mr. takano: i know you, mr. honda, having been a former school principal, you've been in local government as a supervisor, i think santa clara county, and you served in this body since 1996. i know we both love our great state of california. we are very, very anxious and sad over the impacts -- potential impacts of both the government shutdown and this threat to not raise the debt ceiling will have on this fragile recovery that we are now i think beginning to see evidence of. mr. honda: i want to thank you, my friend, for this opportunity and for this dialogue. it's a shame we don't have the same dialogue across the aisle. our rules prohibit us from being able to create this dialogue in front of this country so as a result we have this moment in time where we're ble to share as members of the california delegation but also members of this democratic caucus. and we're here today on day 10 of a republican government shutdown that has cost over $3 billion in lost economic activity so far. and because of the compoun

mr. takano. completely from the other coast, we have another freshman member, a strong member of our progressive caucus a former legislator from the state of new york and now representative in congress in the state of new york, it's my pleasure to yield system time to representative hakim jeffries. mr. jeffries: good evening. i thank the distinguished gentleman from wisconsin, the badger state, for yielding me some time, for your tremendous leadership in anchoring this progressive caucus special order week after week after week, carrying forward such a powerful and compelling way the progressive message to the americans out there who we represent and it's such a powerful vehicle to use the house floor to speak in such eloquent, genuine ways about the challenges that we confront here in the united states congress. over the last few weeks, what we've witnessed i think can be characterized as both the heater of the absurd and a spake spearian tragedy. let me deal with the shakespearian tragedy aspec

mr. takano. mr. takano: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the house bring up the senate amendment to h.j.res. 59 to open the government and go to conference on the budget so that we end this republican shutdown now. the speaker pro tempore: as the chair previously advised, that request cannot be entertained absent appropriate clearance. the gentleman from virginia. mr. moran: mr. speaker, i now yield for the purpose of a unanimous consent request to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. kennedy. mr. kennedy: thank you. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the house bring up the senate amendment to h.j.res. 59, to open the government and go to conference on a budget so we can end this republican government shutdown today. the speaker pro tempore: as the chair previously advised, that request cannot be entertained absent appropriate clearance. he house will be in order. members will take their conversations from the floor. the gentleman from virginia. mr. moran: mr. speaker, i now yield for the purpos

mr. takano: while mr. takano is getting ready, i want to talk about the overwhelming public support for immigration reform. more than 70% of the american people support immigration reformu including republicans, independents and democrats. the american people know that what we are doing isn't working and continuing to perpetrate the undermining of the rule of law in a populationful 10 million people that are here illegally, it will only continue to hurt the american people. i would be happy to yield to mr. takano. mr. takano: i thank the gentleman from colorado for yielding time. reforming our immigration system is one of the top issues in our nation and i was happy to see the senate act this past june when it passed a come puerto ricans i have immigration bill with an overwhelming bipartisan vote. the bill solves many of the problems. it creates a pathway to citizenship, secures our borders, addresses the current backlog and helps the dreamers who were brought here through no fault of their own. unform, th

mr. takano, as well as chairman miller and ranking member of the full committee, mr., for bringing this bill to the floor. finally, i also thank the other members of the committee who authored the provisions that are included in this bill for their thoughtful legislation. mr. speaker, sections 4 and 5 originally authorized by chairman miller would authorize using existing v.a. resources for the creation of a fourth administration v.a. which will improve oversight over v.a.'s education, vocational, rehabilitation and home loan programs and the center for veterans enterprise. too often these programs are overshadowed by v.a.'s efforts to reduce the disability claims backlog, and i'm hopeful this new fourth administration will streamline oversight over these important v.a. programs that will help veterans reach economic success. section 6 includes mr. cook's bill that would extend the homeless veterans reintegration program which provides grant funding for job training services for homeless veterans. section 7 includes a bill authorized by our late colleague, mr. young o

mr. takano. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized for a unanimous consent request. -- takano: madam speaker, i madam speaker, before i state my unanimous consent request -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for unanimous consent only. point of information -- the speaker pro tempore: parliamentary inquiry, the gentleman will state his inquiry. mr. takano: madam speaker, what do the house republicans -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is not recognized. mr. takano: because i want to know. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized only for a unanimous consent request. the gentleman is recognized. mr. takano: i ask unanimous consent that the house bring up senate amendment to the house joint resolution 59, the clean c.r., to go to conference on a budget so that we can end this republican government shutdown that is slowing our economic growth. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. under guidelines, consistently issued

mr. takano. you're recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i wish to associate myself with the remarks with the gentleman from texas, mr. o'rourke. i think he stated very clearly my sentiments about what needs to be done in a clean c.r. i also want to thank the chairman for the tone he set for this committee. very bipartisan sentiments. i think you, mr. chairman, understand that each of us on this committee, regardless of party, have a deep and sincere commitment to our nation's veterans. so i thank you for that, mr. chairman. let me also state that, you know, beyond the bipartisan bill that we passed on the milcon, veterans, even the budget control act of 2011 reflects that bipartisan spirit and the fact that it exempted the veterans administration from sequestration cuts. and it's my belief that -- it's micon jeckture that what has happened in the senate and the holdup with consideration of this bill has to do with the complexities of sequestration and the divisions that are occurring between our two sides. i mean, there's a reluctance to p

mr. takano: i thank the gentleman from texas for yielding time. i stand today to join my colleagues in recognizing domestic violence awareness month. the unfortunate reality is that domestic violence is something that affects every community in america, as it touches every race, class, gender and sexual orientation. millions of domestic violence incidents are reported each year and many more go unreported. too often domestic violence remains within the confines of the household, as many victims do not contact law enforcement or go public, often out of fear. when it was first observed 26 years ago, domestic violence awareness month sought to sign law, by educating the public, empowering the victims and punishing the offenders and in the 26 years since, we have made great progress, partly due to the violence against women act, which provides critical support to programs for victims and their families, as well as resources for law enforcement and community organizations. with a 51% increase in reporting by women and a 37% increase in reporting by men