mr. visclosky: mr. chairman, i would like to yield four minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, the ranking member of the appropriations committee. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for four minutes. mrs. lowey: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to thank the chairman, ranking member, the defense subcommittee has a long tradition of working closely together and i sincerely appreciate these bipartisan efforts. this is an extremely important and timely bill. as the department is tasked withdrawing down forces in afghanistan, appropriately responding to the upheevenal in iraq, and face -- upheaval in iraq and facing other challenges across the globe. totaling $490.7 billion, the base portion of the bill is approximately $200 million above the president's request. however, after accounting for appropriate increases in active duty pay and housing costs, the remainder of the bill is actually below the president's proposed level. budget caps and sequestration force difficult decisions. many of which will

mr. smith: mr.lations to the san antonio spurs on winning the 2014 nba championship over the miami heat. this is the fifth nba championship for the spurs under coach gregg popovich. coach pop very much was also named is the season's nba coach of the year. the entire spurs team, led by captains tim duncan and tony parker, played with determination to bring the championship trophy back to san antonio. the spurs also clinched the best record in the nba season with 62 wins and 20 losses. also, congratulations to can why leonard who was named nba final's most valuable player. leonard averaged over 17 points and six rebounds in the championship series with three consecutive 20-point performances. leonard also had the help of the spurs' big three made up of tim duncan, tone -- i mean, anue-in and tony parker -- manu ginobli and tony parker. so well deserved congratulations to the spurs for bringing the trophy back to the alamo city. as we say in san antonio, go, spurs, go. the speaker pro tempore: for what

mr. latham: mr. chairman, i make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriation bill and therefore violates clause 2 of rule 21. the rule states in the pertinent part, an amendment to a general appropriation bill shall not be in order if changing existing law. the amendment imposes additional duties. i ask for a ruling of the chair. the chair: does any other member wish to be heards on the point of order? -- heard on the point of order? hearing none, the chair finds that this amendment finds language imparting direction. the amendment therefore constitutes legislation in violation of clause 2 of rule 21. the point of order is sustained and the amendment is not in order. mr. himes: i seek unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment. the chair: the amendment has already been ruled out. mr. himes: thank you, mr. chairman. the chair: the clerk will continue to read. the clerk: page 40, line 12, title 3. related agencies, a

mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i would at this time indicate to my friend from texas that i'm prepared to close. i have no further speakers at this time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, it's not all doom and gloom over here. there are provisions in the agriculture appropriation measure that i support. i appreciate the report language in support of the united states department of agriculture's pollenator programs. i along with others have been leaders in bringing the subject to the attention of congress, something of vital interest to all of this nation, and i have been teased an awful lot about being the bee man because i bring up the pollenator issue all the time, but the fact of the matter is if we don't have bee, we are not going to have food. i also appreciate the provisions related to citrus greening which will be devastating to florida's citrus growers as well as those provisions in this measure that address rural housing. i represent belle glade flori

mr. burgess: mr. speaker, imagine if you have a medical show up to the emergency room and you're in the waiting room. that's what's happening. overcrowding has become a reality. more than half of all e.r. doctors have reported this trend. it's ironic that the main pillar of the affordable care act, an increase in patient's access to care, is exactly the opposite of what is happening. we're having a hearing on thursday in the energy and commerce subcommittee on health. i'm looking forward toyota. we'll discuss the impact of the president's health care law on access to health care. it's my sincere hope that the administration is cooperative and forthcoming as we investigate yet another aspect of the affordable care act that instead of helping is hurting patients, doctors, and hospitals and putting a strain on our system. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, p

mr. latham: mr. chairman, i reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment. the chair: the gentleman reserves a point of order. without objection. is there objection to the dispensement of the reading? the reading is dispensed. the gentleman from california is recognized for five minutes. mr. garamendi: i thank you, mr. chairman. the gentlelady from tennessee spoke about the american taxpayer and the money that's being spent by congress and i'd like to pick up on that subject because i am deeply concerned about where and how we spend our taxpayer money. it's not our money. it's the american public's money and it ought to be spent wisely and it ought to be spent on american made goods and services. this amendment would build off of the current law dating back to 1933, the buy american laws. this amendment is necessary, and i'll tell you why it's necessary. this is a picture of the new san francisco bay bridge built by the chinese government. several billion dollars of american taxpayer money, c

