contingency operations to ensure our military is agile, lethal, and ready to address these threats and theft strength and capability to defeat the rise of many islamic terrorist groups worldwide and deter potential gressors like russia, china, north korea, and iran. mr. chairman, we share the concern of the army, navy, air force, and marines about the erosion of overall readiness in the force. to begin this reinvestment, this bill provides $168 billion to fully fund programs to prepare our forces for combat and other missions. within this funding, an additional $609 million over the president's budget will help the services, particularly the guard and reserve. in summary, mr. chairman, this package provide our troops and looks after their families and for those -- and those who have been wounded in service to our nation. i would also add this package offers the department of defense, our intelligence community, and our defense industrial base the stability

and predictibility they need and have sought. my colleagues, it is the first responsibility of the congress under the constitution to provide for a strong common defense. in a world rife with crises and challenges, we do not know where the next catastrophe may or hot spot will erupt, or how and when our armed forces will be asked to respond. but we do know the american -- that america must continue to lead and this bill enables that leadership. this bill deserves our bipartisan support. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm happy to yield to the gentleman from washington, mr. mcdermott, for a unanimous consent. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcdermott: thank the gentlelady from new york. i ask unanimous consent to enter into the record my remarks in opposition to this bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm happy to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from ohio, ranking member of the energy and water subcommittee, ms. kaptur. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. kaptur: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the ranking member for yielding me time. this week marks progress in the return to regular order. and although four months late and following the resignation of former speaker john lane bayner, a victim of republican gridlock, this critical funding legislation deserves passage to avoid another shutdown of the federal government. this congress must be disciplined and constructive and i thank chairman hal rogers of kentucky and ranking member nita lowey from new york for leading our committee in that direction. i want to thank our subcommittee chair, mike simpson, as well as staff leads, donna and tonya,

for their stellar work. our appropriations accounts constitute but a third of overall federal spending, about 30%. the appropriations accounts have been shaved away for nearly 30 years now, down from 50% of costs for running our nation's most vital functions in prior decades. this has meant cuts in everything from defense of our nation at home and abroad, all the way founding for critical lifesaving programs like clean water, modernization. just ask the people in flint, michigan, how it feels to have a water emergency because the children and adults are having to drink water with lead. we can't continue to shortchange our appropriation accounts. other committees beyond our own must act to grow our economy while balancing our nation's accounts. the budget committee, the tax committee, the authorizing committees, and quite frankly congress ought to require the executive branch to balance u.s. trade accounts which have ballooned to $9 trillion in the negative over the past quarter century, creating such a drag on economic growth.

still vast energy imports continue to represent the single largest component of our trade deficit and this bill promotes an energy and water bill that tries to move our nation forward despite all of this. as one of 12 measures in the omnibus, our energy and water section provides a strong pathway for american energy independence, as well as upgrades to vital port and water assets essential to life in america. a $535 million increase investment at the corps of engineers will keep our ports opened for business and continue to clean our waterways. might i have an additional 15 seconds from the gentlelady? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for another minute. ms. kaptur: i thank you very much. there is $1.257 billion for western drought response, water smart programs, and river restoration and increased funding for science is equally important up to $5.3 billion, which will support american innovation, critical for

manufacturing competitiveness and job creation. $2 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy sets us on a path toward greater energy. let me end with this, when our foes decide to flood our global market with excess crude oil and push prices below $2 a gallon, they try to snuff out emergency energy sectors like natural gas. our bill attempts to move and the world in a different direction and we don't want any more recessions caused by those who control the spigots raising gas prices over $4 a gallon. though this bill is not perfect, it represents a compromise. i urge my colleagues to vote positively and support this measure to move america forward again. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i yield two minutes to the very distinguished chairman of the subcommittee on foreign operations, ms. granger. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. ms. granger: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of this omnibus appropriations bill. my top priority is to ensure we

provide for our national security. this omnibus does precisely that. this is one of the most dangerous times in our history. we must ensure that the united states remains not only the greatest country in the world, but also the strongest. the u.s. and our allies face threats from countries such as iran, russia, china, north korea . additionally radical islamic terrorists such as isis continue to threaten everything we stand for. as chair of state foreign operations and vice chair of defense appropriations i'm very proud of what this bill does to ensure resources are available to counter these threats. i have worked hard to ensure our military has the tools it needs. we fund the equipment required to confront our enemies head on, and we take care of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and their loved ones. not only does this bill provide funding for training and readiness, it also funds critical family services. assist abc is provided for our allies including israel, jordan,

