mr. duncan: now we'll spend billions in our o.c.o. account for afghanistan and other parts of the middle east. this is over and above our regular defense budget. this one-year $82 billion appropriation would more than pay for a six-year highway bill which everyone on both sides say they want. let's stop trying to foolishly rebuild the middle east and start rebuilding america. let's bring all those hundreds of thousands of jobs home.

mr. duncan: thank you mr. speaker. before running for congress himself, congressman oberstar served on the staff for congressman john blatt knick of minnesota from 1963 to 1974. in that capacity he worked with congressman blatt knick on all of the legislation from the public works and transportation committee and congressman oberstar the last three years became the chief of staff for that committee. congressman oberstar was first elected to represent the people of minnesota's eighth district in 1974. among many notable achievements, he served as chairman of the committee on transportation and infrastructure in the 110th and 111th congresses. in total he served in 18 congresses. sadly, mr. oberstar passed away on may 3, 2014 in maryland. he certainly was a devoted public servant who left a remarkable legacy of service to the citizens of minnesota and the united states. once earlier in this congress there was another tribute for congressman oberstar. at that time i said this. it is an astounding figure to think that a ma

mr. duncan recognized for five minutes. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i'm sorry i had to be at another hearing until just a few minutes ago, but ms. feinberg maybe you've covered this, sh but let me ask you this, you know, it's taken these railroads several years to get to the point where they are now and apparently there is still a pretty good ways to go. i'm wondering do you have any estimate of how long it's going to take your agency to certify a railroad after this process? >> the step is first, say, a safety plan is submitted to us, so it's basically the railroad's plan for how they will implement ptc and how they will ensure that the system is working. we have received one of those and have turned it back around to the railroad. they take a while to go through because you're not only reading the plan, but you are in close consultation with the railroad talking through it offering edits and changes to make sure that the system is going to work. so it takes awhile. but we feel pretty confident that as they roll in we will be able to turn them around

mr. duncan. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think all the questions that need to be asked have been asked, but i would like to place a few comments on the record. first of all, i want to say that i strongly agree with mr. mica in talking about how ridiculous the waste of all this is the excessiveness of all this is. and that he mentioned the taj mahal, and the fiscal times reported a few weeks ago, this year, the state department allocated $1.11 billion to cover the 2009/2010 contract costs. as well as other expenses for completing the facility. they will have 1400 desks and 819 beds. and this is -- this is in a country that according to another publication, says we're reducing our afghan presence from 32,000 troops to 9,800 by years end with half that number remaining in 2015, only a small force to protect the kabul embassy after 2016. i mean, we're practically all leaving, but we're spending almost $2.2 billion. this is in a country that has a total gdp of just slightly over $20 billion. $23.3 billion. 30 million population

mr. duncan said and maybe you all can answer this for me, because i think he said something that seems to be so accurate. he questioned what is the incentive for saving money? do we have any, mr. courts? in other words, it seems like we spend and spend and spend. the chairman has been very clear that we haven't, we probably could do better. so what is the incentive? and i got to ask you this mr. galeno, take one out of the we were just talking about this. what do you pay these nationals, by the way? >> salaries for the -- >> yeah, the nationals, the ones that you hold the passports up for, those, those folks. >> they're paid in the $40,000 to $50,000 range a year. >> $40,000 to $50,000? >> yes, sir. >> that's quite a bit of money for somebody over there isn't it? >> i think it's competitive with the, with the requirement -- >> no, i mean i'm glad to hear that, and i'd like for you to give us some verification. i'd like to see the documentation. you have contracts with these people? >> yes i'll send documentation, i'll get back with you on that to confirm the rates. >> and do they have ben

