mr. pallone, i thank him and mr.evin, our ranking member on energy and commerce committee and the ways and means committee for their leadership and cooperation on this issue as well as the chair and -- the chair of the ways and means committee, mr. upton, and ways and means committee on the republican side as well. but this is a day that we really have to salute our staff. they have worked so hard. it was my honor to work with speaker boehner on this important issue to do what we came here to do, to legislate. we are the legislative branch. we are legislating. we are working together to get the job done for the american people. speaker boehner's staff, especially charlotte, ivanik, who is extremely knowledgeable about health policy, was smart and fair about all this. my staff was a strong voice for the concerns of seniors and the children and the rest in those discussions. ed grossman, house legislative counsel for all the members they churned up, ed had to translate what that the possibility is, 24/7, making the tec

mr. pallone, now stepping up. but the white papers have been available, the responses of an appeal to both sides. i would like to think i started something that's been good and productive, and that is these joint workgroups. that frankly led to the effort on freeing up some of the federal spectrum that ended up in the auction and all that. we have set up multiple workgroups in the past that have brought members together to jointly manage. i'm trying to break down some of that and be partisan but it is complicated. we've had some really productive outcomes as a result. >> so you anticipate the drafting process? >> guest: bob lee. >> host: chairman walden, you are in oregon were a lot of high tech is california under the high-tech state of oregon has its own high-tech. when you met with google representatives or small startup representatives about the net neutrality issue, what have you told them? >> guest: you know, that's more silicon valley. we have some small internet providers. there's one that you spoke up tod

mr. pallone. i await his invitation. i would glad to go to his office. i know you're tired about hearing about king versus burwell. i bring it up one more time. since i haven't been here it is not exhausted to me. the hope around contingency plans and american academy of actuaries is concerned insurance companies are suppose toddies close that data upon which they're basing their rates in may but there could be something that changes the equation in june. so to the extent that the insurance companies are having to deal with unsettled future. they will have to deal with contingency plans are they not? why should the department not have contingency plan as recommended by american academy by actuaries? >> with things i have the authority to plan for i will plan for the current budget you see before you unaccompanied children issue, one i know there is difficult issue and controversy around we put in moneys to plan up to 60,000. asked for a contingency fund in case, we don't believe it will -- where there are places i can plan we will. with regard to this is

mr. pallone. at this time that concludes the opening statements so this time ms.ognized for your five minutes of testimony. thank you. >> thank you chairman whitfield, and shimkus. thank you ranking members rush and tomko and the members of the committee for giving me the opportunity today to appear before you to discuss the environmental protection agency's proposed fiscal year 2016 budget. i'm joined by the agency's acting chief financial officer david bloom. the epa's budget request of $8.592 billion in discretionary funding for the 2016 fiscal year provides the resources that are vital to protecting human health and the environment while building a solid path forward for sustainable economic growth. since 1970 when epa was founded we have seen over and over again that a safe environment and a strong economy go hand in hand. this budget supports essential work to address climate change, improve air quality, protect our water, safeguard the public from toxic chemicals, support communities' environmental health, maintain core enforcement strength, support needed

mr. pallone.es for questions. >> secretary burwell, i'm sure you can sense that i'm very proud of the affordable care act and concerned about republican efforts to repeal it or now take it to court in the case of king versus burwell. are you aware of any republican bill that would reduce the number of uninsured in this country by 11 million people -- i said 11. it's actually 19 million people, the way that the affordable care act does? obviously i'm saying this because i don't see them coming up with any alternative. >> we haven't and i think it's important to reflect historically. when one looks at the history and actually i've gone back to teddy roosevelt forward and the republican and democratic administrations. we see whether it was president bush, president nixon, republican and democrat, president clinton, the conversation about how we make this next step forward with regard to reducing uninsured is something that we've struggled with as a nation. this is the first time and someone reflected

