mr. welch: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my colleague and my chair in the subcommittee and thank you for your fine leadership. your leadership on this legislation as well. i'm pleased to support h.r. 15820, as my colleague meng -- h.r. 1580. it's to preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the internet. it works. if it ain't broke don't fix it. the internet has been unique and powerful. as a driver of social and economic progress, it's changing nearly every part of the american economy and society. everything from education to health care delivery to agriculture. this is especially true for rural communities where communications technology can have an even greater impact on areas where populations are small and distances are vast. the internet enables connections from even the most far flung corners of the country with goods and services around the globe allowing rural america to compete just as effectively in the 21st century digital economy. a critical element of the internet

mr. welch. >> my name is calvin welch san francisco clearing house. i am speaking on the proposed amendment by supervisor kim. i am in support of the amendment and taken with the language in her proposed ordinance we now have a proposal to prioritize affordable housing application and pre-application process under ceqa that will take a maximum of six months. given all of the reviews that are under way that is acceptable to cases that -- nonprofits have face in this town of taking two years before a final evaluation is made. i have to conclude by saying i am somewhat disappointed by the may 20 memo of sara jones and director rahm in regards to the affordable housing housing prioritization. it seems odd to me that in the context of affordable housing that the director and acting environmental review officer would raise the objection that "every project is different making it impractical to dictate specific timelines for decision making." how stark in contrast to their position on virtually every other aspect of this amendment which is aimed at creating

mr. welch. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from vermont is recognized for one minute. mr. welch: i thank the gentleman, mr. speaker. i rise today in opposition to the making college more expensive act. mr. speaker, what we're doing is just not right. we're borrowing, the federal government is borrowing money at 1.8%. then we're lending it now at 3.4%. if we do nothing it goes to 6.8%. and under this bill it probably will hit up around 10%. we're ripping off kids. i mean, we're making money off of these kids. a confident nation will invest in the dreams of our young people. it won't crush those dreams. and why are we doing it? you know what, we're borrowing money as a government at 1.8%. the federal reserve is lending money to the big money center banks at .75%. but we're going to be charging up to 8% or 10% to our kids? i don't get that. families are sitting around the kitchen table having discussions if they have three kids, which can we send to college? parents who thought they had equ

mr. welch: i ask unanimous consent to remove my name as a co-sponsor from h.r. 1286. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair is prepared to entertain one-minute requests. r what purpose does -- without objection. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in memory of mr. joseph gregory fandino, a residents of south florida and a hero who lost his life while serving our nation in vietnam in 1972. last friday on foreign affairs day, joseph was honored by the department of state and the american foreign service association who commem ratesed the colleagues who died -- commemorated the colleagues who died in the line of duty overseas. joseph was one of the first hispanic foreign service despite being told by classmates that he had the wrong kind of ethnic background served the united states valiantly for many years. joseph also served in the air force during the korean war and as a foreign service officer in vietnam, the dominican republic, spain and canada where he worked with large numbers of refugees fleeing cuba. joseph put himself in

mr. chairman and my thanks to secretary donley and wish you well when your tenure as secretary is over. and general welch as always good to see you. and as the secretary said it's been a long time ago that he said this we've covered a lot of material here but i want to associate myself with his remarks about regular order and i think that's one of the true challenges facing this congress. i know there's a lot of things that are challenging our defense department and the services but we have to get back to regular order and i couldn't agree more and i appreciate you so much saying that in your opening comments. i also mr. chairman want to associate myself with remarks that have already been provided regarding the critical issue of sexual assault and going on within our services and i know it's been a difficult issue. i think mr. cole said it pretty well when he said that he had the absolute confidence in the leadership of the air force to deal with this issue and but it obviously is something that has spiraled somewhat out of control and and general welsh, i would just challenge you as the new chief of st