mr. corley.. 61, mr. corley.. 61, mr. corley.e. 61, mr. corley.y. 61, mr. corley. >> did i mess that one up? sergeant, could you help me find mr. corley. >> right here. >> house will come to order. let's give mr. corley your attention. we are on amendment 61. representative corley. >> thank you, mr. speaker. >> just a minute mr. corley. >> do you have a point, a question? >> yes. >> voting on the prevailing side i move to reconsider. >> move to second. >> on the previous vote. >> on amendment 59? >> amendment 35959. >> he moves to table. nine people voting on the board. >> mr. hart requests a role call. nine members second the request. nine do. we'll vote on the board. any question tabling the motion to reconsider? >>> polls will close. clerk will tabulate. by the vote of 60 to 57 motion to reconsider is tabled. next amendment. >> 61 mr. corley. 61, mr. corley. >> mr. corley, you are recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. ladies and gentlemen this amendment would remove the flag that is currently flying outside and would replace it with the exact same flag w

mr. fair. aye. mr. gregory has leave. mr. grooms. aye. mr. hayes. aye. mr. hymnbry. aye. mr. hutto. aye. mr. jackson. aye. mr. johnson. aye. mr. kempson. aye mr. leatherman. aye. mr. lury. aye. mr. maloy. aye. mr. larry martin. aye. mr. shane martin. aye. mr. massey hasmartin? aye. mr. massey has leave. mr. mack owe convenient. mr. nicholson? aye. mr. peeler? no. mr. rankin? not voting. mr. reese? aye. mr. scott? aye. mrs. shely aye. mr. thurman? aye. mr. verdun? no. >> mr. young? aye. >> have all the senators voted? have all the senators voted? then the polls are closed and the clerk will please tabulate. by a vote of 36-3 senate bill 897 is given a third reading. the for from anderson what purpose do you rise, sir. >> i would like to be heard. >> proceed. while he is coming forward, the senator from newbury. >> a unanimous consent for leave from 9:00 until noon. >>> i have shared this story with a few of you. a couple years ago i was asked to speak at my church about the resurrection, and we all appreciated senator pinckney's booming voice, and i thought that would be nice to have that voice as the

mr. pitts and mr. kennedy, number 34, mr. pitts mr. kennedy. mr. pitts asked to pass over 34. bringing us to 35. 35 is mr. pitts. >> pass over. >> mr. pitts asked to pass over 35. number 36 is mr. pitts. and kennedy and tool. >> passover. >> again. number 37. >> pass over. >> again. 38. >> passover. >> pass over again. >> and 39. >> and 39 shall be passed over. bringing us to substitute 40. mr. weill. mr. rile. you got it. >> thank you, mr. speaker. >> let me recognize you, mr. rile is recognized on his amendment. >> thank you, mr. speaker. as i mentioned earlier, there are a lot of concerns as i've read this and as others have as to whether or not there are other monuments on the property that have flags that need to be protected. and you know i've had different people come to me and show me what was done in 2003 with the commission and so foshl -- forth and i've read through that and there is nothing in here saying forever more with standing legislation and i'm very concerned about this and i think we all should be. this amendment is very simple. it simply states that the mon

mr. thompson, my fellow new york delegation members, mr. king mr. donovan, mr. higgins, along with mr. payne, mr. keating, mr. richmond as co-sponsors of this important legislation. i urge my other colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 2770. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york reserves his time. the gentlewoman from new york. miss rice: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 2770, the keeping our travel remembers safe and secure act, and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized for as much time as she wishes to consume. miss rice: thank you, mr. speaker. last may the department of homeland security inspector general released a report with a blunt and revealing title, the transportation security administration does not properly manage its airport screening equipment maintenance program. the report revealed that t.s.a. lacks strict policies and procedures for maintaining critical screening technology including x-ray machines and explosive detection equipment.

mr. jenkins. mr. jenkins: thank you, mr. chair. thank you, mr. chairman. i stand in strong support of the reins act of 2015. the gentleman from georgia said in opposition to this bill just a few moments ago that we should be opposed to it because, quote, it would end rulemaking as we know it. what a great statement on why we should vote for the reins act, because that's exactly what we're trying to do. we must end rulemaking as we know it. i'm proud to co-sponsor this bill because i know firsthand how this administration's overbearing regulatory policies have devastated my state, west virginia. it's businesses, it's work -- its businesses its workers, its fundamental way of life. west virginia's third district deserve better. all west virginians deserve better. all americans deserve better. the economist recently estimated that federal regulations cost our nation more than $1.8 trillion per year. in west virginia for example the e.p.a. has implemented sweeping rules and regulations that have driven out thousands of good-paying jobs, reduced demand for west

