mr. coffman: mr. speaker, this week i introduced legislation that will amend the affordable care act, better known as obamacare, to prohibit a bailout for the insurance industry that is currently authorized under section 1341 and section 1342 of the affordable care act. the american people have had enough of big bailouts for big business. it's time for this culture of corporate cronyism that has become a dominant part of washington, d.c., to stop. my legislation, the no bailouts for the insurance industry act of 2014, would amend the affordable care act to repeal section 1341, the reinsurance part of section 1342, the risk corridor provision. together both can provide for a massive taxpayer bailout to cover the insurance industry losses. the taxpayers should not be on the hook for the failures of obamacare. any reasonable person can see that this scheme isn't going to bourque and the american people should -- isn't going to work and the american people should not be forced to bail it out once it fails

mr. mr. higgins:, mr. speaker, the peace bridge facilitates the transport of $30 billion in commerce annually. however, increasing wait times and delays pose a significant threat to our nation's economy. while i am encouraged by the start of the preinspection pilot at the peace bridge for commercial vehicles which would allow trucks entering the united states to be prescreened on the canadian side of the border, i am concerned about staffing levels with custom agents at the border. i have called on customs and border protection to increase staffing levels at the bridge, to facilitate easier accessibility at the northern border crossing and also encouraging f.y. 2014 homeland security appropriations budget to include full funding for customs and border protection officers' staffing request. the stream line flow of people and goods across the border is critical to the western new york economy and to the nation's economy. i am committed to fighting to preserve and improve our relationship with canada and our

mr. pitts: mr. speaker, in the days leading up to christmas, hackers stole millions of credit card numbers from the servers of retail giant target. i imagine at least a few here in this chamber may have had their own credit card replaced to prevent theft. what if target had not bothered to tell anyone? what if they had waited until people noticed fraudulent charges popping up on their statements? the damage would certainly be worse. it may shock some people to learn that there is no legal requirement that the department of health and human services notify an individual if his or her personal information is breached or improperly accessed through the affordable care act's exchanges. while h.h.s. has said it will notify individuals in such a case, the american people have a right to know that their government is required by law to contact them if their personal information is compromised. h.r. 3811, the health exchange security and transparency act, would simply ensure americans receive notification f

mr. swal peg -- mr. swalweg: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits that in my district. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma does not yield therefore the unanimous consent to cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman mr. kildee for a unanimous consent request. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. kildee: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 3824 to end the republicans' refusal to extend unemployment benefits that protect 49,965 workers in michigan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma yield for poumps unanimous consent request? mr. cole: i do not. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman does not yield, therefore the u.c. cannot be entertained. mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman from new york, mr. tonko, for unanimous consent request. the speaker: the gentleman from new york. mr. tonko: i ask unanimous consent to bring up h. reform 3824 to end the republic

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: reserving the right to object and i will not be objecting. this is a good step in the direction of getting the senate back to a process under which amendments are allowed and voted on by both sides. i want to particularly thank senator isakson for his hard work on this. obviously i do not object. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senate proceed to the hall of the house of representatives to receive a message from the president of the united states. >> as you can see, senators are beginning their walk from the senate chambers through century hall to the house side of the capitol where they'll join members of the house to hear president obama speak. a look outside the capitol, a bit of history. the shortest state of the union speech was only 1,089 words given by george washington in 1790. and william taft gave the longest state of the union in 1910, it was 27,651 words. as we head into statuary hall. knox thok. [

