reed: i thank the gentleman from ohio. he truly is a friend. he is just as committed to u.s. manufacturing as i am. i have seen it firsthand. i've seen him in his district, in action. supporting u.s. manufacturing -- manufacturers. and the 3-d printing hub, the advanced manufacturing sector that you referenced and that we

are so supportive of, working with joe kennedy here in the house and roy blunt, getting that legislation signed, which was a priority of the administration, and having that type of advanced manufacturing center in ohio, in your home state, obviously has demonstrated his commitment and his belief in u.s. manufacturing. but as the gentleman indicated, it's not just advanced manufacturing. it is the traditional manufacturing. it is the manufacturing that we believe in, where the american spirit is alive and well. where the american dream can be reached and obtained. i mean, these, as my good friend from ohio indicated, these are good, solid, family-sustaining, middle class jobs to large extent, that put food on the table for our fellow americans and put roofs over their heads and allow families to maybe pass on the next generation a little bit better lifestyle, or a little bit better american dream than they enjoyed. by having a little bit of money

to invest in college education for their kids and really to try to enjoy and live that american dream, that i know my friend from ohio believes in. and so i applaud my friend and i appreciate my friend for all the work you do in u.s. manufacturing. and this is what gives me continued optimism. here in the united states congress. that we can get things done. because we have come across the aisle and we have joined together to promote u.s. manufacturing. i wonder if the gentleman -- i yield to the gentleman any additional time he so desires. mr. ryan: i appreciate it. it's hard not to get a little bit nostalgic. i think a lot of times those of us who advocate for manufacturing spend a little bit too much time in that phase and not enough time, i think, working in a space where we're trying to enhance and grow and create new opportunities in manufacturing. but we know in our communities, and i think -- i'm not going to get political, but to go back to all of the elections, whether republicans won or democrats won, you go back to 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, i

think the economic insecurity, in my analysis, was the heart of each of those elections. as we've seen the decline in manufacturing, we've seen the increase in anxiety for families to be able to make ends meet. and so i'm thankful that we can try to, like, promote this together and try to find an issue like manufacturing that garners 60% to 70% support from regions, demographics all over the united states. because i think there's an inherent understanding of making something. and i start it and a i pass it to your company and you add -- and a i pass it to your -- and i pass it to your company, they add value to it, it goes through the supply chain and everybody benefits. and back in the day, you know, we had a manufacturing facility for general motors that had 15,000 or 16,000 people that now has 3,000 or 4,000 people.

we had a supplier to general motors that had 13,000 employees and now it's down to 2,000 or 3,000. and those were all solid middle class jobs. i know you could probably give a similar example in corning and other places. and so i think if we have an industrial policy, if we continue to -- through the tax code and other ways, make sure that we incentivize investment in these areas, that we can help regrow those new age manufacturing jobs that everybody i think is looking for. as you said, make a good living, have a solid retirement, have good benefits. and not have to work so hard that you miss the soccer match, you miss the baseball game, you can't go on a vacation. middle class jobs where you can still have time with your family, which ultimately is the most important thing anyway. so i appreciate it, the opportunity to be here and continue to work with you.

mr. reed: reclaiming my time. as the gentleman points out, you know, what manufacturing represents is opportunity. opportunity to so many americans, so many people. and, mr. speaker, and i know my colleague from ohio will agree with me, u.s. manufacturing is positioned on a precipice of rebirth here in america. my friend points out some areas that we need to continue to work on, to make u.s. manufacturing even more competitive than what we're finding today. but when we see the energy rebirth here in america, with the natural gas, the shale revolution for oil and natural gas coming online, and the feed stock and the utility costs going down and going lower and lower, it is positioning u.s. manufacturing to be in a competitive position on the world economic stage. to me that's such a hopeful, optimistic position of time, for the united states of america to be in. i can tell you story after

story, mr. speaker, when i talk to u.s. manufacturers, they talk about the lessons that they've learned over the years, of maybe chasing that cheap labor dollar, maybe chasing that overseas market. the whole issue of outsourcing. what i hear from u.s. manufacturers today is that they want to come back to america. because in america we have the best work force. we have the best work ethic across the world. what we have in america also is the rule of law. so many of these manufacturers that have looked overseas and relocated overseas, they're finding that their intellectual property is disregarded, those innovative ideas, those new ideas, those inventions that are going to spur that next product growth of tomorrow, and they just get ripped off. they have no recourse to enforce what we in america, as a corner stone of our philosophy, respect. that is property rights. that's the rule of law. and saying that if you invent it, you own it. and that is something that is critical for us as we go

forward. to recognize the opportunity. and i know my good friend shares this, recognize the opportunity that u.s. manufacturers -- manufacturing has with its competitive -- the competitive nature of the american marketplace. but there are some things we can do. serving on the ways and means committee here in the house of representatives, in charge of tax policy, trade policy, health care, to a large degree. one of the things, i think, we have a shared commitment to, and that is fixing our broken tax code. i don't know of anyone across america that will stand up and take that 70,000 pages of tax code and say, this is working. and this is putting our manufacturers in a competitive position on the world stage. i hear time and time again, we need to fix that tax code. because if we do that, that's another piece to advance u.s. manufacturing, to that rebirth, that renaissance that i know, and i know mood mayorga good friend from ohio share -- and i

know my good friend from ohio shares, know can happen and will happen, because this is america, where that opportunity can rise again. mr. ryan: if the gentleman will yield. that's simplification. we all know that there are the large manufacturers who can hire accountants and all the rest to figure it out. but it's the small, medium sized, tier three, tier four suppliers, you know, that maybe have 50 or 100 people and it's a family business and people aren't making a ton of dough. and to have to deal with the increased complexity of a tax code for the small business i think is appropriate for us to try to simplify that and make it a little bit easier. i'm glad you mentioned the natural gas, especially in our region, in western new york, western p.a., eastern ohio. huge opportunity for us. we should all be beating on the doors of the european companies to try to say, you know, move your manufacturing base into

our region, because of what the opportunities are going to be into the future. and also, and we've talked about this, and i think we've had a hear being it through our caucus, is how do we get young people and their parents to recognize and see manufacturing as a real opportunity for them? a lot of people think, patients think, well, i don't want -- parents think, well, i don't want my kids going into manufacturing. they picture a steel mill where there were 20,000 people coming out, dirty and hard hats and a metal lunch bucket. and now today you walk into a manufacturing facility, it's about -- you could -- precision manufacturing. you could eat off the floor. because it's so clean. it's a whole different idea of what manufacturing is. we've got to figure out how to work with guidance counselors and teachers in the stem areas on how to get kids engaged into this area earlier.

