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i'd ik t submito the reco a thoughtl op-ed ece written by constituent and friend of nine, cannon michael. he's a farmer in the valley. we share a lot of the same frustration how congress has failed to pass legislation to solve california's water problems. this op-ed piece describes exactly how the people of the valley feel and i urge my colleagues to come together to enact legislation that california desperately needs this year. thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in recognition of the jewish community services of south florida, an organization that is committed in lending a hand to those members of our society who need it the most. through its many programs such as mental health counseling, homelessness prevention, and assistance to those with

developmental disabilities, j.c.s. is dedicated to bringing aid and smiles and providing the necessary care for those in need. since its founding in 1920, this organization has not strayed from its clear goals to improve the quality of life for families in our south florida community. the jewish community services of south florida will be delivering its 10,000th rosh hashanah holiday basket to home bound seniors, many living at or below the poverty level. mr. speaker, i'm truly honored to recognize this organization's mission and to j.c.s., i say mosul to have on a job well-done. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? gentlelady is recognized for ne minute. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, this

sunday marks the 15th anniversary of 9/11. a day when we suffered from the savagery of mankind at its worse and witnessed the courage of humanity at its best. in our collective sorrow i have never seen this body so united and determined to protect our people, to protect america. we found strength from one another. i am proud of the way my city, my country, and my colleagues responded. and i am grateful for the privilege of working with our first responders, survivors, and families and my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to pass the james hadroga 9/11 health and compensation act so anyone suffering from the wounds of 9/11 will never have to worry about the health care and assistance they deserve. it is in this sway we remember and honor those who carry the

wounds of that very dark day. and who deserve the thanks of a grateful nation. it is in this way that we show e will never forget. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from nevada seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the purple heart is our nation's oldest military decoration. mr. hardy: it's the unifying symbol that kinds together men and women who have bled for freedom. when these brave warriors returned to our communities, we cannot forget them and their sacrifice. that is why i'm proud to recognize my hometown of moss keith, nevada -- mesquite, nevada, for its decent to become a purple heart city. a decision which will be announced next week will signal to all veterans throughout southern nevada and the country

that mesquite welcomes them and is proud of their honor and service. i would like to thank the chapter 7 eleven of the military order of purple heart for working with the city of mesquite to make this day possible. it is my hope that more communities take the step to honor the sacrifices these heroes by becoming a purple heart community. i can't wait to see that purple heart flag proudly flying over mesquite. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. jolly: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor a man who spent his entire adult life serving our country. a man who served with great distinction and a man who truly was an american patriot. mr. speaker, i rise today to honor u.s. army major travis brunell of tampa, florida. he enlisted in the army in

1991. in 2002 he grad lated from florida state university with a bachelor's degree in information studies and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry, gaining his commission through rotc at florida state. he attended the industry officers basic course where he served as a platoon leader and go on to the officers course. he earned the coveted green beret. then corporal brunell served for the third battalion 20th special forces group airborne. he employed in operation of iraqi freedom and enduring freedom. for his service to our nation brunell is decorated with two bronze star medals, three yarme accommodation medals, and multiple o.e.f. and o.i.f. employment ribbons. additional recognitions included the expert infantryman's badge, combat infantryman's badge, ranger tab, and special forces tab. a master mason and a member of

the motorcycle club, he was known by his community as selfless and passionate and full of life. today major brunell is survived by his wife and many and countless loving friends and family. may god bless major travis brunell, his service to our nation. and god bless his family, friends, and may god bless the country he so valiantly and proudly fought for, the united states of america. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for at purpose does -- what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. waters: i come this morning rather stunned because i'm by ssing comments presidential candidate trump and vice presidential candidate

mike pence that stuns me. today i heard that pence basically said that putin has been a stronger leader in his country than barack obama in his country. and then of course, donald trumpp -- donald trump is arguing that the russians are not meddling in american presidential politics. despite the fact that he was interviewing on a russian television station. what is going on here? is this patriotism? i don't know why all of a sudden we have a presidential candidate who is praising or talking about basically a dictator being better than the president of the united states of america. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition?

the gentlelady is recognized or one minute. ms. wilson: mr. speaker, have you ever heard of a travel ban on an american city? now we have one. the beautyful district called winwood in the heart of my district and it is time to lift that ban. district 24, miami, florida, and the entire state have been besieged by the zika virus. we're in the epicenter of this growing epidemic and living in fear of the damaging impact a single mosquito bite can have on an unborn fetus. the vibrant bustling millennium area of winwood has the best restaurants, best trendy art galleries, antique shops, hat stores, and tourist attracts. tourists brought there from all over the world. now with the travel ban in place because of zika, people are being laid off. businesses are on the verge of

closing, and in comparison, it is a ghosttown. the unborn babies are not the only ones affected by the virus. the economy is suffering immensely and we need your help, mr. speaker. seeka -- zika is taking a huge bite out of florida's growing economy and devastating the tourism industry. mr. speaker, please bring a clean zika bill to the floor. no riders, no poison bills, a clean bill. the unforeign, the families, the businesses of america are depending on you. zika is an ever evolving nightmare and we must do that every day. this travel ban has been lifted and i'm looking forward to say business as usual in winwood. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is no longer recognized. the chair would remind all members from engaging in perments toward the nominees for the office of president and

vice president. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent that the committee on oversight and government reform, homeland security, the judiciary, transportation and infrastructure, armed services and foreign affairs and the permanent select committee on intelligence be discharged from further consideration of house resolution 842 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 842, resolution expressing the sense of the house of representatives regarding the terrorist attacks launched against the united states on september 11, 2001, on the 15th anniversary of that date. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the consideration of the resolution? without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the question of adopting a motion to recommit on h.r. 5424 may be subject to postponement as though under clause 8 of rule 20. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 844, i call up the bill h.r. 5424, to amend the investment advisors act of 1940 and direct the securities and exchange commission to modernize its rules with certain requirements relating to investment advisors and for other purposes and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 540, h.r. 5424, a bill to amend the investment advisors act of 1940 and to direct the securities and exchange commission to amend its rules to modernize certain requirements relating to investment advisors, and for . her purposes

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 8 4, the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on financial services printed in the bill is adopted and the bill, as amended, is considered as read. the bill shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on financial services. after one hour debate on the bill, as amended it shall be in order to consider the further amendment printed in part b of house report 114-725. if offered by the member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be separately debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent and shall not be subject to a demand for a division of the question. the gentleman from virginia, mr. hurt, and the gentlelady from california, ms. waters, nutes. ll control 30 mi the chair recognizes the

gentleman from virginia, mr. hurt. mr. hurt: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hurt: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hurt: thank you, mr. speaker. and i commend representative -- excuse me. thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 5424, the investment advisors modernization act of 2016. i represent a rural district in virginia, virginia's fifth district, which stretches to the north carolina border. as i traveled through my district in august, much as i have done throughout my time in congress, i continue to hear hardworking americans express concern about the current state of our economy and economic uncertainty facing their children and grandchildren. i think every member of this body can agree that with millions of americans out of work, our top focus in congress should be enacting policies to

spur job creation throughout our country. today, we're discussing several legislative efforts if enacted will reduce reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens. one is a bipartisan piece of legislation that i've been working on representatives foster, vargas, hultgren, sinema and others. in fact, during a june markup in the financial services committee, h.r. 5424 earned broad bipartisan support passing by a vote of 47-12. this measure, the investment advisors modernization act, is an effort to modernize a 76-year-old law to reflect current industry needs and standards. the legislation directs the s.e.c. to update rules that clarify provisions within the investmented a advisors act. specifically, the bill modernizes the outdated portion such as asigh general -- assignment definition and notification declyans of any change of a membership partnership, advisors are not

required to provide burdensome and unnecessary information on their portfolio companies and among other things. most important, it streamlines the regulatory scheme while giving the s.e.c. sufficient discretion to craft these rules to ensure investor protection. to be clear, this bill would in no way compromise investor protection nor would it hinder the s.e.c.'s ability to pursue enforcement actions. in our district, the investment of private capital is responsible for thousands of jobs. these critical investments allow our small businesses to innovate, expand their operations and create jobs that our communities need. over the past three congresses, there have been growing concern about the burden that dodd-frank unnecessarily placed on advisors to private equity while at the same time exempting advisors to similar investment funds. over recent years many of us have worked in a bipartisan effort to eliminate the renltration required by dodd-frank but this bill -- registration required by dodd-frank but this bill does not do that. it simply updates the

investment advisors act. instead, this legislation is a pragmatic and bipartisan approach to addressing some of the concerns within the investment advisors act. no matter your views on dodd-frank, the investment advisors modernization act represents the view that congress should continually look for bipartisan, commonsense solutions to update and streamline its laws in order to encourage economic growth and job creation. i ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support h.r. 5424, the investment advisors modernization act. thank you, mr. speaker, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. waters: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. waters: mr. chairman, we stand here today after an extraordinary long recess, and republicans' first order of business is to protect wall street profits instead of dealing with a host of critical issues facing the american public. i recently visited baton rouge,

louisiana, where thousands of residents are still without homes and communities are struggling to recover in the wake of last month's historic devastating flooding. there's so much we need to do as members of congress to help our constituents in the short amount of time we have left in session. whether it's helping the people of baton rouge, ending the crisis of homeless in america or preventing senseless gun violence. however, rather than working together to pass sensible legislation to address these issues, we are debating h.r. 5424, a bad bill that would put americans' savings and investments at risk by opening the door to further abuses in the private equity industry. this is an industry that touches all of us. because it's not just private

businesses looking to these funds to raise capital. one quarter of the investments held by private equity firms comes from our public pension funds that are holding our teachers' and firefighters' retirement savings. 's also our mortgage lending markets where private equity funds are increasing their presence. that is why it's so important to have adequate oversight of this industry. we must ensure that wall street does not turn a profit at the expense of investors, consumers and retirees. unfortunately, h.r. 5424 would roll back dodd-frank's much-needed oversight and transparency measures for the shadow banking industry. dodd-frank required advisors to private equity funds and hedge

funds with more than $150 million in assets under management to register with the s.e.c. and comply with important reporting and audit requirements. in addition, it required newly registered advisors to file systemic risk reports with the financial stability oversight council because we had sufficient information on the risk that private funds could pose our -- to pose to our economy as a whole. thanks to this new oversight, the securities and exchange commission has been able to examine and where appropriate bring enforcement actions against private fund advisors. in fact, the s.e.c. has brought numerous enforcement actions against private fund advisors for a variety of transgressions in the past few years.

in 2013, the s.e.c. identified violations or weaknesses in more than 50% of cases where it had examined how fees and expenses are handled by advisors, and recently the s.e.c.'s director of enforcement urged greater transparency in this area and said the commission, quote, will continue to aggressively bring impactful cases in this space, quote-unquote. all of this comes on top of recent news reports showing how private equity firms are investing in our fire departments, ambulance services and mortgage and consumer lending markets. their profit-driven tactics have resulted in sore reaction took place, exorbitant interest rates and the same foreclosure

abuses that we witnessed before and during the financial crisis. so when it comes to private equity funds and hedge funds, it is clear that more regulation is needed, not less. yet, this bill takes us in the wrong direction. for example, advisors would no longer have to notify clients of a change in ownership or provide them with information on their procedures for handling conflicts of interest in voting proxies. additionally, they would not have to disclose information on large funds to the f sock, making it harder to -- fsoc, making to harder to determine systemic risk. also troubling, the bill would create a loophole by providing a broad exemption from an annual audit requirement for funds those investors may have a relationship with the advisor and for funds invested in

private securities that are not represented by a paper certificate. i must note that despite efforts by my colleagues to amend this bill and remove some of its harmful provisions, there's still too many problematic provisions in this bill that will put investors, retirees and consumers at risk. that's why it's opposed by consumer and investor advocates, state security regulators, institutional investors and labor unions representing workers whose pensions could be affected. moreover, the white house's threatened to veto the bill saying it, quote, would enable private fund advisors to slip back into the shadows, quote-unquote, and, quote, unnecessarily put working and middle-class families at risk while benefiting wall street and other narrow special

interests, end of quote. i, therefore, strongly urge my colleagues to oppose h.r. 5424, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. hurt: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from missouri, mr. luetkemeyer, who's the chairman of our housing and insurance subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is recognized for three minutes. . mr. luetkemeyer: i first would like to thank the gentleman from virginia, mr. hurt, for his hard work on h.r. 35424. since joining this body, mr. hurt has been a tireless advocate for small business creation, capital formation, and working with families across virginia and throughout the united states. he's to be commended for his efforts. today, mr. speaker, we'll consider his legislation, h.r. 5424, the investment advisors modernization act. this bill makes long awaited nd sensible changes to a

76-year-old investment advisors act. h.r. 5424 streamlines requirements for private equity funds and sophisticated investors in private equity funds. as i said on the floor yesterday, there should be no room for regulation that serving only to appease bureaucratic demands. capital should be used to create jobs and further growth not fulfill meaningless and unproductive regulatory requirements. private equity plays a vital role in our economy. i have seen it first hand in my district and across missouri and hope my colleagues recognize private equity is responsible for saving and creating jobs in each of their districts. capital is the lifeblood of businesses. at a time when investment returns are down and options are limited, investment advice is more expensive and may soon be out of reach of many americans, when our economy continues to stagnate, we need to take measured steps to streamline regulations. that's the way you fuel an

economic recovery. this bill came to us from constituents who have been listening to on all the different times we go home and talk to them. they said these are the rules and regulation that is are strangling their ability to do business. ranking member just talked about a shadow bankingcies tefment i would argue we have a shadow regulatory system. that is producing rules and regulations at a furious clip. without understanding the consequences of those rules and regulations. h.r. 53424 will make modest, meaningful changes tokesisting law. this is a bipartisan bill that receives support from the majority of the minority during a financial services committee markup. this legislation merits support from all my colleagues and that's because h.r. 5424 is about modernization, capital formation, and ultimately american jobs. i ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation. i thank the gentleman from virginia for his leadership on these issues and chairman hensarling for bringing this bill to the floor. with that, mr. speaker, i yield

back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. waters: yes. i will now yield 3 1/2 minutes to the gentlelady from new york, the ranking member of our subcommittee on capital markets and government sponsored enterprises, mrs. maloney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for 3 1/2 minutes. mrs. maloney: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise today in opposition to h.r. 5424. while my good friend from illinois, mr. foster, is going to offer an amendment that will remove two of the most problematic provisions, i, unfortunately, still have serious concerns with the remaining provisions in the bill. which makes changes to core aspects of a regulatory regime that has been very successful for decades. but one thing this entire bill applies to more than just

private equity funds. it applies to private equity funds, hedge funds, and commodity pools. so as a threshold matter, this is not narrow or targeted relief. i also have a problem with the provision exempting private equity advisors from the proxy voting rule for private securities. the proxy voting rule simply requires advisors to have a policy, just a policy in place to deal with conflicts of interest. when the advisor is voting on shareholder proposals on their client's behalf. proxy voting is not limited to public companies. and conflicts of interest exist whether a company is public or private. there's really no reason by private securities should get an exemption here.

in fact, private equity advisors are even more likely to have a conflict of interest when they are voting on shareholder proposals on a client's behalf because the entire business model of a private equity fund is premised on the funds having a significant amount of influence if not outright control and in some cases they even manage the company. so a private equity advisor that is voting on a client's behalf would have a conflict of interest virtually every time it is faced with a proposal that is good for management but bad for shareholders. requiring a private equity advisor to have policies in place to manage these conflicts of interest is really not too much to ask. we're just asking for policies to be in place. while i think there are some very good things in this bill that are reasonable, i think

too many of the provisions go too far. so i urge my colleagues to oppose this bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yield back the balance of her time. the gentlelady from california reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. hurt: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield three minutes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. hultgren. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. hultgren: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of h.r. 5424, the investment advisors modernization act. i'm a proud-dirnl' proud to be a co-sponsor of this legislation introduced by congressman hurt and would especially like to thank speaker ryan and chairman hen starling for their work in bringing this up for a vote today. private equity has a long history of making a positive difference for illinois companies, their employees, and communities. over the last 10 years private equity firms have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in illinois-based companies. illinois ranked number one nationally in attracting private equity invest n-2015,

according to the american investment council. it comes as no surprise that these companies backed by strong financing and experienced management with innovative products and services support hundreds of thousands of workers at their families. in addition to the economic growth driven by private equity, we shouldn't overlook its importance to investors. for example, the state university's retirement system of illinois and its 200,000 members depend on investments in private equity backed companies. why shouldn't we as legislators seize an opportunity to make private equity investment easier? this bill would make a relatively modest update to a 76-year-old investment advisors act. our securities laws are meant to reflect the sophisticate of the investors. we should not apply cumbersome regulations intended for less sophisticated retail investors to professionals with deep knowledge and expertise of investing advising. the majority of private equity funds in illinois are middle

market and do not have large administrative staffs. generally the staff is just one or two finance professionals. the proliferation of rules reporting and regulation at both the federal and state level has severely taxed these firms and taken valuable resources ave -- away from the important job of growing companies and thus growing our economy. the investment advisors modernization act will reduce administrative costs make it easier to invest in our communities and improving the rate of return whether they are saving for retirement or university's endowment. in closing, i'd like to thank chairman hensarling again and mr. hurt for their leadership on this legislation. it's no surprise that such a commonsense bill already has the strong bipartisan record. i urge all of my colleagues to support the investment advisors modernization act. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. waters: thank you very much, mr. chairman. i have no further requests for

time. i'm prepared to close. excuse me, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. waters:00 after general debate, my colleague from illinois will offer an amendment to eliminate two toxic provisions of this bill. while i'm supportive of his effort, i'm concerned that his amendment does not go far enough. i'm going to describe the six provisions mr. foster's amendment leaves intact. but that are still harmful to investors and threaten the ability of the s.e.c. to oversee private equity funds and hedge funds. as such, even if the amendment is adopted, i urge all members to oppose final passage of h.r. 5424. the first reason is to vote --

to vote against final passage is that h.r. 5424 would still remove systemic risks reporting requirements for private equity funds. congress created the financial stability oversight council when it passed the dodd-frank act to look for risks across the entire financial system. including those within shadow banks like private equity funds. democrats understood that one of the most important lessons of the crisis was the value of sunshine into all of the dark corners of our markets. we do not want another a.i.g. to make enough risky financial bets to take down the entire economy without anyone knowing until it's too late. h.r. 5424, however, would repeal the requirement that large private equity firms provide certain information

about their portfolio companies and their leverage. the second reason to vote no on an many amended h.r. 5424 is that the bill still would prohibit the s.e.c. from applying the anti-fraud guidance related to advertising materials of mutual funds to private equity funds and hedge funds. this is a basic investor protection, private equity funds should not be able to selectively use performance data to dupe investors into buying their funds. it works for mutual funds and it will work for other funds. similarly reason number 3 to oppose h.r. 5424 is that the amended bill would remove the bright line test for fraudulent and misleading advertising materials thereby allowing private equity advisors to use

testimonials and pass recommendations to create a false perception of the advisor's performance. this provision will enable private equity funds to more easily sell risky securities to unsuspected investors. reason number four to vote no. the bill would still remove the requirement that fund advisors notify investors of ownership changes. this would allow an advisor to sell its business or the fund it manages to anyone. raising the concern that an unacceptable party would suddenly be managing a pensions invest -- pension's invested money without their consent. the public pension plans have a right to know if the star manager has been replaced with an under achiever. n amended h.r. 5424 also would

repeal disclosures of proxy voting procedures for handling conflicts of interest, namely the bill eliminates a requirement that advises to private equity funds and hedge funds have policies and procedures in place to dictate how and when the advisor will vote a proxy and how it will mitigate any conflicts of interest. because these policies and procedures inform investors and the s.e.c. to whether an visor is meeting some of its fiduciary responsibilities, find it out to understand how democrats who stood up to protect the fiduciary obligations of everyday americans can now support vin ing it for the funds he on behalf of those americans. finally, even though the foster amendment preserves the audit

requirement, for certificated securities, the bill would remove the audit requirement under the s.e.c.'s custody rule for private uncertificated securities which advisors would not have to keep any record. although such securities may not be as common in the private space. tch distinction between two types of -- this distinction between two types of securities has alt trappings of a loophole in the making and would create a terrible incentive. i would urge my members, all members, to oppose h.r. 5424 and even if the foster amendment is adopted, i will reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. hurt: mr. speaker, i recognize the gentleman from illinois, mr. foster, for a period of three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. foster: thank you, mr. chairman, for yielding. i co-sponsored this bill because private equity makes

considerable investments in illinois and specifically in my district. nationwide, many businesses are backed by private equity and are a key driving force between -- behind our economy, making critical national and local economic contributions. these businesses support 11 million jobs nationwide. this bill is about applying the provisions of the investment advisors act that makes sense for the private equity business model. that business model involves making long-term investments in companies that are fund -- that a fund intends to turn around and grow into a period of years. this bill from the very beginning was an effort to apply those requirements in a way that makes sense. and it is the culmination of a great deal of bipartisan work. looking across the aisle, i worked with congressman hurt, to remove the provision that is my colleagues on my side of the aisle have indicated are the most troubling to them.

