linchpins of peace, security and prosperity in northeast asia for more than 60 years and we are united against the threat of a rogue regime in north korea. mr. salmon: about 28,000 members of the u.s. armed forces stationed in south korea stand with the republic of korea counterparts in defense of the south. we support the president's principaled vision of peace, prosperity and democratic unified korean peninsula. our alliance today has grown far beyond the single threat, though. we also have strong alliances in economic development and many, many other issues. we're very, very excited about this wonderful relationship and we welcome president pak next week. thank you. i give back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rom new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

mr. conyers: i join with my colleagues in welcoming the distinguish -- mr. rangel: i join with my creags in welcoming the distinguished leader of korea to confer with our president. i visited korea for the first time as an infantryman. i thought it was a nightmare and i never wanned to go back to this place again. to see this country now and see what out of the ashes it has become. to see from a very poor country what a great democracy it has, the seeming leadership of this great president, to see what a friend we have in that region when we're having a horrible time in peace and war and this country always have our back, the great contributions korea has made to this country, those that have become citizens, makes me proud to be an american system of when the congress, when she comes here, the congress is so proud that some

of us were able to make just a small contribution to keep her from falling in the hands of the communists and becoming our seventh great trading partner a leader of the region and a leader of the world. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from utah seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. > mr. speaker, i rise to congratulate elise wordle. ms. love she's she wame to keer -- ms. love: she came here to attend one of our universities. she's worked through some difficult processes, becoming naturalized, for more than 2 1/2 years. she and her husband, atam, are expected their first child this coming april and are grateful to

raise their child here in the land of the free and land of opportunity. i am grate to feel count her among my newest constituents and extend her and adam my best wishes. people like elise enrich our nation. i'm proud of them for taking the required steps to enter our nation. as a child of imgrant parents, i welcome all utah's new american citizens and pledge to work hard so they can have access to the american dream like i have. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to welcome the president of the republic of korea on her arrival in d.c.

next week. i had the honor of meeting with her in my last visit to korea last december where we discussed the partnerships and opportunities between the u.s., silicon valley, and south korea. mr. honda: we must look to build new bridges and reinforce the connectors that have already contributed so much to our mutual benefit. as president park said when she addressed the joint meeting of congress in 2013rk she said, looking forward, our precious alipes is set our sights on a better world, a brighter future. welcome her to the u.s. and to the summit with president obama. no doubt our two nations' very special alliance will grow in the coming years. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition?

without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. south carolina was inundated with a historic rainfall. the rivers have not crested yet, the floods continue. many south carolinians are displaced, many are hurting, i just want to ask the house and america to continue to lift my home state up. let me remind you then in the 24th psalm is written the earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. for he hath founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods. thank you for your prayers and may god continue to bless the state of south carolina and may god continue to bless the united states of america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: frurp

does the gentleman from new york eek recognition? without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. tonko: our neighbors in the senate has agreed to a resolution recognizing thursday, october , as hydrogen fuel cell day. i invite my colleagues to support this resolution and look forward to bettering our nation, our economy and certainly our environment. as the planet east most abundant natural resource, hydrogen has a critical role to play in the way we think about renewable energy. it is powering homes across the nation and these the potential to do more if we recognize it should be our fuel of choice. businesses are reporting success stories about their use of hydrogen fuel cells and the elimination of carbon emissions. the once pricey source has become the next avenue for

america's energy demands. it's because we made it so. to embrace it. climate change is certainly a reality. we have no choice but to face that head on. please join me as the we strive to make america the leading nation for renewable energy a goal we can advance right now by recognizing this day as national hydrogen and fuel cell day. with that i thank you, mr. speaker and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? without objection the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i come to the floor today to commend my colleagues in the house and senate for passing the national defense authorization

act for 2016 and to call on the president to sign this vital bill into law. it is the constitutional responsibility of congress to provide for the common defense of this nation. right now, our country faces growing and very serious threats , unrest continues to escalate in the middle east and our troops are fighting terrorism around the world. mr. allen: yet the president threatened to veto this legislation which provides our men and women in uniform with the resources they need to defend themselves and america's national security at home and abroad. the president's veto threat is dangerously irresponsible. we must fulfill our duty to support our troops and their families who sacrifice so much to protect our nation. congress has acted in a bipartisan fashion to pass this legislation, equip our military and bolster national defense. instead of putting our national security at risk the president should sign this bill into law

so we can keep our military strong and americans safe. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? without objection the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to welcome president pak to the united states for her state visit next week. the united states and the republic of korea enjoy a warm friendship built on a commitment to security, joint economic development, cultural exchange and the democratic process. this year marks the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the korean war. korea has transformed itself in six decades from a war torn economy into the 13th largest economy in the world and represents one of america's greatest foreign policy success stories. president pak's visit will reaffirm our strong bilateral

relationship at an important time as our countries work together to improve regional security. president pak's approach to north korea and her focus on reuniting families separated by the korean war has given renewed hope to many korean americans in the united states. i'm sure her visit will lead to new areas of cooperation between our countries. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rom virginia seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from virginia is recognized for ne minute. mr. connolly: as co-chair of the korean caucus here in congress, i extend my warm greetings to president pak on her second visit to the united states. the u.s. and the republic of korea share deep ties, an

alliance forged in blood and sweat and spoil. out of the korean war emerged one of the great miracles of economic development the world has ever seen, the republic of korea. the r.o.k. has emerged as an economic juggernaut with a vibrant democracy and strong alliance with us, the united states. during the president's visit, i think she will be glad also to find that those ties are familial. we have a deep and vibrant community, korean american community here in the united states including right here in the national capitol region and in my district in northern virginia. alliances are often defined by military and economic ties, our ties go even deeper. those family tices are what connect us with the republic of korea and the congressional caucus. i wish the president well, look forward to a successful trip and look forward to continuing to work with her government as the co-chairman of the korean caucus. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. it's with great sadness that i announce that al pantanita passed away on august 31. he was a veteran, but more importantly a good american. al is what i would call the perfect constituent. the perfect friend, and the perfect neighbor. al would come to his elected officials' offices all the time and let us know what was going on in the community and what was going wrong in the community but never once, never once did al complain. mr. cardenas: he always said how can i be part of the solution? to me, that is not only a good person but that's what makes america great. human beings who have the time and the resources to give of themselves and are not there to complain but are there to make sure that their neighborhood,

their community, and their country is a better place. we're going to miss al, he was a selfless individual and someone who was always giving of himself and always was creative in making sure that he was part of the solution and was always there for his community in every way possible. al was a personal friend. i met him through my responsibility as an elected official in the community, but i grew to love him as a person and to appreciate him very much and we're going to miss you al, but you'll never be forgotten. i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested for ms. granger of texas for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from california, mr.

royce, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6 20 15, the gentleman from california, mr. swalwell, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the inority leader. mr. swalwell: mr. speaker, i rise today to kick off the

future forum's special order hour. today we'll be bringing attention once again to the issue of college affordability and student loan debt. we also have a few surprises in store today as i'll be joined by my future forum colleagues, and i first want to report that just earlier this week on monday the future forum, which is a group of about 16 to 17 of the youngest members in our caucus, went out to seattle. congressman kilmer, who represents the seattle area, s joined by myself and mr. gallego. we went across the seattle area, we talked to college students, community college students, college graduates, a millennial work force and also folks in the tech sector in seattle. we went to the university of washington-at that coma and met with -- washington-at that coma and met with veterans. we went to the university of pew jet sound and talked to students.

