mr. walz. mr. walz: we're prepared to close with no more speakers. i want to thank the gentleman again for bringing this to our attention, honoring sergeant abraham's life and, again, i think there is a little lesson here. how we conduct ourselves reflects on the sacrifice people like mr. abraham gave and the gentleman has done so honorably and nobly. i encourage my colleagues to support h.r. 609, and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. roe. mr. roe: i thank you, mr. speaker. i think this is an amazing story that mr. kelly has shared before us. i had a history professor in the ge that survived bataan death march and spent 3 1/2 years -- i wonder if these two men knew each other. he, too, was a remarkable man. i can think of no honor than to honor his memory by renaming this medical center. i ask that all members support this legislation. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. th

mr. higgins: thank you, mr. dow. mrs. brooks, mr. cox, thank you for your t i yield. mr. katko: the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, mr. payne. mr. payne: thank you, mr. chairman. and to the ranking member of the subcommittee. it's really an honor and privilege to have her join this committee that has really done great work and worked in a bipartisan manner over the course of the time that i have been involved. looking forward to continuing that work. mr. dow, in your testimony you discussed implementing improvements to the checkpoint experience. in your opinion, what are the most effective and pressing adjustments that should be made to the precheck process in order to encourage greater participation among trusted populations without sacrificing the security of all the passengers? mr. dow: very good question, mr. payne. thank you. on the precheck pros serks number one we have to get more people in the program. we have millions of people who have been vetted very deeply from a secure standpoint. we should figure out how to get those people in the program. s

mr. paul. mr. perdue. mr. peters. mr. portman. mr. reed. mr. risch. mr. roberts. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. sasse. mr.mr. schatz. mr. schumer. mr. scott. mr. sessions. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. toomey. mr. use dal. mr. warner. mrs. warren. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the presiding officer: a quorum is not present. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i move to instruct the sergeant-at-arms to request the presence of absent senators and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a second? a sufficient second. there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or desire to change their vote? if not the yeas are 91. the nays are 4. the motion is agreed to. the sergeant-at-arms is so instructed. a quorum is present. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be i

mr. carper: mr. president, a few minutes ago we stopped everything and the chaplain for the u.s. came in and gave us a prayer. we have a bible study group that meets every thursday. we met yesterday in jim inhofe's hidaway. every time we meet, almost without exception, chaplain black reminds us, democrats and republicans, those of us who need the most help, he reupltdz us that -- reminds us of all the times the scriptures invoked that we should ask for wisdom. well, i ask for wisdom every night for myself, for my colleagues here in the senate and in the house, the president, vice president, their spouses, every night. we have the opportunity to gain some wisdom. when scott pruitt was nominated to be the administrator for the e.p.a., i sent him a letter on december 28. i asked 52 questions and asked to have the responses by januar. they didn't come. we had a hearing on january 18. i got some answers, not all. i also asked, also asked by sheldon whitehouse, was access to what the folks had been asking

>> i second. >> mr. grassley? mr. sessions? mr. graham? mr. toomey? mr. johnson? mr. corker? mr. perdue? mr. gardner? mr. kennedy? mr. bluesman? mr. chairman? mr. sanders? murray? mr. wyden? misstep and no? missed white house you go -- mr. white house? mr. warner? mr. worldly -- mr. merkley? mr. king? c-span's washington hollen? >>? mr. van the clerk will report. >> mr. chairman, 12 days, 11 days. recorded.ination is thank you for your time. statements can be submitted until 6:00 p.m. tonight. the meeting is adjourned. thanks. [indiscernible] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up this morning, democratic rhode island congressman will discuss trump's foreign policy actions including the recent travel began as well as the democratic legislative agenda and republican congressman will discuss the travel ban future of the , affordable

