mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the scandals embroiling the white house are the result of a culture of contempt for the law that we have seen since the beginning of the obama administration. over the past four years, president obama has demonstrated that dedication to ideology and politics to the exclusion of the rule of law and effectively working to get this economy booming again. mr. rothfus: because of this administration's agenda driven policies, it is now more difficult for companies in western pennsylvania to grow and hire additional staff. obamacare is raising costs, has discouraged hiring, and threatens access to quality health care. regulations strangling the financial sector are limiting opportunities for small businesses to add jobs. just last week, we learned that 134 hardworking employees of a coal company in western pennsylvania were laid off. they can thank president obama and his war on coal for altering the market for one of america's most valuable and abundant resources. president obama an

mr. speaker, mr. speaker, two years ago during the prime minister's exercise on the health service he said this, i refuse to go back to the days where people had to wait for hours on end to be seen in a and e. so let me be absolutely clear, we won't. what's gone wrong? >> not a word about what he said two years ago. the very first time, the very first time he stood at that dispatch box totally condemning and attacking and the strongest possible terms what now turns out to be labour policy. what complete confusion and weakness from the leader of the opposition. but he asked about accident and emergency and i will do with it very directly. the fact is people need to know this, we are now meeting our targets for accident and emergency. there was a problem in the first quarter of this year. that is why bruce is the medical director of the nhs will be holding an investigation. the crucial fact is this, over the last three years there are now 1 million were people walking into our accident and emergency unit

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, this legislation provides commonsense access to maintain water facilities within the frank church river off no return -- of no return wilderness area. these features were present prior to the federal designation of wilderness and are necessary to protect individual water rights in the state. i applaud chairman simpson for his legislation and we support the passage of this bill. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: i have no other speak fathers you're ready to quit. mr. sablan: mr. speaker, at this time i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. bishop: thank you. when you have diversions -- thank you. when you have diversions that predate the wilderness designation, you need to give them the ability to maintain those diversions. this is a good bill. i urge

mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this morning i had meetings with ministerial of others and i shall further such meetings later today. i would also be making an announcement about the new minister to join a government. at the end of the year stephen green, former chair and chief executive, will be standing down as trade minister after doing a superb job refocusing the governments efforts in key export markets. i can't announce today that in livingston for the past five years chief executive of bt, one of britain's most successful businesses, will take on this vital role. i believe he will bring huge talent to a vital national effort. >> thank you, mr. speaker. with the prime minister agree there are many, many people in excellent school benefiting from outstanding teaching from inspirational teachers, not all of them have necessarily been -- [inaudible]? >> i think my honorable friend makes an important point. there are many good teachers in our schools who haven't been through the formal processes. i met this week w

mr. speaker -- [shouting] mr. peaker, today's unemployment, can the prime minister explain why today's figures also show that three years into his government, living standards are continuing to fall? >> first of all i think it is worth actually announcing to the house what the unemployment figures today show, because they show employment, the number of people in work in our country going out. facial unemployment going down. and they show -- i know the party opposite don't want to hear good news, but i think it's important to hear it. and the claimant count, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit has fallen for the seventh month in a row. i think what also is interesting is over the last year while we've lost 100,000 jobs in the public sector, we've gained five times that amount in private sector employment. the figures to show some increase in wages, but obviously real wages have been under huge pressure ever since the cleverness of boom and bust under which he presided. but what is good for people is t

mr. speaker. -- mr. rigele -- mr. rigell: thank you, mr. speaker. before i begin my remarks i express my appreciation to my colleague, mr. fleischmann, and the tribute he paid his father who was part of the greatest generation. we thank his father to his service to our country. i rise this morning to talk about my number one priority in serving the second district of virginia in this incredible country we live in and that's jobs. number one focus of our office and i rise in strong support of house resolution 2231, offshore energy and jobs act, that will come before this house either today or tomorrow. that bill includes language that i authored and introduced and it creates a clear path, an opportunity that can really change the lives of hardworking americans, and i'm awfully proud of what the bill will do. ideally when it's passed through the senate and made into law by the president and job creation. before i share with this house what the bill actually does and what the language does, i want to make clear what it's not. it's not a bill that spends

