takano: mr. speaker, i would offer to the record a letter from the office of special counsel, commenting on two -- to representative kirkpatrick, praising her for her amendment. i understand the majority also supports the kirkpatrick amendment and so it's bipartisan support. may i ask the gentleman from florida a question pertaining to this letter? the chair: the request is covered under general leave. the gentleman may yield to the gentleman from florida. mr. takano: i would like to yield for an answer to a uestion i would pose to him. was the quotation you read from this letter of the special counsel to mrs. kirkpatrick? mr. miller: i don't know what the letter is you're holding in your hand. i have one dated september 13. mr. takano: yes. september 13. it's regarding pending legislation to protect v.a. whistleblowers. mr. miller: that is correct. tack tack yes. i want to -- mr. takano: yes. i want -- mr. takano: yes. i want to thank you. the quotation was from that letter. i want to clarify th

takano. mr.ano: i thank the gentleman for yielding and thank my colleague, representative ujan, from new mexico, for introducing this legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. lujan: i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. miller: i ask unanimous consent to rise in opposition even though i'm not opposed. the chair: without objection the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: i yield myself such time as i might consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: i do support this amendment. it does require a report on physicians who are part-time employees and it does support an -- it is important to have an accounting of how they are employed. i thank mr. lujan for bringing this to the floor and yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lujan: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new mexico. those in favor

takano of california, amendment number 19 by mr. takano of california, amendment number 20 by mr. takano of california, amendment number 21 by mr. duffy of wisconsin. the chair will reduce to two minutes votes the minimum time for any electronic vote in this series. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 2 printed in house report 114-742 by the gentleman from minnesota, mr. walz, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2 printed in house report 114-742 offered by mr. walz of minnesota. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. and this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned c

takano: mr. speaker, we are prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. takano: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. i ask my colleagues to join me in passing this legislation, h.r. 5162. i once again thank my colleague, the gentleman from texas, mr. o'rourke, for his passionate advocacy for veterans. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. miller: thank you very much, mr. speaker. again, i urge all my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5162. 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 recon

takano: mr. speaker, i wish to comment on the assertion that it's the attorney general's and the president's responsibility to enforce the reflected in the constitution. however, the attorney general of the united states also has the duty to make sure that the taxpayers' money is well used, and i often hear on the other side of the aisle a concern about unnecessary litigation or litigation that goes beyond the bounds of what is reasonable. and the attorney general also has the obligation to take a look at the laws and to examine whether or not they would withstand constitutional muster . the american people do not demand of their attorney laws that litigate are clearly unconstitutional. that would be a waste of money. and in the case of an accountability law and accountability bill that clearly have flawed tools, tools which would be deemed unconstitutional, it would result in the following. it would result in managers taking actions against employees, employees -- money being spent on lawyers to

takano: i'm delighted to join my colleague,

takano: mr. speaker, i strongly support this legislation, and i urge my colleagues to vote yes on h.r. 5936, as amended, and i want to express, again, my deep appreciation in working with the majority to get this bill done. it is really important to those of us in southern california, and i cannot overstate how much this means to the veterans' community in california. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california yields back. the gentleman from florida. mr. miller: thank you, mr. speaker. i urge all members to support this piece of legislation, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. all time for debate having ended, the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5936, as amended. 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 i

takano: mr. speaker, i have no other speakers at this time, agai i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 5509 and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the geleman yields back. the gentlewoman from indiana is recognized. mrs. brooks: thank you, mr. speaker. before we nclude i'd like to take a moment to personally thank chairman miller for all he's done throughout his tenure in the house of representatives and in shepherding this bill and also would like thank his staff who have helped us bng this bill to the floor. theeople of florida's first congressional district couldn't have asked for a more dedicated public servant and the work he's done to advanc the rights and care of veterans is truly remarkable. whether it was in the trenches of war for doc bowen, or in political office or in his doctor's office he had a clear passion for serving others. however he reserved a place in his heart for his fellow veterans like chairman miller. that's why it's only apppriate that the hous

takano. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has five minutes. mr. takano: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you to my friend and colleague from virginia, the ranking member, mr. scott, for his leadership on this issue. i'm here to express my strong opposition to h.r. 6094. prior to the department of labor taking action this year, the rules governing overtime were woefully out of date. in 1975, 60% of salaried workers had access to overtime protections. four decades later, that number was just 8%. the result is that millions of american workers were denied a fair day's pay for a fair day's work for far too long. on numerous occasions, my colleagues across the aisle have conceded that the threshold should be increased. but they say that this increase is too much, too soon. mr. speaker, with all due respect, an incremental change would have been appropriate three decades ago. now, we need bold action to restore evertime protections for middle class workers. . i find it ironic that this bill is called the regulatory relief for small businesseses, schools and nonprofits act. after

