Transcripts For CSPAN House Session 20141211

Thank you for taking my call. This is an example of conservatives saying they will thing, and that is not presented. Bill at the end of the session. An omnibus bill is being debated, and the government will be shut down at midnight. The president wants the bill passed because he does not want to the reached at christmas time, where federal employees will not receive checks before christmas. You can understand the white position, but i understand the democrats position. You are two main rider. Shame on conservatives who just elected a brandnew conservative party to take over the next congress, and this conservative party that is going out will not same one coming in. Thank you, american voters. You have shown the world again how to pick a winner. Tweet here we go to pennsylvania, pat, who also opposes the measure. Are you there . Yes, i do. Yes. Yes. Make sure you meet your television and go ahead with your comment. We are going to have to move on, pat. We go to lexington, kentucky. Hello. I support the bill mainly because harry reid would not call anything up in the senate so we could not get it passed to start with, and i do not know what the democrats are mad about e hillaryhey gavf clinton so much more money to run for president. Is ahe doddfrank bill dead bill anyway. All the democrats will be against it anyway. It is all political, partisan, democrats ands republicans, and we should just vote for it and they can take care of it later. The president did the same thing with the health care bill. And go onto vote it with it and keep the government running. Thank you. A look at what members are tweeting. Representative Maxine Waters is operation. A whip one more Michele Bachmann is retiring from congress. s she and steve king were two of the 16 who voted against the rule earlier today. Out cookie supporting the spending albuquerque supporting the bill. I am a democrat, and i think Elizabeth Warren is ridiculous in front to stop this. If we go with come as you pointed out about the 60day continuation, that will mean the republicans can sit there next year controlling both the house and the senate and got Everything Else that they want and force the president to decide whether or not what he can do, because he cannot override them. So it will put all in the president s hands. We should take what we have for now and fight another day. Thank you. Elizabeth warren needed the charge in the senate against the spending bill, this massive thebus bill, due to provisions related to the dodd frank financial relations law, and in particular about changing regulations dealing with socalled financial swaps. She spoke about it on the Senate Floor Today for about 10 minutes. [video clip] yesterday i came on the fort house progressed to in thevision was flipped last minute to benefit wall street. It was written by lobbyists. That provision means big money for a few big banks. It would let derivatives traders on wall street ramble with taxpayer money. And when it all boils down, require the government to bail them out. Readto be clear, i want to the title of the part of the law that will be repealed if this provision is not stripped out of the omnibus. The title, prohibition against federal government bailouts of swaps entities. That is what is on the table to be taken out of the law. Im here today to ask my republican colleagues who do not want to see another wall street bailout to join in our efforts to strip this wall street giveaway from the bill. This is not about partisanship. This is about fairness. This is about accountability and responsibility. This is about preventing another financial collapse that could again wipe out millions of jobs and take down our whole economy. Street banks want to gamble with their of money, so be it. But let them take their risks with their own money and let them live with the consequences of those risks. That is how markets are supposed to work. But they should not get to gamble with government insured money, and they should not get to run to the government when the deal goes sour. Opposition of it government bailout of wall street is not a liberal or conservative issue. Law would put in place was put in place years ago because after the collapse in 2008, people of all political persuasions were disgusted by the prospect of ever having to use taxpayer dollars to rescue to rescuefrom the big banks from their own bad decisions. This morning, senators from both parties, sherrod brown, a democrat from ohio, and dave vitter, from louisiana, called for this provision to be taken out of the spending bill, and here is what they said towall street banks want gamble, congress should force them to pay for their losses, taxpayers on the hook. Cognition not gamble on a possible shutdown by attempting to top this controversial provision into a spending bill without having been considered by the committees of jurisdiction where it can be subject to a transparent and rigorous debate. Senators brown and fitter are exactly right vitter are right. The provision has no place in this bill. Conservative activists have jumped in as well. They are raising their voices today to say that this provision passo place in a must spending bill. Here is what one front page introvert or on the conservative g red state said this morning i have no way to refute that point that democrats are making about the cromnibus spike right now. I might go for to say they are right. What possible good faith reason can republicans have for threatening to gum the whole works over doing a favor to wall street . Generally speaking, if nancy pelosi is opposed to something that instinctively i know i should be for it. Beyond that, i have not the slightest clue why the proposed tweak to doddfrank up to be anything resembling a pill the republicans should die for. This conservative activist is right. If you believe in smaller government, how can you support a provision that would expand a Government Insurance program and put taxpayers on the hook for the riskiest private activities . Banku thought the x. M. Expose taxpayers risk, even though it never crossed taxpayers a dime, how can you support a provision to prevent another calamity like the one that cost taxpayers billions of dollars just six years ago . House Republican Leaders are moving quickly to try to jam this bill through today before their own members have had a chance to digest this wall street they allow provision. The fact sheet republican appropriators sent around to their members explaining the provision does not describe it accurately. According to this fact sheet, the provision in question would protect farmers and other commodity producers from having to get awn collateral loan, expand their business, and hedge their production. Whatever you think about the bill, that description is flatly wrong. In fact, that description applies to yet another wall street reform rollback that the republicans are pushing right now, which is attached to a completely different bill. I do not know if Republican Leaders in the house are deliberately trying to confuse their members in voting for a government bailout program, or whether they cannot keep straight on their efforts to got financial reform. Reluctant leaders are about to bring this bill up for a vote. So here is the bottom line a vote for the this hill is a vote for future taxpayer bailouts of wall street. When the next bailout comes, and a lot of people will look back to this up vote to see who was responsible for putting the Government Back on the hook to bail out wall street. Two Republican Leaders in the house, i would ask this if they are against the out on wall street i have heard you say it again and again for five ares so why in the world you spending your time and your energy fighting for a provision, written by citigroup lobbyists, that would increase the chance of future bailouts . Why in the last minute as you head out the door and a spending bill must be passed are you making it a priority to do wall streets bidding . Who do you work for . Wall street or the American People . This fight is not about conservatives or liberals. It is not about democrats or republicans. It is about money, and it is about power right here in washington. This legal change could trigger more taxpayer ballots bailouts and could threaten our entire economy. It will also make a lot of money for wall street banks. According to americans for financial reform, this change oon toe a huge b just a handful of the biggest banks. They were frustrated with congress. Part of the reason is gridlock. But mostly it is because they see a congress that works just for the big guys and will not lift a finger to help them. As Big Companies can deploy their armies of lobbyists and lawyers to get congress to vote for special deals that benefit themselves, this confirms the view of the American People that the system is rigged. This is a democracy. The American People sent us here. Republicans, democrats, and independents. They sent us here to stand up for them, to stand up for taxpayers, to protect the economy. Nobody sent us here to stand up for citigroup. I urge my republican colleagues in the house to withhold or support from this package until this risky giveaway is removed from the legislation. It is time for all of us to stand up and fight. Thank you, mr. President. Is a choose it senator Elizabeth Moran form earlier this afternoon. The u. S. House has been in recess for about 2 1 2 hours now. They finish debate on the 1. 