mr. welch: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of this bill, to designate the u.s. postal service facility located at 1 walter ham understand place in waldwick, new jersey, as the staff sergeant joseph d'augustine post office and i very much look forward to sergeant account of d'augustine from mr. garrett. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield as much time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from the state of new .ersey, mr. garrett mr. garrett: i thank the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. garrett: i thank the chair. it is with great sadness and a heavy heart that i rise today to honor the life and legacy of one of new jersey's sons. staff sergeant joseph d'augustine of waldwick, new jersey. staff sergeant d'augustine was killed more than two years ago on march 27, 2012, while conducting combat operations in afghanistan. in the g

mr. anderson and anybody else. the captain as well. maybe we can just reform this, but as some of you indicated before, we've been done this road before, we reformed it before. passed legislation just a few years ago. we instructed treasury to do something and we instructed xm to enter new agreements. and we tried to have xm do cost benefit analysis. neither of those things were completed, correct? >> you were totally ignored. >> so the question i have before i think about re-re-reforming something, if we do that, you don't have to answer this, i'm wondering why i anticipate being here two or three years from now after this re-reform has been ignored again? >> that's why we thought this problem was fixed last time. and then we worked over the course of the last two years to try to get the reforms that both sides of the aisle enacted. lowell braynard told me they were not going to interact with the subsidies right across in the treasury department. >> in the meantime while we wait for refo

mr. thornberry. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, i'd like to begin with a brief additional observation on the notification issue. for the past several years, this committee has worked on a bipartisan basis to establish an oversight structure for cyberoperations, for terrorism operations and for sensitive military operations. and an oversight structure that allows the department to have the flexibility it needs to operate in a volatile, rapidly changing world and still give us the ability to exercise our duties under the constitution. now, the basis for all of those in all three of those areas is we get timely, accurate information from the department, and this failure, even if it was ordered by the white house, undermines the ability to have that sort of oversight structure. i've been a member of the intelligence committee for 10 years. our work depends on getting accurate, timely information from the intelligence community. if the president can violate the law and say, no, in this case we're not going to give you the inf

mr. portman: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, the clerk just read part of the description of this legislation, and i want to thank this body on both sides of the aisle for working with us on this. tomorrow we mark a momentous occasion. it is the 70th anniversary of d-day, a day of course that will go down in history as one of the greatest naval invasions in the history of our country but also when we lost many brave american soldiers and one where the country came together to pray for them and to give them the strength that they would need, not just on that day, d-day, but then going on to the continent of europe to ultimately veining- ultimately veininultimately van. on that day, president roosevelt decided to give a prayer for the troops and the nation. that prayer -- this body has just passed legislation to provide that prayer to be part of the world war ii memorial, to give it some additional context and interpretation at a critical time where we need to look back at history in ways as this prayer does, that brings

jordan of ohio, mr. o'rourke, mr. amash, mr. massie, mr. holt, mr. nadler, mr. petri, mr. delbene, mr. farenthold, mr. sanford, mr. butterfield, this is all over this house of representatives, right to left, saying, yes, we need to protect our country but we also need to honor our constitution. and especially the fourth amendment. we started this congress by reading the constitution of the united states allowed -- aloud in these chambers. let's finish this bill by making sure that we honor that constitution by adopting this amendment. i would yield become to mr. massie so he may yield further to other members. mr. massie: thank you. the chair: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman is recognized. mr. massie spb i ask unanimous consent to submit for the record the letter from the director of national intelligence that my colleague from california referred to. the chair: that question has been covered under general leave. mr. massie: at this point, i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves his time. does any member rise in pposition to this amendment? mr. freli

mr. tmp -- mr. thompson: i thank the gentleman for cooperating with us on this important matter and i yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. he amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> thank you, mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. gal lembings go of texas. page 2, line 14, after the ollar amount insert reduced by 6,369,000. the chair: pursuant to the resolution the gentleman from texas, mr. gayay go, and a member opposed wetch isle control five minutes. mr. gallego: i offer this amendment because i believe that government must protect the people it serves and remember that government is servants of the people. several years ago the department an riculture closed inspection facility that was important to the ci

