A defense spending bill to provide 659 billion to the pentagon for the current fiscal year, 2018. Votes later this afternoon. Now live coverage of the u. S. House on cspan. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the speaker the house will be in order. The prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. Chaplain conroy let us pray. We give you thanks, o god, for giving us another day. As you make available to your people the grace and knowledge to meet the needs of the day, we pray that your spirit will be upon the members of this peoples house, giving them the richness of your wisdom. Bless the members of the Majority Party as they prepare and gather these next days. May they, with those who accompany them, travel safely and meet in peace. Bless also the Minority Party as they prepare for their own gathering. May these days be filled with hopeful anticipation. Bless also the president as he visits the peoples house to address the nation this evening. May all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory, amen. The speaker the chair has examined the journal of the last days proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. Pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. The pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from california, mr. Panetta. Mr. Panetta i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The speaker the chair will entertain up to 15 questions for oneminute speeches on requests for oneminute speeches on each side of the aisle. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Smith thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the differences are stark between president obamas first year in office and President Trumps first year in office. If you just listen to the liberal media, would you think our country is worse off under President Trump. However, if you follow the facts, americans are far better off. In 2009 four million jobs in 2017, 1. 7 million jobs were created. Gross domestic product in president obamas first year went down 2. 8 . It was up 2. 3 last year. Unemployment in 2009 increased from 7. 8 to 9. 9 . Fell in 2017 from 4. 8 to 4. 1 , a 17year low. The Standard PoorsStock Market Index was at 1115 president obamas first year. 673. Ent recently hit 2 President Trumps policies are helping more americans get back to work, pay less in taxes and build their retirement and savings accounts. These are the facts. Americans can accurately say they are better off today than they were eight years ago or even one year ago. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman rom new york seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Higgins madam speaker, 2017 was a year marked by division and distraction, a disservice to americans seeking solutions to real challenges facing our nation. My hope is the new year provides an opportunity to move away from divisive discourse and toward constructive dialogue and real outcomes. This year we can take real steps to strengthen medicare and Social Security as well as ensuring access to Quality Affordable Health Care for all americans. This year we can promote job growth and success for all americans by making smart targeted investments in education and Scientific Research as well as preparing our work force for the 21st century. This year we can commit ourselves to building a foundation for a stronger america by making investments in our nations roads, waterways, infrastructure and communities. Mr. Speaker, as we consider the state of the union, this congress has two choices. Build walls or build bridges. Bridges lead to Better Health care, to a better economy, to make America Great again and again and again. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Madam speaker, today is state of the union day and its an opportunity for the nation to hear from the president on the progress we have been making and the challenges that lie ahead. Mr. Rothfus one thing i am looking forward to is hearing how the tax cuts and jobs act and the regulate reforms we have seen over the past year are causing our economy to roar back to life, creating more jobs and putting more money in peoples pockets. 55 years ago, president kennedy delivered a state of the union that recognized the power of tax cuts, that put money back in the private sector. To achieve greater gains, president kennedy said, in talking about the economy, quote, one step above all is essential. A substantial reduction and revision in federal income taxes. Im glad President Trump and congress have followed president kennedys and president reagans model. The economic reviseable is helping us meet the challenges that lie ahead. Thats something for all americans to celebrate. I thank the speaker and yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Thank you, madam speaker. To address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks, if necessary. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, madam speaker. I rise today to recognize and remember darby werth, an activist, Community Members of my hometown and most importantly she was one of the teachers at my elementary school. Mr. Panetta she worked 20 years at the school where i went and my daughters go to. Now, i didnt know that at the time but many years ago before she was a teacher she was well versed in environmental and social activism. By the time she did take up teaching she had already traveled to San Francisco many times to protest the vietnam war. Well after she retired from there, she was unrelenting in her commitment to social justice, womens rights, challenging corporate and, yes, fighting climate change. She had many movements that she was behind and its understandable that she felt everything was interconnected. Thats why at 90 she was planning and fighting the county be to be buried in her front yard. Now, i am not sure if she was laid to rest in that location but i know mrs. Werth will be remembered not only because of teaching children, but shes somebody we all learned from. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition . The gentlelady is recognized. Mrs. Walorski i congratulate maple leaf farms on celebrating 60 years. This familyowned operation has been a staple in indiana and a u. S. Duck industry since 1958. While 60 years of successful operations is a tremendous accomplishment, maple leafs expansion, newest Global Ventures speaks volumes to the didcation and ingenuity of the tucker family. Im proud to learn of the strong Business Model and outstanding leadership of the uckers that led maple leaf farms have 10 million demucks supplies worldwide. s an honor to represent the tuckers. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Second District hoosiers, i want to thank maple leaf farms for strengthening indianas Farming Community and wish them all the best in the next 60 years. Thank you and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from hawaii seek recognition . The gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Gabbard too often when we think of Human Trafficking as a tragedy, we think it goes on in someone elses country, in some other place other than our home. Most people are surprised to learn that thousands of men, women, and children right here in the United States are enslaved by Human Trafficking every year. In my home state of hawaii, an estimated 1,500 to 2,500 victims are impacted each year with girls as young as 10 and 11 years old recruited and kidnapped from malls, beaches, and schools. As we work to confront and stop perpetrators of Human Trafficking, we also need to change the way that we treat survivors of this heinous crime. Because even after the horrors that these individuals go through of rape, physical abuse, kidnapping and so much more, these survivors are too often charged as criminals themselves, thrown in jail and shackled with a criminal record that follows them wherever they go. We need to end this cycle of criminalization and give survivors an opportunity to heal and move on with their lives by passing the trafficking survivors relief act. As Human TraffickingAwareness Month comes to a close, i urge my colleagues to join me. Pass this important legislation and empower change for those who need it the most. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewomans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . Mr. Poe madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one inute. Mr. Poe madam speaker, tonya was 13 years old when she met eddie. They struck up a relationship and the two moved in together in dallas, texas. But what seemed to be a normal relationship turned out to be it was not. Eddie turned tonya into a sex slave. Eddie sold tonya to men for money. She was the victim of sex trafficking. Night after night, tonya was forced to be with potential suitors. With her body being used for profit and no escape in sight, tonya had almost given up hope, but help arrived when Homeland Security special agent keithoens received a tip and the out keith owens received a tip and the outlaw was arrested. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. She was free from the shackles of human slavery. Our fight for tonya and others is not over. We must remain vigilant. Society has to rescue the victims, restore them and put the slave masters in the jail house. And thats just the way it is. Ill yield back. The speaker pro tempore for other purposes the gentleman from maryland seek recognition . Massachusetts, sorry. I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend and to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Mcgovern madam speaker, last week Human Rights Watch reported that the Chinese Government has imposed laws. An new cadres are taking on finance, ministry, the choice of textbooks. This follows last years demolitions and expulsions. China says it protects respected religions. Thats a lie. When you put aethists in law, thats not. When the state tells you what to teach and students must honor the communist party, that is not religious freedom. Sadly, the white house has been silent as human rights abuses in china worsen. Enough is enough. Congress must pass the reciprocal access to tibet act. If the president wont act Congress Must ensure there are consequences for chinas egregious actions to destroy tibetan buddhism. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from South Carolina seek recognition . Mr. Wilson madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Wilson madam speaker, the pic times this month presented an expose that cuba shows why communism doesnt work and will never work. Uba was one of latin americas wealthiest countries when the communists took power. Now its a machine of squandering subsidies. Between 196 1990 and 1990, cuba received more than 65 billion from the soviet union and hundreds of millions of dollars from international organizations. Despite this, the nation master ranking ranks cuba last, 176 in the world with an average salary of 25. 05 per month in 2014. The only way cuba can catch up with other developing countries is by ridding itself of communism. Former british Prime Minister margaret thratcher said the trouble with social thatcher said the trouble with social mple is it will run out of money. Our sympathy to the people of afghanistan and the global war who have suffered mass murder by taliban, reaffirming we must defeat terrorism overseas. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from the virgin slands seek recognition . Ms. Plaskett i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlelady is recognized 1. Ms. Plaskett thank you, madam speaker. I recognize extra youth from the virgin islands. Want to talk about rose cleger and nancy. Of the nearly 3. 6 Million High School seniors graduating this year, rose and nancy are among the 4,500 students named as candidates for the 2018 president ial scholars program. In the world of athletics, Alabama State sophomore and st. Croix native jack was third at the 50meter dash. Nd at the same meet fellow coixan maya ran fourth overall in the womens 400 meters and led the womens 1,600 meter relay team. In Arkansas State invitational, one won his 400 meter mens meet. I want to congratulate these scholars and athletes coming from the virgin islands. Despite the profound devastation of hurricanes this year demolishing our territory, the delay in funding to rebuild our islands, you are examples of the strength and resilience excel in islanders, to no matter what. Thank you for your excellence. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from montana seek recognition . Mr. Gianforte mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Gianforte madam speaker, because of the tax cuts passed by Congressional Republicans and signed by President Trump, Small Business owners in montana are expanding their businesses and giving raises and bonuses to their employees. An Insurance Broker in harlem is giving a pay raise to all his employees and hiring another staff member. A Small Business in stevensville is giving pay raises to all of their employees, and a local grocery storeowner is giving employees a raise, increasing the starting wage and providing his workers with a bonus. The leader on the other side of the aisle may deride these bonuses, raises and investments as crumbs, but they make a real difference to the folks i represent back in montana. I look forward to sharing more good news about how tax cuts Congressional Republicans tax cuts, congressional tax cuts Congressional Republicans and President Trump enacted last year are benefiting montana. Thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from wyoming seek recognition . Without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Ms. Cheney madam speaker, i rise today to honor a Great American on his birthday. My dad, dick cheney. I can imagine no better role model than this good and great man. He loved his time serving in this chamber as the gentleman from wyoming, and throughout a career spanning decades, including during some of the most challenging times our nation has faced. He was a steady and wise hand who has always led with the courage of his convictions. No matter the burden he carried, he has always been there for us. As a listener and teacherest. Taught my sister and me to love teacher. He taught my sister and me to love our country, to read history and learn from it, to listen more than you talk, that mans words should be his bond, and that we owe all we have as americans to the brave men and women in uniform who fought and died to keep us free. Madam speaker, the gratitude i have for my dad as an american is surpassed only by my love for him as his daughter. Happy birthday, dad. