cap cap i'm getting sick -- mr. capuano: i'm getting sick and tired of geeg with my colleagues. mr. speaker, i rise to support senate 808 which re-authorizes the s.t.b. this board has not been re-authorized since it was cre 1995.ted in that's ridiculous. it's about time we do it and i'm happy to participate in that. the surface transportation board is currently a three-member bipartisan agency within the department of transportation. they have regulatory jurisdiction over the rates they charge customers, mergers, new rail line construction, abandonment and conversion of existing rail lines and other such matters. an agency that very few americans know about, it has a profound impact on the availability and costs of goods across our nation. this bill makes a number of

reforms. it establishes the s.t.b. as an independent entity rather than as part of the department of transportation and expands board membership from three to five. i know that sounds like a small matter, but by doing so it allows members to talk to each other without breaking laws for open government purposes. the bill requires to streamline processes and set rate review time lines and requires the s.t.b. to initiate a proceeding to develop other methods to expedite rate cases. for the first time, the s.t.b. would be able to initiate their own investigations on different allegations. right now the current law requires someone to bring a complaint before they can initiate a review, and this is a major improvement. the bill requires the s.t.b. to establish a voluntary and binding arbitration process to resolve complaints and requires

the s.t.b. to determine whether current large rate cases are cost effective and not unduly complex. it is a good step forward on an important if not a widely known agency. i urge members to support this bill and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. shuster: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. shuster: and i want to thank mr. capuano, mr. denham and mr. defazio. i think mr. capuano said it accurately, this is what transportation and infrastructure bills should be coming to the floor in a bipartisan way because this is good for america. nothing to do with republicans or democrats. but what's good for the american people and the american economy and the surface transportation board is the federal economic regulator of the freight system.

since it was passed, i believe mr. capuano mentioned, our freight rail system is the envy of the world. it's strong and vibrant. it does a great job, but this s.t.b. re-authorization and making some of the significant changes i know is going to be beneficial to everybody. mr. denham kicked off a list of different stakeholders, people that utilize the rail that are in favor of this and they sat down and worked it out. it will allow them to run efficiently and improve the nation's economy. i'm not going to go through all the description as mr. capuano did a great job of that. giving them authority that is going to streamline this and get rate cases to the s.t.b. faster and get us through that process quicker. that is extremely important in this. i believe this legislation is a crucial step forward for the

railroad industry and folks that use it and the american economy. the senate passed this bill with broad support and i'm pleased we are moving this forward today. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. capuano: i yield to my friend and the ranking member of the transportation and infrastructure committee, mr. defazio. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: i thank you for yielding. and he has already explained in detail what is important about this legislation. first re-authorization since the creation of the agency, streamlining of rate dispute processes, the potential of arbitration in the future and enlarging the board so they can make decisions without violating public meetings laws. all those things are very important. and i'm going to add a little

bit of what does this mean to me kind of stuff for anybody who might be interested. when i was a relatively junior member of congress, probably the only member who has testified twice before the surface transportation board and we had a huge crisis in the west. think it was after the u.p.s. merger where my christmas tree growers couldn't get rail cars. and so i famously made the grinch who stole christmas case to the surface transportation board and we got rail cars delivered and got trees delivered to families all across the western united states. that was important to -- an important little industry that we have in oregon. more importantly, i went to the surface transportation board again. we had something called rail

america, which was accumulation of many, many short-line railroads across the country. and it was bought by and being managed by one of those wonderful wall street hedge funds, who were driving both our rail lines and other rail lines into the ground and didn't have the slightest interest being in the rail business but tried to drain what money they could out of those railroads. and one bright sunny day, they coos bay abandon the railroad. miles.covers about 150 the only rail to the coast and to a major port in oregon, the port of coos bay, north end. they managed to get their equipment back, but they

stranded rail cars full of lumber and other goods by saying, sorry, it's done. we're done. they didn't notify anybody. no proper procedures were followed and we are abandonning the line and rip it up and sell it to the chinese for scrap. that didn't come to pass. i got together with the then governor and we brought legal clout to the table. we partnered with the port of coos bay north end and said what if we could buy this railroad. the hedge fund said they weren't interested in. they thought they could rip it up and selling the scrap fields to china. i went to the surface transportation board and the surface transportation board made the hedge fund sell the railroad as a railroad. it was an incredibly critical piece of infrastructure. and i took one of those horrible

earmarks that we don't do here anymore that we got to improve the rail bridge over the harbor and got that converted in a technical correction to get money to purchase the railroad from the rotten hedge fund. and the port became the operator. and last year it got the small line operator of the year award. it is providing tremendous economic benefit and future for the south coast of my district. and absent the regulators, we want to carry on about how bad they are, when you have abusers who buy up critical infrastructure and couldn't give a damn about them, we need people like the surface transportation board to preserve critical assets for our communities. i'm thrilled to be here today to re-authorize for the first time the surface transportation board.

streamline them and enhance their capabilities so in the future, others can get quick judgment when they need and deserve it. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the chair will reseff a message. the messenger: a message from the senate. the secretary: i have been directed to inform the house that the senate has passed h.r. 2250 making appropriations for the legislative branch ending september 30, 2016 in which the concurrence of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized. mr. shuster: i inquire -- i'm ready to close. mr. capuano: i yield. mr. shuster: i would like to submit for the record a list of over 160 organizations that

support s. 808, they are users of the railroad system, from ag agricultural interests. i would my colleagues to support this important re-authorization and reform to the surface transportation pord. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 808. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 188. the clerk: a bill to authorize appropriations for the coast guard for fiscal year 2016 and 2017 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california, mr. hunter, and the gentleman from

california, mr. garamendi, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. hunter: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to include extraneous material on h.r. 4188. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the coast guard authorization act of 2015 is a product of bipartisan efforts to re-authorize the coast guard through fiscal year 2017. the house passed similar legislation by a voice vote in may. the bill makes several reform to coast guard authorities as well as laws governing shipping and navigation. specifically, the bill supports coast guard service members and mission effectiveness and enhances oversight of the coast guard program and enhances job growth and strengthens maritime drug enforcement laws, increases partner nations and port security and it does all this in a way that allows to be brought

under suspension in a bipartisan way. i want to commend ranking members defazio and garmeppedy getting us to this point and chairman shuster. i thank the men and women of the u.s. coast guard. service meals place their lives at risk on a daily basis to ensure the safety and security and protect our environmental resources and do this on aging cutters and aircraft. passing h.r. 4188 will help and rebuild the coast guard and the strong support that congress has and the deep appreciation we have that they make in the sacrifices. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. garamendi: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i'm pleased to be here again at the end of another year to rise

and join chairman hunter and been able to get stuff done. thank you for bringing this bill to the floor today to fund the united states coast guard and advance new policy initiatives to strengthen the prospects of the u.s. flag and u.s. maritime industry. the coast guard re-authorization act of 2015 is carefully crafted bipartisan legislation developed over the course of several months of negotiation within this house and with that other body. it's deserving of robust support and members of both sides of the aisle and i urge its quick passage. i thank chairman hunter for all the leadership and the cooperative spirit in working with me and my other democratic members. you addressed our concerns and they are taken care of in the bill. the willingness of chairman hunter and his staff members of the coast guard subcommittee to collaborate and work through

several issues. very much appreciated. that's not this bill that's not to say this bill doesn't have any items that i'm not concerned about. this bill has those minor issues. and i'm sure the chairman, if he were to draft it all by himself, it would be perfect also. but we do it together and it came out quite well. i'm extremely pleased that this legislation would provide stable and sufficient authorized funding levels for the coast guard for the next two years. the importance of budget stability cannot be overstated. the coast guard is pressed daily to meet the demands of its 11 statutory missions. the last thing the coast guard needs is to face recurrent budget uncertainties. a circumstance which would leave the services' leadership unable to know exactly what resources and capabilities they have available to address port, harbor security, illegal drug

interdiction, search and rescue, and law enforcement actions, along with many other important activities. i'm also pleased this legislation continues to move the ball down the field in the effort to strengthen and recapitalize a new fleet of polar class heavy icebreakers for the coast guard. it's clear that we're at the advent of antarctic operations for the coast guard. and it's vital that the service has the ice breaking capabilities it will need to operate safely and effectively in this very unfor giving maritime environment. the bill would advance the completion of the material assessment of the polar sea to determine finally if this heavy icebreaker can be returned to service. additionally, this legislation authorized funding to allow the coast guard to maintain progress in developing requirements and preliminary sign for a new heavy

icebreaker, so we'll figure out hopefully this next year which way we'll go. i'm also pleased that this legislation includes language that will continue to preserve and -- the remaining lorraine c. infrastructure until such time as that -- the administration makes a final decision on whether or not to build out and enhance lorraine or e. lorraine infrastructure, to provide a reliable land-based, low-frequency, backup navigation timing signal to back up g.p.s., the global positioning system. for several years, we have known that the relatively weak high frequency g.p.s. signal is fairly easy to corrupt, degrade and altogether disrupt, stop. for this reason the secretary of defense, ash carter, has called g.p.s. a potential single source of failure for important national defense assets. it's also a major liability across 16 sectors of critical infrastructure. if russia, china and the e.u.

have land-based g.p.s. backup systems, the question, is why does the united states not have one? this administration needs to make a decision now and at least language in this legislation ensures that we will have a available the option -- have available the option of repurposing of repurposing -- of what remains of the e. lorraine infrastructure for an e. lorraine of the future. in closing, mr. speaker, i've already said it twice, i'll say it a third time. chairman hunter and your staff, we like working with you. and we like you too. with that, mr. chairman, i reserve my remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. hunter: thank you, mr. speaker. we enjoy working with you as well. it's a strange situation where we actually get stuff done. mr. garamendi: it's a california thing. mr. hunter: it's a califnia thing. i'd like to yield the gentlema from texas, mr. smith, as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i thank

my friend from california, the chairman of the coast guard subcommittee, duncan hunter, for yielding me time. and i also want to thank both him and the transportation committee chairman himself, bill shuster, for their work on this legislation. th bill ensures the safety and security of our maritime borders and maritime interests around the globe. the committee on science, space and technology shares jurisdiction with the transportation and infrastructure committ over important research and development programs carried out by the coast guard. these programs improve search and rescue, navigatio marine safety, marine vironmental protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, i.c.e. operations, ocean graphic research, and defense readiness. the bill also thorizes funding to help acquire a new polar icebreaker and requires a study of alternatives for conducting icebreaking operations. the coast guard's icebreakers are critil to the united states' missions in the polar regions, which include

important research supported by the national science foundation. i look forward to the results of this study. this bill calls for on cost-effective alternatives for ice breaking. this will help usnsure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely andfficiently. again, i thank chairman hunter and chairman shuster for taking the initiative with this critical legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. hunter: i thank the gentleman. reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserve the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. garamendi: mr. speaker, i yield such time as he may consume, as long as it's less than three minutes, to the ranking member of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. tonko: -- mr. defazio: i thanthe gentleman for yielding. i want to congratulate chairman hunter, ranking member you know, talk -- just breechly about how

important this legislation is. coast grd, first off, is now going to get two years of budget certainty. that's been a real problem. it's pretty hard to run a military organization that arge on something that creates short-term uncertainty with your budget. particularly when they have to begin to plan for acquiring more major assets, with larger ships. in pticular, we've just been talking about the icebreakers. i went up to seattle to visit the polar sea and itsdy creptude. but the interesting thing i found is it's an absolutely unique hull design. the ice fan contains materials that are no longer manufactured. they're superi to current tech nothings. and -- technologies. and there is substantial thought that this shicould be enovated using the

i believe it's critical that we maintain this infrastructure until we know what alternatives we are going to have and i think it is a critical national security asset and then finally to the more every day less national security oriented duties of the coast guard in this bill, there is a particular provision that is incredibly important to the state of oregon and the state of south carolina and to hundreds of people who make their living on the ocean out of those two ports. the port of newport, midcoast

oregon has an air-rescue facility. they do half. oregon has extremely cold water year round. we have some of the roughest entrances into the united states and rescue time is critical in terms of saving lives. the coast guard has been underfunded by congress and we are beginning to rectify that. in a budget-cutting mode with no discussion with anyone, they proposed to close newport and close charleston. there was in the omnibus bill at the end of the year, we put in place a one-year prohibition on the closure. this bill extends the statutory prohibition on closing either of those two stations for two years and puts in place a very different and very meaningful process should they ever wish to think about closing critical air-rescue stations in the future. on it requires them to develop a

program to manage their air frames and figure out how to replace our helicopter fleets which is at the same point as the ice breakers. they have to develop that. if they wish to close an individual station, the secretary of homeland security would have to make a number of findings that it wouldn't jeopardize life and safety and a pretty long list and if the secretary makes that determination, the secretary would have to go forward in a public process to take input from those communities and then if the secretary further decided after going through that that this was necessary and prudent and wouldn't jeopardize lives and safety at sea, they would have to submit the proposal to the congress. so so we've effectively safeguarded the port and stations in this legislation and i believe we have safeguarded them for all time and i believe also congress

should give the coast guard adequate funding so they can replenish and rebuild their air fleet and they don't have to struggle and close stations that they know could potentially lose -- lead to loss of life. so, there are many, many things to recommend this legislation and i would expect congress to, nearly if not totally, unanimously, improve it on this side and hopefully we can get the senate to finally act. because we need this done by january 1. with that, i'd yield back the balance of my time. thank the gentleman for the generous grant of time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. hunter: mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. garamendi: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to my colleague from florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. brown: thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank the chairman and ranking member for their work on moving the coast guard bill forward. transportation is one of the

most bipartisan bills in this congress and i am just so proud that we are really moving this congress forward and putting the american people back to work. and the coast guard personnel serve this country and do a wonderful job and i truly appreciate the hard work and dedication of these fine service members. the coast guard have been protecting our shores for more than 200 years, have done an outstanding job. the coast guard was the first agency to react to the terrorist attack on september 11, and provide critical assistance during the devastation of hurricane katrina. this bill provides the resources and policy provisions that the coast guard needs to continue their critical mission. assisting migrants and stopping drug shipments at the sea, search and rescue missions, monitoring our ports and protecting our homeland, just are a few of the vital services that the coast guard provides.

