mr. nields: proceed. mr.ields: colonel north, you were involved in two operations of great significance to the people of this country. is that correct? col. north: at least two, yes sir. mr. nields: and one of them involved the support of the contras during the time the boland amendment was in effect, and another one involved the sale of arms to iran. is that correct? col. north: yes, it also involved support for the democratic outcome in the nicaragua vote before and after the boland amendment was in effect. mr. nields: and these operations. they were covert operations? lt. col. north: yes, they were. that is correct. mr. nields: and covert operations are designed to be secrets from our enemies? but these operations were designed to be secrets from the american people? lt. col north: mr. nields, i'm at a loss as to how we could announce it to the american people and not have the soviets know about it. and i'm not trying to be flippant, but i just don't see how you could possibly do it. mr. nields: well, in f

mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i move the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1492. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 131, h.r. 1492, a bill to amend the controlled substances act to direct the attorney general to register practitioners to transport controlled substances to states in which the practitioner is not registered under the act for the purpose of ministering the substances under applicable state law at locations other than principal places of businesses or professional practice. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess, and the gentleman from texas, mr. green, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and insert remarks extraneous materials into the record on the bill, including an exchange of letters on the committee

mr. faso. mr. faso, no. mr. smuker. mr. smuker, no. mr. gase. mr. gase, no. mr. arrington. mr. arrington, no. mr. ferguson. mr. ferguson, no. mr. yarmouth. aye. ms. lee. ms. lujan grisham. ms. lujan grisham, aye. mr. molten. mr. molten, aye. mr. jeffries. mr. higgins. mr. higgins, aye. ms. delbene. ms. delbene, aye. mr. boyle, aye. mr. cona, aye. ms. jayapal, aye. mr. carbajal, aye. ms. jackson lee. ms. jackson lee, aye. ms. schakowsky, aye. madam chairman. >> no. >> madam chairman, no. >> clerk will call the roll. excuse me, are there any members who wish to vote or change their vote? if not, mr. jeffries. >> mr. jeffries, aye. >> the clerk shall report. >> madam chairman, on that vote, the ayes are 13 and the noes are 21. >> the noes have it and the amendment is not agreed to. >> the committee will now vote on the amendment offered by mr. boyle. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. >> amendment number three offered by representative boyle. >> clerk will call the roll. >> mr. akita. mr. akita, no. mr. diaz bullert, no. mr. cole. mr. mcclintock. mr. mcclintock, no. mr. woo

mr. tiberi: mr. speaker, it's a pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from tennessee, a valuable member of the health subcommittee of ways and means. as you have already heard from previous speakers, has an important provision in this bill. more porm brings the valuable training as a nurse who -- more importantly, brings the valuable training as a nurse who practiced before she came to congress. i yield to the gentlelady from tennessee, mrs. black. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. mrs. black: i thank my colleague for yielding two minutes to me on this very important issue. i also want to thank my micolleagues for working with me on this, both my colleague mr. meehan, mr. thompson, and ms.delbene, for working on a really important piece of legislation that's included in this package which will improve the quality of life for seniors on medicare across the country. and as previously said, i am a nurse. i have worked in the field for over 45 years. i'm pro

mr. roe: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 1690, as amended, the department of veterans affairs bonus transparency act. this bill would require the department of veterans affairs to submit an annual report to specified congressional committees on the performance awards and bonuses presented to senior executive service employees, s.e.s. employees. i believe if you do excellent work, you should receive a bonus. i also believe such a bonus should be justified and there should be some level of transparency regarding those who receive a bonus. i support congresswoman tenney's bill, and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee reserves. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. walz: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walz: mr. speaker, i rise support of h.r. 2006, the v.a. procurement and efficiency act. it would allow v.a. any costs and savings i

mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i'm here, mr. president, to oppose the nomination of john bush to the united states court of appeals for the sixth circuit. i've been a member of the judiciary committee since i was sworn in as a united states senator six years ago. i participated in dozens of confirmation hearings. over time i've become accustomed to hearing nominees attempt to dodge our questions. but i've rarely come across a nominee who was as reluctant to respond to my questions as john bush, and i've rarely felt so unsure and concerned about how a nominee would assume the responsibility of a federal judgeship if confirmed. and i should emphasize to my colleagues as well as to the people of connecticut, there is no nomination that i take more seriously than a federal judgeship, having been before numerous federal judges, district court judges, court of appeals judges and the united states supreme court on four occasions, and having seen as a law clerk as well as a practicing lawyer the normal impact and profound importance of

mr. hoyer: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition. mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, i ask animous consent to speak out of order for one minute for the purposes of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule for the week to come. e speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i thank you, mr. speaker. yield to my friend, the majority leader, mr. mccarthy from california. mr. mccarthy: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i ask unanimous consent to revise remarks.d my the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. speaker, on meet at e house will noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. postponed until 6:30. on tuesday and wednesday, the house will meet at 10:00 a.m. or morning hour and noon for legislative business. on thursday, the house will eet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. mr. speaker, the house will consider a number of suspensions next week. a complete list of which will be announced by close of us

