that young woman is our friend and congressman martha mcsally. [applause] martha is one of the historic 104 women, i see many in the room, serving in these halls of congress. and making history in our own way. while we come from different backgrounds and have different disagreements at times, we have one thing in common. we are breaking down barriers for our daughters and their daughters' daughters. from the first woman to represent their state to women who have made dramatic care -- career changes from the trailblazers to innovators to passionate advocates for the voiceless. to lifelong public servants and women who went from secretary to the corner office. we honor you and we thank you. all of us in leadership positions are showing to girls around this country that with hard work, they can achieve anything. no dream is too big, no goal to far-fetched. what i believe as a lawmaker is what i believe as a mother of two young girls. we should not be defined by where we come from. but empowered but wait -- by what we can become. let's focus on a brig

. >> arizona congresswoman martha mcsally served 26 years in the u.s. air force retiring as a colonel with six deployments to the middle east including iraq and afghanistan, she holds the distinction of being the first female to fly an attack plane. mcsally currently serves on the armed services and homeland security. "war stories" sat down with her in a park in tucson. >> 30,000 have flown in. we know of 250 americans and about 5,000 or so are from western countries. isis took over territory and declared a caliphate in june of '14. they own territory about the size of indiana. in addition areas in libya and other ungoverned spaces that they're trying to continue to expand to. >> isis has all be erased the borders between iraq and syria that were drawn up after world war i by a british diplomat. >> the thrust of the strategy has got to be cutting off their heads. we've got to to cut off their heads figuratively. >> up next, general joe dunford, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff joins us to lay out a path of victory. you'll also meet a very brave man

i'd like to congratulate my dear friend and colleague, congresswoman martha mcsally, sitting right in front of me, the first woman pilot in the u.s. air force to fly combat missions, who led this effort. i am humbled to represent a die verse south florida community, home to some of these women trail blazers, like -- trailblazers, like ruth, bea, as well as the late francis and helen. i am so glad that we helped them to bring them back the right to lay at arlington cemetery if they wish to do so. i'm truly honored, mr. speaker, to have joined congresswoman mcsally, and i thank those who joined us in this valiant effort. hank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek ecognition? the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. for what purpose does gentlelady from florida. >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, today i rise as a proud daughter to talk about a matter of government transparency. the families of those who lost their lives on septe

. >>> arizona republican congress, martha mcsally with us. you were at today's hearing, what do you think of some of the pitches that the tsa was making? more money. reprioritizing things? where do you stand on all of this? >> they need to be using the manpower they have far more efficiently. admiral neffinger has been there less than a year. he inherited a dysfunctional corporation. things like, we have behavior detection officers who are trained to monitor people's behavior and identify where there might be some risks and how they're behaving. they end up standing in the backs of the lines and watching. we want them to be right up front. the ones checking the i.d.s, the tickets, right when you engage with them. that will put more agents right there serving the communities, making sure we're secure, and people are not waiting for hours in order to get on the airplane. this is one of the elements. the one i brought up today was, it's been reported that we've got difficult challenges in the manning, but we have a bunch of tsa agents that are s

. >> joining me the first female combat pilot arizona congresswoman martha mcsally and air force pilot and illinois pilot adam kensinger. should he row sign. >> no. i don't think so. extremely insensitive. he should know better being being a veteran himself. caring for those who served those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice when we have eaten and uncovered that many veterans died while waiting in line for care. is he at the helm of this organization trying to turn it around? comparing it to disney land is really outrageous. he should have right away realized his mistake. he should have apologized right away. he needs to get back to caring for our veterans. >> is he the right guy for the job shall? >> it's interesting. he was brought in under a resignation of the prior secretary for the same issue the wait lines. that's been a big problem. i don't know if the comment rises to the level of resignation, but i think it's indicative of a bigger problem. have you great caregivers of the v.a. the front lines, the nurses, the doctors, everything else. it's this cold, heartless bureaucrac

i thank congresswomen martha mcsally and susan davis for their leadership spearheading this bill in the house. on the heels of pearl harbor, these trail blazing women bucked the status quo and made tremendous sacrifices for this nation. they joined ground breaking flight training programs for women, flying noncombat service missions for the army air force to free their male counterparts for combat duty overseas. the wasps willingly put their lives on the line for this country during a time of war. this work wasn't easy and certainly contained peril. in fact, 38 wasps died in service to our great country during world war ii. their sacrifice and love for this nation deserves to be celebrated and always remembered. iowa was at one time or another home to at least 25 cage rouse wasp. while they were eventually granted veterans status in 1977, it was not until 2002 that the army allowed these women to have their ashes placed in arlington national cemetery with full military honors. in 2015 that honor was inexplicably and wrongly revoked by the army. with less noon a hundred wasps still livin

helped introduce bipartisan legislation along with senator barbara mikulski and congresswomen martha mcsally and susan davis to ensure the wasp ashes could be inurned at arlington national cemetery. a seemingly simple thing, that means so much. this congress passed this legislation honoring these historic women and it is now law. now, this congress is getting to work on the national defense authorization act. this legislation includes measures to make sure our men and women have access to the top equipment and training they need on the battlefield. the ndaa includes many critical provisions to help keep our military members safe so they do return home to their families. we've already gotten to work on the ndaa, and later this summer, the senate will consider the defense appropriations act. these measures will provide some level of certainty to our brave service members now serving in iraq, afghanistan and in other places around the world. as memorial day approaches, let us pause and remember all of the men and women who have given their lives so we can be free. let's pause and honor the fami