we were also able to go to amazon. e went to amazon.com and had a town hall there with their millennial work force and we were able to listen to them and their concerns about the future. we heard a common thread through all of these diverse groups. america's large estrogen ration, millennials, 80 million people, they're concerned about their future. they're concerned about their ability to afford and have access to go to a college. they're concerned about how much it's going to cost them when they get out and the student loan debt that they're going to be burdened with. it was another successful future forum trip. it was the eighth one we've taken this year. ranging from new york, boston, new hampshire, phoenix, washington, d.c., san francisco, los angeles and now seattle. i encourage anyone watching to engage with us on twitter. i'll be a part of the

conversation, i'll read and respond to any questions as we go along. first today i'm joined by a colleague of mine, a future forum member from the dallas-fort worth area. congressman marc veasey. and, congressman, we're encouraging a conversation around these issues at #futureforum. i want to know, i've been to the dallas-fort worth area, i've seen the way you've engaged with young people in your district, and i want to know just what are you hearing out there about your constituents and their ability to go to college, your constituents and their ability to pay for college, and once they get out, how a student loan debt affecting their opportunities? mr. veasey: thank you very much. i really appreciate your leadership on future forum and bringing up important issues like student debt. it's a real issue that so many of our young people struggle with when they graduate from college. and one of the articles that i

was reading about student debt, through a national magazine, put some instagram photos up of young people and the problems and the issues they have with student debt. some of the kids put up some really creative things. one of those graduating students on their hat, on their graduating hat, said, instead of game of thrones, it said game of loans. another sign that i saw, one of the college graduations, said, i'll soon be joining millions of other people who rb graduating college and i'll be consumed with thousands of dollars in debt. but while these instagram photos are cute and funny and i'm sure a way for young people to take their minds off of what is going to be facing them in thousands of dollars of debt, we know this is a very serious issue. our young people that are graduating from college, they're putting off buying a house, they're putting off

buying that new car, those sorts of things, play a role in how well our economy does. i think more importantly, you hear a lot of young people that are graduating from college saying that they are putting off starting a family. and that's one of the most important things that we do as young people, as we graduate from college and make our way into the world, is that we start that next generation and in order for us to start that next generation with confidence , kids need to know had they graduate from college they're not going to be burdened with all of this debt. we know that college is becoming less and less affordable each day and it negatively impacts the lives of thougses -- thousands of americans across our great nation, including many of the constituents that i represent in the dallas-fort worth area. right now we have about 40 million young people in this country that have over $1.3 trillion in debt. in the state of texas, the average debt pursuant to is over $25,000, with over 70% of

bachelor degree recipients graduating with a student loan. about 16% of students in texas have defaulted on their loans. these numbers can easily create an economic crisis for an entire generation. and while the costs of higher education continues to rise, grants are not going up on the same pursuant to basis. we've seen the federal -- per student basis. we've seen the federal grants remain stag nanlt, despite house democrats -- stag nanlt, despite -- stagnant, despite house democrats urging us to help these kids. mr. speaker, congressman it's l, i think important that we do work together on commonsense proposals that provide grants to the most needy and make federal loans affordable so that young people can obtain a degree, contribute to our economy, keep our country going strong without the burden of insurmountable student debt.

mr. swalwell: you know, congressman veasey, part what have future forum has tried to express across the country to young people has been , first, our members, we understand you, we hear you because we know, we know the strug am you've gone through -- struggle you've gone through. personally i have over $100,000 today in student loan debt. and half of my college was through an athletic scholarship. i still had that much student loan debt that i racked up because of tuition going up every single year. can you tell us just a little bit about your personal story or any family members or friends, and how you've seen this debt has affected personally? mr. veasey: absolutely. when i graduated from college, paying back my student loans was very, very difficult. i'll tell you, one of the things that i lucked up into, when i was still in my 20's, was that i became a congressional aide. i worked for a member of congress. and there's a student loan

program for young people that work on capitol hill, for them to be to have some of their student loan debt repaid. if it wasn't for that i don't know what i would have done. student debt was eating into my discretionary income. again, we want young people to contribute to our economy. we want young people to go and buy that car that they couldn't afford in college, we want young people to start a family, buy a home. that's the american dream, is being able to start a family and buy that home and be able to raise your kids in that home and be able to provide for your family. but unfortunately more and more of your young people are saying that, you know what, i'm going to put off getting married, i'm going to put off buying that home, i'm going to put off putting money into our local economy, i'm going to not buy so much for christmas for my siblings and my parents and other people because i can't afford to, because i have thousands and thousands of dollars worth of student debt.

we have to figure out some way, how to do something about this, representative swalwell, or we're going to have an entire generation of young people that just have absolutely nowhere to turn. mr. swalwell: you know what was interesting, we've had these conversations with people, a story i'll never forget, we were in the boston area and we went to a town hall with about 200 young people at their work force talking to us about student loan debt. i was with congressman moulton. and once we started getting into the back and forth and the questions with the participants , a woman in the back who's around 55, 60 years old, she raised her hand and she said kind of jokingly, you know, i know i'm not supposeden to here, this is a millennial town hall, we told her, no, no, it's a mindset, it's not an age, but she said, i think you're missing the fact that student

loan debt doesn't just affect millennials. she told a story about her daughter who had gone to college, which is also a part of that american dream, where we want our young people to go to college, educate themselves. but she said that she's found that her daughter has come home from college, has over $30,000 in student loan debt, and because of that debt is not able to even rent near where she works. so what her daughter has done is she's come back home. and we're becoming the boomerang generation. that reinforced for me that this issue, it affects the 41 million millennials you talked about but it's a family matter. it affects everyone in the household. you have heard stories like that or seen examples of that? mr. veasey: yeah, i've heard so many stories like that. it's really interesting. i think that when we're all in our 20's, we never think we're going to get older. and so when i -- you know, working in politics now since i've been in my 20's as a

congressional aide and spending eight years in the texas state legislature and now as a member of congress, when you meet kids that are in their teens, 20's, they never ask you about social security. they don't ask you much about what's going on with the national defense. and for years i can tell you that young people in their teens and 20's really just, they never ask me a lot of questions as an elected official about many of the issues that affect our country. most of the questions that i would get from individuals were usually from people that were baby boomers and older, that were concerned about social security, concerned about the cost of food or goods or whatever it may happen to be. but let me tell you something, young people in this country, this issue is getting their attention. not being able to pay back

their student debt. when i'm at town hall meetingsings, when i'm doing -- meet, when i'm doing different event -- meetings, when i'm doing different events, an issue that young people are coming to me about is student debt. it's really galvanized them like i've never seen before. again, they're going to social media, like some of the examples i talked about earlier. they're going to social media, they're going to instagram and facebook, talking about student debt, begging the congress to do something about providing more grants. again, we want our country to be well educated. that's how we're going to be able to compete with the rest of the world. but guess what? more and more young people are hearing, you know, why go to college? why go to college and be burdened with student debt? and guess what, if more and more young people hear that, it's going to make us less competitive in the world at a time where we need to be more competitive on all sectors,

whether it is in technology, whether it's in manufacturing, we need an educated work force. and i can tell that you young people are being discouraged because of a lack of action, specifically really by republicans in congress. and so we have to keep raising this issue. mr. swalwell: i appreciate you being with us today, congressman veasey of texas. you know, you're right, it's about solutions and who's acting and i think we all would welcome a bipartisan approach to this. but right now the silence is deafening. and it's affecting a whole generation that is just stuck in financial quick sand. one of the solutions that the future forum has put out there is this idea, hey, you can refinance an auto loan, you can refinance your home loan, why shouldn't our students who are in this financial quick sand be able to refinance their student loans at the lowest available rate? we've got legislation on that. i hope it becomes bipartisan

legislation. but i agree with you. on a call to action. on this. mr. veasey: thank you. i appreciate that. mr. swalwell: the few tier forum is a group that has -- the future forum is a graup that has evolved since -- group that has evolved since april. we're quite interested in engaging with millennials. i'd invite people tonight to engage with us on the #few tureforum -- #futureforum. this idea of reaching out to a generation that is not necessarily yet engaged in new innovative ways, it's older than the future forum. it started about 10 years ago. today a little bit of a surprise for our future forum followers, we're going to welcome some of the original members of the future forum who 10 years ago on this house floor redefined one what it meant to reach out and talk to

the next generation of leaders. so it's my honor, it's my privilege to first welcome congressman tim ryan from ohio, and tim said best in 2005, 10 years ago, when he led the 30-something live hour, and they took questions on this house floor as we take them now from twitter, congressman ryan took them via email. he said, being the 30-something group, we're trying to take our communications to the next level. trying to reach out to the american people because we have said for quite some time that if we're going to solve the problems in this country, we have to engage the best and brightest talent that is out in the country in order to do this. that sound familiar to the gentleman from ohio? mr. ryan: i don't remember that but that sounds like something i would have said. that's great. thank you. this is bringing back a lot of memories. and i look at some of our friends that staff the house of representatives and we had a lot of long nights where we

would come to the house floor, sometimes once or twice in an evening, back in 2003, 2004, 2005 and then going into 2006, and really used the house floor. there wasn't twitter back then. and so a lot has changed with the ability to communicate and organize, but we had key issues at that point that we were working on with ms. wasserman schultz, congressman meek from miami, we were the three members that were coming here every night. but it helped us communicate with not just young people who may or may not be watching c-span, because there weren't a lot of them, but we were on later at night and so we did get some college students who were paying attention to what was going on. but we were also talking to their parents and their grandparents. and i think what you're doing

