issues that are important to me and the people in my district. and also important as the chairman said earlier about coming from the same area, the speaker and i share a county in northwest ohio which is mercer county. with all these years going by, i want to wish the speaker and debey and his whole family all the best and a great retirement and i yield back to the gentleman. . . ms. kaptur: i thank the gentleman very much. i would like to say that one of the features i like best about john boehner is that he wanted to be speaker of the house. he didn't want to be president. he didn't want to head over to the other body. he didn't want to -- a supreme court nomination. that he really loved this house. and that matters. that matters to all of us who continue to serve and that matters to the historical record and we appreciate all of

his substance that he has given, whether you agreed with him on issues or not. he definitely was a man of the house. i would like to yield time to the very able member from cleveland, down to akron now, congresswoman marcia fudge, my dear colleague from northeastern ohio. ms. fudge: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. speaker, i am proud to stand with the ohio delegation this evening to thank you, mr. speaker, for 24 years in the u.s. house of representatives and your lifetime of public service. i'm just trying to get his atext. -- attention. ok. you have served this nation and the people of ohio with distinction. for 24 years, you have honored and respected this institution. you have worked arduously to get things done. as speaker, you have been a leader willing to listen to all sides and address the complex issues of our time. we applaud your commitment and

dedication to the house and we'll be forever grateful for your statesmanship and courtesy. while we may not have always agreed, your door was always open. i could always come to you and discuss problems and issues. i respect your opinion and consider you a friend. i speak for everyone when i say you will be missed in this house. you are a gentleman and a scholar -- scholar and it has been a pleasure and a privilege to have served with you. i wish you well in your retirement. >> thank you. i thank the gentlelady for her kind words. reclaiming my time, i mentioned before in my opening statement that there are a number of rival g.c.l., greater cincinnati league, high schools. there are rivals in all sports and academics and everything, especially in football. mr. chabot: as i mentioned, speaker boehner went to moore and one of those schools, i went to la salle, elder is another school.

and the fourth school, not necessarily in order, because they beat la salle this year, for the last five years, is st. xavier high school. and the next gentleman who will e share in this tribute to our speaker is a graduate of st. xavier high school, and that's brad wenstrup. i now yield to the gentleman. mr. wenstrup: i thank you, mr. chairman, for yielding. mr. speaker, i'm here to recognize the gentleman from redding, ohio. it's a town in my district full of hardworking people and committed families. this man from redding grew up in a big and very faithful family. he learned the value of hard work, sweeping the floors of his father's bar. and worked his walk through xavier university in cincinnati. when it came to -- when he came to washington, he was a reformer from day one of the -- one. the last man standing from the gang of seven. he worked to clean up corruption from the house bank in the 1990's into banning earmarks today. for the first time in a half century, the house of representatives decreased discretionary spending for two

years in a row. mr. speaker, with all of your service in mind, i'm reminded of a teddy roosevelt quote, it says, it's not the critic who counts and not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doctor of deeds could have done -- or whether the door of deeds could have done better, the credit goes to the man who is in the arena and that is you. john boehner attended molar high school as representative chabot mentioned. school in cincinnati that i'm proud to say is a rival to my high school, st. xavier. we beat molar this year and, mr. chabot, we beat la salle this year. through that catholic schooling, john boehner committed himself to thousands of children that seek a real education and value in their lives. his support for educational choice has opened pathways of opportunity for thousands of children locked in poverty. fighting to give all students a chance to choose their own future.

for over a decade, john boehner's held fundraisers for scholarships for d.c. children seeking a chance in life through education at d.c. catholic schools that otherwise they could not get. and hope that these acts of kindness will be permanently engraved in the legacy of speaker john boehner. so thank you, mr. speaker, on behalf of not only -- not only on behalf of the largest republican majority since 1928, but on behalf of my family, and for your and debby's personal kindness and guidance to us. good luck, mr. speaker. thank you. i yield back. mr. chabot: thank you. i thank the gentleman for his kind words and i'd like to now yield to the gentlelady from, ms. kaptur. ms. kaptur: thank you, i'd like to yield time to charles rangel. mr. rangel: ask to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rangel: while i'm not only

going to miss speaker john boehner, but i'm going to miss when he leave next year the congress that john boehner loved and i have loved so much. if republicans think that they had a problem with john boehner, they should have known jack kemp. because it was jack kemp that introduced -- introduced me to boehner. at that time we acknowledged that there were democrats and republicans, but the whole idea that you could be vindictive enough to attempt to destroy someone politically or not work together as john did with george miller in bringing the leave no child behind, the work that i've done on ways and ans with trade, and was so open in dealing with john, who represented not an ideology but represented what he thought was best for the country, to me

john boehner was, as so many people have said, just a regular guy. first one in his family, like so many of us, that went to college. entered public service. and through a variety of things became the speaker of the house that has to be just one of the greatest senses of pride that any american could ever have. the whole idea that there were people in this partisan time that would believe that they would want him to leave even more than democrats would want him to leave is something that would have to be explained by history. but of course things are strange today. black doctor brain surgeon is now leading for president the republican party. and don trump, right behind

him, running for president. a big battle as to who will replace john. these are things that are just so unusual, so that while i miss john, i'm just missing the days when we used to come to this floor and decide how many votes we need to get something passed and we hope that we would be in the majority. but the most exciting thing would be being able to work with the other side and being able to sit with the president or stand with the president and to truly feel that you were not a democrat or republican, but you got legislation passed. we never called it compromise. i guess we called it just working together. and enjoying working together. and that's gone. i don't know whether it would

come back. but it would seem to me that john is always going to be remembered as somebody that cared more about his country, his family, and this congress than he did about being speaker and that's the way i want to remember him. thank you, congressman, for giving me this opportunity. mr. chabot: thank you. we very much appreciate the gentleman's words, who has been around here, a very distinguished gentleman, korean war veteran, and we respect you greatly. the gentleman from ohio, mr. tiberi, is recognized. mr. tiberi: thank you. mr. speaker, what a journey, what a journey. a journey that i got to join after i was elected to the house in november of 2000. my first real interaction with you, mr. speaker, you might remember, you were the incoming chairman of the education and work force committee.

as freshmen, we were putting together our requests to decide what our top committee assignments would be. education and work force wasn't one of mine. but it was apparently one of yours. not just for you as chairman, but for me as freshman. because you came by and saw my list and said, i don't know why you're doing, that you're going to be on the education and work force committee. i said, no i'm not. yes, i was. and yes i did. and it was an unbelievable experience. it was one in which i did not expect and, as chairman rangel said, one that made history, with george miller and the late senator ted kennedy and president george w. bush. and it wouldn't have happened without the leadership of then

chairman boehner. boy, could he run a committee. it was really his forte, that most americans don't even know. what a great committee chairman he was. he was a committee chairman's chairman, quite frankly. and he, as leader, as speaker, will go down in history as one ho cherished that process, that process was not always what he liked or what he wanted, but he sure understood it, he sure respected it, he sure loved it. as mr. rangel knows, he was sure good at it. in a bipartisan way. in november or excuse me in early 2006, we had an opening for majority leader. and i harkin back to a dinner

that i was able to attend, back in like 2002, when i heard then chairman boehner said, you know, someday i'd like to be back in leadership. i looked at him like he was crazy. are you kidding me? how can you do that? you know what he did? he just worked hard, he did the right things, he played the long game. he helped people. and when the opening that he won aw came in 2006, an upset race on the second ballot. to become our majority leader. the dye was already cast and we lost that election in november of 2006. and the democrats took the majority. and john was our minority leader. worked hard, many thought that

