the speaker pro tempore: on his vote the yeas are 415.

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 417. the nays are two. 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 unfinished business is the vote on the motion by the gentleman from nebraska, mr. bacon torques it suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5131 as amended on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5131, a bill to improve the effectiveness of federal efforts to identify and address homeland security risk to surface transportation secure against vehicle-based attacks and updablet feasibility assessment of introducing new security technologies and measures, and

for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. members will record their votes by electronic device. -- -- 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 his vote the yeas are 4 -- the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 409. the nays are five. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative shall the rules are suspended. the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the chair lays before the house n enrolled bill.

the clerk: h.r. 1865, an act to amend the communications act of 1934 to clarify that section 230 of such act does in the prohibit the enforcement against providers and users of interactive computer services, of federal, state, and criminal civil lall relating to ex-ual exploitation of children and sex trafficking, and for other urposes. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. members please remove your conversation from the house floor. he house will be in order. the house will be in order. members please remove your conversation from the house floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, pursuant to house resolution 796, i call up bill h.r. 1625 with the senate amendments thereto and i have a motion at the desk. the clerk: the clerk will

report it tootle of the bill, designate the senate amendment and designate the motion. the clerk: h.r. 1625, an act to amend the state department basic authorities act of 1956 to include severe forms of trafficking in persons within the definition of transnational organized crime for purposes of the rewards program of the department of state, and for other purposes. senate amendment, mr. frelinghuysen moves that the house concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 1625 with an amendment consisting of the text of rules committee print 115-66. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 79 , the motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair of the ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. the gentleman from new jersey, mr. frelinghuysen, and the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. lowey, each will control 30 minutes. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. members please remove your

conversation from the house floor. the house will be in order. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i rise today to present house amendment to senate amendment to h.r. 1625, the final appropriations package for fiscal year 2018. this legislation contains full funding for all the 12 annual appropriations bills. it it represents thousands of hours of work and input by members of congress and our great staff. starting one year ago with 12 appropriations bills moving through the committee process last spring. these bills were then considered and passed under the house floor under a transparent and inclusive process. this represents the first time the house has passed all 12 bills before the end of the fiscal year since 2010. after the bipartisan budget deal was enacted last month, appropriations committee leadership, house and senate

leadership, both sides of the aisle, and the white house quickly went to work. negotiating in good faith and best interests of the american people. the bill we're considering today is a product of that hard fought agreement. in total, legislation provides $1.3 trillion in discretionary funding for the farewell government. including 7 .1 billion for the global war on terror, and overseas contingency operations. this meets the caps provided in the recent budget agreement. most importantly, mr. chairman, it includes historic investments in our armed forces, including the largest year-to-year increase in funding for the department of defense since the beginning of the war on terror. it fully funds a $2.4 pay increase for our service men and women. the largest in eight years, and provides the largest dollar total ever for the department of veterans affairs. in addition to strengthening

our national defense, this legislation boosts security here at home. stronger border infrastructure. additional boots on the ground, and better technology and equipment that will close the gaps at our borders. specifically, this includes more than $1.5 billion for physical barriers and associated technology along the southwest border. overall, funding for border security and law enforcement is increased by over 30% above last year. funding is also focused on critical domestic priorities addressing urgent needs that will improve the quality of life for all americans and support economic growth and job creation. especially infrastructure, providing more than $21.2 billion in new funding for transportation infrastructure as well as energy and water infrastructure and technology like broadband and cyber security. this package also targets

approximately $84 billion to that he opioid epidemic is devastating families across the country. the largest investment in addressing this public health issue and emergency to date. funding is also directed toward school safety, providing the training, mental health services, and grants to community that will help prevent the kind of tragedy and heartbreak that occurred recently in florida. for vides robust funding wildlife firefighting prevention program, and includes long sought forest management and fire budgeting reforms that will provide for budget security -- certainty and improve the health of our forests. all these investments are made responsibly, implementing strong oversight at every level of government to ensure we get the most out of every dollar. consequently, mr. speaker, i hope that every member supports this package. before i close i'd like to acknowledge, mr. chairman, the many people who helped bring

this bill to the floor. mrs. lowey, my counterpart, the ranking member, thank you for your support and friendship. to the 12 committee chairs and their ranking members, for the hard work that they did over the last 12 months. the appropriations committee staff, all true professionals. some behind me, some across the floor, some in the galleries for putting in countless hours and sleepless nights to help bring this bill to the floor. within a few weeks of the cap deal. in particular, mr. chairman, i'd like to recognize our staff team led by our very able staff director, nancy foxx. assisting her, maureen, stephen, shannon, jennifer, rachel, ta, tammy, parker, tom, and on the minority side, sholando young

and chris big low. -- bigelow. thanks to our amazing clerks. thanks to our susan, jenny, sue, craig, and doug and others. also i'd like to recognize the work of kevin, surveys an investigations jim, and kathy little. . and i'd also like to recognize those on our staff who are moving or retiring. matt dennis, chris, and kara. and to my own personal staff, back in the rayburn building, ably led by katie. mr. speaker, it's time that we fully fund the federal government for fiscal year 2018, our current continuing resolution expires tomorrow. it's in the best interest of the american people that we get this work done this morning. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from new jersey reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york is ecognized. mrs. lowey: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: the omnibus appropriations act repudiates the abysmal trump budget, investing robustly in critical priorities like child care, transportation-infrastructure, national security, election protections, medical research, opioid abuse prevention, and treatment. veterans' health services and much more. these investments are key to strong families and communities, job creation and economic growth. this bill rejects scores of divisive poison pill riders targeting women's health, clean air and water, worker rights, consumer financial protections, health insurance and other

critical priorities. in addition, i'm pleased the omnibus includes language clarifying that the c.d.c. has the authority to conduct research on the causes of gun violence. within the state and foreign operations division, this omnibus invests in stronger and more stable communities around the world, alleviating poverty and disease and strengthening democratic political systems. these investments in diplomacy and development are critical to our national security. i'm pleased this final product rejects onerous policy riders like the global gag rule. these responsible investments and policies signal to the world that despite an erratic president, the united states remains a world leader. to be clear, this omnibus is not a perfect product. i strongly object to the

majority's fixation on walling off our southern border, and building capacity to arrest and detain immigrants. while the bill rejects the administration's demands for a border wall, a large deportation force, and more detention beds, the amount provided is nonetheless a waste of money and contrary to our national character. before i conclude, i would like to thank chairman frelinghuysen for his partnership, and all the members of the committee for your contributions. i would also like to thank the minority, majority and personal office staffs who worked so very sholanda icularly young and chris bigelow, and richard melser. i also want to thank the committee's minority's outstanding communications director, matt dennis, who is departing the house next month.

