Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives 12132017 20171213

Adoption of House Resolution 657, if ordered, and passage of House Resolution 1638. The first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15minute vote. Remaining electronic votes will be conducted in fiveminute votes. The Unfinished Business is the vote on ordering the previous estion on House Resolution 657 which the yeas and nays are ordered. The clerk will report the resolution. The clerk house calendar number 109. Are House Resolution 657, resolution providing for consideration of the bill h. R. 2396, to amend the grammleachbliley act to update the exception for certain annual notices provided by Financial Institutions. And providing for consideration of h. R. 4015 to improve the quality of proxy Advisory Firms for the protection of investors, and the u. S. Economy, and in the public interest, by fostering accountability, transparency, responsiveness and competition in the proxy Advisory Firm industry. The speaker pro tempore the question is on ordering the previous question. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This will be 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 236 and the nays are 197. The previous question is ordered. The question on adoption of the resolution. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. Mr. Speaker, i request a recorded vote. The speaker pro tempore a recorded vote is recontested. Those favoring a recorded vote will rise. Number, 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 240 the speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 240 and the nays are 184. The resolution is adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. The Unfinished Business is the vote on passage of House Resolution 1638 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. The clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk Union Calendar number 335. H. R. 1638, a bill to require the secretary of the treasury to submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees on the estimated total assets under direct or indirect control by Certain Senior iranian leaders and other figures, and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore the question is on passage of the bill. 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 289 and the nays are 135. The bill is passed. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. He house will be in order. Please take your conversations off the house floor. The house will be in order. Please take your conversations off the house floor. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from texas, mr. Hensarling, seek recognition . Mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 658 and call up h. R. 4324 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk Union Calendar number 334, h. R. 4324, a bill to requiring the secretary of the treasury to make certifications with respect to United States and foreign Financial Institutions aircraftrelated transactions involving iran, and for other urposes. The speaker pro tempore the house is not in order. Please take your conversations ff the floor. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 658 in lieu of the amendment in the nature of the substitute recommended by the committee on Financial Services, an amendment in the nature of the substitute considering the text of rules Committee Print 11548 is adopted and the bill as amended is considered read. The bill as amended shall be debatable for one hour equally ivided and controlled by the members. It shall be in order to consider the further amendment in house report 115463 if offered by the member designated in the report which shall be considered read and separately debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided controlled by a pro ponet and opponent. The gentleman from texas, mr. Hensarling and the gentlewoman from california, ms. Waters will each control 30 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. Mr. Mchenry mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, the house is not in order. The speaker pro tempore the house is not in order. Please take your conversations off the house floor. The gentleman is recognized. Mr. Hensarling i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Hensarling i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Hensarling im pleased to support h. R. 4324 which is a commonsense piece of legislation sponsored by my good friend, mr. Williams. His work on the Financial Services committee and vice chairman has been invaluable. As our colleagues know under the iran nuclear bill also known as the joint comprehensive plan of action, the Obama Administration committed the u. S. To license the sale of aircraft to iran. Mr. Speaker, the house is not in order. The eaker pro tempore house will be in order. Please take your conversations off the house floor. The gentleman is recognized. Mr. Hensarling in addition to authorizing the sales, these licenses have authorized banks to engage in financing even though iran remains classified by the Treasury Department as the jurisdiction of primary Money Laundering concerns. On top of that, the state department continues to label iran as the worlds foremost state sponsor of terrorism. And the recipient of these aircraft would be iran air, the stateowned airline that was sanctioned as recently as 2011 r supporting the Islamic Revolutionary army guard corps which has been designated as a terrorist organization. So, mr. Speaker, so far, so bad. While i and many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle find these sales deeply disturbing, mr. Williams bill is far simpler. It would bring about the implications of the sales out into the sunlight. It is a reporting requirement, nothing more, nothing less. Mr. Speaker, the house is not in order. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman will suspend. He house will be in order. The gentleman may continue. Mr. Hensarling it would simply require treasury to help congress understand who is involved in these transactions. If its an airline, if that airline stops supporting terrorists or other sanctioned persons. If its a bank, does it have the Due Diligence to guard against the immense financial risk indemocratic to iran. All this legislation certify that certify this information for congress and if treasury cant make those certifications, it has to notify us what plans it has in response, even if it has no plans in response. So, when we hear today from the other side of the aisle how this bill may impose new conditions on iran or stand in the way of commitments under the jcpoa, i suggest again everybody everyone read the bill. It is simple and common sense. In fact, we should be considering this under the expedited process of the suspension calendar. This legislation provides for a simple reporting requirement, mr. Speaker. If my friends who oppose this bill dont care enough to request the information from the executive branch and rebuild the use of their constituents Bank Deposits, well, mr. Speaker, that is a sad, sad day for congressional oversight and sad day for the United States congress. But there are people who vr read the bill, as everybody in this institution has it. People associated with the foundation for defense of democracies who wrote recently in november 22 policy brief for the foundation center, quote, the proposed bill supports the licensing approval process by codifying steps that are likely already central to the departments evaluation process. They go on to write, mr. Speaker, quote, while not imposing any new standards of sales to iran, codifying the existing standards in law to this bill makes the licensing process more transparent and gives the American People through their elected representatives a clear picture of a significant component of the sanctions relief provided to iran under the nuclear agreement. And i would ask unanimous consent to include this report in the record. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Hensarling my fellow texan has given all members an opportunity no matter what their views on the Iran Nuclear Deal to simply support transparency and congress right to basic information and i hope my colleagues will seize that opportunity and i want to thank mr. Williams of texas for his leadership and excellent work. And i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. Ms. Waters i yield five minutes to the gentleman from connecticut, mr. Himes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from connecticut is recognized. Mr. Himes i thank the Ranking Member for yielding me some time and i respectfully disagree with the chairman of the Financial Services committee. This is not simply the gathering information not simply oversight. Under h. R. 4324, a condition would be imposed on the sale of commercial aircraft to iran. The Iran Nuclear Deal was very clear, it is broadly committed to allow for the sale of commercial passenger aircraft to iran. The only condition on the u. S. Commitment is that, quote, licensed items and services be used for commercial passenger aviation. H. R. 4324 would impose a new condition, a new condition which would require certification by the secretary of state and all of the process that would ensue. It is not a stretch, in fact, it is fairly clear that if h. R. 4324 were to pass, the iranians and others could credibly claim that we have violated our obligations under the jcpoa. Now nobody should be surprised by that. Despite the advice of his National Security adviser, despite the advice of the secretary of defense, despite the advice of pretty much around him, President Trump chose not to recertify iranian compliance with the Iran Nuclear Deal. We have seen bill after bill attempting to reverse the Iran Nuclear Deal. And we have heard this when the deal first came to the floor. Lets reflect for one second on what the implications are. This bill puts the Iran Nuclear Deal at risk. It arguely takes american aircraft manufacturers out of competition for lucrative contracts. My colleague from washington will address this shortly. I dont understand how putting american jobs at risk and taking american manufacturers in favor of airbus is about keeping America Great again. I dont understand how we focus on jobs, this is an action we should take. I speak as a member of the Intelligence Committee. Prior to the passage of the Iran Nuclear Deal, its not an ex acknowledge ration every night in a way we worry about north korea. I worried about irans centrifuges spinning and technology that could ultimately deliver a weapon to israel, europe or the United States and the Intelligence Committee believed we were two to three months away from an Iranian Nuclear weapon. Kind of where we are on north korea. Everyone in this chamber doesnt want to be where we are in north korea with another state like iran. I understand the skepticism and i agree with everything the chairman said with iran being a state sponsor of terrorism with iran being an appalling regime. But i speak as a member of the Intelligence Committee when i say that tore the first time in a long time, subsequent to the passage of the iran deal, whatever you think of iran and not many of us think much about iran, we dont go to bed and weaponized a nuclear iran . Transparency is important. I agree with everybody that are iran needs to be watched very, very skeptically. Why would we want to be with iran exactly where we are with north korea . Is this effort, which in my opinion is simply a continuation of the efforts to end the iran deal, to reverse president obamas legacy . Is it worth going to bed at night not just worried about north korea but iran . I would suggest that its not. I dont want to go back to the preiran deal era when i became an expert on hardened bunkers and the weapons we use to penetrate hardened bunkers and if we had to go to war against iran to prevent a nuclear iran, the consequences would be as awful as if we went to war with north korea to prevent a north Korea Nuclear weaponized state. Why would we do this and put at given deal that has depf comfort . Eight, nine years from now, lets revisit this the speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute. Mr. Himes this deal is not a perfect deal. I dont know there are perfect deals. But i know for the next seven, eight, nine years, we wont have the worries. Lets engage on that and figure out what comes from behind the iran deal and figure out other ways to address the behavior of iran with respect to terrorism and the Money Laundering and this deal was about removing the threat, not making iran a perfect regime but removing the threat to the United States of america and not put that deal at risk. I thank the Ranking Member. And i urge a strong no vote against this legislation and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Hensarling im pleased to yield five minutes to my friend the gentleman from texas, the sponsor of this legislation, and a great member of the Financial Services committee, mr. Williams. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Williams it is truly a privilege to speak in support of my bill h. R. 4324 the strengthening oversight of irans access to finance act. H. R. 4324 will improve congressional oversight that treasury authorizes for Aircraft Sales to iran. Every six months treasury would need to certify to us that finance authorizations would not benefit an iranian person that is transporting items for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Treasury would also have to certify to us that those authorizations dont pose a Money Laundering or risk to the Financial System or that are any banks engaging in this business have appropriate Due Diligence procedures in place. If the Treasury Department cannot make this certification, the Department Must tell us why and explain to congress the course of action it intends to take. I note my bill was reported out of the Financial Services committee by a vote of 3821 with five of my democratic colleagues voting in its favor. Many of my colleagues on the other side of this aisle will label this is a simple to dismantle Irans Nuclear deal. But this debate is not about u. S. Commitments under the joint comprehensive plan of action or jcpoa and not about reimposing Nuclear Sanctions or prohibiting Aircraft Sales. What this legislation is about is providing congress with information on the implications of these deals so we can understand their impact on the integrity of our Financial System. I would like to take a step back and discuss how we got to this point and why this legislation is necessary. The Obama Administration committed the United States to license the sale of commercial aircraft to iran. In addition to providing licensing for Aircraft Sales, the licenses also allowed for banks to engage in the financing of these aircraft. All of this was permitted despite the fact that iran remained classified as a jurisdiction of primary Money Laundering concern by the Treasury Department, and as the worlds foremost state sponsor of terror by the state department. Let us be abundantly clear on the facts. It was the obama Treasury Department that highlighted the role that iran and iranian aircraft played in the destabilizing activity across the middle east, and in supporting the atrocities committed by the rogue assad regime in syria. On september 9, 2012, david s. Cohen, treasury undersecretary for terrorism and Financial Intelligence under president obama, released the following statement. He said, the identityification of iranian aircraft also identification of iranian aircraft also supports the assad regimes weapons of mass Destruction Program and the crackdown on the syrian people. They imposed sanctions against entities that supported the assad regime in syria. Quoting from the same statement. As a result of the iranian Threat Reduction and syria human rights act of 2012, foreign Financial Institutions that knowingly engage in significant transactions from iran air, yaz air, including the 117 aircraft operated by these airlines risk losing access to the u. S. Banking system. Mr. Speaker, this week i received a memo from the National Iranian American Council urging members to oppose my bill. This is the same council that opposes President Trumps travel ban, which was recently upheld by a Supreme Court decision of 72, and the same organization that took concern with new sanctions imposed on irans support for hezbollah. This memo and the proiran principals that it represents could not be a better endorsement for the strengthening oversight of irans access to finance act. I would ask to my colleagues on both sides. At what point did we relegate ourselves of negotiating with those who risk to do us harm . At what point did we prioritize the interest of a rogue government that paints their bombs of sayings like death to israel, and death to america . When did that happen . There are two sides to the issue. You can either protect the United States, her citizens and u. S. Financial institutions, or you can make important the wishes of the ayatollah and his revolutionary guard. Which side do you choose to be on, that is the question. I represent the red, white, and blue. