mr. tiberi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. tiberi: thank you, chairman brady, for your leadership on this issue. chairman upton unveiled 21st century cures back in 2014. quicker development and pathway to approve treatments and cure diseases. this bipartisan and bicameral bill is another example of how the house is delivering on patient-focused solutions for americans. i'm incredibly pleased that three of my initiatives are included in this final package. the first of which is a bill that provides necessary regulatory relief to providers and fixes a site-neutral policy for hospitals that were in the middle of construction when the policy went into effect last year. second, the 21st century cures act gives relief to long-term care hospitals, from the 25% rule and commonsense medicare reforms. lastly, the bill includes a provision of a bill i sponsored that provides infusion therapy to medicare beneficiaries in their home. i look forward to continuing work on these issues with my colleagues in the next session of congress. i want

mr. tiberi, not 20 banks. think i will put some additional questions on record.s you know i'm concerned about the status of community banks and what's been happening in the last two years. i just wanted to start out with a question about the importance of independence for the central bank. i know you can't comment on political goings on but you may have noticed there were some campaigning going on in the last year and the federal reserve was discussed a few times. could you comment on the importance of preserving the independence of the federal reserve bank from interference by either the executive branch of the legislative branch and what that would mean for monetary policy especially if there wasn't a specific independence of the bank? >> thank you for that question. i think independence by a central bank to make tactical decisions about implementation of monetary policy subject to a congressional mandate. obviously we are accountable to congress. congress has established goals for us of maximum employment price stability but it's critically important that a ce

mr. tiberi but we are not sure about that. but we are looking forward to your leadership. but would love to give you the chance to talk to chair yellen who, i would assume, will be one of your key witnesses. >> thank you. i just want to say how much a pleasure to spend work with both of you on this committee and also on the intelligence committee. >> thank you. >> chair yellen, i'm just going to jump into some questions because actually senator casey went really exactly where i want to go as well. the economy has come a long way in the last few years. it is certainly growing but i think historically we've had this approach, if we could just make the economy grow, then a rising tide of this all bodes. -- boats. i don't hear from people and we service i think the same sentiment in the recent election, that some of those boats just haven't been keeping up with the rest of us. and that is a fundamental problem with the quality of our economy. so things like wage growth, and particularly the seemingly roper lake between productivity and wage growth, some of the lack of wage gro

mr. tiberi. we look forward to your leadership here.m about to give you the chance to talk to chair yellen, who i assume will be one of your key witnesses. sen. heinrich: sen. coats: are just want to say what a pleasure this has been -- senator coa ts, i just want to say what it was with us has been to work with you on this committee. senator casey went exactly where i want to go as well. the economy has come a long way in the last few years. it is certainly growing. i think historically we have noticed approach at if we can make the economy grow, a rising tide lifts all boats. peopleom home, hear from and have felt that sentiment in the recent election that those boats have not been keeping up with the rest of us. that is a fundamental problem of the quality of our economy. things like wage growth, particularly the seemingly broken link between productivity and wage growth. some of the lack of wage growth you can describe to skilled versus unskilled. we have seen this very divergent path where historically we were able to keep wages ti

mr. tiberi: thank you, steve. ran into a guy back during the campaign in my district who was a prosecutor when steve latourette was a prosecutor he called him a prosecutor's prosecutor. guess i shouldn't be surprised because when steve latourette six o years before i came, he became a legislator's legislator. and to henry and emma and to his chern at home, that corner back there became steve's corner. it was a corner that we spent a lot of time in. two of the people who spent a lot of time in that corn we are your dad, mike simpson, congressman from idaho, and frank lobiondo, congressman from new jersey, apologize they couldn't be here tonight but wanted me to tell you, they miss him dearly vust just as you do. so at the memorial, part of what i'm going to say, i said, but i want to say it again. steve was a unique guy. and not a guy that i would have thought that i would have become friends with. because he was a university of michigan guy. and i'm an ohio state guy. but despite that, we did become friends. not o

mr. tiberi: o.s.u. police officer, also a graduate of the university, is a hero for stopping a potential terror attack that isis has claimed responsible for. the university effectively utilized emergency response protocols to keep thousands of students on campus out of harm's way. mr. speaker, america's university and colleges are place -- universities and colleges are places are students should safely engage with their classmates, where they are challenged and find opportunities to succeed in our great nation. that is certainly the case at the ohio state university. as we continue to pray for our students' safety and security, we must stand with the buckeye community. we are buckeye strong. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today with a heavy heart to pay tribute to a fallen wayne state university police officer, k

mr. tiberi: thank you, steve. ran into a guy back during the campaign in my district who was a prosecutor when steve latourette was a prosecutor he called him a prosecutor's prosecutor. guess i shouldn't be surprised because when steve latourette six o this congress, years before i came, he became a legislator's legislator. and to henry and emma and to his chern at home, that corner back there became steve's corner. it was a corner that we spent a lot of time in. two of the people who spent a lot of time in that corn we are your dad, mike simpson, congressman from idaho, and frank lobiondo, congressman from new jersey, apologize they couldn't be here tonight but wanted me to tell you, they miss him dearly vust just as you do. so at the memorial, part of what i'm going to say, i said, but i want to say it again. steve was a unique guy. and not a guy that i would have thought that i would have become friends with. because he was a university of michigan guy. and i'm an ohio state guy. but despite that, we did become