mr. takano: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman my good friend and colleague chairman miller, of the veterans affairs --' -- veterans' affairs committee, has implied that my clear and present danger standard in the substitute that i've offered is too narrow and won't address -- does not give the secretary enough tools to dismiss bad employees. i respectfully disagree. particularly in the case of the phoenix v.a. the hospital's director clearly posed a threat to the health and safety of veterans. and under my substitute, she would have been immediately removed. similarly, many of the speakers on the other side of the aisle cited a crack house case where a v.a. employee took a veteran to a crack house. now, my substitute and the clear and present standard, the standard -- the health and safety standard that we've put forward, would clearly have addressed that employee and would have made that employee immediately dismissble. -- dismissable. let me remind you again that v.a. does have current title 5 procedures that they have

mr. jolly, for five minutes. mr. jolly: thank you mr. speaker. mr. speaker, most economists and financial advisors have recognized that families across the united states are headed towards a major retirement crisis. studies have shown that a majority of households headed by someone age 59 or younger are in danger of suffering from falling living standards in their retirement years and so the administration and this congress should be advancing policies to make retirement counseling, savings advice and investment services more accessible, not less. retirement planning, savings counseling and investment advice can improve the quality of life and economic stability of every american. yet, recent actions by this administration, however well-intended will make these financial services less accessible and less affordable to those who are in most need of them. by forever changing the rules regarding financial advising related to retirement accounts. mr. speaker, for years the community of financial advisors, including those throughout pinellas county and tho

mr. huffman, rise? mr. huffman: mr. chairman, i ask unanimous consent to claim time in opposition though we do not oppose the amendment. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. huffman: thank you, mr. chairman. i thank my colleague for his concern. this by itself is not harmful but it's important to acknowledge it doesn't come close to curing the problems with this bill that are in fact very harmful to fish and wildlife. the gentleman's amendment seeks to provide cover in some ways to proponents of this bill who are now coming under fire from california waterfowl association and other sportsmen groups because this bill hurts migratory birds and waterfowl. it would eliminate water supplies for california migratory waterfowl. other sportsmen groups oppose. trout unlimited has spoken out against the bill because it would weaken protections for steelhead and salmon. so while i do not oppose this bill it is important not to suggest that this bill is somehow good for or supported by hunt

mr. miller: if the gentleman will yield? mr. takai: i'll yield. when i'm -- mr. takano: i'll yield when i'm finished. at the time i wish we spent more time looking at the constitutionality. i believe that is in question. mr. miller: i believe that the constitution of the united states protects even a single individual. so to say that it's only a small group should not be anything in this discussion, and i would assure you that the president of the united states would have had ample time to go and review it before he signed it into law. mr. takano: reclaiming my time. let me just say that i believe the constitution applies to the senior executive service as well as the 300,000 employees of the veterans administration. i would now like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from nevada. the chair: the gentlewoman from nevada is recognized for two minutes. ms. tithe u.s.: as a -- ms. titus: as a member of the house veterans' committee, i rise in opposition of h.r. 1994. this is the wrong way to go about care for our nation's heroes. we're indeed throwing out the bab

mr. king: thank you, mr. secretary. mr. rogers: mr. lamalfa, for five minutes. mr. lamalfa: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you secretary vilsack, and for being so available to this committee and faithfully coming as often as you do. it's appreciated. i just wanted to follow up on previous we have talked in the past about california's drought situation, emergency relief funding that was made available which was announced february of 2014. intended for emergency assistance in the drought period. actually it was in response to 2013 droughts. so we still have additional years of -- on top of that. we just need more help with the state f.s.a. offices on getting that out there because we have had only a handful that have been issued of drought relief funds that have been processed. we have -- i have the email from one of the state staff here too, that shows there is still outstanding 180 applications of an initial $5.4 million that was approved in an account. there's at least $3.9 million still remaining in that same reserve that needs to be disbursed. in response to the 2

mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. burr: mr. president? e presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. burr: mr. president i thank my colleague from north dakota for highlighting the real benefits of doing away with no child left behind, breaking down the national school board saying to states and localities across this country we're going to put you in charge of k-12 education. that's where the responsibility needs to be. that's where we've got decisions closer to students. and i don't think there's a disagreement between members of the united states senate or congress or republicans or democrats or somebody from the north or the south that we want to make sure that k-12 education works, that every child should get across the goal line to graduation and that every child with that did diploma should be marketable either to higher education ar to a job with a -- or to a job with a skill that has a paycheck. and i will say that the federal government's role is not to micromanage the education system; it is to be a financial partner

mr. posey: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. mr. babip: i'd like to recognize the gentleman from virginia, mr. beyer. mr. beyer: on one hand we had three unfortunate losses, on the other hand, it seems the commercial space industry is getting ready to go exponentially. adding great value to our economy and our civilization. new satellites, internet, space tours of mars even. can you help us put these in the proper perspective, especially compared to train and airline and automobile accidents 30,000 deaths last year by the way, nasa tragedies and all the transportation accidents in history, are we looking at the relatively two or three that have come up in the right perspective compared to the last 150 years? >> that's an interesting question. again, i think the positive thing is that in both -- in all three of these cases there's been no loss of life. that says our basic processes and procedures are in place. we protected the public, we protected the launch site, we did the right things. i think the important thing is to not get so f