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, earlier this week president obama explained to the american people what he hopes to accomplish in the year ahead. and i think it's safe to say that despite the hype, there wasn't a whole lot in this year's state of the union that would do much to alleviate the concerns and anxieties of most americans. it wasn't anything in there that would really address the kind of dramatic wage stagnation we've seen over the past several years among the middle class or the increasingly difficult situation people find themselves in trying to find stable, good-paying jobs. there was no creative proposal for increasing mobility or opportunity for folks who need it most. even more remarkable, the president completely ignored the serious hardship that fo

mr. mcgotsche: thank you, mr. speaker. -- mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, tomorrow we will be voting on a 950-page plus bill that no one has read. . this is a bill, the farm bill, which was first made available to us late last evening. and to make matters even worse, mr. speaker, we're told that we will only have one hour of debate on this bill, and we're not going to have a rule on the bill. it incorporates the farm bill with an abortion bill. what they have to do with one another is not clear. what's going on here is that the leadership of this house doesn't want anyone to know what's in that bill. and one of the things that's in that bill, which i find reprehensible, is $8.6 billion cut in the snap program. the snap program exists to make sure people in this country do not go hungry. on november 1, last november 1, a cut of $11 billion went into effect. the recovery moneys ran out, congress did not renew them, so everybody on snap, all 47 million people received a cut. food prices didn't go down. know, they y -- you -- the economy hasn't gone do

mr. barber: mr. speaker, on december 28, 1.3 million americans lost their unemployment insurance because congress failed to act. these families are struggling to put food on the table, to pay their bills, to heat their homes, and we have a responsibility to assist them in their time of need. and as they continue to find work, look for work. but instead congress will go home today without taking action, and this is just outrageous. every week the congress ignores its responsibilities to our citizens. 72,000 more americans lose their unemployment insurance, crucial assistance which not only supports them but also our economy. that is why i call on leadership to keep the house in session and to extend unemployment insurance now. we should stay here and do our job for we are representing the people of america and those who we have a duty to serve. let us stay here and make sure that americans know that we have their back, that we're going to take care of them in their desperate time of need. i urge the h

mr. oha's and mr. minzi's so the responsibility on mr. oha as the color scheme owner and the medallion holder at that color scheme is large because 50 percent of his fleet refuses to do what it's required to do and it's important to acknowledge that mr. oha's responsibility as the owner of the company to ensure that 50 percent of his fleet, which is his one ramp medallion is picking up the wheelchair customers is important and most important that it's his own medallion. it's not someone else's medallion. no one else received those fines and citations, mr. oha did. he can't pass this on anyone else. he did seek to move his medallion to another company, but he's moving it away from the company he is the owner of. he is the owner of best cab and essentially is saying i give up. i will not do anything to better the service on this taxi. i'm going to have someone else take responsibility, yet i want to maintain my name on the front of this company, in a company that my car's actually not at. he's going to be required to maintain his driving re

mr. lucas: mr. speaker, i would now like to yield to another one of our outstanding subcommittee chairmen, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise in support of this farm bill and also to thank chairman lucas and congressman peterson for your leadership for agriculture. as many of my house colleagues have already said this morning, this legislation is long overdue. this bill is truly worthy of its name. the federal agriculture reform and risk management act because of the historic reforms it ledge slates. overall the bills repeals or consolidates about 100 programs. along with sequestration reduction that cuts mandatory spending by nearly $23 billion. and the conservation title alone reduces it from $23 billion to $13 billion. this bill saves $6 billion and does so without affecting the programs. we reform food stamps and we do so through thoughtful changes maki

mr. chairman. much painful history. >> those tunnels are over 100 years old. your first, do i agree, that it is an essential investment? we absolutely must do something about those. i believe we're approaching 110-year-old tunnels. they not only constrain capacity but at certain point they will become a real safety risk. and you know, think about the upheaval that will result if we were to lose that capacity all of a sudden. could it be a candidate for the new starts program? yes it could. what we would need is a local project sponsor to come forward to do all the development work and most importantly, come up with the necessary local match. and your final question, i need special legislation to help make that happen? we'll take a turn on that but i don't think so. i think, i mean obviously the entire program expires at the end of the year but i think the question you may be alluding to is, how do we deal with a new start project for which amtrak is a participant? i don't know that i new

