mr. bilirakis for five minutes. >> thank you mr.hairman and thanks to both of you for showing up today and thank you for your testimony. chairman wheeler in march we discussed public safety responses in a resolved quarterly report to which he thought was a good idea. i know you provide some information. have you posted what you provided the committee on the web site so the public can see what's going on and what you are doing? >> would we? >> have you posted on line? >> i can't answer that specifically. >> can you get that into assistant as possible and if you have and can you that on line as soon as possible? >> that is a good point sir. >> commissioner pai there has been a lot of attention and concern regarding designated entity office pools. you believe are they now correctly balanced and if not what should be done to to to fix that? >> unfortunately i've don't think they are and that the agency has moved in the opposite direction. my principle for small business program is that it should benefit small businesses but the agency h

mr. bilirakis for two minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. bilirakis: i rise today to support the v.a. accountability act. the brave women and men who return from serving our country should be able to receive timely access to quality care. our veterans have earned our respect and admiration. in general, i believe that most employees at the v.a. are dedicated to our nation's heroes. however a culture of mediocrity has permeated the v.a. too many employees who perform terribly are not fear thsmed bill before us today will allow the v.a. secretary to fire employees more easily. but the heart of this issue is about the quality of care for veterans. if bad actors stay at the v.a., that hurts veterans. opponents speak in hypotheticals but hypotheticals mean nothing in the face of overwhelming evidence. we know about the real negligence that goes on unpunished. s that disservice to those who have borne the battle. the "washington post" reported on the v.a. employee who took a veteran seeking treatment for drug abuse to a crack house in a government v

mr. bilirakis: thank you mr. speaker, thank you mr. chairman, i appreciate it very much. i rise in support of this act. it means meaningful reform with patients with rare chronic conditions. i'd like to highlight one provision i'm so proud of, the open act. one in 10 americans suffer from a rare disease that is 10 -- disease, that is 10% of the country. over 95% of these diseases have no treatments. patients like candice and laura from the tampa bay area need f.d.a. approval, safe and effective treatments. laura has no treatment options. candice did her own research and took a medication off-label and now is in remission. the open act will incentivize major market drugs and combination drug products to be repurposed to treat rare diseases. and put them on-label. the 30 million americans with a rare disease need your yes vote. vote for this bill, vote for patients. thank you very much. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: i would reserve for the republican side. the chair: the

mr. bilirakis regarding the designated entity program and i'm struggling with the commissioner's decisionto eliminate the attributed relationship rule and the facility requirement in the rule for a couple of reasons, and you pointed those out. you made a compelling case that this sets the stage for arbitration. how are we going to prevent that from happening, what action does the commission need to take to make sure that these small carriers are able to get the credit that it was designed to give them so that they can serve those underserved and underserved areas? stanek to be honest we need to return to the status quo before the most recent and about commonsense reforms to make sure the corporations don't get in the system again. it's in the same option that we have low hanging fruit that's already prohibited by the antitrust law. i'm talking about genuine reforms to make sure the people that want to serve the folks in ohio and kansas can do that and lending the amount of credit people can get and making sure that they can't own the majority of large companies and that we preserve that a

mr. bilirakis: thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to underscore a serious problem in pasco county florida this week that is devastating homeowner's flooding after days of continuous rain. after tropical storm debi in 2012, the army corps of engineers worked with county officials to mitigate flooding, but more needs to be done. for instance, pasco county official vs. been working for 19 years to extend ridge road. one of the main justifications for the ridge road extension is a matter of safety. an extension is a much needed evacuation route in the case of natural disasters like flooding or hurricanes. as of today an evaluation issued for florida in my district is ongoing. the ridge road extension needs to be approved, 19 years is far too lock. the army corps must stop dragging its feet. serious flood this week demonstrates the need for action. i hope that the corps gets the message. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek

