pallone: mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from california, ms. eshoo. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. ms. eshoo: i rise to oppose this bill, the so-called championing healthy kids act. first off, we are a month late and many dollars short. it was the majority that brought it up late. we didn't have anything to do with late. secondly, we're playing political games with the lives of 14% of the children in my congressional district who received their health insurance through the children's health insurance program, and the five federally qualified health centers in my congressional district. they provide medical, dental, mental health services to almost 55,000 of my constituents every year. re-authorizing these historically bipartisan programs is critical to the health and safety of not only my constituents but millions of others across our country. today, the republican majority is holding them hostage by insisting

pallone: mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from california, ms. eshoo. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. ms. eshoo: i rise to oppose this bill, the so-called championing healthy kids act. first off, we are a month late and many dollars short. it was the majority that brought it up late. we didn't have anything to do with late. secondly, we're playing political games with the lives of 14% of the children in my congressional district who received their health insurance through the children's health insurance program, and the five federally qualified health centers in my congressional district. they provide medical, dental, mental health services to almost 55,000 of my constituents every year. re-authorizing these historically bipartisan programs is critical to the health and safety of not only my constituents but millions of others across our country. today, the republican majority is holding them hostage by insisting

pallone: mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from california, ms. eshoo. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. ms. eshoo: i rise to oppose this bill, the so-called championing healthy kids act. first off, we are a month late and many dollars short. it was the majority that brought it up late. we didn't have anything to do with late. secondly, we're playing political games with the lives of 14% of the children in my congressional district who received their health insurance through the children's health insurance program, and the five federally qualified health centers in my congressional district. they provide medical, dental, mental health services to almost 55,000 of my constituents every year. re-authorizing these historically bipartisan programs is critical to the health and safety of not only my constituents but millions of others across our country. today, the republican majority is holding them hostage by insisting

pallone, my colleague and friend. mr. pallone: thank you, chairman. thank you so much for your comments and, again, for having -- letting us have a place to have this forum today. i wanted to introduce the panelists, but normally members of congress get to make opening statements when they come to these forums and we are not doing that today because they all agreed not to in order for us to get to the panelist. let me at least introduce everybody up here, if i could. first on my left is jan schakowsky, she's a member of the energy and commerce committee. she's from chicago. she's probably done more on this issue than any other member. i have to be honest. she's just been very concerned about this whole issue of concussion in sports and been out front on it from the beginning. to her left is mr. mcnerney from california, also a member of the energy and commerce committee. and then to my right is steve cohen who is from memphis, outspoken on so many issues. i call you the investigative congressman. and then we have david cicilline. both are members of t

pallone: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. e.p.a.'s brownfields program has changed the way contaminated property is perceived, addressed, and managed. i was proud to work with the late republican congressman, paul gillmor, in creating the brownfields program back in 2002. and i'm proud to be here once again today as we bring up a bipartisan re-authorization of this law. thank our environment subcommittee chairman, mr. shimkus, ranking member tonko, full committee chairman walden, for all their work in getting us to this point today. and also my colleagues on the transportation and infrastructure committee. by almost any metrics, the brownfields program has been a remarkable success. since the program's inception, more than 27,000 contaminated sites have been assessed or remediated, allowing communities to create new developmentses. removing public health hazards by cleaning up contamin

nbc news' chris pallone has the latest development on senate candidate roy moore whose past has his own calling him to drop out. >> reporter: in the alabama senate race, even religious leaders in support of republican nominee roy moore. >> we ask to be continually transformed in and by and through that holiness. >> reporter: another group of pastors called on him to drop out. >> if you live outside the state, if you watch the news, you might think the extremist voice of roy moore represents the only voice of christianity in alabama. but we know better. >> reporter: in the past nine days, at least nine women have made accusations against moore, claiming inappropriate behavior decades ago ranging from unwanted romantic pursuit of teenagers to sexual assault. moore denies it all and questions the timing and motivations of the women who have come forward. a fox news poll showed democrat doug jones surging to an eight-point lead, the support of moore's ardent factors is unwavering. >> roy moore is going to vote right. we need to make sure that we keep the big picturen minds as we vote on dec

