big numbers and coming back into our country. we are very proud of that. we are now going to discuss tax reform and tax cuts. i appreciate everybody being here. [ [indiss iran earn i believe] are president trump: i have a great heart afment people think in terms of children but they are young adults. i have a love -- -- >> we'll take you back to the house floor for a couple of votes bills debated earlier. 2864 by the yeas and nays. the motion son the -- on which

the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 211 a bill to amend the financial stability act of 2010 to modify the term of the independent member of the financial stability oversight council. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill? members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: 2/3 being in the affirmative. and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will come to order. the house will come to order. please, members, take conversations out of the well and out of the aisles. he house will come to order. the house will come to order.

all members, take their seats. lease clear the back aisles. e cannot continue this series. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. all members, crease conversations and clear the aisles.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. please, members, please take a seat and crease conversations. -- keyes conversations. the speaker pro tempore: all members please stop conversations. clear the aisles. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek reckniss? >> i ask tore one minute to speak out of order to address the house. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. > on august 21, the uss john mccain collided with an oil tanker taking the live of 10 of our sailors.

second class kenneth aaron smith, electronics technician first class, charles nathan findly, st. joseph, missouri, interior communications electrician first class, abraham lopez, el paso, texas. nd kevin bushel, maryland, electronics technician second class jacob daniel drake, campbell township, ohio. formation technicians second class, timothy eckels junior. information technicians second class, cory ingraham. doyan. ouis electronics second class,

hoarland of texas and my constituent from illinois, terior technician, logan steven palmer. i never had the chance of meeting officer palmer, his parents and his friends remember him as a committed sailor, a loving son and a brother, the service and sacrifice of these brave men are not lost on this month and will remember the country they dedicated their lives to serve and protect. this is the risk that our service members and families take on for our country for each of us. i ask the house to join me in a moment of silence to honor the sons, brothers, fathers and patriots to their service and nation and pray for their family and friends during this ifficult time.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. five-minute voting will continue. the request is from the gentleman from illinois to success pebbed the rules on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk: union calendar number 210, h.r. 2864, a bill to direct the securities and exchange commission to allow certain issuers to be exempt from registration requirements and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of presentatives.

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 speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 43, the nays are 3. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to take from the speaker's table house concurrent resolution 69 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the concurrent resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 77, house concurrent resolution 69, concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the

capitol grounds for the district of columbia special olympic law enforcement torch run. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the consideration of the con current resolution? without objection, the concurrent resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider s laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. barletta: i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourn today it adjourn to meet at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ruled. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that mr. rush of illinois be removed as co-sponsor of h.r. 1697 as his name was added in error. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair will now entertain

requests for one-minute peeches. he house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? without objection. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. the gentlelady will proceed. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. the tragic announcement made by the trump administration to kill the daca program is heart break, reckless, and wrong.

this decision mean ours country is turning its back on 800,000 young, hardworking immigrants who only know america as their home. each of these dreamers has a compelling story and a desire to pursue their educational and professional opportunities while strengthening our nation. the speaker pro tempore: please remove your conversations from the floor of the house. the gentlelady will proceed. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. that's why i'm proud to have introduced the dream act along with my good friend, congresswoman roybal-allard, to give these young individuals the certainty to plan for a future in our great country, in their great country. for too long, their dreams have been put on hold and they have been living in constant fear. i call on each of my colleague, republicans and democrat, to come together so we can pass a legislative solution that is humane. this is long overdue, mr. speaker.

let's not wait months for a vote. the lives of hundreds of thousands of bright, talented and patriotic young men and women are at stake. let's show now that congress does indeed have a heart. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: thank you. first of all to my colleagues and the american people, thank you so much for the outpouring of love, volunteers, first responders, and so many rescuers that came to hurricane harvey. let me thank my mayor, mayor turner, the county judge, judge emmitt, all the commissioners and councilmembers. let me thank most of all our first responders and all of those who sacrificed their lives, some who died, an officer who died, let me thank the marines, navy, army, and texas national guard.

and let me thank the people who suffer through the and are still suffering thru disaster, the most significant historic natural disaster in the history of the united states. they are needing food and shelter still, they're needing the help of this great congress, they're needing love and prayers. and i am prayerful that we will go together, walking together, and providing the money that these victims need. let me give you a sad story, as i left houston today, announce. s were coming to those in apartments, you are evicted with no place to go. yes, the apartments were destroyed. but there is no place to go. we need a continuing effort to be able to help them wetch need the e.p.a. to inspect the various chemical plants. and we need fema to be staffed more and to be able to address some of the funding needs that we have. debris sun believable. maybe $200 billion plus, but all

