mr. connolly: i thank the chair. i rise to join my colleague, mr. kildee from michigan, in offering what i think is a commonsense amendment that protects public health and safety. i didn't think it was possible, madam chair, but this bill may actually be worse than the anti-regulatory legislation republicans rammed through the last congress. the house majority calls this latest version the energy nsumers relief act, an orwellian name if there ever was one. deceptively titled, as congress has from recess, but the title does not reflect reality. this bill would more aptly be blocking public health protections act. shamefully this is another attempt by the majority to gut public health and safety protections so they can give more handouts to big energy producers. many of which of course have financed the majority in this house. not only does this bill block or delay the e.p.a. from finalizing rules, madam chairman, to reduce pollution that threatens the air we breathe and the water we drink, it also gives unprecedented power, as the distinguished ranki

mr. connolly: i thank the chair. mr. chairman, i rise to offer a commonsense amendment to ensure that every state that chooses to have coal ash in this bill has a strong emergency response plan in an unfortunate event of a leak or spill. unfortunate one highlights the very devastation of this bill it can have on a community. as was widely reported at the time, a breach in surface impoundment at the tennessee valley authority's kingston facility released more than five million cubic yards of coal ash, covering more than 300 acres in toxic sludge, damaging and destroying homes and property. as we speak, there is still a federal superfund cleanup site where the total cost could top more than $1.2 billion. absent to plan, what could go wrong? beyond that staggering price tag, let us not forget that the lasting economic and health impacts on the surrounding communities resulting from this spill is catastrophic. families were displaced from their homes. some residents still suffer from respiratory illnesses and other side effe

mr. connolly the . garrett, and outcome of it was a suggestion that washington's metro system is somehow extraordinarily subsidized. the fact is it's subsidized but it's subsidized primarily but local governments. we have been trying on our side to provide subsidy to transit systems all over the country. including in the new york-emergency area. -- new york-new jersey area. apparently gibbon the results of some of the votes -- given the results of some of the votes, without much success. but the point i'm trying to make is the metro was our nation's transit system. it was created largely to serve the needs of the federal government. 40% of metro's peak ridership are federal employees. a federal role is both necessary and appropriate. it is also the primary means of transportation for visitors to our -- to our nation's capital. whether they come to experience our historical legacy or participate in rallies on the mall or meet with their members of congress. they use our nation's metro system. now, in rec

mr. connolly: i thank the chairwoman. i rise in opposition to this amendment and i think that in many ways this amendment, and i give credit to its author, encapsulates a debate that's going on not only between the parties but in america. it's premised on the narrative that is utterly unhistorical. it is a false narrative. if it's worth doing, the private sect already do it. -- sector will do it. that flies in the face of 237 years of this republic's history. george washington understood that. he understood that there were investments only the federal government could make. and he made them. thomas jefferson, an advocate for small government, also understood that. he subsidized the rogers and clark expedition that opened up the west. and created enterprise for science. mr. garamendi mentioned the 37th congress and abraham lincoln. in the middle of the worst catastrophe this country's ever experienced, a civil war, that congress understood that we had to make investments as a federal government if this country was going pr

mr. connolly: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. connolly: i'm happy to rise in support of this legislation. the bill would amend current law to provide qualified veterans service organizations with qualified federal surplus property. the bill enjoys bipartisan support. in may of this year it was considered by the fwoth and oversight reform committee and passed unanimously. a rarity in our history. in december, 2010, president obama signed the original four vets act into law which established the eligibility of veterans organizations to receive surplus property under the program. e wording suggested that the organizations should show that they are acquiring the property for veterans or public health. is wording really hurt these organizations as education and health programs are not their core function. this legislation corrects any confusion and if you will that error, to allow veterans organization acts to benefit veterans. mr. speaker, we need to do better for our veterans

mr. connolly of virginia, amendment by mr. takano of california, another amendment by mr. takano of eavel, amendment by mr. heck of nevada, amendment by mr. butterfield of north carolina, the chair will reduce to two minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote in the series the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment by the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. cohen of tennessee. the chair: the recorded vote having been requested, those in support of the recorded vote will rise and be counted. sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house o

