some 81 amendments under consideration. could be a long day in the u.s. house with plenty of votes. live coverage here on c-span. the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. god, our creator, we give you thanks for giveing -- for giving us another day. you brought light from darkins and order from kay -- darkness and order from chaos. lead our lawmakers using their daily experiences of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, victory and defeat to strive together for your glory. may the fruits of their labor read down to the benefit of our nation. as a community of colleagues

possessed of multiple layers of friendships unknown to the public eye, this assembly takes special notice today of the passing of howard coble, the much loved and respected member of 30 years, from north carolina. a gentleman to the core, may we all strive to embody his grace, class and respect for this institution and for those among whom we engage in the worken to done here. -- in the work to be done here. may he rest in peace. and may everything done this day in the people's house be for your greater honor and lory, amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from california, ms. chu.

ms. chu: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, mr. speaker. the speaker: without objection. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. today we mourn the loss of howard coble. a dedicated public servant and a champion for his constituents in north carolina's 6th district for 30 years. he never backed down from a challenge to do what was right for north carolina, and always pushed washington to work better for those he represented. howard was the essence of what

it means to be a southern gentleman. someone who simply exuded kindness, charm, and compassion. he was a man of integrity and principle, a representative who stood for what is right and who fought on behalf of what makes america great. he will be missed, but his legacy of service and devotion to north carolina will continue to be the standard that current and future leaders follow. howard, we miss you. i yield back. the speaker: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? ms. chu: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker: without objection. ms. chu: we depend on immigrant workers to take some of the most toughest jobs. they pick our food, clean our houses, and wash our cars. as u.s. workers, they deserve

to freely exercise their labor rights. yet when immigrants want to organize for fair pay or decent working conditions, they are often silenced by unscrupulous employers who retaliate through harassment, abuse, and threats of immigrant enforcement. this is unacceptable. when i hear about it i think about a gentleman who died after 10 hours of grape picking in 105 degree heat. did he not have an opportunity to report a violation. we cannot allow any voice to be stifled, especially when that voice is speaking out against dangerous or unfair practices. that's why i'm introducing the power act this week. this bill expands visa eligibility for victims of retaliation, strengthens labor agency's investigative powers, and allows a stay of removal for workers who filed a workplace claim. we must protect our workers no matter who they are. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the

gentlelady from indiana seek recognition? mrs. walorski: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from indiana is recognized. mrs. walorski: mr. speaker, i rise today to congratulate the marion high school boys soccer team. for the first time in the school's 51-year history the knights won a state title. last weekend they claimed the last 1-a state boys soccer championship. it also earned the head coach his first state championship in 18 years as head coach. he was also named the northern indiana conference coach of the year. all season long marion competed against the best of the best. finishing with 20 wins and only two losses. mr. speaker, i stand before you today a very proud hoosier. marion high school is a great school and the team, coach, teachers, and entire student body should be proud today. i also want to recognize the parents who sacrifice so much for their kids to play in sports programs. the achievement that this is today is something these will have for a

lifetime. on behalf of the people of the second congressional district of the state of indiana, i applaud coach householder and the entire team for their determination, hard work, and ongratulate them all on an amazing season. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new hampshire seek recognition? the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. ms. kuster: today i rise in support of the new starts and small starts program which provides critical grant funding for the creation or extension of existing six diedway transit system. funding for these projects has facilitated the creation of dozens of new or extended public transportation systems in rural, suburban, and urban communities all across this country. by creating good-paying construction jobs and connecting job seeking commuters with employers, new starts offers significant benefits to communities that are in need of rail expansion. in new hampshire, across new

england, we have been working collaboratively with our neighboring states to create a unified vision for our region's rail networks. i was pleased to host a rail summit a few weeks ago that brought together regional stakeholders and officials from the federal railroad administration, the f.t.a. and new england states. as we continue to work on the highway bill this week, i urge my colleagues to support congressman lipinski-nadler-and dold's amendment which would restore much needed local flexibility for new start projects. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the entlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. sanford: last night in north carolina we lost one of our favorite sons. howard coble. a man who served in these false

for three full decades. yet his heart always belongs to the constituents of the old north state. i'm honored to stand with my colleagues today and others in acknowledging our congressman. howard demonstrated humility and grace. and it was evidence in the way he genuinely loved the people he represented. howard taught us many things, but most of all he demonstrated why statesmanship still matters. in a rhetoric driven political arena, howard understood why tone and approach continues to make a difference. he is often remembered by his attire, specifically the jacket. no, it didn't match many times, but he was confident enough in who he was. and evidently the ladies seemed to have no problem with it. howard did more than simply make no noise in this place. he made a difference. it's an honor to follow him, may our lord comfort his brother, ray, and entire coble family. with that i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina yields back his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek

recognition the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. higgins: mr. speaker, catholic medical partners is one of western new york's largest physician networks. deinvolved ars it's to clinical integration. in the first year it was one of the best performing organizations in the country, saving medicare more than $27 million while delivering quality care. at the helm its president and c.e.o. in a career spanning four decades as a mental health professional, a physician network executive, and a managed care administrator, dennis has been focused on improving patient experience and outcomes. it is my honor to recognize him for his commitment for using information technology, evidence based medicine, and physician coordination to improve quality care in western new york and throughout the nation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from new york yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, our nation is recognizing national apprenticeship week which is dedicated to highlighting the critical role of employers in training and educating workers for fulfilling jobs. graniteville, in south carolina, has built a word class apprenticeship program recognized by the department of labor by hiring and training high school students to work at m.t.u. or share their skills with any similar manufacturing company. the savannah river site has a dynamic apprenticeship program led by carroll johnson, president of the savannah river nuclear solutions and stuart mcconvenient, president of the savannah river remediation training students for their

radiation protection technology program. i am grateful for the apprenticeships south carolina led by the director, a program that pairs students and our technical college systems with employers to train students for well-paying jobs. in conclusion, god bless our troops and the president by his actions must never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. south carolina extends its sympathy to the family and many friends of our beloved former colleague and neighbor, howard coble, who passed away last night. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. kildee: thank you, mr. speaker. well, during his first speech our new speaker made a commitment to return the u.s. house of representatives to regular order. what does that mean? think schoolhouse rock, a process, an orderly process

where bills are introduced, debated, in a bipartisan committee process, amendments are allowed, and legislation is actually brought up for a vote. i could not agree with the speaker more. this congress -- country would benefit from a more open debate where voices from both parties are heard. where every member is empowered to fully be a part of the legislative process. to do the work that they were sent here to do on behalf of the people they work for. i know i have introduced many bills that have not been brought number committee, have never seen the light of day on the floor, i know other members share that frustration. that needs to end. we need to have a more open process. just last week 313 members of this body voted to re-authorize the export-import bank. almost every democrat, a majority of republicans came together in the legislative process worked. mr. speaker, i do call on you to continue to keep that promise, keep this an open

process. this is what the framers imagined and what the american people expect. with that, thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. last week i had the honor of meeting with garrett long and jessica, two very bright graduate students from u.c. davis in northern california who are invited to d.c. to present their work on soil science. mr. lamalfa: their research ocuses on the kem chemical and biological aspect of our soils that control our ecofunctions. the average layman might not find that too exciting but it is exciting for agriculture to advance these technologies and get more and better production and quality crops out of our lands. particularly one of the areas of research highlighted was their work in the wine growing region and the data and

research collected on how soil impacts our vineyards. that is something people can relate to is california wine. i have no doubt that the work will improve our agricultural industry for the better. i thank them for stopping by and sharing more about the work they are doing as well as their colleagues at u.c. davis and also congratulate the pair ir-o often their recent wreck negligence. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. as we prepare to honor the service of our men and women in uniform, -- uniform this veterans day, we must come together to stop one of the most egregious practices that is preying upon them. predatory payday loan companies are targeting our veterans at an alarming rate. in north texas alone, a fast cash payday advance of $500 that is rolled over five or more times could wind up

costing $1,200 or more. as a result, many are trapped in the cycle of debt. when these short-term loans are not repaid on time, usually within a required two or three weeks. mr. speaker, these companies have targeted our vulnerable veterans with the limited financial options, digging them deeper and deep into debt. we in the congress must work to cap these interest rates and require all lenders to follow the same standards as our local banks, mortgage companies, and other for-profit lenders. as a nation, we have a long way to go to make sure that those who have protected and defended our homeland are themselves protected and defended when they return home. -- home to rebuild their lives. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from it tennessee seek recognition? . the gentleman from tennessee is

recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to thank ms. nell mahoney for her years of columns in the chattanooga times free press, my hometown paper. nell has written for the paper for 3 years. her column has covered a wide array of topics, but largely focused on faith and spirituality. her words touched many in the community, including my wife, brenda, who eagerly awaited her column every sunday. nell moved to chattanooga with her late husband, the reverend ralph mahoney, in 1965 and immediately engrained herself in the methodist church and the entire town. mr. fleischmann: while her column may be finished, her community involvement is certainly not. ms. mahoney plans to continue teaching at the church, speaking around the community and is considering writing a book she has already written and published. thank you for giving so much of your time and touching so many people throughout our community.

