the chair: pursuant to house resolution 677, the gentleman from alabama, mr. byrne, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from alabama. mr. bryne: thank you, mr. chairman. this is a simple technical amendment that seeks to increase the maximum number of eligible entities authorized to participate in the competency-based demonstration project established by h.r. 3136 from 20 to 30. as a former member of the alabama state board of education and chancellor of alabama's two-year college system, i commend my colleague and fellow member of the education and work force committee, mr. salmon of arizona, for introducing this innovative legislation. in today's world, we cannot continue to regard higher education as a one-size-fits-all process. as our economy continues to recover, higher education institutions continue to see a large influx of students who are seeking to further their education after years in the work force. at the same time our k-12 school systems are becoming more innovative, incorporating cutting-edge techno

mr. byrne: the government should not be subsidizing the research and development initiatives of individual companies, competition and innovation have been key aspects of private sector success from day one in the energy sector and other parts of our economy and the government should not take the role of a private investor. for example, the eere program facilitated a $2.5 million grant o massachusetts-based tiax l.l.c. to work with green mountain coffee to reduce the energy used in roasting coffee beans. the program has also aloud for millions of dollars to large chemical and auto companies such as buying a subsidy to -- providing a subsidy to ford motor company to develop a new sheet metal forming tool. i have nothing against those companies but why should the government be picking and choosing winners and losers? every business has a bottom line. which is in and of itself a direct incentive for developing methods for become manager energy efficient and innovative. by subsidizing the small sect

. -- mr. byrne, for five minutes. mr. byrne: i have been in this house now for six months and i regrettably rise today to express my frustration, and i know the frustration of thousands of people in my district and southwest alabama, and i believe people all over the united states of america. people are tired of the stagnation coming from washington. just look at the disapproval rating of this congress and the disapproval rating of our president. the people of this country want to see action. action growing our economy. action on cutting spending. action on health care. action on immigration. action on the crisis at the v.a. action on foreign policy, and all the problems we see around the world that involve our interest. they want to see action. just earlier this week i was at the white house for a bill signing ceremony for the work force investment act, or the skills act, as we called it here in the house. the skills act was a great example of democrats and republicans in this house and the senate coming together behind a

mr. byrne of alabama, at the end of the bill before the short title, insert the following, section, none of the funds made available by this act may be used to implement, administer or enforce executive order number 547, 75 federal register 43 023, and including the national ocean policy developed under such executive order. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 641, the gentleman from alabama and a member opposed each will control five minutes. mr. byrne: i offer this ocean nt, the national policy created under executive order was signed by president obama in 2010 and requires various bureaucracies work together to essentially zone the ocean and the resources thereof largely affecting the ways in which we utilize our ocean resources and impacting our inland. you heard of land grab? is this ocean grab. this amendment says none of the funds made available by this act can be used to administer implement or enforce this executive order. this policy has large implications for our marine resources

mr. michaud: i rise in strong support of the conference report to h.r. 3230, the veteran's access choice and accountability act of 2014. i'd like to thank chairman miller, senator sanders, senator byrne and other members of the conference committee. even when it looked like it would not be possible to achieve a compromise and bring it to the house floor today, at the end of the day, we all worked together to make sure our national commitment to veterans is there. this compromise agreement can serve as a model on how congress look at serious problems facing our country and how to address them. there's been a long road getting here, the house veterans affairs committee under chairman miller's leadership has held over a does b oversight hearings in the past couple of months aloan. we have heard from veterans, their families, v.a. employees, veteran's service organizations, about what is and what isn't working within the department of veterans' affairs. the measure before us today is not a long-term solution to all of the v.a. problems, but it is n appropriate and well-crafted esponse to the immediate threat of not being seen in a timely fashion. this bill also takes important steps to b