because kids are naturally inclined. i think my 12-year-old son, mason, he's always building, creating, trying to use his hands the best he can, or even if he's on computer, how he's organizing his troop alignments in some of his war games that he plays. but it's all about constructing something. and putting something together, building things. how do you create that? and these young kids just naturally gravitate toward that. the more we can get them engaged at a very, very young age about designing and building, the more we're going to unleash the creative potential of that generation to further building bl out the manufacturing by a -- to further build out the manufacturing base here in the united states. mr. reed: i couldn't have said it better. i know the gentleman has shared stories that i have experienced myself.

when we look at the present state of u.s. manufacturing, these are not the days of smoke-filled rooms where safety wasn't a concern and it was a dirty type of environment that they exist in. this is cutting-edge. this is a safe workplace. this is where safety is paramount and where skills are so necessary. and one of the things that i still see today, that we have to fight, and i think the gentleman will share this position with me, is, you know, i do a lot of work back in the district, going to local high schools, standing in front of juniors and seniors and having conversations with those kids about, you know, what they want to be when they get older. and i remember vividly one story, it was the first time, when i asked the question, what do you want to be when you get older, and the kids' hands went up and you got the lawyers, you got the doctors, you got the people that want to be like the weatherman or on broadcast tv,

that type of thing. and i said, that's all fine and good, that's great. then one young man, he was a senior, said, congressman, i'm going to be a welder and i went over the moon with that young man. i said -- mr. ryan: you're going to have a job. mr. reed: i said, this man, i just left a steel facility in the district where they're going to start welders at $60,000 a year, starting pay. i said, this young man is going to be able to have a career, this is a career, he's going to be able to have a little money extra in his pocket, he's going to be able to maybe get married and raise a family and he got it as a senior. i was so excited. . as i walked out of that room and i was exiting the building, i had a school official, guidance counselor and said, oh, congressman, that's great. you made his day. he'll remember that day for the rest of his life. we really don't try to promote those types of careers, though.

and i went almost through the roof, mr. speaker. i said, that's the problem. we have to change that concept, that stigma that manufacturing historically carries with it. and i know we're doing it, and i know the gentleman from ohio, mr. speaker, is working with us to get that done. i see when you explain the opportunities to that next generation, when you talk to mothers and fathers and say, this is really what is out there, they -- their eyes light up. the burden is lifted from their shoulders to see that their kids are choosing to go into a career that they want to and that they recognize is rewarding, safe and productive. and i will tell you i'm going to continue the efforts to promote u.s. manufacturing because it's not just the manufacturers. as my good friend from ohio indicated, it's all those supply chains, it's all those mom and pop shops, those small businesses that are not only supplying the pieces or the raw material to the manufacturers

but you think about the restaurants. you think about the service folks that are cleaning the facilities. you think about all that it takes to put that together, that's a vibrant, growing economy, mr. speaker, and that's what we're promoting here with u.s. manufacturing. that's why i'm so glad that october 2 is national manufacturing day, so that we as a nation could maybe take a moment on friday and say, you know what, we're going to believe in american manufacturing again. we're going to make it here to sell it around the world, make it with our hands, create wealth, create something. i know that my friend from ohio shares that passion, and one of the things i'm so committed to when we talk about this in the stem, the science, technology, engineering and mathematics need of education policy going forward and that's what our advanced manufacturing bill is all about and working with the senate bicameral and -- is to take these public-private partnerships, take the schools, our universities, our colleges, work with the manufacturers to develop those skills that are

necessary to do this manufacturing. because as my good friend has been in many of the manufacturing facilities just as i have, when you go and you look at these machines, you look at how these operations nd assembly lines occur, you need high education. this is high-skilled stuff, and you can just see the pride in the workers. when they explain to me how they learned that computer program or they learned how to do that assembly line work, and i'll tell you it's inspiring and i know the gentleman -- i yield to the gentleman if he's got any stories to share. mr. ryan: it's not like it's a four-year degree. it's something that can be learned in a year or two because you're focused on exactly where you're going to be. you talk about a welder maybe starting at $60,000-plus. you think about if you could do that start making $60,000 a year at 20, takes a lot of people -- school teachers, for

example, how long does it take you in corning, new york, or youngstown, ohio, to get to $60,000, it's a little while. so that money that you can begin to save, invest, put in your retirement, whatever, your kids' college, not having that money at $30,000 but $60,000 or $70,000, that can go vertical the more skills you get. if you're in the right position or right company, you can start making upwards of $100,000 as a welder. that's a lot of money that if you plan your finances proposal, you know, you could have a lot of savings. and to that point, as well, i was at stark state community college, which is just outside of canton, a few weeks ago and there were kids there from two high schools, about 10 or 15 of them, they just started a program where these kids in high school were earning credits for the welding certificates.

so with this program, those kids can earn 13 credit hours for a 30-hour certificate. so by the time you graduate from high school, if you get in as a junior and you do it your junior and senior year, you'll have 13 of 30 credits. so you don't need much longer. you're over a third of the way to your certificate, and you just graduated from high school. those are the kind of innovative things i think we need to continue to figure out how to incentivize and create. part of it is the awareness that we were talking about that, you know, it's ok for your kid to be a welder because what we already talked about, but how do we create incentives to streamline the education process to get kids on a track so when they're 18, 19, 20 years old, you know, they have a job and they're not sleeping in our basements? mr. reed: if the gentleman will yield? and think about this.

as we see the cost of colleges and your college degree, kids coming out of school -- i came out of law school at the end of the day owing over $110,000. i mean, i was raised by a single mother. we came from the -- i'm the youngest of 126789 i have eight older sisters, three older brothers. to start life with a $110,000 mortgage on my head was a very difficult thing. and you talk to these young men and women going into these programs, it's not just welding, it's hvac, it's welding, it's plumbing, and they're getting through school with these guaranteed programs or these community college programs -- we got a couple manufacturers in the district that have a certification process system that they put together where they guarantee 100% hiring at the end of the certificate program for these kids after, i think it's 24 weeks, if i remember correctly. they're getting into that job making that type of salary and

have no debt to pay for that college degree. mr. ryan: right. mr. reed: that's a win-win-win and they enjoy it. i'm sure the gentleman know those stories. mr. ryan: i want to say thanks. it's been great. let's keep rolling and figure out what we can do moving forward in a bipartisan way, like you and congressman kennedy did, because i think that's essential for growing the ecosystem around different kinds of manufacturing in auto and additive and all the rest and we stand ready to work with you on the democratic side to make that happen. mr. reed: and i, from this side of the aisle, on behalf of the people that we represent in western new york, you have that commitment that i will continue to fight with you, stand with you to fight for u.s. manufacturing. not fight against you, but fight together so that we can advance u.s. manufacturing. it's been a pleasure to call you a friend. it's been a pleasure to be part of this caucus, and our caucus is strong, mr. speaker. we got bipartisan