it resulted more than half of the democrats in the committee to support the bill. i wanted to address two concerns that have been expressed by democrats and advocates through the amendment i will be proposing. first, the amendment will address concerns over transparency into the fund's policies. it will continue current law supposed to r is deliver a brochure to the client and deliver that information to the s.e.c. the second, we are addressing concerns over investor confidence that funds hold the assets that they say they do. this provision that we are removing would have provided a narrow exemption to the annual audit and surprise inspection requirements for some funds, so they will continue to be subject to these after my amendment is hopefully adopted. my amendment will ensure that funds continue to receive a

third-party look to ensure that the fund has the assets it is represented to clients that it has, including the -- that the asset is held in the name of the client. i know that there are other concerns, but after careful consideration, i believe they can be addressed. opponents say that advisors will no longer keep records of the private securities that are held in custody, but this is actually not accurate. the advisor does need to keep records. the securities are ill-liquid. the securities will be subject to annual audit and surprise inspection. opponents also say that the clients might find that they have a new advisor without their consent, but current law allows for mistakes, organized as a partnership to be done without consent. so this provision just treats an l.l.c. and corporate structures identically. the bill will remove the requirement for private equity

funds to submit certain information on form p.f. anyway, i urge my colleagues to support this bill. mr. hurt: i yield an additional minute to the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute. mr. foster: this would remove them to submit certain nformation on form pf to the frsok. -- fsoc. this is very different than the private business of equity firms. i know those of you that supported h.r. 1105 in the last congress, this should actually be easier because it provides a very narrow targeted relief. i voted against h.r. 1105 but i support this bill after thinking carefully about it and the changes. the bill received the support of more than half of democrats on the financial services committee, and i hope that many more democrats will support this bill on the floor after my

amendment has been adopted. so i urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill that had support businesses and economic growth around the country. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from virginia reserves. mr. hurt: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm grateful to the leadership of our chairman, mr. hensarling, who's chairman of the financial services committee and work he has done in promoting pro-growth policies through our committee and so i'm pleased to recognize -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. mr. hurt: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. waters: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, investors, consumer advocates, public pension funds and others have spoken on h.r. 5424, and they have deemed it to be harmful. let me read for you a few excerpts from opposition letters received by the house

of representatives. first of all, let me tell you who they are. americans for financial reform, the american federation of state county and municipal employees, the american federation of teachers, the consumer federation of america, communications workers of america and u.s. perg, and i will quote. far from modernizing the regulation of investment advisors, this legislation will roll back the clock to the years before private fund advisors were subject to elementary oversight measures, measures that numerous documented abuses have shown to be necessary for investor protection. the laundry list of regulatory exemptions in this bill would enable the exploitation of investors possibly including

outright fraud. it would also reduce the information available to regulators to address systemic risk. north american administrators, incorporated -- these are our state securities regulators. the street policing financial crime. let me give you their quote. although the bill purports to be updating the regulation of investment advisors, it is in fact a little more than an effort to shield advisors to private funds from the scrutiny of s.e.c. registration and examination oversight, quote-unquote. et's hear what calpers have to say. we believe that h.r. 5424 would erode the dodd-frank provisions that establish greater

transparency into private quity funds, protected investors against fraud by fund advisors and enhance the ability of regulators to effectively monitor systemic risk in the private fund industry, quote-unquote. calsters, this current legislation amends the investment advisors act of 1940 to purportedly modernize certain requirements related to private equity advisors. in actuality, this proposed legislation will roll back important investor protections provided to funds in terms of transparency and oversight by the securities and exchange commission. let's hear from the institutional limited partners association. the ilpa believes that the changes to mandatory

disclosures and other requirements as proposed in h.r. 5424 would be counterproductive to providing institutional limited partners with the transparency they need to ensure alignment of interests in their private equity fund investments and to carry out their duty to protect the interests of millions of beneficiaries of these vestments, retirees, policyholders, nonprofit and educational institutions, quote-unquote. let's hear from the council of institutional investors. i quote, h.r. 5424 rolls back important transparency and reporting requirements that we and many of our members believe are critical to investor protection. for example, section 3-b of h.r. 5424 would provide exceptions for private equity and hedge funds from existing

disclosure requirements on form p.f., a confidential form used by the u.s. securities and exchange commission and other regulators to track risk in the financial system. let's hear from public citizen, and i quote, this bill allows investment advisors to escape current safeguards designed to reduce inflated sales pitches offiscation of risk. specifically, investment dvisors need to make sure that potential equity investors have such developments before consummating a sale. investors in private funds should be accorded ample information. the bill also frustrates efforts by investors to gain access to company records in o-called books and records

request. uniteeer, and i quote, 5424 is an invitation of private equity managers to make false and misleading statements to the blic at a time when nearly four trillion private equity industry should be more transparent, h.r. 5 24 would enable it become -- 5424 would enable it to become more opaque, putting the general public at risk. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. hurt: mr. speaker, i am pleased to be able to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from texas, our chairman who has done so much to promote pro-growth policies in the financial services committee, mr. hensarling. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. hensarling: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of r. 5424, and i want to thank

investment virginia for his leadership. the gentleman from illinois as well. this is a strong bipartisan bill out of the house financial services committee. having passed on a vote of 47-12, which means 80% of the members of the house financial services committee, including over half of the democrats, support this commonsense, pro-growth, pro-jobs legislation. mr. speaker, as children, including my own, all across this nation go back to school, we would be negligent if we did not acknowledge the latest report card that americans received on our economy less than two weeks ago. the report card that shows our economy growing at a measly 1.1%, roughly a third of its normal growth. in other words, it's received a failing grade, mr. speaker. one economic writer suggests that the economy could be on a

brink of recession. americans deserve. hardworking americans do deserve better. again, economic growth has been far stronger in our country. the economy grew on an average of 3.7% during every other recovery in the post-war era, but growth has averaged barely 2% of the last seven years and even worse, about 1% this year. just more evidence that the economy is not working for working americans. they've seen their paychecks shrink, they've seeing their wages stagnate. seven years after the recession ended, nearly 14 million americans are unemployment or underemployed -- unemployed or underemployed. i'm proud that we want it to change. we want to help americans who are struggling, who are unemployed and underemployed. we want to help seven million americans who have been thrown into poverty in the last seven years, we should help them.

and we should know that nothing helps the poor, the unemployed and underemployed like economic growth. growth means more jobs, more growth means higher average wages, more growth means less government borrowing, and growth enables americans to achieve the dream of financial independence. but if we want to ignite growth and revaive our struggling economy, the -- revaive our struggling economy, the -- revive our struggling economy, we need more entrepreneurs, more innovation and more small business expansion on main street. so at this time when record levels of debt and federal regulation hinder growth, slow our economy, it's hard to find bipartisan solutions, not always easy to come by. we have exactly, mr. speaker, a bill before us today, again, a bipartisan bill supported and sponsored by the gentleman from

virginia, mr. hurt, mr. vargas of california from the democratic side of the aisle, mr. stivers of ohio from the republican side of the aisle, and mr. foster of illinois from the democratic side of the aisle. now, i have the honor of serving with all four of these gentlemen on the house financial services committee, and i thank them for their bipartisan work on this bill. again, this passed in our mmittee 47-12, over half the democrats on the committee supporting the bill, 80% of the committee. there is no reason why every member of the house shouldn't approve this bipartisan investment advisors modernization act because, mr. speaker, it is bipartisan. it is pragmatic. it is common sense. it simply updates portions of a 76-year-old law by updating regulations that have made it harder for the job growth engine of america, our small businesses, to access the capital they need to create

jobs on main street. we know, again, that small businesses across the country are struggling to find investment and financing options that enable them to open their doors, hire workers and to succeed. they are struggling, again, because of a growing regulatory burden imposed by washington, by a washington-knows-best mentality. witnesses have testified before our committee, mr. speaker, that there's been a serious decline in loans from banks to small businesses over the past few years, and our nation has gone a decade, a decade with no growth in the value of small business loans. . one of every three small business owners said they had to transfer personal assets to keep their businesses running. according to a recent report from pepperdine university. this same report found 50% of small business owners said their growth opportunities are restricted by the current

business financing environment. as a small business owner in my hometown of dallas wrote me recently, we have seen waive after waive of -- wave after wave of federal regulations affecting our ability to grow. another small business owner in the fifth district, summed up the economic harm caused by washington's regulatory burden this way, quote, no one can keep up, he said. in order for the economy to grow for small businesses to create jobs that americans need, we have to remove unnecessary regulations that tie up private capital, cause economic uncertainty, we must put in their place policies that encourage investment, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit that makes america a beacon of opportunity for all. again, mr. speaker, we have a bipartisan bill before us. having passed 47-12, 80% of our committee having approved. it is a modest but important step in the right direction but

as one witness told us, it will go a long way towards facilitating capital formation while maintaining our commitment to investor protection. i urge all of my colleagues to support the bipartisan bill and by doing so they will remove unnecessary burdens on our small businesses and we will help grow not only the american economy but the main street economy as well. and i thank the members on both sides of the aisle for their bipartisan work on this very, very strong bill. i thank the gentleman from virginia for his leadership and for yielding the time. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back. the gentleman from virginia reserves of the the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. waters: thank you, mr. chairman. my colleague on the opposite side of the aisle, i think i heard him reference main street, but i did not hear him describe who his main street is.

and we don't know who he's talking about. let me just remind the members one more time who is opposing this bill. this is truly representative of main street. the afl-cio, the american federation of teachers, the american federation of state, county, and municipal employees, americans for financial reform, the communication workers of america, consumer federation of america, counsel of institutional investors, cal stirs, institutional limited partners association, north american securities administrators association, public citizen, unite here, united automobile aerospace and agricultural implement workers of america. that is u.a.w., and u.s. public interest research group. we have opposition from working

people, from the real people of main street on this legislation. and i think as members began to read and look at this bill they will understand how dangerous it is and how we would be olling back the clock. jeopardizing the reforms that we have made with dodd-frank and also taking us back to undermining the s.e.c. in extraordinary ways. recently, mr. chairman, there was an investigative series initiated by "the new york times." looking into the operations of private equity firms. i'd like to read for you a few key excerpts from the articles which i think might highlight the need for further regulation of private equity. and not the roll backs we see

today in h.r. 5424. 2016 from a june 25, article titled, when you dial 9/11 and wall street answers. since the 2008 financial crisis, private equity firms, the corporate raiders of an earlier era, have increasingly taken over a wide array of civic and financial services that are central to american life. unlike other for-profit companies which often have years of experience making a product or offering a service, private equity is primarily skilled in making money. and in many of these businesses, the times found private equity firms applied a sophisticated money making playbook. a mix of cost cuts, price increases, lobbying, and

litigation. in emergency care and firefighting, this approach creates a fundamental tension to push, to turn a profit while caring for people in their most vulnerable moments. that's a quote. this article then goes on to describe how response times slowed and lives were put in danger. i'm talking about response time. of a fire department that are now controlled by equity funds. when these profit hungry wall street firms took over essential public health services like insuring ambulances arrive to victims on 26, 2016 a june article titled how housing new

players spiraled into banks' old mistakes. when the housing crisis sent the american economy to the brenk of disaster in 2008 -- brink of disaster in 2008, millions of people lost their home. the banking system had failed homeowners and their families. new investors soon swept in. mainly private equity firms promising to do better. but some of these new investors are repeating the mistakes that banks committed throughout the housing crisis. an investigation by "the new york times" found they are quickly foreclosing on homeowners. they are losing families' mortgage paperwork. much as the banks did and many of these practices were enabled by the federal government which sold tens of thousands of discounted mortgages to private equity investors while making few demands on how they treated

struggling homeowners. the rising importance of private equity in the housing market is one of the most consequential transformations of the post crisis american financial landscape. a home, after all, is the largest single investment most families will ever make. private equity firms and the mortgage companies they own face less oversight than the banks. and yet they are the clean up crew for the worst housing crisis since the great depression. the article then goes on to describe how private equity firms can squeeze fees out of homeowners during every stage of the foreclosure process. even though conflicts of interest that make foreclosure more profitable than providing sustainable loan modification. these irman and members, investigative series by "the new york times" exposes

practices that i think no credible member of congress would want to be associated with. this is horrible that we could even think that we're allowing our citizens to be placed at risk and their lives jeopardized because we have a private equity firm that's bought up and are now in control of critical services to our citizens and they have to do it and make a profit. and the way they make that ofit is they cut back on personnel, equipment, machinery. whatever it takes to turn that dollar. i am absolutely amazed that any member of congress would dare think about supporting this kind of legislation that would

allow these prack it'ses not only to continue -- practices not only to fin in ways i described -- to continue in ways i scribet, but let me remind you i don't know how we soon forget the crisis this country experienced 2008, when we had this subprime meltdown and we had so many foreclosures, so many families that were literally put on the streets because they lost their home, because of practices that were not regulated by this government. this is amazing. this is absolutely amazing. and it is outrageous and i believe when the members who come to vote today take a look, take a look at the fine print that they will understand what is happening here today. i think even if some members thought they could or should

support this bill, i think they are going to change their mind. and while it is being touted as a bipartisan effort, i don't think so. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. hurt: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i now am pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. knight. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. knight: thank you, mr. speaker. it's an honor to be here today to talk about what is very essential in america and that is getting people to work and creating opportunities. small businesses are essential to america's economic competitiveness. not only do they employ half the nation's private sector, they also create 2/3 of the net jobs in our country. unfortunately, recent year small businesses have been slow to recover from a recession and credit crisis that has hit them especially hard. unlike large enterprises that can obtain funds from commercial debt and equity

markets, small businesses must often rely on their own personal assets, retained earnings, community banks, and credit unions for needed capital. last month in the great city of santa clarita, i hosted an expose designed to hear from constituents exactly what was happening and their problems in small businesses. after listening to small businessesings, owners and employees talk about the challenges they face, it was very evident that over regulation or lack of access to capital were the biggest issues. that is why i applaud and support mr. hurt's work on h.r. 5424, the investment advisors modernization asket 2016. -- act of 2016. this act has proven to be -- the investment advisors act has proven to be a duplicative burden that not only drives up cost but also blocks an efficient allocation of capital. we need to modernize these laws so that we can remove existing

barriers and tailor our policy to help facilitate capital formation. h.r. 5424 would do exactly that. the legislation takes into consideration the business model of today's private equity and not one from seven years ago. i look forward to continuing my work with mr. hurt and alt colleagues here in the house on commonsense measures like the investment advisors modernization act of 2016 so we can ensure our small businesses can grow and employ more of our neighbors. again, mr. speaker, i support h.r. 5424 and ask my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill because access to capital is not a partisan issue, it's something that we need that will help our small business. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentlelady from california is recognized for the one minute remaining. ms. waters: thank you very much, mr. chairman. i have no other speakers. mr. chairman, i will remind the

members that nancy pelosi, our leader, has weighed in on this pretty heavily. she doesn't weigh in on a lot of things, but she has put out an advisory here today that's entitled, h.r. 5424, a house g.o.p. give away to the shadow banking industry. and we have from the administration that a presidential veto will be -- take place on this legislation should it get to his desk. this morning's debate illustrates republican's misguided priorities. when we're here in washington, the american public expects us to address the pressing needs of our nation and not waste our time with wall street giveways that the financial crisis taught us is neither prudent nor without devastating consequences. why is it that the interest of wall street take high priority when we return from our break?

why aren't we talking about homelessness? why aren't we talking about flint? why aren't we talking about zika? why aren't we talking about baton rouge? well, i tell you there are those who think perhaps they have to take care of wall street. that it comes first. but i don't think so and i would ask for a no vote on this bill. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the gentleman from virginia. mr. hurt: we are prepared to yield, your honor -- mr. speaker. i urge all members of this body to support this good bill. let's remember where we started with this -- this registration requirement for private equity. in the dodd-frank act, in the aftermath of the financial crisis, private equity was swept in to the dodd-frank act n an effort to on citizensably try to stop future systemic crises in the united states

markets and as a consequence, over the last couple of years we introduced legislation to repeal that requirement. this bill does not do that. this bill is bipartisan in nature. they were designed to promote more investment in jobs across this country, but that was met with resistance. registration is now a fact of life. there are members on the other side who did not support our previous efforts. mr. foster being one of them. what this bipartisan bill has done, as been said, we have half of the democrats on the financial services committee supporting this legislation because it's not a repeal of the registration requirement. what it is in fact is a streamlining of a 76-year-old law that has made it more difficult for investment funds to be able to be successful. so what this bill is not about is about rolling back investor protection. n fact, investor protection is

-- will still be strong. the s.e.c. has power to bring enforcement actions. nothing has been done to, again, repeal the registration requirement. these firms will continue to have to be registered. so this is not about investor protection. all the anti-fraud provisions that are currently in federal securities law will continue to apply. what this is about is it is about teachers, it is about firefighters. this is about the investors in these pension funds -- by the pension funds in these investment funds that have had ccess over the last 10 years and have been a place where these pension funds have in fact invested because they have been solid performing funds. and that is good for teachers and firefighters. and their retirements. that's what this bill is about, about making it easier for these funds to be successful so they can bring back those

returns for the retirements of our teachers and our firefighters. at the end of the day, probably as important as anybody to me is about the jobs. the jobs that are created all across this country because of the investment of these funds. places like main street in martinsville, virginia, where we have seen over the last 15 years unemployment as high as 25%. there have been investments in places like southside, virginia, that have created jobs. that's what this bill is about. it's about those jobs in martinsville, virginia, or charlottesville in virginia's fifth district. that's what this bill is about. that's why it's garnered strong bipartisan support in our committee and i hope will garner strong bipartisan support today and i urge my colleagues to support this measure and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. all time for debate on the bill has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek

recognition? mr. foster: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: -- the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 1 printed in house report 114-725 offered by mr. foster of illinois. mr. foster: i ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered as read. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 844, the gentleman from illinois, mr. foster, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois. mr. foster: thank you, mr. chair. i'd also like to thank my friend from virginia, congressman hurt, for working with me on this bill. the amendment that i'm proposing addresses two of the concerns that have been most prominently expressed by democrats and advocates, including the two major objections that the administration statement opposing this bill before the amendment highlighted. i hope this will lead most of the caucus to joining me in voting for this bipartisan bill after my amendment addresses

the chief concerns voiced by my colleagues. first, the amendment will ddress concerns over transparencies in the law. it will require them to have a brochure offered to the client and in turn deliver that information to the s.e.c. second, my amendment will address concerns over investor confidence that the funds hold the assets that they say they do. it removes a provision that would have provided a narrow exemption from the audits or inspection for some funds. so they will now with this amendment continue to be fully subject to annual audits and surprise inspections. my amendment will ensure that the funds continue to receive a third-party look to confirm that the assets that it has represented to clients, including the assets -- including that the asset is actually held in the name of the client. these are the two concerns most prominently expressed, but i know there are others.

