mr. payne? >> mr. chairman, mr. vice chairman, members of the committee, thank you very much for this opportunity to speak with you on this topic. you have my written statement. i'm not going to go into that. i'll try to keep my comments as brief as possible. i know you have a lot of questions. i will say that i am the individual who is going to be responsible for executing the mission in dod for background investigations and begin to build that mission. as a result of that mr. phelan and i have to work very closely and our teams have worked closely so that we do this in a manner that doesn't hinder nbib's ability to work down the backlog while at the same time increasing our capacity in the investigations. that being said, the previous panel that was here and the comments that came from the previous panel i am responsible for industry security currently. mr. phelan's organization does that, we initiate the background investigations. i am the individual who grants security clearances and takes them away. i am also r

this is for mr. payne, according to press reports last fall you say quote if we don't do interim clearances nothing gets done. you continue to say i have murders who have access to classified information, rapists, pedophiles and people involved in child tomography. i have all of these things that the interim clearance level and i am pulling their clearances on a weekly basis. this obviously causes and would cause anyone great concern and the problem of course being the inference is interim clearances don't disclose very serious element of someone background. so, can you, please, tell us when we also know according to press reports that there are more than 100 staffers in the executive office of the president who are operating on interim clearances what we are going to do about this. >> i will say that the length of time someone stays in an interim capacity has to be limited as much as possible. just to give you an example from dod standpoint and my area of jurisdiction right now is industry, cleared indust

i would now like to yield to the gentleman from new jersey mr. payneto introduce our next witness. >> thank you mr. chairman. i have the distinct pleasure of introducing director peter t. gaynor appointed by governor raimondo in january of 2015. as a director he served as a policy adviser to the governor on emergency management matters considered as the liaison between the federal emergency management agency and all the local of emergency management offices throughout the state. welcome, sir. >> mr. scott bergmann serves as senior vice president predatory affairs at cellular communication industry associations and is responsible for coordinating realtor issues for the association affecting the wireless industry including spectrum, broadband and public safety policymaking. mr. sam matheny is the chief technical officer at the national association of broadcasters. he is also a member of the fcc communication security reliability and interoperable counsel and member of the academy of digital television pioneers. the witnesses spoke written statements will

the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne, for five minutes. mr. payne: i ask unanimous consent to address the house. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. , the yne: mr. speaker r.a., the n.r.a., the n.r.a. stands for no republican action . it's been a month since 17 children and their teachers were gunned down while at school in parkland, florida. it's been more than five years since 26 children and their teachers were slaughtered at sandy hook. in both of these instances, the ar-15, pon was used, an semiautomatic rifle, and congress still has taken no action to end gun violence. mr. speaker, there have been more than three dozen moments of silence related to gun violence since sandy hook massacre. there have been zero moments of action. as those of us who are mired or -- married or have children, the silent treatment doesn't work at home. well, it surely isn't working in congress. there are dozens of reasonable gun safety bills pending in this esteemed legislature, but the majority party is giving the american people the silent treatment. n

this is for mr. payne. according to press for thirds last fall, he said "if we don't do interim clearances, nothing gets done." you said we got murderers with access to classified information, rapists, pedophiles, people in child pornography, all these things at the interim clearance level, and i am pulling their interim clearances on a weekly basis. this would cause anyone great concern. , of course, the inference is that interim clearances don't disclose serious elements of someone's background. -- weu please tell us also know there are more than 100 staffers in the executive office of the president on interim clearances -- what we are going to do about this? lengthuld say that the of time someone stays in an interim capacity has to be limited as much as possible. to give you an example from dod standpoint, and my area of jurisdiction right now is industry -- last year, we issued 80,000 interim clearances to industry. currently, there's about 58,000 people on interim clearances. if you look at the timelin

mr. payne: mr. speaker, six months ago, the white house samely rescinded the daca program without having legislation in place to protect dreamers. that's just wrong. the overwhelming majority of americans support a pathway to citizenship for dreamers yet the leadership refuses to let congress vote on a clean dream act. a few months ago, the president began rolling back immigration from black and latino countries that he thanks are blank holes. after that, i went on a twitter rant to attack the diversity visa which helps people from rica imgreat lawfully to the united states. this is another anti-minority move, removing the diversity visa is more of the same. the administration has shown to be hostile to people of color. mr. speaker, racism is not a good policy. and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. without objection. the gentleman is recognized for one mi