mr. duncan: mr. speaker, this is the fourth year i have had the privilege of chairing the members and former members golf tournament to benefit war fighters sports and tee it up for the troops to charities that work with our most severely wounded warriors. this year we had our biggest urnout ever, well over 200 participants, including 35 severely wounded golfers. sometimes when i play golf an amputee tell me howdy, it could be unbelievable. it could be either way. the most unbelievable thing happened in this tournament. finally after many years of losses, we republicans decided to let the democrats win one year. so they won, the democrats won by four points and that's out of several thousand point system. it was a very close match. i want to offer my congratulations to my co-chairman, gene green, and thank every member and former member who participated. we had a great turnout. and i now yield to my colleague from texas, the gentleman from texas, mr. green. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. the spea

mr. serrano. mr. serrano yi. mr. simpson no. mr. store the no. mr. taylor no. mr. val dayio no. mr. vos closs ski yi. miss becauser man schultz yi. mr. womack no. mr. yoder no. mr. young, no. >> are there any members to wish to change their vote? >> mr. quigley. >> mr. quigley recorded yi. >> mr. rooney, you're recognized. no. >> mr. rooney recorded no. >> any further members? if not, the clerk will tally. on this vote the yeas are 22, the nays are 30. the amendment is not agreed to. further amendments? miss lee, excuse me. mr. aderholt recognized. >> i have an amendment at the desk. >> clerk will read. >> an amendment offered. >> unanimous consent. >> consider it read. gentleman recognized for five minutes. >> i rise to offer an amendment urge my colleagues to support it as many of you know this amendment is not new. it basically is one that has been passed for the last several years in this committee. the purpose of the language is simply to codify the policy that i.c.e. already follows. it is not codified in stout tute. this deals with abortion limitation. and so that will dealin

mr. lance: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of permanently authorizing the e-verify system and requiring u.s. employers to use the system to ensure their employees are eligible to be working in the united states. i am proud to be a partner with the united states senator grassley of iowa in offering legislation to do so entitled the accountability through electronic verification act. e-verify is a proven system for making sure job opportunities are for american workers. e-verify is a deterrent against illegal immigration. expanding it to new workplace also make sure legal american workers are not shut out of employment. 700,000 american businesses successfully use the e-verify system. there is no cost for the employer or employee to use e-verify, and our legislation will make sure that there are no costs passed on to businesses, their employees, or to customers. we should be considering practical solution that is remove incentives for illegal migration into the united states. we need e-verify up

mr. pokann aye. mr. quigley. mr. quigley? mrs. roby? mrs. roby, no. mr. rogers. mr. rogers, no. mr. rooney? mr. rooney? miss allard. mr. rupisberger, aye. mr. serrano, aye. mr. simpson? mr. simpson, no. mr. stewart. mr. stewart, no. mr. taylor, no. mr. valdeo. mr. viskcluskey. ms. wasserman schulz, no. mr. yoder, no. mr. young. mr. young, no. >> are there any members who wish to record the vote change? mr. quigley? >> mr. quigley recorded aye. mr. rooney, you are recognized. >> mr. rooney recorded no. >> any further members? if not, the clerk will tally. [inaudible] >> on this vote the yeas are 22, the nays are 30. the amendment is not agreed to. further amendments? >> mr. aderholt is recognized. >> the clerk will read. an amendment by, and consider it read. the gentleman is read for five minutes. >> i read off an amendment and urged by colleagues to support it. this amendment is not new. it basically is one that has been passed the last several years in this committee. the purpose of the language is to simply codify the policy that i.c.e. already follows. it is not codified in stat

mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. chairman. i rise today to urge the passage of the f.d.a. re-altogether zakes at. with -- re-authorization act. with this legislation we can modernize the f.d.a. and reduce the barriers to innovation and competition. if america's going to lead the world in biomedical innovation, we need an f.d.a. that can efficiently review and approve new drugs. the f.d.a. must act with the same urgency that patients feel waiting for cures. importantly, this bill includes a bipartisan provision that i authored with my colleague, kurt schrader, the provision uses free market policies to help spur the development of new generic drugs, increase competition, and combat high drug prices. i'm also pleased we are including the race for children act. an important provision to advance pediatric cancer research and development. with today's bills, we have an opportunity to truly make a difference for our families, our friends, our neighbors, and the millions of americans living with a deadly disease. let's get this done.

