mr. chairman. this amendment would create a deficit neutral reserve fund for legislation that would create jobs by investing $1 trillion to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure paid for by closing tax loopholes that incentivize corporations to ship jobs overseas. this supports two of the goals that president trump has often advocated for. rebuilding america's infrastructure and keeping american manufacturing jobs in america. therefore it merits the support of every member of this committee. mr. enzi: further comments in support? in that case, i would say that this amendment would create a deficit neutral reserve fund to increase spending on infrastructure projects offset by unspecified tax increases. that's the job of another committee. both committees, i believe. the majority of my colleagues in the senate are interested in enhancing america's infrastructure. the according to world economic forum, the united states ranks 12th in overall infrastructure. our roads are congested, our water systems are fai

who has worked so diligently on this matter. mr. speaker, this bill authorizes appropriations for this program in the amount of $60 million for each fiscal year rom 2018 through 2022. these figures are consistent with current appropriated levels . we must continue to protect our children from the daily threats that permeate the electronic atform platform and endanger the well-being of our children. earlier this morning, as has been said, the house judiciary crime subcommittee held a hearing addressing these very problems. as ranking member of that committee, i vow to continue my commitment toward eradicating this infectious poison that has claimed the innocence of so many of our youth. i look forward to working with my colleagues and others on these very important issues and so that is why i support the measures put forth in this bill. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia. >> mr. speaker, i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vir

mr. speaker, this tax plan will raise our deficit by $2.4 trillion over the next decade. mr. speaker, this tax plan will take away critical dollars from an infrastructure bill that our nation so desperately needs. we still have time. let's work together to do what's right for all americans. let's work together and do what's right for our country. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. one week ago, i had the privilege of presenting a purple heart to mr. anthony smith of wausau, illinois in my congressional district. during the vietnam war he served n the army's first cavalry division. in 1968, he took out several enemy machine gun units protecting his fellow soldiers from harm and death. his bravery on that day was rewarded with a bronze star with valor and with the purple heart, although he wa

mr. smith. you are not the only one responsible for this kind of breach, were you? mr. smith: no, sir, but i was ultimately responsible. had ar blumenthal let you team of failure. this was an institutional failure, correct? mr. smith: i described as a human error and technology failure. senator blumenthal: how many employees are there at equifax? mr. smith: approximately 10,000. under blumenthal: who under you is responsible for security question mark -- security? mr. smith: that person is no longer with the company. senator blumenthal: were they fired? mr. smith: they stepped down from the company. one was a chief technology officer. senator blumenthal: how many people have resigned or been fired? mr. smith: i step down. chief technology, security officers. of so far. the investigation is still going on. do you notmenthal: agree that more than four or responsible here? mr. smith: there is a detailed investigation going on. blumenthal: you have become the designated apologist or the fall guy, but there are many more who should be held accountable, correct? mr. smith: i g

mr. speaker, i rise in very strong opposition to this rule. today, house republicans are pushing a job-killing budget so they can use fast track reconciliation procedures to steam roll through their billionaires first tax plan. mr. speaker, we're supposed to be the people's house. we ought to have the people's budget, a budget that helps the millions of americans who sent us here to congress, not a budget that helps only a few, the well-connected and well-off. i disagree with mr. woodall. this is not a time to celebrate. this is a terrible budget. this budget will devastate america's investments in good-paying jobs. it threatens growing wages and the bedrock promise of a secure and healthy retirement. it makes cuts across the board that would hurt seniors, children, veterans and the hardworking people across this country who are already struggling to get by. why are republicans doing this? well, it's all in the name of fast tracking the ryan-mcconnell tax plan which explodes the deficit by $1.5 trillion and then provides multitrillion-dollar ta

mr. chair. this is very straightforward and call exams at the other side of the isle there is no intent to cut medicare and this provides a budget point of order to prevent the privatization of medicare because medicare if privatized senior citizens are hurt meaning medicare-- their medicare health is being cut and so i think we should take a strong stand together saying that's not the intent to privatize medicare. >> another point of order for the finance committee, selector consultation with the parliamentarian the chair finds the amendment non- germane and out of order so i ruled the amendment out of order. >> i appeal the ruling of the chair. >> moved to table the appeal. >> record roll call, please. >> the clerk will call the role. [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] >> mr. chairman there are 12 aye and 11 aye-- na. >> that appeal is tabled in the next and then is