mr. lucas: mr. speaker, i yield the gentleman from arkansas, who's been very focused on these critical issues, especially those involving livestock, mr. womack, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arkansas is recognized for two minutes. mr. womack: thank you, mr. speaker. i, too, want to congratulate the chairman and to his ranking member and my colleague from arkansas, one of the committee members, mr. crawford, for their diligent work and coming up with this committee report. this was not easy, to say the least. that said, mr. speaker, because the senate's my way or the highway attitude, we're considering a conference report that does nothing to address an out-of-control agency, gipsa, from imposing on american companies regulations that go well beyond congressional intent. because of the senate's all or nothing approach, we're considering a conference report that will subject american industries and companies to retaliatory tariffs. for me it would be easy to vote against thi

mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the oversight and government reform committee, mr. issa from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. mr. issa: thank you, mr. speaker. famously franklin delano roosevelt we have nothing to fear but fear itself. that's not true here, and sadly the last speaker is entitled to his opinion but the facts did not bear out his conclusions. the truth is that actual interviews and depositions taken of the highest ranking people that helped develop this website, both public and private, shows there was no end-to-end testing. it did not meet the spirit of any definition of a secure website. in fact, the highest ranking person, theresa fryer, on september 20, was unwilling to recommend this site go active and said under oath that if it had been within her authority to stop it she would have. it is very clear, even from the white house's statements in th

mr. holt. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. holt: instead of taking up critical issues we are here today considering a radical bill that failed several years ago, it's been resurrected by the majority so that they can continue their war on women and their vendetta against the affordable care act. taste a deceptively named bill. it's not about unauthorized use of taxpayer dollars. the purpose of this legislation is to make the federal government interfere with the woman's decision to use her private dollars for legal health services. it will restrict women's access to safe reproductive health, and because it would rule out standard insurance policies now available to women, it will leave even more women without health care coverage. so instead of taking up an ideological mean-spirited lost cause, let's turn our attention to helping women get comprehensive health care, excellent health care for them selves and their family. helping wome

soon mrs. mrs. roosevelt would be comfortable with her public speaking and realize the power of that ability. some might think it was a bit self-serving of mrs. roosevelt, because when you think of the doubling estate keeper, his wife would also be confined to the estate. mrs. roosevelt would enjoy certain freedom. her tutoring relative to her public speaking is important, also, because they very shy delano roosevelt, -- eleanor roosevelt, would suddenly realize she had the ability to conquer that fear through tutoring. and she would realize the power of public speaking. in this case, the power was a kept franklin roosevelt image alive to the american public until he addresses the democratic convention in 1924. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i am speaking to you tonight at a very serious moment in our history. the cabinet is convening in the league is in congress are meeting with the president. the state department and army officials have been with the president all afternoon. in fact, the j

mr. sessions: i ask unanimous consent that the order of the house of january 3, 2013, providing for morning hour debate be extended for the remainder of the 113th congress except that house resolution 452 shall supplant house resolution 9 and the speaker may dispense with morning hour debate upon receipt of a note fix described accordingly.bers . . . the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the resolution is agreed to. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following enrolled bill. the clerk: senate 1614, an act to require certificates of citizenship and other federal documents to reflect name and date of birth as reflected by the state court and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. poe: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gen

mr. higgins: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 3397, the veterans records reconstruction act. in 1973, a fire at the national personnel records center in overland, missouri, destroyed as many as 18,000 military records. while efforts were made to reconstruct these records, many records are left incomplete which makes it difficult to eligibility rans for recognition. this would create guidelines and allow alternative methods of authenticity -- varyfying a veteran's records using unofficial sources, thus creating a pathway to getting due benefits and recognition for veterans whose files were destroyed. mr. speaker, this -- while this legislation does not completely solve the problem of missing records, it is a way for our nation to thank veterans for their service by helping them to best have a chance to receive the recognition that they are due. i want to thank my colleague, congresswoman lois capps, for her leadership in introducing this legislation. i urge its swift passage. i yield back t