mr. burgess: mr. speaker, today i rise to speak in honor of our guest chaplain, marshall dunbar, of crossroads, texas. chaplain dunbar is the vice president of spiritual life and the interim vice president of christian community action, one of the largest private nonprofits in north texas. he has an extensive record of service to our country and to the north texas christian commuy action, one of the largest private community, ncluding years in active ilitary service, military service, law enforcement, and homeland security. chaplain dunbar was commissioned into the united states army reserve chaplain corps as a uni reserve chaplain corps as a chaplain candidate in 2011, beginning his chaplancy career at the v.a. hospital in dallas. in 2014 he ended his military career as a first lieutenant. chaplain dunbar hodes a b.s. in ministry and leadership from dallas christian college and master of divinity in chaplancy from the theological semairery. he's working towards his doctor of ministry degree in christ

mr. engel: mr. speaker, i now yield 1 1/minutes to one of my senior colleagues on the foreign affairs committee, the ranking member of the terrorism subcommittee, the gentleman from calirnia, mr. sherman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. sherman: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in strong support of this bill. which is really a combination of three bills. fir, as to north korea, it embodies a bill passed on this floor last month, introduced by chairman royce, ranking member engel, mr. yoho and myself, from the asia subcommittee. we will expand our sanctions on north korea's precious metals, minerals, jet fuel, coal, and across the board and especially banking sanctions, but keep in mind, malt matly we have got to force -- ultimately we have got to force china to decide whether they're going to support north korea or whether they're going to have access to american markets. we can't let them have both. as to iran, this bill designat

mr. ryan? mr. ryan? mr. serrano? aye. mr. mr. simpson? no. no. mr. mr. stewart, no. mr. taylor. mr. taylor no. mr. valedello, no. miss wasserman-schultz, aye. mr. yoder, no. mr. young? mr. young? no. >> >> members who wish to record their vote? mr. ryan? >> mr. ryan is recorded as an >> aye. >> mr. joyce, how would you like to be recorded? >> mr. joyce has record a no. y >> anyoneis further voting one y or another? if not the clerk will tally. ayes are 22, nays are 30. gree >> mr. chairman id have an >> will you amendment. >> will you consider it read by >>e clerk in time is yours, five >> minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman.tem f an item of great importance. repeated evidence over the past decade has shown -- may find this surprising. even though a lot of these jobs offer competitiveve wages, s of agricultural types, they're lly physically demanding, outdoors. you're subject to the elements. often seasonal or transitory. w it's been aork. concern for man years.co today, today, largefo segments of the i agriculture industry in our country means a critical lack o workers. commonly co

mr. olson: mr. speaker, first of all, i appreciate my colleague's challenge in the san joaquin valley. t very tough place with ozone. fresno county is extreme for ozone. the san joaquin valley. kern county, extreme for ozone. the san joaquin valley. kings county, extreme for ozone . san joaquin valley. madero county, extreme for ozone. merced county, extreme for ozone. an joaquin valley. san joaquin county, extreme for ozone. san joaquin valley. los angeles county, extreme for ozone. san joaquin valley. another county, extreme for ozone. san joaquin valley. that's a tough problem in the san joaquin valley. but your amendment does not think this problem in any way. under this bill the amount of resources that e.p.a. is needed to review proposed nonattainment designations in approving complex state imitation plans on the 2016 ozone standards will be greatly reduced. e.p.a. will do more with less. therefore, e.p.a. will be able to carry out the new requirements of this bill within existing authorizatio

mr. faso. mr. faso, no. mr. smuker. mr. smuker, no. mr. gase. mr. gase, no. mr. arrington. mr.arrington, no. mr. ferguson. mr. ferguson, no. mr. yarmouth. aye. ms. lee. ms. lujan grisham. mulujan grisham, aye. mr. molten. mr. molten, aye. mr. jeffries. mr. higgins. mr. higgins, aye. ms. delbene. ms. deelbene, aye. mr. boyle, aye. mr. cona, aye. ms. jayapal, aye. mr. carbajal, aye. ms. jackson lee. ms. jackson lee, aye. ms. schakowsky, aye. madam chairman. >> no. >> madam chairman, no. >> clerk will call the roll. excuse me, are there any members who wish to vote or change their vote? if not, mr. jeffries. >> mr. jeffries, aye. >> the clerk shall report. >> madam chairman, on that vote, the ayes are 13 and the noes are 21. >> the noes have it and the amendment is not agreed to. >> the committee will now vote on the amendment offered by mr. boyle. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. >> amendment number three offered by representative boyle. >> clerk will call the roll. >> mr. akita. mr. akita, no. mr. diaz bullert, no. mr. cole. mr. mcclintock. mr. mcclintock, no. mr. wooda

mr. ellison: mr. speaker, if the congress of the united states were to direct the department of defense to study and examine and scrutinize your religion, list leaders in their religion and teachers, to decide what was orthodox and unorthodox, you would be among, i don't know, the christian community, the jewish community, buddhist, hindu, and muslims. but only islam is selected out in the franks amendment. only one religion is done. mr. speaker, you select out one religion for particular scrutiny, to scrutinize their doctrine, to declare what's orthodox and unorthodox and identify teachers of it, you have simply abridged the free exercise of that religion. that's unconstitutional. nobody is saying you can't study terrorism. you can study what motivates people to commit acts of terrorism. and we should. but we don't. not equally. the fact is, this amendment singled out one religious group, it's wrong and it should be oted down. the chair: the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. franks: i reserve