this week. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from pennsylvania, mr. fitzpatrick, for five minutes. mr. fitzpatrick: mr. speaker, several economic indicators show us that our economy is growing. the unemployment rate is down. the stock market is up. consumer confidence is at its highest level in over a decade and businesses are starting to invest in their future again. however, we cannot rest on this short-term snapshot. for too long top-down policies from washington have built a system that's based on protecting the status quo rather than helping small businesses and middle-class families. we need to embrace the governing vision that advances the american dream and puts jobs and economic growth above the partisanship that too often divides us. and this starts with tax reform. if this congress is serious about standing up for middle-class families and unleasing the power of the american economy, tax reform is the natural starting point. the model is straightforward. we

mr. gomez: h.r. 2254 was introduced this year by my colleague and friend from california, mr. thompson. unfortunately, he's unable to be here today as he has remained in his district in california this toveping assist in wildfire relief and recovery efforts. i, along with the entire house of representatives, am praying for mr. compson and our fellow americans in this time of need. a life listening resident of vallejo, california, and a aughter of italian immigrants, janet capello loved her italian heritage. she was dedicated to sons of italy. she held two of the organization's most prestigious post, vice president of the grand lodge of california and secretary of the united lodges and led efforts to bring the group's scholarship program to vallejo. in doing so she helped hundreds of young men and women attend college. she oversaw a number of charity efforts and helped raise thousands of dollars each year for alzheimer's research in conjunction with university of california-davis. her dedication to these causes earned her the dr. vincenzo solo award, the highest honor granted by the sons

where is this line drawn? mr. rosenkranz: well, your honor, this is the line this court drew in hoffman estates. i mean, that was decades ago. justice gorsuch: what do you think about this line? life, liberty, or property. mr. rosenkranz: that's a great line. justice gorsuch: it's right out of the text of the due process clause itself. mr. rosenkranz: yes, that's a great line: life, liberty, or property. and -- and particularly here we are talking about a liberty interest, a liberty interest that says you must leave, for some people, the only home that you've ever -- that you've ever had. you must leave your family. so that when someone is making the decision, am i going to plead guilty to a crime that i've never -- that i didn't commit in return for time served, he needs to know -- by the way, in return for crime served so he can get back to his wife and kids -- he needs to know whether ice is going to be standing out there depriving him of that liberty and deporting him from his wife and kids. justice breyer: you

mr. speaker. this legislation for the same reason allows family offices to account for accredited investors which will allow them to make private placement investments. the end result is more capital will be available for investment in businesses resulting in more jobs and greater economic opportunity for americans of all walks of life. i want to thank representative carolyn maloney and chairman hensarling for their leadership on this important legislation, and i urge my colleagues in the house to support the family office technical correction act. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time is reserved. the gentlewoman from california. ms. waters: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. waters: thank you, mr. speaker. h.r. 3972 would expand the definition of accredited investor to organizations known as family offices and their family clients. family offices manage the financial

mr. speaker. this morning isp had meetings wh ministerial colleagues and others and in addition to my duties in the south i shall have further such meetings later today. >> the prime minister will know that yesterday was mental health day and mental health problems affect one in four people but only one [inaudible] spent on mental health services. [inaudible] [inaudible] with these cuts in demand and increasing when will the prime minister and the [inaudible] and promise research funding for mental health and psychological services? >> the honorable gentlemen is right about the importance we should be attaching to the issue of mental health. giving that it was a mental health day yesterday we are also doing much more in the area of mental health. in fact, more money is going into mental health. we are seeing more people in the nhs being able to access and have treatment for better health but we also need to do is look at this issue more widely which is precisely why i have set up that we have [inaudibl

tenth of 1% is not a tax proposal benefiting the middle clasmiddle-class or working fams of this country. mr. president, this budget cuts medicaid by more than a 12 year period. that is kind of strange. united states of america is the only countryn on earth that doesn't guarantee health care to all people. what the american people want, in my view is to join the rest of the world in that we shouldn't have 28 million people without any hope insurance, and even more underinsured with high deductibles and high copayments. guess what this budget does i've been reasonably is to throw 15 million people off of the hope insurance the insurance ana chilly insurance they have with the chilean dollar cut in medicaid, and i would hope that the chairman of the budget committee might at some point during this debate tell us what happens to somebody today who is struggling with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, with a life-threatening illness who suddenlyns loses the medicaid health insurance that they have, what happens to thatt person? i would hope that some of my friends would tell the american people wh