mr. bilirakis. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary, for testifying today. with regard to -- they talked about the medical scribes. elaborate on that. i know in the private sector these are great private sector solutions. and i know that the doctor will have more time with the -- i mean it's been proven the private sector the doctor will are more time with the patient. i had a town meeting that lasted four hours. people were bringing that up. so you want the doctor to focus on medicine. elaborate on that program, that pilot program. >> i've heard a lot of this. i've been to 195 different v.a. facilities and every one i go to there's a different approach. but we're pretty consistent in the operation of a pac team, a patient care team. a team of people working with a particular patient. on those teams today we don't yet have a scribe. i think what jim was describing was let's pilot the scribe so that everybody on that team can be working on the patient and not just entering information into the medical record. >> i didn't come prepared today to really expect t

mr. bilirakis, for five minutes. mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr. speaker. mr.aker, i rise today to mark a anniversary that has pained the cypriot and hellenic communities for 41 years. on july 20, 1974 41 years yesterday, in violation of international law turkey invaded cyprus and captured much of the northern part of the island. . since the invasion turkey has inhibited cyprus. forcibly relocating 160,000 greek cypriots and infusing the island with hundreds of thousands of turkish settlers. nearly 1,500 cypriots remain missing since the 1974 invasion, including four americans whose remains have not been located. religious artifacts and cultural relics have been destroyed in the wake of the turkish army's invasion and after 41 years of displacement are now lost to time. hundreds of churches and monasteries have been shamefully desecrated losing all sense of their historic and religious significance. sipe russ has been a steadfast ally and cypriots deserve an end to this senseless division. with negotiations under way, again, for reunification, let's hope this t

mr. bilirakis, two minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. bilirakis: thank you mr. speaker. thank you mr. chairman, i appreciate it very much. i rise in support of h.r. 1734, the improving coal combustion residuals regulation act. this congress' legislation will ensure that coal combustion products are safely regulated by empowering states to regulate it at fixed standards without overwhelming consumers' wallets. it also gives the e.p.a. the authority to act to protect the public should a state fail to implement its own regulations. coal come biston products have become a significant sector of the economy prorkviding jobs and environmental and safety benefits. the recycling of coal combustion products redeuces greenhouse gas emissions extends the life and durability of the nation's roads and bridges, and reduces the amount that must be disposed of in land fills or surface impoundments. e.p.a. reverses -- if e.p.a. reverses its decision not to regulate coal ash as hazardous material, as they are considering, the cost to floridians could be ast

mr. gus bilirakis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr.er. thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate it. i rise today in support of h.r. 2256, the veterans information modernization act. this bill makes positive bipartisan reforms to the v.a. which has become the hallmark of the v.a. committee. we have such a good committee, mr. speaker. i'm particularly pleased about the inclusion of my bill, h.r. 271, the creating options nor veterans expedited recovery act, better known as the cover act. last year the v.a. committee held a hearing regarding the access of veterans to v.a.'s mental health services. at the hearing, we heard from mothers and fathers of deceased veterans. i remember vividly how hearing their testimony moved me. i can't remember another instance when the v.a. committee room was so quiet and solemn as that day. statistics show that one in five veterans who served in iraq and afghanistan have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress. now we must responsibly ask ourselves, are we doing enough when it comes to addressing mental healt

bilirakis, and brown of florida. the speaker pro tempore: the senate will be notified of adegreesal conferees. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2015, the gentleman from texas, mr. flores is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. flores: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to honor one of my constituents, john david crow, of college station, texas who passed away on june 17. to say that john david crow is a texas football legend is an understatement. he was a heisman trophy winner four-time nfl pro bowl selection a college football coach and an administrator for the texas a&m university athletic department. john david was born on july 8, 1935 in marion, louisiana. when he was born, he umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, causing nerve damage and permanently paralyzing the left half of his face. john david however, never let that hardship hold him back. as a junior at spring hill high school he led the football team to win the class 1-a state football championship in 1952. as a senior he led the basketball team to win the class 1-a state championship of 1954. after graduating from high school he married his hig