mr. rose, to the report? [speaker not understood]. almost all line items are general fund in the line items. but it doesn't tally. is there only a certain percentage of these? >> [speaker not understood], budget analyst's office. several departments get work orders [speaker not understood] other city departments. [speaker not understood]. >> okay, thanks. >> [inaudible]. >> right, okay. supervisor wiener? >> yeah, i would be inclined to move to accept the budget and legislative analyst recommendations with the ~ budget analyst recommendations. i don't know how to rephrase it. it's a little [speaker not understood] at this point. but not to accept the 77,000 for year one, 133 for year two as outlined by [speaker not understood] and her staff. so, accepting the agreed upon cuts with the exception of those year one, year two line items. and, you know, it's always hard in this position where we hear [speaker not understood] between the department and the budget analyst. when you talk about wh

mr. hoyer: mr. chairman, let me say about ed pastor, he is a quiet man, like john wayne in hard uiet man, who worked for his constituents and had the opportunity to serve many years with mr. pastor on subcommittees together and on the full committee together and we owe a debt of gratitude to both of these gentlemen who worked together to produce products that america could be proud of and work forward on. they worked as a team trying to get the best job possible within the constraints which they were operating. and we thank them both for that. and thank you, mr. pastor. we're proud of you. the chair: without objection, two-minute voting will continue. unfinished business is request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by mr. schiff, on which further proceedings were postponed and which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. schiff of california. the chair: a recorded vote has beenry questionsed . a sufficient number hav

mr. pitts: mr. speaker, at this time, i would like to yield five minutes to the distinguished prime sponsor of the legislation, a man who has really provided the leadership on this issue, congressman chris smith. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. smith: i thank my good friend for yielding and thank him for his strong support and chairman upton and former chairman waxman and mike doyle, and mike doyle where together since 2000 headed up the coalition for autism research and coalition and we have 91 members in the coalition right now and i would also like to thank the staff who have helped us move this bill and gary and cheryl and brendon and jean, katie, kate and neal bradley and so many others who have been so many others who have been critical to this legislation. previous autism law including the combating autism act of 2011 made continued advancements that are working to determine the causes of autism spectrum disorder and identify children as ellie as possible to begin tr

mr. harkin: mr. president, i ask consent that if the final vote on passage is successful the statement of the managers for the work force innovation and opportunity act be printed in the record immediately following the text of the senate-passed bill. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. isakson: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. isakson: mr. president, how much time remains on the republican side? the presiding officer: one minute. mr. isakson: mr. president, i'd like to ask unanimous consent that five additional minutes be extended from the democratic side to the republican side. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. harkin: how much time is on our side? the presiding officer: 25 minutes. mr. harkin: absolutely. mr. yook isakson: mr. isakson:

mr. nugent: mr. chairman, i appreciate it, i appreciate your comments and the work you've done on this. with that, madam chair, i reserve, unless there's -- the chair: the gentleman from florida reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? mr. visclosky: i seek recognition in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. . mr. visclosky: thank you mafment dam chair, i seek the time because i agree with the -- thank you, madam chair, i seek the time because i agree with the assertion of the gentleman and that is the service that is provided by the military technicians he's looking to exempt. agree with every word he said. i want to make it clear to my colleagues that these civilian employees, as a condition of their employment, are a member of the unit in which they work. my problem is, there are other people who are employed by the federal government who also do very important work and i would include everyone who is in the feder

mr. wilburn, thank you very much for the service to your country as i thank captain moak as well. i used to be, prior to coming to congress, an officer in the green energy company itself. i don't know about your particular company but it's a subject i'm highly interested in. but, mr. wilburn, i'm still a little curious. i understand that you were on a flight, i guess, when you were sending your testimony. but i guess my first question is, was it -- simply a clerical mistake, or did you change your mind on whether or not t.a.r.p. regulations in dodd/frank played a role in failing to finance the brazilian company that sought your product? so is it a clerical error, or did you change your mind about including that in your testimony? >> no, it's not a clerical error. i didn't have exactly all the facts. you'll see the rest of my written statement. i think it speaks to some of those issues surrounding what you're -- >> okay. mr. wilburn, you heard the testimony of others on this panel. and so