all of which is critical to my home state of florida, where 14 deep water ports and 1,200 miles of coast line are the gateway to america. this legislation also includes important provisions i have long championed that bring maritime law into the modern era and recognize the positive change that has taken place in employment rights. again, i want to thank the men and women serving the coast guard, for their hard work and vigilance in protecting our country. this is a good bill and it will allow the coast guard to continue protecting our nation and i strongly encourage it passing in both the house and the senate and the president sign it into law. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. hunter: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. garamendi: may i inquire how much time we have. the speaker pro tempore: seven minutes remaining. mr. garamendi: more than enough. i yield two minutes to my

colleague from connecticut. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. as co-chairman of the house coast guard caucus and a representative from southeastern connecticut with a deep connection to the coast guard, i rise in is strong support of the coast guard authorization bill and the hard work of chairman hunter and ranking member garamendi. every single day the men and women of the coast guard are operating around the country, around the world, to enforce our laws and protect our country. mr. courtney: this bill provides them the tools and support they need to do this important work. in particular, i want to highlight a specific provision of the bill, section 219, that was pleased to work with my colleague from connecticut, senator blumenthal, and committee staff to bolster the national coast guard mue siege. despite a history that reaches back to the founding of our nation, the coast guard is the only armed service without a national museum to highlight its heritage. indeed, the coast guard this year is celebrating its 225th anniversary and is actually older than the u.s. navy. thankfully efforts are under way to change this. the nonprofit national coast guard museum association is building a national support and funding for new museum in new london, connecticut.

when completed this facility will be a tribute to all that have served and those who serve today in the coast guard and i'm proud to support their efforts. section 219 ensures that the coast guard can provide support to preserve and display its historical artifacts that will be a key part of the museum. the language opens the vault of the coast guard's rich treasure of maritime artifacts for america's oldest maritime fleet to be displayed for learning and understanding by the american public and the world. public than the world. this sends a powerful signal that this effort at the backing of congress, the federal government and the coast guard. commandant and his former predecessor. keith and the coast guard legislative office for their work they have done with my office. above all else for their service to our nation. i congratulate chairman hunter and ranking member garamendi for

their strong advocacy for our coast guard and maritime industry and i urge passage and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. hunter: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. garamendi: i'm prepared to close. thank ourr, i want to staff for making all of this possible. this bill which does extend the authorization for the coast guard also provides very, very important elements. and i would urge its passing. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. hunter: i want to thank ranking member garamendi and all the staff that have worked so hard on this and again ranking member of the full committee, mr. defazio and chairman shuster for their help, leadership and support on this.

and with that, mr. speaker, i urge the passage of h.r. 4188 and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4188. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid pon the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i'm a co-sponsor of h.r. 3094 and i would like to ask unanimous consent that my name be withdrawn as a co-sponsor of h.r. 3094. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? are are >> i move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3875. the clerk: h.r. 3875 a bill to amend the homeland security act of 2002 to establish within the department of homeland security a chemical, biological, radiological nuclear and explosives office and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. mccaul, and the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, each will control 20 minutes. mr. mccaul: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five intelligence live days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mccaul: i yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mccaul: i rise in strong support of this bill department of homeland security defense act of 2015. the threat from weapons of mass destruction is real and growing. we have seen groups like isis use make shift chemical weapons on the battlefield. a laptop reportedly retrieved from a hideout contained plans for weaponizing bue bonnic plague and using biological weapons and also boasted about plans to smuggle radiological material into the inside and with recent f.b.i. stings in places like muldova, there are sellers ready to supply these tools of terror. which brings us to the purpose of this legislation before us today. department of homeland security must play a leading role in defending our homeland from these threats. the departments and agencies across the united states

government have centralized their weapons of mass destruction programs to provide clear focal threats. leadership, expertise, personnel and resources related to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats are dispersed across numerous agencies within d.h.s. headquarters. by consolidating offices with responsibilities, h.r. 3875 will ensure better coordination within the department and interagency. mr. speaker, we are living in dangerous times and we must ensure that the federal government is prepared to address these threats. this bill ensure that department of homeland security is able to do so. before i close, i would like to thank chairman shuster and smith for moving this legislation. i ask unanimous consent that letters exchanged between our committees be included in the

record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mccaul: with that, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this important legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: i rise in support of the department of homeland security's crnbe defense act of 2015 and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. jackson lee: we were here two days that the american people are looking for the homeland to be safe and as i stand here in the recent classified briefing, i again say that the issue of homeland security is not a partisan issue. and i'm very grateful to mr. mccaul and mr. thompson, the ranking member, for their bipartisanship and bipartisanship of this

committee. working along side of the other jurisdictional committees that includes my other committee, judiciary, that has as their ranking, mr. conyers and mr. goodlatte and many other committees. our commitment should be to secure the american people. so in this instance, pursuant to the fiscal year 2013 consolidated and furthering appropriations act, the department of homeland security was directed to evaluate its activities related to preventing and responding to threats posed by chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive weapons and to determine whether there were ways to improve coordination. two years later, d.h.s. submitted its report to congress and requested that certain activities be consolidated to create a center of gravity for activities.rnbe this seeks to implement many of

the department's proposal. it would bring the office of health affairs, the office of bombing prevention, the chemical and biological risk assessment activities, and staff from the office of policy and office of coordination operations together in a single office headed by a new assistant secretary. i distinctly remember being in some of the meetings and hearings that drew about some of these coordinated activities. assistant ve the new secretary will be an effective tool. the committee accepted an amendment offered by ranking member thompson to protect the missions of the offices brought together and present some of the disruption that could be caused by this reorganization. the amendment acknowledges that this reorganization will likely necessitate new ex pen tidurs. d.h.s. may need to utilize

retention bonuses to get experts who will leave d.h.s. because of reduced proper pects for advancement. ranking member member's amendment protects the role of e chief medical office officer. the amendment allows for the establishment of a health division within the new office which would serve as a base of operations for the chief medical office of public health. might i commnt briefly further on this. we have found that we live in a situation where whether it's a natural disaster, but in this, a terrorist situation that comes about, there are major needs for coordinated health activities that a person is briefed and informed with the expertise can give to local entities and states, for example, a hospital in my community, st. joseph

hospital is the only hospital in a very intense downtown urban center and we would be interested in making sure all of those health systems work. as a nation, we cannot afford to have focus and attention to see any mission diminished as a result of the unavoidable staff up-al and infighting of any reorganization on this order. i'm pleased that this will help bolster the department's ability to carry out this reorganization . with that, i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. mccaul: i have no further speakers and i'm prepared to close once the gentlelady does. ms. jackson lee: thank you so much for your leadership. i do not have any further speakers, but i would like to close and to thank the committee

as well for considering a bill that is now being resued. and i want to thank the committee, h.r. 85, which i hope contributes toll all of our discussions about securing america. but this bill in particular h.r. 3875 will consolidate activities within the department of homeland security. i'm hopeful that this reorganization will improve d.h.s.'s ability to carry out its missions. there are actors with aspirations to hit western targets with deadly unconventional weapons and there are actors seeking radiological and other weaponry to exact maximum death, destruction and chaos. the department of homeland security first established has been designated and dictated to the american people to keep them

safe. it has an important role. it is migrate hope that this reorganization will help d.h.s. will take its efforts to the next level and i ask my colleagues to support this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. mccaul: let me first thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, ms. jackson lee d mr. thompson, for your coordination on this bill. i think this committee probably more than any other one has operated in a very bipartisan fashion. i'm proud of that as chairman. i think in matters of national security, that's how we should operate. reach across the aisle to get good things done for the american people to make them safer. let me say thank you for that. i don't have to remind you, mr. speaker, the threats that are real out there. we got a classified briefing in

san bernandino and the pipe mbs and in isis latest publication, they talk about moving a device through transnational organizations into the western hemisphere through new mexico and our southwest border. this bill is designed to stop that. so with that, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3875 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid n the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i move the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3578 as amended. the clerk: h.r. 3578 a bill to amend the homeland security act of 2002 to strengthen and make improvements to the direct ate of science and technology of the department of homeland security and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. radcliffe and the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee each will control 20 minutes. mrs. radewagen: i ask unanimous consent that all members -- mr. ratcliffe: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

this makes targeted nstructions and improvements on d.h.s. s.n.t. carries out its responsibilities. rat rat these strategic improvements will -- mr. ratcliffe: these strategic improvements will strength the irect rate and its challenges. d.h.s. s.n.t. monitors the nation's evolve threats an makes use of the technological advancements to develop and deliver solutions to meet the critical needs of d.h.s. components. the legislation we're considering today provides a lear mission statement for the detect rat. this process engages key leadership and stakeholders to ensure that research and development meets the direct rate and department goals. amendments considered both at the subcommittee and full committee further strengthen this legislation, including mr. richmond's amendment to codify

independent or integrated product teams, a mechanism that will support the treck trait rate's ability to identify, coordinate and align research and development efforts with epartmental mission. bolsters ensures that s&t's role as coordinator of research and development across the department. this bill requires additional transparency by requiring s&t to link its budget with mission areas and programs. cybersecurity research and development is essential to support d.h.s.'s efforts to secure the do the gove domain. the seriousness of this mission received heightened awareness after the o.p.m. breach compromised the highly sensitive and personal information of over 20 million americans. h.r. 357 bolsters s&t's

cybersecurity research and development by ensuring sector-specific agencies for critical infrastructure are included in the coordination of cybersecurity research and development and by codifying the transition to practice program, to support the life cycle of cyberprojects, including research, development, testing, evaluation and transition. s&t is the primary research arm of the department, managing the basic and applied research and development of science and technology for d.h.s.'s operational components. s&t's work includes supporting research and development for technologies which benefit first responders, the nation's border and maritime security, cybersecurity and chemical and biological defenses. i'd like to thank chairman smith of the science, space and technology committee for his support in moving this legislation forward. i now ask unanimous consent to

place in the record a letter exchange between chairman mccaul and chairman smith regarding h.r. 3578. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. ratcliffe: mr. speaker, this legislation would strengthen the important role and work of the directorate to meet both the scientific and technological security needs of our nation, so i urge all members to join me in supporting this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise to support h.r. 3578, the department of homeland security's science and technology reform and improvement act of 2015, and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. jackson lee: thank you so very much, mr. speaker. first, i want to say to the gentleman from texas, thank you so very much for your leadership. again, we have a great opportunity of working together along with your ranking member, mr. richmond, and the chairman of the full committee, mr.

mccaul, and as well mr. thompson. and i believe we are continuously building blocks of security for the american people. research and development is a key component of the department of homeland security's mission to make america more secure and better able to prevent, respond to and recover from natural disasters and terrorist acts. in the constantly evolving threat landscape, technology -based force multipliers are essential for managing our borders, safeguarding cyberspace, and making sure we are resilient in the face of disasters. h.r. 3578 will improve the way the science and technology directorate serves its customers within the department and the first responder community in three ways. let me, before i say, that indicate to the chairman -- say that, indicate to the chairman, we understand that we're looking at generational gaps. terrorists are young. people who wish to undermine the landscape of cybersecurity can use, if i might say, these

young minds to do things that we may have never heard. and so our system must be resilient. so first, this bill requires s&t to engage in strategic planning and priority-setting exercises that will assist congress in measuring the management effectiveness and utility of the research and technologies it funds. this kind of self-assesslement make s&t a more effective partner to its customers, will help make its programs more efficient. second, h.r. 3578 directs s&t to evaluate its university programs and collaborative agreements and assess its efforts to broaden outreach to diverse institutions, which may have a unique expertise to add to s&t's ongoing work. given the current fiscal challenges, it is critical that we maximize the way we leverage the capabilities of knowledge-rich universities and this provision will help s&t do just that. in fact, i believe that the universities are our richest only of talent and not

for the researchers and the professors, but certainly the students who are young, who are there to do good, of whom we can utilize both their talent, their approach and their int. finally, the bill encourages carefully targeted venture capital investments in the homeland security enterprise that can accelerate product development and add mission critical capabilities quickly and efficiently. these targeted investments will help put better technologies into the hands of d.h.s., boots on the ground, state and local first responders soon. mr. speaker, h.r. 3578 codifies existing practices at s&t and that are working and will make s&t a stronger, more reliable partner in the homeland security mission. i encourage my colleagues to support this important bipartisan legislation and as well i continue to look forward to working with this subcommittee, among others, to begin to look at the cyberspace and the cybersecurity

infrastructure. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. ratcliffe: mr. speaker, i yield four minutes to my friend and colleague, the distinguished gentleman from texas, mr. smith. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas voiced. mr. smith: mr. speaker, let me thank my friend and colleague from texas, representative ratcliffe, for his work on this legislation, for his earlier generous comments and for yielding me time as well. and i also want to thank both him and the full committee chairman, michael mccaul of texas, for their work on this legislation. the committee on science, space and technology shares jurisdiction with the homeland security committee over the research and development programs carried out by the department of homeland security. in the case of this bill, h.r. 3578, it is the r&d, the department of homeland security, science and technology directorate, which was established by legislation, that originated in the house science committee. the science committee, likewise, shares jurisdiction with the bill we just considered, h.r. 3875.