he has served this institution for nearly 15 years at the appropriations committee, in my personal office, and in former congressman rush holt's office. and we miss and we will really miss his dedicated service. i want to make sure i thank the minority staff, nancy fox and her team, because there was real cooperation between the majority and the minority. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the chairman of the state foreign operations subcommittee, mr. rogers. from kentucky. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized for three minutes. mr. rogers: i thank the chairman for yielding. and despite his laudable efforts to complete all 18 fiscal -- fiscal era 2018 house bills on time, the perpetual stalemate on

unrelated matters left us with this undesirable choice of several continuing resolutions. piecemeal funding of government is universally harmful. but now we've a chance to get back on track and finalize funding for fiscal 2018. mr. speaker, there's a reason why we have a rule against legislating on appropriations bills. and yet here we are. the only holdback that kept us from getting these bills done on time was the fact that a lot of people, some even in leadership, who wants to load on to this must-pass bill legislation that's controversial. and yet our committee has to cope with an unsatisfactory

arrangement. protecting american interests around the globe through military readiness and diplomacy is not a luxury in this hostile environment. it's a responsibility. this bill provides the necessary resources to fulfill that responsibility. it upholds our commitments to key strategic partners and allies, such as israel, jordan, egypt and ukraine. the bill also will assist other partners to fight terrorism, secure borders, resist aggression, and stabilize communities affected by conflict. we also uphold our long standing commitment as americans to help those displaced by conflict or natural disaster or facing famine. today's bill will also fight back against the scourge of opioid abuse and help reignite

the economy of coal country. like operation unite in my kentucky district, the federal government has taken a holistic approach to tackle the complex opioid problem. the agreement provides historic levels of funding for law enforcement, treatment, prevention, recovery and research. only when these elements all work in concert will we truly be able to turn the tide and save lives. in addition, after struggling under the war on coal, it's time to turn a new page in central appalachia. this bill will give us more tools to strengthen economic development in that region. first, the agreement invests in cutting-edge technologies, to ensure coal remains a significant part of our energy portfolio.

both here at home and abroad. there's also continued support for the abandoned mine lands pilot program, that allows -- would the gentleman yield? mr. frelinghuysen: i yield the gentleman another 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 15 seconds. mr. rogers: this support for the pilot program allows us to clean up abandoned mines. and repurpose them to create jobs. finally i'm proud that this agreement includes legislation that i helped introduce to stop school violence, which aims to curb the epidemic of violence in our schools. this is a significant step forward in our effort to protect our children from senseless tragedy. and, mr. speaker, i urge a vote yes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from ohio, the ranking member of the energy and water subcommittee, ms. kaptur. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. ms. kaptur: i thank the ranking member for yielding me time and

for her incredible work on this bill. and also the chairman of the full committee, congressman frelinghuysen. i rise in support of this bipartisan agreement before us and want to thank, again, chairman frelinghuysen and ranking member lowey, and our able committee staff on both sides for their tireless effort to slog this across the finish line after five false starts. it is utterly ridiculous that nearly halfway into the fiscal year that began last october, 2017, we finally arrived at the brink of completion of our top priority, funding the operations of the government of the united states from the defense department to children's health. republicans control both chambers of congress, as well as the white house. yet the delays and dysfunction have been worse than ever. americans around our country can't extend deadline after deadline after deadline after deadline after deadline in their jobs. we should live up to those same

standards. in my title, the energy and water development bill, we make progress by bringing forward america's backlogged construction projects, which number into the billions of dollars, making many important investments for our nation's infrastructure, including a 13% increase for the army corps of engineers, over 2017, which will allow for more critical waterways project to drive our economy and job creation. an 11% increase to the office of energy efficiency and renewable energy to finally move toward complete energy independence for our country. including through the weatherization program, which has increases, as well as an additional 15%, to invent our energy future through our most advanced energy technology programs, arpa-e. additionally we removed a harmful rider on the waters of the u.s. rule, which along with others would have seriously hindered overall passage. the deal busts through budget caps, set in 2011, by $143 billion, or 13%.

and although i support investment in our military, the balance between defense and our domestic priorities is skewed in the wrong direction. in ohio we're at the encertainty of the opioid epidemic with more than 5,000 drug estimated overdose deaths in the last 12 months alone. we rank second in the nation for deaths per capita. might i ask for an additional 45 seconds? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for one additional minute. ms. kaptur: thank you. although i support the inclusion of a $2.7 billion increase for opioid prevention, treatment and recovery, this funding only nibbles at the edge of the problem. this is a national crisis, it must be reflected in a real plan to meet the crisis, including funding priorities. no matter how many fighters or tanks we have, america will not be strong abroad if vast segments of our own population are dying here at home. more than in traffic accidents, from an major diseases,

drug and opioid overuse. i urge my colleagues to vote yes, despite some of the major provisions that are not in there, that break our hearts. the american people are counting on us to run our nation's ship of state. let's do that today. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from ohio yields back. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 1625, that i may include tabular material on the same. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the chairman of the agricultural subcommittee, mr. aderholt of alabama. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from alabama is recognized for two minutes. mr. aderholt: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, i would also like to echo a few of the comments you've already heard this morning. the appropriations subcommittee has indeed spent many months and countless hours in developing a

bill that really and truly invests in our critical national needs. and that's from defense to rural infrastructure to major health crisis such as opioids. as chairman of the agricultural subcommittee on appropriations, let me add that this division of the bill has solid wins for agriculture, for the food sector, the health care community, and for rural america. members from rural districts with agriculture constituents like i have down in alabama, can be proud of the many accomplishments that are included in this bill. we're restoring funding and greatly adding to the needed infrastructure upgrades. this bill also provides necessary relief for american farmers and ranchers who continue to experience a significant reduction in income over the past few years. this bill today contains a down payment on ensuring that rural america is not left behind. the rural development account in this bill today contains $625 million of commitment to

expanding rural broadband. and an effort to close the rural divide for 23 million americans, that's about 40%, that do not have access to rural broadband. in addition to broadband, the bill invests in water and water waste needs for our rural constituents. the bill provides a total of $3 billion in loan authorizations and $1 billion in grants. and an increase of $500 million over the last year to provide for clean and reliable resources in rural america. in closing, it is my hope that as we move forward in the appropriations process, there's been a lot of -- as has been said here this morning, a lot of concerns of how we move forward with this process and a lot of mats that are have been added to the bill. but it's my hope that we can take a different approach to the bill in the preparing months as we look forward to the new fiscal year. but this is a process that we have today, the simple fact we hanes -- remains that we have to fund the federal government, we have to do it and we have to do it today.