mr. president -- >> the choir of the house intelligence committee dismissed calls for an investigation into russian hacking and ties to the trump campaign. he spoke earlier today with reporters in the capitol complex. >> i want to thank all of you for being here. as you-all know it's long been a priority of mine to be a very transparent with all of you and to make sure that i'm readily available to answer any questions, especially when major issues arise as it relates to intelligence. and so kind of just watching what's occurred over the last few weeks, i wanted to make sure we formalize the process a little more. i know that last week i was here we had several press drums that a lot of you were attended. but i wanted to formalize it and make it more a press availability. i don't know if we'll do this every week or every other week. i'm just looking forward to taking your questions. with that i'll open it up. reporter: can you say categorically there were no contacts whatsoever between an

mr. smith: mr. speaker, despite the saturation, negative media coverage of president trump, the people have spoken. a recent poll found that president trump is thought more trustworthy than the news media. the administration is considered truthful by 49% of registered voters, but the media is less trusted than the administration with only 39% finding it honest. so president trump is more credible than the liberal national media. that's no surprise. if the media wants to increase their credibility, they should report the news fairly, objectively, and without mall list. -- mall lace. -- malice. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from nevada seek recognition? without objection. ms. titus: so far in 2017, donald trump and the republicans have teargetted women, immigrants, and health care, now they are siting their sights on bear cubs, wolves, and coyotes. republicans in cahoots with the gun lobby and trophy hunters want to eliminate a rule that currently prohibits hunters from

that is why mr. rooney, mr. kinzinger, and others with whom i have talked but who are not co-sponsoring at this point in time, are carefully considering this action. it's not partisan. every american, every republican, every democrat is concerned about russia and what they have been doing to violate international law, not to mention the criminal behavior that they may be pursuing and are pursuing, we believe, in syria. it's a serious matter of national security. which is why both democrats and republicans are putting this ill forward. irwant to thank all of the co-sponsors -- i want to thank all of the co-sponsors on both side of the aisle for this timely legislation. at this point i want to yield nigh mifriend, to the gentleman from new york, the ranking member of the foreign affairs committee, eliot engel. mr. engel: thank you, steny. i'm pleased to be here with my colleagues, mr. hoyer, mr. schiff, to say that what russia has done and is doing is very alarming. and therefore they should not be allowed to weas

mr. hatch: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hatch: mr. president, we are currently in the midst of the longest trapbg transitionalt the department of treasury in our senate's history. the senate has never left this much time to go without a treasury secretary. in fact, the senate has never left treasury without a confirmed secretary in between administrations for this long, yet despite the obvious need to fill this position, we have had to deal with continual and pointless delays courtesy of some of our colleagues. i won't begrudge any senator for taking advantage of the privileges offered to them under the rules of the senate, however, i think we have ample reason to question some of our colleagues' judgment and priorities with regard to how we dealt with the nomination of steven mnuchin to the office of -- as treasury secretary. let's g

mr. mr. krishnamoorthi:: the secretary of homeland security found out about the president's executive orders through cable news. in some cases, the president himself has been uncertain of what his executive orders contained. sir, we need transparency today. congress has the responsibility to eliminate this confusion and make sure that executive actions are clear and transparent to all americans. that's why i am introducing the executive order transparency act. this one-page bill requires that all executive orders be posted on the white house website 72 hours before each is signed. this simple bill is an investment in a working government, and i urge all my colleagues to join me. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from ten

hirono, mr. hoeven, mr. inhofe, mr. isakson, mr. mr. johnson, mr. kaine, mr. ki mr. king, mr. lankford, mr. leahy, mr. lee, mr. manchin, mr. markey, mr. mccain, mrs. mccaskill, mr. menendez, mr. merkley, mr. moran, ms. murkowski, mr. murphy, mrs mrs. murray, mr. nelson, mr. paul, mr. purdue, mr. peters, mr. portman, mr. reed, mr. rirk, mr. roberts, mr. rounds, mr. rubio, mr. sanders, mr. sasse, mr. schatzs, mr. schumer, mr. scott, mr. sessions, mrs. shaheen, mr. shelby, ms. stabenow, mr. sullivan, mr. tester, mr. thune, mr. tillis, mr. toomey, mr. udall, mr. van hollen, mr. warner, mr. whitehouse, mr. wicker, mr. wyden, mr. young quorum call: the presiding officer: a quorum is still not present. mr. mcconnell: i move to instruct the sergeant at arms to request the presence of absent senators, and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. votvote: vote: vote:

mr. wyden: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: madam president, the senate is now debating the nomination of steven mnuchin to be the secretary of treasury. and this is yet another nomination on which the majority has walked away, unfortunately, from a 20-year bipartisan approach when it comes to the vetting process. in 2009 when tim guide near was -- guide ner was president obama's nominee, a vetting issue came up and both sides of the finance committee carried the investigation out to its conclusion. but the situation has turned out quite differently this time. there were several properties in the united states and abroad worth a hundred million dollars missing from mr. mnuchin's disclosure. he failed to disclose several positions in various firms. he misled the public. he misled the committee's about his bank's forecloser tactics and he appears to have hidden key data requested by members of this body. frankly, i don't believe these investigation

mr. mr. conaway: i rise to recognize a constituent of mine who is re with us today, chaplain harvey klee is here today. we heard him give a beautiful invocation calling us to be unified in our actions. chaplain klee has dedicated himself to living by those words, serving our nation and its people in many ways. he served in the navy in the korean war, later worked as a missionary in helping drug addicts and designing training programs for inmates at prisons in california. he founded the texas chaplain association and has been appointed texas department chaplain nine times, more than any other chaplain in the history of the department. chaplain klee, thank you for reminding office the power of the lord jesus cries. mr. -- christ. -- christ. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to 15 further requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the j michigan seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute

mr. trump: i think just doing what i am doing. i have had a great street after the last year. the economy is in a deplorable condition. the politicians destroyed the economy in 1986. . really got very lucky when i built the taj mahal, which everyone would said -- which everyone said would be his downfall, it turned out to be one of the best deals i have ever made. it made over $40 million a month . no casino in history has made anywhere near that. all three of my casinos were rated four stars. it has been an incredible period of six or seven months for me, and it has been gratifying. the comeback stories and everything else, i probably care less about that than i would have three or four euros ago, but it has been a good experience for me. mr. trump: how are you different from three or four years ago? i may like toeday lose everything for a period of time to see who is loyal and who is not. i found out a lot. charlie: did you find out? .r. trump: you can't guess it you would think some pe

mr. bishop: mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 74, i call up the house joint resolution 36, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5 of united states code of the final rule of the bureau of land management relating to waste prevention, production subject to royalties and resource conservation and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. the clerk: house joint resolution 36, joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8, title 5 of united states code of the final rule of the bureau of land management relating to waste prevention, production subject to royalties and resource conservation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, and the gentleman from california, mr. lowenthal, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop. mr. bishop: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five leg

mr. coffman: mr. galluci. mr. galluci: i would tend to agree that there was proper training prior to implementation. however, because this was such a complex overhaul, i think the unforeseen consequences made it much more problematic. at least on our end as v.s.o.'s. whether -- just how much work was moving around. i think even -- and i pointed out in my testimony they had moved work for the predischarge program, delivery claims. there were hiccups all up and down the v.a. system. our review specialist in winston-salem identified a number of claims that disappeared before the 48-hour queue. when we reported it to v.a. they didn't think it was happening at first. it took about two days of back and forth and then providing claim numbers and a hard count of the claims that were pulled back from winston-salem pending rating review, they were in the cloud, 499 for the national work queue, they didn't believe us at first. they almost didn't recognize this was happening within their own business process. i think there we

mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor to thank the senator from alaska and the senator from maine for this reason -- they are following a long and venerable tradition of the united states senate that too many senators do not follow. they are alarks despite their final view on the substance of an issue, the full senate to make a decision 0 on an important issue. it used to be that a motion to proceed to an issue was routine. it used to be that after a certain period of time we cut off the vote so that we could have an updarn vote -- up-or-down vote, 51, on an important issue. we've gotten away with that. but senator collins and senator murkowski have been the most consistent senators, absent circumstances, i am going to allow a vote to come to the floor so the full senate can make their decision. i thank them for that. as to ms. devos, i ask consent to put in the record following my remarks an article by -- why the senate should promptly confirm betsy devos as the united states education secr

mr. trump: there are a lot of mr.: i was truly happy to pay even on the -- ivana what i paid her. if i had gone down the tubes and it did up with nothing, she and the children would always be taken care of. at the time, don't forget i was being sued for $2 billion at one point, by her, and i was going to be nasty, and frankly, had i not had a glitch, i would probably not be on this program right now. i would be a divorce court. charlie: if you had not bottomed out and put some pressure on her -- mr. trump: it was not a question of pressure. there was a point where she probably felt i was not going to make it. charlie: but were you telling her differently? mr. trump: i was not telling her anything. all she had to do is read "the wall street journal." they were making dire predictions about me, but i guess i got more print than anyone else. what happened is, had i not been involved in a glitch, i don't believe that we would be here right now. i would be studying for tomorrow's examination before a trial. charlie: he wou

hash, mr. graham. mr. lee. mr. cruz. mr. kennedy. mrs. feinstein. mr. durbin. mr. franken. mr. blumenthal. mr. chairman. clicks the nomination is approved by the committee. meeting over. >> the nomination of a man who will not protect the voters. [indiscernible] >> a sad day for american justice. you are shameful. shameful. [indiscernible] >> thank you. thank you. [indiscernible] >> thank you. that is true. [indiscernible] >>

walorski of indiana, mr. smith of nebraska, mr. knight of, mr. rice, mr. womack of arkansas, mr. woodall of georgia, mr. flores of texas. the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces the speaker's appointment pursuant to 22 u.s.c. 2760 and the order of the house of january 3, 2017, of the following members on the part of the house to the canada-united states interparliamentary group. the clerk: mr. huizenga of michigan, chairman. mr. young of alaska. . liinf mne mrcrerf rtdata e ear o mpe:he aianuns e sak's apinen tpuua t22 s. 2-hndherd o thhoe jua 27 t flong memrs o thn e pt t hsef thexo-it ste inrpliamenry gup thclk: m mauofex, aian mrduffy isns, ce chrm. . rdf tas mr prcofewexo. e ear o mpe:he chrnnnc t sak's apnten othe niol ltalenr tmeedy puicaw07-117ndhe orr t hsefanry 3,01 otholwi meer on e rtf eou the brdfrueeofhe jo fendyenr peorng art thclk:rs. coto o viin. thspkeprteor t aianuns epeer potmt rd oth hoe anry,01 o e llinmeernhe pa othhoeo e naon htocaubcaon anrerdomssn. thclerk:r.eawsf rt cali. e ear o tempe:he chr noce t sak's apinenpuua tseio 3 othdertntf at auorieac fi

mr. nunes: no, but i have been briefed on them. it would be unusual, i think unprecedented for us to get transcripts that were illegally leaked out and discussed for us to have those here in congress. i think we have to be very careful about the legislative branch of government getting fisa warranted, communications and that we start coming through private conversations american citizens are having. we have to be very careful where we go with this. >> is it not concerning, though? mr. nunes: no, what it appears to me like is it seems to me there is a difference between are twosia's sanctions people like myself, which when i think of russian sanctions, i think of dealing with crimea, dealing with the invasion of ukraine by the russians and the sanctions that we have put into place working with our allies, with the eu and others. and then what happened right at the time after christmas when president obama kicked the diplomats out. i don't consider that to be sanctions. [inaudible] mr. nune

