mr. mcgovern: i yield to mr. pascrell. mr. pascrell: mr. chairman, i appeal to you to make this an urgent issue. urgency i think is very critical here. so i rise in opposition to the previous question so we can consider the homeowner flood insurance affordability act. in the wake of hurricane sandy, over 74,000 national flood insurance claims were submitted in new jersey from policy holders. $3.5 e, the nfip has paid billion in sandy claims and has served as a lifeline to thousands of new jersey residents whose lives were turned upside by the storm. the funds paid out through those claims have helped our neighbors rebuild homes, businesses, regardless of what political affiliation, persuasion. we were all affected by this. estimates indicate that the total cost of sandy will be $12 n $5 billion and billion. so it is true that we need to make changes to make sure that the nfip remains solvent. the rollout of the 2012 reforms to nfib have issues. i'm hearing from constituents in little ferry particularly, which were devastated by sandy. this

mr mcgovern into is a lawful peaceful free speech activities his writings his associations the groups that he works with and then they issued be on the lookout alert which is it merely to look out for him the alert explicitly directs that he be stopped and questioned so it's a fourth amendment seizure it's for purely peaceful unlawful activities they are directing that law enforcement stop and seize mr mcgovern in question now i do want to mention that we contacted the state department for comment their press officer told us not too long ago we cannot comment on matters currently in litigation so they're not really saying anything at this point but it sounds like you believe that he was targeted purely for his political views well we can tell that he was targeted for his political views because the actual document we have states in the document that mr mcgovern has engaged in considerable amount of political activism primarily anti war those of their own words throughout this we were able to find that the open in this intelligence investigation they kept it open for seven months even

part in some of that video but but what happened on that day is very important because all the mr mcgovern did and his you know well known peace activist a former cia analyst who used to do the president's daily briefings but he became outspoken about the whole foods that were being put together by intelligence to justify war in iraq and after the speech was then secretary clinton all he did was stand absolutely silently internees back that is all he did and then he was brutally grabbed he was he was roughed up you see the injuries now the be on the lookout alert we discovered was issued after that we don't believe was issued beforehand but as a result of this completely peaceful act of dissent he was put on this the on the lookout one ask this because you would think it was a secret document how did you get ahold of that how did he learn that he was on this list well what we did is we undertook an investigation of the partnership for civil justice fund trying to get documents related to the arrest and other materials and what we found were able to eventually get in and took quite some tim

they are directed along forced to stop and sees mr mcgovern in question. i don't imagine that we contacted the state department for comment at their press officer told the sun too long ago we cannot comment on matters currently in litigation so not really saying anything at this point but it sounds like you believing he was targeting purely for his political views while we can tell that he was targeted crisp look of these because the actual document we have states in a document that mr mcgovern has engaged in considerable amount of political activism primarily anti war it is their own words throughout this we were able to find that the open and us intelligence test against the captain of the seven month even though all charges were dropped and it's completely full of descriptions of peaceful free speech first amendment protected activities and when he is very significant when we have secretary clinton now secretary kerry president obama routinely speaking to the world to other countries about the importance of defending descent. and here in the united stat

about the importance of defending dissent and allowing freedom of speech and allowing protests mr mcgovern stood completely silently and he turned his back completely silently and that's all he did and then he was grabbed brutally assaulted by officers inside the auditorium just feet away from secretary clinton they put him in a headlock they grabbed him and put him in a contorted position he was terribly bruised he had lacerations they put him in tight metal cuffs two pairs of tight metal cuffs he was bleeding all over he had to have treatment at the scene but while this is going on they drug him out and then he was interrogated by someone who was with the department of state security division and what we learned subsequently after this was that mom only to be interrogated there but the open investigation into it and so this was so you guys represented and their charges were eventually dropped initially after the charges were dropped organization filed of oil investigation try to get information what did you uncover this is absolutely fascinating right well they did drop the charges being