so in closing i ask my colleagues to support this bill as we rebuild america's defenses and provide vital health and safety needs to all americans. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i am very pleased to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from connecticut, the ranking member of labor, h.h.s. subcommittee, ms. delauro. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from connecticut is recognized for three minutes. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, the omnibus funding bill for 2018 makes important investments in health, education, and job programs. it rejects many of the damaging ideological riders that marked earlier efforts in this appropriations process. and in a time when the trump administration is seeking massive cuts in funding, senseless elimination of critical programs, and the fundamental hollowing out of our federal agencies, we

fought. we fought to include critical invest and democratic priorities that boost the class. fundraise health, it's an increase of $3 billion for the national institutes of health research. including an increase of more than 50% to develop a universal flu vaccine. an increase of more than $3 billion for opioids, including funding to support treatment and prevention, prescription drug monitoring programs, behavioral health work force training programs, and so much more. we secured increases for our country's youngest children and their families, including an historic increase of $2.4 billion for childcare. $610 million for head start. in education we include public education formula grants that help students learn and keep them safe, including title 1. students support an academic ed that help students school and special education. we do not

enrichment, after advance the r agenda of taking money from public schools through private school vouchers. and i am thrilled we have helped to make college more affordable by increasing the maximum pell grant and other campus-based financial aid. we achieved an important victory for workers. the deal prohibits employers from pocketing workers' tips. including taking tips to pay managers and supervisors. and workers will have the right to sue, to get back their stolen tips, regardless of whether they are repaid the full minimum wage or not. we held the line, we kept out the poison pill riders that would harm women's access to health care. riders that negatively impact labor's tment of ability to protect workers. this omnibus ignores shortsighted cuts that are proposed that the trump administration and instead increases funding for priorities that touch people's lives. labor's ability to i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from connecticut

yields back her time. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the chairman of the defense subcommittee, miss ranger from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for three minutes. ms. granger: mr. speaker, congress' number one responsibility is to provide for the defense of this nation. and this agreement enables us to it fulfill the most fundamental constitutional duty. this bill reflects the needs of our defense and intelligence experts so they have the resources needed to combat the threats of today and in the future. this bill focused on readiness, modernization, and innovation. while these funds -- without these funds our military can begin to rebuild after 16 years of war. the needs are great. 2.4% pay lude a raise authorized for our troops for our aa preeshation for what they do. for procurement, the bill increases investment in ground

veeblings, aircraft, ships, munitions, and/or equipment. secretary mattis said he never ants our enemies to face a fair fight. this bill ensures our enemies will face a strong and ready u.s. military. it makes investments in vital aircraft, including joint strike fighters, fair fight. chinooks, lakotas, blackhawks, and c-130's. for the navy it funds 14 navy ships, including one carrier replacement, three combat guided missile destroyers, two attack guided m destroyers, two attack submarines, and funding to continue the ohio replacement submarine program. the national guard is critical to our national security, and this agreement provides 60130 aircraft. and funding for the national guard for support of the southwest border. additional funding for army national guard, cyber protection teams, and $1.3 billion for the national guard and reserve equipment account.

our military must be ready for future threats. the department of defense must look five, 10, and 20 years ahead 20 make -- 20 make sure we have the weapons systems we need. that's why this agreement also prioritizes research and development, including next generation space systems and future ballistic missile defense programs. last, after talking with secretary mattis, we included new flexibility for d.o.d. to ensure that funds were able to be spent in the martest way possible while still maintaining -- smartest way possible while still maintaining stringent oversight. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from minnesota, the ranking member of the interior subcommittee, ms. mccollum. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from minnesota is recognized for three minutes. ms. mccollum: i rise today in strong support of the omnibus appropriations act. while this is not the bill i would have written, knob thely

-- nonetheless it's a significant victory for minnesotans and americans. by investing in critical priorities like education, election integrity, housing, infrastructure, public safety, opioid abuse prevention and treatment, veterans health care. this legislation keeps minnesota and our entire country safe, strong, and moving forward. as ranking member of the interior subcommittee, my focus has been on protect iting the virme, upholding our commitments to native americans, and preserving our natural resources and cultural treasures. we added new resources to address the maintenance and backlog at our national parks to support the myth sownian institution, and increase -- smithsonian institution, and support the national endowment for the arts and humanities. we have removed many republican riders that attacked endangered species and jeopardized public health. this bill ensures that the federal government will treat

ldfires as the natural disasters they are. and stop the ridiculous practice of forcing the forest service and department of interior to borrow from other priorities to pay for wildfire suppression. i appreciate the hard work of all my colleagues, especially mr. simpson, no forging this bipartisan compromise. mr. speaker, the omnibus represents a major accomplishment on behalf of the american people. i thank ranking member lowey. i thank chairman frelinghuysen. and chairman calvert and all of our staff both democratic and republican, for their hard work on this legislation. i urge my colleagues in joining me in voting for this bipartisan bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from minnesota yields back the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the chairman of the energy and water subcommittee, mr. simpson of idaho. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from idaho is recognized for two minutes. mr. sim: thank you. i'd like to first thank my ranking member, marsha -- marcy

kaptur, for her input over the year to complete this energy and water appropriation bill. i'd like to acknowledge the work of our senate partners. i rise today in support of the fiscal year 2018 omnibus appropriation bill. it was negotiated in a bipartisan manner, but the end result has a strong emphasis on republican priorities. within the energy and water division, specifically, those priorities include national security and infrastructure. funding for d.o.e.'s nuclear weapons security program is at $14.7 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion above last year and $738 million above the budget request. these funds will ensure the reliability and effectiveness our nuclear weapons stockpile and address a backlog of deferred ain't nance -- maintenance. it makes targeted investments to protect our nation's energy infrastructure against cyber attacks including $18 million above last year's level for research and development activities to strepten the security of our electrical

grid. it increased funding for energy and water resources infrastructure by $1.5 billion fiscal year 2017. that includes an increase of almost $800 million for the army corps of engineers to address pressing needs at our ports and waterways and public safety through storm reduction activities. it provides $1.4 billion, representing 94% of the estimated annual revenues compared to the 2014 target of 74%. the bureau of reclamation is funded at $1.47 billion, including money for water storage projects authorized. $55 million for water conservation, and $66.5 million above the budget request for rural water projects. it provides strong support for basic science research with total funding of $6.26 billion for the department of energy's office of science, an increase of $868 million above last