i'll close from a line -- i'll close with a line from her favorite song. so long, farewell, and thank you, ne will, l. mr. speaker, -- nell. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from hawaii seek recognition? the gentlelady from hawaii is recognized. ms. gabbard: thank you, mr. speaker. in my home state of hawaii, have cost our local farmers and agriculture industry millions in lost revenue. across the country, these pests, along with other invasive insects, diseases and weeds, cost serious and harmful damage to our farmlands,ing can all the kl production, food supply, environment and public health. i've introduced an area-wide integrated pest management act to continue supporting long-term and sustainable solutions to fighting these knocksous and invasive species. in hawaii, aipm's have helped

increase the amount of commercial farms and have helped local farmers increase their crop diversity, decrease harmful pesticides and manage the pests in a cost effective way. this legislation will help farmers, ranchers and land managers all across the country redules the impact of these harmful invasive species. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? the gentleman from michigan is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in solidarity with washington state high school football coach joe kennedy. for seven years coach kennedy has prayed at midfield at the conclusion of the team's games. he didn't require anybody else to be there or listen. he simply knelt and quietly prayed to thank god for the safety of the kids on his team. last month the school district ordered him to stop. mr. walberg: when he didn't, coach kennedy was placed on administrative leave. can you believe the school district is trying to argue

that you can pray just as long as nobody sees it? but that's not what the constitution says. it protects the free exercise of religion. it doesn't say the public square should be a faith-free zone. faith must impact life. mr. speaker, i hope people of every faith, background and no faith at all will stand together in defense of every american's constitutional right to religious freedom. we stand with you, coach kennedy. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from michigan seek recognition? the gentlelady from michigan is recognized. mrs. lawrence: for the sake of constituents in the many communities with crumbling roads and bridges around this nation, i'm happy that we have finally -- that we finally have a bipartisan transportation bill to work for. sfor the record, i still believe -- for the record, i still believe we need a full six-year plan.

today i have an amendment that will modify section 3021 of the surface transportation re-authorization reform act. my amendment will examine the ability of seniors and people with disabilities to access public transportation and require the council to report to congress. one half of americans 65 and older do not have access to public transportation. those are rural areas and small towns, they're particularly affected, because transportation options are limited. seniors continue to drive as long as possible because they are unaware or do not believe hey have alternatives. seniors limit their driving or stop driving altogether because of functional disabilities. i urge my colleagues to support the lawrence amendment, 31, when it comes to the floor. seniors and those with

disabilities need this. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized. >> november is a special time to remember that love makes a family. during national adoption awareness month, people and organizations from across the nation come together to bring awareness to a cause that has become very important to my family. two years ago our family grew from five to seven when we adopted our twin girls. these girls have been such a blessing to our family and have inspired my wife and i to get involved with organizations that spread awareness about the importance of adoption. mr. mullin: there is no unwanted kids, just unfound families. although this month is dedicated to adoption awareness, we need to talk every day about the kids of all ages who need a permanent loving home. let's commit to creating a brighter few tier -- future for

our nation by ensuring every child has a safe home and loving family. i believe this is an effort we can all support. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? the gentleman from california is recognized. >> mr. speaker, with veterans day one week from today, i rise to call attention to an issue affecting military families across the country. in 2006, congress enacted the military lending act to protect service members from predatory lenders. but those same protections are not in place for veterans and their families. as a result, veterans often fall victim to payday lenders who offer unaffordable loans, forcing them even deeper into debt. tack tack in 2013 -- mr. takano: in 2013, california payday lenders generated 3/4 of their revenue from borrowers who took out seven or more loans. the consumer financial protection bureau should use its authority to crack down on the worst abuses in the payday

loan market. veterans and their families have made tremendous sacrifices to keep us safe. the least we can do is protect them from unethical lenders who deliberately trap them in a cycle of debt. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? the gentleman from new york is recognized. >> i rise today in support of the james adrogea 9/11 health and compensation re-authorization act, which permanently re-authorizes the world trade center health program and victims' compensation fund. after the attacks against america on september 11 of 2001, selfless heroes rushed toward the death and destruction. many will pay for their heroism for the rest of their lives. many have already paid with their lives. more than 33,000 americans have documented illnesses directly related to their work at ground zero. since 9/11, more than 200

firefighters and police officers have already passed away. in my district, more than 6,700 heroes rely on this act for medical care. not for the next five years, as being proposed, but for the rest of their lives. time doesn't erase or moral imperative to cover their medical expenses. it's an extension of the cost of the attack. america's heroes deserve a permanent re-authorization of the act and nothing less. mr. speaker, i ask that this house permanently re-authorize this program that is essential to our deserving heroes and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition? mr. cicilline: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized. mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, it's been 34 days since the murder of nine men and women at a community college in oregon. it's been 140 days since the murder of nine pa parishioner ners in charleston, south carolina, and it's been more than -- it's been 1,055 days since the murder of 20 children

and six adults at sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut. in the time since then, congress has done nothing to close loopholes in our background check system and make it easier to eyified i -- easier to identify a dangerous individual before they can buy a gun. there are more mass shootings in the united states each year than any other country and six of the 12 deadliest shootings in american history have taken place in the past eight years. it shouldn't be this way. it doesn't have to be this way. congress has the responsibility to stand up to the powerful special interests and say no more. there is no reason lawmakers in this body should continue to cower before the national riffle association. we are the people's representatives and it's time to get to work on commonsense reforms that will save the lives of thousands of americans and put an end to the epidemic of gun violence in our country. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from tennessee seek recognition? the gentlelady from tennessee

is recognized. mrs. black: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor the life of a tennessee giant. senator fred thompson. whether fred thompson was speaking on the senate floor, canvasing the state in his red pickup truck, or entertaining us on the big screen, he always did the volunteer state proud. in his lifetime, fred saw many accomplishments, but he remained the same. a proud product of lawrenceburg, tennessee, the son of a car salesman and the first person in his family to earn a college degree. fred was a statesman who led with conviction. he was a visionary who helped bring tennessee from a democratic strong hold to a conservative success story that it is today. he was a loving husband and father. he was a man of faith, who ew, who i knew found the ultimate healing today from the cans that are gripped his

lirget body. tennessee shines brighter because of fred tomp of thompson's service. we will miss him deeply but we know his legacy lives on. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? the gentlelady from florida is ecognized. >> mr. speaker, did you know it's manatee awareness month? every november we celebrate these beautiful gentle creatures. how lucky we are that florida is one of the few places in the world that you can see them. to raise awareness, i'd like to recognize the save the manatee club, an international nonprofit which has been working to save endangered manatees since 1981, when it was co-sponsored by jimmy buffet and my father, governor bob graham. ms. graham: their commitment to these unique animals has made great strides in protecting

them around the world. human activity presents the greatest threat to manatees, but we're also their greatest hope. only our compassion and action can protect them. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? the gentleman from utah is recognized. >> mr. speaker, yesterday president obama issued an executive memorandum that could turn into one of the most far-reaching and devastating environmental regulations in history. mr. stewart: this document, which holds the same weight as an depecktive -- executive order, aims to expand the 26-year-old policy set to require no net loss of wetlands to all natural resources. the economic impact of this regulation would be devastating to the west. why do i live in utah? i live there because i love it. i love to rock climb. i love to ski. i love the beauty of the place i live. all of us want to protect our

natural resources. but we can't put human interests at the bottom of the priority pile. this is such a huge power grab and it's going to devastate the trust that's essential between the president and the american people. it must be done, such a thing, by the people's congress, by those whoy are closest to the people -- those who are closest to the people. for that reason i will use every tool at my disposal to ensure that this outrageous presidential decree is not implemented. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from north carolina seek recognition? the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. adams: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor former congressman howard coble who passed away last night. howard coble was the epitome of a public servant. he served in the u.s. coast guard, the north carolina state house, and as the congressman

for north carolina's 12th congressional --sitionth congressional district for more than 30 years -- sixth congressional district for more than 30 years. he dedicated his life toing and it was exemplified in the way he ran his office. as a freshman member of congress, i took -- looked to coble in serving my constituents. he was steadfast, attentive and always he put his constituents first. some say he offered the best constituent services of any member. i'll never forget the night howard coble welcomed me to congress. the day i was sworn in. he later wished me well on my new journey as a member. my thoughts and prayers are with his family, his friends and former colleagues during this difficult time. he will be missed but never forgotten. howard coble's legacy will remain in the greensboro community and throughout north carolina as a man who served selflessly. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi seek recognition? . he

the the gentleman from mississippi is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today in honor of the 240th birthday of the united states marine corps, i'd like to offer the official marine's hymn and tribute to the brave men and women who serve as marines at home and abroad. from the halls of montezuma to the shores of tripoli, we fight our country's battles in the air, on land, and sea. first to fight for right and freedom, and to keep our honor clean, we are proud to claim the title of united states marine. mr. palazzo: our flags unfrled to every breeze, from dawn to setting sun, we have fought in every climb and place where we could take a gun. in the snow off northern lands, and sunny tropic scenes, you'll find us always on the job, the united states marines. here's health to you and to our corps, which we are proud to serve, and many astrife we fight for life, and never lost our nerve. if the army and the navy ever look on heaven scenes, they

will find the streets are guarded by united states marines. from one marine to another, happy birthday and semper fi. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? the gentleman from north arolina is recognized. mr. price: mr. speaker, it was a little less than a year ago that a number of of us were on the house floor to bid our colleague farewell to howard coble. the series of heartfelt tributes that day from members on both sides of the aisle were a striking reflection of the respect and admiration that so many of us felt for howard and he returned that affection. he always made the extra effort to get to know those who whom he worked regardless of their stature or party affiliation. howard was also an effective legislator, tireless advocate for the sixth district. he took on complicated and difficult issues in his leadership roles on the

judiciary and transportation committees. i was fortunate to partner with him on a number of bipartisan initiatives from teeks tile research to disaster relief, to funding for his beloved coast guard. in an era where our politics are too often fractious and dwifesive, howard's camaraderie, good humor, again rossity of spirit reflected the best of what this institution can be. lisa and i are saddened by his passing. we join his many friends and former colleagues in extending condolences to his family and in gratitude for his life. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new hampshire seek recognition? mr. guinta: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new hampshire is recognized. mr. guinta: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to announce the introduction of the veterans health and accountability act.