after careful consideration i do not believe they are problematic or should prevent americans from supporting the bill. the advisor does not need to keep information on the cus december. it is -- ill-liquid and will be subject to the annual audit or surprise inspection. funds that have built up leverage and risky provisions that could pose a systemic risk through counterparty exposure and mechanisms will still be required to submit the additional information on form p.f. to the fsoc. my amendment will remove the provisions that have been the feature of -- the main features for the opposition during this process. so i urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan bill. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to claim the time -- mr. hurt: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to claim the

time in opposition. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. hurt: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i commend representative foster and his staff for working with us on this measure, and making it a truly bipartisan effort for which i am grateful. this amendment is simple yet much like the amendment that was offered by representative foster during the july markup of this bill it helps alleviate some outstanding concerns and helps ensure that the legislation continues to gain bipartisan support. this amendment would remove two sections. first, it would remove the brochure delivery changes that were made a part of this bill. i believe private fund sponsors already disclose financial information in their private placement memoranda that advisors are required to maintain, there was concern removing the requirement that advisors complete and deliver a brochure and a brochure supplement to a client that is a limited partnership would otherwise make it more difficult for the s.e.c. conduct examinations and compile information. the second change would remove the first part of the custody

rule changes that were made in the bill. the legislation would, as reported, require the s.e.c. to provide additional exemptions to the custody rule to have an independent accountant conduct surprise or scheduled audits every year of its client's fund and securities. while i believe this is carefully tailored to the limited scope of which they have a close relationship, there were concerns about the level of connectedness and how far current s.e.c. guidance could be extended. this is an issue that should continue to be evaluated as i believe the current guidance is too narrow and the cost of the audit is greater than the protection it provides. while i think there are serious policy merits reported, i do believe these two changes alleviate some concerns and help the bill more bipartisan than it was when it received the strong vote it did in the financial services committee. i support this amendment and i thank the gentleman from illinois, mr. foster, for offering this amendment, and i yield back the balance of my time. i zverev my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman re-- i reserve my

time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from illinois is recognized. forsfors mr. chairman, i have -- mr. foster: mr. chair, how much time do i have remaining? the speaker pro tempore: 2 1/2 minutes. mr. foster: i yield 2 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from arizona, congresswoman sinema. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from arizona is recognized. ms. sinema: thank you. thank you to chairman hensarling, congresswoman waters, congressmen foster, vargas and stivers to streamline the antiquated regulatory framework for private equity fund advisors while maintaining appropriate industry oversight and investor protections. private equity investors across the country provide billions of dollars each year to main street businesses and over 11 million americans work for private equity-backed businesses. last year alone, private equity firms invested an estimated $18 billion in more than 60 arizona-based companies. together these companies support over 130,000 workers and their families. godaddy is the world's largest

domain register with more than 12 million customers, and like thousands of large and small american businesses, godaddy is a private equity-based company. last month i visited their tempe, arizona facility. it employs over 1,000 arizonans, including engineers, developers and small business consultants. with the help and investment of private equity, godaddy will create hundreds of quality technology jobs for years to come. by providing narrowly targeted regulatory relief to private equity fund advisors, this improves the flow of capital to businesses in every community and in every district in the united states. this bill passed out of the house financial services committee on a bipartisan vote. and following the committee vote, we worked together on a bipartisan fix to address two specific concerns. first, the amendment strikes the bill's narrow exemption from the annual audit or surprise inspection requirements for some funds. ensuring that investors are able to verify that funds actually contain particular

investments as claimed. second, the amendment ensures that advisors will continue to deliver a plain language narrative, brochure annually to both clients and the s.e.c. all currently registered investment advisors remain subject to s.e.c. registration and examination and the anti-fraud provisions of the investment advisors act. this legislation du does not reduce the s.e.c.'s authority to examine or bring enforcement actions against private fund managers or eliminate any of the tools that the s.e.c. has to pursue such actions. further, private equity funds invest in companies for several years and therefore do not prevent systemic -- present systemic risk. private equity-based businesses are a key driving force behind our economy, making critical national and local economic contributions. we must work together to create an environment that enables these companies to grow and succeed and expand opportunities for hardworking americans. thank you, again, to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their work on this important legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady yields. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. hurt: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to recognize -- to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from new york, mrs. maloney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized. mrs. maloney: i thank the gentleman for yielding. ile i support the foster amendment that's offered by my good friend and colleague from illinois and thank him for his hard work in responding to concerns that democrats raised and i thank chairman hensarling for accepting the amendment and congressman hurt for accepting the amendment. this amendment removes a provision in the bill that would exempt certain funds from the annual audit requirement of the custody rule. the custody rule is a long-standing investor protection that guards against outright theft of clients' funds. so i think that's a very huge burden of proof if you want to even think about rolling it

back. there's so many ways to comply with the custody rule, but this bill, without the foster amendment, would allow certain advisors to be exempt from having an annual audit, from having an annual surprise exam and the requirement to hold a client's securities at an independent qualified custodian. in other words, it would exempt certain advisors from all of e protections of the custody rule. i think that is a privilege too far and i am so pleased that mr. foster's amendment would remove this i yield back to mr. hurt for the remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is

recognized. mr. hurt: thank you, mr. speaker. i'll simply close by saying i appreciate working with mr. foster on this for the last several months. i appreciate his leadership on this issue and i hope this body ill approve this amendment and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the previous question is offered on the amendment by the gentleman from illinois, mr. foster. e question is on the amendment by the gentleman from illinois, mr. foster. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: a bill to amend the investment advisors act of 1940 and to direct the securities and exchange commission to amend its rules to modernize certain requirements relating to investment advisors, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek

recognition? >> i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentlelady opposed to the bill? >> i am opposed in its current form. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady qualifies. the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mrs. torres of california moves to recommit the bill -- >> mr. speaker. mr. hensarling: mr. speaker, i reserve a point of order. the clerk: mrs. torres moves to recommit the bill -- mrs. torres: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the request of the gentlelady from california? without objection, the previous question -- without objection, the reading is dispensed with. the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. >> this is the final amendment

to the bill which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. if adopted the bill will immediately proceed to final passage as amended. mr. speaker, a june 26 new york sometimes article revealed some of the troubling consequences of private equity firms taking over local service -- emergency services. miss torest: according to the article since 2008 financial crisis, private equity firms are investing in growing numbers in emergency services companies. sometimes with disastrous results. the piece found cases where emergency response times were so slow, personnel even had time for a cigarette break before arriving to the scene. some emergency services companies also reported mismappingment, specifically at their parent companies -- missmanment, specifically at their parent companies are not able to pay their salaries or

restock ambulances with critical medical supplies. my amendment will make sure that there is accountability and transparency when private equity firms invest in emergency services. my amendment will not prohibit private equity funds from investing in these services or place any restrictions on how they choose to investment. -- invest. nor will it defy the fact that private equity has and can play an important role in investle in companies in communities across our country. it would simply provide reassurance to our constituents that when they call 9/11 -- 9-1-1 their lives won't be put at risk because their local fire or ambulance service wants to turn a profit. this motion to recommit would require private equity firms to report the change in response time of emergency vehicles

since the private fund aguirre a controlling interest in the emergency services company. additionally, the report will require data on the percent of emergency response times that violate contracts entered into by local governments. and emergency services companies and include an explanation as to why response times did not meet requirements set out in such contracts. at a time when local jurisdictions are struggling to make ends meet, and the demands of emergency services are only growing, there is certainly a role for private equity firms to play in making sure our constituents have the services they need and expect. but if a private equity firm decides to invest in an emergency service company, they also take on the responsibility to provide those services to

the best of their capacity. as a former 9-1-1 dispatcher, i know that when it comes to getting emergency personnel to those in need, every second matters. there is no margin of error. and under absolutely no circumstances should profit come before saving lives. i urge my colleagues to support this motion and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady cannot reserve her time. ms. torres: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. hensarling: i withdraw my reservation after point of order and claim time in opposition. the speaker pro tempore: reservation is withdrawn. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. hensarling: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm just curious where this amendment was during the bipartisan process to bring h.r. 5424 to the floor.

i'm curious where it was in our committee deliberations. i'm curious why it was never presented to the rules committee. and we're just seeing it now. again, h.r. 5424, the investment advisors modernization act is a bipartisan piece of legislation to make sure our small businesses, entrepreneurs, innovators can access capital. it passed the committee 49-12, more than half of the democrats supported it. and now we have a motion to recommit that moves it in the complete opposition direction. one more disclosure, disclaimer, more job killing regulations to be put upon those who are trying to fund our small businesses to try to help the working poor better themselves. to try to help improve the paychecks and the well-being of middle income america. it is time to reject the motion to recommit. let's work on a bipartisan basis.

let's pass h.r. 5424. vote down the motion to recommit. vote for the bipartisan bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit. the question is on the motion. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the noes have it. the motion is not agreed to. ms. torres: i ask for the yes and noes. 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 arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 anti-order of the house of today, by the proceedings on this question will be postponed. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess subject to the call of the chair.

ms. pelosi: by some accounts, 10 to 15 cancer diagnosis per week 15 years later. we must treat all of them and those who will come after as illnesses in our own familiar lesion. we must continue to meet our commitment to the health and compensation needs of our heroes and their loved ones. we will remember and our prayers come from appreciation must exist for as long as our country shall exist. this is the legacy of 9/11 that we must pass down through the generations. the heroism and the resilience that are the soul of our nation. let the memory of our fallen

heroes be a blessing to their beloved and to our nation, let their sacrifice continue to deepen our dedication to justice and to freedom. may god bless the fallen men and women of 9/11 and their families and may god continue to bless the united states of america. chaplain conroy: let us pray. god of heaven and hurt, we give you thanks for giving us another day. today, we remember a day begun in terror and violence and ended in heroic effort and courage. we mourn those whose lives were snatched from them. give peace and healing to those who mourn the loss of their loved ones still.

we thank you, again, for the almost universal international response to a great american tragedy. all your children of good will could see the horrors of actions by men who would presume to act in your name causing so much death and destruction. may your spirit of peace and justice continue to fill the hearts of people of all faiths, races and nations. be present with us this day as we gather, again, on our capitol steps. bless the men and women who serve this great nation in the house of representatives. may they be confident in the knowledge that all americans stand behind them in their common effort to forge legislation that will reflect the resilient greatness of our nation. may all that is done this day and in the many days to come be

for your greater honor and glory. men. the speaker: at this time i'd like to invite everyone to participate in a moment of silence. thank you. and now i would like to invite everyone to join us in singing "god bless america" with our marine band. >> ♪ god bless america land that i love

stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above from the mountains to the prairies foam oceans white with god bless america my home sweet home god bless america home ♪ sweet [applause]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> live coverage on the steps of the u.s. capitol as house lawmakers gathered as they did on the steps of the capitol after the 9/11 attacks back in 2001. as you can see, members are heading back in the chamber. they are heading to take up a

9/11-related measure that would allow victims of international terrorism, including 9/11 victims, to sue the actors of the host country. that legislation coming up when members gavel back in in just a couple of moments here live on c-span.

>> well, we're still a couple moments away when the house gavels back in. we'll have live coverage when they do. they'll take up a bill related to the 9/11 attacks that would allow victims of international terrorism to sue the actors of the host country. here is more on the terrorism lawsuits bill which will be brought up today. host: katie bo williams joins us from capitol hill. how did it come up and why is the house taking it up this week? katie: well, the anniversary of 9/11 is coming up this week. there has been a lot of pressure from victims' families to get a move with this legislation. the senate had already passed it unanimously in may, and you've now seen quite a few lawmakers working with victims'

families to sort of ensure this gets to the house floor. host: we heard members to refer to it as the justice of supporters against terrorism act. as you mentioned it passed in the senate, passing unanimously back in may with the support, obviously, of senator schumer from new york and john cornyn of texas. a little bit deeper in the work that those senators and other members of congress have done with 9/11 families. how have those families kept the pressure on members of congress for this legislation? katie: well, you know, i think really the thing to -- the thing to remember here is that this is -- this is a piece of legislation that's sort of hard to say no to politically. there's a quite a few supporters of this bill who are treating it as basically a moral imperative. they are calling for justice for victims of -- the families of victims of these attacks.

there's sort of long been speculation that saudi arabia was either explicitly or implicitly supportive of the 9/11 attacks in some way. now, the saudi government has, of course, vehemently denied this and the white house has backed them up, but the fact sort of remains that 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were saudi and that is sort of kept a speculation surrounding the kingdom. host: well, you mention it it's hard to say no to but that's what the white house said. president obama set to veto the legislation if it passes in the house. what's his argument against it? katie: well, he's got two arguments against it. one of the things he's concerned about is that it will damage the relationship with saudi arabia, which is an important ally of ours in the middle east. he's also concerned this will open the door for the u.s. government to be subject to the

same kind of lawsuits from other countries. supporters of the bill say it is narrowly drawn and this isn't a concern and there's some doubt that the president may actually pull out his veto pen. for one thing, the white house has been very careful about the language that it has used when it's expressed its opposition to this bill. they stopped short of actually threatening to veto it, and supporters of the bill are saying that this gives them a little bit of hope that he might not. they also point to the overwhelming support that the bill has gotten from both sides of the aisle. there are 29 democratic co-sponsors on this piece of legislation in the house, and obviously senator schumer in the senate has sort of championed that effort as well. it would be a significant expenditure of political capital, really, for president obama to say no to this. it would be the first time that

he has been overridden by the -- particularly by members of his own party. host: how has the release of those 29 pages of the 9/11 report of the links between saudi arabia and some of the hijackers, how has this propelled this forward in terms of getting the legislation to the house floor? katie: depends on who you ask. some people think it gave it a push, so to speak, but there wasn't any smoking gun in those 28 pages, and intelligence -- ials and the leaders it's a matter of speculation, really, how much of an impact that had. host: is it your sense from this point that the bill likely will pass the house and the big issue will be a potential override vote of the president's veto? katie: it's pretty widely

expected to pass. the question is does the president go ahead and veto it? and if so, is there a override? supporters of the bill are pretty confident they have the 2/3 necessary to do that. host: katie bo williams covers national security at the hill. hill." er at "the we appreciate your update. >> and we will see that terrorism lawsuits bill brought up when the house gavels back in at 11:00 eastern this morning, about nine minutes from now. until then we'll show you a discussion from this morning's "washington journal" with new york republican congressman tom reed. he has endorsed donald trump but has become less supportive over time. is now congressman tom reed, a republican from new york state. .e is a donald trump supporter he is here to talk to us about that, as well as congress' agenda. thank you for joining me. guest: thank you so much for

having me on. host: at first, the house republicans are going to conference later this morning to talk about the strategy related to funding the government beyond september 30. what do you expect? guest: we will have a good family conversation. that is why i so appreciate speaker ryan. paul wants to have these conversations. i'm very confident we will be able to come up with a resolution that gets us through september 30. we will see where it goes. host: "the hill" talks a little bit about the move to fund congress and says that house speaker ryan faces new pressures from house conservatives, a year after the freedom caucus that pressured john boehner to resign. members of the conservative group have been threatening paul ryan. members are furious about that the new speaker did not do more to help the representative from

kansas in his failed primary bid this summer. to back pressuring ryan a vote to impeach the irs commissioner. what do you think about the freedom caucus and the threats, as "the hill" called it? guest: i do appreciate each member and each member's right to express themselves. they were elected by their voice to washington dc in the manner they so choose. i'm always hopeful and i'm always trying to be part of the toort in the conference bring people together. this is not about threatening or putting down a marker and you lock yourself in and never say what you will never do, so to speak. early once i learned during my tenure in washington. with the freedom caucus, they have their opinions, but we can get through this and we will. host: we are talking to congressman tom reed of new york, a republican from new

york. democrats can call (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. your questions and comments for the congressman. you supported donald trump early on. have your views changed since march, when you first supported him? guest: no, when we look at the presidential cycle and the presidential election, this is a binary choice. we have to choose. knowing what hillary is, what ,er agenda is, the status quo establishment type of mindset that she is going to bring to the table, i look at donald trump as an opportunity, as an agent of change, a disruptor, someone who is going to do something in washington. when i came here in 2010, i can to change the culture of washington dc and i think donald trump gives us the best chance to do that. host: let's take a look at what donald trump said recently. [video clip] mr. trump: she is always talking

about things that she is going to do. she has been there for more than 30 years. she has never done anything about it, never done anything. and all you have to do is look at new york state, when she ran for senator she said she would bring jobs back to new york state. it is a disaster. no jobs have come back. jobs have left. new york state, upstate new york, the areas she was talking about, they are disasters. all you have to do is look at new york state. she said she was going to bring tremendous jobs back, it will be wonderful. just like she is saying now. she would not know how to bring a job back. she would not have a clue. it is all talk, but nothing happens. host: do you agree that upstate new york, where you are from, is a disaster? guest: i live in the house my grandfather built in 1921. i have been living there my entire life.

i have 11 brothers and sisters. i know what donald is talking about. our area has had great success at times. it has pockets of great success. there are people that are struggling. there are areas that are struggling. he is absolutely correct. we need to do better for the rust belt. we need to do better for the manufacturing base. donald trump gives us that opportunity. host: what do you think he will do? guest: he is a private-based person. he is a business guy. he does not have 30 years of working in bureaucracy, like hillary clinton. he is going to bring those business models, he is going to bring the commitment to economic prosperity that he has done personally. that is a huge difference. host: we have a lot of callers waiting to talk to you. noreen is calling in from connecticut. good morning.

caller: good morning, how are you? i do not agree with anything donald says when it comes to vladimir putin and saying he's going to bring back jobs and saying all these different lies that he has said so many, i cannot keep up. he says so many and i fact check everything he says. myselfing i fact check to make sure what he is saying, as it lies or truth? he tells so many lies i cannot even keep up anymore. vladimir putin, i do not think that is even a good idea. people went to war to fight with russia to keep america safe. host: let's let congressman reed respond to that. donald trump doubled down on his support, his praise of vladimir putin and says he prefers him over the president. guest: i respect your opinion and i applaud your effort to fact check.

in the age of the internet there is a lot of information but there is a lot of misinformation. when you talk about donald trump, his commitment to securing america, when he references putin he is looking at where are our potential allies? even the enemies of our enemies are our friends. trying to align interests is something he is trying to tap into and i support that because we have a common enemy and a common threat. even though we may not have a relationship or be the closest allies, maybe try to develop that relationship to keep american citizen safe. host: donald trump said he could win new york state, a state that has not gone to a republican in recent memory. do you think you can? guest: i do not give up hope. i am an eternal optimist. we are going to keep fighting

for it, but the reality, i am also a practical person. new york is a heavy blue state and when he had the city of new york, he is going to do very well. it is an issue that is generated from the concentration of blue voters in the city in my opinion. host: up next, calling in from ithaca, york on the republican line. caller: thank you. before i start i would like to thank you everyone behind the scenes every day that makes these programs possible. it is an invaluable source of hearing everyone and constituents across the country. congressman rated, i'm glad to be able to speak with you -- congressman reed, i am glad to be able to speak with you because last year percent was instrumental after a medicare takent of 10 years was

out of my measly benefits. that is the social security disability. over $10,000 was taken out and we did recoup $6,600 that was to pay my rent in ithaca. i found a place to live. i had stood up to michael bloomberg who was dumping the disabled. in section 50% of us eight and 2009. in 2010 on theed front page of the new york times. what i would like to ask you to work with us on, particularly people living with disabilities and myself, a peace corps veteran who saw combat three times after wrongly fired, after digging the grave of a woman who had mastitis.

a thousand acres, 300 cows, antibiotics. it was not done and i gave out materials to have children and i was fired. that said, i have not given up. andal services in ithaca the policies of the county do not recognize me having my section eight, which i finally got in june. i would like everyone to have source of income equality. it is done down in new york city. they passed a law that you cannot discriminate when -- because of where your income comes from. motel on the taxpayer's dime and have been cut down to food stamps. host: i want to make sure that congressman raid has a chance to

respond -- congressman reed has a chance to respond. guest: i am glad we were able to help you out, that is mission number one. we just passed the 10,000th milestone. i tried to keep track -- track of it. 10,000 families we have been able to help and it sounds like we were able to help you in your situation. on the issues that you are raising, we want to work with everybody and work on the issues that you raise, and making sure that people who are going through a hard time in life where life has drawn them a curveball. i am not one of these individuals on the republican side who says we cannot do anything because the government should not be doing that. there is a role for the government. it has to be reasonable and temporary. one of the things we are losing in this dependency, entitlement type of government philosophy coming out of washington is that it should be based on the

individual and not the government. let's continue to work together. host: let's talk a little bit about donald trump who you support, and that may be used as a campaign issue for house lawmakers. i have heard several of your colleagues including this report from cnn which says the nevada republican said he told cnn he trusts donald trump to have his finger on the nuclear button -- on the24 hour nuclear button. less than 24 hours later that the centerpiece of a major new ad against his candidacy for the hotly contested open senate seat in nevada, the one democratic seat republicans have a reasonable chance of winning this november. are you worried about trump's effect? guest: i have a lot of confidence. i know joe heck. i put his resume up against anyone in the world.

all individual candidates i think or in a great position to win their campaign. what a lot of this is being driven by, this is politics in washington, d.c. this is what they do but i trust the collective wisdom of the american people, of the voter. as the rain had indicated, she is doing the work. she has verified. people are doing the work to become informed, educated, and engaged voters. next on our republican mine is john calling in from southampton, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. caller: it is a pleasure. all i would like it is about half of the pastor. i have a couple of questions.

donald trump's campaign ultimately won him the nomination. i am a strong supporter of numbers usa, which is as mainstream and organization, 3 million members. i would request that you would have the president as a future guest. here is my observation. in the elite press, new york times, wall street journal, -- washington, post, on day one i read about how we need more immigration for science, technology, i.t.. we do not have the workers. in the same article they will say we need more unskilled workers to do the picking the crops and cleaning the kitchen's and whatever. in then the next day same mainstream media, they tell us about robots and mechanization and how we are making such dramatic improvements.

