mr. o'rourke: i will continue to reserve for a short period of time. mr. thornberry: i yield myself one minute. there are a number of subjects that are covered in this en bloc package. and i think it exemplifies the work that goes into creating this defense authorization bill. if you look at the size of the bill, it is very large. as a matter of fact, it is over 1,200 pages when you look at the legislation. of course, one of the reasons this bill is so large this year is that it includes five major packages of reforms, including acquisition reform, health care reform, commissary reform and military justice reform. i understand that not all members may not agree with every position. i don't. but the point is this bill supports the men and women who risk their lives to serve our country. that is the time when all of us should put aside whatever differences we have with this provision or that and come together on what has been for 54 years and continues to be this year a bipartisan product and so for all the amendments that are included in this enolympic pack

mr. o'rourke: mr. chairman, although i am not opposed to i rise to claim time. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. costa: as part of the readiness training, a mission that provides military training and resources to support our local communities throughout the country, there are four national guard teams that are currently practicing the fine art of well drilling in the united states prior to deploying abroad. clearly we know in parts of the middle east, having the water resources available to support our troops is absolutely essential. my amendment has the potential to help areas, though, in our country today as part of this training program. regions throughout the country have experienced devastating droughts. those in the area that i represent, the san joaquin valley of california, have experienced losses of drinking water supplies and as a result of these serious drought conditions they have had to face. in california alone, there have literally been thousands and thousands

mr. o'rourke. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and, mr. chairman, i'd like to begin by talking for bringing much-needed attention and focus and accountability to this issue. i can't think of a more important issue for us to be working on, and i think that's reflected in your leadership, and i would just ask that we continue to keep the pressure and the focus and our commitment to provide the resources and the oversight necessary to make progress on this issue. and i think to a person we are all there with you, and the ranking member, to maintain this as a priority. and i want to thank everyone who's part of the panel today from the va and from the advocate community for your help and focus, the information that you're bringing to this, so that we can make better decisions, so that we can hold ourselves and the va accountable for making improvements. and i want to echo the ranking member's suggestion that through you, dr. mccarthy, this goes to the secretary, he has 12 wonderful priorities for transformation of the va, not one of them is sp

mr. o'rourke. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and, mr. chairman, i'd like to begin by talking for bringing much-needed attention and focus and accountability to this issue. i can't think of a more important issue for us to be working on, and i think that's reflected in your leadership, and i would just ask that we continue to keep the pressure and the focus and our commitment to provide the resources and the oversight necessary to make progress on this issue. and i think to a person we are all there with you, and the ranking member, to maintain this as a priority. and i want to thank everyone who's part of the panel today from the va and from the advocate community for your help and focus, the information that you're bringing to this, so that we can make better decisions, so that we can hold ourselves and the va accountable for making improvements. and i want to echo the ranking member's suggestion that through you, dr. mccarthy, this goes to the secretary, he has 12 wonderful priorities for transformation of the va, not one of them is sp

mr. o'rourke. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and, mr. chairman, i'd like to begin by thank you for bringing much-needed attention and focus and accountability to this issue. i can't think of a more important issue for us to be working on, and i think that' reflected in your leadership, and i would just is that we continue to keep pressure and the focus and our commitment to provide the resources and the oversight necessary to make progress on this issue. and i think to a person, we are all there with you and the ranking member to maintain this as a priority. and i want to thank everyone who's part of the panel today from the v.a. and from the advocate community for your help and focus, the information that you're bringing to this so that we can make better decisions, so that we can hold ourselves and the v.a. accountable for making improvements. and i want to echo the ranking member's suggestion that through you, dr. mccarthy, this goes to the secretary. he has 12 wonderful priorities for transformation of the v.a. not one of them is spe

mr. o'rourke? mr. o'rourke votes aye. ht? hec mr. scott? mr. scott votes no. mr. gallego.ye.allego votes mr. nugent? mr. nugent votes no. ms. graham? ms. graham votes no. mr. cook? mr. cook votes no. mr. ashford? mr. ashford votes no. mr. bronstein? mr. iu lark? mr. i go our votes -- mr. aguilar? mr. aguilar votes no. mr. graves? mr. graves votes no. mr. think he? mr.'s he votes no. phonicnic -- ms. stiff -- mr. macarthur? mr. mcarthur? russell? mr. russell votes no. mr. rogers. mr. rogers votes no. mr. shuster? mr. hunter? mr. hunter votes no. mr. macarthur? >> the clerk will report the tally. >> mr. chairman, 20 aye votes, 41 no votes. the amendmentry: is not adopted. >> mr. chairman i moved to adopt the subcommittee report on land forces. chair thornberry: those in favor will say aye. those opposed say no. a quorum being present, the ayes have it and the motion is adopted. the committee will now receive postponet on -- will until the end of the subcommittee mark. the chair recognizes the joe manchin meant from south carolina, mr. wilson. mr. wilson: thank you, mr. chair