mr. webster: no. took it back. mr. polis: madam speaker, i would like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from rhode island, mr. cicilline. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from rhode island is recognized for two minutes. mr. cicilline: our country's roads and highways are a vital asset to our economic competitiveness. strengthening our infrastructure transportation will of course make our roads and transportation safer but support commerce, strengthen our nation's economy. in rhode island, 20% of our bridges are in poor conditions. without any changes, 40% of the state's bridges will be instruct urelly deficient by 2024. according to a report released yesterday by the white house, if congress fails to act, over 3,500 jobs in rhode island will be jeopardized. this should not be allowed to happen. and congress has a responsibility to provide funding for these important transportation projects. the highway trust fund is a critical resource for supporting our roads and bridges and hundreds of thousands of jobs all

mr. webster: reserve my timeout. mr. polis: i would like to inquire if the gentleman from florida has remaining speakers? mr. webster: no, madam speaker, we don't. mr. polis: i'm prepared to close. i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. seems s: this congress committed to kicking the can down the road, avoiding discussions of real solutions, failing to solicit ideas from members of both sides of the aisle to move our country forward, and just stumbling along. i think we can do better as a nation and we need to do better with regard to our nation's infrastructure. yes, this bill funds the highway trust fund until next may, that's important. but what happens after may, 2015? what makes that month -- is that the magic month where we finally agree we need to take long-term action when we address our nation's crumbling roads and bridges? this congress manages from self-imposed crisis to self-imposed crisis. that's not with a way to run a country. we are reducing the certa

mr. webster. mr. webster, no. mr. burgess. mr. burgess, no. miss slaughter. >> aye. >> miss slaughter, aye. mr. mcgovern, aye. mr. hastings. >> yes. >> mr. hastings, aye. mr. chairman. >> no. >> mr. chairman, no. >> reports the total. >> four ayes, seven nos. >> amendment not agreed to. further amendment or discussion? seen none. vote will be on the motion from the gentlewoman from north carolina, vase chairman of the committee. those in favor, signify by saying aye. those opposed no. the ayes have it. the ayes have it. the gentleman from orlando, florida, mr. webster, will be handling this for republicans. mr. polis will be handling this for democrats. the next rules committee meeting is scheduled for 3:00 on tomorrow, on the charitable extenders package. i want to thank the important visitors that we had today. up to and inlutiewdinluting our in congress. thank you very much. this is a distinct pleasure, not only to know mr. foxx brings teachers who she speaks about on a regular basis to the capitol, but you joined us in the rules committee.

mr. webster. mr. webster, no. mr. burgess. mr. burgess, no. miss slaughter. >> aye. >> miss slaughter, aye. mr. mcgovern, aye. mr. hastings. >> yes. >> mr. hastings, aye. mr. chairman. >> no. >> mr. chairman, no. >> reports the total. >> four ayes, seven nos. >> amendment not agreed to. further amendment or discussion? seen none. vote will be on the motion from the gentlewoman from north carolina, vase chairman of the committee. those in favor, signify by saying aye. those opposed no. the ayes have it. the ayes have it. the gentleman from orlando, florida, mr. webster, will be handling this for republicans. mr. polis will be handling this for democrats. the next rules committee meeting is scheduled for 3:00 on tomorrow, on the charitable extenders package. i want to thank the important visitors that we had today. up to and inlutiewdinluting our in congress. thank you very much. this is a distinct pleasure, not only to know mr. foxx brings teachers who she speaks about on a regular basis to the capitol, but you joined us in the rules committee.

mr. webster? >> i do not know the answer to that question. that would be most appropriately brought up with the irs. >> mr. ferriero? >> i agree that that's an irs question. >> if the gentle lady would yield? >> i would be pleased to yield. >> we earlier had an oversight of ibm's role of subcontracts. at that time i became aware that, yes, the electronic data for filing of taxpayer records which is the vast majority of filing today which is far greater and far more vast than the e-mails we're discussing does have a system and a backup and it is a big part -- a significant part of the $1.8 billion spent on i.t. that's actually one of the interesting points of this is the small back end of the irs compared to their massive spending in that database. >> mr. chairman, could i ask you at the same time did we discover at that time whether this backup for the health care data that's coming into the irs since these witnesses apparently don't have that -- >> you know, my confidence is high that it does exist in that data trove, but that was -- came in