mr. king. mr. goban. mr. goban, do you wish to speak? mr. williams. mr. lliams is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. it really wasn't my intention to come to the well. but i certainly felt impelled to do so and i'm certainly here not talking to any of you because you all got your minds already made up. so i'm not talking to my colleagues in the body. i'm talking to those who may be watching from the comfort of their home. i'm talking to those who think that south carolina can be a better place to live to work, and to raise a family. certainly we are not in shortage of opinions here. we are not in shortage of opinions in terms of where the flag should go. everybody got opinions. in terms of where we need to place this flag. certainly, as a military man myself i have a history like all of you, and we all have a history. and so do i. certainly i've served our country in uniform. i made quite a lot of sacrifices. as a matter of fact, i probably did more than some of you. i put my life on the line in combat. fighting for this country. fighting for this stat

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent to speak up to five minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president i've listened to the comments of my colleague, the junior senator from texas both last week and this week and i would have to say that he's mistaken. first of all if, in fact, the majority leader had somehow misrepresented to 54 senators what the facts are with regard to the ex-im bank, i suspect that you would find other voices joining that of the junior senator but i hear no one else making such a similar accusation. and secondly, i would just say to my -- my colleague that there is an alternative explanation. there's an alternative explanation. as the majority leader has said time and time again any time 65 senators want to do something here in the senate sooner or later they're going to get their way. and, indeed, that represents the vote in support of the ex-im bank something i will end up voting against but where i realize t

mr. shaheen. mr. thurmond. mr. turner. mr. verdin. mr. williams. mr. young. mr. young is present. >> he is present. mr. coleman is present. mr. shaheen is present. mr. matthews is present. we got to keep going. >> a quorum is present. a quorum is present. we're on amendment number one. mr. clerk, finish reading the amendment. start again. clerk, please read the commitment. clerk: a memo number one, a bill to relate whether these south carolina battle flag of the confederate states of america shall remain at its current location on the capitol complex. >> mr. president, members of the senate i understand this is a nonbinding referendum, but it would give the people chance to be heard because the statehouse grounds obviously belongs to the people of south carolina. i know we are emotionally charged over what happened in charleston, but i do not hold votes that believe in the ancestry of the south to be the ones that fought for one deranged individual in charleston. we are going to have some serious debate on this. i am saving this for later. we're going to have this

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the right to vote is a principle of our democracy. mr. kennedy: it is something to be cherished and held sacred. although it did not come without struggle or sacrifice, the voting rights act moved us step by step beyond the disenfranchisement that held entire segments of our population voiceless for far too long. but today as we approach its 50th anniversary, the strides we have made through the historic legislation are at risk. two years ago when the supreme court overturned a critical safeguard enacted into the v.r.a. many of our most vulnerable citizens, some on the frontlines of this fight for decades, were again pushed to the sidelines of our democratcy. -- democracy. with each passing day of inaction in this congress by house republican leadership, we are not just standing passively by as the voices of voters go unheard, we are actively walking backwards along the march towards civil rights. step by step day by day. it is time to pass the voter empowerment act and make good on our promise when it has made us a model for young democra

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president as we continue to debate this bipartisan bill to fix thed the badly broken no child left behind law i want to take a step back to lay out why this is so important. first of all the idea of a strong public education for all children is part of who we are as a nation. it is sewn into the fabric of america. providing a quality education is also an economic imperative. when all of our students have a chance to learn we strengthen our future workforce and that helps our country grow stronger. and we empower the next generation of americans to lead the world. education is like insurance for our nation's future economic competitiveness in the years to come. it opens up more opportunities for more students and it helps our economy grow from the middle out, not just the top down. and, mr. president one of the best ways i believe we can strengthen our education system is by making

mr. newhouse: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker anti-science, fear mongering strategies cannot be left unanswered. i believe there are few things people should know about bioing technology. first, i appreciate anyone's safety concerns. that's why it's important to note that the usda and the f.d.a. rigorously test every biotech crop for human safety for years before anything can be brought to the market. and be clear, no pier reviewed study, there have been hundreds, has ever found g.m.o. foods have caused health concerns. ever. individuals have concerns about environmental impacts, and i appreciate that, too. but what many people don't know is by turning on just one gene in corn we now have a corn that is significantly more peft resistant which means huge reductions in the use of pesticides. can you do this with other crops as well. to be pro-biotech is to be pro-environment. there is a type of rice that is vitamin a enriched and has the ability to prevent hundreds of thousands of cases of blindness and death from vitamin a