representation across the country, because as we started this conversation tonight in celebrating national manufacturing day this friday, this is not a partisan issue. i go across the entire country and people always tell me they appreciate the work we do in the caucus, in the congress when it comes to u.s. manufacturing. i, again, commit to you that we'll continue to make this a priority so that we can make it here to sell it around the world again, bring those jobs back to american soil and create these middle-class jobs to a large extent so that families, men and women, sons and daughters can enjoy the american dream. so i appreciate the gentleman for joining us this evening. mr. ryan: thank you, sir. mr. reed: mr. speaker, in closing, you know, i just want to summarize some of the numbers that are associated with u.s. manufacturing. you know, manufacturing supports an estimated 17.6 million jobs in the united states. that's about one in six private sector jobs. more than 12 million americans are employed directly in manufacturing, and they earn

almost $15,000 more annually than the average worker. you know, this is what u.s. manufacturing is all about. it's about creating wealth, it's about creating opportunity for generations to come. i will tell you, as we continue our career here in washington, d.c., i will be a voice for u.s. manufacturing every day. we will break down barriers across the world so that we can have an even playing field, so that we can make those products, build those products here, access those markets where 95% of the world's consumers live outside of america's borders so that we have a vibrant economy, not only servicing the american demand but the world demand. and i think if we get our policies right here, if we get that trade policy done correctly, we get that tax policy done where we have a tax code that's simple, fair and is competitive for the 21st century, i am very confident, mr. speaker, that what we will

create is an opportunity, not just for u.s. manufacturing, but all american citizens, but in particular u.s. manufacturing to prosper and grow for generations to come. so i am excited to be here this evening, mr. speaker. i'm excited to share with such a good man from the state of ohio, a passion and commitment to a priority issue of u.s. manufacturing. and with that, mr. speaker, i just ask all of my fellow american citizens, take a moment this friday on october 2 and celebrate national manufacturing day, and let's come together to have a great opportunity for the future generations of america to come. and with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? mr. reed: i seek -- a motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it.

the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands journed until

of this resolution all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. cole: mr. speaker, earlier today the rules committee met and reported a rule for consideration for both house concurrent resolution 79, directing the clerk of the house of representatives to make corrections in the enrollment of h.r. 719 and h.r. 719, the continuing appropriations act c 2016. the rule provides for consideration of house concurrent resolution 79 under a closed rule with 20 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and his deg designee and the minority leader or her designee. in additionle rule makes in order a motion offered by the chair of the committee on appropriations that the house concur in senate amendment to h.r. 719, with 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and the ranking member of the committee on appropriations. mr. speaker, first this

resolution allows for consideration of house concurrent resolution 79 which directs the clerk of the house to include the text of the defund planned parenthood act of 2015 in the enroll the of h.r. 719. this would allow the house to again state its position in opposition to the funding of planned parenthood. as it has already done by passage of both h.r. 3495 and h.r. 3134. in addition, mr. speaker, the rule provides for consideration of short-term continuing resolution. as a member of the appropriations committee, i'm always disappointed when we are forced to consider continuing resolutions, especially given the work this house has done in the appropriations process this ear. for the first time since 2009,

the house appropriations committee was able to complete all 12 appropriations bills and complete them before the august ecess. unfortunately, just as in years past, senate democrats prevented consideration of any appropriations bills on the floor of that body. this leads us to the unfortunate situation of having to put forward a short-term c.r. to fund the government through december 11. this continuing resolution is simple, most programs will continue being funded at their f.y. 2015 levels, however, it unfortunately, certain spending levels for critical needs such as providing $700 million for wildfire suppression activities in the west. and it extends several programs that would otherwise lapse like the collection of recreation fees for public lands. in addition it maintains the moratorium on state and local jurisdictions, taxation of the internet. i hope that in the weeks and months ahead that the house, the senate, and the president can come to an agreement on a path forward which ensures we are not in this same place in december. .

some of my colleagues have stated publicly they could not support this c.r. because it provides funding for planned parenthood. i want to assure my colleagues that no funding for planned parenthood is included in this legislation. first, the majority of planned parenthood funding, about 90%, comes through medicaid and is not subject to appropriations. of the remaining 10%, the largest portion, roughly $28 million, is funded through title 10. these grant programs are competed for every year and are awarded in april, long past the length of this continuing resolution. while i share the same disgust over the evidence seen in the atrocious videos that are so widely known, i want to assure my colleagues that no additional funds are provided for this organization in this bill. i'm encouraged by the hard work of chairman rogers, ranking member lowey and, of course, the speaker, whose leadership has made all this possible. one of the preeminent responsibilities we are tasked

with as members of congress is to ensure that the government continues to function. while a continuing resolution is not the ideal vehicle, the alternative of a government shutdown is not what we have all been sent to washington to do. i urge support of the rule and the underlying legislation, and with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: thank you very much, mr. speaker. and i thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. mr. speaker, when the house shut down in 2013, i happened to be on the floor at midnight. and why at this moment eludes me. i remember when the clock struck midnight i made the comment that the great government of the united states of america was closed. that 16-day exercise took $24 billion out of this economy. at a time when we were struggling really to get our economy back on track.

that money mostly came from mom and pop stores that were in federal buildings or national parks. the inconvenience to the federal employees was enormous. they did get paid but they were worried to death whether they could meet their mortgage payments or to meet the college tuition payments and get so many people -- veterans who came to washington to visit their memorials only to find them closed. and i certainly concur with mr. cole, we do not want to see that again. it was foolish then, it would be doublely foolish now. but we are -- doubly foolish now. but we are on the edge of what we are going to do because we couldn't get anything done. i'm upset today by what occurred on television, and i want to explain it to you because i have said on this floor so many times, mostly during the 54 times we voted to defund health care, that what was going on here was a gigantic hoax.

i said just this morning at the rules committee what we do has only a passing resemblance to what we are supposed to do. and i want to make a quote from what was said last night on fox news by representative mccarthy, who is the presumptive new speaker of the house. he said, and i quote. what you're going to see is a conservative speaker that takes a conservative congress and puts a strategy to fight and win. let me give you one example. everybody thought hillary clinton was unbeatable, right? but we put together a benghazi special committee, a select committee. what are her numbers today? her numbers are dropping. no one would have known anything of that happened had we not fought and made that happen. sean hasity responds, i agree -- hannity responds, i agree. i'll give you credit for that. i tell you what it means, mr. speaker. it means this is a hoax. we concerned ourselves with

that and now we'll see another one of these special committees. the benghazi committee has already spent $4.5 million on top of the money that was spent in committees to point out that there was nothing wrong in benghazi. and once again, i was on the floor of the house setting up special committees about benghazi when i got a call from seals' he former navy mother whose son was there. he knew his risks. would we please stop bringing this up over and over again. we heard basically the same thing from the ambassador's family who said he knew the language. he liked to be out with the people. he could not be confined behind a wall. so what are we doing here today? more hoax? more money wasted? perhaps we -- i told the chairman of rules this morning that we would be happy to give them the rule for the c.r. we want a clean c.r.

i'll get it out when the senate sends as you clean c.r. no, we are not going to do that. we're going to pretend as part of the c.r. rule that we are going to defund planned parenthood, which mr. cole just pointed out, has no money allocated to it directly in the federal budget. so what we're going to defund is i don't know what -- h.h.s., who knows. maybe we'll find out. maybe we won't. but they're doing this hoax again simply to fool some of the people on this side who obviously know about it because it's been in every paper and on everybody's lips that i talked to that we were going to have to probably do that. but putting that on the rule this morning meant that we cannot support it, and perhaps you have the votes to do it by hoaxing people but i don't know. we do know that the most conservative wing has added that vote on the bill even though, as i pointed out, we were very willing to give the votes on our side.

