mcsally: great. mr. cox, i asked the admiral something that was troubling that i discovered this week which is we have instances of at least 250 through april that have been reported where t.s.a. agents have been pulled away from their primary mission which is the security of air travel and the efficiency and safety of passengers and air travel to support things like presidential campaign rallies and we've heard reports of other events, concerts and sporting events. this is nowhere in their core competency. can you comment on your perspective when someone signs up to be a t.s.a. agent and t.s.o., are they expected to be at a campaign rally or are they expected to be doing their core mission and how you all feel about that? mr. cox: we expected them to do their core mission, to do their core work. as with any situation, y do understand the workers don't get to drive the train. they just show up and do what the boss man tells them to do. i know our t.s.o.'s, they want to be at the airport doing their missi

mcsally introduce her friend from the tucson airport. ms. mcsally. >> thank you, chairman katko. i really appreciate you being my wingman on this issue and many issues and letting me join this hearing today. i'm grateful for you inviting bonnie allen to testify this morning. bonnie is the president and ceo of the tucson airport authority responsible for promoting aviation services and related economic development for southern arizona, including operations and maintenance of the tucson international airport and ryan airfield where she has firsthand experience on the challenges related to tsa staffing. bonnie began her career in aviation in 1976 with the tucson airport authority then moved to texas where she worked for corpus christi international, ending her tenure as director of aviation. she holds the designation of accredited airport executive and is the past chairman of international association of airport executives. glad to have bonnie with us today and i yield back. >> ms. allen, you're up. >> thank you, representative mcsally, for the introduction. good morning chairman ka

representative mcsally.t is a privilege to appear before you this morning to discuss tucson's challenges with passenger screening wait times. mr. chairman and members, thank you for your leadership on airport security and the protection of our passengers. representative mcsally, thank you for your leadership and protecting tucson international airport in southern arizona. i was fortunate to participate in last week's round table, which you mentioned, mr. chairman, and the discussion, and truly appreciative of the time and attention you're devoting to understanding the causes of checkpoint processing delays and your efforts to seek both short and long-term solutions. safety and security of our people, property and aircraft are the highest priority. for those of you unfamiliar with tucson international airport, we are an origination and destination airport. therefore less than 5% of our passengers connect through, instead all are screened by local t.s.a. historical wait times average 10 to 15 minutes with our

mcsally introduce her friend from the tucson airport. ms. mcsally. >> thank you, chairman katko. i really appreciate you being my wingman on this issue and many issues and letting me join this hearing today. i'm grateful for you inviting bonnie allen to testify this morning. bonnie is the president and ceo of the tucson airport authority responsible for promoting aviation services and related economic development for southern arizona, including operations and maintenance of the tucson international airport and ryan airfield where she has firsthand experience on the challenges related to tsa staffing. bonnie began her career in aviation in 1976 with the tucson airport authority then moved to texas where she worked for corpus christi international, ending her tenure as director of aviation. she holds the designation of accredited airport executive and is the past chairman of international association of airport executives. glad to have bonnie with us today and i yield back. >> ms. allen, you're up. >> thank you, representative mcsally, for the introduction. good morning chairman ka

. >> 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

mcsally: ask uke to dress the house for one minute and revise and extend. opioids epidemic is tearing our communities apart. many know the pain of losing a loved one. nobody or no family is immune. we have an jow dose rate twice as high as any other county in arizona. southern arizona's close proximity to the border exascerbates this problem as more and more come flowing into our communities. reports show that between 2010 and 2015, heroin seizures spiked by more than 300%. too many lives have been ruined, which is why we must act. the house is voting on 18 bills to take steps such as launching programs and evidence-based alternatives and increasing the availability of life saving drugs. this is to stop the rise of opioids epidemic. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek reckniss? >> permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized for one mi

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 bri

representative mcsally. it is a privilege to appear before you this morning to discuss tucson's challenges with passenger screening wait times. mr. chairman and members, thank you for your leadership on airport security and the -- security and the protection of our passengers. representative mcsally, thank you for your leadership and protecting tucson international airport in southern arizona. i was fortunate to participate in last week's round table, which you menged, mr. chairman, -- mentioned, mr. chairman, and the discussion, and truly appreciative of the time and attention you're devoting to understanding the causes of checkpoint processing delays and your efforts to seek both short and long-term solutions. saferte and security of our people, property and aircraft are the highest priority. for those of you unfamiliar with tucson international airport, we are an origination and destination airport. therefore less than 5% of our passengers connect through, instead all are screened by local t.s.a. historic

. >>> 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

miss mcsally, you should have not left homeland. i see more now -- >> the chair came to another subcommittee. >> well, we miss you there. >> i am here, baby. >> all right. >> the committee stands adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> coming up, the centers for disease control director tom friedman on the efforts to put the zika virus. after that, we join the presidential candidates on the road. first, remarks by presidential candidate hillary clinton in san jose, california. that is followed by senator bernie sanders, speaking to supporters inventor of, california. -- in ventura, california. >> this memorial day weekend, book tv features three days of nonfiction books and authors. here are some programs to watch for. on saturday at 10:00 p.m. eastern, democracy now host amy goodman interviews the author about her new book "sleeping giant." on sunday at 10:15 a.m. ea

mcsally. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. mcslail: thank you, ranking member smith. mr. speaker, i rise today in strong opposition to this proposed amendment, although i have respect for my colleague here, my teammate, i have strong reservations and opposition to this amendment. this amendment is a solution in search of a problem. it would delay critical capabilities to the to the war fighter and would be costly to the taxpayer. only two missile programs use international motor, both made by our friend norway. if enacted prime contractors will have to pause production of critical tactical missiles and spends tens of millions of dollars in compliance costs to certify an alternative product that does not currently exist. what's more, while we wait for the second company to develop a working product line, we'll slow production of missiles needed by war fighters today. the history for why past programs have used international motors is important to keep in mind. in 2011, after a history of success, the amram missile a crital air-to-hair missile, and as a fighter pilot i know

mcsally. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you admiral neffenger. at the beginning of your testimony you said your first point of focus is a focus on the mission. i pulled up your mission statement for tsa and it says protect the nation's transportation systems to insure freedom of movement for people and commerce. i've been reading reports your agents in the midst of the crisis of making sure the increasing terrorism threat that people are able to fly safe. we don't have another terrorist attack in america. and that also people are able to move quickly to get to where they need to be. but i've seen reports that your agents are being pulled to support things like presidential campaign events, concerts, sporting events, and other things. i don't see that anywhere within your core mission and your core responsibilities. so my first question is, under what authority is tsa screening americans on their way into a sporting, concert or presidential campaign rally? where does that fit into the priorities? of everything we've heard today about the importanc

mcsally: she also will be remembered for her love of nature and substantial conservation efforts. thanks to her, generations of people from across our country will continue to be able to come to southern arizona and experience the breath taking land escapes that we call home. she is truly someone who's impact and legacy will live far on beyond her years and someone who will be deeply missed by many in our community. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from arizona yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. lee: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to challenge this house to live up to our constitutional duty to debate the ongoing war in the middle east. for nearly two years our brave service men and women have been fighting yet another war. as they face snipers and mortar rounds, some claim they are not in combat. how can we claim this is not combat? and worse, how can we ask them to go to war when congress cannot even

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