mr. isakson: mr. president, before i make my remarks, i want to commend the senator from south dakota and underscore what the senator said regarding the skills act passed by the house of representatives. i'm on the health education labor and pensions subcommittee. six years ago the act expired in its authorization and for six years it languished in the bowels and in the heart of the united states senate and in the united states senate house of representatives going unauthorized. between 2008 and today america has experienced terrible unemployment, terrible job loss, terrible increases in unemployment and extensions of that unemployment. the gentleman from south carolina is exactly correct, if we were doing our job and just reauthorizing the programs in the law today like the workforce investment act and training people for the skills of the 21st century and the jobs of the 21st century we wouldn't be talking about unemployment compensation. we wouldn't be talking about the great tragedies of america.

mr. powell and then mr. wiley, i would like to hear from you. >> i think some aspects of that deserves a fresh examination. i was a huge supporter of, served there with great people. it does an enormously great public service. int introspective management. it is one of the last of the new deal agencies that has regulatory power. that is, the ability to set the prices, terms and conditions of market activity as opposed to having a more significant enforcement, policing or consumer protection role. not to say that some of that may or may not still be warranted. i do think that that is a kind of hold over from judgments of different administrative eras. if you're going to look at -- you should look at the -- >> look at the balance? >> the diochotomy and balance of that role. i do think that many have migrated more toward that role. i think they're worthy of second consideration. >> mr. wiley? >> i would agree largely with what chairman powell has suggested. i think the commission does have strong enforcement ef

mr. bishop: mr. speaker, yesterday was the 125th anniversary of one of the premier academic institutions in utah, weaver state university. originally a religious school, the academy with 200 students, is a full university with over 25,000 students today and a great addition to its home city as well as the satellite cam pulse. i am very pleased of my association with weaver state university. my father-in-law played football, my wife and daughter are graduated. even one of our colleagues, representative jenkins of kansas, was a graduate. my son worked for the administration for a while there as well. its first president was a renaissance immigrant from germany who composed my favorite hymn. its second principal became a leader of my chump. its most recent president was the first female leader of the university in the state of utah and under its current leadership with president white, i expect another 25 years of great research, innovation and education taking place. everyone in utah wore purple yester

mr. shelby: mr. president, i join my good friend and longtime colleague, the senior senator from maryland, and the chair of the senate appropriations committee, senator barbara mikulski, in strongly supporting passage of the omnibus bill for 2014. this bill is the product of a very collegial negotiation between both parties in both houses of congress. it is in a very large part a compromise of what the house and senate produced in their respective committee processes last summer. we of course have our differences and each of us would have many things in this bill to be dinner. but that's the nature of a goings and ultimately of a compromise. that's where -- but that's the nature of a negotiation and ultimately of a compromise. there are many thingthat's wher. it's certainly far better than the alternative, which would be another confrontation, another government shutdown, and another giant step further away from establishing some sense of regular order. mr. president, it is a matter of record that i

mr. long from missouri. i think our last member to ask questions. please go ahead. >> thank you, chairman. and chairman hundt, last night you said that you spent quite a bit of time trying to go through the court ruling of yesterday. and most of the congressmen were home trying to read through 1,562-page bill that we're going to vote on this afternoon. i ordered my staff to bring a copy of that to you. if you could peruse that over your lunch hour and kind of decipher it for me, i would appreciate it. earlier in your testimony, chairman hundt, you said that -- i didn't understand your point concerning the auction. you said if i remember right that we need a cap so people know what they're buying. can you tell me what -- in full disclosu disclosure, i come from a 30-year auctioneer career. >> i remember very well that in our first auction we had senator byrnes -- >> conrad byrnes, you bet. he's from missouri. now he served for montana but he's originally from missouri. that's two of us. >>