yesterday's veterans' affairs committee showed why this bill is so critical. an investigation revealed that veterans' affairs administrators likely gamed the system to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense, creating high-paying vacancies at desirable locations where they would have less responsibility. at the hearing they pled the fifth to avoid the truth. and they remain on the job. meanwhile, granite state vets are waiting for care. my veterans health and accountability act strengthens the veterans choice program, allowing veterans to seek private care due to inadequate v.a. facilities. my home state of new hampshire does not even have a full service v.a. the act also protects whistle blowers who expose negligence and mismanagement, if it were not for these individuals, we would never have discovered secret waiting lists where thousands of vets probably die the waiting for care. the bill i introduced clarifies hiring and firing rules so bad actors who abuse their positions can be exited

promptly. we must enforce and expand v.a. reforms to ensure our military vets receive the care we promised them. we must restore americans' trust in government. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from the virgin slands seek recognition? the gentlelady from the virgin islands is recognized. ms. plaskett: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to express my disapproval to the laddy wagen amendment to the surface transportation bill which was ultimately defeated last night 113-310. this amendment would have required the secretary to change the allocation program funds made available to the territories. this amendment would have potentially harmed my district, the u.s. virgin islandses and guam by possibly taking minimal unds away from these two territories. the funding provided in the transportation bill is yet another example of this congress' inability to address

the real needs of the u.s. territories whose economies have not recovered and require additional support. and while i certainly recognize and emempathize with the frustrations of some of my colleagues from the territories, it is the limited funding within this bill which has created an environment where we are literally fighting over scraps. the proposed funding in the bill barely provides any increase to the historically low allocation for the territorial highway program. i would like to thank both the chair and ranking member of the transportation and infrastructure committee, mr. shuster and mr. defazio, for not supporting the amendment and for recognizing that this is not an amendment that enjoys the full support of all the four smaller territories. i would also like to thank the dean, congresswoman bordello, of the territories of guam, for her efforts and engagement on this very born issue. i look forward to working with staff and fellow delegates from the areas on working together on resolving our problems. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired.

for what purpose does the gentlelady from arizona seek recognition? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the eaker pro tempore: gentlelady from arizona is recognized. ms. mcsally: mr. speaker, next week we celebrate veterans day, a time to honor the men and women who served our country in the military. today i want to recognize a standout veteran from my district. daniel standich. he served 10 years in the u.s. marine corps until a neurological condition he suffered from eventually rendered him completely blind. he received 100% service connected disabled, but that hasn't held him back. daniel completed a blind rehabilitation program at the southern arizona v.a. he enrolled at the university of arizona and was instrumental in establishing its student veterans center. a place that offers assistance to transitioning student veterans. the center now is a national

model for student veterans of america. today daniel is a staunch advocate for veterans across the country. he credits his education as being the most important factor in helping him overcome his disability and he now helps countless other veterans earn their degrees. in advance of veterans day, i thank all the men and women like daniel who serve and served our nation and continue to make a difference today. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the life and great legacy tally known as steve who passed away last week after his battle with cancer at the age of 62. steve was 11 years old when he began his career creating and selling his art work.

that passion is what led him to pursue and share his artisic vision with the community and world. mr. rue i: for more than 30 years, steve taught art at high school touching the life of every student who sat in his class. he was known internationally for his work, winning more than 100 awards in numerous competition, many of them if first place. he never let his success get in the way of his commitment to his students. and as a result, he inspired a new generation of artists to never give up on their dreams. steve was a mentor, a teacher, a friend, and above all, he was a great man. his memory will never be forgotten. as we mourn the passing of steven and celebrate his life, my thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, students, and the community. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address

the house. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you very much, mr. speaker. today i rise to support the step forward to cure t.s.c. 5-k walk taking place at florida international university's main campus, my alma mater, on saturday, november 14. tubular scler row sess complex is a rare genetic disease with no known cure that causes uncontrolled humor growth -- tumor growth. i know of one man from our community who was diagnosed with t.s.c. when he was only two weeks old. because of the love and care provided by his parents, doctors, and nurses, he has thrived in spite of constant health challenges. the walk's theme this year is superheroes, and max is indeed a superhero. i encourage all south floridians to walk to help find a cure for t.s.c. to benefit

young superheroes across the country just like max. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> thanks, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. perlmutter: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize dr. dan arvizu for his exceptional work as director of the national renewable energy laboratory in golden, colorado. e's retiring this year but his legacy will endure for many years to come. i want to take this moment to say thank you for outstanding stewardship of our nation's premiere energy efficiency and renewable energy laboratory. there, on to his role he's chairman of the national science board which is the governing board of the national science foundation.

he will continue his role as chairman of the national science board and he will also become a visiting professor at stanford university. on behalf of everyone, the people of the state of colorado, and the united states of america, let me say thank you for a job well-done. we wish you-all the best on the next steps of your journey. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado yields back his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. woodall: by direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 512 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 72, house resolution 512, resolved, that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of

the senate amendment to the text of the bill h.r. 22. to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to exempt employees with health coverage under tricare or the veterans administration from being taken into account for purposes of determining the employers to which the employer mandate applies under patient protection and affordable care act. section 2, a, no further amendment to the amendment referred to in section 2-a of house resolution 507 shall be in order except those printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution and amendments en bloc described in subsection c. b, each further amendment printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules shall be considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, may

be withdrawn by the proponent at any time before action thereon, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question. c, it shall be in order at any time for the chair of the committee on transportation and infrastructure or his designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules not earlier disposed of. amendments en bloc offered pursuant to this subsection shall be considered as read. shall be debatable for 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on transportation and infrastructure or their designees. shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question. d, all points of order against the further amendments printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules or amendments en bloc described in subsection c are waived. section 3, no further amendment

to the senate amendment as amended shall be in order except those printed in part b of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution. if such further amendment shall be considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, may be withdrawn by the proponent at any time before action thereon, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. against nts of order such amendments are waived. section 4-a, at conclusion of the consideration of the senate amendment for amendment, the committee of the whole shall rise and report the senate amendment as amended to the house with such further amendments as may have been adopted. b, if the committee reports the senate amendment as amended

back to the house with a further amendment or amendments, the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the question of adoption of such further amendment or amendments without intervening motion. in the case of sundry further amendments reported from the committee, the question of their adoption shall be put to the house engross and without division of the question. c, if the committee reports the senate amendment as amended back to the house without further amendments or the question of adoption referred to in subsection b fails, no further consideration of the senate amendment shall be in order except pursuant to a subsequent order of the house. section 5, the chair may postpone further consideration of the senate amendments in the house to such time as may be designated by the speaker. section 6, upon adoption of the further amendment or amendments in the house pursuant to section 4-b of this resolution, a, a motion that the house concur in the senate amendment to the text as amended with

such further amendments or amendments shall be considered as adopted. b, the clerk shall engross the action of the house under subsection a as a single amendment in the nature of a substitute. c, a motion that the house concur in the senate amendment to the title shall be considered as adopted and, d, it shall be in order for the chair of the committee on transportation and infrastructure or his designee to move that the house insist on its amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 22, and request a conference with the senate thereon. section 7, the chair of the committee on armed services may insert in the congressional record not later than november 16, 2015, such material as he may deem explanatory of defense authorization measures for iscal year 2016. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one hour. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, during consideration of this

resolution, all time is yielded for the purpose of debate only. and i'd like to yield the dust mare 30 minutes to my friend from -- the customary 30 minutes to my friend from colorado, mr. polis, pendsing which i yield myself such time as i may consume. i also ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. woodall: i find myself with a big smile on my face, mr. speaker. i usually do when the reading clerk sits down. you know, even if i could dispense with the reading of the rule, i wouldn't do it. i wouldn't do it. and even if there were some days where i would be tempted to do it, mr. speaker this wouldn't be that day. wouldn't be that day because we're down here with rule number 2 on the transportation bill up. remember we came down here yesterday, it was my friend from massachusetts and i, at that time, to bring a rule to consider the first six-year transportation bill this country's had in over a decade. it's a bill that the transportation committee has worked on for not days, not weeks, not months, but years to get it ready. it's a bill that was not pushed

by republicans or pushed by democrats, it was a bill that was pushed by all of us together. to do those kinds of important things that are necessary for infrastructure planning by each and every one of our constituents back home. it's a bill that has been moving in the senate which is a rarity in and of itself. it's a bill that we're moving here in the house. it's a bill that can go to the president's desk for his signature and make a difference for americans. make a difference in our economy. make a difference for our families. i sit on the transportation committee, mr. speaker, and you would think that my pride of authorship and all the good work we did on that committee would have said, we got it right the first time, let's just bring that bill to the floor, let's get it done, because it's important to america, let's finish it today. i see some of my colleagues from the transportation committee sitting down here. there might be a little temptation to take our work product and rush it straight to the desk. because we did do a pretty good job together. but in their wisdom, mr.