78 the senate voted the majority votes to keep the u.s. senate open and keep congress moving but we don't do that because we'll restrict a woman's access to health care. we do it all the time. we already had 14 votes. did a couple three this week. what in the world is it that makes this majority want to take health care away from people? 54 times to kill health care, 14 times to kill choice which is constitutionally protected, i must add. so across the country, our constituents must be thoroughly surprised of what's really going on here. a lot of money is being spent. $24 million a week it takes to run the house of representatives, and think of the benghazi committees. if you recall at both armed services and intelligence, their chairs, republican chairs -- and bless them for it -- said there is nothing there.

but we find out last night that the whole purpose of all of it was never to do anything except to cause eternal grief to the families of the four people who lost their lives. and to destroy a presidential candidate. could the congress really stoop that low? i certainly hope not. but the facts belie my hope. so we'll be back here in december, december 11, actually, where i suspect we'll go through the same thing. are we going to shut down the government or are we going to try to do our job? we'll do the same thing. we'll have to put some things in to fool people in all the time so that they will think they're voting for something entirely different. frankly, i'm not going to try to explain why this is happening because the people that are meant to appease obviously know we are just appeasing them and it won't last. but it sure is expensive. so i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: i want to first point out a couple areas where my friend and i do disagree. we do disagree about the value of the benghazi committee. i think it's been conducted professionally and seriously about mr. goudy. i think we learned some things we wouldn't have learned, including the fact that the former secretary of state had a private server over which only she had access and control. very unusual arrangement. so i'll just let the committee continue its work and see where we end up at the end of the day. and i want to disagree with my friend, with all due respect, on planned parenthood. i mean, that's just an area where we have a difference of opinion. i don't think it's appropriate that they receive federal funds. there are plenty of other ways. we provide literally thousands -- we provide $3.5 billion to thousands of public health care centers and community health

care centers around the united states that provide the same services. that is appropriate and we should do that. but i also want to agree with my friend. i agree very much with her sentiments on government shutdown, and she's precisely right, in my view, about what happened in the last government shutdown. should not have occurred. this is a sincere effort to make sure that doesn't occur now. the appropriations committee is certainly doing everything in its power to do that. obviously we need the administration, the senate and the house leadership to sit down and give us a framework. we're trying to buy them that time. i think we're doing it in a very responsible way. so while my friend and i may have some disagreements in some areas, on the functioning of government, we have absolutely no disagreement whatsoever. and i'm pleased to be here working with her in those areas, and i'm hopeful that the president, the speaker and the majority leader, respective minority leaders can indeed come to a larger agreement that would allow a normal

appropriations process to take place. first omnibus bill this year and hopefully next year an actual complete appropriations process, such as we haven't seen here in many, many years. so with that i reserve the balance of my time, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i have request for time, mr. speaker, but nobody appears to be here to take that time. and so i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a -- messages from the president of the united states. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: mr. secretary. the secretary: i am directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives messages in writing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, we find ourselves in a precarious time at midnight tonight, the government of the united states will close yet once again. and mr. cole and i certainly have strong agreement on that

and i'm happy for that. he's a true gentleman, a scholar here in congress. it i continue to say that saddens me greatly because those of us wanted to vote for a clean c.r. this rule will not let us have an opportunity to do that. so i yield back the balance of my time and call for a no vote on the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: i want to thank my friend, again, for also emphasizing the areas where we agree, which is on the maintenance of the government. and while we may have a difference over the rule, i would hope that my friend and many of her colleagues on the c.r. that has been agreed to would look on that favorably and will be able to support the c.r. itself as opposed to the rule. mr. speaker, passage of the c.r. is critical to prevent a government shutdown, and to demonstrate to the american

people that congress can actually govern. the c.r. abides within the budget caps and does not provide any additional funding for planned parenthood, as some have claimed, in addition, the rule provides for consideration of an enrollment correction bill that would make, again, make the position of the house clear in opposition to any additional funding for planned parenthood. i want to encourage my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation, and frankly, i want to encourage those who are now engaged in negotiations to arrive at a framework where the appropriations process can actually go forward. where we can sit down and seriously consider in a bipartisan way how best to fund the government in the coming year, and where hopefully we can get an agreement large enough that we can have a normal appropriations process next year where we actually bring bills individually to this floor, as we did six times, actually do it for the full 12 that would be in order. so that's my hope.

that's what i'm going to be working toward. i know my friend will be working in the same d [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] >> house floor debate starting with house floor appropriations floor harold rogers. minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: i rise today to present h.r. 719 a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open and operating after the end of the fiscal year on september 30. this necessary measure funds

government and services at the current rate through december 11 of this year. as in previous years, the c.r. also includes a small across the board reduction to keep within the fiscal year 2016 cap level set by the budget control act. mr. speaker, this is a responsible measure that prevents a harmful government shutdown while allowing time for a larger budget agreement to be reached and time to complete the full year appropriations work for 2016. it also includes a few responsible provisions to prevent disastrous, irreversible damage to government programs or to current -- to address current urgent needs. these changes are limited in scope and noncontroversial. for instance, these provisions extend the authority for critical department of defense

activities that fight terrorism, increases funding for the department of veterans' affairs to help address the disability claims backlog, and provides emergency funding to the forest service to help respond to the disastrous wildfires that are devastating our western states. while i firmly believe this legislation is the best path forward at this time, it's also my strong opinion that congress should do its job and enact actual line-by-line separate appropriations bills ahead of our september 30 deadline. clearly this is not an option at this time, so we must resort to a temporary measure like this c.r. but a c.r. doesn't reflect our most current budgetary needs. it creates uncertainty across the whole government. it does not adequately address