we'd never see that majority again. and on november, the day before the election, in 2010, i had lunch with then leader boehner and he said, we're going to take the majority back and it's going to happen tomorrow. ladies and gentlemen, history all changed when pope francis came. it changed because pope francis was here, but it changed the history of john boehner's speakership. but i'm confident history will show that john boehner was one of the best speakers in the history of our country. mr. speaker, god speed, we'll miss you. mr. chabot: i thank the gentleman very much. very inspiring. the gentlelady's recognized again. ms. kaptur: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i'd like to yield time to congresswoman joyce beatty, who had served as the minority leader of the ohio senate prior arriving here, and has just

arrived with such capacity and i know she has served with john boehner and knows him very well. thank you for being here this evening, congresswoman beatty. mrs. beatty: thank you, mr. speaker. and thank you to my friend, congresswoman kaptur, and congressman chabot, r managing tonight's special order. i am proud to join my colleagues as we absolute speaker john -- salute speaker john andrew boehner, for his almost 25 years of service, and being elected this january to his had third term as speaker of the house. tonight my remarks are personal. i have had the pleasure of knowing john boehner for more than three decades. although at different times we both served in the ohio house of representatives. he and my spouse, otto, served and worked on many things together. when i came to congress, he

invited me into his office for a cup of coffee. it's not bad to have a speaker, the third most powerful person in the country, to call you by your first name and when we're back home to say to others in my district that i'm his friend. as a freshman, as most of you know, mr. speaker, seniority is very important in this house. i was a freshman, that equals no seniority. nelson mandela died and i learned that there was going to be an opportunity for members to go to south africa to nelson mandela's funeral. wow. yes, i wanted to go. all my colleagues said, there's one problem, congresswoman beatty. and that word again appeared, seniority. well i'll always be so grateful

for speaker boehner approving the reck menation from leader pelosi, and yes, i went to nelson mandela's funeral. tonight, i am proud to join my other colleagues and others in saying that speaker boehner served as a great statesman for ohio and the nation. the great state of ohio has benefited greatly through his leadership. while there are things certainly that we have not agreed on, we've always managed to not be disagreeable. in a way that was negative -- disagreeable in a way that was negative for ohio or the nation. but there were some things we did agree on. and there's one quote that was a very proud moment for me as a member of this united states congress. when speaker boehner said, it was beginning to become a political football, and just as

i thought it was time to stop, i thought, let's have a discussion with responsible members of congress to try to bring some resolution to this. but in his own views, there should be no debate because he said, mr. speaker, in my view, the issue is settled. the flag should be gone. and mr. speaker, that flag was the confederate flag. so i say thank you, mr. boehner, for that. thank you, congresswoman kaptur, for recent article that i read that you wrote about speaker boehner and i think you said it all when you talked about his life here in congress. and you said, we all have benefited in our state from the great work he's done. i agree with you. thank you, mr. speaker, for

always taking my calls, thank you for always having an open door, and i leave you with these words, the words of nelson mandela. it always seems impossible until it's done. thank you, mr. speaker. job well done. mr. chabot: reclaiming my time, the gentlelady refered to being able to attend the funeral of nelson mandela. the speaker made it possible for me to also go on a bipartisan delegation to the funeral of pope john paul ii. it's one of those experiences a once in a lifetime thing. 5 sad occasion but one that was inspirational to me and a lot of other members who when as well. i'd now like to yield to my colleague, the gentleman from ohio, mr. scifres.

mr. scifres: today i rise to honor a fellow ohioan who has for -- much mr. stivers: today i rise to honor a fellow ohioan who has done so much for the country. i didn't really know john boehner, but he convinced me to run for congress to make america better. he was very honest in that recruiting process. i said, i'd like to be on the energy and commerce committee, he took a big drag of his cigarette an said, not going to happen. so he never misled me, he never said anything that he didn't back up, and i will always respect that about him and the way he's acted his entire time for 25 years in this house. i know he'll be happy to spend more time with his -- with the things and people that are important to him. he's going to spend more time

with his wife debbie, his children, his brand new grandson. and of course he'll spend more time with his golf clubs and probably a bottle of wine. i think it goes without saying that we'll miss john boehner more than he'll miss us. he's always been the responsible adult in the room. he's always done what's right for america, regardless of the personal costs. he has a lasting legacy in this institution from simple traditions like the boehner birthday song that we'll sing in this institution for a very long time to policy matters like looking after at-risk kids both here in washington and all around this country. enacting meaningful entitlement reform and banning earmarks. he also had political accomplishments, winning become a republican majority in the house and growing that majority. his legacy will be lasting indeed. and i'm a better representative for having worked with john boehner.

they say washington changes you, but after 25 years in washington -- in washington, d.c., john boehner has never forgotten where he came from. his roots are that big catholic family, running a local bar in a blue collar part of cincinnati that background grounded him and gave him the right perspective on both life and public service. losing john boehner's bad for ohio and i believe it's bad for america but it's probably good for john boehner. speaker boehner, on behalf of my constituents, let me say thank you for your selfless service to this country and good luck in the future, and please don't be a stranger. i yield back the balance of my time, mr. chairman. mr. chabot: reclaiming my time, does the gentlewoman from ohio have further speakers? ms. kaptur: i have no further speakers but i would like to add this, if i might. that is that the circumstances that have led to speaker boehner's decision to depart this chamber trouble me a great deal.

and history will report on everything that happened that has led to this point, but how sad is it that someone with that experience, from our part of the country, the great lakes region, doesn't have all that much here in terms of leadership positions, would do this for what he views as the good of the country because certain individuals seem not to be able to work as a team. and if we can't work as a team, team america, then i think that really harm ours entire republic and speaking as the dean of our delegation, ohio will lose a great deal by this speaker's departure and many times aye said in my career, how is it that the state that produce -- that produced john glenn and to go to the

moon, why do we have the smallest nasa center in the kun re? john boehner put his sword in the ground for the glakes region. i worry a lot about what this means for us as other parts of the country weigh in more heavily. as an ohioan, understanding that there are so many things we don't have from this froth, we don't have a major research center from the national energy lab if you -- we don't, other than wright patterson air force base we don't have bases as other parts of the country do to the same extent when you look at the federal establishment in ohio. if you look at the national park service and what it does west of the mississippi, versus what it does east of the mississippi, we actually had a voice for our part of the country. i take his leaving very personally in terms of what it means to us as a state. i want to thank him for allowing ukraine freedom support act to

move to the floor late last year. it was one of the last agenda items of that congress. and that session of congress. and i know without his intervention, we wouldn't be where we are today in terms of trying to be relevant at liberty's edge. so i thank him for his service, third in line to the presidency of the country, most americans will never know some of the burden that he bore with knowledge that most of us in this chamber does not have but for certain he did. and he held that close to himself and i thank him for all those quiet moments when perhaps the burden seemed almost overwhelming. i thank him for his service. i assume he'll continue to be involved in some ways in the days and years ahead, he loves politics too much to just walk away from it. i thank him on behalf of the people of ohio for representing

our state, our region, in his dutiful service to the united states of america. thank you, speaker, john boehner, from ohio. from the heartland. thank the gentleman for yielding me this timele mr. chabot: thank you very much. reclaiming my time. i want to thank the gentlelady for participating this evening. we really do appreciate making this a bipartisan event. our next speaker is not from ohio. she's the next best thing, the gentlelady from indiana, ms. brooks, and that's, no offense to our next door neighbors in kentucky or pennsylvania. ms. brooks: mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from ohio for spearheading this special order tonight and giving us the opportunity to honor speaker boehner. part of his legacy and what i was told about speaker boehner before i arrived here was his incredible honesty, honesty to all of us who he worked with and honesty to the american people. his humility, his sense of humor and his incredible patience.

