mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for two minutes. ms. matsui: for too long those with many health problems have been left in the shadows. the mental health crisis in this country is very personal to me, and i've been fighting for patients and their loved ones for many years. i believe there's a lot we can do better to stop or slow down the hurt and pain that patients and families feel when mental health is left unaddressed. the bill before us today is a good bill. it's a first step toward mental health reform, offering policies that help move us in the direction of better parity between mental and physical illness. a stronger work force trained to address mental illness and promotion of evidence-based services and support. especially important to me are the provisions that will help clarify when and how providers are able to share information with families and caregivers in order to

mr. pallone: mr. speaker, after much thought i decided to support the conference report on s. 524. it's not perfect and does not nearly do enough from a funding perspective but it makes some important steps that would allow us to begin to address the opioid addiction crisis that is impacting our nation. the american people are desperate for relief from the opioid epidemic currently devastating our country, and they're depending on this congress to act. by now we all heard the stories, young people taken from their families in their prime, babies suffering from the cruel effects of opioid withdrawal, and parents who lost the ability to care for their families as they battle their addiction. to treat this epidemic as anything less than a national crisis would be a terrible mistake, and even though we've already lost far too many lives to overdoses, we still have an opportunity to save many more. this conference report includes many important policies that have bipartisan agreement. for example, we will

mr. pallone as i understand it and the clerk will -- is it number 056? the clerk will report the title of the amendment? >> amendment to conference report on s-524 offered by mr. scott. >> and the amendment will be considered as read. the staff will distribute the amendment and the gentleman from virginia is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, mr. chairman this simply adds educational and recovery program for offenders in prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities to the title six block grant program that would be an allowable use for states. mr. chairman, this would allow pilot programs to enable us to figure out what works? these programs as it's already been said, this is the opioid bill and it's hard to -- it would be hard to explain a comprehensive bill that does not deal with persons already in prison. we're not going to solve any problems by putting people in jail and having them come out as addicted as they went in. this provision was part of the senate passed bill with -- that passed with virtue unanimous support and was introdu

mr. pallone, 1 1/2 minutes. the chair recognizes mr. pallone. mr. pallone: when the war on women end? first republicans passed a bill to allow a woman's boss to decide whether she has access to contraceptives and then they passed legislation and bringing another bill to the house floor to limit the women's right to make the best decision for herself and family. this isn't protecting the conscience rights to not provide or participate in abortions. providers have those protections under current law. this bill expands and limits a woman's right to safe and legal abortions. this bill allows the moral eliefs of an employer to limit access, a woman, not her employer should make decisions about her health. her health care choices are none of her boss' business. oppose this harmful legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from tennessee is recognized. mrs. blackburn: at this time, it is an honor to yield four minutes to one of the authors of this legislation and the primary sponsor, mrs. black from tennessee and to

mr. pallone. mr. pallone votes aye. mr. lujan. mr. sarbanes. mr. sarbanes votes aye. mr. green. mr. conyers. ms. jackson-lee. ms. jackson lee votes aye. ms. chu, she votes aye. mr. cohen. mr. cohen votes aye. ms. etsy. ms. etsy votes aye. ms. custer. ms. custer votes aye. mr. courtney. mr. courtney votes aye. mr. men. mr. men votes no. mr. told votes no. mr. mcdermott. mr. mcdermott votes aye. chairman upton? >> votes no. >> chairman upton votes no. >> that's the -- we have proxies for i think all of these members. how is mr. sensenbrenner reported. >> he's not recorded. >> i have a proxy. he votes no. >> mr. sensenbrenner votes no. >> how is mr. moreno reported? >> he's not recorded. >> i have a proxy. he votes no. >> mr. moreno votes no. >> how is mr. mccarty. >> not recorded. >> i have a proxy, he votes no. >> mr. mccarthy votes no. >> mr. chairman. >> how is mr. smith recorded? >> mr. smith is not recorded. >> he has a proxy, right? >> i believe the only proxies i have is mr. conyers just returned. >> how is mr. conyers recorded? >> i vote aye. >> mr. conyers votes aye. >> how i

mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: i rise in support of h.r. 2646, the helping families in mental health crisis act. this today's mental health system can hardly be described as a system at all. while some states undertake promising improvements, the system is overwhelmed and underresourced. far too many people can't get the treatment they need to live long, healthy, productive lives. i'm pleased this bill takes an important step toward improving mental health care in this country. the bill under consideration today, mr. speaker is a significant improvement over the original version introduced a year ago. it's no secret that many of us have substantial concerns with some of the provisions in the original text of the bill and i'm sure that my fellow members of the energy and commerce committee remember the extensive debate we had on the bill during our subcommittee markup last november. since that time we've found common ground. we removed many provision

mr. pallone, ranking member of the full committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. today's hearing comes weeks after the fcc's sweeping net neutrality victory before the d.c. circuit. the court's decision for a major victory for internet consumers and small businesses and the ruling was a momentous step meaning that the internet remains an open platform for everyone. it's proconsumer and proinnovatipro i proinnovation policies. and now as we look ahead, we have a number of issues before us including how to deal with internet privacy. a recent study found 84% of americans are worried about the their privacy and security online. and we must take these concerns seriously and i appreciate the federal trade commission who overseas privacy on websites providing thoughtful input into the fcc's proceeding. we should give consumers more protection online and not less. we're likely to hear more from my republican colleagues about the lifeline program that keeps our nation's low nk families connected. for months republicans have used wasteful abuse to justify bills who rip pho