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Hensarling i yield jalt for 30 seconds. Mr. Williams i urge my colleagues to do the same. Support the red, white, and blue, and support h. R. 4324. I yield my time back. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman reserves. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters i yield myself such time as i may consume. H. R. 4324, the strengthening oversight of irans access to finance act, would impose a new and unilateral certification requirement on the administration in order to meet current u. S. Obligations. Under the Iran Nuclear Deal, known as the joint comprehensive plan of action, or jcpoa, with respect to the sale and financing of commercial, passenger aircraft to iran. This certification requirement would call for the treasury secretary to consider factors that fall well outside the scope of the nuclear deal and beyond the specific conditions in the u. S. Is allowed to place on the license of commercial aircraft to iran under the nuclear accord. By moving the goal post on our commitments under the deal, h. R. 4324 clearly aims to force the United States into a violation of the agreement. Under the Iran Nuclear Deal, the United States is broadly committed to allow for the sale of commercial passenger aircraft and related parts and services to iran. This involves licensing the sale of aircraft and related parts and services to iran, including the financing for such sales. Under the jcpoa, annex 2, the only condition on the u. S. Commitment is that license items and Services Must be used exclusively for commercial passenger aviation. Moreover, the only allowable conditions the u. S. Can place on authorizations for the sale of commercial passenger aircraft to iran apply to the license aircraft themselves and the use of such license aircraft, not on activities or Services Provided that have no relationship that license aircraft or related goods or services. And yet h. R. 4324 would impose new conditions on the license sale of aircraft to iran, including notably the condition that the recipient airline has not used nonlicense aircraft for purposes other than commercial passenger aviation. That is under this bill the administration would have to certify that iran is not engaged in certain activity unrelated to Irans Nuclear conduct but also unrelated to the use of the aircraft itself. If the treasury secretary is unable to make such a difficult certification, the secretary must then report to congress as to whether the secretary intends to suspend, revoke, amend or approve, notwithstanding such noncertification, any license facilitating the sale of commercial aircraft to iran. Supporters of the bill will likely note that the bill would not require the secretary of the treasury to suspend or revoke an authorization in the event that the secretarys unable to make the necessary certification but the obvious political conclusion is that the secretary will be forced to revoke such license if the secretary is unwilling to make the certification. As we have now seen, the president detests the fact that his administration has to take affirmative steps to keep the deal in place, and he refused to do so in the case of the last recurring 90day congressional certification requirement. Proponents of this bill undoubtedly hope trump will react the same way to these additional certifications and block the sale of commercial aircraft, which is a key element of the deal. In a break from reason and logic, this legislation plays directly into the hands of the president who is desperate to find any pretext to say that iran is in violation of the deal or to force iran to walk away and thereby avoid having to take the blame for pulling the plug on the deal. But let me be clear, by seeking to render inpermissible that which is expressly impermissible that which is expressly by the jcpoa, it is to undermine the nuclear agreement. With that i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, i am now very pleased to yield four minutes to the gentleman from kentucky, the chairman of the Financial Services subcommittee on Monetary Policy and trade, mr. Barr. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from kentucky is recognized for four minutes. Mr. Barr mr. Speaker, i rise today in support of the strengthening oversight of irans access to finance act, introduced by my good friend, congressman Roger Williams of texas. Since the seizure of the u. S. Embassy and taking of 66 american hostages during the 1979 revolution, iran has taken the longview on its global ambitions, supporting terrorist proxies like hamas, hezbollah, and the hueties in yemen. In 1983, when they bombed the Marine Barracks in lebanon, to the killing of over 500 soldiers in iraq by the force leader, iran has earned its reputation as the worlding state sponsor of terrorism. Most recently iran air was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2011 for using the commercial passenger aircraft to transport weapons to terrorists, helping the assad regime in syria and transporting cargo to the Islamic Revolutionary guard corps. This is in addition to what the world has already knows, that iran has covered up their weapons, allowing those inspections to be elemented only provisionally and selectively. Irans ayatollah calls for death to america and annihilation of israel. U. S. Agreed to the joint comprehensive plan of action, also known as the Iran Nuclear Agreement, or jcpoa. The agreement removed financial sanctions on iran, enabling greater Financial Resources for iranian funded terrorism, adding insult to injury, later in 2016, due to the agreements, the obama Treasury Department authorized the sale of more than 200 planes to iran, the same Iranian Airline that was sanctioned in 2011, and also authorized u. S. Banks to finance these transactions. Its evidence that they knd continued their illicit behavior. A senior fellow at the foundation for the defense of democracys testified that iran air operated at least 114 flights to syria between january 16, 2016, which was the implementation day of the jcpoa, and march 30, 2017. These flights are known as weapons resupply routes and stopovers in iran with a suspected irgc logistical hubs that support airlifts to the assad regimes. In communications with the committee, the doctor later confirmed that iran air flown at least 140 such flights. Which means the Iran Nuclear Agreement facilitated, facilitated iran helping the brutal murderous regime of assad. In exchange, what did the United States get out of this . Only managed access to suspect Nuclear Sites in which International Inspectors must appeal to iran, russia and china in a bureaucratic process that takes at least 24 days during which iran could remove anything covert and anything in violation of the agreement. International inspectors have been denied access to military sites where Illicit Nuclear activity is occurring. Even if the jcpoa was delivering on its core promise of a denuclearized iran, the agreement was sold with specific assurance that the jcpoa would not limit the United States ability to stop irans nonnuclear activities and their support of terror activities. Then secretary state john kerry in defense of the agreement, selling the agreement to democrats and republicans in the congress, he testified that, quote, if we catch them funding terrorism, theyre going to have a problem with the u. S. Congress. Mr. Speaker, apparently not, because members of congress dont have a problem with this evidence that iran is funding terrorist proxies and the assad regime. And for these reasons, it is imperative that Congress Pass strengthening oversight of irans access to finance act, which would require treasury to provide a report to Congress Describing these connections. This is a reporting bill. Even if you support the jcpoa, you should support congressional oversight. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman reserves. The gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Waters thank you. I yield five minutes to my friend from washington, a member of the Financial Services committee, mr. Heck, so he can clear up some of the information that we just heard. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from washington is recognized for five minutes. Mr. Heck i thank the Ranking Member. Mr. Speaker, i want to start with a question. Why is this bill so long . Last year we had a bill, h. R. 5729, to block the sale of boeing aircraft to iran. It was short and clear. It was only two pages long. I didnt like it. I didnt support it. But truth is i always respect people putting forth their honest beliefs. R. 5729 last year blocked the license to sell u. S. Planes. Straightforward. Torpedoing the plane sales endangered the jcpoa. Because as we have indicated, it is an affirmative requirement and an obligation on the u. S. To approve plane sales if a Sales Agreement is reached. That was part of the deal. You wont build or continue to develop Nuclear Weapons. We will do certain things, including sell you planes. Everyone knew what the bill would do and could decide if they thought it was a good idea or bad idea. It was very straightforward. It was effectively a proxy on the jcpoa. This year we have another bill to block the sale of aircraft to iran. It is neither short nor clear. In fact, its six times as long as last years bill. It subjects the licenses to an ongoing and complex certification requirement. It literally names and shames u. S. Banks providing financing. Again, it does this purposefully so that it might deter the sale of airplanes so that it might undermine the jcpoa. Frankly, what i interpret, what i have heard this evening is tantamount to that. This is yet again a proxy on the jcpoa. If youre against the jcpoa, vote yes. If youre for it, vote no. In this bill, however, obscures its end purpose, that objective of undermining the jcpoa behind process and ambiguity. Why . Why . If you oppose the sale of aircraft, oppose it. Have the courage of your convictions. Dont just engage in this fear mongering. No matter how many times you say that people in iran chant death to israel, death to america, and whatever other form of fear mongering you engage in, at least have the courage of your own convictions. You did last year. Stand up for what you believe in. If you want iran to buy air buss aircraft instead buy airbus aircraft instead of boeing aircraft, put a bill in to say that. Stand up for yourself. Stand up for what you believe. But lets be clear. Thats what this bill will do. Dont dance around. For my part, i think blocking the sale of american planes is a big mistake. On so many levels. It doesnt deny lets be clear. It doesnt deny iran the use of aircraft. It just will deny them americanmade aircraft. It will deny american machinist jobs to work on them. And need i remind anybody here what it means to be an engineer or a machinist at an Aircraft Company in this country . It means the kind of jobs that we all aspire to for our constituents. You know the kind. The kind that pay enough that you can buy a home, have Decent Health care, save enough money to send your kid to college if you want to. Have regular vacations. And have a secure retirement. Those are the kinds of jobs were taking away if we pass this bill. It doesnt just prevent iran from misusing aircraft, as has been suggested it. Just prevents suggested. It just prevents americans have having maintenance and agreements that keep us from having eyes on the aircraft. If airbus sells them these planes, we have no idea. If theyre americanmade planes, they come with aftersale maintenance and service agreements. Well have eyes on the planes. It doesnt force iran back to the bargaining table. It just jeopardizes and cuts the legs out from under the gains weve made in the jcpoa. That i thought my colleague and friend from connecticut spoke about so eloquently. We dont go to sleep at night worried that iran is getting closer to a bomb as we would have, as north korea has. So, my friends, in summary, passage of this legislation will do three things. Number one, it will cost america jobs. And goodpaying jobs. Number two, it will make us less safe. Because it will undermine the jcpoa. And in so doing, not allow us to ensure that these planes are not being used for nefarious purpose. And number three, it will actually make us less safe as well in the sense that if it does in fact defeat the purpose of jcpoa hes gaveling me. Ms. Waters i yield one additional minute to the gentleman from washington. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman receives one minute. Mr. Heck if it does cut the legs out from jrk, as is as is its from jcpoa, as is its purpose, as is clear, then of course we are back on the track of iran developing Nuclear Weapons as north korea has. Fewer jobs and less safe. Not sure what it is about that proposition that would be appealing to anyone. So, my friends, i urge you in the strongest terms possible, be for american jobs, be for america being safer, be for us living up to our commitments. And vote no on this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Hensarling im now pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. Zeldin, a member of the Financial Services committee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york is recognized. Mr. Zeldin thank you, mr. Chairman. I rise in support of h. R. 4324 which i cosponsored, the strengthening oversight of irans access to finance act, introduced by congressman williams. I stand with the courage of my convictions, while i listen to others stand with the courage apparently of a conviction to coddle the Worlds Largest state sponsor of terrorism. I have a problem and im not going to apologize for it. My colleagues arent going to apologize for it. When we have an adversary of our nation overthrowing foreign government, financing terror, developing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles in violation of u. N. Security council resolutions, calling israel the little satan, america the great satan, pledging to wipe israel off the map, chanting death to america, just a few week ago the c. I. A. Dropped weeks ago, the c. I. A. Dropped 470,000 documents collected in may of 2011 in the raid of saddam husseins compound osama bin ladens compound it. Showed a strong relationship between compound. It showed a strong relationship between iran and al qaeda. Iran financing. I signed up to run for the United States congress and take an oath to protect this country and right now while were here, this holiday season, tonight is the second night of hanukkah, were about to have christmas, new years, we have people who are overseas, sometimes on their eighth, ninth, 10th deployment, willing to risk everything in defense of our freedoms and liberty, putting themselves in harms way. So when 10 navy sailors end up getting held hostage and embarrassed with photography and being shamed by the iranians and then we say, as a matter of response, thank you, that was our response when they released our 10 detained navy sailors. And you want to question the conviction of congressman williams introducing legislation that is incredibly important for protecting the United States and our Service Members and our allies, and you want to mock us for having a problem with them chanting death to america . Whose side are you on . For anyone who has the courage of conviction to coddle the Worlds Largest state sponsor of terror. Since the u. S. Entered the jcpoa, irans stateowned airline, iran air, has used its access in the u. S. Aviation industry to purchase planes that have aided the assad regime in carrying out its war crimes in syria against its own citizens. Innocent women and children. Courage of con kurds have convictions to stand with the United States, with our allies and on behalf of women and children being targeted by the assad regime in syria. We have a problem with that and we want to do something about it. D dont try to shame us into being apologetic and unwilling and afraid to stand up for all of those rights, principles. Thats the courage and conviction that i stand up with today, with congressman williams, with chairman hensarling, and all the others who are encouraging a strong yes vote, for more accountability, for a stronger national defense, for a better future. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentlelady from california is recognized. Ms. Waters thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I would like everybody to know were not trying to shame anybody. If we were going to shame someone, we would shame them and that party about the connection to russia. I yield five minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina, an Ardent Supporter of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, mr. Price. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from North Carolina is recognized. Mr. Price mr. Chairman, i stand in opposition to this bill. The Iran Nuclear Agreement stands as a major diplomatic achievement that has destroyed irans capacity to develop a Nuclear Weapon. Detractors point to irans bad behavior in other realms. Ballistic missiles, support for hezbollah, violations of human rights. We acknowledge these problems. Nobodys talking about coddling iran. Or apologizing for iran. I resent that implication. By the last speaker. The fact is we take these problems and these challenges very, very seriously. But we also note that theres not a one of them that wouldnt be much more serious if we were dealing with a Nuclear Capable state. So weve got to protect this agreement. We have to be wary of any proposals that would directly or indirectly threaten it. And that brings us to the bill before us. H. R. 43 24rks the socalled 4334, the socalled strengthening oversight of irans access to finance act, which would make it much more difficult for iran to purchase commercial aircraft from firms that do business with the United States. Now, as we all know, irans ability to replenish its aging Civil Aviation fleet, which was depleted by decades of sanctions, was a key incentive forte ran to sign onto the jcpoa for tehran to sign onto the jcpoa. Iran, and im quoting here, the Congressional Research service, iran would view the bills enactment into law as a breach of the safe jcpoa. The agreement contains a clear u. S. Commitment to undertake such sales to iran. End of quote. With this bill imposing Certification Requirements that could well prompt the Treasury Department to seize issuing licensing allow cease issuing licenses allowing such sales. This would be con ten jint contingent on nonnuclear factors. Factors outside the deal. Richard nephew, the lead sanctions expert for the u. S. Negotiating team, put it this way. He said, my take on this bill is that if implemented the way i expect, it probably would violate the jcpoa. Now, i suppose we have to entertain the possibility that that actually is what the authors of this bill have in mind. Maybe thats the idea. To give the Trump Administration and the iranian hardliners a way of sabotaging the agreement. Already President Trump has tried to undermine the jcpoa by refusing to certify irans compliance with the deal and by all accounts iran is in fact complying. Now, by directly blocking a specific provision of the agreement, namely the permissible sale of commercial passenger aircraft, this legislation would send a clear message to iran that the United States does not negotiate in good faith. It would imply that we expect to have it both ways. With iran dismantling its Nuclear Facilities and getting nothing in return. The bill before us today would so break faith with our p 35 p5 1 negotiating partners in a reckless and dangerous way. Because of this agreement, mr. Chairman, the breakout time for iran to develop enough weaponsgrade material for a Nuclear Weapon from two or three months to more than a year. Because of this agreement, the International Community has 24 7 access to Irans Nuclear sites. An unprecedented degree of access. Intrusive inspections. And because of this agreement, we possess an enforcement mechanism to ensure irans compliance. Why on earth would we give up these capabilities . By failing to uphold our end of the bargain. Thats the way agreements work. We uphold our end of the bargain. We dont sabotage an agreement by deceptive legislation like that bill before us. So in light of renewed tensions on the korean peninsula, now is especially not the time for the United States to go back oints word to our allies back on its word to our allies and the International Community. I urge our colleagues to vote 4324. H. R. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Hensarling im pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from arkansas, mr. Hill, an outstanding member of the Financial Services committee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from arkansas is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Hill i thank the speaker. I thank the chairman. I thank my friend, mr. Williams, for introducing h. R. 4324, strengthening oversight of irans access to finance act. This act is needed. And tonight were not here to rehash the failings of the jcpoa, but were really here to honor secretary kerrys commitment of oversight of iran outside that agreement. He made it quite clear to congress in his briefings that we would monitor the worlds larkest exporter of largest exporter of terror around the world. That he would do everything outside the agreement that we would do everything outside the agreement to enforce sanctions. That we would not stop reviewing their behavior. And this piece of legislation comes at an important time, as the Trump Administration is taking significant steps to protect our homeland by reviewing actions around rogue regimes and sponsors of terror around the world. Including iran. Now, my friend from washington brought up the subject of the american worker. And of course we all are blessed by the brilliance and success of boeing. We couldnt come to our jobs without them. But their 5 there are 5,000 airlines in the world, mr. Speaker. There are 10,000 boeing aircraft in service and there are 5,700 airplanes on order from the boeing corporation to help make up that 41 billion of annual revenue. And the question here is not about selling airplanes, but the question here is about protecting the homeland and interest of our country around the world. And unfortunately Civil Aviation is comingled with military quds force action. Not in just whats been said tonight about transmitting military action to syria. Supporting a war that has killed some 500,000 people. But what about boeing transport from damascus to caracas . What about boeing aircraft operated by the Iranian Regime back and forth between russia and iran, back and forth between tehran and damascus . Between damascus and venezuela . Its not just a civilian aircraft, mr. Speaker. And thats why we want to be alert and we need to know our american citizens need to know if their Bank Deposits are being used to extend credit to a regime that seeks pleasure in murdering innocent people, murdering our men and women in uniform, and even innocent civilians in their own country. So we may differ on our views on the jcpoa, but we can all agree that nothing in the nuclear deal prevents the sharing of information between an administration and this congress about financing aircraft for the Worlds Largest state supporter of terrorism. Thats what this piece of legislation is trying to achieve, thats what mr. Williams point is in bringing it to the floor and i appreciate his thoughtful work to implement this muchneeded policy and help keep the citizens in my district safe from irans global terror advance. Thank you, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from california is recognized. Ms. Waters thank you very much. Mr. Speaker and members, im going to read a letter addressed to the members of congress from a highly respected organization that is proisrael and propeace advocacy. The a member and i look to recommendations, the advice, and the assistance of this organization on all issues related to the middle east and related to iran and related to israel. It is known as j street. Im a proud member and proud participant. J street urges members to oppose the socalled strengthening oversight of irans act stose finance act, h. R. 4324. Which is clearly intended to lead to a u. S. Violation of the jcpoa. This bill would impose additional Certification Requirements on the administration in order to carry out current u. S. Obligations related to commercial Aircraft Sales under the jcpoa. These new obligations require the administration to certify that iran is not engaged in certain nonnuclear activity or issue a National Security waiver saying theyll allow the planes to be sold anyway, in other words, it imposes new unilateral terms for continuation of the jcpoa that are unrelated to Irans Nuclear conduct. It has been widely reported in connection with the president s recent refusal to make the necessary certification to congress under the Iran Nuclear Agreement review act that the president resents having to undertake official actions to keep the United States in compliance with the jcpoa. Proponents of this legislation clearly hope to make use of the president s apparent resistance to taking such steps by adding a new certification requirement that they hope he will also fail to meet, thereby blocking the sale of commercial aircraft and forcing a u. S. Violation of the agreement. Anyone doubting that this is the point of the bill need to look no further than the first finding which makes clear that this bill is gratuitously antiobama, antijcpoa vehicle d not a serious attempt to legislate on a bipartisan basis. On threats emanating from iran. No one who wants to see the jcpoa continue to be implemented should support this bill. Williams, theamon Vice President of Government Affairs who signed this bill, said Congress Just gave the administration powerful tools to conquer other countries, support the assad regime when it passed new sanctions on iran. Russia on iran, russia, and north korea a few months ago that the president signed into law. Implementation and assessment of the impact of that law should occur before consideration of any new sanctions legislation. Gain, in addition to the supporters of this body who have worked very hard to try and convince the members of this body to be on the side of peace, try and get the members to understand the seriousness of undermining the jcpoa. The members of this body who work very hard for peace and who join with groups like j street and javo kate for peace are trying to make sure that the United States stands up to its agreement. Understanding how this undermines our leadership in the world, if we sit down and negotiate and renegotiate with other countries as we have done on the jcpoa and they expect us to live up to their agreement and then they hear that we have various members of congress with ideas of their own putting together legislation thats supported by the opposite side of the aisle coming in not with one piece of legislation, not with two pieces of legislation, but we dont know how many will continue, if theyre successful in passing the legislation that they are putting before us. If this continues, then im certain that our allies will not trust us, they will not want to negotiate with us on other deals that are important to the peace in this world and i would simply ask the members on the opposite side of the aisle to Pay Attention to highly respected, credible organizations like j street and take their advice about how to give support to the jcpoa. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Hensarling im pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina, a hardworking member of the Financial Services committee, mr. Budd. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Budd thank you, mr. Speaker. Thank you, mr. Chairman. As i rise today in support of mr. Williams legislation, h. R. 4324, i want to thank him for his leadership on this front. Its no secret that much of the terror funding and the civil unrest we see in the middle east can be traced directly back to iran. Since weve lifted sanctions on that regime and in particular against stateowned entities like iran air, weve opened up ourselves to potentially financing irans destabilizing activity in the region. Congress has a right to know if banks are linked to financing or doing business with iran. Again the Worlds Largest state sponsor of terror. In this bill and this bill is significant considering what weve recently seen with iran air. As recently as 2011, iran air was transporting weapons and missiles on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary forward corps and thevb year, not 2011, but this year, weve seen iran air continue to fly well known weapons resupply routes to proassad controlled areas of syria. Iran will continue to find new and create i ways to bypass sanctions and fund their worldwide terror network. We have to be onson the tant constant alert. Mr. Williams legislation gives us the tools to do that. His bill gives the peoples house this house, more oversight on business the Treasury Department authorizes with iran and this is important because it conveys the importance of staying alevert on our Financial Institutions when they get involved financially with iran. Once again, i thank my colleague and friend mr. Williams for his leadership on this issue and i urge adoption of this bill. Mr. Speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentlelady is recognized. Ms. Waters i continue to reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas select niced. Is recognized. Mr. Hensarling im pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from florida, chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs committee and chairman of its subcommittee on the middle east and north africa, ms. Roslehtinen. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Roslehtinen thank you, mr. Speaker, i thank our esteemed leader for this time. I rise in strong support of h. R. 2324, the strengthening oversight of irans access to financing act, authored by the gentleman from texas who is swinging for the fences. When the Obama Administration signed this terrible nuclear deal, in addition to lifting sanctions and sending billion of dollars to this hideous regime, it also authorized licensers in export of commercial passenger planes to iran. After selling the world a bill of fwoods, the administration then turned around and agreed to allow the sale of planes to the worlds biggest exporter of terror. Not only that, but u. S. Financial institutions would be needed to finalize these sales, meaning american taxpayers dollars could be used to finance these sales. The results were predictable, mr. Speaker. Iran has been using its commercial planes to transport fighters, to transport weapons, to transport materiel to hezbollah in syria, just to mention one, and the list could go on and on. Many ill list activities. This is not something americans would be support, let alone underwriting. That is why mr. Williams bill is so important and i thank mr. Hensarling for bringing it to the floor. It protects the u. S. Financial system and it protects the taxpayers by giving us in Congress Greater oversight, thats what this bill is about, oversight, over businesses that treasury authorizes with iran. As we have heard speaker after speaker, iran is the number one leading state sponsor of terror. It is responsible for the deaths of countless american brave men and women fighting overseas. It is the destabilizing force in syria. To name just one of the countries. The Supreme Leader , he calls for the destruction of our most trusted ally, the democratic jewish state of israel. And the calls for death to america, mr. Speaker, they go on and on an on and on and it is written on walls, i ask the chairman mr. Hensarling i yield the gentlelady an additional minute. Ms. Roslehtinen thank you, i saw the speakers gavel about to pounce. The ycpoa was flawed, it was weak, it was dangerous. Lets ask our constituents, our taxpayers if they want their dollars to fund the purchase of planes for the number one state sponsor of terror. I think the answer would be no. And we are actually being asked to supposedly support american jobs by helping iran, the number one terror state, to buy planes so this horrid human rights abuser of a country this killer of americans, can use these very planes to continue exporting its terror activities throughout the world. This is preposterous. It is a false choice this bill protects the american consumer, it protect ours constituents, it protects the taxpayer, and it gives us in congress the proper oversight. Lets pass what this is a commonsense bill. I thank the gentleman for the time. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from california is recognized. Ms. Waters may i inquire how much time i have left . The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman has four minutes and the gentleman from texas has five and a half minutes. Ms. Waters thank you very much, i have no further requests for time and i am prepared to close. I yield myself the remainder of my time. On october 13, 2017 the director general of the International Atomic energy agency, the iaea the u. N. Nuclear watchdog that since january, 2016, has been monitoring and verifying irans implementation of its Nuclear Related commitments, released a statement noting that, and i quote, at present, iran is subject to the worlds most robust Nuclear Verification regime and confirming that iran remains in compliance with this jcpo with its jcp; a commitments. The same day, President Trump announced he refused to certify the National Security value of the Iran Nuclear Deal, which Gave Congress 60 days to fatally undermine the agreement by reintroducing some or all of the suspended sanctions, although congress did not do so. Despite the fact that the president did not withdraw from the nuclear accord, his disdain for the agreement has always been clear. In a highly confrontational speech, President Trump forcefully denounced the Islamic Republic and attacked the deal for failing to curb irans destabilizing regional activities, despite the fact that the aconsidered was never meant to address every aspect of irans maligned activities. It was always intended to focus on Irans Nuclear program and as an arms control agreement, the deal has so far been successful. Trump has threatened to up end the nuclear deal unless Congress Amends it to make its terms more restrictive. The president is looking to find any rationale he can to walk away from the deal without having to take the blame. This legislation is precisely what hes been looking for. American unilateralism at this point would be a disaster and would make forging a common front against iran nearly impossible in the future. That is one way of ensuring failure at the outset of a diplomatic effort to pursue a new, multilateral agreement would be to violate an existing one with the same partners. The president s insistence on refwoshting the jcpoa to extend the duration of several of its constraints make inspections more intrusive and expand its coverage to missiles, it is dangerous and unrealistic given that every other signatory of the agreement has objected to changing its terms while iran remains compliant. Congress passes this bill, it will give the administration the path it needs to rip up the nuclear accord. Without the constraints placed on iran by the deal, the administrations hostile attitude toward iran and stark absence of diplomacy will inevitably put the United States on a path of escalation with iran. Theres an obvious link with north korea here as well. Hopefully at some point the president may determine that diplomacy has a role in managing the north Korean Nuclear missile challenges, but americas ability to offer a credible diplomatic path will be seriously undermined if we cannot be trusted to stand by our agreements. Dealing with irans destabilizing regional activities, its ambition to remake large swaths of the middle east in its image, entails a broad range of challenges. Without the jcpoa, however, those challenges become even more daunting. I urge my colleagues not to give up on our best chance of containing irans pursuit of Nuclear Weapons through peaceful means and to join me in rejecting this terrible bill. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield 1 1 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina, a member of the Small Business committee, mr. Norman. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from South Carolina is recognized. Mr. Norman thank you, mr. Speaker. Thank you, chairman hensarling. This really isnt that complicated. The jcpoa is a failed policy that was put up by a president who had no interest in protecting this country as it should be. And President Trump is finally bringing this back to this country. Mr. Speaker, i rise today in strong support of h. R. 4324, the strengthening oversight of irans access to finance act. This important legislation is critical to hold iran accountable and ensure the integrity of u. S. Sanctions against iran. I want to thank Roger Williams for his great work on this legislation. The iran deal allows the United States to license the sale of passenger aircraft to iran, to update their civilian commercial airliner fleet. Despite the deal, irans behavior has not changed. And still remains as a principle statesponsor of international terrorism, a direct contributor in propping up the Syrian Regime in a major if a and a major facilitator of Money Laundering. However, enabling commercial Aircraft Sales could only fortify irans rogue behavior. Many, including the department of treasury, are concerned that commercial aircraft could be used for noncivilian purposes, considering the statecontrolled airline, iran air, has facilitated irans destabilization of syria, by transporting missile and rocket components to the Syrian Regime. A justice once stated that, quote, sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants. This is what this legislation seeks to do. It simply add as crucial layer of reporting requirements, certifying that the sale of passenger aircraft does not pose a Money Laundering risk or violate u. S. Sanctions. Iran continues to threaten the stability of the middle east and imposes a threat to u. S. National interests. Holding iran accountable and preventing them from continuing to destabilize syria should not be controversial at all. I respectfully urge all of my colleagues to strongly support this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, may i inquire how much time i have remaining . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman has three minutes. Excuse me. The gentleman has four minutes. Mr. Hensarling i yield myself the remainders of the the remainder of the time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Hensarling mr. Speaker, from time to time in my congressional career, i come to the house floor and i have a surreal moment. Iran is the worlds foremost state sponsor of terror. We have members on the other side of the aisle saying, well, we shouldnt learn anything about them. We shouldnt learn about whos financing their aircraft. We shouldnt learn whether or not aircraft will be converted to military purposes. Iran is a regime where every day the leadership wakes up shouting death to israel, death to america. And yet i have friends on the other side of the aisle who say, well, we shouldnt have any reporting on iran because it might hurt their feelings. I mean, this is a surreal moment, mr. Speaker. An absolute surreal moment. We have been told over and over that somehow this stops the jcpoa. The nuclear deal with iran. I wish it did. But it doesnt. I would suggest to my friends on the other side of the aisle they actually read the bill. Its 10 pages long. Six pages of findings. You can go you can put the findings aside and read the four pages. Its a reporting bill. It has certifications and guess what the implications are if thed a station cant give the proper if the administration cant give the proper certifications, nothing. The deal continues to go on. Perhaps the single worst Foreign Policy agreement in the history of america. That legislatizes Irans Nuclear program. And on its best day slows up their Nuclear Weapons by maybe a few years. At best. On its best day. You know, when the jcpoa was sold to us by the previous administration, we were told, this would be for civilian aircraft use only. Dont worry about it. This is not going to exacerbate terrorism in any way. But we know boeing itself but but we know, boing it self said its aircraft sold to iran boeing itself said its aircraft sold to iran has been used for military purposes. It was sanctioned for supporting the Islamic Revolutionary guard corps, which has been designated as a terrorist organization. This isnt just theory, mr. Speaker. It is a fact. And then we had, my colleague, the gentleman from washington, say, well, its important, its important that we sell aircraft to iran so companies can make profits. Well, using his logic, maybe we ought to sell weapons to north korea, if some company can make a profit. I think not, mr. Speaker. I think not. There are some things, our security is even more important than the profit of any one particular company. And so again, this is a simple reporting requirement. I want to thank the gentleman from texas, mr. Williams, for his leadership here. It is incredibly important that we understand from those who sold us this terrible iranian deal, they need to make good on their promises. They need we need to make sure that civilian aircraft are being used for civilian purposes. We need to make sure that the banks who are financing these deals are not financing terrorism. And yet those on the other side of the aisle say, no. Lets put our heads in the sand. You know, lets just trust. Lets trust the state the worlds state foremost sponsor of terrorism. You know, theyll do the right thing. You know, lets just ignore this terrorism thing. No. No, mr. Speaker. And thats why it is so important that we enact h. R. 4324. I urge all of my colleagues to vote for it. Its important to america. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore all time for debate on the bill has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition . Mr. Gaetz i have an amendment at the desk. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will designate the amendment. The clerk amendment number 1 printed in part b of house report 115463 offered by mr. Gaetz of florida. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to husband resolution 658, the gentleman from House Resolution 658, the gentleman from florida and a member opposed each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. Mr. Gaetz thank you, mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the gentleman from texas, chairman hensarling, for his guidance and leadership in assisting me with this amendment. I would also like to thank the gentleman from texas, mr. Williams, for ensuring that this Congress Takes the strongest possible position as it relates to iran. And ensuring that we use every arrow in the proverbial quiver financially speaking so that u. S. Assets and u. S. Resources are not used to proliferate terror in a way that is consistent with irans par kime paradigm. Across the middle east, we see iran funding terrorist proxies, destabilizing the region, threatening their neighbors. And functioning as an eyesore for the world. So im glad to be here offering an amendment to ensure that as we use the tools at our disposal to limit irans power, to be a destabilizing sponsor of terror, that we pay particular focus to the activities going on currently in syria. In syria now, a ceasefire has had an unintended consequence of giving iran space to be able to move in and make attempts to harden longterm military assets. Installations. So that troops could be housed and potentially launch other aparticulars attacks and fund and equip irans terrorist proxies throughout the area. It is no surprise that the facility that iran most recently worked on would have housed up to upwards of 5,000 soldiers. And it is believed that potentially israel took action to ensure that the construction did not continue on that particular facility. So my amendment, mr. Speaker, conditions the provisions of this bill on an attestation that iran has not set up permanent present military in southern syria. I think thats critically important. In the last congress i had with Prime Minister netanyahu f. T. E. Prime minister netanyahu, he indicated that israel was most concerned in all of the world about the risk posed by iran setting up a Permanent Military presence in southern syria. And that that would cause potentially kinetic conflict. War. And even more dramatic and catastrophic outcomes. And so again, i thank chairman hensarling. I thank mr. Williams for their strong leadership. And i offer this amendment to back our ally, israel, and to ensure that iran does not have the capability to establish a Permanent Military presence in southern syria. And i yield back the remainder of my time. The speaker pro tempore does any member claim time in opposition to the amendment . If not, pursuant to the rule, the previous question is ordered on the bill as amended and on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida, mr. Gates. The question is on the amendment mr. Gaetz. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida, mr. Gaetz. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. He 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 require the secretary of the treasury to make certifications with respect to United States and foreign Financial Institutions aircraftrelated transactions involving iran and for other urposes. The speaker pro tempore if you were the gentleman from california seek recognition . For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Mr. Swalwell i have a motion to recommit at the desk. The speaker pro tempore is the gentleman opposed to the bill . Mr. Swalwell mr. Speaker, i am opposed. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman qualifies. The clerk will report the motion. The clerk mr. Swalwell of california moves to recommit e bill, hrmentrrment h. R. 324, to the committee. Strike and, page 7, line 7, add and. At the end. Page 7, after line seven, insert the following, 4, no Financial Institution participating in such transaction is engaged in business with a foreign entity that has been found by the secretary in consultation with a director of National Intelligence to have engaged in or authorized cyberattacks targeting any election held in the United States. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from california is recognized for five minutes in support of his motion. Mr. Swalwell thank you, mr. Speaker. This is the final amendment to the bill. It will not kill the bill or send it back to kevment if adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to a final passage vote as amended. My amendment would add an additional certification requirement from the treasury secretary for Financial Institutions. Mr. Speaker, i agree with my colleagues across the aisle. Iran is a threat to our National Security and we should seek to hold them accountable, protect americans and defend our allies. The first major step in the last decade to do so was with the Iran Nuclear Agreement. Taking a Nuclear Power off the table. But we should also seek to hold accountable irans chief enabler and best friend in the world, russia. Which my amendment would seek to do. My amendment would add a requirement that the treasury secretary certify that an institution financing the export of commercial aircraft to iran did not engage in business with any foreign entity which engaged in or authorized cyberattacks targeting american elections. This is a commonsense provision to ensure that companies are aware of the effects their financial dealings have on supporting those who engage in election interference. We should think carefully about letting Financial Institutions do business with countries that chose to conduct this new cyberwarfare. While it may have been unthinkable before 2016 that a foreign adversary would interfere in one of our elections, we know now that threat is all too real. A report concluded russia interfered in our election and it was concluded that president Vladimir Putin did that with the hope of helping his preferred candidate. While some across the aisle question this is beyond shocking and its a slap in the face of the dedicated men and women who serve and toil for our Intelligence Community. The 2016 election, mr. Speaker, is behind us. We shouldnt relitigate it. We should learn, though, from how a foreign adversary a friend of iran, sought to influence the american voters. This is not a Democratic Party or Republican Party issue. Its about our freedom of choice. Who gets to choose when we go to the ballot box . Iran is not our friend. Guess who else is not our friend irans friend russia. But if you dont believe me if youre cynical enough as the president has to dismiss the findings of our Intelligence Community, believe the russians. Believe their own declarations. N september, a Duma Parliament member stated that the United States Intelligence Community slept while russia elected a new United States president. Does anyone in this house want to do something about that . In this attack, did russia work with the Trump Campaign as a serious thats a serious question that remains outstanding. Every day seems to bring new revelations about the connections between the Trump Campaign and russia. We must do all we can to allow bob mueller and his team to pursue that evidence, unimpeded by president ial obstruction. We also must be able to conduct our investigations on the house Intelligence Committee. To do all we can to get to the bottom and tell the American People how we were so vulnerable, who in the United States was responsible, whether the u. S. Government response was adequate and what we can do to make sure it never happens again. I fear, mr. Speaker, that the president and many of his own enablers in congress are seeking to fire bob mueller which would set us back and gravely affect you are ability to prevent another attack by russia. But what we can do with this amendment today is not only stand up to iran, but also stand up to their chief enabler. Someone who finances them and assists the terror that they enact across the globe. Vote for this motion to recommit and by doing so, you show your concern not only about iran, but also about their chief enabler. You show your concern for our democracy and the interference that irans best friend russia carried out in our last election. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . Mr. Hensarling i claim time in opposition. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Hensarling my friends on the other side of the aisle seem schizophrenic they cant decide if they want to coddle iran or quoteunquote stand up to iran. We were also told that h. R. 4324 was also to blame and shame Financial Institutions and now they offer a motion to recommit to blame and shame Financial Institutions. So heres whats going on, mr. Speaker. What we have is a regime that wakes up every morning shouting death to america, death to israel, and yet we have a motion to recommit trying to relitigate the 2016 president ial election. We have a regime which has been certified as the worlds foremost state sponsor of terrorism, where were trying to hold accountable, were trying to get information, an our friends on the other side of the aisle are trying to relitigate he 2016 president ial election. We know that the Iranian Revolutionary guard corps supports the assad regime in syria. And according to the u. N. , the assad government, with the help of iran, has now carried out 27 chemical weapon attacks since the start of the syrian conflict, including an april, 2017, sarin gas attack that killed more than 80 people, including scores of women and children, and my friends on the other side of the aisle want to relitigate the 2016 president ial election. Mr. Speaker, iran continues to imprison foreign nationals including americans. Including americans. Bakar g an 81yearold namazi who has lost his teeth in prison due to malnutrition. Weve had another american prisoner a student at princeton who has suffered health problems, and yet my friends on the other side of the aisle with their motion to recommit want to relitigate the 2016 president ial election. This is a serious moment, mr. Speaker. H. R. 4324 by the gentleman from texas is an important piece of legislation to ensure that civilian Aircraft Sales to iran remain civilian aircraft and that our Financial Institutions are not unwittingly helping to finance this rogue terrorist regime, and its in time to relitigate an election that my friends on the other side of the aisle lost. We need to reject the motion to recommit and we need to enact h. R. 4324 and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. Without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit. The question is on the motion. Those in favor say aye those opposed, no. The noes have it. The motion is not agreed to. Mr. Swalwell mr. Speaker, i ask for the yeas and nays. The speaker pro tempore the yeas and nays are requested. Those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. A sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. Pursuant clause 8 of rule 20 further proceedings on this question will be postponed. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . Mr. Hensarling i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourn today it adjourn to meet at 9 00 a. M. Tomorrow. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. The chair will now entertain requests for oneminute speeches. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Without objection the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Rohrabacher i rise to pay tribute to surf legend an filmmaker bruce brown who at 80 years of age died this week. Bruce brown challenged a generation of americans to follow our dream, to find our perfect wave. He reached out to introduce us to the magic experience of being propelled by the power of nature on an ocean wave. Adventure and a rush of excitement was only as far away as the local beach. Bruce brown made movies about surfing, endless summer was his best known. His films were more than entertainment. He spoke to our soul and our spirit of adventure he inspired us to go for it, to take on towering waves just as other americans scaled the tallest mountain peaks and journeyed to the moon. Isnt that what america wullaws about . Isnt that what america is all about . My first surf board was a large single fin velsey. Dale velsey owned a surf shop and financed bruce browns first film slippery when wet. The surf culture bruce brown helped to get born is still here. Outsiders are intrigued by it, you know when youre a part of it. Bruce brown showed us the way. A few days ago he passed on and is paddling into the distant sunset. He followed his dream, he found his perfect wave and rode it as far as it would take him. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from new jersey seek recognition . Without objection the gentlewoman is recognized for ne minute. Mr. Speaker, education is supposed to be the great equalizer, but instead of investing in our students, republicans, through their tax scam, are attempting to widen that equality gap. Mrs. Watson Coleman Young people that want to pursue Higher Education and republicans want to punish them with higher taxes so we can give away benefits to millionaires and billionaires. Students are gaining knowledge that can actually make a difference in this world. But republicans and their tax plan will only serve to deter them from that goal. Its right here in black and white. Republicans are trying to eliminate student loan deductions, interest deductions. They want to tax College Endowments that provide scholarships and student aid. Theyre taxing graduate tuition benefits that would make graduate school unattainable for low and middle income students. This republican attack on college and graduate students says loud and clear, low income, no rich parents, good luck. Pay up. And it is an absolute disgrace. I yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . Without objection the gentleman s recognized for one minute. Mr. Thompson thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today to honor the career of clyde glosser, who served the woodward township in Clinton County as supervisor for nearly 50 years. He will retire this year after 47 years of service. Next tuesday, he will oversee his last board of supervisors meeting. Supervisor glosser has been a resident of the township his entire life. Hes a member of the maisons in lock haven. He and his wife of 60 years were married in 1955. In the First Evangelical United Brethren Church in lock haven. In september of 1955, collide and wilma purchased their home in woodward township. They still live there today and have three grown sons. In their earlier years, supervisor glosser worked as a food inspector. Hes shown dedication to his neighbors through Years Public Service and the community will gather next tuesday, december 19, at the dunstown fire hall to honor him. I commend supervisor glosser for a live of service and wish him well in his retirement. Thank you, mr. Speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore flurp does the gentlewoman from ohio eek recognition . Without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, whats happening in washington . With the holidays coming up, id like to know why the republican majority seems so intent in putting coal in the stockings of everyday americans. Last week the house passed a continuing resolution that did little but move the threat of the Government Shutdown just a few days before christmas. The republican tax intill a brazen attempt to put money in the pockets of the super wealthy and wellconnected at the expense of seniors, our students, middle class families and hardworking americans. Mrs. Beatty the American People dont deserve this tax hike. Billionaires first republicans tax scam and they dont deserve a government that reels from shutdown crisis to crisis, doing nothing but creating uncertainty in our country. What we should be doing is fixing chip, Childrens Health insurance program. Providing real personal innocent tax relief to those who need it most. Our nine million children, our 250,000 in my district. Mr. Speaker, the American People deserve better. They deserve better jobs, better wages, and a better future. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. The clerk leave of absence requested for mr. Sensenbrenner of wisconsin for today. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the request is granted. Under the speakers announced policy of january 3, 2017, the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. Esty trk recognized for 6 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. Ms. Esty thank you, mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of tonights special order. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Esty thank you, mr. Speaker. Tomorrow, december 14, marks the fiveyear anniversary of a Horrific School shooting in the Home Community of newtown, connecticut, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School that day that shocked the nation, 20 schoolchildren and six educators were and 7yearolds, ripped from the community of newtown and from the United States. I remember that day. I was a newly elected member of congress. Learning about what it means to serve in this august body. I was just about 40 i was with about 40 or 50 of my colleagues learning about our duties when i started to get emails and Text Messages that something terrible had happened at home. And by noon, i learned the worst, that dozens had been killed, dozens of children had been gunned down in cold blood along with their teachers. I threw my things in the back of the car and i drove from boston. I drove. I called my mother. I called my minister. And i prayed for wisdom and i prayed for guidance. And the courage to face those families. And arrived in newtown while families were being notified that their children, their children who they had put on the bus that morning, thinking about hanukkah or christmas, thinking about the snow that was already on the ground, that those children would never come home. Its sad, its sad and its inexcusable that i stand here five days five years later, five years, and in that time this chamber, the peoples house, has not taken up the peoples business. As of this fall in fact, over 90 of Americans Still support having universal background checks on all gun sales. To keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. And over 90 of american households that have guns also support that commonsense legislation. And yet in this house we have not been given the opportunity to vote on that legislation. Indiana those five years indiana those five years, and in those five years, 170,000 americans have lost their lives to gun violence. Think about that. 170,000. Newtown, like my hometown of chess scheyer, is about 30,000 people. Thats multiple newtowns all dead. Every single one. And every single one of those americans was a son or a daughter of someone. Had friends and neighbors and loved ones. And again, in that time this body has not acted. Two weeks ago i was in church in danbury, connecticut. I