i remember first coming into congress in the 113th congress and in fact, it was the speaker's wife, debbie boehner, who became the mentor to my husband as a new congressional spouse. i was quite frankly a bit terrified of the thought of my husband being assigned to the speaker's wife. however, they were perfect, they both enjoy an incredible sense of humor but they also ground us and remind us what's important in life. i'd like to thank debbie boehner for sharing her husband and sharing the father of their children with the country all these many years. and what the speaker shared with all of us is he shared and taught all of us about the importance of this institution. its rich history and how to serve the people of our districts with distinction and honor. although i'm a miami of ohio grad, i have to admit i enjoyed a common bond with the speaker in that my daughter played soccer with xavier university.

it was fun to share the love of xavier university with him as well. i'd like to mention probably his last codell or last congressional tip. i was honored to be asked to be part of it, it was this summer a co-dell to eastern europe to -- a codell to eastern europe, to lithuania and poland and we ended in ireland. while we were in eastern europe it was because of speaker boehner that he showed the eastern european countries how vitally important it was that we stand with our allies against russian aggression. and it was an honor to be part of that trip because he demonstrated america's leadership and commitment to freedom and ensuring that we would stand with our friends and allies and it was an incredible learning experience for me and the others on the trip. when i think about the speaker, he probably has worked harder than anyone i will ever know to protect this institution and although it's not for much longer that we will call him mr. speaker, i will always admire

his steadfast commitment to protecting the american public and serving our country. i must share that one of the unique aspects of his leadership and that of his terrific team, which has surrounded him is that they have done an incredible job sharing his experience as leader with the american public. whether we have watched on youtube or other ways a morning trip to the diner for breakfast, fixing his lawn mower at home, carving the turkey or most importantly to him the historic visit to pope francis, he and his staff have done an excellent job of giving the american public an the american people an inside look at the life of john boehner, the speaker of the house. he embodies the qualities of an american patriot and it's truly been an honor to serve with him in the united states congress. i'm now so pleased he'll have the opportunity to enjoy being a new grandfather and enjoy -- enjoy his children, lindsay and tricia, and of course his wife debbie and he will very much be

missed. thank you, mr. speaker, for your commitment to our country. thank you. mr. chabot: i thank the gentlelady for her words. she mentioned she's a miami of ohio, and i mention that my son is a graduate and i almost went there myself. i would like to yield to the gentleman from florida. mr. curbelo: i thank the ohio delegation for giving us this special opportunity to honor a man we all admire and appreciate. i'm not from ohio, i'm from the state of florida and i have been known -- i haven't known john boehner nearly as long as many of my friends who have spoken here tonight. however, i can say this, mr. speaker. for many of us, who are still relatively new here in congress, for many of us that represent younger generation of leaders who have come here to serve, john bayner is a great example, n example of decency, of

sincerity, of integrity, an of profound caring for every single american an for all of us. a. moved by john -- i am moved by john boehner's work in education which is clearly one of his great passions. as a school board member in miami-david county, i saw firsthand -- miami-dade county i saw firsthand the difference john boehner's work in education made in the lives of children. . oftentimes poor children, low income children, who would not be counted had john boehner not done such wonderful work in the committee on education and the work force. when he was chairman. the legislation that john boehner and those who served with him advanced made sure that every child counted and that no child would be counted

out, no matter where they lived , the color of their skin, or where their parents came from. so today i just say thank you to john boehner. i say thank you to his family. like the speaker, i'm the father of two girls. i know exactly how much they have sacrificed for him, for his colleagues and for our country. mr. speaker, i'm a better man for having served with john boehner. this institution is a better institution for his service. and tonight we and the american people thank him. i yield back. mr. chabot: i thank the gentleman very much and i'd now like to yield to the gentlelady from american samoa. mrs. radewagen: i thank the gentleman from ohio. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the unwavering dedication and years of

exemplary service of house speaker john boehner to our great nation. as the delegate to the united states house of representatives from american samoa, i'm always honored to address the chamber and even more so today, so that i can acknowledge the sincerity, kindness and years of hard work of a man that i have known for over 20 years. as a man who has gone from the humble beginnings of a night janitor to the speaker of the house, the united states house of representatives, mr. boehner is the perfect example of the american dream fulfilled. it demonstrates that with hard work, dedication and a strong moral compass, one can achieve great things in our great nation. from the humble beginnings of a child of 12 who used to sweep floors, to second in line to he presidency, not too shabby.

i believe that the fact that he rose from very humble beginnings to the speakership has made him the man and leader he is today. one who always made even the lowest ranking freshman feel at ease and included. and thank him for that -- and i thank him for that. while we all know of the many achievements that this man of the people has accomplished during his career, and recognize his inquestionable dedication to our nation, many do not realize just how kind, modest and caring he truly is as a person. during a recent g.o.p. retreat, i was able to spend a few minutes with the speaker, or should i say, my granddaughter, ella, did. i had brought ella, who was two years -- 2 years old, with me to the retreat so that i could spend some time with her during the breaks in between the

activities. well, let me tell you, ella was mesmerized by the speaker and i'm pretty sure he felt the same. they had a conversation that only of two of them seemed to understand. and ella was just fascinated with this very funny man who as so kindly entertaining her. this short but memorable interaction is one that i noela will be proud to -- that i know ella will be proud to recount when she's older. mr. speaker, i ask that the house rise and join me in saluting the 53rd speaker of the united states house of representatives, john boehner, and also thank him for his unwavering dedication and outstanding service to our greatful -- grateful nation. thank you, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. mr. chabot: i thank the gentlelady for her very kind and inspiring remarks. d i'd now like to yield to

the gentlelady from virginia. mrs. comstock: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to honor speaker john boehner, a hardworking, dedicated gentleman who has served this institution with dignity and diligence. his perseverance in this role has been a true service to the nation. he's a class act whose respect for the institution and his love of country are extraordinary. i've been privileged to work with speaker boehner first when i was a congressional staffer on capitol hill back in the 1990's, when i worked for my predecessor, and at that time republicans took a historic majority in 1994. at that time speaker boehner then was in the leadership. and then this year i was able to join as a member of congress myself with the largest republican majority since the 1920's, and serve with speaker boehner once again. i know from that experience both as a staffer as well as a member the incredible great treatment he always gave his staff and how we all know the

legendary boehnerland and how he's always been so wonderful to work with. speaker boehner has taken on each of these tasks when he was a member, when he was a gang of seven member, when he was a chairman, when he was a leader and now as speaker, with an energy and willingness regardless of the headwinds. he's an honorable man of faith and conviction who has always served his constituents and the american people, particularly children, and the most vulnerable in a faithful andistent way. i particularly appreciate -- and consistent way. i particularly appreciate the speaker bringing this year the prime minister of israel, mr. netanyahu, and pope francis to this body to make historic addresses to congress, addresses that we will always remember and were just inspiring this year and so appreciate his leadership in insisting on having us here for those wonderful leaders of the world. he's always served as a patriot

committed to our founding principles and he will be missed by many on both sides of the aisle, although i know he welcomes this new chapter in his life and he will be happy -- and i am very happy that he will be able to spend more time with his beloved new grandson and his family. i thank speaker boehner for his service to this country and i wish him well, again, as he begins this new chapter in his life, and with that i yield back the balance of my time. mr. chabot: i thank the gentlelady very, very much for her remarks this evening. and i thank all the members who came here on both sides of the aisle to speak. i want to particularly thank ms. kaptur for participating in this tribute to speaker boehner so it was truly bipartisan this evening. i have some concluding remarks and i don't think there are any more speakers following that. i think we have just about enough time. i already said a few things about john, but let me continue. john boehner, he was born in 1949, he was the second of 12 children. nine boys and three girls.

