mr. walz. mr. walz: we're prepared to close with no more speakers. i want to thank the gentleman again for bringing this to our attention, honoring sergeant abraham's life and, again, i think there is a little lesson here. how we conduct ourselves reflects on the sacrifice people like mr. abraham gave and the gentleman has done so honorably and nobly. i encourage my colleagues to support h.r. 609, and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. roe. mr. roe: i thank you, mr. speaker. i think this is an amazing story that mr. kelly has shared before us. i had a history professor in the ge that survived bataan death march and spent 3 1/2 years -- i wonder if these two men knew each other. he, too, was a remarkable man. i can think of no honor than to honor his memory by renaming this medical center. i ask that all members support this legislation. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. th

mr. coffman: mr. galluci. mr. galluci: i would tend to agree that there was proper training prior to implementation. however, because this was such a complex overhaul, i think the unforeseen consequences made it much more problematic. at least on our end as v.s.o.'s. whether -- just how much work was moving around. i think even -- and i pointed out in my testimony they had moved work for the predischarge program, delivery claims. there were hiccups all up and down the v.a. system. our review specialist in winston-salem identified a number of claims that disappeared before the 48-hour queue. when we reported it to v.a. they didn't think it was happening at first. it took about two days of back and forth and then providing claim numbers and a hard count of the claims that were pulled back from winston-salem pending rating review, they were in the cloud, 499 for the national work queue, they didn't believe us at first. they almost didn't recognize this was happening within their own business process. i think there we

mr. trump: there are a lot of mr.: i was truly happy to pay even on the -- ivana what i paid her. if i had gone down the tubes and it did up with nothing, she and the children would always be taken care of. at the time, don't forget i was being sued for $2 billion at one point, by her, and i was going to be nasty, and frankly, had i not had a glitch, i would probably not be on this program right now. i would be a divorce court. charlie: if you had not bottomed out and put some pressure on her -- mr. trump: it was not a question of pressure. there was a point where she probably felt i was not going to make it. charlie: but were you telling her differently? mr. trump: i was not telling her anything. all she had to do is read "the wall street journal." they were making dire predictions about me, but i guess i got more print than anyone else. what happened is, had i not been involved in a glitch, i don't believe that we would be here right now. i would be studying for tomorrow's examination before a trial. charlie: he wou

mr. hatch: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hatch: mr. president, we are currently in the midst of the longest trapbg transitionalt the department of treasury in our senate's history. the senate has never left this much time to go without a treasury secretary. in fact, the senate has never left treasury without a confirmed secretary in between administrations for this long, yet despite the obvious need to fill this position, we have had to deal with continual and pointless delays courtesy of some of our colleagues. i won't begrudge any senator for taking advantage of the privileges offered to them under the rules of the senate, however, i think we have ample reason to question some of our colleagues' judgment and priorities with regard to how we dealt with the nomination of steven mnuchin to the office of -- as treasury secretary. let's g

mr. mr. krishnamoorthi:: the secretary of homeland security found out about the president's executive orders through cable news. in some cases, the president himself has been uncertain of what his executive orders contained. sir, we need transparency today. congress has the responsibility to eliminate this confusion and make sure that executive actions are clear and transparent to all americans. that's why i am introducing the executive order transparency act. this one-page bill requires that all executive orders be posted on the white house website 72 hours before each is signed. this simple bill is an investment in a working government, and i urge all my colleagues to join me. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from ten

hirono, mr. hoeven, mr. inhofe, mr. isakson, mr. mr. johnson, mr. kaine, mr. ki mr. king, mr. lankford, mr. leahy, mr. lee, mr. manchin, mr. markey, mr. mccain, mrs. mccaskill, mr. menendez, mr. merkley, mr. moran, ms. murkowski, mr. murphy, mrs mrs. murray, mr. nelson, mr. paul, mr. purdue, mr. peters, mr. portman, mr. reed, mr. rirk, mr. roberts, mr. rounds, mr. rubio, mr. sanders, mr. sasse, mr. schatzs, mr. schumer, mr. scott, mr. sessions, mrs. shaheen, mr. shelby, ms. stabenow, mr. sullivan, mr. tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey, mr. udall, mr. van hollen, mr. warner, mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young quorum call: the presiding officer: a quorum is still not present. mr. mcconnell: i move to instruct the sergeant at arms to request the presence of absent senators, and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. votvote: vote: vote:

mr. wyden: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: madam president, the senate is now debating the nomination of steven mnuchin to be the secretary of treasury. and this is yet another nomination on which the majority has walked away, unfortunately, from a 20-year bipartisan approach when it comes to the vetting process. in 2009 when tim guide near was -- guide ner was president obama's nominee, a vetting issue came up and both sides of the finance committee carried the investigation out to its conclusion. but the situation has turned out quite differently this time. there were several properties in the united states and abroad worth a hundred million dollars missing from mr. mnuchin's disclosure. he failed to disclose several positions in various firms. he misled the public. he misled the committee's about his bank's forecloser tactics and he appears to have hidden key data requested by members of this body. frankly, i don't believe these investigation

mr. mr. conaway: i rise to recognize a constituent of mine who is re with us today, chaplain harvey klee is here today. we heard him give a beautiful invocation calling us to be unified in our actions. chaplain klee has dedicated himself to living by those words, serving our nation and its people in many ways. he served in the navy in the korean war, later worked as a missionary in helping drug addicts and designing training programs for inmates at prisons in california. he founded the texas chaplain association and has been appointed texas department chaplain nine times, more than any other chaplain in the history of the department. chaplain klee, thank you for reminding office the power of the lord jesus cries. mr. -- christ. -- christ. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 further requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the j michigan seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute

mr. cox: mr. chairman, i have to say this with all honesty, i think particularly this subcommittee has a great chairman. a great ranking member. mr. katko: i agree. mr. cox: and i mean it from the bottom of my heart because you work together. you want to find solutions. it's easy to constantly identify problems. the american people are looking for solutions. employees are looking for solutions. government does lots of good things that helps this country operate and helps the private industry operate. so i am excited about this congress and this subcommittee. i will work with you and afge works with the two of you in any way we can to find solutions to help our economy and keep us all safe. mr. katko: thank you, mr. cox. i appreciate the kind words. we do try and dispense with party loyalties and to do the right thing to keep the american public safe and keep this system humming and also make it better. that's our job. hopefully we can stand as an example what others in congress can do when they pu

mr. nunes: no, but i have been briefed on them. it would be unusual, i think unprecedented for us to get transcripts that were illegally leaked out and discussed for us to have those here in congress. i think we have to be very careful about the legislative branch of government getting fisa warranted, communications and that we start coming through private conversations american citizens are having. we have to be very careful where we go with this. >> is it not concerning, though? mr. nunes: no, what it appears to me like is it seems to me -- it seems to be there is a difference between what russia's sanctions are to people like myself, which when i think of russian sanctions, i think of dealing with crimea, dealing with the invasion of ukraine by the russians and the sanctions that we have put into place working with our allies, with the eu and others. and then what happened right at the time after christmas when president obama kicked the russia diplomat out. i don't consider that to be

mr. krista morphy, we appreciate you being here and being the making member. we have mr. mitchell and a number of other new members to the oversight committee will be joining us from the democrat side. i want to welcome mr. mitchell to the committee this afternoon. let's start with opening statements and get to our witnesses. we appreciate our witnesses in your today, talking about an important subject. health insurance premiums are soaring. president obama and the administration promised that the affordable care act would lower health insurance premiums by $2500. american families are still waiting to see those reductions. the health insurance premiums have skyrocketed under the affordable care act. some americans have experienced higher mm increases and had the job coverage because it became too expensive. under the affordable care act, they are not just rising premiums, the americans have seen massive increases in the cost of their deductible. insurers are seeing unprecedented losses o

