the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey mr. payne, for questions. >> timing is everything. good morning. let's see. mr. allison, could you detail for us your thoughts on the future of the federal air marshal service? >> how do i see the future of the federal air marshal service? >> yes. >> what i see, mr. congressman, is a viable counterterrorism force that supports the counterterrorism efforts of this government. we may be smaller and leaner and budget dollars are tight but we have to do our part. but i will assure you that the threats that we face now unfortunately they may be with us a little bit. and we're constantly looking for ways to make sure we're adding that value that i was talking about, assessing the threats, watching the intelligence, you know making sure that we are operating in line with the u.s. government counterterrorism efforts led by the fbi, looking at the secure flight data as we had talked about earlier, and making sure that we are well positioned within the aviation industry to thwart any threats along with t

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. the consequences of th

i appreciate your questions and now i'll refer to my rank and minority member, mr. payne from emergency. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and as usual we're on the same page, and the same thought, i was going to ask that same question in reference to the german incident. kind of stole my thunder. but captain canoll, we're really delighted to have you here this morning to testify before us. your credentials are second to none, as we look at them. and just definitely consider you an expert in this area. i want to ask you about the screening process for applicants into the federal flight desk officers program. are there any prerequisites for applying such as tenure or flight hours? >> thank you, congressman. so the prerequisites that i'm about to describe are over and above the prerequisites that you would have to maintain to be an active air transport category pilot. that would be the physical testing requirements to be in the cockpit. the volunteers through an online process submit a volunteer questionnaire, which is extensive. then there is an in-person interview conducted wit

mr. chairman and congressman payne. i am president of the airline pilots association international, and we represent more than 52,000 pilots that fly for 31 passenger and all cargo flights in the united states and canada. thank you for inviting me here today. for several decades pilots have had a strong relationship with the federal air marshal service. we meet on a regular basis to make sure we have a current and most accurate understanding of the rules and responsibilities and training and methods. we focus on how they act. alpha members have been deeply impressed by the professionalism of the air marshals and the leaders, including the assistant administrator alison. every day they put their lives at risk to safeguard the crew and passengers on the flight, and for that reason we will be extremely grateful. flying u.s. airliners with highly trained anti-terrorism experts aboard is valuable. they serve as a powerful deterrent to anybody that might contemplate hijacking a flight. the tsa adopted a risk free security pro

mr. payne is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. timing is everything. good morning. let's see. so mr. allison could you detail for us the thoughts on the future of the federal air marshal service? >> how do i see the future of the federal air marshal service? >> yes. >> what i see, mr. congressman, is a viable counterterrorism force that supports the counterterrorism efforts of this government. we may be smaller and leaner, and you know, our budget dollars are tight and we have to do our part. but i will assure you that the threats that we face now unfortunately they may be with us for a little bit. you know we're constantly looking for ways to make sure that, you know, we're adding that value that i was talking about. assessing the threats, watching the intelligence. you know making sure that we are operating in line with the u.s. government counterterrorism efforts. you know, led by the fbi. looking at the secure flight data as we had talked about earlier. and making sure that we are well positioned within the aviation industry to thwart any threats. it was mentione

mr. payne: discriminatory voting laws such as strict photo i.d. requirements and reduced early voting disproportionately impacts minority voters in the name of preventing widespread voter fraud, a problem that simply does not exist. clearly, since the supreme court's decision two years ago to ered some of the v.r.a.'s most critical protections, including preclearance requirement that protect against disenfranchising law the voting rights act is still needed more now than ever before. yet, republicans have refused to allow renewed and strengthened voting rights act to come to the floor. this should concern everyone who believes in the right to vote as one of the most fundamental to our democracy. it is time we renew and strengthen the voting rights act. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman fr