senator graham: we talked about this, mr. chairman as something we should be looking at as a nation. if you put a cap of 2% on this deduction, that raises $955 billion. what it will do, is it will put pressure on every governor and every legislative body in a state to reform their tax structure because the federal government is no longer going to allow writing off excessively high taxes at the state level. it will bring a march towards more fiscal responsibility at the state level and the people who get the benefit of this come from affluent areas, wealthier ocations and they itemize. eliminating this deduction would generate a lot of savings to the federal government and would do something that i think needs to be done. it would shed light on parts of the country that seems to have no limit in terms of taxation of their citizens. and from a south carolina point of view, we're tired of subsidizing states that have anormally high cost of living and tax everything and everybody and we are helping foot the bill. o we'd like to en

where did this collaboration began? mr. bernstein: joe started exporting this to me, and most reporters have had that conversation where the guy on the other end of the phone says everybody is corrupt except for me, then you start checking it out and actually, everything joe said it checked out. i took it as far as i could, but very smart editors at "the washington post" realized it needed an editor, so they connected me with scott. ms. casey: where did it go from there? mr. higham: we kept hearing these stories that the dea was slowing down its cases, and a lot of these cases being made in the field against these companies were going nowhere, hitting a brick wall in d.c.. we started putting together a list of people who were working in the field who had either been whoent dea investigators or had retired recently. we began cold calling them, calling them at home, their cell phone, sending emails, calling people across the country. we soon began to connect with people who were very, very upset. these people work for somethin

this is forever, right? mr. smith: unfortunately the breaches of a social security number has been on the rise. there have been many this year. there is another thought, and that is, how secure are we with an snn, and is that best for consumers going forward? rep. latta: the gentleman's time has expired and the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky for five minutes. we appreciate you being here to testify. there is a medical hearing going on upstairs, so i have been back and forth. we appreciate you being here toi will try not to double question. a lot of us wondered, july 31 was suspicious activity, then notice to the board was three weeks later. -- i heardat before you say it was suspicious activity, therefore did not thenze it was a breach, action took three weeks later when you did. looking at how big it is, would you have done different? from july 31 to august 24, what would you do different that equifax didn't do? mr. smith: that is an appropriate question. to be honest, time for reflection will come

this is just under two hours. mr. royce: this hearing will come to order. before my opening statement, without objection, i'd like to play a video, short video, from our friends at radio free asia. that highlights very much, i think, the scope and severity of the violence against the rohingya. so if that's prepared, let's play that right now. while we're waiting for that, i see ms. muhammad ali in the audience and i wanted to thank her for her focus on this issue. [applause] appreciate her presence with us here today. thank you. [video playing] mr. royce: so, one of the reasons that i thought we would show the video from radio free asia is to make a point. there's very little information outside of these types of coverage that are coming into the outside world. and more importantly, the burmese people themselves. in myanmar there is no coverage of this information. so people do not actually know what is happening. the generals that run the country have a different narrative. and so there's very little recognition of the reality. in order to get to that real

this government. the security forces -- mr. connolly: i was in burma a year ago and i met with the head of the military and i take your point, but my question is, though, in this, there is a certain restraint, a certain caution and restraints from inside. they know there are unwritten boundaries. all of that seems to have been pushed away and seems to be no restraint of the military with respect to the rohingya? why do you think that is? that would characterize the last five, six years of their behavior? mr. murphy: i would say not entirely out of character because there is conflict in northern burma at any point in time, there have been active conflicts somewhere between the -- mr. connolly: mr. murphy, my time is up, but, look, all of that's true. but they have to push half a million people in another country in a limited time frame and i'm asking you your assessment. why do you think at this moment, they kind of changed their behavior and really accelerated this in such enormous numbers and with such impunity? mr. murphy: con

so what do you know about this? mr. sharpley: thank you. i recently read an article by this gentleman -- senator, i am unaware of any open thestigations on me, details of any complaints about me. respond hard for me to to that. but i would say if there are complaints, if there are investigations out there, i am unaware of it, but that would not be -- i put it this way -- i support a process that is in place that would protect the confidentiality of anyone or the anonymity of anyone who wanted to bring a complaint forward on or any other. official. as an acting inspector general who works in the world of confidentiality, anonymity, etc., i think it is very important we recognize these we franklynd that honor them. to specificsspeak because i do not know about them. i understandtein: what you're saying, and mr. chairman, i ask that this document you put in the record so that mr. sharpley can take a good look at it. perhaps you would let us know in writing what is fact and what is fiction. mr. sharpley: i would be pleased to do that. if i may t