mr. pallone for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ma dad administrator with just a small fraction of the federal budget, the epa tackles the task of protecting communities across the country and do all this by partnering with states and localities. i just wanted to highlight a few of these important activities. first, i'd like to discuss the work epa does to clean up land and protect vulnerable communities. what might that funding mean for minority communities and low income communities living around superfund sites? are there other resources included in the budget for vulnerable and overburdened communities also? >> there are significant resources in this budget to help communities that have been under served or left behind in some of our national efforts to reduce pollution. this will help us get at potentially another 25 sites moving forward to cleanups that are going to be ready for the cleanup stage in the comeing year. we all know that many of the communities surrounding superfund sites actually are low income areas. they're co

mr. pallone mentioned his specific idea for that when he spoke to this issue.ut in terms of contributing to the debate. >> and my door is always open to pallone. i await his invitation. let me ask you a question. i know you probably are tired of hearing about king versus burwell. but i'll bring it up one more time since i haven't been here and it's not exhaustive to me yet. the whole concept around contingency plans and the american academy is concerned because insurance companies are supposed to disclose the data upon which they're basing their rates in may, but there could be something that changes the equation in june. so the extent that the insurance companies are having to deal with this unsettled future, i mean they're going to have to deal with contingency plans, are they not? why should the department not have a contingency plan as recommended by the american academy of actuaries. >> with regard to things that i have authority to plan for, i will plan for. in the current budget, the unaccompanied children issue, one that i know is a difficult issue and

mr. pallone: to address the house for one minute. thank you. mr. speaker, according to c.b.o., the house republican budget cuts snap, would drive the poorest working families deeper into poverty and increase hunger in our communities. the republican budget would cut as many as 60 million people from snap, most of whom are working. cuts of this magnitude would be tragic for millions of hardworking americans and their families. basically the house republican budget makes people work harder for less. the democrats today introduced an alternative budget, this democratic budget works for hardworking americans. first it makes it easier to own a home. second, easier to send kids to college. and third, easier to have a secure and enjoyable retirement. once again, the difference between the two. house republicans want, they want americans to work harder for less. democrats, on the other hand, want to help hardworking americans. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from nevada seek recognitio

mr. burgess i want to acknowledge the work of ranking member pallone, chairman pitts for their work on this i support this bipartisan bill and urge my colleagues to do the same and mr. speaker i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess is recognized. mr. burgess: i don't believe i have other speakers seeking time on this issue, so i reserve my time to close. the speaker pro tempore: mr. burgess reserves. the gentleman from texas, mr. green, is recognized. mr. green: we have no further speakers, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess is recognized to close debate. mr. burgess: let me conclude by strongly urging all members of the house to vote in favor of this legislation. i thank you for the recognition and yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: all time having now expired on h.r. 648, the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 648? those in

mr. lujan but i don't have it now. i could ask unanimous consent. >> without objection. >> thank you ranking member pallone pallone and let me second the comments about the need for us to work together. the policy has a long history being made on a bipartisan basis and i would hate to see the polarization to find so many of our policy debates dominate our efforts on the subcommittee. before us are real challenges. have 77% of mexicans living rural areas. as i have shared with chairman chairman wheeler up we can have internet access at 30000 feet on an airplane we should build up internet access across rural america including new mexico. i'm inches in hearing from commissioner rosenworcel on the innovative potential of unlicensed spectrum and i'm also excited to hear from a former public utility commissioner colleague of mine as well commissioner clyburn clyburn said is to modernize a lifetime program in the broadband era and i want to hear from all commissioners on how we can work with the fcc including strengthening information technology systems that collapse under the weight of congress when a friend of ours john o

mr. pallone's positive discussions about chip. i've always been a strong supporter and has a july 2014 and s. metaphor hundred 76,000 children were enrolled in this affordable coverage option for their care in new york and so i think that is really, really important. i was pleased, therefore to see that the budget proposal for fy '20 six included funding for chip for the next four years through fy 2019. so can you elaborate on why you believe increasing tobacco taxes is a viable means for funding this program while we sort out the transition issues associated with the affordable care act? >> we believe one of the things in trying to be fiscally responsible and indicating how we are paying for things we believe this is a legitimate way to pay for things especially in the context of we are providing health care and something that will hopefully create a deterrent and help health care in terms of the issue of a tobacco tax. as one analyzes across the department and whether it is that cms or cdc the impact that tobacco was on health i