mr. payne: mr. speaker, let me thank the gentlelady from illinois. a very timely topic, as we've seen what has transpired in our nation over the past several weeks. it is incredible to me how fast this issue has moved over the past month. but it always seems that it takes a horrific act in this country for us to wake up and realize that may be something isn't right -- maybe something isn't right. nine people at church study on a wednesday night, not knowing their fate gunned down in cold blood by someone who actually said, you know they were so nice to me i almost didn't do it. but i had to. last week in south carolina there was a monumental step in removing the confederate flag for its -- from the state capitol where it had shamefully flown for 54 years. but here in our nation's capitol last week republicans tried to go back to the future. house republicans had to pull a vote on a spending bill because some of their members opposed a measure that would ban confederate flags from national cemeteries. . when the democratic leader nancy pe he see, pres

the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. payne of new jersey for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6 2015, the gentlewoman from new jersey, mrs. watson coleman is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. watson coleman: thank you mr. speaker. mr. speaker, earlier today the distinguished gentlelady from california introduced a privileged resolution not too different from the one my friend and colleague mr. thompson brought to the floor just last week. mr. speaker, that resolution called for the immediate removal of the confederate battle flag from the capitol grounds and my colleagues across the aisle moved quickly and decisively to banish that resolution to die in committee. earlier today, the original home of the confederacy argued but agreed to the confederate flag and the history it represents belongs in a museum. they decided the flag should not serve as a bright wave regular minder of the discrimination a

payne: my goodness, time is everything. good morning. let's see. so, mr. allison, could you detail for us thoughts on the future of the federal air marshal service? roderick: how do i see the future of the federal marshals service? rep. payne: yes. roderick: i see a viable counterterrorism force that supports the tenor terrorism efforts of this government. we may be smaller and leaner and i know budget dollars are tight and we need to do our part. but i will assure you that the threats that we a snail -- that we face now unfortunately may be with us for a little bit. we are costs only looking for ways that we are adding that value, assessing the threats watching the intelligence making sure that we are operating in line with the u.s. government counterterrorism efforts, led by the fbi, looking at the secure flight data, as we talked about earlier, and making sure that we are well-positioned within the aviation industry to thwart any threat, along with the ffdo program. the office closures -- where we are now, we are situated with 80% of the traveling public

mr. varney. first of all, my thanks to charles payne for doing great work in my absence. but charles payne, really? well, thank you for both of them. and thank you to homebuilders. this could be the start of something big today. by any chance were you looking around homes this weekend? were you sizing up the market, looking to refinance? something is going on, folks. it's been reported that we're seeing record crowds showing up for home openings, that sort of hearing. something we have not seen now for the better part of a decade, but it's beginning to bubble in a couple of key markets. we thought we would open up with this today because it is most unusual and long before the journal is getting into this. we were trying to connect a lot of these crumbs and seeing if real estate has gotten over just being crumb peep and on these real estate bidding wars that are taking forms in a lot of places >> they are taking form, neil, in a lot of places and the reason is maybe the most interesting part of all of this. any time a story like this surfaces we hear it's different this ti

mr. vega and a shooter shot several gun shots into his body. the shooter exited a white vehicle, approached payne and shot him several times. the killer struck again. shots rang out in the area of 320 clark place. the shooter once again in his white car. >> reporter: police say west took his .38 caliber revolver to easton and allentown, pennsylvania. they arrested him there for killing three more people over the july fourth weekend. of the five people shot in elizabeth, only one survived. his aunt talked with him right before shootings. >> he was a totally different kid a couple weeks ago. why this happened i can't even understand. >> reporter: rafael went to school with him and calls west a loner. >> he was more like to himself. >> reporter: bail has been set at $5.5 million if he is ever extradited he may be tried here first. brian thompson nbc 10 news. >>> in philadelphia police hope this video will help them identify a man who stole from a day care. detectives say the burglar broke into the day care in juniata park early monday morning, getting away with three tvs, an xbox a wii and four dvd

mr. varney. first of all, my thanks to charles payne for doing great work in my absence. and thank you to homebuilders. this could be the start of something big today. by any chance were you looking around homes this weekend? were you sizing up the market, looking to refinance? something is going on, folks. it's been reported that we're seeing record crowds showing up for home openings, that sort of hearing. something we have not seen now for the better part of a decade but it's beginning to bubble in a couple of key markets. we thought we would open up with this today