our national security obligations. and it causes needless waste and taxpayer dollars are spent inefficiently and ineffectively. so it's to my great dismay, mr. speaker, that we've arrived at this point once again requiring a temporary band-aid to buy us time to do our constitutionally mandated duty. the house beginning our appropriations work at the earliest date since 1974. the current budget control act's anniversary. and passing six of our 12 bills by july of this year. my committee reported out all 12 bills for the first time since 2009. and yet the senate refuses to act. gives us -- giving us no choice but to try for a continuing resolution. now with progress stalled, it's

clear that all sides must come together to find some sort of agreement that addresses our current fiscal situation in a comprehensive way. and this c.r., while not ideal, is the next step toward that end. keeping the government's lights on as we work to find a solution. with current funding set to expire in just hours from now, i urge my colleagues to do the responsible and reasonable thing and support this continuing resolution today. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is ecognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i ask as a much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, we may temporarily avert this most recent crisis if we can get

this bill to the president tonight, just hours before the entire federal government shuts down. but it is certainly not a cause for celebration. this very short term continuing resolution avoids the most immediate crisis, but what is step two? after we enact this stop gap measure, are there any firm plans to begin negotiating the full year appropriations bills we should be passing today? remain deeply concerned about the potential of finding ourselves facing a government shutdown again in december. the stakes are very high. we have an economy that is general which win -- genuinely recovering, unemployment is dun, -- down, economic growth is up, but we still have progress to make. the uncertainty and unnecessary tumult of playing games right up to the brink of a government shutdown is not helpful to our

fragile economy. the last shutdown cost the onomy $24 billion in g.d.p., according to standard&poor. this continuing resolution buying us 10 weeks and takes care of only a handful of the most pressing federal responsibilities. provides desperately needed emergency fire fighting funds to address the cat clissic fires rage -- cataclysmic fires raging in the west, providing additional resources for processing disability claims at the veterans' administration, increases the authorization in the small business loan guarantee program to ensure new loans can bed a a ministered to help small -- can be administered to help small businesses across the country, and extends several expiring authorizations for programs within the department of homeland security.

notably the continuing resolution does not address other key priorities that could bolster our economy such as the expired authority of the export-import bank, which has 1.5 d or sustained $-- million private sector jobs at no cost to the taxpayer since 2007 and supported billions in american economic activity. by settling on the short term extension, we fail to provide proposed increases for medical research at the national institutes of health, and the nation's aging transportation system and infrastructure. the president's request for defense funding is shortchanged which would put our national security at risk in a long term c.r. leaving our federal agencies on auto pilot without the line by line, year by year adjustments

that should come from this committee and this congress. this is irresponsible and hurts our ability to grow our economy, create jobs and give hardworking families the services they need. yet with the republican dysfunction that has driven a change in the majority's leadership on the brink of a government shutdown, the prospects for forging a reasonable, responsible solution by december are not good. one more indication of the dire tlook is the cynical gimmick and enrollment correction the majority has put forward today to supposedly defund planned parenthood. fortunately it will have no practical effect on the c.r. for two reasons. first, the senate will ignore it. and second, there is no need for a correction since, as my friend mr. cole noted this weekend, there's no money in this c.r. for planned

parenthood. politifact even confirmed this claim. i will strongly oppose this attack on women's health today, as i support the temporary continuing resolution and urge all of my colleagues to do the same so we can at least avoid a worst case scenario. i again implore outgoing and incoming republican leadership to please engage with the president and house democrats immediately on an agreement to replace the sequester level caps, avert the next crisis, just weeks away, stop playing political games with women's health, and invest in american economic growth and security and i reserve the balance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield such time as he may consume to a very valued member of my committee who happen also to be the chairman -- happens also to be the chairman of the labor-h.h.s. subcommittee, tom

cole. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. mr. cole: i thank, mr. speaker. first i want to begin by congratulating both my chairman and my ranking member for the exceptional job they've done this year in getting all 12 appropriations bills through the full committee for the first time since 2009. so we really have on the appropriations committee done our work. six of those bills have come across the floor. and frankly, i think we would have had more across the floor if our friends in the senate, who are blocked by the democratic minority, had an opportunity to bring their bills to the floor. i think we're here in part because of inaction by the minority in the united states senate. it's ground the whole process to a halt. but i'm very pleased to see both my chairman and my ranking member here making the argument to keep the government funding -- funded. i think we all know that shutting down the government is always a mistake. it's a political mistake, frankly, for people that want to use it to achieve some

political tactic. but more importantly it's simply the wrong thing to do for the american people. they send us here expecting us to get our work done and the fact that some amongst us have kept that from happening is regrettable and i think a disservice to all of our constituents. i also believe, in this particular case, that we have an opportunity, if we pass this continuing resolution, for those that, as i like to say are above our pay grade, that is the president, the speaker, the majority leader, the two minority leaders, to have time to negotiate the framework for a larger deal. for a larger understanding. that would allow us to move ahead and actually have an omnibus bill where we actually, not as good as moving across the floor, but a a large bill where we looked at -- but a large bill where we looked at every line, we made concessions to one another, we made

agreements, we moved the ball forward, and it could open up a possibility for a normal appropriations process next year. in that regard, i was very heartened by majority leader mcconnell's recent remarks that he's interested in a two-year deal. somewhat similar to ryan-murray in terms of its duration. that would allow this house next year to move appropriations bills across the floor one at a time in a give and take bipartisan manner. i think that's extraordinarily important. if you look at where this committee was at in terms of frozen activity before my good friend, the chairman, became the chairman, you know, he, and again with my good friend, the gentlelady from new york, have brought us back a long, long way. if we don't finish that journey in the next 2 1/2 months, we've got several things that are going to happen. the worst of which will be a sequester of $40 billion roughly on the american

military. that is an unacceptable outcome. and frankly that's something that the commander in chief and the respective leaders on both sides of the aisle in this body need to make sure doesn't happen. i promise you -- i promise you, if the administration, the senate and the house can get to a larger agreement, i have no doubt that my chairman and my ranking member and their counterparts in the united states senate will then introduce a normal negotiating process and we'll get to the right place. so, we have a moment, an opening, a little bit of bipartisanship here, i would expect when this bill is actually voted on we will have large majorities on both sides of the aisle that actually support it. so i urge the other members, again, both democrats and republicans, to seize this opportunity, to not just focus on where there are differences but focus here where we've come together, bought the time, and

where they can, use their influence on both sides of the aisle, in both chambers, and with the president, to make sure that an adequate deal is arrived at. and that we spare the country and certainly the men and women in uniform that defend us each and every day from the agony of dealing with the second sequester. this is not the time for that to happen. it's a dangerous world. we've got russia relitigating the borders of eastern europe, we have china building islands in the south china sea, we've got isil having established a caliphate of sorts in the middle east, we have a dangerous iran. the worst thing in the world would be to not do this c.r. and then not carry it through to a fuller agreement and undercut our military. so i think the stakes what have we're doing are very, very high here and i want to conclude again by commending my chairman, the committee, our ranking member, for working together as they have this entire year so we can get our bills across as they're doing

now -- across, as they're doing now in this process, to buy our leaders time and, frankly, as i now they will do in a normal negotiate on an -- negotiation on an omnibus bill and hopefully on a regular appropriations process next year. again, i urge my fellow members on both sides of the aisle to pass this important piece of legislation. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield to a distinguished member of the committee, the lady from connecticut, ms. delauro, five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized for five minutes. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, i'm disappointed in this bill. we are faced with this continuing resolution in order to avert a government shutdown.

