there being none, yes, mr. poe. there are a number of items. he wants to speak on five items. >> on the consent calendar, it's 10 a, c and d. actually, it's just a general comment that pervades some of the other items. i've spoken before about environmental review with respect to the environmental review of those three items. and i believe elements of 11 and 12. there is reference in the cover page about the determination of environmental review, but there's no attachment and the resolutions make general reference without, in some cases -- well, there is data in one case, but not the city planning file number. when i try and chase down the environmental review documents it proves very difficult. as the board of supervisors is considering both the wiener and kim legislation to change chapter 31 of the admin code, i think it would be good for us to get ahead of that and to either list as attachments those documents where they're short, or at a minimum, to include the city planning item number and information where someone can find those determina

mr. poe: i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. poe: mr. speaker, today is patriots day in boston. to commemorate boston's fierce spirit of independence, bostonians host a worldwide marathon. today is run -- as runners approached the finish line of the marathon, terror erupted. two explosions, 14 second as i part, two other bombs were also found by law enforcement. the scene was described as a war zone. amidst the chaos and blood-filled streets, there was a group of people who ran toward the danger as they always do. they are america's first responders. they were there within moments. they disregarded their own safety to assist the wounded and secure the area. fellow marathon runners from all different states and countries also rescued strangers and the wounded. they helped treat their wounds and carried others to safety. offers of help are coming from all over the united states

mr. poe: mr. speaker, it was around 8:00 p.m. last night as the sun was setting when a historically czech community of west texas families were finishing supper and winding down the day. sudden suddenly the tiny town of 2,600 was shaken by a massive explosion by the nearby fertilizer plant, equivalent to 2.3 on the richter scale. the fiery blast was so strong it was described by west mayor tommy as a nuclear bomb going off. my daughter and her family were in church about 50 miles away when they felt the shock. in fact, three firefighters took off and were headed straight for the town of west. homes were set ablaze and flattened to the earth. the senioritizens home has many citizens in the town were trapped in their homes, others were stranded on the street covered with blood and no place when disaster struck, first responders, firefighters, e.m.s. volunteers, and citizens traveled from all over texas headed to the town of west. for those of us in texas this is not a surprise. texans always take care of texans. so many firefighter

the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: mr. speaker, last week americans across the fruited plain filed their taxes with everyone's favorite government agency, the i.r.s., or the internal revenue service, as it is called. but the i.r.s.'s job is just beginning. now, they will put their police hats on. recently, mr. speaker, i learned something disturbing that most americans probably are unaware of. let's say the i.r.s. decides to snoop around and secretly investigate a citizen named joe and his taxes. right now the government can go to joe's email provider, demand his email records and check on his finances that are stored in the cloud all without joe's knowledge or consent. government agencies have the authority to snoop around through private emails, photos as long as there are 180 days old, no warrant required. how is this possible? well, it's called the outdated electronic communications privacy act, ecpa. ecpa was passed back in 1986, the stone age of technology when most americans didn't even own a home computer, much les

the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: mr. speaker, on january 31, kaufman county, texas, assistant district attorney mark hasy had just pulled into the work at the courthouse. he got into his car and walked through the parking lot like he did every day. but mark never made it to the courthouse to prosecute any other cases. he was ambushed, sprayed with bullets and murdered in the parking lot. officials are still really uncertain who murdered him, and then on march 19, just after supper time in colorado, the top prison chief, tom clements, heard a knock at his door. when he opened the door he was shot point blank and he died in the doorway of his own home. his suspected killer, able, resurfaced in texas weeks later and died in a shootout with law enforcement officers in north texas because he promised that he would not ever return to prison. 1 days later, back in kaufman, texas, mike mcclellen and his wife, cynthia, was sitting at home when their home was invaded by intruders. mike was shot 20 times and his wife, cynthia, was

he i will yield to the gentleman from texas, mr. poe. mr. poe: i thank the gentleman from iowa for yielding some time. i want to address the house on a different issue tonight, but i do appreciate the time and let me be off subject that he was ing to and will talk about momentarily. but mr. speaker, as you know, there are people in boston and really around the world and in the united states especially trying to recover from the terrorist attack that took place in boston. the richard family laid their eight-year-old boy to rest as did other families. as a father of four and grandfather of 10, no parent or grand parent ever wants to see a child die in their youth, especially being murdered the way this young lad was. but meanwhile in the halls of academia, an official with the united nations human rights council, he blamed the terrorist ttack on what he claims is american global domination and on the country of israel, of all mr. speaker, why is richard falk still employed by the united nations human rights council and can someone please explai