mr. fair. aye. mr. gregory has leave. mr. grooms. aye. mr. hayes. aye. mr. hymnbry. aye. mr. hutto. aye. mr. jackson. aye. mr. johnson. aye. mr. kempson. aye mr. leatherman. aye. mr. lury. aye. mr. maloy. aye. mr. larry martin. aye. mr. shane martin. aye. mr. massey hasmartin? aye. mr. massey has leave. mr. mack owe convenient. mr. nicholson? aye. mr. peeler? no. mr. rankin? not voting. mr. reese? aye. mr. scott? aye. mrs. shely aye. mr. thurman? aye. mr. verdun? no. >> mr. young? aye. >> have all the senators voted? have all the senators voted? then the polls are closed and the clerk will please tabulate. by a vote of 36-3 senate bill 897 is given a third reading. the for from anderson what purpose do you rise, sir. >> i would like to be heard. >> proceed. while he is coming forward, the senator from newbury. >> a unanimous consent for leave from 9:00 until noon. >>> i have shared this story with a few of you. a couple years ago i was asked to speak at my church about the resurrection, and we all appreciated senator pinckney's booming voice, and i thought that would be nice to have that voice as the

mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield such time as he may consume to mr. davis of illinois. to address this threat as well. mr. davis: mr. speaker, i rise today to voice my concerns over the potential deal regarding iran's nuclear program and i stand here thanking my colleague from the great state of florida for putting this special order together on such a very important issue. and it's such a timely issue. i want to read a quote. they will freeze and then dismantle their nuclear program . our other allies will be better protected. the entire world will be safer as we slow the spread of nuclear weapons. the united states and international inspectors will carefully monitor them to make sure it keeps its commitments. sound familiar, mr. speaker? that's what president clinton told the american people about the north korea nuclear deal in 1994. and today north korea has anywhere from 10 to 20 nuclear weapons in their arsenal and that number is expected to grow to 50 in the next five years. now we're hearing the same type of posturing from this administration about the iran negotiations. the united states seems d

mr. president i yield the floor. mrs. boxer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: mr. president just one moment. mr. president, i'd withhold and yield five minutes to senator leahy. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. leahy: i thank the distinguished senator from california. i assure her i won't take that long. i will speak further on the efforts to defund health services for women later on, but i am concerned about those senators who are attacking women's health with a renewed effort that would eliminate health centers that thousands of vermonters rely on every day thousands of vermonters. across the country we have millions of low-income women who depend on planned parenthood's health centers including for annual exams cervical and breast cancer screenings, h.i.v. screenings and counseling. these clinics are the primary source of health services for many women. if you eliminate federal funding to planned parenthood centers they're going to deny women access to these critical services

mr. hoyer: i thank the speaker, and i yield to my friend, the majority leader, mr. mccarthy of california. mr. mccarthy: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, on monday the house will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. on tuesday and wednesday the house will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. on thursday the house will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. last votes of the week are expected no later than 3:00 p.m. on friday no votes are expected in the house. mr. speaker, the house will consider a number of suspensions next week, a complete list of which will be announced by close of business tomorrow. in addition, the house will consider h.r. 427 the regulations from the executive in need of scrutiny act of 2015, sponsored by representative todd young. last year, federal regulations burdened jobs creators with trillions of dollars in costs. this bill, commonly referred to the rains act, will ensure that congress will have a say in whether new rules will be imposed

mr. collins 14. mr. johnson: i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. mr. collins. mr. collins: at this time, i'm privileged to give two minutes to the gentleman from texas, another fighter for his district and those who are affected by regulation mr. farenthold from texas. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. farenthold: the constitution vests all legislative powers in congress. unfortunately past members of this institution have given a lot of the power to government agencies like the e.p.a. or the department of health and human services or another alphabet soup of agencies. and under president obama, he's using his pen and his telephone to talk to the idealogs who work in and run these agencies to change laws, to make laws without coming to congress. unelected -- faceless federal bureaucrats are making legislation that have the force of law not elected representatives of the people. there are reams of rules. there are so many rules out there, i bet the average person can't go a couple of hours without violating a rule or regulation they probably don't even know

mr. hardy, for five minutes. mr. hardy: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, last friday the president signed away more than 700,000 acres of liningon and nye counties as a monument in my district longing up these lands for economic development and the region depends on. this is unacceptable. mr. speaker, i stand here today to give a voice to what nevada's argument is and what nevada's argument is not. some on the other side of the aisle wish to paint those who oppose the designation as enemies of our public lands. when nothing could be further from the truth. southeastern rural nevada is in my blood. as a fifth generation son of farmer and ranchers from mesquite nevada, i'm directly decentant from the same mountain men and the settlers whose bravery and resolved blazed the founding of our great state and who are mentioned in the president's proclamation. i grew up to explore the rugged landscapes of lincoln and nye counties hundreding -- hunting hiking, camping. i love nevada as much as the next. we refuse to be lectured by those who feel we are first

