mr. thornberry: i claim time in opposition. i yield two minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from alabama. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. rogers: today i rise in opposition to the amendment offered by my good friend and colleague from tennessee, mr. cooper, as well as my good friend from washington state. the committee zeroed out these funds because the administration appears to be expecting a blank check from the congress to implement this treaty. the house must have the chance to evaluate whether the implementation of a treaty and the manner in which the administration intends to implement the treaty is in the u.s. national security interest. the report was required in the first place. i remind the house this report is mandated by law. are we comfortable in this house with letting the president ignore the law of the land as he sees fit? while the gentleman from tennessee withdrew the amendment in full committee because the offsets selected was of concern, a major -- the offset he has now is a

mr. thornberry.e've met on these issues, and his leadership on the committee it has truly been a collaborative effort, and i'm grate. for his work -- grateful for his work and his efforts. i'd also like to thank you you, chair mckeon, and the ranking member for expanding the jurisdiction of this subcommittee by placing intelligence under its purview. it is absolutely critical that we maintain proper oversight, as chairman thornberry has stated in his remarks, of those capabilities. particularly as the defense/intelligence agency fully stands up the defense clandestine service. this mark includes some of our most sought after and cutting edge capabilities. i particularly want to highlight the cybersecurity including the full support of our warriors and the ever-evolving task associated with the full range of the department of defense's activities in suabler space be -- cyberspace. as well as the clear definition of responsibilities across the national security apparatus. i believe that cybersecurity i

mr. thornberry. we've met on these issues and, boy, for his leadership on the committee, it has truly opinion a collaborative effort, and i'm grateful for his work and his efforts. i'd also like to thank you, chair mckeon, and the ranking member for expanding the jurisdiction of this subcommittee by placing intelligence under its purview. it is absolutely critical that we maintain proper oversight, as chairman thornberry has stated in his remarks, of those capabilities. particularly as the defense intelligence agency fully stands up the defense clandestine service. this mark includes some of our most sought after and cutting edge capabilities. i particularly want to highlight the important provisions that address cybersecurity including the full support of our cyber warriors and the ever-evolving tasks associate with the the full range of the department of defense's activities in cyberspace. as well as the clear definition of responsibilities across the national security apparatus. i believe that cyb

mr. thornberry. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. thornberry: thank you, madam chair. madam chair, i'm convinced that the arguments against missile defense are the same today that they were the day that president reagan proposed it. you can't do it. it costs too much and it's provocative to try. and it doesn't really matter how the threat evolves, what north korea or iran do. it doesn't really matter how the technology evolves, and we just had a successful test just a few months ago. the events and facts don't matter. the arguments are still the same and they will always be the same because some people just don't want to defend the country against missile attacks. this committee pushed in 2010 and in 2011 and in 2012 to have more interceptors on the west coast. the president opposed it every step of the way. it didn't happen. then all of a sudden with north korea this year, the president changes his mind. says, oh, maybe y'all were right after all. at least the president changed his mind and unfortunately it seems like some people can

mr. thornberry is recognized or a few minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i do think that it is worth taking time to highlight provisions that have tremendous amount of attention. one provides a president to give us an assessment of al qaeda and its affiliates. we would like to talk about or positional with these various affiliates, those need to be part of al qaeda around the world. the second person i want to highlight is when it has been cosponsored by mr. smith and others that sets up a mechanism that requires an administration to notify us with military operations, including legal operations and capture operations. the issue here, as i mentioned a few minutes ago, excuse me, a few hours ago, is how do we fit will our constitutional responsibilities to conduct the oversight of military operations in this provision sets up the framework for the administration has to tell us before and after and quarterly about the operations like drone operations that are not restricted to a particular mechanism. this sets up a framework to make sure that there is the ap

mr. thornberry was recognized for two minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i do think it is worth taking two minutes to connect issues that have received a tremendous amount of attention, including the speech the president gave a week before last. one provision requires the president to give us an assessment of al qaeda and its affiliates, the threat they propose united states, the threat they have to the core al qaeda, etc.. it is important not to have fried ones -- fragments, but an administration positions on these affiliates or people who claim to be affiliates of al qaeda around the world. the second provision i to highlight is one that has been cosponsored by mr. smith and others that such of a mechanism in law that requires an us ofstration to notify sensitive military operations, including lethal operations and capture operations. the issue here, as i mentioned a few minutes ago, -- a few hours ago -- is how do we fulfill our constitutional responsibilities to conduct the oversight of military operations? sets up arovision friend work for -- were the

mr. thornberry. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thornberry: i appreciate the chairman yielding and i think the first thing that should be said that it is a tremendous credit to the chairman and the ranking member that we are where we are today. it may be true that for 51 straight years a defense authorization bill has been signed into law, but does president make it easy to do number 52. there are still a number of complex and even some controversial issues. and so to have this bill before us today coming out of the committee on a vote that is so strong, i think is truly a credit to the leadership of the chairman and the ranking member and the staff, who have worked very well together. i also want to express particular appreciation to the ranking member on our subcommittee, mr. language begin, because that, -- langevin, because that has been a partnership in dealing with complex issues including cyber security, science and technology and military intelligence issues. one of the key priorities for us on this subcommittee has been ove

