mr. pierluisi? >> i oppose the amendment, and let me explain why.first of all, this legislation creates the board that is in charge of approving a long-term fiscal plan for puerto rico your at least five years worth of budgets and fiscal discipline. and one of the factors that the board is told has to take into account is puerto rico's ability to balance its budget. it's one of the factors light after no fiscal plan will be approved by the board unless the government of puerto rico is balancing its books. it's a simple as that. been the board as well is in charge of approving the budget of the government of puerto rico on a yearly basis. and ensuring that they are properly balanced. so that's the board's job. we should be expecting the board to do what is, what is entrusted to do. now, in terms of puerto rico's constitution, that is a matter for the supreme court of puerto rico to handle. the supreme court of puerto rico is the ultimate interpreter of our own constitution. and this language that you are laying out hasn't been ruled yet or held yet b

mr. pierluisi? >> no. >> mr. thompson? >> yes. >> mr. hoffman? >> no. >> mrs. lummis? >> yes. >> mr. ruse? >> no. >> mr. benishek? >> no. >> mr. lun that will? >> no. >> mr. duncan. >> yes. >> mr. cartwright? >> mr. beyer? >> no. >> mr. labrador? >> yes. >> ms. or the rice? >> no. >> mr. lamafa? >> no. >> mr. dunham? >> no. >> mr. gug? >> no. >> mr. cook? ms. caps? >> no. >> mr. westerman. >> yes. >> mr. graves? >> no. >> mr. clay? >> no. >> mr. newhawes? >> no. >> mrs. hice? >> yes. >> mr. macarthur? >> no. >> mr. mooney? >> mr. hearty? >> yes. >> mr. lahood? >> yes. >> is there anyone who hasn't voted or wants to change? clerk will report. mr. chairman, on this vote, the 16-23. >> amendment is not agreed to. but -- but, mr. fleming, i would like to still see if we can explore some way going forward on that one. 80, mr. fleming, next ones from here on in are yours so let's go with 80. should say i think we have three more to do. right? they're all mr. fleming's so let's go with number 80. >> okay. >> you're recognized. >> mr. chairman, thank you. azumi staff and i researched this bi

mr. pierluisi votes no. mr. thompson. mr. thompson votes no. mr. huffman. miss lummis. miss lummis votes no. mr. ruiz. mr. ruiz votes no. mr. benishek. mr. benishek votes no. mr. loan that'll. will lowenthal votes no. mr. duncan. mr. duncan votes no. mr. cartwright. mr. cart rite votes no. mr. goesar. mr. goesar votes no. mr. beyer votes no. mr. labrador. mr. labrador votes no. miss torres. miss torres votes no. mr. la malfa votes no. miss dingell votes no. mr. denham. mr. gallego. mr. gallego votes no. mr. cook. miss capps. miss capps votes no. mr. westerman votes no. mr. pole polis votes no. mr. clay votes no. mr. newhouse votes no. mr. zinke. mr. zinke votes no. mr. heiss votes no. miss rat wagon votes no. mr. moony. mr. hardy. mr. hardy votes no. mr. lahood. mr. lahood votes no. >> those who have not voted -- mr. gohmert has not been roar recorded. >> mr. cook has not been recorded. mr. cook votes no. mr. costa votes no. >> mr. denham. >> mr. denham votes no. >> it was hard to hear that, i know. >> mr. young votes no. >> mr. yungs votoung votes no. is there anyone e

mr. pierluisi. yes. mr. thomas. voting yes. mr. huff mab votes yes. and mr. llamas. and mr. ruiz. and mr. benishek votes yes. and mr. lowen thal. yes. mr. duncan. no. mr. cartwright. >> yes. >> he votes yet. mr. gosar. mr. beyer votes yes. mr. labrador. voting no. miss torres. mr. la mafla. no. miss dingell votes yes. and mr. gallego. he votes yes. mr. cooke votes no. miss caps. she votes yes. mr. westerman. mr. polis votes yes. mr. graves. he votes no. mr. clay. mr. knew house. mr. knew house votes no. mr. zinke. mr. zinke votes yes. mr. hice. mr. hice votes no. miss rad wagon. voting yes. mr. mcarthur. voting yet. mr. moony. mr. hardy. mr. hardy votes no. mr. la hood. voting no. >> the clerk will report. >> the ye a's are 19 and the nays are 18. >> you all won. do you really want to? motion accepted. amendment passes. turn to mr. hice. number 22. you're recognized for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman. i'm offering an amendment this morning that i believe will address an issue within this whole debate about puerto rico that has long been overlooked and that is the influenc

mr. pierluisi. >> i have always advocated for strict compliance with our constitution. fact, when this crisis began, when the government of puerto rico approved a local bankruptcy law this was back in june 2014, the first thing i did was to introduce legislation giving puerto rico access to chapter nine of the bankruptcy code. i was simply asking congress to treat puerto rico as a state for purposes of bankruptcy. that bill was assigned to the judiciary committee. it didn't get traction. there were some reservations vi

mr. ryan: i know a lot of people worked very hard to make this happen. and i just want to recognize just a few of them, the people who made this happen. first of all, commissioner pierluisi. [applause] mr. ryan: congressman bill posey. [applause] mr. ryan: senator blumenthal. [applause] mr. ryan: senator rubio. i also want to thank governor padilla. we'd like to thank secretary murphy and secretary mcdonald for joining us as well. [applause] mr. ryan: i would like to point out today that we have here with us some borinqueneers themselves. jose colon is here with us today. [applause] mr. ryan: manuel siverio is with us today. r. ryan: and john polasie. where's john? i would like to add that john now lives in milwaukee, wisconsin. go, packers. i won't hold things up any longer. only to say that our honorees that we are forever in your debt and this medal is long, long overdue. thank you very much. enjoy the program. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the presentation of the colors by the united states army color guard, the performance of our national anthem, and the retiring of the colors. ♪ > present, arms. >> ♪ o say can you see by the dawn's early ligh

mr. chairman, thank you for the time and for your leadership in committee and today on this important bipartisan piece of legislation. i also would like to thank my colleague, congressman pierluisi, for his stalwart support and for his work on this bipartisan bill. the chairman of the judiciary committee is correct in recognizing that federal law often fails to keep up with the law breakers. as a i am aware of the ways criminal organizations adapt their practices to skirt federal law and harm american citizens. this bill directly responds to one scenario that has played out time and again in our federal courts. i would like to start by making a key point about the purpose of this bill and the type of organizations it targets. our focus through this bill is the leadership of sophisticated , often multinational drug trafficking organizations, with expansive networks of istribution internationally. this includes source nation manufacturers, primarily in south and central america. they are a significant source, if not the largest source, of deadly drugs on the streets and in homes across america. it also includes the leaders of large middleman wholesale trafficking and distribution