, they are talking about within 10 years, are going to be eliminated. the truck drivers, a bus drivers. john, you said you had a question for the congressman. >> we'll leave this here to return to live coverage of the u.s. house. 2040, justice again sponsors of terrorism act. the clerk: senate 2040, an act to deter terrorism, provide justice for victims and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte, and the gentleman from new york, mr. nadler, will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia. mr. goodlatte: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to include extraneous materials to s. 2040 under current consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. goodlatte: i yield myself such time as i may consume. mr. speaker, the justice against

sponsors of terrorism act has been introduced over successful congresses and twice passed the senate. over the years that this legislation has been considered, i have worked with its sponsors to make the bill's language more precise in order to ensure that any unintended consequences are kept to a minimum. in particular, i have worked to make sure the extension of secondary liability under the anti-terrorism act closely tracks the common-law standard for aiding and abetting liability and limited to state department to foreign terrorist organizations. secondary liability should attach to persons who have actual knowledge that they are directly providing substantial assistance to a designated foreign terrorist organization in connection with the commission of an act of international terrorism. jasta as revised ensures that

aiding and abetting liability is limited in this matter. . international terrorism that causes physical injury on u.s. joil. jasta makes this change because under current law a foreign nation can provide financing and other substantial assistance for a terrorist attack in our country and escape liability so long as the support is provided overseas. for example, under current law, if the intelligence agency of a foreign government handed a terrorist a bag of money in new york city to support an attack on u.s. soil, the country would be libel under the foreign sovereign impugnities acts toward exception right now. however, if we change the fact pattern slightly so that rather than giving a terrorist money in new york city the money is

provided in paris, the foreign state will not be subject to liability in u.s. courts. this is a troubling loophole in our anti-terrorism laws. to say that a terrorist attack occurring in the united states, a tort occurring in the united states, of u.s. citizens, would not allow u.s. citizens access to their own courts for a tort that occurred in their own country. when congress enacted the foreign sovereign immunities act in 1976, it put in place a broad set of exceptions to sovereignty immunity, including an exception for tort claims involving injuries occurring in the united states. however, the courts have not consistently interpreted those exceptions in such a manner that they cover the sponsoring of a terrorist attack on u.s. soil. jasta addresses this inconsistency with a concrete rule that is consistent with the nine long-standing

exceptions to foreign sovereign immunity already provided for under u.s. law. jasta ensures those including foreign governments who sponsor terrorist attacks on u.s. soil are held fully accountable for their actions. we can no longer allow those who injure and kill americans to hide behind legal loopholes denying justice to the victims of terrorism. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york, mr. nadler, is recognized. mr. nadler: thank you, mr. speaker. i would yield as manager of the bill on our side to the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. conyers: thank you. i want to thank my colleague from new york, senior member on the committee, with whom i have worked for many years.

mr. speaker, the september 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the united states was the deadliest foreign attack on american soil in our nation's history. it's impact has been immeasurable as evidenced by the fact that we're still grappling with the cultural and policy implications stemming from the events of that day. and 15 years on, most americans continue to feel its searing emotional impact. particularly as the anniversaryry -- anniversary date approaches this sunday. this is especially true for those who lost loved ones or were injured as a result of this horrific attack. they deserve our deepest sympathy and our help. so it is in this vain that we consider s. 2040, the justice against sponsors of terrorism

act. which, among other things, amends the foreign sovereign immunities act of 1976 to create a new exception to the act's general grant of foreign sovereign immunity. the judiciary committee held a hearing on this bill last july which the bill's supporters presented compelling and sympathetic arguments in favor of ensuring that the 9/11 families have access to a well deserved day in court. at the same time, however, the administration and others raised a number of concerns about the bill's potential impact that we should keep in mind. first, the administration, some allied nations, and others sert that the enactment of 2040-s. 2040 may lead to

retaliation by other countries against the united states given the breadth of our interests and the expansive research of our global activities. secondly, they assert that the bill will hamper cooperation from other nations because they may become more reluctant to share sensitive intelligence in light of the greater risk that such information may be revealed in litigation. however, they raise the concern that the bill effectively would allow private litigants rather than the government to determine foreign and national security policy questions like which states are sponsors of terrorism. because of the moral imperative of enacting legislation and the seriousness of the concerns raised, i remain hopeful that

we can continue to work with the administration to resolve these issues so that litigation legislation can be signed into law by the president. i also want to acknowledge representatives peter king and particularly jerrold nadler and senators john cornyn and charles schumer for their tireless leadership and efforts to achieve congressional passage of this measure. there is no doubt as to the passion they bring to advocating for victims of september 11, 2001 attacks. a passion that i and many others share. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, at this time it's my pleasure to both welcome back the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, and to yield to him a distinguished

member of the judiciary committee, three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: i thank the chairman. . speaker, sunday marks 15 years since america was viciously attacked in 2001. . i was driving my jeep to the courthouse in texas where i was a judge. people stopped on the side of the road because they were listening to the radio about how planes were used as a weapon to attack our nation. 3,000 americans and people from other nations were murdered at the hands of evil, malicious terrorists. and our country changed forever that day. the lives of those families especially changed, those families that suffered loved ones that were killed and injured and are still injured today. meanwhile, we are here debating

whether or not these families of the victims deserve their basic right under the constitution of the u.s. to their day in court, the right to sue the perpetrators. i don't think there should be much dissenting on that issue. if any foreign government that can be shown to have supported a terrorist attack on u.s. soil, american victims ought to have the right to sue that country. based on the 28 pages held secret for years, there may be evidence that the country of saudi arabia and their officials may have had some involvement in planning the elements of that attack. i don't know. that's what the courtroom is for. whether this involvement rises to the level to be held accountable at trial is an issue for a jury of americans to decide. it's interesting that saudi arabia objects to this

legislation. me thinks they object too much. we should let a jury decide what the damages, whether there should be any at all. the legislation give the victims' families access to the courts, to the rule of law and we as a people should be more concerned about these victims of terror than we are about diplomatic niceities with other countries. the voices cry out for us to do justice and justice has been waiting too long. 15 years for justice. mr. speaker, justice is what we do in this country and that is what these victims and their families want. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm pleased now to turn to the gentleman from new york, who has

been working on this issue for such a long time, representative nadler, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nadler: i rise in strong support of the jasta. i'm proud to be the lead democratic sponsor of this bill along side my friend from new york, mr. king and i appreciate his hard work on this legislation. on sunday, we will observe the 15th anniversary of september 11 and thousands of americans that were murdered in my district as well as the pentagon and in pennsylvania. jasta would ensure that those responsible for aiding and abetting those attacks are held accountable. unfortunately because of certain court decisions misinterpreting the foreign sovereign immunities act, the 9/11 victims and their families have been able to pursue their claims in court.

jasta reinstates what was understood to be the law for 30 years, that foreign states may be brought to justice for aiding and abetting accidents and acts of international terrorism that occur on american soil whether or not the conduct that facilitated the attack occurred in the united states. think of it this way. some courts have held if a foreign government agent hands over a million dollar check to l qaeda in a cafe in new york, that government can be sued in an american court. if the same foreign agent funds the same attack by handing over the same check in a restaurant in geef, his government should be immune from liability. that makes no sense and flies in the face of what was settled law. we must correct these court decisions so anyone who facilitates an attack on our people can be brought to justice. this legislation does not

prejudge the merits but ensures that the 9/11 families or anyone who makes the same situation can plead their case in court. some critics have argued if we pass it, other nations may retaliate by enacting similar laws that may subject citizens to liability. i find this argument unper waist i have. the united states does not depage in international terrorist activity and would not face legal jeopardy if a law like jasta were enacted anywhere else. the sovereign immunities act and its tort exception have been the law for 40 years. in that time, we have not seen the parade of horribles that some critics imagined would happen if this bill were to come law. e cannot allow threats and threaten retaliation to deny victims of terrorist attacks their day in court.

this contains a reasonable provision allowing stay of court proceedings that the president is engaging in good faith negotiations to resolve the claim through diplomatic channels. we may not fear retaliation. united states is a major power and can hold our own. jasta is a narrow bill that has been negotiated over the past six years and passed the senate in may and provide clarity to the court and justice to the victims of 9/11 and deserves swift passage today. i urge my colleagues to vote for this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: i yield three minutes to the chief sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from new york, mr. king. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. king: mr. speaker, this is a great day for america. let me at the outset commend chairman goodlatte for always

keeping his word and a person we can count on to do what needs to be done and always carried everything out. would like to thank the speaker and the majority leader and nancy pelosi. and let me thank dan lungren who was the original lead sponsor of this bill and thank the 9/11 families the fact that they have never ever yielded and always kept this issue on the front burner at a time when too many americans sought to walk the other way. i thank terry and the great work she's done and her husband tom and father-in-law ernie and mother in law. thank her for the job she did and her husband, she is carrying on his name and i thank you for that. this is essential, it is

essential that justice be done and that 9/11 families have the right to bring action in american courts. this is the most basic constitutional right. this is an obligation and an obligation to not allow foreign countries or anyone else to intimidate us. justice must be done and we want to make sure there are no more 9/11s. and they cannot step aside and walk away if something is carried out and make believe is not happening. i'm not prejudging the case. the 9/11 families have the right to resolve this resolved in court. and certainly motivated me. i want to thank all the 9/11 families for the work they have done. it's a bipartisan effort and american effort and can be proud as we go into the 15th anniversary on the most horrible

day. we will not give up the fight and we will win. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: i yield to the gentlelady from new york, mrs. ma lonnie, three minutes. mrs. maloney: i thank the gentleman for yielding and his hard work on this bill and others and chairman demrat and thank you for your good work and bringing it to the floor and my colleagues from new york, congressmen king and nadler. this is an important, important bill. and i rise today, two days before the 15th anniversary of 9/11 to express my strong support for the passage of the justice against sponsors of terrorism act. the attacks of 9/11 were acts of appalling cruelty. they targeted knowingly and specifically innocent americans who just got up and went to work like every other american and

were killed on 9/11. though the hijackers of the planes died that day it is indisputeable that people who conspired with them in the planning, preparation, execution and financing of those horrific acts walked the streets freely in foreign capitals today. in fact, they are protected by a peculiar interpretation of international law that shields them from justice in u.s. courts for terrorist acts on u.s. soil. this bill, a version of which passed the senate unanimously would correct misinterpretations of previous legislation and lower court decisions and empower survivors and families of the victims of international terrorism to seek a measure of justice through our civil court system. this bill is needed because both the congress and the executive

have affirmed that civil litigation against terrorist sponsors including governments can have an important deterrent effect. this bill is also mindful of the concerns some have about its possible effect on soverage immunity. for that reason it is narrowly focused and applies only to attacks committed on u.s. soil that harm u.s. nationals. the attacks of 9/11 were roundly condemned by people and governments around the world. so this bill is needed, not just for the families of those who died in new york and at the pentagon and in pennsylvania, it is needed by people around the world. we know we lost roughly 3,000 people on 9/11, but thousands and thousands more have died since the attacks because of the diseases that they now have because of being exposed to the

toxins down at ground zero. now they are predicting roughly 15 people a day are concerned because cancer is now in their bodies from the exposure. our people are still suffering. 15 years is a long time to wait. this bill is needed. we need justice. i think it's a strong deterrent. i'm proud of the united states congress and the legislative body of this country for standing up and passing this bill. i strongly urge my colleagues to not forget and to support overwhelmingly this bill. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: at this time, it's my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. lance: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support of the justice against foreign terrorists act sponsored by mr.

king of new york. as we approach the 15th anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001, it is appropriate that we in congress are finally authorizing the victims from that terrible day have the right to pursue full justice in our courts of law. i'm a lawyer and i have worked with constitutional and statutory issues. this legislation does not convict any one person or any one nation. but it gives the loved ones of those who died recourse for full justice and compensation. new jersey lost more than 700 residents in the attacks. 81 of them from communities i represent here in congress. i know some of those names and i know all of those communities. they deserve their day in court and they deserve the assistance of the federal government in

being as transparent as possible with the evidence and the intelligence. the truth is the truth and it is time that we all know it. this measure passed the united states senate with unanimous support, yet there are some who believe that the white house may threaten to veto the legislation citing how it may compromise our relationship with certain other nations. this is backward logic. those nations should recognize the fundamental justice in legal remedies against a terrorist network that killed more than 3,000 americans. mr. speaker, i urge a yes vote. i am sure this will pass overwhelmingly, perhaps unanimously in a bipartisan fashion and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: i'm pleased to recognize the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized.

mr. doggett: thank you. look around the world. in europe, in asia, in the middle east, in africa, wherever you see evidence of radical islam, that extremism can usually betraysed to preachers of hate from saudi arabia. the kingdom has blood on its hands. is it the blood of the victims of 9/11? possibly. 15 of the 19 hijackers were saudis. some saudis were permitted to flee this country without thorough interviews. saudi arabia has long been considered the principal source of funding for al qaeda. senator graham saw a direct line at least between some of the terrorists who carried out the september 11 attacks and the government of saudi arabia. but evaluating all of this evidence, the evidence of both sides is why we have a judicial system in the first place and

for our government to obstruct the 9/11 victims, their families from seeking the truth about saudi arabia and its involvement is just flat wrong. . some in our government have tried to hide as much as they could as loping as they could. ignoring saudi treachery, we had a president who literally held hands with the crown prince while attacking another country in the biggest foreign policy disaster in our nation's history that continues to plague us. the muslims that i know that are my neighbors in texas, and those with whom i meet here in washington, do not deserve blanket blame for themselves or for islam. but neither should there be blanket immunity for those who may have committed wrong. i salute the bipartisan sponsors of this legislation. give these 9/11 families their

day in court. and accord the saudis all of the rights in that judicial proceeding they so regularly deny their own citizens. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, at this time it's my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. donovan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. speaker, to begin i'd like to acknowledge and thank speaker ryan, chairman goodlatte, and chairman upton. i have been a member of this distinguished institution for only 16 months, and in that time they have done right by the heroes i represent in congress. i thank them and thousands of heroes and their families from my district thank them as well. my good friend, the gentleman from new york, mr. king, has been a fierce advocate for all

9/11 heroes and their families for the last 15 years. and it's an honor to stand by his side. i'd like to read into the record part of a letter written to me last week by lawrie, a widow of firefighter and my good friend joseph from new york city's fire department's rescue 5. it's sunday morning, and the smell of coffee fills the air as they wait to hear the sound of the key in the front door. i know that sound of that key will be followed by the words, i'm home. and my heart is excited. no longer do i hear the sound of that key in the door object sunday morning. no longer do i hear the simple words, i'm home. sovereign immunity should not be allowed as a shield of protection for persons or nations that fund terrorists and cause mass murder. jassta must be passed to send a

strong message to all nations, if you fund terrorism, there will be accountability. mr. speaker, this bill is about giving victims of terror attacks on united states soil their day in court and the chance to hold everybody accountable, including foreign governments, that may have been involved. 9/11 devastated families in my district and for me their priorities are my priorities. i support this bill and ask my colleagues to join me in voting for passage. as my good friend from new jersey, mr. lance, said, the president has threatened to veto this bill. but for those americans who have earned the right for justice, i hope he has the conviction and courage to sign jassta into law. i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm pleased now to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. israel.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. i thank my friend. i thank the distinguished ranking member. mr. speaker, i rise in support of the justice against sponsors of terrorism act. mr. speaker, 15 years ago my congressional district lost 200 men and women. families named downy and murphy and so many other families. in the years since those who responded to that act of terror have been getting sicker and sicker and sicker. they all deserve justice, mr. speaker. you get justice on the battlefield. you can get justice in the courtroom. this bill ensures that they have the right to justice in the courtroom. for that simple and very profound reason, i support this bill. i was pleased to co-sponsor the bill with my friend from new york, mr. king, and i urge the

president not to veto this bill. i thank my friend from michigan, yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, at this time it's my pleasure to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank chairman goodlatte for his extraordinary work on this legislation. mr. conyers, of course peter king who has been absolutely tenacious picking up the good work that dan lungren, a former member of the committee and attorney general of california had done on this legislation previously. this is a bipartisan piece of legislation and it has to be signed by the president. i certainly hope that the president will sign it into law. this bill holds the promise of some measure of justice for the victims of al qaeda's horrific terrorist attack on the united states 15 years ago this sunday. time has not diminished the suffering of those who have

lost will haved ones on that day -- loved ones on that day, nor has it brought accountability or closure. this bill aims to change that to some degree by overturning the legal challenges that they have -- that have stood between the victims and the justice they rightly seek from foreign governments and individuals suspected of financing the 9/11 attacks. i worked extensively with the 9/11 survivors, family members, worked with the jersey girls as they became known who pushed so hard for the 9/11 commission in a was chaired by my governor, former governor, tom cane, that did joeman's work to get to the bottom of what happened and what we might do to mitigate a crisis going forward. unfortunately there still are gaps and this is one of those gaping holes that needs to be closed. here today are some of those family members, many of them widows, cassie, who works on my staff, who lost her son. mindy, monica, carol are here

in the chamber and have pushed so hard for this legislation. not here but here in spirit kristen, patty, sheila, mary and frank, also with us. they lost their son brad. these are people who said, never again needs to mean never again so no other american would suffer what they have endured at the loss of their loved ones. this is why this legislation is another measure -- major step forward. you look at the foreign sovereign immunities act, and the impediments it has placed. some of my colleagues have said earlier, we just want in court to be able to get at the truth. who was part of the facilitating, financing of the 9/11 murderers, the terrorist that is killed some 3,000 people? 50 of whom, more than 50, who lived in my congressional district. this bill also would amend the anti-terrorism act of 1987.

the bill opens -- will open foreign officials to accountability to so-called secondary liability such as aiding and abetting or conspiring with terrorist perpetrators, and these are very commonsense and modest changes to the law that will hopefully get us closer to justice for those who have suffered so much. it's great bill. again chairman goodlatte, thank you, and pete king. pete has been absolutely tenacious and our leadership has heeded those calls, are supportive. i want to thank him for ensuring it came up today prior to the 15th anniversary of that infamous event. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. appreciate the bipartisanship of this bill and he emotional but clear

discussion that has gone on in support of it. and because of the importance of enacting legislation of this importance and the recognition of the concerns raised, i know that we can continue to work with the administration to resolve these issues so that this measure can be signed into law by the president of the united states. i thank everyone who has participated and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. goodlatte: i want to say first of all thank you very much to the ranking member of the committee, the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, for working with us on this

legislation. i want to congratulate the chief sponsors of the legislation, particularly congressman king who has, as many have said here, been tenacious in pursuing justice. and i urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 2040. so many as are 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 reconsider is laid upon the table. the chair will remind all persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the house and that any manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings is in violation of the rules of the house.

pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, and the order of the house of today, proceedings will resume on questions previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order. adoption of the motion to recommit on h.r. 5424. and passage of h.r. 5424 if ordered. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. the remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute vote. the unfinished business is the question on agreeing to the motion to recommit on h.r. 5424 offered by the the gentlewoman from california, miss tore yezz, on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will redesignate the motion. the clerk: motion to recommit on h.r. 5424, offered by ms. torres of california. the speaker pro tempore: the question son adoption of the motion. members will record their votes by electronic device. 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 176. the nays are 132. the motion is not adopted. the question is on the passage of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. ms. waters: i ask for 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. a sufficient number having arisen, yeas and nays are ordered. 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 261 and the nays are 145. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rom maryland seek recognition? for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. hoyer: i want to make sure he's ready. thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purposes of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule of the week to come. i'm pleased to yield to mr. mccarthy, the majority leader for the purpose of giving us the schedule for next week. i yield to my friend. mr. mccarthy: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. he house will be in order.

the gentleman's request is granted without objection. mr. hoyer: i yield to my friend from california, the majority leader, mr. mccarthy. mr. mccarthy: i thank the gentleman for yielding. on monday, the house will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. votes will be postponed until 6:30. on tuesday and wednesday will meet at 10:00 a.m. and noon for legislative business. on thursday, the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. on friday, the house is not in session. a complete list of suspensions will be announced by close of business today. the house will consider h.r. 3590, the halt tax increase on the middle class and seniors act represented by martha mcsally and will prevent americans with

high health care costs facing an additional tax increase. h.r. 5520 v.a.'s modernization act sponsored by representative jeff miller which ensures that employees at the department of veterans affairs are held accountable from misconduct for poor performance. this bill will modernize the disability apeoples process to reduce the unacceptable backlog of claims. the house will consider h.r. 5226 the regulatory integrity act sponsored by representative walberg which requires agencies to publish proposed regulations on their website. the house will consider h.r. 5355 sponsored by representative jackie walorski which prevents the transfer of any individuals

detained at guantanamo bay, cuba. i thank the gentleman and i yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for that schedule. i won't discuss any of the bills the gentleman mentioned on the schedule, but i do want to note a couple of absences. one was the continuing resolution. as the gentleman knows after next week, the c.r. is not included, we have nine legislative days left before the scheduled adjournment. as the gentleman knows we have not passed a single appropriation bill and without finding fault with either side because i know each side thinks the other is at fault, we have not passed a single appropriation bill. so there is no alternative to a continuing resolution and we must pass the continuing resolution if the government is going to be operating on october 1 in the new fiscal year.