this is no way to govern. america deserves better than a month to month government, forever on the brink of a shutdown and held back by needless budget constraints. those who call this a, quote, clean continuing resolution are mistaken. in fact, it puts in place yet more indiscriminate cuts. it cuts .2% across the board, for most discretionary programs. and apparently we have not learned our lesson about mineless austerity. instead of fighting over women's health care, we should use the next month to negotiate a budget agreement that addresses the single biggest economic issue that we face in this country.

today working men and women in the united states are in jobs that don't pay them enough money. we need to stop spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year on tax loopholes for the wealthy and for big corporations. we need to invest once more in education, in job training, in health and all the other priorities that american families hold dear. and right now we cannot meet their needs. poor children are struggling, their vocabularies are on average 1/3 those of their middle income peers. but since 2010 we have cut over $1 billion in real terms from education. workers need help learning the right skills. finding work in a tough economy. so that they can support their families.

but we have cut more than $1 billion from job training programs. millions of americans depend upon life-saving medical research to cure disease and to improve the quality of their life. i stand here as a survivor of ovarian cancer and i'm here because of the grace of god as biomedical research and yet we will continue to cut biomedical research. we have cut more than $3.5 billion from the national institutes of health. the list of failures goes on and on. we are failing our workers, we are failing working families, we are failing students and medical researchers and first responders and veterans and families and millions of others. our job at this -- in this body is to provide opportunity for people and during his economic strug -- this economic struggle that we have, we ought to be

focused like a laser on the issues that work to better the economic situation of working families in this country. and what we do here is to continue to hold a cap on what we need to move forward and more importantly than that, what we do from the other side of the aisle, threaten a shutdown over the issue of women's health. who are we? what are we about? where are the great values of this nation that help to provide an opportunity so that families could join the middle class of this country and continue to make it strong? that's what our job is today, to do, not to be involved in these mindless exercises that the other side of the aisle continues to move forward on. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from new york reserve the gentleman from kentucky is recognized.

mr. rogers: i yeered -- i yield such time as he may consume to a gentleman from our committee and coincidently chairman of the house ethics committee, mr. dent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. . dent: i rise in support of passing a clean continuing resolution. we should do that. it would be utterly reckless to let the government shutdown for any reason, regardless of one's feelings about planned parenthood is beside the point. we should not shut the government down over that or any issue at this time and it's imperative to pass this c.r. to give thinks time and space we need to enter into a broader budget agreement, hopefully for this fiscal year or the next. so that we can then also pass the appropriations bills as our very fine chairman rogers mentioned. i'm the chair of the military construction and v.a. committee.

this c.r. is essential to make sure that veterans' services go uninterrupted and make sure we can continue moving forward on many of the projects that are ongoing within the v.a. system through the ano, ma'am his but nevertheless we need to move forward on this for that reason. i also want to make a point that we need to stop lurching from one budget crisis to the next and the events of the last few weeks have been dismaying to me personally. that said we're not going to have a government shutdown, that's good news, but we need to get on with the business of this budget agreement. i heard my friend and colleague from connecticut point out that i made a comment about biomedical research in the bill we passed out of the labor, health, human services subcommittee, we did increase funding for the national institutes of health for $1.1 billion and i do hope, in the event we come to a budget agreement and move the appropriations bills we will be able to see an increase in funding for the n.i.h.

be able to provide for our veterans, in my case also the military construction projects. also our friends who are serving overseas, our men and women serving overseas in the armed forces are very much depending on us to do the right thing, to pass appropriations bills, a long-term continuing resolution, not the one we're voting on today but if we do one after december 11 that would have real impacts on our force readiness and our ability for our troops and our men and women overseas to do the jobs that we've asked them to do. so for all these reasons, i'm urging people to vote for this c.r. today, keep the government functioning, do our duty, and then set up a process where we can complete the appropriations process in december and take care of the responsibilities that have been entrusted to us. i want to thank chairman rogers, also ranking member lowey for their strong leadership on the appropriations committee, for doing all they're doing to try to help us work together and

make sure that congress maintains its power of the purse and does exactly what we promised the american people we would do and that would be govern. with that, i thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from new york, mr. israel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. israel: i thank my good friend and colleague from new york, the ranking member. mr. speaker, i have a tremendous amount of respect for the chairman, the gentleman from kentucky. and great personal admiration for him and his leadership. i thank him for his earnest and hard work. what we're doing today is a disappointment to the american people and a disappointment to those of us on the appropriations committee. skiss can't be defined as avoiding catastrophe. all we're doing today is avoiding catastrophe. the majority's triumph today is

not shutting down the government. mr. speaker, there's not a small business owner anywhere in america who would say he had a good -- who would say, i had a good day because i'm not shutting down. i had a good day because i'm not throwing my employees out of work. had a good day because i'm not telling my customers they can't come for service. that's not success. that's failure. that is by itself a catastrophe. mr. speaker, the managers of those small businesses are judged by their performance and success. the managers of this congress, the majority, are judged in the same way. they're judged by their ability as the majority to produce bills, to pass budgets, to do the work of the american people. it's time for them to do their jobs, to stop the gimmicks, to pass a long-term budget that invests in the education of our children, that supports job skills for people in careers,

that protect ours veterans and our national security. it's time to do their johns, mr. speaker. with that i yield -- to do their jobs, mr. speaker. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i'm pleased to yield -- i am very pleased to yield two minutes to a distinguished member of the appropriations committee from minnesota, ms. mccollum. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minute. ms. mccollum: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you ranking member lowey. mr. speaker, this republican majority has driven the expectations of the american people so low that the very act of funding government operations has become a significant achievement. unfortunately, the cost of the distraction by the republican extremist for this three-month clean c.r. was the resignation

of speaker boehner a good man who has served this house honorably. passing the c.r., however, will keep the federal government working, which is critical to american families, our economy, and the safe and security of our nation. it continues to protect by providing health care coverage for women. in 2013, when the republicans shut down the federal government for 16 days, the u.s. economy lost $24 billion and more than 100,000 americans lost their jobs. the american people cannot afford another republican shut down. passing this three-month c.r. is the first step toward responsibly meeting the needs of the american people. as a ranking democrat on the interior environment appropriations subcommittee, i am pleased that this bill includes $700 million in emergency funds for forezest service to fight wildland fires in western states. this this is critical funding. the c.r. will keep our national parks open to the public, keep native american health care and