mr. buck: mr. speaker, by the direction of the committee on rules, i call up h.r. 648 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk:resolved, that upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the joint resolution h.j.res. 111, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, united states code, of the rule submitted by bureau of consumer financial protection relating to arbitration agreements. all points of order against consideration of the joint resolution are waived. the joint resolution shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the joint resolution are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the oint resolution and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except, one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on financial services,

mr. higgins: mr. speaker, according to national environmental officials, for the first time this year toxic algae blooms have formed on the shores of lake erie. this toxic accumulation of algae represents a direct threat to the people of western new york. but they also threaten the surrounding great lakes communities representing 20% of the world's fresh water drinking supply. this past year toxic blooms have been so extreme that they have infiltrated clean drinkling water sources, turning one's clean waters into toxic swamps. these hazardous blooms threaten the local economy, which is dependent on fishing, recreation, and tourism. furthermore, they represent a critical danger to wildlife present on lake erie. at a time when the house is considering defunding environmental efforts, i would remind my colleagues of the tremendous progress that we have made to the great lakes restoration initiative to clean up our nation's lakes and rivers. this is no time to turn back. i yield back the balance of my tim

mr. portman? mr. reed? mr. reich? >> aye. >> mr. roberts? mr. rounds. >> aye. >> mr. rubio? mr.anders? >> no. >> mr. sasse? mr. schatz? >> no. >> mr. schumer? >> no. >> mr. scott? mrs. shaheen? >> no. >> mr. shelby? >> aye. >> miss stabenow? >> no. >> mr. sullivan? >> aye. >> mr. tester? >> no. >> mr. thune? mr. tillis? >> aye. >> mr. toomey. >> aye. >> mr. udall. >> no. >> mr. van hollen? >> no. >> mr. warner? >> no. >> ms. warren? >> no. >> mr. whitehouse? >> no. >> mr. wecker? >> aye. >> mr. wyden? >> no. >> mr. young? >> a . >> senators voting in the affirmative, alexander, barrasso, blunt, bowesman, bury, capito, cassidy, cochran, corker, cornyn, crapo, daines, enzi, ernst, fisher, flake, gardner, graham, grassley, hatch, hoven, inhofe, isackson, johnson, kennedy, lankford, lee, mcconnell, paul, purdue, portman, ratio, robert, rounds, rubio, scott, shelby, strange, sullivan, thune, tillis, toomey, wicker, young. senators voting in the negative, baldwin, bennett, blumenthal, booker, brown, cantwell, cardin, carper, casey, collins, coons, cortez masto, donnelly, duckworth, du

mr. daines: mr. president, i've listened to some of my closing sire to repeal and replace obamacare. and, yes, i do want to repeal and replace. but why? why are we doing this? repeal and replace is a means to an end. here is what i heard from so many montanans. i can sum it up into three things, one, lower costs, two, protect medicaid for the most vulnerable in our society, and, three, to protect those with preexisting conditions. some of my friends across the aisle want to see more government control of a family's health care decision, in fact, a complete government takeover, i believe we need less government control, not more government control. in fact, their gold standard for health care reform is really socialized medicine. it is called various things. some call it government-run health care, some call it single-payer health care, some call it medicare for all, but, in essence, it's socialized medicine. the amendment that i'm putting forward here today is cut and peaced -- pasted text. it is a c

mrs. lowey: mr. chairman, i am very pleased to yield six minutes to the gentlelady from ohio, ms. kaptur. the chair: the gentlelady from ohio is recognized for six minutes. ms. kaptur: thank you so very much. i wanted to thank ranking member lowey for the time and also thank chairman frelinghuysen on his maiden voyage. not his first voyage, but his first as chair of the full committee. and the members of our fine subcommittee, and especially the staff. i want to thank chairman simpson for his fine leadership and i value the hard work you put into this bill and your attitude throughout the whole process. i want to thank our staff on both sides of the aisle for the many hours of hard work and dedication. to tanya on our side and donna for the majority. and to t.j. on my own staff. i appreciate that the chairman has allowed robust funding to the corps of engineers, which translates into real jobs from coast-to-coast. and i also am pleased that this bill restores the more than $900 million that the admin

mr. shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to ddress the plight of the people of eyopia. they have a population of more han 25 million or 35% of eyopia's total population. i speak here on behalf of my dissent.ho is of the coalition is dedicated to bringing the suffering of the aromo people and others to bring the attention of americans and the world. she impressed me with her passion for defending the rights of her people and that's why i bring the issue to the people. they have been subject to deteriorating conditions for over a decade with a sharp decline since 2014 making already difficult situation even worse. the government has adopted laws restricting freedom of expression, association and assembly, including rights enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights and in the ethiopian constitution. these violations have been wildly decried by numerous bodies. our own state department has said the following about ethiopia, and i quote, it includes harassment and intimidation of opposition membe