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman rom illinois seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Davis thank you, madam speaker. I rise to pay tribute to a dear friend, Justice William cousins, who passed away a couple days ago at the age of 90. Bill was a former member of the chicago city council. Called an independent alderman. A Circuit Court judge. And an Appellate Court justice. Who always sought fairness. He was a gentleman, a scholar, a harvard graduate. We commend him for his public service. I thank you very much, madam speaker. And i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition . Madam speaker, i ask to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, madam speaker. Every year over 14,000 people are trafficked into the United States. Human trafficking is modern day slavery. And is going on in our communities all across the country. That is why last week in my district i hosted a round table with local Law Enforcement, health care officials, victim advocates and elected officials as part of a Human TraffickingAwareness Month seminar. To discuss how we combat this problem. What we found is a lack of awareness and communication on this issue. Our area that we represent contains mainly highways that are beltways for traffickers major highways that are beltways for traffickers that make it easier for this crime to continue. We need further training for Law Enforcement and Health Care Providers so that this kind of abuse can be more easily identified and reported. Mr. Lahood we should also reexamine sentencing as criminals currently face harsher sentences for Drug Trafficking than for Human Trafficking. The bills we voted on yesterday are positive steps in this fight against Human Trafficking. And hopefully just the first of many to come. We must do all we can to raise awareness and end this humanitarian problem. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman rom illinois seek recognition . Moirges i ask unanimous consent madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Madam speaker, i rise today with a heavy heart to honor aiden omalley. Aiden is the daughter of denny and ross lynn omalley. Along with many of her friends and hundreds of other young people from illinois, aiden traveled here to d. C. Earlier this month to attend the march for life. During their trip, aiden was hospitalized after she experienced a serious medical episode. After countless prayers and five days of fighting, aiden gained her angels wings. As her mom said, so often prayers may not be answered, they may not be so often prayers may not be the answers we want. Aiden was an eighth grader at st. Lewis Catholic School where she was on the honor role, played volleyball and softball honor roll, played volleyball and softball and volunteered in her community. Everyone who knew aiden said she had a bright, vibrant spirit that brought joy to everyone around her. While they were here in d. C. , i met with aidens group, but unfortunately i never had the honor of meeting her. I admire aidens conviction and willingness to be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves. I ask this house to join me in praying for strength and healing for aidens family, friends in the community, during this difficult time. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Thompson madam speaker, sunday marked 32 years since the Space Shuttle challenger disaster. On january 28, 1986, nasa launched the 10th flight of the Space Shuttle challenger and it broke apart 73 seconds into the flight, killing all seven crew members onboard. It was devastating for those watching at Kennedy Space center in florida, and for those viewing at home and for our nation as a whole. I rise today to remember the challengers dedicated crew. Michael smith, dick scobee, onazuka, ir, alison kristen mccaul i have, gregory and have and mccaullif gregory jarif. We will never forget them. Not the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped to the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of god, unquote. Madam speaker, these crew members had a passion for exploration. They inspired children around the world who dreamed of going space. And through encouraging stem study, science, technology, engineering and math, we can continue to preserve their legacy and inspire another generation of explorers. Thank you, madam speaker. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from wyoming seek recognition . Ms. Cheney madam speaker, by direction of the House Republican conference, i send to the desk a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the resolution. The clerk House Resolution 719. Resolved that the following named member be and is hereby elected to the following Standing Committee of the house of representatives. Committee on Natural Resources, mr. Curtills. Mr. Curtis. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from wyoming seek recognition . Ms. Cheney madam speaker, by the direction of the committee on rules, i call up House Resolution 714 and ask for its immediate consideration. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the resolution. The clerk house cal ker demeanor calendar number 122. House resolution 7 14 esolution 714. Resolved, that upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to take from the speakers table the bill h. R. 695, to amend the National Child protection act of 1993 to establish a National Criminal history background check system and criminal history review program for certain individuals who, related to their employment, have access to children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities, and for other purposes, with the Senate Amendments thereto, and to consider in the house, without intervention of any point of order, a single motion offered by the chair of the committee on appropriations or his designee that the house, one, concur in the Senate Amendment to the title and, two, concur in the Senate Amendment to the text with an amendment onsisting of the text of rules Committee Print 11556. The Senate Amendments and the motion shall be considered as read. The motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the motion to adoption without intervening motion or demand for division of the question. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from wyoming is recognized for one hour. Ms. Cheney madam speaker, during consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. I now yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. Madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Cheney madam speaker, i rise in support of House Resolution 714, which provides for consideration of a single motion to concur in the Senate Amendments to h. R. 695, the department of defense appropriations act for fiscal year 2018. Madam speaker, we meet here today when hundred 122 days into the current fiscal year. F. Y. 2018 is 1 3 over. And yet the United States congress has been unable to appropriate funds for the defense of our nation. I ask my colleagues, madam speaker, to pause and let that sink in. The fiscal year is over 30 done. And we have been unable to appropriate the funds our military needs to defend the nation. Madam speaker, this is nothing new. The United States congress has forced the u. S. Military to operate like this, under continuing resolutions, for nine of the last 10 years. The rule and the underlying bill that were debating and voting on today, madam speaker, is a crucial step towards reversing this dangerous trend. This defense appropriations bill is a clean bill. It clears away all the politics it. Clears away all the posturing politics. It clears away all the posturing. It clears away all the process arguments. This is an up or down vote on the one issue that matters more than any other. Providing for the common defense of our republic. The question before this house today is whether we will do our constitutional duty and provide the funds for those who are putting their lives on the line for all of us. There is no other question, madam speaker. And for those who vote no there will be no place to hide when history comes to ask why they failed to do their duty. Our military has been strangled for the last decade, madam speaker. Obama era budget cuts are certainly to blame. The obama administrations Defense Budgets were based on a set of dangerous policies and false assumptions. They assumed we could withdraw from the middle east and the terrorists would stop fighting. They assumed we could talk north korea out of their Nuclear Program with a policy of, quote, strategic patience. They assumed russian and chinese efforts to upend the global world order the United States built and sustained with our allies over 70 years were no threat to our National Security. And perhaps worst of all, madam speaker, they assumed that paying billions of dollars to the regime in tehran in exchange for unverifiable promises from the mullahs about their Nuclear Program would serve americas interests. Never before, madam speaker, has an american president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. But we in Congress Must also accept some of the blame. While the Previous Administration was pursuing policies that aided our adversaries and harmed our national interest, the United States congress adopted the budget control act. A law that has proven devastating to the security of our nation. Beginning with the budget control act in 2011, the United StatesCongress Imposed arbitrary spending caps on domestic and defense Discretionary Spending. We handcuffed the military, madam speaker. No longer could they ask what are the threats and what do we need to defend ourselves . Instead our men and women in uniform were faced with arbitrary caps and in 2013 sequestration. When the supercommittee that was established by the budget control act failed to come to any agreement on cuts and mandatory spending, mandatory spending being the real driver, madam speaker, of our National Debt, sequestration kicked in. This was like taking a meat cleesker to every account in cleaver to every account in the Defense Budget. At a time of war when our adversaries are gaining in strength, readiness and capability every day. By every measure, madam speaker, the budget control act has failed. Since its passage in 2011, the National Debt has grown by nearly 4 trillion. Five years ago the c. B. O. Estimated that u. S. Debt would reach 80 of g. D. P. By 2029. Today, madam speaker, the c. B. O. Projects that will happen by 2022. The budget control act has failed to do what it intended to do. And, madam speaker, weve got to acknowledge something else. The budget control act created the concept on which our current budget negotiations are stalled. The idea espoused especially by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, that we must have, quote, parity, for every dollar we increase defense spending, they demand a dollar increase in domestic spending. This is lunacy, madam speaker. We are the peoples elected representatives, with the responsibility for stewardship over taxpayer dollars. We are responsible for appropriates funds for the nation. Those funds should be appropriated based upon our determination of the needs and priorities, not based upon some arbitrary concept of parity. The dysfunction in this budget process is now so great, madam speaker, that because of the b. C. A. We are in the process of actually spending more on programs we dont need. It is time to fully repeal the b. C. A. Now, madam speaker, my colleague on the rules committee, mr. Mcgovern, will no doubt shortly point out that the republicans control the house and the senate and the white house. Hes right. Of course. But mr. Mcgovern also knows that it takes 60 votes to pass anything in the senate which gives the democrats and their leader, chuck shumer, power what they would otherwise enjoy chuck schumer, power what they would otherwise enjoy. As you know we passed all 12 Appropriations Bills through this body, including this defense appropriation bill, only to have these bills languish in the senate. Mr. Speaker, the defense of this nation must no longer be held hostage to the rules of the United States senate. If 60 United States senators cannot be found do to do what is right to fund our military, then the senate needs to change its rules and stop allowing a small minority to hold our military hostage for political reasons. The threat is real, and the situation is dire, mr. Speaker. Today, we have the Smallest Army since before world war ii, the Smallest Navy since before world war i, and the smallest and oldest air force we have ever had. Only five of 58 brigade combat teams in the army are ready to fight tonight. Funding for future readiness against competitors like russia and china has been cut by over 70 in the last 10 years. As north koreas Missile Program advances, the u. S. Inventory of Missile Defense interceptors is dangerously low. Less than half of the navys aircraft can fly due to maintenance and spare parts issues. Only 50 of air force combat forces are sufficiently ready for a highly contested fight an aned a very adversary. And our bonds have been depleted by budget cuts and operations and fatal accidents are increasing. These are all happening, mr. Speaker, as the global threat environment is more ar complex, the threat is more eminent and it is more grave than at any time since world war ii. Every day we fail to do our duty in this body, the risk to our troops increases and it becomes easier for our adversaries to close the capabilities gap. Surely, mr. Speaker, on this issue we can set politics aside and do what is right for our republic, for our freedom, and for every man and woman standing watch on the front lines for all of us. Therefore, mr. Speaker, i urge support of this rule and the underlying bill and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern thank you, mr. Speaker. I want to thank the gentlewoman from wyoming, ms. Cheney, for yielding the customary 30 minutes. I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend and i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, here we go again, literally. Today were considering for the third time the f. Y. 2018 defense appropriations act. The house took up and passed this bill in july. The house took up and passed this bill in september. And now we will pass it under a completely closed process for the third time. I know, mr. Speaker, that many people think that the third time is the charm, but in this case, i think the third time is a farce. There are a couple minor changes to this version of the bill. For example, once again, it has 1. 