mr. cotton: mr. speaker, this amendment -- >> mr. chairman, the house is ot in order. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cotton: mr. speaker, my amendment would very simply prohibit the use of funds in this legislation from being used to transfer detainees at guantanamo bay to their country of origin or any foreign country. there are two main reasons why this amendment is necessary. both related to the president's action in trading five senior taliban commanders for private bergdahl. first, he's proven that section 1035 of the national defense authorization act is inadequate and, second, we need to review the conditions of release of the taliban five. on the first point, this congress granted the president last year expanded authority to release detainees from guantanamo bay conditioned on 30 days' notice to the congress as well as certain other conditions. the president abused that authority by releasing the taliban five without notification, even to the so-called gang of eight, the senior

mr. valukas, thank you for being here. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, we're still trying to unravel the facts that led to one of the worst auto motive tradition of the last decade. and that is the installation of these faulty ignition switches in gm vehicles that we now have caused -- know has caused over a dozen deaths. these switches were bad from the start. they should have never been installed. and once they were installed, it became quickly clear to gm officials that something was very, very wrong with them. disturbingly, the company left these unsafe vehicles on the road for over a decade. mr. volukas, you've done important work describing how a defect known to gm employees for over a decade went unaddressed for so long. this report paints a troubling picture of gm's culture and commitment to safety that allowed this tragedy to take place. it describes engineering and investigative failures, a lack of urgency in addressing issues, poor communication within the company and

mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, happily i want to inform the senate that the three judges from florida that we are about to vote on have the support of senator rubio and me and it is as a result of a bipartisan process. it's actually a nonpartisan process how we select our judges in florida. senator rubio and i appoint a judicial nominating commission in the three judicial districts in florida. they then, when there is a vacancy of a judge or a u.s. attorney or u.s. marshal receive the applications, do the interviews and make for one vacancy three recommendations. senator rubio and i then take those three recommendations and the two of us together interview the applicants and the arrangement we have with the white house -- and, of course, we know that the president could select whomever he wants -- but the white house has graciously agreed and this has been a long-standing practice with the federal judges selections from florida.

. >> mr. speaker, today we know that for four years, the prime minister has hand picked closest advisor was a criminal and brought disgrace to downingstreet. we now also know that the prime minister willfully ignored multiple warnings about him. on the 8th of july, 2009, the guardian published evident of phone hacking on an industrial scale when couldon was editor of the news of the world. at that time couldon was his director of communications. what actions did he take. >> as i said a moment ago, the assurances that i received were the same that i received by the press complaints commission, by police investigations. they were also thoroughly gone into by the levison inquiry, an inquiry i supported. specifically -- he talks about warnings -- specifically on the warning from the guardian. levison said this. the editor of the guardian did not raise the issue with mr. cameron at meetings both in the month after the article was published and the following year. he says this. he says this. honorab

mr. forbes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, thank you for being here and for mentioning the need for transparency. as you talked about, our inability to prosecute the individuals that were released, this administration is not exactly had a stellar record on prosecution of people at gitmo when you look at the fact that the lead prosecutor for the 9/11 terrorist had specifically said that he would have had a guilty plea out of all of them within six months and this administration came in, shut down his prosecution, destroyed all of his pretrial work and we've been five years and still haven't brought them to trial. secondly, i don't think even you would argue that the conversations that took place in 2011 complied with the law. and basically what we're trying to get across is that we're a nation of laws. you can't pick and choose just because they're convenient or not convenient which ones we're going to enforce and which ones we aren't. but the third thing is, and you said this, that there are limits to trades that we

mr. chairman, i yield back. >> mr. conyers, even though you have exposed certain catalysts i think you'll be able to walk the halls safely. >> i'm more worried about them then me. [ laughter ] >> i won't go there. the state will recognize mr. issa. >> thank you, mr. chairman. chairman goodlatte has said he wants to do comprehensive copyright reform and i'm going to take this opportunity today to challenge all of you since you sort of represent, no kidding, the spectrum, the width and breadth of the problem in music both written and obviously the broadcast of the performance and we'll just go back as we often do here, especially for the non-lawyers who are here on behalf of the constitution to the cause and i'm leaving words out because i only want to have the part related to copyright, not the part related to patent. the constitution clearly says that we have two promote the progress of useful art for limited time on behalf of the authors exclusive right to the respective writings. now, it doesn't actually talk about t