i can say is, lives were lost but we're still prayerful. to the salazar family who lost four children in a drowning, my prayers -- prayers are with you. we continue to lift them up and work as americans to make sure they're whole. god bless the people in the southeast where irma might come and i conclude by say, don't let the daca young people d thrown out in this devastating time. they too, need to be emgraced. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, each august i conduct a bus tour of south carolina's second congressional district with my wife, red sox ann, and dedicated staff members if from all offices. mr. wilson: i would like to thank emily for this year's schedule. it was inspiring to me, we

visited 30 locations from small businesses and schools to local chameboferse commerce and large plorse. i theek opportunity to thank employees for their service, employers for creating jobs in all five counties i represent. many of the businesses were multigenerational success stories, such as form tool technology in elgin founded by mike and red sox ann robins, morrow and company, and novatek. the development policies of south carolina were highlighted by kimberly clark corporation's largest manufacturing facility in north america with 2,000 employees. i'm additionally grateful for principal miller of the school, director sandra sigmund of north family community school, and principal kapreski of cardinal newman high school for their emphasis on proactive education

across the district. our final stop was to thank gary david of wboc raide in promoting relief efforts for the recovery of hurricane harvey in houston. god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and he global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. langevin: mr. speaker, the trump administration has embraced disastrous immigration policies. first was the unconstitutional muslin ban rooted in fear rather than fact. then came the obsession with an ineffective and he can pensive border wall. but today we've reached a new low. in our justice system, people are held responsible for their actions. with the announcement of the end of daca, we're throwing aside this principle. instead, we're punishing youth who through the actions of their parents happened to be in the country without authorization.

the average daca recipient was merely 6 when she came to the u.s. but the administration has said she should be deported to a land that she's never called home. daca recipients, students, workers and service members from rhode island and around the nation are our friends, they are our neighbors. we cannot and we must not abandon them. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: 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. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the distinguished career of the u.s. forest service chief, tom tidwell, who has dedicated himself to public service for more than 40 years. tom retired on friday, september 1. over the last four decades, the chief climbed the ranks starting as a firefighter and becoming a district ranger, then forest supervisor before leading more than 30,000 employees of the

u.s. forest service. chief tidwell worked on collaborative approaches to combat wildfires, maintain support for forests and grasslands, and support community-based partnerships to reduce appeals and increase work. since tom was named chief in 2009, the forest service has enhanced treatments to improve and protect the health and strength of our forests and grasslands. because of the chief's vision, we've seen an emphasis on active management, forest products and clean water. under tom's leadership, the agency has made strides in helping the ecosystem remain sustainable while addressing the many challenges threatening america's forest grasslands and rural communities. we are deeply grateful for tom's 40 years of commitment and service. mr. speaker, i thank chief tidwell for his friendship and service and wish him the best in his retirement. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rom illinois seek recognition?

without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, today the president made clear that he refuses to protect dreamers. it is now imperative that congress acts to protect dreamers before daca ends. this issue is personal for me because i too was brought to our country by my parents as a child. the hope for a better life which carried my parents here from oceans away was no different than that of the parents of dreamers and generations of immigrants before. dreamers play a vital role in our economy. mr. krishnamoorthi: and ending daca would cost our country nearly half a trillion dollars over 10 years. but the contributions of dreamers go beyond any single statistic. dreamers have built their live here. started families here. built businesses here. bled in uniform for the only

home they've ever known. i urge speaker ryan and my colleagues from both parties to come together to defend dreamers. and to develop a comprehensive approach to immigration built on american values. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized for one -- without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, my colleagues, today i rise to honor and congratulation delaware county sheriff thomas mills of meredith, new york, on the occasion of his retirement from a 54-year career of service to his nation and local community. a life long resident of delaware county, sheriff mills enlisted in the u.s. marine corps for three years after graduating from franklin high school and he was also deployed to -- he was also deployed during the dominican war in 1965. mr. faso: he attained the rank of corporal before returning to

upstate new york where he dedicated himself to protecting his local community through law enforcement at the state and local levels. he retired on august 28, 2017, after more than 18 years of service as sheriff of delaware county during which time he built the new public safety building and jail, as well as implemented the county-wide 911 system. sheriff mills is a pillar of our delaware county community and i thank him, salute him and his family for their service, sacrifice and never-ending desire to give back to their neighbors. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. mr. payne: mr. speaker, president trump's decision to end the daca program is wrong.

s ay's announcement impact over 22,000 new jerseyans and over 800,000 people across the country. daca are young people. young people who were brought here to this country by no decision of their own. in new jersey most daca recipients are in a group of 18 and 21 years of age. at that age they should be focused on college, developing trades, overall sharpening their skills that will ultimately benefit our nation. unfortunately their future is now at the mercy of congress. this issue transcends party, mr. speaker. our decisions in the next six months will determine the future of hundreds of thousands of young people. we must make the right decision to protect the dreamers. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek

recognition? >> i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize the 75th anniversary of whitney point lake and dam in broom county, new york. a popular tourist destination, whitney point lake welcomes more than 115,000 people annually. ms. tenney: the 4,578-acre lake offers fishing, swimming, trails, play grounds and more than 100 picnic sites. it's an important fixture in our community. it brings more than $3 million annually to our local economy and plays a pivotal role in limiting flooding. unfortunately, as we've seen this year, our region is also subject to devastating floods. while it is impossible to prevent all floods, we can see some mitigation from the effects of flooding due to the whitney point lake and dam this year. since whitney point lake was completed in 1942, the u.s. army corps of engineers' project has

prevented more than 717 million dollars in potential flood damage. for its continued benefits, both to the local and down stream communities, as well as the hundreds of thousands that enjoy its recreational opportunities, it is an honor today to recognize the 75th anniversary of whitney point lake and dam. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in recognition of a pillar of the richmond community. this year richmonders and parishioners celebrate the 150th nniversary of six mount zion baptist church. mr. mceachin: the been a central institution in our community since its founding in 1867 by reverend john jasper. the church was founded in an abandoned confederate horse stable on browns island and since then has been a pillar of our community.

the long history of supporting the community has continued under the leadership of six distinguished leaders, including the current pastor. reverend nelson is a fellow alum of virginia union universe -- university, a member of the board of supervisors, and a long-time friend. six mount zi ombing n has addressed the -- zion has addressed the social issues of the area. mr. speaker, six mount zion continues to assist the community, members with their resources necessary to overcome life's obstacles. i pray that six mount zion church will thrive in our community for another 150 years. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. appropriately and necessarily, we will be addressing the issue of hurricane harvey and its devastating effects on texas, louisiana and our american colleagues down there. mr. lamalfa: but also we have a crisis going on in the west. tens of thousand of acres going up in smoke of our forests, this year just like every year. inability of the forest service to act due to lawsuits, lack of will. the inexcusable. our people are suffering in the west as well. montana, tens of thousand of acres. northern california, many or areas. it ruins the habitat, it ruins the air quality, it ruins the water quality. ruins the people's assets what have they own in their federal land and the forest service. it eliminates jobs. it's harmful to our part of the country. we need to do something about this crisis that happens every year and is happening right now to the people of the west, to the habitat of the west.

to our natural land. mr. speaker, we must take action very soon on this and not continue to ignore. it's hardly even in the news, of what a devastating effect is every year of wildfire in the western states. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rom oregon seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i support my friend from california in urging that this body focus on this crisis in the west. mr. blumenauer: with the outrage that's happened with the daca students, with the tragedy in houston, there's lot of things to occupy our time. but the fire fighting in the west has impacted thousands of people. i have people who are forced to evacuate in my community. we have 24 large fires in montana. 19 in oregon. 17 in california. but what is really outrageous is

that the republican leadership in the house refuses to treat these disasters the same way we would treat the hurricane harvey or hurricane katrina, being able to put disaster funding on the table. we're going to completely exhaust those resources in a matter of days. and then we're going to cannibalize the forest service budget that could be used to strengthen forest protections, put people to work, and avoid problems in the future. that is outrageous. we have bipartisan legislation that would pass if the republican leadership would allow it on the floor of the house. but at a minimum we should not have any disaster relief that doesn't have money for these ragic fires in the west. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition?

without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for ne minute. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, today the trump administration announced that it intends to crush the hopes of 800,000 dreamers and calls them to live in fear each and -- cause them to live in fear each and every day. because that's what ending the daca program will do. despite his many protests and his saying that he has a heart, the president is persecuting young people who have done nothing more than come to this country in their parents' arms. they know no other language. they no-no other country -- they know no other country. ending the daca program is opposed by the leadership of both parties. and by the majorities in both chambers. it is opposed by the clear majority of the american people. but this congress can do

something to fix this. i'm confident if we put the bridge act and the american hope act and american dream act on the floor, if the republican leaders would allow a vote, then it would pass. daca is in our court now. let's have a vote and keep this life line to the american dream alive. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio seek recognition? the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute and i do want to remind members to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president. ms. kaptur: mr. speaker, during world war ii a wise admonition from our military read, loose lips sink ships. in other words, beware of unguarded talk. of late, our world has witnessed

an unprecedented escalation in tension with north korea and its deranged tyrant, including north korea's recent firing of a missile over japan. yet president trump's reaction to the ongoing north korean crisis has been an unguarded yielding of dangerous words of war. his improvised remarks has stunned experts and even his own advisors. instead of thorough diplomatic pressure, president trump has done the opposite. his unpredictable rhetoric lacks strategic thought. it puts american troops stationed in south korea and our regional allies at greater risk. this administration is understaffing the state department, weakening its ability to handle this sort of diplomacy i'm speaking of, and in the president's 2018 budget, the state bpt -- the state

department is really an afterthought with major accounts cut to the bone. thankfully, there are voices of women of luding the thought, and i'd like to include their statement in the record. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to voice my strong opposition to the administration's cruel and inhumane decision to terminate the deferred action for childhood arrivals, daca, program. the president implemented dacay 2012 to ensure thousands of children who have lived in the united states for years and