mr. thornberry, is recognized for one minute. mr. thornberry: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, our guest chaplain today has been the pastor of bible baptist church in wichita falls, texas, for the past 20 years, but his ministry and passion for spreading the word of god has never been confined to the walls of any church building. mike rucker, known to many as the flying preacher, has been combining his love of auto racing and the ministry since 1985 when he and his wife of 40 years, thatry, began rucker racing ministry. they spread the good word while he races and thatry often sings the national anthem. pastor rucker serves as the chaplain for the wichita falls county sheriff's office and is a regular on the joe tom white rise and shine radio show. in short, he's never been afraid to roll up his sleeves and be in the world while sharing the gospel for folks across texas and the nation. pastor rucker graduated from the arlington baptist college in arlington, texas. he and shry have two sons, michael and -- sharee have two sons, michael and matthew. i'm pleased to welcom

mr. thornberry -- aye. mrs. sanchez -- aye. >> this is me just a second. i would like to ask members not to leave because we have a little more business with me finish this. --mr. jones >> mr. mcintyre -- aye. mr. forbes -- ay e. mr. brady -- aye mr. miller -- aye. mr. andrews -- aye. mr. wilson -- aye. mr. lobiondo -- aye. ngevin -- aye.nt mr. turner -- eye. aye.ooper -- mr. klein -- aye. bordallo -- aye. mr. frank -- aye. mr. schuster -- aye. mr. conaway -- aye. garamendi -- no. mr. johnson -- aye. mr. whitman -- aye. mr. hunter -- aye. ms. spear -- no. dr. fleming -- aye. mr. barber -- aye. mr. kaufman -- aye. mr. carson -- aye. ms. shea porter -- aye. mrs. hartzler -- aye. mr. kilmer -- aye. -- aye.ro duckworth -- aye. mr. palazzo -- aye. mrs. robie -- aye. -- aye.ks veasey -- aye. mr. nugent -- aye. mr. cook -- aye. mr. wenstrup -- aye. mr. jones, mr. jones. >> the bill passed, right? >> that is correct, sir. >> the motion is agreed to. it is laid upon the table. for what purposes the gentleman from washington seek recognition. >> i would like to asse

mr. thornberry from texas cannot recognize her two minutes. >> is important to set back for a second. start was ratified on the can nation we spend more money to take care of weapons left. no one is talking about increasing weapons. no one is talking about an unlimited amount of money for weapons. while we talk about is average age of our weapons is more than 25 years to think about a 25-year-old machine you've got to keep in perfect working order, perfectly saved to perform just like you think it is, but you can never test it. now that is the challenge here as mr. lamborn said as these machines age, as things decay, that is hard not to expensive, but we'll have fewer of them, so that means taking care of the ones left is not much more important. if were going to keep a tryout come you have to have weapons that sit on airplanes. you have to have weapons that saddam missiles underneath this the end you have to have land is missiles. the b-61 this one of those. if you decide we don't need a tryout anymore, if you think the nuclear weapons are irrelevant as you look around you at north k

mr. thornberry is right. we only do this every year. we just do it every year.very year as long as it is in the bill, then you can't transfer them out of guantanamo back to the u.s., and i don't think any of us want to just let them go. what we want to lock them up, a fair number of them, at any rate. there are some that have been deemed safe enough to transfer, but there have been prohibitions and blocks on transferring them back to their home countries there as well. it is not require that the guantanamo bay and bates -- inmates be transferred to the u.s., it merely allows it. what we have been doing congressionally, and mr. forbes is absolutely right, he got the votes, that is where the majority opinion is. certainly in the house. is make no mistake -- it the united states house of representatives that has been making sure that one cinema bay stays open --guantanamo stays open. if this amendment were to pass, there would at least be an option to bring them to the u.s. because there is no other place that we're going to be able to set up a prison to hold the p

mr. speaker, i'm also proud to work closely with chairman mac thornberry, both on this bill and in the numerous other provisions which fall under the jurisdiction of the subcommittee on intelligence, emerging sthrets, and capabilities. together we have worked hard to increase resources for our special operations forces. helping us to confront shifting threats and unconfencal battlefields, and support our efforts in the cybersecurity realm. there are many other positive steps with regards to cyberin this legislation. including incentivizing new cybersecurity standards, ensuring u.s. cybercommand has the proper authority and personnel in coordinating cybersecurity efforts with related disciplines. however, the reality is that our nation's cybersecurity challenges cannot simply be handed over to the department of defense. with the vast majority of our critical infrastructure in private hands, we absolutely must require minimum standards for their owners and operators. it is way past time for congress to move aggressively to partner with their private sector and address what i believe is our greate