the limited number of days in session, nine days after next week, there are reports that the house republicans are divided on how long the c.r. ought to be. whether or not we ought to go into the 115th congress or not. representative tom cole was quoted as saying since we are all drawing our checks, we ought to do our job and get it done, meaning the appropriations rocess and continuing with his quote, and recognize that the next administration and the next congress are going to have to have plenty to do and deal with on their own and not throw additional work at them because we are either too lazy or incompetent to do our work. that's representative tom cole,

one of the senior members of this body, former chairman of the campaign committee and respected member of this body. mr. leader, i believe we ought to pass a c.r. as soon as possible, consider it as soon as possible. my own belief is it ought to be short-term. i believe many people share that view. apparently senator mcconnell shares that view as well and my understanding that the senate is going to consider such a c.r. and send it to us. it is our responsibility under the constitution to move on pieces of legislation. they may amend theirs into a house bill which both sides do from time to time. but can you tell me, a, how long do you expect the c.r.? first of all, when do you believe we will consider a ontinuing resolution to fund

the government past september 30. and how long will the c.r. extend? and thirdly as we did last year, is it your expectation that we will do an omnibus in december in the lame duck? and i yield to my friend. mr. mccarthy: i thank the gentleman for yielding. surely, the gentleman did not mean from the point that no appropriation bills have passed this floor, because six have passed, but they haven't been -- mr. hoyer: reclaiming my time. as the gentleman and i both know, no appropriation bills have been enacted. and as i pointed out. for getting about who's to blame and you and i have different perspectives on that. they haven't been passed and signed by the president. haven't been passed by the congress and the president

hasn't signed any. there isn't any possibility we are going to pass one or more of those bills. there are 12 appropriation bills to fund government. doesn't look like we are going to pass any of them. and we will need a c.r. my question relates to the c.r., on those points. and i yield to the gentleman. mr. mccarthy: i thank the gentleman for clarifying. and one more clarification, if the gentleman may. all 12 of the bills of appropriations have passed out of committee. so it is our desire to finish that work. yes, it looks as though we will be into a continuing resolution. we have funding up to september 30 and it is our intent to have that done. we will not depart without finishing that work. the duration of the time is up for discussion and we have been having discussions on both sides of the aisle about that. but as soon as that decision is made, members will be advised when the floor action is scheduled.

i assure the gentleman it will be done before any nem has departed. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i presume that. i presume that the majority and i will say this, but whatever is in and your party control both of the house and of the senate. yes we have the presidency, but no bills have reached his desk. whether they gone out of committee or not, no bills have reached his desk. getting out of committee means nothing. nothing happens because it gets out of committee other than it's eligible to come to the floor. beyond that, nothing happens with respect to funding the government. not a question of blame, but no bill has passed from the congress to the president of the united states for signature. he hasn't vetoed any bills

because they haven't gotten to him. so we need to adopt a c.r. i think the gentleman is correct that we aren't going to go home i presume without passing a c.r. the government will shut down for 16 days some years ago because we wouldn't repeal the affordable care act. i don't presume that's going to happen this time. but i certainly hope that we address the c.r. it's not scheduled for next week. discuss another subject in just a second that should have been scheduled in my view this week. we did bills that frankly aren't going to be passed or sent to the president. we spent a full week otherwise known as 25% of the time scheduled for us to be here before the electric. next week will make it 50% of the time and still no c.r. has

been brought forward. and we left town in july without assing the senate bill, passed 68-30, a bipartisan bill to address the critical health crisis confronting the american people, zika. you don't schedule that for next week either on your schedule, mr. leader. and i'm very concerned. i think america is very concerned, certainly on this side of the aisle we are very concerned and i want to make a representation here publicly so that america will know and you will know that i'm prepared to ourthat almost everybody in unanimous, ld say but i haven't talked to everybody, to pass the

bipartisan senate bill. passed 68-30, which would appropriate $1.1 billion. tony fauci, who is the director and i.h. allergies infectious disease which falls under his authority and he said as of october 1, he is going to have no money for the development of a vaccine. the gentleman is as concerned as i am because we talked about setting up funds for disasters. this is a health crisis, obviously a disaster and let me ask the gentleman if he expects zika funding to come to the c.r. or asr with the a separate bill. and again i represent to him, i believe every democrat and i

haven't talked to every democrat, but i believe every democrat will support the bipartisan senate bill passed 68-30, which properties money nd has the virtue unlike the conference report, which the house added poison pill language that they knew needed that the democrats would support with the house and the senate, undermining frankly, the ability to have health services delivered in puerto rico, the epicenter of the zika crisis and should have been no surprise that that was not going to be supported and the president made it clear he wasn't to support it. we need to reach a compromise. i urge the majority leader to address this and bring it to the floor. and i tell him he will have my full support and engagement for the senate bill, which was a

bipartisan bill and i yield to my friend to let us know when he expects to deal with this critical health crisis confronting the american people and i yield. . mr. mccarthy: before this cry suss you and i sat -- crisis you and i sat together. before this crisis you and i compiled a group of members on both sides of the aisle with the experts to deal with it. $600 million quickly went out the door to fight, to combat. the senate approved $1.1 billion. i'm somewhat excited to hear all the democrats will change their mind now and vote for the bill. i would like to remind the gentleman that in june this house took up this issue because we know what would happen in the summer.

we know what's transpiring in florida because we predicted it would because it was already happening in puerto rico, but that was not the case on this floor that night. everyone on the other side said no. well, you know what, in the senate they've taken this up three times. your side of the aisle decided to leave without dealing with this issue. they could have dealt with this issue this week. this is the exact amount of money that the president or the senate voted for unanimously over there. maybe not unanimously but bipartisan. this is not one to play politics with. we did our job here. it's quite ironic on a clarification on your past one saying republicans are in the majority here. yes, that's true. and you saw that happen. the rules in the senate are much different, which it empowers the minority to stop.

that's why we're talking about a c.r., but this should not be the case. you could have challenged your colleagues in that senate on your party to stop the filibuster. the people should not have to wait. we've been in those rooms together. i know your desire. when you and i talked about putting the emergency funding together, you know what, that's in the appropriations this ear. we need this to get done. they need the money. we need to combat it, and we need to monitor it. that's why we dealt with this in june. the frustration i have, even when we came back this week, the senate democrats were in the exact same place before. this money goes to the community centers in puerto rico exactly as the president requested. it's not a time to play politics. it's not a time to get frustrated about a different issue that you had that night

so you couldn't vote yes. that's the truth behind this and that's wrong. yield back. mr. hoyer: i could get very animated in my answer. the fact of the matter what the majority leader represents, in my view, is inaccurate. the senate sent us a bipartisan ill. and because you think you needed to serve some of your most hardlined members, you made it a political bill and we were not going to take it. we're not going to eyou eliminate planned parenthood -- to see you eliminate planned parenthood. listen to me, mr. majority leader. i listened to you respectfully. eliminate planned parenthood's services and funding to deliver services in puerto rico, the

epicenter of this disease. and you put other legislation in that bill you knew was unacceptable to us. the senate did not do that because they need 60 votes which means they need to come to a bipartisan agreement. you rejected a bipartisan agreement on your side of the aisle. mr. speaker, i will address -- the speaker pro tempore: address your remarks to the chair. mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, the majority party rejected the bipartisan legislation that came from the senate with 68 votes. that's more than 2/3 of the senate. half of the republicans in the united states senate. passed that bill over to us, and we could have passed it. notwithstanding -- i know they say we needed the $1.9 billion. had you brought that bill to the floor without adding political aspects to it that you knew we would not support, it would have passed.

you could have passed it on your own but you chose to make it a political bill, and we're not going to accept that because the american -- you are right, mr. leader. mr. speaker, the american people deserve that we deal with this issue now. the president asked for this oney on february 22. we're now september 10. mr. speaker, we have not dealt ith this, except in a way that frankly the majority party knew would not be acceptable, would not be bipartisan, would not pass the senate and would not be signed by the president. and it is, i say with all due respect, mr. majority leader, not credible to say we didn't take because -- what you wanted to jam down our throat -- i know some people on my side oh,

$1.1 billion is not enough. i don't believe it's not enough. but it's a very substantial sum for n.i.h. to pursue vaccines and pursue other matters in puerto rico and florida and other places in this nation to keep our people safe. so i tell the majority leader again, bring the bipartisan bill passed to us by the united states senate with 68 votes, a g it to the floor as house bill and we'll pass it and that's why i tell the majority leader, mr. speaker, that i believe every member on my side of the aisle will vote for that, not because they believe $1.1 billion will be sufficient to address this problem and leader pelosi makes the point, mr. speaker, the director of c.d.c. says that it will cost $10 million per child

who suffers from microcephaly, which is the result of zika and very frankly in brazil they found the results go beyond that. $10 million. if 200 children get microcephaly, that gets to the dollars that the president ants from us to prevent this horrible consequence to the children and to the families of america. so i say with all due respect, mr. majority leader, you can say all you want and i know the spin. the democrats in the senate are holding this up. i do not accept that. i think it is inaccurate. what is holding it up is putting in items in a bill that is absolutely essential, grew tuesday tussly that you -- gra tuesdaytiesly that you know we will object to. what the senate did was reached a bipartisan agreement. very tough to reach bipartisan

agreements in this house because we have a group in this house that wants to wag the dog . and that's not what the american people expect. and i want to say, mr. speaker, i have great respect for the majority leader. he's accurate, we do sit down, we do work together and we can come to bipartisan agreements. we didn't sit down on this. the conference committee was not signed by a single democrat. there was no doubt that when it came to this house floor there were no democrats on that conference report and we had no debate. one of the reasons we had no debate, i want to make it clear, because majority leader, mr. speaker, is going to make that clear. our side, we thought there was another important issue, but the fact of the matter is not whether it was debated, there would have been 30 minutes on each side.

short debate. but the fact of the matter is the majority leader knows that the $1.1 billion bill that the senate passed, even though it's not the president's request, would have passed on this floor. and it would pass on this floor today. and n.i.h. and c.d.c. would have the resources, mr. speaker, that it needs to protect the american people. and that, mr. speaker, is with a we should do and i now yield, mr. speaker, to the majority leader. cathy lanier well, i thank the gentleman. i think the best thing for the american people is actually read the bill. so let me just read the section that you referred to that you stated that no democrats in aprops would sign onto and that they wanted to vote -- referred to a block grant. this is dealing for zika. for the funding of health services provided by public health departments, hospitals

are reimbursed through public health plans. seriously? you're opposed to that? that's what you're fighting over? why people every day and the mosquitoes begin to grow and go beyond state by state, this is what we're fighting over? that $1.1 billion added with the other $600 million took place in june. yeah, we couldn't get to the floor to debate it because you wouldn't give us one microphone. but i'm sorry. i know there's a lot of political that goes around here but this is not. this is the moment, this is the time that we rise above it. the american people do not deserve that. and i say let's put this paragraph out. let the public read what the bill says and i will promise you the majority wants you to vote for it and stop playing games. i yield back. mr. hoyer: i understand the majority wants to vote for what they want us to vote for. they don't want to reach a --

mr. mccarthy: you voted against that. mr. hoyer: i did vote against that. cathy lanier if the gentleman -- the speaker pro tempore: direct your remarks to the -- -- direct your remarks to the chair. mr. hoyer: it's so hard, mr. speaker. mr. mccarthy: if the gentleman will yield? mr. hoyer: i will be happy to yield but i have a comment. mr. mccarthy: mr. speaker, the gentleman across the aisle is true, we work together and on big issues we try to find common ground. in that spirit, will you tell me what in that paragraph you disagree with? mr. hoyer: reclaiming my time, mr. speaker. is the gentleman aware that the major deliverer of health services to women in puerto rico is through planned parenthood? is the gentleman aware of that? mr. mccarthy: yielding? mr. hoyer: i yield. mr. mccarthy: did the president request when he requested money

that it get delivered that way? in here -- may i remind the gentleman what i am requesting? the funding goes for health services provided by public health departments, hospitals are reimbursed through public health plan. public health means that's the way the health care is provided, so we are funding the entities that provide the health care. exactly when the president had requested. mr. hoyer: that language -- reclaiming my time, mr. speaker -- was clearly designed as the gentleman knows, as the staff knows and has been publicized to preclude one of the agencies that delivers health care in had puerto rico from doing so. and that's planned parenthood that gets public funds. this is designed, we believe, to restrict it. but let's put that aside. let's say we have a disagreement on that. let's accept that.

what the senate said, if we have disagreements on these things, we're going to pass a bill that gets that money out the door, and they passed it 68-30, which means approximately 1/2 of the republicans voted for it because -- and very frankly, a predecessor of yours, mr. blunt, was a co-sponsor of that bill. one of my very close friends, as you know, along with ms. murray. so they achieved the objective in the united states senate of doing exactly what i think you are actually correct, mr. speaker, in saying and that is that the people want us to act. it's not on the schedule this week. it's not on the schedule next week. . and it ought to be on the schedule and both you and i could say that yes, our sides

can support this. without, we have some very significant differences, mr. speaker. we all understand that. the american people understand that. and we ought not to try to deal with those as something as critically important. that's what the senate decided to do and senator blunt and senator murray decided to do and 68 members of the senate decided to do. now, just for the sake argument that we have a disagreement on the interpretation of what that does, but if we have a disagreement, that means that we're not able to pass that bill. you may disagree with our reasoning, but that's the fact. and that's what the conclusion of the united states senate came to, mr. speaker. so they did a bill they could agree on in a bipartisan way. i tell you, mr. speaker, i will reiterate once again, bring the senate bill.

this is a blunt-murray bill. mr. blunt, the former majority leader and minority whip and majority whip. senator from missouri. republican leader in the senate sent us a bipartisan bill. let's take that bill and whatever other differences we have, let's debate them, mr. speaker. those provisions can be brought to the floor separately and apart without undermining the need to immediately fund the zika public health efforts. i again say to my friend, those two issues -- i might also add perhaps in closing that we ought to be dealing with flint as well, another public health issue that has been pending for over a year. i will yield to my friend.

mr. mccarthy: i thank the gentleman for yielding. the only thing i want to clarify here is you believe in debate and have the opportunity for people to air different sides? mr. hoyer: i do. we are asking mr. king's bill to be brought to the floor, so i do believe in that. mr. mccarthy: if the gentleman would yield, i ask the gentleman to join with me requesting that the democrats in the senate, the filibuster denied the bill to come up for debate. so would you not join me in asking the democrats to stop playing politics with the filibuster and allow the bill to come up? if the bill fails, the bill fails. you were always so go with reading articles and i don't know if i ever read one to you but i would like to. if you will indulge, a little

fact. this is the organization that looks at what we say and tries to put truth to it. this is the headline. democrats stretch impact of planned parenthood inclusion in the zika bill. this is one highlight. the bill also provides -- provided funds that would potentially help clinic and hospitals in nearly every municipality on the island. could we not agree that that is more important than politics? could we not agree that people are being affected every day and that those who are watching this debate shake their head and wonder why we are even having this fight. in june, we passed the bill. since that time, democrats in the senate will not even allow it to be debated. not even allow to be debated to

vote it up or vote it down. one thing americans believe in, fairness. and i don't believe that that's fairness if you deny a bill from coming forward. if you deny the bill from coming forward, you are blocking it. if you want the true definition of what is happening in this zika battle is those on the other side of the aisle in the senate are blocking discussion from even taking place. mr. hoyer: they aren't blocking anything, they passed a bill 68-30. they sent it here. and it was blocked from coming to the floor. and it would have passed. if you believe, as you asked me do i believe, should we consider things, the answer of course is yes. and i said peter king, the former chairman of the homeland security committee has a bill -- two bills that are supported by

over 85% of the american public. bring them to the floor, mr. leader, on the premise that we ought to debate, consider and vote. bring them to the floor. bring mr. king's bills to the floor. bring the senate bill. you know the senate bill has 68 votes. and i will tell you, mr. speaker, i will tell the majority leader that had he brought the senate bill to the floor, we were precluded from voting on the senate bill, mr. speaker. majority leader just said we ought to bring the bill to the floor. isn't it the right thing to do. if it's right for the senate and we can control the house and i was the majority leader and i could decide to bring bills to the floor or not bring them to the floor. the majority leader has that authority. bring the senate bill to the

floor. if, in fact, as the majority leader just said, we ought to have debate, consider it, if it goes down, fine. if it passes, that's the will. if that is a good premise in the senate, it's even a better premise in the house of representatives. and so, mr. speaker, i ask my friend, the majority leader to bring that bill to the floor. let's vote on it. that's what he said his premise was and what we were committed to, and i agree with him. i don't like the filibuster or the 60-vote rule in the senate. the 60-vote rule undermines democracy. if a bill has 50% and the committee reports it out, it ought to come to the floor. i agree with the majority leader on that. -- eed and i had that

discussions on that. if it's good for the senate and it's good for the house. the majority can rule in this house. and if he brings that bill to the floor, it will pass. it will pass on monday. i guarantee the gentleman. and i know we need to conclude -- so in all consideration explaining to me the schedule. but this is serious. and i don't say this lightly. the majority leader and i do work together. let's pass the zika bill and then have arguments on stuff we don't agree on. we do agree on the senate bill, at least at least how it goes. you stripped the confederate flag amendment from the conference report, the milcon bill, because you didn't want your guys to vote on it. that's why it was done. i didn't like that, but it

passed the house. stripped out of the bill. not by the senate, but the house. but that's an aside. that's an aside, because you are right, the majority leader is right, doesn't affect zika. hat affects zika is $1.1 billion. and if the majority leader brings it to the floor, we could pass it on suspension. mr. speaker, i appreciate the majority leader's discussion on this matter. we have some critical issues, mr. speaker, that we need to deal with. funding government, getting zika passed, helping the people in flint, funding opioids. we passed it in a bipartisan way, but we didn't fund it. another health crisis. we need to address these critical matters.

these bills have merit -- these other bills have merit but not a crisis. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. mccarthy: i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet on monday september 12, 2016, when it shall convene at noon for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the chair will receive a message. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed h.r. 3969 the community sed outpatient clinic as the petty officer v.a. clinic.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek reck figs? -- seek recognition? without objection. >> sunday will mark 15 years since the september 11 attacks. each year this anniversary sneaks up on us faster than the year before. it changed who we are individually as a country and prompted grief, fear and anger. the images of the twin towers collapsing are just as tragic today. the scene of smoke rising from the pentagon is seared in our memory. the gaping hole left in a pennsylvania kneeled we will never forget. september 11 brought stories of courage, hope and leadership and tested the resolve of this great nation. from the brave passengers of flight 93 who possibly saved this very building, to the first

responders to ensure the well-being-being and safety of others and the president who stood on collapsed buildings. i remember the first pitch president bush threw at yankee stadium as thousands of fans looked on and he threw a perfect strike. special moment, it was symbolic of america's ability to not only recover from tragedy but re-emerge as a greater country. in god we trust. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlelady from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: today on the steps of the house we sang "god bless america." standing on those steps 15 years ago, the searing memory comes back again. the horrific bloodshed, the

dividing of families, the pain to loved ones. we will never forget. i'm grateful that today we passed s. 2040, justice against sponsors of terrorism act and the reason is that our citizens shouldn't be denied to enter courts and to petition for justice as well as the pain needs to be eased. i thank the first responders. i visited ground zero. i have felt that pain and every year, i think it is important for americans to understand that we must remember. give honor and respect to those fallen and recognize the values of this nation. as this legislation makes its way, i'm committed to working with the administration in ensuring that all is well, but it is important to note today as we sang "god bless america" we honor those families still in

pain by passing s. 2040. god bless america. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from iowa seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. everyone, meet ava who comes from iowa and is turning 11 years old. beautiful daughter of chris and joaney hutchison. she is a warrior and a fighter and battling brain cancer. cancer is not new but something she has fought as a toddler. the battle began for ava again this summer. she has faced the realities and struggles in her fight against cancer that many folks are lucky not to encounter in their lifetime, but ava is strong and brave and inspiration to us all.

she makes us all smile everyone she has met. with her 11th birthday quickly approaching, you may be asking what does she wish for? she wants a birthday card from you, anyone, everyone who would like to send one. folks from across the country and around the world are sending birthday cards for ava. she said i like getting them because people are praying for me and thinking about me every day. let's help make her birthday one to remember. i encourage all who can, everybody, take part in this outpouring of love and support. ava e can send a card to 104 9th street, southeast, altoona, iowa. let's take a moment to send our thoughts and prayers to ava and her family and wish her a happy

birthday. happy birthday, ava. i yield the floor. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. congress needs to stop playing around with people's lives and fully fund the fight against zika now. my home state, florida, at stake is the future of our newborns, our tourism jobs, and the hopes and dreams of folks like an true and christina robro who for the past nine years, they battled the ups and downs of infertility, seeing numerous doctors, spending thousands of dollars on treatments and drugs. ms. frankel: after years disappointment they actually gave up, and then their own miracle.