known no other home other than the united states, that they, too have a place here in america. this program was rooted in the best of our political tradition, intended as a temporary fix until congress chose to take action. in 2013, the senate rose to the challenge and passed a bipartisan reform proposal. however this chamber callously refused to even consider the gang of eight proposal and instead let it die a slow and painful legislative death. ms. clarke: we are now being called upon to resume the fight and must not squander this opportunity. what my colleagues need to understand here and now is that this is not a game. this fate of nearly a million people hangs in the balance. today's cold-hearted decision will impact their health, wellness, families, and earning potential for years come. dreamers are generally beginning the most productive years of their lives. this is not a hypothetical question. it is real. we need to get to work, mr. speaker, and i mean we need to

get to work right away. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: are there further one-minute requests? the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. cummings of maryland for today and the balance of the week, mr. lamb born of colorado for today, mrs. napolitano of california for mr. suozzi of new york for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted. under the speaker's announced poll oy bush policy, the gentleman from california, mr. rohrabacher, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. rohrabacher: thank you, mr. chairman. before i get into a rather elongated discussion of one

fundamental issue i'd like to mention we have just heard severe criticism of our president and let me just note about president trump and his rhetoric, supposedly, making things worse this korea, the rhetoric of our president has not made the situation worse in korea. what made the situation in korea a major threat to our country and to our people and to the world was that during the clinton administration, president clinton pushed through this congress a package of aid for north korea, yes, we gave billions of dollars of aid in the form of energy and other type of issues and things that they needed and we gave them these billions of dollars worth of aid under the agreement that north korea would not be developing their nuclear weapons. at that time, chris cox, a member of the house of representatives at the time and myself fought aggress ily

against that deal and when the north koreans ended up tpwheg recipient of billions of dollars of aid even though they were the most anti-democratic institution, the greatest threat and the greatest, how do you say, tyrants in that part of the world, yes, they knew that they didn't have to worry about the united states of america. that's when they again slowly but surely after receiving billions of dollars from us pushed through by president clinton, that's how they've got ton this point. now, were they exploding weapons and launching -- now they're exploding weapons an launching rocks and they're blaming that on our president who just recently became president and they're blaming it on rhetoric rather than policy? ridiculous. the other thing we've heard about our president again, oh, how heartless he is, how heartless he he is because he's not permitting people, young people who have been designated as dreamers, to stay here in the

united states even though they are in this country illegally and they were brought here illegally. now, what is the impact? one impact will be those young people who are probably wonderful young people, most of them, i'm sure, are wonderful young people. t the bottom line is our interests and our moral obligation must be to the well being of american young people. that includes american young people who are of every race and every religion and every ethnic group. approving of people who come here illegal lil -- illegally will hurt american young people, especially american hispanic young people who they will be then, these dreamers will be competing with their jobs and yes, bidding down the wages of our own young people and our other people who are trying to struggle right now to get by. no, what the president has done is watching out for young

people. the right young people. the americans. and yes, we have had millions of people, in fact, the last few years, we have had over a million people legally immigrate into our country. we have nothing to be ashamed of. nothing to apologize for. we are the most generous when it comes to legal immigration into our society of any country in the world, in fact, at timesing recently, the amount of legal immigration we've been allowing into our country represents more than all the other countries of the world and what they have permitted to legally immigrate into their society. no, we all feel for young people throughout the world. who deserve a better life. but if we permit people to come here as young people and we legalize -- illegally and then legalize their status, every parent in the world will see that decision. -- see that decision. every parent in the world will say, that young person who come

fls guatemala or wherever it is, oh, look, he made it to america , he went in illegally now look, he's going to a junior college, he's had some health problem the american taxpayers have paid for it. why can't i bring my children there? well, they will -- it will dawn on themming millions of people, hundreds of millions perhaps, it'll dawn on them if they get -- if they're going to come to the united states illegally, bring the kids because americans think more of those kids than they do their own kids. so let us -- i applaud the president for what he's done to slow down this betrayal of american young people by allowing people, young people, to come in here illegally and thus expect that they're going to get legal status by wearing us down and appeal tourg emotions. one thing we have to note in closing on this issue. when those young people if they are legalized, that's not the end of the game.

at that point when they're legalized, they have a right to make application so that their parents can have their status legalized. and they can bring in family that they left back in their home countries. now they can applied to have them come in in family reunification. this isn't just about the group of young people who came in, even that would be wrong to legalize the status, otherwise millions of other young people will come here. remember the train loads of young people put on the train headed to the united states? yeah, we can expect more of that why not? if you love your children, you live anywhere else than the united states, you're living a poor life of course you want to bring your kids here. we should not be encouraging that. we should be attacking the president of the united states for standing up for our own young people rather than trying to bring in massive flood of illegal immigrant children into our society and pay for their education and their health care, etc. with with that said, the issue

that i rose -- that i am hoping to discuss in detail tonight is something on a totally different level in terms of issue. this is an issue that, whether you're republican or democrat, you're going -- across the board, lib rl or conservative, there should be a close look at what's happening right now in the house of representatives, a decision will soon be made by the house rules committee, they're meeting tonight and tomorrow, that will have a dramatic and direct impact on the lives of millions of americans. although the issue will have such severe consequences on so many people, members of congress may or may not have had the opportunity and they may not have the opportunity in the future, to vote on the provision that's being discussed tonight.