>> mr. rose? >> mr. chairman, to further what supervisor breed is stating, we would have left our recommendations alone in our first go around, but we modified those recommendations and modified them downward. i can show you, if the committee doesn't have it, how we significantly reduced it in the first go around. i have that here if the committee is interested with that. >> that would be fine. supervisor wiener? >> if we can get, the dispute, whatever you want to call it, in terms of what is remaining in terms of what you quote-unquote reluctantly accepted? there was the research -- we have the research assistant. ~ kept the research assistant. >> we gave up things in order to keep the research assistant. >> can you restate? >> we cut our professional services budget. that's the budget that pays for the actuary, that pays for innovative contracting ideas. right now we're extending the blue shield contract to begin our wellness program. we're hoping to do a migration analysis to see if the n

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to calendar number 384, the hagueen sportsmen's act. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to s. 2363, a bill to protect and enhance opportunities for recreational hunting, fish, and shooting and for other purposes. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of the republican leader, senate flb a period of morning business until 1:45 today. the majority will control the first 30 minutes, the republicans the final 30 minutes. at 1:45, the senate will proceed to executive session to conduct at least one roll call voavment there will be a vote on confirmation of sylvia burwell for secretary of health and human services, then a vote on carolyn hessler radelet. we hope to confirm the radelet nomination by voice. s. 2267 is at the detect for the second reading. the clerk: s. 2432, a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965 to provide for the refinancing

mr. ellison: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, if there's one thing i think democrats and republicans can actually agree on, it's that if a penny is earned, that penny must be paid . this amendment is very straightforward, in fact a version of it has already passed the house of representatives. what it says is that if there is a federal contractor who has been found to engage in wage theft, that they may not benefit from this appropriation. now, there are many contractors who work for the department of defense who have employees that cook the meals for our troops, wash their uniforms, do all manner, many, many important tasks, to keep fighting men and women in a position to serve our nation. some of them may even work in the economy sear, they may work at -- commissary, they may work at various jobs and they sometimes, the federal contractors who serve the federal government, do not pay these workers. and, mr. chairman, you may think, well, you know, maybe that happens but how often does it happen? is it really a big pro

mr. hupp sgle mr. chairman and members of the subcommittee, i would like to start by telling the committee something you probably don't hear very often. congress to congress on getting it right. for over ten years now sound exchange has administered the statutory license for sound recordings on digital radio that this committee created in 1995, and that decision shines as a true legislative success story. it provides transparency and efficiency that makes possible the digital radio services enjoyed today by over 100 million americans. it has led to a critical and growing revenue stream for sound exchange's 100,000 accounts which represent featured artists, background musicians, label and rights owners, large and small. and the statutory license has provided a huge commercial benefit to the 2,500 services who have used it to build their services, some of america's best known and largest companies with household names like pandora and sirius xm providing them easy access to the product they needed to get

mr. turner. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. secretary, we have had very important issues to discuss here. obviously one the issue of notice to the congress and was this a good idea and the policy of whether or not this is a shift from the policy of not negotiating with terrorists. we had a briefing on monday department of state, mr. work, department of defense. joint chiefs. i asked them this question. can you cite any precedent for this nature of a swap where we have swapped with a nonnation state. you were asked this question by a ranking member and you cited the exchange of securing the release of helicopter pilot michael durant. you used the words it was a functionally exchanged. now, the five briefers, of course, when i asked them that question said there was no precedent and we had not done exchange with nonsovereign states within the last 40 years. i want to point out to you that when helicopter pilot michael durant was released in somalia it was said he was released as a gesture of good will. president clinton immediate

mr. smith: mr. speaker, americans do not trust the liberal national media to provide them with accurate, fair and balanced news. a recent poll conducted by the brookings and public religious institute found that only 23% of americans consider the national broadcast news networks to be their most trusted news outlet. but 26% of independents listed fox news as their most trusted network compared to only 17% who chose the broadcast networks. the least trusted network, according to the poll, is msnbc. only 5% of americans selected the network as their most trusted news source. americans dis-- americans' distrust of the liberal national media will continue to grow until the media stops telling them what to think. there's a good reason why fox news has been the highest rated cable news network for 12 straight years. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute

jordan of ohio, mr. o'rourke, mr. amash, mr. massie, mr. holt, mr. nadler, mr. petri, mr. delbene, mr. farenthold, mr. sanford, mr. butterfield, this is all over this house of representatives, right to left, saying, yes, we need to protect our country but we also need to honor our constitution. and especially the fourth amendment. we started this congress by reading the constitution of the

mr. stephenson and mr. white, i'd like to ask you both to talk a little about the company's commitment to diversity, the merged companies commitment to diversity in a number of different contexts. i know everyone will agree having a diverse group of individuals as real partners both inside and outside of the country is important. at&t's public interest statement pledges at&t's diversity best practices will be applied to directv. such action would be laudable given at turkey's his with supplier diversity and inclusion. mr. stephenson, please describe the best practices referenced in the public interest statement. >> yes. first i'll start with employees we have a strong belief our employees reflect the market they serve. i don't think you can be successful in the marketplace employees, executive all the way up to the board that reflects the people they serve. i think we have a very good track record in that regard down to the board and frontline employees serving the market. we also extend, as you pointed out

mr. wolf: mr. speaker, i rise today as a follower of jesus and a life-long member of the presbyterian church, u.s.a., and was deeply upset of what happened last week. i feel alienated from this tradition which is the only active clergyman to sign the declaration of independence to submit a statement of protest by the board of directors which expresses a similar sentiment. i'll begin with marriage. after several years of internal discussion and debate, the assembly voted overwhelmingly to take a position which runs counter to the scripture which defines marriage as the joining of one man and one woman. it has long been clear that our culture is in the throes of this issue. in reality there has been a decades' long assault on marriage, which was almost universally as a god-ordained institution, the nexus of procreation and child rearing has been called into question, both in the larger culture and the framework which governs this land. but perhaps the most striking troubling this is happening within

mr. deutch: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, it's no surprise -- excuse me -- that i oppose h.r. 4899. however, my amendment is not an attempt to sabotage a bill. it's to fix a major drafting error within this legislation that could have drastic consequences on our nation's district courts. my amendment would strike section 10702-a-3 of the bill which mandates that cases involving oil and gas leases, quote, take precedence over all other pending matters for the district court, closed quote. i'm grateful for the opportunity to explain the serious implications of this serious provision. the provision seems to be directed to concerns that individuals and communities, small businesses, other interests that are not party to the production of an oil and gas lease may file lawsuits to prevent or delay an oil and gas lease from moving forward. now, i believe that people have an important interest in the production of oil and gas leases that could impact public health, property, environmental injuries in the area of the lease.

mr. miller: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for as much time as he may consume. the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. the chair asks members to take their conversations off the floor on both the majority side and the minority side. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. miller: mr. speaker, this motion is to help us go to conference and to quickly work out the differences between the house and senate bills that would provide meaningful reform to the department of veterans affairs. this motion also ensures that the house has a position from which to begin negotiations with the senate in a conference. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida -- the gentleman from florida reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from maine is recognized. mr. michaud: thank you, mr. speaker. i claim time in opposition although i am not owe potioned to the m

mr. veasey: mr. speaker, i rise today to express my sadness and also honor the passing of a great man, pastor maurice edward barnes. pastor barnes lived the life of service for both the church and community. born on july 30, 1945, to christy and late reverend robert barnes sr., he grew up in the lake cuomo community in fort worth. after completing his studies at texas wesleyan university, trinity university and southern bible institute, he answered the call to preaching. for over 20 years he was the faithful servant in the church he grew up, succeeding the reverend bristol, at the zion missionary baptist church in the cuomo community. as a man who diligently served those around him, pastor barnes was not only a leader in the church but also showed great leadership in organizations aimed at improving the community, like the naacp. my heart felt sympathies to his wife, first lady deborah watson barnes, his children and extended friends. pastor barnes made a positive impact on my life. i ask my colleagu