mr. cooper? mr. cooper votes i. mr. rogers? mr. rogers votes i. mr. frank? mr. frank says i. mr. courtney? mr. courtney? mr. courtney votes no. mr. shuster? mr. shuster votes i. mr. conaway? mr. conaway votes i. mr. lamborn? mr. lamborn votes i. mr. whitman? mr. whitman votes i. mr. hunter? mr. hunter votes i. ms. gabbard? ms. gabbard? mr. kaufman? mr. kaufman votes i. mr. o'rourke? mr. or work votes no. mr. norcross? mr. norcross votes no. mr. scott? mr. scott votes i. mr. brooks? mr. brooks votes i. mr. moulton? mr. vote -- moulton votes no. mr. brydon stein? mr. brydon stein votes i. dr. winthrop? dr. winthrop votes i. mr. byrne? mr. byrne votes i. mr. graves? mr. graves votes i. mr. brown? mr. brown votes no. miss mech sally? sally? mech miss mech sally votes no. mr. connor? mr. cotter votes no. dr. desjarlais? dr. desjarlais votes i. dr. abraham? dr. abraham votes i. mr. kelly? mr. kelly votes i. mr. gates? mr. gates votes i. mr. bacon? mr. bacon votes i. gabbard? [inaudible] mr. chairman there are 305i votes. there are 26 no votes -- 305i votes, 26 no votes. >> -- if paymen

mr. engel: mr. speaker, i now yield 1 1/2 minutes to one of my senior colleagues on the foreign affairs committee, the ranking member of the terrorism subcommittee, the gentleman from california, mr. sherman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. sherman: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i rise in strong support of this bill. which is really a combination of three bills. first, as to north korea, it embodies a bill passed on this floor last month, introduced by chairman royce, ranking member engel, mr. yoho and myself, from the asia subcommittee. we will expand our sanctions on north korea's precious metals, minerals, jet fuel, coal, and across the board, and especially banking sanctions, but keep in mind, malt matly we have got to force -- ultimately we have got to force china to decide whether they're going to support north korea or whether they're going to have access to american markets. we can't let them have both. as to iran, this bill d

mr. russ -- mr. russell: mr. chairman, this amendment which affects the way the federal register is distributed to members' offices will save $1 million annually. the federal register contains a large amount of information including proposed rules and public notice , regulations, executived orers and president documents. this information is compiled by the great folks at the national archives, published daily by the government printing office or g.p.o. since 1994, the g.p.o. began publishing the federal register on line. to improve the user experience, the digital version has been enhanced over time and is now fully searchable and downloadable and is the preferred method that staffs and members use the register for quick access to any document. sadly despite these advances in technology, members of congress still receive printed copies of the register every day. this results in thousands of copies going directly into the trash. costing taxpayers $1 million annually. put another way, mr. chairman this means that a

mr. magnitsky, mr. browder's lawyer, uncovered the fraud and was eventually jailed and died under very suspicious circumstances. mr. browder worked with the u.s. congress to pass the magnitsky act to punish the officials involved with this and other human rights abuses. would you please stand serve, and -- do you swear -- let me start again. do you confirm that the testimony you are about to give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> i do. >> thank you, i would like to have you take several minutes, if you can -- we would like to save time for questions. so let's say, seven to eight minutes. >> chairman grassley, ranking member feinstein, and the committee, thank you for giving me this opportunity to tell my story about the russian campaign -- the vladimir putin campaign to repeal the magnitsky act in washington dc. i am william browder, founder and ceo of hermitage capital management, once the largest foreign investment advisor in russia.

mr. langevin: mr. chairman, this amendment is a blatant attack on use of alternative energy by the department of defense. so we have existing contracts right now for renewable energy, both liquid fuels and electricity at the department of defense and this amendment puts the brakes on those policies and bury them in a web of unnecessary requirements. requiring procurement managers to track all federal subsidies and cackstet -- tax credits would be a burden to the government and requiring suppliers to provide such information would be onerous, expensive and may in fact actually drive them away. also, this would result in less competition for contracts and higher costs to the department of defense and ultimately it's going to be higher cost then for the taxpayer somple most alarmingly, this amendment does not include any waivers for times of emergency when time sensitive purchase of readily available alternatives fight be imperative to completing the mission even if it's at a price point higher then the u

