and myself doubted that caucus and then helped -- congressman shimkus. we did. what's so funny about that? i think it's terrific. we know that paying attention to those issues but it was a for our country was attacked. commissioner rosenworcel, thank you for your clarity and your passion when you speak, and commissioner clyburn, go get them. just go get them. and to the distinguished chairman, distinguished chairman, i don't know how many people realized this about the chairman but he is a man of history. and so i want to pick on the vein of history because i think it's very important for us around your life is incremental. it's incremental anyway. god gives us life a day at a time so those are increments. but i think what i would like to do is have you and i want to say a few things about it first, to widen the lens of what is before us today in terms of history. now, the majority has defined or tries to define net neutrality with some very scary things, and they call it railroad regulation, billions of dollars in taxes, new taxes are going to be levied

thank you. >> thank you chairman whitfield, and shimkus.mbers rush and tomko and the members of the committee for giving me the opportunity today to appear before you to discuss the environmental protection agency's proposed fiscal year 2016 budget. i'm joined by the agency's acting chief financial officer david bloom. the epa's budget request of $8.592 billion in discretionary funding for the 2016 fiscal year provides the resources that are vital to protecting human health and the environment while building a solid path forward for sustainable economic growth. since 1970 when epa was founded we have seen over and over again that a safe environment and a strong economy go hand in hand. this budget supports essential work to address climate change, improve air quality, protect our water, safeguard the public from toxic chemicals, support communities' environmental health, maintain core enforcement strength, support needed research and work towards a sustainable future for all americans. effective environmental protection is a joint effort of

shimkus for five minutes. >> welcome. it's great to have you here. history does tell us a lot of things. being on the committee but chairman at the time to cluster ground zero because we had the verizon switching station right across the street and what i learned walking through that process is it was only a big company that could get wall street back online after that catastrophic attack and it's true i still have pictures of it. the basement was flooded. they had wires going up to the third floor, individuals can the timing of the copper lines. so as we talk about our great country and competition and large entities, sometimes they are very important in the security of the country. and also thanks for the kind words. it's a progress to have to stay vigilant on. first we dealt with 911 and then we went to the location and then we went to voice over internet and now we are back in a location because i'm being told by some but there are too many right now and that maybe they should centralize those. >> one of the interesting things in your bill that y

shimkus for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. administrator, again welcome. do you agree that -- there's 84,000 chemicals listed, approximately, in the tosca inventories. how many do you think are currently in commerce? out of the 84 listed, how many are actually used in commerce? >> i'm sorry, i don't have the exact -- >> i mean, that's part of the problem. that's why we're trying to move in a bicameral bipartisan nature on tosca to try to get a handle on this. the -- if we work with the industry on chemical data reporting, that should help us get a better eid of what that number is. do you agree? >> yes. >> so in your budget plan you have originally 83 work plan chemical risk assessments that you want done by 2018. i look at the budget report of -- we've got like, five are completed, five to ten and 15 maybe 10 and 16 which gives us 25, that i can from 83 that's still 69 that budget wise we don't seem to be able to get in a timely manner. i just raise this because -- i appreciate the effort but, again, i just want to use this opportunity as i think we can g

it was during his time with congressman lahood and my time as projects director for congressman shimkus that tim and i met and became friends. with his dedication and record of success helping constituents in congressman lahood's office i knew he would be a perfect fit for mine. his leadership in my office will be missed but i know he'll provide the same level of exemplary constituent services retchting the people of the 87th district in the illinois general assembly. i thank tim for his service to this house and congratulate him on his new opportunity to serve the people of illinois. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from wisconsin seek recognition? are there first members seeking to do a one-minute speech 1234 -- speech? caller: leave of absence requested for ms. granger of texas for today, mr. hinojosa of texas for today, mr. roskam of illinois for today and the balance of the week and ms. maxine waters of california for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted. under the speaker's announced policy of janua

. >> thank you, chairman shimkus. ranking member and members of the committee. i think the previous witnesses and y'all have done an excellent job at sort of framing the issue. as someone that has worked 20 years with hundreds of communities in texas, both for the rural community assistance partnership and the rural water association and someone who has directed the national program for ten years i'm here to tell you that the needs of small communities are many. the resources are limited. the dedication and determination of small communities to provide their citizens with the best possible water is strong and undiminished. i'm sure everyone knows a little about the rural community assistance partnership. it's in my testimony. i won't repeat things that are in my testimony. i just want to make a few points that have been touched on but maybe i could amplify a little bit. one is the access to capital. there's a real issue in accessing the resources they need to extend lines to new customers. i believe mr. gomez talked about access to the municipal bond market. for

i commend her and congressman shimkus for their leadership on this issue.subcommittee, thank you once again for inviting me to testify. i look forward to question the working with you and you step in and you step into basic and. >> we now turn to the fifth commissioner, fourth commission and the chairman, commissioner o'rielly. we're delighted to have your. please go ahead with your full testimony. >> thank you, mr. chairman ranking member eshoo, ranking member below the numbers of the subcommittee for the opportunity to deliver testimony today. i felt the energy and commerce committee a nice regard given by past evolve as a congressional staffer with oversight hearings and responsibilities that you have to face everyday. i applaud the subcommittee for focus on this issue of reauthorizing the fcc and improving its process and i we commit myself to being available at any results again in the future. in my time at the commission i've enjoyed the many intellectual policy challenges presented by the ever challenging communications sector. it is my goal to maint