eventually uncover more recently uncover that the state department opened an investigation into mr mcgovern that focused entirely on his lawful peaceful political free speech first amendment protected activities his associations his writings his interviews on on television other media and his associations but they kept this investigation open for seven months even though the charges were dropped in their own file show that there was no criminal conduct and then what we found was extremely disturbing we found a document that showed that the state department placed him on the lookout alert and this alert a bolo alert isn't just merely look out for mr mcgovern it was a long foresman directive that anyone that saw ray mcgovern wants to stop him and question him which is the fourth amendment seizure i had noticed being harassed or interrogated anymore after this incident during those seven months he has not been seized under this order as far as we're aware of there isn't a circumstance like that the problem with this is that it's a directive to law enforcement that targets him for his free spee

mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to bring attention to and highlight bread for the world's annual hunger report. this year's report is entitled "ending hunger in america," and frankly it couldn't be more appropriate and timely. mr. speaker, over 49 million americans go hungry every year, and we in the federal government, we in this congress are not doing nearly enough to fight and end hunger in this country. in fact, over the past six months, congress stood by and let an $11 billion cut to the premiere anti-hunger safety net program, snap, take effect. and to make matters worse, congress followed up by enacting another $8 billion cut to snap as part of the farm bill. we should all be ashamed. the fact is congress continues to make it harder and harder for the hungry in america to make ends meet and put food on their table. and although the obama administration came into office under the most difficult economic conditions in nearly a century, they also came in with a lot of promise. in fact, president oba

mr. mcgovern: i yield myself two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minute. mr. mcgovern: i want to thank chairman lucas and ranking member peterson for all their hard work on this very difficult bill. i admire their tenacity and i admire their passion on issues dealing with agriculture. there are some good things in this bill, to be sure. but there are some things that i simply cannot accept. i think as we discuss this farm bill that we should remind ourselves of a few simple facts. facts like this, hunger exists in the united states of america. not a single congressional district in this country is hunger free. our food banks, our food pantries, the people on the frontlines in the fight against hunger simply cannot do any more. they are stretched to the limits. one final fact, this bill will make hunger worse in america not better. if this bill passes, thousands and thousands of low-income americans will see their already meager food benefits shrink, for what? why? to meet some arbitrary d

mr. mcgovern, for five minutes. mr. mcgovern: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, there are close to 50 million people who are hungry in the united states of america. we're the richest country in the history of the world, and we have close to 50 million people who are food insecure or hungry. 17 million of these people are kids, and we in congress are not doing nearly enough to address this issue. in fact, this congress has made things worse for many struggling families all across this country. last november, there was an $11 billion cut that went into effect with regard to the snap program. that's the name of the program that was formerly known as food stamps. an $11 billion cut that impacted every single beneficiary on this program. everybody got a cut. food prices didn't go down, but they got a cut. and then we just recently passed a farm bill in this congress that made sure that those well-off special interests were protected. the rich got richer, but we paid for those subsidies by cutting

mr. mcgovern, for five minutes. mr. mcgovern: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. speaker, yesterday, the senate passed the farm bill conference report, something the house did almost two weeks ago. i want to thank my house and senate colleagues that stood firm and voted against the conference report because of the egregious cuts to snap, formerly known as food stamps. i'm especially proud and thankful that none of my massachusetts colleagues voted for the bill. unfortunately, i think many of those who voted for this bill will ultimately come to regret their vote. but now that the fight over snap funding and the farm bill is over, it's time to look forward and once again refocus on how we can end hunger now and despite the attacks on the poor that come from the republican leadership in this congress, there are good things that are happening among the anti-hunger community and there are opportunities out there that we can take advantage of as we work to end hunger now. every day millions of hungry kids are able to eat

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i rise today to mark the third anniversary of the peaceful uprising of bahrain. three years after has protests filled the streets, bat rainy's government's promises of reform remain unfulfilled. restrictions on freedom of expression and arbitrary detention continue unabated. a prisoner of conscience whom i have adopted as part of the tom lantos human rights commission of defending freedoms project, is one of thousands who have been detained or tortured for peacefully calling for reforms. prisoners like him are denied access to medical treatment and many are prevented from speaking about their abuse, even to their families and lawyers. because bahrain is our ally and home to the fifth fleet, the u.s. has a responsibility to ensure that the bahraini government adheres to its human rights commitments and enacts meaningful reforms. these should include relosing -- releasing political prisoners and ensuring accountability for torture. absent such steps, the u.s. must consider cont