education programs operating and prevent the furloughing of tens of thousands of federal employees in the department of interior and e.t.a. i'm going to vote to pass this continuing resolution and i applaud all the democrats and republicans who will vote to pass the c.r. but, we need to work to find a bipartisan path forward to fund the government for the coming year. our job is to serve the american people. the american people expect congress to do their job. today i hope all mens will do their job and vote to pass the c.r. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is ecognized.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i am prepared to close, i have no further requests for time if the

gentlelady is prepared. mrs. lowey: i was thinking about that except i believe we have some distinguished members of our committee who are running a little late. mr. as going to -- chairman -- mr. speaker and mr. cannot , i fwather we both reserve while we're waiting for some distinguished members of the committee to arrive so i would just like to say, mr. speaker, that i'm very pleased that we're here today and i do

hope that there will be strong bipartisan support for the continuing resolution. this has been a difficult year. i know how hard our distinguished chairman has worked trying to put together a bipartisan appropriations bill. and although i'm very pleased that we are passing a continuing resolution today, it's really amazing that we should be celebrating in the united states of america the most december -- of america, the most distinguished country supposedly representative of our great democracy, and we are celebrating that we're keeping the government open. i feel very confident, mr. speaker, that if members of the appropriations committee, both democrats and republicans, would sit down very seriously, we

could work out an arrangement whereby we would lift the sequester, just as we did with murray-ryan, or ryan-murray. i was on that committee with some distinguished members of the party and we had some good discussions. we had some differences of opinion. we had some lively debates. but at the end of the day, we came up with a product that we could be proud of. that chairman, i do hope after this continuing resolution is passed, and i think you have another speaker who would like to speak while we're waiting for our speakers. oh, i am very pleased to yield, mr. chairman, time to our

distinguished leader and in closing i would just like to say that i am cautiously optimistic that after the c.r. is passed, we can really do our work and come up with a good, strong omnibus bill that reflects our values and now i'm very pleased to yield to our leader one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady for yielding. i thank her for her leadership as well as that of our distinguished chairman, mr. rogers, to bring this to the floor today where we can vote in a bipartisan way to keep government open. without doing harm to women's health in our country. to shut government down is really bad decision for this congress to make. the last time we did that, we lost $24 billion. last time this congress voted to

shut down government, we lost $24 billion to our economy, 120,000 jobs, our work force, our federal work force which contains more than 30% of veterans in its composition were

>> that addresses the targeting of civilians, the bombing and the withholding.

don't remember many >> i thought i did fun. and they were trying to beat me up. and i think we are doing well. and the important poll that came out a couple of hours ago. so i want to thank everybody in the room and the other rooms that are filled up who we'll see

in a little while -- [cheers and applause] mr. trump: new hampshire, an amazing state. a friend of mine from new york said what are people from new hampshire like? they are an amazing -- just amazing people, they love the country and love to work. i love the country, i love to work. we are in the same boat and we are going to make america great. we are going to make it great again. i was going to save it for later. we made that horrible iran deal. and i just wrote this down and i was watching this networks, we should have made the deal and

knocked the hell out of isis. we are giving them $150 billion, we got nothing except defeat. we don't win so much. i actually tweeted this before. do you believe this? iran wants to trade our three prisoners, by the way, we have four prisoners, they are talking about three. the fourth they aren't talking about, they want to trade it for 19 prisoners held by the united states and many other things. i mean how stupid are we? how stupid are we? and it's just going to change. it's going to change. it's just going to change. so embarrassing.

he desserted, and we have five and probably six people killed going after. and the other day i read for the first time, well, he wasn't feeling well, he may not be -- who the hell cares? [cheers and applause] and might get off with nothing. six people died. and he was a see certificater. hat did we do with desserters? that's right. there was no desserting. you have problems. he's a nice person, right? i don't think so. so a lot of the press has been nice to us in the last few days because we gave a detailed tax

policy where we substantially reduced tax policies. we are going to create a lot of jobs and mexico, china, japan, we are going to be taking them back. but you know, they were so happy in a certain way, they said, we want policy. gave policy on immigration and they were happy with that. a lot of people don't agree, build a wall. they said, you can't build a wall. our trade deficit with mexico is $45 billion a year. i love mexico. i love the mexican people. thousands and thousands of mexican people that have worked with me over the years. but the leaders have said over the year, too cunning, too harp, and they are ripping us.

and nabisco -- what's more america can than nabisco. in are going to make oreos mexico. nd ford motor plant. i have all these live television sets. every other capped can go and make a speech. and they make the same speech for months, but jeb bush is down the road and accepting 1257 people tonight. it's true. i'm going to tell you, but we have been getting amazings crowds. 20,000 people in oklahoma. 20,000 people. [cheers and applause] . mr. trump: a great place.

we had 20,000 people. filled a stadium and mark cubin and the manufacture risks is called american airlines center in dallas, 20,000 people showed up. i said can you see me? and we had three days to do it. you can have that arena when you want it. i said when? the first day, 12,000 people, we want to alabama just before that, we had 35,000 people. it's been amazing. tonight -- and i want accurate counts because these people they don't count heads. they said the place is ok. by the way, pan out on these people please, cnn and all of

your live cameras, pan out! [cheers and applause] mr. trump: you know what they do, they have the live camera on my face. y wife says, was there any people out there. they never show the crowds. they don't want to. and cn nmp and all the people. it's so important. the fire marshal, a lot of eople can't get in, 3,564. that's what we have. [cheers and applause] mr. trump: we love the fire marshals, but they said you can't have it in the aisles. it's a one-story aisle. so we have 3,564 people.

we have close circuit information and always like this. we did have one event so beautiful in south carolina, i was called by a friend of mine, wrote theamerican, he most beautiful letter tonight and he put it in one of the papers and there was a last-minute thing. i'm speaking to the african-american chamber of commerce. it formed in the front and it was beautiful. and the best crowd they had. such a beautiful day. it was a lunch and it was wonderful. and the cameras because they were all up front, the cameras showed the empty chairs.