mr. connolly. >> thank you. thank you both for being here. , i agree with the opening statement of artist listenedchairman i carefully to what was said. we should not rush to judgment. .ords mean something we need to be careful. and if only those very commonsensical runcible's had been at work -- principles had been at work when the prosecutor president a paid liar, rush to judgment? words mean something? insist time just now to that the ranking member is wrong in suggesting he had rushed to judgment and deliberately took what not only turns out to be not much of a scandal, bad judgment balanced -- they went after progressives as well as conservatives -- and it is a terrible thing when the narrative we have got in our heads doesn't quite work out because the facts don't back them up and witnesses we call to back them up turn out to be flawed -- not you. >> with the gentleman yield? >> i will in the second, mr. chairman. quote i yield, i redact a from the chairman on national television. he just assured us he nev

mr. connolly, for five minutes. mr. connolly: boy, i was going to talk about sequestration and i will, mr. speaker, but i got to respond to my friend on what he calls obamacare. it does everything he says he wants it to do, and i will remind those critics of obamacare that the individual mandate was a republican idea. and far from putting government between patients and their doctors, it actually facilitates patients' care directly with their doctors and their medical providers. just two weeks ago, mr. speaker, we celebrated our nation's independence, and it reminded us of the -- of american history. american history, especially at the constitutional convention, is all about parties coming together for the common good and compromising. the first grade compromise created the united states senate and the united states house of representatives, allowing proportional representation here to protect the interests of the bigger states but equal representation in the other body to protect all of the states. that was the first gr

mr. connolly. i would like to thank the chair in the ranking members for this hearing today.t is important because it gives us the opportunity to learn lessons from our past endeavors in the middle east region and hopefully not make the same once again. if insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results, let's hope i haven't hearings like this and talking to you we can inject a little sanity to our foreign endeavors of the future. i look forward to the testimony of our witnesses and thank them for being here today. >> thank you. >> thank you for convening this hearing and i certainly want to thank the witnesses for being here. i think there's been considerable national debate about our engagement and the war in a rack, but there should be no question we have the responsibility to make sure we are good stewards not only of the talent of this country, but the treasure and this report raises alarming concerns. it ought not be a surprise a somewhat brought us to this conflict, but i am anxious to hear your recommendations, how we might reform thi

mr. connolly: mr. speaker, c.b.o.'s may report shows the deficit has dropped another $220 billion. the federal deficit continues to fall faster now than it has since post-world war ii demobilization in the late 1940's and early 1950's. o.m.b. released the mid session review saying deficits will be reduced below 3% of g.d.p. by fall by ontinue to 2023. this recent good news hasn't delimb nated the need to address our long-term fiscal crisis but it has created some breathing space for us to renew our investments in america. we're now five years removed from the financial crisis and have yet to demonstrated an ability to balance competing needs between the long-term deficit reduction need and investments in the future that made america great. house republicans have been obsessed by the debt but struggle to recognize any need for investment in education, r&d and infrastructure. a few weeks ago larry sommers said just as you burden future generations when you accumulate debt you also burden future generations when you defer maintenance. given the current market, we're refusing to mainta

mr. connolly of virginia is recognized.fingeringciate his some of the early mistakes that were catastrophic. i would argue part of the problem was our own command infused toocause we much power for unilateral power -- decisions. to try to keep the country together posted vision. i enjoyed talking to you about that and i commend the book by thomas ricks which documents this in agonizing in painful detail. mr. bowen, you and i traveled to iraq together. we will be concise, two things that came up during that was a -- was that the idea that the military was going to become an aid distribution entity. some one thing to have things to bolster the role of rebuilding communities not being seen as occupiers and invaders, but this program was -- had very little scrutiny and i wonder as part of your report would you talk about that. the second thing is i remember when we were traveling around powerd, the story about plants or water purification plant that we built. the problem was we gave no thought to the capacity of piping and bagh

mr. connolly of virginia is recognized. >> i appreciate his fingering some of the early mistakes that werecatastrophic. i would argue part of the problem was our own command structure because we infused too much power for unilateral power -- decisions. to try to keep the country together posted vision. i enjoyed talking to you about that and i commend the book by thomas ricks which documents this in agonizing in painful detail. mr. bowen, you and i traveled to iraq together. we will be concise, two things that came up during that was a -- was that the idea that the military was going to become an aid distribution entity. some one thing to have things to bolster the role of rebuilding communities not being seen as occupiers and invaders, but this program was -- had very little scrutiny and part of your report would you talk about that. the second thing is i remember when we were traveling around baghdad, the story about power plants or water purification plant that we built. the problem was we gave no thought to the capacity of piping and baghdad so we have this brand-new thing that we coul