year. nuclear energy and fossil energy are also increased above last year, and -- with $1 8 million. and 59 million respectively. mr. frelinghuysen: another 15 seconds. mr. some: -- mr. simpson: it will advance the nation's goal of an all or above energy solution. i encourage my colleagues to support this. i would like to thank my colleague, chairman calvert, for his work on the wildfire funding fix. a bill i have been working on since 2013, with congress schrader and i have introduced for the last three years. the interior committee and their staff have done a fantastic job of getting it there. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from california, a senior member of the appropriations committee, ms. lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for three minutes. ms. lee: thank you very much. irst of all let me thank our

ranking member for yielding, but also for your tireless workday and night. to really hip shape this bip -- this bill, to be in this bill, many ways a bipartisan bill. also to all of our ranking members, the input they received from all of us. and our staff. the phenomenal work that they has just been amazing. in spite of the circumstances. i just have to thank them and leader pelosi and -- for all of their very diligent work. has j amazing. almost six months after the deadline for the fiscal year 18 appropriations bill, this 2,232-page omnibus was released late last night. now less than 24 hours later we're about to vote on a bill that really no one has had time to read.

i don't it know who in this body has read this bill. we would have had to read 100 pages per hour, per hour to get through this bill. ybody here read -- 100 pages per hour? what kind of informed decisions are we making with this last-minute rush for a vote? this is no way, mr. speaker, to run a government. however, yes, this omnibus has some really good provisions in it. it eliminates hundreds of poison riders ranging from efforts to defund planned parenthood to dismantling of critical labor and consumer protections. thank you very much for that. many good provisions include a new competitive grant which we have been working on for years for computer science funding. girls and people of

color. we include increases in job training, education girls and p color. and famine leaf, as well as historically black colleges and universities. my state -- is the highest state with students coming to hbcu's. thank you again for those increases. even with these increases, mr. speaker, the omnibus bill still falls so far short of what we need to just return to the funding levels before the sequester eight years ago. adjusted for inflation, we're still way below, by below the 2010 levels for domestic spending. and what's worse, while underfunding our needs here at home, this bill includes an increase in $80 billion in defense. this includes the overseas contingency fund which really is a slush fund for the pentagon to fund these wars off budget. we know that the pentagon doesn't need this excessive funding and this increase funding to ensure our national security.

a "washington post" report in 16 exposed the fact that the pentagon is spending and has spent $125 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse. may i have another minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. lee: thank you. the pentagon report, $125 billion in waste, fraud and abuse. yet we're increasing this by $80 billion. not to mention much of this funding is dedicated to continuing the endless wars that we're waging around the world. wars that i might add that congress still has not debated or voted on or authorized. put simply, the defense spending this year will be the single largest increase for the pentagon since the beginning of the bush so-called war on terror. what's worse, this bill also fails to protect our young dreamers who are still stuck in

limbo. daca recipients are american in every way except on paper. when are we going to vote to protect our young people, mr. speaker? it's time to put politics aside and pass a clean dream act immediately. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. and thank you so much for your hard work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to mr. culberson of texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. culberson: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in strong support of this critical appropriations bill, to ensure that our military has the resources they need to protect us abroad, and that our law enforcement agencies have the resources they need to protect us here at home. this legislation makes sure that the u.s. attorneys, the drmenterment -- d.e.a., the a.t.f., the marshall service and the a.t.i. are getting the money they need to make our communities safer, by prosecuting more gun and immigration criminals, human traffickers, dealers in opioids and other dangerous drugs,

international criminal organizations, and gangs. this bill will make this nation safer and help secure our borders. this bill will also provide funds for over 100 additional immigration judge teams to speed up the removal of people who are in the country illegally. the bill provides new resources for state and local law enforcement, mr. chairman. including a $300 million increase in grants to help address the terrible opioid epidemic in this country, and increases to help protect women against violence. to help protect our schools and ensure the safety of our children. to help relieve the backlog of sexual assault kits and help fight human trafficking. and to help compensate states for housing illegal aliens in their prisons and jails. the american space program is the best on earth and this legislation ensures that it will continue to be the best on earth. with funding for our human and planetary space program.

have in fact -- we have, in fact, it's reported this gives a major boost to science across the board. the science foundation has a $300 million increase for research grants. these funds will foster innovation and u.s. economic competitiveness. including funding for research on advanced manufacturing, physics, mathematics, cybersecurity and neuro science. merle -- neuroscience. mr. chairman, this bill deserves the support of all members and i urge a yes vote and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. cuellar. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. mr. cuellar: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlewoman for yielding. and i want to thank the ranking member, ms. lowy, for her leadership, along with -- mrs. lowey, for her leadership, along with chairman frelinghuysen, for many months of working together

in a bipartisan way. i certainly want to thank both of them for their hard work that they've done. he want to thank the appropriators, the democrats and republicans, working together. and certainly i want to thank the committee staff on both sides that have worked so hard to make sure we get this bill together. i know this is not a perfect bill. but, again, we got together, we negotiated, and this is the bill that we got under the system, working together. this bill, first of all, funds our military and our veterans' needs. this bill provides over $21.2 billion of infrastructure projects across the nation. this bill addresses the opioid epidemic, and also funds -- puts increases for the national drug control policy and other programs to make sure that we fight the drug issues that we have. it adds extra money for the cops program, which is important for our men in blue, men and women in blue. it adds 100 new immigration

judges to address the issue of the backlog for the immigration cases that we have. it adds 10% of new moneys for the community block grants, which is again very important to all communities, urban and rural areas. it starts to address the issue of school safety and gun violence by providing the funds to -- to provide funds for safety programs. and it also includes the fix nix act program, which is something -- nics act program, which is something that my friend and senator john cornyn worked on for a long time. it also provides $1.6 billion for community health centers, to provide health care. it also provides money for the pell grants to make sure that people are able to go to college. and i want to thank my good friend, tom cole and rosa delauro, for putting those dollars in for the pell grants. it also provides technology for border security and for ports of entry. and, again, we want to make sure

we provide a balanced approach for border security. members, i know this bill is not perfect. and if we're waiting for perfection, we're never going to get there. but again, we were able to sit down, we were able to negotiate and we were able to get a good bill that provides a lot of the basic services that we have. as members of congress, we have a responsibility and that responsibility is to make sure that our government stays open. i've always said that terrorists are not able to close down our government, but somehow congress finds a way to close our government. we're not going to do that. and i urge members to support this appropriations bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back his time. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the chairman of the homeland subcommittee, judge john carter from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. carter: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in support of this legislation, the