what i'm talking about, at issue is an amendment submitted to the rules committee, now for those who don't know, the rules committee is a committee here in congress that decides what will come to the floor for a vote, what bills, and what will be included what amendments will be permitted what amendments won't if there will be. and that's their job. and they do a good job of it. but it is important that they do a job that reflects the american people and the interests of the american people. so what we have is an amendment that's been submitted to the rules committee for consideration with this week's appropriations bill. now what i'm talking about is an amendment which prohibits any of the money or resources in the appropriations bill for the department of justice, it prevents that money or the resources that come from the department of justice purchased by that revenue, it says that

that money will not be used, the department of justice can't use that money that's being given to them in the appropriations bill, to supersede a state law when that state has legalized the medical use of marijuana. that's my amendment. that amendment has been around. as many of my colleagues know, this amendment has a long history. the house has considered this issue numerous times since former representative hinchey of new york introduced the first amendment of this measure in 2001. i joined him and supported that provision. eventually i became the lead sponsor in the amendment. giving this amendment when mr. hinchey left. and that year, in 2012, the in the which i had

house failed by a vote of 162- 262. so in 2012, my amendment which would have legalized the medical marijuana, basically, it's saying you can't have the federal government supersede states when they have legalized medical marijuana, it lost 162-262. two years later, i teamed up with representative sam farr, who is also now retired, and saw the amendment pass, the very same amendment, we were able to reach out to our colleagues and say, we do not want any of the money that's being allocated for the department of justice, that money cannot be used to supersede states' rights. that cannot supersede a state that has legalized the medical use of marijuana. the passage of the amendment in

2004 led to the inclusion of this provision in last year's omnibus appropriations, which was signed into law, december 2014. the following year the amendment passed by an even larger margin, let me note that the last time it came for a vote here on the floor, it passed by 242-186. what we're talking about is the people of the united states, over these years, over and over again, have expressed themselves to the federal government. by passing laws in their own states to legalize the medical use of marijuana. and now we have a move to try to prevent those reforms that we put into place in the last six years, that insisted that the federal government respect the state laws that have been changed so that state laws that have given their own people

permission to use medical marijuana for medical purposes, that now we are trying now, what we see is is an effort to try to prevent that from happening. in other words, the status quo for four years has been the federal government will not interfere because the department of justice is not permitted to use its resources to supersede a state that has legalized the medical use of marijuana and the states in these four years over and over and over again have reaffirmed and sometimes put in place brand new law that permit theirs people to use medical marijuana. . changing the status quo here by not adding that amendment that's been in the bill for the last four years, we're changing the status quo in a way that undermines the rights of the states and the people therein to make their policy, a right that we had acknowledged for the last

four years. since it was first enacted into law, the provision has been updated and extended through a series of continuing resolutions. that's the bill that says we will respect state marijuana laws. and omnibus appropriations bills. the last of which was signed into law by president trump on april 5. so on april 5 we signed into -- the omnibus bill, in that bill was the amendment that said the justice department will not use its resources to supersede state law. and sin the first vote in 2014 -- and since the first vote in 2014, the senate appropriations committee has taken up the issue and has adopted this amendment on a bipartisan basis every year for the last few years. as a result this provision -- of this provision, the federal government has been prohibited from arresting or attacking those providing cannabis for

medical purposes in the states that have passed such laws through their state legislature or through a direct vote of their own people. so to date, what are we talking about? we're talking about 46 states have legalized some form of cannabis for medical purposes. yet we see today this republican congress is seriously considering what? superseding those states, 46 states that have actually said, we will determine what's good for our people and our people have voted overwhelmingly to permit medical marijuana to be used by the people of this state. yet we are considering changing the status quo tonight by not permitting the amendment that always gave the rights to the states to make that decision. and with this movement by the states, we have witnessed the emergence of a new and a major

industry in america. billions of dollars now are being invested in the exploding cannabis industry. an industry that's now -- marijuana is being grown to provide clinics which then -- they work on the cannabis itself and they put it into -- they catalog it in terms of strength and in terms of dosage and they work with doctors to make sure that this can be used for helping people. and those involved who are doing this, the ones who are providing the cannabis, the guys who are processing it, the people who are selling it, the people who want to make sure that everything is designated right, the strength and the character of what's being sold, and of course a book keeping system that makes sure everybody knows who's doing what, all those involved in this new industry, billions of dollars worth of industry, are respectable