his parents, mary andrew: and earl henry boehner, ran the family bills. andy's bar in carthage, which is a neighborhood in my district, and john's grandfather opened that bar back in 1938. john grew up in a two-bedroom house in redding, with john sharing one bedroom with three brothers, while his sister had the other. his parents slept on the pull-out couch. although his father would later build a three bedroom addition to the house, john still had to share a single bathroom with his 11 brothers and sisters. so he learn how'd to manage conflict early in his life. also, as the second oldest, he had to help his parents out, not only around the house, with his younger brothers and sisters, but also with the family business. at age 8, john began to work at andy's bar, starting by mopping floors. later he would wait on tables. in doing so, john learned the value of a dollar and the importance of hard work. john attended molar high school

and he played lak for future notre dame head coach john foust at molar. he learned that you can achieve any goal in life if you're willing to work hard. and to make the necessary sacrifices. as hard as it is for la salle like myself to praise a molar crusader, it's clear to me that john learned that lesson well and his life and career are a testament to that message. after graduating from high school in 1968, john enlisted in the navy. while america as we heavily involved in vietnam. he was later honorably discharged due to a bad back, an injury he suffered as a teenager working at the family bar. after holding several entry level jobs, john then set his sights on college degree, with the encouragement of william smith, a profess art xavier university, and high school football referee who was mentoring him about refereeing local sports, john decided to attend xavier. throughout his time at xavier university, john juggled numerous jobs, although his

primary job was as aoner to. his hard work paid off and he graduated from stavier in 1977, becoming the first person in his family to graduate from college. but his work as a janitor had another more important reward, he met his wife of 42 years, debby, who worked in the accounting department at the same company. they would marry in 1973, the same year my wife and i were married, and raise two daughters, lindsey and trisha, and now a grandson, alster. my wife and i also have two children, a daughter and a season, -- son, and one grandson, so far. after gragg from xavier, john was hired as a salesman for a small packaging and plastics company. through hard work and determination he steadily worked his walk up the company ladder, ultimately serving as president of the company. he resigned from that position when he was elected to congress in 1990. in that job john learned what it takes to survive at a small business and he learned all too well how difficult it is for small businesses to deal with the regulatory and tax burdens

imposed by the government. and he broug that understanding to washington, where he has fought for smaller, less intrusive government. john got his start in politics by getting involved in his local homeowners association. that experience led him to run or township trustee. to distinguish it from other townships in ohio, including one in my district, are we served from 1981 to 1984. in 1984 he was elected hot ohio house of representatives where republicans were hevenly outnumbered by democrats at the time. in 1990 he won a four-person republican primary for ohio's eighth congressional district. although his victory was somewhat surprising in local political circles at the time, looking back now, it's more surprising that he wasn't the favorite. upon his election to congress, john became a member of the so-called gang of seven. a group of republicans who regularly battled with congressional leadership. sounds like something around here in modern time

the gang of seven played a pivotal role in exposing the house bank and post office scandals. early on in his congressional career, john also worked closely with newt gingrich and helped to draft a contract with america. a set of principles to which republican candidates from all over the country agreed, including myself. and it was those principles that propelled the republican wave in 1994. and led to the first republican majority in the house of representatives in 40 years. throughout his time in congress, john has advocated commonsense reforms in the house and in the broader government. in addition to fighting to close the house bank as part of the contract with america, he also pushed for the requirement that congress live by the same rules it imposes on the rest of the american people. later to help promote transparency in the appropriations process, john enacted the first ban on earmarks in the house. although he'll be remembered for many things, these reforms may have the most enduring impact on the credibility and integrity of this institution.

the house of representatives. the people's house. however, knowing john like i know him, i would guess that his fondest memory will be pope francis' visit to washington and his address to congress right here in this very room. it was truly a historic and monumental event, as pope francis became the first sitting pontiff to address a joint session of congress. ever. millions of americans, myself included, were moved by the pope's message about a spiritual path to a better future. particularly his call on all of us to strengthen our families, protect the sanctity of life and help the less fortunate among us. it was an amazing moment for this house and this country and it wouldn't have been possible without speaker john boehner. i know it has been one of his top goals since he was in the republican leadership back in the 1990's, and i think it's a fitting finale to a very distinguished career. john tely i hope that

boehner is remembered like he would say, a regular guy. who rose from umhm -- humble beginnings to become the leader of the people's house. as a leader who never stopped believing that the american people can overcome any obstacle, and as a crusade who are fought for a smaller, less intrusive and more accountable government. of course i will always remember him as a friend. thank you, john. for your service to our nation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. pursuant to clause 12 of rule 1rk the how stands in recess subject to the call of the chair.

the house passed a short-term highway funding bill today. runs through november 20. and stephanie beasley covers transportation issues for bloomberg. why just a short-term transportation bill?

guest: as you said, the house very quickly passed a three-week extension today. and the idea behind this short extension is to allow lawmakers enough time to get through a multiyear bill, both the house and the senate now have six-year bills. the house transportation committee last week approved a six-year bill. the senate passed a similar six-year bill in july. lawmakers, including house transportation committee chairman bill shuster, believe that they can come together, the two chambers, and work out a deal before thanksgiving. mr. harris: the bill's called the highway bill, the transportation bill, so what are some of the programs covered under this highway bill? guest: as you mentioned there are highway and transit programs covered by this. it would renew the spending authority for those programs. but also included is an extension for positive train control technology. so this is an ty derailment, an -- anti-derailment, anti-collision safety technology that railroads

currently have a december 31 deadline to implement. but the majority of railroads have said they will not be able to meet that deadline and so congress is acting to extend it for them and tacking that provision onto this highway extension. host: the train control was a factor in that may amtrak crash in philadelphia. how long is the delay and is it also likely to be a part of any long term transportation bill? guest: right. so the extension is a three-year extension. the measure that passed out of the house would include the potential for an additional two years for railroads that are especially challenged. the senate had a similar p.t.c. extension, positive train control extension, in their six-year highway bill. in terms of talking about if here's a possibility for long-term legislation, senator barbara boxer said that is her goal. and so now that this weak

extension is heading over to the senate, what will be important to watch is how senate democrats in particular address the positive train control extension because they have said they want to include that in a multiyear bill and not a highway extension. host: didn't the senate though already pass one of their own -- one of their own -- their own transportation bill? guest: right. the senate passed the six-year highway and transit extension back in july. and as i mentioned before, the positive train control, three-year positive train control, extension, was included in that. so the difference here is that now we have that positive train control measure tacked onto a three-week highway extension. the senate democrats really want to keep the pressure. many other lawmakers want to keep the pressure on congress to get this multiyear bill done. and they feel like if the p.t.c. extension is at it -- added to a long-term bill, there's more pressure for congress to do something before the end of the yue year.

because that december 31 deadline is very close. host: that house markup in transportation was last week. in a tweet from that committee, we showed a moment ago, infrastructure is an issue that brings this together, the chairman and ranking member share their take on that markup. is it really an issue, has transportation been an issue that's been bipartisan in nature? guest: you know, the house transportation committee markup was quite long. it was almost six hours. but there was a lot of bipartisanship there. it seems like people are really agreeing that they want to get something done quickly, they need to get a long-term bill completed. some of the issues, you know, representative defazio, who is the ranking member of the house transportation committee, noted that he would like to increase the funding. so the house transportation bill, the six-year bill, does not currently include a finance title. but the expectation is that it will fund -- it would have guaranteed funding for three years. and so -- but that would be

baseline. and representative defazio would like to increase the funding level somehow. right now they haven't figured out exactly how to do that. host: stephanie beasley is transportation reporter for bloomberg b.n.a. you can follow her tweets and read the reporting online. thanks for joining us. guest: thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> earlier today, house republican leaders spoke to reporters about a budget deal reached by the white house and congressional republicans. the two-year deal would increase spending by $80 billion over two years. and would increase the federal borrowing limit through 2017. we begin with remarks from outgoing speaker john boehner. mr. boehner: having listened to our members and the american people, we have a budget agreement. this agreement will protect our economy and reduces the deficit. it secures more long term entitlement reforms, it

strengthness our national security -- strengthens our national security and brings more certainty to next year's appropriations process, protects more americans from obamacare, and rejects all of the tax increases as proposed by the administration. the agreement isn't perfect by any means, but the alternative was a clean debt ceiling increase without any additional support for our troops and without any entitlement reforms. so this is a good deal for our troops, for our taxpayers and for the american people. mr. mccarthy: before i talk about this bipartisan budget agreement, i want to thank the speaker. i want to thank the speaker for his career. i want to highlight a few points. we put a little video together inside conference and they put this poster up of the gang of seven. he's the last man standing but what was the gang of seven? it was the very beginning to change washington and clean it up.