mr. speaker. at this time it's my pleasure to yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlelady from alabama, mrs. roby. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. roby: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise today to urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying dr. chris 5, the kirkpatrick whistleblower protection act of 2017. this bill strengthens penalties against those who retaliate against whistleblowers as protections and opportunities for whistleblowers placed on probation and ensures federal employees have a greater knowledge of whistleblower rights and protection. specifically, this bill forbids a supervisor from taking or threatening to take action against an employee because they refuse to obey an order that would violate a law, rule or regulation. i want to thank senator ron johnson for his persistence in pushing this legislation even harry he former senator, reid, shut it down last congress. a v.a. employee took his own life after being su

mr. chairman, this ill -- [inaudible] mr. mccaul: is his mic on? microphone. mr. vela: owned by states, tribes and private citizens. in texas, the federal government owns just 100 miles of the 1,254-mile border. as such, private landowners face the threat of losing their property to the federal government pursuant to a fifth amendment eminent domain action as occurred over a decade ago under the bush administration. by granting d.h.s. broad authority to unilaterally waive any law that stands in the way of getting the wall built, this bill sends a message to d.h.s. that above all else and above individual rights, congress wants president trump's wall built. this bill puts families that own land along the owner, sometimes for generations, of fending off the threat of eminent domain once again. we have a responsibility to ensure that eminent domain authority to seize private land is not abused and my amendment would prevent such abuse. it requires that before exercising eminent domain the d.h.s. secretary certify the land seizure is necessary for homeland security an

mr. chairman. this budget cuts $473 billion from medicare. nearly half a billion dollars at a time and too many seniors and people disabilities are struggling to make ends meet. it would restore cuts by reducing tax breaks on the wealthiest americans. 57 million americans really i am medicare including five and half million californians. that's about one in six americans. the number relying on them is growing. roughly 10000 boomers retire every day. the budget would cut medicare when more americans than ever rely on it. what is this budget cut medicare? it just so to pay for the same failed policies we seen in the past. by the nonpartisan tax policy center found that approximately 80% of the benefit and the plan to go to taxpayers in the top 1%. americans who rely on medicare are up late at night struggling to figure out how they will make ends meet. one third of chronically all-americans are forced to choose between having food to eat her medicine. it's not the time to/medicare. this values the top 1%

mr. speaker, i obviously rise in strong opposition to this rule. d mr. speaker, this can be a frustrating place. so frustrating that sometimes i want to tear the remaining two strands of hair on my head out in my what we do here, opinion, is not to advance anything that is good for the american people. this is a frustrating place because what happens on this house floor is either nothing or you guys make things worse. on sunday, we once again witnessed a massacre. the worst mass shooting in american history. people across this country are demanding action, but the response of the republican leadership in this congress is nothing. we had a moment of silence, but it means nothing because that's all we do. there are no hearings, no debate, no votes, nothing. just absolutely nothing. and it's obvious that too many epublicans have been intimidated and have been frightened or have been bought off by the national rifle association. it's shameful and quite frankly it's disgusting. if the republican leadership of this house is not willing to lead, then move aside.

mrs. trump, for allowing us to add to this collection. i began with my thanks and admiration to you, mr. pierre, for the design of this beautiful gown. since its opening in 1964, this museum has embodied the smithsonian's dedication to telling america's story to millions of national and international visitors every year. we tell that story through the words and actions of people, both famous and obscure. we inspire students through educational programs that reach them here in our museums and in their homes and classrooms across the nation. and objects and artifacts help put that history into sharp focus and context. this gown is the height of fashion, something that pleases us aesthetically with its beauty and craftsmanship and elegance. the aesthetics that drive artistic endeavor also captive -- also captivate us. it is our uniquely human response. designer martino prada said fashion is instant language. these gowns tell us much about the accomplished women who wore them. each first lady left an indelible mark on the white house and this nation. and now mrs. trump's inaugural gown will t