1 trillion spending bill, which would fund the government except for the department of geomet security which would be funded only through february. The latest is that democrats will be meeting this afternoon. A tweet ahead of that, a lot of meetings off the floor and in offices across the hill. This is from Maxine Waters her comments reflecting what you heard from Elizabeth Warren. Once the house did gavel out, a letterlosi put out to her caucus saying, dear democratic colleagues, it is clear that from this recess on the four that the republicans do not have enough votes to pass omnibus. This increases our leverage to get the two offensive provisions of this hill removed, the bank bailout and the big money to campaign provision. However you decide to vote in the end, i think those who commit to give us who continue to give us leverage to improve the bill. That is from nancy pelosi, at about 3 30 eastern, that later came out. Yourll continue to take calls on your thoughts on the federal spending bill, whether you support or oppose. 2027488920, support, 2027488921, oppose, 2027488922, others. Back to calls. New york, this is keith. Go ahead. That is not keith. Keith, there you are. Oh ahead. How are you doing . Doing fine. I kind of oppose this because all the addons they did with the bill for one reason. Spendother reason is they how many billions of dollars overseas. We need to take care of some of the problems we have in this country lets move to jeff in miami. Keith, you got more to say . What do you think . We spent how many billions of dollars in afghanistan, iraq. Give 5 billion to syria to arm them. Money bethat better off spent in this country . In the multi employer pension plan, congress enacted that in 1974, never updated it, and now it is in the toilet, and is like beyond repair, and Congress Response is take care of it yourself, and they do not want to do anything with it. There is an additional money for the training of the syrian rebels. There is miami, florida, jeff, good afternoon. Good afternoon. I oppose the bill because one of its provisions overturns the votersf 70 of the of washington dc who approved the use of cannabis. What possible reason that a few people wish to overturn the desire of a majoritarian of a majority of voters . It is the same thing they did with our call before prohibition. If they do not want to smoke cannabis, let them not smoke. Coming up on seven hours until the current spending measure expires. Way orthe other one the other, the house has to do something done today or the measure will expire. It was anticipated the senate would take a couple extra days, possibly to the weekend can finish up work on 2015 spendin. Spending. New york, go ahead. Hi, thank you for taking my call. I feel as though the bill is a dishonest question, a dishonest will come and i think you question whether you are for or against is a dishonest question because nobody really knows what is in it. I do not even think they know what is in it. It is massive, pages upon pages and, a lot of political chicanery, and i think it is a this service to the people of this country that this nonsense just keeps going on and on and on. And ift is my viewpoint, you have anything to add or say, i would appreciate it. I appreciate your call. We have a link to it on our website at cspan. Org. Two new jersey, daniel, hello there. Hello, how are you. I oppose this bill. How are you doing . Go ahead with your comment. I opposed this bill because bail these banks out once. The relations were put in place so it would not happen again. Banks could not risk our money, so if they want to risk their own money, that them risk their own money. Not ours. We dont them out once. Never again. Here is minnesota, and lane is on the others line. Hello. Thank you. It is interesting to see how our Government Works behind the scenes. We are seeing the spin from both sides, but leaders on both sides are brilliant strategists. I have not heard anyone comment that these two addons for the campaignfinance reform in the bailout are linked. Was saying how citigroup lobbyists wrote the course, thed, of Campaign Finance reform is the y,id pro quo where, her they help out the banks and where does the money come from in the campaign in the next session . Tied together and one does not work without the other for the republicans. The strategy is brilliant win forit is win,m w republicans. If there were democrats voted their way later when they take control of the house and the senate. It is a brilliant strategy, and it is unfortunate to see how our government really works behind the scenes. We are only seeing the details on the spin. Trying to keep our eye on political reporting. From abc news, who tweets abc has learned pelosi urges democrats to hold fast. Sid in North Carolina. Go ahead. And theport the bill, reason i do is because everything, the democrats is coming on tv and they are hollering and upset about this now. The bottom line is everything from the time obama has been in the white house has been a lie, and everything that you support on the democrats side now is a lie. They want marijuana legalized. It sound like a last guy smoked a joint. Ridiculous. It will really turn around when we take the house and the senate. Thank you. More of your calls, certainly later tomorrow morning on washington journal. Look at the latest numbers on facebook. The oppose rather far outweighing those who support the measure, 42929. Acebook. Com cspan we are going to show you the hour and 20 minutes of debate come and again, any news of the house gaveling in or we get word theyre coming back in, you will see it live here on cspan. Mr. Rogers i rise today as we face the expiration of the current continuing resolution to present the house amendment to the Senate Amendment on h. R. 83, legislation to fund the federal government for the rest of the current fiscal year. This amendment prevents a costly and damaging Government Shutdown while making Good Government funding and policy decisions and reining in Regulatory Overreach. Its good for the continuity of vital federal programs and services, its good for our economy, and its good for the American People. In total this legislation provides 1. 013 trillion for the operations of the federal government. This total is in line with the terms of the ryanmurray budget agreement. It includes full year appropriations legislation for 11 of the 12 annual Appropriations Bills. Reflecting the most up to date budgetary needs of each agency and department. The Appropriations Committees in both the house and senate went line by line through these all of these bills, prioritizing funding for effective and vital programs, making the tough decisions to cut funding for lower priority programs. In addition, the measure includes shortterm funding for the department of Homeland Security, holding the funding levels for those programs at current levels. This will ensure that efforts to secure our home front are maintained until february 27 of next year. This legislation is a compromise. The product of hardfought negotiations between the house and senate, with give and take from both sides. But at the end of the day, mr. Speaker, it reflects conservative priorities. Keeps our spending in line. And reins in the Regulatory Overreach that has been hampering our economy. As such, National Security is a top priority in this bill. We provides we provide a total of 554 billion for the department of defense, including 64 billion in overseas Contingency Operations to support our troops in the field, to combat isil, to train and equip our iraqi allies and to counter russian aggression. To further assist our economy, we include provisions that put the brakes on regulatory programs that are too intrusive and too burdensome on american businesses. For instance, the legislation prohibits funds for the army corps of engineers to act on two potentially harmful regulations, changing the definition of, quote, fill material, quote, and regulating water in certain agricultural areas under the clean water act. The bill measure prevents the listing of the sage grouse on the endangered species list a premature action that would have severe economic consequences on western states, especially. And the bill protects job creators from onerous regulatory burdens by amending doddfrank swaps pushout rules. This bill also demonstrates, mr. Speaker, fiscal restraint. It cuts 60 million from the e. P. A. It provides no funding for high speed rail, the president s race to the top initiative, or unesco, or i. N. F. No new funding is included for obamacare. And the bill holds the line on funding for the agency most responsible for implementing that law at health and Human Services. For the i. R. S. , the bill cuts the agency 345 billion below last year and includes language to put a stop to improper behavior by prohibiting the targeting of groups based on political beliefs, prohibiting the white house from ordering the i. R. S. To determine the tax exempt status of an organization, and from funding inappropriate videos or conferences. This legislation is the product of the bipartisan and bicameral cooperation that the American People called for at the voting booths last month. Passage of this bill will show our people that we can and will govern responsible responsibly, rise above inaction, and Work Together on their behalf. Now, i would have preferred, as im sure all of us would have, that we would be considering each of the 12 Appropriations Bills under regular order, the oldfashioned way. This is the way it should operate. In the house, as you know, our committee passed out 11 of the 12 bill the floor passed seven of the bills and would have passed more, but we realize the senate uh was not going to act on any of them and did not. The senate was not going to act on any of them and did not. So five of the bills were left in the lurch because the senate would not consider any of the bills. We face a very tight deadline now and we have no choice but to try to put together an omnibus spending billing a gating all 12 bills into one. I would have preferred separately but the senate blocked the way. If we do nothing, well be turning our backs on our constitutional duty and on the American People. Mr. Speaker, before i close, i want to take a moment to recognize some people who made today possible. First