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to urge my colleagues to come together and improve our broken, misguided and convoluted tax system. the time is right for tax reform. we currently spend $1 trillion through the tax code each year, all of which is offbudget, meaning it is not scrutinized each year by appropriators. once a tax break is written into the tax code, it is usually -- it usually remains. unlike discretionary spending programs, which are re-examined for their necessity each year. perspective, $1 trillion would be the single largest government spending program, larger than the pentagon's budget, larger than social security and larger than medicare or medicaid. as we desperately search for ways to reduce the deficit, we are making deep and painful cuts to discretionary spending, all the while we are spending close to $1 trillion through the tax code with little oversight. i've introduced a bipartisan ill with congressman renacci which would bring greater transparency and oversight to such ex

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, at a time when bipartisanship is rare in washington, this past week a bipartisan majority of members of the united states houches -- house of representatives together called upon the centers for medicare and medicaid services, c.m.s. to delay further implementation of the competitive bidding program with the durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orr thodics and supplies. flaws have been identified in the bidding program which is being used to procure these goods and services for those facing life changing disease and disability. we do not oppose competitive bidding. in fact, we want to ensure that true competition takes place. medicare plays by the rules that they set for the program. today i stand beside 226 of my colleagues here in the people's house and urge the administrator of c.m.s. to do the right thing and use her authority under the current law to delay implementation in order to fix these abuses before moving forward in 100 areas nationwide on july 1. mr. speaker,

mr. speaker -- mr. speaker, last may the education secretary said, and i quote, work will begin immediately on 261 projects under the priority school building program. can the prime minister delta house how many have begun? >> what i can tell him is infrastructure spending under this government has been higher than it was under labour. we have around 14 billion pounds reserved for capital spending on our schools. we have had to clear up the appalling mess left by the building schools of the future program. >> ed miliband. >> i don't think he knows the answer, mr. speaker. i'll tell him the answer. the answer is, 261 schools were promised, only one has started. now perhaps you can explain why. >> we've had to recover from the appalling mess of the building schools of the future program. that is the mess we inherited, as well as a record deficit. but it is this government as the chancellor will announce in a minute that are providing half a million extra school places. >> i don't think he knew the answer t

mr. speaker. -- or so, mr. speaker. instead, i would like to talk about two topics, one of those topics is the topic of the farm bill, which historically new york a sad way, failed here on the house of representatives within the last hour or so. hour and a half. and the first thing i want to y about that is that the chairman of the ag committee, frank lucas of oklahoma, has conducted himself in a fashion that is deserving and receives my admiration and should that of his constituents and the people in this country. one of the most difficult balances to achieve in any bill that we produce here in congress is that five-year, we call it the farm bill, the five-year farm bill that has roughly 80% nutrition in it, about 20% agriculture in it. each five years we try to write the best formula and look into the crystal ball for the next five years as well as we can and it takes the chairman of the ag committee, the least partisan of the committees here on the hill, to direct the committee staff, which are very experienced, some

mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from west virginia, mrs. capito, for five minutes. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. speaker. a couple of weeks ago we began the 150 reasons to love west virginia project to honor our tate's 150th birthday which is tomorrow. we asked west virginians to send us what they love about the mountain state and they delivered. many cited west virginia's strong heritage and rich history as reasons to love our state. we all know that west virginia is rooted in the values of hard work and the respect of our neighbors. i love how west virginia friends are for a lifetime. my family's history is deeply rooted in the state of west virginia, and i love that. i love the state's nickname, ld and wonderful, almost heaven. david stoffel said, we are a collection of communities joined by a common trust. respect, love and willing bs to help our neighbor. -- willingness to help our neighbor. once you're a