christina became pregnant. they were elated, they were excited. but now, their joy is tempered by anxiety and trepidation. christina stays confined to her home, scared of that poisonous moss key the that would evastate her baby's brain. mr. speaker, congress needs to do its job now and fully fund zika. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to recognize the remarkable achievements of the kenouac american youth baseball team, the reigning u.s. champions. they ran the united states division of the cal ripken tournament to become the u.s. champions and then finished second in the world, competing against the best young baseball talent from around the world.

their own simien howard was named the m.v.p. of the u.s. side of the tournament while setting a tournament record for hits. with the support of their families and local community, they concluded their season with an impressive 36-5 record while becoming the first team if the pacific northwest to ever reach the championship game. mr. newhouse: this is an an incredible achievement for the state of washington as well as the pacific northwest. i'm proud to represent these young men in congress. i congratulate the players and their coach, brian napaac, and look forward to following their run next season. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from district of columbia seek recognition? without objection the gentlelady s recognized for one minute.

ms. norton: after orlando, the largest mass shooting in our history, democrats focused the congress and the country on the urgent need to expand background checks. many jurisdictions, including the nation's capital, have strong gun safety laws but they are countermanded daily by congressional failure to pass national legislation to keep criminals from bringing guns from neighboring jurisdictions. 81% of the american people support background checks before you purchase a deadly weapon. they want congress to check the recent spike in gun violence nationwide. h.r. 1217, to pass our bipartisan background check

bill, hear the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in recognition of lieutenant robert hess, a resident of lockhaven, pennsylvania and the fifth congressional district. he was chosen by the military chaplain's association to receive its distinguished service award which annually recognizes chaplains in the army, navy, air force and civil patrol. he joined the navy after graduating from lock haven high school in 1990678 he has traveled extensively in the service, including time in spain, france, england, slovenia, germany, greece, and the netherlands. he's currently attached to the

destroyer squadron he spent several years as a civilian pastor. before being recalled to active duty after the terrorist attacks on september 11, 2001, which of course occurred 15 years ago this sunday. as an army dad, i have the deepest respect for our service men and women, including those the sernlt hess who council spiritual needs of the service members. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection the from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. green: mr. speaker, i love my country, and i rise today to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on 9/11. it's been a very painful thing for those of us who love our country, but notwithstanding all of the pain that i and the many

others endure, it's not the same pain as those who have loved ones who made a transition on that date. so today, i rise in honor of those who made the transition, those who went forward when others were running away. i salute those who were willing to stand and secure this country. i salud the police officers irk salud the military, i thank you for your service. and i also want to honor those who lost their lives and i have great sympathy for those who survived. and the family members. and i ask for a moment of silent rayer. i thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back my time, knowing that there are still people willing to go into harm's way to make the ultimate sacrifice for the -- so that we can have a better

quality of life in the freest country in the world. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this year marks the 50th anniversary of the shasta livestock auction which opened in 1966 by ellington pique and his wife betty and family. ellington is well known in california agriculture. he was the first cattleman of the year, and an inductee into the cowboy hall of fame. focuses on the personnelington is, an honest, hard working man who represents the epitome of the american story. around the time he started buying and selling cattle in his

yard, the market experienced many ups and downs. refusing to give up, he took his business on the road, slowing available cattle up on the slide show for purchase. this innovative model was such a success that he had a video auction, starting the western video market, one of the first auctions selling over 25,000 head of cattle. this innovation gave california to a national marketplace. today it's a very viable and strong and thriving enterprise, the shasta livestock auction with the video market. thank you to the piques and also remembering their son they lost a few years ago, andy, and what that means to that family operation and what it mean this is anniversary of the 50th to all of us in northern california. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman

from colorado is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to congratulate the men and women of united launch alliance on another successful space launch on thursday. united launch alliance, or u.l.a. is headquartered in centennial, colorado, and has provide assured access to space since 2006. u.l.a.'s most recent launch osirus rex into space. mr. coffman: the payload will travel to near earth asteroid called banu, map the chemical elements on the asteroid's surface and then return a sample to earth in 2023. 111thaunch marks u.l.a.'s con sective successful space

launch this amazing success record is a testament to the hard work of u.l.a.'s dedicated team of professionals. congratulations on a job well done. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today because this week is national suicide prevention week. studies have shown that roughly 90% of people who committed suicide struggled with mental illness. in july, with enormous bipartisan support, the house passed the helping families in mental health crisis act, to tackle our nation's mental health crisis. in recognition of this week, i believe the senate should immediately take up this very important piece of legislation. mr. dold: sadly,ing mr., veterans who have served our nation are even more at risk. the disturbing reality is that

far too many of our veterans who fought for our freedom are not truly free when they return home. we cannot be bystanders as our nation's heroes struggle with mental illness and suicide. that's why we passed and signed into law the clay hunt s.a.v. or save act which prioritizes mental health care for our veterans. but there is still so much more to be done, to reach out to those who may need our help. together we can and must erase the stigma surrounding suicide and mental health. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rom california rise? without objection the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. it has been two years since the people of flint were able to turn on their faucets and get

clean water and congress has not acted to help the people of flint, and that is a travesty and injustice. the issues since then have gotten even worse. not just for the people of flint but across america. multiple reports indicate that now at least 29 states have issues with lead in the drinking water. we need an investment for infrastructure that's not only going to help people no longer get poisoned but also create new jobs. mr. lue: that's why on the -- mr. lieu: that's why on the house budget committee i proposed a bill to add $3 million to the water fund to help local municipalities upgrade their pipes. there are tech knowledges -- technologies like plastic pipes that don't leach lead. cities should be investing in plastic pipes to deliver lead-free water to our residents. it is my hope that congress acts

on this soon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> the university of southern indiana's college of nursing and health professions received the first ever nexus award for the center for international practice and education in august. the nexus award is a prestigious national honor that recognize thess interprofessional, team-based approaches that connect higher education and health, improve health outcomes and decrease costs. mr. bucshon: i personally toured health programs and met with the college's leadership as recently as last month and i've long supported u.s.i.'s work to help fill delivery gaps, including serving urban populations that

otherwise would not receive services. congratulations to u.s.i.'s dean and the professors and students for this outstanding recognition. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence requested by mr. hastings of florida for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. . for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move that the house do now 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. agreed to. is a accordingly, pursuant to house resolution 842, the house stands adjourned until noon on monday, september 12, 2016, for morning hour

and then i started, because he was the dominant force in atlantic city, i started asking about him and his competitors, including steve wn -- wynn, and people with worked for him and

big gamblers all said to me, donald doesn't know anything about the casino business. >> sunday night 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's "q&a." >> for campaign 2016, c-span continues on the "road to the white house." >> i will be a president for democrats, republicans and independents. >> we're going to win with education. we're going to win with the second amendment. we're going to win. >> ahead, live coverage of the presidential and vice-presidential debates on c-span. the c-span radio app, and c-span.org. monday, september 26 is the first presidential debate. live from hofstra university in new york. then on tuesday, october 4, vice-presidential candidates governor mike pence and senator tim kaine debate at longwood university in farmville, virginia. on sunday, october 9, washington university in st. louis hosts the second presidential debate. leading up to the third and final debate between hillary clinton and donald trump.

taking place at the university of nevada-las vegas on october 19. live coverage of the presidential and vice-presidential debates on c-span. listen live on the free c-span radio app or watch live or any ime on demand at c-span.org. >> earlier today, house speaker paul ryan and house minority leader nancy pelosi delivered remarks on the u.s. capitol steps marking the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. this is about 10 minutes.

good morning. standing here, good morning. re ay, here today, i can't help think of my own children. and all the children born in this country after 9/11. do they fully understand what happened that day? will they ever, can they? they can watch the old footage, they can see the clips of the towers falling. they can hear the great roar as a landmark comes crashing down and with it an era.

can they actually feel it? i've had so many conversations with my own kids about this. about the shock, the terror, the outrage. can they feel the sense of loss and bereavement at losing 3,000 americans in a single morning? i don't think they can. but that makes it our generation's burden. we lived through that terrible day. and we will never forget that terrible day. today, though, we are not here to relive that tragedy. we are here to remember it and to honor its memory. none of us would ever choose to go through that day again but all of us must choose what it is we take away from it. i think of the firefighters.

the people who went rushing into danger when the whole world was running away from it. i remember you couldn't get a flight just driving home. i remember all those flags appearing on overpasses throughout all of this country. as if these flags suddenly appeared to bind up a nation's wounds. these are the stories we can pass on. we can turn our burden of grief to a gift of grace. because our children may not fully understand the horror of it all, but they can admire the heroism. that is how all of them and all of us can mark this anniversary. we can tell the stories. we need to tell the stories. we need to pray for the fallen. and in this small but meaningful way, we can begin to understand

the pain and the promise of this reat nation. ms. pelosi: 15 years ago, we suffered a tragedy we could not have ever imagined and witnessed heroism that we will never forget. every september 11 for the past 15 years, americans have boud their heads to find comfort in faith. even as we are still rocked by disbelief at the tragedy of that day. as we humbly visit the sacred ground of 9/11 this year, we continue to marvel at the heroism of the first responders and the families who turned their grief into action to make america safer. because of them, 9/11 does not belong to fear. it belongs to courage. it belongs to compassion.

it belongs to the first responders and those who rushed into the smoke and up the stairs to the passengers who charged up the aisle, to the men and women who stayed behind in the stricken buildings to help strangers to safety. because of them, out of the ashes of the fallen world trade center, the crushed concrete of the pentagon, and a burning field in pennsylvania, americans rose united. as we salute all of those who died on 9/11, we must also salute those who have lost their lives in the years since. we must remember the ongoing struggles of the thousands of heroes who, years later, are stalked by devastating illnesses from their exposure to ground zero. by some accounts, 10 to 15 cancer diagnoses per week. 15 years later. we must treat all of them and those who will come after as illnesses in our own families.

we must continue to meet our commitment to the health and compensation needs of our heroes and their loved ones. we will remember and our prayers, comfort, and appreciation must exist for as long as our country shall exist. this is the legacy of 9/11 that we must pass down through the generations. the heroism and the resilience that are the soul of our nation. let the memory of our fallen heroes be a blessing to their beloved and to our nation. let their sacrifice continue to deepen our dedication to justice and to freedom. may god bless the fallen men and women of 9/11 and their families, and may god continue to bless the united states of america.

>> let us pray. god of heaven and earth, we give you thanks for giving us another day. chaplain conroy: today we remember a day begun in terror and violence and ended in heroic effort and courage. we mourn those whose lives were snatched from them, give peace and healing to those who mourn the loss of their loved ones still. we thank you again for the almost universal international response to a great american tragedy. all your children of good will could see the horrors of actions by men who would presume to act in your name, causing so much death and destruction. may your spirit of peace and justice continue to fill the hearts of people of all faiths, races, and nations. be present with us this day as

we gather again on our capitol's steps. bless the men and women who serve this great nation in the house of representatives. may they be confident in the knowledge that all americans stand behind them in their common effort to forge legislation that will reflect the resilient greatness of our nation. may all that is done this day and in the many days to come be for your greater honor and glory, amen. speaker ryan: at this time, i'd like to invite everyone to participate in a moment of silence.

speaker ryan: thank you. now i would like to invite everyone to join us in singing "god bless america" with our marine band. god bless america land that i love stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam god bless america y home sweet home god bless america

y home sweet home ♪ [cheers and applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] ♪

♪ >> the u.s. house today aproved legislation by voice vote aimed at letting 9/11 victims bring lawsuits against foreign nationals and possibly saudi arabia for damages from the terrorist attacks 15 years ago. sunday marks the anniversary. the senate approved the bill back in may and it now gos to president obama for his signature. we're going to show you that house debate from earlier today

now. this is about half an hour. onsu mr. speaker, the justice against sponsors of terrorism act has been introduced over successful congresses and twice passed the senate. over the years that this legislation has been considered, i have worked with its sponsors to make the bill's language more precise in order to ensure that any unintended consequences are kept to a minimum. in particular, i have worked to make sure the extension of secondary liability under the anti-terrorism act closely tracks the common-law standard for aiding and abetting liability and limited to state department to foreign terrorist organizations. secondary liability should attach to persons who have actual knowledge that they are directly providing substantial assistance to a designated foreign terrorist organization in connection with the commission of an act of international terrorism.

jasta as revised ensures that aiding and abetting liability is limited in this matter. . international terrorism that causes physical injury on u.s. joil. jasta makes this change because under current law a foreign nation can provide financing and other substantial assistance for a terrorist attack in our country and escape liability so long as the support is provided overseas. for example, under current law, if the intelligence agency of a foreign government handed a terrorist a bag of money in new york city to support an attack on u.s. soil, the country would be libel under the foreign sovereign impugnities acts toward exception right now. however, if we change the fact pattern slightly so that rather

than giving a terrorist money in new york city the money is provided in paris, the foreign state will not be subject to liability in u.s. courts. this is a troubling loophole in our anti-terrorism laws. to say that a terrorist attack occurring in the united states, a tort occurring in the united states, of u.s. citizens, would not allow u.s. citizens access to their own courts for a tort that occurred in their own country. when congress enacted the foreign sovereign immunities act in 1976, it put in place a broad set of exceptions to sovereignty immunity, including an exception for tort claims involving injuries occurring in the united states. however, the courts have not consistently interpreted those exceptions in such a manner that they cover the sponsoring of a terrorist attack on u.s. soil. jasta addresses this inconsistency with a concrete rule that is consistent with

the nine long-standing exceptions to foreign sovereign immunity already provided for under u.s. law. jasta ensures those including foreign governments who sponsor terrorist attacks on u.s. soil are held fully accountable for their actions. we can no longer allow those who injure and kill americans to hide behind legal loopholes denying justice to the victims of terrorism. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york, mr. nadler, is recognized. mr. nadler: thank you, mr. speaker. i would yield as manager of the bill on our side to the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. conyers: thank you. i want to thank my colleague from new york, senior member on the committee, with whom i have worked for many years.

mr. speaker, the september 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the united states was the deadliest foreign attack on american soil in our nation's history. it's impact has been immeasurable as evidenced by the fact that we're still grappling with the cultural and policy implications stemming from the events of that day. and 15 years on, most americans continue to feel its searing emotional impact. particularly as the anniversaryry -- anniversary date approaches this sunday. this is especially true for those who lost loved ones or were injured as a result of this horrific attack. they deserve our deepest sympathy and our help. so it is in this vain that we

consider s. 2040, the justice against sponsors of terrorism act. which, among other things, amends the foreign sovereign immunities act of 1976 to create a new exception to the act's general grant of foreign sovereign immunity. the judiciary committee held a hearing on this bill last july which the bill's supporters presented compelling and sympathetic arguments in favor of ensuring that the 9/11 families have access to a well deserved day in court. at the same time, however, the administration and others raised a number of concerns about the bill's potential impact that we should keep in mind. first, the administration, some allied nations, and others sert that the enactment of

2040-s. 2040 may lead to retaliation by other countries against the united states given the breadth of our interests and the expansive research of our global activities. secondly, they assert that the bill will hamper cooperation from other nations because they may become more reluctant to share sensitive intelligence in light of the greater risk that such information may be revealed in litigation. however, they raise the concern that the bill effectively would allow private litigants rather than the government to determine foreign and national security policy questions like which states are sponsors of terrorism. because of the moral imperative of enacting legislation and the

seriousness of the concerns raised, i remain hopeful that we can continue to work with the administration to resolve these issues so that litigation legislation can be signed into law by the president. i also want to acknowledge representatives peter king and particularly jerrold nadler and senators john cornyn and charles schumer for their tireless leadership and efforts to achieve congressional passage of this measure. there is no doubt as to the passion they bring to advocating for victims of september 11, 2001 attacks. a passion that i and many others share. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, at this time it's my pleasure to both welcome back the gentleman

from texas, mr. poe, and to yield to him a distinguished member of the judiciary committee, three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. poe: i thank the chairman. . speaker, sunday marks 15 years since america was viciously attacked in 2001. . i was driving my jeep to the courthouse in texas where i was a judge. people stopped on the side of the road because they were listening to the radio about how planes were used as a weapon to attack our nation. 3,000 americans and people from other nations were murdered at the hands of evil, malicious terrorists. and our country changed forever that day. the lives of those families especially changed, those families that suffered loved

ones that were killed and injured and are still injured today. meanwhile, we are here debating whether or not these families of the victims deserve their basic right under the constitution of the u.s. to their day in court, the right to sue the perpetrators. i don't think there should be much dissenting on that issue. if any foreign government that can be shown to have supported a terrorist attack on u.s. soil, american victims ought to have the right to sue that country. based on the 28 pages held secret for years, there may be evidence that the country of saudi arabia and their officials may have had some involvement in planning the elements of that attack. i don't know. that's what the courtroom is for. whether this involvement rises to the level to be held accountable at trial is an issue for a jury of americans to decide. it's interesting that saudi

arabia objects to this legislation. me thinks they object too much. we should let a jury decide what the damages, whether there should be any at all. the legislation give the victims' families access to the courts, to the rule of law and we as a people should be more concerned about these victims of terror than we are about diplomatic niceities with other countries. the voices cry out for us to do justice and justice has been waiting too long. 15 years for justice. mr. speaker, justice is what we do in this country and that is what these victims and their families want. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm pleased now to turn to the

gentleman from new york, who has been working on this issue for such a long time, representative nadler, for three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nadler: i rise in strong support of the jasta. i'm proud to be the lead democratic sponsor of this bill along side my friend from new york, mr. king and i appreciate his hard work on this legislation. on sunday, we will observe the 15th anniversary of september 11 and thousands of americans that were murdered in my district as well as the pentagon and in pennsylvania. jasta would ensure that those responsible for aiding and abetting those attacks are held accountable. unfortunately because of certain court decisions misinterpreting the foreign sovereign immunities act, the 9/11 victims and their families have been able to

pursue their claims in court. jasta reinstates what was understood to be the law for 30 years, that foreign states may be brought to justice for aiding and abetting accidents and acts of international terrorism that occur on american soil whether or not the conduct that facilitated the attack occurred in the united states. think of it this way. some courts have held if a foreign government agent hands over a million dollar check to l qaeda in a cafe in new york, that government can be sued in an american court. if the same foreign agent funds the same attack by handing over the same check in a restaurant in geef, his government should be immune from liability. that makes no sense and flies in the face of what was settled law. we must correct these court decisions so anyone who facilitates an attack on our

people can be brought to justice. this legislation does not prejudge the merits but ensures that the 9/11 families or anyone who makes the same situation can plead their case in court. some critics have argued if we pass it, other nations may retaliate by enacting similar laws that may subject citizens to liability. i find this argument unper waist i have. the united states does not depage in international terrorist activity and would not face legal jeopardy if a law like jasta were enacted anywhere else. the sovereign immunities act and its tort exception have been the law for 40 years. in that time, we have not seen the parade of horribles that some critics imagined would happen if this bill were to come law. e cannot allow threats and threaten retaliation to deny

victims of terrorist attacks their day in court. this contains a reasonable provision allowing stay of court proceedings that the president is engaging in good faith negotiations to resolve the claim through diplomatic channels. we may not fear retaliation. united states is a major power and can hold our own. jasta is a narrow bill that has been negotiated over the past six years and passed the senate in may and provide clarity to the court and justice to the victims of 9/11 and deserves swift passage today. i urge my colleagues to vote for this bill and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: i yield three minutes to the chief sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from new york, mr. king. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. king: mr. speaker, this is a great day for america.

let me at the outset commend chairman goodlatte for always keeping his word and a person we can count on to do what needs to be done and always carried everything out. would like to thank the speaker and the majority leader and nancy pelosi. and let me thank dan lungren who was the original lead sponsor of this bill and thank the 9/11 families the fact that they have never ever yielded and always kept this issue on the front burner at a time when too many americans sought to walk the other way. i thank terry and the great work she's done and her husband tom and father-in-law ernie and mother in law. thank her for the job she did and her husband, she is carrying on his name and i thank you for

that. this is essential, it is essential that justice be done and that 9/11 families have the right to bring action in american courts. this is the most basic constitutional right. this is an obligation and an obligation to not allow foreign countries or anyone else to intimidate us. justice must be done and we want to make sure there are no more 9/11s. and they cannot step aside and walk away if something is carried out and make believe is not happening. i'm not prejudging the case. the 9/11 families have the right to resolve this resolved in court. and certainly motivated me. i want to thank all the 9/11 families for the work they have done. it's a bipartisan effort and american effort and can be proud

as we go into the 15th anniversary on the most horrible day. we will not give up the fight and we will win. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: i yield to the gentlelady from new york, mrs. ma lonnie, three minutes. mrs. maloney: i thank the gentleman for yielding and his hard work on this bill and others and chairman demrat and thank you for your good work and bringing it to the floor and my colleagues from new york, congressmen king and nadler. this is an important, important bill. and i rise today, two days before the 15th anniversary of 9/11 to express my strong support for the passage of the justice against sponsors of terrorism act. the attacks of 9/11 were acts of appalling cruelty. they targeted knowingly and specifically innocent americans

who just got up and went to work like every other american and were killed on 9/11. though the hijackers of the planes died that day it is indisputeable that people who conspired with them in the planning, preparation, execution and financing of those horrific acts walked the streets freely in foreign capitals today. in fact, they are protected by a peculiar interpretation of international law that shields them from justice in u.s. courts for terrorist acts on u.s. soil. this bill, a version of which passed the senate unanimously would correct misinterpretations of previous legislation and lower court decisions and empower survivors and families of the victims of international terrorism to seek a measure of justice through our civil court system.