mr. webster, for a problem we're going to deal with for many years. i now recognize the ranking member. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i just wanted to say, i was listening to you -- first of all, i thank you for being here. mr. chairman, i'll be very brief. ms. o'connor, i know the irs employees are watching this. and i want them to know that we appreciate their efforts. when i listen to what you were saying, before committees and what you had to do. these employees are working very, very hard. i just want to thank them for what they do. and i know it is kind of difficult sometimes, and i know you are no longer there. they said they were working very, very long hours. hard hours trying to deal with various priorities, getting all kinds of information from staff and trying to balance all of that. and i'm sure many of them have come under criticism, but i just want them to know, on behalf of our nation, we appreciate them. >> thank you. and there's always one more thing that arrives at the end of a hearing that gets into the record. and this one is from mr

mr. webster? mr. burgess? mr., no. >> if the gentleman will please restate the vote. >> thank you very much. the amendment is not agreed to. >> so democrats make the republicans vote that the public will not get a weekly notice of how much taxpayer money the republicans are spending on suing president obama. no, no, no, no, no, no. all republican nos. will republicans agree that we shouldn't spend tay payer money for this lawsuit. can we agree to that? >> i have an amendment number 2-a. i move the committee adopt my amendment which would prohibit the hiring of any law firms or consultants who lobby congress, because if they lobby congress for a living, congress should not also be paying them. >> those in favor, signify by saying aye. >> aye. >> no? >> no. >> the noes have it. >> your money will be paying law firms who employ lobbyists to sue president obama. by this time, she's obviously having fun. so here is her next idea. will republicans agree that we shouldn't pay law firms to sue the president if those law f

mr. webster: for purpose of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, ms. slaughter. pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. during consideration of the resolution. all time yielded is for the purposes of debate only. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. nugent: house resolution 964 provides for consideration of h.r. the 65, the reduce regulatory burdens act of 2014. on monday the house had a thorough debate on h.r. 935. while built in that game the 2/3 majority necessary to pass by suspension, it did receive 253 bipartisan votes. it's important we pass this bill in order to reduce the regulatory burden that's been aced upon nearly 365,000 pesticide users and this rule allows us to to that. the rule also allows the house to consider h.r. 76, resolution will allow the speaker to initiate litigation for actions by the president or other executive branch officials inconsistent with their duties under the constitution

webster. he was repeatedly called. he refused to cooperate. i would like to read an example of his testimony. mr. timothy webster, lieutenant of police, made his appearance and was sworn in. briggs, preparing to administer the oath, asked webster, you do solemnly swear you will answer all questions? webster said, i swear the evidence i will give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. you do swear the evidence will be the truth? webster said, i decline to answer any questions. briggs began the inquiry by asking, what is your name? webster sat silent. the court spoke up. you can give us your name, can't you? webster gave no answer. timothy webster, is that your name? that's the name i received the subpoena. what country are you native of? i positively declined to answer any question the committee puts to me. i wish that to be understood. he was called to more times and gave similar answers. the investigation led nowhere. the chief retained his position. it may have soured timothy webster's idea of being a police officer in new york. shortly after the investigation, he became

mr. webster. i'm trying to figure out, how do we -- it seems as if when -- it seems like our system and probably other agencies, we're so far behind the electronic -- i mean the i.t. modern world. how do we get ahold of that and move forward? sounds like that was part of the problem here. >> and that's what we addressed in the directive. i agree we have a lot of work to do in the federal government. working with our cio partners. >> is it too big to solve? >> no, it's not too big. we've created something within the national archives this capstone project which is one solution. that takes advantage of existing technologies. the biggest problem over time and this is in the paper environment as well as the electronic environment whenever you have a human being in the middle of it making decisions is, then have you problems. and of our focus has been on getting the human being out of the process and relying on technology to capture the information that we need to capture. >> my last question, what can

mr. mcconnell: earlier this week i hosted a tele-town hall with people from across western kentucky from places like lyon county and webster county. these constituents shared their thoughts on a range of issues from obamacare to taxes. but one issue kept coming up over and over again. the kentuckians i spoke with were truly worried about the obama administration's war on coal jobs. they've seen the devastation in eastern kentucky and they know what the president's newest regulations will likely mean for middle-class families like theirs. skyrocketing utility bills, higher prices, fewer jobs. they know that the administration's war is an elitist crusade that threatens to ship good, well-paying jobs overseas, splinter our manufacturing base and throw yet another load on to the backs of middle-class kentuckians who have already struggled so much. the hardworking people i represent are worried enough just about making their mortgage payments and paying for car repairs and coping with energy bills and summer vacations. these are the people that president obama and his washington democratic allies should be listening to. not the