and ukraine who are vital partners this fight. to address security issues closer to home, we have prioritized funds for counter narcotics and law enforcement assistance in mexico, colombia, the caribbean, and central america, including funds to stem the flow of unaccompanied children to our borders. there are increased funds in the bill for embassy security and prevent and protect against future terrorist attacks, unrest, and other acts of violence at home and abroad. the bill also includes provision that is will make our foreign system more secure. passage of this omnibus is critical to ensure america can continue to lead from the front in this very dangerous world. i want to thank chairman rogers, chairman frelinghuysen, and ranking members lowey and visclosky, for their timeless work on this bill. i urge a yes vote, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the the gentlewoman from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from

connecticut, ms. delauro, the distinguished ranking member of the labor, health, and human services subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. ms. delauro: i rise in support of the omnibus appropriations bill before this chamber. in many ways this omnibus moves the federal budget in the right direction. it begins to leave behind the shortsighted policies of austerity that have slowed our economic recovery. but i am disappointed it did not go further. i'm troubled that the labor-hhs education bill received only a fraction, about one half of its fair share of the $33 billion increase provided by the recent budget deal. while we were successful on many fronts, the bill still does not adequately fund many of our nation's highest priorities. i have also been fighting for years to remove a policy rider carried in this bill that prevents the centers for disease control from funding research on

gun violence. even congressman dickey who authored the rider is now opposed. this bill, however, does begin to make incremental progress and there are many, many successes to highlight. it boosts our efforts to improve our quality of life. it provides an increase of $00 for the centers of disease control and $160 million to ddress the growing threat of the bacteria. and it provides for child care and $170 million for head start. these early learning programs reduce inequality and narrow achievement gaps. there are sizeable increases, $455 million for special education, $5 million for title i grants and $200 million more

than last year for job training and apprentice programs. imagine if we gave labor, education and health programs their fair funding. we could be expanding access to high quality child care, early childhood education. we could be funding partnerships between community colleges, technical training to develop the most highly skilled work force in the world. tomorrow i will vote to support this omnibus bill. it is a downpayment. i urge my colleagues to vote yes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield two minutes, mr. simpson. mr. simpson: i thank my ranking member for her hard work wep spent preparing for this bill for consideration and

acknowledge the work of our senate partners. there are a number of good reasons for us to vote for this bill and many of them are in the energy and water development section. this bill provides strong funding for our nation's defense and important infrastructure investments that will keep america's waterways open for business and critical funding to secure the security of our electrical grid and support our aging stockpile. this includes full funding for critical warheads such as the b-161 bomb and the cruise missile. the program has been increased by 141 million and the ohio class ballistic missile. funding for the army corps of engineers includes $1.2 billion. this bill provides for full use of the annual everyone dth

revenues. and moves this country forward with a balanced all of the above energy. it includes important funding for the idaho national laboratory to advance nuclear technologies and ensure efficient use of energy. $162 million to improve the resilience of the electrical grid against cybersecurity. we continue to commonsense provisions that were included in last year's bill such as changing the definition of fill material and to protect consumers' choice and responsible commercial operations. i urge my colleagues to vote for this omnibus and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from north carolina,

mr. price, the ranking member of the transportation, housing and urban development subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. price: mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this omnibus bill. it will provide funding certainty for the balance of the fiscal year and the sequester caps that crippled our appropriations process and it casts off the poison pill riders that threatened everything from fair housing to truck safety, to environmental protection, to women's health. this bill will allow us to begin repairing and modernizing our aging highway and transit systems, makes critical investments in railroad and aviation system and the grant program that will allow us to build a stronger transportation future. the omnibus makes limited but significant progress towards addressing the affordable housing crisis and provides funds to maintain and rehab public housing and increased funding for the choice

neighborhood programs and home and investment partnerships. mr. speaker, the bill fails to fully address our known transportation and housing needs. we still have a great deal of work to do. but whatever deficiencies this omnibus contains would only be made far worse by defeating this bill. that would likely lead to a full year continuing resolution that would be funding at sequestration levels and eliminating programs. finally, mr. speaker, we must resolve to get our budgetary house in order. we should pass this bill and thank everyone who worked to bring this together, but we must stop lunching from crisis to crisis. surely we can do better than to depend on the threat of a shutdown. this bill is a small step in the right direction, far better than the alternative, but it's past time for congress to conclude a