bill which happened on june 27 of this year. mr. speaker, i expect that nearly every member of this body has fond memories of being on our public lands. whether it be fishing as a kid or with your kids, hunting with friends, hiking, on a horse or camping with the family. outdoor activities generate not just memorable moments and the love and respect for the great outdoors but also important considerable economic activity which is especially important for our rural areas of northern california where my district is and all across our nation. the outdoor recreation estimates that it contributes nearly $900 billion toward g.d.p. annually, supporting about 7.6 million jobs. unfortunately, public access to public lands is too often hindered by costly and complex permit requirements that vary from agency to agency, sometimes even crossing from agency to agency what the requirements are to seek a permit. the go act enhances and protects access to our public lands by streamlining federal agency special recreation permit process. moving the

mr. speaker and thank you to the bipartisan leadership of this committee. mr. speaker, this week marks the 31 -- 34th anniversary of the devastating marine corps barracks bombing in lebanon. as the very proud mother of a u.s. marine, this is deeply personal to to me. my son has returned safely from his tours of service. not so blessed were the families of 220 marines and 21 other service peron ell were murdered when hezbollah struck with truck bombs in beirut lebanon on october 23, 1983. marines we lost that day, they were someone's husband, father, brother or son. except for al qaeda, hezbollah has killed more americans than any other terrorist group in the world and it continues to be a menacing threat to all humanity. just look at syria, the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, hundreds of thousands of civilians murdered, five million have fled as refugees. hezbollah, a tool of iran, propping up assad and fueling the violence and their actions don't stop there. israelis live under the constant shadow of hezbollah's missiles that are pointed at them. they

like a fire drill a something should happen this is what we would do. did you do that? mr. smith: it has been done. the challenge is when you look at the size of this breach and the fact that we offered it to every american that was a victim or not a victim, the sheer scale of trying to stand up to the environment and hire thousands , that takes weeks to train. you cannot just expect them to be trained and impactful day one. worldentioned in my testimony, the team has gotten better each and every day from a perspective. and tha i do apologize. you mention a few of the things where he made mistakes early on. yes, we do have practice -- >> 20 disagree with you. for example, the kind of information you are here to protect, you have to make sure each and every individual you hire is prepared. it is like information we have protected documents, they cannot hire someone and say we can take a chance and maybe they can learn what their on-the-job if something happens are on the job and if something happens we can excuse it. you need to make sure you have a plan that protects both be

and that's what this bill ensures. i believe, mr. speaker, that this bill also takes important steps to protect women, providing exceptions for those race kases of rape and incest and life of the mother. h.r. 36 also provides women with a cause of action, allowing them to sue abortionists who don't provide protections for unborn babies alive, or aborted babies born alive of the the pain capable unborn child protection act protects the sanctity of life by ensuring protection from pain for the most vulnerable among us. mr. speaker, this is a moral obligation of this house and of our government. therefore i urge support for the rule to allow for consideration of h.r. 36, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask the gentlelady for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady virginia tech. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker -- the

the dark reality is in many cases this trust is woefully misplaced. mr. speaker, approximately one in five women are sexually assaulted in college. that's one out of every five of our daughters, sisters and friends. this shocking statistic would lead most people to assume that colleges have extensive protection to support those people on campus that may be sexually assaulted. this is just not the case. last year one of these victims published an anonymous op-ed at harvard about her attack. the title of her article was "it's me, one of your statistics." she described the night of her attack. a friend invited her to his dorm room to study for an upcoming science mid term test. she thought nothing of it, but when she started to become uncomfortable she decided it was important for her to leave. but he did not let her leave. he sexually assaulted her. after the attack she ran to a friend's room for help. she refused to shower, knowing she had to immediately get a rape kit done. assuming the university would be able to help her she called her health services de

mr. stretch. this type of activity creates not only a bad user experience but distrust of the of platforms that we are working at trying to get better solving this problem. mr. salgado: that's the same for google. we take this seriously and made changes and continue to get better. senator whitehouse: and ultimately you are american companies and threats to american election security and threats to american peace and order are things that concern you greatly, correct? mr. stretch: that is certainly correct. mr. edgett: i agree. mr. salgado: that's right. senator whitehouse: what i would like to do, and i don't have the time for it here, is to ask you all to answer a question for the record that i will ask now which is -- give us the key benchmarks of how you have improved at deal with this problem in recent months or recent years? what your goal posts are ahead that you've not yet achieved but are slated or intend to achieve to deal with this problem? that's two. and three would be, what does success lo