with the future forum is having a conversation with everyone about what the future needs to look like. you talk about student loans and student debt, i think the one issue, too, that we're talking about that doesn't get a whole lot of coverage is, you know, how we create an economy for these young people to go into and what that looks like. and i believe that there's an opportunity for us to kind of bring the whole thing together. we talk a lot about the environment because we're concerned with global warming and what direction we're going in as a country. if you look at places like iowa and other places where you have 25 or 30% of your energy is coming from renewable sources. so i represent a district in neevet ohio, heavily manufacturing, watched thousands and thousands of manufacturing jobs over the last couple of decades, when i look at what we need to do to reduce our carbon footprint, to move away from fossil fuels, to move into a

more renewable economy, to me, wind and solar are an opportunity to do that but it's also an opportunity for us to bring manufacturing back. so not everyone is going to be a ph.d. not everyone is going to be a stem fwradge watt but if we get enough of those graduates to figure out how we move the country forward, how we manufacture things, again, here in the united states. and when you think about a windmill that consists of 8 -- consists of 8,000 component part, hundreds of tons of steel, gear shift, bearings, hydraulics, all kinds of component parts that need fabricated, to me if we're going to resuscitate manufacturing in the united states, moving into a renewable economy with wind and solar and all the component parts it entails is an opportunity for us to recreate the middle class. when we talk about what the future is, maybe the college students will be graduating from a stem college.

they may be engineers. but we've got to deal with the grid, got to deal with battery storage, got to do research and development to figure out how to do it and store the energy and all the rest but we also resuscitate manufacturing. mr. swal well: what colleges do you have in your district? mr. ryan: in my district we have three. one is doing polymers, and then kent state university focused on liquid crystal. we have these universities, but at the end they have day if you don't get into manufacturing it needs to become a bigger and bigger part to where we're exporting our products, high end manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing for the rest of the world and we know we're going to lose some manufacturing of course to the lower cost country which is is a natural

evolution of the global economy but the future forum and what you're talking about has to be about and is about how we create an economy for these young people and you're in the process of doing that. >> in your district, say youngstown, or my district, cal state-east bay, what i've found when we talk to young people, when we talk renewable economy, and young people here that. mr. swal well: we're actually under this -- mr. swalwell: 're actually, under this congress, we're slashing that. young people, their reaction is, what? the rest of the world is going forward in this renewable economy, germany has 30% of its energy from renewables and the united states is still stuck around 10% to 11%? i've found generationally, millenials don't understand why we're stuck in the mud on this

issue. mr. ryan: definitely in agreement across generations. across party lines. being young. you kind of understand it. i think if we could move the conversation away from kind of the dark, the world's going to end, you know, globalization, global warming talk and more into, ok, how do we become sustainable and what's the path forward and how is that going to benefit everyone moving forward? and i'm a kind of all the above guy. i think natural gas can be a transition for us. i think there's a lot of opportunities to do that. but if we don't -- and i will tell you this. i don't want to get into a deep discussion because a lot of people are not in agreement on this but when you look at the hydraulic fracturing which allowed a lot of natural gas to come up and for us to access it which is fairly controversial in some quarters, but the

technology was a partnership between the department of energy and the preist sector for 30 years starting in the carter administration that allowed us to be able to go in and then access this natural gas that's there and the same concept is what you were talking about, is put -- is putting the money into the renewables, having the tax credits in place over a long-term period so that we can bring the costs down and incentive size only -- incentivize some investments. at the end of the day that's how you move forward creating new sectors of the economy. mr. swal well: i want to yield to -- mr. swalwell: i want to yield to my colleague here for an update. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i have a report from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the rule. the clerk: resolution providing for kgs of the bill h.r. 538 to facilitate the development of

energy on indian lands by reducing federal regulationses a -- regular rations -- regulations and providing for kgs of the bill h.r. 702, to adapt to changing crude oil market conditions. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. ryan: here i thought the gentleman from georgia was just hanging on every word i was saying here and you were so slalled and yet you were -- >> i will say to my friend, you had me at all of the above you had me at jobs for the next generation, you had me at moving forward instead of backwards, not doom and gloom. mr. ryan: look what just happened on the house floor. we'll talk, we'll send over some ideas and take some of yours. mr. woodall: i look forward to that. mr. ryan: in the spirit of what

you andwoman wasserman schultz did, you went -- and congresswoman wasserman schultz did, we do what's called a word cloud -- mr. swalwell: we do word clouds. they can text in answers to questions we pose. i asked, what would you spend more money on if you had more money that wasn't going to student loans? you can see, it ranges from rent, house, buy a house, groceries, mortgage, savings, have you heard this out in ohio? mr. ryan: same deal. one of those ry words reference is a stronger economy. because you have people who are putting money into buying a car or renting a house or buying a house or doing any one of these things and there they are. there they are.

mr. swalwell: i have the privilege of having both of you on the floor now. it's a 10-year reunion of the 30-somethings, the two of you charted the path forward for us to do this as the future forum and we're now joined by the gentlelady from florida, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. i went back and i saw many of the different inventive, creative ways you guys engaged our young people and i was hoping you could talk about back then. some of the issues you talked about, rising gas prices at the time. the war in iraq. privatization of social security. you brought attention on this house floor to -- of these issues to the next generation and maybe you could just talk about how you did that and then how we can do that today. ms. wasserman schultz: absolutely. i thank the gentleman from california for yielding.

and say to my friend from ohio, it is good to get the band back together. mr. ryan: i'm telling you. ms. wasserman schultz: it's incredible that it's been 10 years. i don't want to think about the birthday i just had. and where that puts me. i guess, a few years after we started the 30-something working group, at least i and former -- our former colleague, kendrick meek from florida, passed the status of being 30-something and we were 30-somethings in spirit while we were doing that for a little while. i'm a little longer past being a 30-something now. but it is absolutely critical that we have an opportunity now to pass the torch, mr. ryan, to the next generation of 30-somethings who are focused on making sure that as we go from generation to generation, as democrats, we are focused on making sure that those cornerstones of a middle class life, that we talked about 10 year ago, making sure you don't have to choose between buying your groceries or filling your

gas tank to get to work. which then if you can't would cause you not to be able to afford your groceries. now, 10 years later, mr. swalwell, i have young children -- i had young children back then. mr. ryan was single, now he has young children. but my twins are actually two years from going to college. and so the student debt crisis that has been looming and has existed and has overly burdened so many americans is now something that my family has trepidation about. so it is incredibly timely that we relaunch the -- this working group and make sure that the issues that are important to that next generation get the attention and the focus on the floor of the united states house of representatives. mr. swalwell: we talk about the next generation, congressman ryan and i were talking about

how this affects millenials, i invite my colleague from new york, mr. jeffries, to take the other podium. mr. ryan: pick up an instrument and join us. mr. swalwell: i don't know if you've heard this in your district but this issue of college access and affordability is actually a family matter. @sku61.got a tweet from she wants to get a b.a. in accounting and at 53 can't afford to do it. it's multigenerational, this ccess to having higher skills. ms. wasserman schultz: in response to your question whether i've heard this in my district, absolutely. the average debt that an individual carries in student loans -- in student loan debt is about $29,000. that is crushing debt that for

years, to be burdened with. i mean, even president obama, you know, not long prior to becoming president, he and the first lady have both talked about how they only just had paid off their student loan debt, just before they took office. imagine. into your not even -- late 40's. still paying off your debt from college and post graduate school. it's outrageous. yet republicans and let's make sure that we zero in on brass tacks here, republicans have consistently denied americans the opportunity to reform the student loan programs so that we can ensure that when they are paid a salary, that it is in line with how much they have to actually pay back out of their monthly paycheck to make sure they can make ends meet.