speaker, the chairman of the transportation committee, the ranking member of the transportation committee, the chairman of the rules committee, the ranking member of the rules committee, our leadership team here in the house said, you know what? there are a lot of members who don't sit on the transportation committee. there are a lot of members who represent some really smart, really talented folks back home in america, but their representative doesn't sit on the transportation committee. we need their ideas in this debate too. so we came to the floor yesterday, mr. speaker, and we brought a rule that made more than 20 amendments in order. we were debating that rule for -- we hadn't even finished debating the rule, we brought back more amendments made another 16 in order. we're back here today because that more than 40 was not enough, we want to make another 81 amendments in order. mr. speaker, this is a festival of democracy that is happening in this house today. every one's voice is included.

now, i want to be clear. we had over 300 amendments submitted to the rules committee. here on this floor, sometimes we have a very open process with appropriations bills, mr. speaker. where absolutely everyone can offer absolutely any idea at absolutely any time they want to. this process is a little more structured and i want to stipulate that that's true. we had a lot of duplicative amendments offered, mr. speaker. this is important work. we didn't want to waste the body's time. we called those duplicative amendments. we had a couple of amendments offered, mr. speaker, that were not minor changes to the underlying legislation, they were major revisions to public policy that had not had committee hearings, had not had any public discussions, we called those as well. but over 120 amendments, mr. speaker, will now be made in order on a bill, again, that was not the product of days of effort, not a product of weeks of effort, not months, but years of effort, of our house

transportation committee, to bring together a product that this body can be proud of. a product, i might add, that republicans in the past and democrats in the past have failed to come together and succeed on. this is a day of celebration, mr. speaker. as we offer this rule to consider even more of our colleagues' ideas. i hope that we will get unanimous support for this rule, mr. speaker, with the passage of this rule we can get into debate and we can move this bill one step closer to the president's desk. we can move one step closer to making a difference for those families back home. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: i thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he wishes to use. mr. polis: we'll get to the -- what's in the bill in a minute. with regards to the process, as an example of a member of this body, i had a number of issues in the transportation area i

wanted to address in my district. most notably i wanted to address the sound levels of train horns in our busy downtown areas like fort collins and longmont. it's one of the biggest issues i hear from our businesses. anybody who has been downtown, including myself, with the train blairing by, in close proximity, it really is a major detriment to the quality of life and there's no significant evidence that i've seen or has been presented to me that this in any way improves safety. so i did offer an amendment that would have changed that. unfortunately it was blocked in rules committee. now, on that particular issue we had a discussion with the chair and the ranking member of transportation, i hope to work with him in other ways, but to say that somehow this is an open process, that i can bring forth and other members can bring forth amendments to improve the bill, of course there were a few allowed, out of 302, there were 126 allowed, that means there's more

disappointed members that had ideas than there are satisfied members that are going to at least have the opportunity to bring their idea forward. so, i mean, again, 126, it's better than 50, it's better than 30. there's no question. but it also means there's an awful lot of republicans and democrats, including my olleague, mr. duffy, with whom i sponsored, he is the republican in a bipartisan amendment that would have dealt with train stoppages. we're dealing with this also in fort collins where we have trains that do switching and delay traffic. sometimes for 15, 30, 45 minutes. we're simply saying, you can't do that in urban zones that delay traffic. you can impede ambulances and fire engines from reaching their destinations. it's dangerous. we simply would -- we proposed an amendment to impose a civil penalty of $of $10,000 around -- of $10,000 around that to deter that kind of action.

unfortunately that amendment was blocked under this very rule that we're talking about here. so, again, while i'm sure, and i have, for instance, an amendment, very important to my district, for highway 70 designation, that's allowed under this rule, and i'm happy that it is, keep in mind, in per speblingtive, there are many doctor in perspective, there are -- in perspective ideas, -- perspective, there are many more ideas that were not even allowed to talk about and aren't even allowed to talk about under this rule. this restrictive rule that we have before us today. i wish that i could do something and that the rules committee allowed me to do something about excess train noise in our downtown areas. i wish that rules committee had allowed mr. duffy and myself and the many others of this effect to do something about train stoppages, closing traffic and endangering the public in our downtown areas, not allowed under in rule. not allowed at all. calling this bill a six-year re-authorization is also a bit of a misnomer.

the bill only makes funding available for two to three years. so this is not in fact a six-year bill, it's a two to three-year bill. it's being touted for something that it doesn't have the power to do. simply calling it a six-year bill when you're only funding it for two to three years doesn't make it so. our economy is still fragile. americans are concerned about maintaining and growing their quality of life, affordable housing, quality education, retirement are sometimes out of the grasp of too many americans. critical infrastructure on public roads and bridges are absolutely important for driving our economy forward. my colleagues and i are charged with recognizing and offering innovative solutions to these problems. we're each selected by constituencies that have particular items that impact them. i was sent here to work on train noise, as an example. and train stoppages that delay traffic, the designation of highway 70, which we hope to be

able to include in the final bill. nd many other transportation issues. some of which are reflected in the bill. i certainly commend my colleagues on the house transportation and infrastructure committee for working diligently, in trying to bring up a long term, robustly funded and thoughtful bill. this bill, unfortunately, is another exclusionary bill. again, you can certainly say there could be improvement to have more amendments than prior allowed but there are many more good ideas that republicans and democrats have offered that are not allowed to be debated under this bill. under this rule. i commend the process and its inclusion of critical provisions regarding the export-import bank. this is important to many companies in my district to ensure u.s. businesses are competing on a level playing field. as an example, fiber lock, located in my district in fort collins, is a specialty printing company that provides heat transfer graphics, it's

family-owned. and about 40% of its business sex port business. i also -- business is export business. company ited another which was named ex-im best exporter of the year. we want a level playing field for american businesses. and of course this package has some commendable transportation-related provisions. for instance, it provides 325 -- $325 billion in federal contract authority and allows for the direct deposit of any additional revenues congress is able to come up with. it invests in all modes of surface transportation, highway, transit, maintaining funding for alternatives like biking and walking, that should be commended. it creates $4.5 billion competitive grant program, allowing states to compete for geographically expansive projects that impact and can now be financed by multiple states and regions. unfortunately, however, this is not a six-year authorization. from the infrastructure 2.0 act

i recently introduced with my colleague, mr. delaney, to the president's grow america act of mr. defazio's and mr. blumenauer's initiatives, to reissue the gas tax, many of us have been in the forefront of offering eaveks for full funding -- avenues for full funding of this bill. yet unfortunately, time and time again, whether it's the repatriation concept or whether it's a re-indexation of the gas tax concept, all of the very reasonable offers and ideas that we have put forward have been repeatedly and inexplicably rejected. we've seen a failure from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to bring forward ways to actually pay for what they claim is a six-year bill. look, a long-term sustainable funding bill is what we want. if that's the bill we get, mr. chairman, i'll personally whip that bill. but this is not that bill. this bill fails to make the commitment needed to our nation's crumbling transportation and infrastructure and it sets the precedent of authorizing

investments without paying for them. which has been the whole difficult part of putting a bill together, which this bill just kicks the can down the road on. i oppose this overly restrictive rule and the path that we're taking to pretend that a bill is six years when we only pay for it for two to three years, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves his time. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. . mr. woodall: i remember when i ran for congress 4 1/2 years ago, i had this idea because i had the backing of 700,000 folks back in the district who had good ideas that we'd come up here and share our ideas and 434 of my colleagues would recognize the wisdom i brought from the great state of georgia, we'd make these things happen. it's been harder than i had anticipated, mr. speaker. i'll confess that to you. it's been harder than i anticipated. turns out there are folks from other parts of the country that have different ideas. my friend from colorado's