pallone: i yield myself such time. mr. speaker, i would urge my colleagues to vote in support of this legislation. i do think it's a good compromise dealing with these military emergencies but at the same time, making sure that the f.d.a. which has responsibility for approving medical products, still retains its authority. so i would urge a yes vote. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3474. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, proceedings will resumes on motions to suspend the rules previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order. yeas and nays. h.r. 2672 by the yeas and nays. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the

pallone: thank you. i want to thank the ranking member of the rules committee, and also thank you, madam speaker. i just want to express the tremendous frustration that i have and that democrats have in general, the way the republican leadership has handled the chip bill, ipab, community health centers, the legislation we're considering today and tomorrow. first of all, i need to point out that it's over a year ago when i asked the leadership of our committee to try to come up with bipartisan legislation with regard to community health centers and schip, the children's initiative. and all they wanted to do, from january until september, nine months, was repeal the affordable care act. that's all they were interested in. they didn't want to hear anything about chip, anything about community health centers. just repeal the affordable care act. now, my colleagues on the other side suggested somehow they're very concerned about kids because of chip. well, the fact of the matter is that if you repeal the affo

pallone: i ask mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: all those in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 307, the nays are 111. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to take the spe

nbc's chris pallone starts us off. >> reporter: visibly shaken, savannah guthrie announces the news she learned just moments before, that matt lauer, her co-host, had been fired. she read a statement that had been sent to nbc employees just before inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by matt lauer". >> reporter: the behavior began in 2014 and continued for some time after. after serious review and the fact that the standards were clearly violated, they terminated lc terminated lauer's contract. >> i'm heartbroken for matt. he's my dear partner and i'm heartbroken for the brave colleague who came forward to tell her story and any other women who have their own stories to tell. >> reporter: lauer had been one of nbc's most recognizable faces for a quarter century. he became host of "today" in 1997. news of his firing spread quickly. >> nbc news has fired long-time host matt lauer. >> matt lauer h >> we are grappling with a dilemma that so many people have faced these past few weeks. how do you reconcile your love for someone with the revelation that they have behaved badly? >> r

judge moore spoke at a veteran's event and denied allegations of sexual misconduct as as chris pallone reports, more reporters are standing by him. >> reporter: at a veteran's day outside of birmingham, roy moore fought back against allegations of sexual misconduct. >> to be attack for allegations of sexual misconduct contradicts my entire career in law. i want to make it clear to the media present and the people present, i have not provided alcohol beverages -- alcoholic beverages or beer or anything else to a minor. i have not been guilty of sexual misconduct with anybody. >> reporter: "the washington post" published a report on thursday in a woman claiming moore inappropriately sexual contact with her in 1979 when she was 14 and he was 32. three other women said he pursued relationships with them when they were teens an he was in his 30s. >> to think that grown women would wait 40 years to come before -- right before an election, to bring charges is absolutely unbelievable. >> he did not answer questions from reporters. a few people who support his democratic opponent doug jones pro

pallone. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank mr. rush, our ranking member of the subcommittee. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 3043. i support hydropower. it can deliver low carbon affordable power if it's well managed. but these facilities, which are licensed for 30 years to 50 years, can do enormous harm to fisheries, agriculture and recreational culture resource ifs not proper overseen. and the hydropower licensing process can be more efficient, but electric utilities should not be permitted to operate without license conditions that ensure other public interests are met. look ook at h.r. 3043 and at the take holders in the rivers and watersheds that provide hydropower facilities as their fuel, i see a bill that's unbalanced, regressive and dangerous. it will harm farmers, fishermen, boaters, tribes and drinking water. h.r. 3043 will allow private hydropower companies to use public water resources to generate power and profit without mitigating the negative impacts of their facilities on others who rely on our ri