mr. blunt: mr. president, we're talking today, obviously, as we move into the final hours of this debate about the two mandates in the original affordable care act, the individual mandate, the employee mandate. certainly the individual mandate, both of these mandates, but i want to talk first about the individual mandate, was unprecedented in federal law. the idea that the federal government could tell somebody they had to buy a product and tell them what that product had to look like and have very little input on the price or competition is just something that the federal government had never done before. they didn't just set guidelines, didn't even just set subsidies, but actually a requirement to buy a product or pay a penalty. now, when this case got to the supreme court, the government was still arguing that it was a penalty and there was nothing wrong with that penalty until apparently they figured out that the court wanted to decide -- wanted to look at this as a tax because a penalty wouldn'

mr. schiff: mr. speaker, i rise to recognize my friend, archbishop hovnan derderian, of the western diocese of the armenian church of north america and to thank him for delivering the opening prayer on the house floor today. archbishop derderian has had a tremendous impact on people of all faiths and has played a vital role in the religious and civic life of millions. since his election as primate in 2003, archbishop derderian has been a dedicated relimmingidgeous servant for the thousands who look to him for guidance, managing a diocese which covers the western united states. in the large armenian american diaspora community i represent, afternoon beneficiary op derderian is a steadfast voice for the values of faith, family that are at the core of their perseverance and strength. archbishop derderian and the diocese have rallied support for aid for armenia, for refugees fleeing the horrors of fleeing syria and the wars in iraq. thank you, archbishop, for what you do to make our community and nation

mr. carbajal: mr. chair, i want to thank all my colleagues for their leadership and work on this important amendment to strike this harmful rider, to prevent implementation of the national ocean policy. the national ocean policy ensures we are able to implement marine planning efforts based on management components of the national ocean policy. it also allows coordination between federal agencies, to make sure they are working in a collaborative manner to improve our oceans' health. this bring all stakeholders together, including conservationists, fishermen, scientists, shipping companies, and those who live and work in our ocean communities. and it will allow them to have a voice in finding solutions for effective management of our oceans. healthy, sustainable ecosystems and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. that is why we need to make sure we strike this harmful rider. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time.

mr. hoyer: mr. speaker, yesterday we watched as senator john mccain returned to the capitol after having been diagnosed with cancer and undergoing a serious operation. all of us are praying for his swift and full recovery. in earlier days as we all know, he faced danger with courage. he's doing the same again right now. from spoke yesterday the senate floor, he talked about a time when legislators, republicans and democrats, despite their differences, worked together from to make progress. all be it incremental. on -- albeit incremental. on major issues through discussion and compromise. the recent s do i tendency to seek total partisan victory or nothing at all. something we see as much in the house as in the senate. senator tendency to seek total partisan victory or nothing at all. something we mccain said this, quote, we have been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. e concluded in that paragraph, nothing

mr. costa: mr. speaker, i rise to speak about the american dream and those who need protection who are striving to fulfill it. these are individuals who've come to this country as children and infants. through no fault of their own. and america is the only country they have ever known. in essence they are americans. recognizing these realities, deferred action for childhood arrivals program was created in 2012. otherwise known as daca. since that time, daca has granted hundreds of thousands of young immigrants the stability and the protection needed to pursue a college degree and seek employment, to be part of america's future. if we eliminate daca these students could see their pursuit of the american dream swept away, beneath them. in california, san joaquin valley alone, this could happen to 500 students at the university of california-merced, that i represent as well as over 1,000 students at fresno state university. some here in washington plan on trying to eliminate daca in coming months, and

mr. wilson: mr. speaker, tomorrow marks two years since the previous administration capitulated to the dangerous iran deal. a one-sided agreement that rewarded the regime in tehran with a $1.7 billion ransom of pallettes of unmarked currency for four hostages and put our ally, including israel, at risk. the iran deal emboldened the authoritarian regime. just last month u.s. ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley, correctly pointed out that tehran has engaged in destructive and destabilizing actions. by testing ballistic missiles and engaging in arms smuggling. is week senators tom cotton, marco rubio, ted cruz, and david perdue sent a letter to secretary of state rex tillerson urging him not to certify iran's compliance with the deal as the deadline approaches. refusing to certify the compliance with the deal would send a clear message that president donald trump is committed to peace through strength and refuses to comply with a ridiculous deal that puts american families at risk. in conclusion, god bl

mr. schumer: mr. president, according to the majority leader, there won't be a vote on the motion to proceed to the health care bill until next week. in the time between now and then, my republican friends have a choice to make about how they want to move forward on what looks like will be a failed vote. do they want to take the path of president trump who yesterday said he wanted our health care system to fail. or do they want to work with democrats on legislation to improve the law? it's that simple. we democrats know that the affordable care act isn't perfect, and we proposed specific legislation that could pass right now to stabilize marketplaces and lower premiums for americans across the country. these proposals are specific, nonideological and could pass quickly and make life better for millions of americans. a decent number of republican governors and even senators have said that these are the kinds of proposals we need. here they are: first, we propose to build by senator shay senator shaheen