absolutely right. he offered two amendments yesterday and he only got one of them made in order. it's happened to me too. it's happened to me too. and so we got to talk about what we're going to define as success in this place. are we going to define getting half of everything you want as failure or define getting half of everything you want as a huge step in the right direction that we can celebrate together? there are not that many bills in this institution, mr. speaker, that are worked through in the bipartisan, clab -- collaborative way the way this one has happened. it's not easy. it's tremendously difficult. tremendously difficult. why? because we have legit mate disagreements about -- legit mate disagreements about -- legitimate disagreements about public policy. i don't want to tamp down my friend's wanting six-year funding. i wanted it from day one and i

will vote for it today. haven't found quite enthusiasm for that, not just this floor but the floor right down the hall in the united states senate. we're going to have to sort that out. i tell you with no small bit of optimism that i think we're going to find that six-year funding before we see a conference report back on this floor. i believe it. we need it. we have serious people working at it, and so we have the ability to make it so. but, mr. speaker, by any measure, by any measure certainty of funding, certainty of authorization, bipartisanship, nonpartisanship, amendments made in order, length of time of the authorization, length of time of the funding by any measure, this is the best transportation bill and the best transportation rule that

have come to this floor in more than a decade. more than a decade. mr. speaker, i don't want us to take our toys and go home claiming victory. that's not why we are here today. i want us to take credit for taking a small step in the right direction, a step that many have failed to succeed and ensure that won't be another hour or two or three or four but dozens of hours to continue to improve this work product of the house transportation committee. this is a moment of opportunity for us, mr. speaker. we can spend our time talking about what we didn't get or we can spend our time celebrating what we did get, put this bill on the president's desk, create certainty for america and then come right back together the day after and begin to make improvements once again. that's the way this institution

has always worked when it's worked at its finest, mr. speaker. that's the way i expect this institution to work today. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia reserves his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from oregon, the distinguished ranking member of the committee on transportation and infrastructure, mr. defazio. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon's recognized for two minutes. mr. defazio: well, in terms of what the gentleman from georgia just said, i do appreciate the fact that we are debating many policy amendments. that's the way the process should work. both sides of the aisle contribute, that's great. some were excluded that i think should have been included. i don't know why they weren't allowed. i was willing to stay here later last night and stay later tonight so everybody that wanted an amendment could have a chance, but the biggest and most glaring omission by the rules committee is any attempt of not allowing any attempt by this house to fund the bill. i mean, that's pretty extraordinary. it's actually -- we probably

don't have three years of pretend funding in the bill because some of those offsets were spent last week in the big budget bill. it isn't anywhere near six years of funding. even if we funded this bill for six years, at the end of six years our infrastructure will be more deteriorated than it is today. it's deteriorating more quickly than we're investing. that's a problem. we need to increase the investment. we haven't raised the federal gas tax since 1993. that's a user fee, a user fee created by president dwight david eisenhower and raised again by ronald reagan and then bill clinton, last time it was increased. user fee, fund infrastructure for transportation with a user fee. the u.s. chamber of commerce supports an increase in the user fee. the american trucking association supports an increase in the user fee. we're virtually being begged by interest groups out there representing consumers and

commercial users of the system, do something, vote on something. i offered a really simple little amendment. let's just index the existing gas tax so we don't lose more ground. if we did that, gas would go up 1.7 cents a gallon next year. whoa. i think consumers will be pleased we start filling in the potholes and doing away with the detours around the bridges that are closed. so, you know, and if you index and you project that, you could borrow money against the future income following the budget rules of pay-go. we could borrow $100 billion and fill in the huge hole in this bill and then use some of those so-called pay-fors to increase spending under this bill. why can't we have a simple vote on revenue? a vote by the house of representatives? the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume to say that i could identify with the gentleman from oregon's frustration.

the frustration you see is not from a gentleman who does not have any power over the process. he's the ranking member of the transportation committee, but the rules of the house prevent the transportation committee from funding transportation. it's an incredibly powerless space to be in. your job on the transportation committee is to come up with good transportation policy. you just can't pull any of the levers that fund it. that's the frustration you hear from my friend from oregon. i don't discount that in the least. what i do discount, however, is any suggestion that what's happening today is in any way unprecedented. my friend from oregon first began serving in this house when ronald reagan was president of the united states, and not one ways and means major funding bill has come to this house floor under an open rule in any day of the gentleman's service. not one. not one ways and means bill funding this government has come to the house floor under an open rule.

not under republicans, not under democrats, not ever. not ever. there are lots of reasons for that. i don't need to get into arcane budget policy, but what i do need to say is we have an opportunity in conference to solve this problem. we're grabbling with openness in this -- grappling with openness in this institution. people say, oh, you can't have openness on the floor because we have to take tough votes. i say if you don't want to take tough votes, don't run for congress. we have a serious challenge, however, in whether or not we allow a committee like the ways and means committee whose sole purpose, whose sole jurisdiction covers tax matters. nobody covers tax matters other than the ways and means committee. do we allow them to grapple funding issues or do we debate an amendment for 9 1/2 minutes and change federal tax policy together? we can do that. i'm glad we're not doing federal transportation policy

in a nine-minute stint. i'm glad we worked on it, again, not for days, not for months but for years together to get policy that worked. it's very puzzling to me, again, by any measure, by any measure this is the best transportation process and the best transportation rule that this body has seen in a decade. we can choose to recognize that and improve upon it or we can choose to continue the self-fladge lakes that continues to -- self-flagulation that continues in this congress today. i'm very proud to work with each one of you and proud of the work we have done together. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia reserves his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the democratic whip, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for three minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank the

gentleman. i need 10 minutes at least to respond to that assertion. there is no party with whom i've served over the last 35 ars has been any more into self-fladulation of the government than his party. mr. woodall: if the gentleman will yield? because i know the gentleman is not talking about me. the gentleman is talking about my party. mr. hoyer: i talked about your party. mr. woodall: i thank the gentleman. mr. hoyer: but i will tell you i disagree with the gentleman's basic premise. he talks about the rule. the rule is not the issue. i'm against this rule. it's substance. that's what the gentleman from oregon was talking about. he was talking about investing in making america grow, creating jobs. that's what we ought to be debating, not some rule of you have a lot of amendments. you can have a zillion amendments. it won't be a good rule. now, i rise in opposition to this rule. i rise in opposition because it would make in order several

amendments that undermine the will of the majority of both .arties in this house that export-import bank should be reopened immediately. i said for a year and a half the majority of this house was for it and for a year and a half it was bottled up by a committee chairman in a closed process. since some republicans blocked the extension of the export-import bank's charter and allow it to shut down in july, hundreds of jobs have been shipped overseas and many have not been able to complete on a level playing field in foreign markets. last month in an historic effort virtually all democrats and a majority of republicans came together to end the gridlock and take steps to allow the house to work its will and hold a vote on reopening the export-import bank. this bill seeks to reverse that process.

this rule. when that vote is out, mr. speaker, 127 republicans finally got the opportunity to work their will, and a majority of their conference joined with every democrat to reopen the bank and create jobs in this country. the will of this house is clear . unequivocal. the best way to reopen the bank is by keeping unchanged in this kirk language that 313 members, otherwise known as 75% of this body, voted for last week on this floor. the amendments that this rule would make in order are in to t a last-ditch attempt undo the will of the majority in this house.

i urge my colleagues to oppose this rule and should it be adopted, as is likely the case, i urge every one of my colleagues who voted to reopen the export-import bank last week to stand together in defeating every single amendment offered to the export-import bank. 10 more seconds. mr. polis: i yield 25 seconds to the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for 25 seconds. mr. hoyer: and so we can stand together to defeat all of the amendments that are offered to the export-import bank. it is a senate bill and a house bill that are exactly the same, and if they had been passed alone they'd be on the president's desk right now. once again, we need to help american exporters, but more importantly than that, we need to help american workers get and keep jobs. we talk a lot about it. this is an opportunity to do it. defeat any and every amendment no matter how sugary it may sound to defeat the

export-import bank, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado reserves, and the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. i don't fault my friend from maryland for not yielding. he had very limited time. i remember the days of the magic minute. those were better yielding -- those are better yielding days. mr. hoyer: there's no doubt about that. mr. woodall: i believe that to be true. mr. hoyer: but i'll yield to him on his time. mr. woodall: the gentleman is always generous. mr. speaker, while the chair -- while the minority whip was the majority leader of this institution, this house did a lot of big things, a lot of big things, but what they couldn't do, what they couldn't do was a bill like the one that ranking member defazio and chairman bill shuster brought to the floor today. dye -- we can cast this and call it whatever we want to

but the fact of the matter is it's a success. it's one we've done together. i don't -- i don't know where partisanship comes into this process, and it will be a shame if it comes into today because it sure hasn't been in in the previous days, weeks, months and years we've been working on this process. i had some great ideas for this bill, mr. speaker, and i serve on the transportation committee. where better for a fellow with great ideas on transportation to work than on the transportation committee? so i knocked on my chairman's door. i said, mr. chairman, i bring the wisdom of the seventh district of georgia of -- and let me give it to you so you can put it in the base text. he said, rob, we're doing this in a collaborative manner. if your ideas are that good, you bring me back those ideas together, we'll get it done. . that's right, that's what i did. i did go out and find some collegiality on the other side of the aisle zwefment include those ideas -- aisle. we did include those ideas in