mr. reed, for five minutes. mr. reed: thank you mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise this morning to highlight an issue that i believe we must pay closer attention to in this chamber and in this congress. you see, on june 23, mr. speaker, we mark the 10th anniversary of an important supreme court case. that case was kelow vs. new london. the title of the case really means nothing but i point to sue zet who i have here depicted in this picture -- suzette who i have here depicted in this picture. she was the plaintiff in that case and what happened in that case was a real tragedy. she was told by her government that they were going to take her home and give it to another private owner for another development. you heard me right mr. speaker. she was told that her home was going to be taken by our government because they were picking the winners and losers because they felt they knew best how to utilize her property and give it to another private owner to develop it the way that private owner wanted to. well, mr. speaker suzette kelo stood up. she fought th

mr. dane: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. daines: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. daines: mr. president i came down to share some remarks on what's going on with planned parenthood but prior to sharing those remarks we've had some tragic news that has come out of montana. i just literally got off the phone with chairman darren oak heart in montana and i want to discuss the reports of a tragic shooting that's occurred on the crow reservation in montana. this afternoon we've received word of a shooting in the community of pryor montana on the crow reservation. i just literally got off the phone with the chairman to see how things were going and the latest confirmed two fatalities and at least one other injured individual that's been life flighted to billings. my wife cindy and i are deeply saddened by the news of today's shootings in pryor. our thoughts and prayers go out to the pryor community and the families of all victims are in our prayers. i understand

mr. roskam for five minutes. mr. roskam:00 thank you -- mr. roskam: thank you, mr. speaker. ladies and gentlemen of the house, we ought not bet against ukraine and we ought not bet against georgia. i recently returned from a delegation of the house democracy partnership. this is a bipartisan delegation over the fourth of july recess that visited ukraine and georgia. our purpose was to reflect this body to those parliamentary bodies in ukraine and georgia. i'll tell you this. i came away, and i know the other members of the house democracy partnership, came away with a feeling of very seriousness, a feeling of encouragement, a feeling of gratitude for the tenacity with which the ukranians and the georgians are pursuing freedom. these are two nations that desperately want to be in the orbit of the west. they desperately want to be a part of the e.u. they desperately want to be part of nato. and they are doing everything they can to stiff arm and push back from the aggression of vladimir putin. they need one thing. they need our help, they need our encouragement, and they need o

mr. sanders: of course. mr. alexander: mr. president i'm -- for senators' information, i'll be talking to senator murray in the next few minutes, and it is a good possibility that we'll have votes beginning about 3:00. i'll have more to report hopefully after the senator from vermont makes his remarks. thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president one of the amendments that will be offered is an amendment that i have introduced regarding a major crisis in this country that we just don't talk about enough and that is the frighteningly high rate of youth unemployment in america. mr. president, i am delighted that the elementary and secondary education act is on the floor for debate today and i want to thank senator alexander and senator murray for their hard and constructive work on this important legislation. ii can tell you that in my state of vermont we have held town meetings on the one hand no child left behind, -- and on no child left behind, and the people of vermont want to leave n

mr. franks, is recognized for 30 minutes. without objection. mr. franks: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i would first count it privilege to yield to the gentlelady from south dakota for three minutes. mrs. noem: thank you. i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, today i rise to speak on an issue that has weighed very heavy on my heart. it's kept me awake at night for many nights. . two videoings have recently come out showing senior -- senior planned parenthood officials discussing the cost of tissue from aborted babies. they claim to act in the best interest of women but instead talk about compensation for tiny organs from aborted babies. i find myself asking how kid we get here? how did this great country get to a place where we have federally funded organizations like planned parenthood who claim to care for women and provide health care for them instead deceive people and use those dollars to end lives, end lives of our future women that could potentially lead this country and then turn around and sell their body parts to put more dollars in their pockets. it remind

mr. hoyer, is recognized for three minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank you mr. speaker. i thank mr. polis from colorado. i rise in opposition to this rule. this is our last day in session before we leave for five weeks or six weeks. we then will have 13 days before the end of the fiscal year. we have a number of things that the american public expects us to do. that enjoys almost universal support on this floor and one of which enjoys a significant majority of support on this floor. mr. speaker let me quote the speaker of this house john boehner. quote, above all else he said as he assumed the speakership, we will welcome the battle of ideas encourage it, engage in it openly, honestly, and respectfully. as the chamber he went on to say closest to the people, he the -- the house works best when it is allowed to work its will. and he then asked all of us, i ask all members of this body to join me in recognizing this common truth. al gore, the former vice president of the united states would observe, however, that seems to be an inconvenient truth. it is an inconvenient truth because th