walorski of indiana, mr. smith of nebraska, mr. knight of, mr. rice, mr. womack of arkansas, mr. woodall of georgia, mr. flores of texas. the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces the speaker's appointment pursuant to 22 u.s.c. 2760 and the order of the house of january 3, 2017, of the following members on the part of the house to the canada-united states interparliamentary group. the clerk: mr. huizenga of michigan, chairman. mr. young of alaska. . liinf mne mrcrerf rtdata e ear o mpe:he aianuns e sak's apinen tpuua t22 s. 2-hndherd o thhoe jua 27 t flong memrs o thn e pt t hsef thexo-it ste inrpliamenry gup thclk: m mauofex, aian mrduffy isns, ce chrm. . rdf tas mr prcofewexo. e ear o mpe:he chrnnnc t sak's apnten othe niol ltalenr tmeedy puicaw07-117ndhe orr t hsefanry 3,01 otholwi meer on e rtf eou the brdfrueeofhe jo fendyenr peorng art thclk:rs. coto o viin. thspkeprteor t aianuns epeer potmt rd oth hoe anry,01 o e llinmeernhe pa othhoeo e naon htocaubcaon anrerdomssn. thclerk:r.eawsf rt cali. e ear o tempe:he chr noce t sak's apinenpuua tseio 3 othdertntf at auorieac fi

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: lefty versus righty microphones, mr. president. okay. now, i've just listened to my friend, the majority leader, mr. president, and the majority whip on the floor. they're able legislators, but they are sort of misleading the public as to the motivation. they have tried to -- our motivation. they have tried to paint every democratic request as leftover resentment from the election. sour grapes, the majority leader said a few weeks ago. they can say it day after day after day, but it will never be true. all that we democrats are insisting on is careful, careful consideration of nominees who we believe almost universally are below par. these nominees are going to have tremendous, tremendous effect on the american people. every mother and father in america should worry about betsy devos' lack of dedication, almost negative feelings about public education. she heaps a

hash, mr. graham. mr. lee. mr. cruz. mr. kennedy. mrs. feinstein. mr. durbin. mr. franken. mr. blumenthal. mr. chairman. seven no, nine yes. >> the vote is approved. meeting over. this is a man who will not protect the voters. [indiscernible] >> a sad day for american justice. [indiscernible] [indiscernible] >> thank you. thank you. nice to meet you. [indiscernible] >> thank you. that is true. [indiscernible] announcer: coverage of confirmation hearings continues as the senate and public works committee was for the nomination of oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt to become the next administrator of the environmental protection agency. watch live at 10:15 a.m. eastern time. announcer: sunday, in-depth will feature a live discussion with nick adams. taking your calls, tweets, emails, and facebook questions during the program. >> despite the cultural problems of america, this is still by far and away, the greatest entry in the history of the world. announcer: is the author of andrica: the greatest good "retaking america, crushing critical correctness." promoting working on ame

and mr. pruitt -- mr. pruitt chooses to defend and protect the needs of the biofuel industry over the needs of our children? that is not someone worthy of representing the american people. that is not someone worthy of heading this agency. and, you know, let's just stick to mr. pruitt's own words, not the words of oh, not the words of my constituents, but in his own words. this is what he said about the agency that he's been chosen to lead. mr. pruitt describes himself as, and i quote, a leading advocate against the e.p.a.'s activist agenda. he said this on his linkedin page. we bein accessed this in januarf 2016. on the role of the e.p.a., he said, an i quote, i believe the e.p.a. has a role to play in our republican form of government. air and water quality issues can cross state lines and can sometimes require federal intervention. at the same time, the e.p.a. was never intended to be our nation's front line environmental regulator. unquote. this was his testimony before the house committee on science,