it was duckworth, honda, and takano supporting takai. mark takano knows george takei, and george endorsed me in the primary. the headline read, takei and takano endorse takai. and it's really funny. people to this day get us confused, just by name. takei -- is it takei or takai or takano? all three of us get confused. we have the pleasure now of calling ourselves friends, and, in fact, i am going to see george takei in a few months. he is debuting in a new broadway show, focusing on the japanese-american experience, and i am looking forward to that show. host: well, we hope we get it right. congressman mark takai. of hawaii. thanks for being with us. in this past week, friends, colleagues, and family members gathered to take part in a memorial service to honor his life at the u.s. capitol. we heard from -- congressman takai represented hawaii's first district and was 49 when he died in july. this is 40 minutes. ♪ [playing "the star-spangled banner"] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> please remain standing for the invocation. >> it is a delight to have the ta

the issue was there's two takano amendments. one is made in order that does a similar thing, but also to simply say the senate bill, which was reported out in may, has never been taken up in the senate because they had significant opposition to it. in fact, the only way they got it reported out was union groups and others. they had to make changes to get agreement. we're putting veterans first, not these outside groups. we need to understand the senate bill has not moved, passed out of the senate and shows no hope of passing out of the senate at this point, and why should we take that, frankly, product over here? we're offering these amendments as much as possible. we need to look at this bill for what it is. it's for helping veterans, and really the bottom line it's not simply saying -- this is coming from v.a. employees, v.a. employees who say help us not be, you know, categorized with all the other things that are going on and with those that are actually bringing what we do down and also trying to help the appeals process in

takano for his questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman. many of the national veterans service organizations are very troubled by recommendation number one. they are concerned that instituting choice as a core policy could lead to a large percentage of veterans to pursue more conveniently located community care. this could end up jeopardizing the viability of unique v.a. services. your own economist projected a steep migration to community care. i have one question for you both. what analysis did you conduct to test how this concern may play out, and second, the follow-up would be, and why did you not recommend pilot testing such a radical change as this? >> well, we did actually talk a lot about how do you roll this out, and felt that probably a phased approach to really test some of the assumptions was important. there were many commissioners that spoke to that issue. the execution implementation is very complex, and it will take time. i think it will require, much as any major change does, some testing and refining and continuing to twea

takano for his support on

"nbc 10's" denise takano is there talking to voters here to watch this debate who haven't made up their. they want to hear what the candidates have to say. we're going to check in with denise and our battleground bros are still here. they're on facebook live. you can join the conversation on our "nbc 10" facebook page. >>> jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> and welcome back to "nbc 10's" debate night coming to you live from xfinity live here in south philadelphia. join the conversation online on our nbc philadelphia facebook page. what's on your mind? do you think the candidates will surprise us tonight? what could they say that might influence your decision? have you already made up your mind but you want to see how the other guy or the other woman may do, you know, the other candidate? maybe it will sway your opinion at this juncture in the campaign. so weigh in on our nbc philadelphia facebook page. we love hearing from you. you know, this campaign cycle, fact checkers have taken on a prominent role and it is fast and furious this campaign cycle. j

congressman mark takano.gressman, good morning. >> good morning. >> what did you think of donald trump's plan to speed up healthcare for our vets? >> first of all, let's clarify that the va health care system already does engage with contract care, with providers in the community, so it's not new. but donald trump is proposing a mass expansion of the choice program. most veteran service organizations oppose donald trump's plan as a huge step toward privatization, something which they oppose and hillary clinton clearly opposed last night. >> why oppose the privatization? donald trump got it a little bit wrong in making i had poie inhi night. our drew griffin at cnn did an investigation into the phoenix va. they wait five to six months in some cases to get in for health care. there are at least 40 vets who died while waiting. so why not try to speed it up with privatization? >> well, first of all, it wasn't really clear that those vets died because of the va wait times. the va wait times were inexcusable, and w

takano. i rise to offer an amendment to h.r. 5620, that would direct health care providers with v.a. affiliation to taken iting education courses -- to taken iting education courses specified to pain -- take continuing education courses specified to pain management -- take continuing education courses specified to pain management. for veterans and our elderly veterans, the number of pain reported escalates dramatically to 50% of reporting chronic pain. and it's even more, almost double that, over 60% of veterans returning from the current conflict in the middle st report some type of chronic pain that needs administration. in fact, this type of malady is the most common medical problem experienced by returning combat veterans in the entire last decade. so it's number one of those reported problems that our veterans from combat are returning home to have to endure. according to v.a. data, over half a million veterans, over half a million, are receiving prescriptions for opioids and the number

takano for his questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman. many of the national veterans service organizations are very troubled by recommendation number one. they are concerned that instituting choice as a core policy could lead to a large percentage of veterans to pursue more conveniently located community care. this could end up jeopardizing the viability of unique v.a. services. your own economist projected a steep migration to community care. i have one question for you both. what analysis did you conduct to test how this concern may play out, and second, the follow-up would be, and why did you not recommend pilot testing such a radical change as this? >> well, we did actually talk a lot about how do you roll this out, and felt that probably a phased approach to really test some of the assumptions was important. there were many commissioners that spoke to that issue. the execution implementation is very complex, and it will take time. i think it will require, much as any major change does, some testing and refining and continuing to twea