i look around this room, i wasn't around at the time either. but there was a house bank and a house bank scandal. your predecessors probably wrote about it but they would have never known about it if it wasn't for john boehner. it never would have been shut down. he fought and was able to be a part, and a big part, of winning the first majority for republicans in 1994. he served in leadership to do it. everybody has stumbles but it's the character of an individual of how you handle it. john left leadership, never complained, but continued to fight for the american people. came back as a committee chairman, focused on education, you've watched it every day of his life. just last week we passed the bill dealing with the scholarships for low income. he has never forgotten why he ran. and he's never stopped fighting for them. very few people in their could

ever say they fought to win two majorities. john has. now, as we go to depart, john has not given up. yeah, we've come to a bipartisan budget agreement and probably wouldn't be the final agreement if we could write it by ourselves. but somebody different is in the white house. we have strivinged in this majority, within our first four months, to write a budget. a budget that would put us on a new path and lots of time people don't write about what we've been able to achieve. that very first budget a lot of people criticized and said we went too far. if you take those budget numbers for our 2011, where we'd be today, with this budget agreement, we're below them. we've been able to achieve even with barack obama as president. so we dealt with what's happening around the world, with a foreign policy that's lacking, what our military needs, we have more than 100 members signing a letter. we've been able to fund the

military a a much stronger position -- in a much stronger position that needs to when we look at the way the world holds. but we've an able to do it in a fiscal manner to keep us under the limit that we had in our original bill. that's an accomplishment. i think history will be kind to this man. because he kept the word he's always said, continue to do what's right and that's what he's done. so i want to thank the speaker for his service. [inaudible] mrs. mcmorris rodgers: it is a big day. so next week is the anniversary, the five-year anniversary of when the republicans took the majority. and when john boehner became speaker of the house. and we have a lot to celebrate because of his leadership in the house. and you think about the path that we were on before he was speaker, and the important reforms and legislation that he has led on for people all

across this country, it's quite an impressive record. he's always been committed to fiscal responsibility and since he's been speaker we've reduce spending, overall spending, by over $2 trillion. the most significant spending reductions in mott earn history. we -- modern history. he with we passed the first balanced budget plan since 2001. and there's the opportunity scholarship, he's led on so many issues. it was under his leadership that earmarks were banned in the house and the senate. i'm proud of the work that we've accomplished together and i have been thankful for his leadership, not just for the house of representatives, but for america and for every person in this country. later this week we will be electing a new speaker and we're going to continue to make the people's priorities our priorities. we are committed, we are determined to expand opportunities, to empower the

enin-- the innovators and make the american dream an attainable goal for every erson in this country. >> just a week ago president obama was insisting upon a clean debt ceiling that would have been destruct to have our economy and to this country. mr. scalise: when you fast forward to today, what the speaker laid out, as a plan that not only denies the president that clean debt ceiling increase, but actually implements some important reforms for our country and some of the things that our conference has been fighting for for a long time. if you start with the social security reforms, congress hasn't passed a reform to the social security program since ronald reagan was president. there's a reason it's taken over 30 years to get real reforms to a program that's got real solvency problems. and the reforms in this program, especially as it relates to disability, a program that's headed for direct bankruptcy, are very

important, to make sure that seniors are protected from the kind of cuts that could come from bankruptcy, as well as people with disabilities that have been clamoring for reforms to prevent people from abusing that program frrkts double dipping and the fraud involved in that program. the fact that it's taken over 30 years to get those kind of reforms to social security are very significant, to strengthening the program for people who use it. and rely upon it. the other thing is there's been a big fight within our conference between fiscal hawks and defense hawks. to get budget numbers that work. but in a fiscally responsible way. and some people said you couldn't accomplish both. in this budget agreement, we solve that. in a way where both fiscal conservatives and defense hawks can come together and get an agreement that provides for a strong national defense that meets the challenges that our country's facing all around the world. threats from isis, threats from russia, threats in the middle east. finally getting the kind of

defense numbers that we need for a strong military. and setting the stage to be able to get a real appropriations process done, both this year and next year as well. something -- the kind of regular order our members have been asking for a long time. i want to thank the speaker for his work in a big agreement like this, both sides of the negotiating table can find things they like and don't like. when you look at the significant reforms, especially reforms to save social security from an imminent bankruptcy in the disability program, something that hasn't happened for 30 years, that's quite significant. mr. boehner: this might be the last time i get to do this. yes, sir. questioner: you're going to get some of the glory and a lot of the hell -- [inaudible] -- were you expecting that? mr. boehner: i am. i'm prepared for it. a bipartisan agreement in a town that isn't known for a lot of bipartisanship, you're going to see bricks flying from those that don't like the fact that there's a bipartisan agreement.

but there is. it's a solid agreement and i told my colleagues, there isn't any reason why any member should vote against this. questioner: speaker boehner, this is a fourth and 15 touchdown to win the game. mr. boehner: no, in your view it was a fourth and 15. you know, yee of little faith over the last couple of weeks have found rather interesting amongst all of the skeptics sitting in the room. i frankly never had any doubt that we'd get to an agreement. sometimes the clock works against you, sometimes the clock works in your favor. questioner: how big of a gift was this to paul ryan? mr. boehner: i made it clear a month ago when i announced i was leaving that i wanted to do my best to clean the barn. i didn't want him to walk into a dirty barn full of you know what. so i've done my best to try to clean it up. questioner: we spoke to paul ryan about. this he said the process stinks, that was his word.

mr. boehner: totally agree. totally agree. questioner: members too are very upset about this, behind and you defend this process? mr. boehner: i am in full agreement. this is not the way to run a railroad but when you have a situation that we are dealing with today, it is -- there was not any choice. while it may not be the process i would want, remember what the alternative wise. ceiling default on our dad. we got to december 11 without facing another government shutdown. it starts to look better.

>> the freedom caucus has caused you problems obviously. mr. boehner: i would not describe it that way. we have a bipartisan agreement that make sure the debt ceiling is increased and we make good on our debt, and that service. and it pays the way to fund the government this year and next. the fact is this remake it easier for the entire congress smoother for the congress as well. [inaudible] can you describe how you deal with a couple days left? mr. boehner: i don't feel differently than i did last week. or two months ago. i get up every day and go to work and try to do my best. some days were harder than others. these last days trying to get

these agreements together were easy. jobwhen you sign up for the you have to take everything that comes with that. i feel pretty good with where i am. i see light at the end of the tunnel. [laughter] >> we understand you got a gifted day, a golf cart. mr. boehner: the members gave me a golf cart and a license plate, the ohio members gave me a new set of golf clubs. that's going to be a part of it. [inaudible] paul ryan is one to make tough decisions. him to cute it in these deals? is the finalt say mark on your speakership? mr. boehner: no, no.