mr. president -- >> the choir of the house intelligence committee dismissed calls for an investigation into russian hacking and ties to the trump campaign. he spoke earlier today with reporters in the capitol complex. >> i want to thank all of you for being here. as you-all know it's long been a priority of mine to be a very transparent with all of you and to make sure that i'm readily available to answer any questions, especially when major issues arise as it relates to intelligence. and so kind of just watching what's occurred over the last few weeks, i wanted to make sure we formalize the process a little more. i know that last week i was here we had several press drums that a lot of you were attended. but i wanted to formalize it and make it more a press availability. i don't know if we'll do this every week or every other week. i'm just looking forward to taking your questions. with that i'll open it up. reporter: can you say categorically there were no contacts whatsoever between an

mr. polis. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i'm grateful that this body is moving forward on the bolts ditch land boundary adjustment bill. i'm hopeful that after passage the senate will bring this bill up and pass it on until it ecomes law to remove any incumbrances that minturn has. i urge a yes vote and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. lamborn. mr. lamborn: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 689. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the -- mr. lamborn: mr. speaker, on that i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor by taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. and pursuant to clause 8 of rule

that is why mr. rooney, mr. kinzinger, and others with whom i have talked but who are not co-sponsoring at this point in time, are carefully considering this action. it's not partisan. every american, every republican, every democrat is concerned about russia and what they have been doing to violate international law, not to mention the criminal behavior that they may be pursuing and are pursuing, we believe, in syria. it's a serious matter of national security. which is why both democrats and republicans are putting this bill forward. i want to thank all of the co-sponsors on both side of the aisle for this timely legislation. at this point i want to yield my friend, to the gentleman from new york, the ranking member of the foreign affairs committee, eliot engel. mr. engel: thank you, steny. i'm pleased to be here with my colleagues, mr. hoyer, mr. schiff, to say that what russia has done and is doing is very alarming. and therefore they should not be allowed to weasel out of sanctions. as the russian spy ship

mrs. torres. mrs. torres: mr. speaker, seeing as we have no additional speakers, i would like to again thank representative blackburn for her efforts and urge adoption of this bill. thank you and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. mr. mcclintock. mr. mcclintock: mr. speaker, i would join in asking for adoption of this measure and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 88. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid n the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek reck fission? collin clidge mr. speaker, i move to suspend -- the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek

mr. trump: i think just doing what i am doing. i have had a great street after the last year. the economy is in a deplorable condition. the politicians destroyed the economy in 1986. . really got very lucky when i built the taj mahal, which everyone would said -- which everyone said would be his downfall, it turned out to be one of the best deals i have ever made. it made over $40 million a month . no casino in history has made anywhere near that. all three of my casinos were rated four stars. it has been an incredible period of six or seven months for me, and it has been gratifying. the comeback stories and everything else, i probably care less about that than i would have three or four euros ago, but it has been a good experience for me. mr. trump: how are you different from three or four years ago? i may like toeday lose everything for a period of time to see who is loyal and who is not. i found out a lot. charlie: did you find out? .r. trump: you can't guess it you would think some pe

mr. applebaum? >> >> i am stuart applebaum from new york and the executive vice president of the 1.3 million member united food workers union. this has been a great process with amazing candidates. we listen to each other, we have learned from each other. now we must be moving forward together. we must leave this meeting united. our country, our democracy. -- our democracy demands it. motionoud to second the to make the selection by acclamation. thank you. [applause] all in favor say aye. opposed? arise. it is my great honor to present the next chair to the democratic national committee, a champion for working people, a visionary, a great american, mr. tom perez. [applause] [cheering] thank you. [applause] mr. perez: thank you so much. thank you so much. folks, i would like to begin by making a motion. a motion i have discussed with a good friend. and his name is keith ellison. and the motion i would like to make to the body is a motion suspending the rules, if i may, to appoint keith ellison deputy