comprehensive agreement, one that sets responsible funding country mustts our make. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky. mr. rogers: i yield three minutes to mr. calvert of california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. calvert: i would like to recognize mr. davis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. davis: i thank the gentleman. the interior environment section of this bill instructs the office of surface mining to re-engage state partners before finalizing the stream buffer zone rule. this rule blurs the lines between the stream buffer zone rule and the clean water act and would have a devastating impact on coal mining. we have audio recordings of officials touting the fact that

a major benefit of this rule would be no more coal mining. it estimated it will result in the loss of 7,000 or 9% of the more than 80,000 coal mining jobs in the united states. mr. chairman, it is my understanding that this report language would mandate o.s.m. to go back to the states and require signoff on the rule before finalized. can you clarify the intent of this language? mr. calvert: the language included in the omnibus recognizes that this administration has not been working with the states in a collaborative manner. of tates signed memorandums understanding. they established processes for data information sharing and the exchange of comments and ideas. unfortunately earlier this year, nine states withdrew in protest. this mandatory congressional directive will require they

share date ave information as they have should have been doing all along and we will be monitoring this implementation. the committee commits to working on the implementation process moving forward to ensure that o.s.m. re-engages the states and actively engages them in the process. mr. davis: i thank the gentleman for the clarification and i thank mr. johnson. mr. frelinghuysen: i associate myself with the comments of my colleague from illinois, mr. davis. this is a devastating rule. -- mr. johnson: the administration has said this is going to kill 7,000 jobs and far more than that. we are looking at 80,000 jobs. they are critical stakeholders in this, mr. chairman. it is my understanding in the interpretation of this language

that o.s.m. will be directed to re-engage and meet with those states at the states' request. and based on that direction under the weight of law, that would essentially mean at a minimum the comment period for those states of prime asy that request meetings would have to be reopened, is that your interpretation? mr. calvert: yes. mr. johnson: i appreciate all the hard work that has been done on this. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired, unless you would like to yield some more time to the gentleman from california. mr. rogers: i yield to the gentleman. and would mr. davis yield? i'm sorry. let me associate myself with your comments. my district, like yours has been absolutely devastated by the war on coal.

and this language is a great help in that direction. mr. johnson: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york. mrs. lowey: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlelady from california, ms. roybal-allard, the ranking member of the homeland security committee. ms. roybal-allard: mr. speaker. as the ranking member of the appropriations subcommittee on homeland security, i can attest that division f of the bill before us today which provides funds to the department of homeland security is the result of careful consideration, intense scrutiny and bipartisan collaboration. i want to thank chairman carter for his leadership and his partnership in crafting our portion of the bill. the bill provides significant resources for critical priorities, including funding to

recapitalize the coast guard and air and marine fleet, to fully fund fema's disaster and relief activities including wildfire management assistance grants and to significantly enhance support for flood mapping and pre-disaster mitigation and to maintain funding for fema terrorism preparedness grants including $50 million to help communities counter violent extremism and prepare for complex, coordinated terrorist attacks. without this omnibus bill, my home state of california and communities across the country would be faced with the uncertain funding level of a continuing resolution or in the worst case, the effects of a government shutdown. it is also important to note the bill does not include a number of harmful immigration policy riders that were adopted during the committee consideration of the house bill.

this funding bill is clearly not what i had hoped for. many of my colleagues feel the same way, and i share many of their concerns including the lack of assistance provided to puerto rico and the give-aways to big oil. however, on balance, i believe this bill should move forward and i ask for an aye vote. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from california plrks calvert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. calvert: on december 2, isis sympathizers attacked and killed 14 and injured another 22 in san bernandino, california. police and first responders put their lives on the line rescuing survivors and capturing the perpetrators. however, localities have faced unexpected costs as a result of this attack and i yield to the gentleman from texas, the

chairman of the the c.j.s. subcommittee to discuss the funding terrorism in the bill. mr. culberson: protecting the homeland is our priority and we provide funding to combat terrorism, a significant increase for local law enforcement assisting the f.b.i. the bureau has the ability to reimburse costs and there is $50 million for victims of terrorism. mr. calvert: i yield to the gentleman from texas, homeland security subcommittee chairman to discuss d.h.s. resources available to respond to the attack. mr. carter: i thank my friend to yielding to me and give you the news about what department of homeland security is doing. this bill includes $2.5 billion for grants for first responders, $397 million above the request. further this bill includes $50

million for a new program to help states and local communities prepare for, prevent and respond to terrorist threats. mr. calvert: i thank the gentleman. i yield to the gentleman from california, representing san bernandino, california, mr. ag did you lar. mr. aguilar: it killed 14 and injured 22, responding to the attack were the first responders. i look forward to working with the gentlemen and the departments to assist san bernandino in recovering from this attack. mr. calvert: thank. i yield to the gentleman from -- yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from new york, mr. serrano, the ranking member member of the financial services and general government subcommittee of