the base text. that's what this project. is you can't do that on each piece of legislation, mr. speaker, the divisions are too great. but the minority whip was right. this is about jobs. there's not a local mayor in the country, mr. speaker, who doesn't know that as their transportation infrastructure and education infrastructure goes, so goes their community. we need to solve that education piece. today we're going to solve the transportation piece. not once in more than a decade has a bill come to the floor of this house with the kind of commitment to transportation and infrastructure that this bill has today. my hope is somewhere in these 81 amendments this rule makes in order we'll be able to improve upon that bill. if nothing else, if we can't improve upon it, at least we can find out where the will of the house is by defeating those amendments. mr. speaker, this is the process i ran to be part of. this is the way i imagined the house to work. i'm very proud to be here today. i hope my colleagues will take

some of that pride as well. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, a member of the committee on ways and means , mr. pascrell. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. pascrell: thank you, mr. speaker. i was proud to join my ways and means committee colleague, my counterpart, mr. rens ay from ohio, along with several other members in submitting to the rules committee a modified version of our bipartisan bill to provide long term, sustainable funding for our highways and bridges, which this bill does not do. our proposal would have used the next three paid-for years to set up a task force that divides a plan to fund the remaining years of the bill. continuity can ensure that construction projects and the jobs they provide don't come to a grinding halt when congress fails to act. the fact that our bipartisan

amendment to save the highway trust fund was shut out from floor consideration, but the devolution crowd gets a vote on their plan to dismanltle the fund -- dismantle the fund speaks volumes about how this leadership views the concept of an open process and regular order. to say nothing of the place for compromise and bipartisan solutions. look, we have a diverse coalition of colleagues, co-sponsoring our plan, support from the broad coalition of business, labor, construction, engineering and transit advocates. let's be frank. be it under democratic or republican control, this body has been loath to take the tough decisions needed on the issue of transportation funding. it is a disgrace that our bipartisan team was not given the chance to put the trust back into the trust fund. and i urge my colleagues, send

a message and oppose this bill. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. disgrace is a strong word from my friend. but i would say that if there is, if there is disappointment in this institution, it's that the ways and means committee, with sole jurisdiction over funding transportation, has failed under both republican and democratic leadership to provide long-term transportation funding. the gentleman serves on that committee, i don't. i welcome his support on the steering committee, if i try to make that move. it's not easy, mr. speaker. it is not easy to find that transportation funding. and the gentleman made a passionate, a passionate pitch in rules committee last night about the importance of keeping the user fee dynamic at play here. mr. speaker, there was a time where the transportation bill was pushed by folks back home, not because they needed

transportation certainty, as they so desperately need today, but because the local jurisdiction was only getting back about 80 cents out of every gas tax dollar they were sending in. they wanted to push that number up to 81 or 82. it brought us all together around pushing a bill. well, when we decided we didn't have the courage, i was not in this institution at that time, mr. speaker, but when we decided we didn't have the courage in the united states congress to actually fund what it was that we paid for, we began taking money out of general revenues and just stuffing it in the transportation trust fund. now, if you're a road builder, if you're in the business of getting people to work, if you're in the business of getting families out of traffic, if you're in the business of making america's economy grow, you thought that was a trade worth making. you had no idea that now that every state is getting back more than a dollar for every dollar of taxes they send in, it's really hard to get people back to the table to fix the problem that the gentleman is speaking of. we're at a nexus here, mr. speaker. but between trying to solve a problem and trying to preserve our user fee system, i don't

know where the division in the road is going to go. if we fail to maintain the user fee system, when we find those additional year, four -- years of transportation funding, we may never get it back. we may never get it back. mr. speaker, i represent a very conservative area in the great state of georgia. we don't much care for taxes of any kind. we don't mind taking care of one another, but we feel like we do it better ourselves than folks from far, far away. my local jurisdiction, mr. speaker, rejected federal gas taxes, rejected state gas taxes, passed for themselves a $200 million bonding initiative to build roads locally. because they believed they would get it done. users are paying for those roads. there's not a conservative in this country, i would posit, that is unwilling to pay for what it is that they use. it's our job to go sell that to

folks, that if you use it, you need to pay for it and there's no shame in that. it's a constitutional responsibility that we have in this body, that's one we ought to be proud to stand up and support. though i would say to my friends on the other side of the aisle, we're going to have some e.p.a. discussions in this legislation. my folks back home don't believe that if they send a dollar to washington they're going to get a dollar's worth of roads back in return. they don't. they believe 10%'s going to come off here and 10%'s going to come off there. it's going to be wasted on regulatory compliance here, it's going to be wasted on silly federal mandates there and they're going to get 50 cents of road for a dollar's worth of taxes. i don't think they're all wrong about, that mr. speaker. i think there's a lot of wisdom in that suspicion. now, this bill does a lot to correct that. we had the ranking member of the transportation committee in the rules committee two days ago making that very point, that this bill is working to restore that trust. i said to my friends on the

other side of the aisle who worry about funding as i worry about funding, if we restore that trust, we will have access to the funding. it's a very challenging issue, mr. speaker. it's our responsibility, having lost that trust, to restore it. this bill takes a major step in that direction. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia reserves. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from oregon, a member of the committee on ways and means, mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for two minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you. my friend from georgia suggested this is very complex and difficult and we wrapped ourselves around the axel and we can't do this in the rules committee or the transportation committee. that's hog wash. i wish that the ways and means committee would have accepted the legislation that i've had for the last five years, that is supported by the chamber and the truckers and the triple-a and bicyclists and engineers. but no.

they haven't done it. we could have an opportunity with this bill, having -- and there are a number of my colleagues who have proposals for finance, they wouldn't even make in order a study, for heaven's sakes. seven republican states this year, including georgia, have raised the gas tax. they've followed the admonition of president ronald reagan in 1982 who called on congress to come back after thanksgiving recess and raise the gas tax. i submitted the gentleman wasn't there -- i submitted, the gentleman wasn't there when i testified, i submitted a list of 18 organizations that support raising the gas tax. and we're not even allowed an opportunity to debate it on the floor. that's why we can't do as good a job as we want in this transportation bill. and what are we given?

three ear shell with years of sort of pay-fors. the this, requiring federal reserve dividend, which is opposed by most of the -- my republican friends, there are 150 people who signed a letter saying that's really stupid, selling the strategic oil reserve at twice what the current price is. and one of my favorites, having bill collectors hound poor people for their taxes. the last two times we tried it, it lost money. this is a fraud. i urge rejection. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i

may consume. as a rules committee member, and it's called the powerful house rules committee for a reason, i'm thrilled to see the parade of my ways and means colleagues on the house floor saying that what ways and means doesn't get done we should be doing in the rules committee instead. i'm excited about that. as i'm sure my friend from colorado is, as well. together we can do a lot of good tax policy. i have a bill called the fair tax. haven't been able to bring it to the floor yet. with the endorsement now of two of my ways and means friends that we ought to be able to make these amendments in order on major funding legislation and bring them to the floor, i'm looking forward to trying to try to get that delegation letter going. i don't have any democrats on the bill right now but i would welcome anybody. it's h.r. 25, fundamental tax reform bill, love to bring that to the floor. mr. speaker, we're talking as if it's over. right now. as if there's no more debate left to have. that's what's nonsense. we're going to continue improving this bill throughout the afternoon, into the night, into tomorrow, we're going to take this bill into conference

and improve it still. i've said it once, but i'll say it again. the opportunity for six years of funding is still there. it's still there. this isn't the time to turn the firing squad inward. this is the time to stand shoulder to shoulder and get out there and do this together. we believe in that, mr. speaker. we couldn't reach agreement with the senate last year because they wanted three years of funding and we wanted six. we were dreaming the big dreams, not as republicans and democrats, but as the u.s. house of representatives, as the people's house. those days are still upon us. we have an environment to win. i hope we'll see it. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from nevada, a member of the committee on transportation and infrastructure, ms. titus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from nevada is recognized for one minute. ms. titus: thank you. you know, when the new speaker

took the gavel last week, he promised us the house would run differently. that members on both sides of the aisle would get a chance to bring forth amendments and that the house would debate the merits of those. oday i'm reminded of the saying. like the gentleman admonished and as the chairman said, i worked across the aisle and brought a bipartisan amendment with my friend, mr. davis from illinois. it made a small charge about local use of transportation dollars. despite overwhelming support, we were denied the opportunity to bring that amendment to the floor. in the middle of the night, in the back room here in the capitol, the majority decided that the will of the people simply didn't have to be heard on this important transportation issue. yet they have allowed 10 amendments to be heard on the export-import bank, which has nothing to do with transportation and which was resolved a week ago. so indeed i say, the more things change, the more they