was at services with a congregation i try to get to every six months or. So and i saw a couple of people i didnt or so. And i saw a couple of people i didnt expect to see. I saw the mother of one of the little girls who was killed five years ago. And i saw the daughter of the principal. They were there for guidance, for wisdom, for courage. To fight the battle that this house, that the American People are waiting for this house to take action on. The American People know the right thing to do. Our Law Enforcement know the right thing to do. The vast majority of responsible gun owners know the right thing to do. And yet somehow this body has failed to afpblgt act. But its never too late. Now is the time for us to step up. Now is the time for us to shoulder our responsibilities so that no other community has to go through what newtown has gone through. Although in that time weve now seen las vegas, weve seen charleston, weve seen orlando. There are killing fields now in america. Thats not right. And it doesnt need to be. Im joined tonight by several of my colleagues who are passionate advocates for gun sense and gun safety in america. And i would like to start with the gentlelady, if she is ready. My friend, the gentlelady from ohio, joyce beatty. To whom i yield four minutes as she needs. Thank you. Mrs. Beatty thank you. Thank you to my friend and colleague, congresswoman esty, for leading this special order hour and for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, i will never forget the sandy hook tragedy that happened five years ago tomorrow. It was like yesterday. I was at harvard university. I was seated next to congresswoman esty when the news broke about the shooting in the district she had just been elected to serve. The more we learned that day, the more devastating, heartbreaking the news became. Because of innocent children who were taken away from their parents, from their brothers and sisters and from their community. I hoped and prayed that day that we would never see a tragedy like sandy hook. But of course our country continues to be unique in the number of people we have lost to Mass Shootings and gun violence. As a member of congress, i cannot stand by and allow our communities to continue to be upturned by the loss of innocent lives. There are too many things we can do to address this epidemic. We should allow federal agencies to study gun violence as a Public Health crisis, because it is. We should keep guns out of the hands of individuals on the terrorist watch list and those who are convict watch list and those who are convicted of hate crime. We should close the gun show loopholes, mr. Speaker. And reinstate the assault weapons ban. Youll note that none of the proposals i just mentioned would any way infringe on the Second Amendment or limit the ability of americans to protect themselves or their families. So there should be no reason why our republican colleagues cant join us in pass and pass sensible reforms that will save lives. Like the lives we could have saved at sandy hook. I hope and pray that this congress has the courage to curb this epidemic of gun violence. Because i dont want to continue to see the sandy hooks, the charleston nine, the orlandos, or what we saw this year in cities like las vegas or small towns like sutherland springs. One of the things we can do to honor the memory of the victims of those tragedies, and all victims of gun violence, to make sure that no more families have to experience the same senseless loss. Again, i want to thank my colleague and my friend for being courageous and for standing up and for fighting for better gun laws so we can save lives. I thank you for being a champion and for leading tonights effort. Nd i yield back. Ms. Esty thank you to my colleague from ohio. Its now my pleasure to yield five minutes to my friend, the leader in our effort, mr. Mike thompson, my colleague and my friend from california who is an expert in guns. Experienced more than his fair share of gun violence as a decorated service member, fighting our nations battles. And has now led us for the last five years in our efforts for a safer, better society, a better world, as the head of our Gun Violence Prevention Task force. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Thompson i thank the gentlelady for yielding. And also, congresswoman esty, i thank you for your leadership in regard to gun violence prevention. All the work that quvee done. And all of the work that youve done. And all of the effort youve put forward to bring some common sense to this issue. The speaker before me said that shell never forget what happened at sandy hook. And where she was when that tragedy took place. I dont think there are any of us who know what sandy hook is or were in congress when sandy hook happened or care about this issue who will ever forget where we were. For me, i was home in my home state of california, in the sacramento valley. In a duck blind. I was duck hunting. Yes, im a hunter. Im a gun owner. And i carried a weapon in vietnam during the vietnam war. I strongly support the Second Amendment. But i truly believe, i passionately believe that as a gun owner, a responsible gun owner, i have a responsibility, as does every responsible gun owner in the United States of america. A responsibility to speak out, to make sure that everyone who handles and owns a firearm does it safely, does it responsibly. And to do everything we can to make sure that people who shouldnt get their hands on firearms dont. I know you cant stop everybody. But we should be doing everything we can to minimize the likelihood that someone who shouldnt have a firearm, a criminal, a domestic abuser, someone whos dangerously mentally ill, we should be doing everything we can to make sure they cant get their hands on firearms. Last week families who lost loved ones in the sandy hook massacre came here to capitol hill to share their grief and to call for action to deal with this terrible, terrible thing we call gun violence. This was a day after the house passed the dangerous concealed carry reciprocity bill that would let criminals, convicted of violent crimes, carry loaded concealed guns in virtually every state in the country. Instead of honoring the precious, the 20 precious little children and the six brave and dedicated educators who were slaughtered at sandy hook, the Republican Leadership put the gun lobby ahead of state laws, they put the gun lobby ahead of gun violence prevention. Weve had 40 moments of silence since sandy hook. 40 moments of silence. Meanwhile there have been 1,500 Mass Shootings since that awful day in december five years ago. And 64,000 people in the United States of america have been killed by someone using a gun. Last week the families of those , those victims, asked us one thing. They asked us to honor their loved ones with action. To stop the gun lobbys reckless and profitdriven agenda. To stand up for communities, communities all across this country. As ive said before, im a gun owner. Ive owned and ive used guns all of my life. I support the Second Amendment. And im here tonight to call on the Republican Leadership to come to the table. Lets move commonsense, Bipartisan Legislation that will keep us safe, that will keep our communities safe, and still honor the Second Amendment. I care about the people in my district, as i know all of you care about the people in your district. I have a son thats a deputy sheriff. I certainly dont want him to go out on a call and meet up with somebody who shouldnt have a gun. Ive got grandchildren in my community. I certainly dont want them exposed to people who shouldnt have guns. So im here tonight to call on the Republican Leadership to do something about this. Lets move this commonsense, Bipartisan Legislation. We can start by expanding background checks, to make it harder for criminals and the dangerously mentally ill to get their hands on guns. This should be the first line of defense. Congress should make that happen. The American People, by like 92 , believe we should expand background checks. What is the harm in checking to ensure that someone is not a criminal, or to ensure that someone is not dangerously mentally ill before we allow them to buy a gun and take it off into the community where they could possibly do some harm . Weve put these ideas up before this leadership. And theres been silence. No hearings on the bill. No votes on the bill. Well, if the Republican Leadership doesnt like our ideas about how to curb gun violence, then how about how about putting together a select committee of both democrats and republicans . Charge that select committee with working on the issue of gun violence prevention. To come up with some ideas that will keep our communities safe. We owe it to the families of sandy hook and to all those who have lost someone to gun violence. We dishonor their memory when we do nothing. And thats whats happening under this leadership. Were doing nothing. Thats shameful. We need to make sure that we do everything we can to help prevent gun violence. I yield back the balance of my time. Ms. Esty i would like to recognize the gentlelady from vice ms. Jackson lee and chair of the domestic Gun Violence Task force. Yield five minutes. Ms. Jackson lee i thank the gentlelady for yielding and i thank her for her leadership. m sure she is leading on this devastating day and devastateing loss in her district that she would prefer not to do. As i listen to my colleagues, each of us giving our own separate story of where we were the day of sandy hook, all i can say and what i remember is that i became breathless. I became unbelieving. It was a very painful day. T was a sickening day. Horrifying and questioning is this really happening or did this really happen . As a member of the Judiciary Committee and i listened over the years of the descriptive accounts at sandy hook, the stories of bravery and teachers that lost their lives, of those o tried to intervene on this deranged gunman who by the way, killed his mother before he came to that school. Theres nothing more that you can say. Breathless. Similar to the actions of former president barack obama. I can distinctly remember him being before the National Audience rgs the people of the i recall, in as the white house, and wiping a from his ars away eyes. I think the whole nation at that time crumbled. Commander in chief. Known for his stoicness and strength and his ability to lead could not comprehend what has happened to these children at sandy hook. I think all of us believe that vaniesing be a gal call to action. All of us took notice and never expected las vegas, 50plus killed in 2017 and never expected orlando in 2016 with 50 killed or virginia tech. That happened a few years before. And so, it amazes me that were here in commemoration and not here in celebration of what we accomplished for those who yet live, the little ones who go to school, the College Students, the people who go to clubs, the churchgoing people, what did we accomplish . Why are we being rebuffed. Want to say the sandy hook families, what brave men and women. Here they are spending their time trying to be the soldiers of reason around gun safety. This who are if iing that gun safety is a staple. United states ranks number one n the world with 88. 8 guns per 100 and highest homicide rate in the developed world. Gun violence is the third leading cause of death. How many parents crumble themselves or fall over a casket of a dead child. Gunby they die by shootings and those who oppose gun safety laws and the surrounding areas that chicago is in the midst of the state, they have no constraints of much. And so those guns are transported into illinois and cities like chicago. 1,297 die annually every year and our colleague robin kelly reminds us all the time of gun violence. Guns are linked to 33,000 deaths per year and 2 3 of them are suicides and majority of ericans support gun policy proposes, prohibiting gun purchases by people on no apply or watch list, something we have been trying to pass forever. Reasonable response. As a member of the Homeland Security committee, i cannot imagine why that would not be a initiative and background checks and sales at gun shows. Here is always the rebuttal. Guns dont kill people, people do. People with varying conditions because they are allowed to do so because of jubr unfeathered gun purchases. The percentage of the membership of the n. R. Afment and i listened to chairman thompson who is a gun owner and a gun user and how fortunate we are to have him lead the committee because he can say combat war veteran say it doesnt make sense in america to be able to have unfeathered gun use. And the powerful gun lobby to facility gun legislation. America has six times as many whom size as canada and 16 times as germany. America far and away leads developed count dry tries. Worlds as 4. 4 of the population and in december of 2012, a depunman walked into sandy hook elementary and killed 20 children and six adults and himself. Someone who had killed his mother before he came. Mass ince then there are 5, shootings and 6,000 wounded. Who would have imagined a that man on top of a hotel and massively killed so many. And there is a law on the books that prevents the n. I. H. To study the impact of gun violence as a health crisis. This congress has, republicans have. And so in spite of mass ootings, we have unfortunate position and downright obstructionism on getting good gun safety legislation on the floor of the house. Im not a stranger to this. I come from texas. There are a lot of guns in texas and i would like to think the majority of texans handle their guns safely. But when i introduced the first City Ordinance to hold parents responsible for children who shotguns and each other, there was a revolution. It was a packed chamber. People were wearing their colonial clothings, playing flutes and saying we were stepping on the Second Amendment. The medical doctors because they shot their siblings. They understood that it was a small measure to stop children from getting their parents guns on a summer day or after school and injuring or killing their little brother or sister. Is there any common sense . And so today, i join in honoring the sandy hook families and honor that i know that they did not wish to have but rather have their precious little ones. As i close, i want to make two points. There is no doubt that people are dying because of gun exceed and that we ex the perspective of how many guns in this country and our children are dying, seven children lose their lives each day and 35 are under the which of 12yearolds. And children get guns. So i leave you with this perspective. A great nation. Yes, we send young people into war, 18yearolds have guns but they stand up for their country and in a manner to defend this nation and we thank them for their young patriotism. But as i visit far away places, war zones, young solders understand the difference from rifle in average k r as opposed to being on the streets. And our officers, who are doing their duty, good officers, who are in the course of Good Police Work who have to do a stop and run into someone who has been iven latitude to the reciprocity latitude bill and if you come to the state who has strict safety laws, that officer has to determine whether your random license from somewhere else is credible. And as my colleague said, that is the Christmas Gift they are giving to the children of america rather than the forbidding of terrorist list of carrying guns. They are giving children under the twinkling of the lights, giving them bullets and automatic weapons and the right of people to go on the streets and kill in churches like that in texas and that in South Carolina. I will finish by saying, even the smallest of amendments, the one