business men and women. es, they are seeking profit. but these are men and women who are eager to be, yeah, seeking profit and be responsible, transparent and, just like any other member of the business community, they want to do a business efficiently and they want to be held accountable for what they are doing. money should be accounted for, yes. ingredients of products must be verified and labeled. standard business practices ought to be applied and of course taxes and regulations are part of that equation. well, throughout the country this industry is taking the public away from gangsters, away from criminal drug dealers. who is being helped? first let me note on that. if we eliminate this right of the states to basically legalize the medical use of marijuana and

put it in the hands of those people who i have just described, honest business men who are going to be held accountable and held with transparent type of operations, no, they will be replaced by whom? they will be replaced by drug dealers. they will be replaced by the mexican drug cartel. that's who's being helped if we eliminate this provision that s been part of the appropriations bill for the department of justice for the last three years. so, why are we thinking about helping not only just superseding what the people locally have voted for, why are we thinking about that, but worse than that, why are we thinking about transferring those billions of dollars now in this industry directly into the pockets of the drug cartels? that's what the vote is. the vote is not, oh, we're going to stop anybody from using

marijuana. because marijuana is bad. that's not the vote. that's not the result of the vote. the result of the vote will be billions of dollars immediately transferred into the pockets of the drug cartel. that's what will happen. so i implore my colleagues to look closely with this vote. i hope that the rules committee will see the error of its ways and permit a vote on the floor on this issue. if not, i will be calling on my colleagues to join me in opposing the rule that is coming to the floor that prohibits us from voting on this issue. if we vote on the issue, let's all vote on shoot and let the voters hold us accountable for our vote. but don't just let nobody have a vote on it. and hide behind anonymity. no. let's let the people know what side we're on. do we want to have drug cartels

being handed billions of dollars ? that's what this is about. oh, yeah. we can say, well, fewer people will use marijuana. no. i do not believe that for an instant. and especially people who are using it for medical purposes, there won't be fewer of them. those people still need medical marijuana to handle arthritis nd the vets coming back from the gulf. veterans are coming back and they know that this can help them. we are now turning off the supply of medical marijuana to people who can be helped. and then what are we doing? we're giving the money that is being made by honest businessmen now in a transparent way, trying to run something where taxes are paid, and everybody's held accountable, anything they sell is labeled. no, no, all of that is out the window because someone thinks marijuana itself is evil.

children, especially those who are afflicted by seizures, have been treated through the use of c.b.d. oils. that's a derivative of cannabis. and it appears to be effective. senior citizens are both physically and psychologically assisted in dealing with some of the challenges that often come with old age. alzheimer's, arthritis, chronic pain. these are things that our seniors, when they're sitting in old folks homes or wherever, they suffer and we say, no, you can't try marijuana? no, we're not going to let you legally be able to obtain that as something that might help you with your suffering -- howry dick louis is that? all -- how ridiculous is that? all americans who suffer from seases, ranging from crone's disease to cancer, the potential to receive medical benefit from cannabis is clear. and the wounded american soldiers coming home from the

middle east, they have come to our offices, they have been in my office and i'm sure they've been in other people's offices, to explain the positive effect it's of cannabis in dealing with ptsd. in fact, the american legion, an organization chartered in the aftermath of world war i to represent veterans, have adopted a resolution last month urging the federal government to allow v.a. physicianses to discuss and to recommend the -- physicians to discuss and to recommend the use of medical marijuana in accordance with state laws. my goodness, i will just have to say that for us, to turn our back on these seniors, to say that these people who have young children, who had seizures and they couldn't stop them, and to turn our back on those people, to turn our back on our veterans, that's what this vote is all about. this isn't about, oh, well somebody can just go and smoke marijuana and by the way, if an adult is smoking marijuana in

their backyard, yes. i don't think that we should waste police resources and billions of dollars of law enforcement money to try to stop an adult from using marijuana in his backyard. but that's not the issue. shoot is whether states that have legalized the medical use of it should be superseded by us here, by the vote that we're going to have here in the next few days. let me tell you something. i didn't know how the public would respond to the fact that i am one of the leaders in this whole effort to legalize the medical use of can bills. and i was ronald reagan's speech writer and i've been a republican all my life. i have the top score on conservative groups that are giving you a score of how you voted and everything. i have received very high marks in all of those groups. d i have been a conservative

libertarian background. i was ronald reagan's speech writer for 7 1/2 years in the white house. well, i didn't know, i got elected in 1988, last year of reagan's term in the white house . and i sort of slipped into this issue because it's a principled issue to me. the principle is freedom. liberty. justice. and if you're not hurting somebody else, but especially if -- we should let people who are ri them some leeway when it comes to medical uses. well, i knew that i was getting a lot of publicity on this. and one of -- a fellow came into my office to talk to me a totally different issue, about an aerospace issue. and i am one of the senior members of the science committee. and i said, now, this guy represents to me my typical voter, my conservative voter out in california. the conservative voter is a guy who -- this guy had been a commander or a -- this guy had been a commander or a captain in the u.s. navy, a pilot, and he's