mr. speaker. with this budget we have an opportunity to move forward on a major priority for the major the which is fixing broken tax code. this is completely and utterly broken. you can see it's so complex. it forces millions of families and job creators to spend billions of dollars and hours each year filing their taxes. it's unfair. it gives wasteful washington lobbyists loopholes and carveouts to special interests by giving hardworking americans nothing but frustration. you can see our tax code is miserably uncompetitive. that's why more and more of our american businesses and good-paying jobs are going overseas to countries with more modern and more competitive tax systems. passing this budget today we can send a clear message the -- block tax e -- reform and defend the status quo. we are working closely with president trump who leads this charge. together we have bold ideas to deliver more jobs, bigger paychecks for all americans this year. i want to thank chairman black and the budget committee for a

on april 18, 2015 -- this is just one quote of many -- mr. trump said, and i quote, every republican wants to do a big number on social security. they want to do it on medicare. they want to do it on medicaid. and we can't do that, and it's not their to the people that have been paying in for years and now all of a sudden they want to be cut, end of quote. that is donald trump running for president. well, i would say to president trump that's what you told the american people during your campaign. now i hope you will tell your republican friends right here in the senate that they should respect the campaign promises you ran on and that if they pass a budget that cuts medicare or medicaid, that you will veto that legislation. i hope the president has the integrity to do that. i don't think he will, but i would hope that he does that. mr. president, poll after poll after poll tells us that the overwhelming majority of the american people do not want congress to cut medicare or medicaid. in fact, i think in this country today, if you ask people

this budget focused on progrowth tax form does just that. i yield the floor and reserve the balance of the time. >> mr. president. >> senator from vermont. >> we believe this to be from earlier today while lawmakers are expected to resume debate on the 2018 budget resolution. they will gamble back in. live coverage of the senate. an amendment numbered 1116. mr. enzi: i ask unanimous consent are the reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. enzi: i wou

jefferson's words are true to this day. mr. prime minister, i am proud to report that this past march we celebrated greek independence day right here at the white house. and that was great. america and greece draw on this common history and heritage and on our peoples' abiding commitment to freedom and sovereignty. in working together on great challenges and opportunities now before us, there are tremendous opportunities before us in so many different ways. the prime minister and i have just concluded a very productive discussion on the cooperation between our two countries, including on matters of defense, energy, commerce, and trade. i want to thank the prime minister and the greek people for serving as gracious hosts to our u.s. naval forces. i also commend greece for being one of the few nato countries currently spending at least 2% of gdp on defense. my administration has also informed congress of a potential sale to greece to upgrade its f-16 aircraft to strengthen the hellenic air force. this is worth $2.4 billion and wou

mr. speaker. this bill will help protect transmission lines from forest fires and other forest management issues. the bill creates voluntary pilot project authority for the u.s. forest service to partner with the private sector to proactively undertake limited and selective vegetation management projects near utility infrastructure. these pilot projects include but are not limited to things like tree thinning and fuel reduction which would help to alleviate some of the risk of forest fires and enhance electric reliability. h.r. 2921 requires that all projects comply with existing environmental laws. i urge my colleagues to vote yes and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from ohio yields back her time. the gentleman from arkansas is recognized. mr. crawford: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from north dakota, mr. cramer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north dakota is recognized for two minutes. mr. cramer: thank y

we simply cannot fail the american people to get this done. mr. president, i'm committed to that. i urge my colleagues to take seriously this opportunity we have of changing our tax code. it's historic. at the same time we've got to get serious about eliminating our redundant and outrageous, unnecessary spending. mr. president, with that, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the judiciary, joan louise larsen of michigan to be united states circuit judge for the sixth circuit. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. president. and i agree with my colleague from georgia that we need to simplify our tax code. we need real tax reform. we've seen a lot of junk built up in the tax code over many years, put there by special interests who seek special deals for themselves, deals that are not enjoyed by the american public. we should do tax reform. what we should not do is increase our national debt and our national deficits. and we all noi that -- know thae budget plan that passed this senate and just recently passed t

