The chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes, but in no event shall debate continue beyond 11 50 a. M. The chair recognizes the gentleman from the gentleman from oregon, mr. Blumenauer for five minutes. Mr. Blumenauer thank you, mr. Speaker. One of the most difficult and challenging situation any family faces is dealing with circumstances surrounding the end of life. Earlier this week, n. P. R. Ran a fascinating story on a little known fact that physicians die differently than the rest of us. They are more comfortable, theyre more likely to spend their final days surrounded by loved ones. They seldom die in an i. C. U. Or in a hospital setting. Thats because doctors understand what works and what doesnt. Doctors are very clear about their wishes, and they choose quality of life and concern for their families as well as their own wellbeing. Ive been working in this area of end of life for more than six years. The ways and Means Committee unanimously approved my legislation and amended it as part of the Affordable Care act to provide greater support for families with that decisionmaking process. It did pass the committee unanimously. Part of the Affordable Care act, even despite the 2009 lie of the year about death panels, on the strength of some of the most compelling testimony that were delivered, not by expert witnesses but by members of the committee. One of our republican members discussed how his mother didnt get the care that she needed at the end of life. Another physician member of the committee explained how he had these conversations repeatedly, but unfortunately they were often much later than they should have been. There wasnt adequate time for the family to prepare. Well, theres been a sea change on this issue, in part because of rising public awareness. Support for our Bipartisan Legislation, the personalize your care act, which i worked on for years now with dr. Phil roe, has made Great Strides forward. Weve had advocates like dr. Bill frist, former republican leader of the senate, who spoke eloquently and forcefully about the helping families under these trying conditions. The reverend billy graham has written how its christian responsibility to take this on for ourselves and spare our loved ones uncertainty. A doctor published a brilliant book being mortal, which quickly climbed to the bestseller list for the New York Times and a 500page report about dying in america that talked about the problems and opportunities to provide more choices and protect peoples wishes. Yesterday was another important landmark when the administration published a proposed fee schedule for next year in which theyve assigned an activity code with payment for advanced care planning. Now, of course this is merely a proposal and theyre still seeking comment but its a historic step forward for a decision that will be finalized this fall. Its another indication that we can and will do a better job of meeting the needs of American Families under the most difficult of circumstances. We will make sure americans have all the information they need to make the right decisions for themselves and their family and to assure those decisions, whatever they may be, are honored and enforced. Medicare will pay for thousands of expensive medical procedures and now for the first time the government is placing a value on this important conversation between a patient and their chosen medical professional. Now its the job of the rest of us to do our part. Who will speak for us if it were unable to speak for ourselves, and what will they say . The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. Jolly, for five minutes. Mr. Jolly thank you mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, most economists and Financial Advisors have recognized that families across the United States are headed towards a major retirement crisis. Studies have shown that a majority of households headed by someone age 59 or younger are in danger of suffering from falling Living Standards in their retirement years and so the administration and this congress should be advancing policies to make retirement counseling, Savings Advice and Investment Services more accessible, not less. Retirement planning, savings counseling and Investment Advice can improve the quality of life and economic stability of every american. Yet, recent actions by this administration, however wellintended will make these Financial Services less accessible and less affordable to those who are in most need of them. By forever changing the rules regarding Financial Advising related to retirement accounts. Mr. Speaker, for years the community of Financial Advisors, including those throughout Pinellas County and those i represent, has been governed by the suitability standard. That is Financial Advisors are required to provide financial counseling and investment recommendationes that are suitable for a client based upon that clients financial position and financial goals. The suitability standards requires advisors to act fairly in dealing with clients. This suitability standard has served individual investors well for many years, creating a market for Financial Services for new and lowdollar investors seeking basic Investment Services and thoughtful financial and retirement planning. But the administration is now in the process of replacing that standard with a new standard called the fiduciary standard. This new standard under the guise of protecting investors will actually have the opposite effect. The administrations proposed rule will ultimately reduce or in some cases eliminate financial counseling products and services to new and lowdollar investors. The rule will result in the elimination of Financial Products that adequately compensate advisors for their services, and it will increase the cost of compliance on advisors who ultimately will need to pass on those costs to clients through a higher Fee Structure and it will cost some advisors. But worst, mr. Speaker, the department of labors new rule reflects the approach that we see from regulators throughout this administration, an arrogant and demeaning suggestion that industry throughout america is necessarily comprised of all bad actors, and unless these actors are forced to do so by this administration, they will no longer do right or do good but for the heavy hand of government and the heavy hand of this administration making them to do so. It is a washington knows best approach that communities across the country continue to reject. The administration can do better. Do not issue the new proposed fiduciary standard rule. Members of congress from both sides of the aisle have sent letters to the department of labor expressing the negative impacts this proposal will have on their communities and we have begged the department of labor to revisit this rule and simply do better on behalf of the American People. Congress has also taken action on its own and will continue to do so. Recently the Appropriations Committee included provisions within their respective bills in the house and senate to halt the administration from moving forward on this perhaps wellintended but completely wrong proposed rule. It was right that we did so. The Administration Simply must do better. It starts with recognizing that the Financial Advisor industry is comprised of men and women across this country who provide a valuable contribution to individuals and couples seeking retirement guidance. And lets realize that transparenty and sunlight can transparency and sunlight can help. It results in needless and expensive litigation and ever more Trial Attorney fees and will ultimately eliminate financial counseling to thousands of families who need it the most. Well mr. Speaker, that is the wrong answer. Lets keep the suitability standard. Lets trust Financial Advisors for the good service they provide. Lets strictly enforce the current law against the very small number of individuals who seek to take advantage of individual investors. Lets protect Financial Services for those who need them most and lets revisit a rulemaking process that focuses only on transparency. Ultimately providing consumers and clients with the information they need to make responsible Investment Decisions and to responsibly select a Financial Advisor that is right for them. It is time that this administration begins trusting the American People. Thank you mr. Speaker. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. Gutierrez, for five minutes. Mr. Gutierrez for the record, im not mexican, im not an immigrant. Given the rhetoric of one of the leading republican candidates for president , its important to point that out at the start before im accused of being a criminal, a drug dealer or a rapist. To be fair, donald trump didnt say all latinos or mexicans are rapists. Just the vast majority of mexicans immigrants are drug dealers or rapist. Mexican immigrants working in the United States, it should be the owner of hotels. But he is not basing this on personal knowledge. Trump says that most of the women coming from Central America to the u. S. Through mexico and other countries report being sexually assaulted. On this point, he and i have some agreement. Women and children at the lowest wrung of our economic and social ladder are incredibly vulnerable to Sexual Assault and rape, but from saying most undocumented women are vulnerable to assault and saying most undocumented men are rapists is, as he might say himself, huge. The documentary on pbs front line, rape in the fields was a powerful expose on how immigrant women are regularly victims of rape, abuse because perpetrators recognize how vulnerable immigrant women are. They are afraid to talk to the police afraid they will be deported and afraid they will lose their children and this fear to report crimes makes us all less safe. Yes, the rape and abuse is sometimes perpetrated by other latino immigrants. Perhaps even mexicans. But these crimes are also committed by men of all colors including red, white and blue americans. So when donald trump says on cnn, well, someone is doing the raping, is further evidence we should be building a big wall so he can laster his name on it and keep im laster his name on it and keep immigrants ons its clear donald misses the point. The question is how do we create an immigration system that allows people come with visas and not smugglers so their work is honored, safe protected by oir labor laws . How do we make sure that the work remembers not afraid to dial 911 and report assault when someone, anyone is threatening them or their families . Now, the antiimmigration wing of the Republican Party in this body and on the air is saying that trump may have a point. After all, a beautiful, innocent woman was shot in cold blood by a mexican immigrant in San Francisco just last week. Why wasnt he deported . Why wasnt he held in jail the last time . Why is and you will actually hear this on fox news. Why is president obama letting mexicans kill beautiful Young American women . As the father of two daughters, about the age of kate, the young woman who was shot and killed, i pray every night that no one of any racial ethnic background ever does my daughters harm and i can only imagine the grief that her family is feeling. When we have felons in federal custody or state or local custodies with warrants for drug crimes who get deported and come back, we are not doing our job. They cope with decades of inaction on immigration criminal justice and a range of other issues. I have no sympathy for the man accusing this crime. Murderers should rot in hail. So what if rot in hell. So what if we have a system, people that contributed productively and they have children and other deep roots in the United States, what if we allowed them to come forward . What if we made them pay for their only criminal background check fingerprinted them, made them prove their identity and check on them ever so often to make sure theyre not gaming the system or committing crime . What if we had a system where people came here legally in the first place if they could prove their identity and they had no criminal background . I argue that such a system would allow us to reduce significantly the number of people who are in this Company Country without legal status. It would shrink the size of communities where many people are undocumented, where people are afraid to call the police so that criminals find it easy to blend in and not stick out. Such a system would allow us to concentrate our enforcement and deportation resources on real criminals who should be jailed and then thrown out and kept out. Such a system would make it easier, make it harder for criminals to hide and easier for honest, hardworking folks to contribute to their communities without fear. Unfortunately that is exactly the system that some republicans have been fighting against. So when a hotel and casino owner gets on his high horse about mexican immigrants about crime and rape and murder, lets think about who is standing between the United States, this country, the one we love and that weve sworn to protect and a modern immigration system based on common sense, compassion and, yes, the rule of law. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from North Carolina, ms. Foxx, for five minutes. Ms. Foxx thank you, mr. Speaker. For the past two years my email in box mailbox and phone lines have been flooded with reports of canceled Health Insurance plans, soaring premiums, increased deductibles, and exasperated constituents trying to navigate the confusing washington bureaucracy that is obamacare. Members of congress have to buy their Health Insurance on the exchanges along with millions of other americans. I experience many of the same frustrations including the nightmare of navigating a confusing, unfinished website. Despite its central promise, the Affordable Care act it has proved to be anything but affordable for many north carolinians, and the Supreme Courts recent decision in king v. Burwell doesnt change that fact. House republicans are continuing our efforts to minimize the damage caused by obamacare. We have passed legislation that would permanently repeal obamacares 2. 3 excise tax on medical devices which has hindered innovation as well as restricted growth and job creation in an industry that has improved the quality of life for millions around the world. We voted to repeal the independent payment Advisory Board which was created under the president S Health Care law and gives a panel of 15 unelected unaccountable bureaucrats Sweeping Authority to slash medicare payment to providers or eliminate payments for certain treatments and procedures all together. The house has passed legislation that would change obamacares 30hour definition of fulltime employment and restore the traditional 40hour workweek. From adjunct professors to hourly workers i have heard from constituents across North Carolinas Fifth District who have one thing in common. Their hours are being reduced. Obamacare has placed an undo burden on employers and their employees by undermining the 40hour workweek, which has long been the standard for fulltime work. We voted to make it easier to hire veterans by exempting those who already have Health Insurance from being counted as fulltime employees under the president S Health Care law. No employer shd be penal eased for hiring a veteran, and no veteran should be unemployed because of obamacare. Whoever the best approach to solving the multitude of problems resulting from obamacare is to unite behind a complete repeal of the law and replace it with solutions that lower costs and empoer patients to choose the care thats empoer patients to choose the care thats right for them. I recently signed o on to h. R. 2653, the American Health care reform act. This bill would repeal obamacare completely and allow a standard deduction for health ensures that treats individually purchased plans and employer sponsored plans the same. Making sure that all americans receive the same tax benefits for health care. H. R. 2653 would return decisions about health care and Insurance Coverage to patients. It is people not government who can best determine the coverage and services that meet their needs. A government takeover of health care is not what americans asked for and certainly not what we can afford. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. Quigley, for five minutes. Mr. Quigley thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Ronald Reagan once said where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost. When president reagan made those remarks in 1980 he recognized then what many cant seem to understand now. Efforts to undermine unions are an attack on workers rights. Unions have long been the foundation of our middle class and helped create the most Competitive Work Force in the world. The 40hour workweek minimum wage, six leave, workers comp, overtime pay, child labor laws. Those are just a few of the basic labor rights that unions have championed over the years that many now take for granted. After all the good that unions have done to empower all workers across this country, theres been a recent revival in the war against them and the weapon of choice has been the right to work laws. Dont be fooled by the name. The only thing right to work laws do is unfairly allow free riding workers to benefit from union negotiated contracts without having to contribute their fair share in the fight. The laws do not as many supporters proclaim protect workers from being forced to become union members. In fact, federal law already restricts this. In union states workers covered by union negotiated contracts can only be required to pay for the cost of bargaining and not for any other union activities. However, over the last few years there has been an alarming increase in antiunion sentiment. Currently half of our states have right to work laws with indiana, michigan, and wisconsin recently passing their own version. In my own home state of illinois, the governor has made passing right to work a top priority. In fact, hes making this a cornerstone of his first term legislative agenda. The idea behind his right to work law is that by increasing the number of free riding workers, unions will be forced to drastically reduce their budgets weakening their ability to negotiate stronger contracts and defend the rights of american workers. But the evidence clearly shows how misguided this stance is and attacks on organized labor truly are. Research shows that seven of the 10 states with the highest unemployment rates are right to work states. On top of that, you know that even if half the counties in illinois adopt right to work laws, we would see the states annual economic output shrink by 1. 5 billion, labor income fall by 1. 3 billion. And increase in both racial and gender income equality. So if right to work laws are not actually good for the economy, what are they good for . Right to work laws do a great job at harmling hardworking harming hardworking middle class families, and weakening unions. Right to work states have seen an almost a 10 decline in unionization which has undermined growth in wages and led to the deterioration in Workplace Safety n right to work states, wages for all workers, not just unionized workers, are over 3 lower than wages in nonright to work states. Thats about 1,500 less per year in the pockets of teachers, firefighters nurses, and other hardworking americans. Furthermore, unions and injuries and deaths in right to work states are much higher than nonright to work states. In the highrisk environment of construction where unions have played a fundamental role in demanding adequate safety standards, deaths are 34 higher in right to work states than nonright to work states. You can see right to work is not right for our country, not right for our states, and not right for our workers. You can right to worker as a strategy to lower wages and attract more businesses is not a suitable and sustainable strategy. Instead of focusing on attacking unions and middle class workers governors should focus on fixing broken budgets and investing in our schools, Public Safety programs, and transportation systems. Thats the real recipe for economic success. So lets stand up against right to work laws and stand up for the right to organize, the right to a safe job and the righto a fair wage. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio, mr. Gibbs, for five minutes. Mr. Gibbs thank you mr. Speaker. I rise today to honor dr. Peter schramm at Asher University in ashland ohio. The Center Support 8 supporters and friends gathered to recognize him for his years of service and name the library in his honor. Hes been teaching political science, mentoring sthuents, and shapings the minds of few turn teachers and lawyers. He was a young boy living under the soviet regime. When he was 10 peters father decided it was time to leave hungary and come to america. Peter asked his father why he chose america and he was told we were born americans but in the wrong place. After leaving hungary, the family found their way to california thanks to an american dentist his father methortly after world war ii. Just a few american dollars, his family started a new life. His parents found work and peter and his sister went to school. Peter did not know english and had to learn along the way with the help of his classmates. Eventually they saved enough money to open a restaurant. The whole family worked there. Peter tened his stuties studies and worked through college. He was he was unaware you had to graduate. He was content to learn for the sake of lerk. Years later he once said i think it is true that human beings by nature desire to know. His economic veracity led him to claire month for his masters and doctorate degrees. It was there he studied the classics. When he began teaching, he insisted on open discussion encouraging and directing debates among his students. He once said, a good education is a conversation. He didnt want to lecture his students and he believes a classic liberal Arts Education should teach students how to read, analyze, and explain and defend their beliefs. The ash brook center where he served as the executive director and senior fellow of the Scholar Program states their mission is to restore and strengthen the capacities of the American People for constitutional selfgovernment. Having witnessed the corruption horror of soviet rule he was able to impress on his students how important the mission and values are. One of the most recent students interned in my office told me that dr. Schramm has dedicated his life to preserving and perpetuating american greatness by teaching us what it means to be an american. That many of us he has taught will continue his work and honor his legacy by educating future generations of what makes america great. Dr. Schramm, who is battling an aggressive illness, can be assured the principles of selfgovernment of free men with free minds and values of our Founding Fathers are alife alive and well in the generations of students he talked. On monday evening he said despite his medical condition no man has been happier than he has been. Thank you for adopting america as your home and teaching so manyoung minds to keep the flame of freedom burning. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina, mr. Butterfield, for five minutes. Mr. Butterfield mr. Speaker, i rise to express the utter outrage of the Congressional Black Caucus regarding the calvert amendment which is scheduled for later this afternoon which is an amendment to the interior appropriations bill. That amendment would allow confederate imagery to remain on graves on federal land. Dont replicans understand that the confederate battle fl is an insult to 40 million africanamericans and to many other fairminded americans . The confederate battle flag, mr. Speaker is intended toefend a dark period of american history. A period when four million blacks were held as slaves. Held as property, as chattel not as human beings. The aves were bought and sold and mortgaged and gifted as chattel, andhis period, mr. Speaker, this period of inslavement continued for more than 200 years and did not legally end until december 6 1865. Heres thery, mr. Speaker. Following president lincolns election in november of 1860, 12 Southern States ceded from the union in response to their belief that president lincoln would free the four million slaves. South carolina was the first state to de from the union on december 20, right after lincolns electio these Southern States formed the Confederate States of america. They empowered a military elected a president , adopted a constitution, adopted a currency. They engaged in a brutal, brutal civil war with the union. Thousands of lives were lost on both sides of the battle and is flag, mr. Speaker, this confederate battle flag, was their symbol. It was their flag. The Southern States lost the war. The states then rejoined the union. President lincoln then proposed a 13th amenent legally ending slery. That amendment mr. Speaker ssed this congress on january 31 1865. Finally it was ratified by georgia on december 6, 1865. And during the period of ratification, president lincoln was assassined. For the next 50 years,0plus years, every black person living in the south faced the possibility of lynching. More than 4,000 blacks were lynched between 1890 a 1950. 136 black people were lynched in soutcarolina. But there are some now who want to continue to honor slavery and hon your bigotry honor bigtry. This house must not be complicit. The shooting in sth carolina was an example of a 21st century lynching. The man festo left by the charleston killer stated, quote, i have no choice. Im not in the position to go to alone go into the ghetto and fight. I chose charleston because is the most historic cy in my state and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to whites in the country. He was right. 57 . We have no skinhea, no k. K. K. , no one doing but taing on the internet. Well, someone has to have the bvery to take it to the real world, and i guess that has to be me. End of quote. Mr. Speaker bigotry continues to exist in this country. This congress should not pass any legislation today or any other day that would embolden the who continue to hold racist beliefs. The calvert amendme, the calvert amendment is misguided and it emboldens bigotry. I ask my colleagues, democrat and republican, respectlly, lets defea the calvert amendment this afternoon and even if the gentleman would consider to withdraw his amendment a not put this ouse through this turmoil today. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempo the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Murphy, for five minutes. Mr. Murphy thank you, mr. Speaker. Yesterday in the terrible atck over 200 people were killed across these United States. This headle should lead every tv news show, hit the frot pages and generate outrage from acrosthe country, but it did not appear. Now, this not makebelieve the news is real, but no one reported it. Wee more tn 80,000 people a year n to suicide and drug addiction ordose. Thats over 200 people a day. Where is the news . Now, these are the suddennd tragic deaths. Then tere are the slowmotion deaths which can he cant even count those who have a mental which cant even count. Those who have a Mental Illness or a chronic illness such as diabetes or Heart Disease and face that slowmotion death sentence. In fact, people with serious ental iless tend to die 25 years earlier than their cohortand tn there are the mentally ill who are victims of attacks. St week the Washington Post revealed how in the First Six Months of is year a person who was in Mental Health crisis was shot and killed every 3 hours by police. The vast majority were armed but in most caseshe Police Officers who shot them were not responding to reports of a crime. More often they were called by lativ neighbors or other bystanders worried that a mentally frale person was behaving erratically. The crisis built and it ended in death. Further, the mentally ill are more likely to be the victims of violence, robbees eatingand rapand other crime these individuals are also 10 times more likely to be in jail than in a hospit. If youre a minority chances e your Mental Health treatment com in a prison not in a Mental Health center. Have we become so numb we no longer notice . Are we so numb we no longer care . Tragically government tries to help but frankly its a mess. The chaotic patchwork o current Government Programs and federal laws make it impossible for those witsever psychosis, schizophrenia and serious Mental Illness to get care. For example, when someone is haunted by deleer yum and hallucinatio and dsnt know theyre ill they frequently stop taking their needed medication. They dont follow up on appointments and their health declines. Our federal laws preven a caregiver from getting their loved one tohe next appoiment or to folw up on their car we need to provide treatment before tragedy and get these inviduals help before their loved ones dial11. E helping families and Mental Health crisis act, h. R. 2646, provides millions of families the tools needed for effective care. H. R. 2646 empowers pares and caregivers to accessare before the Mental Illness hes the most severetage. T fixes the shortage of inpatient beds so patients in mtal health crisisan get proper re, not be sent to a jail not tied to an emeency room gurneynd not sent home. It helps reach unrserved and rural populations. It expands the Mental Health work force. It drives evidencebased care. It provides alternatives to institutionaation. It integtes primary and havioral care. It increases physician volunteerism. It advances critical mel research, brings accountability to Mental Health and Substance Abuse parody and it also provides crisis intervention grants f Police Offers and firstesponders. This training helps Law Enforcement officials recognize individuals w have a serious Mental Illness and learn how to properly interve. My bill eliminates wasteful and ineffective proams an directs money where it is ed first. Itocuses on serious serious Mental Illness rather than behavioral goodness that have no gd results. Mybill helps communities adop programs to stop the revolving door of Mental Health crisis violence, incarcerations, e. R. Visits and abanned on ement. This bipartisa legislation now with more than0 cosponso, marks a new wn for Mental Health in america. I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort by cosponsoring the helping filies of Mental Health crisis act,. R. 2646. Lets no longer turn a blind eye andnstead help tse tha need it the mo. Whether the st road or the slw road, the 200 the 200plus deaths per day, the 80,000 dths per year, an unown number of victims is far far too often. Compassion calls us to act and act now. The cost of delay i deadly. Fo those families who are suering, how can we look them in the eye andefend our delays to act . I yield back. E speaker pro teore t chir recnizes thgentlen from maryland, mr. Hoyer for five minute mr. Hoyer thank you mr. Speaker. Ask unanimous csent to revi and extend my remarks. He speaker pro tempore without objection. Hoyer r. Speaker there are daysn this house when morality and the values our cotr as articulated in the declaration of independence and in the constitution of r countr summons us o vote as americans. As moral representatives and representatives of e values of oucountry. Today is such a day, my cleagues. Ree demoatic amendments were adoed earlier in the nsideration of the interi bill that would en the practice of diplaying our selling confederate battle flagsnd flag merchandise in National Parks and National Park service cemeteries. Those amendments were adopted by voice vote. They reflect the strong consensus in this country and hopefully in this congress that a symbol of slavery is a digs, segregation sedition segregation has no place in our National Parks and cemeteries whose grounds have been hallowed by the veterans who rest there after having served and given their lives in defense of freedom and justice and the values of our country. Unbelievablely, however, mr. Speaker, several hours ago in the dark of night, the chairman of the subcommittee offered an amendment on this floor that would effectively strike those amendments which surely reflect the values to which all of us have risen our hand and sworn to protect. Today on the anniversary of the ratification of the 14th amendment to our constitution how ironic that we would meet this vote on this day which enshrined the principle of equality for all americans. We have this shameful confederate battle flag amendment on our floor. This amendment would keep in place the policy that allows confederate battle flags in our National Parks and National Park service sem fares. Cemeteries. A symbol as my colleague, jim clyburn, the assistant leader, and the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and an extraordinarily representative in South Carolina said yesterday was so offensive and hurtful to so many millions of our fellow citizens and our fellow colleagues in this body. Even in South Carolina today where the confederacy was born, that flag is being taken down from are the State Capitol grounds after both republican controlled houses of that States Assembly voted to remove it. Certainly, certainly on this day we ought not to see a Republicanled Congress move in the opposite direction. My colleagues together, not as republicans and democrats, but as americans deeply committed to the values of equality and justice and opportunity for all , we ought to remove that flag from our National Parks, the cemeteries where our veterans rest, and i would say further, all public places. That includes the United States capitol, and i support my friend representative thompsons resolution that sits now in the House Administration committee that would remove the flag of mississippi, which contains the confederate battle flag until such time as mississippiians, as south carolinians did yesterday make a statement and remove that from their flag. I urge my colleagues my fellow americans, the 434 of my colleagues that have raised their hand and sworn to protect and defend the constitution of the United States of america, i urge my colleagues, let us do the right thing and reject this amendment and send a powerful message about what america truly represents, equality, justice respect for one another freedom for all. Let us make america, every american proud of us this day and reject the amendment adopted in the dead of night. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from alabama, mrs. Roby, for five minutes. Mrs. Roby thank you mr. Speaker. I rise today to talk about the negotiations taking place right now in switzerland over Irans Nuclear capability. With all thats been going on lately, i fear not enough attention is being paid to what i believe is one of the most important issues facing our country right now. Last week the Obama Administration quietly announced yet another deadline extension to the multilateral negotiations over Irans Nuclear capability. And this week negotiators blew past that deadline once again. Of course, the goal for the United States and our allies must be to prevent iran from obtaining a Nuclear Weapon. However, recent reports out of switzerland have raised concerns that our negotiators have already conceded too much on major points like uranium enrichment, economic sanctions relief and inspection access. Mr. Speaker, the very fact that we keep extending the deadline tells you all you need to know about the priorities at play in this administration. It seems like president obama and secretary kerry are so concerned about striking a deal, any deal that they are unwilling to walk away from a bad one as deadlines keep passing. The boston globe reported that negotiators have spent their downtime speculating which movie stars would play them in a hollywood movie about the iran deal. If this is true, americans should be outraged. Is this is an extraordinarily important issue that will have an extraordinarily farreaching effect on this country and the world for many years to come. The fact is weve had extension after extension and concession after concession to the point that im not sure a good deal is even possible at this point. A few months ago i traveled to the middle east with the speaker as part of his delegation to the region and we visited countries that would be directly affected by dealing with a nuclear iran israel, jordan iraq, saudi arabia. Our allies in the region are rightfully concerned that what is being brokered isnt good at all. We cannot forget how high the stakes are here. If a bad deal is ratified, we arent just talking about a Nuclear Armed iran. We are talking about setting in motion a nuclear race, a chain of events that could allow multble countries in this very multiple countries in in very volatile part of the world wanting to become nuclear as well. And after seeing the International Community reward irans hostility and city nens with a nuclear deal, who would blame them . Mr. Speaker, i appreciate the leadership of my colleagues in this chamber and in the senate, and i agree with senator corker that the who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who wrote a letter to the president quoting and i quote him now. Walking away from a bad deal at this point would take courage, but it would be the best thing for the United States, the region and the world. We may not be able to control the outcome in switzerland, but we can control how we respond if a bad deal is put forward. This congress can have the final say whether or not to lift sanctions in iran. It can have the final say on the deal itself by way of a resolution of disapproval. I believe members of Congress Must prepare to stand up and have the courage that it would take to stop a bad iranian deal from happening. For some this will take a lot of courage but it is necessary. We cannot allow president obama and secretary kerry to put their desire for a legacy achievement above the best interests of this nation and our allies. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. Jeffreys, for five minutes. Mr. Jeffreys mr. Jefferies, for five minutes. Mr. Jefferies mr. Speaker had this federal battle flag prevailed in war 150 years ago, i would not be standing here today as a member of the United States congress. I would be here as a slave. Over the last 150 years we made tremendous progress in this country, but we sell have a long way to go. At the tragic events in charleston, South Carolina illustrated, when nine god fearing, church going africanamerican citizens were killed by a white supremacist there is much work that needs to be done to eradicate the cancer of racial hatred. When dill dylan roof committed this act of domestic terror, his emblam was the confederate battle flag. Emblim was the confederate battle flak. Later today well have a vote on the legitimacy of this flag. On tuesday, it appeared that House Republicans were prepared to do the right thing in support of three amendments to prohibit the use of federal funds for the purchase, sale or display of the confederate battle flag on National Park service land. But less than 24 hours later, House Republicans reversed course. In the dead of night, under cover of darkness to introduce an amendment supporting the confederate battle flag. Which is nothing more than a symbol of racial hatred and oppression. There are some in this who is who have made the argument that the confederate battle flag is about heritage and tradition. Im perplexed. What exactly is the tradition of the confederate battle flag that we are supporting . Is it slave re . Race . Slavery . Race treason . Genocide . Or all of the above. The confederate battle flag is nothing more than a symbol of racial hatred and oppression. As i stand here with chills next to it, because of the red in this flag is a painful reminder of the blood that was shed by africans who were killed when attempted to be kidnapped. And thrown into the institution of slavery. The red on this flag is a painful reminder of the blood that was shed by millions of africans who died during the Middle Passage while being transported from africa to america. The red on this flag is a painful reminder of the blood that was shed by africanamerican slaves who were beaten raped lynched and killed here in america as a result of the institution of slavery. What exactly is the tradition the confederate battle flag represents . We were sent here as leaders. To make decisions on the morality of america. Where we are notwithstanding our painful history and the legacy of slavery we have an opportunity today to make a definitive statement, to be leaders p not individuals who cowher in fear cour cower in fear who are unaware that the south lost the war 150 years ago. Lets choose racial progress over racial poison. Lets choose harmony over historic amnesia. Lets choose togetherness over treason. Lets come together not as democrats or republicans not as whites or blacks, not as northerners or southerners, lets come together as americans and vote down the calvert amendment and relegate the confederate battle flag to the dust bin of history which is where it belongs. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from West Virginia, mr. Jenkins for five minutes. Mr. Jenkins thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today to honor the Wyoming County West Virginia chapter of students against destructive decisions also known as sadd. The Wyoming County chapter has been named the 2015 sadd National Chapter of the year. Consisting of 300 members from six different schools these byo message county students work hard to encourage yng people to avoid underaged drinking, drurks and other destructive activities. Wyoming county and the sr. Rounding area, like many surrounding area like many parts of our state and country are limited in the number of Youth Programs and social services leading to temptations for many teenagers. Sadd helps fill the void and is a positive force in helping students make positive life choices and avoid destructive decisions. These students represent our states values and demonstrate compassion commitment, and courage through their work. I know they will take the skills they have learned in sadd and become the next generation of leaders in West Virginia. I congratulate these students and teachers and thank them for making Wyoming County a better place to live. I yield back, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from minnesota, miss mccall lum for five minutes. Miss mccal lum, for five minutes. You pointed out im from minnesota. Minnesota governor ramsay was in washington, d. C. , shortly after the attack at fort sumter. And he was the first to offer up our support 1,000 minnesotans to keep our union together. Minnesota at the battle of gettysburg. A regiment that suffered 82 in casualties. The greatest loss of any unit at gettysburg on a single day. Last night when Republican Leadership put forward a lastminute amendment that would allow for the display and sale of the Confederate Flag in our National Parks an amendment which well vote on today that would allow this hateful symbol which invokes memories of racism and a painful period in our countries past to be displayed on public lands, i found myself shocked, jot reaged, and disappointed outraged and disappointed because the people of minnesota sent me here to strive for what they strive for every day. To build a better, stronger america. An america in which we strive to give everyone hope and opportunity that they too can pursue life, liberty happiness and justice. To the flag that we are taking about is a symbol of a time when africanamericans were enslaved, sold as human commodity. It had been used as a rallies crying throughout our history rallying cry throughout our history to those who wished to keep or country seggre getted. We a again last month in charleston this flag being used as a symbol for many who carry hatred in their hearts. A man who carried so much hatred he took the lives of nine parishioners because he viewed this flag as a symbol of his belief. This flag should be no point of pride for any american. And we should take this flag down. Just two days ago without opposition, as i had the honor of being Ranking Member as we were doing the interior bill, this body voted to adopt amendments which would prevent the sale or display of Confederate Flags in National Parks. Those amendments were simple, commonsense efforts to place into law standards that the National Park service had put forward last month. It was a moment of great pride for me. All those new standards will do is bring the federal government in line with desessions made by many private sector retailers. Amazon, walmart, sears, disney, and other National Retailers have all made the decision to take down this flag because of its racist history. Private businesses are rallying behind a commonsense tea significance to stop to stop decision to stop peddling these symbols. How the republican cax would work to ensure that the federal government alos them to be sold . For who is republicans it appears, perhaps the cost of getting the votes to pass the entiror, environment appropriations bill, which panders to polluters, is to wrap themselves in a banner of racism. I think thats wrong and i urge my colleagues to stand with people of great courage and great passion to say no to hate no to racism, and yes to america. I urge my colleagues to vote no on the calvert amendment. With that i yield back, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. Blackburn, for five minutes. Mrs. Blackburn thank you, mr. Chairman. I come to the floor today to discuss h. R. 2964, the clear Law Enforcement for criminal alien removal act. This is a bill that i have had and have introduced every Congress Since 2007. We have many members of the body, mr. Chairman, who have joined as cosponsors of this legislation. What it would do specifically is this. It would ensure that state and local Law Enforcement officials have the tools necessary to help the federal government deport criminal illegal aliens from the United States. My legislation would require the department of Homeland Security when a state or local Law Enforcement Agency Arrests an alien and requests d. H. S. To take custody of that alien to do a few specific things. Number one they have to take the alien into federal custody and incarceration within 48 hours. And request that the state or municipality temporarily incarcerate the alien or transport the alien to federal custody. This would allow them to remove this individual from the country and bar them from coming back. To reimburse, the federal government to reimburse local and State Government and to withhold funds from sanctuary cities. Now, we have heard a lot about these issues in the last few days and one of the problems that we have is the sanctuary cities, and mr. Chairman, i have for my colleagues a map that was prepared by the center for immigration studies. We now have in this country 200 sanctuary cities and im reading from this map, more than 200 cities, counties and states across the u. S. Are considered sanctuary cities. Now, what happens in these cities is they choose to work around and to circumvent or not to abide by federal law when it comes to immigration policy. Thats one of the reasons passing the clear act is so important. Holding them accountable. Also reading from the map, i find it so interesting that the department of justice has never sued or taken any measure including denying federal funds against a jurisdiction that is a sanctuary city. On the other hand, we know that d. O. J. Actually sued the state of arizona for trying to strengthen its immigration laws. So i would come to the floor today as we talk about dealing with the criminal illegal alien population and highlighting h. R. 2964. I would ask my colleagues, what does your vote record say about your action . Are you strengthening federal law and abiding by federal law, or do those actions strengthen sanctuary cities . Do they provide more accountability . Is that what youre providing through your vote actions, or is it something that allows a violation of federal law to continue . I think it is imperative that we address the issue of criminal illegal aliens, we address the issue of sanctuary cities and, mr. Chairman, i think that it is imperative that we move forward with passage of the clear act by this body. Its a simple bill. I encourage my colleagues to read it. Its 21 pages, and you will find in there that it addresses these issues that are front and fort most in our minds today front and foremost in our minds today and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The chair recognizes mr. Clyburn for five minutes. Mr. Clyburn thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i would like first of all to thank the speaker of this house and the other members who came to charleston last month to help us with the ceremonies for the senator. Id also like to thank especially my colleagues senator tim scott senator Lindsey Graham congressman sanford for joining with us as we stood with the governor of South Carolina and called for removing the confederate battle flag from the grounds of the state house. This afternoon at 4 00, as a result of a very definitive vote early this morning of 9420, the governors going to sign the bill, and tomorrow morning at 10 00 the flag will be removed from the state house. I regret that im not going to be able to accept the governors invitation and be there this afternoon because around 4 00 this afternoon were going to be voting here on this floor. I understand there will be around 25 votes, and 24 of them i might feel all that bad, but one of them i cannot afford to miss because that one i might feel that bat missing, but one of them i cannot afford to miss because that one, the calvert amendment, votes taken by this body to join with South Carolina, alabama and activities going on in mississippi to get rid of any official application to this flag the confederate battle flag. Now, i think its important for us to point out that this is not the Confederate Flag. The confederacy had three flags. This was never one of them. This flag is a flag the confederate battle flag of the army of northern virginia. Robert e. Lees army. And when robert e. Lee surrendered he asked all of his followers to if you recall this flag. Stow it away he said. Put it in your attics. He refused to be buried in his confederate uniform. His family refused to allow anyone dressed in the confederate uniform to attend his funeral. Why . Because robert e. Lee said he considered this emblem to be a symbol of treason. Yet, calvert puts up an amendment that were going to vote on this afternoon to ask us to allow this flag to be sold and displayed in our National Parks. I was so proud when the decision was made by the National Park service. Fort sumpter a National Park where the civil war started off the coast of charleston, South Carolina, they decided to take away all of these symbols. But the calvert amendment is saying no, dont take them away. Put them back. And we are going to ratify the action to do so. Im calling upon all of my colleagues to come to this floor this afternoon to remember that it is on this date in 1868 that South Carolina, where it all started South Carolina was the state that gave the votes necessary to ratify the 14th amendment. To me, a very, very important amendment. Full of due process and equal protection of the laws. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from florida mr. Bilirakis, for five minutes. Mr. Bilirakis thank you, mr. Chairman. I appreciate it very much. Mr. Speaker, in march before a joint meeting of congress, the Prime Minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu, warned history has placed us at a fateful crossroads. As a world leader at the forefront of this crossroad, i believe america has a responsibility to prevent a nuclear iran. An iran with Nuclear Weapons capabilities would further exacerbate and destabilize the region and would certainly inspire an arms race among other nonnuclear nations. The Obama Administrations Foreign Policy missteps does not inspire confidence that the current negotiations will conclude any differently. After numerous delays negotiations are veering further away from any type of reasonable agreement that would contain Irans Nuclear ambitions. I do not trust this administration as it approaches the reversal of a half century of Nuclear Nonproliferation policy. As chairman royce stated over the weekend, the Obama Administrations fundamental mystery of the Iranian Regime is part of what makes this potential agreement so dangerous to our nation our National Security. The sanctions relief numbers that are being reported now are staggering and will directly undercut years of democratic success. Sanctions are a vital tool when working to keep our citizens and allies out of harms way. In dealing with an aggressive state sponsor of terror there should be no daylight between the position of republicans and democrats in congress nor congress, with the president or the United States, with our allies. Civilized nations must stand united against the destructive output from rogue regimes like iran. As it stands now, the reported details of the deal will not dismantle the Nuclear Ambitions of the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism. If the past is any indication of the future, we can expect that iran will continue to employ its stonewalling tactics, blocking any Real Transparency or inspections of its nuclear facilities. Why isnt iran answering questions asked four years ago by the International Atomic Energy Agency about their past activities . How can we trust a country that wont answer simple questions or allow scientists to be interviewed . How can we set up a sanctions relief system that is based on trust and verification if the country has proven objectively incapable of trust and transparency . We certainly cannot continue to overlook iranian compliance failures, as reported this week in the Washington Post, nor come anywhere close to lifting a successfully firmed arms embargo. These negotiations will have longterm implications on every country on this planet. I believe the United States has a responsibility to stand with israel and other allies across the globe now more than ever. We must ensure our allies know they do not stand alone. With the current negotiations extended once again, it appears that the Administration Simply wants to get any agreement. This administration, i believe its a legacy item for the president , mr. Speaker. This administrations willingness to ignore irans troublesome behavior throughout negotiations does not inspire confidence. President obama promised seven years ago that he would not allow iran to develop a Nuclear Weapon. He is failing to keep that promise to the American People and the rest of the world in my opinion. The stakes are too high. Negotiations are reaching a critical moment as we speak here today. This Administration Needs to understand one indisputable truth, a bad deal is worse than no deal. I yield back. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. Sanchez, for five minutes. Mrs sanchez thank you mr. Speaker. Ms. Sanchez thank you mr. Speaker. This year marks the 40th anniversary since the end of the vietnam war and 20 years of normalized relations between the u. S. And vietnam. And this week our president hosted the general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party tron, a political leader but not an official leader. And during that meeting, i know that the two leaders discussed more normalization of economic and military issues and i know that president obama brought up the issue of human rights, but im going to say this after 19 years in this congress of fighting for human rights around the world that the vietnamese communist government always promises when Economic Issues are on the table to do Something Better with respect to their human rights record but they never follow through. In fact, it gets worse. And so today, as the cochair of the congressional caucus on vietnam, i dont want to focus on what the economic implications are and the trade implications are that are going on with respect to vietnam but i want to remind my colleagues about what is happening with respect to human rights in vietnam. Win men is currently serving a knownyear prison term after being charged with attempting to overthrow the government under article 59 of the stoogs of that contry. Her crime . She was arrested he while taking photographs during a protest against chinese encroachment of the stratly island. A Community Organizer and contributing journalist for vietnam redemocraticorist news is currently serving a 13year prison sentence for defending human rights and promoting democracy. He has been charged with attempting to overthrow the government. He is currently suffering from harsh treatment in prison including torture and dekneel to medical care watt denial to medical care, water and food. Deng another activist currently serving a 13year sentence under article 79 in response to advocating for education. Imagine this, for education for children living in poverty. For aid to people with disabilities. And for religious freedom in vietnam. Hes also a victim of mistreatment and torture in the prison system. Tran, a you human rights activist and proor, was alsoared for writing blogs that calendar for political reform and and improved human rights in vietnam. He only peace fle exercised his rights of freedom of expression, yet he was charged with attempting to overthrow the governmentnd article 79. He has been sentenced to 16 years in prison and five years of house arrest. These are just four of the so many people in prison in vietnam. The government of vietnam continues to deny its citizens the rights to freedom of speech freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, freedom of religion. And although vietnam strives to further its relations with the u. S. It does not grant human rights to its people. So, i understand that president obama has agreed to visit vietnam in the near future, and i strongly urge that not only the president and the Administration Work on the issues of human rights with respect to the vietnamese people, about that we in the congress continue to patients bill of rights because as we know, as americans people around the world look to us as the shining light of upholding democrat is he and whoman rights and freedom and liberty, freedom of the press, and freedom of asemble. I yield back. Thank, mr. Speaker. Soap the gentlewoman yields back. The chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, mr. Frelinghuysen, for five meant. Mr. Frelinghuysen mr. Speaker, we are quickly approaching one of the most important deadlines in the recent history of the National Security of the United States. The often postponed end of negotiations to halt Irans Nuclear weapons program. I support the goal of stopping Irans Nuclear weapons ambition forever. And i have grave fears that the United States is headed down a very dangerous path of concession and surrender to a terrorist regime that has had american blood on its hands since 1979, military and civilian. Each and every day we need read new reports that iranian leaders are systematically moving the goal posts on these important negotiations. Let me cite a few examples. First, any prudent agreement would allow no notice enspecials of suspected not just declared, Iranian Nuclear weapon sites. Yet the iranian plarlment has passed legislation banning inspections of their military installations. Senior iranian officials have also taken it further declaring i quote, not only will we not grant foreigners permission to inspect our military sites, well not even give them permission to think about such a subject, end of quotation. This attitude would make any agreement totally unverifiable. Secondly any worthwhile agreement would phase in sanctions relief as the regime proves over time it has complied with all provisions. Yet president a hani has declared, i quote, we will not sign any deal unless sanctions are lifted on the same day. End of quotations. Why would we allow iran to boost its staggering economy by providing an immediate Capital Infusion with which to support their relentless military intelligence and political efforts across the globe . President obamas explanations have been nothing short of baffling. He told National Public radio, i quote, who if at all can you prevent aran from using its new wealth over the next several years to support assad of certificatea, to support hezbollah, van hollen toors in yemen or elsewhere . I mean, theres been no lessening of they are support for hezbollah or assad during the course of the last four or five years at a time when their economy has been doing terribly. End of quotation. If thats the point, mr. President. The United States should not throw up its hands and actually allow the iranian economy to be stimulated or have even more money to solidify their place as the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism. Immediate sanctions relief will only provide more resources for them to use and their proxy militias in iraq dominate that country, and advance their goals in syria yemen, and elsewhere. Of course theyll have more motivation to do so. The tentative agreement announced in april and everything we have heard and read since then seems to reinforce the lesson that this administration is willing to give away much more in return for nothing in the way of changing their behavior. Once again we must never forget that iran has american blood on its hands since 1979. Iran has cheated before and is likely to cheat again. Yet the administration makes concession after concession to iran, even as iran has violence in syria and iraq and threatens our safety in the middle east and develops new icbms. My colleagues, Irans Nuclear Program Weapons quest must be blocked indefinitely, including verifiable dismantlement of its weapons infrastructure. They cannot be allowed to remain a threshold Nuclear Weapon state only to join the nuclear club the moment the agreement lapses. From where i stand and what we know today, we must oppose this agreement. In fact, no deal is better than no deal. Mr. Chairman, id like to yield to the gentlewoman from texas. My remaining time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized for one meant. Ms. Jackson lee i rise to follow up, to ask america to be unified and to be able to have a debate on the floor of the house on a resolution that i offered, 342, and to the gentleman from new jersey, it says enhancement of unity in america. What it speaks to is for this body to go on record for saying that divisive emblems and symbols, swastikas, a rebel flag, a fighting flag, does not even represent the flag most people think it is the Confederate Flag, this is a rebel flag. To put those away. To educate our children about the excitement of how diverse we are. To be reminded of history of reconstruction. Africanamericans who are senators and congresspersons. To look at schools who now carry names of people who really might be considered treasonous. To be able to stand on the floor today or next week as those in South Carolina did in a civil way so that our children will know that these symbols that divide are not history. And to be able to stand together in supporting the diversity of america. That is what i stand for. And i stand with houston who is reconsidering many school names at this time. I yield back. I thank the gentleman for his kindness. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. Kildee. For five minutes. Mr. Kildee thank you, mr. Speaker. Overnight House Republicans have dramatically and inexplicably reversed their position on taking down terribly divisive symbol the confederate battle flag. While they initially allowed House Democratic amendments to remove this symbol from our National Parks late last night they allowed an amendment on voice which was challenged and now will be on the floor for roll call later today to keep, believe it or not, keep the Confederate Flag as a symbol for sale and for dess play in americas National Parks. Of course this mornings headlines, scathing headlines tell it all. House g. O. P. Takes step back on Confederate Flag. Unbelievable. Its a shame, its really a shame that House Republicans last night, very late last night, without warning attempted to turn back important progress on taking down this terrible and divisive symbol. This of course happens just weeks, days literally, after nine americans were sleighed in an Historic Black Church in charlton charleston, South Carolina a terrible and tragic massacre committed by an evil individual who wrapped hem self in that very symbol. And celebrated the hate it stood for. I attended the funeral of reverend pinkney. With other members of congress grieved with that community in they are pain. And saw that community asking themselves a question, why . Why does that hateful symbol, that flag, continue to fly over they are State Capitol . So on the same day that the South Carolina legislature expressed the will of its people and the American People and voted overwhelmingly to take down this horrible symbol, on the same day that South Carolina voted to take down that hateful symbol, a member of this house of representatives came to this floor and offered an amendment to preserve that symbol in americas National Parks. What a shame. It amazon, walmart, sears, all have taken that symbol out of their stores. No longer sell it. But the Republican Leadership allowed and would have allowed on voice vote an amendment to stand that would preserve the right to have that symbol sold in our National Parks. What a shame. I hope the American People are watching and paying attention to this because its a moment of truth, i think, for this congress. And i hope and i pray the democrats and republicans, i know the feelings of the Democratic Caucus we spoke about it this morning, but i hope well be joined by republicans on the other side in turning back this awful amendment that would say horrible things about the progress that we hoped that we had made just in the last few weeks. I ask americans to join us. Use social media, hash tag take it down. Express yourself. Join with us in rejecting this horrible symbol of hate. Lets take it down. With that, mr. Speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The chair recognizes the gentleman from iowa, mr. King, for five minutes. Mr. King thank you, mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to address you here on the floor of the house of representatives and being recognized. I have been listening to this debate over the last week or so and its troubled me considerably to watch divisions being driven between the American People over symbolism that has now been redefined by a lot of members of the opposite party. I regret like all of us do in this country the tragic and brutal and evil murders of the nine people in charleston, South Carolina. I pray for them and their families and they stood up and showed us an example of faith that i think surpasses any that i have seen in my lifetime by forgiving the killer. Im not to that point in my faith, mr. Speaker, at least that i can tell. But that was very moving. And they didnt want to see a division created. They wanted to heal. And they wanted to have they wanted to see christs love come out of charleston. Charleston is a wonderful and beautiful city, and i dont know where id go to find nicer people if i couldnt go home. I cant say enough good about that. But i have listened to this rhetoric that has poured for the over these days. Forth over these days. It appears knee it is being turned into something that is division rather than unifying. We unified in our grief with the people of South Carolina, the people of as a symbol to be redefined as Something Different than its understood by the majority of the American People. I grew up in the north mr. Speaker, and the Confederate Flag always was a symbol of the pride of the south from where i grew up, my family, my predecessors my ancestors, were abolitionists. They went to war to put an end to slavery. Mr. Speaker, i have in my now in my hand this is a leather bound new testament bible that was carried in the shirt pocket of my great uncle john richardson, and its written in side here, presented to him on the eve of his departure for the war in july of 1862. And he walked home three years to the day with this bible in his shoirt pocket, having protected him. It has verses that are written in it. I found his picture, his muss can he tell, his bayonet, his belt buckle and his ink file. Thats whats left of this man who committed himself to putting an end to slavery but his cousin, my five times great grandfather, was killed in that effort. Many gave their lives to put an end to slavery. As i was standing before lincolns memorial reading his second inaugural address and ill read this into the speaker. Lincolns second inaugural address, march 4,1865. Fondly do we hope and pray yet if god wills does it by the bondsman 250 years of unrecognize witted toil shall be sunk and every drop of blood shall be paid by another drawn by the sword as was said 3,000 years ago and so still must be said, the judgments of the lord are true and righteous altogether. Mr. Speaker, these are not disputed numbers. The numbers of americans that were killed putting an end to slavery and saving the union 600,000. Another number not disputed, the number of black africans who was brought to now the United States to be slaves, 600,000. I take you back to the words. Every drop of blood drawn by the last shall be paid by another drawn by the sword. The judgments of the lord are true and righteous altogether. A huge price has been paid. Its paid primarily by caucasian christians. There are many who stepped up because they profoundly believed that me needed to put an end to slavery. This country has put this behind us. We bend through this brutal and bloody battle. Weve gone back together through the reconstruction and weve healed this countries together, and i regret deeply that in a that were watching this country be divided again over a symbol of free country. When i go to germany and they outlawed the swaths can, i say we have the First Amendment. Were open enough. We have to tolerate the desecration of old glory, the American Flag. Yet we have people saying theyre offended by a symbol. Theyre the ones putting it up for all to say and theyre saying we should outlaw that so the American People dont have a chance to see our heritage. Everything about americas history is not glorious. Everything about our history is not right in our judgment looking back in hindsight, but none of us know what it was like for those that lived during that time and that era. We can accept our history. We can be proud of our history. When unify our history. We can grieve for those who were murdered and we can preserve our First Amendment rights. Thank you, mr. Speaker. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. Green, for five minutes. Mr. Green thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are seminole moments in time. The bombing of pearl hashon was a moment in time that will live in infamy. The crossing of the Edmund Pettis bridge was a similar knoll similar knoll moment in time. It was a turning point in the civil rights, human rights movement. There are moments in time. The house of representatives confronts a seminal moment in time. Will we allow the healing to continue or will we try to roll back the clock . There are seminal moments in time. If we take this vote, and i hope that we will not theres indication we may not but if we take this vote, the taking of the vote itself can be a seminal moment in time. A vote to legitimize the Confederate Flag the battle flag would be a seminal moment in time for the United States house of representatives. A flag that represents slavery, a flag that represents division. We have come together in this country under a flag that represents unity, one that stands for liberty and justice for all. The flag of the United States of america. This is not that flag. We confront seminal moments in time. In South Carolina the South Carolina senate and house of representatives stood tall when confronting a seminal moment in time and the confederate battle flag will be removed. I was so proud to hear a relative, a descendent of Jefferson Davis, take to the floor of the house of representatives in South Carolina and proclaim that the flag must come down. Seminal moments in time. We have our opportunity to do that which is right, to do what dr. King talked about when he said, the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. We can bend the arc of the moral universe towards justice or we can turn back the clock, understanding that this is a symbol that cause loose of pain for a lot of people. This symbol would have prevented my having an opportunity to stand here if it had prevailed. I call upon all people of good will to please do the righteous thing, not just the right thing, do the righteous thing. How can you possibly vote for this after you saw the relatives of the nine who were killed stand in court before a judge and before the person who was the assailant the person who actually killed people and say, i forgive you . We have forgiven those who have fought to enslave us. We have forgiven. I forgive you. How could you possibly now decide that you will legitimize this symbol of hatred, of slavery, of a bygone era, of a time when people were not even proclaimed to be human beings in the minds of many . So this is a great opportunity for this house of representatives to answer the clairian call of justice to do as dr. King indicated, to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice, but its also something else. Its an opportunity to see where we are. There will be a moment in time beyond this time when someone will look back upon these moments and they will look to see where we stood. Where did you stand when you had the chance to stand for righteousness . Where were you when you had an opportunity to vote to recognize justice as opposed to the injustice associated with this symbol . And i leave you with these words. Harder yet may be the fight. Right may often yield to might. Wickedness may seem to rain and satans calls may seem to gain. But there is a god that rules above to the hand of power and when we are right he will help us fight. I stand against this symbol. I stand for the American Flag. I stand for justice. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. Poe, for five minutes. Mr. Poe thank you mr. Speaker. Today the terrorist army of isis is stronger than ever. It mames, rapes, pillages, burns and beheads in its zeal to commit religious genocide against anyone who disagrees with them. Isis controls and manipulates the minds of thousands of foreign fighters, including those that come from the United States. This is done arrogantly through American Social media companies. The u. S. answer to the isis threat well, lets see what it is. Part of the current u. S. Strategy is to train foreign mercenaries to fight against isis. Its had a yearlong american budget of about 500 million. The program is to equally Fund Equipment and to train these socalled moderates from syria to fight isis. I call them mercenaries. However, the secretary of defense of the United States carter admitted that even after this one year of training the United States has only trained 60 60 of these moderate syrian rebels. If i do my math correctly, mr. Speaker, we are spending about 4 million apiece on these 60 fighters to go and fight supposedly isis. This is embarrassingly pathetic. The greatest nation that has ever existed sees isis as such a threat that were going to send 60 folks to do to try to take care of them. Ironically there are more americans fighting with isis than we have rebels that have been trained to fight against isis. The United States obviously is not taking isis seriously. Isis even mocks the United States and its 60 fighters on once again American Social media. There is more. The president has recently admitted that the United States didnt have a complete strategy against isis. Now, isnt that lovely . The question is mr. Speaker, is isis a National Security threat to the United States . That is the question. That is the question that has to be answered by the administration and by congress. And a decision needs to be made by the administration. Its time for the administration to pick a horse and ride it. If isis is a threat, then we must have a plan to defeat them. Then actively implement the plan and defeat isis. Mr. Speaker, the commander in chief needs to lead. He needs to command or isis will continue its reign of terror in the middle east and other parts of the world and thats just the way it is. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The chair recognizes the gentleman from minnesota, mr. Ellison, for five minutes. Mr. Ellison thank you, mr. Speaker. If theres any doubt in the mind of any person what this confederate battle flag stands for, i urge people not to listen to me. I urge you to listen to the successionists themselves. Heres a quote from the declaration of the immediate causes which induce and justify the succession of South Carolina from the federal union. It says, this sectional combination for the submergeon of the constitution has been aided in some of the states by elevating to citizenship persons who, by the supreme law of the land, are incapable of becoming citizens and their votes have been used to inaugurate a new policy hostile to the south and destruction of its beliefs and safety. Those persons from black people. That those persons were black people. That policy was ending the enslavement of millions of people based on their race. Heres a quote from the Vice President of the confederacy. I think he can speak authoritatively of what the symbol means. Mr. Vice president Alexander Stevens said our new government is founded upon the exactly opposite of the american idea. Its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man, that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. That is what the Vice President of the Confederate States said under banners like this one as they were fighting and offering the lives of their own children to maintain slavery. This is what the flag represents. And i hereby yield the remainder of my time to mr. Cicilline. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman venged. Is recognized. Mr. Cicilline thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Last night the South Carolina house of representatives finally approved legislation to take down the symbol of hatred and bigotry in the darkest time in our nations history. Its shameful that less than 24 hours after the state of South Carolina took this important step for progress and equality, the United States house of representatives would consider an amendment that would allow the Confederate Flag to be placed in National Park service cemeteries. Lets be clear. This amendment is a symbol of hate and anyone who supports its being in a place of honor is imposing an insult on anyone who has experienced racism in their lives or believes in americas founding principles that equality justice, and freedom. 150 years ago, hundreds of thousands of brave soldiers died to save our union and to defeat all the ugly beliefs that the confederate battle flag represents. Dr. Martin luther king was fond of saying that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. Our country has come far since the end of the civil war, but returning this flag to a place of honor would undermine that progress. Its time to relegate this symbol of hate to the duft bin dust bin of history. Take it down. With that i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore to mr. Swalwell. The gentleman is recognized. Mr. Swalwell i thank the gentleman from minnesota for leading on this issue. It must be Throwback Thursday because just yesterday the South Carolina statehouse finally voted to take down the Confederate Flag. However, today our House Republican colleagues, they want a bill, they want an amendment that will put that flag back up. And have allow people to salute that same flag across our country and National Parks. It is time to finally once and for all take down an ugly flag that is nothing more than a tribute to an ugly past. Mr. Speaker, lets throw down this flag. Lets not throw back to an ugly part of our history. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Elie slon i yield the balance mr. Ellison i yield the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. Pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until noon today. That heres the news from jake sherman from politico saying lots of speeches on that on the house floor that just wrapped up and House Speaker john boehner just addressed the issue. He just wrapped up his briefing with reporters. Heres a look. The speaker good morning, everyone. Here in the house we continue to get things done for the American People. For example, we passed the first real entitlement reforms since the 1990s. New tools to fight Human Trafficking, new resources to combat veterans sue sides and reforms to make our trade agreements better. This week we sent to the president a bill that gets our veterans permanent i. D. Card to prove their service. Yesterday we passed reforms to help more students get a good education no matter where theyre from. And tomorrow well pass the 21st Century Cures Initiative to get lifesaving treatments for patients who need them. So our focus continues to be on the peoples priorities. Iran by all accounts still isnt serious about abandoning its Nuclear Weapons program. When the president when will the president and his negotiators stand strong . We cannot accept a deal that hands iran billions of sanctions relief while allowing it to retain the capability to build a bomb almost immediately. Iran is a global menace. Iran is the Worlds Largest state sponsor of terror, and i think its a pipe dream to think that the regime will ever be a responsible partner when it comes to iraq yemen and syria. So i think its time for the administration to come back to earth. On monday, president obama made a statement it at the pentagon just 24 hours before secretary carters shocking admission that were only training 60 syrian fighters. He said no in change in our fight against isis. Nothing is going to change, i dont know how were going to expect to win. President obama i think has to lay out a broad overarching strategy to defeat and destroy these savage terrorists. Ive outlined on a number of occasions what in my view an overarching strategy should look like. We should give our commanders on the ground more flexibility. Need to combat isils use of social media, and we need to engage not ignore, our longstanding allies. We only have one commander in chief at a time. However, its his responsibility to lead this fight against isil. Lastly, on the issue of benghazi and the work of the select Committee Secretary clinton said and ill quote, it is the fact that we have released all of the emails that any government relation that have any government relationship whatsoever. Thats just isnt true. He said, she said, Sidney Blumenthal sent me unsolicited emails. Thats not true either. And secretary clinton said, and ill quote theres no subpoena regarding her email. That isnt true either. All these facts from uncovered by the Benghazi Select Committee and they were uncovered despite the efforts of secretary clinton and the state department to delay, derail and stop this factfinding investigation. As chairman gowdy said this week secretary clinton had a statutory duty to preserve these records from her time in office. She had a legal duty to cooperate and tell the truth with congressional investigators requesting her records, going back to 2012. So four americans lost their lives in this terrorist attack. The American People deserve the truth about what really happened. Secretary clinton, the state department are prolonging this investigation. They need to stop dragging this out. They need to start cooperating and step up document production so we can get all the facts. Frankly, thats not too much to ask. Reporter how is an amendment to preserve the Confederate Flag the speaker what our members tried to address the concerns yesterday in a way that was consistent with how the Obama Administration has handled this issue. I frankly supported the goal of trying to work with all the parties to address their concerns but listen, we all witnessed the people of charleston and the people of South Carolina come together in a respectful way to deal with frankly what was a very horrific crime and a difficult issue with the Confederate Flag. I actually think its time for some adults here in the congress to actually sit down and have a conversation about how to address this issue. I do not want this to become some political football. It should not. And so i would expect youll see some conversations in the coming days. Reporter do you think they should be at federal cemeteries Confederate Flags . Spoirk no. The speaker no. Reporter Jared Huffman and democrats who did it put an amendment in the appropriations bill, what do you mean it has become a political football . As you know southern members approached leadership saying theyll vote against the interior bill with this amendment. What do you mean political football . It was regular order adopted by voice vote. It was reversed. How is it political football . The speaker i think when you look at several weeks ago there was a privileged resolution dropped and then there were these amendments, i want members on both sides of the aisle to sit down, lets have a conversation about how to address what frankly has become a thorny issue. Reporter can you tell us what does that conversation entail . Is this some sort of special committee, commission . Is it the house and senate . The speaker i have some ideas. When i firm them up in my head ill let you know. Reporter mr. Speaker, im a little unclear what youre suggesting goes on in talks. You have been persistently suspect of whats going on here, but yet if the United States pulls out there is no agreement, a lot of people say that is a path to war and is a far worse alternative. Are you thinking that is the route we go, we dont have a agreement, then its military action against iran because we dont have a framework . The speaker no, i disagree with that entire notion. The fact is that the administration has backed away from their own guidelines that they set up going into this. What they were trying to accomplish. They backed away from every one of them. And i dont im not trying to stop any deal here. What im trying to do is stop a bad deal because a bad deal is going to frankly put in the hands of the iranians a Nuclear Weapon. Im opposed to it. Reporter when you say you disagree with the notion here, are you what is it the alternative, why wouldnt there be military action . Why wouldnt iran build a Nuclear Weapon and the United States see increased terrorist threats here . The speaker i think the sanctions put in place ought to go back in place. And make it clear to iran that the World Community is not going to accept their development of a Nuclear Weapon. Reporter the bill has been pulled from the house floor, can you explain your thinking why you did that and what is the then the debate on the the speaker i just told you. I believe its time for some members to sit down and have cafferings about how to deal with this issue in a responsible way. Because i believe that members on both sides of the aisle want to deal with it in a responsible way. Reporter speaking on another issue thats a political football. You said for some time that your party needs to fix the broken immigration system. Members of your party have been denouncing the comments of donald trump who is running for president saying that all mexicans were rapists. As the leader of your party, had to call on yesterday and ask the opponent down, whats your message to donald trump and are you concerned about the impact that debate is having on your party . The speaker i disagree with mr. Trumps comments. And frankly i think when you look at the president ial candidates theyve all pretty well made their position clear. This has become the biggest political football ive seen in my congressional career. The issue of illegal immigration and what to do with it. As i said last week, its not going to get resolved by congress sticking their heads in the sand. And if we want to resolve issues, like we see developed in San Francisco and elsewhere we need to get serious about enforcing the laws we have. We all like the laws we have then we need if we dont like the laws we have, then we neat to sit down and get it resolved. Id rather have it resolved sooner rather than later. Reporter will they work on immigration legislation later this year . The speaker i would hope so. Reporter like what . The speaker i would hope so. Reporter the conversation you had about the flag, does that extend to any resolution . The committees theyve been sent to have no immediate plans to hold any hearings. The speaker i just think that we ought to address this in a fairly broadway. I got a pretty good idea the kind of members who ought to be part of that conversation. Reporter but mr. Speaker, are you saying that will there be a vote on the calvert amendment or is that what youre going to discuss . The speaker no, that bills going to that bill will sit until we can come to some resolution on this. Thanks, everybody. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] and following up, rebecca of the hill tweeting the white house whip update confirms the house will no longer vote on the interior and environment spending today. They had plan to finish up work on the amendments to that bill and one of those amendments would have allowed display of the Confederate Flag at federal cemeteries. This after earlier in the week the house passing three amendments by voice vote, limiting the use and prohibiting the use of the Confederate Flag in various ways. So the entire bill has been pulled from consideration this afternoon or final work this afternoon on the house floor. That depe bait last night debate last night happening about 8 30 eastern. Led there last year by ken calvert of california who was managing the bill on the floor. Lauren gardner of c. Q. Saying ken calverts statement saying, quote, looking back, i regret not conferring with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Also saying, quote, the amendment was brought to me by the leadership at the request of some southern members of the republican caucus. That tweet from Laura Barron Lopez of huffington post. And Christina Marcos tweets, remarkable that the house debated 100plus amendments on the interior bill over the course of 13 hours all for the bill to be pulled over the Confederate Flag. Governor haley signing the bill in South Carolina this afternoon at 4 00. Well keep you posted on coverage plans. Now live to the house floor. The hou ll be in order thpray w be re b oupln,roy. Chaplconr ts p lo g gi you for giv u another in these most important days in debates here in the peoples house inspire them to Work Together with charity and enjoy to live in a prosperous and secure future. This week in the wake of celebrating the great blessings bestowed upon our republic, please bless those who serve in uniform wherever they may be. Please keep all the members of this congress and all who work for the peoples house in good health they might fulfill the responsibility given them. Bless us this day and every day. May all that is done here be for your greater honor and glory amen. The speaker the chair has examined the journal of the last days proceedings and announces his approval. Pursuant to clause 1 rule 1 the journal stands approved. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america the pledge of allegiance will be led by mrs. Beatty. Mrs. Beatty i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The speaker the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for oneminute speeches on each side of the aisle. For what purpose does the gentleman from New Hampshire rise . Mr. Guinta to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker without objection. Mr. Guinta mr. Speaker, i rise today in support of the land and Water Conservation fund and its impact on both New Hampshires Natural Resources and our access to hunting, fishing and outdoor activities. Established by congress in 1965, the lwcf provides money to federal, state and local governments to provide money to purchase water. As granite staters know, were proud to call this our home. From the seacoast region to the White Mountain National Forest, Outdoor Recreation are vital to New Hampshires first districts economy. The Outdoor Association found that active Outdoor Recreation generates 4. 2 billion annually in New Hampshires economy. Supports more than 50,000 jobs across the state and produces 293 million annually in state and local revenue. Furthermore, over 800,000 people hunt, fish or watch wildlife in New Hampshire each Year Spending over 560 million on wildliferelated recreation. Its no surprise that the the lwcf preserves our beautiful state. I ask my colleagues to join in support of this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition . Without objection. Mr. Higgins mr. Speaker today 1. 5 million americans will be diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately Innovative Research has led to more effective and accessible treatments, however, insurance has not kept pace with the science and Cancer Patients are paying the price. Chemotherapy, previously administered only through injection, is now available for many types of cancer in pill form. Today oral chemotherapy represents 35 of all new cancer drugs. However, copayments for oral chemo can be hundreds or thousands of dollars per month. As a result, patients preventing patients from filling their prescriptions. A cancer patient should never be forced to make a treatment decision based on finances. Thats why i joined Leonard Lance to reintroduce the cancer drug parody act to cover traditional chemotherapy, to provide no less favorable coverage for prescribed orally administered drugs. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan effort to ensure cans remember patients can receive their treatments their doctors prescribe. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition . Without objection. Mr. Speaker david keane for 27 years headed the american conservative opinion and is now opinion editor of the washington times. He wrote as a result of our wars and attempts at nation building in the middle east there is, quote, a generation of Young Americans who have never known peace, a decade in which thousands of our best have died or have been maimed with little to show for their sacrifices, our enemies have mult lied and our multiplied and our National Debt has sky rotted. Mr. Duncan now well spend billions in our o. C. O. Account for afghanistan and other parts of the middle east. This is over and above our regular defense budget. This oneyear 82 billion appropriation would more than pay for a sixyear highway bill which everyone on both sides say they want. Lets stop trying to foolishly rebuild the middle east and start rebuilding america. Lets bring all those hundreds of thousands of jobs home. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Lee thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in the strongest possible opposition to House Republican efforts to support hate through the promotion of the confederate battle flag. Make no mistake, the confederate battle flag is a symbol of hate and racism. The calvert amendment would allow for the display and sale of this symbol of hate at our National Parks and federal cemeteries. That is outrageous. This flag speaks to one of the darkest moments in our nations history and its display and sale in our National Parks is certainly unconscionable. Today our nation still grieves the tragedy in charleston and we remember the nine lives that were tragically cut short by a person whose sole goal was hate and division. The South Carolina legislature voted last night in a bipartisan way to take down the confederate battle flag from the state house. Likewise major retailers have removed this symbol of hate from their shelves. Yet, my republican colleagues want to return it to our National Parks and federal sem tears. This is simply cemeteries. This simply outrageous. Its past time our nation get serious about putting away not only these hateful similar symbols but ensuring justice and liberty for all. Its past time to take it down. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from North Carolina seek recognition . Without objection. Mr. Speaker as a result of the she will energy revolution, america has moved from Energy Scarcity to one of energy abundance. This shift is helping to drive Economic Growth, Environmental Stewardship and Greater Energy security. However, without the acceleration of natural Gas Infrastructure in all regions of the country only a few will benefit. A large interstate Gas Transmission project has been proposed to bring this affordable, reliable and cleaner Energy Source to southeastern South Carolina and with it the potential of Economic Growth in some of the states most economically challenged and rural areas. We are blessed with the Natural Resources and innovations in technology to be the Energy Capital of the world which would drive Economic Growth to new heights. Congress must put in place a pragsal and predictable regulatory structures that create a more stable climate for the natural gas industry. I urge my colleagues to support policy solutions that will lead to Energy Independence and Economic Growth for america. Mr. Speaker, i yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition . Without objection. Ms. Jackson lee thank you mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have children to educate. We have children to love and to ask them to understand what america is all about. We are southerners and northerners. We come from the east and the west. We love our cooking. We love our culture but we are americans. And so today i ask this body to allow us to debate this question through a resolution that enhances american unity, that takes the Supreme Courts statement in walker vs. The sons of the confederate veterans, a texas case, where an argue before the texas Motor Vehicles early on as a justice arguing against a confederate license plate. We won that case. The Supreme Court said that public speech that offends or oppresses some is not allowed. Im not asking for your flag on your car and your home. What im saying is this rebel flag does not represent america, does not teach our children. It does not heal. And i would offer to say that we are long overdufort debate like the senate in South Carolina to follow reverend pinkleys words that we have to know how to break the cycle, a roadway toward a better world. He knew that a path of grace involves an open mind an and open heart. I hope we enhance the unity of america, not this. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition . To address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Speaker, on july 14, cincinnati will host the major league allstar game and i want to take the opportunity to recognize a famous one, Charles Chuck harmon, the first africanamerican to play for the cincinnati reds. He paved the way for many africanamerican Major League Baseball players like Frank Robinson who credits harmon as helping launch his career. He entered the 1954 season on april 17 as the righthanded infielder with the reds with a. 242 batting average during his reds career, he was known as the fastest player. Ohios Second District continues to celebrate mr. Harmons legacy by celebrating his career at Great American ballpark at the allstar game 50 years after his first atbat. Mr. Wenstrup and by renaming a street the chuck harmon way and by unveiling a statue in roselawn. Thank you, chuck harmon, for your pioneering contributions for breaking the color barrier in our nations pastime. Mr. Harmon, your accomplishments will forever be remembered by generations of americans to come and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . Without objection. Mr. Speaker i awoke this morning to find news that last night in the wee hours house Republican Leadership advanced an amendment to allow the display of the confederate battle flag in federal cemeteries and to allow National Park Service Agents to do business with gift shops that sell confederate battle flags. Mr. Speaker, at a time when South Carolina, itself the cradle of the confederacy, has outlawed the flying of the confederate battle flag on their state house grounds, at a time when all americans were horrified at the slaughter of nine churchgoers by an individual motivated by that battle flag, at a time when everyone understands and acknowledges that it is a symbol of hate we find the house Republican Leadership wrapping itself in the confederate battle flag. I on or about to this and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas seek recognition . Mr. Speaker to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year i had the opportunity to meet with ambassador david, the u. S. Ambassador at large for International Religious freedom. Hes tasked with leading americas fight against religious persecution throughout the world. This is a significant mandate. Mr. Hill especially in the middle east where christians, jewish and minority muslim communities have been settled in the same areas for millennia and theyre being uprooted subgaited and murdered. This is not political domination. These rackets of pure unadulterated evil perpetuated by those of dark and wicked souls. Fundamental American Values among which are commitments to religious freedom and human rights will always be the cornerstone of this nations Foreign Policy. Time a proud cosponsor of h. R. 1150, the frank wolf International Religious freedom act, because now more than ever we need to ensure that former frank former congressman frank wolfs landmark legislation is updated for the 21st century. Be able to give us the best tools to promote religious freedom around the globe. I thank ambassador saberstein for his work and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition . I request permission to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Hahn mr. Speaker, i also rise to express my outrage that my republican colleagues in the darkness of the night offered a surprise amendment to allow the confederate battle flag to be displayed in our National Parks and at federal cemeteries. Just a couple of days ago this body voted to remove the confederate battle flag from our National Parks but my republican colleagues are choosing to raise the confederate battle flag again despite growing opposition by americans who recognize it as a disgraceful celebration of the war rage to prolong slavery in this country. Yesterday in a stunning sign of progress, South Carolina voted to take down that flag after 50 years of flying it at their State Capitol. Why do some here continue to insist on defending this painful symbol of racism . This is shameful and in the wake of the devastating murder of senator pinckney and eight others this is a new low for this congress. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Today, we have 10,000 known diseases, most of which are considered rare. However, we only have 500 cures for these diseases. Americans can do better than that, and today we have the opportunity to do so. We have a bill that will be heard here on the floor today 21st century cures act which im a cosponsor of and we have the opportunity to help so many people with increased funding and help find some cures and help people sometimes in our own family, people that we know, our friends, with some of the things that we face. Finally today, with all the negative press weve got, we have the opportunity to do some thing. Again, i ask that this house approve this bill and i yield back. Mrs. Beatty mr. Speaker the hope of a secure liveable world lies within those who believe in justice and equality for all. Democrats have worked in a bipartisan fashion to ban the display of Confederate Flags in federal cemeteries and National Parks services with doing business with gift shops that sell the Confederate Flag. The republicans brought out an amendment that would resurrect the Confederate Flag in our National Parks. I was appalled. This led to South Carolinas landmark vote last night to take down the Confederate Flag. If South Carolina can act certainly and surely congress can support our National Parks in asking them to not sell that flag. Mr. Speaker, these are americas parks, and they belong to all people. The nation is watching. Dont go down in history as not standing up against violence and racism. Mr. Speaker, i urge my colleagues to join me to ensure that we dont fail that fly that Confederate Flag. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does gentleman seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, last night in the South Carolina legislature we saw democrats and republicans join together to take down the Confederate Flag those with tears in their eyes and while the people of South Carolina move one step past this tragedy many House Republicans want to take our nation 150 years ago. We were scheduled to vote on the interior appropriations bill, the bill was pulled because members on the other side objected to banning the sale and flying of Confederate Flags. I heard the arguments. But it is moral coward is to pretend it is anything but hate and human oppression. The confederate battle flag belong on top our State Capitols and shouldnt be sold or displayed. It be longs in a museum of shame along the realics of hate and division that tore our country apart. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlelady from nevada seek recognition . Without objection. Ms. Titus sheriff ralph lamb, who passed away on july 3, was one of those larger than life characters who dotted the landscaper. A rancher, he embodied the independent cowboy spirit. He was john wayne and dirty harry all rolled into one. He was a rodeo rider and inspired a tv series and changed the future of las vegas by cleaning up the streets and bringing in the mob. Sheriff lamb wasnt afraid of the devil because he always had an angel on his shoulder. He cast a long shadow over las vegas when times were simpler but the stakes were high. Our community misses him. I miss him personally. And i look forward to to reading the biography on his amazing life. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlelady from alabama seek recognition . Ms. Sewell as a daughter of the south, a representative from alabama, a native of selma, alabama, i have to tell you i cannot believe in 2015, were talking about whether or not this body would allow on federal grounds, federal cemeteries and federal National Parks to display, the selling of this confederate battle flag. There is no denying that our constitution talked about we the people and no denying that this Confederate Flag is controversial. Some see it as heritage and most see it as hatred. I can tell you one thing. We the people, cannot allow on federal ground, we all pay taxes and our citizens of this great nation. And to allow this flag to be sold, to be displayed on federal land is unacceptable. I really hope that when i gather together 100 members of together 10 members of selma, it wasnt a kumbaya moment. Rather, i hope we will do we promised this nation and that is represent we, the people, by taking down this flag and not display it on any ground. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . Without objection. Mr. Speaker last week, many of us were proudly waving our flag, celebrating 4th of july and rooting on the successful womens soccer team in winning the world cup. Unfortunately, at the same time we were doing that and displaying our patriotism. The company that makes or yeoh cookies and ritz crackers decided that for the first time in 60 years, they would close their plant in the heart of my district laying off over 300 workers because they are shipping jobs to mexico. This is a company that is in no way in financial disarray. In fact, the receive news last year topped 50 billion. That plant that was closed was profitable but not profitable enough. There is good news, i do congratulate their c. E. O. , who got a 50 pay increase in the last few months at the at the same time workers in my district were getting laid off. Mr. Speaker, its not right. Say no to oreo. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from South Carolina seek recognition . Without objection. Mr. Price mr. Speaker, we have just learned that the interior appropriations bill will be pulled from the floor today. A number of southern irreconcilable republican members apparently planned to vote against the bill unless it permits the display of the Confederate Flag in our National Parks and permits vendors to sell confederate souvenirs. And i think that is unbelievable. Unbelievable after the unspeakable tragedy in charleston and action in the South Carolina legislature necessary to remove the battle flag from South Carolinas Capitol Grounds, but the house Republican Leadership last night chose to accommodate the southern republican irreconcilables and now they are pulling the interior bill. Mr. Speaker, we shouldnt have to debate whether a symbol of hatred and ap presentation in our nations darkest hour should be displayed on federal lands. Is the republican majority that out of touch . Let us join together, take down that battle flag. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition . Permission to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Schakowsky i heard the republicans have pulled their interior appropriations bill from the floor and i sure hope its because they have reconsidered their support for flying the confederate battle flag. Overturning an earlier decision of this very body by unanimous voice vote to take it down. Last night unbelievably, House Republicans acted to uphold the confederate battle flag at the very moment that South Carolina was voting to take it down. House republicans rushed to have National Park Service Continue to sell this symbol of hate and to keep the Confederate Flag flying on federal lands, even worse, House Republicans tried to cloak this shadely move by wrapping it in language about our American Flag and the m. I. A. P. O. W. Flag. How dare they. Sears, amazon and many other retailers have stopped selling that symbol of hate and thats what a republican state representative in South Carolina terfully called it. It is astonishing that the House Republicans are so out of touch. We cannot allow this shameful decision. Take down the flag. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition . Permission to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Win mr. Lipinski mr. Speaker a Strong Nuclear agreement that forestalls Irans Nuclear weapons could be positive for regional and National Security. However, i fear too many concessions are being made to secure a deal and a bad deal would be worse than no deal at all. We must remember iran sponsors terrorism throughout the region and they are a serious threat towards our ally israel. And disable their Nuclear Pursuits and giving them too much to secure a rapid deal will only increase irans threat. Thats why any agreement must have have standards for inspection any time and any place. Access to all background under prior military Nuclear Research must also be in the agreement. Limits on centrifuges and enrichments must be there. A breakout time no less than one year and air tight sanctions when iran violates these standards must also be included. Anything less should be rejected. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition . Permission to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Lewis mr. Speaker 50 years ago when we were beaten on the pet us bridge on the march, there were officers of the law when the confederate battle flag on their helmet, when the klan marred in our neighborhoods in georgia, South Carolina, countless homes in birmingham was bombed and burned and set fire to churches in the south the confederate battle flag was the symbol of cruelty and injustice, there is no way the federal government should ever display this flag on any federal site or sell it on federal property. It is a symbol of division, a symbol of separation. It is a symbol of hate. It is we must defeat every attempt to return this flag to federal property. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from South Carolina seek recognition . Request permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Clyburn nine people at mother emanuel a. M. E. Church in charleston, many members of this body came to charleston to help celebrate the life and legacy of reverend senator clementa pinckney. I thank the leadership showing their concern and i think thank the govern of South Carolina for calling for the removal of the confederate battle flag from the state house grounds. And 4 00 this afternoon shes going to sign the bill passed this morning around 1 30 a. M. By a vote of 9420 to remove that flag from the state house grounds. Tomorrow morning at 10 00, they will remove that flag. I cannot believe that today we have been asked to condone a backward step. Why would we in this body do such is beyond me. Mr. Speaker, i move that we now adjourn. The speaker pro tempore the question is on the motion to adjourn. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. Mr. Clyburn mr. Speaker, i request a recorded vote. The speaker pro tempore a recorded vote is 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. This is a 15minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned 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 theys are 14. The nays are 402. The motion is not agreed. To for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, pursuant to rule 9 i rise in regard to a question of the privileges of the house and i send to the desk a privileged resolution. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the resolution. The clerk raising a question of privileges of the house. Whereas at 4 00 p. M. Today, july 9, the governor of South Carolina will sign legislation to remove the display of the confederate battle flag. Whereas on december 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the union. Whereas on january 9, 1861, mississippi seceded from the union stating in its declaration of immediate causes that our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery, the greatest material interest of the world. Whereas on february 9 1861, the Confederate States of america was formed in a group of 11 states as supported sovereign nation with Jefferson Davis of mississippi as its president. Whereas on march 11 1861, the Confederate States of america adopted its own constitution. Whereas on april 12, 1861, the Confederate States of america fired shots upon fort sumter in sum ter in charleston, South Carolina effectively beginning the civil war. Whereas the United States did not recognize the Confederate States of america as a sovereign nation but rather as a rebel insurrection and took to military battle to bring the rogue states back into the union. Whereas on april 9 1865, general robert e. Lee surrendered to general ulysses s. Grant at appomattox courthouse in virginia, effectively ending the civil war and preserving the union. The Confederate States of america used the jack. Whereas since the end of the civil war, the navy jack, confederate battle flag has been appropriated by groups of symbols of hate terror and intolerance and supportive of the institution of slavery. Whereas groups such as white supremacist groups frighten, terrorize and call harms to groups of people with they have hateful intent, including africanamericans and hispanic and jewish americans. Along with mississippi House Speaker and other state leaders have spoken out and advocated for the removal of the confederacy on Mississippi State flag. Whereas many members of congress, including john boehner support the removal of the Confederate Flag from the grounds of the South Carolinas capitol. Speaker released a statement saying i commend the governor and other South Carolina leaders in their effort to remove the Confederate Flags. In his second inaugural address the month before his assassination, president lincoln ended his speech with these pa powerful words which are meaningful today as when they were spoken on the east front of the capitol on march 4, 1865. With malice toward none with charity for all, with firmness in the right as god gives us, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wounds and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a lasting peace with all nations. Whereas the house of representatives has several state flags with imagery of the confederacy throughout the main structures and house Office Buildings, whereas it is a fact that symbols of the confederacy insult many members of the general public. Whereas congress has never recognized the symbols of sovereign nations within whom it has gone to war, whereas continuing to display symbol of hatred oppression that nearly tore our union apart that is known to have been through many groups would damage the reputation of this august body, institution and offend the very dignity of the house of representatives. And whereas impairment of the dignity of the house and its members constitutes a violation of rule 11 of the rules of the house of representatives of the 114th congress, now therefore be it resolved that the speaker of the house of representatives shall remove any state flag containing any portion of the confederate battle flag other than a flag displayed by a member of the house from any area within the house wing of the whol and donate any such flag to the library of congress. The speaker pro tempore the resolution presents a question of privilege. The gentleman from california. I have a motion at the desk. The clerk mr. Mccarthy of california moves that the resolution be referred to the committee on House Administration. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. Gentleman is recognized for one hour. Mr. Mccarthy this raises an important question and the house would be best served by committee action. Im moving to refer it to House Administration. I yield back and move the previous question on the motion. The speaker pro tempore the question is on ordering the previous question. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The ayes have it. The previous question is ordered. Ms. Pelosi mr. Speaker, i ask for a recorded vote. Mr. Speaker i ask for a recorded vote. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady asking for a vote on ordering the previous question. Ms. Pelosi refer to committee. The speaker pro tempore the question has not put that question. Ms. Pelosi may i have a parliamentary inquiry . Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry. Ill wait until the recorded vote. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady ask for a recorded vote. A recorded vote is requested. Those in favor of taking this vote by record vote will rise and remain standing until counted. A sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a 15minute vote. The chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time of the question of ordering of the motion to refer. This is a 15minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned 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 238, the nays are 185. The previous question is ordered. The question is on adoption of the motion. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. The gentlelady from california. Recorded vote is requested. Those in favor of taking a vote by recorded means will rise and remain standing. A sufficient number having arisen a recorded vote is ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned 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 238. The nays are 176. With the motion is adopted. Ms. Pelosi thank you mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry. Now that the house has voted to refer my privileged resolution to committee can the chair inform members of the status of the thompson of mississippi resolution referred to the House Administration committee the same committee that we are referring today. That resolution was on the floor two weeks ago and referred to committee two weeks ago. Can you inform us of the status of it, especially in light of the actions taken by the South Carolina legislature and the governor of South Carolina to take down the confederate battle flag. The speaker pro tempore the chair cannot comment on any open committee proceedings. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. The motion to refer. The chair lays before the house a communication. The clerk the honorable the speaker, house of representatives. Sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2h of rule 2 of the rules of the u. S. House of representatives the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on july 9, 2015, at 9 09 a. M. That the Senate Passed without amendment h. R. 728, h. R. 891, h. R. 1326, h. R. 1350. Signed, sincerely, karen l. Haas. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . Mr. Burgess mr. Speaker, by direction of the committee on rules, i call up House Resolution 350 and ask for its immediate consideration. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the resolution. Report the clution. The clerk house calendar number 47, House Resolution 350. Resolved, that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2b of rule 18 dethe house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h. R. 6, to accelerate the Discovery Development, and delivery of 21st century cures, and for other purposes. The First Reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and amendments specified in this resolution and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce. After general debate, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the fiveminute rule. In lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on energy and commerce now printed in the bill, an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of rules Committee Print 11422 shall be considered as adopted in the house and in the committee of the whole. The bill as submitted shall be considered as the original bill for the purpose of further amendment under the fiveminute rule and shall be considered as read. All pounds against provision in the all points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. No further amendment to the bill as amended shall be in order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution. Each such further am may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent. Shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. All points of order against such further amendments are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment, the Committee Shall rise and report the bill as amended to the house with such further amendments as may have been adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill as amended and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized for one hour. Mr. Burgess mr. Speaker for the purposes of debate only i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. Mcgovern, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. During consideration of this resolution all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Burgess mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Burgess mr. Speaker, House Resolution mr. Speaker, the house is not in order. The speaker pro tempore the house is not in order. Would all members please take conversations off the floor. The gentleman will resume. Mr. Burgess House Resolution 350 provides for a rule to consider a critical bill that will help millions of americans and their families who are suffering from diseases for which there is no cure. The rule provides for one hour of debate equally divided between the majority and minority of the energy and Commerce Committee, makes eight amendments from members of both parties in order makes eight amendments from members of both parties in order and fully debate the merits of this legislation. As is custom, the minority is offered a final motion to recommit the bill prior to its passage. Im pleased the house is considering this Bipartisan Legislation. The energy and Commerce Committee has spent 14 months working to bring our Health Care Innovation infrastructure into the 21st century. Today there are 10,000 known diseases or conditions and weve got cures for 500. There is a gap between the innovations and how we regulate our therapies. It is not unheard of to have a company take 14 years and spend 2 billion to bring a new device or drug to market. Members held nearly 20 round tables in events around the country to ensure that we involve patients, advocates researchers, innovators, investors, that have first hand experience and help understand the gaps in our current system. H. R. 6 touches each step of the Health Care Innovation process. Discovery, development, and deliverry. This bill attempts to close the gap between the fast pace of innovation and our current often burdensome regulatory process. The bill provides exciting new tools to uncover the next generation of treatments and cures. H. R. 6 is, indeed, transformative. Transformative in the way doctors and researchers study diseases develop treatments, and deliver care. It encourages innovation. It fostfossers the use of data to further research t modernizes Clinical Trials and takes step towards the future of personalized medicine. Not only does this bill take a major step forward, this bill addresses our nations ever increasing health care spending. This bill establishes a temporary Innovation Fund which is fully offset, including permanently reforming our entitlement programs. Beyond the budget window, these reforms in medicare and medicaid are established to yield at least 7 billion in Additional Savings for taxpayers. Make no mistake, the biggest cost safer, the biggest cost safer will be find saver, will be finding cures to some of americas most deadly and costly diseases. Im thankful to have worked on many parts of this bill. The legislation contains five bills that i have introduced and other provisions that i helped with the authorship. I would like to take a minute to talk about a few of the sections where i personally worked on them. While thousands of americans are affected by multiple sclerosis parkinsons, and other diseases, very little Accurate Information exists to assist those who research, treat, and provide care to those suffering from these diseases. H. R. 6 actually includes h. R. 292 that i introduced with mr. Van hollen of maryland to advance research for neurologic diseases. H. R. 6 will allow for Surveillance Systems for tracking key neurologic diseases which may then be used to help us further understand these devastating diseases and deliver their cure. We are improving Patient Access to needed treatments by supporting expedited approval for break through therapies and actually making it easier to seek approval of new indications of improved therapies. Currently, the food and Drug Administration approved drugs may be only promoted for the approved indication even if the sponsor determines that the drug is an effective treatment for another indication. H. R. 6 includes another bill, h. R. 2415, which i introduced with mr. Engel of new york, and would formly establish a Program Within the food and Drug Administration formally establish a Program Within the food and Drug Administration that would allow companies with food drugs to submit Data Summaries for consideration of a new ipped case. This would reduce the time to approval and reduce resources required to approve new indications of drugs, drugs that have a well established knowledge base, well established safety information. It i introduced h. R. 293 with representative defazio of oregon to protect continuing medical education which plays a vital role in our Health Care System. This improveds patient outcomes, and keeps our nations medical professionals up to date. With the inclusion of this provision in h. R. 6, we will ensure that doctors continue to have access to these vital tools. The provision simply enforces current law which states that educational materials that were explicitly excluded from reporting requirements in the Affordable Care act, unfortunately the center for medicare and Medicaid Services has acted in conflict with the law, but we correct that in h. R. 6 and ensure that physicians have access to materials and information to keep us informed and up to date on medical innovation. We ensure that americans have access to their Critical Health information by identifying barriers to achieving fully Interoperable Health records. Mr. Speaker, the United States taxpayer has spent well over 30 billion to ensure that Health Care Providers obtain electronic record system. However, the investment has not resulted in access to information for those records and patients across the health care spectrum. While weve seen adoption of Electronic Health care records, it is difficult to ensure the continuity for evidencebased care for patients. The 21st century cures act would finally set the United States on a path towards achieving a nationwide interoperable Health Information system. This will be transformative for research and for medical treatment. Finally, along with mr. Mccaul and mr. Butterfield we aid patients by requiring companies to clarify availability of expanded access programs. Further, with the inclusion of h. R. 2414, which i introduced with mr. Schrader of oregon, we are requiring the food and Drug Administration to issue guidance on the dissemination of uptodate, truthful Scientific Investigation into medication. This passed on may 19 on a voice vote and passed the full committee on may 21, 510. The second time in three years that the committee has had a 510 vote. The previous one being on the repeal of the Sustainable Growth rate formula. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote yes on the rule and yes on the underlying bill. 21st century cures will not only deliver hope to the millions of americans Patients Living with untreatable diseases but will help modernize and streamline the American Health care system. Mr. Speaker, ill reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from texas, mr. Burgess, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks and i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, before i speak on this bill, i want to thank leader pelosi for leading todays efforts to hold House Republicans accountable for their divisive Confederate Flag amendment. You know, it is stunning to me that my republican friends decided to refer the minority leaders resolution to committee so we could not have a debate, but the legislature of South Carolina could have a debate but my republican friends here in the house of representatives ensure that we in congress cannot have that debate. And the fact is that americans, i think, are ready to leave behind the discrimination, hate symbolized by the Confederate Flag, but my friends on the other side of the aisle seem to have a different idea. Last night House Republicans introduced an amendment to the interior appropriations bill that simply has no place on this house floor. It would undo the successful democratic amendments adopted by voice that would have barred the display of Confederate Flags in federal cemeteries and bar the National Park service from doing business with gift shops that sell Confederate Flag merchandise. Simply put while South Carolina voted this week to take the Confederate Flag down republicans in congress were ready to put it back up. And even more troubling, House Republicans tried to sneak this amendment into the bill late last night hoping that nobody would notice. But we noticed. The American People noticed, and im ashamed in 2015 congress would even consider a measure that seeks to perpetuate the hate and racism that the Confederate Flag represents. Now, my friends on the other side of the aisle, especially the leadership, seem to be disarray. The speaker of the house is trying to distance himself from the measure, notwithstanding that the republican chairman of the House Appropriations interior subcommittee, who offered the amendment, said he did so at the request of the Republican Leadership. The Confederate Flag is a symbol of racism and a reminder of one of our nations darkest periods of division. It has no place in americas National Parks. Congress should not promote this symbol of hate and now is the time to come together, and i am proud to join with my colleagues who are standing up today for all americans united against hate. You know, i will i will be asking my colleagues to vote no on the previous question so that we could bring up the pelosi resolution before all of us here and have that debate and have that vote and i hope my republican friends will join me. I just want to say one final thing. The fact that the interior appropriations bill was pulled from consideration on this house floor by my republican friends because they believed that without this proConfederate Flag amendment that they could lose up to 100 of their own members is stunning to me. It never ceases to amaze me. Just when i think this institution cant sink any lower, then Something Like this happens. And so mr. Speaker, i would urge my colleagues to stand with me and vote against the previous question so we can actually have this debate, a debate i think the American People would want us to have. Now, mr. Speaker, on the underlying bill before us, h. R. 6, the 21st century cures act, i just want to say that this is the product of bipartisan hearings, stakeholder meetings, drafts and redrafts. Im proud to be a cosponsor of the version of h. R. 6 that was passed by the energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 510. A vote like that doesnt happen often, especially in this congress. I want to commend chairman upton and congresswoman degette for leading this initiative and tirelessly working to get h. R. 6 to the floor. It represents the kind of investments we should make families stay healthy and promote our economy. It provides 8. 75 billion in mandatory funding over the next five years to the National Institutes of health to spur scientific innovation and discovery by the countrys premiere medical researchers and scientists. During the clinton administration, congress doubled the n. I. H. Budget and made a real commitment to keeping america on the front lines of scientific research. That investment led to exponential advancements in medicine, and we should continue that progress by once again giving n. I. H. The resources they need to make new advances in medicine. We shouldnt let our politics limit our ambition. As members of congress, we were elected to be leaders, and this is an opportunity to ensure america continues to lead the way on new breakthroughs in health. Now, i would have preferred to see the original 10 billion in n. I. H. Funding that was included in the bill that passed out of the energy and Commerce Committee, and i hope that we can increase n. I. H. Funding back to that level as the bill moves forward. We know without a shadow of a doubt that basic medical research produces results. In fact, n. I. H. Funded research at institutions like the university of Massachusetts Medical School in my hometown of worcester, has been the single greatest contributor to advances in health in Human History. Today, the average american lives six years longer than in the 1970s largely because of pioneering n. I. H. Investments. All across the country n. I. H. Supported researchers are forging a path toward treatment and cures for debilitating diseases that impact patients everywhere but their success depends upon us, our decision to invest in n. I. H. Is imperative to their success in improving health for all americans. Just consider Umass Medical School for example. For years they have been at the forefront because of investments from n. I. H. In 2006, dr. Craig mellow received the nobel prize in medicine for his groundbreaking discovery of shutting off bad cells. Umass has researchers finding cures for aides down syndrome and lou gehrigs disease. All of this is possible because of investments in n. I. H. But i hear over and over again from scientists and medical researchers that they worry about the uncertainty of n. I. H. Funding because of crazy things that we do like sequestration. They worry about our commitment to advancing basic medical research. Fewer and fewer Research Grants are being funded. In countries like china and india and even singapore are luring away the best and brightest american researchers because they are committed to making meaningful investments in medical research. 21st century cures helps to reverse that trend, but i worry its not enough. Im pleased to see that h. R. 6 takes a number of steps to modernize Clinical Trials, improve how the food and Drug Administration approves new drugs and devices and encourages the development of next generation treatments through the use of Precision Medicine, which president obama highlighted in his state of the union speech. Just last week we saw the approval of a major new drug that will improve the quality of life with more than 10,000 People Living with cystic fibrosis. The investments included in 21st century cures will help us make more of these kinds of groundbreaking advances a reality. Mr. Speaker, for all the bipartisanship and positive aspects of this bill, i would be remiss if i didnt point out one glaring inconsistency. Despite numerous hearings, roundtables and forums on this bill, a controversial policy rider that restricts access to abortion was added to the bill that came before the rules committee. Its like the majority couldnt help themselves. They couldnt resist an opportunity to add a contentious rider to an otherwise bipartisan package to advance medical research. Im pleased that the committee made in order an amendment offered by my friends, barbara lee, Jan Schakowsky and Yvette Clarke to strike these controversial policy riders. But the committee prohibited a number of other amendments from coming to the floor for debate. Out of the 36 amendments submitted for consideration only eight will be considered on this floor during debate on this legislation. Many of our colleagues came to the rules Committee Last night to testify on their amendments. They raised important issues and made suggestions as to how we can improve this legislation. I urge my colleagues to vote no on the rule which prohibits debate on a number of amendments worthy of consideration. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess thank you, mr. Speaker. At this time id like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from oregon, mr. Walden, a member of the energy and Commerce Committee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oregon is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Walden thank you, mr. Speaker. Dr. Burgess, thank you. I want to thank our chairman of the committee, fred upton, and Diane Degette for their great bipartisan work. We all put a shoulder to the wheel here to get this done. This is really big. 21st century cures. All of us have known someone afflicted by deadly diseases. Most of us have seen people in our own families. My mother passed away as a result of Ovarian Cancer. My sisterinlaw had brain cancer. I lost a son to a congenital heart defect. My motherinlaw had Rheumatoid Arthritis from a very early age. My step mother died of a stroke. We are all affected. Investing in cures investing in treatments, innovation and doing it right here in america is the best step forward. This legislation would modernize the nations biomedical innovation infrastructure and streamline the process for how drugs and medical devices are approved in order to get new treatments to patients and get it to them faster. To do this we solicited input from some of the best scientists in the world, including dr. Brian druker of Oregon Health sciences, University Night Cancer Research center, a true pioneer in the fight against cancer. This initiative would give hope to countless oregonians, like my friend, linda, close friend and Southern Oregon in Southern Oregon, she lost her husband to pancreatic cancer. She said this legislation will put us on a path to improve survival to pancreatic cancer. Another praised the bill saying investing in 21st century science by boosting funding for the n. I. H. Makes sense. Colton and tiffany allen, these are residents of oregon. This bill will give hope, hope to individuals like colton who struggles with a. L. S. We owe it to people like linda and nancy, to colton, to tiffany, to our families, to all americans and literally people around the globe to pass this legislation to tackle these diseases that have no treatment or cure, to develop new innovative treatments provide Better Health technology ultimately bring hope and better lives for all. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from texas reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern thank you, mr. Speaker. At this time its my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new york, the distinguished Ranking Member of the committee on rules the gentlewoman from new york, the distinguished Ranking Member of the committee on rules ms. Slaughter. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Slaughter thank you mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for giving me this time. This is a very important day for me as a member of the rules committee. Rules, as you know, is the process committee. I want to spend my time discussing process thats been going on here. The process that rules have in the house is to really make certain that fairness is presented to all parties. Whether youre majority or minority, you have your rights but they have been trampled on and abused with increasing regularity under this majority. And we have two glaring examples of that just today. We have glaring examples every day, but let me bring up these two. This bill is critically important to all of us. As those spoke before makes it clear and we all agree, the importance of putting more money into Major Research in the United States, we are falling behind other countries in finding the cures and the innovation which weve been known for centuries. This is an important step we are taking is a critically important bill. But process matters. After the bill was voted out unanimously, major changes were made with no Committee Input at all. And they include reduction of the amount of money that the committee had said would be put into National Institutes of health by 1. 25 billion. A very substantial sum. They added some policy riders that literally make no sense. Why in the world would you put in an abortion rider on a thing for medical research. As far as i know the n. I. H. , most medical universities doing this research do not perform abortion procedures. It was simply a way again, to mollify people and make somebody think if they vote for this bill they are doing something its impossible to do. But like alice in wonderland we are all trained here to believe in possible things before breakfast because we are confronted with them daily. Another one is to change the pay fors which is critically important to everything we do. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for another minute. Ms. Slaughter despite the fact that good things were in it and came out of committee, the process is completely changed after it was over by rewriting major portions of it. That doesnt appear anywhere in the rules of the house. Not only that, lets think about what happened here this morning. Last night on the interior bill which is an open rule, after the democrat rose up, Betty Mccollum of minnesota had yielded back her time after time had been yielded on both sides and vote taken, suddenly another amendment appears at the request as mr. Mcgovern said of the Republican Leadership. So they suddenly come up with this. The call was not informed in any way. Absolutely no knowledge of what was going to happen. That may not break a specific rule of the house but it does breaket kit. You do it does breaket kit. What happened this break etiquette. What happened this morning precisely without the ability to the speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. Mr. Mcgovern additional one minute. The speaker pro tempore recognized for an additional minute. Ms. Slaughter without that crazy amendment, frankly that resolution as far as im concerned, once you send it back to committee you are sending it to internment. Well never see that again. But once they had to have that in order to get the vote to pass the bill. Thats the kind of horse trading and all the things that go on here. After all the process and procedure that belonged to the congress of the United States and has for centuries has been absolutely abused as i said earlier and trampled on on a regular basis. Its time we stopped t Nothing Happened here today except to make this place look stupid. I was born in a border state in kentucky. All my life i have lived there. Was educated there. I was married there. I never saw a Confederate Flag in all the years of my life. That flag, battle flag they are putting up appeared in the south after the civil rights legislation. The products of Strom Thurmond and the dixicrats. Thats when they started to bloom all over. It is a symbol of pure hate and revenge or whatever else they want to call it. It needs to go. The speaker pro tempore gentlelady the gentleladys time has expired. Ms. Slaughter it is equivalent to me having the German Government fly of swastika over the bune its stag. Dunn dunn bundestag. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess id like to yield to the gentleman from florida, mr. Bilirakis, a valuable member of the energy and Commerce Committee, one minute. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. Mr. Bilirakis thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of the rule of h. R. 6, the 21st century cures act. It is one of the best Things Congress has done in a long time in my opinion. H. R. 6 is a holistic reform of how we get cures and treatments to patients who need them. Thats what this bill is all about. Patients. Our constituents. One provision i was particularly proud to author would establish a Drug Management program which prevents atrisk beneficiaries from abusing controlled substances. This program will help protect our seniors. As a fix to the Medicare Part d that is a program which is really desperately needed. This commonsense measure has been recommended by g. A. O. And i. G. , and the support of also recommended by c. M. S. It is utilized by private industry, try care, and state medicaid programs. This bill makes strides to prevent Prescription Drug abuse and promote a healthier america. I urge support for the rule and the underlying bill as well. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern 00 mr. Speaker, i yield 2 1 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. Matsui. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from california is recognized for 2 1 2 minutes. Ms. Matsui thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, i rise in support of the rule to support consider the 21st century cures act on the floor. On the energy and Commerce Committee we worked tirelessly with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to get this bill to a place that we could all agree upon. A place where we provide new mandatory funding for n. I. H. To do the Critical Research that is the foundation for cures. A place where we tweak f. D. A. Processes and provide f. D. A. With Additional Resources to do the new things that will help get us treatments and cures to patients faster. As we Work Together to find ways to accelerate innovation, patients of Rare Diseases have been at the forefront of our conversations. It is often more difficult to research and develop cures for rare disease patients due to their small populations. However, finding cures to Rare Diseases is not just of the utmost importance to patients and their families with those Rare Diseases, it is important to all of us. You never know where a cure might come from and often research and Drug Development on one disease may turn out to be fruitful for another. We all need to Work Together to advance cures and treatments. A provision of this bill would encourage publicprivate partnerships. Foster better utilization of patient registries that generate Important Information on the Natural History of diseases. Especially Rare Diseases for which other types of research can be difficult. I also applaud the efforts in this bill to advance the president s Precision Initiative to accelerate discoveries that are tailored to individual patients needs. The language in 21st century cures, recognizes it is a delivery of safe, effective, Quality Health Care Services by Health Care Provider using technology as a mode of delivery, and interoperability provision makes Great Strides toward ensuring that a health i. T. Systems can communicate amongst each other and with patients. I dont claim that this bill is perfect. Compromises have been made. I am disappointed that the amount of n. I. H. Funding has been recently been reduced from 10 billion to 8. 7 billion im also disappointed that policy riders such as the Hyde Amendment language has been inserted after we voted this out of committee. I look forward to voting for the amendment offered by my colleagues barbara lakers Jan Schakowsky, and ms. Clarke to strike the policy riders language. With that, mr. Speaker, i do however support the 21st century cures legislation. Thank you. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess thank you mr. Speaker. At this time i would like to recognize mr. Mccaul from texas chairman of the Homeland Security committee 1 1 2 minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized for 1 1 2 minutes. Mr. Mccaul thank you mr. Speaker. Let me commend dr. Burgess chairman upton for a bill thats truly visionary that will actually save lives. Something we can rarely say we do up here in this place. I believe this will provide cures for the next century. Two provisions im very pleased to see in this bill. One the andrea sloan cure act which expands compassionate use to those who have Life Threatening Diseases and gives them greater access to lifesaving medications. Andrea is a friend of mine who on her deathbed asked me to try to make sure that this didnt happen to other people. And finally, the reauthorization of the creating hope act which has now led to the first second Childhood Cancer drug approved since 1980s and the first f. D. A. Approved drug to treat highrisk neuro blastoma. I believe that with the passage of this bill we will see greater cures in the future and we will not only save adults from cancers but also children from this dreaded disease in the future. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yield back. The gentleman from texas riffs. Reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern 00 i yield two minutes to the the gentlewoman from california, a member of the Armed Services committee, ms. Speier. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from california is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Speier i thank the gentleman from mismass. Mr. Speaker, coming out of committee h. R. 6 was a bipartisan huge leap forward in our efforts to accelerate the development of lifesaving cures through medical research. And yet somehow between the committee and the floor the majority once again has tacked on antiabortion Hyde Amendment language which makes no sense at all. Its like the republicans are cheap stage magicians, attracting our attention with the promise of critically needed medical advances all the while stuffing the same old flea bitten hyde provision rabbit into their hat. We are tired of this tedious stage show. N. I. H. Is already subject to the high provisions in appropriation bills. This is just a way to continue politics as usual. If h. R. 6 passes under a mantle of bipartisanship, it will pull out the rabbit, wave it around, and say look how amazing and wonderful we are. I for one am sick of the house being run like a boardwalk magic show. Adding this type of language between open Transparent Committee consideration and open transparent Floor Consideration makes a mockery of representative government. Adding an abortion rider to bills in the dead of night through sleight of hand turns the substantive bipartisan work thats crafted in h. R. 6 into a pathetic imitation of cooperation. Since the 114th congress began, the house has taken 37 actions to restrict abortion access. While i dont agree with this paranoid focus on womens private and legal medical decisions, its the majoritys right to set the agenda. I cannot stand by while these provisions are slipped into an otherwise excellent bill through underhanded maneuvers that run contrary to our democratic process. When similar provisions were slipped into a Human Trafficking bill, we said no. Why arent we saying no today . I am a cosponsor of the original version of h. R. 6, but i cannot let the peoples house the speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. Ms. Speier i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess thank you, mr. Speaker. At this time i would like to recognize the gentleman from tennessee, dr. Phil roe, the chairman of the House Doctors caucus, for 1 1 2 minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for 1 1 2 minutes. Mr. Roe thank you, dr. Burgess. Mr. Speaker, i stand before you today who 45 years ago graduated from medical school. My first pediatric rotation was at st. Judes childrens hospital. At that time a majority of all those children that i saw as a young medical student died of their disease. Today almost 90 of those children live. Back in the 1950s we had a polio vaccine developed with help with the government funding. Today that would be scored as a cost to the taxpayers. Does anyone think that prevention of polio was a cost to the taxpayers . One of the greatest miracles of the 20th century. And just four short months ago my wife died of stage four colon cancer. And i know right now that everyone in this chamber who is listening and everyone who is outside watching this has had a close Family Member, a friend, relative who has experienced something similar. Its time now we as a nation got serious about curing the major diseases, not treating the disease, but curing the major diseases affecting this country and affecting us personally. I am more passionate about this bill and excited about passing the 21st century cures bill than anything i voted on since i have been in congress. I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this rule and underlying bill. With that, mr. Speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from tennessee yields back. The gentleman from texas reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, im pleased yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from florida a member of the energy and Commerce Committee ms. Castor. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady for floofment is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Castor i thank my friend, the gentleman from massachusetts, for yielding the time. I rise to support the rule and in strong support of the 21st century cures bill that was voted unanimously in a bipartisan fashion out of my energy and Commerce Committee. America is the world leader in medical research. And we have got to work to keep it that way. That has been at risk lately because of congressional budget battles, the resources that our researchers need to find the cures and treatments of the future have been at risk. Our commitment to medical research has eroded over the years. But this 21st century cures bill would put us now on a stronger path forward. To boost our patients back home suffering from da bail tating diseases. Debilitating diseases. Mandatory because it is mandatory in america that we respond and we research the cures of tomorrow. Such as Precision Medicine like theyre doing at the Cancer Center in tampa, florida. Now that weve mapped the human genome, we can find and provide precise cures and treatments to our neighbors and Family Members with cancer. I am disappointed that the amount of money has been eroded. Im very disappointed that the hyde rider was added at the last minute behind closed doors. It was not voted on in committee. But simply stated, this bills too important not to pass it. Id like to thank my colleagues chairman upton and my good friend, Diane Degette from colorado, for leading the charge. Were firmly with you and were with the patients and the researchers in america that will benefit from this terrific piece of legislation. Thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from florida yields back. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess mr. Speaker, may i inquire as to the time remaining . The speaker pro tempore 17 minutes remaining. And 11 minutes for the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Burgess i thank the speaker. Im going to yield myself 30 minutes 30 seconds for the purposes of the introduction of my next speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Burgess and mr. Speaker, its really a great privilege to recognize the next speaker on our side. Chairman emeritus of the energy and Commerce Committee, in fact, the last reauthorization for the National Institutes of health occurred under joe bartons watch, one of the last things we did at the waning hours of the 109th congress. And mr. Speaker, he did provide additional funding to the n. I. H. He provided an increase of 5 a year for the lifetime of that reauthorization. Unfortunately it was never appropriated to that level after the democrats took charge in the 110th congress. I recognize the chairman i want to yield to the chairman emeritus of the energy and Commerce Committee three minutes for his observations. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Barton thank you. I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Barton i want to thank the member from texas for that generous introduction. Mr. Speaker, four years ago i went to thenmajority leader eric cantor and Committee Chairman fred upton and asked permission to create a task force, a Bipartisan Task force, equal numbers of republicans and democrats from the energy and Commerce Committee and the Appropriations Committee to work with outside groups and experts to see if there were not some ideas that we could put forward in legislation to improve the ability to find and implement cures for all the various diseases that afflict our nation. Mr. Upton and mr. Cantor approved that task force. We had a task force of 12 members i mean, 24 members, and we had an outside group that included several nobel prize winners, leaders from johns hopkins, m. D. Anderson, former directors of n. I. H. , f. D. A. That morphed into the beginning of this congress to a task force that Diane Degette and chairman upton led themselves and that has led to a bipartisan bill that has been pointed out came out of committee 510. That is an amazingly extraordinarily positive accomplishment to have total ue a numberity to have in this unamity to have in this bill. Weve taken every innovative idea in the medical community that makes any sense at all and put it into this bill. We are increasing the authorization for spending for n. I. H. We have the Innovation Fund which is a mandatory program for five years that puts a little under 2 billion a year that is offset it is paid for, it does go away at the end of five years. But for five years it is specifically going to Innovation Research that is the fast track to find the cures that are most applicable to the marketplace today. This bill is a revolutionary bill. We need to pass it, mr. Speaker , and there are lots of problems there are things that are not in the bill that i wanted in the bill, but this is a huge step forward. It rarely happens that congress can Work Together to do something that is totally for the benefit for of the American People. This is one of those times. We need to vote for the rule and then we need to vote for the bill, and we will move forward united to find the cures for the 21st century, for all americans and really to some extent for all the world. I thank the gentleman for his time and yield back any time i may have. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from texas reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, im going to urge that we defeat the previous question, and if we defeat the previous question ill offer an amendment to the rule to allow for consideration of leader pelosis resolution which basically says that any state flag containing the confederate battle flag would be prohibited from the house wing of the capitol. Given what the republicans Republican Leadership tried to do on the interior appropriations bill yesterday, i think this is especially timely. As i mentioned earlier, while South Carolina voted this week to take the Confederate Flag down republicans in congress appear ready to put it back up. And mr. Speaker, on what we will offer, if the previous question is defeated, i want to yield two minutes to the distinguished Ranking Member of the ways and means subcommittee on oversight, the gentleman from georgia, mr. Lewis. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Lewis mr. Speaker, i want to thank my friend, mr. Mcgovern, for yielding. Mr. Speaker, i must tell you, my heart is heavy. Im saddened by what has happened here in america. I thought we had come much further, much further along. Growing up in rural alabama attending school in nashville tennessee, now living in georgia ive seen the signs that says white, the clerk will designate. White waiting the clerk will designate waiting. During the 1960s, during the height of the civil rights movement, we brought those signs down. Theyre gone. The only place that we would see those signs today would be in the book, in a museum or on a video. If a descendent of Jefferson Davis say their flag is a symbol of hate, why cant we do it here . Why cant we move to the 21st century . Racism is a disease. We must free ourselves for the way of hate, the way of violence, the way of division. We are not there yet. We have not yet created the beloved community where we respect the dignity and the worth of every human being. We need to bring down the flag. The scars and stains of racism are steered deeply and embedded in every corner of american society. I dont want to see our little children, whether theyre black or white latina, native americans, the speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Lewis these signs mr. Mcgovern i yield the gentleman an additional minute. Mr. Lewis as a nation and as a people we can do better. We can lay down this heavy burden. It is too heavy to bear. Hate is too heavy to burden to bear too heavy a burden to bear. We cant plant these seeds in the minds of our people. When i was marching across that bridge in selma in 1965, i saw some of the law officers Sheriff Deputies wearing on their helmet the Confederate Flag. I dont want to go back and as a country we cannot go back. We must go forward and create a community that recognizes all of us as human beings, as citizens, one people, one nation. We all live in the same house, the american house. Thank you for yielding. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia yields. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess thank you mr. Speaker. At this time id like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from kansas, mr. Yoder. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from kansas is recognized for two minutes. Yodeyode thank you mr. Speaker. I rise mr. Yoder thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in talking about the research and investment that will cure every disease in america. The rule would allow us to debate the 21st century cures bill forwarded by the energy and Commerce Committee on a unanimous bipartisan vote. What this bill would do would increase by over 8 billion research over the next five years to be conducted by the National Institutes of health. Each year we spend over 700 billion on care for seniors through medicare. Yet, we spend just 30 billion a year roughly researching every cure that plagues our country, alzheimers parkinsons, Heart Disease we spend 30 billion a year on research yet spend trillions in health care. We know each year 600,000 people will die of cancer. We know each year in the United States 00,000 people will die of alzheimers. 700 people will die of alzheimers. These are 700,000 people will die of alzheimers. These are real people. This is not just a moral issue, its an economic issue. By 2050, estimates is our country will spend 1. 1 trillion to treat health care for people with alzheimers alone. Over a trillion dollars annually yet we spend 562 million a year researching a cure for alzheimers. A true definition of pennywise and pound foolish. This 21st century cure bill increases our commitment to curing disease as i said, by over 8 billion over the next five years. Each of us has a Family Member or a friend with a tragic story about one of these diseases. These diseases know no party affiliation. They dont know a center of aisle versus the left or right side of the aisle. They know no state. They have no regional boundaries. They dont know the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending. To cure these diseases is a moral imperative for these families. But to cure these diseases is also an economic imperative. If we cure one of these diseases, our investment will pay for itself a thousand times over. The c. B. O. Cant score that. The crosh cant make any recognition of that. This is a savings the c. B. O. Cant make any recognition of that. This is a savings bill. I have a 20yearold daughter. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Yoder i have a 20 monthyearold daughter and this is not about curing disease for my young toddler our generation, its about curing disease for her generation and every generation to follow. Supporting the 21st century cures bill bends the cost curve on entitlements. It saves our country from going into bankruptcy. And it will help us balance our budget. These investments are not just necessary for our moral imperative, to save lives but theyre also an ir economic imperative. All these things together means we must have a large robust vote in this house to pass this bill and make sure the 21st century bill goes forward and i strongly support it and i ask my colleagues to do the same. I yield back my time mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from texas reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from georgia, mr. Johnson. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. Mr. Johnson thank you mr. Speaker. The southern strategy was and is a republican strategy of gaining Political Support for its political candidates by appealing to regional and racial tensions in this country based on the history of slavery, the history of the civil war, racism and segregation. Thats a history that is indefensible and so is the confederate battle flag which represents those attitudes. I call upon my fellow colleagues in the Republican Party to denounce in southern strategy once and for all and to do what it takes to affirm the tide of this country which is to do away with that symbol of oppression and racial the confederate battle flag and lets move that from our National Cemeteries and from our park Service Places of the speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Johnson purchasing memorabilia and with that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess thank you, mr. Speaker. Ill yield myself one minute. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Burgess mr. Speaker, we do have today before us a unique opportunity. We have an opportunity to lay the groundwork for the future. We have the way to lead the way to the 21st century in providing 21st century cures. To be sure we are providing additional funding for the National Institutes of health. Were providing additional funding to the food and Drug Administration. We are also placing requirements upon those institutions. We all know we got to do things faster better, cheaper smarter. We got to do more with less. That is what the 21st century cures bill lays before us. That is why this rule is so crucial and critical today and why i urge passage. I reserve my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas reserves. The chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern i yield to the the gentlewoman from connecticut. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Delauro i rise in opposition to this rule and the underlying bill. The bill provides for an increase of 175 billion per year in the budget for the National Institutes of health. And i applaud to increase funding. Im a survivor of Ovarian Cancer and im alive today by the grace of god and medical research. I appreciate Biomedical Research. This increase isnt enough to restore n. I. H. Since fiscal year 2010, National Institutes of health has seen its budget erode by 3. 6 billion, an 11 cut. If we are serious about funding lifesaving research, we must raise our level of ambition. It sets aside of the increase to be spent in certain specified areas of research. This is a wrong approach. The best people to decide that are scientists and not politicians. We should not substitute our judgment for theirs. Im concerned that the bill would lower standards for medical device approval at the food and Drug Administration and create new pathway for approval that involves less rigorous testing requirements. This is a wrong approach. It is our duty to protect the public from unsafe devices and drugs. We do not do that by reducing standards. The majority is using this bill as a vehicle for antichoice Hyde Amendment language. Since january the majority and its counterpart in the other chamber have sought to restrict access to abortion no fewer than 37 times. We need to trust women and trust the choices they make. We have to trust women. Politicians have no business medicaling in those decisions. For those reasons, we should reject this bill. And i urge a no vote. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess i yield myself one minute. I would point out that once again, reauthorization of the National Institutes of health occurred in this congress in the wanning days of the 109th congress in december of 2006. Mr. Barton reauthorized the n. I. H. To increase by 5 per year. We were told at the time that was not enough, that with biomedical inflation at 8. 8 , that was a cut. But what happened is the democrats took control of the house and the senate the following year. They never appropriated the n. I. H. To that 5 figure. Now, this isnt about republicans or democrats, this is about finding cures of the 21st century. We do direct some of the Research Dollars within n. I. H. When the stimulus bill passed in 2009 10 billion wept into it to be spent that year. We ended up filing paperwork from leftover projects. This directs this research into high risk, high reward areas. We need the deliverables from the n. I. H. I reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern i yield to the the gentlewoman from colorado, ms. Degette. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. Ms. Degette thank you, mr. Speaker, mr. Speaker i rise today to give my thanks to fred upton for recruiting me to help cosponsor this bill with him and all of our colleagues for working together on finding cures that will bring from the labs into the clinic, cures for so many diseases that we dont have any treatments for right now. This really is an extraordinary effort that weve made, and it really is congress at its best. I do want to mention, i was disappointed when after the bill passed the energy and Commerce Committee 510 in the managers amendment, the annual riders from the laborh. H. S. Bill were put into the bill. I think its unnecessary and distracts our attention from the Important Mission this bill brings. So i will be voting for the lee amendment. But i would urge all of our colleagues no matter how you vote on the amendments made in order, please vote yes, please vote yes for the patients of america. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess i yield myself one minute. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Burgess this past weekend in an op ed piece that was published online quime quoting here, as lincoln said a century and a half ago, the federal government should only be doing things that people cant do for themselves. Well, medical cures are a great example of something people cant do for themselves at home. Thats what we are about this afternoon, providing the rule to allow consideration for cures of the 21st century. The underlying bill is important. I urge all members to support the rule and the underlying bill. I reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts has three minutes remaining. Mr. Mcgovern i yield one minute to the the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Jackson lee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Ms. Jackson lee i thank the gentleman from great state of massachusetts for yielding. This is an emotional time for many of us. This is an important bill but we have gone through an emotional time on this floor again raising up the ugliness of the rebel flag. And i try to educate my colleagues about the damage that this damage has done to so many. Under that flag, many were killed in the name of slavery. And this is the 150th year of the elimination of slavery. When i spoke of disease, all falling on minority populations in life there are still issues that face you because you are different. I call upon this house to recognize that although we have many issues to debate, that when you pierce the heart of someone because you believe they are inferior or different and cod will and protect the rebel flag, i hope we will get to the point between now and next week as i introduce h. Res. 342 to ban all signs of hate, that we will rise to be unified together and stand under the American Flag. I yield back. Mr. Burgess may i inquire as to the time remaining. The speaker pro tempore 8 1 2 ip minutes and the gentleman from massachusetts has two minutes remaining. I reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts with two minutes. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker mr. Mcgovern i yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess i will yield a minute to the gentleman from texas pending which i would like to yield a minute to the gentleman from michigan before we close. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas has yielded one minute. Thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I wanted to speak about the importance of us acting now to do the right thing in regards to the Confederate Flag. Many of you may not know but today marks not today but this year marks the 100 years of the viewing and the premier of the film that really sparked the reemergence of the Confederate Flag birth of a nation. It was bigger than star wars or jaws. It revived the Confederate Flag and made the flag the symbol of hate it is today and reemergence of the kuklux klan. Doesnt have anything to do with the civil war, but it was a completely different flag. It has to do with seeing degree gation and keeping us in the see degree gation. I ask my republican colleagues to join us in moving forward. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess i yield three minutes to the the gentleman from michigan. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Upton as we know we launched this bipartisan effort a year and a half ago and tomorrows house vote, we mark a very important milestone for our quest 21st century cures. There are so many individuals throughout our 18month journey to help us to get to where we are today. Parents, patients across the country, advocates researchers academics, regulators, some of the nations brightest minds to all we say thank you. Thank you to the staff, the hardworking staff. Did the meetings, drafted the language, sat at the negotiating table for countless hours to help us develop this incredible product. Gary joan, paul, josh, graham, sean macy, mark, todd, marty kim, jim and the staff of our members, thanks to the house legislative and c. B. O. For your working through many, many weekends. Thank you to both sides, both parties, who brought their best ideas to make their case and delivered so many of the policies that we welcome today because we listened. I want to thank chairman hal rogers and his staff. The Appropriations Committee have been a critical partner in this effort for the last couple of months in developing the right approach to achieve our shared goal of helping patients in a fiscally responsible way. I want to highlight my partner representative degette. She came to my district in michigan and i traveled to colorado and been on a number of road trips for cures across the country and i look forward down the next journey. I thank chairman pitts, mr. Green, for their strong partnership. We made Great Strides and our work continues and we arent going to stop. Chairman pete seeings, dr. Burgess, members of the rules committee to make sure that this legislation gets to the floor in a timely fashion. And i give a thanks to max sixyearold ambassador for cures. Although he is facing with the challenges of a syndrome, he has been a warrior. He joined us when we had a 510 vote in the committee and max will be by our side tomorrow on the house floor for final passage. Helping max and others like him are why were here. Helping my friends brook and real part of my general debate discussion, thats why were here. With a resounding vote tomorrow, we will send a signal to the senate loud and clear that the time for cures is now for cures 2015. I look forward to working with my Senate Counterparts to continue the momentum to get this bill to the president s desk. We have a chance to do something big, and this is our time. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts with two minutes. Mr. Mcgovern my colleague have additional speakers . Mr. Burgess well try it again. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, i yield myself the remaining time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern the 21st century cures is a good bill and i thank mr. Up ton and ms. Degette to come up with this product. It invests in n. I. H. And invests in lifesaving medical research and we will find cures to disses diseases and like parkinsons and alzheimers. This is important stuff and maybe we will find a cure to the disease that resulted in so many of this house voting for the destructive sequestration initiative, that by the way, cut medical research and put off the day of some of these lifesaving cures. We need to do better than this, but this is an important start and important step in the right direction. And i hope my colleagues will support it. Secondly, im going to urge my colleagues to vote against the previous question and i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment i would offer in the record if we defeat the previous question, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Mcgovern if we defeat the previous question, we will bring up again the pelosi resolution that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle chose not to debate. The reason why this is important, the reason why we need to debate this, is because we need to come together and do the right thing. The Confederate Flag is a symbol of hate and division and a symbol of so many things we abhor. The time has come to follow the lead of other states in this country. I urge my colleagues to vote no on the previous question, i vote no on the rule because its restrictive. With that, i yield back my time. The chair the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Burgess this is a momentous bill that will be before us today. This is analogous to the time back in the 1970s when the National Cancer institute was authorized by congress in the nixon administration. This is an opportunity to take that leap forward and perhaps deliver some of those cures so many of our constituents have waited for for so long. Mr. Speaker, we all value institutions and Institutional Knowledge and institutional learning, but mr. Speaker, we also acknowledge that there are times when weve got to be disruptive. Theres times that you have to forget the past and move into the future and this is one of those times. Were all familiar with the fact that, yeah, the neighborhood bookstore may be gone but we can order stuff online from am mono amazon. Disruptive technology is as important in medicine as it is anywhere else this bill is paid for. This bill is offset. It sun sets in five years time. As i was reminded by a colleague, dr. Andy harris, the gentleman from maryland, a few days ago while this bill is offset, while we are paying as we go for the increasers in National Institutes of health and the f. D. A. , what if what if one of those shots succeeds . In may of 2012, Glen Campbell came and played a concert at the library of congress. This is him and his daughter ashley. They were on the stage. Glen campbell went public with the knowledge that he has alzheimers disease. He struggled at several points during that concert. It was, in fact, amazing to watch him play his instrument, at time he is couldnt remember the words to the song and ashley would help him. This is a shot where they did dueling banjos, very, very accomplished and skilled instrumental work that they both did on their instruments that they were playing. What if, what if we were to deliver that moon shot and provide that cure that would have prevented Glen Campbell into falling into the recesses of alzheimers illness . What if that cure were within our dwrass . Whats worse, what if that cure is on a shelf or a test tube somewhere and we just havent quite gotten around toits evaluation . This is important stuff. Glen campbell, he narrated the sound track of my life as i was growing up. From arkansas a gentleman of our generation who was so important to so many of us as we were growing up. And he shared with us there on the stage at the he shared with us there on the stage his story and his daughters story and you can see his daughter ashley looking at her dad. If we could preserve her ability to smile at her dad for a little longer, wouldnt that be worth some of the fighting that we do here . This bill is offset, this bill is paid for. Todays rule provide for consideration of this critical bill, a bill that would transform and advance the discovery, development and delivery of treatments and cures. I applaud all members who have work thond thoughtful piece of legislation along with energy and commerce worked on this thoughtful piece of legislation, along with energy and commerce staff. All members of the energy and Commerce Committee were asked to bring their ideas to the table and we worked to include as many as we possibly could. I want to express my sincere thanks to the attorneys who have worked around the clock to deliver us the legislative language. I want to thank chairman upton and representative degette, as well as chairman pitts, Ranking Member pallone and green for their leadership throughout. I want to thank the staff who have worked so hard over the past year, really, literally, all hands were on deck. Theres not one energy and Commerce Health staffer that does not have their fingerprints all over this bill. I certainly want to thank j. P. , danielle, lauren from my office who have put in that additional effort to help deliver this product. Mr. Speaker, this is an important piece of legislation in front of us today. We do unfortunately have a lot of distractions but let us not be distracted from providing the tools for the next generation of doctors, a generation that will have more ability to alleviate human suffering than any generation of doctors has ever known because of our actions here on the floor of the house today. Mr. Speaker, i yield back the balance of my time, i move the previous question on the resolution. The speaker pro tempore the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern i ask for the yeas and nays. The speaker pro tempore the yeas and nays are requested. Those in support of the request for the yeas and nays will rise. A sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. Pursuant to clause 6 of clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings will be postponed. The chair lays before the house an enrolled bill. The clerk h. R. 728, an act to designate the facile i have to the United States Postal Service located at 7050 highway b. B. In cedar hill missouri, as the sergeant firs class first class william d. Woods post office. For what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that mr. Thompson mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill h. R. 2647. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Pursuant to House Resolution 347, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h. R. 2647. The chair appoints the gentleman from North Carolina, mr. Holding, to preside over the committee of the whole. The chair the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h. R. 2647 which the clerk will report by title. The clerk h. R. 2647 a bill to expedite under the National Environmental policy act an improved force management activities Forest Management acttivities in the National Forest under the jurisdiction of the bureau of Land Management and on tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown fireprone forested lands and for other purposes. The chair pursuant to the rule the bill is considered read. The chair shall be equally divided and vol. Control. The gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Thompson and the gentleman from minnesota, mr. Teeterson, the gentleman from utah, mr. Bishop and the gentleman from arizona, mr. Grijalva, will each control 15 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Thompson. Mr. Thompson thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman i rise today in strong support and as an original cosponsor of h. R. 2647, the resilient federal force act of 2015. Since the inception of the National Forest system in 1905, the fundamental measure of the Forest Service had been to manage our federal force and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. As a result, the Forest Service has played a Critical Role in rural america, partnering to produce timber, Natural Resources and jobs while sustaining the Ecological Health of the forest and surrounding water sheds. National forests have been extremely successful in creating recreational and Educational Opportunities for millions of americans, however, our forests are facing declining health and are not managed as well as they need to be. Due to numerous challenges over the past few decades. Often unnecessary and prolonged planning processes limit the service from effectively managing our forests. This also goes along with the cost of litigation or even the threat of litigation in some cases. Both of these situations keep boots in the office instead of in the forest and spend money on doing paperwork instead of work in the field. The cost of suppressing and fighting wildfires has been a growing challenge for the Forest Service, with their fire costs increasing from 13 of the Forest Service budget in 1995 to approximately half of the annual budget today. This epidemic of declining health and catastrophic wildfires are in direct correlation to policies that have led to dramatic decrease in managed acres. Timber harvests have drastically plummeted from almost 13 million board feet in the late 1980s to only 13 billion board feet in the late 1980s to only 3 billion in recent years. At the same time the number of acres affected by wild fires is doubled from three million around the second timber harvest to six million now this reverses this psych bill ending the destructive fire borrowing problem that robs peter to pay paul. It does so with funds only made available for wildFire Suppression. In my view this legislation is the next step to build upon the groundwork laid by the 2014 farm bill. As an and its an earnest attempt to give the Forest Service more authority and muchneeded fleblingsability to deal with challenges of process funding, litigation, necessary Timber Harvesting and muchneeded management. H. R. 2647 incentivizes and rewards collaborations with the private sector sector on management activities and aflours state and Third Party Funding of projects. It revises the resources advisory committees while returning shares of receipts for longterm stewardship projects. Perhaps most poorntly it provides commonsense, cat gorical excuses or c. E. s for certain Forest Service projects. These c. E. s will expedite the process to get projects up and running thsms a thoughtful piece of legislation and will do much to help the Forest Service to better do its job. I urge my colleagues to vote yes and i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentlemans time is reserved, the gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Peterson i yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Peterson i rise in support of h. R. 2647, the resilient forest act of 2015. S that bipartisan piece of legislation that will address some burdensome regulations that have rulled from legal challenges and get our forest actively managed the way we need. For some time we have been concerned about efforts undertaken by extreme environmental groups to twist laws to their liking. The socalled sue and settle strategy has led to policy changes decided by activists and bureaucrats. These policy changes often ignore congressional intent and fail to take into account constituent input and real facts on the ground. Additionally this means a less transparent and less accountable regulatory process. H. R. 2647 will simplify Forest Management activities, thereby reducing some of this bad behavior. The bill also includes an important budgetary fix to help address the rising cost of wildfires. Just this year wildfires have burned hundreds of thousands of acres and caused millions of dollars of damage. H. R. 2647 will allow access for our Land Management agencies to resources they need to fight wildfires without having to rob their own accounts. The Current Practice of fire borrowing leads to taking away resources from productively managing our forests to keep them healthy and less prone to fire this bill would end this practice and ensure agencies have access to needed resources to fight wildfire disasters all year. Again that muchneeded Bipartisan Legislation that addresses many of the issues currently impacting Forest Management. I urge my colleagues to support h. R. 2647 and i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentlemans time is reserved. The gentleman from pennsylvania. Mr. Thompson i recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Abraham, for two minutes. The chair the gentleman is mr. Abraham i thank my colleague and recognize the hard work done by the agriculture and Natural Resource committees to bring this important bill to the floor. For too long failure to properly manage our National Forests has led to increased tree mortality from wildfires droughts, insects and disease. The resilient federal forest act gives the Forest Service and bureau of Land Management the tools needed to reverse this trend. This bill would allow critical projects to move forward by streamlining regulations and will give parishes and counties greater flexibility on how they use revenues and ensure federal agencies have increased access to fund in order to fight and prevent wildfires. These reforms would put americans to work. Will give money back to our local communities for infrastructure and education and will make our forested communities safer by reducing their vulnerability to wildfires. In my home state of louisiana a National Forest covers 604,000 acres with 582,000 of those in my district. Forestry products account for well over 18,000 jobs and 1 billion in income in my district. The people of louisiana know how valuable well managed forests are to our state and economy. Forested communities know this as well. Its time we start being proactive instead of reactive. The resilient forest act will put back to realize full potential of our Natural Resources. I support this bill and i yield back. The chair the gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Peterson i reserve my time. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from pennsylvania. Mr. Thompson im pleased to recognize a member of the conserves and forestry subcommittee congressman benishek for two minutes. The chair is the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Benishek i rise in support of the resilient federal forest act of 2015. I represent Northern Michigan, which is over 20 million acres of federal, state and private forest land. Our forests are part of the economy in Northern Michigan that generates 16. 3 billion per year and creates 77,000 jobs. In addition to the forestry, the Outdoor Recreation industry contributes 18 billion to michigan and over 190,000 jobs to our state. Healthy forests are vital to our way of life in Northern Michigan. I grew up exploring these forests, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling. A way of life for those and millions to visit the forest every year. Many of our forests are in a state of disrepair and they are overgrown and especially in the western United States consumed by wildfire. The Forest Service which is entrusted of managing 10 of the land base has identified 58 million acres at being at high risk for catastropheic forest fire. By conservative estimates 56 billion board feet of board timber have burned in forest fires. Over the last 10 years 1 billion was rotted on the stump. Those receive news arent available for the u. S. Treasury. They couldnt buy seedlings to replant. We are allowing jobs to burn away on poorly managed federal lands. Nothing about the current process is working. H. R. 2647 takes simple steps to allow our forests to become healthier and better managed for the future. This bill would streamline Timber Harvesting while reducing the threat of frivolous lawsuits. In addition, this legislation allows states and federal forests to react faster the chair the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Benishek states and federal forests to react faster to catastrophic wildfire events and reducing risk to public lands. This legislation has a number of processes for private, state and tribal contracting which will lead to healthier and better managed forests. Many may live i ask my colleagues who are not in heavily forested areas to listen to your friends. Support this commonsense Bipartisan Legislation and improve the health of our forests. I yield. The chair the chair will rise or the committee will rice to receive a message. The speaker pro tempore the chair will receive a message. The messenger a message from the senate. The secretary i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate agreed to the house request for a conference and appoint conferees on h. R. 1735 cited as the National Defense authorization act for fiscal year 2016. The speaker pro tempore the committee will resume its sitting. Mr. Peterson i reserve. The chair the gentleman from pennsylvania. Mr. Thompson im pleased to recognize the gentlewoman from florida, mr. Yoho, for two minutes. Mr. Yoho i thank the chairman for his leadership. I stand here in support of creating more jobs and creating the health of our nations forest. H. R. 2647, the resilient federal forest act of 2015 is a bipartisan bill that will address the growing economic and environmental threats to the catastrophic wildfires. This piece of legislation is hugely important for my district and the entire Southeast Region of the United States. Florida is home to a multi tu of tude of National Forests, which span 1. 2 million acres. These forests supply over 10,000 acres per year for timber production, creating jobs, lumber and paper products. This land allows for recreational activities. In addition, they produce roughly 600 billion gallons of fresh water and thats in my home state. Due to lack of proper Forest Management, the risk of catastrophic wildfires has increased. These emergencies draw critical funding away from the bureau of Land Management which is intended to prevent wildfires thus creating a chronic problem that is getting worse. This bill allows fema to transfer funds to the Forest Service when these disasters occur. Ensuring activities like prescribed burns and other management techniques are adequately funded. This bill helps prevent wildfires and should be supported by every member in this chamber. And i commend the chairmen, and i yield back. The chair the gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Peterson i reserve. The chair the gentleman from pennsylvania. Mr. Thompson im pleased to recognize congressman bar letter who is a chairman of the subcommittee for two minutes. The chair the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Barletta let me thank the chairman for working with our committee on title 9 of the bill. Title 9 authorizes the president to declare a major disaster for wildfire on federal lands and provide assistance to the departments of interior and agriculture for extraordinary wildFire Suppression costs in excess of the 10year average. These provisions protect Femas Disaster Relief Fund and preserve femas wildlife assistance that is currently available to state local and tribal governments through the stafford act. Because this provision was not included in the reported bill, a legislative history document has been developed to articulate the congressional intent for title 9, as well as how it is expected to be implemented. Mr. Chairman i would ask unanimous consent to enter this legislative history document into the record. The chair covered under general leave. Mr. Barletta after watching the floodwaters of hurricane irene and Tropical Storm irene, my priority has been to protect the programs that come to their aid namely the Disaster Relief fund. This is a program that helps families get back into their homes, businesses reopen their doors and municipalities clear the streets so our communities can recover when the next big storm strikes. I have seen the fund provide assistance when its needed most. Our constituents rely on federal disaster assistance. It should not be jeopardized under any circumstances. Let me thank chairman bishop and chairman conaway. I yield back. The chair the gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Thompson how much time remains . The chair the gentleman from pennsylvania has three minutes remaining. The gentleman from minnesota has 13 minutes remaining. Mr. Thompson im pleased to recognize the gentleman from tennessee, mr. Duncan for two minutes. The chair the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. Mr. Duncan i rise in strong support of this legislation and i thank the gentleman from pennsylvania for yielding me this time. This bill will streamline the Forest Service planing. And means fewer forest fires. I served for 22 years on the Natural Resources committee. Several years ago i was told there was six billion board feet of dead trees. This was leading to a tremendous buildup of fuel in these forests leading to millions more acres being burned because we werent cutting enough trees. In the late 1980s, we were harvesting 10 to 11 billion. We had six million acres lost to forest fires. Now we are harvesting a little only one billion board feet a year and acreage loss to forest fires has gone up. 10 million acres lost in 2006 and on and on and on and its a shame. Allowing this renewable resource to be used, everything made with wood houses, all types of Wood Products and Everything Else made from wood would be cheaper. This would help lower income people most of all. Thousands of jobs could be created, not just for loggers but also in construction and businesses making Wood Products this would help lowerincome people. We shouldnt let the forests burn but use them to help people. If you want more forest fires, vote against this bill. If you want to help preserve our National Forests and make them healthier and help the economy in the process, then you should vote for this bill. This is a very moderate response to what has become a big and fastgrowing problem. We should not give into extremists and oppose this bill. This is good legislation and i commend chairman peterson, chairman con away and chairman thompson for bringing this sensible legislation to the floor and i yield back. The chair the gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Peterson i yield five minutes to the gentleman from oregon, mr. Schrader. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Schrader i thank you for the opportunity. I would like to clear up some misconceptions about 2467 and tame time to tell you what this bill really is and what is not. Contrary to the statement put out by the president this is not a complete and row gation or nepa process on our federal lands. This is a streamline process for a very small portion of federal forest land subject to catastrophic natural disasters and subject to extensive collaborative or Wildfire Protection plans. A narrow subset of our federal forests. For the folks back east out west, forest land occupies a great chunk of our states. Over half of my state of oregon is federal forest land, most of that is managed by the Forest Service and b. L. M. Threefourths of my state is distinctly rural. Frankly, these guys were in the recovery for the last 20 30 years when Timber Harvesting came to a screaming halt under our socalled forest plans. It is entwind with smarter and healthier policy which promotes resiliency and sustainability. This bill is narrowly crafted to build on the trust between older environmental and timber adverse areas showing what can be done on our federal forest lands. Currently, dead, diseased wood contributes to our ozone to our atmosphere. Our forests need to be cleaned up and made healthy again. If you care at all about chi mat change or the health of our federal forests, or hopefully the health of Rural Communities around america, you should be for this narrowly crafted bill to collaboratively build a Sustainable Forest policy. Id like to reiterate that this bill only pertains to a narrow portion of lands affected by or likely to be affected by these natural disasters. It only applies to land under the federally sanction red source advisory committees already in place or covered by community Wildfire Protection plans. In other words, these are areas that already have had extensive plo active management discussions on these lands with Community Partners across the environmental and timber resource spectrum. This is exactly where a streamlined nepa process should be played. This is not eliminating Environmental Impact statements. It does permit a small exclusion of 5,000 to 15,000 acres for a narrow type of project. The Forest Service is currently spending hundreds of millions of dollars on nepa compliance, the single biggest factor limiting the amount of work they get done on the ground. It also has an innote vate innovative approach to restoring lands after a filed wire. No roads are built, current contracts stay in place, and reinforcement is en reinforcement is required to help habitat. You cant accelerate the process here where are you going to do it . Didnt we accelerate the process a little after sandy or katrina . Some of our colleagues some of my citizens, some of my constituents out west are feeling that theres a lack of fairness in our disaster policy. Its common practice for radical groups to file a litany of alleged grievances on any forest project thats suggested, mostly to drag out the process and drag out policy they disagree with at great taxpayer expense. Most of these climbs are procedural. We must form this legal gotcha game by force the groups to focus on clismse impropriety they feel they can win on, thats fair. Thats what this bonding proposal does. Folks, for people in rural oregon and rural america, theyre being left behind. The timber economy was a major economy for these forested regions for tech kids. Theyre not seeing Large Companies, high tech manufacturing, moving into their remote areas. These are communities that have demended on our renewable Natural Resources for their livelihood. Our forests are a catastrophe waiting to happen. Theyre much less diverse than they used to be this drought is about the worst its been in a long, long time. Lets begin to work collaboratively. Give local communities the tools they need and have to deal with and prevent these catastrophes and learn how to Work Together again to build healthier forests and healthier Rural Communities. I yield back. The chair the gentleman from pennsylvania with one minute remaining. Mr. Tompspob mr. Thompson i reserve. The chair the gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Peterson i dont believe i have any adegreesal speakers, i can yield time to the gentleman if he wishes. Mr. Thompson i have additional speakers so i would appreciate it. Mr. Peterson i yield my remaining time to you. The chair the gentleman from minnesota yields eight minutes to pennsylvania. The gentleman from minnesota has yielded all his allotted time. Mr. Thompson i thank the gentleman for his leadership for his generosity and his leadership on this question and others as well. I recognize the gentleman from alabama for two minutes. The chair the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Byrnes thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you for your work on this legislation. The federal forezest service act is necessary if the Forest Service will have what it needs to manage our forest lands. I come from a state where forestry is critical to our economy and ecosystem. Forestry is a 13 billion industry in alabama. Thankfully, my state does not have a serious issue with wildfires, due to our active Forest Management. That said, it does not mean that my area isnt impacted by the wildfire crisis. The Forest Service and bureau of Land Management are forced to spend so much money fighting wildfires that they have to take money away from other nonfire accounts that ironically help prevent wildfires like thinning and controlled burns. Mr. Speaker, this bill just makes sense. By simplifying the environmental process requirements, and reducing burdensome regulations that hinder active Forest Management on federal timberland, we can help reduce filed Wire Wildfires and protect our nations forests. I want to thank the gentleman from arkansas and others for their work with this bill. And the continued leadership on behalf of our nations foresters. I urge my colleagues in this house to support this legislation and i call on the senate to act on this bill right away i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from pennsylvania. Mr. Thompson im pleased to recognize the distinguished gentleman and eagle scout from oregon for two minutes. The chair the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their great work on this legislation, this is really, really important my colleague from oregon, mr. Schrader, spoke eloquently about what our state faces and our communities face. Mr. Walden thats why this Forest Service act is so important. To get us back in charge of our lands to fight the destruction of wildfire and the incredible pollution from wild fire. As we speak here today on the house floor, brave firefighters are still trying to contain the corner creek fire which has already burned nearly 29,000 acres of forestland in my district. 29,000 acres already burned. Unfortunately this fire season, the west this fire season in the west has only just begun. Among the many strong provisions in this bill is streamline planning, speed up the peace of Forest Management, several in particular are helpful to our great state of oregon where National Forests in eastern oregon, this legislation repealed the prohibition on harvesting trees over 21 inches in diameter. Theres no real ecological reason for this, it was a temporary measure put in place 0something years ago and remains today. It didnt make sense then, doesnt make sense now and it will be repealed this laws one size fits all rule illustrates how broken the federal Forest Management has become. It greatly limits the flexibility Forest Managers have to do whats right for the health and ecosystem of the forest to make them more fire tolerant. This legislation also contains legislation i wrote with remitives defazio and schrader. It will cut costs, increase timber harvest and revenue to local counties. B. L. M. Is also directed to revise their flewed flawed Management Plan proposals to consider the clear statutory mandate to manage these lands for sustainable timber production. Finally, one look at the fires around the west makes clear that the status quo simply is not working for our forests, for our communities, or for the environment. We need to do better this resilient federal forest act will to that, it will provide Better Healthier forests and communities and i thank the committee for taking up this good piece of legislation and encourage my colleagues to approve it. The chair the gentleman from pennsylvania. Mr. Thompson i recognize the gentleman from montana for two minutes. The chair the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. As a fifth generation montanan i grew up in timber country. Our timber yards were in full swing and visitors flocked to so grace ver glacier park. Mr. Zinke in building a strong tourist economy and a strong timber economy but building a strong tourist economy and a strong timber economy are not mutually exclusive. Thats why i strongly support the resilient federal forest act of 2015 and it does what it should do it encourages local organizations to Work Together on collaborative projects and revitalize the economy but not only that it revitalizes our forests. Think about it. As we debate this bill today there are two wildfires in my home state of montana, just a few miles from where i grew. As of today, more than 3. 9 million acres across our nation have burned in wildfires this year alone. Thats larger than the entire state of connecticut. Were on track for more than double if the conditions dont improve. Just last week, the Forest Service who i visited said were in the perfect storm. In the words of former chief of the Forest Service, chief wosworth, we dont have a fire problem as much as we have a Land Management problem. Thats why this bill is so important. Last week, across my district, i toured the site of the glacier rim fear. Its burning the same ground that burned in 2003. I was told by people on the ground that the reason why this fire is burning is the Forest Service was not able to conduct a sal vg operation for fear of lawsuits among other reasons, and those lawsuits left standing timber which cannot be addressed by crews, which only can be addressed by helicopters, and thats a Million Dollar project. And has been tet its not burn once but twice in 15 years. We need more scientists in the woods and less lawyers. I urge my colleagues to join me in a bipartisan effort to support this bill. The chair the gentleman from pennsylvania with 3 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Thompson im pleased to recognize the gentleman from nevada, mr. Am dee amday for 2 1 2 minutes. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Amodei management reduces catastrophic wildfire. In the high desert rangelands of nevada as well as the confer forests of the sierra nevadas around lake tahoe, the Ruby Mountains and others, we have 100year resource there. Once it burn its 100 years before it comes back. Why the by the time you take into account the moisture regimens and everything affiliated with that. Then you have years long processes after it burns to go after that. This is great legislation. I want to thank my colleague from the razorback state for his work on it and the other folks that helped him. One of the reasons this is so important to our state, the last 20 years, on b. L. M. Land, we burned six million to seven million acres and we are dealing with a thing called the sage grouse listing where they talk about loss and fragmentation of habitat. Nobodys fault, mostly lightning caused fires, six to seven million acres of catastrophic wild fires. More management, more restoration and the ability to recognize that the funding for this is something that needs to be a femarelated thing rather than just through the normal process are all great ideas. I want to thank my colleagues for their help on behalf of the people of the silver state. Thank you very much. Yield back. The chair the gentleman from pennsylvania. Mr. Thompson mr. Chairman, i want to thank all of my colleagues Ranking Member peterson, who all spoke on this important bill. H. R. 2647 is a commonsense bipartisan solution to start fixing a broken system. Right now, miles of red tape and constant lit fwation usually from groups that refuse to come to the table are preventing our forest receiving the active management they desperately need. This leads to more catastrophic wildfires and more money diverted from other priorities to fight fires. This legislation will aid in reversing this cycle. It gives the agencies more flexibility to manage their federal lands which protects Wildlife Habitat and surrounding watershed, spurs growth in the Rural Economy and saves time and saves money. I want to thank mr. Westerman for his leadership on this, chairman conway conaway, chairman bishop, Ranking Member peterson and would the Ranking Member like me to yield any remaining time . If not, i will yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back his time. The chair the gentleman from utah is recognized for 15 minutes. Mr. Bishop thank you mr. Speaker. I thank you for letting me talk about this significant bill that will improve our go over the status quo and to begin our portion of debate, id yield five minutes to the gentleman from arkansas, who is the sponsor, chief sponsor of this particular bill, who has a personal background actually having earned a degree in forestry, even from the state of arkansas, the gentleman, mr. Westerman, who is the sponsor of the bill. The chair the gentleman from arkansas is recognized for five minutes. Mr. Westerman mr. Chairman, i rise in support of h. R. 2647, the resilient federal forests act. This Bipartisan Legislation will give the Forest Service tools it needs to better manage our National Forests. As a professional forester, i see our forests are in decline and lack resiliency. President teddy roosevelt, who worked alongside a fellow forester to create the u. S. Forest service are the two i would credit as the fathers of our National Forests. Roosevelt said the nation behaves well if it treats the Natural Resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increase and not impair value. We have problems with our current forests which is leaving it less resilient, decreased and impaired in value. It is not only our forests that suffer. Without forests that are healthy, we have poor water quality, poor air quality, less Wildlife Habitat, less biodiversity. My bill aims to fix these problems and it aims to fix them through proactive and sound management. First, our forests are living are a living dynamic. We have no decisionmaking at all. This bill incentivizes collaboration and speeds up the implementation of collaborative projects while safeguarding strong and timely Environmental Reviews. We have a problem of not slvadging timber destroyed in catastrophic events which makes the forests more dangerous increases future wildfire problems and makes it difficult for reforestation. This bill sets up requirements for salvage and reforestation. The Forest Service would have to implement greater reforestation in response to catastrophic events. Typically, less than 3 of an area is reforested after a catastrophic event. This is unacceptable. My bill requires 75 reforestation within five years. We have a problem in our Rural Communities that not only depend on forests for their sustenance but also provide emergency services, education and support for the forests and residents who live near the forests. As our forests are decreed and impaired in value, our forests communities immediately suffer and suffer more in the future. My bill gives counties flexibility in spending secure rural funding and puts 25 of stewardship contracts into the county treasure for schools and other public services. There are other policy problems this legislation solves, but none are more important than problems caused by having to spend too much of our Forest Service budget for reactive Fire Suppression rather than on proactive sound management and fire prevention. This bill ends the destructive practice of fire borrowing in a physically responsible manner. It creates a subaccount under the stafford act specifically for fighting wildfire. I would like to thank chairman bishop, conaway and shuster for their assistance with this critical bipartisan bill. Our National Forests desperately needs scientific management. In the words of roosevelt, i call on us to behalf well, to treat our forest ry services as assets that we will turn over to the next generation, increased and not impaired in value. I look forward to advancing this bill today and call on the senate to act promptly to ease the burdens of the summer fire season. I yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from arkansas yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from utah reserves. The gentlewoman from massachusetts is recognized for 15 minutes. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentlelady is recognized. Ms. Tsongas the clean water, clean air, Wildlife Habitat open space as well as robust recreation and timber economies that provide jobs and partner with federal land managers to improve Forest Health. Everyone agrees that we must increase the pace of restoration work, to limit the impacts of catastrophic wildfires and to improve the longterm health of our forests. H. R. 2647 does contain some new thinking and potentially useful concepts that if done right could help the Forest Service achieve its longterm goal of healthy, Sustainable Forests. For example, the bill provides incentives for collaboration, which has been identified as a priority by witnesses from both sides of the aisle. It also proposes some creative ways to finance Forest Restoration projects developed through collaboration. H. R. 2647 also offers the potential solution to the devastating impact of fire borrowing, the practice of transferring funds away from Forest Restoration projects for use in fighting wildfires. Throughout the debate over norest policy in this particular bill, democrats, including myself, have urged the majority to deal with how we pay for the largest and most catastrophic wildfires, which represent only 1 of wildfires but consume 30 of the entire agencys firefighting budget. I am glad that the majority acknowledges the urgent need to address the fact that over 50 of the Forest Service budget goes to fighting wildfires, squeezing out funds needed for all other critical Forest Service programs, most especially those that focus on Forest Health. However, these helpful provisions do not offset the many serious concerns that i still have with this legislation, which was developed without any input from Natural Resources Committee Democrats. In fact, when the federal land subcommittee held its hearing, the bill was still in draft form. This process even left the Forest Service without the opportunity to provide adequate or meaningful testimony. Instead of working together on a bipartisan basis to improve the health of our National Forests about which we all care, this bill irresponsibly chips away at the environmental safeguards of the National Environmental policy act and places tremendous burdens on american citizens seeking to participate in the public review process of Forest Service projects. For example, h. R. 2647 would have a wide range of timber and Restoration Projects from critical environmental analysis and public review. This means that thousands of acres of sensitive ecosystems would be much more vulnerable to degradation and damage and changes to the judicial review process raises serious constitution concerns, eroding some of the bedrock principles of the american legal system that protects the basic rights of citizens to participate in the federal decisionmaking process and to hold their government accountable. If this legislation were to become law, a citizen challenging a federal decision would be required to post a bond equal to the governments costs, expenses and attorneys fees. If plaintiffs win it is paid out of that bond. If plaintiffs lose as our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee can attest this provision flies directly in the face of american legal precedent. Public lands including our National Forests, belong to all americans. They are a public good. Bedrock environmental laws like the National Environmental policy act make sure that the public voice is heard and that critical habitats are protected, not only for species that rely on our National Forests and grasslands but also for american citizens who depend on these lands for their Drinking Water and economic livelyhoods or simply to enjoy their treasured beauty. I urge my colleagues to vote no on this legislation, and i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentlewoman from massachusetts reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop im reserving. The chair the gentleman from utah reserves. The gentlewoman from massachusetts is recognized. Ms. Tsongas i wish to yield three minutes to representative defazio, my colleague from oregon. The chair the gentleman from oregon is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Defazio i thank the gentlelady for yielding. Ive been working on forest policy for my entire tenure in congress. I have some of the most productive and fabulous forest lands in the entire federal system both Forest Service and b. L. M. Lands under unique o. N. C. Management. But here we are headed in again into a very, very potentially bad fire season. June record heat, no prescription. We had very little snowpack last winter and the heavy fuels are already as dry as they get. So weve seen this before, the fires will break out, b. L. M. And Forest Service cant stop fighting the fires so they will borrow from other accounts, including fuel reduction to protect forest values and communities, Forest Health and a myriad of other programs. This happens year after year after year. Its time to end that and this bill takes that first step in ending that practice of fire borrowing and that is a tremendous benefit to the resource agencies, the resources themselves and the preparedness in fighting fires. That alone gives this bill a tremendous merit. It deals with some other longstanding issues in oregon. We adopted something called temporary side screens back in 1993 i believe, saying you couldnt cut any tree over 21 inches in diameter. It makes no biological sense and it makes no sense to the premiere forest scientists in the world, Jerry Franklin and norm johnson. You have nonnative trees that are growing there because of repression of fire for the last 100 years. Theyre over 21 inches but theyre growing in stands of ponderosas that are 200 years old and theyll kill the ponderosas a native tree, but the Forest Service cant go in and deal with this issue. With this legislation they finally can. On our unique o. N. C. Lands, there is provision of the northwest forest land called survey and manage. Literally crawling on the forest floor looking for slugs, snails, calling for owls, three years in a row. This, again, is not necessary, according to the premiere scientists and is incredibly expensive and time consuming on the bureau of Land Management. Each plan, no matter what the output level would do away with that practice. So this bill does away with that practice, saving the b. L. M. Resources and moving ahead with better management. There are a number of other issues that relate to these o. N. C. Lands. I want to thank chairman bishop, chairman mcclintock for working with myself, mr. Schrader and mr. Walden in order to address these issues. Extending the Comment Period developing new management options. B. L. M. Isry tuesdaying, de is refusing despite the Comment Period request on these critical Management Plans. This is great merit. There are provisions in the bill that i dont like and i dont support. We will be given an opportunity on the polis amendment to deal with the bonding issue and the Cost Recovery issue which i dont belongs in this bill. I have concerns about the magnitude of the c. E. s for, you know Fire Recovery and salvage. But on balance the other parts of this bill are important to the point where the bill should receive support. People who care about the future of our forests. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlewoman from massachusetts reserves. Ms. Tsongas i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop im pleased to allow two minutes to the subCommittee Chairman on federal lands who helped shepherd this bill through the committee process, the gentleman from california, mr. Mcclintock. The chair the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Mcclintock i thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman excess timber comes out of the forests one way or another. Its either carried out or its burned out, but it comes out. Years ago when we carried it out we had healthy forests and a thriving economy. We managed our National Forests according to wellestablished and timetested Forest Management practices that prevented vegetation and wildlife from overgrowing the ability of the land to support it. Revenues from the sale of excess timber provided for prosperous local economies and a steady stream of revenues to the treasury which could in turn be used to further improve the public labbeds. But 40 years ago in the name of public lands. But 40 years ago in the name of saving the environment we consigned our National Forests to a policy of benign neglect and the results are all around us today, not only impoverished mountain communities but in utterly devastated environment. Our forests are now dangerously overgrown. Trees that once had room to grow and thrive now fight for their lives in competition with other trees for the same ground. In this distressed condition they fall victim to pest atlantas, disease and cat pest lents, disease and catastrophic wildfire. We cant salvage dead timber anymore. This legislation is the first step to sound management of our National Forests. It stream lines fire and disease prevention programs. It exat the indicts restoration of fire damaged lands. It protects Forest Managers from frivolous lawsuits and it does so without requiring new regulations, rules, planning or mapping. Mr. Chairman, the management of our public lands is the responsibility of congress. The environmental left have proven disastrous to the health of our forests, the preservation of our wildlife and the welfare of our mountain communities. This bill begins to reverse that damage and to usher in a new era of healthy and resilient forests and an economic renaissance for our mountain towns. I yield back. The chair the gentlewoman from massachusetts is recognized. I yield four minutes to my colleague from arizona. The chair the gentleman from arizona is recognized for four minutes. Mr. Grijalva thank you, mr. Chairman. Let me thank the gentlelady for yielding. I rise in opposition to h. R. 2647 so the called resilient forest federal forest act of 2015. Before i address the many concerns with the underlying bill, i must commend my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. They have finally take an step toward addressing the 600pound gorilla that is the enormous cost and impact of fire borrowing on the Forest Service budget. I offered an amendment at a Committee Markup that would have required congress to address the issue of fire borrowing before this bill could take effect. And we have been calling on House Republicans to address the issue for years. My amendment was rejected but im glad it encouraged the sponsors of this legislation to address the cost of wildfires. The newly added title 9 is not a perfect solution. By amending the stafford act to include wildfires under the definition of natural disasters, this section creates a mechanism to address the very disastrous practice of fire borrowing. But there is a small hitch nevertheless. Congress could still would still have to fund this new Disaster Relief fund. Similar to the process for funding recovery for superstorm sandy, which did not go smoothly, to say the least. Well, while this might be a positive step, it does not make h. R. 2647 a good bill. With regard to title 9, the additional Disaster Relief fund , hopefully the majority will not rob peter to pay paul within the forest budget in order to fund this disaster fund. Or leave title 9 just as an empty, hollow and useless gesture that never gets funded. In the name of forest resilient and health h. R. 2647 undermines the neep process, discourages collaboration nepa process disclurges collaboration creates discourages collaboration creates burden on citizens access to the courts. This bill quite frankly is not about Forest Health, its about increasing the numbers of trees removed from the forest. The white house just communicated its strenuous opposition to h. R. 2647 and let me quote from that communication. The administration strongly opposes h. R. 2647. The most important step congress can take to increase the pace and scale of Forest Restoration and management of our National Forests, and the department of interior labs, is to fix the Fire Suppression funding and provide additional capacity for Forest Service and department of interior to manage the nations forests and other public lands. H. R. 2647 falls short of fixing the fire budget problem and contains other provisions that will undermine collaborative Forest Restoration, environmental safeguards, Public Participation across the National Forest system and our public lands. Categorical inclusions that are part of title 1 are not the product of thoughtful consideration of the legislation. Instead they pave the way for up to eight square miles of clear cuts of old growth trees with little or no Environmental Review. Title 2 reduces to three months the time for environmental assessments and Environmental Impact statements for reforestation or salvage operations following a large scale fire. The Forest Service testified that this time limit is unrealistic, encourages snap judgments that can have horrible longterm consequences. Title 3 strips away access to the courts that other speakers will speak to as well and, you know, think about the group thats going that would dominate the collaborative Decision Making without any judicial review. The bill also eliminates equal access to justice act for successfully the ganlts and forces them to do litigant for successful litigants and forces them to do a oneside bond requirement to eliminate citizen activism and Public Participation in a problem that they can help solve rather solve, rather looking at this as a threat. I urge a no vote on the legislation and i yield back. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlewoman from massachusetts reserves. The gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop i move that the committee rise. The chair the motion is adopted. Accordingly, the committee rises. The speaker pro tempore mr. Chairman. The chair mr. Speaker, the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h. R. 2647, directs me to report that it has come to no resolution thereon. The speaker pro tempore the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the Union Reports that the committee has had under consideration h. R. 2647 and has come to no resolution thereon. For what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek reck recognition . Seek recognition . I present a privileged report for printing under the rule. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title. The clerk report to accompany hu h. R. 2995, a bill making appropriations for Financial Services and general government for the fiscal year ending september 30 2016, and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore ordered printed. Pursuant to clause 1 of rule 21 points of order are reserved. Pursuant to House Resolution 347 and rule 18, the house declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h. R. 2647. Will the gentleman from illinois, mr. Hultgren, kindly resume the chair. The chair the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of h. R. 2647 which the clerk will roorp by title. The clerk h. R. 2647, a bill to expedite under the National Environmental policy act improved National Forest activities derived from the Public Domain on public lands under the jurisdiction of the bureau of Land Management and on tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown fireprone forested lands and for other purposes. The chair when the committee of the whole rose earlier today, 12 1 2 minutes remained in general debate. The gentleman from utah has nine minutes remaining and the gentlewoman from massachusetts has 3 1 2 minutes remaining. Who yields time . Mr. Bishop mr. Chairman. The chair the gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop its my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from colorado, former member of our committee, but someone whose district clearly knows the significance and impact of forest lands and how they should be maintained, the gentleman from colorado, mr. Tipton. The chair for how long . Mr. Bishop lets give him at least two. The chair the gentleman from colorado is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Tipton i thank the chairman for yielding me time. Mr. Chairman, the challenge that we face in the west is very obvious. Overgrown forests, bark beetle devastation, threat to our watersheds, threat to habitat, threat to private property that sensible people have long called for a solution to be able to have rendered. Id like to be able to applaud the hard work of chairman bishop, the committee and particularly the gentleman from arkansas, mr. Westerman in putting commonsense pieces of legislation forward in this act. The concept of being proactive rather than being reactive, putting the health of our forests, protection of our watersheds, habitat for wildlife and saving private property while bringing some control back to our states and our communities, is long overdue. Forward looking innovative legislation like the resilient federal forest act speaks to the heart of Forest Management. This is a piece of legislation which is long overdue. Weve seen the impact and Pilot Projects of healthy forests. The opportunity to be able to get the forests again in healthy state, creating abundant ground cover and forge for our animals and protecting those watersheds. This is a commonsense piece of legislation that id like to encourage my colleagues to be able to support. Thank you and i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from utah reserves. The gentlewoman from massachusetts is recognized. Ms. Tsongas i reserve. I continue to reserve. The chair the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop im reserving. Im reserving. The chair the gentleman from utah reserves. The gentlewoman from massachusetts is recognized. Ms. Tsongas i yield two minutes to my colleague from georgia, mr. Johnson. The chair the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Johnson thank you mr. Speaker. Impartial justice and access to the courts is a right guaranteed to every citizen in this country. Across the street from this chamber, lady justice sits blind folded on the steps of the Supreme Court so we can all be reminded that justice should be blind. Today we are debating yet another republican bill restricting access to the courts to only those with deep pockets. H. R. 2647 continues the alarming trend of republicansponsored legislation that proposes to limit the average americans access to the courts, so polluters that line the pockets of politicians with Campaign Contributions can continue to profit. H. R. 2647 requires that a citizen post a bond prior to challenging the United States governments Forest Management activities. This bond must cover all of the defendants anticipated costs, expenses and attorneys fees to be paid if the defendant prevails. In the rare occasion plaintiffs are successful, they will only be able to recover the amount posted in the bond and can only , if they win, exact and can win only if they or can recover only if they win exactly on all counts. The government, however, does not have to cover any of the plaintiffs costs. Requiring the posting of a bond that could be as costly as tens of thousands of dollars undermines citizen access to the courts when a party believes the government failed to follow the law. The individual consumer, Nonprofit Organization Small Business or Public Interest group does not have the financial ability to challenge large corporations or more often the federal government which citizens believe is harmeling their communities or harming their communities or environment. By allowing citizens to recover their reasonable legal fees when they file and win in court, you encourage americans to participate in Public Discourse and hold the government accountable. Rollbacks to jish review and imposition of attorney judicial review and imposition of attorneys fees along with interference of key judicial powers contemplated in h. R. 2647 cripples the ability of those concerned with Environmental Protection and seek the chair the gentleman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. Mr. Johnson thank you. And it cripples the ability of those concerned with Environmental Protection to seek representation and redress in the courts. I urge my colleagues to vote no on this bill and with that i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from massachusetts reserves. The gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop still reserving. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from massachusetts is recognized. Ms. Tsongas can i inquire how much time i have left . The chair the gentlewoman has 1 1 4 minutes remaining. Ms. Tsongas thank you. I want to close by he its rating that instead of working together he its rating that instead of working together on a bipartisan basis to improve the health of our National Forests, this bill irresponsibly chips away at the environmental safeguards of the National Environmental policy act and places tremendous burdens as weve just heard on american citizens seeking to participate in the public review process of Forest Service programs. I am glad that the majority acknowledges the urgent need to address fire borrowing, but we still have concerns with this proposal and it in no way offsets many other Serious Problems with this legislation. Developed without any input from Committee Democrats or meaningful testimony from the Forest Service. I urge my colleagues to vote no and i yield back. The chair the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop thank you, mr. Chairman. I appreciate the opportunity to present this bill to us. I also thank all the many people who have worked from three different committees on this. Chairman shuster, chairman conaway from the t. N. I. And the ag committee, as well as those who have worked on the resource committee. Very grateful for the democrats who have spoken here already in defense of this bill, mr. Schroder, mr. Defazio, their help and assistance in this. As former chief forest of the Forest Service said, we dont have a fire problem in our nations forests. We have a Land Management problem and it needs to be addressed quickly. That is exactly what the westerman bill does. It addresses that problem. The status quo flatout is not working. Forest service has recommended or recognize that we have at least 58 million acres that are in dire need of assistance right now, that can easily be burned in this next fire season. Thats bigger than my home state of utah, which is still the 11th largest state in the nation. If you add the higher end estimates, then you add more acreage into that, which means youd add the state of utah and michigan. 1 3 of the entire forests we have are in danger of being destroyed if we do not do something immediately. The Forest Service right now can only address the problem in three million acres, 5 is the minimum that simply means it would take them over 20 years to address the problems, thats more than my lifetime is left here, to try and solve this problem. I realize that i was probably born at a greater distance from the apocalypse than most of the people here, but at the same time in my lifetime you cant solve the problem if we keep on with the status quo. That is why this bill is essential and thats why i appreciate all the speakers who have gone on today saying, why saying why this is the perfect first step. What is so good about it is as soon as the president signs this thing, the Forest Service can immediately implement everything, these are practices and processes that they have at their disposal, they are ready to move forward with it, all we have to do is give them the tools to immediately do that. Funding alone will not solve this problem but we have appreciated that. I appreciate once again chairman shuster subCommittee Chairman barletta who came up from the transportation and Infrastructure Committee who came one a good funding mechanism to move us forward. But that by itself does not solve our problems. We have a Land Management issue at the same time. We have a problem with litigation which basically stops the efforts of the Forest Service to do their job in their tracks. As soon as they become sued they have to stop moving forward on their program, they have to spend money to defend themselves in the lawsuits or do both to try to cover themselves so they dont get sued in the first place. It does not work. We have heard a lot of comments about the ability of being able to sue as a poor private citizen doesnt have the right to sue, if we pass our bill, thats ridiculous. This only deals with areas that have collaboratively worked on. That means where citizens got together and came up with a plan of action on their forests and as they move forward to that, some special Interest Groups with a whole lot of deep pockets on their side stops them in their tracks by a lawsuit. Those are the kinds of groups that are going to have to put up the bond. Those are the kind of groups who can no longer simply say, oh, were going to sue you on 25 different issues. We realize three will be realistic but we want you to take the time and effort to spend your federal moneys to try and defend all those 25. What were saying is look, if you are going to sue on something sue on something thats realistic. Dont put the entire world on there and make sure youre willing to succeed on those particular issues and those particular areas. We have a title in there that says you can still sue but cant get an injunction to stop our suit as we go through frivolous lawsuit after frivolous lawsuits. Two prior administrations we have 11,000 lawsuits that took place from letting the Forest Service go forward. It has to be addressed. The Forest Service recognizes that and thats why former Forest Service employees as well as the current ones realize if we dont have some kind of litigation reform we will not solve our problems with forest help. We also have to give them the tools so they can move quickly on what they need to do. Categorical exclusion is not something that is evil. It is actually something that is essential to move forward. They recognize that they need that tool. Thats why i said as soon as this bill is signed by the president , they can implement what they already know to do. What were asking them is to auto do an Environmental Review but is to do an Environmental Review but you dont have to do it time after time. If you do it the first time its sufficient and they have the wisdom and the ability to do that. Will that destroy our forests . Heavens no. What this will do is have the potential of saving our forest. Being able to allow the federal forest land to be as resilient, to be as wellmanaged as the state and tribal forest lands are. Because in state and tribal forest lands they dont have to deal with a lot of the issues that stop them from actually solving their problems. But we do on the federal forest system unless we move forward. Thats why i appreciate all those who have spoken so far on the need of moving forward on this particular bill. We are in the beginning of a fire season that could be catastrophic. We have witnessed the results of wildfires in the past. We need to do something now, and we have to move forward and this is a bill that is commons. It was wonderful to have our hearings listening to the groups of people, being excited about the opportunity to having the tools the Forest Service needs to do their job, having the funding the Forest Service needs to do their job and also having the protection from frivolous lawsuits the Forest Service needs to do their job. We must give our Forest Service personnel the tools they need to be successful. And if we dont, if we dont pass this bill because we want something perfect, come down. First, if we dont pass this bill, we are going to have a devastating situation coming in our forest lands and in our nation this coming year. This is an essential step forward. Is it perfect . No. Theres a whole lot more we need to do and we will still look forward to those issues. We will move forward on these issues. But what this does is move us forward in a significant way. Does this bill destroy our bedrock environmental laws . Of course not. Last time i heard people talking about bedrock was talking about wilma and fred and barney and im sorry those laws didnt save their pet dinosaurs back in those days also. We are not going to change. Were not we are not going to change everything. What we are going to do is allow our Forest Service to do their jobs something they are stopped from doing now because of procedural proxies, because of litigation, because of lack of funding and all three of those are addressed in this particular legislation. Its a great piece of legs and it needs to go forward and i urge everyone in here, everyone in here to realize how we must make steps to move forward and pass this bill and get it over to the senate and onto the president s desk so our Forest Service can do their jobs. With that i yield back. The chair the gentleman from utah yields back the balance of his time. All time for general debate has expired. In lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committees on agriculture and Natural Resources printed in the bill, it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the fiveminute rule an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of rules Committee Print 11421 modified by the amendment printed in part b of house report 114192. That amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. No amendment to that amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in part c of house report 114192. Each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report by a member designated in the report shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided answered controlled by divided and controlled by a proponent and an opponent. Its now in order to consider amendment number 1 printed in part c of house report 114192. For what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition . Mr. Polis i have an amendment at the desk. The chair the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 1 printed in part c of house report 114192 offered by mr. Polis of colorado. The chair pursuant to House Resolution 347 the gentleman from colorado, mr. Polis, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado. Mr. Polis thank you mr. Speaker. My amendment would strike a harmful and politically driven provision on the underlying bill that has the effect of limiting Stakeholder Input and curbing equal access to justice, a core constitution principle in our republic, and effectively removes an important check we have on arbitrary actions by president s and administrations. It hands absent my language, the underlying bill would hand president obama a blank slate in determining how we run our western lands. My bill will restore that balance and allow Civil Society stakeholders and local residents to be able to challenge illegal federal actions. While i respect and appreciate the impetus for many parts of this bill and support them particularly those aimed at incentivizing collaboratively Development Plans and fixing the flawed funding infrastructure funding structure for wildfire response, very, very important in my district. The provision that im striking in my amendment is truly a poison pill for many on my side of the aisle who care deeply about equal access to justice and many on the other side of the aisle who dont want to hand president obama an unchecked control over federal lands. In districts like mine which are made up of 62 of federal land, the Forest Service owns huge amounts of open space that we use enjoy, as a driver of tourism of our economy hikers, skiers, used commercially by loggers, utility providers, many, many other groups. And i can attest to the fact that these groups, these stakeholders that i mentioned whose livelihood and enenjoyment depend on these lands, are extremely valuable when it comes to providing practical, vired input into managing our federal lands. This bill, however, would discourage and limit the depth and diversity of public input by expediting the development of Forest Management plans to limit it protest after a plan. Meaning not like the provision that i am trying to strike cripple the transparency by limiting the form of expertise we have in planning our federal lands, it also has the potential to repeal some critical rights, like the right to protest and Legal Recourse for potential wrongdoing. The provisions i move to strike would limit nonprofits, residents, independent advocacy organizations to File Lawsuits against potentially illegal or improper Forest Management tools that the executive branch is using. By creating a harmful bonding requirement which would really exclude judicial access for everybody except the very wealthiest corporations and people and a fee shifting requirement that requires the government to act with impunity we break down the core principle of equal access to justice which is our right. And by injunctions pending appeal in cases of postdraster operations after broadly defined events, were only compounding the damage. Again, mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the other side of the aisles move to block the courts ability to make sound, thoughtful and transparent decisions if the executive branch acts illegally really will come at the expense of our local stakeholders for those of us who live in and around federal land. I reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from colorado reserves the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition . Mr. Bishop claim time in opposition. The chair the gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop thank you. I think its important to realize there is nothing, absolutely nothing in the base bill that prohibits any individual or group from filing a lawsuit. What it does do is discourage frivolous lawsuits and to expand on that i yield one minute to the gentleman from montana, mr. Zinke. The chair the gentleman from montana is recognized for one minute. Mr. Zinke we have to reward collaboration and working together. What this bill does not do is not skirting nepa, skirting nepa. What it does though is bring people together to Work Together. Thats what i was sent to washington, d. C. To do and thats what we were sent to do is Work Together and move the ball up the field. It does not prevent anyone from filing a lawsuit. What it does do however, on frivolous lawsuits and the numbers are clear between 1989 and 2008, over 1,125 lawsuits were submitted. Almost in every case those lawsuits ended up costing the Forest Service that were so concerned about the money theyre spending, number one is forest fires. Number two is litigation. So we want the same thing. We want more scientists, less lawyers in the woods and healthy forests once again to be part of our country. And yet, what happens is the collaborative effort and we made the definition of collaborative very vague so everyone can participate. Everybody. It does not prevent anyone from suing. What it does do is if youre not going to be involved in the collaborative effort, youre not going to spend the time, the resources, then you have to post a bond and that bond only covers what the Forest Service would have to defend. We could have made it a lot more aggressive. The chair the gentleman from utah reserves. The gentleman from colorado. Mr. Polis how much time remains on both sides . The chair the gentleman from colorado has 1 1 2 minutes remaining. The gentleman from utah has 3 3 4. Mr. Polis id like to yield one minute to the gentlelady from massachusetts, ms. Tsongas. The chair the gentlelady from massachusetts is recognized for one minute. Ms. Tsongas thank you, mr. Polis. As my colleague stated title 3 would require anyone who challenges a project on forest land in the federal court system to put up a bond covering all litigation expenses of the government. Plaintiffs would only get their bond back if they prevailed on all their claims. Further, it would not allow litigants to recover attorneys fees under the equal access to justice act. And while my colleagues across the aisle have said it doesnt prevent anyone from coming forward, we do know that the impact would be that it would prevent any plaintiffs except those Large Companies with deep pockets from bringing lawsuits against these projects. Especially keeping out the average american citizen from having their voice heard. I strongly support this amendment and with that i yield back. The chair the gentlewoman from massachusetts yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from colorado reserves. The gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop i yield one minute to the gentleman from colorado, mr. Mcclintock. The chair the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. Mr. Mcclintock thank you, mr. Chairman. Eric abover once said that every hoffer once said that every graduate cause becomes a movement which becomes a business which becomes a racket. Well, thats whats happened with environmental litigation. Through many hearings weve discovered that most of the groups litigating collaborative projects sue just to raise money or to defeat necessary projects through delay. That is their right. No one begrudges them it, but that does not include frivolous litigation designed solely to run out the clock on salvage projects or to nullify by delay the painstaking work of Collaborative Group which often in good faith spend endless hours negotiating a plan that is fair to all. I oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to. I yield back. The chair the gentleman from california yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from utah reserves. The gentleman from colorado is recognized. Mr. Polis many of my constituents, i have constituents living in federal lands. What happens if federal Land Management policies changes their right of way makes it harder to access where they live, where are they supposed to come up with the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars it would take to bond under this scenario to figure out whether what the federal government did was legal or not . Thats why we need to fix this, mr. Speaker, and i urge my colleagues to support my amendment, defend the Constitutional Rights of families who live in and around federal land, and i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop i appreciate the chance to hear from the gentleman from california as well as montana. You see, what happens and has been failed to be discussed here, this section only applies to whether it has been a collaborative process. So real people, citizens will spend years working together to develop a collaborative project and then to frequently outside Fringe Groups who dont live in the area, who do have big pockets, wait for those projects to be announced and then they start to litigate which has a Chilling Effect on any kind of collaborative work. Which makes the hours, the hundreds of hours for those citizens who worked to come up with their projects simply moot. Thats happened in california, i have been there to see those projects were stopped by frivolous lawsuits. Same thing happens in montana. Montana and northern idaho, in that particular district of all those lawsuits he mentioned, over 70 of those were stopped because of frivolous lawsuits. Were not stopping anyone from suing, but what we are saying is, you put up a bond if youre serious about it, and you dont use this as a way of simply stopping a process that has been worked out by the citizens and the Forest Service at the same time. Thats what this means. And thats what this is going to be taken away. Thats why this is so essential, that this part has to be part of this bill. It has to move forward, or our Forest Service does not have the tools they need to preserve our forests. And to protect our people and protect our landscape. This amendment cannot pass. It would destroy every effort of every Forest Service to actually move forward into the future. We oppose it we oppose it viglouisry vigorously and in all due respect and yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from colorado. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. The amendment is not agreed to. Mr. Polis i request a record vote. The chair pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from colorado will be postponed. For what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition . It is now in order to consider amendment number 2. For what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition . Mr. Tipton mr. Chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. The chair will the clerk designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 2 printed in part c of house report 114192 offered by mr. Tipton of colorado. The chair the gentleman from colorado and a member opposed each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado. Mr. Tipton i thank the gentleman. Mr. Chairman, congress has previously authorized fire Liability Provisions for stewardship contracts. My amendment simply provides the same fire Liability Provisions for longterm stewardship contracts awarded by the Forest Service prior to february 7 2014. These contracts have valid concerns over their potential liability and it is prohibitively expensive to obtain Liability Insurance to cover the cost of large forest fires. The amendment provides these contractors with the same protections as all federal timber sales and integrated resource similar ber purchasers and other integrated resource stewardship contracts that they already have. Id like to urge my colleagues to support the amendment. And i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from massachusetts seek recognition . Ms. Tsongas i rise to claim time in opposition. The chair the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes. Ms. Tsongas i rise in opposition to this amendment which would change the parameters of contracts that have already been awarded through a Competitive Bidding process. Stewardship end result contract something a critical tool used to achieve management goals across our National Forests and grasslands. In addition to making the authority for stewardship contracting permanent, last years farm bill directed the Forest Service to make the first Liability Provisions in integrated resource timber contracts equal to Liability Provisions typically found in timber sale contracts. Earlier this year, the Forest Service issued rulemaking carrying out this directive. This was a commonsense change and i agree with the sponsors of this amendment that this is a worthwhile change. However, their amendment would retroactively extend the updated liability requirement to contracts that were awarded before the farm bill was signed into law. The Forest Service would therefore have to modify existing contracts, which is not only a burden for the agency and the contract awardees, it is unfair to companies who did not participate in the Competitive Bidding process because of their understanding of the fire liability requirements. Congress should not change contracts that have already been awarded through the Competitive Bidding process. For that reason i oppose adoption of this amendment and i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from colorado is recognized. Mr. Tipton i thank the chairman. Were talking about fairness. We just had an amendment from my colleague out of colorado talking about fairness. I think chairman bishop spoke to it very eloquently in regards to allowing that process to be able to work through the private sector. But when were talking about Forest Health, mr. Chairman, wouldnt it be an appropriate thing to make sure that we have a level Playing Field when it comes to liability . If we want to be able to get in and actually protect those forests, be able to protect those watersheds, to be able to protect endangered species, the other wildlife in the forest as well, lets make sure that we have a process to be able to do that to where that liability is not going to become a liability to something that i believe we all share as Common Ground and that is the health of our forests. With that i reserve. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from massachusetts is recognized. Ms. Tsongas i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from colorado is recognized. Mr. Tipton i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from colorado. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to. It is now in order to consider amendment number 3 printed in part c of house report 114192. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from new mexico seek recognition . Ms. Lujan grisham i have an amendment at the desk. The chair the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 3 printed in part c of house report 114192 offered by ms. Lujan grich am of new mexico ms. Lujan grich am of new mexico ms. Lujan grisham of new mexico. The chair the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new mexico. Ms. Lujan grisham mr. Chair, i rise in support of my amendment that allows the Forest Service to establish a Pilot Program to execute contracts with tribes under the indian selfdetermination and Education Assistance act known as 638 contracts. 63 contracts allow tribes to 638 contracts allow tribes to implement federal programs in indian country. When i was the new mexico secretary of health i witnessed how successful and beneficial these contracts can be at efficiently delivering services to tribes and their members. Through these contracts tribes operate hospitals, health clinics, Mental Health facilities and a variety of other Community Health services. Having tribes manage and operate programs in their communities not only recognizes tribal selfdetermination and selfgovernance but it also helps ensure that tribal needs are being met through traditionally and culturally appropriate meth oddses. Although several methods. Although several agencies have the authority to execute 638 contracts such as the bureau of lang manned Land Management, bureau of reclamation and bureau of Indian Affairs Forest Service does not currently have this authority. Several tribes have expressed to me that they would like to see the Forest Service have these authorities. Many in new mexico have land in tribal forests adjacent to National Forests and we know that wildfires can quickly affect entire regions regardless of who owns the land. In fact, the wildland fire which is one of the largest wildfires in new mexico history started on june 26, 2011, in the santa fe National Forest, and burned more than 156,000 acres in new mexico, including land belonging to the pueblos of santa clara other areas. So it is imperative that the Forest Service and tribes actively Work Together to could manage forests. I urge comanage forests. I urge you to support my amendment which will improve the Forest Services ability to partner with tribes, to work on projects that impact tribal lands and forests. I reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentlewoman from new mexico reserves the balance of her time. For what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition . Mr. Bishop i claim time in opposition although i may not be in opposition to this particular bill. The chair without objection, the gentleman from utah is recognized for five minutes. Mr. Bishop or this amendment. I would like to ask the gentlelady from new mexico if she would be willing, as as this bill works its way through the process ultimately being signed and implemented, be willing to work with us to make sure this Contracting Authority in the future has no unintended consequences. I would yield for a response. Ms. Lujan grisham mr. Chair absolutely. I appreciate that offer. Thank you. Mr. Bishop i appreciate that and with that i would also like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania. The chair the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Thompson thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise in support of this amendment. I want to thank the Ranking Member from the conservation forest subcommittee for bringing this amendment forward. This amendment obviously you a loice obviously alowls the Forest Service to create a Pilot Program that will execute contracts with tribes to perform functions of the program. Allowing Forest Service to execute contracts would recognize the government to government relationship that tribes have with the federal government and it would be in line with the intent of the tribal force protection act, of working with tribes as partners and so certainly would encourage my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from utah reserves. The gentlewoman from new mexico is recognized. Ms. Lujan grisham mr. Chair i yield two minutes to the gentleman from minnesota congressman nolan. The chair the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Nolan thank you mr. Chairman. I want to particularly thank the gentlewoman from new mexico , ms. Lujan grisham, for yielding, and for introducing this important amendment. Theres an old saying that i know youve all heard, that the shadows of those who live on their land are the best protectors and the best stewards of that land. My wife and i have had the good fortune to plant over 100,000 trees on our land. And with the help of the kids. And i want you to know theyre doing well. But im supportive of this amendment because i think its high time that the American Indians and the alaskan natives, who are the first stewards of our lands, be allowed to better exercise their sovereignty and their selfdetermination in caring for the forests they called home for untold centuries. We already have 638 contracts that allow the tribes to manage federal lands in indian country. This amendment simply adds a partnership with the u. S. Forests to that list. By approving this measure, we help create jobs, protect our forests all across indian country, and we all become better stewards of our nations great resources. I urge my colleagues to join us in support of this important amendment and i want to, again, particularly thank ms. Lujan grisham for her leadership on this important issue. I thank the chairman of the committee for his support of it as well. And the gentleman, mr. Thompson. So thank you, mr. Chairman, i urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlewoman from new mexico reserves. The gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop i may may i inquire how much time we have remaining . The chair the gentleman from utah has four minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from new mexico has 1 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Bishop i yield to mr. Westerman. The chair the gentleman from arkansas is recognized for one minute. Mr. West thank you, mr. Chairman mr. Westerman thank you mr. Chairman. Were trying to include in the bill tribal and State Governments. I want to thank the gentlewoman for the proposing this amendment and then rise in full support of it. I yield back. The chair the gentleman from arkansas yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from utah reserves. The gentlewoman from new mexico is recognized. Ms. Lujan grisham mr. Chairman, im prepared to yield back my time if congressman bishop has no additional speakers. The chair the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop we support this amendment. We yield back. The chair ja the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from new mexico. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to. It is now in order to consider amendment number 4 print printed in part c of house report 114192. For what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition . Mr. Kilmer mr. Chair, i have an amendment at the desk. The chair the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 4 printed in part c of house report 114192 offered by mr. Kilmer of washington. The chair pursuant to House Resolution 367, the gentleman from washington, mr. Kilmer, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. Mr. Kilmer thank you, mr. Chair. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentleman from washington is recognized. Mr. Kilmer i want to start by expressing my appreciation to the chairman for his work on this important legislation. I grew up in port angeles, washington. I saw firsthand how a downturn in Timber Industry impacted our regions economy and the livelihood of families that lived there and those experiences were a major influence in my decision to pursue a career in Economic Development and now in public service. Ive been working on harvest issues that impact the region i represent. On the olympic National Forest i brought together a group of stakeholders from all across the spectrum to figure out how we can make Real Progress to rebuild the trust we need to restore our forests and to promote harvest levels and to support our local communities. And we begun to see some successes come out of that. And im sure committed to working to help take actions that lead to Better Outcomes for our forests and for the local economies that rely on them as an important asset. I think the bill thats before us today is an honest effort to address the real challenges that are facing our federal forests and importantly the underlying bill includes language that would make Real Progress toward ending the harmful practice of fire borrowing. Now, ive got some concerns about this bill that will keep me from supporting it today, but im very hopeful this is a first step in a process that leads to compromised legislation that we can send on to the president and get signed into law and to help our forests and our communities and i would welcome the opportunity to be part of the process. Mr. Chairman, the amendment i offer today would focus on supporting innovative wood protects. Now, c. L. T. Products have responsibly harvested wood that could mean more jobs in rural areas of Washington State and all other states. Thats are Renewable Resources rather than steel or concrete that would make our buildings greener. These new Wood Products are strong and fire resistant and may actually be safer in an earthquake than nonwood alternatives, so we can change the way our nation constructs buildings by utilizing these new sturdy Wood Products. More importantly, we can lead the way on global timber revolution that can bring lower costs, environmentally friendly Building Materials to market, providing more opportunities in rural america. So my amendment is pretty simple. It would direct the secretary of agriculture to develop a significant Forest Restoration project with the goal of generating the kind of material we can use for these advanced Wood Products, and i would urge my colleagues to support this amendment and i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from washington reserves the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition . Mr. Bishop i claim time in opposition. The chair the gentleman from utah is recognized for five minutes. Bishbrish let me first recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Thompson, for a mr. Bishop let me first recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Thompson, for a minute. The chair the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Thompson i rise in support of this amendment. As chairman of the forestry agriculture agriculture, forestry and conservation committee, its consistent with what the u. S. Forest service that recognized Wood Products can play and new and Innovative Technologies can build products that are greener stronger, fire resistant and safer in response to earthquakes than nonwood alternatives. By the way when it comes to good healthy Forest Management its just not some of the barriers were dealing with today in terms of harvesting. Its all about its also about trusting the market. Very pleased with the underlying bill. I think thats helping. I think this amendment helps us in terms of pushing the market and the value of timber and certainly consistent with many of the steps we took within the farm bill in terms of research for advanced Wood Products so im very pleased to support this amendment. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from utah reserves. The gentleman from washington is recognized. Mr. Kilmer i yield to the gentlelady, ms. Tsongas. The chair how long . Mr. Kilmer sorry. One minute. The chair the gentlewoman from massachusetts is recognized for one minute. Ms. Tsongas i rise in support of this amendment. While it does nothing to address our underlying concerns with the bill, the promotion of advanced Wood Products is an important priority and i commend my colleague from washington, mr. Kilmer, for taking on this issue. The amendment directs the Forest Service to establish a Pilot Project to promote the production of advanced Wood Products. Production of these products like crosslaminated timber, or c. L. T. , is a growing market with many applications. Growing this market here in the United States is an important Economic Development opportunity, and i thank mr. Kilmer for his efforts in promoting this opportunity and i yield back. The chair the gentlewoman from massachusetts yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from washington reserves. The gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop let me yield one minute to the sponsor of the bill the gentleman from arkansas, mr. Westerman. The chair the gentleman from arkansas is recognized for one minute. Mr. Westerman thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise in support of the concept of this amendment. The gentleman brings out a very important fact that we do need Forest Products to be able to utilize the resources coming off our forests in order to do healthy management. There are many Forest Products that can be made from smaller diameter materials that are already out there. We have the Science Behind it, and a landscapewide collaborative project that uses these lower valued products would be a good thing to do. I do challenge the gentleman to support the whole bill so we can put this into practice, should it be passed, because it would be a benefit to the bill and to healthy forests across the country if such projects were implemented and i yield back. The chair the gentleman from arkansas yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from utah reserves. The gentleman from washington is recognized. Mr. Kilmer i have no other speakers so im happy to yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from washington yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from utah is recognized. Mr. Bishop thank you, mr. Chairman. As we finish the last amendment to this very good bill, the gentleman from washington fully well knows how devastating his community can be if we do not pass this particular bill and wildfires actually attack his constituents and his area. That is why it is extremely important as we take this last opportunity to speak towards this bill and this particular amendment to recognize that this is a bipartisan bill, bipartisan sponsorships passed by a bipartisan vote in our committee, passed by a bipartisan vote in the agriculture committee. There is this is a good bill that will move us forward. And it is essential to move forward and i appreciate all the support weve had from both sides of the aisle moving this particular piece of legislation forward. With that i yield back. And urge support of the amendment. The chair the gentleman from utah yields back the balance of his time. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from washington. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, the Unfinished Business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 1 printed in part c of house report 114192 by the gentleman from colorado, mr. Polis, 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 1 printed in part c of house report 114192 offered by mr. Polis of colorado. 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. This is a 15minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] ] the chair on this vote the yeas are 181. The nays are 247. The amendment is not adopted. The question is on the amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended. Those in favor, please say aye. Those opposed, please say no. The ayes have it. The amendment is adopted. Accordingly under the rule, the committee rises. The speaker pro tempore mr. Chairman. The speaker pro tempore the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the Union Reports that the committee has had under consideration the bill h. R. 2647 and pursuant to House Resolution 347 reports the bill back to the house with an amendment adopted in the committee of the whole. Under the rule the previous question is ordered. Is a separate vote demanded on any amendment to the amendment recorded from the committee of the whole . If not, the question is on adoption of the amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to. The question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. Third reading. The clerk a bill to exercise under the National Environmental policy act forest activities in the National Forest system derived from the Public Domain on public lands under the jurisdiction of the bureau of Land Management and on tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown fireprone forested lands and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore the question is on passage of the bill. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from massachusetts rise . Ms. Tsongas i request a recorded vote. The speaker pro tempore a recorded vote is requested. Those favoring a recorded vote will rise. A sufficient number having arisen a recorded vote is ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this fiveminute vote on passage of the bill will be followed by fiveminute votes on ordering the previous question on House Resolution 350, and adoption of House Resolution 350, if ordered. This is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore ton this vote, the yeas are 262, the nays are 167. The bill is passed. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. Without objection the title is reamended. The Unfinished Business is the vote on ordering the previous question on House Resolution 350 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. The clerk will report the title of the resolution. The clerk house calendar number 437. Resolution providing for consideration of the bill h. R. 6 to accelerate the Discovery Development and delivery of 21st century cures and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore the question is on ordering the previous questions. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned 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 242, the nays are 185. The previous question is ordered. The question on adoption of the resolution. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. Mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman rise . On that i ask for a recorded vote. The speaker pro tempore a recorded vote is requested. Those favoring a recorded vote will rise. A sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned 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 the speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 244, the nays are 1. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. Members will remove their conversations from the house floor. The house will be in order. The house will be in order. For what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition . Ask for order. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. Members will please remove their conversations from the house floor. The house will be in order. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker, i would ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill, h. R. 6, and i would like to include the committee on energy and Commerce Exchange of letters, the committee on ways and means and the committee on science, space and technology. The speaker pro tempore without objection, pursuant to House Resolution 350 and rule 1, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the consideration of h. R. 6. The chair appoints the gentleman from nevada, mr. Hardy, to preside over the committee of the whole. The chair the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h. R. 6, which the clerk will report by title. The clerk a bill to accelerate the discovery, development and delivery of 21st century cures and for other purposes. The chair pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the first time. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Upton. And the gentleman from new jersey, mr. Pallone, will each control 30 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker, at this point i would yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the Health Subcommittee, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Pitts. Two minutes. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Pitts thank you, mr. Speaker. I want to first commend chairman upton and Ranking Member pallone congressman degette, Ranking Member green, for their outstanding support and leadership on this and i rise in strong support of h. R. 6, the 21st century cures act, which will help advance the discovery, development and delivery of new treatments and cures for patients and will foster private Sector Innovation here in the United States. I have a whole list of people id like to thank. Ill provide that for the record. But i especially want to thank Legislative Council for their tireless efforts, the Health Care Staff of the congressional Budget Office, and the Outstanding Team on energy and commerce. Theyve been fantastic working 24 7. H. R. 6 was reported from energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 510 and advances conservative fiscal and regulatory reforms and every dollar of advanced appropriations in the bill, which will sunset at the end of f. Y. 2020, is offset with other permanent reforms, including billions of dollars in mandatory entitlement savings in medicare and medicaid. But this is no ordinary mandatory spending. Like the kind we usually see in the entitlement spending such as Social Security medicare, medicaid and obamacare this mandatory spending is for five years only and then it sunsets. And this mandatory spending is fully paid for with mandatory spending cuts elsewhere that will not stop in five years, but are permanentry form reforms resulting in perform permanent reforms resulting in real savings. By comparison the ryanmurray budget deal for Health Savings yielded much less. This innovative hybrid approach allows us to cut mandatory spending and use the savings to fund what would otherwise be a discretionary project. But in this case is a fiveyear dedicated spending on medical research. Congressional Budget Office determined that h. R. 6 will reduce the deficit by 500 million over the first 10 years, at least 7 billion over the second decade. The funds provided to n. I. H. And f. D. A. Will be subject to explicit review and reprogramming through the annual appropriations process. Congress can review the dedicated funding and allocate it for specific initiatives. And by modernizing Clinical Trials eliminating duplicative administrative requirement requirements, requirements, perhaps most importantly making f. D. A. Less bureaucratic by voicing the needs of patients in the drug approval process, h. R. 6 will make lasting, positive changes to the entire ecosystem of cures. Over 250 patient groups have enthusiastically said yes and endorsed this legislation. I urge my colleagues to think of patients and vote aye in support of h. R. 6. I yield back. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Pallone thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Pallone mr. Chairman, today the house is considering h. R. 6, the 21st century cures act, legislation that will further encourage biomedical innovation and the development of new treatments and cures that will benefit millions. More importantly, this legislation will ensure that our country remains on the forefront of medical innovation, while maintaining the Gold Standard for approvals of medical products. Mr. Chairman, this legislation is the product of numerous forums that occurred in washington and around the nation that heard directly from patients and advocacy groups about what innovations could make a difference in curing diseases. It is a truly Bipartisan Initiative of the energy and Commerce Committee and want to thank chairman upton subcommittee Health Chairman mr. Pitts, Ranking Member green and our sponsor on the democratic side, representative degette, for working together on this bill. The legislation had includes a number of policy proposals that are meant to advance the work that n. I. H. And f. D. A. Are already doing to encourage innovation in medicine. I want to highlight some of those. First, it promotes and supports the best biomedical work force in the world, while also increasing the diversity of that work force by requiring n. I. H. To ensure participation of scientists from underrepresented communities. Second, it encourages the development of Precision Medicine and next generation treatments. Third, it provides f. D. A. With additional tools to make the drug approval process more efficient, such as streamlined data review and the use of biomarkers and Clinical Experience to ensure that new treatments can reach patients in a timely manner. Fourth, it modernizes Clinical Trials and supports the inclusion of diverse populations in Clinical Research for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Fifth, it facilitates the development of important antimicrobials and treatment for Rare Diseases and clarifies the regulatory pathway for software for medical applications at f. D. A. And finally, although not finally, there are many, many more positive developments in this bill, but i do want to mention last ensuring interoperability of our Health System which will lead to better access for Health Information, coordinated care and improved outcomes. Most importantly mr. Chairman, 21st century cures also provides mandatory funding to both n. I. H. And f. D. A. To carry out the activities in this legislation, funding that is critically needed if Congress Wants n. I. H. And f. D. A. To fund innovative ways to cure diseases. However, i am concerned that the very goal this legislation set out to achieve, to encourage biomedical innovation and the development of new treatments and cures, is undermined somewhat by a reduction in funding for n. I. H. From 10 billion to 8. 75 billion. This funding level the larger one, the 10 billion over five years enjoyed the unanimous support from the members of the energy and Commerce Committee and the 230 members of the house who were cosponsor of h. R. 6. If congress is truly committed to advancing and encouraging biomedical innovation, we must ensure that the federal Government Agencies we entrust with facilitating that goal have the resources to do so and i hope at some point as we move forward as we move further we can go back to the 10 billion. I would also encourage my colleagues to attempt any the n. I. H. And cures Innovation Fund was created to be a resource to both n. I. H. , f. D. A. Universities and researchers, including those just beginning their careers. Any efforts to make this funding discretionary threatens the commitment made in 21st century secures to encourage innovation. I also want to express, mr. Chairman, my disappointment over the inclusion of controversial policy riders on what was otherwise a strong bipartisan bill. This inclusion added to the bill after unanimous passage out of the energy and Commerce Committee is a political distraction from the discussion we should be having on the underlying policy. I hope that tomorrow my colleagues will join me in supporting congresswoman lees amendment which will strike those troubling riders from the legislation. Despite these concerns, i remain totally supportive of the 21st century curious act as i believe it does take significant steps toward enhancing how we discover and develop Innovative New medical treatments in the United States. And once again i take great pride in the fact that we were able to do this on a bipartisan basis in our committee and report the bill out unanimously. I would urge a yes vote and i reserve the balance of my time. Thank you, mr. Chairman. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker, i would yield one minute to the vice chair of the full committee the gentlelady from tennessee, mrs. Blackburn. The chair the gentlelady from tennessee is recognized. Mrs. Blackburn thank you, mr. Chairman. You know, america really is at its best when were facing challenges and so many of the challenges that we face today are in the area of health care and health care delivery. Right now we know we have over 10,000 identified diseases. We only have cures for 500 of those. This is why we need to work to focus the n. I. H. And the f. D. A. On a curious strategy and do this through the cures strategy and do this through the legislation that is before us today. Indeed it is bipartisan and it carries different components of Bipartisan Legislation. One is the software act. That representative green and i have worked on. Getting bureaucracy out of the way and allowing innovation is the goal of the software act. It would codify the manner in which the f. D. A. Approaches health i. T. , including the wonderful apps that we help use to make us healthy. The f. D. A. Is the Agency Charged with assuring the safety and efficacy of drugs and medical devices. But data is not a drug or a device and it makes no sense to regulate it as such. That is why we bring forward the software act, we support the bill and encourage others to support it. I yield back. The chair the gentleladys time has expired. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone thank you, mr. Chairman. Id like to yield now three minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. Green, who is the Ranking Member of our Health Subcommittee. The chair the gentleman from texas is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Green thank you, mr. Speaker. I want to thank my Ranking Member for yielding. Mr. Speaker, members, i rise in strong support of the nonpartisan land mark legislation, h. R. 6 the 21st century cures act. Dozens of round tables and hearings, thousands of responses from stakeholders, and countless hours went into crafting this bill. This legislation is a product of months of bipartisan collaboration with the administration and stakeholders. As a result, h. R. 6 is supported by more than 370 patient groups physician groups and Research Institutions across the country. The investments in provisions in this bill will accelerate tools to fight diseases. After more than a decade of cuts and stagnant budgets, the National Institutes of health will receive 8. 75 billion, that will not increase the deficit. This influx of investment will be put toward solving todays complex scientific problems, discovering the next generation of medical breakthroughs. In addition to this muchneeded funding for medical research, theres so many provisions in this package worthy of support. The 21st century cures will deliver hope and new treatments to americans. While some of the provisions are technical in nature, their realworld impact is not abstract. Patients and families deserve to have their elected officials respond to their needs and thats what this bill does. To speed the medical progress. This is an example of what our constituents want us to do, legislate and solve problems. I want to thank the staffs, legislative counsel and the stakeholders who crafted the bill that lives up to the promises. I strongly support h. R. 6 and urge my colleagues to do the same. And i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Upton i yield one minute to the gentleman from mississippi, mr. Harper. Mr. Harper i rise to speak about tomorrows vote on 21st Century Cures Initiative. This takes the steps forward to deliver safe and effective cures. This legislation would give n. I. H. Along with the f. D. A. Much Research Dollars. Imagine how a significant increase in funding could speed up treatments and cures for diseases as alzheimers and a. L. S. This gives a fighting chance in finding a cure for diseases and disorders. It will pay dividends long into the future and significantly reduce costs of treatment. Give families hope. Vote yes. Thank you. And i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone i would ask my chairman to go proceed with another republican, because you seem to have more people. Mr. Upton i yield one minute to the gentleman from illinois, mr. Shimkus. Mr. Shimkus im here on the democrat side to congratulate them on the great work on 21st century cures. I was involved in the pieces of legislation that was added and a lot on medical devices because we need to reform the process. Bureaucracy is tough. So in streamlining these procedures were not questioning or addressing or harming public individual safety, but what we are doing is making sure these devices get to where they are needed in the quickest possible time. This is the small part of the great work that my friends on this side, i hope you dont mind me being over here and majority side, it is a tribute of what we can do to Work Together. And i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. The gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Pallone i now yield mr. Chairman, five minutes to the democratic sponsor of the bill, ms. Degette who has worked so hard to put this bill on the floor. The chair the gentlelady from colorado is recognized for five minutes. Ms. Degette my fatherinlaw was a true renaissance man. During world war ii he was a member of the italian resistance who sheltered jews in his apartment. He had letters of introduction and became a world renowed eacher. He was a wonderful person. Kind to all and beloved by all. Creating drawings for his loved ones and recounting tales of his youth to his resistance. It was more than on tragedy when in 1988 we lost him to a. L. S. It is a debilitating disease, leaving those with the disease the inability to perform even the most mundane task, much less the ability to create art. Last week in denver, i met a young man stricken with a. L. S. He was there to support our bill, the 21st century cures. What struck me was in the 25plus years, there has been no cure. No real treatment for treatment for patients. A. L. A. Has been evaluated for a long time. After all it gets its nickname from one of the most popular athletes since the 1920s. This is not for lack of trying. The a. L. S. Community is active. People around the country took place in the a. L. A. Challenge. And i took the ice buck bucket challenge. There is real hope for a. L. S. And for thousands of diseases for which we lack treatment and cures. And technological advances researchers are poised to discover new breakthroughs that promise new implofmentse. The bill before us, will ensure that the great promise of these developments is harnessed by our research facility, the National Institutes of health and food and Drug Administration. It is a comprehensive bill which will encourage the development of new treatments and cures. It starts by making a major investment with the creation of fiveyear Innovation Fund at the n. I. H. We create this fund to give the leaders to plan strategically. Ultimately, these investments will produce new discoveries in the lab and take those discoveries and turn them into treatments. We begin by modernizing Clinical Trials and make sure partnerships is in these research projects. And adaptive trial design to eliminate duplication of effort. We include the perspective into discovering and delivering treatment so it can be applied in practical ways. We encourage new disease registries to drill into the data to find the unique needs of population. We begin careers in research so great minds can create biomedical challenges and unlock modern technologies by data sharing and using digital medicine. We include many proposals. With this bill, we are going to make sure that in the 21st century, the pace accelerates to meet the challenges of our time. The healthier world is coming and i look forward to getting there as fast as we all can. We couldnt have done this without our team. I want to thank so many people. Ranking member pal owns staff, jeff Ranking Member green staff kristen, chairman up tons staff, and robert, josh, joan and they are the majority, they have a lot more staff. Heidi, representative burgess staff, j. P. And danielle, my staff, rachel, elizabeth eleanor, my wonderful chief of staff who has been with me for 19 years, legislative counsel and i thank fred up ton, you have been fabulous. And i thank you for taking over the finish line. Mr. Upton i appreciate the gentleladys kind words. I yield one minute to the gentleman from maryland as we put this package together, dr. Harris. The chair the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Harris curing disease and suffering. This is obvious from tonights debate. Preventtive measures are important but there are difficult ease ease that we dont know how to prevent much less treat. The purpose of the Innovation Fund is to accelerate the discovery. I did research on diseases. Anyone in the country who doesnt believe that we will cure alzheimers or a. L. S. Only a matter of time and investment that put in it. We have a lot of the pieces in place in order to create these tremendous new discoveries and this bill gets us on the path. There is going to be a lot of talks of cost. But this isnt just measured in dollars but in families in ways you cant measure in dollars. Any family who treated a member with alzheimers understands what i mean. A lot of those costs are huge. And if we can cure it, we can save those. Mr. Chairman, its time to invest in those cures. We cant afford not to. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Pallone we have another person from the republican side. Mr. Upton i yield one minute to the gentleman from South Carolina. The chair the gentleman is recognized. I i lost my father on april 14 to alzheimers. I watched how it affected him and many families are dealing with them. The bill will focus and find a cure for these diseases that are costing americans americans so much money. I urge everyone to get behind the 21st century cures act in memory of my father john duncan and i yield back. The chair the gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Pallone i yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois. Mr. Rush i thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise in support of h. R. 6, the 21st century cures act and i want to thank chairman up ton and Ranking Member pallone and Ranking Member green and Ranking Member degette for their tireless work and commitment to this issue. Mr. Speaker this landmark piece of legislation will help modernize and personalize and encourage greater innovation, support research and streamline the Health Care System to cures to more and more patients. Mr. Speaker we might live in different regions. We might live in different times. We might live with different nationalities or even different faiths, when it comes to the Overall Health of our nation, we can surely put aside our differences and do the right thing for the American People. And i want to highlight two provisions of my bill, h. R. 2468 the minority inclusion and Clinical Trials act of 2015 that was included in the 21st century act. The first provision will require the National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities to include within its Strategic Plan for Biomedical Research for ways to increase representation for underrepresented communities in Clinical Trials and the second will ensure that it remains a priority at n. I. H. To increase the inclusion rates of traditionally underrepresented communities within the biomedical work force. Simpy put, mr. Speaker, i want to thank the Ranking Member for yielding the time. Simply put mr. Speaker these provisions address persistent systemic and widespread disparities in Health Outcomes for minority communities. As you know, many diseases including cancer, Heart Disease, stroke, hivaids, diabetes, lupus osteoporosis, as ma, sickle cell and kidney diseases have been study at length studied at length yet still afflict minority populations in disturbing numbers and at disturbing rates. Minorities are disproportionately underrepresented in Clinical Trials. There are many reasons attributed to this, such as the lack of funding. The chief culprit among them is that Research Professionals tend to work toward solutions to cure diseases when they have a personal connection and have a personal experience. Mr. Speaker, i am so glad that the 21 century cures act does 21st century cures act does address some of these Critical Issues and i rise in support of the 21st century cures act and i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of h. R. 6. With that i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker, i would yield one minute to the gentleman from florida, a member of the Health Subcommittee, mr. Bilirakis, one minute. The chair the gentleman from florida voiced for one minute. Mr. Bilbray thank you, mr. Speaker, thank you, mr. Chairman, i appreciate it very much. I rise mr. Bilirakis thank you mr. Speaker, thank you mr. Chairman, i appreciate it very much. I rise in support of this act. It means meaningful reform with patients with rare chronic conditions. Id like to highlight one provision im so proud of, the open act. One in 10 americans suffer from a rare disease that is 10 disease, that is 10 of the country. Over 95 of these diseases have no treatments. Patients like candice and laura from the tampa bay area need f. D. A. Approval, safe and effective treatments. Laura has no treatment options. Candice did her own research and took a medication offlabel and now is in remission. The open act will incentivize major market drugs and combination drug products to be repurposed to treat Rare Diseases. And put them onlabel. The 30 million americans with a rare disease need your yes vote. Vote for this bill, vote for patients. Thank you very much. I yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone i would reserve for the republican side. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker, i would yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey, a member, again, of the Health Subcommittee mr. Lance. The chair the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. Mr. Lance thank you mr. Speaker. This is the way congress should work. In a bipartisan capacity. In my five years on the committee, this is the most significant piece of legislation to be voted out of the committee unanimously. To those of us who are listening on cspan this evening, this is what the American People demand of Congress Bipartisan cooperation. This bill will is a save countless lives will save countless lives, not only in this country but across the globe. Im so pleased it includes language coauthored by congresswoman ana eshoo of caffle california and me, exempting future food and Drug Administration user fees from sequestration. I urge an extremely positive vote tomorrow. I hope that all of our colleagues will support this, to indicate to the senate of the United States that it should move forward as well, so that legislation can reach the desk of the president of the United States. I yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker i would yield one minute to another gentleman who serves on the Health Subcommittee, dr. Bucshon from indiana. The chair the gentleman from indiana is recognized. Mr. Bucshon mr. Speaker, i rise today in support of 21st century cures. An initiative that gives hope to patients and families who battled or will battle one of the 10,000 diseases with no known cures. Like my good friend and mayor of jasper, indiana, who lost his wife and the mother of their two daughters and her to a. L. S. Five years ago on thanksgiving day, the familys favorite holiday. As the mayor put it, 21st century cures gives patients and their families the opportunity for hope and the ability to cope. These two things mean the world to those fighting a rare disease who face so much uncertainty about the future and what it may hold. 21st century cures turns hopelessness into hope. Mr. Speaker, we have a real opportunity today to improve the lives of these patients across the country and we need to seize it. Thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker, i would yield yet to another member of the Health Subcommittee, a gentleman from North Carolina, renee ellmers, one minute. The chair the gentlelady from North Carolina is recognized. Mrs. Ellmers thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today to shed light on why the nonpartisan 21st century cures act is important for patients everywhere. As a nurse and part of our team working on this effort over the last year, i can relay that the 21st century cures act is important because of people like my constituent back home, ellie helton. Ellie was a beautiful, courageous constituent of mine. She loved Peanut Butter cups, the color pink, but most of all her family and her friends. About this time last year, ellie suffered from a ruptured brain aneurysm that took her life at the tender age of 14. In the 21st century cures act this legislation creates an accelerated process to which we discover and develop cures and treatments for patients like ellie. This legislation is fully offset and will reduce the deficit by more than 500 million over the first decade. Mr. Speaker, i am so proud to be a member of Congress Working on this legislation with all of our colleagues and i am so proud of our chairman, fred upton, for the work that he has done. This is an incredible effort and i am so proud to be a part of it. Thank you, mr. Speaker i yield back. The chair the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone mr. Chairman, i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, mrs. Capps, who is also a health care professional. The chair the gentlelady from california is recognized for two minutes. Mrs. Capps thank you, mr. Speaker. And thank you to my colleague for yielding. I rise today to speak on behalf of h. R. 6, the 21st century cures act, and i salute the bipartisan authors of this bill. I am a cosponsor of this legislation and i am proud of the many hours of work that members of the energy and Commerce Committee have put in to find Common Ground. This is a real achievement. 21st century cures is a good bill. Its come a long way. But i lend my support with some reservation. Despite bipartisan agreement in committee to provide robust funding for the Research Initiatives and policies in this bill, the bill before us shorts n. I. H. By over 1 billion and these funds are the very ones that are critical for our cures. Its important that we provide the necessary support that n. I. H. Requires to continue to be the Gold Standard in research and development. And while we all agree that it is important to speed up research and Clinical Trials, to get treatments to those in need i want to reiterate my concerns that this focus on speed should not undercut the work that so many have done for years, including many of us here in congress, to improve diversity in research and Clinical Trials. While this bill does include my provision to encourage the inclusion of children and elderly in Clinical Trials, more needs to be done to ensure that women and minorities are included as well. This is an effort i led during the f. D. A. Reauthorization and one that must not be undercut by the cures effort. Finally, i must express my disappointment that once again the House Majority has decided to add language to the bill that politicizes the bipartisan effort and attacks womens personal Decision Making. Its a distraction from the important work that we have we are trying to do here. And i strongly urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the amendment to strip it. The 21st century Cure Initiative is such an important bipartisan effort to strengthen our medical research and treatment development. It could be stronger and i stand willing to work with my colleagues to do just that and i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker i would yield one minute to the gentleman from missouri. The chair the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, mr. Chairman. What an accomplishment it is to have this historic legislation on the house floor. Mr. Long i want to congratulate you and my energy and commerce colleagues on the hard work. We are much closer to moving american medical innovation into the 21st century. Part of what part of that is to keep up with the ability to communicate a modern way with patients. As you know, i have worked very closely with you and your staff this past year to draft language to update food and Drug Administrations oversight of Health Care Information on the internet. Especially on social media. Millions of people use the internet to find Critical Health care and or treatments and other specific Health Information and topics. Unfortunately current f. D. A. Regulations do not help communicate accurate, meaningful information about Health Care Solutions such as Prescription Drugs and medical devices online. There is an enormous potential to improve american lives if we can get the f. D. A. To write workable rules and guidance to communicate information where peoples attention is focused. After all, the f. D. A. Itself regularly turns to the internet to announce its activities and inform the public. Presumably in a safe and informative way. I have legislation to do this and i hope to continue working with you to modernize Health Care Communications and help improve the lives of all americans. I look forward to working to continue work with you on the 21 century are you coup 21st century cures to make sure this bill meets the president s pen and is made into law. I thank you, mr. Chairman, and i yield back. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from West Virginia, mr. Mckinley. Mr. Mcclintock i rise today in favor kinlkinl i rise today in favor of mr. Mckinley i rise today in favor of this bill. America has a rich history of scientific discovery, from putting a man on the moon to finding a cure for polio. With the right focus, we can do the same in finding cures for devastating diseases like cancer and alzheimers. I want to thank chairman upton for his commitment to make alzheimers one of the neurological diseases that the c. D. C. Will collect data. 21st century cures will improve the lives of all americans by bringing research from the lab to our families. I thank the chairman of the committee and the staff for all their dedicated work for this and i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker i would again yield to a member of the Health Subcommittee, the gentlelady from indiana, susan brooks, one minute. The chair the gentlelady from indiana is recognized for one minute. Mrs. Brooks mr. Speaker, i rise today to ex peres press my wholehearted support for the 21st Century Cures Initiative. This legislation will change lives and it will save lives. When tchare chairman upton and congresswoman degette introduced this, they promised it would be different. They used words like bold, transformative, profound and hope. They promised hope and they promised to change lives. And thankfully theyve delivered on these promises and then some. 21st century cures will profoundly transform our nations ability to discover develop and deliver the cures of tomorrow. It will change and even save lives. Lives like theresaalitymire who has a former theresa altmire who has a form of leukemia. She recently told me, as one of the many hundreds of thousands, let me repeat that, hundreds of thousands of Patients Living with chronic lingering cancer, i am always looking forward to the future for the next therapy that can either hold off my cancer or potentially cure it. And in the past, the wait for these medications has been excruciatingly slow. Tomorrow i will be missing the funeral of a dear friend, judy warren, who died on sunday from pancreatic cancer. She would want me to be here tomorrow voting on this bill. It couldnt save her but it can save theresa and many others. Thank you. I yield back. The chair the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone thank you mr. Chairman. I yield now two minutes to the gentleman from iowa, mr. Loebsack. The chair the gentleman from iowa is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Loebsack thank you, mr. Speaker. I do thank the Ranking Member for yielding. This legislation i believe, as mr. Lance stated is proof that we can accomplish great things when we put aside partisanship and unite around a common goal. And to that end, i want to thank all the wonderful colleagues here today who worked on this thing for so long. Im new to the committee and coming into this, being able to be a part of this is really a great honor for me. I want to thank the chair and the Ranking Member also for my provision to extend and expand the prior authorization program, providing certainty to Medicare Beneficiaries that these critical devices will in fact be covered. Im also excited about the n. I. H. Innovation fund which entails mandatory funding, as was mentioned earlier and will support scientists like those working at the university of iowa. As a result we will have more groundbreaking advances like the university of iowa researchers discovery of a biomark that are could lead to Early Detection for the risk of preeclampsia in pregnant women, a discovery that could save countless lives. While i am disappointed that the n. I. H. Funding was cut from 10 billion to 8. 75 billion, i am hopeful that we can restore this amount as the process moves forward. Finally, im really happy that we find little we finally have gotten to a point in this body, at least on this legislation, where we can think longer tell and not just shortterm, not just about the costs for this program this year or even for the next five years, but think about all the savings that this will entail down the road as well. Something that really happens far too often, i think, in this body, and over in the senate as well. So i thank my colleagues for their work on this issue. Im really very pleased to be a part of the process. Thank you for having me as a member of that committee and to be a part of the process and i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Upton mr. Speaker, i would yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, a member of the committee, mr. Collins. One minute. The chair the gentleman from new york is recognizesed for one minute. I rise in support of the h. R. 6. This legislation wim modernize and advance our Health Care System to help the millions of americans. It incrises grants at worldclass universities like those in my district. H. R. 6 streamlines the drug approval process helping get new drugs to market faster. Patients are demanding a fresh approach. This legislation provides americas innovators, the guidance they need. I want to thank chairman up ton for their dedication to this cause. Im proud of the work we have accomplished and im confident that this legislation accomplishes our goal of incentive advising innovation and yield back. Mr. Upton i yield to mr. Gibson. One minute. The chair the gentleman from new york is recognized. Gibgib Many Americans have been affected bylike lyme disease. We need to do better at diagnosis and treatment. H. R. 6 incluse the text of the Transparency Act which is a constituency effort. I would like to thank the doctors that helped in this effort polly, and other advocates including chris smith of new jersey, representative joe courtney of connecticut. I would like to thank the Ranking Members and the chairman to include members input for this important legislation. I urge my colleagues to support and i yield back. The chair the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone how much time remains on each side. The chair 11 minutes. And the gentleman from michigan has 14 1 2. Mr. Upton i would yield a minute to the gentleman from georgia. And i rise today to support the 21st century cures and thank the chairman and the energy and Commerce Committee to keep america at the forefront by removing barriers by improving they are peas. It is a moral issue. The greatest physician said in matthew, whatever you did for the least of our brothers and sisters of mine, you did for mine. I want to share a story. Brend and had over four stem cell implants and he is living today and is a stupid and he is a miracle and blessing to us. But he still requires medications and there are medications that are caught up in bureaucratic red tape. We can help patients and families cross the country to get access. Mr. Upton yield another 0 seconds. Mr. Allen i yield back. The chair jabts. The gentleman from new jersey is rkniesed. Mr. Pallone i recognize the georgia for two minutes. I appreciate the gentleman from new jersey. The house will vote on the 21st century cures act that will advance treatment. Mr. Aguilar this is necessary what is not necessary is the dangerous language. This is unacceptable. As a member of the prochoice caucus. We cant allow this language to appearing in other legislation. Today, in legislation to further medical research to fund Community Health center and prevent victims of trafficking. It will move health care for women. There is an amendment to strike this this ladges. I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment and stop injecting the hyde language. Thank you and i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Upton i would yield a minute to the gentlelady from california. The speaker pro tempore chairman the chair this bill is a bold proposal to develop lifesaving cures. Our action is now. Currently, more than 10,000 diseases exist however we have treatments for approximately 500. In my district colin was born with a congenital heart detect. He suffered numerous strokes and at the age of three, doctors delivered the heartbreaking news that he had a brain tumor. He is a fighter acknowledge ss i thank chairman fred up to be for his work on this bill and i urge my colleagues to pave the way and i yield back. The chair the gentlelady yields back. Mr. Upton i guess i would ask unanimous consent to put a statement in from congressman mcmorris rogers. If i might ask the gentleman from new jersey do you have other speakers. We have done a lot and may come at the independent and im ready to close. Mr. Pallone im ready to close. Mr. Pallone i yield myself such time. Before conclusion of debate, let me recognize the chairman and Ranking Member for their dedication. This bill would not have been possible where they heard from patients and advocacy groups. The process that they used to obtain information that became the basis of this bill was unusual and grassroots in a way that i would like to see emulated. Its further proof that we want to Work Together. We are capable. I know it hasnt been easy and the staff worked around the clock during weekends and during january. So i want to thank not only the members but also the staff, john paul, robert, swraun, katie, and heidi. And let me thank representative degette for her staff mr. Greens staff eric, rachel and waiverly. And let me say this. Obviously i urge support for this legislation. I hope we get a huge vote. But i think the biggest satisfaction that im going to get when it combets to the president s desk is that every member of Congress Knows that when we go home, there are always events with various advocacy groups, i think the pancreatic cancer and my mom died about that, which is a long time many people die early because the diagnosis takes too long and you go to these various events that the groups have. Sometimes its a run or a walk and i mentioned a. L. A. , i went to an a. L. S. Walk and the typical response and im thinking of this last walk, someone will come up to you and say why arent you doing enough to find a cure, why arent you spending more money, why is it so difficult to have a Clinical Trial . And for 0 years most of the time when somebody brings that up i dont have an easy response, because for many of the diseases, there hasnt been much progress atal all. The biggest response is when i go back and have a representative saying to me, what are you doing about this, we have a bill 21st september try cures and it can make a difference in temperatures of what your concerns are. And that is the greatest satisfaction of our ability to test this. I would urge support on a bipartisan basis and i would yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Mr. Upton i might ask how much time do i have remaining . The chair 12 1 2 minutes. Mr. Upton i yield myself the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Upton you know, mr. Speaker, i appreciate you being here tonight and the members knowing we are going to debate a number of amendments and vote on final passage tomorrow morning. A lot of great staff, terrific staff, i dont think anyone i want to thank john boehner for giving us h. R. But his strong support and kevin mccarthy, and our chip and our conference chair and nancy pelosi and steny hoyer has been on the trenches and came in and participated on our round table to see this bill move forward. So it is a bipartisan bill. And every one of us here as we think about us in the house, everyone has taken a different path. We represent a diverse path. Whether you have an r or d. We are all here to improve the lives of our friends Family Members and friends at home. This is brook. They and so many of our friends or why we are here today. These two little girls are from my district braving sma and two of the brightest stars that we know. Our 21st sent ti occurs seek to hope that brook and real exude despite insurmountable odds. We had an idea. Republicans and democrats. We said its time to boost innovation and expedite approval of drugs and devices. Thats what this bill does. We traveled the country. We had probably 40 or 50 different round tables and subcommittee hearings all over the place. We appreciated republican and democratic participation. We visited with patients, researchers, innovators, Health Experts from across the health spectrum. We listened. And we put pen to paper. And then we listened some more. And thats why were here today. Theres not a Single Person in this chamber or watching at home tonight who has not been touched by disease in some way. And its time, about time, we do something about it. As we begin debate on this landmark bill, i cant help but think of the patients who are sitting across from their doctors maybe right now, about to get news that certainly is going to change their world. Its not just the disease that makes them feel powerless and vulnerable. The very system designed to help them has not kept pace with scientific advances. They need the next generation of treatment and cures. But they dont have until the next generation to wait. They arent interested in debating why the timeline, the failure rate, the size and cost of conducting Clinical Trials are at alltime highs. They just know that despite the promise of scientific breakthroughs, they cant get the therapy that might save them. And thats why we need this bill. Weve all said too many early gloobs. Too many. Too many early goodbyes. Too many. And weve seen families robbed of a parent thats never going to get to see that childs milestones. Not see them walk down the aisle, maybe not a graduation, maybe not a career, maybe not raise a family of their own. And weve seen children born without the gift of a future. Life is not always fair, we know that. But weve got to try and do better. The last century and the century before it brought just remarkable medical breakthroughs. From xrays and anesthesia to pacemakers and transplants, the tools to diagnose and treat patients have been transformed other o over and over and other again. Yet for every single disease that we defeat every condition that we cure, there are thousands more still plaguing our people. And of the 10,000 known diseases, 7,000 of which are rare, there are treatments for only 500. The history of Health Innovation is indeed remarkable. But now, now, weve got our sights weve set it on this bill 21st century cures, the bill is about making sure that our laws regulations and resources keep pace with scientific advances. So what does it take to vanquish a disease . Often, billions of dollars. Billions. Millions of hours, thats for sure. Thousands of researchers. Hundreds of maybe thousands of failed attempts can go into the development of just one single treatment or cure. Its daunting. Seems impossible. But still patients like brook and brielle hold out hope. They battle through that pain. They transcend physical limitations and live lives filled with joy and optimism. Our brothers and sisters, moms and dads, grandparents and friends, they all keep the faith in that future. In spite of suffering. This bill, 21st Century Cures Initiative, is for them. Its for those we have lost, those who grapple with sickness today and those who will be diagnosed tomorrow. In this, the greatest century in the world, in the greatest country on the planet, americans deserve a system that is second to none. We can and we must do better. Its about hope, hope that the burden for patients and care givers is less tomorrow than it was yesterday. And its about time. So as brook and brielle always say with a smile and a sparkle in their eye well, can and we will. The time for 21st century cures is now. Please join us republicans and democrats, leaders on both sides of the aisle for the patients that we want to solve these diseases for by supporting this bill by working with our colleagues in the senate but really listening. Listening to the voices that call for us to do something well. This is it. H. R. 6. Please vote for it tomorrow. I yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back. All time for debate has expired. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Upton i move that the i ask unanimous consent that the committee rise. Chip the question is on the motion that the the chair the question is on the motion that the committee rise. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In my opinion, the ayes have it. The motion is adopted. The committee rises. The chair the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h. R. 6 directs me to report it has come to no resolution thereon. The speaker pro tempore the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the Union Reports the committee has had under consideration h. R. 6 and has come to no resolution thereon. The chair will entertain requests for speeches for one minute. For what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . Mr. Thompson mr. Speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Thompson mr. Speaker, on tuesday, july 7, the Obama Administration once again ignored a deadline for the Iranian Nuclear agreement. While failing to set a new date to conclude discussions on what could prove to be some of the most important diplomatic negotiations of our lifetime. In march of 2015, i joined 367 members of the house sending a letter to president obama requesting that any agreement would be provided that any agreement would be provided adequate congressional oversight and approval. This was a bipartisan effort because both democrats and republicans alike recognize the magnitude of the challenges we face in confronting the possibility of a nuclear iran. The United States must promote an agreement that first and foremost advances our National Security and the security of our allies in the region. A clear indicator of future performance has always been past performance. Unfortunately, iran has a decadelong history of obfuscation when it comes to their nuclear program. We must ensure that negotiations do not result in simply delaying iran from obtain agnew clear weapon for just a few years. Rather a strong deal would prevent them ever obtain agnew clear weapon. As talks continue into the weekend im hopeful negotiators will remember that no deal is better than a bad deal. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. Are there further requests for oneminute speeches . The chair lays before the house the following personal requests. The clerk leave of absence requested for mr. Payne of new jersey for today. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the request is granted. Under the speakers announced policy of january 6 2015, the gentlewoman from new jersey, mrs. Watson coleman is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. The gentlelady is recognized. Mrs. Watson coleman thank you mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today the distinguished gentlelady from california introduced a privileged resolution not too different from the one my friend and colleague mr. Thompson brought to the floor just last week. Mr. Speaker, that resolution called for the immediate removal of the confederate battle flag from the Capitol Grounds and my colleagues across the aisle moved quickly and decisively to banish that resolution to die in committee. Earlier today, the original home of the confederacy argued but agreed to the Confederate Flag and the history it represents belongs in a museum. They decided the flag should not serve as a bright wave regular minder of the discrimination and disparity of treatment for people of color that lingers in communities across our country. Hateful sentiments that resulted in the loss of nine lives at emanuel a. M. E. Church in charleston. They decided that that flag should not hang high above the halls of State Government. Forcing all those who see it to wonder whether emotions and ideology so closely tied to it are present in the hearts and minds of those who serve in that state house. They decided that the flag had flown long enough and that taking it down would be one small but critical step in healing the deep divisions present in their state. They stood against the symbol of big tri. They stood against years of complacesency and stood for the ideals of complacency and stood for the ideals of equality and justice. They will take that flag down tomorrow. But Republican Leadership in this body refuses to do that. They took the path of cowardice and turned a blind eye to the struggles of generations of american. They used backhanded tactics to mud they will intent of the interior appropriations bill, including language intended to satisfy members who would rather see that flaling fly that led to the disappearance of that bill from todays debate and resulted in the chairman of that subcommittee disowning the final product. Leader pelosis resolution offered another opportunity for my colleagues to stand on the right side of history but they turned that chance down resoundingly. Lets not mince words. While i stand with my brothers and cystest cysts of the south, the confederacy itself violated human rights, taking advantage of every part of the lives of the men and women they enslaved sometimes for profit and sometimes purely for pleasure. The confederacy used extreme violence and terrorism to sub jew gate millions purely on the basis of the color of their skin and subjugate millions purely on the basis of the color of their skin. That flag is a sim tpwhofle confederacys effort to keep that system intact. Thats why, mr. Speaker, before the holiday, i stood in this very spot on the floor to denounce the hate, bigotry malice, and division that the Confederate Flag stands for. But i also reminded my colleagues that a symbol, while significant is only a stand in for something far stronger. A symbol will never have the strength of a bullet fired from the barrel of a policemans gun at an unarmed black man because of ingrained bias. A symbol will never have the impact of a prison sentence that permanently prevents a young person from becoming a full fledged member of society a fate far more likely to befall a person of color. A symbol will never eradicate black and latino wealth like the predatory loan structures that put their homes under water in a recession at rates that dwarfed their white peers. But if were not even willing to get rid of the symbol as this body has so clearly expressed its disinterest in doing, how can we move on to the real, underlying problems, issues like education for young people, Affordable Housing and access and training for jobs . Removing a symbol is an easy thing to do. An easy thing that would have signaled one country indwissable, with liberty and justice for all. Today my republican members across the aisle did more than just stand up for that symbol of hate and that symbol of degradation. These members treated me and those issues that are vitally important and extremely sensitive to me in a manner that was disrespectful and insensitive. And very hurtful mr. Speaker. Nonetheless, this will not go away. We will not raise this we will continue to raise this issue every day that it is needed, every week that it is needed every month that it is needed until my colleagues can recognize that a simple act of decency, the removal of this symbol of hate and disrespect and slavery and a mark on our history, needs to be removed. And then once we do that, mr. Speaker, once we do that simple little thing, and that is to stand together in taking down that ugly symbol, that that flag represents, then well be able to get on with the serious and important work that needs to be done to lift up this economy on behalf of all people. And that will be education for all people. And Higher Education that is affordable for all people, mr. Speaker. And itll be equal Affordable Housing and it will be jobs and job training and it will be adequate preSchool Programs and after School Programs and it will be recreation programs and character building programs and it will be safe communities and willing equal opportunity for all because that is a country that we live in and that is the reason that we have this congress and that is the reason that i am here and i for one will not be silent on this issue until we see this change that the 21st century demands. With that, mr. Speaker, i yield as much time as necessary to representative Xavier Becerra of california. Mr. Becerra i thank the gentlelady from new jersey for yielding the time and i stand with her in what she has just said. Mr. Speaker sometimes we forget how privileged we are, members of congress, who have a chance to stand in this chamber. We are the representatives of the people. We get elected to speak for the American People. We get elected to act on behalf of the American People. Very few americans throughout the history of our country have had the opportunity to stand right here where we are today and say we can get things done not just for the American People, but for the people of the world, because there has never been a democracy like the United States of america. There has never been a country that has had the opportunity to do so much for so many and never been a democracy that has had a chance to prove to the world that we know how to get this done and do it right. So, mr. Speaker, as we stand here in this chamber, we have to admit, we have to be prepared on behalf of the American People to stand up, to step up, to do what is right, and to do what the American People expect us to do. Now, they know we have to speak for them. That they dont want us just to talk. The time to just talk on so many issues has come and gone. And mr. Speaker, i think the American Public would agree that the time to talk to do about the confederate battle flag has come and gone. The time to and it is upon us. As president lincoln said about his second inaugural address with malice toward no, with firmness in the right as god gives us, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wound. We needed to talk lincoln said it all. Lincoln wanted us to act, to move to get things done for the American People. The time to talk came after one after another, black churches were burned down throughout this country and we knew something was going on. And that was the time to talk about what we needed to do. The time to talk was before a man driven by hate and animosity on june 17, entered mother a emanuel to start a race war. We have seen this for the disregard for life. That would have been the time to talk to heal before that man crazed with hate walked into mother emanuel church. But, mr. Speaker, after nine innocent god life loving americans were taken from their families, from their church where they were praying, from their country the time to just talk is over. Its time for us to step up. Its time for us to stand up. Because thats how we get elected to do people. 320 million americans cannot get up and say it is time to remove the Confederate Flag. They entrust us to do that. And the time to talk has ended and when we see on the floor of the house last night an opportunity for the congress to register itself and say we hear you, america. You want us to act and take down that confederate galt flag including selling that symbol here in the capitol, we had an opportunity. In fact, we had an opportunity that was golden because it seemed like we had a bipartisan vote to do exactly that. But in the dead of night, something happened. Some people decided to hide behind the dark clouds and change what we had just done. And so when we take to the floor here, we may only be talking as my colleague from new jersey said, we are going to do much more. Because the time to talk has just ended. Its time to act and time to step up. We all have the opportunity. We all have an obligation to stand up. Tomorrow morning at 10 00 a. M. The confederate battle flag will finally come down from the South Carolina capitol once and for all. Mr. Speaker, the confederate battle flag has no place but a museum in the 21st century. Let us all together, those of us privileged to be in this chamber along with our fellow americans forge a path forward that celebrates our bright future, not our dark past. Its time to take the confederate battle flag down and time for us to step up. And not a time to hide procedural motions, behind votes in the dead of night and not time to have a group of members talk about what we need to about the confederate battle flag. There should be no doubt about it. Dont just talk. Act. And mr. Speaker. I say with great pride for serving in this Great Chamber for many years. The peoples representatives and the peoples house are getting ready to act. No effort to derail this effort will succeed because the people have spoken and spoken the words of the nine people who are no longer with us. We do it with grace and do it with power because we understand this is not a time to talk, it is a time to act. I thank the gentlelady for yielding the time and we will act. Mrs. Watson coleman thanks so much for taking the time. Acknowledge thank you for your eloquent words. I yield as much time as the gentlelady from california representative han may consume. Ms. Hahn i would like to thank the gentlelady from new jersey for allowing me to add my voice to this discussion. Certainly all americans were devastated by the brutal murder of nine people, kline clueding senator pinckney at mother emanuel. There killer was motivated by racism bigotry and pictures of him himself displaying southern member. They have engaged in serious conversation about race and healing and how to deal with their states history. South carolina eye governor signed a bill to take down that confederate battle flag on the grounds of the State Capitol where it has flown for 50 years. And as South Carolina was moving to take down that flag some right here were moving in the opposite direction. Earlier today, i took to this house floor to express my outrage that my friends on the other side of the aisle had offered a surprise amendment to allow the confederate battle flag to be displayed at our National Parks and public cemeteries, just a couple of days after this body voted to remove that confederate battle flag from our National Parks. Those participating in this speaking order tonight joined in speaking out. And as a result, we succeeded in stopping them from bringing that amendment to a vote. But were here now that we recognize that its not enough to keep it sold or flying at National Parks. Right now here on the grounds of the United States capitol where we and our staff and visitors from all over come to visit the Confederate Flag and other imageries are still visible and we believe that is unacceptable. Im proud to serve which is known as the peoples house. Here in the Office Buildings and elsewhere in the house of representatives, including this side of the capitol buildings there are state flags that display the confederacy. Many of the residents of the district i represent in california and many other americans find these images offensive, painful, even threatening. And if we are to be representative of the people and we want all of the people of this great nation to feel welcome, we cannot to have divisive symbols associated with hatred, bigotry on public display. Let me add my voice in calling for the removal from the house of representatives of any flag containing any portion of that confederate battle flag. I yield back. Mrs. Watson coleman i thank the gentlelady from california for her words of encouragement. Mr. Speaker. Im really touched by what we experienced in charleston, South Carolina the grace and mercy of the families who were felled in the church in sourget carolina. I know even in this chamber, there are friends that i have across the aisle who would gladly vote with me and vote with my colleagues to remove that flag and that imagery and that symbolism from any of our Government Properties if they were given the chance. In honor and respect of the loss of life and grace and mercy and the healing and forgiveness that was demonstrated by the families who lost their lives in charleston, sourget carolina and recognition of the courageous death that they voted to take down the flag and watch tomorrow when history is being made to take down that flag, i pray that our house is given the opportunity to vote our conscience because i know that i have colleagues on the other side of the aisle that feel the same way that i do, that believe in the greatness of this country and believe in justice and liberty for all and believe that those symbols that remind us of the mistakes that we have made belong in history. And with that i yield my time. The speaker pro tempore under the speak ears speakers announced policy of january 6 20 15 the gentleman from iowa, mr. Kick, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. Mr. King thank you, mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. King thank you, mr. Speaker. I come to the floor tonight to take up a topic that i think is going to be of interest to all americans, but i cant i cant dive into that topic immediately without first referencing my reaction to the long days of debate that have taken place here in congress about opening up a subject that had been put away by this country since about 1865. I grew up a yankee, well north of the mason dixon line. I saw the Confederate Flag in multiple applications. It always was a symbol of southern pride and regional patriotism and a symbol that said to them that the south was proud to be the south. But i never, never saw it as a racist symbol. But it had drifted into a symbol of an artifact of history until such time now as it has been seized upon by those who are using it to divide america again. And i regret that they have gone through these days of this ritual of excoriating the Confederate Flag. I regret that thats been brought up. One would think if it was that offensive they would just let it drift back into history as a relic of history rather than try to resurrect it as a symbol of something they cant seem to let go of. For us were a country that all of our history, every component, has not been as noble as we would like. Every country in the world has had difficulties along the way. Weve risen above our difficulties, mr. Speaker. And weve adjusted to them and we put them behind us, but we cannot be eradicating or erasing the history of our country. Its important we do keep it in front of us so we can evaluate the Lessons Learned and move forward and make progress and that was the reconstruction era that goes clear back to right after 1865 and i regret that those old wounds have been peeled open again and its ironic that the gentleman would talk about the about president lincolns second inaugural address and binding up this nations wounds. Theyve been bound up. Theyve been healed up. And now theyre opened again. Regretfully, mr. Speaker. So i package up that portion of my response and shift over to the topic i came to the floor to address. Thats the topic of the Supreme Court from the marriage decision. The the decisions that actually came down from the Supreme Court i believe it was a week ago last thursday and friday. On thursday, there was a decision from the Supreme Court on obamacare. The cane vs. Burwell case where the majority of the Supreme Court concluded the law as passed by the United States congress doesnt mean what it says. It means instead, according to the majority of the Supreme Court, what they think the president would have liked to have had it said if he had actually been dictating the language there. But we have to vote, mr. Speaker, on the language thats in the bill, not the language that should have been in the head of the president and the speaker of the house at the time. So thats why we have had a Supreme Court who has over the last generation have been textulist. That has emerged through the Rehnquist Court and should have survived and been enhanced under the Roberts Court that the law means what it says. And the constitution means what it says. And furthermore it needs to mean what it was understood to mean at the time of ratification. We do have a language that moves and changes and morphs along the way. The language thats written into the constitution, into the various amendments that are there, and written into our laws, we cant simply say that because we have a different way we utilize language today that somehow the people who ratified it had a meaning that conformed to the morphed language of the modern world. I would have thought that chief Justice Roberts would have been one of those who would have adhered to that. And i can think of times when the court has said to this congress, you may have intended one thing but the language in the bill that you passed and was signed into law actually means Something Different. So you can seert live with the decision of the court or you can set about changing the language so that the language actually does what you intended it to do. Its a simple understand, simple construction. Under the law in the constitution. An example mr. Speaker, would be the ban on partial birth abortions that passed here in the congress in the 1990s. It went before three federal courts and was appealed to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court concluded that the ban on partial birth abortion that congress had first passed was vague in its description of the act itself and that congress hadnt concluded hadnt didnt have findings that partial birth abortion was not necessary to save the life of the mother. So it was struck down by the spoirt. And that means they sent it become to us and they said congress, fix that. I got involved in that. I want to tip my hat to congressman steve chabot of ohio, the chairman of the constitution subcommittee at the time and jim sensenbrenner, chair of the full Judiciary Committee, we held hearing after hearing. We rewrote the definition of partial birth abortion so it was precise and clear and understandable and complied with the courts directive and in those hearings, we brought witnesses that put into the congressional record a mass of evidence that concluded that a partial birth abortion was never necessary to save the life of a mother. We did those things to conform to the directive of the Supreme Court because they read the text of the law. But today we have a Supreme Court that concludes that, well, the text may say one thing but we think the president would have preferred it to Say Something else and so did most of the people, maybe that voted to pass obamacare, that very partisan piece of legislation, thabe may maybe they ended intended toyota Say Something else too. But it didnt system of the Supreme Court inserted the words or federal government into the statute that said, established by the state. The Supreme Court wrote by the state or federal government, alleging that the language was vague. Thats appalling to me in the United States of america, in a country ruled by this erule of law, we can have a Supreme Court who, no one has a higher charge to read the language and understand it, call the balls and strikes as the chief justice said. I think he forgot to say youre supposed to also call whether its fair or foul. I think its foul. Its a foul ball for the Supreme Court. To think they can change the language of the law. They sent it back here, congress then had an obligation to adjust the policy to our intent for now. Maybe not the intent at the time that it was passed. Because those years have moved. Then subsequent to that, the very next day friday, week ago last friday as i recall, the Supreme Court came with the decision, a decision on samesex marriage. And i have some experience with this, mr. Speaker. And it falls along this line that in 2009, the iowa Supreme Court in reading the mirror of our 14th amendment which is in our United States constitution and the mirror of it is written into the iowa state constitution, they concluded that samesex marriage was the law of the land in iowa. And their conclusion was that it fell underneath equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th amendment that mirror the mirrored component of the 14th amendment in our iowa constitution. 