listen all knows how to do this. it isn't different than what he and senator murray put together two years ago. he knows how to do this. he knows the players. he has the respect of the players that make these decisions. i don't think you will have problems at all. >> it is irrelevant. it is going to pass with a bipartisan majority. you are making assumptions you should make. >> you use the announce your cleaning up the barn. colleagues, they are getting a lot of maneuver on them with what you are doing. it makes me wonder if -- [inaudible] [laughter]

mr. boehner: may god bless them. >> are they lead a bull? mr. boehner: we will knows in and out. [laughter] last one. >> was your best in the last five years? wednesday whenst we reauthorize the opportunity scholarship for the kids here in d.c. happen to be that evening the annual boehner feinstein williams dinner raising money for another group of kids and the scholarship program. i was meeting with the mayor of cleveland talking about challenges. i said mr. mayor of you can find a way to educate all of your kids, all of your other problems go away.

i get wound up talking about education. when you only educate half of your kids it is a disgrace. america does. it was a pretty big deal. i enjoyed it. my friend showed up at the dinner to surprise me and i was surprised. goodbye. >> tomorrow house republicans will meet behind closed doors to choose their nominee for speaker. it is expected paul ryan will win the bow. the leadership change will become official when the whole house votes. watch for updates on this story. tonight, ashton carter discusses

u.s. military operations in the middle east at a senate armed services committee meeting. the house debates the export -- and womennd how in politics. >> talk to congressman mike pompeo about the house lights benghazi committee and the testimony of hillary clinton. proposed larson on the two-year budget agreement and raising the debt ceiling. and the editor of popular mechanics discusses their story about the inner workings of coke industries. washington journal is live with your phone calls, tweets, and facebook comments each morning on c-span.

>> it is a touchy business being the center dot are of a dictator. it is a collection of very existence. children of monsters looks at the children of dictators. >> i was able to talk to knowledgeable people. i could not talk to any family members. there were only so many around to talk to. only so many willing to say what they know or indulge their feelings or experiences at all. i was digging around for any scrap i could possibly get

areuse most of them footnotes in the sides. you have to dig to find out about them. >> defense secretary ashton carter and general joseph dunford discuss military .trategy in the middle east senator john mccain shares this hearing.

and for their service to our nation. before i proceed i want to remind our witnesses, they require witness -- written testimony be submitted 24 hours in advance. i would like to try to adhere to that. of joshua walker reminds us of the high-stakes of our mission in the middle east. and how grateful we are to

american serving their. -- there. we need a strategy and unfortunately we don't have that. isappears the administration not even define the problem correctly. that fails to understand that i sold -- isil is actually just a symptom of a deeper problem, the struggle for power raging across the middle east, the epicenter that is iraq and syria. that is my isil exists today with the strength that it does. this problem will only get worse the longer this conflict rages on. ,e hear it said all the time there is no military solution to this problem. that is misleading. the real problem is

will achieve nothing. changing those conditions is what the administration is consistently failed to do. instead it is assumed our nation could withdraw from the middle east and avoid the conflict. on those occasions where the administration has felt compelled to respond after the use of chemical weapons or with the rise of isil, and now amid the worst refugee crisis since world war ii, the administration has address the symptoms of the problem rather than the problem itself and made that problem worse. there no clearer example than this than the syrian train and equip program.

the fighters can only fight isil, not assaults forces which have slaughtered more syrians then isil has. the administration made no commitment until only recently to provide these forces with any meaningful military support was they returned to syria. after millions of dollars and months of effort the program failed to come to the department original expectations. the president has expressed surprise. it was not a surprise. it was completely predictable and many of us did addictive. only some of who does not understand the real problem, the underlying conflict in syria and , couldr does not care to think that we could recruit and train large numbers of sunni syrians to fight only against isil with no promise of

coalition assistance if they came under fire from assad's forces. this is tantamount to killing the program because it is destroying trust our syrian allies have entrusted with us. the president now says incredibly the failure of this program the president's , proves he was right for not wanting to do it in the first place. harry truman must be spinning in his grave. training effort in iraq has its own challenges. it is déjà vu all over again. we don't have enough u.s. forces to train and advise iraqi units.

we are looking the other way as shia militias go on the offensive in the iraqi heartland. we are prohibiting u.s. forces from bowstring their will to fight by advising them in combat were calling in airstrikes. we have learned these lessons just a few years ago. apparently we have to relive the spell years now. for seven years the administration has tried to extract america from the middle east. we are created a massive power vacuum that has been filled by , and and other affiliates i ran on the other hand. now has stepped vladimir putin. his intervention in syria began in the ukraine.

it allowed to in they are, dictate the terms of a frozen conflict, and pivot to syria. it has confirmed he believes he administration is weak and to putin, weakness is provocative. the administration's response has only made this problem worse. it urged russia not to build up its forces in syria. the administration then tried to iny russia the airspace syria. what has been the result? the number of airstrikes has dropped. just as it was starting to show results. the administration scrambled to pin a deacon affliction agreement with the russians that spells out more but we will not

do in syria. this agreement means the united states is now moving out of the way and watching as russian aircraft's together with iranian, and has belowground forces attack and kill brave syrians, many are nation has supported and encouraged. this not only harmful, it is immoral. ofmust stop assad's use , we must establish areas in syria where civilians can be safe, and do what is necessary to protect these areas. putin is not interested in a negotiated solution that favors u.s. interests. onshould impose real costs russia, not just in syria that

everywhere we have leverage to do so. as general petraeus has recently said we must devise a strategy to confront iranian power rather than acquiescing to them. object we cannot bear the course of these actions but consider the costs of our current in action and half measures. mass atrocities will continue. allies and partners will be put at greater risk of existential danger. continue to be destabilizing consumed by the internal challenge of managing the refugees. the cancer viso will grow more potent and spread across the middle east. posing a greater threat to our national security. iran will be emboldened in its pursuit of regional ambitions. who will establish russia as a dominant military power in the middle east for the first time in 4 decades and all the while america's credibility and

influence will continue to erode. mistake, this is the course we are now on. consequences.he no one believes there are easy answers to the underlying problems in the middle east. this much should be clear. we cannot go on pretending we can somehow avoid these problems are that the current approach of trying to treat the symptoms of the disease rather than its cause will work if only be given more time. policies of gradual escalation never do. >> let me join the chairman of welcoming back our guests. the hearings altering the situation in the middle east

includes a massive wave of refugees on the ground and in syria. and the deployment recently of s,e new commander of operation s and meetings with saudi arabia. the hearing comes weeks before the g8 20 summit where these issues will be at the forefront. general mcfarlane has been at the issues. his arrival comes at a critical time as the coalition campaign requires a reevaluation of our strategy. intermingledaces conflicts, a syrian civil war,

proxy war between the gulf states and iran, shia conflict, terrorism fights, and with russian aids, a power struggle. in iraq, they have focused attention on the effort to train security forces. taken as a whole it has not shown the will to make necessary advances in the operation to take ramadi. the political leaders have not made a progress theater in the general broader goal of grievances. operation forces

demonstrated that such targeted efforts can have success in protecting innocent civilians and degrading isil. they can also result in critical intelligence to support the broader campaign against isil. the time may have come to evaluate them and can be increased, whether our troops need to play a more active role, including by accompanying air forces when direct contact with the enemy is unexpected. forces haven's shown success in northern syria. it shows promise for placing additional presser on isil and surrounding areas. this will be a positive development in the broader

campaign. the program clearly failed to live up to-expectations. the task force recalibrated the program based on lessons learned and later graduates are having a direct impact in the fight against isil. the coalition cannot succeed in syria without a reliable sunni force on the ground to hold territory a gains. -- territorial gains. it will require the building of trust and contact between the coalition and our new partners on the ground. out the secretary and the general will [inaudible] it has the potential to set up

another wave of refugees, russia's military operations have obligated the coalition air campaign have the potential to draw the attention of opposition forces away from counter iso-operations. russian operations that negatively impacted the distribution of the humanitarian aid to the syrian people, i hope general mcfarlane will be given the operational flexibility to implement modifications to the campaign against isil. i would be interested in your recommendations for how to ensure general mcfarlane receives the flexibility and support needed to be successful going forward. thank you and i look forward to your testimony. welcome the witnesses. members of the committee. thank you for inviting us to come here.