homeland security provision of this bill contains $47.7 billion to fund the department of homeland security. this bill provides strong funding to help americans recover from -- when disaster hits. ensures the security of our air, land and sea borders. and protects our local communities from outside threats. this bill provides more than 90 miles of barrier fencing, to include 33 miles of new fencing in the rio grande valley. it includes $284 million for inspection equipment to combat drug trafficking, to include $71 million to specifically target opioid detection. it contains i.c.e. detention activities and provides additional funding to hire more agents. it funds the vessels and aircraft our coast guard needs to protect our coast line. and fully funds the activities to combat cyberattacks. mr. speaker, this last year has been a tough year for texas. we suffered from our most

ruthless hurricane season. i saw the devastation firsthand. this bill will go a long way to help those folks in their homes. this bill includes $7.9 billion for fema, to continue to respond to this and future disasters. and $249 million of grants to prevent future storms from causing damage like this again. i'd like to thank very much my colleague, ms. roybal-allard, she's ranking member on our committee, and she's a dream to work with. and we are great partners in this process. i'd also like to thank the majority and minority staffs for the hard work on the bill. mr. speaker, as i conclude, i would like to take a moment to say farewell and thanks to a member of our homeland team. crist ferre is leaving our -- christopher is leaving our committee. he spent 27 years -- 27 of those years in our great army as a helicopter pilot and leaderest. brought his military background

to our homeland team and we benefited from his experience and sharp mind for the past three years. now we wish him well in his next adventure. i'd also like to take one minute to thank the f.b.i. and the a.t.f. for the great work they've done in the central texas area, for the person that we call the austin bomber. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the chairman of the interior subcommittee, mr. calvert from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for three minutes. mr. calvert: mr. speaker, i rise today in strong support of the 2018 consolidated appropriations act. this agreement continues the subcommittee's critical work, addressing wildland fire, domestic energy production, the needs of our national parks. it makes significant investments in health care, law enforcement,

educational programs, honoring our long standing commitments to american indians and alaska natives. the agreement includes a package of significant forest management and fire budgeting reforms, that will provide budget certainty for forest service programs and activities. reduce litigation and, most importantly, improve the health of our national forests. this is a consumelation of years' long effort to approving the way we budget for wildland fire and the way our national forests are managed. i want to congratulate mike simpson for his leadership on the issue. this agreement provides additional moneys to the national park service, including increase of $185 million to address the deferred maintenance and construction needs. payment in lieu of taxes is fully funded. and this legislation makes sizable investments in water infrastructure, providing $2.9 billion to the clean water and drinking water state revolving loan fund, as well as $63 million for programs which will finance over $6 billion in infrastructure programs.

before i close, i want to thank our ranking member, betty mccollum of minnesota, she's been a partner and friend as we work thrude our hearings, wrote the bill and moved it through the legislative prosefments i want to thank chairman frelinghuysen for his support of the interior subcommittee's leadership, of the committee, congratulations to you, mr. chairman, for bringing this bill and this process to a successful conclusion. and finally i would like to thank the staff who have worked so hard on this bill. kristen, y, jackie, dave, on my own staff, ian, rebecca, trisha and dave in my office. i also want to thank the leadership staff, especially kyle weaver, and the speaker's office, for their hard work. i certainly urge an aye vote and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield four minutes to the gentleman from

maryland, the distinguished democratic whip, mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for four minutes. mr. hoyer: not a single person has read this bill. it was filed at 8:00 last night. if we had put this on the floor, not a single one of you on that side of the aisle would vote for it. not one. you have demagogued for years about reading the bills. this doesn't come close to your three-day layover rule. not close. it is being rushed through because some have fundraisers perhaps this weekend. or have flights or codels they want to go on.

and because we have wasted six months passing the appropriation bills. which were supposedly -- should be passed by september 30 of last year. no one can be proud of this process. the speaker said, when we set the caps, that he would bring a bill to the floor. he promised the 73 of us that made it possible to set these caps. because you didn't have the votes on your side. he promised that weibring to this floor a -- he would bring to this floor a fix for the dreamers who are at risk of being kicked out of the country of the i know there's a case -- country.

i know there's a case. but it's short term. not permanent. but the speaker did not keep that promise. it has not been on the floor. what we now have on the floor is an appropriation bill. i think most of us know what's n this appropriation bill. these are earmarks. you don't call them earmarks. you call them authorizing language. they're bills that nobody in the appropriations committee has read. and if you have, stand up and orrect me. as i say, nobody's read that either.

this is report language. come to the well if you've read this language. none of you none of you would support this process if we had offered it. the good news is that what the appropriations committee has done is quality work. i congratulate mrs. lowey and mr. frelinghuysen and the subcommittee chairs and the ranking members. it is worthy of support. but i am waiting for all the tea party people who haranged me and others on my side about reading the bills. giving us sufficient time to consider them. the speaker of the house said when he became speaker, we will

take issues one at a time. is there no shame? is there no realization of the hypocrisy that is being displayed? mr. speaker, the product is a good one. i say that about the appropriations bill. i have no idea all the report language says and i certainly don't have -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one additional minute. mr. hoyer: i thank the speaker and i thank mrs. lowey. we brought this country from the brink of depression to a growing, robust economy. with a stock market that's almost triple. by passing the national recovery

and reinvestment act. not a single republican voted for that, mr. speaker. not one. i wonder how many will vote for this bill after they've said time after time after time, read the bill. have three days, actually your three-day rule is a 24 hour and two second rule. the last seconds of the fist day, 24 hours of the second day and the first second of the third day. you put everybody in a quandary because this is a good product the appropriations committee has delivered, it does good things for our country in terms of national security and in terms of domestic investment. what a sad state of affair, how dysfunctional this body has become, how marginalized has the appropriation committees on which i was so proud to serve has become, rushing it through

in a matter of minutes. it's a sad day, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to mr. cole of oklahoma. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cole: thank you, i have a formal statement i want to submit for the record. i want to begin by praising chairman frelinghuysen, ranking member nita lowey, the staff prk my fwoshting counterpart and ranking member ms. delauro. it's a collaborative effort, one you can extraordinarily proud of in terms of having gotten our bills done on time and present aid cross this floor, having worked on a pretty short time frame when the senate finally came to the ability to negotiate, we were waiting about 180 days for that. they finally got there and in

four weeks got the work done. it's an exceptional product. from a republican standpoint the big win is defense. we all want to defend the country. that was probably the top republican priority in the bill. we more than met our obligation in that respect. i want to focus in the little time i have left on some things i'm particularly proud of in the labor, helicopter, and human services and education portion of this legislation. $3 billion increase in the national institute of health. that's the largest increase in 20 years. $3 billion for opioids, a common problem in all our districts, something we all care about. $3 billion roughly in round numbers for early childhood education and early childhood care. again, dollars well spent. major increase in mental health funding beginning to match appropriations with some of the authorization done in the 1st century cures, one of the great achievements of the last

congress. tremendous increase in money for school safety grants from $400 million to $1.1 billion. the pell increase which has been referred to by several people more money for career tech and technical education. more money for apprenticeships. all things that will create a more productive economy. so we can go on and on. the reality is in a very difficult time, very partisan era, we'll have members from both sides of the aisle passing an important piece of legislation in the administration which has urged its passing doing the same. i urge passage and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman if new york is ecognized. mrs. lowey: i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, the democratic leader, ms. pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california, the democratic leader, is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr.