mr. wyden: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: madam president, the senate is now debating the nomination of steven mnuchin to be the secretary of treasury. and this is yet another nomination on which the majority has walked away, unfortunately, from a 20-year bipartisan approach when it comes to the vetting process. in 2009 when tim guide near was -- guide ner was president obama's nominee, a vetting issue came up and both sides of the finance committee carried the investigation out to its conclusion. but the situation has turned out quite differently this time. there were several properties in the united states and abroad worth a hundred million dollars missing from mr. mnuchin's disclosure. he failed to disclose several positions in various firms. he misled the public. he misled the committee's about his bank's forecloser tactics and he appears to have hidden key data requested by members of this body. frankly, i don't believe these investigation

mrs. dingell: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to give voice to my constituents and their families whose world has been turned upside-down following president trump's executive order last friday which they feel is directed at muslims. since the order was signed, we have been flooded with calls, with messages, and no matter where i am in the district, people who are scared and terrified. i cannot convey to this house enough the feelings of individuals who have gone through a stringent vetting process, hold green cards, are official legal residents, in some cases even citizens, afraid that someone's going to knock on their door at 3:00 a.m. and take and deport them from this country. the real people, the detroit headlines are full today of stories. an iraqi whose mother died who served with the military in iraq and was trying to bring his mother back, he's an american citizen. another doctor whose wife is cutter and taken her baby home. -- qatar, taken her baby home. both here legally. i ask my colleagues to pl

mr. raskin: mr. speaker, thank you very much. i'm delighted to be with you this afternoon, and i have a series of other speakers that will be joining me later in the hour from the progressive caucus as we discuss some of the key events of the week from our perspective. i would ask unanimous consent that all the members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this subject of our special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. raskin: mr. speaker, i love magic, and i bet a lot of people out there watching today love magic too. ever since i was a kid, i loved the cops and the card tricks and the rabbit coming out of the hat. when -- i -- i loved the cups and the card tricks and the rabbit coming out of the hat. i entertained at birthday parties helping to pay my way through college. and the key move in magic, as you know, mr. speaker, is the sleight of hand and i looked up the definition of sleight of hand in the merriam

mr. bost: mr. speaker, the obama administration anti-coal regulation was a solution to -- solution in search of a problem. it wasn't intended to protect the environment. it was intended to put coal miners out of work and sadly it's been successful in achieving that goal. a study of the rule estimate it is would destroy more than one third of our coal jobs, and that nearly half of all coal resources would effectively be off-limits to mining. in addition, the o.s.m. rule has ignored clear congressional directives to share information with the states. if ever there has been a time for congress to act, this is it. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from arizona. mr. grijalva: thank you. i'd like to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from virginia, a ranking member on the resources committee on oversight and investigation, mr. mceachin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia

mr. oho, for five minutes. mr. yoho: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for approximately five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. thank you, mr. speaker. on thursday, february 2 of 2017, gainesville, florida, and the state of florida, lost a favorite son in mr. perry c. mcgriff. he was an icon in my hometown of gainesville, florida, and was known for his strong civic duty in helping people wherever and whenever they needed it. he was born in arcadia, florida, in 1937 and went to school at the university of florida where he became an all star stand out in both gator football and baseball. his contributions on the field earned him entry into the prestigious hall of fame as a gator great in 1969. perry was married to his wife for 57 years. raised four children, jana, mark, keith, and matthew, and enjoyed the joy and laughter of their 15 grandchildren. a tremendous family man, he was also successful in business. he was an insurance agent for

mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i'm glad to join my colleague, congressman mark wayne mullin, today in introducing a resolution designating the week of february 13 as national health and wellness recognition week. lifestyle-related chronic diseases are causing health crises in this country. chronic diseases are the leading cause of preventable death and disability. and they cost the u.s. economy more than $1 trillion per year. this crisis is so severe that the centers for disease and control prevention has deemed chronic disease to be a public health challenge of the 21st century. we can reduce lifestyle-related chronic disease and end this crisis. but that means improving and sustaining health-related behavior. that's where the health coaches come in. they step in to fill the gap between health care providers' recommendations and sustained lifestyle changes. by helping to improve individual health and wellness, health coaches get to the root of this nation's health crisis. i want to give my deepest thanks