mr. udall: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: mr. president just to clarify here, the bill that's being paired with is s. 1523, it's a bipartisan bill in the same committee. the proposal to pair them has come from the committee chairman chairman inhofe. and so that's the reason for the pairing. they're both sitting in the e.p.w. committee. the chairman believes that this is the way to proceed and that's the state of play, as it is right now. i say that with all due respect to my colleague from ohio. mr. portman: lead? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: i find it very strange that senator inhofe has somehow objected because he has signed off on this. this has been totally cleared cleared to have a voice vote and have it done and have it done tonight. there is no objection from senator inhofe. he has cleared it. i would check your sources on that and i would say i'm really disappointed that this legislation that makes so much sense that is needed right now in my home state of ohio is being blocked and

mr. graves: thank you mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i want to make note that the highway program funding mechanism expires at the end of this month. it expires. it means it runs out of funding. voting against this bill causes the program to shut down, causes a decline, a dropoff in investment in our nation's infrastructure. right now we're seeing growth, we're seeing increasing demand. as the gentleman from oregon just noted we're seeing underinvestment in our infrastructure system. we've got to increase the investment. we've got to work hard to address the outdated funding mechanism that funds our current highway system. as was noted, we have lost value in the current funding mechanism. having a user fee is absolutely critical, but a user fee that ensures the level of investment that we truly need. this extension gives us time to re-create that. we have been using the same user fee for decades. a user fee with static figures since 1993 as was just mentioned, and a user fee that has conflicting federal policies that reduces the

mr. langevin is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. langevin: thank you, mr. speaker. before i begin my remarks, it's my pleasure to yield as much as much time as he may consume, from maryland. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. first let me say the extraordinary respect i have for the gentleman from rhode island mr. langevin. i had the honor of sponsoring the americans with disabilities act in 1989 and 1990 and passed it in 1990 and it was signed then by then george h.w. bush. it was called the americans with disabilities act but should have been called americans with abilities act and should have been called that because its inat the present time was to focus on what people could do, what people would do, what people wanted to do. mr. langevin, is a perfect example of an extraordinary person with great ability, who has a wheelchair. he has a wheelchair because he has a mobility impairment that we don't have. but in serving with our colleague, he is extraordinarily able and he represents his constituency with great energy great intellect and grea

mr. tillis: thank you mr. president. mr. president, i was sworn in in january -- oh, i request that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tillis: thank you mr. president. we were sworn in, mr. president you and i both were sworn in in january. and you and i have gone do you thinkout totower states and try -- have gone out to our states and to try to get an idea of what our constituents face. one area that i have focused on is veterans affairs. i'm concerned that we have a problem with priorities. i'm concerned that maybe the focus isn't where it needs to be to make sure that we take care of the most pressing problems for our veterans, whether it's the choice act whether it's just providing ambulatory care, ptsd mental health, a number of other things. we have shortages and we have some need to actually get the veterans administration focused on solving the most pressing problems. so that's why i decided that we needed to produce some amendments that would have been held or would have been

mr. hosy is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker members of the house. >> mr. hosy, let me get you some order. house will come to order. members will come to order. mr. hosy is recognized. >> members of the house, i know you passed your listening time and attention and it is time to go home. however, i remember an old song -- >> mr. hosy let me get you a little bit of order please sir. guys, if we can, let's bring it back together and give mr. hosy the honor he deserves. >> i remember an old song that said something like how can i get your love when you keep on snatching it back. and it seems to be what happens here today. we had a lot of love this morning. we talked about a lot of things a lot of accolades and recognition was given and then i have mixed emotions now, because i sat there and think about what if it had been me going to my grave, would they be doing the same thing about me. you know, after all of the work you've given, the same people who say they love me who care about me would they be doing the same kind of thing? i honestly came to my head and

mr. chairman. mr. president, i yield back the balance of my time. mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: i have 15 unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during a today's session of the senate. they have been approved by both the majority and minority leaders. unanimous consent these requests be agreed to and printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, we are continuing to make substantial progress on passing a multiyear highway bill, and thanks to the developments of the recent -- recent day i guess it was yesterday that we learned that the house is open to a conference committee to reconcile an authorization bill they will likely take up soon and then to have a conference committee to reconcile those differences. previously we'd been told that the house would not take up the senate bill and was insisting on a short-term patch to, say the december time frame. i can tell you i for one was reluctant to do that because without a clear path forward in december we would be looking

mr. hudson, seek recognition? mr. hudson: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk, hudson number 6. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: -- mr. hudson: mr. chairman, i'll also be offering hudson 2. the chair: is the gentleman offering amendment number 6 as printed in the record or number 6 as submitted to the desk? mr. hudson: mr. chairman, could you repeat that? the chair: is the gentleman offering amendment number 6 as reported in the record or amendment number 6 as submitted to the desk? mr. hudson: it's listed also alternativetively as h.r. 2822-006. mr. chairman it's the amendment submitted at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. hudson of north carolina. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following. limitation on use of funds to remove oil and gas lease sale 260 from leasing program. section, none of the funds made available by this act may be used to remove oil and gas lease sale 260 from the draft proposed outer con