speaker, i thank the distinguished gentlelady for yielding this time and for her leadership. to her and the other members of the committee, mr. frelinghuysen, thank you for your leadership as well and to the ranking members, the chairs an ranking members of the subcommittee, all the members of the appropriations committee, mr. hoyer and i, and mr. clyburn are from the culture of the appropriations committee, and we know that left to your own device, eappropriators can get the job done. it's not until the leadership rains its poison pills on the process that the delay sets in. i want to thank congresswoman ranking member lowey for ridding this bill of so many of those poison pills. mr. hoyer very eloquently presented the situation as we see it now. that the republicans have this bill, he didn't -- we didn't even have three days, it was

last night to today and here we are on the floor with a yard, a yard of bill. and he said they're rushing because people have co-dells and trips and fundraisers and this and that. i contend there may be another reason why they're rushing it through. first of all they don't want anybody to know what's in the bill because this is a tremendous detriment to the american people in terms of what mrs. lowey was able to negotiate in a bipartisan way on the domestic side. we all take a -- an oath to protect and defend our country and so the defense investments are porn to our nation but one thirded of the domestic budget is security. homeland security. veterans affairs. state department. anti-terrorism activities of the justice department. the list goes on. but it is also a fact that we can measure our strength of our country not only in the important military might and security measure bus also in the health, education, and well being of the american people and this bill goes to a place for that.

so yes, a yard of bill certainly not read or read to the members. but i contend, in addition to mr. hoyer's list of why people, they're rushing this to the end instead of having this negotiation take place much earlier is because they really don't want their members to see what is in this bill, a, and two, because they really want to get out of town before the march for our lives. before the young people come from all over the country to ask congress to give us responsible, commonsense gun violence prevention legislation. that's what i heard about the republicans. they just don't want to be around when the young people come to town. and so here we are. we could have had this happen weeks ago. transparent h more

way to deal with it. but having said that, we are here and i think it's very important to set the record straight on some of the contentions that the republicans are making about this bill. let me start with the president of the united states. he has said in his -- in one of his tweet this is morning how happy he was because he got the $1.6 billion to start the wall and more to come. that's not completely true, mr. president. there's some resources for fencing and repairs and the rest there. but some of that money is for technology and other ways to protect our borders. we all have a responsibility to protect our borders, north and south. but if you want to think that you're getting a wall you just think it and sign the bill. in addition he said he's so please head got this big increase in defense, we did not oppose that. we want to have our men and women in uniform to have everything they need to keep our

country safe and themselves safe. but the president went on to say, it's too bad he had to waste money on the democratic giveaways. on the democratic giveaways. democratic giveaway is the president characterizes funding for our heroic veterans facing a dire shortfall at the v.a. and we say on the battlefield no soldier is left behind. when they come home no veteran is left behind. that was part of the fight we had in the caps fight that we wanted additional money for our veterans. what about the fighting the opioid epidemic? is that wasteful, a giveaway? fighting the opioid epidemic in your district there isn't a person in this congress who doesn't have need in their district for this opioid funding. and that was a major part of our fight on the caps. to get the funding for open --

to fight opioids. but the president calms that a waste, a democratic giveaway. is that what he would call, he probably would call protecting the integrity of american leches if russian meddling and attack democratic giveaways. protecting our democracy, our electoral system, our constitution that we take an oath of office to protect and defend. and how about the hardworking parents who struggle, who struggle to succeed and afford quality childcare? very important part of this legislation. democratic giveaway in no. family values, supporting our family, by the way, by the foot, by the foot. mr. hoyer referenced a statement made by the speaker on the floor of the houps when we had the caps fight, which by the way was

a glorious victory for our values as a country. that we could say, yes, we want to increase funding for our national security and in doing that we need to have a commensurate increase in fund for our domestic ageneral ta. as i said, which contains many security measures. but when that bill was brought to the floor, the speaker came to the floor and he made a statement. right here in the well. steny quoted what he said in the well. but in another venue he said, in order to shift our focus and get onto the next big priority, which is a daca solution, we've got to get this budget agreement done. that was the caps bill. and i'll say it once, mr. speaker said, and i'll say it again, we'll bring a daca solution to the floor. yes. and when will that be? now you'll hear rumors of them saying oh we offered this, we

offered that. they did not offer anything that added to the protection of our dreamers. and our daca qualified children. i want the record to show the facts are these. we proposed over and other again a real fix that we should have in this bill because it's timely. and if you're dealing with a yard of issues and provisions you certainly can have room for protecting our dreamers. hat's just an indication, to lead is to take risks. the speaker does not seem willing to take a risk with his caucus to bring a bill to the floor, any bill he wants in terms of including some bipartisan bills, mr. hurd and

mr. aguilar, ms. ros-lehtinen ms. roybal-allard, any bill you want. let everyone have his or her say. let congress work its will. why? why not? and why in light of the statement, i'll say it once and i'll say it again, we'll bring a daca solution to the floor, when might that be? when might that be? so again, while we address so many issues so many provisions in this bill, whether there's room in the hearts and minds of our republican colleagues to insist because i know many of you care about our dreamers, have publicly offered your support, why can't you convince the speaker to bring what he said we will bring a daca solution to the floor? so again i go back to the caps agreement.

it was a great victory. for us in the appropriations world as to what priorities need to be addressed. as we always say the budget should be a statement of our national values. what's important to us as a nation should be reflected in how we allocate our resources to invest in the security of our country, the well being of our people, the future of our children. and to do so in a way that commands respect that is bipartisan that is done in a transparent way, in an open and transparent way and is -- and brings unity. our founders, our founders, it would take me eight hours to even start to talk about how brilliant they were, but they did give us instruction. they gave us a signal. from many, one. from many, one. they couldn't possibly have imagined how many we would be. or how different we would be.

