mr. culberson: mr. chairman, it's my privilege to lay out tonight for the house for consideration the appropriations bill for the -- for military construction and veterans affairs that my good friend, mr. sanford bishop of georgia, we have worked together arm in arm to make sure our men and women in uniform have everything they need to do their squob. we're the peace of mind committee for the united states military and for our veterans. we have an obligation as congress this government has an obligation first and foremost to provide for national curt to make sure our men and women in uniform, not only in -- here at home and overseas have everything they need to do their job. the scope of our appropriations bill today includes construction of all the military basis here -- bases here and overseas. we have fully funded in this bill all the requests of the branches of the military for our men and women in uniform on active duty. we've made sure that all the retired men and women who have served this nation

mr. culberson: mr.hairman, i rise in support of the amendment and we will -- the chair: the gentleman then strikes the last word. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. culberson: i move to strike the last word, mr. chairman, and rise in support of the amendment and we'll accept mr. meeks' amendment because it's vitally important that all federal agencies, the v.a. included, understand that the member of congress representing that district, he's their voice. i have an obligation to look after the entire nation, but first and foremost i'm a representative of the people of district 7 in houston, texas, as mr. meeks is the representative of his constituents in new york. i think it's vital to understand that they need to work with and earn the support of the representative of that district before they move forward with a major project of any kind. as mr. meeks said, the community is opposed to the direction they have v. samplet taking. i would join with my friend, mr. bishop, we strongly support

mr. culberson: mr. speaker, it's my privilege to yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished chairman of the full committee. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. rogers: i thank the chairman for yielding this time. i want to at the outset congratulate him on a great job on this bill. he and his terrific staff have worked long and hard along with the subcommittee members to produce, i think, a star of a bill. so on your maiden voyage, mr. chairman, congratulations on a good job. and to mr. bishop and the minority members of the subcommittee, including my distinguished cohort, mr. dicks, ranking on the full committee, we've all worked together on this and we appreciate the collegial atmosphere as mr. bishop has said that has governed this proceeding. so i rise in support of this act . colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree that our nation's service members, their families, our veterans deserve the greatest quality of care and support

mr. culberson: mr. chairman, in an effort to expedite in consideration of this bill and ensure all the men and women in uniform get all the help they need as soon as possible, i do move the committee now rise. the chair: the motion is on the committee to rise. those in favor say aye purchase those opposed, no. the combries have it. -- those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the house rises. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. mr. chairman? the chair: mr. speaker, the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h.r. 2055 directs me to report it has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chairman of the committee of the whole house of the united states -- of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has under consideration h.r. 2055 and has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of

mr. culberson: mr. chairman, i rise in opposition of the -- the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. culberson: this is a straightforward vote of the house whether we, on behalf of american taxpars, vote to impose union collective bargaining requirements on any private company doing business with the federal government. the executive order that our bill does not fund and the amendment attempts to strike language in our bill which does not fund this executive order, the executive order says that a -- according -- quoting directly from the executive order. quote, in awarding any contract in connection with a large-scale construction project, the administration may require the use of a project labor agreement. well, a project labor agreement, under the executive order own definition, means a prehire collective bargaining agreement with one or more labor organizations. so the obama administration, through this executive order, is attempting to impose -- its attempting to unionize any pri

mr. culberson: mr. chairman, i rise in opposition to the motion and to -- the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from texas continue to reserve his point of order? mr. culberson: yes, i do, indeed reserve a point of order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes in opposition to the motion. mr. culberson: yes, i do, mr. chairman. i want to point out, mr. chairman, that the subcommittee on military construction and verns affairs has worked arm in arm in a bipartisan way in support of our troops, in support of our veterans and we have provided funding for every need that was presented to the committee to help our men and women in uniform to do the job they do every day defending our nation, to help our veterans as they move out of active duty into retired status, to help the veterans administration treat not only the veterans who have suffered or been injured in combat in defense of this nation, but also those veterans that have suffered in some way psychologi

mr. culberson: i yield back. mr. poe: i yield to the gentleman from texas, mr. cuellar. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. cuellar: i want to thank both of my colleagues from texas. it's a program that's worked. we've gone from laredo, we've seen it work in the del rio area. we're now working in laredo. in fact, the last time we sat with the chief we talked about how we could make this work. they do need some space. certainly want to work with both my colleagues to make sure we get more of that space, more of the beds to make sure it works. all we're doing is enforcing a 1954 law that's on the books already. nothing new except enforcing the law. support what you're doing. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. poe: i would urge this amendment to be adopted. what it does is provide more space so we can detain people and deport them back where they came from. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. aderholt: mr. chairman, the amendment proposes to