mr. reid: mr. president? mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the clerk be allowed to make technical changes to the substitute amendment regarding references to titles, divisions, page and line numbers. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: every day -- there are more motions to overrule rulings by the chair fraught by disgruntled republican senators. at another time republican senators would have called this a number of things, not the least of which is the nuclear option. republicans have controlled the senate for about seven months now. it has become increasingly clear that what's wrong with the senate today is the same thing that's troubled the senate before republicans took control. dysfunction in the republican caucus. republicans probably won't succeed in overturning the rules of the senate today but an honest observer of the senate will recognize that the day is coming when they will unless the republicans become th

mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i do appreciate the comments from the senator from nevada. it's a reminder that a lot of people think that almost all of this act is from the environment and puck works committee. -- and public works committee. 75% is. we have the commerce and bampging -- banking committee. a lot of people have been working on this, not just our committee. i'm glad we got a good vote yesterday. i think it's important we have a strong vote because we want to encourage the house. i think the house will be taking up our bill. in fact, i think a lot of the staff people are working on that right now over on the other side. anyway, the importance of this is really significant. if we don't pass the drive act out of this chamber, then what we're doing is reinforcing current law. what is current law? current law is short-term extensions. that means it's just the worst possible outcome. it means no big projects, for one thing. now, we spent yesterday, most of the day yesterday of our comme

mr. president, i yield the floor. murmur -- mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you mr. president. i want to thank my colleague the senior senator from tennessee, for working with me on this bipartisan bill. senator alexander and i are both committed to fixing the current law known as no child left behind. i'm glad we're having this very important debate on the senate floor. mr. president, nearly everyone agrees that no child left behind is badly broken, and as i have traveled around my home state of washington over the past decade, i've heard from so many of my constituents from teachers in the classroom to moms in the grocery store to tech company c.e.o.'s, that we have got to fix this law. our bipartisan bill, the every child achieves act, is a good step in the right direction. it gives our states more flexibility while also including federal guard rails to make sure all students do have access to a high-quality public education and i'm looking forward to improve and strengthen this bill thr

mr. ryan, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.j.res. 61, currently under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, i'd like to yield five minutes to the gentleman from illinois, the author of this legislation, for the purposes of explaining what it does, five minutes to mr. davis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for five minutes. mr. davis: mr. speaker, thank you very, very much. i'm proud to rise in support of my bill, the hire more heroes act. this commonsense legislation will help small businesses hire more of our veterans by exempting veterans who are already receiving health care through the d.o.d. or the v.a. from being counted towards the 50-employee limit for the employer mandate under the affordable care act. on opening day, the house passed h.r. 22, the hire more heroes act b

mr. goodlatte of virginia, mr. sensenbrenner of wisconsin, mr. gowdy of south carolina, for the minority, mr. serrano of new york, mr. nadler of new york ms. bass of california. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. for one minute. the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. in 1831, a tradition was started in huntington county, pennsylvania, which would go on to become a staple of the summer time agricultural expos. this august 9, the huntington county fair sell brating its 125th -- fair, celebrating its 125th fair devotes hundreds of agricultural exhibits ranging from equine shows to wine tasting. the huntington county fair provides areas of interest for almost everyone. mr. speaker, as a member of the house committee on agr

mr. price, for five minutes. mr. price: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker sometimes the terrorism that we witness in this day and age is a world away. sometimes it occurs very close to home. two weeks ago terror visited chattanooga, tennessee. in so doing hit home for us in georgia. one of the five service men murdered on july 16 in chattanooga grew up in the sixth district of georgia, graduated from high school in 2012. skip wells was a marine. was a proud marine. a proud american. he was a hero. last week in georgia thousands gathered to honor the life of this patriot, skip wells who lost his life in the terrorist attack in chattanooga. nothing we say will replace the loss, the heartbreak, the pain and family and friends, those who knew him best, but we can say how much heroes enlighten us and inspire us and strengthen the faith in our nation and in our own lives. skip wells is a hero. it's been said that a hero is someone who has given his life to something bigger than one's self. that's precisely what skip did. his closest friends said that skip

mr. president. and i yield the floor. mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: i want to acknowledge the senator from washington's comments. before she was here, i commented on her leadership and on how the democratic leader, as well as the republican leader, have created an environment in which we can succeed here. we govern a complex country like hours by consensus d. like ours by consensus and i think the way we're doing things is a pretty good example of how to do that. we have a process for this called a conference. we haven't been doing conferences much lately, but she and i both talked with chairman klein and representative scott. if we should succeed next week, as i believe we will, then we'll have a camps with the house of representatives -- a conference with the house of representatives and we'll develop a bill that the president we hope will be comfortable signing because we're not here just to make a speech; we would a result. as i said in the article i put in earlier, this is the educa