mr. payne: mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the north community solutio for its tnd work on reducing crime -- for its continued work on reducing crime and strengthening connections between courts and the community. newark community solutions works with young people who are at risk of being victims or perpetrators of gun violence. they provide job training, counseling, and peer mentorship. the organization also develops support networks for crime victims, provides mental health counseling, -- counseling for veterans, and -- veterans and schoolchildren to avoid expulsion. the newark community solutions programs produce real results and they're felt throughout essex county. in cities throughout my district, we are seeing safer streets, reduced incarceration -- incarceration and improved neighborhoods' perception of justice. the program at newark cmunity solutions can be a model for cities throughout the country. newark community solutions shows that by investing in the community, we can build a f

mr. payne: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. payne: mr. speaker, yesterday transportation secretary elaine chao testified before the t.n.i. committee. secretary chao acknowledged that the president trump is personally intervening to prevent federal funding of the gateway project, which is the nation's most critical infrastructure project. mr. speaker, the gateway project would rebuild the crumbling rail infrastructure that connects new york and new jersey, a key point in amtrak and the northeast corridor's rail line between new jersey and new york, also 415 trains that go through those tunnels each day. new york and new jersey were promised billions of dollars toward the probably but president tru is actively undermining gay. as anyone who plans to travel by amtrak or by rail during last week's cyclone knows, the transhudson track infrastructure co

mr. payne: mr. speaker, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death for men and women combined. it is a silent killer because the disease often has no signs or symptoms. each year more than 50,000 americans die from colorectal cancer. even though it is mostly preventable and treatable if caught early. six years ago today, my father, the late congressman donald payne, died from colorectal cancer. colorectal cancer screening just wasn't something people of his generation did. mr. speaker, my father might have lived had he gotten tested for colorectal cancer. that's why each year i sponsor a resolution to recognize march as national colorectal cancer awareness month. a time to educate the public about the disease and the need for screening. by educating people, increasing research funding, and making medicare coverage better for seniors, we can save tens of thousands of lives each year. and i would rather not have to make this one-minute speech every year, to have my father still the member

results i just i suspect it will but time will tell very briefly before we can expand they say mr walsh richard payne to the full ethics officer for george bush is george w. bush's administration tweeted mr bolton's hiring is an invitation to wall pap's nuclear war it's worrying some quarters now will certainly in the coming days of the political establishment in washington d.c. surely you know we're running of the us is running a gigantic national security experiment we have a president who is inexperienced uninformed and prone to rather rash decisions now . he surrounded him self with people who he believes mostly agree with him and the question is in this permissive environment is he going to do things that lead to war now the positive case here is such is such a scary. situation that it will scare other countries into complying with u.s. demands that would be the happy scenario of the un happy scenario would be we have a president too is unconstrained makes poor decisions and we saw that results in chaos and conflicts you know i hope it's the former as distasteful as it is but i suspect it will b

. >> mr. payne is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for being here and appreciate your testimony. you know, staying focused on the territories in puerto rico, nearly one in three schools lacks electricity, and many also lack consistent access to clean water. this has forced many schools operate on a limited daily schedule, leading to school age children in puerto rico missing out on more than 20 million full days of learning. what plans do you have in place to ensure that no displays child is out of an educational setting for more than 30 days in the future? >> congressman, i would have to get back to you in writing on that. i don't know. >> we had situations that i've brought up in the past surrounding children and their needs during disasters. we feel that more attention has to be paid to the special circumstances not being with her parents, , parents reconnecting with them after disasters. the example that i use the most is several years ago the tornadoes in oklahoma. there was an issue about reuniting children with their

mr. payne: thank you, madam speaker, madam speaker, today begins the best time of the year , march madness is in full effect as of noon today. and i am here to support a team that i have followed for 50 years in college basketball, the seton hall pirates. 30 years ago, madam speaker, they played for the championship of the final four against a michigan team and lost by one point. today, we have another team that has the potential of going all the way. so i would just like to acknowledge the seton hall pirates as they start their journey for a national championship against north carolina state wolf pack and ask and as onor seniors they start their trek. go pirates. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: madam speaker, it is eight months since hurricane harvey d