mr. swalwell: i don't know if mr. ryan or mr. jeffries has heard of constituent casework like this but we have constituents in our district who are having their social security checks garnished because of student loan debt. so mr. ryan, i would yield to mr. ryan or mr. jeffries, if you've heard about this multigenerational challenge. mr. ryan: i feel like we're here to provide historical context. when we, back in the day, back in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, before the democrats took over the house a few years back, we had a student loan system, the banks would do the loans and the rates were 7%, %, 9%. and then the federal government would back the loan if someone defaulted. i loan you 100 bucks, if you default, the gentleman from california will pay me. what a great business to be in. no lose. right? so they were covered regardless and we came in and made some serious reforms to limit the

amount of monthly payments and for how many years if you're in the public service. so we made some reforms that i think were really, really important. but as the gentlelady from florida said, that's the difference. we're aggressively trying to pursue ways of fixing the problem and if we do a piece we come back and try to get to the next piece. in the last few years, since 2010, we keep running into a brick wall where we're not getting the kind of cooperation. but these are the kind of things that the government is supposed to do. i think we're pretty clear about that. that's why it is important, as debie said, for you to keep coming out here night in and night out, every night somebody is listening to you. some nights more than others, some nights we weren't sure anybody was listening but people are listening. you have to keep pounding and pounding that mess am. this is what's best for families and for everyone else. it's good you're out here pounding away. mr. swalwell --

mr. jeffries: i thank the gentleman from california, and for everything you've done to make sure that issues of importance to generations of americans such as the one we're discussing here today get prominence on the house floor and of course to be here with the still young pioneers of this wonderful effort, congresswoman wasserman schultz and congressman ryan is a great honor. clearly we have a student debt crisis that commands the attention of the american people and should command the attention of people here in the house of representatives and on the other side of the capitol, but does not always do so, which is why communicating the urgency of the situation is so significant, just the notion i've got constituents just shocked by the fact that collectively we've got over $1 trillion of student loan debt here in america. and that's a very real number in terms of its implications, as you pointed out, congressman

swalwell, for the capacity of younger americans to robustly pursue the american dream. because when you're saddled with that level of debt burden, it makes it far more difficult to start family. far more difficult to purchase a home. far more difficult to be part of the next generation of great american entrepreneurs and innovators because you're less likely to take a risk if you've got this monthly student loan bill that you're unsure as to how you would pay if would you were to take some time off to start a business, to invent the next google or facebook or twitter. so this is really an issue of great significance to us as americans and it's a shame, i'd make this last observation, i sat on the budget committee for the previous two years in the 113th congress, and the same is the case this year that

republicans continue to put forth a budget that is not designed to alleviate the problem of higher education affordability, it's designed to make the problem worse. and it would cut over $220 billion over a 10-year period in federal government assistance in a variety of ways to younger americans who are struggling to get a college education and pursue the american dream. and that's something that we've got to be able to address moving forward. or move in a different direction in term of who the american people send to this congress to do their business. mr. swalwell: i'm wondering, especially for our pioneers here tonight, if it would surprise you to hear that in 2004, right before you started this effort is effort -- this effort, student loan debt, since 2004, when you started this effort, student loan debt has increased from $346 million collectively for the country to $1.2 trillion that it is today. that's an increase of $235 --

235%. what's happened? or what hasn't happened? ms. wasserman schultz: what hasn't happened is a focus in a bipartisan way on making sure that we make college affordability a top priority. and i'll tell you, i know my husband and irat the intersection in our family of wanting to make sure that, as we send our twins, two at once, off to college in two years from now, that we be able to, one, be able to supplement as much as possible and -- their college education, so knowing what we know about the potential for them to have that debt burt when -- burden when they graduate, that we can aleve that possibility and trying to figure out how the heck we're going to add that double whammy expense when they start college. and at the same time being pretty panicked about how much debt they will have to go in themselves if we can't really make sure, and families all across -- less about me and

more about the sort of average middle class family that is trying to make sure that they can make ends meet for their whole family, and make sure that they can send their kids off to start their lives. which is why president obama and congressional democrats have proposed that the first two years of college be free. because -- and i'll tell you. i have a lot of folks at home in south florida who have said to me, you know, if i only had to worry about my kids' junior and senior year and how we were going to pay for that and we knew that at least they could get an a.a. degree, i mean, over 100 years ago when we established free universal access to public education in elementary grades and eventually secondary grades, no one would question -- that was considered controversial back then. no one today would consider universal free public education, except maybe some of our friends on the other side of the aisle, actually i take that back, but you wouldn't question, you wouldn't think

that universal access to public education should be free. we are at the point now in the 21st wrench -- 21st century where there shouldn't be a question that the first two years of college should be free. mr. ryan: part of this is not just first two years of college free, but democrats are also pushing initiatives like how do you streamline and get high school kids into college, community college classes early, while they're still in high school, to start taking and reducing some of those costs. we have programs in canton where you can get 13 credit hours towards a welding certificate, 13 of 30 hours can be done before you even graduate from high school. so that reduces, and it's free, because it's part of your high school public education. so now you're already starting. so it's not just about reducing student loans and reducing debt and pell grants and streamlining and first two years, but we also i think have

an obligation to streamline the current system that's k-12 or k-14 and make sure we narrow that down. so i've got to step out. but i just want to say thank you and you got another irish guy here to carry the flag. mr. swalwell: another floridian too. mr. ryan: another floridian. i want to say, keep pounding away. this is a great way to communicate. you guys are doing it. we have to get more and more from your classes to be up here. so keep up the great work and i'm out. mr. swalwell: i'm glad this reunion happened. you inspire us to continue going forward. i want to ask the gentleman from new york, i've been to manhattan. it reminds me a lot, manhattan and brooklyn and queens, harlem, reminds me a lot of what we see in silicon valley and san francisco, the young entrepreneurial minds. but when we go to these startup spaces or these incubator hubs, i constantly hear how much student loan debt affects their

ability to invest in themselves and their businesses. and we're finding that our generation is the least entrepreneurial generation america's ever known. i'm wondering if you've heard stories about that and how it's limited investments. jeff goldblum that's absolutely correct. i think what -- mr. jeffries: that's absolutely correct. i think what we have to do is work on changing the equation to facilitate the great minds that we've got in this generation of younger americans to go out and be entrepreneurial, in the context of a vastly changing economy, as well as a changing dynamic in terms of the affordability of college education. i'm troubled by the fact, one, if you look at the productivity of the american worker, what we've seen, of course, since the early 1970's, is that it's increased dramatically in excess of 275% in terms of american worker productivity. at the same time wages during that period from the early 1970's to the present, have remained largely stagnant, less than 10%. so the equation for the

american worker has changed, so what we have is that we've got younger americans entering into a work force with a fundamental equation in terms of their compensation has changed dramatically for the worse. the cost of a college education has increased. the amount of financial assistance relative to the cost of that college education has remained stagnant, if not declined in real dollars. and the expectation in terms of , e student debt loan burden one is expected to shoulder upon graduation, has exploded exponentially. you add all of those things together and it's no surprise that you're going to find yourself in a situation where people don't have the same capability of being entrepreneurial as prior generations. f.d.r. of course brought forth the new deal, what we need for this current generation of americans is just a fairer deal in the context of giving them

the same opportunities to robustly pursue the american dream, start great companies, innovate, as prior generations. so we can continue to be great. i'd also note that downtown brooklyn, interestingly enough, which i represent in the wonderful eighth congressional district. mr. swalwell: is that where silicon alley is? mr. jeffries: it is. i'm so glad you're familiar with our east coast lingo. it also has more college students in downtown brooklyn than boston and cambridge combined. there's been a great number of young people who have come to brooklyn, who are contributing to our fantastic innovation culture, but who are struggling with the fundamentals of today's economy and higher education structure that is working against them. and that's why we're here on the floor of the house of representatives fighting the change -- to change that. mr. swalwell: here on the floor, any californian would be nervous when he or she's outnumbered by floridians. we're joined by the gentleman from florida who represents west palm beach, jupiter,

martin county area. what are you hearing in your district about student loan debt? >> first of all, want to thank the gentleman from california for putting this together and really your leadership. you've been at this for years now, talking to other members of congress on both sides of the aisle, reminding them about what a critical issue this is. mr. murphy: whether i'm talking to constituents in my district or people throughout the state of florida, or here in the house, we have to do more to help more people get access to quality and affordable education at all levels, but certainly higher education. and when you look at what i would argue is one of the biggest problems in our country right now, that's the disappearing midal class, there's growing divide -- middle class, this growing divide we have in our country, as economies continue to evolve and progress, education becomes more and more of a critical component of that. yet you look at the policies and you look at really what's holding so many people back, just listening to the gentleman from new york here talking

about that lack of opportunity and the debt that is holding so many people back from taking that risk to go ahead and become that entrepreneur, to be that innovative, you know, spirit that made america so great, because they might have $100,000 of debt, they might have a family, might have some kids, and they're so concerned about this debt that they don't want to take that risk. and that's not what america's about. america's about taking that risk, with having education to do it, and then turning it into something great and understanding that not every, you know, risk is going to always pay off. you've got to have that background, that education, to get you there. if you're saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and overly complex methods to repay them, not being able to refinance, etc., then you have a problem. ms. wasserman schultz: will the gentleman yield? mr. murphy: yes. i will yield to the gentlelady from florida. ms. wasserman schultz: because i want to engauge as we used to do. i know that you do this as well. but just to follow up on what you just said.