but they knew we had to be one. and these children and everyone in our country, these dreamers, are part of that one. and they're part of that many. d let us treat our country with honoring the vows of our founders. i leave it up to members as to whether they want to vote, weigh the equities in this bill and take the vote and i respect whatever decision they make. but i'm so glad that we had such an overwhelming vote on our side against a rule, a rule that undermines the regular order of the house, undermines the speaker's own statements about that regular order. why? in an toment to keep from all of you -- in an attempt to keep from all of you how much of an investment in our future is in this bill and to get you out of town before the march for life begins. i don't know why it has been

pushed to the end, except for dysfunction on the part of the and the n leadership communication with the white house. but i would say this i will say this, that this is not -- this, i will say this, that this is not -- five c.r.'s. are you proud of that? five c.r.'s. take us to the floor with a yard high bill. no transparency. but it does have some bipartisanship and for that i salute mr. frelinghuysen and congresswoman lowey and respect whatever decisions our members make on this. this is a missed opportunity to show the american people that even when we're on the right course, we can't seem to get there in a transparent way. i say, mr. president, when you sign this bill, you will be of ng something, in spite

what you say about spending on wasteful democratic funding, i don't really think you mean that about opioids and the rest. set the record straight for yourself. and out of respect for the people who are putting -- pinning their hopes on what this legislation will do for them. i thank and yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california yields back the balance of her time. members are reminded to address their remarks to the chair and not to perceived audience or other members. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the chairman of the transportation, housing and urban development subcommittee, mr. diaz-balart of florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida voids for two minutes. joseph diaz thank you -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. joseph diaz -- mr. diaz-balart about a lart: thank you, -- mr. diaz-balart:

thank you, mr. speaker. i am -- mr. diaz-balart: thank you, mr. speaker. chairman frelinghuysen has been a public servant since the days that he served in vietnam as an enlisted soldier. and that service continues to this day with this bill. which includes the most significant support for our women and men in uniform since the beginning of the war on terrorism. let me tell you two other things that are in this bill for the american people due to the chairman's leadership. the bill includes over d 10 billion in transportation and housing infrastructure without adding to the federal bureaucracy. the chairman fought for major funding for key areas of our economy, yes, including the northeast. this is a major investment in our nation's infrastructure. both congress and the administration, as you know, have been talking about this for such a long time. here you have it. in this bill. this bill delivers on that promise of infrastructure. finally, the chairman has been a tirlse advocate for two decades

-- fireless -- tireless advocate for two decades for housing for the disabled in our country. this bill delivers a major, major humanitarian victory for e disabled community, with 40,000 new vouchers for the disabled. these frelinghuysen vouchers will change the lives of countless families across our entire nation. and i am particularly proud of this achievement by our chairman and his committee. finally i'd like to thank the speaker of the house for standing up and winning on some huge priorities for the house and i would be remiss if i did not mention the staff of the appropriations committee who worked long and hard. yes, very long and hard on this bill. mr. chairman, i urge a yes vote on this fine bill. i thank the chairman and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield one minute to

the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, i ask to revise my remarks, address the house. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the gentlelady from new york. i can't thank her enough. as i watched her every day work without ending, thank you so very much. and to chairman frelinghuysen, let me thank you as well for your service. but i am very grateful to democrats who crafted the very funding structure that we're dealing with. and even though it was hidden with republicans, this gigantic box that is almost broken, i think it is important to note that a lot of good work has taken place. i want to just cite the good work. i am delighted that we are helping our veterans and democrats added an additional amount of money, some $2 billion to address the v.a. hospitals. democrats were concerned about student loans and the bill increases it by $350 million. child care has been increased.

houston metro will be delighted with the new starts money that is in. and, yes, my mayor will be excited and other mayors about an accurate census count. for those of us with hurricane harvey, the national flood insurance program extension is important. but yet i am disappointed. the work we did on stop school violence did not include the civil rights protection for those who need it. and it did not include daca, with all of these young people who are in need. finally, we could not get the special counsel language. my bill, 3684, that would stop the president from firing the special counsel and stop him from firing the attorney general and the deputy attorney general. for those reasons i have great concerns with this bill and will not be able to support it. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the chairman of the military construction subcommittee, mr. dent, from pennsylvania. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. dent: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased and i must say

relieved the good news of military construction v.a. division of the omnibus. at times it seemed like we might not ever get here. i regret that our service members and veterans have had to wait almost six months for us to complete our jobs. but i think our final bill is worth the wait. i want to certainly congratulate our chairman, mr. frelinghuysen, for his incredible patience and negotiating skills to bring to us this point. i also want to thank mrs. lowey and debbie wasserman schultz for her rock solid support and keen eye during this process. and thanks to the budget caps agreement, we're able to provide long overdue support to our military and their family members. with a $2.4 billion or 31% increase for total of $10.1 billion for military construction. with that funding we're able to provide $708 million for 12 medical facilities, $249 million for d.o.d. schools and d 8.2 billion for mill they're -- $8.2 billion for military construction projects in the

united states. we're able to provide $585 million in unfunded requirements requested by the services as well as significant increases in planning and design for active and reserve construction and unspecified minor construction. the bill also includes $750 million in funding, more than doubling the 2017 level. our bill fulfills congress' commitment to our nation's veterans with total discretionary funding of $81.5 billion for the department of veterans affairs, $7.1 billion or 9.5% increase over 2017. these funds provide important medical services to veterans, as well as disability compensation, post-9/11 education benefits, and a host of insurance and lending programs. of note, we were able to provide $782 million for the new electronic health record contract. the same record as d.o.d.'s, which will allow exchange of veteran records with d.o.d. and community providers. our bill provides $2 billion in

medical infrastructure assistance, nonrecurring maintenance, minor construction, and grants for state veteran retirement homes. the $2 billion gives us the rare opportunity to completely eliminate the backlog of approved state home applications. i'm also pleased that we have the resources -- mr. speaker, can i have 30 seconds? mr. frelinghuysen: i have no additional time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. dent: support the bill. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from ohio, the ranking member of the energy and water subcommittee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. kaptur: i thank the gentlelady for yielding me this precious minute. i wanted to express, to augment my remarks of earlier this afternoon. and thank jamie of our own staff who worked so very, very hard on the energy and water subcommittee, allowing this bill to move to the floor. then i feel compelled to rise to thank our chairman of the full