that bill will assess and plan d.h.s. research and development of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives defenses. next year, the science committee expects to continue to advance science and technology efforts, to counter terrorist -- counter terrorist threats to the homeland. in anticipation of today's legislation, our committee exercised its jurisdiction by holding two hearings. in september, 2014, the science mmittee's research and technology subcommittee held a joint d.h.s. s&t directorate oversight hearing with homeland security's infrastructure protection subcommittee. the hearing focused on a series of government accountability office reviews that found serious problems with management and coordination of r&d within the department of homeland security. this includes fragmented and overlapping r&d programs and millions of taxpayer dollars spent on duplicative r&d projects. g.a.o. recommended that the s&t

directorate develop stricter policies and guidance to help define, oversee, coordinate and track r&d across the department of homeland security. the science committee conducted a follow-up oversight hearing on october 27 of this year. at that hearing, undersecretary brothers described the process made in its implementation of the g.a.o.'s recommendations and updated us on the s&t directorate's initiatives to help d.h.s. meet the full spectrum of threats. the legislation before the house today reflects the work of the members of the science and homeland security committees to help the s&t directorate meet a broad range of homeland security challenges, by stretching the technological envelope. the bill establishes a clear mission for the directorate, updates its responsibilities and requires strategy and r&d plans to prioritize addressing homeland threats. it also authorizes targeted cybersecurity r&d projects and creates new s&t integrated

product teams to develop technological solutions to meet the department's mission areas and address threats to the homeland. last week's horrifying terrorist attack in san bernardino, california, just days after a terrorist attack in paris, reminds us that this legislation is ultimately about defending the american people and our country from terrorists. again, i thank chairman mccaul for taking the initiative with this critical legislation, and thank the congressman from texas, john ratliff, as well. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: at this time i have no further speakers and am prepared to close. does the chairman have any further speakers? mr. ratcliffe: i have no more speakers, if the gentlelady is prepared to close, i am as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. jackson lee: thank you. again, i yield myself such time as i may consume.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. jackson lee: thank you. in order to meet the needs of those on the front line of homeland security activities from customs and border protection and the transportation security, to local first responders, the science and technology directorate must rapidly develop and deliver innovative solutions that advance d.h.s.'s mission. i am convinced that the whole matters of cybertechnology are the new frontier of terrorism and that this department must, as it has been very well prepared with human personnel, being on the front lines of the first responders, must give them extra tools through s&t, to help, to further the mission of the security of this nation. it is a complex and difficult mission. h.r. 357 puts s&t on a path way -- s&t on a pathway to making quicker and smarter tools that help our first responders do their jobs better and more

effectively. with that i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 3578 and thank the proponent of this legislation and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. ratcliffe: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ratcliffe: i thank the gentlelady for her support and leadership in connection with this bill. i'd also like to thank chairman mccaul and ranking member thompson for their leadership and moving this important bill forward. mr. speaker, threats and in technologies are always changing. this bill will help d.h.s. s&t find strategic options and innovative solutions to address homeland security capability gaps and threats to our homeland. once again, i urge all of my colleagues to support h.r. 3578 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 3578, as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair,

2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to -- mr. ratcliffe: mr. speaker, 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 move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3869, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3869, a bill to amend the homeland security act of 2002, to require state and

local coordination on cybersecurity with the national cybersecurity and communications integration center, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. herd, and the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. . mr. hurd: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hurd: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hurd: the need to address cybersecurity at a state and local level is of the utmost importance. from our local d.m.v. offices and courthouses to our critical infrastructure, the exploitable vulnerabilities and possible consequences are alarming. yet, in the cybersecurity realm, state and local governments often do not have access to the technical capabilities and training that

the federal government does. my bill, h.r. 3869, the state and local cyberprotection act, is a critical step in the resolution of this problem. in 2010, the national governors association released a statement on the importance of cybersecurity and protecting the ability of federal, state and local governments to perform their vital functions. they stated, and i quote, due to the breath and scope of the state role in entitlement services, facilitating travel and commerce, regulatory oversight, licensing and citizen services, states gather pro-- gather, process and store. from cradle to grave, the states are the nexus of identity information for individuals. this makes the states a prime target for external and internl cyberthreats, and i end quote. cybersecurity is a shared responsibility involving all levels of government and the private sector. while much has been done over

the last several years to improve the nation's cybersecurity, a number of challenges remain. this bill would allow state and local governments access to the assistance, training and tools voluntarily and upon request that will require to steer our information levels at every level. it will be at the department of homeland security to coordinate s on tate and local assisting in the identification of system vulnerabilities and possible solutions for state and local information security systems. they will be developing a web portal to tools, providing technical training, providing assistance and implementing cybersecurity tools upon request and providing privacy and civil liberties training and informing state and locals on the private cybersecurity guidelines already developed at

the federal level. lastly, it would prothe ncic to require feedback from the state and local governments once the law is implemented and volunteer assistance has begun. in order to gauge the effectiveness of these enters and -- efforts and ensure progress has been made. the department of homeland security has a responsibility to state and locals in the cyberrealm as they host a wide range of sensitive p.i.i. and critical infrastructure data, making them especially attractive for cyberattacks. by reinforcing the relationship between d.h.s. and state and local governments, we're supporting and urging for the continued development of cyberprotect for our state and local governments. i urge all members to join me in supporting this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 3869, the state and local cyberprotect act of 2015. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jackson lee: let me first

of all thank the gentleman from texas for his leadership, workings on this legislation, to, again, acknowledge our chairs mr. mccaul and mr. thompson, but also to acknowledge mr. ratcliffe and mr. richmond for their leadership in this area. the threat of cyberattacks is growing and the damage caused by those attacks, whether it is a theft or personally identifiable information or the disruption of operations, it is becoming more costly. fema has identified cybersecurity as an area for national improvement in its national preparedness report every year since it was first published in 2012. that finding is based in large part on state's self-assessment lacking confidence in cybersecurity. criminal and terrorist hackers continue to evolve, even as state and local governments work to gain a stronger footing for the cybersecurity missions. let me say that this country continues to grow continues to increase its possible lakes and continues to be depentent on the cybersecurity infrastructure.

helping -- dependent on cybersecurity infrastructure. helping train is a crucial, crucial action and if i might, applaud the gentleman but also say a very important mission for both the homeland security department and the committee on homeland security. department of homeland security has resources and capabilities that when shared with state and local governments can help them step up their games. h.r. 3869, the state and local cyberprotection act of 2015, would codify ongoing efforts by instructing the national cybersecurity and communication integration center, nccic, and the department of homeland security to coordinate nate with state and local -- coordinate with state and local governments to secure their information systems. information systems run water entities in our communities, and i remember visiting one that was up on the web, if you will, that could be altered by a cyberattack. this legislation would codify

d.h.s. on growing coordination to give assurances to state and local governments that d.h.s. stands ready to partner with them to protect their networks. under this bill, d.h.s. has authorized to assist state and local governments to deploy technology capable of diagnosising and mitigating against cyberthreats and vulnerabilities. h.r. 3869 authorizes d.h.s. to provide training to state and local entities regarding integrating policies to protect privacy and civil liberties into their cybersecurity efforts. it is enin creasingly important that all levels of government be capable of protecting system vulnerabilities from unauthorized access, disclosure and disruption of data. i want to say to mr. hurd that we have always, as a committee, been reminded of privacy and civil liberties issue while also protecting the american people. to build that capability, the federal government has a role to play in assisting state and local enter its by providing technical training on cybersecurity and guidance on potential privacy and civil

liberties implications. mr. speaker, many stakeholders throughout the country told us this bill is a vital, much-needed step in advancing national cybersecurity capabilities. i urge all of my colleagues to support h.r. 3869, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. hurd: mr. speaker, i have no more speakers. if the gentlelady from the great state of texas has no further speakers, i'm prepared to close once the gentlelady does. ms. jackson lee: to the gentleman i have no further speakers, and i'll close at this time. as i do so i'd like to ask the speaker to put an article in october 19 on boosting power grid defenses against isis in "the hill" newspaper. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: i ask unanimous consent. thank you. i, again, i yield myself such time as i may consume. again, thank you very much, mr.

speaker. state and local governments have been struggling to keep pace with evolving threats posed by cyber breaches. they just can't do it alone. we have the resources. this department was crafted and designed to ensure that local governments and state governments felt the resources or felt they were secure. i believe that enactment of h.r. 3869 would send a clear message about our commitment to helping state and local governments address the perennial cybersecurity challenges that permeates their providing services for their constituents that have been identified every year, according to the national preparedness report. having formally chaired this infrastructure committee, i know that the need is still -- remains great and that we have an opportunity to keep building and improving on that resource. again, i urge my colleagues to vote yes on h.r. 3869, and yield back the balance of my time.

i thank the gentleman from texas for his leadership. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. hurd: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hurd: mr. speaker, i concur with the gentlelady and once again urge my colleagues to support h.r. 3869, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: all time being yielded back, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3869. those in favor say aye. -- as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. without objection, the title is amended. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. hurd: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2795, as amended.

the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2795, a bill to require the secretary of homeland security to submit a study on the circumstances which may impact the effectiveness and availability of first responders before, during, or after a terrorist threat or event. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. hurd, and the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. hurd: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and tend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hurd: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hurd: mr. speaker, i rise here today to support h.r. 2795, the first responder identification of emergency needs in disaster situations' -- situations. our country continues to be resilient because of the men and women who keep us safe

every day by putting their lives on the line. we can thank them by ensuring they have sufficient resources to do their job. h.r. 2795 will take a national snapshot of the current policies and programs that support first responders and their families in the event of a terrorist attack. by requiring the government accountability office to report this national snapshot to congress and the department of homeland security, we will have a better understanding of the support surrounding our first responders and their families. both the national association of texas medical services officials and the international association of fire chiefs are endorsing this legislation because it promotes the critical work our first responders are always prepared to do despite the challenges they face. events like the ebola scare that hit the u.s. in 2014 alerted us to the impact these events have not only had on our first responders but also their families. i thank ms. jackson lee for introducing this legislation and working with the committee on homeland security to promote

this important issue. i urge all members to join me in supporting this bill, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlelady from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. 2795, in support of h.r. the first responder identification of emergency needs in disaster situations' -- situations, or the friends act, as we have been very happy to call as we crafted it. and i ask that i consume such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jackson lee: our first responders are our nation's heroes. we know we are gathering together in these final weeks to make sure we pass the 9/11 health bill that provided for those who stood and the -- in the face of danger in the tragedy of 9/11. we know that first responders run into burning buildings, they rescue people trapped by dangerous floods and put themselves in harm's way to

protectselves and they deal with terrorism. just last week in san bernardino we saw brave first responders heroically pursue two individuals fleeing an attack at an office holiday party. we know at the site of that incident we saw massive numbers of first responders go toward the building not knowing the threat or not knowing the individuals who had created this massacre was still there or how many were there. they ran toward the building. they do their jobs, first responders must leave their homes and families while the rest of us cling to ours. whether it was to deal with the aftermath of the attacks of september 11 ordeal with a catastrophic sdwaster like hurricane katrina, first responders bravely leave home to save others. i had an experience, one a natural disaster and one a terroristic act. i watched as firefighters stayed day after day after day, would not remove themselves because they were engaged in

recovering their colleagues, their brothers and sisters and those others who had perished. they stayed day after day. that was a great hardship on those families. we know the stories. we know that some of those were dealing with situations where they may have been the only parent or the only guardian. and the situation with katrina, i saw the coast guard stay in the area time after time. the national guard, other first responders come from all over the country and even all over the world to be able to help those who are in need and they stayed a very long time. unfortunately, today, first responders are asked to answer the call to action without knowing whether their families will be safe as they work to rescue others. our first responders deserve better. the friends act directs the government accountability office to conduct a comprehensive review of policies and programs designed to ensure the first responders are able to do their jobs safely and effectively by assessing, among other things, measures to ensure first responder families are safe and the availability of personnel

protective equipment is there. during committee consideration of the friends act, my friend from new york, mr. higgins, offered an amendment to authorize g.a.o. to evaluate the availability of home med kits for first responders and their families in assessing the preparedness of first responders. maybe even being able to take care of their neighborhood or their family or themselves in the course of these disasters. i'm pleased to support the higgins amendment and i believe it adds to the bill. g.a.o. 5 also directs to distinguish policies available in high-risk urban areas which may be better resource in rural areas for efforts to ensure first responders and their families may create leveraging of resources. many of those areas have volunteer fire departments and volunteers who need the assistance from this act. this provision will ensure that the information included in the report will be applicable and adaptable by various communities across the country as they work to better protect their protectors and give them

the support system that they need. additionally, the friends act directs the secretary of homeland security to review g.a.o.'s findings and assess whether policies identified could be applicable to federal first responders. . the friends act, endorsed by the federal association of fire chiefs, and the international emergency management society along with others. before i conclude i'd like to thank ranking member thompson and chairman mccaul for their help many gring -- in bringing this important legislation to the floor. let me also thank the ranking member and chairman of the emergency preparedness committee and all the jurisdictional committees that helped contribute to this. let me also acknowledge our staff on both sides of the aisle who are enormously effective in helping to bring about this bill. i want to thank mr. hoyer, who r many, many years was a

co-chair of the congressional fire service caucus, for his stated support of this program. i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman is recognized. >> i'm prepared to close once the gentlelady does. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas is recognized. merchandise jackson lee: i'm prepared to close, i have no further speakers. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jackson lee: we wanted to make sure the stake holders were fully informed and thought this would be a good addition to their ability to serve and for their ability to be away from their families on call for long periods of time. i reflected on the wild fires in , the st, the enormous terrorism investigation has individuals who are victims

buried in california, first respoppeders, law enforcement and others are investigating what is occurring. i'd like to ask unanimous consent to put a series of letters into the record, one from the national sork of black law enforcement executives indicating the importance of this, i ask unanimous consentful i ask unanimous consent for the office of the mayor of the city of houston who indicates that as first responders risk their lyes in responding to terrorist attacks and other emergencies, they and their families are at increased risk. the houston professional firefighters association, local 341, who have written on behalf of the men and women of the houston fire department, indicating the need for this legislation to protect their families. the national association of state e.m.f. officials. on behalf of nearly 11,000 fire service leaders for introducing

this legislation that would provide adequate preparedness for their families and this article which says family versus duty. personal and family preparedness, law enforcement organization resilience. i ask for the unanimous introduction of these documents. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: thank you. as i began, let me first of all thank the first responders of this nation, and thank their families for the sacrifice they make. our first responders rush into dangerous conditions to protect us. they deserve to have the peace of mind that their families are safe as they courageously help others and other families during disaster and crisis. now their plate is enhanced, it's fuller, dealing with not only these disasters but the potential of a terrorist act. i want to extend my gratitude to all those who have offered their support. again, in particular, the international association of fire chiefs for their support working with us and i urge my

colleagues to support h.r. 2795. with that, i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. >> i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. >> i urge my colleagues to -- mr. hurd: i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 2795 and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: all time having been yielded back, the question is, will the house pass the bill h.r. 2795 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. mr. hurd: 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 risen, 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 oklahoma seek recognition? >> i send to the desk a privilege red port from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to acompmy house resolution 560, resolution providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany the bill h r. 644, to re-authorize trade facilitation and trade enforcement functions and activities and for other purposes and providing for kgs of the senate amendment to the bill h.r. 2250, making appropriations for the legislative branch for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2016, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. pursuant to clause of rule 20, proceedings will resume on motions to suspend the rules previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order. h.r. 3578 by the yeas and nays. h.r. 2795 by the yeas and nays.