mr. krista morphy, we appreciate you being here and being the making member. we have mr. mitchell and a number of other new members to the oversight committee will be joining us from the democrat side. i want to welcome mr. mitchell to the committee this afternoon. let's start with opening statements and get to our witnesses. we appreciate our witnesses in your today, talking about an important subject. health insurance premiums are soaring. president obama and the administration promised that the affordable care act would lower health insurance premiums by $2500. american families are still waiting to see those reductions. the health insurance premiums have skyrocketed under the affordable care act. some americans have experienced higher mm increases and had the job coverage because it became too expensive. under the affordable care act, they are not just rising premiums, the americans have seen massive increases in the cost of their deductible. insurers are seeing unprecedented losses o

mr. bishop: mr. chairman, it's going to be hard calling you mr. speaker. but, mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 99, i call up h.r. 428, the red river gradient boundary survey act, and also ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 42, a bill to survey the gradient boundary along the red river in the states of oklahoma and texas, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 99, the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, and jovement hawaii, ms. hanabusa, -- and the gentlewoman from hawaii, ms. hanabusa, each will control 30 minutes. the gentleman will withhold. the house will be in order. members and staff will leave the chamber to carry on conversations. the gentleman from utah. mr. bishop: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on h.r. 428. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr.

hash, mr. graham. mr. lee. mr. cruz. mr. kennedy. mrs. feinstein. mr. durbin. mr. franken. mr. blumenthal. mr. chairman. seven no, nine yes. >> the vote is approved. meeting over. this is a man who will not protect the voters. [indiscernible] >> a sad day for american justice. [indiscernible] [indiscernible] >> thank you. thank you. nice to meet you. [indiscernible] >> thank you. that is true. [indiscernible] announcer: coverage of confirmation hearings continues as the senate and public works committee was for the nomination of oklahoma attorney general scott pruitt to become the next administrator of the environmental protection agency. watch live at 10:15 a.m. eastern time. announcer: sunday, in-depth will feature a live discussion with nick adams. taking your calls, tweets, emails, and facebook questions during the program. >> despite the cultural problems of america, this is still by far and away, the greatest entry in the history of the world. announcer: is the author of andrica: the greatest good "retaking america, crushing critical correctness." promoting working on ame

and mr. pruitt -- mr. pruitt chooses to defend and protect the needs of the biofuel industry over the needs of our children? that is not someone worthy of representing the american people. that is not someone worthy of heading this agency. and, you know, let's just stick to mr. pruitt's own words, not the words of oh, not the words of my constituents, but in his own words. this is what he said about the agency that he's been chosen to lead. mr. pruitt describes himself as, and i quote, a leading advocate against the e.p.a.'s activist agenda. he said this on his linkedin page. we bein accessed this in januarf 2016. on the role of the e.p.a., he said, an i quote, i believe the e.p.a. has a role to play in our republican form of government. air and water quality issues can cross state lines and can sometimes require federal intervention. at the same time, the e.p.a. was never intended to be our nation's front line environmental regulator. unquote. this was his testimony before the house committee on science,

mr. applebaum? >> >> i am stuart applebaum from new york and the executive vice president of the 1.3 million member united food workers union. this has been a great process with amazing candidates. we listen to each other, we have learned from each other. now we must be moving forward together. we must leave this meeting united. our country, our democracy. -- our democracy demands it. motionoud to second the to make the selection by acclamation. thank you. [applause] all in favor say aye. opposed? arise. it is my great honor to present the next chair to the democratic national committee, a champion for working people, a visionary, a great american, mr. tom perez. [applause] [cheering] thank you. [applause] mr. perez: thank you so much. thank you so much. folks, i would like to begin by making a motion. a motion i have discussed with a good friend. and his name is keith ellison. and the motion i would like to make to the body is a motion suspending the rules, if i may, to appoint keith ellison deputy