mr. lucas: mr.peaker, i call up the conference report on the bill h.r. 2642, the agricultural act of 2014, and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2642, an act to provide for the reform and continuation of agriculture and other programs of the department of agriculture through fiscal year 2018, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 465, the conference report is considered as read. the gentlewoman from oklahoma, mr. lucas, and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. peterson, each will control 30 minutes. for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts seek recognition? mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, is the gentleman from minnesota opposed to the conference report? the speaker pro tempore: is the gentleman from minnesota opposed o the conference report? pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 -- pursuant to clause 8 of rule 22rk the gentleman from oklahoma, the gentleman from minnesota,

mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: mr. speaker. mr. majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks and those -- the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call, mr. leader. mr. reid: and i did it. i should have known. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, following my remarks and those of the republican leader, the senate will resume the motion to proceed to calendar number 265, unemployment insurance compensation. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the time that i use, leader time, and that of senator mcconnell not count against the half-hour that the proponents and opponents of this legislation have to speak, 15 minutes on each side. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid:

mr. hall has said that because mr. broun has a time commitment that is almost immediate, he is going to allow i mr. broun to go ahead of him in the questioning, so the gentleman -- mr. broun is recognized stwh. thank you, mr. chairman, thank you, mr. hall, for giving me this opportunity. it has come to the oversight committee, subcommittee of this committee's attention that there is or at least was an affordable care act information technology exchange's steering committee chaired by senior white house officials established back in may 2012. almost a year and a half before the rollout of healthcare.gov. the white house steering committee's charter explicitly directed the formulation of a working group, working groups including one on security. it also turns out that a chairman of this obamacare web site steering committee is the u.s. chief technology officer in the white house science office who also happens to be the immediate past cto of the department of health and human services. upon learning this, i as chairman o

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, today we mark the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty, a dedicated legislative and policy effort by president lyndon johnson to reduce and eventually reduce poverty in america. yet, despite the many successes in poverty, and there have been many successes over the past 50 years, there are those in this country and in this house who would destroy the programs that would help people in need, those who have replaced the war on poverty with a new war on poor people. unfortunately, that's what's happening right now with the farm bill. i'm honored to serve on the agriculture committee and as a member of the farm bill conference committee. needs a america comprehensive, forward-thinking bill. i represent farmers and farms, conservationists and agriculture research institutions. and like every other member of congress, i represent people who rely on the nutrition programs in the farm bill to put food on their tables. that has been my primary focus as a conferee, to support and fig

mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, i rise to congratulate eden prairie wrestling coach, scott davis, on his 1,000th coaching victory. as they defeated columbia heights last month at eden prairie high school. davis' 1,000th victory gives him the most wins of any high school wrestling coach in the united states. while this is davis' first year coaching at eden prairie, he has coached 35 different seasons at prep wrestle, including 20 years at a high school where he coached two state championship teams. with a group of his friends attending the match at eden prairie, he admitted to feeling a little more pressure than usual, but the eden prairie team easily delivered the milestone victory. while coach davis said he never set a specific goal for victories, he did say that reaching the 1,000th victory was a special accomplishment. so congratulations to coach davis for accomplishing this impressive feat and also thank you for continuing to dedicate yourself to helping student athletes with your time and your talent a

mrs. kennedy is known as a tyle icon. admiration of her fashion sense. the first ensemble that she wore as first lady, of course, was on inauguration day. this grayish color dress and coat designed by oleg cassini. i think it is a wonderful example of her simple elegance. that a became very, very popular. the only thing that she wore to adorn the ensemble was a beautiful ruby brooch by tiffany that j.f.k. gave her to celebrate the birth of john junior, right after the swearing in. and of course most famously finishing the ensemble was the hill-box hat. she wore that on the back of her head so her face could be seen. that actually set a fashion trend. whereas the hat would normally be worn on the top of the head, she had a pushed back to sort of frame her face. displayed here at its storage box is perhaps one of mrs. kennedy's best-known dresses, the dress that she wore during her televised tour of the white house in february 1962. visitors to the museum when we have this dress on exhibit a