mr. hoyt and mr. griffin if i may. >> in the interest of public policy i think you have to really look at the balance between the benefits of aggregation and the potential of lamination of price competition. >> mr. griffin. >> i think it's a very difficult question to answer definitively and i will simply say we have to maintain in order to ensure balance. >> mr. chairman thank you for your for parents. 28 answers and five in-app minutes. >> your barely made it. distinguished gentleman from new york for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. portnow you endorse the conference identified legislative approach and licensing. we sometimes hear -- what are the advantages to a comprehensive approach are the harms and doing it piecemeal and briefly please because i have a lot of questions. >> i think we see the results of the mandate approach. over the years we have cobbled together these various rights from different generations and when we arrive at where we are today it just does not work and to do

mr. reid: sorry about that. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that postcloture time on the motion to proceed be considered expired, the senate proceed to vote on adoption of the motion to proceed, that if a motion is agreed to senator mikulski or her designee be recognized to offer a substitute amendment number 3244 which consists of the text of -- mr. president, we need to have order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. please take your conversations out of the well. mr. reid: be recognized to offer the substitute amendment 3244 which consists of text of s. 2437 calendar number 411. as division a, calendar number 412 as division b and the text of s. 2389 calendar number 390 as division c provided further that the division of consideration ba-3745 and division c as reported by the house committee on appropriations be deemed house passed text and h.r. 4660 for purposes of rule 16. further that the substitute amendment offered by senator mikulski or her designee be considered a committee amendment

mr. mcnerney: mr. speaker, i just want to say our farmers need the assistance right now, and i'm glad that the house appears to be ready to take a vote and i urge my colleagues to vote yes. thank you and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed say no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. he amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. garamendi: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. garamendi of california. page 20, line 10, after the dollar amount insert of which $50 million shall be for the emergency conservation program under title 4 of the agriculture credit act of 1978, 16 u.s.c. 2201. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 616, the gentleman from california and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes

mr. chairman. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. desantis. you said, well, maybe they thought beheading bergdahl would have been better, we can't say that. do you honestly think if they thought beheading bergdahl would help them, that they would have not done it in a second? they did this, they got those men back, because they want those men back in command. of course it was better for them. so i thought that comment was just -- struck me as totally offbase. let me ask you this. do we have troops in afghanistan right now? >> yes, congressman. >> and so you had referenced troops who have been left behind. we can argue whether bergdahl left his unit behind, and i agree with specialist fuller, but if we still have troops there, who have we left behind? we're still fighting the conflict. it's not over yet. so the nothing that somehow we had not done this trade that means, quote, we left him behind is other nonsense. what we have done is we've replenished the enemy in wart

mrs. miller: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mrs. miller of michigan. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following, section 10002, none of the funds made available by this act may be used to divest, retire, transfer or place in storage or prepare to divest, retire, transfer or place in storage any a-10 aircraft or to disestablish any units of the active or reserve component associated with such aircraft. the chair: pursuant who house resolution 628, the gentlewoman from michigan and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from michigan. mrs. miller: mr. chairman, thank you. and i offer this amendment because i stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the troops on the ground. anyone of which will tell you that the -- any one of which will tell you that the workhorse champion in iraq and afghanistan will be the a-10. it has been proven to be ideally

mr. speaker. >> thank you. i'm sure the whole house will wish to join me in wishing the england football team, the very best of british before their first world cup game this saturday in brazil. mr. speaker, i had meetings this morning. i'll will have further such meetings later today. >> i wish every football team in the world cup, everyone -- they have received decisions. if we continue at the street, it will take more than 40 years to get to the point where everyone gets a say. what is he going to do about that? troduced these new benefits that we make sure it is done in a way that works well. so i would say it's very important not to have an artificial deadline of replacing one benefit with another. the whole point about the personal independence payment is it is more accurate and more targeted than disability living allowance. it will need more help for those with the greatest disabilities and are determined we get it right. >> would've the prime minister join me in congratulating th