unanimous consent to enter into the record a blog post regarding this bill written by congressman pallone and myself. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's request will be covered under general leave. ms. kelly: thank you rk -- thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to first thank the co-sponsor on this bill, frank pallone, who has been a strong supporter every step of the way, from the bill's drafting through today's floor consideration. i'd also like to thank my good friend, congressman mark meadows, a co-sponsor of the bill. i would also like to thank senator has whon introduced the senate -- senator hasan who introduced the senate companion. this will ensure all government websites are access to be all americans. it simply requires that any new updated federal websites be mobile friendly. it's 2017. we need federal websites to work for all americans. in the past 90 days there were 2.61 billion visits to federal websites. almost 40% of those came from mobile devices. that's over one billion hits from mobile devices like tablets and smartphones. but today according to a report by the inf

pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to also thank my colleague from new york, the chairwoman -- the ranking member of the rules committee. i rise today in opposition to the bill and also to the rule. just a few weeks ago we observed the fifth anniversary of super storm sandy and new jersey's recovery from that event has been prolonged in part by issues facing the national flood insurance program. to many of my constituents still dealing with high premiums, inaccurate flood maps, or still waiting for their sandy claims appeals to be decided, and we need a long-term nfip re-authorization that focuses on increasing affordability, investing in mitigation, capping the profits of the flood insurance companies, and competitively restructuring the claims process and this bill fails these tests. h.r. 3823 would undermine the nfip by allowing the development of a private flood insurance market, opening the door to allowing insurance companies to cherry piccolo-risk properties while leaving high-risk ones in the nfip. this

chris pallone continues our coverage on this still developing story. >> this is a sad morning here atoday" and at nbc news. >> reporter: visibly shaken, savannah guthrie learned her co-host matt lauer had been fired. she read a statement from nbc news chairman andy lack which had been sent to nbc news employees just before 7:00. >> on monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior by matt lauer. >> reporter: nbc confirms that lauer's accusers behavior began in 2014 at the sochi olympics and continued for some time after. in their statement, nbc news says after serious review and the fact that company standards were clearly violated, they terminatedç lauer's contract a they were presented with reasons to believe this might not have been an isolated incident. >> i'm heartbroken for matt. he's my dear, dear friend and my partner and i'm heartbroken for the brave colleague who came forward to tell her story and any other women who have their own stories to tell. >> reporter: lauer had been one of the most recognizable faces for a quart

live in manhattan, i'm chris pallone. >> thanks so much, chris. of course coverage on this investigation will continue both on air and online. we do expect to get more information within the next couple of hours. and any updates, we will post on nbcbayarea.com. >>> all new at 11:00. formal charges in a 12-year-old violent home invasion in the east bay. just this morning, announcing that keith from richmond is responsible. you see his mugshot right there. police say back in february, 2005, he broke into an apartment. once inside he demanded money and jewelry at gunpoint from two women. police say he also sexual assaulted one of the women. he was already in custody in alameda county for other sexual assault charges. police credit dna evidence to help them make connections in this case. >> two people are hurt in oakland. this is near broadway and mcarthur near the kaiser medical center. oakland police sergeant tells us the victims took themselves to the hospital. they're in stable condition. at last check, police told us they have not made any arrest

this is the house minority leader nancy pallone nancy pelh limbaugh. >> in all these cases, it's disgustingal harassment. in this case, the hypocrisy of it all, i mean, they all pretend to be this, that committee other thing. but he publicly salvaged the ten commitments. he stepped aside. they should do that, too. >> democrats circle the wagons around their perverts. they do everything they can to protect them. and the republicans can't wait to throw them all overboard. the simple fact of the matter is the republican party wants this guy gone. but he's not going to leave. >> rachel? >> i think this is a thunderbolt through the republican conference. he was never a person they were very friendly and the first place. he ran on this antiestablishment campaign and ran the primary that way. now they are where they are going to lose elemental, which is this red state what you should theoretically, be one of the defeats in the country. but -- they are going to try to fight this, i think there that's why we heard it today that they are going to be taking away campaign money, the senate republican s