the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from texas, mr. radcliffe, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3578 as amended on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 35 8, a bill to amend the homeland security act of 2002 to strengthen and make improvements to the directorate of science and technology of the department of homeland security and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended? members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 416, the nays are zero. 2/3 being in the affirmative,

the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. he house will be in order. would members please take your seats, clear the well, clear the aisle. the chair cannot continue the

business of the house until members remove their onversations from the floor. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i rise to a question of the privileges of the house and offer the following resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: whereas the safety of the american people is urgently at stake, whereas the integrity

of the legislative process has been seriously undermined by the influence of a powerful lobby, causing the house leadership to prevent the american people's representatives from considering commonsense measures to keep terrorists from purchasing firearms from any licensed firearms dealer in the united states, whereas the first duty of the members of congress is to protect the american people and that duty is forsaken by the house leadership to withstand a powerful lobby controlled by the gun industry. whereas previous organizations have urged sympathizers to exploit lax gun laws to commit terror. whereas scht -- suspects on the terror watch list can go into a gun store anywhere in america and buy firearms of their hoosing.

whereas since 2002 -- the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will be in order. the reading clerk may resume. the clerk: whereas in that time period more than 90% of all suspected terrorists who tried to buy a gun in a store in america walked away with his or her weapon of choice. whereas the house leadership ensures the ability of suspected terrorists to continue to buy guns and refuses to schedule legislation to close the terror list loophole, whereas since the mass shooting at sandy hook elementary school more than ree years ago, more than 200,000 gun injuries have occurred, and whereas gun violence is inflicting daily tragedies on america, now be it therefore resolved that, one a clear and present danger exists to the american people, and two, in order to protect the american

people and the integrity of the legislative process. upon the adoption of this resolution the speaker shall place h.r. 1076, the denying firearms and explosives to dangerous terrorists act, as introduced by congressman peter king, republican, new york, on the calendar for an immediate vote. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentlelady from california wish to present argument on the parliamentary question whether the resolution presents a question of the privileges of the house? ms. pelosi: i do, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. pelosi: it is shocking to the american people that congress refuses to keep guns out of the hands of those on the terrorist watch list. the gun violence ep democrat sick a public health crisis that we have a responsibility to address. failing to meet that responsibility brings dishonor to the house of representatives. public sentiment demands action. 80% of americans support legislation to close the

outrageous loophole that puts guns in the hands of people, again on the f.b.i.'s terrorist watch list. for the last decade, 90% of those on the f.b.i.'s terrorist watch list who tried to buy guns in america left the store with weapons of -- with their weapons of choice. in closing, in the people's house we do nothing. we have not even allowed an up or down vote. in just over 1,000 days since sandy hook, we have seen 1,000 mass killings since then. 90,000 gun deaths and 210,000 gun injuries in communities across america. by refusing to act, we disgrace the house, we dishonor the american people, and we erode america's faith in our democracy. we have no right to hold moments of silence without days of honor, honor with action to end gun violence. give us an up or down vote. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair will rule. the gentlelady from california seeks to offer a resolution raising the question of the privileges of the house under rule 9. the resolution states to schedule for a immediate vote. one of the tenets of rule 9 as the chair most recently ruled on act 8, 2013, is that expressing a sentiment does not qualify as a question of the privileges of the house. by calling on a vote on a particular measure, the resolution expresses a sentiment in violation of principles in sections 702 and 706 of the house rules and manual. accordingly, the resolution does not constitute a question of the privilege os they have house. ms. pelosi p.c. mr. speaker, i appeal the ruling of the chair. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, shall the decision of the chair stand as the judgment of the house.

for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i move to lay the appeal on the table. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to table. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. the gentlelady from california. ms. pelosi: i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on the motion to table will be followed by a five-minute vote on the motion to suspend the rules and pass the house resolution. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas will 242, the nays 173. the motion is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from texas, mr. hurd, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2795 as amended on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2795, a bill to require the secretary of homeland security to submit a study on the circumstances which may impact the effectiveness and availability of first responders

before, during, or after a terrorist threat. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended? members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 396, the nays are 12. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to

address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the life and work of fearless phyllis gallante, an amazing woman and true american hero. on tuesday, the house passed .r. 2693, which honored her by naming the arbor tee um at the hunt ebb -- naming the ar -- rbortetum after her. when her husband was shot down in 1956, she did not respond with fear but became a tireless advocate for american p.o.w.'s around the world. fearless phyllis, as she became known, sought an audience with the north vietnamese leaders, collected a half million letters from the richmond area, and personally delivered them to

vietnamese leaders. she met with henry kissinger and others, becoming nationally freeing her work in p.o.w.'s. after seven year, paul and phyllis was reunited. but she did not stop her work. she continued her tireless quest to bring our boys home, eventually earning the american legion service medal. her dedication is inspirational. we are grateful this passed the house and i owe a special thanks to representative sam johnson, veterans committee chairman jeff miller, my good friend from richmond, representative bobby scott and the entire virginia delegation. thank you and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute.

>> navy yard, washington, d.c., september 16, 2013. arthur daniels, age 51. kenneth bernard procter, 46. aaron alexis, age 34. santa monica california, june 7, 2013. carlos navarro franco, 68 years old. margarita gomez, 68. zawiri, 68 years. christopher sawari, 24. chattanooga, tennessee, thomas sullivan, 20 years old, david wyatt, 35. randall smith, 26. carson holmquis, 25. squire wells, 21 years old. houston, texas, august 9, 2015. dwayne jackson, 50 years old. valerie jackson, 40.

nathaniel jackson, 14. honesty jackson, 11. dwayne jackson, 10. caleb jackson, 9. trinity jackson, 7. jonah jackson, 6. manchester, illinois. april 24, 2013. o anacin claire, 66 years old. james roy ralston -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. peters sprk thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this week it was revealed that iran tested medium range ballistic missiles. they have now violated the nuclear deals agreed over the an objection of the majority of the house in july which calls on iran to end its ballistic missile program for eight years. mr. lamalfa: iran is also in

violation of two united nations security council resolutions. like many of my colleagues, we were opposed to the iran nuclear deal because of the likelihood iran would cheat and the obama administration would refuse to hold them accountable and reimpose sanctions. so far there's been no response if the obama administration on snapping back the sanctions into place. and because of that iran will continue to enjoy more and more of the $100-plus billion in unfrozen assets that have not been accessible. if iran is allowed to break the agreement without consequence, it will only encourage more bad behavior and unrest in the middle east. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. . mr. lowenthal: today i rise to celebrate human rights day, the anniversary of the proclamation

of the universal declaration of human rights, which was signed in 1948. today is the 67th anniversary of that, as i just indicated. i also just introduced a resolution recognizing this anniversary and supporting the ideals of human rights. i am pleased to have the support already of 37 of my colleagues as co-sponsors of the resolution recognizing human rights day. i believe we should take this opportunity to pause and to honor all those struggling across the globe to claim the fundamental rights and freedoms that belong to all human beings. mr. speaker, i urge the house to take up my resolution and set aside today to recognize human rights day. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. are there further one-minute

requests? for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: thank you very much, mr. speaker. as i said today on the floor and yesterday, the american people expect for us to keep us safe. let me thank my colleagues for the support they've given the homeland security committee on a number of bills, and particularly note the legislation that i introduced, the friends act, that's sole purpose is to ensure our first responders who have to be away for a period of time that their families are protected. i also think it is an important moment for bridging and building on law enforcement and community. i've had the opportunity to meet with a number of police chiefs of major cities, and we've introduced, john conyers and myself, along with a number of members, the law enforcement trust and enforcement act, which really is an opportunity and a bridge to be able to provide an accreditation pathway for the law enforcement

agencies to build upon the improvement and the best practices that they may have, including a medallion for those who've fallen in duty. it is also important as we look forward to the security of this nation that we recognize the tragedy of san bernardino, and i offer to those families my deepest sympathy. there was a major failure of which we need to correct. members of congress need to come together so we are not behind the terrorist act but in front of it to protect the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. are there further one-minute requests?

under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from nebraska, mr. fortenberry, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. fortenberry: thank you, mr. speaker, for the time. i'd like to begin this evening by yielding to my good friend and colleague, mr. sean duffy from wisconsin, as much time as he'd like to speak. mr. duffy: i appreciate the gentleman yielding. tonight i rise to talk about our brothers and sisters in puerto rico. if you watched the news recently, you are well aware there's an economic financial debt crisis taking place right now in puerto rico. our american brothers and sisters are going through an incredibly difficult time. he island has $73 billion in

debt. that is 100% of their g.d.p., which is catastrophically high. this debt has had a huge impact on the livelihoods of those who live on the island. their unemployment rate is twice as what it is on the main land, 12.4%. 48% of americans on the island are living in poverty. so, again, half of the island citizens, americans are living in poverty. 10% of the 3.5 million people on the island are leaving, and they're coming to the mainland and it's great because they work hard. they have an amazing culture. it's wonderful they're coming, but if you come on the main you should be coming because you want to come, not because you don't have economic opportunity in your home. we don't want to force people away from their families and their neighbors and their community because they don't

have economic opportunity. we have to stand together in this house and stand with our brothers and sisters in puerto rico. we can't turn a blind eye. we have to work with them. we have to work for them so we can address this crisis. so yesterday i introduced a pretty simple and straightforward bill that will help jump-start the puerto rican economy, help put people back to work, grow their economy, better paying jobs, lift people out of poverty. very simple. it's called the puerto rico financial stability and debt management choice act, and it's two prongs. prong number one is we're going to implement a financial stability board that's going to help the island with its management of its budget, its tax collection and its finances. prong one. prong two is puerto rico can

access chapter 9 bankruptcy. and by the way, every state in america can access chapter 9. it will be the same rights as every state that will offer puerto rico. pretty simple and straightforward stuff. i also think it's important to note that no one wants to have a financial stability board shove down their throat, and the citizens on puerto rico don't want that either and that's why we give them the choice. this doesn't go into effect unless the puerto rican legislative assembly approves the financial stability board and the governor signs it. so they have a say in their future. but if we do this, we will allow puerto rico to restructure their debt, to get their finances in order, to grow their economy, to let people on the island start living the american dream. but if we do nothing, if we turn a blind eye and say, we're not going to offer the same

bankruptcy option that every state has, we're turning our backs on our fellow american citizens on the island and that's not who we are. we should stand together. now, there's others who have proposed a different solution for the island, and those solutions involve a bailout without real structure reform. i got to tell you what, after the 2008 financial crisis, i think americans have had it up to here with bailouts. we usually go with bankruptcy and financial reform, and that's what my bill does. and so i would encourage all of my fellow members in this institution, whether you're a conservative or liberal, you're republican or democrat, note that our brothers and sisters, our fellow american citizens in puerto rico are going through tough times, and it's our job to stand with them, not turn our backs.

and if we can pass this bill, a new day on be the island. economic prosperity, opportunity, and then people have a choice to say, do i want to stay on the island, raise my family on the island, or do i want to leave and come to the mainland? but the choice is theirs. they won't be forced into that oice just because they don't have opportunity on the island of puerto rico. so i'd encourage all my colleagues and friends to reach out, let's be part of the solution and with that i would yield back to mr. fortenberry, and i appreciate the time. thank you, rry: congressman duffy. mr. speaker, as i walked

thugh the airport recently, i noticed a young teenager and she was traveling and she was seeming happy to be involve in whatever activity she was gog to but she wore a button on her lapel and it said, what you do matters. it caught my attention. what you do matters. iiked it. i'm not sure what was motivating her, but she wanted to communicate an portant value to elevate an ideal. i simply admired her willingness to take a stand. mr. speaker, i should say this now though. there is a troubling statistic out there, and a recent survey highlights this. a majority ofmericans do not believe, they do not identify with what america has becom. many people feel our country is slipping away but in had reality most want to reclaim the promise of our great

nation. contrary to the barrage of negativity, most people hope for justifiable goals, regain power over their own lives, to regain power over the government and to regain power over their own economic prospects. mr. speaker, one of the strengths of america's system of government is its capacity for constnt replenishment, opportunities sometimes predict themselves -- present themselves unpredictably and that gives us a chance to reassess and realign in new and compelling ways, both to preserve important traditions as well as to restore the future promise of our nation. a stronger america might be glimpsed through what i call four intlocking principles. the first of which is government decentralization. second, economic inclusion. third, foreign policy realism, and fourth, social conservation.

let's take that first point. a return to a more decentralized government will restore an important source of america's strength. when the federal government grows beyond its effective purpose, it infringes upon basic liberty. it stiffles innovation. t crushes creativity, and it impedes our responsibility for one another in community. a creeping tendency to nationalize every conceive possible and nationalizing every conceivable discussion erodes the community's input. while the federal government does have an important central role in maintaining the guardrails of societal stability -- the rule of law and a fair opportunity economy, america's governing system is designed to operate most effectively at varying levels. those closest to an opportunity

or those closest to the problem ought to have the first authority. to seize the opportunity or to solve the problem. second, economic inclusion. economic inclusion should help america recover from an arthritic economy. you see, mr. speaker, when power concentrates in a washington-wall street access, where the transnational cooration is in a merging ruling entity and where the small siness, the source of businesses in america, are suffocating among dictates, the opportunity for a strong and vibrant marketplace diminishes. a vibrant market actually expands the place for constructed interdependency and dynamism, fighting poverty and drivininnovation. that third point, foreign policy realism.