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i thank the gentleman for yielding and i rise in opposition to this rule. as it fails to make in order several important amendments, including one from representative speier and gabbard that would have continued a critical debate on the urgent problem of sexual assault in the military. the previous speaker has pointed out how important an issue this is. if it's such an important issue, it really deserved broader debate in this house fully. unfortunately the rules committee sought fit not to allow them in order. i want to thank hem for making in order the amount by ranking member, mr. smith, to close the detention facility in guantanamo bay, cuba. i have been to guantanamo i don't know how many of my colleagues have been there, but i have been to guantanamo. and guantanamo is a significant drain on the department of defense's resources. there are other reasons which i will speak of, but the numbers speak for themselves. it cost us $1.6 million per detainee. that's versus $34,00

mr. speaker -- mr. garamendi: mr. speaker, thank you for this opportunity, joining me in this one hour will be mr. takano from california. we just heard four or five or 10 minutes of talk about the energy issue. i'd like to put a slightly different face on it. it's not the subject, the main subject matter of this hour which is really about jobs and how education fits into that, but this is sort of along the line and it follows directly on what my republican colleagues are talking about. denying, denying that there is real climate change going on. we can no longer deny the fact that we are, as human beings, over this last century, putting into the atmosphere a vast amount of carbon die yocks side that is changing -- changing our environment. but i want to spend a moment -- what i want to spend just a moment on here is discussing how education fit into the subject of climate change. it's an area in which the institutes of higher learning and students pay an -- play an enormously important role, developing a clean energy

mr. speaker. mr. eaker, the question before us is whether we will outsource american economic stability in quadrillion-dollar market to foreign subsidiaries of american companies. ill we outsource in this quadrillion-dollar market? now, that's a big number. if you stack dollar bills one on the other, a quadrillion would take you all the way from the earth to the sun. it's important for us to remember that a.i.g. outsourced to a foreign subsidiary. it was in london. and of course we know what happened with a.i.g. finally, i will say this, we're trying to jumpstart the economy, it seems. we have to be careful what we do when we try these jumpstarts because this derivative market has within it interest rate derivatives. these derivatives, if there's a spike in interest rates, can have an enormous impact on the world economy. so let us be careful as we jumpstart. sometimes when we do common things like jumpstarting our cars, it works fine. but on other occasions we can have an explosion. let's be careful a

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, today i rise to address a situation that is evolving within this nation where older adults on medicare who have the misfortune of experiencing disease or disability and require durable medical equipment, equipment that is designed to allow people to live with dignity and independence in their own homes are -- we're seeing through the actions of c.m.s., through medicare, preventing their access with medicare is awarding contracts to companies who are not evenland -- not even licensed in states to do business. in the end it's going to cause a terrible disconnect with people being able to access the equipment that they need. nd not just the equipment. i have worked as an administrator. i saw what the tech nick -- technical assistance means using other types of medical equipment. in the evening i was a volunteer e.m.t. and firefighter. frequently i'd found myself in the middle of the night, pager going off, out in the community at a neighbor's home and be able to witness firsthand

mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. royce: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of bipartisan legislation that i authored to help secure observer status for taiwan at the international civil aviation organization. this legislation requires the secretary of state to develop and execute a strategy to ensure taiwan has a seat at the table for i.k.o.'s upcoming september meeting. it has been over 40 years since taiwan was last a member of i.k.o., and indeed a lot has changed in that 40 years. as it stands now, all communications between taiwan and the u.s. on aviation safety must be channeled through the american institute in taiwan, which is our nation's de facto embassy in taiwan. the fact that taiwan can't speak directly to the federal aviation administration without this added layer of bureaucracy makes no sense. after all, we are talking about air safety information that is otherwise readily available to all of i.k.o.'s