this bill is needed because both the congress and the executive have affirmed that civil litigation against terrorist sponsors including governments can have an important deterrent effect. this bill is also mindful of the concerns some have about its possible effect on soverage immunity. for that reason it is narrowly focused and applies only to attacks committed on u.s. soil that harm u.s. nationals. the attacks of 9/11 were roundly condemned by people and governments around the world. so this bill is needed, not just for the families of those who died in new york and at the pentagon and in pennsylvania, it is needed by people around the world. we know we lost roughly 3,000 people on 9/11, but thousands and thousands more have died since the attacks because of the

diseases that they now have because of being exposed to the toxins down at ground zero. now they are predicting roughly 15 people a day are concerned because cancer is now in their bodies from the exposure. our people are still suffering. 15 years is a long time to wait. this bill is needed. we need justice. i think it's a strong deterrent. i'm proud of the united states congress and the legislative body of this country for standing up and passing this bill. i strongly urge my colleagues to not forget and to support overwhelmingly this bill. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: at this time, it's my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. lance: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support

of the justice against foreign terrorists act sponsored by mr. king of new york. as we approach the 15th anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001, it is appropriate that we in congress are finally authorizing the victims from that terrible day have the right to pursue full justice in our courts of law. i'm a lawyer and i have worked with constitutional and statutory issues. this legislation does not convict any one person or any one nation. but it gives the loved ones of those who died recourse for full justice and compensation. new jersey lost more than 700 residents in the attacks. 81 of them from communities i represent here in congress. i know some of those names and i know all of those communities. they deserve their day in court

and they deserve the assistance of the federal government in being as transparent as possible with the evidence and the intelligence. the truth is the truth and it is time that we all know it. this measure passed the united states senate with unanimous support, yet there are some who believe that the white house may threaten to veto the legislation citing how it may compromise our relationship with certain other nations. this is backward logic. those nations should recognize the fundamental justice in legal remedies against a terrorist network that killed more than 3,000 americans. mr. speaker, i urge a yes vote. i am sure this will pass overwhelmingly, perhaps unanimously in a bipartisan fashion and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: i'm pleased to recognize the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett, for three minutes.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. doggett: thank you. look around the world. in europe, in asia, in the middle east, in africa, wherever you see evidence of radical islam, that extremism can usually betraysed to preachers of hate from saudi arabia. the kingdom has blood on its hands. is it the blood of the victims of 9/11? possibly. 15 of the 19 hijackers were saudis. some saudis were permitted to flee this country without thorough interviews. saudi arabia has long been considered the principal source of funding for al qaeda. senator graham saw a direct line at least between some of the terrorists who carried out the september 11 attacks and the government of saudi arabia. but evaluating all of this evidence, the evidence of both

sides is why we have a judicial system in the first place and for our government to obstruct the 9/11 victims, their families from seeking the truth about saudi arabia and its involvement is just flat wrong. . some in our government have tried to hide as much as they could as loping as they could. ignoring saudi treachery, we had a president who literally held hands with the crown prince while attacking another country in the biggest foreign policy disaster in our nation's history that continues to plague us. the muslims that i know that are my neighbors in texas, and those with whom i meet here in washington, do not deserve blanket blame for themselves or for islam. but neither should there be blanket immunity for those who may have committed wrong. i salute the bipartisan sponsors of this legislation.

give these 9/11 families their day in court. and accord the saudis all of the rights in that judicial proceeding they so regularly deny their own citizens. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, at this time it's my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. donovan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. speaker, to begin i'd like to acknowledge and thank speaker ryan, chairman goodlatte, and chairman upton. i have been a member of this distinguished institution for only 16 months, and in that time they have done right by the heroes i represent in congress. i thank them and thousands of heroes and their families from my district thank them as well. my good friend, the gentleman from new york, mr. king, has

been a fierce advocate for all 9/11 heroes and their families for the last 15 years. and it's an honor to stand by his side. i'd like to read into the record part of a letter written to me last week by lawrie, a widow of firefighter and my good friend joseph from new york city's fire department's rescue 5. it's sunday morning, and the smell of coffee fills the air as they wait to hear the sound of the key in the front door. i know that sound of that key will be followed by the words, i'm home. and my heart is excited. no longer do i hear the sound of that key in the door object sunday morning. no longer do i hear the simple words, i'm home. sovereign immunity should not be allowed as a shield of protection for persons or nations that fund terrorists

and cause mass murder. jassta must be passed to send a strong message to all nations, if you fund terrorism, there will be accountability. mr. speaker, this bill is about giving victims of terror attacks on united states soil their day in court and the chance to hold everybody accountable, including foreign governments, that may have been involved. 9/11 devastated families in my district and for me their priorities are my priorities. i support this bill and ask my colleagues to join me in voting for passage. as my good friend from new jersey, mr. lance, said, the president has threatened to veto this bill. but for those americans who have earned the right for justice, i hope he has the conviction and courage to sign jassta into law. i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i'm

pleased now to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. israel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. i thank my friend. i thank the distinguished ranking member. mr. speaker, i rise in support of the justice against sponsors of terrorism act. mr. speaker, 15 years ago my congressional district lost 200 men and women. families named downy and murphy and so many other families. in the years since those who responded to that act of terror have been getting sicker and sicker and sicker. they all deserve justice, mr. speaker. you get justice on the battlefield. you can get justice in the courtroom. this bill ensures that they have the right to justice in the courtroom. for that simple and very profound reason, i support this bill.

i was pleased to co-sponsor the bill with my friend from new york, mr. king, and i urge the president not to veto this bill. i thank my friend from michigan, yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, at this time it's my pleasure to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. smith. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank chairman goodlatte for his extraordinary work on this legislation. mr. conyers, of course peter king who has been absolutely tenacious picking up the good work that dan lungren, a former member of the committee and attorney general of california had done on this legislation previously. this is a bipartisan piece of legislation and it has to be signed by the president. i certainly hope that the president will sign it into law. this bill holds the promise of some measure of justice for the victims of al qaeda's horrific terrorist attack on the united states 15 years ago this sunday.

time has not diminished the suffering of those who have lost will haved ones on that day -- loved ones on that day, nor has it brought accountability or closure. this bill aims to change that to some degree by overturning the legal challenges that they have -- that have stood between the victims and the justice they rightly seek from foreign governments and individuals suspected of financing the 9/11 attacks. i worked extensively with the 9/11 survivors, family members, worked with the jersey girls as they became known who pushed so hard for the 9/11 commission in a was chaired by my governor, former governor, tom cane, that did joeman's work to get to the bottom of what happened and what we might do to mitigate a crisis going forward. unfortunately there still are gaps and this is one of those gaping holes that needs to be closed. here today are some of those family members, many of them widows, cassie, who works on my

staff, who lost her son. mindy, monica, carol are here in the chamber and have pushed so hard for this legislation. not here but here in spirit kristen, patty, sheila, mary and frank, also with us. they lost their son brad. these are people who said, never again needs to mean never again so no other american would suffer what they have endured at the loss of their loved ones. this is why this legislation is another measure -- major step forward. you look at the foreign sovereign immunities act, and the impediments it has placed. some of my colleagues have said earlier, we just want in court to be able to get at the truth. who was part of the facilitating, financing of the 9/11 murderers, the terrorist that is killed some 3,000 people? 50 of whom, more than 50, who lived in my congressional district. this bill also would amend the

anti-terrorism act of 1987. the bill opens -- will open foreign officials to accountability to so-called secondary liability such as aiding and abetting or conspiring with terrorist perpetrators, and these are very commonsense and modest changes to the law that will hopefully get us closer to justice for those who have suffered so much. it's great bill. again chairman goodlatte, thank you, and pete king. pete has been absolutely tenacious and our leadership has heeded those calls, are supportive. i want to thank him for ensuring it came up today prior to the 15th anniversary of that infamous event. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. appreciate the bipartisanship of this bill and he emotional but clear

discussion that has gone on in support of it. and because of the importance of enacting legislation of this importance and the recognition of the concerns raised, i know that we can continue to work with the administration to resolve these issues so that this measure can be signed into law by the president of the united states. i thank everyone who has participated and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. goodlatte: i want to say first of all thank you very

much to the ranking member of the committee, the gentleman from michigan, mr. conyers, for working with us on this legislation. i want to congratulate the chief sponsors of the legislation, particularly congressman king who has, as many have said here, been tenacious in pursuing justice. and i urge all of my colleagues to support t [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] a number of members of congress reacting to that vote today in the house. two members of the senate. this one -- this tweet coming from craig cap lane, our capitol hill producer at

c-span. harvey: meanwhile, chuck schumer also taking -- putting out a statement, that is. that our producer tweeted out about.

host: that part of a statement from senator chuck schumer. the house passing that bill related to 9/11 lawsuits today on a voice vote. speaking of 9/11, the 15th anniversary coming up this sunday. and c-span will have live coverage of a number of the remembrances, beginning with our coverage on "washington journal." we'll break away from there at 8:30 eastern time sunday to go to the white house for a moment of silence. host: that's all sunday

morning, september 11, the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. our coverage here on c-span. in other news, house republicans went behind closed doors today to talk about zika and our craig caplan was in the basement of the u.s. capitol this morning waiting outside a meeting of republicans there on what to do about funding for zika virus bill. he tweeted comments by florida congressman mario diaz-balart about a lart. let's take a look at that. >> i think part of the issue is, again, we have to make sure we get the votes. and so discussion today in conference, a lot of different things, including short-term c.r., long-term c.r., etc. we have to have a bit of a consensus in the house. we do know that what is logical, normal, which should be normal and logical and easy, which is to fund the zika battle, which is passed in the

house, is not going to be accepted by the democrats in the senate. so we're going -- because they're gaming, they're playing games. political games. so now we're going to have to figure out how do we breakthrough those political games in order to get zika funded. it shouldn't be this difficult. it's what happens when folks in the senate are playing political games. but we're going to have to figure out a way to do that and i'm confident we will. host: again, that from republicans meeting to decide what to do about zika funding. also today, reaction continues to donald trump's comments about russia and russian president vladimir putin during q&a session with matt lauer the other night. the vice presidential nominee, senator tim kaine of virginia, was in birming hamas, alabama, and betsy kline with cnn posted this reaction from senator kaine. >> you can disagree with the president. but we've got a great system, we ought to be proud of our system. i lived in a military

dictatorship in honduras where people couldn't vote for president. we have a great system in this country and you ought to respect the office and anybody who would suggest that vladimir pute season a better leader than a guy who -- vladimir putin is a better leader than a guy who got bin laden, that turned the economy around from a freefall to a growing economy again, who has made historic advances in lgbt equality and other important areas, anybody who would question that leadership, to me it's just an irrational hostility to president obama, that they are revealing, that has been part of -- sort of part of their thinking from the very first day he was in office. host: senator tim kaine there, the democratic vice presidential nominee. speaking outside the 16th street baptist church in birmingham, alabama, site of the 1963 bombing there that killed several young girls. now on c-span, it's house oversight subcommittee hearing to examine the flooding, recent flooding, in louisiana. and the federal response by

fema. appearing before the panel, louisiana governor john bell edwardses, along with mayors of cities in the baton rouge area that were impacted by the flood. the officials talk about the impact of the flooding on their communities, their need for the slow sistance and response they've received from fema. the nearly three-hour hearing was led by subcommittee chair john mica of florida, who was part of a congressional delegation that traveled to the region. mr. mica: good morning. i'd like to call the subcommittee on transportation and public assets to order. this morning's hearing, which is part of the committee on oversight and government reform of l focus on oversight the federal emergency management agency's response to the baton rouge and louisiana flood disaster. pleased to welcome everyone,

without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. the chair is also very pleased to note the presence of our colleagues from louisiana, congressman graves of the sixth district, and also congressman richmond of the second district. both of whom represent the affected areas. we appreciate, again, your participating in today's hearing and welcome your participation today, along with the witnesses that have been assembled. he order of business will be that, first, i will ask a unanimous consent agreement with our minority that congressman graves and richmond will be able to provide witness

testimony at the beginning of our hearing and then participate in the member questions along with our remaining witnesses later in the hearing. without objection, so ordered. i ask also unanimous consent that congressman graves and richmond be allowed to fully participate in today's hearing and also without objection, so ordered. the balance of the order of business today will be opening statements by myself, the ranking member, ms. duckworth, we'll also leave the record open for additional period of time. i guess we'll go for one week. without objection. other members may submit statements. so with that, i will open with an opening statement. as i said, we'll proceed with the order described. then we'll recognize and swear

in our witnesses and we'll proceed with a hearing in that order and have questions after all of the witnesses have been heard. so with that, again, i welcome everyone to this oversight -- important oversight hearing. be d the opportunity to part of a call from our leadership on our side of the aisle, a little less than two weeks ago and in that conversation we talked about the most important issues facing the congress in the month we'll be in in september prior to the recess. and top on the agenda was dealing with the emergency situation on the federal response in the baton rouge flood disaster area. that issue was brought to the

conference and leadership ttention by congressman graves . that conversation took place on a thursday, on sunday -- well, friday we made plans for know isit the affected area and with the cooperation and direction of chairman chaffetz, went down and personally spent most of sunday and all of monday touring the area, visiting the affected sites, boat on the ground and from the air -- both on the ground and from the air. meeting with local officials to assess where we were. chairman chaffetz has also agreed, because of the emergency nature of the situation we find ourselves in, to have this subcommittee hearing at this point and i think that's very important that we conduct an immediate

and thorough oversight, particularly in a disaster of this magnitude. , we all know, on august 11 016, we had a natural disaster in the baton rouge area of louisiana that brought torrential rains, probably a one in a thousand year storm. that storm and the water which inundated tens of thousands, in fact, we estimate -- right now we have over 143,000 claims. that storm did incredible damage in a very unique manner. the damage estimates are incalculable right now. but i can tell you that more than a quarter of a million people have been displaced from

their home and many people are still in shelters. i think yesterday i got the report of over 800 still in shelters. when i was there a week ago. there were -- when i was there a week ago there were 2,000. this is a unique natural isaster in its implications. again, of its size and scope. it also is unique in that most of the country is not paying ttention to, again, one of the most impactful natural disasters we've had in our country probably since hurricane katrina. we've got some photos too that we brought back, the devastation is sprawling and endless. it's community after community, subdivision after subdivision. you can see people, the contents of their homes in the

streets. the louisiana folks are the finest folks i have ever met in the face of a disaster who have helped neighbors and friends . d family both the contents and the parts of the structure that, again, were damaged are all in the streets. this goes on mile after mile, neighborhood after neighborhood, town after town. about 80% of the homeowners did not have flood insurance because their homes were not cated in a federally identified area that alerted them or considered that those areas would flood, according to the maps produced by the federal government. after meeting with dozens of state officials, business

leaders and federal officials, my investigation and our work down there on that visit discovered some of the response y fema was not acceptable. we unfortunately learned from this disaster on that visit some huge deficits in our federal response. we wept through hurricane katrina and some other .7 sters, we had a $2 billion fiasco with trailers, some of which were found to have formaldehyde. but we spent all that money, time and fema was to be able to ddress a natural disaster, one of this nature, with some housing. when i arrived more than two weeks afterwards, there was one unit, put that photo back up,

there was one modular unit that had been constructed, go back one more. if you look behind the debris, at was the single fema modular unit. 43,000 homes uninhabitable and 2.1 week later that was the only unit. there were 73 units that were not deployed in a field that i visited. i was told another 40 in another field. even though 250 sites had been approved for receiving those units. we also found that many problems with those units because, first, the cost is about $60,000. then it was about $20,000 to transport and erect those structures, so we had one up. not an acceptable response.

fema should have learned from the mistakes of katrina. unfortunately they were not ready for this disaster. they did not have housing. as of friday i was told there were 17 of those units now up. ain, 143,000 homes uninhabitable, more than a quarter of a million people displaced, and we had three weeks later possibly 17 units. i'm told that may be a lower number. but that is not acceptable federal response. a constant theme unfortunately s been fema's nonresponse -- nonresponsiveness and sometimes providing contradictory information. when we visited denham springs, met with the mayor, and we'll hear from him, denham springs, probably 80% of the structures were affected in that town. probably 50% of their business

area was destroyed. probably will never come back. they did not have a disaster recovery center until 19 days after the flood. i met with the mayor and the mayor actually, his contact -- point of contact was on a slip of paper he showed me, finally got a contact almost three weeks after the disaster, in one of the most hard-hit cities in louisiana. that's not an acceptable response from fema. then emergency water, we heard repeated stories of fema water, which is supposed to be located to go in, took days, four to five days, to actually get there. only through the good graces and assistance of neighbors and friends did they have freshwater at some of these sites. we need to determine how many

ftover wasted funds from hurricane sandy that we could reuse and put towards baton rouge. we need to carefully examine all of the things that went wrong with fema and correct them for the future. no community or state should occurred in has federal response to the natural disaster in the baton rouge area. i encourage all those dealing with fema to, when i was there, to make certain that they had taken names, got commitment and writing for everything -- in writing for everything they're going to do, because they've already seen hundreds of people come in from all around the country, making commitments. and these people will soon be gone. and already we've had the confusion of fema giving

certain commitments to individuals and other folks at different levels of fema coming counteropinion. so we're not in a very good situation. we got to do better. both sides of the aisle are committed to help in this situation. let me yield to ms. duckworth and then i want to yield a couple minutes to our chair. ms. duckworth: of course. thank you, mr. chairman. i'd like to thank you for holding this hearing today. it's an important hearing because it's an important opportunity to make sure that the federal government, and in particular fema, is doing everything it can to help the victims of this flood in louisiana. this hearing is also an opportunity to examine how fema's response to a natural disaster has evolved since hurricane sandy in 2012, and how much has improved since the disastrous response to hurricane katrina in 2005. the torrential rains that hit

louisiana over the last few weeks have been described as a one in a thousand-year event. some areas received as much as two feet of water during the rains and river levels rised to record highs -- rose to record highs. in some cases reaching as high as six feet. the home inflict was vast, flood more than 100,000 homes and forcing hundreds of families to flee. fema deserves credit for responding quickly and commend president obama for expediting the major disaster declaration on the very same day that governor edwards requested it. while fema must continue working to improve its emergency preparedness and response efforts, it is important to recognize that in a short space of weeks since the flooding, fema has released over 450 -- $450 million to help individual flood victims, placed 2,717 families in hotels and motels, and deployed 333 manufactured housing units to the region. as governor edwards noted, quote, from the very beginning of this event, fema has been by

our side and, quote, response to have all of our requests. of course government is only one component of a comprehensive response. americans are from all walks of life have stepped forward to help the victims of flooding in louisiana. i know from personal experience that engaging with our communities and helping others fosters a sense of shared sacrifice and at a time when our politics seems more focused on tearing us apart than bringing us together, that shared sacrifice will help us rekindle the national unity that has made us the strongest nation in the world. during painful times of disaster and hardship is when we most need to come together in service to one another. i've been inspired by hundreds of members who deployed to assist with recovery operations. the leaderships of these americans who are devoting time to helping others is why i joined forces with congressman john lewis and my fellow combat vet, seth moulton, to introduced the 21st century american service act, which seek tones sure that all young

americans have the opportunity to serve their country through civilian national service. the efforts of fema corps and to corps disaster teams help is a real world example of how national service can be a force for good in our communities and affect real change in american lives. i look forward to the testimony of our witnesses and thank you, mr. chairman, for holding this hearing today. i yield back. mr. mica: i thank the gentlelady. chairman chaffetz. mr. chaffetz: thank you. chairman mica, i want to thank you for your leadership on this, going down and visiting in louisiana, taking time away from your family and your schedule, for one of the worst disasters that we've had. governor, mayors, thank you so much for being here and for the fema representative. we appreciate you being here too. fema, you have to get your act together. this response so far, what i've been able to see, the pictures, it ain't good enough. aline of scrimmagea cummings

talks about this -- elijah cummings talks about this a lot in our committees. we spend billions of dollars and everyone comes here and testifies and says, it's good, we're ready, and then when it really rains, my state, we get 16 inches of rain, maybe in an entire year. y'all got 30-plus inches in 36 hours, i'm told. you got tens of thousands of people whose every bit of what they have in their homes is sitting out in their front yard, they can't even touch the toys that they have. and you've got a dozens of this and a dozens of that. it doesn't cut it. i hope we're having a candid discussion as possible, but the response we've seen thus far is not acceptable. and we will keep dragging you up here in front of this committee, because we hear it's all good. then when it happens, it ain't so good. these are real people's lives. this is -- this should not be a partisan issue. it's not a partan issue.