mr. poe: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: mr. speaker, it's that time of year again. you know what they say, the only things certain in life are death and more taxes. the day, april 15, brings fear and trendation into the hearts and souls of -- trepidation into the hearts and souls across the fruited plain. the tax-o-crats made it in a language that people can't understand. today it's over 70,000 pages long. and get this, each year it takes americans six billion hours to prepare their income tax and american taxpayers spend $168 billion just to file their taxes every year. just this week, president obama unveiled his two-month-late budget that includes, of course, $1.2 trillion in new taxes. mr. speaker, almost half of americans pay no federal income tax at all. what we need are more taxpayers, not more taxes. we should eliminate the burdensome unfair income tax code an

the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: thank you, madam speaker. the regulators continue their reign of regulation terror on businesses across america. jerry mckinney from crosby, texas, wrote me this. i work in the industrial chemical business, and i see the result of government regulations like those from the e.p.a. these costs my company good money, and they don't have any positive effects. larry, a doctor in kingwood, texas, said this to me. small businesses need relief from the ridiculous osha standards. our veterinary practice is having to spend hours and money trying to decipher all the regulations some bureaucrats have dreamed up just to justify their jobs. madam speaker, the fourth branch of government meddles in every aspect of our lives. in the name of saving us from ourselves, the regulators regulate, regulate, and when they're through they regulate some more without with regard to the consequences of these expensive government mandates. sometimes they put businesses out of business because of their regulat

the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: mr. speaker, several years ago in salt lake city, utah, there was a happy family, mom and dad, six kids, happy as they could be. on a typical summer day, june 5, 2002, the kids and the family had their prayers to the girls, went up to their room, the older girl read to the younger girl, they went to sleep, and then the nightmare began. in the middle of the night the older girl, who was 14, 14-year-old child, was awakened . the man that woke her up had a knife to her throat. the younger girl woke up, too, but was in fear and shock and terror and could not physically even move. so the kidnapper took the 14-year-old girl, climbed out the window with her, and at knife point he left in the middle of the night. finally the younger girl was able to get some type of composure and tell her parents what had happened. the police get involved and they start looking. for elizabeth smart. but they didn't find her that night. and they didn't find her the next day. because elizabeth smart had been kidnap

mr. poe: mr. speaker, let's say i take one of my 10 grandkids, barrack houston, to a basketball game he's playing in, he gets hit in the face with a basketball so we go to the doctor to see if his nose is broken. the doctor asks him this question, is this the first time you've been hit in the face with a basketball, the second time or do you have a habit of being hit in the face with a basketball? barret says, i don't know. doctor says, i got to know because, you see, i got this code book here and the law requires that i make sure i put in the code book the way you were hurt by the basketball in which time because there are five codes for being hit in the face by a basketball. and let's say he doesn't know. well, the doctor has to be accurate in how he diagnosises being hit in the face by the basketball or the doctor's in trouble. let's say i take another one of my grandsons, jackson, we go hunting but he happens to get assaulted by a wild turkey. we go to the doctor and the doctor says, hey, i go

. >> we will go to mr. poe. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary for being here. i want to first of all thank you for your help last year on the foreign aid transparency act. if we get this passed this year it will do a lot to explain to the american public why we give foreign assistance if held accountable by some type of legislation so thank you for your work on the. i want to talk about for different issues. north korea, benghazi, the mek, and also pakistan. i read recently that when you were in china that you suggested the united states would reduce our missile defense system in asia for exchange, in exchange for chinese help with north korea. it seems to me that even though we're being threatened by nuclear attack by the north korean government, first of all, is that an accurate statement? and if so, explain that if you would. >> no, not an accurate statement. i think it was corrected while i was over there. it was reporting to that effect. there was no offer, no deal, no contemplation of it. what i did say publicly and i will say it again, is that the presid

