mr. takano: mr. chairman, i wish to yield two minutes to my colleague, the ranking member of the veterans' affairs committee, ms. brown of florida. the chair: the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. . ms. brown: thank you, mr. chairman. let me just be clear. i am just amazed that on the last day of this session we're spending the entire afternoon discussing 1994, a bill that the senate will not pick up, and if by some miracle it passed, the president would veto it. when there are so many other things we could be discussing, how about addressing h.r. 3266, which would give the secretary the authority to run the v.a. like a business which is what we keep saying? but i support the substitute amendment. the accountability substitute is offered today because it brings real accountability to the v.a. while maintaining constitutionality due process protection for civil service employees. at the veterans' committee over the past two years, we have learned of widespread mismanagement and, le

mr. takano: i'll yield when i'm finished. at the time i wish we spent more time looking at the constitutionality. i believe that is in question. mr. miller: i believe that the constitution of the united states protects even a single individual. so to say that it's only a small group should not be anything in this discussion, and i would assure you that the president of the united states would have had ample time to go and review it before he signed it into law. mr. takano: reclaiming my time. let me just say that i believe the constitution applies to the senior executive service as well as the 300,000 employees of the veterans administration. i would now like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from nevada. the chair: the gentlewoman from nevada is recognized for two minutes. ms. tithe u.s.: as a -- ms. titus: as a member of the house veterans' committee, i rise in opposition of h.r. 1994. this is the wrong way to go about care for our nation's heroes. we're indeed throwing out the baby with the bath. my colleagues have ou

mr. takano: mr. speaker i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 20, this five-minute vote on the motion to recommit will be followed by five-minute votes on passage of the bill, if ordered, and agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal, if ordered. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 183. the nays are 240. the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 184. the nays are 241. the motion is not adopted. the question is on passage of the bill. those in

mr. takano's legislation for example would allow the v.a. to fire those responsible for the phoenix scandal and kept in place the whistleblower frokes that is allowed us to find out about the phoenix scandal. for these reasons i oppose the rule and the underlying legislation. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves his time of the the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, thank you very much. i admire the gentleman very much. we work very well together. i think it's a misnomer to say this bill would allow people to be fired on the spot at the v.a. that is certainly -- i don't believe true at all. i believe it would have to be with cause and the v.a. would have to have a reason. there's nothing in this legislation where we would empower people to do things that would not follow proper federal law nor establish rules or procedure for an employee to have the proper amount of protection. but what is stated and understood is where an employee has been underperfor

mr. takano, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from louisiana. abe abe -- mr. abraham: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and add extraneous material on the senate amendment to h.r. 91. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. abraham: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. abraham: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, many businesses show their gratitude to our nation's service members and veterans by offering special discounts on goods and services to those who have served our nation in uniform. . unless a service member is a qualified military d.o.d. the military does not issued an i.d. card as prove of service. that means many of the veterans cannot easily provide evidence of their service. this bill as amended would change that by directing the secretary of veterans affairs to issue a veterans i.d. card that would display the veterans' name and photograph to

mr. takano: thank you, mr. speaker. i -- mr. takai: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. takai: first of all, i'd like to thank chairman chabot and ranking member have a less kess for this opportunity -- velazquez for this opportunity. on friday the 7-a program reached its loan guarantee program limit for the year. as a result the small business association was forced to suspend its 7-a small business lending until the start of the new fiscal year or until such time as the 7-a program is re-authorized or increased by congress. over 20 of my colleagues joined me in sending a letter to speaker boehner asking to bring this legislation to the floor to raise this limit before congress goes on its august work period break. while i am thankful that we are finally doing this, it only speaks to the pattern of inaction that has plagued us here in congress. right now because of this inaction, small businesses across the country are facing uncertainty of where their

mr. takano. the gentleman, mr. posey is recognized for his questions. >> thank you mr. chairman. administrator mccarthy, a 2004 department of environmental protection report claims from the florida department of environmental protection, due to the relatively large geographic area covered by forest and other vegetation in the gulf area of florida, biogenic boc compounds emissions make up to 20 -- i'm sorry, up to 80 to 90% of the total vocs submitted on a it up cal summer day. >> thanks. >> another florida department of environmental protection report states epa also should consider whether natural background concentrations would preclude compliants with certain geographic areas and for example, epa estimates that 70% to 80% of the seasonal meanain o zone layers attribute to contribution. how can they comply with 65% to 07% if nature gives them 70% to 80% to start? >> congressman, let me show you that states are not held responsible for reducing emissions that are not in their control. the clean air act is very clear about that so there was a great discussion, frankly -- >> all r

mr. takano: mr. speaker, i rise today to oppose h.r. 5, also known as the student success act. the federal government has played a key role in funding our education for 40 years. 40 years, mr. speaker. we know how effective title 1 is when it is properly funded. we know low-income and the low-income children and english language learners are negatively impacted when education funding is block granted or made portable. h.r. 5 does all these things. it locks in cuts to title 1 funding. block grants many of the funding streams dedicated to specific at-risk population. and it allows these fnds to be diverted aweigh from the -- funds to be diverted away from the districts and schools that need them most. it is meant to promote opportunity mr. speaker. not taken away. i urge my colleagues to oppose h.r. 5. while ranking member scott's substitute amendment is an improvement over the current law and i will support it, i still have serious concerns about our nation's emphasis on standardized testing. we cannot continue to use standardized test scores to punish teachers and schools. than