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, in 17 days unless congress acts, the stafford student loan program, which is the workhorse loan program for millions of college students across america, is going to see the interest rate double from 3.4% to 6.8%. again, stepping back for a moment, six years ago the democrats passed a college cost reduction act which cut that rate from 6.8% to 3.4%. it was a five-year bill concurrent with the higher education authorization act. last year with minutes to spare, we extended that lower rate to -- of 3.4% for an additional year and now once again we are hours away from students who are about to embark on life decisions in terms of which college to attend, which course to follow, and they need to know with some certainty what the borrowing costs, which for many is now a stark reality in terms of paying the costs of higher education. this morning a "new york times" there was a very encouraging story about the fact that the number of college degrees in the u.s. has hit an all-time hig

mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. student loan interest rates are scheduled to double july 1 unless the president and senate act now to remove politics from the rate setting process. no amount of white house campaigning will stop the increase. we have to work together. and that shouldn't be hard since house republicans already share a great deal of common ground with president obama's own interest rate proposal. he asked for a permanent solution to washington's interest rate conundrum. he asked that the solution anchor rates in the markets and away from election cycles and that it include protections for the most vulnerable. the smarter solutions for students act passed by the house with bipartisan support meet those criteria. our solution to stop rates from doubling provides a good starting point for senate democrats and president obama to take action before july 1. cede esident must not this

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, after 23 nhl playoff games, 10 overtimes and 64 goals the chicago blackhawks have won their second stanley cup in the last four years. congratulations to the greatest team in hockey on being the 2013 stanley cup champions. the impressive regular season began with a record breaking streak of 24 straight games with a point earned and it ended with the president's trophy for the most points in a regular season. this success set the stage for an outstanding playoff run, a promise of things to come. the hawks made good on that promise this week in one of the most incredible and improbable stanley cup final games in nhl history. having already tamed the minnesota wild, taking down our arch rifle, the detroit red wings, and dethrowned los angeles kings, the blackhawks grinded through the finals to one of the craziest and most exciting stanley cup wins ever witnessed. to say this championship winning game was a nail biter would be an understatement. the blackhawks came from behind twi

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from texas, the distinguished chairman, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: i yield myself 4 1/2 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 4 1/2 minutes. mr. mcgovern: thank you. mr. speaker, i want to begin by thanking chairman sessions and thanking the staff and the rules committee, both the majority and the minority, for their hard work in trying to put this rule together. i want to commend chairman sessions in particular i think for making an honest attempt, for trying to include as many amendments as possible. there are over 100 amendments that have been made in order. and i appreciate the fact that so many members -- amendments were made in order and many democratic amendments were made in order. unfortunately some important amendments were not made in order. which means that those of us on this side

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: thank you very much. i'd also like to thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman from florida, the former speaker of the florida house of representatives, who clearly championed there and here does likewise regular order. mr. speaker, this rule provides for consideration of h.r. 2216 by my . 2217 as outlined colleague from the other side. two appropriations measures that fund military construction and family housing projects, the department of veterans affairs, and the department of homeland ecurity. once again my friends on the yetr side are using this as another attempt, this particular rule, to deem and pass the controversial budget offered by our colleague, paul ryan. this is exactly what they did in april of last year when they reneged on their promises in the budget control act and also during consideration of h.r. 5326, the commerce, justice, science appropri

mr. speaker. mr. peaker, i seek unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks and introduce extraneous materials as it relates to this special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. larson: thank you, mr. speaker. and i believe i'll be joined by my colleague from ohio, mr. ryan, who i will recognize at the appropriate time. but i wanted to -- we wanted to make this special order this solution-driven legislation. and the need on behalf of the united states congress to come together in a nonpartisan manner and get after the concerns that this nation cares so deeply about. most notably those as they relate to jobs and security and the well-being of the country. this evening, mr. speaker, what if i told you that we could deal with all the rising costs of health care, bring down the ational debt and do so while providing better quality, coordinated, patient-centered care? there might be some skepticism. what if i further told you that we could do it without raising taxes or c

mr. speaker. appreciate the recognition, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. so ordered. mr. hoyer: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i am pleased to rise tonight to honor and to lead a special order, but to honor a great american, a great colleague and a great legislator whose service to this country and to this institution have been unman ofed -- unmatched. it is appropriate that we rise tonight, appropriate particularly in light of the action that was taken and has been discussed today on the voting rights act. thatpeaker, let me observe the gentleman from texas said something about cramming down throat, -- somebody's the voting rights act. i will remind my colleagues that was passed 388-23 in this house and 98-0 in the senate in 2006. let me say we honor a man tonight who not only voted for the voting rights act in 1965 but has vo

