chairman, i'm pleased to be joined in support of the bill by my friend and my partner, buck mckeon. i'm thrilled that he is our ranking member and i commend him for jumping in head first on his first official day on the job. which, of course, was a full day for our markup. he's been a very able and constructive partner as well as when required a skilled opponent. i must, however, mention our esteemed colleague, john mchugh, who's agreed to become secretary of the army, but who leaves our committee having established a lasting legacy, especially on issues of personnel. in this debate, mr. chairman, we will consider and i'm confident we will adopt an amendment that is sponsored by both mr. mckeon and i, that is a tribute to the work of john mchugh on our committee. likewise, i must thank the subcommittee chairman, ranking members who contributed so much toward this bill. they did their homework and i'm pleased with the outcome of their efforts. they solved almost every problem set out for them and they accomplished a lot of good government at the same time. they were able to -- ably a

and we've thanked the members, bud mckee -- buck mckeon and the ranking members, all made their excellent statements. one group we need to give a special thanks to, that's the young men and young women in uniform as well as the civilian employees of the department of defense. they are very special and we are appreciative and grateful for their efforts. thank you. the chair: the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: how much time do i have remaining? the chair: one and a half minutes. mr. mckeon: i yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. the chair: he doesn't want -- mr. mckeon: i would like to second what the gentleman was saying and thank all those men and women in uniform. he was sincerely wanting to thank them. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from virginia. mr. connolly: i yield 30 seconds to my colleague from california, mr. schiff. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. schiff: i thank the chairman and i want to talk about the program to have nasa participate in d.o.d. programs. it represents a valuable s

skelton: let me say a special word of thanks to our ranking member, buck mckeon, as we welcome you and you do an excellent, excellent job. we thank you for your first-class efforts in making this come to pass. you've done wonder flee and we should all -- wonderfully and we should all be very grateful to you. at this time i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from missouri yields back. the question son the amendment offered by the gentleman from -- the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from missouri. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 20 printed in house report 111-182. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? mr. connelly: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 20 printed in house report 111-182 offered by mr. connelly of virginia. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 572, the gentleman from virginia, m