mr. obama: this election comes down to you. i have to say, by the way, off year elections, midterm elections, democrats sometimes-- >> [laughter] mr. obama: y'all get a little sleepy. you get a little complacent. this is not my opinion, this is the data. this is the data. during presidential elections, everybody gets excited. when it is an off year election, suddenly everyone goes, there is an election going on? as a consequence, folks wake up and they are surprised. how come we can't get things through congress? how come we can get things through the statehouse? because you slept through the election. >> [cheering] mr. obama: but the stakes now don't allow you to sleep. because it is going to come down to how bad you want it. i don't want to hear folks complaining and not doing something about it. >> [cheering] mr. obama: all the young people out here. >> [cheering] mr. obama: i think it is great that you hashtag and meme, but i need you to vote. >> [cheering] i tend not to watch a lot of tv, even though i have a lot more time

this efficiency gap? it's full of questions. mr. mcghee's own amicus brief outlines numerous unanswered questions with -- with this theory. what do you do in -- in elections that are not contested? him well, then you have to - you have to make two guesses. how many people would have voted for the winning candidate if it had been a contested election? how many people would have voted for the losing candidate if it had been a contested election? one of the judges in the court below asks: why do you calculate eg by map, by subtracting from the votes obtained by the winner, 50% of the votes, instead of the votes obtained by the runner up? and mr. mcghee says: well, i have an answer to this, and i have a forthcoming paper and i'll answer it in the forthcoming paper. [laughter] justice alito: and there are all of these questions. this is -- 2017 is the time to jump into this? that's a question. mr. smith: is there a question there, your honor? justice alito: yes, there is a question there. there's about 10 of them. [laughter] mr. smith: i

this is hurting people in your district, dr. burgess, and mr. green, and in my district and my colleagues here. in vermont, our governor dedicated his entire state of the state address to this epidemic in 2014. and i remember at that time many of my colleagues asked the question, peter, isn't this going to do bad things for the reputation of vermont? but then acknowledged that what he was saying was true in their own state, in their own districts. so you focusing attention on it, mr. chairman, thank you. that's step number one. i can give you some statistics in vermont, but they would be very similar to mr. johnson. i mean, our prescription drug problems with individuals increased from 2,477 in 2012 by 80%. heroin went from 913 in 2012 and increased to 3,488, a 380% increase. every one of those stories is a story of family heart ache. i got a letter from a mom whose 27-year-old son became addicted to heroin and just the story of him being homeless, him going from being a full time working person to being out on the street, him -- her having to ca

mr. chairman, we can and should, we must do better than this. i urge a no vote on the republican budget. the chair: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentlelady from tennessee. mrs. black: thank you, mr. chairman. it is my honor to yield three minutes to the gentleman from texas, a member of the budget committee mr. arrington. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. arrington: for too long, congress has been allowed to play by a different set of rules than the american people in regards to how we budget. no one lives in a world where there is seemingly an endless supply of money. that is until you enter the fantasy world of washington, d.c. however, hardworking american families, businessmen and businesswomen, live in the real world. they have to budget. they have to prioritize. make tradeoff decisions. wants versus needs. what's od and essential. bhot tom line, of the live within their means. but apparently our government has been exempt from such basic principles of what's fiscal responsibility, under which we the peo

mr. speaker. this week congressman adam smith and i introduced the dignity for detained immigrants act this legislation is critical to dismantle president trump's mass deportation machine to protect families and restore justice and due process to our broken immigration system. ms. jayapal: our detention system brings huge profits for large, preist corporations, about 38,000 people are detained every single day at a cost to taxpayers of over $2,000 a year. 24 bill is about two things, dignity and justice. for families, pregnant women, people with serious illnesses, survivors of torture and violence. it's unconscionable we're detaining these people, sometimes for months or years. congress can't afford to sit on the sidelines anymore. it's time to make clear that locking people up without due process is not only unconstitutional, it's un-american. at a time when net migration is zero, when dreamers are at risk of losing their daca status, and the world reels from unprecedented numbers of refugees fleeing

mr. speaker. i do so because i believe that william colin bryant is right. truth shall rise again. there are people who have tried to bury the truth about this good woman in an earthly grave of lies. mr. speaker, i rise to defend her because i believe if we allow one person to go undefended in a circumstance like this, every person is at risk of being treated in a similar fashion. we are in some very difficult times, and many of us don't realize it. we have a person who's at the top, who's setting the tone and tenor for the country, who's demeaning the dignity and respect that his office commands. mr. speaker, this has to stop. there are those who say wait until the next election. i am not one of them. i believe that the remedy for this kind of behavior and the impact it's having on society is impeachment. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until noon today. senator cory gardner of colorado currently doing the questioning. senator compareder in: the united states was the last -- senator gardner: the united states was the last standing. it was