mr. blumenauer: it's time to act. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. shuster: continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio: does the gentleman have additional speakers or -- no, ok. i'd yield one minute to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. boyle. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. boyle: thank you and i want to thank my colleague. this is just embarrassing. it is embarrassing that we're here talking about the umpeenth patch for the umpteenth time. other countries are wondering if we're still interested in leading. let's forget the short-term patches, let's finally deal with the problem. the previous speaker, mr. blumenauer, is exactly right. before coming here as a state legislator in pennsylvania, we, democrats and republicans, banned together and cast a very politically tough vote. it was the right thing to do, both democrats and republicans did it, and now we're finally building bridges and repairing roads that we neglected for 20 years in our state. it's time for the u

mr. blumenauer: work next week, fund the transportation bill. let the committee know what parameters they have and be able to know -- to revitalize this country. it's type for us to step up. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you very much. our colleagues are making really, really good points about what we need to do. bill shuster and the republican majority is committed to doing exactly what they have talked about. getting our work done. in fairness, it's taken the united states senate until this week, and they have a 1,000-page transportation bill that we are not simply going to say, let's just agree to that. it's going to come over to us after they have done their work with great respect we are trying to make sure that we are continuing the funding. we are using mechanisms that would be available. and the right thing to do is to measure three times and saw once. we are not going to accept by unanimous consent or another agreement a 1,000-page bill. on the republican side we

mr. blumenauer from oregon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for two minutes. mr. blumenauer: i appreciate the gentlelady's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this bill. it's a little frustrating as we watch these subjects lumped together on the floor with truncated debate. i want to speak to just one element that we're discussing here today and that deals with the extension of transportation funding. the passage of this bill will represent the 34th short-term extension of the surface transportation bill. what country became great building its infrastructure eight months at a time six months at a time, a year at a time? it is a failure on the part of congress to be able to understand that you cannot pay for 2015 infrastructure needs with 1993 dollars. the last time we adjusted the user fee the gas tax, that supports the highway trust fund. i do see a little tiny glimmer of daylight with the three-month extension. i've personally been urging the president to indicate that this i

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. for 35 years the united states relationship with iran has been frozen in amber locked in a series of proxy wars and covert struggles. circumstances have occasionally thrust us together. like our shared actions against the taliban after 9/11. or more recently working together against some of the most barberous forces in the middle east. no one is under any illusions that the military leadership and hardline clerics are bad actors opposed to the united states. but that's only part of the story of a complex narrative. the new and potentially more significant chapter of that relationship is an effort to contain iran's nuclear ambition not through force but a combination of tough multinational sanctions and diplomacy. this all started in the bush administration a decade ago and has continued. congress is now beginning the analysis of this historic agreement. for the first time iran's nuclear activities have been reined in. they have followed what they said they would do for the last two ye

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. this weekend we gather in portland to mourn the passing and celebrate the life of don frisbee, who died june 26 at the age of 91. don led an extraordinary life. rising through the company ranks to become the chairman and c.e.o. of pacificore then the major private utility throughout the pacific northwest. he was a bold and visionary leader of this important company. he was a board member of fortune 500 companies like warehouser and first interstate bank now wells fargo. he was regarded as the most influential business leader in oregon for 20 years. don's influence extended beyond the business space. he was also on the board of two prestigious northwest academic institutions. wittman college in walla walla, and reed college in portland, where he played a critical role in the development of that storied institution. he helped promote the growth of portland state university, the oregon health science university, and helped guide the children's institute. later in his retirement, he worke

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: for the last three years, i have been coming to the floor, arguing the fawley of our attempting to pay for 2015 infrastructure with 1993 dollars. we haven't adjusted the gas tax since 1993 and that's why we haven't given the american people a six-year robust re-authorization of the surface transportation system since 1998. i found -- i find myself today incomplete agreement with the column by james serec hmp i in the current issue of the "new yorker." he talks about what is going on in the other body might be perceived as progress. might be a good thing. except, and i quote, real progress except for one thing their complicated plan is only necessary because of the continued refusal by congress to embrace the obvious. economically sensible solution to high --hey funding. currently 18.4 cents. the problem is that the funding mechanisms that these plans rely upon are haphazard as other. their bill would lower the dividend rate paid to banks in the federal reserve system, raisi