so, mr. kearney was hired by mr.william chapman, who bought a lot of the property out here through agricultural strips. he hired mr. kearney to develop the colony farms out here. he started the first colony farm, central colony, out here in this area. mr. kearney, that is really where he made his money. he was just a great land per motor. -- land promoter. he enticed people to the central valley and settle here. the thing that really brought people out here was irrigation. the canals that were formed here would bring to the colonies their own irrigation water. there were also vineyards planted for them and other fruit trees and so on. so, it really was a great opportunity to settle in this region. the first crop they realized was successful was weeks. -- was wheat. a wonderful wheatfield that was growing here. once they realize they could bring water from the river to irrigate it, it was ideal. eventually fruit crops, raisins, or a big part of what was grown out here and what we are known as today. we also have the r

zaragoza mr. cook mr. haney ms. mendoza-mcdonnell dr. murase ms. norton mr. sanchez mr. walton thank you that's of i's. >> thank you. ms. casco as has been announced at the past meetings members of the public are reminded if they wish to address the board of education please complete a speaker card and present it to the executive assistant. speaker cards will not be accepted if an item is already before the board presentation to the board of education. according to the policies and procedures before the board presentation to the board of education. item b presentations to the board of education superintendents report superintendant lee. >> thank you once again mr. walton happy valentine's day to everyone can't think of a more romantic way to spend the special evening so i'd like to start this evening by acknowledging the black history month the celebration of chouchlts of african-americans at a time for recognizing the central role of african-americans in u.s. history on friday february 3rd as i distinct honor of attending the black history month celebration at city hall

mr. king: mr. speaker, i move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. . those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly the house st mr. spicer: during his long career in public service, judge gorsuch has enjoyed bipartisan approval to the u.s. court of appeals for the 10th circuit. 12 current democratic senators and senator schumer and senator feinstein, senator lay high were in office when he was first confirmed without opposition in 2006. eight democrats like senators already supporting a full hearing and vote for judge gorsuch. e is a widely respected jurist to have his nomination decided upon. now that he has been named, i hope you will let me talk about how he is qualified to succeed justice scalia. he is impeccable. and he holds education in the highest regard. he graduated from columbia, graduated from harvard law chool and attended oxford. like justice scalia, the cornerstone of h

mr. payne: mr. speaker, are we witnessing the first manchurian presidency in the history of the united states? this resignation -- this resignation of president trump's national security advisor, michael flynn, has done nothing to end the controversy surrounding the administration's relationship with russia. i'm calling for an independent investigation into flynn's actions. the white house knew for weeks that flynn misled about his secret communications with the russian ambassador. but apparently that was not a problem for the trump administration. as long as it was hiden from the public. did the white house authorize flynn's secret communications? did the president? why wasn't flynn gone sooner? we yet don't know the answers to these and other questions. what we do know is that the trump administration is not prepared to protect this nation. for all their talk of national security, republicans are giving president trump a pass. an independent investigation into flynn's actions is needed. the invest

mr. newhouse: mr. speaker, i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, this letter is to inform you in your role as speaker that i have today sent a letter to my governor resigning my seat in congress. a duplicate of that letter is attached. i'm truly honored that president trump has given me the opportunity to lead the office of management and budget, the opportunity to work with such a talented and intelligent group of people in trying to restore our country's fiscal security was too good to pass up. it does, however, come at the price of leaving the house. i am thankful for the efforts you have made on my behalf on this effort. i am thankful for the leadership you have shown during my time in the house, but more than all of that, i am thankful

mr. higgins: thank you, mr. dow. mrs. brooks, mr. cox, thank you for your t i yield. mr. katko: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne. mr. payne: thank you, mr. chairman. and to the ranking member of the subcommittee. it's really an honor and privilege to have her join this committee that has really done great work and worked in a bipartisan manner over the course of the time that i have been involved. looking forward to continuing that work. mr. dow, in your testimony you discussed implementing improvements to the checkpoint experience. in your opinion, what are the most effective and pressing adjustments that should be made to the precheck process in order to encourage greater participation among trusted populations without sacrificing the security of all the passengers? mr. dow: very good question, mr. payne. thank you. on the precheck pros serks number one we have to get more people in the program. we have millions of people who have been vetted very deeply from a secure standpoint. we should figure out how to get those people in the program. s