mr. wyden: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: madam president, the senate is now debating the nomination of steven mnuchin to be the secretary of treasury. and this is yet another nomination on which the majority has walked away, unfortunately, from a 20-year bipartisan approach when it comes to the vetting process. in 2009 when tim guide near was -- guide ner was president obama's nominee, a vetting issue came up and both sides of the finance committee carried the investigation out to its conclusion. but the situation has turned out quite differently this time. there were several properties in the united states and abroad worth a hundred million dollars missing from mr. mnuchin's disclosure. he failed to disclose several positions in various firms. he misled the public. he misled the committee's about his bank's forecloser tactics and he appears to have hidden key data requested by members of this body. frankly, i don't believe these investigation

mrs. dingell: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to give voice to my constituents and their families whose world has been turned upside-down following president trump's executive order last friday which they feel is directed at muslims. since the order was signed, we have been flooded with calls, with messages, and no matter where i am in the district, people who are scared and terrified. i cannot convey to this house enough the feelings of individuals who have gone through a stringent vetting process, hold green cards, are official legal residents, in some cases even citizens, afraid that someone's going to knock on their door at 3:00 a.m. and take and deport them from this country. the real people, the detroit headlines are full today of stories. an iraqi whose mother died who served with the military in iraq and was trying to bring his mother back, he's an american citizen. another doctor whose wife is cutter and taken her baby home. -- qatar, taken her baby home. both here legally. i ask my colleagues to pl

mr. raskin: mr. speaker, thank you very much. i'm delighted to be with you this afternoon, and i have a series of other speakers that will be joining me later in the hour from the progressive caucus as we discuss some of the key events of the week from our perspective. i would ask unanimous consent that all the members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this subject of our special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. raskin: mr. speaker, i love magic, and i bet a lot of people out there watching today love magic too. ever since i was a kid, i loved the cops and the card tricks and the rabbit coming out of the hat. when -- i -- i loved the cups and the card tricks and the rabbit coming out of the hat. i entertained at birthday parties helping to pay my way through college. and the key move in magic, as you know, mr. speaker, is the sleight of hand and i looked up the definition of sleight of hand in the merriam

mr. cox: mr. chairman, i have to say this with all honesty, i think particularly this subcommittee has a great chairman. a great ranking member. mr. katko: i agree. mr. cox: and i mean it from the bottom of my heart because you work together. you want to find solutions. it's easy to constantly identify problems. the american people are looking for solutions. employees are looking for solutions. government does lots of good things that helps this country operate and helps the private industry operate. so i am excited about this congress and this subcommittee. i will work with you and afge works with the two of you in any way we can to find solutions to help our economy and keep us all safe. mr. katko: thank you, mr. cox. i appreciate the kind words. we do try and dispense with party loyalties and to do the right thing to keep the american public safe and keep this system humming and also make it better. that's our job. hopefully we can stand as an example what others in congress can do when they pu

mr. franks: mr. chairman, they say sometimes there is nothing more encouraging than to hear your own convictions fall from another's lips. but in this case i think i'm more alarmed by that than anything else. yet it does seem to be a consistent circumstance. i just hope the committee and country and the new administration is considering the responses of these gentlemen carefully. with that i yield back. thank you-all. chairman thornberry: thank you. ms. tsongas. ms. tsongas: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you-all for being here today as we have this very important discussion. last week, this has been in the context of a number of hearings that we have had to sort of discuss this, the global situation that we have to deal with and deal with appropriately and successfully. last week this committee had opportunity to hear from general petraeus and john mclaughlin about some of the pressing threats and challenges facing our nation. in their testimony i was struck by the focus they both placed on the shif