. >> i recognize mr. poe, who is chairman of a subcommittee of his own, which focuses on such threats of terrorism, as wells nonproliferation and trade. >> eress my 70s to the victims of the boston marathon. i want to praise the first was -- ish first responders would to the first responders further effort to catch these bad guys. i'm confident we will get to the bottom of this investigation. we learned of the perpetrators had planned travel to times square in new york after the boston attacks to unleash more mayhem and bombs. they had pie bombs and another pressure cooker bomb. american people want answers. so do i pray i want to thank the witnesses for being here. it is unfortunate no one from the federal government was here. they were invited to send one person. a lot of questions revolve around the elder brother's trip to russia. the russians asked us to look into him. less than three months before he left for russia, the cia push to have him put on the u.s. counterterrorism watch list. for some unknown r

the chair appoints the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, to he preside over the committee of the whole. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h.r. 678, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to authorize the bureau of reclamation conduit facilities for hydropower development under federal reclamation law, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as read the first time. the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, and the the gentlewoman from california, mrs. napolitano, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. chairman, the ommittee will be in order. the chair: the house will come to order. members take their conversations off the floor. the gentleman from washington is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he wishes to consume. mr.

mr. ted poe of texas. >> thank you for being here. dr.hah, after the sequestration to place, the administration notified the military that they were going to cut the tuition assistance program. congress rectified that in the continuing resolution and the program as you know helps military who are currently on active duty to finish their education. it helps them and the military and of course the state of readiness. but at the same time after sequestration to place, they notified congress that $41 million would be sent to pakistan to help pay for scholarships for pakistani students. as u.s. seems to me we don't have the money to help our own military go to school because of the sequestration. after it takes place we do have the money to help the pakistani kids go to school kid i can tell you this hasn't sat well with a lot of folks. can you walk me through this decision and why was made and if we are still going to help those students in pakistan? thank you. >> thank you representative treat i appreciate your comment on these issues and on

. >> we'll go to judge poe, chairman of the subcommittee on terrorism nonproliferation, and trade. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary. for being here. i want to first of all thank you for your help last year on the foreign aid transparency act. i think we can -- if we get this passed this year, it will do a americanplain to the public why we give foreign assistance if it's held accountable by some type of legislation. thank you for your work on that. i want to talk about, if i have time, four different issues. north korea, benghazi, the m.e.k., and also pakistan. i read recently that when you were in china that you suggested the united states would reduce our missile defense system in asia for exchange -- in exchange for chinese help with north korea. it seems to me even though we are being threatened by nuclear attack by the north korean government, first of all is that an accurate statement? if so, explain that if you would. >> no. not an accurate statement. i think it was corrected while i was over there. there was reporting to that effect. what i -- there was no offer, no deal

mr. mayor, we appreciate you this morning. thank you. and bottom of the hour, we will talk to congressman ted poe, also former texas judge, talks about how positions of that nature. >>> they started with 68 teams. now just four are left. we're talking about the final four of course. louisville meets wichita state in one game, syracuse taking on michigan in the other. this happens next saturday. winners will play a week from tonight for the national championship. of course louisville paid a high price to advance. this morning it's the one gamage one moment people are talking about. louisville sophomore guard kevin ware suffering what may be the most awful sports injury i've ever seen. he snapped his leg in the first half of the game. so bad, so awful, you can see the reaction there from the players and coaches on both sides. that tells the whole story. it's too tough to watch right now. we will tell you this, ware is recovering after surgery and rick pitino says his team was inspired by this young man while still down on the sidelines. he told his teammates i'll be just fine. just win the game. want you to look at this instragram picture

. >> we'll go to judge poe, chairman of the subcommittee on terrorism nonproliferation, and trade. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary. for being here. i want to first of all thank you for your help last year on the foreign aid transparency act. i think we can -- if we get this passed this year, it will do a lot to explain to the american public why we give foreign assistance if it's held accountable by some type of legislation. thank you for your work on that. i want to talk about, if i have time, four different issues. north korea, benghazi, the m.e.k., and also pakistan. i read recently that when you were in china that you suggested the united states would reduce our missile defense system in asia for exchange -- in exchange for chinese help with north korea. it seems to me even though we are being threatened by nuclear attack by the north korean government, first of all is that an accurate statement? if so, explain that if you would. >> no. not an accurate statement. i think it was corrected while i was over there. there was reporting to that effect. what i -- there was no offe

mr. meadows: it would appear that they've missed the $2.7 billion in poe text savings that they've -- potential savings that they've chosen to ignore. did they need to spend $325 million in travel costs, especially when their operation budget has already grown by 109% since 1996? these unnecessary flight delays are just the latest proof that this administration is clearly more interested in making a political point than coming up with serious solutions to the problems that our nation faces. we need to cut wasteful spending for more efficient, effective government that would foster a healthier economy and create jobs now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. burgess: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, tomorrow before this house we'll consider h.r. 1849, the helping sick americans act. this bill is a win-win for our c