the chair now recognizes mr. barr. mr. barr: thank you, mr. chairman. chairwoman yellen, welcome back. in terms of the plan and in terms of portfolio composition and balance sheet normalization, why does your plan contemplate rolling off treasury securities at a faster pace than mortgage bonds? chairman yellen: so, the differences are relatively slight. my expectation is although one can't be certain of what the prepayments of principal will be on mortgage backed securities that ultimately our caps on reinvestment of mortgage backed securities will not be binding. that they will only come into play in exceptional circumstances. so once we phased in those caps i don't expect them to be binding. the treasury market is very deep in liquid. it's a huge market. we're -- our intention in gradually phasing up these caps is to avoid disruption. mr. barr: thank you for that. this gets to the question of credit allocation. let me move on to the issue of and the feds' use of interest on exselves reserves as a monetary policy tool. the fed is now paying banks, 1.4%

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the legislation i just laid down is called the health care freedom act, and it restores freedom to americans that obamacare took away. it does so in a number of ways. first, the health care freedom act repeals the core pillars of obamacare. it eliminates the so-called individual mandate that forces many americans to buy obamacare insurance they don't want, can't afford, or can't use. and taxes those who don't. it also repeals the employer mandate that cuts hours, take-home pay and job opportunities for workers. second, the health care freedom act provides significant new flexibility to states. the health care freedom act gives states just the kind of flexibility they need to implement reforms that provide more options for consumers to buy the health insurance they actually want. these reforms also help make insurance more affordable and flexible, so it's something americans actually want to buy. finally, the health care freedom act frees americans from obamacare in several

mr. casey: mr. president, i have a motion to commit at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. casey moves to commit the bill to the committee on finance with instructions to report the same back to the senate within three days with changes within the jurisdiction of such committee to strike provisions in the american health care act of 2017 that would harm individuals with disabilities as defined in the americans with disabilities act of 1990 by reducing their access to affordable health care or limiting coverage or benefits under medicaid or in the private health insurance market. mr. casey: mr. president, first i want to thank my friend from indiana, senator donnelly, for his remarks this afternoon and also for his efforts to help to protect and preserve medicaid so that hundreds of thousands of people in our states and across the country can live -- i should say continue to live in the community. mr. president, i want to point out today that this is the 27th annive

mr. mcclintock: mr. chairman, we have no objection to this amendment and want to thank the gentleman from fresno, california, for his constructive contribution to this process. i yield back. mr. costa: i thank the gentleman. the chair: the gentleman reserves. does any member claim the time in opposition? the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. costa: yes, i yield one minute to the gentleman. the chair: you have 30 seconds remaining. mr. costa: i yield 30 seconds. mr. mccarthy: this is a commonsense amendment -- mr. huffman: this is a commonsense amendment that recognizes the potential groundwater represents. this is one of the most important tools in our toolbox. we know hydrology will be less certain because of climate change. it will make droughts across our country more frequent and severe. this amendment will help make sure we're taking the appropriate steps to prepare and so i want to thank my colleague for this forward-thinking amendment and support its adoption. with that i yield. the cha

mr. spencer, we think you for training us this morning and we welcome your family and friends with us today as is our tradition at the beginning of your testimony we invite you to introduce those who are joining him. it is standard for this committee to ask certain questions in order to exercise its legislative and oversight responsibility. it is upon that this committee and other committees are able to receive testimony and briefings and other communications and information. so i'm going to ask you the standard questions we ask every nominee before this committee. you adhered to -- >> yes. >> will you ensure your stuff complies to requests for communications including questions for the record and hearings question marks >> i will. >> will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefers in response to congressional's request? >> i will. >> will those witnesses be protected from reprisal? >> they will. >> do agree to appear to testify before the committee on request? >> i do. >> do agree

mr. speaker. i would also like to think the chairman of the committee for his hard work and his defense of those that where it the uniform ,nd take on that tough task especially in these tough and troubling times of financial austerity where he stood up and let everyone know that the military has been cut significantly and the impact on our national security. in that vein, my goal with this amendment is to prioritize those resources on those that pose an immediate and direct threat to our national security. would strike the requirement for the secretary of defense to submit a report on the vulnerability to military installations. change over the next 20 years. i'm not here to debate climate change, whether it's real or whether it's not, how it's created, how we fix it, all that stuff, that's for another day. my point is that this shouldn't be the priority of combatant commanders an our military. the united states military is currently operating in a very complex threat environment in whic

mr. inhofe: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call in progress be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, the -- some really big things are happening right now that are going under the radar, and people are not aware of it. but one of them is the fact that the obama war on fossil fuels is officially over now, and good things are happening. this coincides with the time when we have a shale revolution. we have a situation where we are actually having -- reviving an industry that has been pushed for the last eight years. the oil and gas accounts for over 5% of the jobs in the entire country, accounts for over $1 trillion of economic impact in the u.s.'s gross domestic product. in my state of oklahoma, the industry directly employs nearly 150,000 people, and each of those jobs support more than two additional jobs in the state. and thanks to, for the election of, to the