64 pages in the decision in the iowa case and i read that decision. I read all 63 pages but not only that, i poked through it, i read it, i looked at the ceiling contemplated, look back at the words. I tried to absorb the kind of legal rationale that would get you to the point where you could conclude that under equal protection or due process that marriage really was between one adult and another entity, whatever sex or gender that entity might be. And they wrote that under the protection of the 14th amendment, the equal protection clause and due process that, quote, homosexuals have a right to public affirmation. Close quote. Mr. Speaker, i know of no place in law, i know of no place in society, i know of no place in history where there is an individual, let alone a group of people a selflabelibbled group of people a selflabeled group of people, that have any claim to public affirmation. Public approval conferred by the court. But that was key to understanding this lit geags thats moved forward since 2009. Brings us into 2015. And we have a decision, we have a decision in the Supreme Court that commands all states to recognize, if theyre going to recognize any marriage, to recognize samesex marriage and for all states to also provide the reciprocity of recognizing marriages that take place in other states as those individuals may come through or move into their states. Thats that right of reciprocity. Its in the constitution, resip rossity. Resip rossity. Reciprocity but for the Supreme Court to create a new right, the right of samesex marriage manufactured out of the 14th amendment of the constitution of the United States ratified in 186 , and by the way it tie into this dialogue about the Confederate Flag and all the rhetoric we have had in this congress all week long. It ties into it in this way. The 13th and 14th amendments of the constitution were ratified in the aftermath of the civil war. They were established, first the 13th amendment to free the slaves because people in the legislature at the time didnt believe that a clear statute that freed the slaves was going to actually have the impact that a constitutional amendment would. So they passed the 13th amendment to establish that there would be no slavery in the United States, anywhere, ever. Second, the 14th amendment, equal protection clause, due process clause and the clause that says that all persons born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, shall be american citizens. All of that to ensure not only that the freed slaves would be free and they would have equal access to all the rights of citizenship but that their children would also be citizens. And that was that they would have equal protection under the law. That was essence of the 14th amendment. Were asked to believe that somehow those who wrote and ratified the 14th amendment in 1868 and secret had secretly put some subtle language into it that they somehow knew we would discover in 2015 that said there shall be same sex marriage in all of america and the Supreme Court will find it and impose it on the rest of the country buzz theyre the enlightened five of nine in black robes. Well, the Supreme Court has had a terrible record a terrible record on dealing with large domestic issues. 1857, dred scott. They thought they could resolve the slavery issue, the Supreme Court was stacked in favor of the south. Five from the south and one in pennsylvania that was simp at the toik slavery. They had a 63 operation going on. They essentially declared that blacks could not be citizens and they could not be free. They could not be citizens and they could not be freed by states and that if a slave owner owned a slave, they owned that slave in any state that individual might go. That was a decision of dred scott. They thought they put the issue away. It came back to haunt this country over and over again. And it was part of, part of the conflict that began in the next decade when in 1862 and that brought about the death of 600,000 americans and split this country apart, and its taken years to put us back together. The dred scott decision. Fast forward 100 year they took prayer out of public schools, we honored that decision, stopped praying, at least openly in schools now the question, can a football team, without the coach, neil on kneel on the ground and pray before the ballgame. Were a First Amendment country, freedom of religion and were dealing with this kind of assault on free religion because the Supreme Court dumped that on us. 1973, roe vs. Wade. Then you have lawrence vs. Texas decision and it goes on and on and on. Up to this point, for the domestic life of america has been dramatically transformed by order of the Supreme Court, the people least connected to the will of the people and when they separate themselves from the text of the statute and the text in the and the understanding of the constitution, were in a place where the Supreme Court then has put themselves above the law, above the constitution, and above the will of the people. One of the people that understands that as well as anybody in this United States congress is my friend from texas, mr. Louie gohmert who speaks to us often in these chambers and i know about his marriage and i know about his conviction of the rule of law and the constitution. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from texas, mr. Gohmert. Mr. Gohmert im very grateful for mr. Gohmert pleased that you talk about this and you make great points. And the dreadscott decision was decided by a majority who had great aspirations that the media was going to love what they did. Instead of looking at the words of the constitution and applying those words, they were playing to the elite media and the elite media was wrong. Slavery was the worst blot on this nations history and it is tragic that this Supreme Court played a role. It is tragic in the 1970s as you pointed out, the roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has contributed to tens of millions of murders tragic. They are completely above the law. And judges who are friends of main and had strong feelings about a case but they knew they wouldnt be fair and impartial. So they had to disqualify themselves. And with regard to marriage we had one judge one justice who has made comments, massive questions over her imparget ever partial atlanta. And if you take two judges, there is no question, they were totally disqualified. They were opinion ated. Going into this opinion they made up their mipeds and one columnist reported on the last samesex marriage, Justice Ginsburg said, i now pronounce these two men married by the married by the contusion of the United States, that was a justice who was disqualified. The law is very clear about that and congress does have the authority to dictate the terms by which a judge may sit on particular case. And this law, 28 u. S. C. , 55. This is an emphatic requirement for a justice and which know Justice Kagan performed a same sex marriage. We had two justices that under the laws of the United States as allowed by the United States constitution clear reading, they were disqualified. They were law breakers in order to dictate legislation on a social issue over which they have no authority by virtue of the contusion and the 10th amendment, they violated the law and the constitution and violated their oath. That is dishonorable to be a justice in any court and violate your oath, violate your law and the cop stution. But the law, it is wanting to assure the American People that we are going to be so far above question that not only do you have to disqualify yourself if you are partial, you are biased, or prejudiced in a case but if your imparget atlanta might be questioned then you shall dws qualify yourself, and two justices violated the law the constitution and the oath and dictate the law. And just one time point i would like to make, as i have giving it some thought. What nature would indicate. And my friend knows i was there in iowa with them after the ridiculous decision by the iowa Supreme Court. The three justices were given up. I was amazed that the iowa Supreme Court said thises a no evidence. We have substantial evidence, preponderance of the evidence they said this is a no i have had issue. There is no evidence from any kind of any course to indicate a preference for marriage between a man and a women as opposed to two men and two women. Well i would be willing to put up everything i will make for the rest of my life that it will go into a bet because i have that much faith in what jesus said, they said, moses said, this is from god that a marriage is when a marriage a women will leave her home. Jesus repeated. You know the law. Heres the law. And he repeated words of moses and he said what god has joined put together. I have such faith in the words of moses and jesus i would be willing to stake the rest of life that we could take four couples of man and women and jesus said and find a place that we could place them where they are isolated and have a good full life and take another place and put four couples of men, all men that love each other and put them in such an isolated situation and an island where we have four couples of women, they love each other and going to Stay Together and come back and you could go 200 years and lets go back and see what nature has to say about which couple it prefers to sustain a civilization. Which couple nature of you and i believe, which one is preferred and im willing to bet everything that in those situations where nation has to take its course, the couples of man and woman will be the one in a pro liferts and continues to exist and live on for future generations. And the people of iowa found so offensive. And judges were so ignorant that they could say there is no nature to indicate a couple between a man and a woman. You need to see someone you love in a hospital, you bet. We need to make sure you love someone. A partner and they care about you, but if there is a mutual love and respect you ought to be able to see them in the hospital and transfer property. But when it comes to the Building Block for future generations, i can promise you that if it is not built on on couples that are men and women as moses and jesus said, then that civilization will not endure. Its just a law of nature and i love the people of iowa and the fact that they came out and these judges that were educate the far beyond their intellectual capability needed to step down because the people of iowa could find evidence there was evidence. I yield back and i appreciate the time that the gentleman has yielded to me. And when we have supreme justices. The law and oath. Mr. King i appreciate your time. Many times and many hours he has spent on the floor. The gentleman from texas, judge gohmert who had the temptation to legislate and understood the constitution and ran for the United States congress because he is a legislator with the deep appreciation for the rule of law. And congressman gohmert did come to iowa and we traveled around from town to town. And people werent happy with our presence. Some mothers werent proud, but luis mother could be proud of him. And you cant think of the heartland without thinking of the heart of kansas. Ap the gentleman that reaches the has demonstrated his commitment and i would be happy to yield so much time as he may consume to mr. Huelskamp. Mr. Huelskamp i appreciate the opportunity to visit tonight about the radical decision and i appreciate the decision of my colleague fl texas as and i was born in 1968 and what this court would have this believe, 100 years before i was born somehow secretely written into this amendment was language that invalidated laws in every state of the union. They wanted us to believe that the laws invalidated the only state laws at this time and didnt know it. And that is nonsense. If you loved lived in washing drs and spent your summers vacationing in western europe, could you dream up the constitution dictated. That you would override, attorneys that are going to dictate to 15 million americans. You are wrong and 2000 years of Human History is wrong. The aultthors of the 14th amendments are wrong. We are talking about dozens and dozens of states that are voted by the people. Windsor decision, this exact same court said its up to the states to decide. They declared themselves wrong two years previous to that and deny the right to vote. Now recognize, folks have strong opinions. President obama both agree on this right, there are strong opinions on this side, but what is happening, the folks that cant win in the state of kansas have side decided they are go to go find five people to overrule 50 million. When we passed, 4175 5 declared that a marriage is between a man and a woman. Every one of them, go to the state of california. 2008, 7,184,000 were declared to be wrong by five people across this street, five people that left town. They wont wont stay here. They make up their mind and come out and rule. Of folks taking their personal biases and mandate them on california. Mandate them on, let me pick a state at random, the state of maine. 38 3, alaska, 152,955 people. These five people said were wrong. A total across the entire nation, there were 51 million 51,4 3,777 people that this court, these five people, not the entirety of the court, five people decided you 51,483,777 people youre wrong. Those five were wrong two years ago. Or at least one of them was wrong. They changed their mind two years ago. If you look at the holy fathers latest encyclical thats been much discussed, it talks about the rule of law and how if you start violating laws , that becomes a pattern. And here we have a pattern of this court deciding to ignore the clear constitution decide to impose their biases, as i understand that, the dissent was frightening. This is not only imposing biases against traditional marriage, these five people dont like marriage, as 51 million americans understand that. In the dissent, they talked about, not only do that, theyve opened the door to plural unions. It is coming. They referenced a court case. This is where this court is headed. And its totally out of step. Not only with 51 million americans, but with their own Court Decision two years ago. Also with the whole idea of our constitution. That somehow its living and breathing and then five people, i mean this is the same margin by which weve had atrocious decisions throughout history of this country. You go not far from this and my colleague from ireland knows this you go not far from here, you go down to i think its the floor down where you had a decision by the same u. S. Supreme court just a few different folks, decided certain people didnt have rights and made a decision. An atrocious decision. They were wrong. I think the court is wrong today. But again, the idea that somehow they know better the elitism is driving folks crazy. Its not just on this issue. And the colleague from iowa has pointed that out again and again. Its concern the concerns about immigration, its concerns about education, its concerns about spending, about overregulation, where you have folks inside a bubble in washington, d. C. They read every week, every day, i guess, they read the New York Times and think theyre doing a great job. They read the Washington Post. But they dont read and listen to real americans. Again, they travel and vacation in western europe. Many times we see them using Court Decisions in the arguments that have no basis, not only in our injures bruins but this our history. And are using that which is outside exactly what, you know, ive never served in the u. S. Senate and i probably never will. I have no desire to do that. But i got to wonder when each of these five were decided to overrule 51 million, did anybody ask them . Do you think youre smarter than rest of america . Did anybody ask them, but you know, actually, when they did ask them they said, we cant tell you how were going to rule. But theres no doubt that at least four perks happens five of these judges, these attorneys, these lawyers, made up the mind before made up their mind before they got the case. And said, this is the decision. Heres what we want to reach. Heres the outcome. Lets make something up so we can at least claim theres an argument. Theres no logical argument. Theres no legal argument. All there is is the utter power, the claim that we get to dictate what the rest of america will accept. And as a prolife american as well, we have to go back 42 years ago. The court tried to do the same thing. And at that time, in 1973, im guessing january 24, 1973rks i was a little tyke. Thank goodness i was born before the roe v. Wade generation. I saw some of those folks running around today claiming they were part of that generation. Part of that generation is 1 3 of those are gone. But at that time the court said they were going to impose abortion on all of america through all nine months. They walked away and said we www. It all done. What they found out was the American People are resilient and when they see outrageous decision like this it might take them weeks, months years, decades, but they will be pushing back. They will be pushing back and demanding that when you put your thumb in the eye of 51 million americans, you put your thumb in the eye of 2,000 years of history, you put your thumb in the eye of millions of millions of children that deserve a dad and a mom, a married dad and mom and say, you dont count, thats what this court is saying. We spend billions of dollars every year trying to replace a mom and a dad. Here we are today, because of five people across the street, again, five people deciding for the rest of us, this is not an interpretation of the constitution. This is just utter legal nonsense. There are two ways to respond to this and one is a federal marriage amendment. I have introduced that a couple sessions in a row. Thats the way you amend the constitution. They get five votes. Folks have been worried about constitutional convention. I always joke, they have one every time they issue a ruling. This one was a constitutional convention. Utter legal fiction and nonsense. And they know it. They all know this. Theyre probably drinking cocktails tonight laughing about our comments on the floor saying yeah, Everybody Knows that. Were just understand some fiction. Were trying to figure out, ok heres the decision we want, heres how we get there. We need a federal amendment, thats one option. But thats difficult. A second one that we have to worry about, and it was noted in the oral arguments, it was noted in the opinion of the majority and the minority, because of this decision, mark my words, mark the words of the dissenters, it will they will use this decision to attack religious liberties of americans who still believe, 51 million, and plenty of others, that marriage is between a man and a woman. And theyre not going to stop. 10 years ago they said they would stop at civil unions. That was all they wanted. And then, well, maybe they want something else. No now its not only do they want marriage, the next one will be to say, if you disagree with me, you will not only have to bake a cake youll have to participate in other ceremonies in other ways, it goes on and on. Thats why ive introduced along with others the First Amendment defense act, which i call upon those who believe in marriage and even if you dont believe in marriage but believe in the supremacy of the American People rather than five attorneys who bring that to the floor and defend the rights and liberties of americans and the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, perhaps millions of churches that say, you know what, we dont agree with that. And we will not have the federal government imposing their way. These five people. Im just one. We got 435 in this body. 100 in the other body and the court said, that doesnt matter. And thats the definition of tyranny. From tyranny good things do not come. Our founders understood that. When uconn sol date power, and as my colleague said, what difference does Congress Make anymore . Because the decision the day before suggested they get to rewrite the law. The marriage decision was they get to rewrite the constitution. And this is a fundamental decision on the history of our country, the history of our constitution, where the future goes, and the history for and the few tier father future for our children. I appreciate my colleague from iowa, his efforts for many years, and i will not apologize on behalf of 417,000 kansans 417,675 who voted for marriage. If those five justices are asking them to apologize, they will not. They will continue to defend gods law for marriage and they will do that proudly. And will continue to defend the state and our u. S. Congress should do the same. I yield back to my colleague from iowa. I appreciate your leadership. These are one of those things that, you know, its not easy and, congressman, i appreciate your leadership on this and not giving up for the right thing. I yield back. Mr. King i thank the gentleman from kansas but id ask if hed yield to a question before he retires. That would be this. You mentioned your constitutional amendment to preserve marriage between a man and a woman. And i would ask if youd be prepared if you can from memory, quote that into the record here tonight . I am not prepared to quote it. I know whats i know what the vote was. Mr. King the essence of it. The essence is marriage is between a man and woman. A very historical definition. It was adopted by 417,675. Mr. Huelskamp it was interesting. I never once told the state of kansas that if five people wanted it, that was the rule of law in kansas. No. We had to go through an open process, had the debate, had the campaigns, get it through the legislature, we tried two years in a row, didnt happen. Finally in 2005 it got on the ballot it. Went up, everybody had their up and down american experiment of democracy and decided. But i will tell you at the time, people simply dont need to do that. The court would never overrule that. Theres nowhere thats in the constitution. But its very clear. Marriage is between a man and a woman and thats the thing, marriage predates government and no matter what these five unelected lawyers appointed for life with full benefits, i might add, and health care outside of obamacare, thats another issue, no matter what they say, they are not changing what a marriage is. Mr. King temporarily reclaiming my time. I would make id like to reiterate this point. As you debated this in kansas, im one of the authors of the iowas defense of marriage act and ours says differently than i think all the other states. All the other states say marriage is between one man and one woman. I insist that the language say between one male and one female. Because i didnt want to be in a debate about what a man was and what a woman was. I didnt know that within the last couple of months we would be having that debate nationally. But i think our language is more specific. However, overruled by the Supreme Court of the state of iowa and i didnt get around to mentioning that we voted three of those justices off the bench. Swept them off. There were only three up for residential ballot in 2010. We voted them all of the bench. But i still ask this question, which is, as precise as our language, is i could not divine any right to samesex marriage in the constitution. Not in the 14th amendment, not in the iowa constitution its mirrored to the 14th amendment. But the Supreme Court found it anyway. So is it beyond the realm of possibility that if your amendment becomes incorporated into our constitution that a more liberal court or this court itself might find a way to rationalize their way around, no matter how we write it. Mr. Huelskamp that is absolutely true. Where can they end up . Again, when becomes an issue of bias whether it becomes an issue of bias, our colleague from texas talked about that, two justices that clearly demonstrated bias, in the state of kansas that would be a basis for not ruling on the case and perhaps not even being on a court, i mean, those are legal ethics. Im not an attorney. But we recognize that would be highly unethical in the state of kansas, but apparently thats the way you get things done nationally, to impose your will. And one thing that again, i mentioned in passing that we cant forget, is what this does for our children. What this does for our children, by attempting to fundamentally destroy and redefine marriage and ive been asked, how does it affect your marriage . When you make marriage anything you deval what really is marriage. The last thing we need to be doing in this society is devaling families, devaling marriage and attacking the basis of our society. Our founders understood that. You know, i dont know what these justices, what their history was growing up, what led them to change their mind and impose that on the rest of america. But thats why our founders said heres the constitution youve got to follow, you can interpret it but you shall go no further. Ring ring mr. King they understand that in kansas. They understand that in iowa. I suspect they understand that in florida. As i look over i see the gentleman from florida, im looking at two doctors here, the gentleman from florida, mr. Yoho and id be happy to yield to the gentleman from florida. I thank the gentleman from kansas for coming down tonight, as well as the gentleman from florida and texas and the other folks that might show up. Mr. Yoho i thank my colleague. From iowa. And kansas. And texas. For coming down here to share your thoughts on this important item. Mr. Huelskamp, you brought up about the a lotting, the a lotting the institution of marriage. And if we keep going looting the institution of marriage. If we keep going down this path, it will be worth nothing. If we compete diluting the value of money, its worth nothing. If we keep diluting the value of things that make our society great, the nucleus family, if we keep doing that, it becomes more washed out. Roughly two weeks ago the Supreme Court, 54 decision, on demonstrated yet again the highest court in the land legislating from the bench. The ruling was disappointing not only for the fact that the court has not forced states to redefine marriage, but even more so because it removes millions of americans from the democratic process of choosing for themselves who and what defines marriage. I personally, and millions, as you brought up, 51 million, hold a traditional view of marriage, between one man and one woman. And im proud to say that ive been married to my wife, caroline, for over 40 years. God bless her. The constitution grants the availability to decide whether to recognize samesex marriage. Chief Justice Roberts said, they would not recognize its judicial role. And then he continued. They wouldnt have be satisfied with empowering judges to override judgments so long as they do so after a discussion. With this type of discussion, what is the point of the states rights. We have had 30 states wanting to define and have the right according to the right and if you live in that state and you dont like it you have the freedom to move or challenge it through the state system and i think its a sad day in america. And when we have to redefine as a nation. We have to redefine as a institution. To come down to this point in our society. And we got a book that we have lived by and im going to hold this up. This is in total the declaration of independence, and the constitution and you can see its a they thin book. Its not epic in volume, but yet it is an ideology of what a nation stands for a nation of laws. And i have been up and what i hear we are naa constitutional crisis. I stee a lot of disfunctionality. If you get other branches overstepping. And i agree with justice scalia. A system of government goes not deserve to be called a democracy. Wow those are powerful words. The people are subordinate to a committee of nine elected none lawyers. We cannot allow our constution to be rereaded. And i look at Justice Roberts some of ofsome of his diss inshon and he side stepping the and in his view, such a right has no base in the con stews. The courts decision hoose a institution that formed the bases for millen yeah and we are redwinning that. And the as test. Do we think we are. The other three justice echoed his september mbt ever mnlts. Justice scala yeah suggested that before the opinion boffbch the majority i would hide my head in a bag. This is a sad state of affair that we have out of balance and we as a member of congress we are the most powerful branch as our found rsers and constitutional Free Republic in the world and the reason of that is the checks and balances. And i would like, mr. Speaker, say to you and our colleagues that our three branches of government are out of balance. And at times Human History when the government oversteps its bound brings and overstep the boundries of the con industry, it is our responsibility of the United States congress to stand up and reign in government and hold the braverps of government. We stand up to say we have had enough. And i yold back to the great state of iowa. And thank you. Mr. King i thank the the gentleman from fl florida and his issues including this is a constutional. I recognize the gentleman from text as a good friend from texas. We have eight minutes left in our time. Thank you and i yield you. Recognizing my wife in the gallery as well. I thank the gam for yielding time on this very important issue. I sfand here today deeply and disappointed and saddened by the actions by the five Supreme Court gist tuesdayes in disregard the rule of law. Strong defender of tradirnl marriage. They overruled tens of millions of americans. The state of texas and voted to enact state sfauts to define marriage as twn one man and one mom woman. The vote is 50 million americans and alarming and the justices raised this concern. Traditional marriage has been under assault. They have sought to redine marriage as something between a man and a women. They are taking action to discriminate against the redefinition of mearming. Tens of millions of americans acted through the legislation tive process to win their respective stailingts. They side stepped the process and sealens their process. By sir occur vent he can. It is on a collision course with religious freedoms and guaranteed. Americans with religious conviction will be force into conviction of uncertainty. They may lose their combizz license. Some are calling for ex emupon. This is alarming and demands action. We have seen the action, like lois lerner and expect the same. As elected led years, we have an obligation to fight for the rellinggouse protection begins jirblee consequences. I have met with tass pores and they are concerned about this ruling. Congress must take action to restore each states ability acknowledge to brobalingt laws and instews regarding traditional marriage to ensure that they do not face disscrame nation. As an unwaivinging add vow scrate, i have a marriage between one man and one women. We should have to protect churches from being coerced by the government to act against the educations. I have spent my entine lifer, people are distressed on their impact to freely practice their faith. They relts as do i, things are going to get worse as this collision course is sent in collision. They hold the blevs dearly. Uncertainty, i stand in strong sole dardity as i have the great privilege to mare. I serve with you folks in congress that we will never back down on this issue. I will work on defend traditional marriage and pro protection of our marriage. I thank you and yield back. Mr. King i thank the georgia and recognize the gentleman from california has arrive and we are down to three minutes and i would like to hear from the gentleman from california. Mr. Lamalfa those of us who believe in god, feel that the bible is clear. But even more sore beyond that, its a choice. People can scommoose to follow that path or choose not. Theyll blake that addition. So what im looking at, the security in this ruleing has you supered it. Even have with that ruling on friday, theyup held that the people would and the peoples voices were heard and they passed two different initiatives. And the constitution is supposed to mean. And that is trinal some and the way the court usurps the lemmingstive process. I thank you for your leadership. Mr. King i thank the gentleman. We have heard from a list of constitutionalities that are committed to defend the constitution. And we are years and im steeped in the constitution and rule of law. I have Great Respect for the constitution of the nunes. And if the law doesnt meet the press what it says and not imagined by the people, then what can which come to. This decision on marriage, king versus burr quell, with the Court Continues down this path, they will render our institution and this crount will not respect the language. We are here to reject and crit sigh size the decision of the Supreme Court all of america and recognize those marriages. That is a decision this congress couldnt make and should be left up to the states. I will submit im would you know who is support to eliminate civil marriage. The next litigation that come will be that that sues our priests and pastors to command them to conduct samesex marriages as their alters and thats where the First Amendment, freedom of religion, comes in to conflict with the distorted view of the 14th amendment which is part of this the speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. King that, mr. Speaker, will be a constitutional crisis and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Under the speakers announced policy of january 6, 2015, the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. Gohmert. For 30 minutes. Mr. Gohmert thank you mr. Speaker. Heard earlier discussions about , from my friends, and i literally mean that, friends, im not being sarcastic they are friends, talking about the shootings sounds like they were certainly racist shootings in South Carolina. When an evil man shot brothers and sisters of mine as fellow christians. And now theres this big race to go after the Confederate Flag and, so mr. Speaker, i saw this article by Daniel Greenfield and felt like this was worth noting historically information that mr. Greenfield has published this month and so just touching on parts of the article, i started to say he, but it says daniel, maybe its a man, maybe it isnt. Dont want to be biased. Based on a name. But anyway, in his article he says, talking about president obama, that when he condemned christianity for the crusades, only a thousand years too late, in attendance was the foreign minister of sudan. A country that practices slavery and genocide. President obama could have taken time out for from his rigorous denunciation of the middle ages to speak truth to the emsear of a muss emissary of a Muslim Brotherhood regime whose leader is wanted by the International Court for crimes against humanity. But our moral liberals spend too much time romanticizing actual slaver cultures. Its a lot easier for a president to get in his milliondollar cadillac with fiveinch thick bulletproof windows, a ride a boss hog could only envy, that being a reference to the name of the show, dukes of hazard. And chase down a couple of good old boys than it is to condemn a culture that committed genocide in our own time. Not in 1099. And a culture that keeps slaves today, not in 1815. Even while the duke boys again, references to the dukes of hazard, the duke boys were chased through georgia, president obama appeared at an iftar dinner at an event at which muslims emulate muhammad who had more slaves than robert e. Lee. There are no slaves in arlington house today. But in the heartlands of islam, from saudi mansions to isis dungens, there are still slaves laboring, beaten bought, sold, raped and disposed of in muhammads name. Slavery does not exist under the Confederate Flag eagerly being pulled down, it does exist under the black and green flags of islam rising over mosques in iraq, saudi arabia and america today. In our incredibly tolerant culture, it has become politically incorrect to watch the general lee, talking about the car, jump a fence or a barn , but paying tribute to the culture that sent the slaves here and that still practices slavery is the cultural sensitive thing to do. In 2015, slavery is no longer freedom, but it certainly is tolerance. The article goes on, slavery was an indigenous african and middle eastern practice. Not to mention an indigenous practice in america among indigenous cultures. The author here is talking about dont understand indigenous cultures, hes talking about native americans. There were native americans that had slaves. Just like in africa and middle eastern practices. The article goes on, if justice demands that we pull down the Confederate Flag everywhere, even from the top of the orange car saling through the air in the freeze frame of an sailing through the air in the freeze frame of an Old Television show, then what possible justification is there for all the feaux aztec nick knacks . Even the knickknacks . Even the southern plantation owners didnt tear out the heart hearts of slaves on top of pyramids. A reference that we obviously, history, we understand, aztec did pull out hearts of slaves that they sacrificed on top of pyramids, anyway the article says the row mantization of aztec brutality plays a crucial role in the mythology of Mexican National groups like loraza promoting today. I wasnt aware of that. The article says, black nationalists romanticize the slave holding civilization of egypt, despite the fact that the narrative of the liberation of the hebrew slaves from bondage played a crucial role in the end of slavery in america. The endless stories about the amazons of the african kingdom neatly fit into the leftist myth of a peaceful matriarchal africa disrupted by european colonialism but ran on slavery. The amazons helped capture slaves for the atlantic slave trade. White and black liberals are romanticizing the very culture that captured and sold their forefathers into slavery. The first major mainstream black musical was about africanamericans moving to dehomi. But then the french had taken over and together with the british had put an end to the slave trade. The french dismantled the amazons and freed many of the slaves only for the idiot descendents of both groups to romanticize the last noble stand of the fighting for the right to export black slaves to cuba and condemn the european liberaters who put a stop to that atrocity. If we crack down on romanticizing dixie, how can we possibly justify romanticizing dehomi or the aztecs who are muhammad . If slavery and racism are wrong which clearly they are, but the article says, if slavery and racism is wrong, then theyre wrong across the board. Muhammad and others had bought, sold and killed enough black lives to be frowned upon. If we go back far enough in time, most cultures kept slaves. The romans and greeks certainly did. Thats why the meaningful standard is not whether a culture ever had slaves, but whether it has slaves today. If were going to eradicate the symbols of every culture that ever traded in slaves, there will be few cultural symbols that will escape unscathed. But the academics who insist on cultural relativism in 19th century africa rejected in 19th century South Carolina thereby revealing their own racism. And so instead of fighting actual modern day slavery in africa and the middle east, social justice warriors are swarming to invade hazard county. Most of the cultures of the past that we admire respect and even romanticize had slaves but when we look back at their achievements and even try to forge some connection to them, it does not have to mean an endorsement of their worst habits. This is a concept that liberals understood. But that leftists reject. The recent hysteria reminds us that the nuanced reason of the former has been replaced by the irrational destructive impulses of the latter. The left is so obsessed with creating utopias of the future that, like the taliban or isis, it destroys the relics of past societies that do not measure up to its impossible standards. And then it replaces them with imaginary utopias of the past that never existed. As ben carson pointed out, we will not get rid of racism by banning the Confederate Flag, even when it is used at its worst by the likes of some, it is a symptom, not the problem. Roof was radicalized by the dead confederacy, but by was not radicalized by the dead confederacy, but by the racial tensions kicked off and im not sure youd say that, but anyway interesting take. But all of this talk about eliminating any references or uses of things that remind us of horrors, the abomination that is slavery that slavery was in the United States should be eliminated. Thats what were hearing. And so mr. Speaker in thinking about that, and the suggestion was made by my friend another judge from texas, judge carter, so i had to go look it up. And i think there is an entity that was so evil in supporting slavery, in fighting against civil rights, in fighting against the christian brother that Martin Luther king jr. Was fighting against those who wanted equality that the constitution guaranteed, we ought to look at those symbols and we ought to look at what they stood for. And perhaps ban any Political Organization from participating in congress, for upholding the abomination that slavery was to this country. So i was able to get a copy of this platform, this political platform from 1856, and this is a number one plank in the platform of this hideous Political Organization, and this is what they believed. And they asserted. And im reading from this number one plank in their party flat form platform. That congress has no power under the constitution to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several states and that such states are the sole and proper judges of everything apper daning to their own affairs, not prohibited by the constitution. Then here it goes, that all efforts of the app ligsists abolitionists or others made to induce congress to interfere with questions of slavery or to take insip yent steps in relation thereto are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people and endanger the stability and permanence of the union and ought not to be counted by any friend of our political institutions. That was the plamping in this organizations platform, from 1856, that go on. Heres number three. That by the uniform application of this democratic principles of the organization of territories and the admission of new states with or without new states, equal rights of all the states will be preserved. They say they want to preserve slavery in any state that wans to have it. They finish up resolved, we recognize the right of all peoples, including kansas and nebraska acting through the expressed will of residents and whether the number of habitats to form a constitution with or without domestic h slavery. Sounds like they are demanding they have the rights to have slavery. The worst abomination. And Thomas Jefferson put in his original draft that that was a horrible grievance against the king of epping land for allowing slavery, this abomination from every starting in america. They didnt learn their lesson, this hid yose little organizations platform in 1860, said they were adopting all the things they have said in 1856 about the rite to keep this heinous slavery intact. They include this, in their platform of 18 of 0, resolved that the state legislatures toll defeat the execution of the fugitive slave law are subversive of the constitution. They wanted to make it clear that not only would they were after individual supporters of slavery of america, it was their right to own slavery. This organization found the fugitive slave law to be as they say, hostile in character, sb versus i have of the constougs. This sounds like the cue clucks clan and we want them to participate when this is their history. The worst abottom nation, the slavery was overcome by churches and mass tors and people couldnt be treating brothers and sisters in such a way, took the life work, even laying down the work of martin luthing king consider to push us to brothers and sisters as he was in christ, as equal people, where we should have been all along. Pushing us where we need to be. So if were going to eliminate everything that reminds us of the hideous past that supported slavery, the oppression and who areors and stations, the beatings the horrors, John Quincy Adams was right, god could not continue to bless america. He was right so many abolish niverts were right. Republicans that stood up to these hideous Political Organizations. They were right. No place for slavery in america. So if we are going to have a complete cleansing of this country of anything, any assemble then this platform from the Democratic Party 18r6 56 won the ku klux exep kla in. I think its time not nor the Washington Redskins to zphange their name. All you have to do is go onloin and look at the history. Africanamericans. One of supporting slavery and the horrors that occurred in the United States. Its time, and up through the 0th century on end to the end of 1860s, a member who was a member. I hope that my friends who want to change and change the namente of the Democratic Party because of its horrid history they want to change the anymore of things of somebody who was a big supporter. The fact is that the families of the victims many charleston, cuth sorely, brothers and sister in crist wow, did they send a powerful message. I didnt hear them taking the Confederate Flag being taken dourn. Havent on people that at a prayer meeting. They showed the love that scombleesl jesus showed and father damian whose statue is right beneath us roitnout of ment now. A. M. The plaque on his statue why would you want to change this, in the words of the jesus john 15 1. Man laid down his life for his friends. Jesus did that. Father dameen did that. So many have so we on have the freedoms we have today. So many military of our america can forces have. Freedom around the world. Lets reck the good we have based. Lets stop the Division Poll politics and lets quick trying to tear this country apart and no one person sm this womb would have taken part of oath. And lets start the race baiting. If were going to go there, we have to end the Democratic Party. Its history, its so inter woven, trying to push slavery on beyond anything that it should have been through. Donet need to end the democratic earth. We need to Work Together many the present. Lets stop it. Lets look at the capital of the victims families and say wow they are incredibly follow iris ofees use christ. With ta, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman will entertain a motion to adjourn. Those in favor say aye. Say eye. The ayes have it. Accordingly, the whose is adjourned until 9 a. M. Tomorrow. The big news today is that house leadership pulled a interior spending bill following the disagreement offered by california congressman ken calvert on the Confederate Flag. The amendment would allow the current National Park Service Policy to stand allowing the National Cemetery commemorate memorial day over the graves of civil war veterans with Confederate Flags but the house already approved an amendment earlier in the week to ban the Confederate Flags from the 14 National Cemeteries. Here is representative ken calvert offering the amendment wednesday night, and congresswoman eddie mccall and speaking against the amendment. Alance of his time. Mr. Calvert i have an amendment at the desk. The chair for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . California mr. Calvert i have an amendment at the desk. The clerk amendment offered by mr. Calvert of california, at the end of the bill, insert the following, section, notwithstanding any other provision of this act none of the funds made available by this act may be used to display the flag of the United States or the p. O. W. m. I. A. Flag with flags in the National Park service National Cemetery as provided in National Park Service Directors order 61 or memorandum january 24 2015 with the subject line containing immediate actionry quired. The chair the gentleman from california and a member opposed each will control five minutes. The chair recognize is the gentleman from california. Mr. Calvert this amendment will codify National Park Service Policy with regard to the declaration of cemeteries. I urge adoption of my amendment. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. Does the gentleman from seek recognition . Ms. Mccollum i oppose. I reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from california. Mr. Calvert i continue to reserve. The chair does the gentlelady from minnesota wish to yield and close . Ms. Mccollum i would rise in strong opposition to this amendment and im actually quite surprised that we find ourselves here tonight attempting to overturn the National Park service recent policy changes to stop allowing the Confederate Flag to be displayed or sold in National Parks. Mr. Chairman, just yesterday this house passed an amendment passed amendment after amendment supporting the removal of the symbol of racism from our National Parks, which are visited every day by americans and foreign visitors of every race. We have read about the divisive tactics happening in the South Carolina state house as they debate the removal of the Confederate Flag. After the murder of nine black parishioners. I never thought that the u. S. House of representatives would join those who would want to see this flag flown by passing an amendment to ensure the cont
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