appropriations. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. . tie minutes. without objection. mr. serrano: i thank the gentlewoman and our leader. this is a very bittersweet moment for me. on one hand i'm so proud of what my staff and i other members and your staff did to make the financial services portion of this bill much better. much, much better. we increased dollars to the i.r.s. we helped the treasury department. we helped the small business administration. did so much that would make anyone want to be the top yeller and screamer in favor of this bill. for that i am very grateful. for that i'm very thankful to the committee and to our leadership and to the staff. but then as one who was born in an american territory called puerto rico, there is a glaring

omission. that is in puerto rico's worst financial crises we could not get our colleagues on the other side to agree for just some simple help. some simple opportunity to declare bankruptcy. for a simple opportunity to put their house in order. for a simple opportunity to restructure their debt. and so i have said so many times here that i find myself always in this, not contradiction but double situation where i am a member of the united states congress. prior to that a new yorker since the age of 6, long time ago. very proud of that. but important in the territory. and if there was ever a sign of colonialism, it's what we have done in this bill. we totally ignored the needs of four million american citizens. we totally ignore the need for them to restruck tire their debt. we totally ignore the need for them to survive. and in the process, we may be

creating a humanitarian crisis. we could have averted it. simply by allowing some simple language in this bill. but we chose not to do so. so i think it's time that we do two things. that we address the issue as speaker ryan has said that he will before march 31 shall the issue in general of work work's problem. but it's also time to address the issue of the relationship between puerto rico and the united states. it can't continue to be what it is. it either needs to be an independent nation or a state of the union, but it can't continue to be powerless and begging for everything it gets. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the military preparedness and veterans administration. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. dent:00 i rise in support of

the fiscal year 2016 consolidated appropriations act. legislation that will provide for much needed budgetary certainty, stability, and predictibility. i certainly like to commend speaker ryan, chairman rogers, ranking member lowey and my good friend and partner, ranking member of the subcommittee, sanford bishop, for all their hard work and for -- and also all the staff who did so much work behind the scenes to make this bill what it is. while this bill has many excellent provisions throughout its entirety, as chairman of the subcommittee on milcon-va, i can say with confidence this is a good fwill bill for our veteran service members and military families. it will ensure those who have served in defevens our great nation receive the full benefits, care, and support they deserve and help to maintain our military's readiness both at home and abroad. the bill will ensure quality housing for nearly two million military families and improve the quality and safety of our bases, defense installations,

monuments, and cemeteries throughout the world t will provide an increase for v.a. programs including a 10.5% increase to v.a. medical services to provide care and treatment for approximately seven million veterans. it will also allow veterans with hepatitis c to be treated and cured and help the v.a. to address critical issues like mental health care and reducing the rates of veteran suicide and homelessness. we'll also provide funding needed to reduce the v.a. claims' backlog and move us closer to establishing an integrated electronic health records system. it will increase congressional oversight at the v.a. to counter the instances of gross mismanagement in eaksess of cost project overruns that have affected facilities across the country, colorado being the most egregious example. for these reasons and many more, mr. speaker, i support the legislation and encourage my colleagues on both side of the aisle to do the same. i want to thank ranking member bishop, mrs. lowey, chairman rogers, and all the staff who put this bill together. thank you again.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. farr, the distinguished ranking member of the agricultural subcommittee and representative of the peace corps. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. mr. farr: thank you very much, madam ranking member of the committee, nita lowey. i want to just remind people that this is a big bill. it's a bill that's got a lot in it. it's got a lot more good in it than it has bad in it. big deals have both. but what's really important, this is the most important vote we take all year because this is the vote that runs all of government. keeps it all operational. all the things you have heard about. i want to thank the chairman, mr. rogers, because he promised at the beginning of the year to our committee he was going to get us back to regular order and get us a bill. i bet we were going to end up with a c.r. which is the worst

thing we could do. it's the failure of congress to carry out its business. want to compliment mr. rogers and nita lowey for their incredible work to get a clean, relatively clean appropriations bill and how important this is. the work that was done on all the minutia there on our staff d the democratic side and my staff, michelle, troy, the republican staff of tom, andrew, pam, elizabeth, betsy, and chairman aderholt's staff of brian and jennifer thank you for all the detailed work night after night that you put into this. if you take medicine, this portion of the bill, 1/12 of the bill, the ag portion and commodity future trading commission and f.d.a., if you take medicine, this bill impacts you. if you invest in the market this bill impacts you. if you care for animals this bill impacts you.