mr. heck: thank you, mr. chairman. my amendment is about tackling a problem that affects every single one of us in every single one of our district, and that is storm water. most of us don't think about it much but frankly when rain falls, it does a lot of that in the northwest, and close to our streets, off the shoulders of our highways it picks up all sorts of pollutants and we're talking about nasty stuff. toxic chemicals like cars nick and flame retardants and oils an pesticides. stop and think. the single largest contributor of water pollution in the united states of america is storm water runoff. up to 8 0% in some places. toxic storm water runoff harm ours rivers and lakes and water ways. it not only harm ours environment, it harm ours businesses that depend on clean water. like the shellfish industry of washington state which employs thousands of people. in puget sound, the largest estuary in america, storm water runoff literally can kill a salmon in a few hours. salmon and other fish are a way of life in washi

mr. nadler: mr. speaker, my amendment would strike section 1022 of the bill that prohibits the transfer or release of prisoners from guantanamo bay, cuba, to the united states. we are currently imprisons 41 people at guantanamo. 26 of whom are being detained indefinitely without charge or trial work no proceedings, no hearings, no opportunity to plead their case, essentially forever. beyond existing as an affront to fundamental american values, guantanamo is a dangerous, counterproductive relic of the past. national security experts and our own military commanders agree that guantanamo harm ours national security by serving as a recruiting tool for terrorists and damaging our relationships with allies. furthermore, it is increasingly difficult to justify the annual cost of holding each guantanamo detainee, which has now climbed to an incredible $10 million a year per detainee. guantanamo is now the most expensive prison on earth, costing u.s. taxpayers approximately $445 million per year. this is esp

and welcome mr. lavergne. mr. simpson, the first thing i'm put on the record the notice of this hearing advise you are rights and ask you if you recognize nor signature for me, please. >> yes. i believe -- yes. >> okay. thank you. having recognized your signature i declare for the record you've been properly noticed and we'll go forward. i am chairman bisbee. with me this morning to the right is commissioner andal. to my left is commissioner jackson and to her left is commissioner porta. we're seeing you this morning. >> sorry. >> on an aggravated case sentence and that is cases number c-237890, count 9 assaults with a deadly weapon. c-23780 the 6 use of deadly weapon enhanesment. c-237890 count 10 assault with a deadly weapon. c-237890, count five use of a deadly weapon enhancement. c-237890 count eight use of a deadly weapon enhancement. c-237890 count 7 use of a deadly weapon enhancement and one of the things i want you to make make you aware, those enhancements include both to the kidnapping and the robbery ch

mr. thornberry: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from california, mr. rohrabacher. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. rohrabacher: i rise in support of a very important part of this en bloc proposal which is filled with important parts. dr. fritti is a pakistani doctor who risked his life to help our special forces identify the hiding place of osama bin laden, the planner and command ore they have slauth over 3,000 americans on 9/11. dr. afriti, clearly an american hero, has languished in a pakistani dunfor the past six years and has been sentenced to spend another two decades in captivity. he's a courageous hero, he's not forgeten, his plight is not ignored. tonight i'm pleading that this language be retained in the final version of this en bloc amendment. this man is suffering for us. may he -- making my amendment in order acknowledges his sacrifice and demands pakistan authorities release him immediately. if we turn our backs on such

thank you, mr. president. mr. corker: mr. president. mr. schumer: leader time. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. and last year, we know the united states was the victim of an attack by a foreign power in the very foundation of this dear democracy, the right of the people to a free and fair election. the consensus view of 17 agencies is that mr. putin interfered in the 2016 election. for that alone, the united states has more than just cause to sanction president putin and intelligence -- putin, an intelligence apparatus he directs. but to date, mr. putin and his allies have not suffered serious repercussions for this stunning breach of our right as a sovereign nation not to have our elections disturbed by a foreign capital. that all changes today. congress has drafted this sanctions bill to hold mr. putin accountable for his actions and to send a message to him and the rest of the world, any further attempts to degrade our democracy will meet further sanctions and action. we will not stand by

mr. carr: yes. sen. gardner: mr. carr we are , facing a spectrum crunch as more opt to stream video and use other intensive applications over there mobile wireless. the economy benefits from billions of dollars annually being invested in expanding access to commercial spectrum and seeing platforms and devices develop over the airwaves, and i think we have to have a mix of low band, mid band and high band spectrum to continue this incredible economic progress. and so mr. carr, do you believe it's important for congress to promote the benefits of establishing a spectrum pipeline to highlight the need for continuing to free up spectrum for commercial use through relocation and better coordination among incumbents? mr. carr: thank you, senator. yes, i do. when you look at, you know, data traffic from 2010 to 2016, some estimates say it's grown 35 times over that period of time. so i think we need an all-of-the-above approach. i think your efforts and those of congress on a spectrum pipeline would be very welcome. sen. ga