mr. presidthe presiding officere senator from maine. mr. king: mr. president, i'm a former governor, and as such, i have an inclination to support the executive's nominees for their cabinet, for their secretaries or commissioners, in my case in maine. i think that's an important principal and it's how i start when i approach the analysis of any nominee to any position put forward by the executive, whether the executive is donald trump, barack obama, or anybody else. that's a kind of starting point. and that's how i started this january. and, indeed, thus far as we voted here on the floor, i have supported five of the seven nominees that have come before us, plus i've supported two additional nominees in committee, which have not yet come to the floor but who i will support on the floor. so i am not total opposition, don't vote for any nominees. i don't think that's the way our system works, and it's certainly not the way i intend to approach these issues. i have a -- i have approached them one at a time, looking at the positions of the nominees, thei

mr. wyden: mr. chairman, i ask unanimous consent that vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent that the be a allowed to enter an additional statement in the record. officer sphe without objection. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, the debate on congressman price's nomination, in my view, is a referendum on the future of health care in america. on this side of the aisle, we think it's worth spending 30 hours talking about a subject this important to our people. my view is, this is about whether the united states is going to go back to the dark days when health care worked only for the healthy and the wealthy. based on the public record, medicare is a program congressman price does not believe in, and it offers a guarantee of services he doesn't believe seniors should have. on the affordable care act, he's the architect of repeal and run. he wrote the bill himself. he proposed weakening protections for americ

mr. bond: what did you think then it would mean over time? ms. height: i really thought it would mean our schools of the open. children would be able to go to all schools. doors would be opened. i thought it was the end of segregation. mr. bond: what has it turned out to be so far as you're concerned? ms. height: it's been very disappointing. i grew up in pennsylvania. there were no negro teachers. i came to appreciate what it meant to be with students of all different races. predominantly children who were foreign-born however. it was a very small group of us. but i thought here at last we have something like that. one of the things i value is what it meant to me to grow up in a school where i had equal o do whatever i t wanted to do to become something. now --ht this is right it was disappointing at times. immediately it became counter activities, efforts to not only move forward but to push us backwards. i thought that resistance in itself was so disturbing because they confused the pi

mr. markey: mr. president? -- mr. merkley: mr. president?the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: thank you. i ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy with the senators from hawaii and rhode island over the course of the coming hour. the presiding officer: has the senator from hawaii yielded the floor? shatt-al-arab yes. -- mr. schatz: yes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. i believe it is my understanding that that will be charged to my time. but i've asked nor that to be the case. the presiding officer: the senator is yect. the senator is correct. mr. markey: i ask unanimous consent for christie yeeter to have the privileges of the floor throughout the year. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. the thank that keeps striking me is that our fundamental question is the individual, is the nominee given his record in oklahoma going to be an advocate for the environment, an advocate for the hea

hash, mr. graham. mr. lee. mr. cruz. mr. kennedy. mrs. feinstein. mr. durbin. mr. franken. mr. blumenthal. mr. chairman. clicks the nomination is approved by the committee. meeting over. >> the nomination of a man who will not protect the voters. [indiscernible] >> a sad day for american justice. you are shameful. shameful. [indiscernible] >> thank you. thank you. [indiscernible] >> thank you. that is true. [indiscernible] >>

mr. yoder: mr. speaker, i rise tonight heartbroken with my friends and colleagues, both democrats and republicans, to honor the life and memory of a man shot and killed last week in my district, as well as in support for someone who was ism ed and ian, whose hero prevented this tragedy from being worse. i ask my colleague in the chamber please join me in a movement silence. the speaker pro tempore: please ise for a moment of silence. mr. yoder: mr. speaker, the man who perpetrated the attack in my district last week was filled with hate. he does not represent anything we believe in as kansan or as americans. last night our community sent a strong message that love will overcome hate. s ousands of concerned citizen in my district came together to support one of another and our growing and vibrant indian community in this time of great tragedy. we show the world that our diverse political and religious views are what make our community and our country great. mr. speaker, in addition to this moment of