that would allow or disallow those with convictions of Domestic Violence and stalking, our republican friends voted it down or if you are committed of a hate crime. So im not giving up and i thank the good for having us come today. My celebration is of the courage of families who suffered so much to continue their journey to stand up and being counted in United States and that is real gun safety legislation. Thank you so much for yielding. Ms. Esty as we heard so eloquently from my colleagues, everyone agrees we should keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. But, in fact, this house and this he administration has been moving in the opposite direction. Just last week, just last week, in fact, on the very day that hundreds of americans whose loved ones had been killed by guns in the last few years came to washington for a longplanned emorial vigil to honor those whose lives have been taken us from gun violence. This house decided to call up an offensive piece of legislation on concealed carry permits. This bill will make it easier for Domestic Violence abusers to pursue their victims across state lines carriering loaded concealed weapons into states that do not allow that overriding the choices of states like mine in connecticut that having strict laws to protect Domestic Violence victims, who are five times more likely to be killed if there is a gun in a household and my state has taken action, has taken action to protect women and children from death by gun from domestic abusers. My state if this law gets passed by the senate, my choice will be overridden. The Law Enforcement will be at greater risk. That isnt protecting the American People but putting them at risk. The administration decided to take the names of all fugitives, one of the categories who are not permitted legally to own weapons are people who are fugitives from justice. Seems like a sensible rule such as a sensible rule who are pleeved tore terrorists and this administration took tens of thousands of names of people who have been on the National Instant criminal background check system from prohibiting a gun legally because of their history and the fact they are fugitives, tens of thousands have been been sent back to the states and saying you should look at them again and in so doing, how long is it going to be before one of those dangerous people buys a gun because the name is no longer in the system . And who knows if its going to be your child, loved one or neighbor . Thats not what we are sent here to do. The families of newtown have persevered. Despite all odds. They have found the courage to get up every day. Some are pursuing Brain Research to figure out how to encourage empathy. Some have written beautiful music, composed poetry. Some have started programs in schools to teach children how to be kind to each other. Some have stepped forward as extraordinary citizen activists and come to washington and pound the halls, the marbled halls of state capitols around this country. They are true american heroes fighting for what they believe in and a better society. And some in some ways i think the bravest among them and some, in some ways i think the bravest among them, have chosen to bring new children into this world. This sort of optimism and courage that i cant fathom if my child at 6 or 7 had been gunned down in that classroom in those classrooms in the Sandy Hook Elementary School. But if they can have that resolve and that courage and that faith in this country, so can we. A good and a great nation takes care of its citizens. A good and a great nation responds to the cries of the people. A good and a great nation protects bove all its children. Madam speaker, we have the opportunity to do that. Thoughts and prayers and moments of silence are not enough. The American People deserve action. And when i get on a plane tomorrow to fly back to connecticut, to attend Memorial Services on the fiveyear anniversary of those tragic and shocking murders of children in Sandy Hook Elementary School, i would like to be able to tell them that we are doing our job and our duty in this house by taking action. And honoring their memories with truly taking action to protect them. I want to thank my colleagues for joining me here tonight. And with that and with that i would like to yield to my colleague, the gentlelady from the state of connecticut, ms. Osa delauro. Ms. Delauro i want to thank my colleague, my colleagues who were here this evening, and i want to say thank you to my colleague, congresswoman esty, for her indomitable efforts and work in making sure that we focus our time and our attention to the prevention of gun violence. Mr. Speaker, i rise to honor and to commemorate the victims of the sandy hook elementary School Shooting in newtown, connecticut. Five years ago. We lost 20 beautiful, innocent children. And six wonderful, caring adults. While the grief and pain of the families who lost a loved one at sandy hook endures, we can all find hope and strength in the resilience of newtown. And together we must honor their loss with action. And tonight i want to share an essay from, quote, bullets into bells, poets and citizens respond to gun violence. Abby clemmons, a teacher at sandy hook, wrote the following. 154 shots. They heard them all. I thought they were folding chairs falling. We huddled into the coats and backpacks. Some of them cried. Some of them laughed. How could they know . And if they know, if they knew, how could they believe . We shared a water bottle, a blue one, passing it around. Little arms poking out to take it. We waited. Had to believe the police were who they said they were. I opened the door. They scattered. A few in my outstretched arms. We ran. We were lucky. Surviving is a gift and a burden. What do you do with that . For me, as soon as i could, i started to fight. I fight to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. I fight to keep guns locked up and away from curious toddlers and depressed teens. I fight against Arming Teachers and i fight to keep guns out of College Dorms and classrooms. Lockdowns, active shooter drills and backpacks that morph nto shields arent the answer. Parents shouldnt have to worry about whether or not their kids will make it home from school. A year or two after the tragedy one mom told me that every day after school she left a gift for her daughter sitting on her bed. A celebration for making it home. The words of abby clemmons. A teacher at sandy hook. Its our job to make sure that those children get home safe from school. We have the ability to do that in this institution. What we need is the will to do it. Again, let me say thank you to my colleague, congresswoman esty, for her leadership in this effort. Nd i yield back. Ms. Esty thank you to the gentlelady from connecticut for her stirring words. Abby clemmons is an extraordinary woman and her daughter, sara, is now a College Student here in washington and is helping take up that charge of being one of the citizen activists and one of the citizen leaders who understands that democracies empower and charge us to correct that which is wrong. What is happening in this country is wrong. These are not tragedies from above. These are not natural disasters. These are manmade tragedies and manmade deaths. And it is up to us to do better. Again i want to thank my colleagues for joining me here this evening. I will take their wishes and their words and their energy and passion and commitment to action back with me to newtown tomorrow evening. And with that i thank the miami and i yield back the balance of my time the madam speaker and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. Under the speakers announced policy of january 3, 2017, the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, s. Waters, for 30 minutes. The gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Waters thank you, thank you. Madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Waters madam speaker, for the past several days there has been an organized attempt to discredit and undermine the work of special counsel Robert Mueller. I rise today to speak on behalf of many members of congress who believe special counsel mueller s doing a great job. I am at this time circulating a letter and other members of , and s are joining me this is a letter of support for special counsel mueller urging that he not be interfered with and that hes allowed to continue this very important investigation in the interest of the security of our country. I will be circulating this letter for another 24 hours. However, at this time i would like to read the contents of the letter into the record. This again is a letter in support of special counsel mueller. The letter is addressed to the rosenstein, Deputy Attorney general, u. S. Department of justice. The letter reads as follows. Dear Deputy Attorney general. We write to express our support for the work of special counsel robert s. Mueller iii. And to urge you to ensure that he be allowed to continue his investigation unfettered by political influence or threats to his authority. To its natural and appropriate conclusion, based on the law, the facts and the evidence. The special counsel is conducting a methodical nvestigation yielding results. It is unimagineable that republicans would seek to intervene, discredit, obstruct or terminate the special counsels investigation. Thus far from every public indication it appears that mr. Mueller it conducting a thorough and methodical investigation. He and his investigators have not sought and instead avoided the public spotlight. His team has not leaked or hinted at criminal allegations for which they have yet to develop charges. Furthermore, the charges that have been filed to date have been sufficiently strong and well founded. As to illicit guilty pleas from president Donald Trumps former National Security advisor, Lieutenant General michael flynn, and a former policy advisor to Donald Trumps president ial campaign, george papadopoulos. The appointment of a special counsel was necessary and proper. As you know, pursuant to u. S. Department of justice order you, deputy ch attorney general rosenstein, issued on may 17, 2017, mr. Eller was appointed to serve as special counsel and authorizeed to conduct an investigation authorized to conduct an investigation into matters including any lynx and or coordination links and or coordination between the russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of president donald trump. And any matters that arose or may arice directly from the arise from the investigation. And any other matters within c. F. R. 600 4a which includes authority to investigate and prosecute federal crimes committed in the course of and with intent to interfere with the special counsels investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses. Your decision to appoint a special counsel to conduct such an investigation was necessary and proper, given the intelligence tense u. S. Intelligence communitys assessment that russian president Vladimir Putin ordered and influenced campaign in 2016 aimed at the u. S. President ial election. The consistent goals of which were to undermine public faith in the u. S. Democratic process. And that putin and the russian government developed a clear preference for President Trump. The obvious potential for individuals who served on Trumps Campaign as well as individuals currently serving as political appointees in the Trump Administration could be targets of or witnesses in any such investigation. And attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from any matters related in any way to the campaigns for president of the United States. So, the selection of robert s. Mueller the iii to serve as special counsel was very much appropriate. Under the circumstances described above, your selection as Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel to conduct the investigation was an appropriate and commendable decision. Mr. Mueller has earned a reputation as a nonpartisan professional investigator making him an ideal choice to lead the investigation into the highly important, complex and sensitive matters to which he has been charged. Mr. Muellers record demonstrates that he would not allow bias, influence or other ex train crouse considerations to impact his consideration and any suggestion otherwise is just not credible. Mr. Mueller is a former director of the federal bureau of investigation, f. B. I. , who was originally appointed pi a republican president and he was vetted and twice unanimously confirmed by the senate. Specifically when apointed by president bush, mueller was onfirmed as f. B. I. Director by 880 and when mueller was nominated foral second term in 2011 during president obamas administration, he was again unanimously confirmed in the senate by 1000. Mr. Mueller has earned bipartisan support, republican members of the senate attested to mr. Muellers integrity and professionalism during mr. Muellers confirmation hearing which took place on july 30 and 31 in twune. With regard to mr. Muellers nomination to serve as f. B. I. Director, thensenator now attorney general Jeff Sessions stated and i quote, he said, it is great to see mr. Mueller nominated to take one of the most important positions in our country. It is a position that requires, in my view, serious experience, great integrity and a proven record of accomplishments. And you have all of those things, Robert Mueller. When i was in the department of justice, Robert Muellers reputation was known throughout the department of justice and he was known not for any political reasons but because he was recognized as a professionals professional and his jobs were second to none and no doubt in my mind that there is no more professional prosecutor and no more professional person in america with experience in the department of justice ready to handle the job of f. B. I. Director than Robert Mueller. Likewise, senator mcconnell stated and i quote, senator mcconnell who said, i believe mr. Mueller will provide strong and effective leadership. Mr. Mueller has both impressive management and Law Enforcement experience. He said he is well schooled in avoiding the problems and pitfalls inherent in criminal investigations and criminal prosecutions. Mr. Mueller is not of the f. B. I. And therefore i believe Institution National loyalty will not blind him to making the hard decisions he needs to make. Quote, unquote. Senator mcconnell also expressed his belief that mr. Muellers commitment to vigorousry enforcing the law without to politics. Speaker of the house, paul ryan has also commented on mr. Muellers lack of partisan bias as reported in a july 24, 2017 Washington Examiner article. He said, i dont think many people are saying Robert Mueller is a bias partisan. Is anything but, quote, unquote. Kenneth star who was appointed in 1994 as the independent counsel who was tasked with investigations involving president clinton and then first Lady Hillary Clinton commented on Robert Mueller and the manner in which his investigation is proceeding. Mueller stated that mr. Is conducting his investigation professionally. Mr. Starr stated, quote, we are not seeking leaks out of the investigation as far as we know d what we know of Robert Mueller he is rock integrity. Nd so regulations limiting the removal of a special counsel must be followed. Mr. Mueller must be allowed to complete his investigation and should not be threatened with removal. However, a few republicans have indicated their support for mr. Mueller for hisous ter, notwithstanding the overwhelming reasons for mr. Mueller to be allowed to continue and complete his investigation. The rule of law demands that the Trump Administration follow executive Branch Regulations which restrict the circumstances under which the special counsel can be removed. 