mr. duncan for two minutes. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. duncan: i rise in strong support of this legislation and i thank the gentleman from pennsylvania for yielding me this time. this bill will streamline the forest service planing. and means fewer forest fires. i served for 22 years on the natural resources committee. several years ago i was told there was six billion board feet of dead trees. this was leading to a tremendous buildup of fuel in these forests leading to millions more acres being burned because we weren't cutting enough trees. in the late 1980's, we were harvesting 10 to 11 billion. we had six million acres lost to forest fires. now we are harvesting a little only one billion board feet a year and acreage loss to forest fires has gone up. 10 million acres lost in 2006 and on and on and on and it's a shame. allowing this renewable resource to be used, everything made with wood houses, all types of wood products and everything else made from wood would be cheaper. this would help lower income people most of all. thousands of

mr. duncan, for five minutes. mr. duncan: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, yesterday i participated in a hearing on criminal justice reform before the oversight and government reform committee. a second hearing is being held today on this issue in the same committee. both hearings conservatives and liberals are joining together to urge that we stop or at least try to slow the growth of our federal police state. conservative columnist george will wrote a few months ago said that quote, overcriminalization has become a national plague. paul larkin, senior research wrote in "the washington times," quote, perhaps there are 4500 federal offenses and more than 300,000 relevant regulations on the books. no one knows exactly how many. the justice department and the american bar association each tried to identify every crime and failed. mr. larkin continued no reasonable person, not even a judge or lawyer could possibly know all of these legal prohibitions, although criminal penalties are attached to each. john baker a retired louisiana state university law

duncan, thank you. george wch bush out of the hospital today. he broke a bone in his neck. at 91, mr. bush uses a wheelchair to get around and suffers from parkinsons but he has stayed active and is expected to make a full recovery. >> glor: donald trump is trying to remark from remarks he made yesterday about john mccain. but trump says he's not saying sorry. here's julianna goldman. >> reporter: here's what donald trump had to say today when asked if he needed to apologize to senator john mccain. >> you know, not at all. when i left the room, it was a total standing ovation. it was wonderful to see. nobody was insulted. >> reporter: but his republican rivals and party officials say otherwise. >> what he said yesterday, of course, is offensive about john mccain and inaccurate about john mccain. but it actually is offensive to all p.o.w.s. >> he needs to apologize to senator mccain and all the other men and women who have worn the uniform. >> donald trump, you're fired. (laughter) >> reporter: for weeks republicans had been struggling to confront the billionaire firebrand acknowledgin

mr. chairman. i'd like to thank my colleague, duncan hunter, for working with me in crafting this important piece of legislation. as a co-author of this bill i'm very proud of seeing the house taking action on in front. also want to thank leadership for bringing this bill to the floor. we're hearing some strange rhetoric here today, especially from the other side of the aisle. i hear about vulnerable cities. how about vulnerable tax-paying americans? i hear about sanctuary for thugs like the one that killed kate steinle. shouldn't our city be a sanctuary for law-abiding american citizens who have a right to walk on safe streets? make no mistake, this is a very, very important bill. from 2010 to 2014, the number 121 should stick in everybody's minds. 121 illegal immigrants with lengthy criminal records went on to commit murder after they were let out to do this -- their heinous crimes. that's why i was so appalled to hear one of my colleagues across the aisle call the murder of american citizens like kate steinle and my constituent, grant ronnebeck, a little thing. such disgusting remarks and flagran

mr. chairman. i'd like to thank my colleague, duncan hunter, for working with me in crafting this important piece of legislation. as a co-author of this bill i'm very proud of seeing the house taking action on in front. also want to thank leadership for bringing this bill to the floor. we're hearing some strange rhetoric here today, especially from the other side of the aisle. i hear about vulnerable cities. how about vulnerable tax-paying americans? i hear about sanctuary for thugs like the one that killed kate steinle. shouldn't our city be a sanctuary for law-abiding american citizens who have a right to walk on safe streets? make no mistake, this is a very, very important bill. from 2010 to 2014, the number 121 should stick in everybody's minds. 121 illegal immigrants with lengthy criminal records went on to commit murder after they were let out to do this -- their heinous crimes. that's why i was so appalled to hear one of my colleagues across the aisle call the murder of american citizens like kate steinle and my constituent, grant ronnebeck, a little thing. such disgusting remarks and flagran