stay the same. so despite all the fancy rhetoric you're hearing, i would urge you to remember that and vote no on this rule. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. woodall: this new order that we have here, we're going to have to work through it together. it's not going to be easy. for folks who think it's going to be easy, i'd go ahead and turn your voting card in now and let somebody else come up here and do the work. it's not going to be easy, it's going to be hard. because what constitutes regular order for us? how do we work together? my friend from nevada just talked about her amendment that the rules committee didn't consider. she's absolutely right. that said, she offered the amendment in committee and withdrew it before we had a chance to vote on it. he had wwe had this topic before -- we had this topic before us in the transportation committee, didn't do it there, folks chose to do it on the house floor and in the rules committee instead. is that the way we want this

institution to work? do we want toig nor the issues -- to ignore the issues at the committee of jurisdiction and bring them to the house floor straight away or do we want to work through the committee process? i don't have all the answers, mr. speaker, i have one vote in a body of 435. i generally side on the side of openness as opposed to being closed. i generally side on the side of voting instead of not voting. . and of all the rules i had the chance to handle in the four years that the good people of the seventh district of georgia have entrusted me with the voting card, this rule makes in order more voices than any other rule i ever handled. if folks don't think we've gone far enough today, fair enough, let's talk about it again tomorrow. but i challenge you, i challenge you to tell me that we did it better yesterday. not we the republicans yesterday, not we the democrats

yesterday but we this house yesterday. i've been watching this .nstitution a long time not in more than 10 years have we even considered a bill of this magnitude on the floor of the house, and i'm pleased that we finally came together to do it today. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: we're happy to yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from maryland, mr. delanie. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. delaney: my friend talks about certainty that will be obtained by this bill. there is certainty that weal continue to underinvest in the infrastructure in the united states of america for the next six years. mr. speaker, because of recent funding levels, we have caused the infrastructure in this country be underinvested by a

huge number, right? people estimate we have a $6 trillion shortfall in our infrastructure. well, that's a huge challenge. it's also a huge opportunity. if we can actually increase our investment in infrastructure we will create jobs, we'll improve the lives of our constituents and we'll make our country more competitive. but instead we are looking at a bill that locks in infrastructure spending at current levels for another six years. how anyone could possibly look at the facts, look at the data and look at the situation of the infrastructure in this country and conclude that that is the right answer is beyond my comprehension. the only way to stop this chronic underinvestment in our infrastructure that will cause the infrastructure crisis in this country to continue to build is to reject this rule and to reject the underlying bill so that this congress can go back to the drawing board and figure out smart ways to increase our funding in infrastructure. and there are bipartisan solutions. we heard about some of them today. one of the ones i worked on for

years is to tie increasing our investment in infrastructure to international tax reform, where we have trillions of dollars sitting overseas trapped. if we can create pathways for that money to come back, we can allocate additional revenues to infrastructure and increase our investment in infrastructure so we will not continue to have the problem of chronic underinvestment in our infrastructure and we can rebuild america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. woodall: mr. speaker, i yield myself 30 seconds to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. woodall: i want to say to my friend from maryland, we are absolutely right. we can do better in terms of certainty. but i remind the gentleman, when democrats ran this institution the cycle before i got here, you passed six different transportation extension bills in two years. that means we're averaging four months of certainty. this bill, even under the most pessimistic assertions, gives us three years of certainty which is more certainty than america has seen in a decade. i'm not trying to stop trying,

mr. speaker. i want us to keep fighting forward together. i just want us to recognize this is the best we've done in a long, long time. let's take advantage of having done the best we've done in a long, long time, and let's keep trying to do better. with that, mr. speaker, i'd like to yield four minutes to a senior member of the transportation committee, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. duncan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for four minutes. mr. duncan: well, thank you, mr. speaker, and first of all, i want to thank the gentleman from georgia for yielding me this time. i think in my 27 years in this congress i can think of very few members who are better orators, greater speakers than the gentleman from georgia. i appreciate his giving me this time, and i rise in support of this rule. later today, congressman paulsen of minnesota and i will be offering an amendment that i think is very technical in nature but it's designed to help the smallest businesses in the trucking industry. i want to thank chairman shuster and ranking member

defazio for including some provisions from a bill that i introduced in the base text that establishes hiring practices that a freight broker must follow. my amendment, mine and mr. paulsen's amendment, clarifies the requirements that a freight broker must meet before hiring a motor carrier for the delivery of goods. this bill will require a broker to check to ensure that a motor carrier is first registered with and authorized by the federal motor carrier safety act -- safety administration to operate as a licensed motor carrier. secondly, it has the minimum insurance required by federal law and, third, has satisfactory safety fitness determination by the fmcsa. -- currently there are thousands of small trucking companies that are not audited by the fmcsa.

by adding the words be unrated, we ensure that these small companies will not be precluded from being in the pool of eligible motor carriers that can be used for shipping goods. without this modest change, thousands of very small, very safe trucking companies will be eliminated from the pool of eligible motor carriers. just because the fmcsa has not had time or staff levels enough to rate them. without this amendment, thousands of small companies that have never had a wreck or violation will be hurt. so without this change we will -- hurt small businesses and drive up the cost of shipping goods for everyone. this is an amendment for the little guy, the mom and pop operators. there is a second part to this amendment that adds a fourth requirement that must be checked by the brokers. this fourth condition requires the broker to check to make sure that a motor carrier has

not been issued an out-of-service order to prohibit a carrier from conducting operations. to conclude, i'll just say mine and mr. paulsen's amendment ensures we only have safe trucks on the road and that thousands of small businesses are not hurt in the process. this amendment is supported by the owner-operators independent drivers association, the transportation intermediaries association, various other associations. the international warehouse logistics association and on and on. i would urge my colleagues to look into this amendment and hopefully support it later today when we bring it to the floor. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee yields back his time. the gentleman from georgia reserves. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: mr. speaker, many american workers don't have access to paid sick days which means they can't miss work without losing a day's pay or risking their job security. sometimes endangering the

public health by spreading their flu or colds to others. mr. speaker, everyone should be able to take care of themselves or their loved ones when they're sick and not have to worry about losing their job or falling behind on their bills. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. polis: to discuss our proposal, i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from connecticut is recognized for two minutes. ms. delauro: mr. chairman, i rise in opposition to the previous question. defeating the previous question will allow us to amend the rule to provide for consideration of the healthy families act. it's an act that would allow workers to earn up to seven days of job-protected sick leave every year. being a working parent should not mean choosing between your job, taking care of yourself and your family. but at least 43 million private sector workers, 39% of the work

force makes this decision every time illness strikes. millions more cannot earn paid sick time to care for a sick child or for a family member. employers ultimately suffer when workers have to make this choice. increased turnover rates amount to greater cost. and employers can jeopardize the health of other employees when their policies force employees to come to work sick. paid sick day policies have been enacted successfully at the state and local levels. nearly 20 jurisdictions across the country have adopted paid sick day laws and there is strong public support for universal access to paid sick days. 88% of americans support paid sick day legislation. the healthy family act allows working families to meet their health, financial needs while boosting business' productivity and retention rate and it strengthens this nation's economy. it's common sense, business savvy.

it's the right thing to do. let's protect the public health, boost the economy, help hardworking families have access to paid sick days. let's pass the healthy families act. i urge my colleagues to oppose the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from colorado reserves, and the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. woodall: mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, the ranking member on the ways and means subcommittee on select revenue measures, mr. neal. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for two minutes. mr. neal: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we shouldn't be bragging about this legislation today, boasting about this legislation. let me give you the perspective of 27 years here. this used to be the easiest legislation to pass in this institution. it created greater cost efficiencies. it created greater investment. just as importantly, it put people to work immediately. there was no hearing held on

the tax title portion of this bill. there was no operation or opportunity for members to offer amendments in the ways and means committee. now, let me point out for that four-year period when we were in the majority, i held those hearings and then after the loss of elections during those four years, never came of it again. we have repeatedly urged the opportunity to talk about a genuine mechanism for financing the federal highway system, our irports, our railroads and the opportunity has not availed itself. and to point something out here that i think is noteworthy as well, this financing is held together by bubble gum. how many times are we going to sell the oil in the strategic petroleum reserve? every time i turn around it becomes the pay-for these days.

is there anything left in there? that's how we're going to finance the federal highway system? and a reminder, what i heard earlier that in some states people only want to pay for services that they use, that was the revenue mechanism, the user fee, the gas tax that allowed people to pay for the services that they used. namely, driving along on the federal highway system. now, how's that for complication? we're here today because we have not adequately addressed the federal highway system's responsibility, and that begins in this house of the congress where all financing, according to our constitution, is supposed to originate. but at the -- if the ways and means committee isn't taking it up, there's no opportunity for the house to take it up. don't brag about this rule today. it's a bad rule and we should vote it down and get to

financing the federal highway system the way it's supposed to be financed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. the gentleman from georgia has six minutes remaining. mr. woodall: mr. speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds to remind my friend during the congress before i arrived when he was chairman, four different extensions of the highway trust fund. not one of them funded with a change in the gas tax. be happy to yield to my friend. mr. neal: i thank the gentleman. we held the hearings. we had the chamber of commerce and the american trucking organization and we were set to go and then we lost the institution and that was the end of the discussion of the federal highway system. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. does the gentleman from georgia wish to be recognized? reserves. then the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from vermont, a member of the committee on energy and commerce, mr. welch. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont is

recognized for a minute and a half. mr. welch: i thank the gentleman. as mr. neal said, this transportation highway bill used to be a solid bipartisan bill that invested in the future of this country. this congress has set different expectations, and i think if we're candid with ourselves and with the american people, we have become a low-expectations congress. and i guess it could be said that this bill meets but certainly doesn't exceed the low expectations that prevail in this body. what it will do, this is true, it will have a six-year bill authorization with three years of bubble gum-style funding. that's going to give some certainty to the agency of transportation in vermont, so it is true that this is better than when we were doing three-year -- three-month extensions and five-month extensions on, quote, pension smoothing. but you know what, america deserves better. america needs more. and we can provide it.