18 billion to fund President Trumps request to send 3,500 more u. S. Troops to afghanistan. Funding which has been attached to prior spending bills. It also has a general provision that turns off sequestration for defense spending. So it busts the budget caps but exempts itself from any consequences. Thats a neat little trick, mr. Speaker. But really, why are we wasting our time on this bill for a third time . Heres a little bit of a reality check, mr. Speaker. Neither this defense bill nor any other appropriations bill can move until the house and Senate Republican leadership get their act together. Negotiate a budget agreement that works for all our federal programs and finally set the top line numbers for all the Appropriations Bills. Then and only then will our appropriators be able to begin negotiations on the final f. Y. 2018 omnibus spending bill to fund all our federal programs, defense and nondefense alike, through the rest of the fiscal year. It would have been nice if this had been done in september, mr. Speaker, or maybe by october or the end of november or the end of defense. One might have hoped to have finally completed the job by the end of this month. That would be four whole months into the fiscal year 2018, but we all know thats not going to happen. Now, i dont know about you, mr. Speaker, but i sure hope we can get this f. Y. 2018 Appropriations Bills all done before we have to start working on the fiscal year 2019 Appropriations Bills. Now, theres a very, very simple reason why theres no budget agreement. The republicans are squabbling among themselves either raising the budget caps or making even deeper cuts in domestic spending. Its like the republican right wing is fighting with the republican extreme right wing. And, you know, ill again remind my colleagues, as my colleague from wyoming did, the republicans control everything. You control the house, you control the senate, you control the presidency. I wish you didnt, but you are in charge. It is your charge to keep the lights running. But there is an incompetence thats on display here that i have never, ever seen in my years in government. What should be happening is that the Republican Leadership should be reaching out to the house and Senate Democratic leadership and negotiating a real bipartisan budget agreement, one that has votes in both chambers. What a radical idea, to actually sit down and negotiate a bipartisan agreement that will get bipartisan votes. The notion that you can present legislation on the house floor in this kind of my way or the highway approach and expect democrats to vote for it is ludicrous. Were not going to get everything we want. We know that. Were in the minority, but our values need to be represented in these overall budget negotiations as well. So do your job. Sit down and work out a deal. Thats the thats what youre supposed to do when youre in charge. Instead, here we are entering our fifth month of fiscal year 2018, and no budget agreement, which translates into no final Appropriations Bills because the Appropriations Committees dont know what their top line spending ceiling is for any of the remaining bills, including defense. So it doesnt matter how many times you send this same bill over to the senate. It cant come back to us as a final housesenate conference report without a budget agreement. Do your job. And we cant get a budget agreement until the republicans stop fighting amongst themselves and decide to work for the good of the American People and the american military. Do your job. Now, i know today that we will hear a lot about how important it is to fund our military. Of course thats important. You wont hear anybody in this house argue against that, but its also important to fund things like the department of Homeland Security. I mean, they help protect us here in the United States from potential terrorist attacks. Its important to fund the Justice Department. There are many antiterrorism programs in the Justice Department that are important to protecting the citizens of this country. I mean, to suggest somehow they dont matter i think is just wrong. I mean, isnt it important we support our Veterans Affairs department, to support our veterans who have sacrificed so much for this country, to say somehow theyre not a priority, i dont think thats right. Its important to fund the state department. Its important to fund transportation, health and human services, agriculture, education, housing and urban development, the energy department, the interior department, and all our federal bureaus, agencies and programs. You know, Americas National security is more than just our military. Its our local Law Enforcement. Its our courts. Its our hospitals, our schools, our roads, our bridges. Its investing in our communities, our cities, and our towns. Its taking care of our veterans, our seniors, and our children. Its helping our local farmers, businesses, and companies survive and thrive. You know, if we fail in these duties, mr. Speaker, then what is there left to defend . You know, time and time again, secretary of defense mattis has declared that the greatest damage to our military comes from continuing to fund defense by a series of shortterm continuing resolutions one after another after another. Yet, thats exactly what republicans in congress are doing. So please, mr. Speaker, lets have no more crocodile tears about defense spending and how important our military is. If the military were really a priority for the Republican Leadership and not just a good sound bite, then they would have reached a budget agreement and finished the f. Y. 2018 appropriation bills, all of them, last year. Mr. Speaker, right now federal agencies, including the pentagon, are operating under a fourth continuing resolution, and even if by some miracle a budget agreement is reached today or by next monday, congress will still need to pass a fifth c. R. By next thursday, february 8, because theres no way the appropriators will be able to start and finish their negotiations on a final omnibus in just a few days. So mr. Speaker, the bill before us, under a completely closed process, this is theater. Its not about our military. Its not about the defense of this country. Its about a sound bite. Its about trying to provide some smoke so the people dont realize that the republicans who run this government dont know how to do their job. Its nothing more than face saving for the most extreme members of the republican caucus. It does nothing that hasnt been done twice before. It means nothing. Its a waste of time. Now, since the house is really only working one day this week, namely today, then we could have brought up legislation that hasnt already moved twice through the house, but for which action is desperately overdue. We could have brought up the reauthorization of our Community Health centers which help more than 24 million americans access to essential health care. Or how about the reauthorization of the maternal infant and Early ChildhoodHome Visiting program which helps young families all across this country . You know, the Republican Leadership deliberately chose to let the authorization for each of these critical programs expire in september. And they havent even lifted a finger since to reauthorize them. Now, we could have easily taken care of their reauthorization today in a couple of hours and sent those bills over to the Senate Rather than spending the same amount of time passing the same defense bill for a third time. Mr. Speaker, defense spending and all other federal programs are in a mess today because the republicans are incapable of running the government. It is that simple. Each day is becomes even more clear that the Republican Leadership not only cant govern, theyre not even interested in governing. Everything we do today, everything were doing on this day today is going nowhere, and my republican friends know that. But this, again, is about theater. Its not about our troops. Its not about our security. Its about giving them some cover to justify the incompetence thats on display here. Finally, mr. Speaker, i want to say to my colleagues on the republican side, we dont need lectures from them about Americas National security. You know, when it comes to forcing their terrible policies on the American People, they say, yes, yes, yes to President Trump. But when it comes to holding President Trump accountable and protecting american democracy, niyes. Say is this has clouded their judgment and caused them to lose sight whats at sake, the security and integrity of our democracy. Mr. Speaker, President Trumps own c. I. A. Director, our former colleague, c. I. A. Director mike pompeo recently admitted russia is currently working to undermine the upcoming election and has been doing so for decades. And just yesterday, President Trump refused to impose defense and intelligence sanctions on entities purchasing Russian Military equipment. In july, Congress Passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill requiring President Trump to impose defense and intelligence sanctions on entities purchasing Russian Military equipment. His decision yesterday to refuse to do so tells us all we need to know about where his loyalties lie. And still, mr. Speaker, all the other side continues to do day after day is assault the rule of law. They led an allout assault on our department of justice and on our f. B. I. To smear special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, attempting to tarnish the credibility of our federal Law Enforcement along the way, and sewing doubt and confusion about the variability of anybody of Law Enforcement to conduct an impartial investigation. And were not talking about some hypothetical investigation. Here are the facts. The president s former National Security advisor has pled guilty to lying to the f. B. I. About his contacts with the russian ambassador. The president s former Foreign Policy advisor pled guilty after he lied about his contacts with the russian government. And the president s former Campaign Manager has been indicted by a grand jury for, among other things, conspiracy against the United States of america. Now the republicans are trying to whip up a controversy out of thin air with their misleading cherrypicked memo written by their own staff, which contains significant inaccuracies and omissions that misrepresent the underlying tense. Associate intelligence. Associate attorney general quoted, and i quote, we believe it would be extraordinarily reckless for the committee to disclose such information publicly without giving the department and the f. B. I. The opportunity to review the memorandum and to advise the committee of the risk of harm to National Security and to ongoing investigations that could come from the public release. Indeed we do not understand why the committee would possibly seek to disclose classified and Law EnforcementSensitive Information without first conducting without first consulting with the relevant members of the intelligence community. End quote. Mr. Speaker, republicans are doing this in a ridiculous attempt to discredit an entire investigation, which has already found serious a serious effort to attack our democracy. This is a deeply, deeply irresponsible attempt to undermine special muellers investigation, regardless of the profound damage that it does to our democratic constitutions and National Security agencies institutions and National Security agencies. Its offensive to the nation and it is just plain wrong. I would remind my republican colleagues that we are here to uphold the rule of law. Not the rule of trump. And i understand that in this chamber, that there are powerful political incentives to circle the wagons amongst my republican friends, around this white house. But the truth is the truth. And there is nobody, nobody in this country, including the president of the United States, who should be above the law. Mr. Speaker, i would say to my colleagues that when were talking about defending the National Security of our country , what has gone on in this chamber these last few days, in my opinion, is a threat to our National Security. And i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentlelady from wyoming is recognized. Ms. Cheney thank you very much, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i appreciate as always the candor of my colleague, mr. Mcgovern. But i have to say, im having a hard time understanding why it is, when hes so clearly knowledgeable about the damage that c. R. s do to the military, we are today presenting an opportunity for this entire house to stop that process, for this entire house to provide the kind of reliable, secure, sufficient funding that our troops need, and yet i would imagine many colleagues on the other side of the aisle are going to vote no on that. I think its important, though, to recognize some facts, mr. Speaker. The first of those is, for all the talk about a budget agreement, it was the leadership on the other side of the aisle that refused to go to a meeting at the white house a couple of months ago. Pulled out completely of the talks last year. It was also, with all due respect, mr. Speaker, the leadership of the other side of the aisle, the democrat leadership, that shut the government down two weeks ago. So its awfully hard, im sure, to be able to convince constituents back home that they really want to get this job done and get things moving, when they continue to stop the process, to come up to gum up the works and to even shut down the government. Mr. Speaker, i know that every member of this body cares deeply about the u. S. Troops. And i know that every member of this body wants whats right for this nation. But theres a big difference between having the luxury of talking about support for the troops and actually voting for the funds they need to do their job. Talk does not buy equipment. Talk does not get our planes back in the air. Talk does not provide pay raises for our troops. Talk does not provide the kind of protection our service men and women need, the equipment that they need to do their job. Talk does not roll back russia or china or iran or north korea. For that the pentagon needs money. And the only way that our military will get money is if we appropriate it. If we break the cycle of continuing resolutions and pass this appropriations bill. With that, mr. Speaker, id like to yield five minutes to my dear friend and colleague from the rules committee, mr. Byrne from alabama. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Byrne i thank the gentlelady for yielding. And i appreciate all the work she does on behalf of our nations military men and women. Mr. Speaker, here we are again. Once again this house will vote to fully fund our nations military and critical National Security programs. I have said this many times before, but ill continue saying it because the point is so very important. The global threat environment facing the United States today is greater than at any time since the conclusion of world war ii. North korea is continuing to build its Nuclear Weapon program, which poses a direct threat to the United States and our Service Members stationed abroad. Terrorist groups like isis and al qaeda may be weakened in iraq and syria, but their influence continues to spread in other areas throughout the middle east and africa. The situation in afghanistan is deeply concerning. Look no further than the recent wave of attacks by the taliban in kabul. Chinas continuing to build up its military and exert aggression in the south china sea. Russia and putin remain emboldened as they take provocative actions in ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe and even in the pacific. Other countries continue to catch up to our nations capability in the space domain. Iran is showing more and more involvement in the middle east and continues to support terrorist groups that threaten our allies like israel. Not to even mention the evolving and serious threats posed to the United States by state actors and rogue actors when it comes to cybersecurity. Despite so many real and wide ranging threats, our military has not received the funding that is necessary to keep up. As the gentlelady said, we have the Smallest Army since before world war ii. The Smallest Navy since before world war i. And the smallest and oldest air force we have ever had. The military does not work like a spigot. You cant just turn it on when a crisis happens and expect everything to work and all our Service Members to be ready. Training takes time and building equipment takes even more time. We have to prepare now for the crisis of tomorrow. The commandant of the marine corps put it best when he said, marines dont get ready when the crisis occurs. The instability of the current fiscal environment, compounded by current shortfalls in our operation and maintenance account, impact our ability to maintain a ready bench. Secretary of the air force also recently stated that we are stretching the force to the limit and we need to start turning the corner on readiness. I could go on for hours talking about the real changes facing our military. But instead of looking back i want this congress to look ahead and solve these problems instead of just continually talking about them. This defense funding bill includes 659. 2 billion in fullyear funding for the department of defense. That includes increases in military operations and maintenance accounts. That includes a 2. 4 pay raise for our troops, which would be the largest in eight years. That includes increased funding for Missile Defense systems and programs which are so important given the threat posed by north korea. That includes funding for 11 new navy ships, including three combat ships which are built in part by a business in my district. That includes critical funding for training and readiness operations. That also includes muchneeded money for research and development to ensure our military continues to have the most innovative and state of the art equipment at their disposal. All told, this bill would be a landmark step toward rebuilding our military, standing up to our adversaries, and supporting the men and women who work every single day to keep the American People safe. Now, i know, i hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle saying that this bill has no chance in the senate. Well, i dont understand why our colleagues in the senate would want would not want to fund our military. I have a strong rebuttal to that argument. If the senate wants to add nondefense programs to this bill, or make changes, then they should take this bill up, make whatever changes or additions they desire, and send the bill back over to the house. It simply makes no sense to just declare this bill dead and not take a vote on it. I intend to talk to my two home state senators about passing this bill. And i expect they will be supportive of this effort. Because they understand the need to fund our nations military. But i reject the notion that we shouldnt be passing this bill and sending it over to the senate. Im tired of the senate not acting on our government funding bills and i think we should keep sending funding bills over there until they take one up and actually pass it. This ridiculous crisis of funding our government from one crisis to the next must end. So, mr. Speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and once again send a military funding bill over to the senate. Here in the house we must continue to fulfill one of our most basic responsibilities outlined in the constitution. To provide for the common defense. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is yielded an additional 30 seconds. Mr. Byrne with this funding bill, we we can move back toward a poffings we can move back toward a poffings peace through strength and we can keep position of peace through strength and we can keep our American Families safe. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, i would just respond to my colleagues my colleague from wyoming saying, you know, talk will not fund our military, talk will not upgrade our military equipment. I agree. Nobodys asking you guys to talk. Were asking you to do your job. Were asking you to go and sit down with republicans and democrats and work out a deal in the budget caps. Because in order to do any of this stuff we have to know how much we can spend. Before you go shopping, you have to know how much youre going to spend. And i know, you know, my republican friends dont want to take responsibility for what is clearly incompetence. But the bottom line is, in the senate, the Senate Defense appropriations subcommittee has even marked up their defense appropriations bill. The last time i checked, the republicans controlled the senate. I wish they didnt. But the republicans control the senate. As you know, my colleague from wyoming knows, that bills dont move in the house or the Senate Without the Republican Leadership moving it. So, i mean, i think it is clear that this republican controlled government cant do its job. And november cant come soon enough for me. Because i think there needs to be a major change here. We need people in charge who understand that the American People come first. Not some rightwing ideology who understands that when meaning that the American People comes first means doing your job. Mr. Speaker, were going to urge that my colleagues vote to defeat the previous question. And i will give a little explanation why. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend President Trump tweeted that he wants to show that, quote, democrats do not want to solve daca, only use it, end quote. Well, i would beg to differ. This is the 19th this is the 19th time that we have attempted to bring the bipartisan bill, h. R. 3440, the dream act, for a vote on the house floor. And if we defeat the previous question, we will bring that bill up. We have made our position clear. We want immigration policies that make america safer, without betraying our core values as a nation. President trump made his position clear as well. He has tweeted and said time and time again, i quote, my standard is very simple America First and make America Great again. End quote. Exactly what does he mean by America First . According to the conservative cato institute, repealing daca would cost the government over 60 billion. And would reduce Economic Growth by 280 billion over the next decade. That doesnt sound like an America First policy know. So if we defeat the previous question, i will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up h. R. 3440, the dream act. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would help hundreds of thousands of young people who are american in every way except on paper. I regret very much that the leadership in this house has refused time and time again to allow us to debate and deliberate on this issue. We have a bill called the dream act. It was brought to the floor. It would pass if it was brought to the floor it would pass overwhelmingly. Every democrat would support it and i bet a big chunk of republicans would support it as well. And we could end this once and for all. But the Republican Leadership is so pathetically terrified of their of a narrow, xenophobic, billing toed bigoted element of their base that they cannot bring themselves to allowing us to even consider such a bill. And i regret that very much. Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the record along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Mcgovern and to discuss our proposal, i yield four minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. Gonzalez. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized for four minutes. Mr. Gonzalez mr. Speaker, i ask my colleagues to vote no on the previous question so that we can immediately bring the dream act to the floor. I stand before you today with a reopened government ready to transform discussion into action. This is the 19th time, 19th time we have requested a vote on the dream act. Ngress did not create this emergency. This is a mere negotiation emergency. This is a mere negotiation tactic brought about by actions of a single man. The time for tactics is over. Now is the time to put your vote to work and break the deadlock issue. Were a nation of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. A great man once said, the american is opened not only to receive the opulent and stranger, but the repressed and persecuted of all nations and religions, whom we should welcome with our rights and privileges. That man was george washington, mr. Speaker. Our countrys first president. Let us take a moment to reflect on this and how president washington saw our country. George washington would welcome an opulent and respected stranger. Like folks from norway. However, we should also welcome the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and all religions in the world. Compare George Washingtons word to President Trumps who said, i do business with the mexican people. But you have people coming to the border from all over. And they are bad. They are really bad. You have people coming in and aim not just saying mexicans, im talking about people that are from all over o, killers and rapists, that come into this country. Please, mr. Speaker, do not let this era be known as the day that america surrendered. Do not let our country go down the path of religious persecution. Do not let our country fall to the dictates of convenience. The United States of america sets the tone for the rest of the world. The others, mr. Speaker, if we do not help the less fortunate than us, who can we count on . Its not easy to say no, mr. Speaker. Its easy to surrender. Its a rare occasion where an easy choice is the right choice. It is up to us, the leaders of to take the hard path, the path taken by our ancestors. About 800,000 young people country, also o take the hard known as dreamers, are facing an uncertain future. Many criticize how daca was created. Some may even criticize the granting after status quo on immigrants. I say this is unamerican. I say these to these critics, it is time to become problem solvers for our country. We only have a few days left under the current continuing resolution to pass a bill that provides Daca Recipients a pathway to citizenship. We made a promise to the American People and to 800,000 dreamers who are american in every way except on paper. To all the dreamers, i want you to know that i stand with you. Today i call on every member of congress to remember that were a nation founded by immigrants. I call on you to give these dreamers a chance. Lets get it done. I yield back the balance of my time. The eaker pro tempore gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlelady from wyoming is recognized. Ms. Cheney thanks very much, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have seen on display and this debate exactly the problem. And frankly its despicable, mr. Speaker. Were in a situation where our colleagues on the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlelady from wyoming the the aisle are holding hostage funding for our troops over the issue of illegal immigration. And there is no other way to describe it. There is no other way i cant put into words the people watching im sure have seen it on the floor right now. If my colleagues feel so strongly about support for the troops, there is a very easy answer. And that answer is, to vote for this bill. To vote to support this appropriation. Not to try to divert attention, not try to talk about other issues, not to try to talk about the extent to which we havent reached a deal. We have a bill, were putting it on the floor, it funds the troops, it ends the damage thats been done by the continuing resolutions. And they ought to vote for it. We ought to pass it. Our colleagues in the senate should do the same. They cannot at the same time say that they support our troops, they support resources for the troops, and then go through all these contergses trying to explain why contour shuns contour shuns trying to explain why it is what it is on this issue. The senate right now is either incapable or unable of doing its constitutional duty does not absolve us in this house of the obligation to do ours. And that is to provide funding and resources for the u. S. Military. It is absolutely a broken system. Were in a situation where i would ask my colleagues to think as they are arguing on this floor, debating on this floor today, about the parents of men and women who are deployed. To think about what this debate must sound like to them. To think about trying to explain to them why it is when we have a bill that provides the funding the military needs, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are going to vote no because of some budget process, budget procedure, because negotiations over daca, because