committee, congressman frelinghuysen, with whom i've had the opportunity to work now for many decades. and to say to him, he is an exemplary model of public service to the people of our country. a true patriot. and someone who devoted so many hours to moving a bill to the floor that could achieve bipartisan consensus in a very loaded political environment. i shall never forget at the beginning of the iraq war, our trip to the middle east, to many of the countries involved. the manner in which you comported yourself. the great counsel you gave to so many of us as a military man yourself. and the great leadership that he has provided as chair of our defense committee at one point and now of the full committee. the people of new jersey can truly celebrate his service to our nation as we move this bill to a final vote later today. thank you so very much. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlewoman from ohio yields back. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to recognize the chairman of the legislative branch subcommittee, mr. yoder of kansas, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kansas is recognized for one minute. mr. yoder: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman, for your work and leadership on this bill. thank you to ranking member lowey for her good stewardship. this is a culmination of efforts over the last year. hundreds of meetings, oversight hearings, we have a strong final product and we're proud of what we've accomplished. my committee's legislative branch bill, we focused on curvetive -- conservative priorities such as security and transparency. this legislation once again rejects pay increases for members of congress, which we've done every year since 2010, and further we're funding the house of representatives remains 12% below 2010, eight years, spending less than we spent eight years ago. after the vicious attack on steve scalise and other members of this body, we've enhanced capitol security with new support for member, staff,

constituents and visitors. with an enhancements for capitol police and the sergeant at arms. we've expanded wounded warriors fellowships and added support for family issues like the child care certainty and additional support for the library of congress visitor experience which is exciting. lastly, in a strike for transparency for the first time, all congressional research service reports will be open to the public. making government more transparent and a win for our constituents. i want to thank my ranking member, mr. ryan, who is a gentleman and a scholar and the collaboration of all the committee members and staff that put this product together. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield 30 seconds to the member of the committee, jamie herrera beutler from ashington state. i reserve.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is ecognized. mr. frelinghuysen: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield a minute to the speaker of the house of representatives, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. ryan. thank you, mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin, the speaker of the house, is recognized for one minute. the speaker: i thank the chair for yielding. and i want to begin by thanking the chairman and i want to thank the ranking member. i also want to thank their staffs for putting in incredibly long hours. this isn't just a week-long progress. this has been months long in the making. so i want to thank all the members and staff who made this moment possible. my colleagues, this measure before us, it's about as critical as it gets. it really is. it addresses the priorities that we've been discussing in this chamber. we've been debating in this chamber for a long time.

we talked about the need to rebuild our military. we all agree on the need to rebuild our military. this bill provides the largest increase in defense spending in 15 years. why? frankly because our military's been hallowed -- hollowed out for many years. we're boosting resources for training, equipment, maintenance, base operations. it means new naval ships, new fighters, new helicopters. it means we are finally building a 21st century fighting force. we agree on the need to support our service members and our veterans. this funds the biggest pay raise for our military in eight years. we have men and women fighting for us day in, year in, and year out. i saw a woman, lieutenant olonel a week ago in the army, who has done seven combat tours. this is what -- this is what the people who are volunteering in our armed services are doing for

us. and we're finally making right by them by helping them with a pay raise. it provides record funding for the department of veterans' affairs, to make sure our veterans receive better care at better facilities. remember those long waiting lists? no more. we agree on the urgent need to make our schools safer. this bill includes the fix nics bill to improve firearm and background checks. it includes the stop school violence act which this house passed last week, 407-10, if i'm not mace taken. it provides mental health and security funds. both are provisions parkland families asked us to include in this legislation. part of the sandy hook promise. we agree on the need to fight the opioid epidemic ravaging communities across this country. every single member in this house has a firsthand story on what the opioid crisis is doing

to their communities. we have got to get on top of this problem. this bill makes critical investments in treatment and prevention to fight this scourge of addiction that is ravaging our country. we agree on the need to secure our homeland. this bill expands resources for law enforcement, for border security, for immigration enforcement. it provides resources for 95 miles of physical barriers along our southwest border which actually exceeds the administration's qufment we agree on the need to rebuild our nation's infrastructure. it includes money for long overdue improvements to our highways, railroads, infrastructure, airports. and guess what, there are no earmarks for specific projects in this bill. the house has worked to reform our forestry laws for years. you see on the news these horrible forest fires. they're get manager severe by the year. it is because we have not been able to manage our forests.

this finally had the legislation we need to help manage our forezests -- forests to help protect the west from catastrophic forest fires. the house passed the taylor force act to restrict assistance to the palestinian authority unless it stops subsidizing terrorism this bill implements that legislation. e p.a. is making payments to family -- families of suicide bombers. it's like a bonus for terrorism. that bill is in here. all these things are important. they're critical things we have all been talking about. what brings me here to ask all my colleagues for a we vote is this. what this ultimately is about, is giving our military the tools and resources it needs to do its job this week, the house paused to honor two naval aviators who died in a training crash off of key west. the two f-18 pilots. we paused to honor seven service

members lost in a helicopter crash in western iraq last week. that's nine of our service members lost in equipment failures and accidents last week. we continue to lose more american personnel to training accidents and incidents than we do to enemy fire. that is unacceptable. and it's preventable. my colleagues, we should not wait one more day, not one more hour, go by without giving our men and women in uniform what they have earned and what they deserve. give them the pay raise they earned. give them the equipment and hours of training they need to be safe. they're putting their lives on the line for us. let's make sure they put their lives on the line for us with the proper amount of train, proper amount of equipment, we can keep our country and our people safe. vote yes for our military.

vote yes for the safety and security of this country. vote yes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker. a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam sec resare. the secretary: i have been directed to inform the house the senate passed with amendment which the con kunz of the shouse requested. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: i yield myself the balance of my time to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. lowey: this isn't the bill i would have written but i'm

proud it provides $117 bhl more than president trump requested in nondefense investments to grow the economy, create jobs, and help american families. again, i'd like to chair -- to thank our distinguished chair, chairman frelinghuysen, and the entire committee for its tireless work forging this bipartisan package. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. frelinghuysen: let me share my appreciation of my working relationship with mrs. lowey and thank again our professional staff in the room here and thank them for all their hard work and urge a yes vote on this bill which supports our armed forces and members of their family. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey yields back. all time for debate has expired. pursuant to house resolution 796, the previous question is ordered.

the question is on the motion by the gentleman from new jersey, mr. frelinghuysen. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. he motion is agreed to. mr. frelinghuysen: i demand the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in support of the yeas and nays will rise. 5 sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are order. this 15-minute vote on the motion to concur will be followed by five minute votes on motions to suspend the rules with h.r. 46 7 and h.r. 4089 and agreeing

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 255, the nays are 167.