foreign policy realism should chart a new course between isolationism and overintervention. america has an important leadership role to ay on the world stage. today, however, many americans are alarmed and exhausted by a drifting and often counterproductive foreign policy. after world war ii, america was cast into the role of the world's superpower and at great sacrifice. we as a country, we created the space for international order, now we le in a multipolar world. other countries, which we helped empower through our generous sacrifice, must take a seat at the responsible nation's -- at the table of sponsible nations. leveraging america's strength through stregic international

partnerships will help navigate, help us navigate a st century marked by ever-shifting geopolitical frameworks. that fourth point, social coervation. hat does that mean? social conservation preserves the condition for order, for opportunity and for happiness. we must fight back against dimming hope and opportuni, a healthy society depends upo mo than politics for promotion of sustainable values. erica has many mediating institutions, cic institutis which uphold greater ideas. as an example, i'm a proud, long member of the rotary club in lincoln, nebraska. and at every rotary club meeting across this cntry, in which hundreds of thousands of americans participate, at every

rotary club meeting hangs a banner in the front of the club and it says this -- is it true? is it fair to all concerned? will it build good will and better frienships? will it be beneficial to all concerned? perfect. beautiful. perhaps we ought to hang the banner right here,r. speaker. that's a pretty good game plan. and as new leadership emerges on the national stage, perhaps this is the moment to think critically about how we regain eful igh ground of purpos government and opportunity economy. a balanced foreign policy. and a flourishing culture and good society. we need to play all four quarters. ultimately,however, mr. speaker, both e government and the marketplace, they're downstream from our culture. and with a heavy heart i say

this trk everyne knows it, america'social fabric is fraying. many people are experiencing deepening anxiety about the futu dection othe cotry. the recent aack in san bernardino has onlintensified the feelin a crazed couple, driven by their twisted religious ideology, murdered indiriminately at a social service center. a horrible tragedy and grotesque irony. our hearts feel for those who we so fwravely harmed. a genuine mticulturalism. long a hallmark of the americ experience. will continue to decay into discord unless two mutually supporti conditions are sustaed.

a genuine appriaon of ornicifferences and a binding substructure of iversal ideals and shared valu. one such vae is tt we do no rm to others. and a religion that aches killing is no religion at al. other important values include trustworthyness, thrift, citizenship,ourteoness, and so on and by theay, mr. speaker, a helpfulist of these ideas, theseirtues is found in te boy scout law. this values crisis is compounding thishree-part problem of governme overreach, economic exclusion, and cultural discatio a calizing government seems decreasingly ableo understand, ch less address, the needs of its citizens that it should serve. mr. speaker, in e midst this divisiveolitical season,

partisan dysfunction a buaucratic inertia, it's all hindering progress, proper progress, toward addressing our country most pressing problems. and it overshadows imptant local initiatives where certain problems can best be solved. not evethg a federal issue. a private sector which is consolidating corporate power, ofn underwtten by the state, is disenfrahising the small business sector. a ls of genuine choice and geuine competition of economic plurali reduces the ability of people to participaown, and innovate in a marketplace that is truly free and can deliv wideread prosperity. d culture of contrasting philosophies, more and more inflamed by caustic rhetoric, is

contributing to what some believe are ieconcilable soal division. and impoverish n impoverishd account of individualism, oa liberty reduced to aonomous choice and divorced from responsility creates the conditions for social anarchy,hich fther cates the conditions for counterproductive gernment intervention. lawless overach. and intrusive mart manipulations. and then, mr. speaker,dd into this m a confusing say sort -- assortnt of vaes choes driven more by experimenting elites than the stability of sound traditioyou have this erecipe for harmful disruption. no wonde there is so mu sadness in t world. as politicians and the media debate policy positions, we must understahat authentic

solutions involve a rernto essential value propositions. th application of proper princles to these problems would enable us in washington to betterssuage widespread and justifiable angst with appropriate government policy withppropriate government decentralization a dynamic economic inclion, supported by a hope-filled culte. that's our answer. mr. speaker, as yoenter my state, live in nebraa, the sign reads, quote, theood life. a good life is found inedom and responbili. a jt and orderlsociety is founded and sustained byersons who care. and what we all do does realy matter. just lke my young teenage iend,'d like to call her

friend, displayed in the airport recently. mr. speaker, late is summer, before school began, i took my younge children on a fami trip to weste nebraska. ar valuen tyne, nebraska, in an area called the -- valtine, nebraska, in an area called the sa hills, waterrom an aquifer seeps out of the ground and falls dramatically over rock formations andnto a sre that feeds into the river. the area is called fort falls. it's part of a wildle refu. the sream's icyold wate flows like a ribbon into the shallow, warmer water that's running. wh's even more interesting to ponder are the steep spes on both sidesf the beautiful ver. on the north bank, rocky hill foations are coved with pine trees. on the south ban the tre are

much different. you see, the last reach othe eastern deduous rest,ith a mixed variety of plants and hardwood trees just like you'd see here in vinia. it looks like california on one sidnd across the river here inirginion the other. right there, wher ii , in nebraska. we' at the geogrhic center of our country. here east mts west. as part of that trip, we so took a drive northward into the ate of soutdakota, io the black hills. toce cald mount rushmore. happened to be the sturgess bikers rally that weekend so me about abtwo millionther bikers were on the road. everyone knows the faces, the four faces on mount rushme. ch of the four american presidents embodied great qualities and facedignificant

challenges. george waington. he was a transcendent leaderho puoseful walked away from power. ging our early republic a chance to grow into a vibrant democracyful thomas jferson's fe was seemingly fullf conflicts and contradictions but his efforts gave rise to e declation ofndependence, which poetically expressed an understanding of t dignity tt ights oll persons so beautfully forms our cull cur- culture tthis day. abraham lincoln made a mid-course direcon in -- correctn in his life he jected an early, snarky political antagonisc attitude and turned toward a vision of that which is noble and good. his repation as akillful,

humb leade exnded - extend well bond the civ war theeorr roosevelt had to rebuild s life after his wife died aoung age. his activi helped himperhaps tpace ael an co-ly. he grew to recognize th importce of ldlife preservation. beyond the natural places he preserved, perhaps roosevel's greatest legacyas one of trust busting,reing up concentrations of enomic power th lock sod manyamericans o . aair shot

four geapresidents. today, many people are feeling a serus disqut abou these challenges. ey feel dizz connected from the ability to control their own well being. these coentrations o power are ovehelming the capacity of individuals to shape their ow vinment. political and econic and ctural cartels are growing more powerl and in some ways they'reore hidden a disruptive than in roosevelt's time. mr. speaker, of course today, political problems are on everyone's mind. his concentration of power stifles innovation and creativity and as money flows into the political system, paid for by -- it pays for the polarization which hinders the ability of our body to find

onstructive solutions. our increasingly interconnected worlds offs opportunities to us, but it also introduces forces that can leave so many americans feeling helpless. transnational corporate conglomerates often buttressed by oligarch irk systems are shrinking the space for genuine choice in the private sphere. as i talked about earlier. the stress of small business is very real. this concentration of economic power endangers true free market principles which should be working for the many. on a deeper level, mr. speaker, america's political disrepair and economic malaise signal an underlying brokenness of our

society and our culture. persons, humans, we thrive in relationships with our families and communities, in a healthy society which creates the preconditions for this human flourishing. cultural consolidation and social discord have left more and more people feeling directionless and feeling alone. weakening relationships and social institutions and weakening social institutions foreshadow and prefigure political and economic problems. ultimately, renewing america, restoring america, government and economy, requires reclaiming a vibrant civil society. the true source of our nation's strength. mr. speaker, if you've ever driven through those black hills, which i spoke of earlier, the one lane tunnels and winding hairpin turns, they form a very

beautiful but very arduous journey, even without all the motorcycles around you. as you continue that journey, looking for something, an opening that a peers in the trees, and you see it. that magnificent piece of art, carved in stone, with four of america's greatest presidents. their likenesses are in the rock. timeless and unchanging. but the ideals they represent must be reestablished in each generation. the renewal of america will depend in large part on whether or not we can grasp what these leaders stood for and whether or not we can make the sacrifices necessary to reclaim our country's potential in this

time, our time. mr. speaker, what we all do matters. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. does the gentleman have a motion to adjourn? mr. fortenberry: i move to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands adjourned until 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. -- 6:00.

>> hopefully, this is the last one of these we'll do this year. i'd like to talk about what i want for 2016. i outlined my vision for a confident america here at home and abroad. the current approach isn't getting us there. we need to offer the country a real alternative in the form of a bold, pro-growth agenda. this morning, i told our members at our conference this agenda will be our focus in the new year. i've asked each of our members to bring their ideas to the table so we can get started early next year. over the last six weeks, i believe that we have made a very, very good down payment on this project. we've enacted the first long-term transportation bill in

more than a decade. we've enacted the biggest reform of our education system in 25 years. driving power back to the states, school districts and our students. we've enacted a bipartisan bill that requires the president to put forward a real, comprehensive plan to defeat isis. tomorrow, we will pass a customs enforcement bill, this is a bill i negotiated while being ways and means chair, the most comprehensive rewrite of our customs laws in a generation this will help american workers and businesses compete on a level playing field. we have done all of this while opening up a process and returning to regular order. i talked about how conference committees have been an endangered species here in washington. well, with the customs conference report passing torl, that will be the third conference report passing in congress in 10 days. let me put that in perspective. in the entire last congress,

only three conference reports have become law in total. only three conference reports became law all last congress. we've done three conference reports in 10 days. so we are getting real, concrete results. and we are get they can house of representatives back to functioning as the people's house. as we move forward, we need to raise our gaze. we need to aim higher than just trying to meet deadlines. we need to treat this like the generational defining moment that it really is so we can give the people of this country a real choice. that is what 2016 is going to be all about and i am looking forward to it. with that, i'd be happy to answer your questions. >> mr. speaker, earlier this morning, nancy pelosi and other perhaps were laying new demands for the omnibus, to remove the rider banning gun -- is that something republicans will consider? speaker ryan: i'm not going to

negotiate through the media. >> do you have any thoughts on the argument? speaker ryan: we're in the middle of negotiating an enormous, year-long appropriations. those negotiations are ongoing while we speak. the last thing i want to do is negotiate through the media. >> you addressed donald trump's remarks the other day at the r.n.c., had a couple of days to digest it. you're a leader of the republican party. you've run for national office yourself. what's going on right now? the latest polls show that 35% of republicans support donald trump. what's going on? speaker ryan: i'm not going to comment on that. i'm focused on make this place work. i weighed in on a comment made in the presidential campaign because i believe it needed to be commented on but i'm not going to spend every day here talking about the go-betweens. >> are you worried it could

affect republicans running for office? speaker ryan: you know what's going to get this place working well? we put out an agenda to the american people in 2016. we show the people in this country, here's a better way forward, he's a specific, pro-growth agenda and you choose, mr. and mrs. america, you choose what kind of country you want to have. we don't like the direction america is headed. we think the country is headed in the wrong direction. most people agree with us system of we have an obligation, we have a duty, to lay that positive vision out for the country and that's what we're going to do in 2016. >> what happens when -- what happened when the plan was, i was told a week ago, we were going to try to have the bill out over the last weekend that didn't happen. then we were going to have the house in session this weekend, that was peeled back within 24 hours. now we're looking at maybe the middle of next week. walk us through what happened and why. speaker ryan: we went to get it right. we don't want to rush

legislation, especially big legislation like this omnibus appropriations. this is something i more or less inherited from the last regime. i don't want to rush things. we've always had the third week of december on our calendar as a week we'd potentially be in session. we didn't want to come up against an arbitrary december 11 deadline and rush something. we're negotiating what we realize is, we didn't have to keep our members here on saturday and sunday while we continue to negotiate. >> what was that trip wire? speaker ryan: only that i wasn't going to let december 11 be an arbitrary deadline to rush legislation. >> it seems that every one of these big spending bills, there's about 0 members of the conference, there's a sizable amount with the vote no vote. hey said those folks hurt your negotiating position, because nancy pelosi can sit across the table and say, you can only provide 80 votes.

speaker ryan: i think our members understand the situation quite well. look, we're not going to get everything we want in negotiations. the democrats aren't going to get everything they want in negotiations. but i believe we'll fin herb these negotiations. >> but can you get more than 80 on board? >> i don't want to talk about what's going on in our conditions. we're negotiating. not everyone gets what they want when you negotiate in divided government. but i think we'll complete this. >> there seems to be an air of nonshans that congress is missing this december 11 deadline. speaker ryan: it's not nonchalant. it's getting it right. this is trillions of dollars. hard working americans worked hard to send us their tax dollars, we have to respect that. that's why we have to make sure how we spend the hardworking taxpayer dollars are done in a way where we're scrutinizing every dollar and we're not going to rush it, we're going to get

it right. deadlines come and deadlines go. we want to make sure we get it right. that is why we're trying to get these delikeses and these negotiations going the right way without having some artificial deadline to get us. >> the tax overhaul, would that be number one? and do you intend to move bills or put another bill on the table? speaker ryan -- speaker ryan: this is something we'll be talking about in our retreat. i'm not going to dick kate as speaker of the house how we define our agenda. i'm providing a format for our members to come together and participate in how to build a pro-growth agenda. that's a decision we'll make jointly as a conference. one thing i'm trying to do in this position is not hold power so closely but to decentralize it to all member of the conference so all members of congress have the ability to participate in this situation.

in assembling this agenda. that's why i'm not going to answer questions i don't have answers to because i'm not the only one making these decisions. i want my colleagues joining me in making these decisions. >> do you anticipate to finish by wednesday? speaker ryan: i'm not going to put a deloin on it. i don't think it would be right to say what deadline we'll be done by. i want to make sure these gos are done well and done right, and not by some arbitrary deadline. >> could you give us a sense where things are generally speaking? >> we're talking to each other, doing all the things you would do. the appropriators and leaders, e can get to an agreement. speaker ryan: we posted a bill, that's a base case bill. we'll pass that bill. >> the san bernardino briefing

today what questions do you go in with? what do you hope to hear? speaker ryan: i asked most of my questions of the f.b.i. and other intelligence officials. what i wanted to do is give all members of congress access to the same briefings i received at the beginning of the week to get answers to their questions. , how is 2016 agenda that going to fit with the presidential candidates? there are two independent avenues but obviously this program you want to come up with is pretty substantial. speaker ryan: we've given a lot of thought to that. i've been on a ticket. i'm familiar with how this works. i don't think we have the time to wait until a nominee arifes, which could be as late as, i don't know, june or july, to then come up with an agenda to show the country who we are and what we believe in.

