babin is recognized. representative babin: thank you all you witnesses for being here today. thank you ms. craddick for your leadership of the railroad commission of texas. texas has provided about 50% of the jobs in the country over the last six years. and i think fracking has been a huge contributor to that. in more ways than one. but i represent the 36th district in texas, in southeast texas. there was an incident in 2012 where an individual claimed that the water from their garden hose lit on fire. it turns out that a texas district court found out that the individual had coordinated this stunt with an environmental activist to deceive. in this case the hose was attached to the gas line. how does your commission respond to these types of claims when you hear about this? ms. craddick: if somebody complains that they believe their well -- water is on fire, we're going to go out there and inspect it first and foremost. get the facts. if there really is a problem we're going penalize and enforce, make sure there is remediation for the problem and penize or enforce the rules t

babin is recognized. representative babin: thank you all you witnesses for being here today.ou ms. craddick for your leadership of the railroad commission of texas. texas has provided about 50% of the jobs in the country over the last six years. and i think fracking has been a huge contributor to that. in more ways than one. but i represent the 36th district in texas, in southeast texas. there was an incident in 2012 where an individual claimed that the water from their garden hose lit on fire. it turns out that a texas district court found out that the individual had coordinated this stunt with an environmental activist to deceive. in this case the hose was attached to the gas line. how does your commission respond to these types of claims when you hear about this? ms. craddick: if somebody complains that they believe their well -- water is on fire we're going to go out there and inspect it first and foremost. get the facts. if there really is a problem, we're going penalize and enforce, make sure there is remediation for the problem and penize or enforce the rules that we h

babin of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 2 23, the gentleman from texas and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas for five minutes. mr. babin: thank you, mr. chairman. let me begin by saying i strongly support programs and operations funded by the defense nuclear nonproliferation section of the underlying bill. keeping loose nuclear materials especially from places like the former soviet union states out of the hands of america's enemies is one of the most important duties of the department of energy. and the federal government as a whole. that being said, congress has the obligation to set requirements and criteria for every dollar of taxpayer money that we spend. especially funds that are sent or used overseas. in fact, my colleagues on the appropriations committee already exercised this judgment with an additional provision in their bill that is very similar to the amendments that i will be offering today. section 307 of the u

babin is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman, appreciate it. and chairman craddick for your leadership. thank you all you witnesses for being here today. thank you ms. craddick for your leadership of the railroad commission of texas. texas has provided about 50% of the jobs in the country over the last six years. and i think fracking has been a huge contributor to that. in more ways than one. but i represent the 36th district in texas, in southeast texas. there was an incident in 2012 where an individual claimed that the water from their garden hose lit on fire. as it turned out, a texas district court found out that the individual had coordinated this stunt with an environmental activist to deceive. in this case the hose was attached to the gas line. how does your commission respond to these types of claims when you hear about this? >> if somebody complains that they believe their well -- water is on fire, we're going to go out there and inspect it first and foremost. get the facts. if there really is a problem, we're going penalize and enforc

babin of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 223, the gentleman from texas, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. babin: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise to offer an amendment to terminate the v.a.'s abused appraised value offer program. so that these funds can be used to better serve the needs of our nation's veterans rather than v.a. bureaucrats. the v.a. spent nearly 300,000 -- $300,000 of taxpayer money to move a v.a. employee 140 miles. specifically from washington, d.c. to philadelphia. that's $300,000 that could have been used to care for numerous deserving veterans who have served this nation in uniform. but instead was spent to move someone 140 miles. at the request of the house veterans' affairs committee, the department of veterans affairs office of inspector general is investigating this abuse. and here is what we've learned so far. under the v.a.'s appraised value offer program, the v.a. paid more than $80,000 to one of

babin: today the house will pass a series of bills to end this abuse and we invite the u.s. senate and the president to join us. our bills will protect the hardworking taxpayers and hold the i.r.s. employees accountable. we create a taxpayer bill of rights, ensuring the american taxpayers are treated with the respect that they deserve. we will take steps to end the politicization of the i.r.s. which abusively and illegally targeted conservative american citizens from lost emails to refusing to testify before congress the i.r.s. abuses must end. i urge my colleagues to support these commonsense bills to bring transparency and accountability to this run away agency. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. hahn: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in solidarity with the nigerian people who are still

babin: as we celebrate 179 years of freedom, let us remember the brave texas heroes who concurred the mexican forces -- conquered the mexican forces this day. may we also remember the significant sacrifices made by so many during the texas revolution. to achieve the freedoms and liberties that we proudly enjoy today in our great lone star state. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pascrell: as the united states continues to work with japan to promote peace and prosperity throughout the asia-pacific region, and the broader global community it's my hope that the prime minister visit his -- his visit next week will lay the foundation for healing and humble reconciliation by addressing the historical issue of the comfort woman. i looked for to hearing from the prime minister as japan is a close friend and ally, as is south korea. we want to encourage our close friends and allies to communicate foster abi