mr. payne: each year i sponsor a resolution to recognize march as national colorectal cancer awareness month. by raising awareness about this preventable cancer we can save lives. during this congress, representative charlie dent and introo deuced h.r. 1017, the removing barriers to colorectal cancer screening act of 2017. this bill would eliminate surprise out of pocket costs for medicare beneficiaries who have polyps removed during colonoscopies. i also introduced h.r. 1578, the seen donald payne sr. colorectal detection act of 2017 to expand care to cover certain blood-based screening tests. named after my father who passed away from colorectal cancer this bipartisan legislation would significantly increase colorectal cancer detection and treatment and each year i lead premises leader to increase the funding for c.d.c., co--- c.d.c. colon cancer research. i urge my colleagues to join me on these important bills. together we can save lives from colorectal cancer and i yield back. the speaker

mr. payne: mr. speaker, i rise to honor the country's only african-american-owned christian television network, the impact christian tv network. over the weekend at metropolitan baptist church in newark, new jersey, i joined impact for the celebration of their launch. the launch is a big step for people across the nation. the partnership between impact and altise means that the country's only african-american-owned and operated christian television network will now reach more than 85 million homes around the world. as we have seen with others, the oscars so black movement and spotlight on inequality in film and television, people across the country are demanding increased diversity in programming. impact's launch is another step in the right direction. it is a historic pairing that will bring diversity and ministry to millions of homes and i just would like to point out that in my district, in the 10th congressional district of the state of new jersey, i want to commend two local heroes for helping

mr. payne is now recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. secretary chao, i'm going to follow up with my colleagues line of question is, this series in reference of the gateway project. this week in the "washington post" reported that president trump is actively seeking to undermine the gateway project now. we know this project is one of the biggest and most expensive in the country. we know that hundreds of thousands of commuters and inner-city travelers rely on this transha hudson infrastructe to get in and out of new york daily. despite the president's actions, are you saying that there was no commitment to support this critical infrastructure on the federal level? >> there is no commitment. there is no documentation. there is no pending application. >> i was at that meeting in the white house as well. i sat about two chairs the way from you. so when the president talked about being a good project and it looks good and we're going to move forward and talk to governor cuomo even without runway at laguardia airport, that he felt that they s

about the founding fathers who influenced abraham lincoln, george washington, thomas payne and thomas jefferson. mr. brokaw is or is the author of "founder's son: the life of abraham lincoln." welcome to the second presentation in the series on the legacies of the founding fathers. of the as president society of the four arts. if you have a cell phone with you, make sure it is silenced. thank you. gainst to thank mrs. gay for her help in this series at her help in recruiting the stellar group of speakers we have enjoyed this year and last. dr. joseph ellis has served as an advisor to the programs, for --ch we are most graceful most grateful. dr. robert watson has been a strong member of our planning committee, has served admirably as the discussion leader for the talks and has held does secure the presence of c-span in filming the talks. we are also most grateful to the done foundation and mrs. rebecca , for financial support that made the second year of the program possible. partner fromen our the beginning. you can find videos and films of the previous talks from both years at their online film a

about the founding fathers who influenced abraham lincoln, george washington, thomas payne and thomas jefferson. mr. brokaw is or is the author of "founder's son: the life of abraham lincoln." welcome to the second presentation in the series on the legacies of the founding fathers. of the as president society of the four arts. if you have a cell phone with you, make sure it is

payne, i'm speaking on his behalf. so i'm very, very honored to present this award to mr. patterson from ruth asawa school of the arts for his above and beyond excellent services that he provides to our students, and i want to share his nomination because i think that it truly encapsulates all that he does. he's consistently advocating and planning for our students. he's proactive about keeping students engaged. his discussions and iep meetings are never about getting the student through the individual issues they might be facing at that moment, but always looking to prepare them for a fulfilling life after they leave. he's creative in coming up with ways to support students and very reflective about accommodations. when a student's accommodations aren't receiving the result, he won't hesitate to help teachers find equal access to curriculum. he works with his caseload to support them through study skills classes which allows him to support the students academic growth in a concentrated way. also to learn about the student and how the student's other teachers can find more

mr. payne: yesterday marked six months since hurricane maria furiously blew ashore. in those six months more than 1,000 americans have died because of the storm. in fact, people are still dying in puerto rico from causes that are directly related to hurricane maria's impact. and more than 100,000 american citizens in puerto rico are still without electricity. let me tell you, mr. speaker, we tend to forget how much we rely on electricity until it goes out. without electricity, people who rely on respirators must choose between their homes an their health. the elderly, sick people, and newborn babies have to suffer through the heat and cold. mr. speaker, if this was happening anywhere else in our country, we would have riots. but instead of action, all puerto rico gets are excuses from the national government. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado 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