of any other reason under the sun they can imagine. Vote yes on this bill. Vote yes for this rule. We can move on and deal with these other issues. Mr. Speaker, none of those other issues will matter. If we fail to do whats right for the military, none of those other issues will matter. Mr. Speaker, with that i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady issues will matter. If we fail to do whats right for reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, i really appreciate the people who write the republican talking points because they keep on trying to change the subject to try to confuse the American People. My colleague knows that this battle is not over the dreamers. Although we all think its immoral that these young people have been treated so terribly and cruelly. We believe that there needs to be a resolution to that. The bottom line is we need to caps so we know how much we can spend on not only defense but nondefense appropriations so we can keep our government running. And this should have been done months ago. And so if we really care about our troops, then where is the bipartisan agreement to raise the budget caps . So that we know we have a budget deal. Where is this caps so we know how much bipartisan agreement . My republican friends have known that this is the deal for a long time. And yet again they are tied in knots because they are fighting amongst themselves. Their right wing is having a battle with the extreme white rite wing, and there is even an extreme right wing that does not want to raise any nondefense spending budget caps, but want to cut domestic spending. I would say to my colleagues that this is about more than the dreamers. This is about Community Health centers. People rely on Community HealthCenters Across this country to get their health care. Were not dealing with that. This is about funding our veterans. The men and women who serve our country have been put who have put their lives we put their lives in harms way. Make sure that their budget is funded . Homeland security. Its a whole bunch of stuff here. This is really simple to fix. It requires the Republican Leadership and this republican government to do its job. Thats all were asking. Do your job. Negotiate a deal for a budget agreement to fund the government for the rest of the year. Then were done. And we go on to fight other things. But is there an easy way to o do this . Come up with some numbers. Work it out with your leadership. Work it out with our leadership, and lets move this. With that i reserve my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from wyoming is recognized. Ms. Cheney i think if my colleague on the other side of the aisle spent more time focused on doing his job and less time on telling us to do ours, we would be in a lot better shape. I think the American People deserve to know whats going on in these budget negotiations. Whats going on in these budget negotiations, mr. Speaker, is the leadership on the other side of the aisle continues to move the goal posts. They enjoy this political fight and dance. They enjoy the sense they can hold us hostage, they can hold the troops hostage. They seem to not have any concern at all about the fact that were now 30 of the way through the fiscal year and our troops have not been funded. Behind closed doors whats going on is moving the goal posts. Its lucy and the football. They want to continue playing these games. I would suggest that my colleague on the other side of the aisle ought to turn his focus and attention on his own leadership and ask them to do their job. In the meantime, mr. Speaker, were in a position where were, today, considering a bill that will fund the military. And i applaud my colleagues efforts to try again and again and again to make the case that he believes in funding the military, he believes we ought to have a full year appropriation, he believes we got to get out from under the c. R. And therefore hes going to vote no on this bill. It takes focus and attention and talent to be able to do that. I applaud that effort. The reality is the reality, mr. Speaker. Were in a position today where we have the opportunity to vote to fund the troops and we ought to do that. Mr. Speaker, id like to inquire whether or not my colleague on the other side is prepared to close. If he has additional speakers. Im prepared to close as well. Ill reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, let me say again the republicans are in charge. And i wish we were in the majority. Created this mess, the republicans would have every right to criticize us. Were not in charge. I created this regret that very. I think its not good for the country that we have a Republican House and Republican Senate and republican president because i think a lot of the priorities of the American People are not being addressed. But all the Republican Leadership needs to do is get together and do their job and negotiate a deal on the budget caps and let us approve defense and nondefense spending for the rest of the year and get away from these c. R. s. It is in their hands. As i said, the Senate Subcommittee on defense appropriations hasnt even had a markup in their committee. They are controlled by republicans. You cant blame us for everything. Bottom line s. You are in charge. When you line is, when you are in charge. When you are in charge you have to keep the lights on. Thats your responsibility. Unfortunately my republican friends dont want to do this. I have never, ever seen this kind of incompetence in government ever in all my years. This has to end. And again the way it ends is when the Republican Leadership decides to negotiate a budget agreement with the house and senate leaders, republicans and alike. S, we all believe that we ought to support our military. We ought to make sure we have the best military. Second to none. We want to fund that. But we also understand that it is important to fund we all belt we ought to support our the department of Homeland Security which protects us from terrorist attacks here at home. Im sorry my republican friends dont see that as a priority. We also believe we ought to fund veterans health. I sorry my republican im sorry my republican friends dont see that as a priority. We believe in making sure that our states have the money to be able to rebuild their agenting infrastructures. Im sorry aging infrastructures. Priority. Thats not a i dont think its too much to ask the leadership of this house and senate to make sure everything is funded and that the needs of the entire country are met. And not kind of picking one over another over another. The other thing is i would say if we want to have a talk about National Security, we ought to focus on whats happening right here with the republicans and House Intelligence Committee playing politics with an investigation into russias attack on our democracy. You ought to be concerned about a president of the United States who doesnt seem at all worried that the russians interfered in our election, that according to his own c. I. A. Head says there is still they are still trying to interfere in our election. We cant even get this president to impose congressionally mandated sanctions. Is there anything that russia can do to us that this will cause this president to stand up and defend our country . Or even Say Something mildly critical about putin who he raises . A man who kills journalists and human rights defenders and political opponents . Enough. Stop this politicization of this of the russia investigation. This should be bipartisan. Getting to the bottom of this. And wherever it leads, it leads. But this is serious. You want to talk about a threat to our country and homeland, democracy, look what russias doing to us each and every day. Finally, mr. Speaker, i would urge my colleagues to vote no on the previous question so that we can bring up the dream act, so we can actually protect these wonderful people who have been such great members of our community, who have been first responders, who have saved lives in the aftermath of hurricanes, who serve in our military. We have to stop holding them for ransom. They are not hostages. We ought to stop holding them for ransom for a stupid wall that costs 25 billion. When you think about 25 billion, i can think of a lot of things to do with 25 bill that can help the people of this country rather than building a ridiculous wall that somebody climb over der to or shovel to dig under. Vote no on the previous question. Vote no on this rule, and send a message to the leadership of this house, get back to work and do your jo climb over or shovel to dig under. Vote no on the previousb. Youre in charge. Its your job to keep this government running. Work out a deal on the budget cap. Fund everything. Thats your job. With that i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore members are reminded to address their remarks to the chair. The gentleman from massachusetts, do you yield back . Mr. Mcgovern yes, i do. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentlelady from wyoming is recognized. Ms. Cheney thank you very much, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some things are complicated. But this one isnt. Our colleagues, if they are so concerned about the National Security of this nation, theres a very easy thing for them to do and that is to vote for this defense appropriations bill. It is really important for us as were having this at the bait to remember the facts debate to remember the facts. And the facts of the budget negotiation are that it was the democrat leadership that walked away from the table and stalled the negotiations. It was the democrat leadership, mr. Speaker, that shut down the government. And so the republicans right now , understanding and recognizing how crucial it is for us to get the Defense Department out from these damaging continuing resolutions, to provide them with sufficient, secure funding, reliable funding, we are moving a clean defense appropriations bill. And our colleagues on the other side of the aisle can, you know, yell all they want about having us do our job and, mr. Speaker, i appreciate that. Our job, our most important job, our job that is crucial and sacred above all others is to provide funding and resources for the military of this nation. Thats what this bill does. Thats when why thats why we are today presented with an opportunity to do the right thing. With this bill, with a vote in support of this rule, and a vote in support of the uptodate lying bill, we can in support of the underlying bill, we can begin to reverse the damage of the last seven years. Its time, mr. Speaker, to stop with these political games. It is time to stop moving the goal post. It is time to stop holding defense spending hostage to illiam hostage, to illegal immigration issues holding defense spending hostage. Its time to stop. Our troops are on the front lines fighting and dying for us and our actions in this body are putting them at greater risk. It is not, mr. Speaker, as though we can sit here and fail to act and were just delaying. Our failure to act is putting our men and women in uniform at greater risk. Our failure to act is aiding our adversaries. And i would urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, frankly, to look in the mirror and to recognize that they are the ones right now that hold the key, as do the members of the United States senate, to making sure that we get these resources to our men and women in uniform. I would say once again, mr. Speaker, if we fail to do this, if we fail to do our constitutional duty, nothing else we do matters. There are no other individuals in this nation who are charged the way we are with providing for the common defense. And it is an individual duty and obligation of every single one of us. Mr. Speaker, id like to call to mind the words spoken by Ronald Reagan 35 years ago. As we engage in the political theater that my colleague on the other side of the aisle mentioned in this house, it needs to stop. And we need to remember whats important. Ronald reagan said, and i quote, it is up to us in our time to choose and choose wisely between the hard but necessary task of preserving peace and freedom, and the temptation to noirg our duty and blind to ignore our duty and blindly hope for best while the enemies for the best while the enemies of freedom grow stronger day by day. Mr. Speaker, it is truly up to us. It is an individual obligation on each member of this body. Therefore, i urge adoption of both the rule and the Senate Amendments to h. R. 695. I yield back the balance of my time and move the previous question on the resolution. The speaker pro tempore the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern i ask for the yeas and nays, please. The speaker pro tempore the yeas and nays are requested. All those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. A sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of adoption of the resolution. This is a 15minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 232 and the nays are 187. The previous question is the question is on the previous question is ordered. The question is on adoption of the resolution. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Mcgovern on that i ask for a recorded vote. The speaker pro tempore a recorded vote is requested. Those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. A sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a 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 236 and the nays are 183. The resolution is adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. For what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i rise today to ask unanimous consent that i may here after be considered as the first sponsor of h. R. 1098, a bill originally introduced by my great friend, representative pat tiberi of ohio, for the purposes of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule 12. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. Members will please take their conversations off the floor. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition . Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the clerk will report the for what purpose does the gentlelady seek recognition . Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, i call up the bill h. R. 695, with the Senate Amendments thereto and i have a motion at the desk. The speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill and designate the Senate Amendments and designate the motion. The clerk h. R. 695, an act to amend the National Child protection act of 1993, to establish a National Criminal history background check system, and criminal history review program for certain individuals who, related to their employment, have access to children, to elderly, or individuals with disabilities and for other purposes. Senate amendment. Motion offered by ms. Granger of texas. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to House Resolution 714, the motion shall be debatable for one hour, equally divide and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on appropriations. The gentlewoman from texas, ms. Granger, and the gentleman from indiana, mr. Visclosky, each will control 30 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, once again i stand before you today to ask for your support to pass fiscal year 2018 defense appropriations bill. Its past time that this essential, mustpass funding bill for our military be enacted into law. Congress must act responsibly and do its job to quickly get these dollars out the door and where theyre needed as soon as possible. The legislation before you provides 659 billion for defense, more than 60 billion , when st years levels combined with the almost 5 billion enacted into law in deals. This bill matches the topline funding level in the final National Defense authorization act enacted into law. All federal dollars are not the same. We need to provide and prioritize National Security after years of neglect and increasingly Dangerous International situation an increasingly Dangerous International situation. Nor can we continue to hold our troops hostage for unrelated issues. We are almost four months into fiscal year 2018 and our troops still dont have their funding. Its time that the Congress Fulfill its responsibility to fund our troops at the levels needed. Its time to lift the budget caps and enact a fullyear defense appropriation act so that our military can begin to rebuild. This bill does that by lifting the budget caps on defense and fully funding the department at the top line already approved by the congress in the Defense Authorization act. It takes care of our troops by providing additional man power 2. 4 ly funding a a pay raise and it provides additional funding for key readiness programs and robust robustly funds maintenance of equipment and facilities. The bill includes specific investments in several areas. Such as air superiority, a 4. 3 billion above request, ship building, 1. 6 billion above request, research and development, 10 billion above 017, Defense Health additional 644 million for medical research, and grants forces fully equipped. The bill also provides Additional Resources in a National DefenseRestoration Fund in the amount of 28. 6 billion, to allow secretary mattis to begin investing in the new Defense Strategy now instead of waiting a full year. This bill gives our military leaders a sufficient, sustainable and Stable Funding they have told us over and over again that they need. The house has done its job more than once to fund our troops at the levels they need, only to have the senate fail to act. Congress must step up and fulfill its most fundamental constitutional responsibility, which is to ensure our troops, that they have what they need to defend our nation. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. The gentleman from indiana is recognized. Mr. Visclosky mr. Speaker, i would yield myself such time as i may consume and ask unanimous consent that my full remarks are entered into the record. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Visclosky i would first want to start by associating myself with the remarks of my chairwoman and suggest to this body that it is time for congress to begin to govern and run the day to day operations of the government of the United States in a timely fashion. Mr. Speaker, this is the third iteration of the fiscal year 2018 defense appropriations act that has been brought to the floor. I, for one, have nothing more to say about the merits of this legislation that would not be redundant. House, i do want to reiterate my profound respect for the exceptional work that has been put into this legislation time and time again by chairwoman granger, all of the members of our subcommittee, and our great staff. 1day, january 30, congress is 1 2 days late. Were 122 days past the start of the current fiscal year. 122 days past the time that the legislation were considering today for the third time should have been completed, conferenced, and signed into law. Mr. Speaker, we have a number problem. As an appropriator i ask for a number to craft a bill that by law does not violate the budget control act. We need a number so that chairwoman granger, our subcommittee members, and i can make decisions on how best to move forward so our military leaders are not hindered and forced to comply with constraints of continuing resolutions. As an appropriator, all i want is a number. Give us a number and we will finish our work for this fiscal year and give certainty that has been repeatedly asked for by the department of defense and our 17 intelligence agencies. Unfortunately, operating under the fourth continuing resolution and passing essentially the same defense appropriation measure for a third time does nothing, nothing to solve the number problem. Nor does it remedy the slight inconvenience that this bill control act dget by 35 billion. Todays legislation does recognize this inconvenience by obviating control act by 35 billion. Sequestration, s thats what passes as budget control in these days in this congress. Some may say that we must pass this bill today to support our men and women in uniform. I would respond by saying that todays 60 minutes of theater continues to avoid meaningfully addressing the needs of our troops. If we were serious about that, we would have solved our number problem and allowed the chair and ranking of the full committee, the chair and subcommittee chairs and ranking to ers of all 12 committees negotiate a realistic budget figure last summer so that we could complete our bill last september. That would be helping our troops. To i would also add that if we dont agree to an overall domestic discretionary number, we will continue to disinvest in the true security of this nation, our people. We need a domestic number so we can make decisions and give direction to all federal agencies so they can plan on how to best invest in our national economy, jobs, and the health and prosperity of our people. The International Trade commission needs direction so they can fully enforce our trade laws, customs and Border Security needs direction. This government needs timely decisions and certainty. According to the department of defense, 71 of people age 17 to 24 years of age in the United States would fail to qualify for military enlistment because of physical or Mental Health issues, low educational scores, or major criminal convictions. General joseph dunnford, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has testified that the strength of the United States military is a direct reflection of the strength of u. S. Society. I would propose that improving the strength of our country is not just a robust defense number that i desperately want. We need a robust domestic number that allows for the critical investments necessary for the success of our economy, the creation of jobs, and for the people of this country. Our number problem is solvable. Give us a negotiated budget number so we can stop wasting everybodys time and the money of the american taxpayers. Then we can truly start supporting the strength of our National Security, our troops, and our national economy. And i would maintain the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from texas is recognized. Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, i yield four minutes to the chairman of the full committee, rodney frelinghuysen, from new jersey. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Frelinghuysen i thank the chairwoman from texas for the time and leadership on National Security and intelligence issues. Id like to thank all members of the subcommittee, republicans and democrats, and the staff for their hard work to assure defense and intelligence funding and also for their work on a variety of continuing resolutions that relate to the same. Mr. Chairman, i rise once again to support this appropriations bill for defense. Just asdy in july and again in september. I visited our troops in iraq twice last year. I visited our troops in july just as i did in july and again in september. I viltsed our troops in iraq twice last year. Can i tell you from those experiences our nations competitive military advantage is badly eroding and our allies and partners and adversaries know it. So how have we responded . The reality is not well enough. In fact, we pushed our military towards its breaking point. Instead of upgrading our hardware, we have allowed our equipment to age. Instead of arming our troops for tomorrows fight, we have left them let them being underequipped. Instead of right sizing our armed forces, we reduced their size. We ask a great deal of our men and women in uniform. We ask them to leave their families to complete difficult training. We ask them to move from duty station to duty station without complaint. Ask them to tolerate long deployments far from home. We ask them to carry out Dangerous Missions in dangerous corners of the world. We ask them to reenlist with their families to preserve the strength of our armed forces. Every passing day of reduced military funding levels creates an ever increasing risk for our men and women on the frontlines. We should not ask them to continue to do more with less. This full year defense appropriations bill needs to be enacted now. May i say the other 11 Appropriations Bills as well. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from indiana is recognized. Mr. Visclosky i yield four minutes to the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. Lowey, the Ranking Member on the full committee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, first id like to say a few words about the retirement of my chairman, rodney frelinghuysen. Chairman frelinghuysen has carried out his responsibilities with fairness, earnestness, and its been such a pleasure to serve as Ranking Member during his chairmanship. I look forward, however, to working together for the remainder of this year on our shared goal, bipartisan, and responsible full year funding for all discretionary investments. Today were considering the f. Y. 201 defense appropriations bill. 2018 defense appropriations bill, for the third time. Time wasted consequence of an agreement between the speak earn republicans, the third time and rightwing republicans, the third time. Last week Republican Leadership kicked the can down republicansd passed yet another continuing resolution. Delaying investments in our military, education, infrastructure, and biomedical research. And so much more. Yet again the bill before us removes congresswoman barbara lees amendment to debate a new authorization for use of military force, which received bipartisan support in the Appropriations Committee markup. This undemocratic maneuver, which the majority has repeated once again, is outrageous. In addition to the many procedural inequities, the majoritys effort to increase defense spending is a mirage. Because the bill would turn off sequestration for defense in f. Y. 18, allowing republicans to violate the spirit of our budget laws and increase defense spending while ignoring other investments that grow our economy, create jobs, and further provide for our security. This is hardly about fiscal responsibility. If it were, the majority would eliminate the seven slush funds 28. 6 bill that equals billion for a department that would receive far more than it requested. Four months into the fiscal year the federal government is irresponsibly operating on the fourth continue continuing resolution. We do not have an agreement on top line spending numbers, let alone an omnibus spending package ready when the current c. R. Runs out next week on february 8. So, my friends, this is not the time to pat ourselves on the back for a job welldone. On the contrary, we should be settling down and working together to pass spending bills for f. Y. 18. If the majority were serious about funding our military, they would move forward to a full year, bipartisan, omnibus that pass both chambers. Instead, they continue to show their inability to govern by leading us down a path that will require pass both chambers. Ano detrimental to our men and women in uniform. I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill. Yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from texas is recognized. Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the chairman of the state foreign operations subcommittee, hal rogers from contract c the speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Rogers i thank the gentlelady for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, i rise today in 2018 d. O. D. Is appropriations bill. Although i am proud to support this critical legislation, i will say that i am disappointed to be d. O. D. Appropriations bill. Although i am proud to here yetn support of the d. O. D. Appropriations bill, as we again seek its passage in the house. Despite chairman frelinghuysens herculean efforts to complete all 12 bills on time, and passing several packages that included the defense bill, the senate refuses to act. Recently saw the effects of this when the government shut down put great stress on the backs of our Service Members this when and their families. Mr. Speaker, its time that we push aside partisanship and do whats right for the country. And for our National Security by passing this bill. While it certainly represents the outcome of many hard choices, it prioritizes funding where our troops need it most. It wisely invests in readiness, training, maintenance, and procurement of new equipment and technology to ensure that our troops are prepared for the tasks before them. Im pleased that this bill takes care of our troops and their families at home by granting them a long awaited 2. 