if there are hungry people in this country and around the world, this bill really impacts you. quite frankly, if you want to eat safe, wholesome, and affordable food this bill is essential. thank you-all for doing this. but most of all i want to thank also another subcommittee. the subcommittee on international relations. and kay granger and nita lowey just did an incredible job for the first time fully funding peace corps, the highest level they have ever funded. we have 23,000 people applying for jobs and congress has only appropriated enough money to hire 3,500. this bill will go a long way to allowing all those americans who want to do service to our country abroad to get a chance to do so. so i want to thank you-all. it's one of the better bills. it's certainly a lot bert than last year. i look forward to next year. will it even be better? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield one minute to the gentleman from kansas, member of our committee, mr. yoder. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman virginia tech. mr. yoder: i rise today to applaud the efforts of chairman

rogers, his staff, and all my colleagues on the appropriations committee. this bill achieves many conservative goals, including ending the export oil ban, limiting the e.p.a. to its lowest funding since 2008, freezing the i.r.s., almost $2 billion below the president's budget request, denying any new funds to obamacare, resolving visa cafere westerns, and other pryors. while cutting in certain areas, we are also able to reprioritize 13e7bding and one is for the national institutes of health. this bill provide the largest funding at n.i.h. since 2003 and i want to thank chairman tom cole, the subcommittee, for his work in that endeavor. as we debate this bill, cancer is prepared to kill 600,000 americans next year. without new investment, we'll be unable to find a cure to cancer or any other diseases, heart disease that affect every family and community in america. i thank the committee for their leadership. mr. speaker, this bill represents the hard work of the committee and many others as it seeks to advance the conservative causes in a balanced way in a divided government. i urge its passage. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the

balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from georgia, mr. bishop, the ranking member of the veterans administration and military construction subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized tore two minutes. mr. bishop: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. speaker, first of all i'd like to thank chairman dent for his hard work on the subcommittee. he's been a tremendous partner. i'd like to thank chairman rogers and ranking member lowey for their strong bipartisan leadership. certainly i'd like to thank our staffs for their hard work. today's omnibus reflects what the f.y. 16 mill con-va bill should have looked like during full house consideration. discretionary funding for v.a. programs in today's agreement is $71.4 billion, $6.4 billion above the f.y. 2015 enacted level. this agreement fully funds major construction within the v.a. budget. as you may recall, this was a

significant issue in the house bill. there are a number of good things to highlight within the bill that will have a profound impact on the lives of our nation's veterans. for example, we have the opportunity to completely eradicate hepatitis c from our nation's veterans. we raised the amount for funding for treatment to $1.5 billion. additionally, in order to combat veterans' homelessness, suicide, and ptsd, we have also included $7.5 billion for mental health care services. that being said, mr. speaker, it is high time that we return to regular order. by regular order i mean a process that starts with a realistic allocation, enabling the appropriations committee to meet our nation's fiscal needs. i believe that if the appropriations committee were given a fair chance, we could have completed our work months ago. mr. speaker, the process has much room for improvement. governing through the use of omni bills is not a lost factor.

i believe we must return to regular order utilizing the entire legislative process to determine how our government invests in the american people. truly regular order's better for the committee, for the members, and for this august institution in which we serve. nevertheless, while the omnibus is not perfect, far from it, we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. this is a good bill and i urge my colleagues to pass it. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, may i inquire of the remaining time? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky has 7 1/2 minutes. the gentlelady from new york has 10 3/4 minutes. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the chairman of the financial services subcommittee on appropriations, mr. crenshaw. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. mr. crenshaw: thank you very much for the recognition. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of this funding bill for

2016. as chairman of the subcommittee on general services and financial services, i want to high lie light some of the areas that i think -- highlight some of the areas i think are important for members to understand. we oversee in this subcommittee a myriad of agencies, all have an impact on our functioning federal government and also on the constituents that we represent. we oversee and fund the treasury, the internal revenue service, the securities exchange commission, the federal trade commission, federal communications commission, small business administration, and many other agencies. and i think that while we overall fund this section of the bill, $1 billion less than the president requested, there are some areas where we increase funding that are important that are priorities. like law enforcement. like drug abuse prevention. there's been a lot of discussion about the i.r.s. over the years. quite frankly they have betrayed