7d fically, 28 c. F. R. 600 regarding the removal of a special counsel provides and i quote, the special counsel may be disciplined or removed from office only by the personal actions of the attorney general. The attorney general may remove a special counsel for dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest or for other good cause, including violation of departmental policies and the attorney general shall inform the special counsel in writing of the specific reason for his or her removal, quote, unquote. Since attorney general sessions is recused, you in your capacity as acting attorney general, that is, mr. Rosenstein, regarding special counsels muellers investigation are the only individual empowered to remove mr. Mueller under regulation. Furthermore, the regulation states that mr. Mueller may only be removed for good cause, which has not been demonstrated. And they cannot remove mr. Mueller from his investigation. So politically motivated challenges of special counsel mueller and his investigation must not be allowed to threaten the investigation. Despite special counsel muellers investigation of integrity as attested to those by these Republican Leaders and despite the clear progress that mr. Mueller is making in his investigation, the rightwing media and republican members of congress have attempted to advance a false narrative that special counsel mueller and his investigation is bias, this is what they say and some have advocated for his removal. On june 15, 2017, referring in general terms to the russia investigation, President Trump stated on social media and i quote, he said you are witnessing the sink will greatest witchhunt led by very bad conflicted people. In congress, led by representative matt gaetz and including trent franks who is now resigned and missed an Ethics Committee Investigation Called for mueller to step down. Those members have attempted to advance a baseless claims of existence of a conflict of mr. Muellers previous service. Those arguments do not have merit and intended to redirect the publics folk cuss to the investigation to which mr. Mueller has been tasked. At worst, those arts are intended to stop or preemptively tarnish the work. Pertain to e issued allegations against former president clinton and Hillary Linton and later to to a 209210 matter which has nothing to do with director muellers investigation to look at links between the russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of donald trump. As quoted in a december 12, 2007 , representatives matt gaetz stated that he is concerned about mr. Mueller. And concerned about his investigation, was infected with bias. Representative gaetz said the president responded, quote, thats why you guys have to do your jobs quote unquote. Representative gaetz informed the president that you will be testifying, that is mr. Rosenstein, testifying before the house Judiciary Committee on december 13, 20178 in response to which representative gaetz said to President Trump and i quote, encouraged us to exercise responsibilities. This conversation described suggests that representative trump is encouraging the ring leaders against mr. Mueller in order to pressure you to effect you, mr. Rosenstein totaling effect you, mr. Rosenstein and the investigation through the congressional oversight process. That is unacceptable. Someville alleged that mr. Muellers removal of a member of texteam, peter strzok over messages that were critical of President Trump suggest bias on the special counsels team. Upon learning of the Text Messages, mr. Mueller mmediately removed mr. Strzok, that is spelled strzok from the investigation. In reality, that are sthent and mr. Muellers response demonstrates mr. Muellers integrity as well as his desire d desire to conduct an investigation. You must not allow the targets of the investigation or issues being investigated to escape independent inquiry or through the removal or hindrance of the special counsel. And so we thank you, mr. Rosen stein for your careful attention and we stand ready to support you in upholding the rule of law. This is the letter that im circulating to mr. Rosenstein. This is the letter that has been signed on. This is the letter that is being signed by other members of congress. This is the letter that i will circulate for the next 24 hours so that we will give members the opportunity to sign on to this letter. On so, this letter should be your desk very soon. And so, with that, i would like on ve and to call representative kaptur who signed up to speak up this evening for the next five minutes. Ms. Kaptur i thank the gentlelady for the very important special order and for her incredible work in ensuring justice in our country on so many, many fronts. I rise tonight because of deep concern regarding our republican colleagues on the Judiciary Committee who are attempting to kick the legs out from under special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into russias meddling in our elections last year. Yes, they called Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein on whether bias has tainted that investigation and you know whats interesting about this, all of the intelligence agencies of our country agree that there was more than meddling in last years election. And i actually pray for Robert Mueller every night because what the involvement of russia in our elections has meant, you know, thats not a country that really welcomes debate and open conversation. They kill their enemies. And Robert Mueller is going to get at the very core of what russia is doing not just in our cuventry, but what it will instruct us russia is doing in europe and many other places around the world. I listened to some of our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee today and i just want to put this on the record. Robert mueller has given his life to this country through his entire years of service. I have never personally sat to dinner with this man or i dont think ive even shaken his hand but i admire him for his true patriotism. I watched some of the individuals on think Judiciary Committee today and wondered if they knew that he had been in the marine corps during vietnam. He actually rose to the level of captain. He was awarded the bronze star medal with the combat v for victory. Hes the recipient of the purple heart. He was a navy and marine corps captain and got the Commendation Medal for his valor in combat. How many of those individuals questioning his integrity can even compare to that with their little fingernails . Combat action ribbon. Republic of vietnam gal rantly gallantry cross. That was his early career. As an attorney he went into service to our country. As an assistant u. S. District attorney on one coast and then on the other coast, as u. S. District attorney. Hes very even handed and he worked hises he worked his way up in the Justice Department, rising to the level of Deputy Attorney general. He had been an assistant attorney general his entire life s been he had been an assistant attorney general. His entire life has been spent in dangerous jobs. To take on russia, you put your own life in someone elses hands, actually. I can read a list, i wont tonight, of all of the leaders and rising leaders of countries that wish to be free that russia has summarily killed. For which theres no justice. And so i rise somewhat out of outrage tonight listening to some of our colleagues here who demanded that we disband special counsel muellers investigation. You know, counsel muler is a epublican. I should not like him for that reason. But i know theres something bigger to him, that is defending the American People against all enemies. Foreign and domestic. He has put his life on the line since he was a teenager for this country. Now our country was founded on the principle of equality under the law and our democracy and the safeguarding of those principles depends on genuine, free elections. Not only must we pass laws here that assure that, but they have to be enforced. We have to unequivocally confirm the truth behind the extent of russian meddling in our election. Thats what we need. We know that i did. Now we want to know every piece of it. How did they hack those Voting Machines . How did they use special ads that appeared around the country targeted to special audiences . Because we have to restore the faith of the American People in their very vote in order to maintain this democratic republic. Throughout his career, special counsel mueller has proven himself time and time and time and time again to be a man of integrity. I might say this coming from comes from a woman who tried to become an f. B. I. Agent when she was in college and was rejected. Not because she didnt have the academic abilities, because in those days they didnt admit women to the f. B. I. Times have changed a lot. But i know that Robert Mueller is the best that america has. And due process is one of the most carefully guarded of our constitutional protections. And we must see this investigation through to its ultimate end. And there can be no Chicken Hawks in this house or those who point fingers whose careers do not demonstrate the kind of patriotism that Robert Muellers has demonstrated throughout his career. I was actually shocked at how the questioning went this afternoon without the kind of respect and understanding of what it takes to preserve a republic that is free and independent of outside meddling. So i want to thank the gentlelady. I am embarrassed at some of the questions the republican majority has been hammering over in the Judiciary Committee and some of the other committees as the investigation intensifies and becomes more complete, the American People have a right to know and i guess the question every american has to ask, in whose hands would you place your life . A man who has served this country, who is now, i believe, 73 years old, over 70 years old, hes proved everything. But hes proven also hes been a total patriot. I would ask the same of those frivolously waste their words in efforts to try to suppress an investigation that we know is essential to the preservation of our vote and our freedoms and i yield back to the gentlelady and thank her for the time. Ms. Waters i thank the gentlelady and i yield three minutes to representative jackson lee. Ms. Jackson lee i thank the gentlelady for yielding. I thank her for her leadership on this very important issue. And she is standing in the gap because all that we have heard from republicans and their media advocates is that their intention, of course is to create a 21st century saturday night massacre. In my questioning of the Deputy Attorney general, the exact thats the exact terminology i utilized, was the Deputy Attorney general and the department of justice prepared to defend special counsel mueller against a potential saturday night massacre. Of course thats the watergate massacre perpetrated by president nixon in firing attorney general and then requiring and firing the special prosecutor and getting someone to fire and literally creating a constitutional crisis. So it is clear as evidenced by the words of sean hannity on december 5, fox news, that led off his broadcast with the outrageous charge that muler is a disgrace by the american Justice System thats put the country on the brink of becoming a banana republic. Not surprisingly, disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who enthuse clast enthusiastically praised the choice of Robert Mueller as a superb choice to be special counsel because his reputation is impeccable has done a complete 180 degree turn and now claims the very Top Justice Department and the f. B. I. Have become corrupt. I was pleased to join this letter and to join with congresswoman waters along with my other colleagues for a very important statement. I also believe that this statement must be backed up with legislation such as h. R. 3654, the ave offered to special counsel protection act. I think we have a situation where if we d not make this a public announcement indicating that between the administration, the president , and others along with republicans in this house there is an intrpment entrapment being set up for special counsel mueller to be considered biased because of the staffing actions, which by the way those individuals have been replaced or they have been transfered to other positions. There is no doubt that a man who served in vietnam, a man who came back to the Justice Department as a entry level employee to be able to serve his country, there is no question that there is no evidence of any corruptness. I will conclude my remarks by saying the importance of this legislation and this letter is because director muler is working his way into the white house and the issues of russian collusion and the issues dealing with criminality are approaching the front door. We must protect i thank the gentlelady and yield back. Ms. Waters thank you very much, i thank both of the members of congress who have come down here this evening and shared in the information that we are going to forward with rosenstein because it is so important that we let him know that our special counsel has support. We appreciate what hes doing and we are going to stand with him. With that, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the jeaths time has expired and she yields back. The chair would entertain a motion. Ms. Jackson lee i move that the house adjourn. The speaker pro tempore the question is on the motion to adjourn. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. The motion is adopted. Accordingly, the house stands adjourned until this is a story about doug jones who won a special election in alabama yesterday for a u. S. Senate seat. A gracious call with President Trump in which the president invited him to visit the white house and congratulated his campaigns victory. It was a gracious call, i appreciated it. He congratulated me on the race that we won, he congratulated me and my staff on the manner in which we handled this campaign and went forward. We talked about finding that Common Ground to work together. A newses said during conference in alabama. He received calls from mitch mcconnell, Senate Minority leader charles schumer, senator richard shelby, and senator Luther Strange who is in the senate seat as a special appointee. Ead more at the hill house and Senate Conferees met to talk about the two versions of tax bills they passed earlier this month. And if they agreed to a final version that could be voted on next week. President trump talks about the tax bill. On the house ways and Means Committee discuss their concerns with the gop tax legislation. A headline from the guardian, palestinians no longer you it u. S. Asthe accept the mediator. Said after the recognition of jerusalem as the capital of israel. In the strongest public abbas said they would go to the Un Security Council to seek full membership of the u. S. While asking the world body to take control of the Peace Process as washington was no longer fit for the task. Here is president of us abbas. The United States is no longer an honest broker of peace. We as palestinians, arabs, and muslims cannot accept any more that the United States be the broker. One of the basic requirements for broker is to be honest and neutral and not to be biased for one side or another. Is we are going to go to the peace and Security Council to make this decision knowledge and. On the basis of the u. N. Charter. Void on thed basis of the u. N. Charter. Will not be allowed to vote and we will go to the theral assembly regarding membership of israel because its membership is not in line with international resolutions. We will go to the peace and Security Council to consider the question of the full membership of palestine