takano: i call for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. 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 310, the nays are 116. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> i ask that i be allowed to withdraw my name from h.r. 3765. mr. rangel: a.d. education reform act of 2015. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i ask unan

takano: would you suggest they be held to the same weight care rules as the v.a.? ms. schlichting: yes. dr. cosgrove: yes. i concern it is financially unsupportable and .ight weaken the v.a.'s system did the commission look at the cost of these recommendations and how this might affect research and education missions the v.a. conducts for the good of the mission? at schlichting: we did look costs, and we have included estimates and our report about what we think that would mean. there are certain assumptions as you go into these cost estimates that are based on certain assumptions that may or may not actually come true, and part of the question is how rapidly some of the improvements in operations to improve access .ithin v.a. can be put in place it is quite conceivable that more patients would gravitate to v.a. for many reasons as opposed to always assuming they will go in the private sector. it is not as clear as some people would like it to same. dr. cosgrove: i would point out on that last point there are a number of veterans who currently do not get their care fro

takano for his questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman. many of the national veterans service organizations are very troubled by recommendation number one. they are concerned that instituting choice as a core policy could lead to a large percentage of veterans to pursue more conveniently located community care. this could end up jeopardizing the viability of unique v.a. services. your own economist projected a steep migration to community care. i have one question for you both. what analysis did you conduct to test how this concern may play out, and second, the follow-up would be, and why did you not recommend pilot testing such a radical change as this? >> well, we did actually talk a lot about how do you roll this out, and felt that probably a phased approach to really test some of the assumptions was important. there were many commissioners that spoke to that issue. the execution implementation is very complex, and it will take time. i think it will require, much as any major change does, some testing and refining and continuing to twea

, and jerry endorsed me in the primary, so the headline read, takei and takano endorse takai.fused. we have the pleasure now of calling ourselves friends, and, in fact, i am going to see george takei, and he is debuting in a new broadway show, focusing on the japanese experience, and japanese-american experience, and i am looking forward to that show. host: well, we hope we get it right. congressman mark takai. of hawaii. a low half. aloha. >> first-term congressman mark takai of hawaii died on july 20 after a battle with pay graphic cancer. he was 49. colleagues, friends and family members took part in a memorial service to honor his life at the u.s. capitol. speakers included minority leader nancy pelosi, speaker paul ryan, vice president biden and congressman tokai's wife. this is 40 minutes. ♪ [playing the national anthem] ♪ >> please remain standing for the invocation. >> it is a delight to have them as a part of our church. our family, a great delight and privilege to have called mark my friend and brother. it is an honor to lead us all in prayer as we give thanks to mar

then another chance to see the memorial service for carbon mark takano. -- congressman mark to cut. -e. >> c-span's washington journal like every day with news and policy issues that impact you. the morning, we're talking with members of congress about key issues before the house and natural resources committee. guests include microtech representative debbie dingell and congressman bruce westermann from arkansas, the committee congressmanshop and from arizona. watch c-span's washington journal live beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. join the discussion. thursday, the heads of the u.s. armed forces testified about the long-term budget needs of the military. the senate armed services committee is considering military readiness under budget caps. watch live at 9:30 eastern on c-span3. now veterans affairs secretary robert all testifies not implement in the commission on can report to improve the epa health care system. v.a. health care system. this is 2.5 hours.

i yield to congressman takano from california. mr. takano: mahalo to my colleague from hawaii, congresswoman gabbard, for the time. mr. speaker, on july 20, the world lost a kind man. this congress lost a great -- er and many of us here excuse me. ost a very dear friend. i didn't expect to have this volume of emotion. mark takai represented everything that america wants in a public servant. he was selfless, he was humble. and he was passionate about strengthening his community and protecting his country. he served 17 years in the hawaii national guard, including the deployment to kuwait in support of operation iraqi freedom he came home and fought for the middle class and for the people of hawaii. he will be remembered by me and many of us here for his incredible spirit which he he bravely maintained through his illness. he'll be remembered for the easy laugh which brought joy to all those who knew him. and he spent a lifetime working to give a voice to those who struggled to be heard. i mean, apart from my remarks or just a moment, i

takano: a leader in the riverside community, a fitness bug, an award winning baker, and a winner of the presidential award of excellence, a remarkable educator and person, who died too young just a few weeks ago. in her 40 years in the classroom, pam clute inspired thousands of students, many young women, to pursue careers in math and science. she founded the alpha center at u.c. riverside to get students on track to pursue stem fields in college. at the same time, pam organized local partnerships, created a fitness class, and shared her infectious energy with everyone around her. in short, she took every opportunity imaginable to support our community. my thoughts are with her husband, steve, and the rest of her family. pam was truly an exemplary woman. she will be missed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to