mr. speaker. the speaker: the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, i demand a vote on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker: those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the journal stands approved. mr. wilson: mr. speaker. the speaker: the gentleman from south carolina. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question are postponed. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from texas, mr. williams. mr. williams: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to five requests for one-minute speeches on each side of th

mr. speaker? david cameron and i quote "as a free marketer, it will not surprise you that that significant part of this decade have been too much regulation." there you have it, mr. speaker. and let's go back to the question about the bonuses. the reality is that bonuses are up 64% in april and the city. why? he cut the top rate of income tax to 45. people took their bonuses and got a massive tax cut as a result. when the prime minister, will he confirm that 64% to get and people are getting a massive tax cut? >> let me give him the figures. 50 bonuses will be 85% lower than they were in 2007 and 2008 when those two were working in the last government with responsibility for regulating the city. it does not matter what he says. he cannot get over the fact that they resided over the collapse of the bank. we remember what they said in 2008. no more boom and bust. a golden age for the city. >> we should start with an apology. we cannot deny the figures i read out. he does not even know the facts. bon

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, six months ago tomorrow the town of newtown experienced unimaginable tragedy and unparalleled loss. that loss, the painful loss of sons and daughters, spouses, siblings, and friends is still very raw and will always run very deep for the people of newtown. and yet in the face of that unimaginable tragedy, on that day and on the days since, this small community that has been through so much has inspired our nation with tremendous courage and resilience. americans have been inspired by the six brave educators who gave their very lives to defend their -- and protect their students. americans have been inspired by the brave first responders who arrived on the scene to save others and live with the trauma of what they saw that day. americans have been inspired by the sandy hook families who, despite living with the pain that one can only begin to imagine, have responded to loss not with anger or hate, but with unbelievable love, strength, and courage. they have taken their call to

the speaker: without objection. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, last monday i attended a briefing by the american enterprise institute concerning foreign policy issues. i particularly appreciated the presentation by fred kagen, and he provided a map which i believe should be known by the american people of the al qaeda and associated movement areas of operation and safe havens. by said somalia is led warlords. in mali, there are new reports of terrorist training with surface to air missiles. this war began with safe havens in afghanistan on september 11, 2001. i believe we should be proactive, working with our allies to stop terrorists overseas. we cannot wish the threat away because in fact threats are growing. we should support peace through strength to stop terrorism from overseas or face more attacks on the streets of america. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah

mr. chaffetz. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. chaffetz: mr. speaker, i want to thank the chairman and the ranking member here for their consideration. this is a good, commonsense bill, it's passed out of the congress last time and i appreciate the borne nature, particularly the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, for his positive words and the passage of this piece of legislation. h.r. 251, the south utah valley electric conveyance act transfers title on certain portions of the electric distribution system operated by the south utah valley electric service district, local users repaid all applicable construction costs to the federal government decades ago this bill is needed because in order to become more efficient and more effective, ownership needs to be transferred. the system is part of a larger strawbury valley project that began in -- strawberry valley project that began in 1906. the transfer of title will divest the bureau of reclamation while providing them greater autonomy to manage in the way that best meets its needs. it is consis