the trust of the american people and have a long way to go to restore that trust. therefore, they are funded at a flat level. however we give them additional money to try to do a better job of customer service. they complain they can't answer the phone. they can't respond to mail. so they have additional dollars to improve that. we do other things to rein in some of their out-of-control activities. but overall, mr. chairman, this is a good bill. we increase funding for some of the priority items, as i mentioned, like the small business administration. they actually help create jobs. they help grow the economy. drug abuse prevention is important and we fund those levels. some of the areas that aren't so important we reduce funged, actually frees their funding. but overall this is the result of a lot of hard work by the committee members. special thanks to our ranking member serrano. overall i would urge all the members to support this legislation. i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from california, mr. honda, the acting ranking minority member of the commerce, justice, and science committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. mr. honda: thank you, mr. chairman. i thank the ranking member for yielding. i thank chairman culberson who worked with me and my staff to formulate a better bill. while there are areas that could still be improved in the c.j.s. bill, i'm thankful for the chairman's bipartisan effort and desire to find common ground. lifting the budget caps we were able to more fully fund many of the essential programs. i'd like to highlight a few of these. i was pleased we were able to dedicate fund for the national network for manufacturing innovation to fund one competitively chosen center and provide funding for nist. the modest increase for minority

business agency will allow them to expand their work creating jobs and fostering innovation and entrepreneurship amongst minority-owned businesses. in the 2020 census, we ensure that all communities, including those that are small, rural, or have limited proficiency with english are counted. . the rider making the survey optional was dropped. this is important to communities across the country including cops, byrne justice kits. and a backlog reduction program and my district were able to receive $45 million. and robust funding for both commercial and c.l.s. and owe ryon. we're able to provide healthy funding for science and exploration missions and i hope the mission will be able to include the expertise of all nasa centers.

happily, we restored earth and geoscience funding and removed e language and i'll continue to work the limitations on n.s.a. in the future. finally, many of the harmful immigration riders were removed, including ones that would have stripped the administration's ability to defend daca and dapa and . thheld d.o.j. grants -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. honda: 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentlelady yield 15 seconds? the gentleman is recognized. mr. honda: the c.j.s. portion of the omnibus bill will invest in our nation's future and move us forward. i want to thank, again, to my chairman culberson and i look forward to continue to work with you closely and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield 30 seconds to the distinguished chairman of the permanent select committee on intelligence, mr. nunes of california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from the central valley of california is recognized. mr. nunes: i ask unanimous consent that my full statement is included including condition n. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. nunes: i want to thank hairman schiff, vice chair feinstein, chair hal rogers and ranking member lowey as well as the hard work in getting this important legislation to the floor today and eventually to the president for his signature. i urge all members to support the bill. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished the gentlelady from minnesota -- gent the dl lady from

minnesota, ms. mccollum. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from minnesota is recognized. ms. mccollum: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise in support of this omnibus appropriations agreement. this agreement reflects a truly bipartisan compromise that fills congress' most basic responsibility, to fund the operations of the federal government. as the ranking member of interior, environment and appropriations subcommittee, i am thrilled to be supporting our subcommittee's section of the bill. i want to remind everyone that in july, our bill died on the floor. it was underfunded and it was loaded with bipartisan -- loaded with partisan riders that harmed the environment and failed to meet the needs of the american people. this is not a perfect bill, but it is a remarkable improvement. this bill provides critical resources to important programs, ranging from clean air and water, natural resources, native americans and the arts. and for the first time in five years, the environmental protection agency is not being

cut. the agreement provides $93 million support to the national park service programs and funds the national parks centennial. democrats and republicans are equally committed to fund native american programs which received an increase of 5% over 2015. important increases for education, health and tribal government programs. the land and water conservation fund is re-authorized for three years and funded at $450 million, the highest level funding since 2010. and the national endowment for the arts and humanities are funded at the president's request, which is terrific. the real victory is here for the american people is that this agreement removes policy riders that were bad for the environment, bad for our air and our water and bad for our families. those riders are gone from this bill and that is a victory. i want to thank chairman calvert for a very positive working relationship this year,

and i appreciate the courtesy and the respect you and the republican staff has shown me and my staff. the democratic appropriations staff worked incredibly hard to protect our priorities in this bill. i thank you and i urge support. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the agriculture committee, mr. conaway of texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. conaway: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the chairman and chairman aderholt for the consideration they gave. they were kind in that consideration. we certainly appreciate that. mr. speaker, we heard reasons why to vote for this bill. defense spending, lifting the ban on crude oil. let me add one other aspect and that's the repeal of the country of origin labeling requirements that are currently in law. by repealing this, we help american producers avoid almost a -- excess of $1 billion of retaliatory measures that mexico and canada are spring loaded to begin applying against american production.