mr. oho, for five minutes. mr. yoho: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for approximately five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. thank you, mr. speaker. on thursday, february 2 of 2017, gainesville, florida, and the state of florida, lost a favorite son in mr. perry c. mcgriff. he was an icon in my hometown of gainesville, florida, and was known for his strong civic duty in helping people wherever and whenever they needed it. he was born in arcadia, florida, in 1937 and went to school at the university of florida where he became an all star stand out in both gator football and baseball. his contributions on the field earned him entry into the prestigious hall of fame as a gator great in 1969. perry was married to his wife for 57 years. raised four children, jana, mark, keith, and matthew, and enjoyed the joy and laughter of their 15 grandchildren. a tremendous family man, he was also successful in business. he was an insurance agent for

so, mr. kearney was hired by mr.william chapman, who bought a lot of the property out here through agricultural strips. he hired mr. kearney to develop the colony farms out here. he started the first colony farm, central colony, out here in this area. mr. kearney, that is really where he made his money. he was just a great land per motor. -- land promoter. he enticed people to the central valley and settle here. the thing that really brought people out here was irrigation. the canals that were formed here would bring to the colonies their own irrigation water. there were also vineyards planted for them and other fruit trees and so on. so, it really was a great opportunity to settle in this region. the first crop they realized was successful was weeks. -- was wheat. a wonderful wheatfield that was growing here. once they realize they could bring water from the river to irrigate it, it was ideal. eventually fruit crops, raisins, or a big part of what was grown out here and what we are known as today. we also have the r

mr. van hollen: mr. president, i want to start by thanking my colleague, the senator from connecticut for his leadership on public education issues and the fight against gun violence. he's been a voice calling for commonsense measures to address gun violence and to make our schools more safe, and i thank him for all that he's done in that regard. mr. president, yesterday i came to this floor to discuss the risks in a betsy devos would pose to our public education system for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. with herzl lust focus -- with her zealous focus on vouchers for private schools, she's ignored accountability and unique needs in communities in maryland and throughout the nation. education is a public trust, and we should not contract it out to the highest bidders in various voucher schemes. but in addition to overseeing support for k-12 education, the secretary of education is also responsible for federal efforts in the area of higher education. so this morning, mr. president, i'd like

mr. payne: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i'm glad to join my colleague, congressman mark wayne mullin, today in introducing a resolution designating the week of february 13 as national health and wellness recognition week. lifestyle-related chronic diseases are causing health crises in this country. chronic diseases are the leading cause of preventable death and disability. and they cost the u.s. economy more than $1 trillion per year. this crisis is so severe that the centers for disease and control prevention has deemed chronic disease to be a public health challenge of the 21st century. we can reduce lifestyle-related chronic disease and end this crisis. but that means improving and sustaining health-related behavior. that's where the health coaches come in. they step in to fill the gap between health care providers' recommendations and sustained lifestyle changes. by helping to improve individual health and wellness, health coaches get to the root of this nation's health crisis. i want to give my deepest thanks

mr. mccarthy. mr. mccarthy: i think you gentlemen for yielding, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. >> without objection. mr. mccarthy: on monday, the house will meet at noon and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. votes will be postponed until 6:00 p.m.. on tuesday, the house will meet at 10:00 p.m. for morning hour and at noon for legislating business. last book of the week are expected during the evening hours on tuesday. mr. speaker, the house will consider a number of suspensions next week, a complete list of which will be announced by close of business today. the house will also continue our work under the congressional review act to undo onerous obama administration regulations through three more joint resolutions. the first, sponsored by representative guthrie will stop a rule that significantly bans the federal government's involved in -- involvement in teacher education, which could result in fewer teachers serving some of our nation's most vulnerable childr

mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to celebrate the 107th birthday of the organization near and dear to my heart, the boy scouts of america. on may 17, 1977, i became an eagle scout myself as a member of boy scout troop 52 in walker township troop in pennsylvania. over the years i've proudly held various leadership roles with boy scout troops in pennsylvania including two separate citizenses as scoutmaster in howard. one of my greatest honors was to witness 29 young men achieve the rank of eagle scout during my time as scoutmaster. the boy scouts of america is one of the largest youth organizations in the world. it boasts more than 2.4 million youth participants and nearly one million adult volunteers. mr. speaker, at its core, scouting encourages that we leave this world a little bit better than how we found it. this value-based youth development organization provides programs for young people that build character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship and develops pers