now in aerospace and i'm sure he always voted republican. i ask him, i said -- asked him, i said, look, what do you think about the fact that the guys you've been voting for all this time is now the leader in the fight to legalize medical marijuana for the people of this state and this country? and he looked at me and he said, you really don't know me very well. i said, i know you're a former pilot in the navy and you are now an aerospace and -- you're now in aerospace and you're a conservative vote. and he said, yeah, but you do not know that i have three sons, three son, and the day after 9/11, the day after 9/11 they all marched off and joined the military. and then what you don't know also is a few years later two of them came back. but the third one who came back wasn't my son anymore. the third one that came back was on the floor in seizures because he'd been in some kind of an explosion and it rattled his brain and he was on the floor with these seizures and they

wouldn't stop. how would you feel about your child on the floor having seizures that you cannot stop? and now we want to tell these people, we don't care about that, you're not going to get to try medical marijuana. well, this guy said, he tried everything. they took him to the v.a. and it didn't help. after about a year this guy said one of the guys at the v.a. hospital pulled him aside and said, hey, you want to help your son, see me off campus. they saw him at his office off the v.a. hospital, and the guy said, look, your son needs marijuana. here's the prescription. here's how to use it. go do it. and do you know what the guy said to me in my office? he said, my son hasn't had a seizer since that day -- a seizure since that day. you want to know what i think of you being the point man on medical marijuana, i want to give you a big hug is what he

said. i hope my colleagues take this seriously. because there are children on the floor having these seizures. there are veterans waiting there in seizures. there are old folks who have are having arthritis and they can't move their hands or they're out there, they've lost their appetites in these senior citizens homes. yes, there is nothing wrong with us using cannabis to help alleviate their pain. and they've been doing that for three years and now the rules committee may not even permit us to have a vote on it and they will take it out of this bill. they will take it away without people having to vote on it. if you don't think the drug cartels will be enriched, fine. when i lost this vote on a number of occasions before we won three, four years ago, i

lived with it. i lost the vote and i respect those peoples' opinion and they beat me. well, i expect what democracy is supposed tosh all about. that's what it is supposed to be all about. don't take it out of the bill. if they take it out of the justice appropriations bill, i'm asking my colleagues to stand up and vote against a rule that is shielding us from accountability, shielding from having to have basic responsibility for handing billions of dollars over to the drug cartels. there is an opiate, some kind of epidemic, an epidemic. yes, there is. and when people or old people are given opyates by their

doctors, that's what happens. they get addicted to the opiates. if their doctors have no alternative like cannabis to provide their patients with something that might help them, well, then you are going to get what has happened. it is the legalization of medical marijuana that makes it more likely that we will defeat the opiate epidemic and get our people back to where they can control their own lives. overdoses died from an of marijuana. and people really want to help young people and others, not to get adistricted to drugs. and i will say, no one has been overdosed on cannabis, but yes,

there are serious concerns why you don't want young people using cannabis. but to make it illegal and put people in jail for using, for basically leaving the distribution of marijuana in the hands of criminals is far worse than what happens in any of the things that happen when young people, or anybody starts smoking a joint. and let me say, young people, we need to talk to them seriously and tell them we don't think that marijuana should be used for medical services and say we know there are legitimate uses, do not use marijuana until at least 20 years old and making it legal in this bill, well, the

fact is that young people can understand that and that's one of the reasons why we have to have research into cannabis other than leaving these opiates as the easy answer for doctors. in fact, one of the greatest since i believe committed against the american people in the last 100 years has been a really a lack of research into cannabis as a potential health should i say entity, so that we have instead of doing research into cannabis for the last 100 years, research has been suppressed. now there could be some really wonderful things and we are learning about them now. a few years ago, for example, israel, israel had the lead on

this and introduced a major research effort and why does that happen in israel and not here. don't we care about whether those things they discovered their will will help our people. we couldn't do that because people who are living in the 1960's and to them, cannabis, marijuana, means everybody growing their hair long and park indicating in the and becoming hip yeses. and that image is destroying the well-being of millions of americans. we have to get over that image because that is not what medical cannabis is all about. young people under 20 years of

age, i have no problem of outlining it for them or people selling it to them. we need toll protect them because it does impact negatively on kids who are under age 20 years of age. those kids shouldn't be drinking as well. marijuana will hurt the development of their brain and says when they overdrink at an early age has the same type of impact. those trying to protect them from ourselves are well intentioned and they understand these negative impacts. negative impacts of too much sugar or eating the wrong things or not getting any exercise or sitting down in front of your computer or watching tv. but if we go down the road and