is trump losing? nd these people were so angry. african-american people that doll such a great job and you have to see the liter. it was a beautiful letter and so unfair the way the event was treated and when i go to things like this, i would like the press. there is a movement. this is more like gee, whiz, when bush has 125e people and rubio has 12 people, true, and when all of the other ones, some of them i really like, but nobody has crowds like us, including bernie, who does pretty well. [cheers and applause] and the fact is something is happening. something incredible is happening. o what's gone on is we put a

policy on immigration, that is build a wall, people have to come into the country legally. have to do it. have to do it. or we don't have a country. the anchor babies, we have to do something there. and when i brought that up, people come dem, they are on the other side of the border and have a baby, nobody stops anybody, it's like we are open territory. the woman has a baby in our land and we have to take care of that baby for 85 years. and i say that can't be. and everybody said that baby is a citizen born in the united states. turned out i'm right. because they aren't coming in legally. and if you read the language, other than sore television

scholars, people are coming from china and coming from all over asian latin america, south america and mexico, they walk across the border, doesn't read that way. they said, you have to go through a whole big thing every state has to go to referendum, it's the 14th amendment and so many different things, right? but it's not working our way. it's wrong. and i turned out to be right. because the real scholars said, he's right. no. no. how can it be wrong? this is something that has come up. we have to get rid of these sanctuary cities. t's disgraceful. [cheers and applause] mr. trump: kate, magnificent

kate shot in the back and killed in san francisco. i have property in san francisco. i own a big chunk of the bank of america building, can you believe it? when i hear san francisco, now -- earn brl sank you tear sanctuary cities. and i have gotten friendly with the people, the whole thing with illegal immigration and crime. it is far worse than anybody understands. far worse. far worse. tremendous people come in. but you have some terrible problems. the other week as you saw, got a lot of press, a woman, 66-year-old veteran, raped, sodomized and nearly killed.

a 66-year-old veteran, killed here. we are going to stop it. we are going to have a wall. [cheers and applause] nd i'm really good at walls. what -- that's why with the infrastructure of the country, we are spending money all over the world. i was going to have a list of some of the dumb things that the country does. do you know what a washer is. asher, screw, a little bit extra grip. when it went from south carolina to exas, it cost $988,000 have it delivered over a long period of time. there are so many things like that. there are so many things like that.

hammers, that you buy for $7, $8 that we buy as a country. who are these people that are making these deals. you are probably saying, we want a part of these companies. but where they are selling for things in a store for pennies, selling them for thousands of dollars. there is so much fat. so much fat. and i get a lot of credit for immigration. people think it's harsh. dwight eisenhower was a wonderful general and a respected president and he moved a million people out of the country and nobody said anything about it. when trump does it, ugh. that was also in the 1950's,

different time. that's when we had a country. that's when we had a country. [applause] that's when we had vote. without borders, you don't have a country. but dwight eisenhower. and used to take him out and put him on the other side of the border and they come right back and do it again and do it again a say this it doesn't work. and moved them all the way south, all the way, and they never came back again because it was too far. amazing. i'm not saying this in a joking way, i'm saying this is what happened. they literally, literally, moved them all the way. a lot of the politicians, they

put them on boats and all the way down south and that was it. and then a lot of things happened and a lot of changes took place and we have become so politically correct as a country that we can't do anything. you say that was not politically correct. nobody respects women more than i do. and i -- that's true. thank you. my mother was the greatest person there was. but nobody respects women more than i do. and making a speech. i cherish women and hillary says we don't want to be cherished but respected. everything. you want to be respected and want to be loved and cherished, you want to be everything.

am i right? [cheers and applause] and nobody cares more than i do. women's health issues where jeb bush recently said that he's not ing to fund them and said he misspoke. can't misspeak. that has to be so vital and important. we are going to take care of our women and our vets and take care of people. we are going to bring jobs back. we are going to become a rich country. we are a poor country. we are now $19 trillion, it's up to $19 trillion. we owe china. think of it. they take our jobs, our base and ur moan and we owe them $1.5

trillion. we owe japan the exact same amount, $1.5 trillion. we owe them. they send million of cars here. they pay for the cars. try doing business in japan. i say how many chevies do you think you are going to find in the middle of tokyo? maybe none? we sell them beef, and they don't want it. beef. they don't want it. the farmers don't want it we owe japan $1.5 trillion. they sell us all these cars and we owe them money. it's going to stop. it's so easy. we have to balance out. i went to my people this week and i said i want to know how much do we, in terms of balance of trade, how much are we behind

the eight-ball, the u.s. trade deficit with china, japan and mexico. $400 billion. japan is almost $70 billion a year. and mexico, $45 billion. you can't get to mexico to pay for the wall. $5 billion. much less thaner half the price because i know how to build. i watch it myself. oh, it's going to work so well. you see the big picture on the magazine. i was on the cover. but there is a wall like eight or nine feet and they have a mp going up and another ramp

pg go down. so here's the deal. we get the drugs, they get the money. these trucks get right over the wall. can't do that when the wall is higher the ceiling. or it's a long way down if they miss the ramp. let them get away with it. but we are going to make our country so strong and beautiful. i put something in on policy with regard to the second amendment. m a big second amendment person. [cheers and applause] mr. trump: in two weeks this is something i got to know a lot about. i'm going to put in a policy paper on the veterans and veterans administration and they know what to do. we spend so much money but we

have seen tremendous corruption. al few weeks ago on wednesday, we had the longest wait in the history of the veterans administration. they waited days to see a doctor. they are dying. you saw it and saw the report. so many people are dying while they are waiting. they are dying. things that could be taken care of with a pill or maybe one visit. they are dying. it's not going to happen anymore. [applause] mr. trump: that's what i look forward to and i tell you just briefly, and it's common sense, when they are waiting too long, going to go to a hospital and we are going to pay the bill and take care of these people. [applause]

so and it's so important to me because some of the greatest people, do you believe i'm a politician. i'm so embarrassed. some people say, you're a politician and i say i hope not. o, good, you can go ahead. [applause] mr. trump: you know, it's funny, i got a great story and wonderful public speaker, but he has one problem, he speaks through the applause. i started speaking and people immediately shut up. i said because i'm so excited. there are so many things to do and not enough time to wait for the applause. and i keep doing it, because it's exciting to me. i appreciate the article.

who knows. so what i did is we came up with a really great tax plan that has been praised and some cases not, some people said it's too big. we have the highest taxes in the entire world. our corporations are leaving our country because the taxes are too high and did a very sophisticated and policy paper. the press would say prior to that and the second amendment and immigration, they said, he talks well. i went to great schools. i'm like a smart person. he doesn't talk details. all of a sudden i'm speaking details. i will tell you the tax pln, is i think something we are proud of and i'm going to go over it

quigley, but it's going to help you. it's going to help with jobs and put people to work. we are taking jobs back. we are going to have companies come back into our country. we are going to have a lower tax rate than china and many of these countries. corporate inversion is a disaster. companies voo billions, trillions, outside of the country. everybody agrees the money should be allowed to come back in. republicans and democrats, they still can't agree. they agree but can't come to a conclusion. it's a bigger number than that. and if it is, my plan is even better. i'm letting it come in with a reasonable tax. right now the tax is so high. if anybody was running one of those companies, you can't get