because the gentleman from california posed a question and stated the fact that millennials today really aren't starting new businesses. they're not -- you know, you would think and we envision them to be the startup generation. they're living in a startup era. but yet they can't see it. lar of e the event ac the gentleman from -- i have knack lar of the gentleman from florida, mr. meek, when we were throwing things ornon the floor 10 years ago, let's put the cookie on the bottom shelf here. if they are saddled with the burden of significant debt, coming out of college and when they get a degree, it is very difficult for them to see a pathway to develop that small business, to envision being a pioneer of the next great industry. and so we are literally saddling them with a heavy burden as they leave what is

supposed to be the jumping-off point for the next phase of their lives and we're supposed to be passing them the baton so that they can move america forward. it's just not fair, it's not right. and our friends on other side of the aisle are part of the problem. mr. swalwell: millennials are very collaborative. they're very -- i would believe -- a problem solving generation. and what is so frustrating when we talk to them at college campuses or at their work sites is they ask, what are you doing about it? andable my colleagues here would be -- and i believe my colleagues here would be happy, thrilled to work with our colleagues across the aisle on solutions on this. but i'm just curious, do you know how many bills we've voted on to address student loan debt this congress? zero. zero bills. and at the end of the day, it's not just the least entrepreneurial, we are the least home owning, we are the

least -- we're more likely to delay starting a family by about five years. so everything that the generation before us had, we are delaying, buying a home, starting a family, starting a business. and as the gentleman from new york pointed out, it's affecting the economy. ms. wasserman schultz: i'm sorry. i'm also going to have to go in a moment and for give me if the gentleman would yield because i want to share my own personal story very briefly. i got married at 24 years old. i graduated from a public university, university of florida, without debt. the progress i was able to make at the beginning of my adult life and the beginning of my professional life enabled me to have a longer ramp and see many more possibilities. my husband and i were able to buy our first house after we got

married and make choices that will maximize our opportunities to ensure that our children have opportunities. the 's so sad that see nal generation doesn't it because there is obstacle being thrown in their way right in the start of their most formative years. unbelievable. mr. swalwell: i thank the gentlelady for joining us. the gentleman from new york, in 2012, the new york fed reported that for the first time in a decade, 30--year-old student borrowers were less likely to take out a home mortgage. are you hearing from your constituents about how student loan debt is affecting their ability to buy a house. mr. jeffries: in brooklyn, which has become an attractive place

,or so many people to reside in yet many of the young people who have moved toll brooklyn, who are starting a life in brooklyn, they are unable to purchase a home. some of that has to do with the significant depreciation and home values. but a lot of that has to do with the fact that they can't see their way to either a down payment on a home or carrying a monthly mortgage, given the student loan debt burden that they have been forced to shoulder as a result of the structure that has been been put in place in terms of higher education in america. you made a point earlier in referencing the president's plan for free community college education, and i think if we can go there for a second, what's

important to note, it used to be the case for prior generations who started the great middle-american class who helped liberate the world after world war ii, if you had a high school dip plomea, that was a pathway into the middle class. that is no longer the case in today's economy. you can get a high school dip plomea at a high quality public school. as you entered into the work force, you could start purchasing a home and remain a part of the great middle class. the high school diploma is not a pathway. you have to to go to college. it has changed the equation for younger americans in terms into

their entry into the middle class. and looking at bold proposals such as dramatically reducing if not eliminating the cost of a public higher education at the community college level if not beyond is something we have to put front and center on the agenda here in the house of representatives. >> not only looking at those proposals but looking at the existing programs we have like pell grants. mr. murphy: the numbers we have been talking about, the cost of education, 200 some percent, unsustainable. look at what pell grants have done sm the maximum pell grant has not gone up in the same amount of time. let's talk about expanding these programs and changing the dynamic of the conversation to your point, it's about return on

investment. looking at that from a business perspective what is the best of taxpayer money. and i look at the bills, one bill that we worked on, the save fraud you lepted government spending. let's start putting it into education and ensuring the return is truly there because we know a dollar spent in education is going to come back in droves. mr. swalwell: your district has a lot of veterans and people ask what is the biggest surprise you found since going to congress? i don't know if you had that question posed to you. to me, the biggest surprise is how poorly our veterans have been treated and something that is even more surprising that i

found doing these tours, i don't know if you heard about this, the g.i. bill doesn't cover the full cost of college anymore. our veterans served our country, fought abroad, risked their lives and saw their friend or family members killed, come back home, the g.i. bill can't get them through college. and we can't take care of our veterans. have you talked to veterans and heard about the gaps in funding as they are trying to advance their skills? mr. murphy: i have. and it's a great topic to talk about and one we should find bipartisan support and veterans and folks in my district. we introduced some legislation that would help veterans with their application costs. not the costs of education but just getting there. it could be $200 or $500. when you are coming back and

thinking about a decision, you might have a couple hundred bucks and make a decision that i'm going to apply to one school. that's not the intent. you should have some options and see where you get accepted, et cetera. in this legislation, we are able to -- the inat the present time is to waive some of these fees for veterans to get that education. mr. jeffries: three of us had the wonderful opportunity to visit israel together with several members of our class and steny hoyer who led the delegation in august of 2013, and i was struck in our conversations with some of the members of israeli society then, how well those individuals who there and got into

society were treated. their service was highly valued. not just via word, but through deeds and enabled them to build a successful career. they were treated with reference. what i found, one of the things that perhaps was most disconcerting about my first few years in this institution, there is a lot of rhetoric. i shouldn't be surprised that there is a lot of hot air that is spewed, that is devoid of substance and in the area of veterans in particular, what we find is there is a lot of talk treating veterans appropriately in terms of the sacrifice and service but we haven't filled in the blampings in terms of substance and one of the areas that is problematic, though we

are promising them once they leave their service to assist with furthering their educational goals, we aren't providing them with the resources necessary to actually make that happen. and so i embrace efforts by congressman murphy to fill in the blampings in that regard, but a whole lot more needs to be done. we should be treating our veterans with the respect not ust rhetoricically but substantively like israel. mr. murphy: we learned about the innovation economy. mr. swalwell: we saw firsthand how they valued the service of those who stood on the front lines. we are getting to the end of our hour here and our colleague from florida, any parting thoughts? our generation was an

action-oriented generation. we aren't very patient. we are a little stubborn and would like to see results and coming under the leadership of this house on across the aisle and we don't see many results. and i think we collectively want to work with anyone who is willing to work with us on our republican-colleagues' side. what can we do to help the whole generation that is in financial quick shep sand right now? mr. murphy: remind those watching and our friends on the other side of the aisle, this is a good opportunity for bipartisanship. they are tired for the nonsense. they look at jobs and haven't seen a raise in 10 years and look at their children and have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debts and they see us arguing

and bickering about nonsense. this has to be addressed. let's stop the rhetoric and making sure that not only bringing down the cost of higher education and those who have the student loans are on a orderly repayment structure, one that is reasonable per their income. and let's make sure the dream of america is still alive for future generations. mr. swalwell: thank you for participating in this. i invite anyone at home to #futureforum. and i offer my colleague from new york what we can do as a congress? mr. jeffries: i thank you for your leadership and for putting forth this effort, bringing younger members of congress to speak to issues of relevance, not just to the entire body of

the american people but the next generation of americans but to make this country great. and i agree with my good friend from florida that this is an issue that shouldn't be partisan in nature. this is an issue that affects people from north, south, east to west. blue states, red states, all over america. and i think what we are we're saying today. we extend our olive branch of friendship and partnership on behalf of the american people to try to solve this problem together. it is a problem that cannot be denied and requires urgent intervention in order to make sure we continue to preserve the american dream for the greatest number of americans as possible. it is being suffocated in ways that threaten our economic vitality and that is a tragedy.

i remain optimistic. we were sent here to get things done and i look forward to do that. mr. swalwell: we were sent here to be problem solvers and be voices for all of the generations of americans but especially this generation. most diverse generation and i think it's one of the most as pierational generations, but they are waiting for anybody in this body to help them get out of this financial quicksand and be empowered and realize their own american dream. i thank the gentlemen. i thank our pioneers from the 30-somethings to come back for a 10-year reunion. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. does the gentleman from california have a motion?