4 pay raise. Our nation has been at war for nearly two decades and our Service Members have put their lives on the line to ensure that we can live our way of life. This raise represents just one small way for us to honor their service. Mr. Speaker, they say that the third time is the charm. And i hope this holds true here. After the house passes the bill, i urge the senate to do so as wellle so that the president can sign this bill into law. According to the constitution it is the Congress Responsibility to provide for our common defense. This bill does just that. I urge my colleagues to vote yes and i yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Visclosky i yield he two minutes to the gentlewoman from minnesota, ms. Mccollum, a member of the defense subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Mrk column thank you, mr. Speaker. Ms. Mccollum thank you, mr. Speaker. Here we are again. The government is working with shortterm continuing resolutions and as we approach another deadline to fund the government next week the republican majority is spending time to vote for a third time on a defense appropriations bill that will not pass in the senate. The most basic fundamental responsibility of congress is to provide adequate and timely funding for the entire federal government, both our National Defense and our domestic priorities for a full fiscal year. The fact that this bill is on the floor for a third time highlights the absolute failure of the republican majority to advance a responsible budget process. Mr. Speaker, voting on the same bill three times is the very definition of playing political games. The American People deserve better than this continuing republican chaos. Democrats and republicans agree. We agree that defense spending is vitally important. But so is funding education, transportation, health care, and all the other federal programs that all americans and our military and their families include and depend upon. If anyone doubts the harmful impacts of the endless stopgap spending bills, perhaps they should listen to our secretary of defense, and i quote. For far too long we have asked our military to carry out a success at any cost attitude as they worked tirelessly to accomplish the mission with now inadequate and misaligned resources simply because the congress could not maintain regular order. If republicans are serious about supporting our military, they should heed the secretarys warning, work with democrats on bipartisan budget agreement to fund the entire government for the rest of the year. I have been ready. Democrats have been ready for months to work across the aisle to advance this process. It is long past time. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from texas is recognized. Ms. Granger i yield two minutes to the chair of the interior subcommittee, ken calvert from california. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Calvert mr. Speaker, i rise in strong support of this measure to fund the department of defense for fiscal year 2018. Today marks the 122nd day that our military has gone without funding for fiscal year 2018. Like the rest of the federal government, it has been forced to operate on a c. R. For the past four months. Secretary of Defense James Mattis explained the impacts of operating under a c. R. , particularly those related to readiness and maintenance. They include a scaled back Training Exercise across the services. The delayed introduction of 11 ships by the United States navy. The postponement of noncritical Maintenance Work orders by the department of the army. Hiring and recruitment. Rising acquisition costs due to the c. R. A c. R. Means no new starts and impacts to current readiness and future plans are disastrous. This must stop. Todays passage of this bill marks, as was pointed out, the third time we have passed the f. Y. 2018 defense appropriation bill in some form. Lets hope the third time is the charm. I commend chairman frelinghuysen and chairwoman granger on their tireless persistence and relentless determination on behalf of the u. S. Service members. The bill provides robust funding for shipbuilding, aviation, combat vehicles, and more. It invests in our greatest assets, the men and women who wear the uniform through increased funds for training, equipment, and the best health care. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I implore the senate to act, and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from indiana is recognized. Mr. Visclosky mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. Kaptur, the Ranking Member on energy and water subcommittee and also a member of the defense subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Ms. Kaptur mr. Speaker, groundhog day isnt until friday, but here we are again voting for the third time in seven months on a defense bill that will go in the hole, nowhere. We are nine days out from the threat of another shutdown, and four months into the fiscal year of 2018 which started last october 1. Yet, we still have no budget framework from our republican friends and their socalled leadership. Nothing to direct appropriators on what numbers from which to negotiate funding for the entirety of the government, not just defense, not just this account. Instead, Republican Leadership wastes important precious time to debate a bill that has already passed this Chamber Twice before. Meanwhile, our republican colleagues forced the entire government to run on autopilot for about a third of the fiscal year and trumpet their claim that only they prioritize the military. How can anyone take this seriously . Republicans have provided no overall road map of a funding strategy for the federal government. They fail to agree within their own caucus on funding priorities, leading them incapable to even begin to negotiate with democrats and as a result law dictates a defense funding level of 549 billion. Thats a lot of money. Half a trillion. But here we are debating for the third time an astounding 659 billion for defense. Thats 110 billion more. Hmm. We can all agree that funding defense is a priority but so are pensions, Community Health centers, federal work force training, the opioid crisis, keeping our waters clean, domestic security. Well, the list goes on and each deserves attention. Why are we voting on a lopsided bill that blows up budget caps . This is a partisan side show that attempts to mask Republican Party dysfunction. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. Ms. Kaptur this is not leadership. I would ask for an additional 15 seconds. Mr. Visclosky i would grant the gentlewoman another 30 seconds. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized. Ms. Kaptur mr. Speaker, i urge my colleagues to once again oppose this partisan talking point and demand action on an agreement to fund the entire government for the remaining part of this fiscal year. We have little more than a week to secure a plan for the remainder of 2018. But it may be a road too far if republicans dont come to the table to talk among themselves seriously and then be willing to negotiate with this side of the aisle. I yield back my remaining time and i thank the gentleman, congressman visclosky, for yielding me this time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from texas is recognized. Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the chairman of the Homeland Security subcommittee judge john carter from texas. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Carter i thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I rise in support of this defense appropriations bill which will provide fullyear funding for the Defense Department so they can continue to effectively defend our country from an everexpanding threat which exists in the world today. This bill ends uncertainty and ineffectiveness of a continuing resolution, allows the d. O. D. To plan and execute on the things they need to do today, not last year. Our military needs to modernize, to face new threats they will face in this world and they cant do that with a c. R. This bill lifts sequestration caps which have, to paraphrase secretary mattis, caused more harm to our military than any enemy. Lifting these caps for f. Y. 2018 is essential towards improving the readiness of our force. The world is changing rapidly and so is the nature and threat of our military forces and what they e face day what face day and night. We deserve to give them the resources to modernize their capabilities to the best so they can face the threats. Mr. Speaker, our military is the greatest Natural Resource in the country. Im reminded of this every time i visit the great place, fort hood, in my district. Troops at fort hood are currently leading the fight against isis and will benefit from this bill and we owe it to them. We sleep every night under a blanket of freedom they provide through their sacrifice. Im proud to support them and hopeful that we will pass this bill so we can give them what they need right now so they wont face the uncertainty of endless sequestration and c. R. s. I support this bill and encourage my colleagues to support it and it is a current event. Last night, as i flew into washington, d. C. , we carried the remains of an american warrior. It is a current event. We are all responsible for it. We need to get this job done. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from indiana is recognized. Mr. Visclosky mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. Lee, my friend and Senior Member of the Appropriations Committee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Ms. Lee thank you very much. Let me thank the gentleman for yielding and for your tremendous leadership as our Ranking Member on the appropriations subcommittee. Mr. Speaker, i rise in opposition once again to this bill. I think the house has taken it up now for a third time this year. Let me just start by saying i grew up in a military family. Im a military brat. My dad fought in world war ii and in the korean war. He was stationed at among his posts at fort bliss, texas. That ant to say supporting our troops, making sure they have everything they and is extremely important opposing this budget for me, of course, does not reflect my support for our troops. But i just have to tell you, this bill appropriates the 664 billion in defense spending for this already outofcontrol pentagon budget. It also includes more than 75 billion for wars the congress has never debated or voted on. And whats worse, this bill includes 1. 2 billion in overseas Contingency Operations to increase troop levels in afghanistan by 3,500 troops. This is really outrageous and this fund should really be eliminated. Now, the pentagon has failed to achieve the requirement to audit itself by 2017 and we know that billions of dollars have been found in waste, fraud, and abuse. And thats unacceptable. Instead of writing blank checks which is what i think this bill does, another blank check to the pentagon, Congress Needs to live up to its constitutional obligation to complete an audit, first of all, to determine how to make sure we have a rational Defense Budget that protects our National Security and supports our troops, not provide excess contracts that lead to waste, fraud, and abuse. And we also need to debate matters of war and peace. So we need to pass my amendment, which i tried to do quite frankly last year in this very bill that would sunset the 2001 aumf and would give us eight months, not immediately, but eight months to debate and vote on a new one before it would be enacted. It took three days to enact the last one. Thats what the debate was. I am asking for eight months. This important amendment would provide congress plenty of time to do our job and finally have a debate on matters of war and peace. However, even though my amendment passed the Appropriations Committee in a bipartisan fashion, republicans unilaterally decided to strip this amendment from the bill, really, i have to say, in the dead of the night. Mr. Visclosky the gentlewoman for one more minute. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman is recognized for one more minute. Ms. Lee this was very undemocratic and underhanded. This has me wonder, what is the speaker afraid of . I asked my amendment be voted on the house floor and the republicans refused. Its a shame. Our troops deserve to know their country has their back. I voted against the 2001 authorization because i believed it opened the door for any president to wage endless war without a congressional debate or both. Quite frankly, unfortunately, history has borne that out. According to the Congressional Research service report, the 001 aumf has been used in more than 37 times in 14 countries to justify military action. This exam reports unclassified incidents and was conducted three years ago. How many operations were conducted without the knowledge of congress or the American People . These authorizations have also been used to justify perpetual wars that are thousands of miles away. Ill conclude by saying now any president , any president can unilaterally wage war on this outdated authorization, really, until its repealed. Now we have an administration bent on increasing our presence in afghanistan and never leaving syria, both wars that American Public know nothing about so i urge a no vote on this bill and reject this wasteful spending. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves with 12 minutes remaining. Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the chairman of the agriculture subcommittee Robert Aderholt from alabama. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Aderholt thank you, madam chair, and, mr. Speaker, i rise today to urge my colleagues to support this defense appropriation bill. Its been noted here already that a total of 659 brl for a fullyear funding for the department of defense, including 584 billion for base funding, and 75. 1 billion for overseas contingency operation. 2. 4 pay ully funds a raise and supports an increase in troop numbers. When you add the 4. 7 billion in emergency Missile Defense and other funds requested by the president in november, funding for this d. O. D. Appropriation totals 664 billion, fully consistent with the ndaa for f. Y. 2018. The house passed this identical legislation last year in july and again in september. But despite the best efforts of the house, here were again. Were doing this legislation again. The other body has failed. And were operating under the fourth continuing resolution for 2018. Thats the 30th c. R. Or continuing resolution, that congress has passed since january of 2011. The house passed each of the 20. 