we don't like the path america is on. we think we're on the wrong track. we have an obligation to show a better way forward. and we have something to say about that. i think we're going to do this earlier because i just think it's wrong to wait ta that long. i don't think we have the luxury of waiting. what i learned in presidential campaigns is you have to start talking about these issues early and often so that people understand what kind of choice their truly being given. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i just want to back up, something you said earlier in the week was that you would go ahead and support the republican nominee, whoever that is. can you talk about the importance of that, why you believe it's important to support the nominee? speaker ryan: as chairman of the house -- as speak over the house, i'm chair of the republican national convention. i'm going to be neutral in the nominating process, so i'm not going to say who i'm for or against. i'm going to support the

nominee, wouldn't it be weird if the chair of of the convention isn't supporting the actual nominee? i have a special role as chair of the republican convention. i stay neutral and support the nominee and all the while i'll stand up for what i believe. i'll stand up for what i believe is right and for our party's principles and our nation's principles. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> the house is expected to pass a short-term spending bill tomorrow. the senate passed that phi-day funding bill earlier today. a day ahead of a deadline to avoid a government shutdown. the measure will give lawmakers until wednesday, december 16, to pass what the hill calls an all-encompassing omnibus spending bill. here's more about the prospects for passing that omnibus bill. >> mike willis of the hill,

reporter for that publication. . good morning. guest: good morning, pedro. thank you for having me. host: where are we as far as coming up with an approval for a spending plan? guest: the bad news is they will not make their deadline. the deadline is friday for funding government. we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and there will not be a government shutdown. the government introduce their short-term spending bill yesterday, and that gave them a few more days to hash out the details of this thing. there was a five-day continuing resolution, which takes us through next wednesday, but the timeline is a bit more crunched than that because the new speaker, paul ryan, has said he wants to adhere to what is called the three-day rule, meeting he wants to introduce the bill three days in advance tothe boat to allow -- vote allow lawmakers time to read it. you remember this was a debate in the past, "i have not had

time to read the bill." yes,peaker ryan says you will have time to read the bill. a long-term bill will have to be introduced by monday, so that is where we are now. friday, buyote on some time, and a long-term vote next wednesday. host: what does that long-term bill have in terms of efforts to shut down the government over planned parenthood or syrian refugees or any of those things? does any of that exist over the form we will see? guest: that is the million-dollar question. this is a strange fight because it is not a fight over spending levels. usually, this is over spending levels are your member when former speaker john boehner was on his way out the door, he negotiated a big budget deal with president obama, and that set the task on spending. so we already know the levels. both sides have agreed to them for the most part, you know, with exceptions, but the fight

we are having now is over the policy writers. the planned parenthood d funding provision is not in there. that is not one of the amendments we are fighting over, but there are a long list of other ones, the initial package overthe republicans since to nancy pelosi and the democrats last week, pelosi said there are more than 30 amendments that are nonstarters, that we are not going to accept, and president obama is not going to accept that they are part of the package. now, she has been very secretive about these things. and named only one of them, that is the syrian refugees provision, the provision to toughen screenings on refugees coming over from syria and iraq. that has already passed the house as a stand-alone bill, but republicans also want to put it into the final package as a response to the recent terror attacks, specifically the terrorist attack where one of the attackers was allegedly a syrian refugees. michael mccaul, the chairman of

the homeland security committee in the sponsor that bill, as of talks toing when we him, he said that is still part of the packets, but president obama says he is going to veto it, so that is a big sticking point to we do not know what is going to happen there. are the democrats going to cut it out, except it, or are they going to swallow it? we're not sure what is going on there. there are a host of other things that could be there, epa water rules, epa smog rules, undo part efforts to of the dodd frank lawsuit reform law. there are all kinds of things the democrats say they will not accept, but again, they have not named them specifically, and we think that give them room to say ok, if they are in the final package, we can say we fought for them, we tweaked them, but of course the public will never know because they never saw the original vote. host: there was a story in the "new york times" this morning that suggests pet projects are

getting into the final version of the spending bill. guest: sure. anytime you have a $1 trillion bill that will take you through can look for, you pet projects. that is always a fun thing for reporters to do. when this enormous bill comes out on monday, you can guarantee there will be a lot of people in the capital looking through it to see what was thrown in there at the last minute to sweeten the deal for some of these lawmakers. there is no way to anticipate what will be in there in terms of those things. horse slaughter provisions -- it is all very provincial, very regional. they will get a headline, and people will get a chuckle out of them, and then they kind of disappear and become law, and nobody talks about them again except in the regions where they are affected. but that is a fun part of this progress. host: as far as the final spending plan, what you looking for as far as indicating it will pass smoothly or not, and what

do we expect over the next several days? guest: this was always going to be a bipartisan bill. paul ryan has enormous majority in the house, biggest since the great depression, but he knows he cannot pass anything without senate democrats who can filibuster any bill, and without president obama's signature. he also has these tea party conservatives who are always going to approach this bill because of the spending cap, because of that number that boehner and obama agreed upon. they do not have any leverage and the writer fight because they are going to vote against the anyway. it is always going to be bipartisan. you can expect an overwhelming bipartisan vote. you will lose some conservatives who will object to some parts of it, particularly spending levels, but you can expect that cr will pass, that the omnibus will pass, that the president will sign it. mitch mcconnell and paul ryan, both remember all too well how

the 16-day shutdown in 2013 over obama care really kind of harm to the republican brand, if only temporarily. they do not want that to happen, particularly mid presidential election race. i think they will make good on that, and we will see a smooth process through next week. host: mike lillis with "the hill," giving us the >> this weekend on c-span, saturday night at 9:00 eastern, executives from pandora and spotify on how technology affects the entertain business. >> are there certain parts of the day where music is not the only thing you want to listen to. morning commute is one hypothesis we're testing, if you're on the subway , in your car, etc., maybe you don't only

want music. maybe you want some news, weather report, utcht to see, if you're on the subway, not while you're driving, like a clip of jimmy fallon or something like that. there's some other content you want to experience during that period of time and that is kind of the hypothesis we're testing to see if people are interested in experiencing that. >> then, sunday evening at 6:30, ohio governor john kasich at the couns ill on foreign relations on rebuilding international alliance. on the s to my 18 years house armed services committee i knew months ago that the only way to do this is defeat them. we need to call on our allies in the region to organize an international coalition to defeat isis on the ground and to deny them the territory that they need to survive.

those with long experience know that an air campaign on its own is simply not enough. >> for more schedule information go to our website, c-span.org. >> lawmakers from ethis house and senate met behind closed doors for a briefing from f.b.i. director james comey and other federal law enforcement officials about the investigation into the shootings in san bernardino, california. congressman matt salmon and others spoke after the briefing to reporters saying there needs to be a thorough review of federal programs that allow foreign visitor into the u.s. -- visitors into the u.s. >> the vetting system is not adequate.

on this -- this is the example but as we've been talking about the whole refugee issue, that's the point we've been trying to make. mr. salmon: the vetting system is not adequate. until it is adequate, we've got to keep the safety of the american citizens at the forefront of all of our thoughts and actions a -- and actions. >> the f.b.i. said the attacks back in 2012, you heard that today? >> i did. representative salmon: that's been reported in newspapers from what i understand. she was radicalized a long, long time ago. we know that. and so if we know that now, why didn't we know it then, when she went through this wonderful vetting process that they say they have? they say the vetting process has got all these fail safes but apparently there are not enough fail safes because she got through the system. how many others have gotten

through the system? >> it was the k-1 visa. that is different than the refugee visa. >> that's right. it is different than the vetting system but it doesn't engender the kind of confidence that i think we're all seeking that the american people are seeking. they say that vetting system was adequate. that's what they've all been saying. they say this vetting system with the refugees was adequate. it's the same people telling us the same thing. it may be a different process, it may be a different kind of admitting procedure but it's the same people telling us, trust me. and you know what? we don't. >> was she asked the appropriate questions in a consular interview? mr. salmon: as far as i know that's something a process everybody goes through. >> so she was asked about her views? >> there's questions about how

he was radicalized, a u.s. citizen becoming radical. mr. salmon: i don't think there's been a dialogue about how to combat further citizens from being radicalized but one other thing that's come up in questions is that, and been pointed out by some of the folks from the administration is that people, neighbors, saw strange behavior but they didn't say anything about it because, and i'm going to paraphrase because they were being politically correct. because they've been indoctrinated today that if you see something happening with somebody who is of middle eastern descent, you've almost got to go the extra mile and not believe that anything -- not believe that anything is happening, or say anything about it. we're going through a double standard here. we're speaking out of both sides of our mouth in our society. we're say, you know, be tolerant to the point of being stupid, maybe.

and on the other side, we need to report suspicious behavior. well, we can't do both. we have to report suspicious behavior. so far to the best of my knowledge, there hasn't been a christian terrorist. -- a christian terrorist. >> congressman salmon were there any indications that mr. farook has ties to others in the united states mr. salmon: that information wasn't passed on. i think they're looking for that information. whether there are ties or coordinated efforts, from what -- from what's been reported in the media, the number of rounds of ammunition found, the explosive devices found, give everybody a certain amount of pause an concern that there may have been other activities planned. >> what can you say about these other plots? mr. salmon: we don't know.

i don't think they could share that with us because the investigation is ongoing. >> on the shooting specifically at the san bernardino location was there any discussion that that may have been sort of, started quickly, like they planned on something else but something happened that day and they decided to go there? mr. salmon: i think they're looking at all those things. if they d have answers, i think they're not forthcoming with them right now because they don't want to jeopardize the information. what's interesting as we -- is we come to classified briefings and i generally don't learn any more than i've read in your newspapers in the first place. >> is that still the case today? mr. salmon: yes. >> would you classify this as an intelligence failure? mr. salmon: you have to say it was an intelligence failure, because it was. this woman was obviously radicalized years ago. and she got through the system. so it is a failure. o me that's obvious.

was there any evidence of communication? mr. salmon: no. >> what evidence that she was radicalized years ago was provided? in terms of 2013, why are we going back there? mr. salmon: i don't know that any evidence was presented. i think -- they're very concerned obviously about jeopardizing any type of investigation or tipping off, if somebody else was involved. so we really, i mean, we call it a classified brief bug i think we got pretty much what you lready know. >> can't give you any hints. i just want to remind the american people, you see something, you need to say something. and i think it's very important

that we all be very vigilant. mr. cummings: i also think that, would hope that mr. trump would tone down his comments. i don't think that they are helping. as a matter of fact i think they're hurting. and i think we all have to, now, i think, join together to try trie to make sure we do everything in our power to not allow our society to be divided. but clearly, i think all americans have to be vigilant now. and i think that we are facing a new normal witness stand eaf to accept that. -- and we have to accept that. were there other people --

>> are the american people safe? mr. king: as safe as the f.b.i. can keep us, but it's a dangerous world. i have nothing to say. the f.b.i. is conducting a thorough investigation. it's far from over. and we're not certain where it's going to lead. speaking for myself and from talking to other members, we have confidence that the f.b.i. is doing all that can be done and looking to improve ways in the future regarding fiance visas. >> do they have evidence that these two had ties to convicted terrorists? mr. king: i can't comment on details given. >> what can you do on capitol hill to prevent something like this happening again? mr. king: that's part of the process. i have my own views, i think there should be more surveillance in the muslim community in the united states. the only way to find out in advance is to do the same type

of 24-hour surveillance done in the i-- italian community when they were going after the mob. the terror threat is going to come from a muslim community. to me the only way to find out about it in advance is to have sources and informants on the ground with constant surveillance. >> should they have known sooner? should local authorities have been alerted sooner that those two people were there and were potential threats? mr. king: i think the only way to find that out in the future is to have constant surveillance on the ground. police departments are push aid way from that. if every department follow the model that nypd was doing, you'd have much less chance of plats ike this succeeding.

>> well, there was. and i think we got a good briefing from the director on what we know to date in terms of the investigation. mr. schiff: he amplified a bit on his public remarks yesterday in terms of how long the two shooters had been radicalized before the events as well as some of the communications we explored issues about why we didn't discover the communications in advance. as well as had a thorough discussion with the department of homeland security and nctc and others about the visa process, whether there are holes in that process that need to be plugged, some other ways to strengthen that process to

prevent people from using either the marriage visa or fiance visa or other visa program to enter the country for the purpose of ultimately carrying out an attack. i think we got additional insights today. the investigation is still very much in its early stages. we still have a lot to learn about how these two came into contact with each other, how they both apparently separately became radicalized, the investigation is literally, quite literally all other the globe. and there's still, i think a great deal more to be exploited in -- explored in terms of the electronic communications and devices that have been obtained. the shooters did use certain operational security measures to avoid, i think, both detection and ultimately to help impede the investigation after the attack. but the f.b.i. is working

through those challenges. >> did you get any indication if they had any help and why they chose this particular time to attack? mr. schiff: you know, the director has emphasized that we're not aware of any other components to this particular plot, in other words, co-conspirators that may still be out there ta pose a risk to the public, that's obvious the first and foremost priority for the bureau. they're not aware of anything along those lines. what was the other part of the question? >> why they chose to attack that particular meeting. mr. schiff: well, i think the early indications that there was some kind of argument at the site, proved to be erroneous. so we don't know why they chose attack the place of his employment, i think that's very much still a missing piece of the puzzle, why they chose to attack there. given the wealth of pipe bombs that were in the residence, in their garage, given the amount

of ammunition they had they didn't take with them, it certainly is very possible that they had other targets in mind. either that day or in the future. so what set them off that particular day, i don't think we know. >> year hearing from other lawmark -- we're hearing from other lawmakers that neighbors may have seen something but worried think shouldn't report it because of political incorrectness. did you get the sense that maybe some neighbors felt they should have come forward? mr. schiff: there were a number of questions, including my own, about whether we've yet been able to determine, in an investigation that's only seven days old, were there things we missed? were there ways we could have caught this? there were international community cases between malik and farook, so they communicated with each other, there were indications of radicalization of

m lambings ik in pakistan. were there things we could have caught, were there things in terms of homegrown radicalism involving mr. farook, that could have come to law enforcement's attention had people been more vigilant or more willing to report what they say, i think there are indications that there are things that may have alerted law enforcement to an issue with farook. but i don't know if we know enough to say these were apparent without the advantage of hindsight because after the fact, you can look back and say, all of a suddening something that someone said to you means something quite different. i don't know that we can say unequivocally at this point that members of the public could have prevented this by alerting law enforcement. obviously, there is a focus on the neighbor who had a relationship, that may be a complete different case than

other people who had a different level of engagement with farook. >> is there evidence of the radicalization on their computers or cell phones or any new evidence of the radicalization? mr. schiff: i can't go into and neither could they in any great detail anything that might be part of a criminal investigation. there's not much to say vis-a-vis the neighbor. in terms of evidence of radicalization, you know, social media postings or other use of social media or use of encrypted devices, that was part of our discussion today. and i don't think yet there are indications that there were public use of social media that was missed. we're looking into other questions about how they may have communicated to each other in ways that avoided our detection.