this repeal avoids that. mr. speaker, in my view this adds additional weight why i'm supporting this bill. i ask they look at the defense spending, crude oil ban and repealing of coal as reason why to support this bill and move it to the senate and the president's desk. i ask my colleagues to support this, as i am. thank you for consideration during this process. we appreciate being part of the work and look forward to supporting it and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am very pleased to yield one minute to -- two minutes -- maybe three minutes -- to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. fattah, a senior member of the appropriations committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. fattah: i thank the gentlelady and i thank our chairman rogers and the work of the staff. i think we have a bill here that the house can fully embrace. it is -- the point i want to

make is that we have in this bill a measure, spending, programs that will help americans on the health side, on education, on housing. i particularly want to indicate how pleased i am we were able to increase very significantly our investments in brain science and brain research. we were able to almost double the president's request in youth mentoring. there are areas, everything from commercial crew to efforts to combat drug addiction that would commend this bill for favorable support here in this house, and i want to thank the committee for all of its great work. i want to particularly thank my staff for the work they've done, and we'll have a chance to indicate as we go forward after the holidays some of the particulars, but i will single out one right here right now.

there was a young officer, police officer who was in a gun battle in my district trying to protect life and property. our commissioner said it was the most courageous act he ever saw of a police officer. in this bill today, we name a program in the department of justice, a program focused on lessening violence against police officers after this young officer, robert wilson. it's not a -- an effort in which we want to just think about money, and i think that the chairman and the ranking member, i thank them for their cooperation in this effort because i think it in symbol and in substance says to those who protect our communities that we indeed care about them and we understand the dangers that they face. so i thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. rogers: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. -- mr. y: mr. speaker

speaker, may i ask how much time is remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york has 4 1/2 minutes, and the gentleman from kentucky has four minutes. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. as we close this debate, i want to extend my appreciation, again, to chairman rogers and his staff and my abled staff and my chairman, kay greaninger. it's really been a -- kay granger. it's really been a pleasure to produce this bill. as we close this session, i just want to reiterate the message, mr. chairman, which you've been sharing with us in committee and here on the floor of the house, it's time for regular order. we should deal with each of the 12 bills independently, bring

-- to the floor to a vote bring them to the floor to a vote. although there has been a lot of negotiation and a lot of compromise working on this omnibus bill, and i'm very proud of the product that we produced. whether it is funding the national institutes of health or education or head start or king care of our veterans or in this very, very difficult time where we have challenges i over the world -- understand the next speaker we're waiting for is not arriving. so as i close my comments and tell you what it is a pleasure to work with you and to complete this bill, which i

know, i know will have an important impact on our families, our veterans and all those who serve in the military th such distinction and -- mr. rogers: will the gentlelady yield? mrs. lowey: i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. mr. rogers: if the gentlelady will yield. if you're waiting for another speaker, i would be happy to introduce another on this side. mrs. lowey: i would be delighted to have you introduce the distinguished gentleman from your side, a member of the rules committee, a member of the appropriations committee, a friend, and i look forward to his remarks. happy to yield. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the labor-hhs subcommittee on our appropriations committee, the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. cole. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. mr. cole: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for

yielding. frankly, i want to, number one, tell you how pleased i am with the portion of the bill that we were able to work with. my friend, the distinguished lady from connecticut, and i worked together. our members worked hard. we're exceptionally pleased to begin to reinvest again at the national institutes of health to put $350 million for additional research in alzheimer's, to put over half a billion dollars for additional early childhood education, to send back to the states, frankly, over $400 million for idea, to help school districts deal with children with special needs. we were exceptionally pleased to be able to preserve impact aid, something that the president had significantly reduced. but in saying that, i want to say we had a good working relationship with the administration. so this is a good product. this actually serves some really important purposes. i feel like we worked today in

a bipartisan way to prioritize things that mattered to all of us, and certainly that mattered much -- very deeply to the american people. i want to, again, close by thanking my good friend from connecticut, ms. delauro, for working with us. i want to particularly thank my friend, the ranking member, who worked very hard. and i'm especially proud of my chairman, mr. rogers from kentucky, because i think he not only produced a very good product under very difficult circumstances, he's also brought us closer to restoring full regular order, which i know is his aim. last people to thank, of course, are the people to make it all possible. we had just a brilliant staff effort. hardworking, dedicated, thoroughly professional and frankly bipartisan. i want to thank each and every one of them. i would be remiss not to single out, if i may, mr. chairman, my own chief clerk, susan ross, who i thought did an exceptional job and to thank will smith, our chief clerk of