shimkus about 15 years ago led legislation making 911 a national number. amazing it had never been that. the calls now go through, but many times it's like a tree falling in the forest. and there was a recent tragic example in georgia when a lady by the name of chanel anderson lady called and she was drowning in her car. and the signal was received by an antenna that happened to be an adjacent public -- it decided not to have maps of the area next door. and i've listened to the call. it's heartbreaking she keeps saying here's where i am, here's where i am. i can't find it on the map, i don't know where you are. and didn't know where to send somebody. there are 6500 different places in this country staffed by dedicated individuals, there needs to be some kind of set of standards, and only congress can deal with it. we've dealt with the front end now it's necessary to do something about the back end. this is not a power grab i don't care what gets done. we really need -- the second quick issue that i like to raise is, i know both you and i want a commission

. >> thank you, chairman shimkus. ranking member and members of the committee. think the previous witnesses and y'all have done an excellent job at sort of framing the issue. as someone that has worked 20 years with hundreds of communities in texas, both for the rural community assistance partnership and the rural water association and someone who has directed the national program for ten years i'm here to tell you that the needs of small communities are many. the resources are limited. the dedication and determination of small communities to provide their citizens with the best possible water is strong and undiminished. i'm sure everyone knows a little about the rural community assistance partnership. it's in my testimony. i won't repeat things that are in my testimony. i just want to make a few points that have been touched on but maybe i could amplify a little bit. one is the access to capital. there's a real issue in accessing the resources they need to extend lines to new customers. i believe mr. gomez talked about access to the municipal bond market. for s

shimkus for five minutes. >> welcome. do you agree that there's 84000 chemicals listed approximately in the inventory. >> yes. >> how many do you think are currently in commerce? out of the 84 lists, how many are actually used in commerce? >> i'm sorry. i don't have the exact number. >> that's part of the problem. and why we're trying to move to get a handle on this. the -- if we work with industry on chemical data reporting, that should help us get a better idea of what that number is. do you agree? >> yes. >> so in your budget plan, you have originally 83 work plan chemical risk assessments that you want done by 2018. i look at the budget report. we've got like five completed, five to ten in '15. maybe ten in '16 which gives us 25. take that from 83. that's still 69 that budget-wise we don't seem to be able to get in a timely matter. i appreciate the effort. but, again, i want to use this opportunity as i think we can get there and this is a perfect example how we can work with you and my colleagues on the other side to

shimkus about 15 years ago led to legislation making 911 and national number. amazing. the calls now go through but many times it's like a tree falling in the forest. there was a region tragic example in georgia when a lady by the name of chanel anderson called as she was drowning in her car. the signal was received by an antenna that happen to be an adjacent public safety answering point but did not have, that decided not to have maps of the area next door. and i have listened to the call and it's heartbreaking. she keeps saying, here is where i am and the spectrum keeps saying i can't find on the map i can't find it. i don't know where you are and they didn't know where to send somebody. there are 6500 different staff by incredibly dedicated individuals but there needs to be some kind of set of standards. only congress can deal with it. we have dealt with the front end but now it's necessary to do something about the backend. this is not a power grab. i don't care how it gets done or who is responsible but we owe this to the american people. a second quick issue i wou

shimkus, for five minutes of questions. >> thank you. i talked to your staff prior. i appreciate your outreach trying to tall. it was a crazy day. i talked to them before you came to the table. i do have great respect for that. i also want to make sure this happy clap talk about how great health care is and the affordable health care is moderated by real concerns out there. remember the bill that passed signed into law we had nothing to do with on the house side. it was a senate health bill that came over to us that we passed. so that is the health care law that we have today. the language of the law is pretty clear. i am concerned also that supreme court will rule that the federal exchanges in states are not authorized to receive subsidies. we just need to be prepared for that here. i would hope the administration would be, too. i promised two ladies from my congressional district i'd mention their names. angie esker who is a pro-life strong family and she cannot buy a policy that does not have abortion coverage. for millions of americans, this is a really important

. >> thank you, chairman shimkus ranking member tonko and members of the committee. think the previous witnesses and y'all have done an excellent job of framing the issue. as someone that has worked 20 years with hundreds of communities in texas both for the rural community assistance partnership and the rural water association, and someone who has drectsed the national program for 10 years, i'm here to tell you that the needs of small communities are many. the resources are limited. but i tell thought dedication, and the determination of small communities to provide their assistances with the best possible water is strong and undiminished. i want to -- i'm sure everyone knows a little bit about the role community assistance partnership, it's in my testimony, i won't repeat things that are in my testimony. i just wanted to sort of make a few points that have been touched on maybe i can amplify a little bit. one is access to capital. i think there's a real issue in small communities accessing the financial resources they need to build the infrastructure, extend lines