but when you have -- partisan issue. but when you have such catastrophic failure in trying to protect the people who need the help the most and we're closing in on a month later, come on. so we expect some real answers, some real dates, and we are going to watch this every single step of the way. but i tell you what, your first three weeks, fema, not so good. it's not acceptable. so i appreciate you having this hearing. i want to have some real candid talk about what the reality is and how we're going to solve it. thank you. i yield back. mr. mica: in accordance with our unanimous request, i'll recognize mr. graves, the gentleman from louisiana. mr. graves: thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you for hosting this hearing, congresswoman duckworth, you as well. chairman chaffetz. i appreciate you all bringing attention to this issue. are aware of the

statistics. last time i talked to fema, this flood venegas received one half of the national media attention that the south carolina floods received. it's never a good idea i think to compare disasters because they're such personal tragedy -- there's such personal tragedy in them, it is amazing that there has been such a lack of urgency and knowledge and understanding of what's happened. this is a 1,000-year flood event. a 1,000-year flood event. this is something, i'm going to rip a line from mayor shelton, this event could happen in any city. and i understand that folks say, it's not in my state, i don't care. it's not affecting my constituents. it does. because what happens here, the precedent, allowing lackadaisical attitudes, allowing lack of priority, has a profound effect on what happens to our constituents, but when you have a disaster, whether it's an earthquake, an a.f.c. large, a volcano, a flood, a hurricane, no matter what it is, a terrorist attack. it's going to have a profound effect because if you let things slide, if you let folks take a lackadaisical approach here, the going to be the same thing in your state.

i've tried to communicate with other members of congress and compare this disaster. chairman chaffetz talked about the fact that it was 31 inches of rain, comparing it to other places. the national american rainfall,, the average rainfall for this country, is less than that, and we got it in 36 hours. put that in perspective. seven trillion gallons of water. seven trillion. the reality is this. the stafford act is entirely insufficient to response to this disaster. it is entirely insufficient. you can play tens of thousands of times over where people in south louisiana are upside down on their mortgage, their jobs are under water, literally, their cars are flooded out, they've lost their clothes. they have nothing. and we have got to increase the urgency of the response here. this has been an amazing community watching what's happened in south louisiana. everybody at home talks about the cajun navy. we didn't sit around and wait for people to come rescue us.

we got together and rescued our own people. we did it. people trashing their boats, putting their lives on the line, their safety at risk, to go rescue one another. we had the cajun shelter set up where people own o.p.m.ed up their homes, businesses -- opened up their homes, businesses, churches, everything. cajun cooks cooking for tens of thousands of people and the cajun army got together and the cajun army did an amazing job, going through and stripping and gutting tens of thousands of homes in south louisiana. let me be clear. this wasn't because anybody directed them to do it, it wasn't because they were paid to do it. they did it because that's what our community is about. but now we're in this position where the volunteerism, the generosity, the selflessness, it can't get us any further. now we're to the point to where we actually need help. the housing unit progress is absolutely unacceptable. the fact that noah can come -- noaa can come out in two weeks and say this is attributable to climate change, fascinating to me.

i couldn't imagine that scientific calculation. this is attributable to climate change. but they can't tell john dough on whether he's going to get a house -- john d.o.e. on whether or not he's going to get a -- doe on whether or not he's going to get a house or not. it is amazing what can happen when you prioritize things. you have a political agenda, you can make something happen. talking about urgency again, in two weeks, noaa can come out and do complex calculations to determine, this is the result of climate change. yet in 30 years the united states army corps of engineers can't deliver the diversion project that was authorized by this congress in 1986. i don't know how many times we're going to continue to -- the stupidity of spending billions of dollars after a storm instead of millions before making our communities more resilient. it is absolutely absurd and this has a profound impact on the individual lives of many, many folks in south louisiana. the parish that two of these mayors here represent,

livingston parish. initial estimates are that 86% of the homes and 91% of the businesses were flooded. think about that for just a minute. 86% of the homes and 91% of the businesses. it has devastate -- devastated communities. it has absolutely devastated them. it's crippled them. mr. robinson, i appreciate you being here and we've worked together for a long time. again, i really do appreciate you being here. this is projected to be the fourth most costly flood event in united states history. i'm really scratching my head as to why he's not here today. i don't understand that. i don't understand why he's not here. this is a huge event. stafford act, as i said before, we're blowing the side boards off of stafford act. the white house needs to send an emergency supplemental request, including the unmet needs package of cdbg and other things to help address this, to help us recover. we need to have a morrow bust flood protection project -- to

have a more robust flood protection project to help lower the base flood elevation in this region. these things need to happen right now. i'm going to yield back. i just want to, mr. chairman, very quickly, note that we're joined by a number of folks that have been down there in the trenches through this disaster, in addition to the esteemed panel. the governor and the mayors, we have lieutenant governor, we have our commissioner of agriculture, state senator chairman of the homeland security committee, a number of other leaders from the state of louisiana. and folks that have been in the preverages, tire nls their efforts to help recover and looking forward to working with my friend, congressman richmond over there, on a full recovery package. thank you, i yield back. mr. mica: thank you, mr. graves. according to our unanimous consent request, i recognize the gentleman from louisiana, mr. richmond. ms. richardson: thank you, chairman mica, for -- mr. richmond: thank you, mr. chairman, for this. let me thank representative

duckworth who has recently been to louisiana for her commitment to making sure that the people of louisiana recover quickly. let me just thank all -- our governor, our mayors, and the regional administrator robinson for being here today. because what will you do is shed light to what is actually happening on the ground. my district took a hit in this storm. not as much as other congressional districts. but i lived through katrina. and rita. and when we start talk about damage and we start talking about things, the one thing we have to remember, in katrina we lost 1,500 lives. we learned a very valuable lesson. and that was that the fema we had during katrina and rita was a fema that just didn't work, a fema that didn't make any sense. it's gotten a little bit better. but a lot of the rules, and i just want to be clear about this, because i want the mayors

to understand that a lot of the rules that fema are operating under are rules that are set up by this united states congress. and that stafford act, which is just a colossal mess, is our stafford act. and when i got here, and i was elected, i took my memories of katrina and rita and introduced the fema reform act, which has not seen the light of day. because it just has not been a priority. i would hope that both sides can come together, especially after south carolina, west virginia, and all of the other disasters that fema has to respond to, so that we can make things make sense. i think that you have to give the fema administrator the ability to weigh the provisions of the stafford act when there is a different way that could

create substantial savings. it makes no sense to me that we would spend $60,000 to $80,000 to bring in a trailer when that $660,000 to $80,000 could make that -- $60,000 to $80,000 could make that homeowner whole. but we can't because the stafford act says we cannot put any money into permanent housing. that's not a fema problem. that's a congress problem. t me just take a moment to thank the president for his continued communication and his declaration. and many people talk about the fact that we got to 90/20 yesterday in terms of percentage. but the speed in which the disaster declaration was given is attributable to a couple of people. one of which is the governor. who could have chosen to do paperwork and send it in, but

he decided to take our fema representative on a fly-over of central, of denham springs, and all of the areas that were affected. so that when he sent the letter up, the answer came back the same day to give that disaster declaration, which then opened the doors for relief. the problem is, the relief that our citizens want and the relief that they need and the relief that they deserve is tied up in red tape and we have an obligation to come together as republicans and democrats to help ease that red tape. not just -- i just want us to understand what is happening. we talk about the american dream. people work hard their whole lives to invest in a home, which is the best way to transfer wealth to your next generation and leave a legacy. you work very hard, you get that home, you have your piece of the american dream. you put your family photos in there, you put your wedding

gown in there, you put your kids' report cards in the -- and the happy birthday notes and the father's day and mother's day notes, eand and then one day you lose everything you ever had. and you can't replace it. but it's upon government to at least help to replace the bricks and the mortgagers -- mortars, the value that that home carries in terms of the wealth it leaves to the next generation. we can you had -- we should come together to, as a congress, to pass a supplemental. look, the president should send us a supplemental. but the delegation has to be on board. and i'm saying right now that our louisiana delegation should unanimously request from the president a supplemental. that way it's crystal clear that our delegation supports it, the president supports it, and we can help move it through congress. thank you, mr. chairman.

mr. mica: thank you, mr. richmond, and also mr. graves. i can't imagine what the two of you have been through. again, i've never seen anything like it in my 24 years, and i've been to disasters in the dakotas, iowa, of course before in louisiana and florida. i have to comment, you had menged everything these people own, i was with mr. graves and we went into one house that had been gutted and you mentioned the photographs. that was all that was left, water damage photographs on the floor of the gutted house. almost brings you to tears because then you see in the front yard the rest of their possessions. just an unbelievable situation of which the public and the congress doesn't seem like it's really on the radar screen.

i'm pleased this morning to welcome a distinguished panel of witnesses. incidentally we're going to hold the record open for a week, as i said, for other members who would like to submit statements. but we'll turn now to our panel of witnesses and i'll recognize them. let me introduce them. first, welcome, honorable john edwards, governor of the state of louisiana. mr. tony robinson. regional administrator of the federal emergency management agency. the honorable junior shelton, yor of central, louisiana, the honorable gerald landsry, mayor of denham springs. and also the honorable rick ramsey, mayor of walker, louisiana. welcome, all of you. i don't know if you've testified before. we ask you to try to keep your testimony to about five minutes and we, upon request through the chair or a member, will

submit additional data or information into the record. it will be made part of the record. this is an investigations and oversight subcommittee of congress. and we do swear in all of our witnesses. so if you'll please stand to be sworn. raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give to this committee of congress is the whole truth and nothing but the truth? let the record reflect that all of the witnesses answered in the affirmative. with that, again, i welcome all the witnesses and let me ecognize the distinguished governor, john edwards, of louisiana. welcome, sir, you are recognized. i have to pull that up real close so we can hear. mr. edwards: i didn't have the button on, sorry. good morning, chairman mica. thank you very much for the opportunity to be here, ranking

minority member duckworth, members of the subcommittee, appreciate the fact that chairman chaffetz was here and also want to thank congressman richmond and congressman graves. i want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today, to serve as a voice for the incredible people of louisiana who happen to be the most resilient people i know. i'm also proud to be joined today by lieutenant governor nungesser and the agricultural commissioner. i want to thank you, mr. chairman, for take the time to travel to louisiana to witness the devastation firsthand. it really is hard to imagine what the people of louisiana are going through wouth seeing it for yourself -- without see iting it for yourself. we thank you for bringing attention to this disaster. last month an unnamed storm dropped over seven trillion gallons of rain in south louisiana. flooding more than 100,000 homes and claiming 13 lives. roughly 30,000 search and rescues were performed with

11,000 citizens being sheltered at the peak of the flood. there were 19,900 louisiana businesses and 278,500 louisiana workers disrupted by this flood. to put the truly historic nature of this flood into perspective, south louisiana received more rain in 48 hours than the mississippi river discharges into the gulf of mexico in 18 days. it was a once in a thousand-year storm event that left three times as much rain in louisiana as hurricane katrina did 11 years ago. while the storm didn't have a name, every person that it affected does. homes and businesses that had never flooded before were suddenly under water. many families lost everything. not just their homes. they lost priceless possessions that no amount of assistance can ever replace.

the entire communities were uprooted. children were left without schools to return to. and thousands of small businesses, the corner stones of these communities in south louisiana, were destroyed. as of this morning, more than 140,000 households have registered for assistance with fema. our early, and it is still early, estimates show that a minimum of $8.7 billion in losses have been sustained in the state of louisiana in housing and economic impact and that does not include public infrastructure damage. to put a dollar amount on the devastation thus far, the federal government has distributed nearly a half billion dollars in housing assistance to the people in my state whose homes were severely damaged. and the flood waters did not discriminate. neighborhoods of all shapes and sizes were left uninhabitable. the stories -- the story's the same whether you live in the more pop latted baton rouge or -- populated baton rouge or

southwest louisiana where their residents stepped up and built a flood wall on their own. the miles of destruction is hard to imagine and it's heartbreaking to see it, as you travel the streets of south louisiana. we call can debris when it's out on -- we call it debris when it's out on side of the road, but that's people's lives. those are the most precious possessions that they have. as the flood waters rose, i requested federal disaster declaration for the affected parishes. within hours, that initial request was granted by president obama, as to four of those parishes, and within the next 48 hours, 20 louisiana parishes were seeing major federal disaster declarations. at times we were working both response and recovery simultaneously as waters receded in some places, yet caused more flooting in others -- flooding in others. 26 parishes granted in this declaration joined an additional 36 parishes declared

a major disaster for flooding that happened this past march. right now 56 of louisiana's 64 parishes have received the federal disaster declaration for flooding based on both the march and the august events. recovery from a disaster of this magnitude takes time and certainly an abundance of resources and i'm grateful for the help that we've already received from fema and our federal partners and the outpouring of generosity from people across the country. the efforts of local government and these three mayors here certainly have performed extremely well, but also the faith-based community has been outstanding. and the people who have come from all over the country to volunteer to help has truly made a difference. i want to thank the federal government for a quick response. we've received word from the president yesterday that the federal portion of the cost share related to public assistance will be adjusted to

90% of the cost instead of the customary 75%. we certainly appreciate that. from the moment we began monitoring this storm, the federal government has been alongside us as partners. fema representatives were actually at the governor's office of homeland security and emergency protection as the rain started falling. with our emergency preparedness team, to streamline our disaster response coordination with the federal government. i've had the opportunity to meet with administrator in louisiana on three separate occasions since the storm happened. i also have had an opportunity to meet with tony robinson, who is sitting to my left, you're going to hear from him in a minute, and together he and i and a team of folks traveled to just about every parish affected by the flooding, both while we were in the response and as we transitioned into the recovery. so i'm thankful for the quick response that we've received. but i am under no illusion that the response has been perfect. and i, like you, urge fema to

ramp up the delivery and installation of manufactured housing units in louisiana. while the response in terms of receiving manufactured housing units after this storm has been the quickest in terms of any other louisiana flooding disaster, it certainly has not been fast enough for our families who have lost their homes and have no place to go. nearly one month after this flooding began, 662 families have been approved for manufactured housing, however only 48 manufactured housing units are currently in the process of being installed. so i'm asking fema to explore ways in which it can expedite this process, to ensure that those who have been impacted by the flood can transition more quickly into a stable living environment. i recognize that this is not the fema of 11 years ago. but we can always learn how to best serve those in need. we can always improve our response to disasters and we can always striving to make times of disaster easier on the

people who are impacted. flood waters in louisiana touched places that have never flooded before. and are not in flood zone. this has put many of our local communities and homeowners who were in compliance before the flood in the untenable position of not being able to rebuild their own houses, even though the flood maps will not even be changed as a result of this event. 80% of the homeowners whose homes were damaged did not have flood insurance. louisiana has learned from the aftermath of other weather events like superstorm sandy how to effectively mobilize from response to recovery as we work to address the housing needs of individuals and families displaced by the flood. our state has implemented an innovative housing program called shelter at home, and this program enables eligible individuals or families whose homes were damaged to take shelter in their own homes while they rebuild, if those homes can be made safe, habtable and secure with

$15,000 of work. and the people want to go home. the folks of this -- focus of this program is simple. we want them to be able to go back to their homes and communities and while it doesn't make a family whole and it doesn't fully repair a home, it does help the families get a jump-start on their full recovery. we're operating this program in partnership with the federal government and we've had more than 17 rk 500 homeowners -- 17,500 homeowners register for the program in the two weeks since we launched it, indicating a real desire to return home and to a sense of normalcy. it is within this framework that we've praffled to the nation's capital yesterday, seek much-needed assistance for our state's recovery efforts. i'm calling on congress, respectfully requesting congress to support a supplemental appropriation of $2 billion for community development block grant funds to allow for public investments in housing, economic

development and resilience infrastructure. louisiana's housing need is projected to exceed $1.2 billion alone. with an outlook of 3ds billion in economic loss -- $3 billion in economic loss, including $110 billion in losses to the -- million in losses to the farming community and damages that do not include public infrastructure losses. the $2 billion request for cdbg funds is a necessary step to rebuilding louisiana and simply put, we cannot recover without it. i'm also asking congress to clear the $724 million backlog of federal highway administration emergency relief funding, to ensure that our state can effectively manage the rebuilding of infrastructure crippled by the flood. rising flood waters forced the closure of over 200 highways, state-wide, including every single interstate in our state, except for one. there were approximately 30 state roads that were washed out as a result of the flood. and by clearing the emergency relief funding backlog,

louisiana would be able to receive $14 million from the march flood and $25 million from the august flood to help address our most critical infrastructure needs. although this was a 1,000-year flood event, it is imperative that we prevent our state and citizens from more extreme weather events in the future. to that end i join with congressman graves in requesting $125 million in funding for the corps of engineers to fully fund the river diversion project which has been on the books and under way for 20 years. the completion of this project, coupled with the completion of the river basin studsy, will allow our state to rebuild communities in a safer and more resilient manner. i also believe that it's critically important to address the social service needs of louisiana families, particularly children who have suffered through the trauma of this disaster. the ability of our state to provide quality mental health and support services to disaster affected populations is crucial and to that end i'm requesting a supplemental appropriation on $92 million in social services block grant

funding to provide support services to the vulnerable individuals and families affected by this disaster. louisiana will move forward. the resilient spirit of our people will never seize to amaze me, -- cease to amaze me, but we still need help to truly recover. we have a long road ahead of us, to meet the needs of our citizen, our economy and our infrastructure. i look forward to working with congress, with the support of louisiana's congressional delegation, as well as with this administration and the next to ensure that our great state fully recovers from the historic and unprecedented flooding that has turned too many lives upside down. thank you very much, mr. chairman. mr. mica: thank you, governor. we'll go now to mr. tony robinson, the regional administrator for fema. mr. robinson, you're recognized. mr. robinson: good morning, chairman mica, ranking member duckworth, and members of the sununu committee. my name is tony robinson. 'm the fema administrator.

i welcome this opportunity to discuss fema's role in the response and recovery efforts to the flooding disaster that took place in and around the baton rouge, louisiana, area, between august 11 and august 31, 2016. i also welcome this opportunity to publicly commend the state and local elected officials setting -- sitting at the witness table today, as well as local first responders. these are dedicated public servants who are working tirelessly to serve the needs of their neighbors and communities and i appreciate all that they have done and will continue to do. on august 14, governor edwards verbally requested and the president quickly granted a major disaster declaration under the authorities of the stafford act, to provide assistance in three brad brod categories. public assistance, individual assistance and the hazard mitigation grant program. yesterday the president approved the 90% cost share for all public assistance costs for this disaster. the announcement of the cost share adjustment is another step in the administration's ongoing response to the flooding in louisiana. fema's public assistance and individual assistance programs

are made available in areas designated as part of the major disaster declaration or the hazard mitigation program as authorized across the state. during the response and recovery phase of the disaster, fema works to support the state as the state works to support its local governments. for example, if a community identifies a short fall in its capability to support its residents in the wake of a disaster, the community cause upon the state to identify resources to fill that capability gap. if, however, the state determines it does not have the resources to fill the gap as identified by the local officials, the state then turns to fema to draw upon federal resources to fill that gap. even so, fema's moving aggressively to make it is properly positioned to provide federal assistance when a state requested. on august 12, in advance of governor edwards' request for assistance, fema deployed teams to louisiana to coordinate with state and local officials on life-saving and life-sustaining operations. in support of sufficient viferes, fema delivered more than two million leaders of water, $1.3 million meals,

17,700 cots, 12,500 blankets and 2,000 tarps to the state. at the request of state and local officials, fema also deployed a national urban search and rescue task force to supplemental local search and rescue operations. also issued a mission assignment for a national disaster medical assistance team to support the state's medical shelter operation. along with the state, fema's prioritizing housing options for survivors as we continue to work for the state-led housing task force to identify options that meet the unique needs of disaster survivors. there are several options available. as you know, as the governor stated, on august 24, the governor announced the shelter at home program, that with funding support from fema will allow residents who qualify to safely live in their own homes as temporary shelters while they plan and carry out permanent repairs. the stafford act prescribes that individual assistance program provide fundsing to assist survivors with repairs to their homes, for rental assistance or other needs like

cleaning costs. as of september 7, fema's provided more than $584 million of assistance to individuals, of which $494 million was provided in the form of housing assistance to more than 138,000 households. furthermore, fema's activated its transitional housing program to allow eligible disaster survivors to be temporarily housed in participating hotels or motels. . flood insurance helps those from flood events. as of september 7, over 25,700 claims have been filed with the national flood insurance program. speed up the process, they gave money to those in louisiana who sustained damages, providing expedited relief to survivors. when no other solution fits the circumstances, fema may provide for h.u.d. approved manufacturing housing units to provide a