zaragoza mr. cook mr. haney ms. mendoza-mcdonnell dr. murase ms. norton mr. sanchez mr. walton thank you that's of i's. >> thank you. ms. casco as has been announced at the past meetings members of the public are reminded if they wish to address the board of education please complete a speaker card and present it to the executive assistant. speaker cards will not be accepted if an item is already before the board presentation to the board of education. according to the policies and procedures before the board presentation to the board of education. item b presentations to the board of education superintendents report superintendant lee. >> thank you once again mr. walton happy valentine's day to everyone can't think of a more romantic way to spend the special evening so i'd like to start this evening by acknowledging the black history month the celebration of chouchlts of african-americans at a time for recognizing the central role of african-americans in u.s. history on friday february 3rd as i distinct honor of attending the black history month celebration at city hall

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: lefty versus righty microphones, mr. president. okay. now, i've just listened to my friend, the majority leader, mr. president, and the majority whip on the floor. they're able legislators, but they are sort of misleading the public as to the motivation. they have tried to -- our motivation. they have tried to paint every democratic request as leftover resentment from the election. sour grapes, the majority leader said a few weeks ago. they can say it day after day after day, but it will never be true. all that we democrats are insisting on is careful, careful consideration of nominees who we believe almost universally are below par. these nominees are going to have tremendous, tremendous effect on the american people. every mother and father in america should worry about betsy devos' lack of dedication, almost negative feelings about public education. she heaps a

mr. perdue: mr. president, i rise tonight to speak about an opportunity our country has to move this country forward. i appreciate the comments of my good friend from michigan. i appreciate all the comments in this hallowed ground here called the united states senate. but i have to say while i agree on some points, i disagree on others. and what i'm really troubled by tonight, mr. president, is the fact the other side is creating the ultimate shutdown in government right now. we've had an election. our democracy has worked. we have a new person in the white house. we have a new direction for our country. and yet, this person in the white house cannot even get his team approved here in the united states senate. today, after some 27 days, i think the number was for president obama he had 26 of his cabinet and other appointees already confirmed. at this point, president trump has only 13 of his nominees. quite frankly, had we not turned the senate on 24/7 over the last few weeks, it would be until june

mr. reed: mr.president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president, thank you. i would ask unanimous consent to dispense with the calling of the roll. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. i rise in strong opposition to the nomination of scott pruitt to be the administrator of the environmental protection agency. president trump has made it clear that he wants to savage environmental protections and his administration has already started down this path of reversing some of our hard-fought progress to be sure we have a clean environment, clean water, fresh air. by nominating mr. pruitt, president trump has chosen someone equally hostile to the very notion of defending our environment and our nation's health. respected voices on bodge sides of the aisle -- on both sides of the aisle have expressed similar alarm over his nomination. president george w. bush's former e.p.a. administrator christine todd whitman, who led the agenc

mr.ebert also provided testimony to this committee in 1986, and much of it serve as a basis for republicans on that committee choosing to reject senator sessions' nomination to the federal bench. now, after i questioned senator sessions about his claim of personally handling these four civil rights cases, senator cruzdecided to weigh in on my light of collecting. he said i intended, that i had intended to underline his integrity. and my question was quote, not backed by the facts. santa cruz and then proceeded to mischaracterize and attack mr. hebert, whom he described as quote, and individual who testified falsely before this committee. let's talk about that. back in 1986 mr. hebert and his supervisor at doj recalled tasha were called to the hill without advance when to be deposed. mr. hebert supervisor incorrectly stated that when he was a u.s. attorney, senator sessions pressured the fbi to stop a photo rights investigation. now, that was not the case. it wasn't senator sessions who di