the committee for his extraordinary job. with that, again, i would urge passage of the bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: may i ask how much time is remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady has 2 1/2 minutes. mrs. lowey: well, it is a pleasure for me to yield 2 1/2 minutes to the distinguished whip, the distinguished gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. hoyer: i thank chairwoman lowey and chairman rogers for their leadership on this bill. mr. speaker, there's no such thing as a perfect bill. there are a number of things about this bill that i would change, and to that extent i'm probably like everybody else in that house when i opposed when they were brought them on their n, including the banff crude

oil. puerto rico to restructure its debt at no cost to the taxpayer, which is a resource that they want to prevent real harm to our citizens living on the island. the speaker has indicated a willingness to work across the aisle early next year. we must do so. but this omnibus represents a compromise that will revert a government shutdown and continue our investment in national security, education, housing, public health, innovation, environmental protection and maintaining justice. no one is going to get everything they want or prevent everything they oppose from being included. . businesses and workers need certainty certainty that our government remines opened. i'm glad the most egregious partisan policy riders were removed from this bill. i congratulate mr. rogers and

mrs. lowey for that accomplishment. i believe we can do better. especially when it comes to making investments in areas that grow our economy such as infrastructure, research, and innovation, higher education, and work force development. but i will in -- i will support this omnibus and i urge my colleagues to support this omnibus because we must not let the perfect stand in the way of the practical and the appropriate. it is our responsibility, not to kick the can down the road with taining resolution, but to pass commonsense appropriations that avert the dangers to our economy that stem from a shutdown. his bill achieves those goals. and i hope we can move into the new year with a renewed sense of what we ought to do together to invest in a stronger future for america. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on this omnibus bill. thank mr. rogers and mrs. lowey

for their leadership and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. does the gentlelady have time? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. mr. rogers: i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, we would not be here without the work of this great staff that we have mentioned time and again today. these people work tireless hours all night. they have had one day off since before thanksgiving and that was thanksgiving day itself. i want to say a word of thanks again to the great staff led by the chief clerk, will smith, thank you, will, for the great job. and jim, your deputy, and all the other staff on both sides of the aisle. thank you, so much, david, for your great work. mr. speaker, we should not be

here under these circumstances. we should not be here dealing with a bill that funds the entire government in one package. this so-called omnibus appropriations bill. we are supposed to pass 12 separate bills. bring them to the floor separately and conference with the senate separately. we were on track to do that. we got the earliest start in our history this year. and yet the senate refused to allow any of the bills we sent over to the brought to the floor. forcing us into this omnibus. next year i hope it's different. i hope the senate will bring these bills to their floor. so we can separate them into 12 different packages, conference them, debate therges amend them, and pass them in regular order. in the meantime, this is our only choice to keep the government open and that is to pass this omnibus appropriations bill. i want to thank all the members of my committee, all the

chairmen of the subcommittees, all the ranking members on the other side, all of the staff on the subcommittee level who have worked time and again night after night on putting together this extremely large and complex appropriations bill and added to it several other authorizing pieces of legislation that were tacked on to this bill. nevertheless it is a good bill. there's things i wish i could have gotten if the bill that we were unable to. and i'm sure my counterpart, mrs. lowey, has the same feeling. but this is the best we can do. >> you can watch it live starting at 11:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3.

>> today, president obama will hold an end of the year news conference at the white house. 1:50 a.m. eastern on c-span3. -- p.m. eastern. >> c-span takes you on the road to the white house and into the classroom. this year, our student cam documentary contest asks students to tell us what issues they want to hear from the presidential candidates. theow c-span's road to white house coverage and get all the details about our student cam contest at www.c-span.org. >> live today on c-span washington journal is next. at 9:00 a.m. eastern, live coverage of the u.s. house. vote to complete work on the $1.1 trillion spending bill. coming up in an hour, william kristol on this week's

republican debate and what it means for the 2016 field. after that it 8:30, michael director of the sierra club with details on the paris climate change agreement. >> i want every american to know as you will of the holidays, as you travel and gather with family and the kids open their presents, as you ring in the new year, that you have dedicated patriots working around the clock all across the country to protect us all. ♪ host: a new poll out showing that trust in the government's ability to handle terrorism threats as of a post-9/11 low. what about you? do you trust the government to protect against terrorism? that is our opening topic on the washington journal. area codes for our phone lines, 202-748-8001 fourub