12 s the 30th c. R. Or appropriation bills in their individual subcommittees each of the 12 appropriation bills in full committee, markup, and each bill hags seen the light of day on the has seen the light of day on the house floor. The other body, mr. Speaker, is a different story. Not one single appropriation 12 on the senate floor. No progress has been made on any individual appropriation bill because the body cant bill has seen the light of seem get them on the calendar. Part of that has been the demand that every administration momee be discussed for a full 30 hours. Something that this Congress Never did under president obama. If going to a 51vote process for appropriation is the only way to break this logjam, then a decision should be made. Im on record forethat idea. As many senators are on that record as well. Mr. Speaker, we find ourself in this situation once again. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Aderholt the only question is will the other body do theirs. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from indiana is recognized. Mr. Visclosky mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from florida, ms. Wasserman schultz, the Ranking Member on the military construction and Veterans Affairs subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Ms. Wasserman schultz i thank the gentleman for yielding. And for his leadership. Particularly his responsible leadership as the Ranking Member of the defense appropriation subcommittee. Mr. Speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the political gambit that the Republican Leadership is pulling today. Virtually identical versions of the defense appropriations bill were considering have already been passed the house twice. The republican majority is so bankrupt of ideas that they are now going around in circles playing political games. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, i strongly support moving Appropriations Bills through the committee and to the floor through regular order. I applaud all of my Committee Colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working in good faith on all 12 Appropriations Bills. But the appropriations process has been hydrogened by republican sleered had and hijacked by Republican Leadership and the ideologues who run the house. Regardless of the outcome of the vote, all appropriation bills will remain stuck in the swamp that is this republican congress. The reason for this holdup is that republicans socalled leaders have refused to work across the aisle toward an agreement on a budget that would prevent the gutting of investments in Vital National priorities from education to infrastructure, from health care to housing, from diplomacy to defense. We need to provide our military with the resources they need, no question about that. Instead, the republican majority is using the Brave Service Men and women who defend our nation as pawns in a partisan crusade that would undermine the nation our troops are defending. The stated republican rationale for their intransigence is they are concerned about the deficit. These are the same republicans who voted to explode the deficit by more than 1. 5 trillion in order to give a huge tax cut to big corporations and top 1 . As each day passes, it becomes more and more clear that the priorities of the republican majority are backward and immoral. Instead of expanding access to Affordable Health care, republicans tried to repeal the Affordable Care act and leave millions uninsured. Instead of investing in the middle class, republicans gave a huge tax giveaway to those who turned their backs on the middle class. Instead of building on bipartisan efforts to advance reasonable reforms to our immigration system, republicans are trying to tear apart families and close the door on aspiring americans. Instead of responsibly funding National Priorities, republicans are playing political games to distract from their failure to govern. Instead of investing in all of our people, republicans are pitting us against each other to deflect the plame blame from where it belongs, with the party that controls both houses of congress and the white house. This is no way to keep the state of our union safe. This is no way to keep the state of our union strong. I urge my colleagues to oppose this political charade. Lets Work Together to invest in all of our National Priorities and make the state of our union more perfect. Thank you. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the from texas is recognized. Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the chairman of the House Armed Services committee, Mac Thornberry from texas. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Thornberry i thank the gentlelady for yielding and appreciate her strong persistent leadership on behalf of our troops and our nation. Mr. Speaker, in the days leading up to the most recent government shutdown, we heard a number of members, both bodies, on the floor, in the press, say that they were opposed to that continuing resolution because of the damage the continuing resolutions do to the military. It is absolutely true that continuing resolutions do erode our fighting capabilities. This is the chance, the bill that the gentlelady from texas has brought, this is the chance to do it right. This is the chance to fully fund the military for the rest of the fiscal year and get them out of the c. R. Mess. All of those members who came here to the well and have talked to the press and in the other body who express concern about the damage that a c. R. Does, this is the chance to fix that problem by voting for the bill that is before us today. Mr. Speaker, its another opportunity, its an opportunity o remove our troops from the partisan political morass that has seemed to bind them. We just heard in the previous speech everything from health care, taxes, funding for housing, the full panoply of issues. So some members have used all their desire to get an outcome they want on those other issues as an excuse for not funding our military. And more recently we have heard members who say, yes, i know the military needs to be funded, they need more money, but i cant support it until we have the outcome i want on an immigration issue. From taxes and health care and immigration, its all an excuse to not fund the militarys to keep them hostage until those other issues are resolved the way that members want them to be. Mr. Speaker, i just think thats wrong. We need to set our military free of all of the other issues. I may well agree on finding a reasonable solution to the daca issue. I may well agree on more funding for a number of domestic spending programs. But none of them, however important they may be, should be an excuse for failing to support the military so that when they go out and perform the missions our country asks them to perform, they are fully trained, fully supported, equipped with the best this country can offer. Mr. Speaker, i think its important for all of us, whatever committee we serve on, to remember that the men and women who are out there risking eir lives for us do so unconditionally. Whether it is in the mountains of afghanistan, near the d. M. Z. Of korea. Whether they are doing exercises in Eastern Europe or the middle east. They perform their service unconditionally. Our support for them should be unconditional, too. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from indiana is recognized. Mr. Visclosky i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentlelady from texas is recognized. Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to Keith Rothfus from pennsylvania. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Rothfus i thank the chair for yielding. Mr. Speaker, i rise in support of this bill. I said it before, ill say it again. Last summer the house passed all 12 Appropriations Bills before the 2018 fiscal year start on october 1. In those bills we appropriated the funds necessary to equip our Service Members with the resources they need to defend this country. In the face of threats from north korea, china, russia, al qaeda, isis, iran, Cyber Threats just to name a few. Yet our Service Members have been routinely denied access to these resources as Senate Democrats have been holding back the full funding of our armed services. In doing so, they ask our Service Members to go into battle with aging equipments and insufficient resources, risking america. Es to defend just 10 days ago we had another helicopter accident and we lost two pilots who were in an apache. Our men and women in uniform havent even had a modest pay raise in a very long time. Its time to deliver on this commitment. Mr. Speaker, we have the opportunity at times to visit our troops overseas. I had that opportunity at the end of last year to look into the young faces of our men and women over there. They are expecting us to do this. Id like to remind my colleagues across the aisle that our adversaries are on the move. Russia and china are expansionist. Fire off a and iran Ballistic Missiles to our military before its too late. The choice is easy. We either deter our enemies through superior strength, or risk greater conflict by demonstrating weakness. Let me be clear. What we spend on our defenses should not be a function of any other program. It should be a function of the threats our nation faces and what we owe our Service Members in the field. I implore my colleagues across the aisle to fund our military today. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady reserves. The gentleman from indiana is recognized. Mr. Visclosky i would simply close if the point where i began at the point where i began and ask the members of this institution, writ large, the United States congress, both houses, please give the Appropriations Committees numbers for defense and Discretionary Spending so that under the leadership of chairman frelinghuysen and mrs. Lowey in this case under the chairwoman ranger, myself, the other 11 subcommittees, we can finish our work. It is less than two weeks before we will begin fiscal year 2019. I would ask my colleagues please give us those numbers so we can do our work effectively. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yeals. The gentlelady from texas is recognized. Ms. Granger mr. Speaker, as we conclude our remarks, and again call for a vote on this very important bill, i want to express my respect and appreciation for the help of Ranking Member visclosky and certainly for the leadership of appropriations chairman rodney frelinghuysen. I have been fortunate to follow the chairman as chair of defense appropriations and i speak for all who serve on his committee who look to him for leadership and respect him for his service. Extraordinary Public Servant and a model for us all. E thank him. That may be all we have. Mr. Speaker, the time is long past for the congress to fulfill their duty. Irge all members to support this bill. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields. All time for debate has expired. Pursuant to House Resolution 714rks the previous question is ordered. The question is on the motion by the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Granger. So many as are in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. It. Yes have the motion is agreed to. The gentlewoman from texas. Miss Frank Granger mr. Speaker, on ms. Granger on that i request a recorded it. The motion is vote. Does the gentleman request the yeas and nays on where were now . The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman demanding the yeas and nays . Ms. Granger yes. The speaker pro tempore the yeas and nays are requested. Those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. A sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this vote on the adoption of the motion will be followed by a fiveminute vote on suspend the rules and passing h. R. 4292. This is a 15minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 250, the nays are 166. The motion is adopted and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. The Unfinished Business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from colorado, mr. Tipton, to suspend the rules and pass h. R. 4292 as amended. On which the yeas and nays were ordered. The clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk Union Calendar number 45, h. R. 4292, a bill to the living will process under the doddfrank wall street reform and Consumer Protection act. The speaker pro tempore the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. 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 414, the yeas are zero. The bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. The chair announces the speakers appointment pursuant to clause 5a, 4a of rule 10 and thed orer of the house of december 13, 2017, of the physical lowing members of the house to be table serve on the investigative subcommittee of the committee on ethics for the 115th congress in lifingt the elections of mrs. Mimi walters of california and mr. Ratcliffe o the committee on ethics. The clerk ms. Herrera beutler of washington and mr. Thomas j. Rooney of florida. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise . I ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourn today it adjourn to meet at 4 30 p. M. On friday, february 2, 2018 and further, when the house adjourn that day it jdjourn to meet on monday, february 15, when it shall convene at noon for morning hour debate and 2 00 p. M. For legislative business. The speaker pro tempore is there objection . Hearing none, so ordered. After consultation among the speaker an minority and majority leaders, the chair announces when the two houses meet tonight in joint session to hear an a dress of the novet United States only those only the doors immediately opposite the speaker and to his left and right will be open. No one will be allowed on the floor of the house will be allow those opposed, no floor of the house. The rule regarding the privethrofpblge floor must be strictly enforced. Children of the members will not be permit odd then efloor. The practice of purporting to reserve seats by placement of plaque cards or personal items will not be allowed. Chamber security may remove these items from the seats. Members may reserve their seats only by physical presence following the security sweep of the chamber. All members are reminded to reprain from engaging in still photography or audio or video recording in the chamber. Taking unofficial photographs detracts from the dignity of the proceedings and presents security and privacy challenges for the house. Pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, the chair declarest in recess until approximately 8 35 p. M. For the purpose of receiving in