mr. swalwell: i move to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow for morning hour

that nominee, how are we going to get to 218 votes so we have a unified conference. and the third one was, how do we unify our party so we are more effective and working for the american people. host: have you had a chance to talk individually with each of the three men? >> i have. host: were you the republican study committee endorse any? mr. flores: i don't think it's

appropriate for us to do that. we have over 170 members and each work for their constituents back home and therefore each of them needs to make the decision that they think is best for their districts and we don't believe in block voting or endorsement. what i was trying to do in hosting this forum is give each of our members a way to formulate an opinion about which person they should support not only tomorrow and get them to a position where they could support the nominee on the house floor on october 29. host: going into thursday's conference, what concerns do you have as the chair? mr. flores: the primary concern is we have struggled to be unified in particular over the last few weeks. it has been pretty difficult to be unified. although i do see the early

green chutes of seeds that have been planted that will help us to become more unified in the weeks ahead. that was my primary concern but it looks like we are building the new g.o.p. conference of the future which will be more effective and more accountable to the american people. host: a lot of looking forward. what's been your respect to house speaker boehner and the current house republican leadership? mr. flores: i have a professional and cordial relationship. in odd for me to do my job best is to have those types of professional relationships. it doesn't mean i have agreed with them. and many times i didn't agree with the positions they were taking and i would tell them that privately. and yeah, we were able because we have these cordial relationships to get things done

that were beneficial to the conference, to the country and the constituents. host: how in the next speaker's tenure, new leadership, how would you like to have the r.s.c. have an influence over the agenda? mr. flores: same way we have tried to do today. try to get our leadership to listen to our ideas and allow these ideas to flow from the base up and to wind up in a legislative format and go to the house floor. that's what we have tried to do. it's been difficult to do under the old leadership structure, but i do believe peace based on the conversations that everyone running for leadership believes in the bottom's-up approach and the r.s.c. will be more effective. host: congressman bill flores of texas. thanks for stopping by. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> the house freedom caucus announcing its support for representative daniel webster for house speaker. that move threatens to upend the race and deeply complicates kevin mccarthy's bid as speaker. the republican conference gathers to select their candidates to replace john boehner. and utah republican and oversight committee chair. that vote is tomorrow. a full house vote on the next speaker happens october 29. we have live coverage right here on c-span. headline from another story in the "washington post," special house committee set to probe planned parenthood. the house approving a resolution . here's some of that debate

before the vote. the resident commissi on appointed by the speaker, of whom not more than five shall be appointed on the recommendation of the minority leader, any vacancy in the select panel shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. b, each member appointed to the select panel shall be treated as though a member of the committee on energy and commerce for purposes of the select panel. c, no member may serve on the select panel in an ex afinish yo capacity. d, the speaker shall designate

as chair of the select panel a member elected to the committee on energy and commerce. section 3, a, the select panel is authorized and directed to conduct a full and complete investigative and study and issue a final report of its findings on such interim reports as it may deem necessary regarding, 1, medical procedures and business practices used by entities involved in fetal tissue procurement. 2, any other relevant matters with respect to fetal tissue procurement. three, federal funding and support for abortion providers. four, the practices of providers of second and third trimefter abortions, including partial birth abortion and procedures that may lead to a child born alive as a result of an attempted abortion. five, medical procedures for the care of a child born alive as a result of an attempted abortion. and six, any changes in law or regulation necessary as a result of any findings made

under this subsection. b, the chair of the committee on energy and commerce shall cause any such report to be prohibited and made publicly available -- printed and made publicly available in electronic form. section 4, rule 11 and the rules of the committee on energy and commerce shall apply to the select panel in the same manner as a subcommittee, except as follows. one, the chair of the select panel may authorize and issue subpoenas pursuant to clause 2-m of rule 11 in the investigation and study conducted pursuant to section 3, including for the purpose of taking department tigses -- depositions two, the chair of the select panel may order the taking of depositions under oath and pursuant to notice or subpoena by a member of the select panel or a counsel of the select panel. such deposition shall be governed by the regulations issued by the chair of the committee on rules, pursuant to section 3 h been -- 3-b-2 of house resolution 5 and printed in the congressional record.

the select panel shall be deemed to be a committee for purposes of such regulations. three, the chair of the select panel may, after consultation with the ranking minority member, recognize, a, members of the select panel to question a witness for periods longer than five minutes, as though pursuant to clause 247b j-2-b of rule 11 and b, staff of the select panel to question a witness as though pursuant to clause 2-j-2-c of rule 11. section 5. service on the select panel shall not count against the limitations in clause 5-b-2 h an of rule 10. section six. the select panel shall cease to exist 30 days after filing the final report required under section 3. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from north carolina is recognized for one hour. ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. during consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

i now yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, ms. slaughter, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: madam speaker, house resolution 461 provides for the creation of a select investigative panel of the committee on energy and commerce. the resolution ensures the house exercises one of its most fundamental institutional sponlts -- constitutional responsibilities. oversight of the use of federal funds and compliance with federal law. undercover investigations have revealed that an organization that receives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars annually, planned parenthood, has also been taking the remains of unborn children and selling them to tissue collection firms.

its staff has reportedly even altered their medical procedures to more effectively dismember unborn children. with one abortionist saying that, quote, we've been very good at getting heart, lung, liver because we know that, so i'm not going to crush that part. i'm going to basically crush below, i'm going to crush above and i'm going to see if i can get it all in tact, end quote. there are also allegations that children may have been born alive and left to die in order to harvest their tissue. how can we in congress ignore these charges? it is clear that a full investigation is not only warranted but imperative into these issues. even if these abortion providers somehow manage to comply with all federal laws while dismembering children, it's clear we need to learn

more about their barbaric tactics so we can amend those laws and ensure practices like these never happen again. particularly by organizations receiving millions from u.s. taxpayers. madam speaker, in order to effectively continue the oversight that the house has begun into these issues, house resolution 461 would establish a select investigative panel at the committee on energy and commerce to provide a full investigation and study into these allegations. this panel would be made up of 13 members appointed by the speaker, five of which will be by the recommendation of the minority leader and chaired by a member of the energy and commerce committee. its operation will not require any additional appropriations of funds. the investigation will be focused on medical procedures and business practices of

entities involved in fetal tissue procurement. federal funding and support for abortion providers, practices of providers of second and third trimester abortions, including partial birth abortions, medical care provided to children born alive as a result of an attempted abortion, and necessary changes in law or regulation identified by this investigation. this type of investigation or special panel is far from unprecedented. when in the majority, my colleagues across the aisle formed the select intelligence oversight panel under the appropriations committee, as well as a select committee on energy and independence in global warming. the creation of a select investigative panel on the issues surrounding the sale of unborn children's tissue is clearly within precedent, and i

hope members on both sides of the aisle will agree that we must get to the bottom of this. we've seen video evidence of children being dismembered to facilitate the sale of their hearts and other organs. few tissues can make us come together like our children and it is my hope that our partisan battles will cease for a brief moment to enable us to have a full investigation into the fate of children at the most vulnerable time of their lives. even for those who support abortion on demand, it should be simple to unite behind the principle that organizations receiving hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds are subject to congressional oversights, particularly when their divisive practices may violate federal law and are frankly barbaric. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution and the

resulting investigation. i reserve the balance of my ime. the speaker pro tempore: the jeament from new york is recognized for as much time as she wishes to use. ms. slaughter: to create a select committee to investigate planned paraphernaliahood is a journey with no end, a solution n search of a problem. the chair of the committee on oversight and government reform held a hearing that lasted for hours an badgered the only representative of planned parenthood. michelle richards comported herself so well. but despite that we're going to do this again. representative chaffetz was asked by wolf blitzer is there

any evidence in your opinion that planned parenthood has broken any law? mr. chaffetz responded, no, i'm not suggested they've broken the law. if they haven't broken the law, what are we doing here? there are three committees in the house right now investigating planned parenthood trying to spent today get our colleagues to stop putting them to the select committee which to not comply with regulations have always been, to be fair to both sides committee and let democrats have the same side an information. is even worse, it's unilateral. we've not every seen that before. why do we spend time and funds and resources investigating an

organization that we know has done nothing wrong? because we are dealing with a majority obsessed with taking constitutionally protected health care away from women, many of whom, i may add, are poor. 55 votes that to the to do away with the health care bill called obamacare, you add this and then aparaphernalia he major obsession of the majority is to take health care away from people. that's a little hard to comprehend since we all represent 750,000 constituents, i don't think who would be happy about that so every time we attack planned parenthood, remember you are attacking one in five american women who have used planned parenthood. women are -- whether to -- whether it's a select committee majorityding data this

will use any tact exs. the tactic mrs. chaffetz used were discredited. his hearing materials, one chart in particular, were so misleading that press called it words i'm not alaud to say on the floor of the house. is that what we expect from the select committee? let me say what i expect, a flippant disregard for truth goes against what we came to congress for. we came to govern, to uphold the constitution of the united states and do our best domestically. we are not doing our best domestically. s the house, we have no budget, as a friend of mine said today, thises a majority that can't build bridges, roads, highways, but can sure build select committees. this committee majority decides will spend the time of the taxpayers and money and resources to cut funding for the same idea that's not happened for 39 years. remember, this has not happened for 39 years.