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as we proceed with the 15th week of the republican policy of sequester, this house continues to avoid taking the steps it ought to be taking to replace the entire sequester with a balanced alternative. instead, house republicans have fully embraced the sequester's draconian cuts which slash funding from our highest and lowest priorities equally and put our economic recovery and national security at risk. last week they approved a rule deeming the ryan budget's caps for next year which locks in the sequester cuts. this is a blatant violation of the budget control act agreement reached between the two parties in august of 2011. now, we're about to consider defense authorization bill that shifts $54 billion in sequester cuts from the pentagon onto domestic programs which were already cut by sequester like head start, meals on wheels, rental assistance for low-income families. how shameful. this follows the passage of two appropriation bills last week as part of a strategy from re

mr. speaker. the number of families living in temporary accommodation, homeless families living in temporary accommodations rose by 5000 in the last year. can the prime minister explain why? >> what we need to do is build more houses in our country and that is exactly what this government is doing. we are building more social houses. we are building more private houses. and we are reforming housing benefits so we can better use the money. the question now is with a party opposite, they spent weeks and weeks complaining about the removal of the spare room subsidy. i don't know whether anyone else has noticed, they don't ask questions about it anymore. could that possibly be because they haven't got a clue about whether they would restore it? >> thank you, mr. speaker. [shouting] with an estimated 10 billion pounds boost to our economy, does my right honorable friend agreed that a free trade agreement with the united states represents -- [inaudible]? >> my friend is right but i think it's very good

mr. lloyd doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman for as long as he wishes to speak on this issue. mr. doggett: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you to my colleague from california who has ties directly to san antonio and appreciates the importance of this legislation. i do rise in support of the san antonio mission's national historic park boundary expansion act, the full name, a mash that's enjoyed the support of all of the member os they have texas delegation who represent a part of bexar county. the bill does expand the park by 137 acres. the spanish missions in san antonio are truly a unique treasure. for us as texan, but for all americans. the mission's -- the missions national his tore expark preserves the largest collection of spanish colonial resources anywhere in the united states. it's an educational, historical and cultural source that each year is bringing over a million people to enjoy and learn from it. the park is important to the understanding of texas and the development

mr. speaker, a message from the president of the united states. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i'm directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives a message in writing. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered. or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. record votes on postponed

mr. speaker. thank you, mr. speaker. it's been just under two months since the attacks in boston, and in those intervening weeks, the silence of muslim leaders has been deafening and that is sad but perhaps most importantly it's dangerous. there have now been at least a ozen attacks of muslim attacks since february 26, 1993. some have caused death and injury such as the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and hassan's mass shooting in fort hood, texas. other attacks, such as the times square bombing our the unsuccessful underwear bombing a flight were thwarted or aborted. successful in reducing our freedom in the most freedom-loving nation on earth. successful in slowing our economy and successful in demonstrating that an open society can potentially be vulnerable. they were in the former attorney general mike mukasey's words, crimes that are nonetheless meant to send a terrorist message. when the most devastating terrorist attacks on america in the last 20 years come overwhelmingly from people of a single faith and performed in the na

mr. holt. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is reck need -- the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: -- mr. holt: each summer as we rush to vacation -- as americans rush to summer vacations, the republicans rush politics, opening up coastal drilling. the bill we are considering would allow big oil to put drilling rigs off the atlantic, pacific, and alaskan coasts without enacting key drilling safety reforms that we know should be there. following the b.p.-deepwater horizon disaster. this is bad policy through a bad process. it's also so this bill can enjoy the same fate that so many irresponsible drilling bills that the majority has rammed through have experienced. they put these bills forward in apparent ignorance that a law requires passage by both houses and signature by the president. the administration was never given an opportunity to testify on this legislation and now the president has suggested that he would veto this bill if it ever made it to his desk. in committee markup i offe

mr. speaker. this morning i had meetings with others in additional to a dude is in the house i shall have further meetings later today. >> alex cunningham had >> thank you, mr. speaker. stop 10256 were put in the back of ambulances. why does the prime minister think he can do with this to find hospitals 90 million pounds for his government's failure. [shouting] >> this government is spending 12.7 billion pounds extra, money by the party opposite him because of the extra money and the reforms, waiting times are down, waiting times or in patients, outpatients are both down. they've almost been abolished. that's a record we can be proud of. >> thank you, mr. speaker. [inaudible] [inaudible] -- to be negotiations and referendum? [shouting] >> on behalf of the laws cover my welcome my honorable friend back? good to see him making such a strong recovery and being in such strong voice today as well, mr. speaker. he makes a very important point. in this party where committed to every negotiation and an nl