mr. poe: mr. speaker, the tragedy of human sex trafficking cannot be fully realized until one sees the pain of hopelessness in the victims' eyes. on a recent trip to honduras, i visited two shelters for sex trafficking victims. some of these victims were as young as 12 years of age. they had been raped, drugged, abused, and exploited. these shelters are helping them to regain their lives, their dignity, and yes, hope. don't be fooled into thinking that this vile crime of sex trafficking only happens somewhere else. it happens in the united states as well. the average age of girls trafficked in the united states is between 12 and 14 years of age. like honduras, our country lacks shelters for these girls. there are about 5,000 shelters for animals throughout the country, according to the spca. but there are only 226 beds available for domestic minor sex trafficking victims, according to shared hope. this has got to change, mr. speaker. it's time for us to rescue the child victims of sex slavery and

mrs.aft offered to lend and then donate her inaugural gown. she is really the founding patron in many ways of the first ladies collection and established the tradition first ladies would donate their inaugural down to the collection. every first lady after helen who had and inaugural gown has donated it to the smithsonian institution. >> she loves to travel. when howard taft got a chance to be chairman of the philippine commission, she jumped at the chance, encouraging him to take the job. they took the family into the philippines, where taft was later governor general of the philippines. she had a chance to travel the world. she also introduced her children to the travel. she learned different languages. banquets were a big thing. in fact, before she and the children, william howard taft cabled about some of the banquets, and mrs. taft like to have some of the banquets and incorporate the military people, the philippine people, and these are programs from those. the philippine people love

>> mr. st. croix, can you respond to dr. kur's question about 6a? >> dr. kerr is absolutely correct the bar is now one commissioner member can calendar a complaint. i'm not sure why this copy went out, but it's typographical or an old copy, but it's one that has already been voted on and in effect. >> thank you. any other discussion from the commissioners on this agenda item? is there a motion to approve the changes to the regulations for investigations and enforcement proceedings? >> is moved. >> second. >> all in favor? >> aye. >> any opposed? hearing none the motion passes. the next item on the agenda is discussion and possible action on reports submitted by lisa herrick formerly of the san jose city attorney's office. as you will recall and was referenced previously, on october 22, 2012 we held a hearing on this matter relating to ethics complaints brought by mr. shaw. we also reviewed and considered paper submitted by mr. shaw and heard argument from mr. shaw on the matter. during that

mr. charest and mr. baitman specs of the other two witnesses knew that these are your words, but paraphrase what you told them, there's also no confidence that personal identifiable information will be protected. >> again, it was the result of the security testing in that regard. >> you wrote -- go put that up to the independent assessor was forced to test different modules in multiple environments. in other words, no end-to-end, you know, as it was going to be launched testing, correct? >> yes. >> in slide one see, you wrote complete end-to-end testing of ffm never occurred, that's correct? >> that's right. >> that's best practices of course, right? >> you have. >> you testified in your opening of september 18 end-to-end testing was completed and that's why you now have confidence that at least the snapshot of the site as it was that day would meet the requirements subject to additional changes that occur in maintenance and modification of? >> on the testing that was conducted september

mr. shaw is something outside of public comment and as a party to this proceeding you are giving him five minutes and after mr. shaw's five minutes open up the floor for public comment. >> okay. we can do that. >> thank you, mr. givner. i'm turning into mr. chatfield my 150-word testimony that i will remail so you don't have to rekey it, introducing typos. i'm sorry, can you hand me that copy back? never mind, i found what i was looking for. so you will recall that when i was here, in october, i testified that 1040 doesn't apply and i also testified quite strongly, both here and at the sunshine task force that c3-699-13 doesn't apply either. i have been denied access to these records for two years. regarding access to litigation states, "advice and compliance with, analysis of, and opinion concerning liability under -- or any communication otherwise concerning the california public records act the ralph m. brown act, political reform act and san francisco ethics code or this ordinance," a