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: congress is side stepping the transportation funding issue for the 45th time for the short-term extension, this one until the end of october. no nation has become great building its infrastructure three months, eight months 10 months at a time. this is a symbol of the failure of congress to deal meaningfully with a need to rebuild and renew america. our country is falling apart when we're falling behind. the united states had the finest infrastructure in the world. well those days have long since passed. by any objective measure, we're now down about 25th in the world. and we continue to follow further. this damage has consequences for americans every single day. the average damage to a car is over $500 a year in maintenance due to poor road conditions. more than $125 billion a year to the economy with congestion being stuck in traffic. because of poor road conditions, infrastructure failures and an inability to keep pace with growth, there are people being killed and injur

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. it was interesting to listen to some of the congressional reactions after the united nations security council on monday unanimously approved a resolution that creates a basis for international economic sanctions against iran to be lifted. this was a 15-0 vote for the 104-page resolution that lays out the steps required for lifting united nations sanctions. and importantly, it sets up a way to renew sanctions if iran does not abide by its commitments. if we get into a dispute over iran's enrichment activities, these sanctions automatically snap back after 30 days. and the united states, as a member of the security council, could veto any effort to change that. the united states controls the snap back. congress should not be annoyed but instead should understand and appreciate the unanimous support from the major countries that helped secure the agreement and enforce sanctions in the first place. the united states did not bring iran to the negotiating table by itself. we have been sanct

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. this is a big day on capitol hill. the iranian agreement has been signed. hopefully we'll all have a chance to study it and think through the implications of this historic event. but the legislative clock is ticking down in another area. we have only 10 days left this month, legislatively, before we face another transportation funding cliff. the expectation now is that there will be a 34th short-term transportation extension that we have faced since our last meaningful six-year re-authorization. people are scrambling for another short-term funding source to keep us going for the next few months that target presumably eight to $11 billion to get us through the end of the year. this is actually worse than no solution at all. because it perpetuates the uncertainty the crisis mentality, the inability of states and local governments that rely on this federal partnership to -- that supplies approximately one half of the capital expenditures for our surface transportation. this uncertainty c

mr. blumenauer. the chair: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for two minutes. mr. blumenauer: i thank the gentlelady who represents the other portland. i have deeply appreciated her leadership and insight in this area. these are areas that touch americans on a whole host of levels. but one of the things that is important to note is that the extreme provisions of the preemption bill, the underlying bill that we are discussing, actually has significant negative consequences on hardworking farmers in our state. there are vast world markets that we export to and most of the world markets care about whether or not the product is genetically engineered or not. you can argue the merits, but the world market has made a judgment. we had some cross contamination in wheat with the genetically engineered strain, set off alarm bells. oregon farmers lost business as a result of that. the underlying bill would undercut efforts of 40 states working with their local communities to try and provide protections. and whether or not you're going to label it, there's no reason that you ca

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: last month congress dealt with a trade package that centered on trade promotion authority. those actions, while important, were really just the beginning of a very long process. many important provisions of the transpacific partnership, the t.p.p., are still unresolved. there's a meeting at the end of this month in hawaii where the finance ministers of the 12 countries come together in an attempt to resolve these final questions. as i pointed out in my last meeting with the president while i think trade promotion authority is important and worthy of support, that support does not imply support for the transpacific partnership. indeed, because of the protections we built into the trade promotion authority, it sets an appropriately high standard for approval. everybody in america will have several be months to examine the promisal if an agreement is reached to see if it measures up before the treaty can even be voted on by congress. i am hopeful that we can use this time to c

mr. blumenauer for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. one of the most difficult and challenging situation any family faces is dealing with circumstances surrounding the end of life. earlier this week, n.p.r. ran a fascinating story on a little known fact that physicians die differently than the rest of us. they are more comfortable, they're more likely to spend their final days surrounded by loved ones. they seldom die in an i.c.u. or in a hospital setting. that's because doctors understand what works and what doesn't. doctors are very clear about their wishes, and they choose quality of life and concern for their families as well as their own well-being. i've been working in this area of end of life for more than six years. the ways and means committee unanimously approved my legislation and amended it as part of the affordable care act to provide greater support for families with that decisionmaking process. it did pass the committee unanimously. part of the affordable care act, even despite the 2009 lie of the year about death panels,