mr. mcgovern and mr. jones on that issue, at least we should be able to debate and discuss whether an ongoing american presence in afghanistan is in our national security interest. the process under which these bills come to the floor prevents open dialogue and debate and frankly continues to undermine the reputation of this body, the united states congress, as a deliberative and representative body. one need not wonder why congressional approval ratings are so low. here we are having a debate for a day on national defense and we're prohibitive from debating and voting on the single largest issue relating to national defense. in addition, this bill brings up a very weakened form of the u.s.a. freedom act. not only was this bill weakened in the judiciary committee, but in addition, it was weakened just 24 hours ago before the rules committee. nonetheless, members from both sides of the aisle submitted amendments to improve the bill, but unfortunately every single one of those 20 amendments were blocked --

mr. mcgovern, mr. franks, mr. pitts, and mrs. smith for co-sponsoring this resolution. i believe pass and of the resolution will send a strong message to the burmese government and i would urge my colleagues to support this measure. and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio yields back. the gentleman from california refreshes -- reserves. the gentleman from new york. is recognized. mr. engel: thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield to the author of the resolution, the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. mcgovern, as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speakers and i want to thank my colleague, mr. engel, for yielding me the time and for his leadership on this and so ny other issues of human rights. i also want to thank chairman royce for his support and chairman chabot, i appreciate all that you do for human rights. i admire all these gentleman who were here on the floor. they have been outs

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, welcome to witch-hunt week here in the united states house of representatives. our economy is slowly recovering. slower than any of us would like. millions of unemployed americans have been left behind because their unemployment benefits have expired. our immigration system is broken. millions of americans are living in poverty because they don't earn enough to make ends meet. and we have a pay equity issue where women on average earn less than men for doing the same job. i mean, climate change is a real issue and getting worse. and so what is the response from the house republican leadership? a jobs bill? no. a fully funded transportation bill? no. an extension of long-term unemployment benefits? no. comprehensive immigration reform? no. an increase of the minimum wage? no way. a pay equity bill? no. a sensible energy policy? no. of course not. not from this leadership. you know, when it comes to jobs economy, my he republican friends have no ideas. and here's the deal. they

mr. mcgovern: mr.ker, once again we are considering a rule that combines two bills together under one single rule that. rule provides an open rule for the transportation, housing and urban development appropriations bill or thud, and a strktured rule for the fiscal year 2014 and 2015 intelligence authorization act. thud is an appropriate acronym, mr. speaker, because that's how we can describe this house's action on the bill last year. the appropriations committee tried to come up with a bill that funds our transportation, housing, and urban development programs, but it was so woefully inadequate it never made it to the house floor. although the thud bill may be $1.2 billion above last year's enacted level, due to a reduction in offsets caused by decline in federal housing administration receipts, the program level in the bill is actually $1.8 billion below last year's level. on the transportation side this bill provides no funding for high-speed rail. it cuts $200 billion from amtrak's capital funding

mr. mcgovern, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. woodall: madam speaker, during consideration of this resolution all time is yielded for the purpose of debate only. i'd like to ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks . the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. woodall: madam speaker, the reason it's hard to get order down here on the floor of the house is kind of a celebratory atmosphere down here. we just saw the water resources development act pass. pass on a big bipartisan vote. it's been about a year, about two years, it's been years since we have been able to come together and pass this very important bill that deals with waterways and water supply all across this district. we do things together on a regular basis, but the big things are hard. we've gotten to do the big things today. i'll brag to my friend from a moment, ts for madam speaker. i was at cruz middle school in my district last friday. and

mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. ast night, a bipartisan group, congressman walter jones of north carolina, congressman adam smith, the ranking member of the armed services committee from washington state, congressman garamendi and congresswoman lee from california, and i offered an amendment to be able to have a debate and vote on our policy in afghanistan. the longest war in american history. it seemed odd to me that a bill like the department of defense authorization bill would come to the floor without the ability for members to have a vote on afghanistan. i mean, we are at war and you would never know it by the actions of this house. i am ashismede this house that a bill like this would come to the floor and the leadership would block any attempt to be able to have a debate and a vote on what our policy should be in afghanistan. the rule that we're going to be debating -- that we're going to debate later today makes in order 162 amendments. 162. there were amendments on everything from deferred retirement for mi

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-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 of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 224. the nays are 187. the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on ordering the previous question on house resolution 569 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: house calendar number 104. house reso

mr. mcgovern: mr.r, i've come to this floor once a week during the 113th congress to talk about hunger, specifically how we can end hunger now if we simply must have the political will to do so. technically defined as food insecure by the department of agriculture, there are nearly 50 million hungry people who live in the united states, the richest country in the history of the world. these people don't earn enough to be able to put food on their table. simply, they don't know where their next meal will come from. now, let's be clear. this has not been a particularly kind congress to those who struggle with hunger. we're seeing nearly $20 billion cut from our nation's preimminent anti-hunger program known as snap. snap is a lifeline for the 46 million americans who rely on it to have something to eat each day. yet, this congress decided that americans who live at or below the poverty line can simply absorb massive cuts to snap. sadly, republicans and some democrats joined together to cut a benefit that

mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the gentleman from florida, mr. nugent, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend

mr. mcgovern will be managing for democrats. i would like to once again reiterate our just awesome thoughts for the gentleman from the 82 rnd airborne who represents the united states military today. mr. lavon, i want to thank you for taking time to be with us. we had a debate. we had a discussion. and i hope that you will be able to know to your colleagues, not just in the 82nd airborne of the united states army, but also in the military, that the men and women of the united states congress are thankful and respectful of the service and the things which have happened to you in your life, and we will continue to follow them. and thank you for being here today. does the gentle woman wish to be heard at this time? thank you very much. any other member of the committee? thank you very much. we'll now be in -- we've completed our work for the day and we'll reconvene tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> attorney general eric holder ann

mr. mcgovern: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky, mr. barr, for five minutes. mr. barr: thank you, mr. speaker. recently some politicians in washington and even back in my home state of kentucky have held out kentucky's online exchange or kentucky connect as a model for how the affordable care act or obamacare can be implemented successfully. they argue that owe bamaire -- obamacare is working in kentucky. it's true unlike the billion dollar malfunctions health care.gov website the kentucky website has appeared to function properly. that's about all that works well. obamacare is making life harder for most kentucky families and small businesses. driving up premiums and deductibles, take ag way choices of doctors and hospitals, and forcing people to lose the insurance coverage that they liked. the president promised that if you liked your health care plan you'll get to keep it. . but my kentuckyians have lost the insurance that they had, the insurance that they liked. the government is

mr. mcgovern the chair of the human rights commission and we're honored annette's is with the san thank you for the leadership of your family. and think you'll. for staying true to the memory and message of tiananmen square. i speak for many members who cannot be here today when i say what an honor it is to stand in front of sees heroes. >> but to but those that gave their lives or were imprisoned after tiananmen square as well. my colleagues? twenty-five years? but to have the message of hope that in time will bring progress, 25 years ago people grows up in tiananmen square to demand their rights and dignity and respect. they want an end to corruption and to talk about spiritual reform of expression and assembly and demonstrating peacefully when tanks came rolling down the street to use the square precarious today we talked about the of man of but in china today most people say don't have the foggiest i tea and the what does it? >> that is the color they had. today's bad image is the challenge to the conscience of the world. 25 years later this spirit endorses but the challenge remains. in

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, yesterday chairman paul ryan held a hearing on poverty. a timely and necessary conversation. but the problem is that not one single person living in poverty was a witness. -- was a witness at that hearing. and that's really a shame. there are plenty of men and women like bobby or tiana who are witnesses to hunger who should be invited here to describe what it's like to be hungry or cold because there isn't enough money to heat a house or buy enough food to eat. they could describe for mr. ryan how difficult it is to stretch a snap allotment for the entire month and most importantly how hard it is to make ends meet with a job that pays an inadequate wage. we need to hear from those who struggle with poverty, not just the think tank gurus. we need to hear what is working and what is not working on the ground in our communities. chairman ryan's hearing missed the mark and when it comes to issues involving poverty and hucker, mr. speaker, this majority that run this is house doesn't -- and hunger, mr. speaker, this majority that runs this hous

mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, i rise today to introduce the bipartisan atomic veterans service medal act. between 1945 and 1962 about 225,000 members of our armed forces participated in hundreds of nuclear weapons tests. these g.i.'s became known as the atomic veterans. they were placed in extremely dangerous areas and constantly exposed to radiation. sworn to secrecy they could not even speak of their service. thankfully presidents bill clinton and george w. bush recognized their valiant service and acted to provide specialized care and compensation for the duty. an f my constituents is atomic veteran and very proud of his service to our country. like me, he believes it is past time for the defense department to honor with a medal the unique service carried out by the atomic veterans. more than 75% of atomic veterans have passed away, never having received this recognition. i call on this house to act swiftly on the passage of this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman

republicans are doubling down on two major investigations today, congressman jim mcgovern, how would you characterize this? >> mr welcome to witch hunt week here in the united states house of representatives. >> couldn't have said it better myself. 5:30 eastern time the house will vote on whether to create a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack that killed four americans in benghazi. republicans control the house so this will probably pass and if it does, the committee is going to be made up of seven republicans and

republicans are doubling down on two major investigations today, congressman jim mcgovern, how would you characterize this? >> mr. speaker, welcome to witch hunt week here in the united states house of representatives. >> couldn't have said it better myself. 5:30 eastern time the house will vote on whether to create a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack that killed four americans in benghazi. republicans control the house so this will probably pass and if it does, the committee is going to be made up of seven republicans and five democrats. but, wait, this won't be a kangaroo court, at least that's what house speaker john boehner says. >> this was all about getting to the truth. it is not going to be a side show. not going to be a circus. this is a serious investigation. >> and who might the target of that serious investigation be? >> benghazi, the new investigation, are you satisfied with the answers and are you content with what you know what happened? >> absolutely. i mean, of course there are a lot of reasons why despite all of the hearings, all of the information that's been provided some choose

mcgovern, for five minutes. without objection. mr. speaker, i rise today to congratulate donald lombardi, director of nutrition for the worcester public schools in my hometown. for receiving the healthy start leadership award. this award is being presented by the eos foundation, a massachusetts-based foundation that is committed to expanding universal free breakfast in the classroom across the commonwealth of massachusetts. i want to thank donna for her tireless work at the schools. she's a leader if our efforts to provide quality, nutritious meals to all kids in our school system. she recognizes the critical importance of not only providing nutritious meals to our kids, but also ensuring that every single child in our school system starts off the day with a healthy nutritious meal. the breakfast at the bell plan, where every child would receive a nutritious meal in the classroom after school starts, is an important part of the school day and should be implemented in every school across this country. there are two important reasons wh