this is the first time for me appearing before this committee alongside chairman joe dunford. i am grateful to joe for answering mine and the president's call to step down from what every marine knows is to becomeosition chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. thank you. i'm glad to have him near today. before i return to the subject of the hearing i want to reiterate as i have said consistently and continue to believe, washington needs to come together behind a multiyear budget deal supports our defense strategy.

the troops and their families, and all elements of american's national security and strength. significant progress was made on this overnight and i'm looking forward to reviewing the details. i welcome this major positive developments and apply the members of this committee for what you are doing to help us get there. ae middle east presents kaleidoscope of challenges. actions everywhere our and strong military posture are guided by what is in america's interest. that is our north star. amid the complexity and uncertainty those interests are to determine aggression, oflders -- bolster security our allies especially israel, ensure freedom of navigation, to ,heck iran's malign influence even as we monitor the implementation of the plan of action, and to degrade in ultimately defeat isil.

peoplest a threat to our and to friendly countries not only in the middle east but around the world. changesirst outline the in the execution of our strategy that we have considered, and are now pursuing militarily. when i last spoke to this lines of and its nine the central and nonmilitary effort i made three things clear about the military aspects. isil a will deliver lasting defeat. that truly lasting success would require enabling capable motivated local forces on the ground recognizing this will take time and new diplomatic energy.

execution strategy's can and must be strengthened. all of that is still true. even as the situation continues to evolve and we continue to adapt to execute our plan for more effectively. i would like to elaborate on the third point. we are reinforcing what we know works. the changes we are pursuing can be described by what i call the three r's. mean, i expand what they i took actions to streamline command-and-control of the issa military campaign by assigning the entire effort to a single general officer. in the urgency of the early phase of the campaign last year

to the layers were added general office already present in iraq. rocco.st are is we have been clear for some time we need to keep up pressure and we will support moderate syrian forces fighting isolate have made territorial gains. he will work overtime to push towards it. this will include more strikes

against isil high-value targets as intelligence improves. and it's oil enterprise is a critical pillar of the financial infrastructure. i like president obama and members of this committee was disappointed with that program's results. we examine the program this summer and have since changed it. the old approach was to train and equip completely new forces outside of syria, before sending them into the fight, the new approach is to work with bedard leaders -- vetted leaders that are already fighting isil and provide equipment and training to them and support their operations with their power.

this approach builds on successes. if done in concert all of these actions should help shrink isil's territory into a smaller area for targeting isil. denying this evil movement any safe haven in its suppose it heart land. second r is ramadi. which serves as a critical example of the government's commitment to work with local sunni communities with our help to retake and hold ground for my soul. and to build momentum to go northward to mozilla. have begun to use

f-16s to support counter operations and have empowered commanders to step forward. as we see more progress to assembling under baghdad's patrol and including sunni elements we are willing to continue to provide more inabilities and fire support to help them succeed. the iraqi government and security forces will have to take certain steps militarily and make sure our progress sticks. more in theee direction of multi-sectarian governments and defense leadership. government 2 the battalions as we provide the support iraqi government must ensure it is just to be did effectively. -- effectively. ensure it is distributed effectively.

the third and final r is raids. we will not hold back from supporting capable partners and opportunistic attacks against iso-were conducting such activities directly. last week's rescue operation was led by iraqi kurdish forces. heroicallye advisers acted to ensure the overall success of the mission. the death of any service member is a tragedy. his family and teammates this week and we offer our condolences to master sergeant wheelers loved ones.

we want to support our partners and we will. andhe same time the raid most recently i'll lost or them know that no target is beyond our reach. as we have looked at how to gather momentum in a debt to the changing battlefield some have discussed putting the buffer zone or no-fly zone in syria. there isnalyzed options in the political and military requirements of each. it has raised some challenges which i am prepared to to discuss. let me turn to russia's involvement. to be clear we are not cooperating with russia and we're not letting rush impact the pace or scope of our campaign against russia in

syria. instead of singularly attacking isil as they said they were going to do they are primarily attacking the syrian opposition as the chairman as noted which fuels the tragic civil war there. their actions suggest a doubling down on their long-standing elationship with the sod -- assad, in attacking moderates who oppose the regime and are essential to serious political transition. they use [inaudible] which increases the possibility of civilian casualties.

the united states will continue to strengthen our 65 nation global coalition. reached anhave understanding on coalition pilots in syria it will keep prosecuting our campaign unabated. we will keep the door open for russia to contribute to efforts of political solutions which in the final answer, analysis is the only answer of the syrian conflict. i have discussed the military strategy and campaign but before in, defeating iso-requires efforts across all of the nine lines of effort. enhancing intelligence

collection, disrupting isil's financing, stopping the flow of foreign fighters, providing humanitarian support, and protecting our homeland where other departments and agencies of our government have two lead. thank you. general dunford: thank you for the opportunity to discuss our challenge to the middle east and the military dimension of our campaign against isil. i have been in my position for four weeks and have reviewed our counter isil campaign. i followed up on a commitment i made to visit the region early in my 10 to get a personal perspective. i visited israel, jordan, and iraq. i was impressed on the ouritment of our focus soldiers.

the coalitions campaign must reduce iso-'s territorial control, destroy its war fighting capability and undermine its are of aura of invincibility. interdict their lines of communication and denied them sources of revenue. we must support partners on the ground, to season secure isil held terrain. before i became the chairman of leadership across the board recognized the need to increase pressure on isil. as with any campaign we are continuing to examine ways to enhance the operations.

heisel is a trans regional requiring more. groundditions on the create challenges and opportunities. without a partner on the ground syria has presented the most difficult challenge. we must continue to work with our turkish partners to support the border of syria. must be more aggressive on strikes that will deny access to have revenue. the secretary has addressed the adjustments to the syrian train and equip program. in our support, but it will be meeting specific

standards. we will look for opportunities to support groups in the northern along the border with jordan. i would like to thank them for their hard work. due to their effort we have a much better understanding of the operating environment and the opportunities. we will be able to leverage their lessons learned. we began to move the campaign by striking a source of revenue for isil. accelerate broader iso-'sefforts against economic means. they have continued to work with turkey to secure the border area . we still have some work to do. in iraq we have been frustrated with the pace of operations. there has been recent progress

and movement around ramadi and the peshmerga have made progress in the north area after talking to the commanders on the ground we will have an opportunity to reinforce iraqi for us in the days ahead. to be successful in syria and iraq and the issues i have mentioned, we also need to continue to improve how we leverage our capabilities. we will also look for ways to increase the effectiveness of the campaign. themexpect me to bring to all of the options that may contribute to our winning the il.ht against iso in closing as i complete my initial assessment of the campaign we have identified and started to implement the

initiatives to move the campaign forward. we are not satisfied or complacent about where we are and we will not be satisfied until iso-is -- isil is defeated. thank you very much freight secretary carter, the president's spokesman after it was clear that the arm, train, and equip had failed the president spokesman said the president felt vindicated this program had failed because he never supported it to start with. this was a program that we invested $43 million at least of $500 million program. i'm not sure how many young people were killed in trying to implement this failed program. did you feel vindicated when this program failed? secretary carter: i thought that the effort, i want to repeat

the the chairman said, general given this program, which was conceived last summer -- secretary carter: i asked if you felt vindicated are not. secretary carter: i was disappointed in it. i wish it had turned out differently. lessons fromng are that and therefore our new approach differs. i can describe the difference between the old and the new, but we think that we have learning lessons from that. mr. mccain: you don't feel vindicated the program failed? secretary carter: i was disappointed the program failed. mr. mccain: the president felt vindicated according to his spokesperson. in this change, we're seeing the changes, does that mean that we, these young people that we trained and equipped and sent into a fight that we are going to protect them from being barrel bombed and attacked by

russian aircraft? we havey carter: conveyed the same obligation last summer i was before you. rightcain: after bombing now as we speak russian aircraft are bombing moderate syrian forces in syria while we have the conflicted. do you believe we should be protecting those young people? secretary carter: our title x forces have an obligation to protect. we have stated that. mr. mccain: are we protecting them? secretary carter: they are operating -- they have not come under attack. mr. mccain: russia's air has not been attacking? i'm asking about the moderate syrian forces that are there. i'm asking the question about equip,hat will train and that are now being bombed by russia. mr. mccain: with wrist -- secretary carter: with forces to the title x

the department of defense trains, they have not come under attack. mr. mccain: none of the moderate forces have come under attack? secretary carter: nine our title x program, no. ssad dosians and a attack moderate forces supported by the international coalition and one of the reasons why the russian approaches so -- mr. mccain: are we going to train these young people, rewind us and them into syria to fight, are we going to protect them from being barrel bombed and protected -- anyone we send in an train we're going to protect? secretary carter: we have an obligation to do that we have made that clear from the beginning. mr. mccain: we haven't done it. i promise you they have.