that doesn't necessarily mean encryption. there are obviously other ways you can communicate without being seen. particularly we're dealing here with an american citizen engaging in communication and standards of looking at that are much higher than for foreign nationals talking among themselves. i'll take one or two more questions. >> did tai say any evidence or findings that link the cupple to known u.s. terrorists? links of another group in california for instance? >> well, you know, i think the director stated publicly in the past that there have been contacts with people of interest to the bureau. but not to read too much into that. i don't know that there's any i'm not sure t -- how to say this. i guess i would just concur with what the director said about those contacts. >> what about the role --

mr. schiff: that's not something i can go into, nor can the bureau discuss much about that because it involves ongoing investigation. >> did they do an in-person interview with her for the fiancee visa? mr. schiff: it's my understanding that that did take place. >> is there any end decision of how far back the radicalization has gone? mr. schiff: there's evidence of radicalization of farook that went back years. the same may exist for malik. i think in both cases it may ave predated the rise of isis. thank you. > hello.

mr. goodlatte: while we can't discuss classified information, which was the primary purpose of this briefing for members of the house, there are a couple of salient points that i think are worth making. the first one is that there were people in the community who saw suspicious things occurring around the house where these two killers were living and for a variety of reasons didn't want to take the opportunity to bring that to the attention of law enforcement. and i think it should be made very plain to people that we are in an environment where it is very vital if you see something that doesn't look right, see something suspicious, you should report it to law enforcement. that does not entail any jeopardy to yourself. it does not involve law enforcement in doing anything that violates anyone's rights, because they're going to exercise all the precautions they need to take to do that.

but in order to keep people safer, people need to be reporting things that they see that could have led to an intervention in this case. secondly, i think it's very important to understand that when we have millions of people applying for visas, we yesterday addressed the visa waiver program, where we're putting limitations on when you can enter the country without a visa, but when you aplay to come into the country with a visa, we have a lot of work to do in terms of making sure that we can detect people who have been rad -- radicalized and are a threat to security when they enter the united states. and as a result of that, it is very important that when the house considers legislation like we did a few weeks ago dealing with a country, syria, where we do not have the normal consular operating process that we can properly access databases,

properly interview family members and business associates d so on of people before granting entry to the united states, that having a requirement in the law that the process itself be certified by the director of the federal bureau of investigation, which the refugee bill requires is a very important and legitimate thing to consider. but it -- and it isn't limited to the issue with regard to refugees. it is something that needs to be examined for all different areas where we are issuing visas. this system needs to be improved. there were a number of things discussed in the briefing that relate to that. i am not at liberty to determine what might be classified there so i'll leave it at that. it's an important area for the administration and the congress to address. thank you. >> was any indication given of

how long they were radicalized or what sorts of communications they're looking at on social media? mr. goodlatte: i want to be very careful to not tell people who are interested in entering the united states what is or is not being done and what the level of scrutiny is, i'm not going to answer that question, having just walked out of a classify briefing where i don't know what is in the public domain. >> is there concern about additional plots this couple was planning? mr. goodlatte: i think it is in the public domain that they -- when they searched their home they found in the garage behind the home lots of material for the preparation of lots of additional explosive devices and rounds of ammunition so that raised the question of whether

or not they may have been plotting or have been in communications with others who may have been plotting and could have picked up this. but beyond that, i'm not going to comment for the f.b.i. on whether there's evidence of that other than to say that they did not share any evidence of that with us. >> are they learning from the electronic devices that this couple left behind are they earning any of who they're communicating with? mr. goodlatte: since you used the word intelligence, i need to decline to indicate, i'm going to let them share that information if they choose to. >> what can you tell us about the neighbors, maybe somebody who wasn't reporting what they've seen? mr. goodlatte: what i know is what you know in the public domain and that is that there were people who were aware of things, thought they were suspicious, but did not want to be accused of being

discriminatory and so on for reporting something. again, it's not an issue of discrimination, because anybody of any race, creed, or color could engage in these types of activities. but if they're engaging in a suspicious activity, it's entirely appropriate and we hope people will take to heart that those things should be reported so that if there's a basis for looking into it further, law enforcement is better capable of making that decision individuals n the community. >> what about neighbors? >> i think you'll -- mr. goodlatte: i only know they saw activities going in and out of the garage at various times of the day and night that they thought were suspicious. >> you talk about plugging holes in the k-1 program, does there need to be a top to bottom review of every way a foreigner can get in the country? mr. goodlatte: you've asked a broad ranging question, i thank

you for asking it. i think there are many things that need to be done to improve immigration enforcement in the united states. some of those relate very much to criticism that has been placed with the administration. but there are also bills, at least four that have passed out of the judiciary committee and one that passed out of the homeland security committee, that we think need to be addressed as a part of making sure that we're doing everything possible to keep our citizens safe with regard to our immigration system. i think this incident has revealed that we need to do additional work, particularly in the area of how these interviews and what other types of gathering of data of various kinds can be accomplished when people apply for visas to enter the united states and what kinds of questions should be asked that would trigger further

investigation that didn't reveal what needed -- what needed to be revealed in this particular unfortunate incident. >> we're still reacting to that, san bernardino happens. mr. goodlatte: the work is ongoing. we've produced two bills that have been acted on in the last few weeks, lots of other work is ongoing. we have to take fweat pains to make sure that we do this in a way that makes sense, doesn't make the problem worse, but rather makes it better. so having it operate through regular order is where most of these things should be handled. some bills have been produced. other bills are in the process of being worked on. i thank you all for your questions. >> book tv has 48 hours of

nonfiction books and authors every weekend on c-span2. saturday night at 10:00 p.m. eastern, on "after words," nurse and "new york times" columnist theresa brown discusses her book, "the shift: one nurse, 12 hours, four patients' lives" hich gives readers a look at her experience, is interviewed by debra hatmaker. >> health care is only going to get more and more complex. and we're just going to need better and better nurses then to meet all those complex needs. so thinking about how to keep us strong and healthy and encouraging that is huge. i don't think -- we sort of give lip service to that but we don't really emphasize it. >> on sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. eastern -- >> politics, which i have been part of all my life, was not so

different from the world of petty criminals, robbers, and racketeers, but it was disguised and therefore less obvious to see. in fact for 25 years in my career, i've looked at america as an idea. i've defended american principles, the american dream, the american founding. and i've looked at american politics as a debate. the republicans believe in liberty. the democrats believe in equality. republicans want equality of rights. democrats want equality of outcome. now, it is the point of view of the criminal underclass that this way of looking at american politics is complete and total nonsense. d'souza looks at politics in his newest look, "stealing america." and sunday night at 7:30 p.m.

eastern, former democratic presidential candidate and author lawrence lessing talks about his experience running for president and campaign finance. the central theme of his book, "republic lost: the corruption of equality and the steps to end it." >> we're supposed to have a democracy where we as citizens are equal participants. but when you have a system where members of congress spend 0% to 70% of their time raising money from the tiniest fraction of the 1% they can't help but be more focused and concerned about that tiny fraction of the %. so that's a system where this basic equality is denied. >> watch book tv all weekend, every weekend, on c-span2. next an update on military operations against isis from pentagon spokesman colonel steve warren.

mr. warren: we are pleased to be joined from baghdad by cournd bush >> we are pleased to be joined from baghdad by counselor steve warren. steve, we turn it over to you. mr. warren: good afternoon, pentagon press corps. i'll start with some prepared remarks. . 've killed more isil leaders in iraq, we recently conducted strikes against three leaders in isil's financial and leadership network. their removal will degrade isil's ability to command and control troops and it disrupts their ability to finance their efforts. in late november, we killed abecause salah, the isil financial minister. he was one of the most senior and experienced members of

isil's financial network. and he was a legacy al qaeda member. salah was the third member of the finance network that we have killed in as many months. killing him and his predecessors exhaust -- exhausts the knowledge and tlent needed to coordinate fund -- and talent needed to coordinate funding in the organization. also in late november, we killed abu miriam. that's the third senior extortionist we've killed recently. it's impairing isil's ability to extort money. in the same time frame we called bu rahman al-farid who coordinated information, people and weapons. these strikes are an example of how we are able to decimate networks. next i'll update you on the

tactical actions and tactical situation in iraq and syria. i direct you all to the rah maw tee map, i've got three maps to show you. we'll work through them rapidly. if you could pull the map up to i can see et on the screen here, there it is. is is a map that shows the operational area between ramati, in the upper left-hand concerner of your map, and -- corner of our map, and tikadim, in the lower right hand corner of the map. so i want you to see the full perating area. ramadi is outlined there, and in the center of the map a blue line running from the upper right to the lower left that blue line marks the forward line of troops of the eastern access.

so as you know, we've been attacking ramadi from all directions of the compass. north, south, east, and west. the eastern axis sit there is along that blue line. that is primarily along the eastern axis is primarily federal troops operating on that ax sess. the next map is a zoomed in picture of ramadi. i'll wait for the map to come up. there it is. this is ramadi proper. north and ble there, south. >> can you hear me? i'm sorry, steve, we have a technical problem with the monitor that i caused. if we could ask you to just actually start from the beginning with the maps as soon as we get it back up.

yeah, same problem i had. i'm sorry. i was trying to turn the monitor so tara could see it and i unplugged it. yeah. all my fault. we're trying to furn it, figure out how to get it back. if you wouldn't mind, just hold it for a second. >> let's try that. we've got you on a different screen now, steve. if you can hear us, we've got the satellite map of, well, satellite map of ramati. - of ramadi.

>> that is the operational area around ramadi. you see ramadi proper, to the right is tikatim, which you can't even see the whole of that name, just the first couple of letters. that's in the lower right of your map. just off the screen to the right is where fallujah is. an of course the rest of anbar province toward the top of the map. the only notable mark ied me on this map is that blue line that runs from upper right to lower left, about dead center of your screen, a third of the way from the right hand edge of the map that blue line marks the forward line of troops of the eastern axis. the eastern axis is primarily made up of federal police, by the way.

s we briefed, we are attacking ramadi from all four sides from the north, south, east, and west. it's the police that are moving along that eastern axis. that's where the police are. now for a closer look at ramadi, et's go to the next map. so here we have a close-up view of ramadi proper. up is north, down is south. east is to the right-hand side of the map, west is to the left. of note, obviously, the major obstacle is the euphrates river which forks in the middle of your screen. so what's notable about this, i'll point out a few landmarks. kind of dead center of your map, you see the glass and ceramics

factory. where the river forks, just to the north of that fork you see the anbar operations center. to give you a sense of scale, the op center and the ceramic and glass factory are about 600 meters apart, about six football fields. i wanted to give you that view of the map. now i'm going to flip to the last map which is going to show you what's under whose control. go ahead and go to the last map. this shows you what has been accomplished over the last several days. other notable landmarks that are euphrates map, the river where it exits the top of the screen there, a little bit past where it exits the screen is the palestine bridge.

that of course was our notable accomplishment last week. so last week, the iraqi security forces pressed south from the palestine bridge, fol employeing the -- following the river, until two days ago they managed to seize and liberate the anbar operations center. to the south, what's most notable, you can see the main highway that cuts across the southern portion of the map here, looks like highway 11. to the right or the east of highway 11 you have the largest neighborhood in ramadi and iraqi security forces have seized it. they have secured it. we estimate that there are no longer any enemy operating inside of that neighborhood. they are continuing to reduce mines, obstacles, i.e.d.'s. you can see in red there is what the enemy still controls.

all right. i think -- i'll show you a video here shortly, it will be of tanks operating in another neighborhood, that neighborhood to the south there. so that's kind of what ramadi looks like. i expect we'll get some questions and i want to talk more about it. but i do want to say one thing. i sat down and had breakfast with general mcfar lynn this morning, he reminded me of something that i think is notable and i hope you all take note of. these recent successes in ramadi come nine years almost to the day after a man -- after several soldier, one an army captain patraquin, major kwon and specialist pumonti travis patrequin was the driving

force in many ways. anbar operations center, which the iraqis fought so hard to liberate, was named by aavis's honor significant player in the anbar region as well. colonel sean mcfarland said this about travis. "he grew to mythical stature among the tribes. after he was killed and i talked , their eyes would brim with tears." we have been in iraq for a long time, and we have worked hard.

colonel mcfarland reminded me this morning there was a photo of travis in that anbar operations center. do not know if it is still there. hopefully we financing. before we move on to syria, i want to share a video with you. let me just set it up briefly. the reason i'm sharing this video is because it shows a significant, we think, milestone of what we are doing. this is low-grade imagery of iraqi tanks operating. -- it willortant is be hard to see. what you will see in the center of the screen is a flash, a tank firing and its main gun round. then you will see a second flash. those tanks are shooting gun rounds.

they are operating there to protect some armored bulldozers provided by the coalition to iraqi security forces. northn see it just to the , just above where the tank is firing, you can see the bulldozer is building a berm, sealing off a piece of road. armored allhat those are is doing that is because it prevents enemy truck bombs from attacking the flanks of security forces. significante it is because it is a true combined operation. the army we train in 2000 was a counterinsurgency army. they have specific tasks that they do. it is about checkpoints, providing security for convoys. it is about reducing the ability

of an insurgency to impact armed forces. what we are fighting is more of a conventional army, an enemy operating as a conventional army with conventional tactics. we spent the last several months training and equipping the iraqi army to flank this enemy. heartened to see iraqi security forces in these combined arms operations. david, if you will play the video plays. -- please.

col. warren: moving over to syria, in northern syria, syrian democratic forces continue to liberate territory help but isil -- by isil. villages aserated

they move towards shabadhi. during the campaign, they have liberated nearly 1000 square kilometers and have coordinated with coalition forces for 142 strikes which have killed approximately 500 enemies and destroyed 43 vehicles and one checkpoint. iraq and syria, we believe we are continuing to achieve good effects. commander makes frequent visits and was here this week. these are direct quotes. you can use them as such. this is a quote directly from general austin. it is worth noting everywhere we are supported in

enabling operations across iraq and syria, indigenous forces are on the offensive and holding ground that has been retaken from the enemy. we are gaining momentum against isil, and i remain confident in our approach. it will take time, but we will defeat them." i also think it is worth pointing out how this progress relates to isil's expansion in north africa and libya. willow that i sold -- isil follow a path of least resistance. to degrade their capabilities in iraq and syria, we have to expect, plan for them to try to attempt to gain foothold elsewhere. with that, i have no more prepared comments. i look forward to taking your questions. warren, in connection

with ramadi, i wonder if you can give us a snapshot of what is happening in falluja. col. warren: isolation operations for falluja are ongoing. there are several thousand iraqi security forces encircling falluja to begin the process of isolating and eventually clearing it. we are in the early stages of that. initially, the commission was blocked to prevent falluja from being able to reinforce isil fighters in ramadi. that has been successful. that is what federal police are doing. you saw the blue line on the map.