mr. speaker, i move the house adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. the motion is aagreed to. the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. >> $91 billion that separates the two chame he beers is in large part of how they contemplate the sequester going forward. the senate democrats have and mixed spending cuts and tax increases to wipe it off the map. the house is assuming that the sequester is going to take hold. even the very basic issue that the two chambers are in disagreement about how to factor in the sequestration. and it's something that the house appropriations committee chairman, hal rogers, in the last couple of weeks has openly despaired of how the sequester is making it hard to write his funding bills and said it's causing damage to the budget but he is under marching orders from the leadership to assume that the sequestration is going to stay in place. he has crafted his 12 bills to tak

mr. speaker. mr. speaker, tonight's discussion is not about politics, it's not about partisanship, it's about principle. it's about an american ideal. an ideal so common so ordinary that we don't think about it very much. yet this ideal is essential to a well functioning, orderly, just society. in fact, it should define the nature of the relationship between the government and her people. mr. speaker, when a person uses right reason and sound judgment , when they believe something is right or wrong, that is a sacred space. that is called conscience. conscience is inextricably intertwined with the inherent rights and dignity of all persons. it is therefore only just that governing authority have the highest level of sensitivity to upholding and protecting the american's free exercise of eeply held, reasoned briefs. i want to read two emails i received this constituents back home. katie, from nebraska, says this to me. she says, quote, please do everything in your power to ensure that our hospitals, serv

mr. speaker. i appreciate the privilege of addressing you here on the floor of the united states house of representatives. and to have an opportunity to inject some dialogue into the ears and minds of this body and across the country as people observe the deliberations here in the house. i came to the floor, mr. speaker, to address the issue of immigration again. and as we are watching the acceleration of an immigration proposal that's coming through, moving in this direction, at a minimum from the united states senate, it's important for us, mr. speaker, to recognize that there are a series and set of beliefs over there that don't necessarily conform with the majority here in the house of representatives. and if you look at the names and reputations and the faces of the people that are advocating for, quote, comprehensive immigration reform, close quote, you recognize the history of some of them, regretfully senator kennedy is not here to advocate, but he's one of the proponents of comprehensive

mr. speaker, is exactly what small businesses do. mr. speaker, small businesses have created 64% of net new jobs over the past 15 years and employed just over half of all private sector employees. and this stalled economy, small businesses are struggling to be successful and we need to take some of the current regulatory weight off their shoulders. recently, back home, i spent the week going around to different chambers of commerce in my district. i went to wake forest, i went to ex and rocky mount and met with several hundred small business owners, and folks who work in small businesses. and i heard the constant complaint of overregulation. and i said has the government done anything that you know of in the last five years which would make your life as a small business person better? i got no positive responses, mr. speaker. that's stunning. the regulations are complicated and compliance is time consuming and expensive and sometimes job creators aren't informed of new regulations in a timely manner giving them little time to comply with

the speaker pro tempore: h.r. 1960. mr. mckeon: pursuant to house resolution 260, amendments 14 and 23 printed in part b of house report 113-0108 may be considered out of sequence. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 1960. will the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, kindly resume the chair? the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of the bill h.r. 1960, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2014, for military activities of the department of defense and for military construction, to prescribe military personnel strength for such fiscal year and for other purposes. the chair: when the committee of the whole house rose earlier today, the second set of en bloc amendments offered by the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon, had been disposed of. it is now in order to cons

mr. speaker. the dairy security act in this bill is a result of four years of hard work on a bipartisan basis. it's intended to provide strong market-based safety net that will keep dairy producers afloat while providing stable prices to our consumers. simply put, the amendment being offered here, the goodlatte-scott amendment is about putting american taxpayers fully paying the bill for down prices that occur in down cycles in the dairy industry. the dairy industry, especially producers, have been victims of these down cycles and volatility in recent years because the old programs simply don't work. and they encourage overproduction. at the same time, producers have been forced to deal with increased feed costs that have increased from $2 a bushel to $7 a bushel. further impacting their bottom line. the goodlatte-scott amendment will neither provide a safety net for producers nor prevent the volatility in the market because of unpredictable swings. . and it's important to understand reform is in