mr. johnson: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. johnson: mr. chairman, the house is not in order. the chair: the gentleman is correct. he committee will be in order. the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. johnson: mr. chairman, i am pleased to rise in support of the amendment to h.r. 2279, the reducing, sessive deadline obligations, or redo act of 2013. which also includes my legislation h.r. 2226 -- the speaker pro tempore: -- >> mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the chair: the gentleman is correct. the house is still not in order. committee will be in order. members will take their conversations off the house floor. he committee will be in order. he committee will be in order. the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. johnson: mr. chairman, once again i'm pleased rise in support of the amendment to reducing excessive deadline obligations act of 2013, redo act, which includes my legislation h.r. 2226, the federal state partn

mr. wildstein initiated at his approval, with his approval. now, you know, i don't know given some of the e-mails that i saw yesterday. but clearly mr. wildstein played a major role whether it is his idea and initiation that they testified. i guess time will tell. but clearly there was knowledge of this action, whatever it was, prior to the beginning. and that was something that i would direct to answer weeks ago was not the case. that's what we were told and after repeated questioning from all the people around here and i was lied to. and for that she has been terminated. angie? >> [inaudible] >> first off, i would love for you and others to believe i interviewed hundreds if not thousands of people as u.s. attorney. i did not it was the very rare occasion when the u.s. attorney's himself or herself goes into a room and interviews a witness. it probably happened a dozen times in seven years. it's a very rare occurrence. and she, if you try to understand this on a personal level, if you've

mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 2860, the o.p.m. i.g. act, which is a successful product of the bipartisan efforts of federal work force subcommittee chairman farenthold and ranking member lynch, and i applaud them for their efforts. i thank my distinguished colleagues for their work and commitment in sponsoring legislation to provide the inspector general of the office of personnel management with critically needed funding to perform audits, investigations, oversight of o.p.m.'s revolving fund activities. through the revolving fund, o.p.m. provides approximately $2 billion in services to gencies on a fee-for-service basis. these include background investigations, leadership training and human resource management. h.r. 2860 would fix the loophole in the current law which prevents this $2 billion revolving fund from paying for the course of o.p.m.'s mptor general to properly oversee the fund's activities. this legislation would allow the o.p.m. inspector general to use a very

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i move to proceed to calendar number 294. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 294, s. 1926, a bill to delay the implementation of certain proefbgs provisions of the biggert-waters flood insurance act of 2012. mr. reid: mr. president, 5:30 today there will be a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the flood insurance bill. i'm told that s. 1950 is at the desk due for second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: 1950, a bill to improve the provision of medical services and benefits to veterans and for other purposes. mr. reid: i would object to any further proceedings with respect to this bill at this time. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. reid: mr. president, as i announced earlier today, the senat

mr. leahy: mr. president, first i should note i'm pleased to see the acting president pro tempo tempore. it was a pleasure to serve -- to share the podium with him today. i would ask unanimous consent that upon the completion of my remarks that the chair recognize the senior senator from illinois, mr. durbin. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, after many long days and nights of party negotiations across a dozen subcommittees over the past month, on sunday night the appropriations committee completed work on the fiscal year 2014 consolidated appropriations act. i want to commend chairwoman mikulski, without whom this would not have been possible. it was, above all, her relentless pursuit of this goal and her unmatched ability to rally her subcommittee troops to get us to this point. but also i'd note that she was helped by some of the most hardworking members of the senate staff that one can imagine. i'd especially like to commend tim reecer of my staff and others who

mr. rothfus in pittsburgh for a roundtable discussion with the community development organizations in the greater pittsburgh area about the effect these rules will have on their ability to serve their consumers. two things emerged from these committee hearings. one, that the new mortgage rules impair the ability of lenders to work with borrowers on an individual basis. and number two, low to moderate income borrowers stand to lose the most if lenders cannot write loans outside the qualified mortgage definition. this morning we have a panel of witnesses that will further educate members of the subcommittee on how their constituents will be affected by this rule. we have three lenders that will discuss the difficulties in working with borrowers with credit profiles that fall outside the qualified mortgage definition. in most cases, lenders will sit down with riskier borrowers, that's what we do in west virginia, and craft a mortgage that is highly tailored to the borrower's needs and risk p