we let the government to protect us from ourselves, that what we're saying the government needs to control our lives for us. and no, that's not what our founding fathers were all about and not what this country is all about and yes, there are things that we don't want the young people to be involved with when it comes to cannabis. so true when it comes to many other things and we can't control that if we leave the drug cartels as the major player. the most serious downside has been the financing of these drug cartels nrl mexico. now, with the continued enactment, the vast majority of states have chartered another course rather than what we have before, before our things

passed, the multi-billion industry has been taking shape and taking a huge market shape away from the cartels and the gangs. so that's primary. number one, it's important we make sure that young people, veterans, older people, people ho need this, people who are infirmed and need this help, let's let the states decide whether or not that is going to be a right that people treat themselves with can arla business in those states. that's number one. number two, let's make sure the money that is being spent and organized trying to provide those people with their supply and doing it in a very professional way, how much and what strength they are getting and people held accountable, let's not turn that off and

eliminate that off and send these people to the drug cartels. finally, for me and my conservative colleagues, this has been an issue of federalism and freedom. this has been an issue that goes right back onto the fundamentals. our founding fathers didn't assume that the federal government would come to policing our lives. the states to take the lead when exercising police powers. the 46 states, 46 states have thus far sought a different course when it comes to medical cannabis. and these states should not be powerfulstymied by all federal government dictating what we and the citizens of this country should do in our private

lives. the citizens should be left to make these decisions and regulate they will or not regulate as they see fit. the federalism will decide, the st. amendment, what we have now are situations where we have different armies like the d.e.a. and others who have -- had raids being taken place throughout our country, this was not what our founding fathers had in mind and it has been especially hard, this effort to try to put in jail anybody who tries to use marijuana for anything, what we ve done is, in the black and -- minority communities have less money, they have suffered the most because of their children, a 20-year-old young man gets arrested in the ghetto,

well, he's not going to have a lawyer like that, people who live in the more fluent era. that record will stick with him. we have wasted bill once of dollars of their lives where they could be having better jobs, but hanging this on their back and we wonder why people can't get jobs. there is a lawyer waiting for them at the police station if he is over ever caught with a bagey of marijuana. that is not good to have that young man in the ghetto or --where else or the aflu ent afluent communities. let's go forward with some positive programs, rather than superseding state law rather

han heavy-handed enforcement with people who want to consume, let's have a positive -- let's put our effort into offering a positive alternative. in high school and colleges, and even in grade schools, we can have drug testing, in our military, we could have drug testing but it's not drug testing to put someone in jail. you can't do that legally or force someone to testify against themselves but they say we want to say if you have a drug problem and be given a drug test and if your drug test comes back negative, you talk to a family who has been using that drug. we can do those types of things

instead of obliterating a person's future. that's ridiculous. and we don't need to give the drug cartels all the money in making sure that people in the old folks' home down the street don't get to smoke marijuana to take care of their arthritis, that is ridiculous. we are facing this challenge. this will be a vote this week and i would ask my colleagues, please, let us have the amendment we have had for three years, let the states handle thisish. this is a states' rights issue. thomas jefferson would be for us. but at the same time, if we do not get a vote on this and we don't get a chance to vote on it and thus not being able to be held account able because of

this freedom and federalism we have. if we don't get that vote, i'm asking my republican colleagues and pay attention how people, a vote for the rule, if amendment, the rohrabacher and blumenauer-rork is not approved, this is a vote for the drug cartels and vote for eliminating the law as it is today which is leaving it up to the states and bring it to the enforcement mode. we don't need that. if my amendment is not permitted, i would hope that my colleagues would join me in voting against the rule which sends that bill back to the community, to the rules committee, where they will add it or not but gives us a chance to have a direct vote on it

again if we defeat it the first time. strike a blow for freedom, make sure we reaffirm the idea of federalism, personal responsibility, not government control over our lives. let's strike a blow for liberty. it's not about having power in the hands of the federal government to tell us how to run our lives and centralizing power in washington, d.c.,. join me in voting for my amendment if it is permitted on the floor but if not, vote it against the rule. with that, i yield back the balance of my time.

>> we will hear from attorney general jeff sessions next on c-span. then a reaction from senators richard durbin and lindsey graham on the decision to end daca. after that, u.s. ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley, talks about iran's nuclear program, and later, a conversation about u.s. south korea relations. >> c-span's washington journal, live every day, with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up morning, texas democratic congressman al green discusses hurricane harvey aid. centers for immigration studies mark mccallion talks about the trump administration's decision to overturn daca immigration policy. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal live at 7 a.m. eastern wednesday morning. join the discussion.

>> attorney general jeff sessions announced the trump administration would begin winding down the deferred action for childhood arrivals or duck been -- daca program. he said that accor was an unconstitutional overreach by president obama and the current justice department could not defend it. [indiscernible] >> good morning. i'm here to announce today the program known as daca under the obama administration is being rescinded. the duck a program -- the daca program was implemented in 2012 and essentially provided a legal status for recipients for a wa