since the appearance of the hyde amendment, not a single federal dollar has been spent on abortions except in very, very rare cases to save the life of the mother. that's right. contrary to what the majority would have the american public believe, planned parenthood spends zero federal dollars on abortions today. that's what the majority select committee would investigate, for 39 years, when that law has never been broken. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, congresswoman walters. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. mrs. walters: mr. speaker, i rise in support of house resolution 461. this resolution would create a select panel to investigate a number of claims related to planned parenthood's activities involving abortion and fetal tissue procurement.

like many americans i was horrified by the recent videos which depicted planned parenthood employees cass lousely discussing the trafficking and sale of aborted babies' tissue and organs. as a mother of four, i know nothing is more sacred than the gift of human life. and any organization that puts a price on unborn children must be held accountable. as a member of the house judiciary committee, i am actively involved in the house investigation examining the atrocities committed by planned parenthood. while wie continuing to gather information and determine the nature of their actions, one thing is seb. these practices represent a blatant disregard for innocent life and they must be stopped. by establishing a select panel, we can ensure that we have the proper tools and time needed to uncover the truth, bring accountability to the organization and justice to the most innocent among us.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina reserves. ms. foxx: i yield the gentlewoman an additional 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for 15 seconds. mrs. walters: i urge my colleagues to support this measure and stand with me in the fight to defend innocent human life. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from north carolina reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter spp i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from maryland, a member of the committee on oversight and government, mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. connolly: i thank the gentleman for yielding. member -- as ranking member of the -- mr. cummings: as ranking member of the government oversight committee, i oppose this attempt

against planned parenthood. last week, two senior republicans, both of whom are now competing to become the next speaker of the house, made stunning admissions on national television within 24 hours of each other. first majority leader kevin mccarthy admitted that house republicans established the benghazi select committee to use millions of dollars in taxpayer funds, taxpayer funds, to damage hillary clinton's bid for president. the next day, the chairman of the oversight committee, chairman chaffetz, admitted on national television that there is no evidence that planned parenthood violated any laws, despite months of investigations. let me repeat that. the chairman of the chief investigative committee that has been investigating planned parenthood for months admitted on national television that

there is no evidence that planned parenthood violated any laws. his admission is consistent with the findings of multiple state investigations in georgia, indiana, massachusetts, pennsylvania, missouri, and south dakota. all of which have cleared planned parenthood of wrongdoing. i ask my colleagues, if the top investigator in the house of representatives says there is no evidence against planned parenthood, why in the world are we considering a proposal to set up a new select panel? i think the answer is the same here as it was with benghazi. it is simply politics. this republican admission obviously argue against continuing with these taxpayer funded political attacks. yet house republicans are proposings -- proposing exactly the on opposite. they have already squandered

more than $4.5 million on the benghazi select committee in one of the longest, least productive and most partisan congressional investigate -- investigations in history. now they want to use the same terrible model to attack the rights of millions of women across the country who rely on planned parenthood for cancer screenings, breast exams and other critical health care services every year. planned parenthood has cooperated with every aspect of the congressional investigations to date. they have produced tens of thousands of pages of documents and planned parenthood president se seal richards testified voluntarily for nearly five hours before the oversight committee. even chairman chaffetz conceded she has been, quote, very cooperative with the investigation. go ahead -- may i have 30 seconds please?

ms. slaughter: i yield the gentleman 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: why do we need this new panel? beased on planned parent hod's exemplary record of cooperation and the tens of thousands of pages of documents the organization has produced in response to congressional requests and the lack of any evidence that the group has violated any laws, there's simply no legitimate basis to adopt this proposal. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, it's those members across the aisle who raise the issue of benghazi that are playing politics. by trying to distract americans from the actual issue we're debating today. the purpose of this resolution is to establish a select panel consistent with past precedent under democrat majorities to ensure that this house conducts

a thorough investigation into the practices surrounding fetal tissue procurement in federally funded organizations that participate in these practices. taxpayers deserve to know what their hard-earned dollars fund and it is incumbent upon us as representatives to ensure that federal funds are directed only to organizations that operate fully within the law. with that, mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from north carolina, mrs. ellmers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina, mrs. ellmers, is recognized for two minutes. mrs. ellmers: thank you, i thank the gentlelady from north carolina for allowing me to speak on the floor today. as a sitting member of the energy and commerce committee, i'm proud to see my committee taking the lead on this investigation of planned parenthood. as a woman, a nurse, and a mother, i have fully supported the decision to defund planned

parenthood but as a representative of of the people, our responsibilities are more than that. e have a responsibility to ask questions that will produce answers. our constituents deserve to know how this organization is using federal funds and they deserve to know which medical services they are actually providing to women. informing this panel -- in forming this panel, we'll begin finding the facts and hold planned parenthood accountable. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from north carolina, mrs. ellmers, yields back. the gentlelady from north carolina, ms. foxx, reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter spm i'm pleased to yield one and a half minutes to the gentleman from washington, distinguished ranking member of the committee on armed services, mr. smith. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. smith: i rise in opposition to this resolution. as a member of the benghazi

panel, i think what we learned from the benghazi panel is that this house majority is not to be trusted when it comes to formal -- when it comes to forming special investigatory panels. basically they form them for purely partisan reasons as representative mccarthy admitted just last week. second point here is one that's been made repeatedly. there's no evidence whatsoever that planned parenthood has violated the law. so what exactly is it that we are investigating? even the chairman of the house goth and oversight committee admitted there's no evidence that planned parenthood has violated the law. third, there is a house government oversight committee. in fact, just about every committee in congress has an oversight function. so why don't we use that instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on something like the benghazi committee which is admittedly breaking all kinds of records in terms of wasting taxpayer dollar, but we don't need to pile on with another wasteful committee. if you want to investigate this,

do it through the government oversight committee. do it through existing committees. lastly, it's incredibly important to point out that planned parenthood performs enormously important services to women in this country. they provide much needed health care to poor women and they provide much-needed family planning to poor women. you should have a family when you want a family. if you are not prepared to take care of the children then family planning makes an enormous amount of sense. what it does is prevents abortions. it stops women from getting pregnant when they're not ready to have children. it goes after precisely the issue that the majority is most concerned about, to prevent abortions. planned parenthood deserve ours support, not another wasteful taxpayer funded partisan investigation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentlelady from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the house the house committees that have investigated this thus far have

done good work but it's clear that much is to be done. at energy and commerce, in -- icular, the oversight of committee of oversight and investigations has several other matters within the jurisdiction of the committee. given the large number of expected documents to be reviewed and interviews to be conducted, the select investigationive panel will permit this necessary -- investigative panel will permit this necessary investigation to continue without combaring the important work of the oversight and investigations subcommittee at the energy and commerce committee. with that, mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from tennessee is recognized for two minutes. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. chairman. and i thank the gentlelady from north carolina for her leadership on this issue. she spoke a little bit earlier about the structure and the organization of the investigative panel, and i want to go back to that and help to make the point because sometimes i think in our passion and the emotions as we

talk about bills, we begin to attribute to legislation jurisdiction that may not be there. and this is a small bill. it is very explicit in how the energy of the investigative panel is going to be utilized. there are six items that they are being tasked to investigate. number one, medical procedures and business practices used by entities involved in fetal tissue procurement. we know there are questions that surround this, whether it's a not-for-profit or a for-profit entity. number two, any other matters with respect to fetal tissue procurement. number three, federal funding and support for abortion providers. number four, the practices of providers of second and third trimuster abortions, including