mr. bishop: mr. chairman, it's going to be hard calling you mr. speaker. but, mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 99, i call up h.r. 428, the red river gradient boundary survey act, and also ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 42, a bill to survey the gradient boundary along the red river in the states of oklahoma and texas, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 99, the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, and jovement hawaii, ms. hanabusa, -- and the gentlewoman from hawaii, ms. hanabusa, each will control 30 minutes. the gentleman will withhold. the house will be in order. members and staff will leave the chamber to carry on conversations. the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on h.r. 428. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr.

mr. spicer to questions on topics including the status of the executive order on refugees and immigrants and the president's allegations that the press was not properly reporting on terror attacks. >> how are you? mr. spicer: hope you had a great day. i want to start off by congratulating the five-time super bowl champion, the new england patriots. a great day for football last night, a popular sport to welcome the new patriots to the white house. as you know, the president spoke to four world leaders. on saturday he spoke with the italian prime minister, during which they discussed strengthening cooperation around a large range of shared interests. he also agreed to attend the g7 meeting in may where he looks forward to meeting with the premised on the sidelines. he also spoke with ukrainian president poroshenko, addressing a variety of topics including the long-running conflict with russia. they also discussed plans for an in-person meeting. on sunday the president had a call with nato

mr. chaffetz: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. chaffetz: mr. chairman, h.r. 998 searching for and cutting regulation that is are unnecessarily burdensome, also known as the scrub act, was introduced by our colleague, jason smith. i happen to be a co-sponsor of this bill as well as the judiciary chairman, bob goodlatte, pete sessions, the rules chairman, the gentleman from texas. we rise in support of this bill, the scrub act, regulatory accumulation is the significant problem for the federal government. year after year federal agencies add regulation after regulation piling on to an already very complex and crowded regulatory system. the code of federal regulations, also known as the q.f.r., has some 178,000 pages. these are the regulations that you're supposed to understand if you're in a business, small business, big business, medium-sized business. it contains more than one million regulatory restrictions. and every year the federal

mr. quigley: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, just hours after the president's misguided can a counterproductive and objectively anti-american muslim ban was signed, we saw the effects. chaos erupted at airports around the country. including my own district at chicago o'hare. green card holders were held in legal limbo. refugees fleeing violence and he persecution were sent away before boarding u.s.-bound flights even after enduring years of thorough screening and vetting. unfortunately, this is not the first time we have turned away innocent people seeking safety in our country. in 1939, the german ocean liner, st. louis, and it's 937 passengers, almost all jewish refugees, were turned away from the port of miami and sent back to europe. these passengers, 254 were murdered in the holocaust. we all bear a responsibility to learn from the evils of history so that we'll never make the same mistakes again. it is our turn to step up and fight to protect the values of our nation. and ensure that we're on the right side of his

mr. gutierrez, for five minutes. mr. speaker, as we all learned on sunday, mr. bush came to america from germany to make the king of beers. he didn't have a visa, had he a boat ticket. of course our country welcomed him. not exactly. mr. busch was told you're not welcomed here, go back home. but then the young man reaches st. louis, meets anheuser, and budweiser, is born. all of us assumed the president was watchinged ad because it was, after all, the super bowl. and it was broadcast by fox network, his favorite. but i wonder if the message sank in. to borrow a line from a different advertiser, mr. speaker, i don't always drink beer, but when i do i think the next time it will be a bud. but then there was a little girl and her mom who walked to america from latin america in the 84 lumber ad. they didn't have a visa, either, well, we don't generally allow visas to people from latin america who are seeking a better way of life here. if they did qualify for a visa, that little girl would be