you will have to correct the record. general petraeus and former --and secretary clinton have all stated that they think we should stop the barrel bombing and that we should train and equip, and we should have no-fly zone or aircraft exclusionary zones. i might point out as complicated as it is we were able to do northern watch and southern watch rather successfully in iraq although it is not the same. are you recommending that we ?hould stop the barrel bombing to stop the barrel bombing to provide an aircraft exclusionary zone? the innocentrotect civilians that are being driven to refugee status, and the

greatest refugee situation since the end of world war ii. general dunford: we have as i the zonecated analyze various times in the humanitarian buffer zones, no-fly zones. i can give you considerations. mr. mccain: and stop the barrel bombing. general dunford: that would be one of the contents of the no-fly zone. i can tell you considerations. mr. mccain: i would like to know whether you supported or not. general dunford: we have not made that recommendation to the president. he has not taken off the table. i can explain some of the reasons for our recommendations. mr. mccain: it is not an issue that has not been examined. it has been recommended for years by some of us. have to examine all over again? secretary carter: we have looked at a quite closely. i'm prepared to describe it. mr. mccain: it's an issue that

has been on the table for three or four years that i know of. we have received information when general dempsey said it would cost $1 billion a day or something. it is not a new issue. secretary carter: it is not a new issue. it is a substantial issue mr. mccain:. mr. mccain:you should have a position on it. secretary carter: we have not recommended that. we have presented the alternative. mr. mccain: you do not agree with general petraeus, secretary gates, secretary clinton. secretary carter: we do not have a -- mr. mccain: after all these years we do have a concert of operations? secretary carter: that we are prepared to recommend. senator reed: you have spoken exclusively about forces trained by the department of defense. you can't title x but there are

a lot of titles in the u.s. code. there are other forces on the ground that our coalition trained, that have come under attack by the russians. that is clear. secretary carter: absolutely true. but they have been placed in areas which for many reasons have not been subject to aerial attacks. secretary carter: they are fighting isil. the russians are not. even though they said they were. but the go back. -- let me go back. it has shifted to train individual units to the i sil fight to providing some training to the leader and then some support. this is another aspect of approach which i would like to

clarify. individualaders, but enablers pride people with technical skills that can go in to the deployed units and provide those skills. is that still being done? secretary carter: that is so part of the approach. the big differences rather than trying to form brand-new units we are identifying units already fighting isil, providing them equipment and as you pointed out, after vetting their leadership, providing them with selected abilities that help enablementge our from the air. the program is able to do that and in addition grow not so much units but teams of syrian nationals that can go in as specialists, a whole range

of issues. air support, medical support, logistic support and aid. secretary carter: exactly. we are transactional in this. we are giving some equipment, butng how they performed, these are groups that already exist moving in the areas north of rocca is an example of that. secretary carter: you just returned from iraq and you had conversations with the prime minister. reportsre disconcerting of imitations that the intelligence level with the russians, what is your latest estimate of that, is it something that was a more political statement or is there actual ongoing real efforts. general dunford: i ask that specific question to all bc --

all the senior leaders. i was assured at every level that would be the case. can i follow up on the train and equip. we suspended the program. i wanted to clarify one point. individuals we previously trained, we are still supporting them when they are in the fight and there i number that are doing the things that you spoke about. support forviding forces fighting isil. reed: we are talking now about the syrian arab coalition and training those large groups. when we seen is

opportunities we ought to develop operations. mr. reed: both your testimonies highlighted the inability of the government in baghdad to fully support sunni forces. some of that is historic mistrust. from your testimony you are considering having american advisers not at the company level but higher up. one function they could perform is to be an honest broker which would allow the payment of troops, the government of magnetic deal they have some control, and demand on behalf of sunni forces they get a fair

share. there are four: reasons why you might consider putting forces in a company role. the first is what you are suggesting, to bring campaign coherence. the other is to ensure logistic support is effective. another challenge is situational awareness and intelligence. that would be another advantage of doing that. then the better delivery of combined arms. there are four factors that would be considered. impact,nal or strategic we could reinforce success. that would be the basic framework of which i made a recommendation. to make the record clear there are coalition supported an american supported forces that are in syria being attacked by russians aircraft. is that true or false? secretary carter: there are

moderate syrian opposition forces in syria supported by the coalition and people that we think are part of serious future and part of the syrian political transition. they are being attacked and that is not iso-and that is why the russian approach -- mr. mccain: and that is why it is immoral to train people m and and fight to go in and watch them being destroyed and maimed and killed. secretary carter: for our part, as i said before this committee we have a moral obligation. making an: you are distinction without a difference for these are american supported and coalition supported men who are going and being slaughtered. >> senator cotton is presiding.

we will d return to regular order. senate equivalent of staff duty. you talked about are nine lines of effort. not all of those are military lines of effort. secretary carter: that is correct. cotton: who are those non-defense lines of defense? of thery carter: one things i have proposed and secretary kerry has excepted, that he and i meet periodically with the other agency heads to have the other lines of effort. his successor, ambassador mcgurk will be there. ,hen i look at this campaign since all of these lines of effort, it is necessary to have moving in concerts, we needed a

better effort to do that. secretary kerry has agreed to do that with me. we had four meetings. financing,counter before that, foreign fighter flow into the conflict region and out of the conflict region two-year of, around the world. we are addressing messaging, and sil's effortss -- i to recruit people online. there are different dimensions to this that are not military per se but i believe there are opportunities to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts and i have fought to seize those opportunities with secretary kerry, now with general dunford, and to make sure all of these different efforts are coordinated. they are all important. the other participants are doing

important things. i think the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. that is the intent. cotton: is that a way saying that there is not a single person? secretary carter: there has not been a single person with that responsibility. general à la how the responsibility for assembling the coalition which you did with great skill and to his credit, ambassador mcgurk, we had a broad coalition. assembling the mechanics of all of the nine lines of effort, that is something i am undertaking to do with secretary and we are gathering in the other parties that are involved. for an organizational change. a few years ago

before the major russian movement in syria the united states government requested iran and iraq close its airspace. how do we transmit that? secretary carter: i do not know the mechanics of that. can i get back to you on that? i simply don't know. mr. cotton: is that something the department of defense would do? the white house? i believe that: would be delivered by ambassador jones in baghdad. mr. cotton: bulgaria accepted it. general dunford: decline the request. mr. cotton: and let russian air

>> they have limited air capability. >> if the united states government requested airspace over russia, surely they would assist iraq. >> it is a sovereign decision by iraq, we are not an interested in it. you raise an important question. is iraq going to cooperate with -- wrongheaded approach in syria. from the primed no uncertain terms, the statement that he will not work with the russians.