we have jobs to create, work to be done, workers ready to put shovels in the ground and to get america moving again. and it's within our power, both sides, to make that happen but it can't happen if we're so fearful that we even discuss revenue measures that we don't have hearings on them. we've had good proposals from mr. blumenauer, a bipartisan proposal with mr. renacci and mr. pascrell. the delaney proposal. there are solutions out there that are going to invest in this country, generate jobs for this economy, increase the gross domestic product and make our economy more competitive and our highway system safer. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. woodall: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado voiced. mr. polis: i'd like to yield two minutes -- is recognized. mr. polis: i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman

from maryland. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from maryland is recognized for two minutes. ms. edwards: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise today in opposition to the rule, precisely because it makes in order various export-import bank amendments that are actually designed to kill what we just did to make sure that we could re-authorize the export-import bank. nonetheless, i'm grateful that chairman shuster and graves and ranking members defazio and norton and their committee and the personnel staffs for their leadership in trying to move forward a six-year re-authorization. all of us have acknowledged that this is far from perfect. but the fact is america's literally falling apart, by asphalt, by rebash, by steel, by rail. pot hole by pot hole, just falling apart. the united states now ranks 16th in infrastructure according to the world economic forum. according to the american society of civil engineers, the overall assessment of our infrastructure ranks a whopping d-plus. as some of you remember from

"the washington post" back in february, a constituent of mine was driving on a parkway just outside of d.c., she's minding her own business, running her err ands, and what -- her errands and what happens? a chunk of cement falls down and hits her car. fortunately no one was injured. but this is just one example of a project that was on the federal list and simply wasn't worked on because there's no money to do it. and so i support what we're doing today in terms of a bipartisan authorization for a long-term authorization, but this is not where near what we need to do to repair the couple of trillion dollars in infrastructure deficits that we face in this country. that is causing us not to be as competitive as we need to be, and really is taking up a bunch of time for people who are stuck on roads that are going nowhere. so let me be clear. this is not the bill that i would have written. it's not perfect. but maybe it's the best that we can do under the circumstances.

clearly, though, we shouldn't have a six-year authorization with only a couple of years of funding. and there have been numerous proposals to fund our long-term infrastructure. i'm grateful that i was able to at least work on a couple of amendments regarding oversight of the washington metropolitan area transportation authority, and i look forward to continuing to work on these efforts. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from georgia. mr. woodall: mr. speaker, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: reserves. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: we're ready to close , if the gentleman has any speakers? ok, the i yield myself such -- ok, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the gentleman has 3 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. polis: thank you. i do want to acknowledge a few of my colleagues, they've talked about selling down the strategic petroleum reserve. i think that's a great bipartisan idea. to pay for something. we actually no longer need to

have crude oil in a strategic petroleum reserve. our nation is a net producer of crude oil. so they're stockpiling the same stuff that we're talking about exporting, namely unproelse ised crude oil. there is a component of the -- unproelse ised crude oil. there is a component -- unprocessed crude oil. there is a component. we can use the strategic petroleum reserve as an pay-for other items until it is successfully phased out over the next few years. i think this is this bill is a first step. it is an accounting trick in terms of the dollar value of that. they're assuming that it will be sold at a roughly twice the current price of oil. that may happen, it may not. we don't know. but at least it's being sold and that's a good thing. 1/3 of our nation's roads are rated poor or meet oaker. we need to do better. we have a responsibility to address the transportation and infrastructure crisis.

have you ever been to fort collins, the biggest city in my congressional district, home to colorado state university, you find a lot of traffic along highway 25. if you've ever traveled highway 70 to our world class ski resorts like veil or breaken ridge, you might very well have been locked in traffic as you went out there to enjoy the ski season or the summer high season. fort collins, loveland, boulder, these are our communities that are tourism and recreation driven. and we need a 21st century transportation solution that provides consistency in funding levels. not a shell game to fund two years of a six-year bill. we need to open up a future for major highway improvements like we needed highway 25 and 70, we need to put politics aside and not she roud a two-year bill behind a facade of a six-year bill. our parents and grandparents sacrificed the bill, the world class national infrastructure system, but we need the courage

to maintain it and improve it. for the 21st century. i urge my colleagues to consider the responsibility of this maneuver and move the previous question and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado yields back his time. the gentleman from georgia. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. could i ask how much time remains? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia has 5 3/4 minutes. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. speaker. we won't need that time. i appreciate my friend from colorado working with me on this rule today. and appreciate all the folks on the transportation committee who made this possible. and the whole body that came in front of the rules committee, bringing amendments, to try to make a bill better. i don't want to suggest that the differences that we have between one another here are in any way going away. because of this bill. they're not. i've heard passionate speech after passionate speech about funding of this bill. i share some of those concerns.

but i represent a county of 200,000 people who just raised $200 million in a bonding initiative to build their roads. until my colleagues have raised the taxes on their constituents by $1,000 on every man, woman and child, $4,000 on a family of four, to build roads back home in your district, please don't come and ask my constituents to pay even more. georgia is one of the states that has raised its gas tax from a seven-cent sales tax to a 26-cent excise tax. when your state has taken on that same burden of responsibility, come back to me and tell me how much more georgia needs to put in to help you. the devolution of the transportation trust fund has long been a conversation in

this body. but by holding the federal gas tax constant over these years, that devolution has been happening naturally, with the effect of inflation. and localities are picking up the tab. you know what we're celebrating this week, mr. speaker, back home? this is election week, of course. a year ago this week is when the county passed its $200 million bonding initiative. you you know when they broke ground on their project, mr. speaker? this week. this week. you tell me that time is money, it's true. in transportation. i challenge you. find that federal project that you're working on back home in your district, that you're going from conception to ground breaking in 12 months. i want to help you funed the funding to make it happen. i do. because clearly you're running at a hinetted level of efficiency and it deserves our support. mr. speaker, the reason we need this bill is because we're not getting a dollar's worth of value out of a dollar's worth of federal taxes.

the reason we need this bill is to help make some of those bipartisan reforms to the infrastructure program that just don't make sense. they just don't make sense in the 21st century, and it's no wonder. democratic congresses failed to succeed in this effort. republican congresses failed to succeed in this effort. this congress succeeding in this effort. 81 new amendments with this rule today. 81 new ideas with this amendment today. underlying bill, mr. speaker, more certainty, more funding than any other proposal this body has considered in more than a decade. this rule, more openness, more voices, more amendments than any other rule of this nature that i've been able to handle in 4 1/2 years here. we don't get it right every day. we don't get it right every day. votes don't go the way i want them to go every day. but we've got a chance, mr.

speaker, we've got a chance with this bill, with this process, with this new house leadership team to restore the trust that's been lost for if a too long. with, that mr. speaker, -- for far too long. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and urge support for the rule and the underlying resolution and move the believe question. the speaker pro tempore: both sides have yielded back their time. the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. polis: mr. chairman, on that i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous con sent to remove my name as a co-sponsor on h.r. 1019.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. o ordered. pursuant to house resolution 507, and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of senate amendment to the text of h.r. 22. will the gentleman from idaho, mr. simpson, kindly resume the chair. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of senate amendments to the text of h.r. 22 which the clerk will report

by title. the clerk: an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, to exempt employees with health coverage under tricare, or the veterans administration from being taken into account for purposes of determining the employers to which the employer mandate applies under the patient protection and affordable care act. the chair: when the committee of the whole house rose on tuesday, november 3, 2015, amendment number 45, printed in part b of house report 114-325, offered by the gentleman from california, mrs. napolitano, had been disposed of. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> mr. chairman, i ask unanimous consent to withdraw my request for a recorded vote on my amendment, number 40, to the end that the amendment stand adopted in accordance with the voice vote thereon. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 40 printed in part b of house report 114-325 offered by mr. rothfus of pennsylvania. the chair: is there objection? earing none, so ordered.

he amendment stands adopted. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will now resume on those amendments printed in part b of house report 114-325 on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order. mendment number 37 as modified by mrs. hartzler of missouri, amendment number 39 by mr. roony of florida, amendment number 41 by mr. desan yea of california. the chair will reduce to two minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote in this series. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 37 as modified printed in part b of house report 114-325 by the gentlewoman from missouri, mrs. hartzler, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 37 fingerprint -- printed in part b of house report 114-325 as

ass modified by mrs. hartzler of missouri. the chair: the recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute involvement vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]