mr. polis. mr. polis: mr. chairman with this amendment this body has the opportunity to say loudly and clearly, let's keep our public lands public. public lands are a massive economic generator and are important to our health and welfare as americans. they're beautiful, they're healing. recently got to hear from a veteran in eagle county and part of his recovery process is the time he spends outdoors in our public lands. and they're also practical. they help ensure for water quality maintain critical aspects of rural life like farming ranching, grazing and logging. public lands are where our hunters and fishermen go to enjoy the outdoors. they are where skiers hikers, bikers and motorists experience activities that are impossible in other places and are invaluable to their quality of life. outdoor enthusiasts utilize these areas and has a vast economic driver as well. in fact $646 billion is generated economically through our public lands and visiting our public lands supports over six million jobs, including m

mr. hatch: and you've done it honestly, right? mr. bagdoyan: yes. mr. tch: you're disturbed by the fact that these discrepancies exist, even though it's been a limited investigation. is that right? mr. bagdoyan: we do have concerns about the flags we've detected. in terms of the control environment. mr. hatch: you're expressing those concerns here today. i have concerns too. a lot on our side don't believe that obamacare is ever going to work. and that it's just going to continue to take us downhill with more and more costs and more and more expenses and more and more fraud. this isn't the only instance of fraud either, is it? mr. bagdoyan: i can't comment on that, out of scope. but if i may, mr. chairman. try to explain our decision to -- mr. hatch: i don't want people just slapping this off like this isn't important. it's very important. mr. bagdoyan: right. i'd like to, if i may again, -- mr. hatch: i want you to tell us why it is so very important. mr. bagdoyan: it's important in terms of getting the responses that we need as our work is ongoing. i w

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. under the previous order there are now four minutes equally divided between senators alexander and murray. mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mr. alexander: mr. president the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: will the senate come to order. take your conversations outside. the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president i first want to thank chairman alexander for working with me on the every child achieves act. he has been a great partner in getting us to this point with this bill. this process started when he andary agreed that no child left behind is badly broken and need to be fixed. our bill, the yeeferredz act is an important step forward to do just that. the current law overemphasized test scores. our bill will give states flexibility to use multiple measures not just test scores, to determine how well a school is performing.

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president, i believe that real long-term economic growth is built from the middle out not from the top down. and our government and our economy and our workplaces should work for all of our families, not just the wealthiest few. but, mr. president across the country today millions of workers are working harder than ever without basic overtime protections. that is why i'm so proud to come to the floor today to express my sphrong -- strong support for the obama administration's new proposal to restore overtime protections for millions of workers and families. not only is this the right thing to do, but it is good for our economy. i want to share the story of a man named paul. he lives in massachusetts and is reported in the boston globe paul worked very hard at a discount retail store to provide for his family. each week he was working 72 hours on average. in one parti

mr. speaker. >> thank you mr. smith. mr. collins is recognized back in the chamber. >> what are you all still doing here? as you know, at 3:00 i left today. and as providence would have it apparently there were a number of thunderstorms across the nation and up in greenville spartanberg, you think it is contentious in here, try to be in the us air terminal where four or five canceled and postponed flights -- i wasn't clear this morning i was going to vegas to officiate i'm a wrestling official. and fortunately or unfortunately, the earliest flight i could get is tomorrow night at this time. and i had a decision to make at about 9:00. i turned on the phone and you all were still debating down here and wondered if it was necessary to come back and the state tweeted a recent vote that was only succeeded or failed by two or three votes. and i know it was too important to not come back down here. i was able to get outside of the bubble a little bit, even listen to a little bit of conservative talk show radio that we all love in th

mr. bettingfield i'll hear from you. thank you mr. smith. >> thank you mr. speaker. i would argue it's not divisible, mr. speaker. both sections deal with the flags on the state house grounds. there is no section in this bill related to the confederate relic room. that was stricken. >> i'm going to let mr. bettingfield finish with his points. >> i'm done, mr. speaker. >> any additional points on mr. bettingfield's behalf anyone wishes to raise. mr. smith, your point? >> simply because different sections all deal with flags doesn't mean it's not devisible. you have one that's dealing with one specific flag. section two is dealing are all flags. we considered these questions sprptquestions separately, they can be divisible under the rules. >> any arguments? >> none, sir. >> mr. bettingfield, i do find the sections are distinct enough where i can divide the question. now that i have found it is divisible between section one two three and four is shall the house vote to divide the question. >> mr. speaker? i move to table the motion to divide the question. >> tabling moti