of all, the staff. Weve had about a month to put together this enormous bill with thousands of items in all 12 subcommittees. Weve had great negotiations then with the senate. But it was the work of the staff, of course, that enabled us to be here today and i want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle who work sod hard to make this happen. Who soed who work sod hard to make this happen. I would like to call names but im afraid i would leave out somebody important, so i want to thank the staff for all their wonderful, la boirs you work baylors you work. And i will sing laborious work. And i will single out will smith who guided the staff through this process and i think did a wonderful, marvelous job. I want to thank will smith especially and all the staff for their great work leading up to today. Now, i want to thank the members of the committee. Theyve all had a part in making this bill up. Each subcommittee, each chairman of the subcommittee, each of the members of the subcommittees that fought long and hard to ensure that we have the best bill before us today that we could have, and notably, the Ranking Member of the committee, mrs. Nita lowey, with whom we share this responsibly responsibility, shes been a tremendous asset to us in the procedure. Leading up to today. I want to thank her personally for the great work she did. I also want to acknowledge, mr. Speaker, six members of the committee who are moving on to greener pastures, making new chapters in their life. They have been enormous helpers in the committee. Theyve chaired subcommittees, theyve worked long and hard on every bill that we produced, and we certainly hate to see them go. But they are writing a new chapter. So i want to recognize Jack Kingston for his service, frank wolf, tom latham, jim moran, ed pastor, and bill owens. All of those six are moving on, we want to thank them for their service. And its appropriate that their final vote on the house floor will be on an appropriate Appropriations Committee bill, funding the entire government. This nation is a better place because of their service. I want to thank all of them for their contributions to the committee and to the house and the people of this country over their combined 120 years of service. I now call on the members of the house, republicans and democrats alike, to support this legislation, keep the government open. Its a good bill. Its bipartisan. Its bicameral. It was negotiated in good faith on both sides of the capitol and both sides of the aisle, and most importantly, mr. Speaker, this bill is necessary. So i urge members to vote yes and i yield i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves his time. He gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey thank you, mr. Speaker. At the outset, i want to thank chairman rogers for the cooperative way you have guided this committee, it has truly been a pleasure to me to work with you and your staff. As we all know, mr. Speaker, funding to keep the government operating expires at midnight tonight. It is my sincere hope that we can avoid the antics of last year when a vocal minority in this body was able to hold the entire government hostage for reasons they could not they couldnt articulate. It wasnt fair to the American People and i hope we never have to go through it again. Throughout this process, my has been to avoid another costly my goal has been to avoid another costly shutdown, enhance our security and protect the most vulnerable among us. I remain disappointed, mr. Speaker, that the House Majority decided to leave out the agreement reached on the department of Homeland Security , the decision reflects their political calculation on immigration policy. I believe my chairman was right when he rebuffed efforts to restrict the president s executive orders on immigration on a mustpass appropriations bill. But forcing these important agencies, customs and border protection, the u. S. Secret service, the federal Emergency Management administration, the Transportation Security Administration into a twomonth continuing resolution was unnecessary and unfortunate. The shortterm c. R. Creates uncertainty and will limit the departments ability to make important decisions on procurements, hiring and a new initial and any initiatives we all support. I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter from secretary johnson outlining the problems with funding the department through a c. R. The speaker pro tempore without objection, it will be part of the record. Mrs. Lowey my colleague, david price, the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee, was unsuccessful in his attempt at the rules committee to restore fullyear funding through this bill. I offered an amendment to strike two very controversial provisions. E, to strike a rider for swaps under the doddfrank law. The other to strike a provision raising contribution limits to Political Parties. These provisions are divisive and unnecessary. They should be removed. The 11 other spending bills included in this package are a mix of wins and losses. I was very pleased that most of the worst riders were dropped, including those on the Affordable Care act, the Clean Air Act and those preventing full implementation and new reforms to the Federal School lunch program. Statutory budget caps essentially kept all discretionary programs at a hard freeze, but im pleased we were able to prioritize a few key items such as the National Institute of health, food safety at the food and drug administration. Another very modest but very important increase is provided for afterschool programs, many of which suffered steep cuts under sequestration and have still not made up those shortfalls. Im also pleased the final agreement provides 500 million to the department of transportations Tiger Program to fund major surface transportation projects, including bridges, transit and passenger rail. To keep firearms out of the hands of those who shouldnt possess them, the National Instant background check system will receive an increase of 14. 5 million. This important investment was achieved because members on both sides of the aisle recognized how crucial this money is with states to improve their submission of records into the background check system. The appropriations package includes much of the administrations request to respond to the deadly ebola crisis. 5. 4 billion. We must ensure that all of those tasks with being on the front lines fighting this disease from local hospitals to federal agencieses have what they need agencies have what they need. We all recognize how the ease of International Travel has changed the way we must respond to contagious diseases. I have confidence in our health care system. The center for Disease Control and the fantastic hospitals that stepped up to take and treat the patients with ebola, but we should do whatever we can to stop the disease where it is the most deadly. The funding provided will allow research to ramp up to treat and hopefully develop a vaccine for ebola. Before i close, i would like to thank the committees staff for their tireless work, particularly David Pomerance and leslie turner, who worked closely with will and the entire appropriations staff. I am very pleased the Appropriations Committee was able to come together on a package to fund 11 of the 12 spending bills, but, again, i wish it had been on all 12 bills and only dealt with issues related to appropriations. I will reiterate that the funding contains many things. I wish it had a different outcome. I fought throughout the conference, for example, to get rid of the swaps language. It does not belong on the appropriations bill. The reidboehner provision to increase by 10fold the limit on contributions to Political Parties does not belong in this bill. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from new york reserves her time. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the very distinguished and hardworking chairman of the appropriations defense subcommittee, mr. Frelinghuysen. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Frelinghuysen i thank the chairman for yielding and i thank him for his leadership and i thank Ranking Member lowey as well. They both deserve credit for moving this bill. As we begin consideration of this important legislation this afternoon, i want to pay tribute to the men and women of our armed forces, all volunteers. They deserve our heart felt thanks to their dedicated service and sacrifice. That is also extended to the professionals in our Intelligence Community. These men and women, whether in uniform or not, deserve greater certainty, stability and predictability in their lives. Its nothing its something theyve often lacked because of a flawed congressional budget process over the past several years which we seek to reestablish today as regular order. And frankly, so do the American People. They deserve better. The centerpiece of this comprehensive package, the engine that drives this bill is our house defense bill. Passed in june with overwhelmingly bipartisan support. Like that bill, this measure assures the Strong National defense posture gets terrorist groups like isil and al qaeda and challenges from nation states like russia and china, iran and addresses the ebola epidemic. This bill provides 550 billion in new Spending Authority for the department of defense and our Intelligence Community and cludes 64 billion for the overseas Contingency Operations. The base funding in this measure is 500 million below the president obamas 2015 budget and just 3. 