cicilline: we have time for a few questions. reporter: the anti-lgbt laws that are in place in kansas, north carolina and mississippi. mr. cicilline: it is a comprehensive civil rights bill and will add gender identity in which discrimation that is prohibited, public accommodations, jury service, federal funding, employment, housing and the benefit of this comprehensive approach is that the existing jurisprudence around these civil rights protected classes would also be part of the jurisprudence now that would apply to the equality act. it would create a federal statute that prohibits discrimation and i think it would ensure in every state in the country that individuals could not be discriminated in all of the areas of public life based on sexual orientation or gender identity and state laws come in conflict with that -- i'm not -- i'm a lawyer, the federal law would take precedence and would provide protection at the federal level for individuals and prohibit them from being discriminated against. reporter: any conversations -

cicilline: we have time for a few questions. reporter: the anti-lgbt laws that are in place in kansas, north carolina and mississippi. mr. cicilline: it is a comprehensive civil rights bill and will add gender identity in which discrimination that is prohibited, public accommodations, jury service, federal funding, employment, housing and the benefit of this comprehensive approach is that the existing jurisprudence around these civil rights protected classes would also be part of the jurisprudence now that would apply to the equality act. it would create a federal statute that prohibits discrimination and i think it would ensure in every state in the country that individuals could not be discriminated in all of the areas of public life based on sexual orientation or gender identity and state laws come in conflict with that -- i'm not -- i'm a lawyer, the federal law would take precedence and would provide protection at the federal level for individuals and prohibit them from being discriminated against. reporter: any conversatio

cicilline: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i thank the gentleman for his leadership on this very important issue on forced arbitration which is dennying many americans to have their grievances heard. and i thank the gentleman and mr. conyers as many of my colleagues have said, forced arbitration denies individuals the most basic right to have their grievances heard. no court, no lawyer, no judicial proceedings, all the things that we have over many centuries that we have recognized to be essential. but there is an area that i want to speak about tonight where forced arbitration i think is particularly damaging and particularly unfair. in the coming weeks, i will introduce legislation that will protect the rights of our troops to pursue justice in our courts. my legislation will clarify the original intent of the uniform services employment services rights act and allow veterans and service members to have their claims heard in court. this legislation was intended to protect the men and women from losing their jobs as a result of their service to our country. and prohibits and gua

cicilline: i thank the gentleman from michigan for yielding and for his leadership on this special order hour. madam speaker, five weeks ago president obama fulfilled his constitutional responsibility and nominated judge merrick garland to the supreme court. judge garland is qualified for this position, and in 1997 he was confirmed to the united states court of appeals in the district of columbia with a majority of both parties supporting his nomination. he oversaw the prgs of timothy mcveigh -- prosecution of timothy mcveigh for the oklahoma city bombing. orrin hatch said he would be a consensus nominee and there would be no question he would be confirmed in the senate. now one month after president obama nominated judge garland to the supreme court, the senate are unwilling to give him an up or down vote. president ronald reagan said the federal judiciary is too important to be made a political football but that's exactly what senate republicans are doing. they're denying the american people a fully functioning supreme court and choosing to turn the federal judiciary into a political f

cicilline: thank you, mr. speaker. this weekend the rhode island school for the deaf will celebrate 125 years as an educational institution that serves deaf and hard of hearing students in rhode island. each year approximately 12,000 children are born with some level of hearing loss in this country. the school of the deaf provides education for deaf and hearing impaired children when they are born and throughout their school. the program helps develop english and american sign language school. and the middle and senior high school programs provides quality education as well as vocational programs to participate fully in social activities and athletic events alongside hearing children. i applaud the extraordinary educators and staff of the rhode island school of the deaf for their ongoing work to serve deaf and hearing impaired children and i congratulate them on their 125th birthday celebration this friday. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida s

cicilline: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized were one minute. mr. cicilline: on saturday i'm hosting a conference on students and the work we need to do in congress to address the crisis of student debt. our young people are drowning in student debt. it's projected that 65% of job openings by 2020 will require post-secondary education or training beyond high school this will become even more urgent. the cost of education at a four-year university has increased 250% since 1979 while real wages stayed about the same. compared to 1979, students face $26,000 per more -- more per year for private university, $11,000 more per year at a public university. the average rhode island college student has over $141,000 in student loan debt, the fourth highest in the country. we need to guarantee wrung people they can graduate from college debt free, that they can refinance existing debt at lower rates and we need to expand pell grants and other investments in higher educa

cicilline: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, this friday, april 22, is earth day, a time to remember our responsibility to be good stewards of this planet. and our urgent responsibility to respond to global climate change. 97% of climate scientists agree that human activity is causing global warming. the evidence is all around us. the last 11 months have been the hottest such months on record. sea levels have risen more than half a foot in the last century and comblaciers around the world are in re-- glaciers around the world are in restreet. we cannot afford to ignore this any longer. we must address climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. we must end the subsidies of big oil companies, take up the anti-drilling act which my colleague, mr. pallone, has introduced, take up h.r. 1814 to permanently re-authorize the land and wer cons

cicilline, for five minutes. mr. cicilline: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the armenian genocide. over the years in rhode island, i've spoken with many armenian americans who recounted the stories their parents, grandparents told them about living through the horror of the armenian genocide. even after 100 years, there is still a deep wound within the hearts of the armenian people. particularly as genocide and atrocious human rights violations continue to be used as weapons of war in the 21st century. today, hardly a week goes by without news of horrific human rights violations somewhere around the world. the first step to stop these abuses is to acknowledge them for what they are and then to confront them. and that's why it's important that the united states government finally recognize and call the armenian genocide what it is and what it was, a systematic attempt by the ottoman 'em empire to annihilate the armenian people. the challenges continue today for the people of armenia. ll of us know v

cicilline, mr. smith of washington and mr. paulson. finally, a great big thanks to our professional staff members who worked hard to bring this bill to the floor. joan c to ondon and -- condon and doug anderson. jackie barber at the ag ommittee, mark sinise, jen hlocombe and pierre totsi from my committee. this is truly a team effort and this will save lives and enhance everyone's life around the world who benefits from the program. so i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. engel: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of this measure and i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. engel: thank you. first, mr. speaker, let me thank our chairman, ed royce, and his staff, for their hard work on the bill and for bringing it forward. i'm a big supporter of this bill. and i think this again shows our committee, bipartisanship at its best. i also want to thank congre