mr. speaker. i rise in support of the 014 department of homeland security appropriations bill being debated this afternoon. i certainly want to applaud the chairman of the full committee, mr. rogers, and certainly the chair of the subcommittee, mr. carter, ranking member price and ranking member of the full committee lowey of piecing together a bill. this bill strikes a proper balance of fiscal responsibility while fulfilling the mission of vital security programs and of course providing the resources to enforce current law. regarding fiscal restraint, the bill provides reduction by $613 million, elem nating ineffectual programs. the bill was crafted in such a way that agencies and programs will receive the resources and flexibility they need to meet the security needs facing the communities across the country day in and day out. for example, in the wake of the boston bombings this spring, the bill before us restores d.h.s.'s bombing prevention program, increasing counteri.d. training, the disaster

mr. speaker. i rise in support of the efforts to address the increasing backlog of veterans' disability claims in the f.y. 2014 military construction and veterans appropriations bill. we must do everything in our power to ensure that the men and women who have served honorably in the armed services receive the full benefits they have earned for protecting our freedoms abroad. it's a shame that our veterans have to wait an average of 321 days to receive a response from the department of veterans affairs after filing a claim. my district, i have the privilege of representing the southern portion of san diego county and all of imperial county in california. they are home to the third largest veteran population in the nation. currently processing times have tripled in the area since 2009 with over 28,500 pending disability claims being processed and an average wait time of 334 days. as we continue to wind down our operations in iraq and afghanistan, more and more men and women will be seeking the bene

mr. nadler, three minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. madam speaker, we're back again considering cruel and unconstitutional legislation that would curtail women's reproductive rights. this bill continues a nearly total ban on abortion which the supreme court says violates women's rights under the constitution. just recently the u.s. court of appeals for the ninth circuit struck down a nearly identical arizona statute saying, quote, since roe v. wade, the supreme court case law concerning the constitutional law with respect to the decision whether or not to undergo an abortion has been unclear regarding unbasic point. a woman has the constitutional right to choose to terminate her pregnancy before the fetus is viable. it is per se unconstitutional, closed quote. perhaps most cruel this bill even fails to provide an exception to protect the woman's health. the exception for a woman's life is so narrowly written and convoluted that even if a physician could -- they wouldn't know that a condition

mr. speaker. i agree with what mitt romney said there about what is most troubling about benghazi. the failure of the rescue attempt, the failure to shore up the defenses before it happened and everything else. i totally agree with all the republican attacks on that. the one thing i have a real problem with is targeting susan rice, who appears to have been the innocent pawn in the game of disinformation. >> i hesitate to say this, piers, because i'm concerned about your heart. but i think i actually agree with you. >> good grief. in two-and-a-half years. >> well, look, i don't know of any evidence that susan rice knowingly lied to the american people. because we don't know whether -- i don't think anybody walked up to her and said "by the way, here are the totally false talking points that we have come up with." i suspect she believed these are the talking points she had been given by the white house, she assumed they were serious talking points. and she went out and in a very professional way did

mr. speaker. i rise in opposition to this amendment. this amendment favors our foreign competitors over american-grown products, american-grown industries and jobs filled by americans. unlike foreign aid programs, the food for peace program is america made through and through and is tied to approximately 44,000 american jobs in the agriculture, transportation and maritime industries. an american is employed in every step of the process of the food for peace program. americans grow the crops, the commodities are processed and packaged in the united states, those packaged are carried by our railroads and barges to american sea ports. and finally delivered to the receiving nations by u.s. flagged vessels. i urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment and support american farmers, american workers and american taxpayers. and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee yields back. the gentleman from new york is recognized. he has 30 seconds remaining. mr. engel: yes, i'd like to yield my