partial birth abortion procedures that may lead to a child born alive as a result of an attempted -- trimester abortions, including partial birth abortion procedures that may lead to a child born alive as a result of an attempted abortion. any changes in law, regulation necessary as a result of any of the findings which are there from the committee. i want to clearly state this is about getting answers of how we treat and protect life in this country. the select panel will act to centralize the investigations that are at energy and commerce committee, judicial and -- judiciary and oversight committees and bring it under one umbrella. over the past several weeks we have lots of serious questions, there are troubling questions that have been asked. i think the investigations we've had raised a lot of those questions. it is imperative that we

centralize these operations and bring it together under one umbrella. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentlelady from north carolina reserves. the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to yield myself such time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. slaughter: because i have some important information that i got recently that i want to bring to my colleagues' critical attention. the chairman of the committee on oversight and government reform, congressman jason chaffetz, has in his possession right now a computer hard drive that contains videos produced by david, the head of the group that tried to entrap planned parenthood. those videos are official committee records, but chairman chaffetz is refusing to give the democratic members a copy of those videos. on september 22, chairman chaffetz issued a subpoena to the executive director of the center for medical progress. the subpoena demanded that he

provide all of his unedited video footage. we believe that the videos will show how he deceptively edited his videotapes to distort the truth, but those tapes are being hidden away. it appears that the republicans do not want the democrats to be able to see these videos. chairman chaffetz's subpoena explicitly required that the videos be given to both republicans and democrats. it states, quote, two sets of documents shall be delivered. one set to the majority staff. one set to the minority staff. end quote. on friday, september 25, 2015, he delivered those videos to the committee but provided them only to the republicans. he did not provide a copy to democrats, a direct violation of the subpoena. chairman chaffetz and his staff then refused to open the package until today, two weeks later, and now the chairman's staff is refusing to allow

democrat members to have a copy of the videos that are only in his possession. so i have a couple questions i eed to ask here. on what authority are the republicans refusing to provide democrat members of the committee a copy of the videos? and we know that republicans actually have no authority to do that. with the chairman's own subpoena, the democrats are entitled to a copy which is explicit in his subpoena. another question we must ask of our colleagues is, last night at the rules committee representative marsha blackburn said, and i quote is to bring all the work under one panel. now, we know that energy and commerce has a hearing set -- scheduled for tomorrow, according to one of the members. and what we need to know is will chairman chaffetz be permitted to continue his investigation of planned arenthood.

if the select committee is in existence and how will that bring the work under one panel if he's allowed to continue his own investigation if energy and commerce are allowed to bring theirs? i'd like to ensure that the chairman plans to immediately provide a copy of these videos to democrats as required by his own subpoena so that all members of the committee have equal access. and i also need to know whether the chairman will be required under this resolution to immediately provide the videos to the new select panel today, and now i am pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from maryland, mr. van hollen, a distinguished ranking member of the committee on budget. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for two minutes. mr. van hollen: i thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the ranking member for bringing those troubling revelations to the attention of the house. it shows what a sham process this has been from the beginning. mr. speaker, we've got a lot of

work to do in this congress. we've got to come together with a budget agreement to keep the government open, to invest in our economy, to deal with modernizing our transportation and infrastructure in this country. and yet, what are republicans bringing to the floor? another measure to create another so-called select committee to investigate planned parenthood when as we've heard today three other house committees have already done that. and what has been the sum total of that investigation? well, the chairman of the oversight and government reform committee told us on national television when he was asked if planned parenthood had broken any laws, answer, no, i'm not suggesting they broke the law. and so when you don't get the answer you want, what do you do? create another special committee. rather than creating a special committee, the government and oversight committee needs to owe an apology to the president of planned parenthood for dragging her to a committee process that was disrespectful,

where the chairman of the committee began with a chart that politifact said it was a pants on fire misrepresentation. that is the most untrue ranking you can get from pants on fire. that was the gist of that hearing, and now we're learning today possible nondisclosure of certain documents. so what's happening here? as the late yogi berra would say, this is deja vu all over again. they had many committees investigating benghazi to try to get to the bottom of the tragedy in the house and the senate, and all those committees concluded there was no wrongdoing. and so what do our republicans colleagues do? spent $5 million on a special committee on benghazi, which the majority leader just announced the other day on national television was simply about politics, simply about hurting secretary clinton.

so that's what this is all about. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. van hollen: if i could just have 15 seconds. ms. slaughter: i'll yield the gentleman another minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. van hollen: i want to thank the ranking member. so this is what this all boils down to, right? when committees in the house and the senate investigated benghazi, and not just any committees -- the defense committee, the intelligence committees in the house and the senate -- they all concluded that the allegations were false, that it was a terrible, awful tragedy in benghazi but nobody was involved in any wrongdoing. and when they didn't get the answer they wanted then, special committee on benghazi, which, as we heard, turned out to be all about politics. and that's exactly what's happening now with planned parenthood. mr. chaffetz just announced the results of all the hearings on planned parenthood. no violation of the law. and so what do you do when you don't get the answer you want?

let's spend more taxpayer money on another special committee. this is a kangaroo court. this is a misuse of public funds, so, mr. speaker, let's get on with the business of the house. let's focus on the economy, let's come together with a budget agreement to keep the government open. let's do the real work of the american people and not run a mccarthy-like hearing against planned parenthood and women's health. let's do what we should be doing, mr. speaker. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from new york reserves. the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. pitts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. pitts: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of the resolution. this summer 10 videos were released that showed high level executives at major organizations, including planned parenthood, stem expressed, advanced bioresources speaking candidly of the activities that violate

federal law. they speak of, quote, using less crunchy abortion techniques to preserve organs of crushing certain body parts in order to spare others and of children killed after they, quote, fell out, end quote. that is after being born alive. it's interesting to hear people criticize the videos that haven't even watched the videos. these 10 videos constitute sufficient grounds for probable cause that criminal activity has occurred. subsequently, thanks to the leadership of judiciary committee, oversight and government reform committee and energy and commerce committee, the house has begun to investigate the scope and prevalence of these activities. congressional discovery has already yielded important and revealing testimony. this house, as a body, has already voted to stop giving taxpayer funding to abortion providers. and to ban late-term abortions, which are the abortions that yield the highly developed organs sought for medical experimentation. deniers of the unborn child's

humanity or their human right to life have tried to ignore the clear evidence already uncovered about fetal organ procurement. the deneyers have tried to discredit the -- deniers have tried to discredit the videos that they are too horrified to watch. the deniers have tried to -- they insult pro-life americans, they make excuses. no wonder the deniers want to dispute the panel. whether you consider yourself pro-life or pro-choice, you should want the truth to come out. this debate should be settled by the facts. it's congress' duty to the american people that we find out the truth, especially as it pertains to the deaths of millions of innocent americans and millions in an actual taxpayer funding. that will be the purpose of this select committee. we as a legislative body rely on good information. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. pitts: i support -- urge support of the resolution.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from north carolina reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i want to ask unanimous consent to insert into the record our copy of a letter to speaker john boehner from mr. van hollen, ms. rosa delauro and myself on this issue. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. slaughter: and i'm certainly pleased to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, a member of the energy and commerce committee, mrs. capps. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. capps: i rise in opposition to this bill to put the government between a woman and her health care provider. this is yet another instance where the house majority's exploiting their position to use hard-earned taxpayer dollars to fund partisan, baseless smear campaigns. today we're asked to vote to do it again. despite finding no evidence of wrongdoing through multiple congressional committee hearings, including those conducted by the energy and

commerce committee, despite numerous state-level investigations that have cleared planned parenthood of these charges and despite reports from outside experts that there is no evidence of illegal activity, the house seems insistent on doubling down on this bad idea to waste taxpayer money and time on yet another fabricated investigation. it is time to say no more. there are far too many real issues facing our country that congress should instead be addressing. . >> to establish the panel as art of the energy and commerce committee. "usa today" reports there will be two investigations, one by

the null select panel and second by the judiciary committee. c-span, wrote to the white house coverage of martin o'malley and bernie sanders. later, the house considers creating a panel to investigate allegations of the mishandling of aborted fetal tissue. democratic presidential candidates martin o'malley and bernie sanders spoke at the congressional hispanic caucus institute public policy conference in washington. in his remarks, former governor o'malley talked about immigration and the shootings in oregon. this part of the conference is 25 minutes. mr. o'malley: thank you very much.