mr. pallone for a unanimous consent request. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 1217, the bipartisan expanded background check legislation, to honor the memory f demar small tammy wilson idell and both christina lobruto and brian green. these are four, these are christina and brian. they are four victims of gun violence from my district who never received a moment of silence on the house floor -- never received a moment of action on the house floor. the speaker pro tempore: as previously announced, the unanimous consent request cannot be entertained. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: i'd like to yield to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. keating, for purposes of a very important and timely unanimous consent request that will save lives. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. keating: thank you, mr. chairman. i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 1217, the bipartisan expanded background check to honor the memory of allison pocker, a victim of gun violence whose family w

mr. pallone. >> thank you, mr. chairman. today's hearings comes weeks after the fcc's sweeping net neutrality victory before the d.c. circuit. it was a major victory for internet consumers and small businesses and a momentous step towards legal certainty that the internet remains an open platform for everyone and strong recognition of pro consumer and pro innovation policies that democrats have championed for years. the court's decision helps create a stronger foundation for future policies that put consumers in the driver's seat. now as we look ahead we have a number of issues before us, including how to deal with internet privacy. a recent study by the national telecommunications and information administration found 84% of americans are worried about their privacy and security online. we must take these concerns seriously and i appreciate the federal trade commission who oversees privacy on websites providing input into the proceedings. we should give consumers more protection online, not less. during the oversight hearing

mr. pallone the ranking member the full committee. >> thank you mr. chairman.day's hearing comes weeks after the fcc's net neutrality victory before the d.c. circuit. the court decision was a major victory for internet consumers and small businesses and the momentous step towards legal certainty that the internet remains an open platform for everyone. it was strong recognition of pro-innovation policies that democrats have championed for years. the decision helps create a stronger foundation for future policies that put consumers in the driver seat. we have a number of issues before us including how to deal with internet privacy. a recent study by the tolkien and patience information found 84% of americans are worried about the privacy and oven security on line we must take these concerns seriously. appreciate the federal trade commission policy and web site providing input into the fcc's proceedings. we should give consumers more protection on line and not less. during this oversight hearing today we are likely to hear more from our public and colleagues about

mr. pallone and mr. upton. this legislation, as mr. pitts indicated, is going to give some relief to communities, particularly rural communities, changes mposition in processes in durable medical equipment. it was sponsor -- i was a co-sponsor but the lead sponsor is here, dr. price a good colleague and a really good doctor. dr. price, legislator price came up with a pretty good bill it will help georgia and also rural vermont. i appreciate him. bottom line, the d.m.e. bidding process was created in 2003 and it was aimed at a goal all of us have. it was trying to lower spending under durable medical equipment. it was well-intended but it had some serious consequences, especially for rural providers, like in vermont and i'm sure parts of georgia and other rural parts of the country. and by the way, when we do something, it can have a good intention. it can accomplish some of its goals but i think it always makes sense for us on both sides to step back after there's some history -- this one in 2003 -- take a look, kick the tires. what ar

mr. pallone, ranking member of the full committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman.eping net neutrality victory before the d.c. circuit. the court's decision for a major victory for internet consumers and small businesses and the ruling was a momentous step meaning that the internet remains an open platform for everyone. it's proconsumer and proinnovatipro i proinnovation policies. and now as we look ahead, we have a number of issues before us including how to deal with internet privacy. a recent study found 84% of americans are worried about the their privacy and security online. and we must take these concerns seriously and i appreciate the federal trade commission who overseas privacy on websites providing thoughtful input into the fcc's proceeding. we should give consumers more protection online and not less. we're likely to hear more from my republican colleagues about the lifeline program that keeps our nation's low nk families connected. for months republicans have used wasteful abuse to justify bills who rip phones away from those who need them the most. this

mr. pallone: the zika virus is spreading explosively throughout the americas with active local transmission in 31 countries and territories. more than 3,600 americans and 46 pregnant women in 45 states, d.c. and three u.s. territories have been diagnosed with se the zika virus and more is expect. it's not a matter of if we'll have local transmission of the zika virus in the united states, it's a question of when. despite the risk, republicans refuse to provide the resources to address the public health crisis. instead they insisted on saddling potential funding with damaging riders. without swift action, we are gambling with the health of our nation. the time is now for congress to work in a bipartisan fashion and provide the necessary funds to protect the good of the nation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? mr. johnson: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, the repub

mr. chairman. i do have an amendment at the desk. >> clerk will report, the title of the amendment. >> discussion draft amendment to the conference report for s5 24 offered by mister pallone. >> the amendment will be considered as read, the staff will attribute the amendment and the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for five minutes in support of the amendment. >> thank you mr. chairman. this amendment would provide critical funding for opioid and heroine treatment that is fully paid for with vetted partisan offsets. as we've all made clear we are here today because we are in the midst of an unprecedented opioid and heroine crisis. daily, 2014 said the highest number of drug overdose deaths than any other year on record. our treatment systems have not kept pace with the epidemic. those struggling with heroin or opioid addiction suffers from critical shortages in treatment access. only one in 10 individuals offering from substance abuse disorders received any form of treatment. given the tremendous gap between supply and demand for substance abuse treatment, it's a force to believe we can mount a forceful response this epidemic without providing additional resources