mr. sanders: mr. president, as chairman of the senate veterans committee i want to take a moment to thank all the members of that committee for their hard work over the last year. at a time when there is obviously an enormous amount of divisiveness and partisanship here in the senate i am happy to report that by and large, there has been a great deal of bipartisan effort being made in the veterans committee and very productive work as well. mr. president, today as the chairman of the committee i have introduced the most comprehensive piece of veterans' legislation that we have seen in a very, very long time. the comprehensive veterans' health and benefits and military retiree pay restoration act of 2014 delivers on the promises that we have made to our service members and i believe will have the support of members of the senate and of the house because it's addresses virtually every single issue that the veterans community has been send about. what we -- concerned about. what we have done is taken two

mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i ask 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 minute. mr. wilson: madam speaker, this evening i'm glad to heart president will deliver a state of the union address focused on optimism. optimism requires he changes disastrous policies destroying jobs, as revealed by the record number of food stamp recipients. each higher food stamp report uncovers job destruction. governor scott walker of wisconsin has proven jobs are created by citizens keeping their own money. it's not the government's money first. dangerous deficits are unsustainable. the president needs to repeal and replace the obamacare train wreck which destroys jobs. he should uncover the tragedy of the benghazi murders and promote peace through strength to prevent further attacks. reducing the military threatens american families with expanded terrorist safe havens. the i.r.s. targeting of citiz

mr. goodlatte: however stark americans' difference of opinion can be on the matter of abortion generally, there has been long bipartisan agreement that federal taxpayer funds should not be used to destroy innocent life. the hyde amendment named for its chief sponsor, former house judiciary committee chairman henry hyde, has prohinted the federal funding of abortion since 1976 when it passed a house and senate that was composed overwhelmingly of democratic members. it has been renewed each appropriations cycle with a few -- with few changes for over 35 years, supported by congresses controlled by both parties and presidents from both parties. it is probably the most bipartisan, pro-life proposal sustained over a longer period of time than any other. just last week, a cell phone poll of over 2,000 adults found that 58% of those surveyed opposed or strongly opposed using any taxpayer dollars for abortions. it's time the hyde amendment was codified in the united states code. h.r. 7, the no ta

mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i hope my colleagues will vote enthusiastically for this amendment across the country ciewnts and local organizations are trying to revive rivers that have been damned and blocked -- dammed and blocked and when they go foaferred to put in a fish ladder, when they redesign a culvert to allow for water passage they have to file a flood plan. and fema requires them to pay a fee to have that flood plan assessed. the fee is almost always waived. but they still have to go through the waiver process which costs money and, frankly, can be as burdensome asfully simply paying the fee. this eliminates the fee, eliminates that part of the process process and allows towns and small organizations more readily to come to the aid of our old small rivers. i think this is something we should be able to agree on with great strength of the senate, it's noncontroversial and i urge my colleagues to vote aye. the presiding offi

mrs. lummis: mr. speaker, i yield four minutes to the gentleman from nevada, the sponsor of the bill, dr. heck. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nevada is recognize for four minutes. mr. heck: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the chairman and ranking member of the house natural resources committee as well as the chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from arizona and the gentleman from utah, for working with me in a bipartisan manner to bring h.r. 2166 the good samaritan search and recovery act, to the floor. h.r. 2166 tears down the bureaucratic roadblocks that are preventing families from receiving closure when their loved ones go missing on federal land. this issue was first brought to my attention by the separate but similarly tragic cases of las vegas taxi driver keith goldberg and air force staff sergeant tucker. they were presumed dead, their remains were presumed to be missing somewhere in the lake immediate recreational area. in both cases, local, experienced search and