pallone. >> thank you, mr. chairman. obviously, in addressing the panel, i have to say -- express my concern that the federal response so far is nowhere near where it needs to be. you know, reports indicate nearly 70% of americans on the island are without electricity. the "new york times" recently described the situation in puerto rico, quote, like going back in time. most of my questions are of mr. alexander and the corps. mr. alexander, who is in charge of the effort to restore power in puerto rico and the virgin islands? is it the army corps or another agency? >> sir, again, our mission, assignment from fema, is to restore the grid to prestorm condition in coordination, collaboration, with prepa. >> that's fine. i just wanted to get -- you know, you answered my question. is there a strategic plan for these federal restoration efforts? >> sir, the -- if you look at strategic beyond the prestorm restoration that's being looked at by interrogation and other departments in the inner agency. >> so the d.o.e. is more respo

i submitted several amendments to the rules committee with my colleague, representative frank pallone of new jersey, to address these issues and the lessons we learned from sandy. we were denied a vote. at the very least, mr. speaker, we must ensure that fema certifies that all victims from superstorm sandy have had action taken on their case before we make more changes to the national flood insurance program. that is what a vote in favor of this recommit would do. simply put, it would delay the implementation of the bill until the fema administrator and the d.h.s. inspector general certify that all claims for superstorm sandy have been addressed. in order to support superstorm sandy victims, i encourage my colleagues to vote in support of this recommit because a no vote is a vote against the victims of superstorm sandy, no doubt about it, for five years still have not been made whole. i yield back to you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. hensarl

we move to our first panel with chairman walden, pallone, upton, ms. eschoo, and chairman latta. you're welcome to testify from the table or the dais. so the chair recognizes the chairman of the full committee, mr. walden. >> i thank the chairman. i come here today on behalf of my constituents like i do every day. but i think especially today with our opportunity for all members to make their case to the energy and commerce committee, first we want to welcome them. and i think as our colleagues on both sides of the aisle have already said, all of us and all of our communities face these challenges related to drug overdoses. i held a round table the day before yesterday in bend, oregon, where i learned a lot about the problems they're facing and some of the successes they're having. and the importance of the work that we're doing here. it's a heartbreaking epidemic that's been featured on the front pages of our local newspapers, on national television, as part of the stories from our friends and family members. and with good reason. conservative estimates forecast that more than 9

pallone and all those who worked together. and i just want to say for the record, as one who routinely gets up here and criticizes the majority for issuing closed rules and structured rules all the time, i do so not just as a knee jerk reaction to what they've produced in the rules committee. i do it because usually they do closed rules and structured rules to basically stifle a deliberative process. they do so to shut off debate and to shut out other people's opinions. and quite frankly, the majority's records on rules is abysmal. but in this case, what we are doing is bringing forward something that represents a bipartisan process. and i just wish this wasn't an anomaly. i wish that the majority would understand that in the house of representatives, the views of democrats are just as important as the views of republicans. and if you want to get things done, you need to come together in the spirit of compromise and work together for the good of the american people. not just for the good of one political party, not just so you

that is the one that democrats especially frank pallone, the ranking member of commrge and commerce committee, really would like to change. >> so the debate on chip, including measures on community health centers, as you mention, also medicare and medicaid, also funding in particular for medicare and medicaid in puerto rico and the virgin islands. in the wake of the most recent hurricane, why is that important? >> so this bill would give funding for medicaid for puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands and was crafted before a lot of the aftermath of the hurricanes. so it was -- the spending levels are looking -- looked at from before then but this bill would give about $1 million to the medicaid program in puerto rico. and democrats have a few issues with this because this would require a match from puerto rico on -- because that's how medicaid works. you immediate to do a match for the state. they're worried puerto rico would be unable to do that match given the situation there. >> where is the u.s. senate in terms of re-authorizing chip and the other measures in this health care package? >>