mr. jules camp, you have five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it seems like i was here a few minutes ago, and i do appreciate having more time to discuss these. i appreciate the testimony. my name is tim jules camp. mr. fugate, i hope i pronounced your name correctly. mine is often misspelled as well. a little follow-up on your particular situation one thing i've seen lacking in my few years of congress is accountability. systems do fail, people do fail. i'm curious with your particular situation, you described it in your testimony, in written and oral testimony. has the va followed up with you after the fact and determined, yes, this is where we failed in this system? i mean, i see a number of things, obviously electronic medical records didn't happen and i'll have a follow up question for mr. mini and other items in that vein. did the va ever contact you after this or after your testimony and say, hey, this is where we failed? this is the doctor. this is where the system failed for

mr. nugent: mr. chairman, the conner electronics missile project, known as champ, is an air force program to disrupt the adversary's electronics without causing physical damage to facilities or people. my amendment would transfer $10 million from the budget from director of energy technology to director of technology. this would move a duplicative fund to integration for actual use on the battlefield a decade ahead of schedule. the air force intends development of champ for use on a delivery vehicle that will be available to combatant commanders in 2025. for a small investment of $25 million this year, the air force can get champ to the combatant commander on a cruise missile delivery system 18 months after an enactment of this bill. almost a decade ahead of schedule. the reason we can do this so quickly at such low cost is by utilizing unused cruise missiles, like the ones the air force used to test champ recently. there's an existing stockpile of cruise missile that was been removed from the origin

mr. lauder? >> thank you very much, members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to be here today to help address this vital national security topic. monitoring iranian compliance with a potential nuclear agreement. i appear before you today in my private capacity as someone who is on monitoring and verification over several decades and the views i will be presenting are my own and not intended to represent views of those i've been associated with such as the department of defense and the nuclear treaty monitoring and verification. my statement draws in part on those experiences and on the defense science board task force report as well as the work of a nongovernmental task force on verification requirements for nuclear agreement with iran. neither of the two task forces makes a judgment as to whether compliance with any particular nuclear agreement is ver fibl. indeed, we do not yet know the details of the monitoring provisions that will emerge in the iranian agreement now und

mr. o'neil? >> mr. chairman, mr. ranking member, subcommittee members, thank you for inviting me today. i am honored to be here. i'd like to thank congressman collins for sponsorship of the songwriter equity act. it's being well received by my members. the i'm michael o'neil and president and ceo of bmi. i've been working with song writers, composers and publishers and businesses for 20 years. we were founded in 1939 as a not for profit company, and bmi today is one of the world's leading performing rights organizations. under copyright law, whenever music is played in the public, the creators of that music, people like lee thomas miller, are entitled to be compensated. we represent over 600,000 song writers and publishers and license their over 8.5 million works to businesses across the country. we also work with rights societies all over the world, wherever american song writers' music is used to make sure they're paid for it. today through the marriage of technology and artistic creativity, digital media has democ

mr. chairman, if i can just ask one more question, different topic. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. assad -- am i pronouncing that correctly? you said i want to highlight lgbt persecution. and i wanted to come back to the theme i was asking dr. george in his lane about, you can't cherry pick which denomination you're going to protect, it's the whole thing. i'm a little concerned that sometimes some of my colleagues want to highlight certain human rights abuses and never talk about others. and it seems to me that if we're going to be consistent and we're going to hold somebody to a norm, every group is entitled in a society to human rights protection. whether they be baha'is, whether they be women, whether they be gay or lesbian brothers and sisters. could you talk to us a little bit about that? because i'm really worried if some of our human rights ed a voe dates here in the congress kind of conspicuously never talk about that we send a signal unintentionally to the ren jet stream that is no

mr. chairman with all due respect. and i do respect you from the bottom of my heart. my point is, you asked a question. i can't sell my technology here because there's barriers to entry to the market. and the barriers to the entry of the market is the oil and gas industry who subsidize the 15% oil and gas depletion allowance. i don't get that as a producer. i can but my bio and gas -- >> mr. wilburn, we'd be willing to work with you and be much more competitive in areas. i've got limited time. so does dr. de rugy. have the opponents painted an apocalyptic vision and if so why not? >> i will don't think it's an accurate version, mr. chairman. for one thing, as i said in my testimony, less than 2% of u.s. exports are backed by xm. and that doesn't consider the possibility that these exports would happen independently of the existence, absent the bank. more importantly, we have to think of what some of the other witnesses have said. so, for instance, a large part of the activity of the bank