we saw the line of advancement. , tohe way, the blue line give you some scale on the map, was roughly four kilometers away from ramadi. falluja operations are in early phases but beginning to come together. forceshose iraqi operating in the falluja area, are they mostly or partially american-trained and equipped forces? col. warren: mostly not. there are some american-trained arces in falluja, but majority of the forces we have trained our operating around ramadi. tabbot.is joel i want to go back to your opening statements regarding the three isil leaders who were

killed. can you give us more details how they were killed, what kind of operation targeted them? also, has the u.s. military tried to capture them, for example? in this case, all three were killed by airstrikes. so, because it was an error operation, there was no possibility of capturing them. these all took place in november. iraq, you said that isil is acting like a conventional army. could you give us more details? do you know what operations isil

is operating like a conventional army? officers former iraqi fighting with them? i would just like to get more details on that if you can. we know there are former iraqi officers fighting with them. the reason they are operating more like a conventional army is because they have almost operational goals. their stated goal is to create a state, a caliphate. which is a very conventional goal. they have to take and hold ground and govern the people inside. that cannot be done with an insurgency. an insurgency has different goals. case, their goal is to proceed and hold ground. to do that requires conventional

tactics. bashar al-assad told the british "sunday times" his army is arming pyd forces. endorse forces being armed by the assad regime? col. warren: i am not aware of that statement, and so i cannot speak to it. isil.al is to focus on our mission is to work with willing members of the coalition to defeat isil. that is what we are going to do. says has to be suspect. this is a brutal dictator responsible for the deaths of 250,000 of his own people, that dropped bombs on his own

population, that has unleashed chemical weapons on his own people. this is not someone who can be believed in any circumstance. >> there are reports that forcesga forces and pkk and local ysidi forces are fighting over local offices in sinjar. do you confirm this report? do you have anything to share with us what is going on right now? col. warren: i cannot confirm those reports. sinjar, peshmerga forces who liberated the city from isil

several weeks ago have continued to work on clearing booby-traps, 's, and obstacles left behind. that process is ongoing. we hope soon the population will be able to come home. that includes the members that were not murdered or thrown into mass graves that were actually booby-trapped by these barbarians call isil. go back to the blue line being about four kilometers from the city where the federal police are. what is the reason they are farther away from city centers? delay in getting those forces closer into the city center. then i have a couple more. col. warren: that is the federal

equippedo not as well as a conventional iraqi security force. they simply move slower. do they also receive overhead support from u.s. airstrikes? col. warren: yes. ramadi as aone of dod's-- is it still estimate there are between 600 and 1000 isis fighters in the area that still need to be taken out? col. warren: we killed 350 of them over the course of the last week. airstrikes, but in reality, each airstrike has several target engagements.

a high volume of coalition air power flying destruction to enemy fighters in ramadi. so i do not have a revised number. 600re still operating that to 1000, but we have killed quite a few of them. that brings me to another good point. ,hat is notable, i think compared to the 350 we have killed from the air, iraqi security forces over the last week have sustained only one friendly killed in action. that is a testament to the training they have received, a testament to the airpower, the close air support, that we have been able to provide. and a testament to the quality of equipment we provide. i think that is noticeable. was that amount of isis

fighters removed from ramadi -- i guess maybe half of them are still in the city. is that number able to hold a city as large as ramadi? col. warren: fair question. urban combat is difficult, tricky work. it is because of the way an urban environment is laid out. you have narrow roads, buildings. isil has had a long time to prepare the buildings. holes to movek between willing to building. they have sheets over roads and alleyways to move up and down the alley way without being detected. the have booby-trapped the city center significantly. all of those things combined a relatively small force

to be able to hold off a substantially larger force indefinitely. isil has done this very well >> -- very well. they have truck bombs, their version of precision munition. they use these truck bombs to attack flanks. ,s a force is moving forward and only the tip of the spear can move forward because of the lanes created by the buildings and roads, so a relatively small force can lead. that small force can encounter a minefield. they will need to reduce the minefield. while they are doing that, the enemy will set -- send a truck bomb into the flanks to cause confusion. security forces have

been helping prevent that. you see that in our video. the tank provided security while the armor bulldozer worked, allowing more of the forced to move in. it is a slow and deliberate process. it is hot. it is scary, and it can be deadly. this is why a small force is able to hold off a large group sometimes. colonel warren, andrew tillman. can you tell us if the american have beenanbar providing any on the ground, outside the wire support for the ramadi operations like we saw in sinjar? -- are theying doing med evac support for tactical advising from forward positions? col. warren: no, they are not.

american forces are at the air base. >> can you tell me why that is? is there a distinction to be drawn between the kurdish and iraqi forces? support isreason our more forward leaning for kurdish forces up north? it has nothing to do with the forces and everything to do with the terrain. up north, we have a very clear frontline between the peshmerga and isil. very clean cut line of troops. one step on that line, you are in good guy country. another step, you are in bad guy territory. there is not the threat of snipers, ambush. it is safe on the good guy side. not the case here because of the way isil occupied it.

you have to think of it as a map.s of ink splots on a the roads are not safe. the crews take risk every time they move. largelyy, although fighting as a conventional army, they continue to employ certain tactics. reasons,for protection we have decided to keep u.s. forces in anbar and other areas around here inside the base. hi, colonel. you said there is pressure on di, and they are using around surrounding -- the roads surrounding after they lost the

main highways. what is the strategy importance of that? it is really one of isil's cleanest cuts. these that area to stage personnel and distribute items through the battlefield. it is important for that reason. also, it's position along a major highway into raqqa, willolling shadadhi, we control another primary line of communication into raqqa, which is in isil's center of gravity in syria. that is the next step to isolate raqqa. >> are they using it to cross into iraq? col. warren: i do not think so. i do not know.

i do not know. needs to have some work done on it, the iraq-syria border. this will help. willity of shadhadi certainly help. it will not be the final brick in the wall, but it will help. after november 2014, turkish they are notim involved in syria. still, there is reporting of airstrikes. what is the impact of that incident to coalition forces? you know, we continue to fly, conduct operations.

,ur operations are ongoing supporting troops in combat. we are conducting operations in raqqa to strike leadership. reduceuct operations to their capacity to make money from oil. turkey has been providing air support to syrian forces. we continue to conduct operations. >> secretary carter talked about the southern front and the leftover guys working in southern syria, as i understand it. can you give a sense of what they are doing? it was not clear what their operations are.

also, i do not know if you can do this, but is there anyway you guys can assess the impact on isis's revenue from the work you have been doing? i assume it is too soon, but how would we see an impact? col. warren: well, in southern syria, along the jordan border, there was a raid conducted by syrian forces we trained. i cannot recall the name of the town. it was on a tribe border area where syria and jordan come together. it was an isil outpost. the forces we trained conducted ago.d there several weeks

they moved to set up an attack with mortars at that facility. they were able to direct airpower against that facility as well. that is the only one us far of note. we will continue to have those forces plan future operations. on the oil piece, it is a little too soon to determine exactly the impact of our strikes. -- it is this attacking their industrial base. as boxing.t body strikes, right? you may not get a knockout from early round body shots, that several rounds later, you will see your opponent's knees

getting weak. that is what this is. these are body shots. we may not see an immediate impact today based on the strikes against oil because there is money in the pipelines. there is a ripple effect that takes a while to catch up. but when it does catch up, we will see this and many -- enemy's knees weaken. >> without getting into specifics, do you see this new syrian force being folded in somewhere else or operating roughly where they are now for the time being? or what? we will continue to operate along the southern border area. what they bring, as do all of these forces, what they bring to

the battlefield is the most powerful and lethal weapon -- communications. these personnel have been and, more importantly, equipped with communications that can talk to us, the coalition. they can bring in devastating effects of our firepower. they continue to operate along that border. be folded potentially into other units that operate along that border. what they bring is that tremendous mobilization factor, communications. yesterdayretary mentioned the use of apache helicopters and perhaps u.s. advisors working closer with iraqi units in ramadi. can you talk about the conditions that would exist for iraqio happen and how the

government, whether or not they would seek such support? well, the secretary did announce these initiatives. is that it hasnt to be at the request of the iraqi government. i know the secretary of defense spoke about this a few hours ago. governmenthe iraqi has not requested additional advisors. it will be a case-by-case basis. if there is a specific mission or operation that would directly benefit from the presence of attack aviation, this is something that we will discuss. it is hard to come up with a hypothetical scenario.

it will be a case-by-case basis. as opportunities arrive, we are in daily discussion with iraqi partners. if it seems a situation is such that a rotary wing attack aviation would help, would have a significant impact. ramadi, is there a good amounte for some kind of of civilians that remain behind and isis is doing what he can to prevent their departure from the city center? we do not have an estimate of the civilian population in ramadi. it is a difficult number to combine. -- come by. it is a hard number to get

resolution on. isil isindication that either actively preventing ,ivilians from departing or worse, waiting for civilians to begin departing and firing on them. weeks ago, a nine-year-old boy was shot in the stomach as he and his family were trying to leave. fortunately, iraqi security forces were able to save his life. usl has made it clear to through their actions that they intend to continue to hide behind the civilian population in an effort to reduce the effectiveness of our airpower. could you -- the day after the turks shot down a russian fighter jet, president putin

questioned the utility of sharing information with the coalition. i know there have been calls with the coalition. could you bring us up-to-date about the information the russians are sharing? how often they are sharing with the coalition? has not become a to a street at way street at two- this point? is there any kind of information being provided? col. warren: we talked to the russians everyday. what we do is discuss ways to deconflict aircraft coming together. altitude, speed, location and direction. the russians do not tell us what they're going to strike.

we do not tell them where we are going to strike. all we do is talk to them about how we can ensure our aircraft do not bond into each other. nois important to note amount of phone calls would have had that effect on them. it was a turkish sovereignty event, not a part of a coalition operation. >> are you telling them you are operating around raqqa, the altitude? are you giving them geographic locations? col. warren: i am not going to get into that level of detail. the memorandum of agreement prevents us from getting into detail. we exchange enough information to ensure our planes do not bu mp into each other. >> i am with executive

intelligence review. you said in your opening statement that as you put more pressure on isis, we should expect to see them try to establish themselves in other locations, which they are doing. mean we should expect more terrorist attacks outside of the region? is there anything you are doing in your campaign that will reduce that threat? we are killing terrorists. we are killing them every single day, by the hundreds. that is reducing the threat. i'm going to talk about what we are doing here. and that is taking down leadership networks. it is taking away the ability to fund terror operations, and it is killing terrorists. that is the business we are in here. business has been very good.

we are going to continue to execute this mission. up, do youfollow have any more granularity on what kind of role ground troops could play in retaking ramadi? is it airstrikes, serving in a combat role? are there any preparations in place now in the case of the iraqi government asking for u.s. support? the iraqin: government asks for apache helicopters and the mission is right, and we agree, we will use apache helicopters. they are ready. all we have to do is find a mission they would be able to impact and agree with the iraqis.

that agreement has not come yet. apache not agreed to use helicopters in iraq. we have told the iraqi government if they would like us to, we are willing to. yesterday, he said he would be open to helicopters and ground troops, ground advisors. i'm trying to get an idea what that force could look like. col. warren: it is purely speculative. it could look like anything. right now, it does not look like anything because it does not exist yet. -- can you say what the iraqi tanks were firing at? any more details on the? -- that?

col. warren: we could not see from that piece of video, but based on our discussions, there was enemy activity down those roads. what theow exactly battle assessment was. they wereant thing is providing protection to armored erectings that were berms to protect tanks. this is a great example of combined operations. the berms provided security for the tanks. that is combined operations. >> last call here. >> a follow-up to paul's question. you say there is no records from prime minister abahdi to help

the ramadi operation. yesterday and today, it was said ist the ramadi operation disappointingly slow. why is that the case, that the iraqi government does not ask for u.s. help over there? col. warren: terry said it was "frustratingly slow." you asked why the iraqi government has not asked for apaches. obviously not a question i am equipped to answer. louis has one last one. >> there has been some back and forth about the airstrike that led to syrianaim

casualties caused by u.s. aircraft. the russian defense ministry spokesman said though there were no american aircraft in that vicinity, there were apparently aircraft,f coalition the inference being that maybe they had something to do with it. any comment on that? there were no coalition aircraft in that area when the -- no soldiers were killed. how do we know? from when the thatal reporting came out syrian soldiers were killed, there were no coalition aircraft anywhere near that. an hour later, an hour after the initial reports came

out, coalition aircraft conducted a strike about 60 miles away, 59, i believe it was. those are the facts, plain and simple. dos coalition had nothing to with syrian personnel being killed. period. there were no other coalition aircraft in the vicinity at all? before or after the strike? correct? col. warren: there were no coalition aircraft in the vicinity before or after the initial reports came out that syrian soldiers were killed. an hour after the reports came out, coalition aircraft conducted a strike approximately of wheresouth and east

the soldiers died, the syrian soldiers died. >> anything else? thank you, everybody. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> every weekend on american history tv, 48 hours of programs that tell our nation's story. saturday at 2:00 eastern, authors on the life of stokely carmichael, a voice for the black power movement in the united states and an organizer for the all african people's party, joined by field secretary charles cobb. >> stokely called the movement and apprenticeship in struggle. i think he is about right in that. stokely eventually moves to africa, embraces socialism. other people embrace the democratic party. >> at 8:00, history professor

elizabeth gray on the use of opium in the 19 century and public opinion of its abuse. >> the attitude towards women drinking at the time was that it was very inappropriate. a woman should not drink. num be an laud alternative? backnday at 10:00, we look to the 2000 campaign of al gore, as he tours new hampshire. years, youlast 6.5 have seen the environment change from losing 6000 jobs a year to gaining 12,000 jobs a year. that is partly because we have had a fiscal responsibility. president clinton and i put in place and an economic -- an economic plan. >>