3 billion above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. Overall, the defense title of the omnibus appropriations package assures our commitment to the u. S. Militarys dominance over air, land and sea. Our commitment to our allies and partners, our commitment to our Service Members and their families. At the same time our committee clearly recognizes our nations debt crisis, and we found areas and programs where reductions were possible without adversely impacting our armed forces or our Defense Industrial base, which is so vital to maintaining our military edge. We make every dollar count in our portion of this bill without increasing risk for our war fighters. National security is the priority job of the federal government, our constitution grants congress the full range of authority for the defense of our nation. With our armed forces facing formidable enemies around the world and standing watch everywhere to protect our freedom, this bill cannot wait, and i urge its passage today. In closing, id like to thank my Ranking Member, pete visclosky, hes been a valuable partner and friend. And thanks to the incredible committee that makes up the defense Appropriations Committee, members of the committee and our professional staff, led by tim prince. They did an incredible job. We should be enormously proud of them. Mr. Chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, im very pleased to yield four minutes to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina, mr. Price, the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from North Carolina is recognized for four minutes. Mr. Price i thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in opposition to this misguided legislation. First, however, i want to commend the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of our Appropriations Committees and subcommittees for their efforts this year to restore the normal appropriations process with careful scrutiny of executive budget requests and the cooperative crafting of bills that fund our agencies and chart their course for the coming year. Their work is reflected in the 11 bills out of 12 before us today, a significant achievement despite the overall inadequacy of the underlying budget numbers were working with. Budget allocations, unfortunately, still reflect the ill advised republican strategy of illadvised republican strategy of nondefense Discretionary Spending on our Critical National investments. As Ranking Member of the Homeland Security subcommittee, id like to thank chairman carter for the collaborative process hes led throughout this year. Our fullyear Homeland Security appropriations bill has been finished for over a week now, making the exclusion from this omnibus all the more troubling. So mr. Speaker, stitching together 11 of our Appropriations Bills is indeed a positive achievement. But it is greatly diminished by the subjex of Homeland Security funding to a shortterm continuing resolution and by the inclusion of controversial legislative riders which too are particularly egregious. The First Amendment would blow a major hole in the doddfrank bill, putting taxpayers on the hook for some of the riskiest behavior of wall street institutions. The Second Amendment would blow another hole in our efforts to prevent big money from swamping our political system. The bills Campaign Finance provisions are completely nonjermaine to appropriations nongermane to appropriations and would have influence to wealthiest americans by allowing a couple to donate a million and a half dollars annually to the parties. To my knowledge these provisions have never had had a single hearing in either the house or the senate and they have no place in an appropriations bill. On top of these troubling provisions is the shortsighted abusive treatment of Homeland Security. The bill before us would force the department of Homeland Security to operate under a shortterm continuing resolution until late february, creating a cloud of uncertainty, putting critical programs and acquisitions at risk and raising the threat of a full Agency Shutdown early next year. A shortterm continuing resolution limits the departments ability to make Strategic Decisions about carrying out its security missions, improving coordination among its components. It also limits the ability to move ahead with the secretarys southern border and approaches campaign. It creates uncertainty regarding isis capability to detain and deport dangerous criminals and to transfer unaccompanied children to h. H. S. For humane treatment. It could also delay needed procurements and necessary security upgrades at the white house complex to prevent fence jumper intrusions. Most confoundingly, the bill provides Immigration Enforcement agency with hundreds of millions of dollars less than their known needs and what our bipartisan bill would have provided. If the republican majority is concerned about the effectiveness of our immigration policy, this is really a strange way to show it. To hold enforcement funding hostage, thats not the way we bring about positive change, but we know this is all about political peek directed at the president. This is an unfortunate end, mr. Speaker, to what has been a cooperative, bipartisan Homeland Security appropriations cycle, but it leaves me unable in good faith to recommend a iowa vote. We should re recommend a yea vote. We should proceed with an appropriations bill that truly represents the consensus of this body. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i now want to yield two minutes to the gentleman from iowa, mr. Tom latham, who is retiring. He chairs the transportationh. U. D. Appropriations subcommittee and has been a stalwart help over he years on this committee and to congress in service to the country. Time, ess for the last he will be giving us a great speech. Mr. Latham. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from iowa is recognized for the last two minutes. Mr. Latham thank you, mr. Speaker, and thank you, mr. Chairman, for the kind words. I rise in strong support of this omnibus appropriation bill. I am in particularly proud of the transportationhousing and urban development division, which makes critical developments in our nations infrastructure, our air Traffic Control system and housing for our neediest citizens. The bill requires some tough choices but it advances our priorities and responsible government and fiscal restraint. We worked hard to ensure this final bill includes funding and policy provision that is are a priority for this body. We provide funds for the f. A. A. To support the full operations of the air Traffic Control system and the f. A. A. s investment in next gen. We meet theman 21 extension, authorize funding levels for highways and transit. We provide housing funds to assist families served by h. U. D. s housing programs plus 10,000 new veterans housing vouchers. We provide 3 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Program which is a priority for members of both sides of the aisle. Mr. Speaker, i have been honored to serve as chairman of the thud committee for the last four years and on the committee for the last 18 years. Its been an amazing experience each and every year how the work of this Committee Works for the people of america. Id like to thank my Ranking Member, mr. Ed pastor, which is with whom its been a real honor to serve. I wish him well in his retirement. And i know that this body will miss him as much as i will. Id also like to thank the staff of the committee who put in countless hours to draft this compromise. Id also like to recognize and thank doug from my staff who for the past 12 years and who has served this institution for nearly three decades. Our chairman, hal rogers, has demonstrated you can stick to your principles and still come to a compromise that puts the American People first. Mr. Chairman, its been an honor to serve on this committee and under your leadership. I appreciate it very, very much all the kindness and personal things that you have done for you and cynthia for kathy and i. Very much appreciate t i urge members to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. Search the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, im very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from new york, mr. Serrano, the Ranking Member of the Financial Services subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Serrano i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Mr. Serrano i thank our Ranking Member for the time. First let me mention a few of the good things in the Financial Services bill. We were able to substantially increase funding for the securities and Exchange Commission by 150 million above last years level. We were also able to increase funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions fund and to authorize a cvfi Loan Guarantee program for another year. We were also increased robust funding for the s. B. A. To help our nations small businesses. And we added additional dollars to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the commodity futures trading commission. We removed numerous troubling riders that affected the Affordable Care act, traveled to cuba, and the ability of the s. E. C. To police our markets. Unfortunately several problems remain in the bill. The bill would essentially repeal an important provision of doddfrank to prevent banks from engaging in risky swaps activities backed by their depositors and ultimately by the federal government. The protections of doddfrank were put in place to prevent a return to the risky transactions that led to the 2008 meltdown. We should not backtrack on those important reforms. Im also very concerned about the cuts made to the i. R. S. Which will force the agency to operate at levels below that of sequestration. This would cause a serious strain on the agency. There are several riders attached to the District Of Columbia section of the bill. Something that happens every year. Republicans have again limited the districts ability to use their own dollars to provide abortion services. This bill also seeks to stop the district from implementing a recent Ballot Initiative that legalizes the Recreational Use of marijuana. Thankfully on this last provision republicans have simply missed the mark. The language of the rider only prevents the district from enacting laws, rules, or regulations regarding marijuana legalization. But it does not to prevent already enacted efforts like the recent Ballot Initiative. The president recently took executive action to end everyday tragedies to occur when families are separated and people glorted. Rather than using this as a chance to finally engage in reform, we are now doing something to the d. H. S. By putting them on a c. R. I would like to yield momentarily to the Ranking Member. Mrs. Lowey i thank the distinguished Ranking Member and i want to make it deleer that clear that the speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. Mrs. Lowey i give you an additional 30 seconds. I agree with the gentleman from new york, the Ranking Member of the Financial Services subcommittee, and our colleague, the delegate from d. C. , that the language in the bill does not block either decriminalization of marijuana or the referendum on legalization. Yield back. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the distinguished chairman of the energy and water subcommittee on appropriations, mr. Simpson of idaho. The speaker pro tempore gentleman from idaho is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Idaho i thank the chairman. It should be noted also, mr. Speaker, that this is the last time we expect to see you presiding before you retire also. You have done a marvelous job and thank you for your service to this institution. I hope this vote doesnt go on for 3 45. If theres anybody that can handle, that im certain you can handle that experience. Im pleased after months of work the committee has been able to bring this package together before the full house. Id like to thank my Ranking Member, ms. Kaptur, for her close collaboration throughout the entire process of putting together the energy and water sections of the omnibus. Id also like to thank the hard work of our senate counterparts, senator feinstein and senator alexander for their hard work in bringing this package together. Now, i want to be clear. I didnt get everything i wanted in this bill. None of us did. But we have worked hard to ensure that the bill clearly reflects the will of the American People. It makes critical investments and makes important policy changes that will continue to build on in coming years. For instance, im pleased with how strongly it invests in our National Defense and water infrastructure. Weapons activities receives the largest increase in this bill, 387 million over last year, within this level is full funding for the critical warheads such as the b61 and long range standoff. Investment in naval reactor programs increases by 144 million, including the full request for the ohio class replacement reactor. Funding for the army corps of engineers is modestly increased from last year, including not less than 1. 1 billion for the Harbor Maintenance trust fund activities. Last year we directed no less than 1 billion. We also include some policy changes critical to supporting our countrys Economic Development in a responsible manner. New this year we included provisions prohibiting the regulation of certain agricultural activities such as the construction and maintenance of farm ponds or irrigation ditches under the clean water act. This is a major victory for our countrys farmers and ranchers who are concerned about the potential of the e. P. A. And army corps of engineers over reach into their operations. We continue prohibitions from last year against changes to the definition of fill material under the clean water act and the implementation of the new light bulb efficiency standards. These are commonsense provisions that protect Consumers Choice and responsible commercial operations. I think every one of us in this body, including myself, can think of other things that they wanted to see in this pack and and things they would have liked taken out. But overall this bill moves the country forward in a balanced way and allows the new congress to proceed with its most important obligation, that of governing this country. I want to echo the words of my chairman, mr. Rogers, how important the staff is in putting these bills together. Most people that dont serve on the committee dont know the time that they put in. They are here on thanksgiving day trying to put together this package so that it will be ready for the floor. They do incredible work not only of the subcommittee that im lucky enough to be the chairman of, the members of the staff of all the subcommittees, and they do a tremendous job. We owe them a great deal of gratitude. Mr. Speaker, this deserves our support. And i thank the chairman for yielding. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished zpwreal ohio, ms. Kaptur, the Ranking Member of the energy and water appropriations subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from ohio is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Kaptur i thank the Ranking Member many of the full committee, nita lowey of new york, and the chairman, hal rogers, for the perseverance they have shown throughout this process. I rise to address the bill before us to fund the department of the government of the United States for fiscal year 2015, which incidentally began over two months ago. Though two months late and a Christmas Tree bill at that, what is very troubling in this measure are dangerous and unwelcomed nongermane riders like opening the door to more wall street abuse and reckless behavior with swaps and derivatives. Havent those megabanks hurt america enough . And what is this doing in this bill . I recognize that not passing a bill can severely hamper the economic recovery and job creation many of us view as the top priority our constituents have sent us here to achieve. Job growth this past month increased again by 321,000. The Unemployment Rate dropped to 5. 8 nationwide. We have gained 10 million private sector jobs since president Obama Took Office amid the deepest recession in modern history. Still 9. 1 million americans remain unemployed. This bill will promote future Economic Growth which is in americas interest. There should never be a question whether the government of the United States will remain open for disand honor its commitments and contracts. This appropriations bill is within budget limits. Indeed, our deficit has been going down year after year as employment increases and revenues with it. The annual deficit has dropped from 1. 3 trillion in 2010 to an estimated 469 billion for 2015, and enormous improvement made possible by steady Economic Growth. The energy and water portion of this bill assures america will continue its decathlon for Energy Independence and diversification. A major strategy objective strategic objective for our nation, some would argue the highest. And all of the above Energy Strategy is strengthening our nation here at home financially and militarily, as fewer imports are required and new energy jobs are created within the borders of the United States. The energy trade deficit by the way for our nation has been on a downward path. May i ask for an additional 15 seconds. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for an additional 15 seconds. Ms. Kaptur i thank the gentlelady. The energy frayed deficit for our nation has been on a downward path, from 4. 7 billion barrels to 3. 6 billion barrels in 2013. That is real progress. You can even see it in falling gasoline prices across this country. Our bill will support thousands of jobs through the army corps of engineers in developing infrastructure and the bill provides 922 million above the request to meet an unmet enormous backlog. This bill as a whole is far from perfect and the Congress Must work toward keeping our economy and jobs growing and give certainty to the public that congress can operate the speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, i rise once again to address the matters related to the clean the speaker pro tempore does the gentlelady yield herself time . Mrs. Lowey i yield myself 30 seconds. Im pleased that this package explicitly rejects attempts to prohibit clarifying the definition of navigable waters of the u. S. However the cromnibus does have certain ranching, farming, and silver culture prack itses. To be clear this provision does not change current law and preserves the current scope of agricultural exemptions. If you needed a permit before, you will need to get a permit under this provision. If you didnt need one before, you wont under this provision. Im pleased again that as with most riders this provision maintains status quo. Yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers may i inquire of the time remaining . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from kentucky has 12 minutes remaining. The gentlelady from new york has 13 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i now yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the laborh. H. S. Subcommittee on appropriations. The gentleman from georgia, mr. Kingston, who is retiring leaving this body, he has done remarkable work on this subcommittee. Chaired a very difficult subcommittee with great distinction. Mr. Kingston. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. Mr. King don thank you very much, mr. Mr. Kingston thank you very much, mr. Chairman. And i thank you for your leadership and friendship over the years and capable staff as well. Mr. Speaker, i congratulate you on your retirement as well and wish you the best. I came to washington to cut the spending and thats why im supporting this bill today. This spending level is below last years when you combine the emergency spending with outlays, this is lower than last year. And its a lot lower than the year before. And so if you want to hold the line on spending, this is a good vote for you. But the second part of it is the calvary is coming and next year there will be more cuts and should be more cuts. This bill holds the line on obamacare, which is something that we all have fought for. Virtually all republicans fought to repeal obamacare and to end the president s amnesty program. No one is backing away from those objectives. There may be a debate on the strategy, but this bill makes sure that those debates will happen and that those votes will happen. Again, mr. Speaker, when the calvary arrives. This bill moves that debate forward. The a good thing. It stops risks which keeps the Obama Administration from raiding private Insurance Companies to subsidize obamacare. It really hits obamacare where it counts. If you do not like obamacare, this is a good bill for you to vote for. This bill puts doddfrank in check. If youre concerned about the overregulation of the Financial Services industry, this bill challenges doddfrank. This bill supports our troops. We still have troops in harms way all over the world. This bill supports them and actually increases their pay along the way. This bill puts the e. P. A. In check. The e. P. A. Has tried a back door power grab on putting lead a ban on lead in ammunition and fishing tackle. That is spg that would increase the that is something that would increase the tough and make it much, much tougher for the person to enjoy the great outdoors. This bill puts that in check. This is a good yes vote and i urge my colleagues to support it. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Fattah, Ranking Member of the commerce, justice and science appropriations subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Fattah in each and every one of our district throughout our country and every one of the families situated, theres a concern around neurological base diseases and disorders from alzheimers to autism, schizophrenia, we could go through the list of 600, but the point is this work in our committee on a completely bipartisan basis, we are moving aggressively on neuroscience initiative. I want to thank chairman rogers for his support and the Ranking Member from new york and i want to thank my partner and the chairman, frank wolf, for his support in this effort. We launched an initiative to map the brain and to do so much more. And i want to talk about whats in this bill today. We have the framework for a global fund on alzheimers. We have the effort now on the brink for the first time, the national labs, into an effort the National Brain observatory which is its a complete scientific art national of our country to bear on this war on disease, and a better understanding of the human brain. We have in this bill language that would have the United States create a premiere conference in a National International conference to bring together the global initiatives in the European Union and israel and china and other countries have come together to work on these issues. And we have a new initiative on imaging. So i want to just say theres a lot i could talk about in our bill, in the c. J. S. Portion, but i want to just say that this effort on the human brain with some 50 million americans suffering from brainrelated diseases and illnesses, a billion people worldwide, this is something this congress can feel as a major achievement for us to move in a major direction to move forward in addiction and everything in between. I thank the gentleman and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i recognize i yield time, two minutes, to the gentleman from florida, mr. Crenshaw, the chairman of the Financial Services subcommittee on appropriations. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Crenshaw well, i thank chairman rogers for yielding the time, and i thank him for his leadership in this appropriations process. As chairman of the Financial Services and general government subcommittee, let me highlight a few areas in our part of the bill. Overall we reduce spending by 246 million in an effort to rein in the outofcontrol spending. Some areas are increased. Some are decreased. For instance, Law Enforcement receives an increase. Drug abuse prevention receives an increase. Small business receives an increase, and womens business centers, they help grow our economy and create jobs. On the other hand, theres some agencies that dont do so well. They waste taxpayers dollars and become ineffective. I think all would agree that the Internal Revenue service has betrayed the trust of the American People. They have wasted taxpayers dollars. Theyve singled out individuals and groups of individuals based on nair political philosophy and they have on their political philosophy and they have not cooperated with congressional investigation and therefore their funding is reduced by 346 million. All in all, its a balanced approach. We spend less money than we spent last year. Its a good portion of the bill. And let me take a moment to say thank you to rodney frelinghuysen, the chairman of the defense subcommittee, upon which i sit. I want to thank him for his tireless work in this area for allowing members like me to help draft legislation that clearly puts our men and women in uniform first, clearly helps saves lives by making sure that we have the best qualified, the best trained, the best equipped military and makes all americans more safe than they are today. All in all its a great bill. I urge my colleagues to support it, and i yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, im very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from arizona, mr. Pastor, the Ranking Member of the transportationh. U. D. Subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from arizona is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Pastor thank you, mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Mr. Pastor first off, mr. Speaker, congratulations on your career and the best luck for you and your friendship while i served here in this congress. I stand in support of this bill, and i want to congratulate both my dear friends, the Ranking Member, nita lowey, and the chairman, harold rogers, for working the many hours on this bill and im very happy that as were about to close this session that were working on a bill that will keep our government funded and bring some tranquility to the economy of our country for the remainder of fiscal year 2014. So i thank them for doing the fine work. Out of the past 23 years that ive had the honor of being in congress, 21 of those years i served on appropriations, and i have to tell you that it was a great opportunity for me and an honor for me to serve with various members on appropriation to do the best we could, to serve our country and many of us could not have been able to produce the bills and provide for the Services Without the staff. On both sides of the aisle that worked on these Appropriations Bills. So today i want to congratulate current chairman, the Ranking Member and thank chairman tom latham for the work he did on the transportationh. U. D. Bill and also its time for me to thank all my colleagues for all the help and service theyve given this country and the kindness theyve shown to me. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the interior subcommittee on appropriations. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california, mr. Calvert, is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Calvert thank you. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of the fiscal year 2015 omnibus appropriation. Interior division of the omnibus is wellbalanced, reflects what can be achieved when all sides Work Together to find common ground. This bill provides for fiscal year 2015 funding for fire operations at the 10year average and provides Additional Resources to conduct critical hazardous fuels reduction work on the ground. The bill takes positive steps in promoting Domestic Energy and Minerals Development both onshore and offshore. The bill provides essential funding for the National Parks service which will enhance daytoday service, responsible stewardship of over 400 National Park units. The bill also provides investments to our National Park system as it begins its sen tanial celebration and prepares for centennial celebration and prepares for the future years. We meet our moral obligations in Indian Country and honors longstanding commitment to alaskan ricans and natives. It partners with states tribes and provides Grant Funding for states to promote jobs and Economic Growth. I want to take a moment to pay tribute to former chairman jim moran. This is mr. Morans last appropriations bill. Im happy to know my friend will be leaving this body that he loves on a high note. Enthusiastically supporting the subcommittee. Jim, were grateful for you and your service and we salute you. Also want to thank chairman rogers for his incredible support and leadership and his role for bringing this omnibus bill forward. Lastly, i want to thank the scorers of Appropriation Committee staff who has been working day and night and weekends on this package for many weeks and even worked through their thanksgiving holiday to produce this legislation. The staff of the Appropriations Committee deserves our appreciation and gratitude. This is a good bill, mr. Speaker. I urge members on both sides of the aisle to support it. With that, merry christmas, and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, i am very pleased to yield one minute to the gentlelady from california, our minority leader of the house, ms. Pelosi. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from california, the minority leader, is recognized for one minute. Ms. Pelosi thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlelady for yielding. I commend her with hire leadership and with great pride we point to her as our Ranking Member on the Appropriations Committee, thank you for yielding and for your leadership. Thank you, mr. Rogers, for your leadership. As an appropriator for many years, i know the hard work that goes into putting an appropriations bill together. There was a day when we did them individually. It seems lately we just keep putting them on a bus and on omnibus. Thats too bad. In any event, i appreciate the work youve done to bring this bill to the floor, and thats why i was so really heart broken. I dont think ive ever said that word on the floor of the house. Heart broken to see the taint that was placed on this valuable appropriations bill from on high. Im sorry that we cannot have a full Homeland Security bill. Thats for sure. We knew that was possible. As the speaker said in january, well vote on a full Homeland Security bill. I hope that that is the case. But the taint i refer to is what the president described in his letter today as a rider that would amend the doddfrank wall street reform and Consumer Protection act, weaken a critical component of Financial System reform aimed at reducing taxpayer risk. So when people are talking to you about whats in the bill and this or that, i want to say to you what youre putting your name next to if you choose to vote for this bill. D why im so appalled, well, ill tell you why. It was september, 2008, things were happening in the Financial Services industry. Lehman brothers down, Merrill Lynch down, a. I. G. , whatever. It all happened within a matter of days. I called the secretary of the treasury and i say, how can we be helpful . What is going on . And he said, its terrible. I said, one of the major Financial Institutions going down . No, its bigger than that. Were in a serious meltdown. Why am i calling you, mr. Secretary paulsen . Well, the white house wasnt ready for congress to know about this. But youre the speaker at the time i was. Youre the secretary. Im telling you. Were in a terrible situation. So they came to my office that night, the speakers house, house and senate, democrats and republicans. We came together and we heard an appalling meltdown of our Financial Institution and i said to the chairman of the fed, mr. Ben bernanke, who was there. Mr. Bernanke, what do you think about what the secretary said . And he said, if we do not act immediately, we will not have an economy by monday. We will not have an economy by monday. By the policies that were in place at that time, we were taken to a place where we wouldnt have an economy. No commercial paper. No economy by monday. Going down are 2014 the same path. Earlier today, the republicans put a bill on the floor that would make certain tax incentives permanent and unpaid for. We should be doing revenue reform but not that way because the revenue policy of the Bush Administration contributed to the great recession, taking us close to a depression. So their tax policy jeopardized our economy. And then their lays yea fair attitudes of no regular laisez faire attitudes of no regulation took us to a meltdown of our Financial Institutions to the point where we, the taxpayers, had to rescue the Financial Institutions to the tune of 700 billion. Thats twice as much as in the necessaryic discretion domestic Discretionary Spending bills that will come before us. Two years worth of nondefense domestic spending. We put provisions in the bill that the american taxpayer would be paid back. But that wasnt enough for the republicans to vote for it. They voted against it by and large. It was the democrats who voted harmful rp, the most difficult vote for members to vote for and the most politically harmful to them. So here we are in the house. Being blackmailed, being blackmailed to vote for an appropriations bill. Im not asking anybody to vote one way or another. Im just telling you why i would not put the name of my constituents in my district next to a bill that does as the president says, weaken a critical component of Financial System reform named at reducing taxpayer risk. At that time accused us of bailing out wall street at the expense of main street. The public still doesnt understand fully why everybody would benefit from what we had to do. But we shouldnt have had to do that. 700 billion, because of laisez faire attitudes and trickledown tax policies of the Bush Administration which got us to that place. And because of the initiatives taken by president obama when he became president , working with the democratic congress, with our initial recovery act, we were able to reverse some of that, pull ourselves out of the ditch republicans took us in. Here we are today. This should be a day where we say, isnt it too bad we cant do more for the American People, but in the interest of bipartisanship, we have put together a bill on the Appropriations Committee that helps meet the needs of the American People. It wouldnt that have been just fine. Except popping out of the wilderness come two things. One, one, this provision. This provision that, as i described it, the president described, and then another one to make matters worse. To make matters worse, a bill that lifts political contributions to such a height that its really unimaginable as to why those who put this in their thought that that was a good idea. They told me it was 90,000 for the convention. It turns out to be millions of dollars from a donor or from a family in that regard. We arent even on the level of how it was portrayed. But be that as it may, whats important is whats in the bill. And as congressman sarbanes said, its quid proquo. Quid pro quo. You have quid, give wall street what they want. Relax the responsibility. This is a moral hazard, we are being asked to vote for a moral hazard. Why is this in an appropriations bill . Because it was the price to pay to get an appropriations bill. I was told we couldnt get all these other things that have been described here so beautifully. Unless we gave wall street this gift. And on top of that, that we gave their donors high end donors all the opportunity in the world to pour money into the process. Maybe the public is right about washington, d. C. Heard this funny line about lily tomlin when she was the operator when she said am i communicating with the people that i am speaking to . Are we communicating with the people we are speaking to when we say to them its an important priority and we have to put it in our budget bill that we give donors the opportunity to spend endless money, undermining the confidence the American People have in our political system, at the same time, at the same time as we say to wall street, you can engage in risky activity th your derivatives, and the fdic will insure your action. Thats just plain wrong. Under this bill, under the act, if the bank wanted to engage in those risky activities, they had to be pushed out to another entity. And that entity could engage in those activities. But they were not insured by the american taxpayer. With this bill now we are saying the exposure, the recourse is with the u. S. Taxpayer. Just plain wrong. What is it doing on an appropriations bill except to be have this bill be taken hostage. This is a ransom. This is blackmail. You wont get a bill unless wall street gets its taxpayer coverage. So its really so sad that something as which i respect enormously the appropriation process, because its hard. Theres so many competing calls on resources, so much that we have to try to invest in the American People, their health, their education, the economic stability, their family, the air they breathe, the water they drink, and how we fund all of that. And i have some questions about some of that in this bill. But the fact is its all a compromise. And it could have been a good compromise. So whatever members choose to do, and im enormously disappointed that the white house feels that the only way they can get a bill is to go along with this and that would be the only reason they would sign such a bill that would weaken a critical component of Financial System reform aimed at reducing taxpayer risk. Those are the words in the administrations statement. I feel sad for the American People today we are saying in order for us to invest in the education of our children and all of the responsibilities we have to the American People, we have to pay off wall street and in addition to that i dont paint everybody there with the same brush. What i am saying is the taxpayer should not assume the risk. Back to the same old republican le formula. Privatize the gain, nationalize the risk. You succeed, its in your pocket. You fail, the taxpayer pays the bill. Its just not right. So i think we have a missed opportunity today to have some strong bipartisanship, and there will be bipartisanship for this bill, but the fact is my colleagues, you are being asked put your name next to privatizing the gain and nationalizing the risk. You are asked to put your name next to a practicely practically unlimited contributions. Just at the at the same time when we are trying to reduce the role of politics in money and increase the voice of the American People. So again a missed opportunity. I respect decisions that members will make because there are equities to be weighed here. But the biggest equity we have is our responsibility to the American People to do the right thing. And what was added to this bill which may be a good bill, but was added to this bill is not the right thing. D that is why it has bipartisanship. It has good things in it, but it will not have my support. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore time of the gentlelady has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from nebraska, a member of our committee, mr. For then berry. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from nebraska is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Fortenberry thank you, mr. Speaker, i thank the chairman, mr. Rogers, for his commitment and hard work on this bill. As president kennedy once said, to govern is to choose. And the key here is to try and choose wisely. This bill is a result of a long and arduous and democratic process. It is the result of extenive effort of the Appropriations Committee extensive effort of the Appropriations Committee with input from members to effectively prioritize government services. I dont agree with everything in the bill. I dont think anyone here does. But the question is, are we going to move forward and govern a bit forward towards something a bit better. What is good in this bill . First of all it continues to prioritize the right type of budgeting and reduce spending. The spending levels in the bill are 176 billion below fiscal year 2010 funding levels. Although our deficit has come down significantly through a smarter budgeting process and some tax reform, nonetheless our deficit is still way too high. We have work to do in this regard, and this bill does make significant progress on that front. There are also important reforms, some big ones involve the i. R. S. There are problems they impose on the American People have begun to be curtailed here. The bill also addresses the sat and difficult issue of the emerging needs to fight ebola and its spread. It positions the u. S. Congress as well to curtail the president s executive action on immigration moving forward, which represents a very serious overreach on the part of the administration and a threat to the separation of powers. The bill provides a pay raise for our troops and important funding for our veterans programs. Another fact, mr. Speaker, im on the agricultural subcommittee. We work very hard to continue our strong tradition of production agriculture while funding new emerging food systems that link the farmer to the family and help beginning and young farmers. Mr. Speaker, i think we can do better in certain areas such as providing the right type of Development Assistance which truly protects women and children and doesnt entangle us with organizations such as the u. N. Population fund. It is important to remember that in the volatile med immediate the peace treaty between israel and egypt continues to hold with significant commitment from us. Thats an important part of this bill. On balance, ill be supportive and i want to thank mr. Rogers, our chairman, for his leadership. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey im very pleased, mr. Speaker, to yield 2 1 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlelady from connecticut, ms. Delauro, the ranking minority member of the labor, health, Human Services appropriations subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from connecticut is ecognized for 2 1 2 minutes. Ms. Delauro as Ranking Member of the labor, health, Human Services and education subcommittee i worked hard on this portion of the legislation. There are some real bright spots. Our problem is simple. The resources provided in this bill are not adequate to tackle the challenges middle class families face every day. The bill does not keep pace with inflation. It continues to underfund some of our nations highest priorities. Education, health care, medical research, job training. However, there are many more troubling aspects of this bill. The department of Homeland Securitys only funded for nine weeks. Why . Because the majority disagrees with the president on immigration. Holding up fullyear funding for National Security over an immigration disagreement is a game that poses a serious risk to our border, our secret service, and our ability to respond to natural disasters. The bill gambles with our Financial System. It would reverse doddfrank safeguards. Allow banks to engage in some of wall streets riskiest transactions. The same transactions that caused a crisis in which millions of hardworking americans lost their jobs, their homes, and their savings. Why . Why would we want to put families at risk once again . Public funds should be used to protect our families not to prop up casino banking. This bill threatens injustice to millions of seniors. It allows mention funds to reduce benefits to current retirees. They worked hard for their retirement. They earned their. Why would we want to put our Economic Security in jeopardy . Finally, the bill seeks to overturn some of the last remaining Campaign Finance laws as if they were not generous enough. The American Public is angry about a government that responds to the highest bidder. The majoritys dangerous games benefit big corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working families and seniors, and i urge my colleagues to vote against this bill. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentlelady has expired. The gentleman from new york. Mr. Rogers i verve. Pursuant to the rule, im claiming my time for the next 20 minutes of debate. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. Mr. Kline thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of h. R. 83, the omnibus appropriations bill for 2015, and i yield myself such time as i may consume. Mr. Speaker, i want to commend the members of the house Appropriations Committee, all of them, especially the committees distinguished chairman, hahl rogers, for their hard hal rogers, for their hard work that will fund our National Priorities and stop a Government Shutdown. Im glad the bill will include Critical Reforms that will avert our nation from having a looming financial crisis. Mr. Speaker, roughly 10 million americans are involved in a multipension plan. Men and women who continue to move our country forward, builders, truck drivers, carpenters, store clerks, to name a few. Those people worked hard and earned a promise that a pension would provide Financial Security in retirement. Yet, for many that promise is now in jeopardy. Pension plans are on the brink of bankruptcy. Employers, workers and retirees are stretched thin and the federal Insurance Agency is on the path to insolvency. The multiemployer Pension System is a ticking time bomb. When the bomb goes off, business also close their doors, workers will be laid off, taxpayers will be on the hook for a multibillion dollar bailout and retirees will have their benefits cut or wiped out entirely. A crisis is staring us in the face and the question we have to answer is, will we act . Will we do whats right and necessary to help fix this problem or will we simply kick the can down the road . I believe we have a public duty and a moral responsibility to act. My democratic colleague, george miller, and i have worked hard to craft a bipartisan legislative response to this looming disaster. With the help of our friend, dr. Phil roe, and the work of Many Employers and union leaders, weve offered reform that will offer the best chance we have to protect taxpayers, working families and retirees. Our bipartisan proposal includes tough medicine for a Pension System in critical system. It condition. It requires higher premiums so the federal backstop will meet its obligations without taxpayer assistance. It also provides new tools to trustees to help plans avoid insolvency, including the ability to adjust benefits. Let me be clear. If we reject this bill and continue the status quo, benefits will be cut. Its only a matter of time. As plans go under, the federal government inflicts maximum pain on the maximum number of people. But if we offer trustees more flexibility, they can avoid inolvensy and provide re insolvency and provide greater stability. We have a choice of an ax in the hand of a firstyear scalpel for a seniored doctor. It ensures retirees are better off than if we did nothing. This isnt a perfect solution. Im disappointed we couldnt do more to modernize the system, to provide workers more options to plan for their retirement. Make no mistake, this is the first step in addressing a tough problem, but it wont be the last. Despite its shortcomings, this is a strong proposal that deserves our for. We cannot let this opportunity pass by. This problem will be harder to solve after the bomb goes off. I urge my colleagues to do whats in the best interest of workers and employers and retirees by supporting this bipartisan agreement. Before i close, mr. Speaker, i want to thank some members of the staff who work day and night to make this happen, starting with my staff director, julie ann sullivan, and work force policy director, ed gilroy. I want to thank brian, megan and julia of mr. Millers staff, for all their hard work. And last but certainly not least, id like to offer my deep appreciation to a trusted member of my team, andy banducci. Hes poured more time and effort than anyone else, and hes earned the right to a good nights sleep. Finally, id like to extend my sincere thanks to my colleague, george miller, who will leave this chamber after 40 years of public service. Without his courage and determination to do what is right, this effort would not have been possible. Through it all, hes been a trusted friend and ally. George has long been a tireless advocate for working families, from the start of his distinguished career down to these final moments in congress. He will leave behind a lasting mark on the house and on the education and Work Force Committee. We havent agreed on every issue, but in the fine tradition of our committee, we have always found a way to disagree without being disagreeable. I have no doubt he will remain a powerful voice for students, teachers and working families. George, thank you for your service and your friendship. I wish you and your wife, cynthia, and your family all the best and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota reserves his time. The gentleman from california. Mr. Miller i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. Mr. Miller thank you, mr. Chairman. To chairman kline, thank you so much for your very kind words and for your friendship and for your willingness to Work Together. And youre right, we havent always agreed but we tried to honor that by not becoming disagreeable with one another. And my service on the education and Work Force Committee has been the joy of my life in the congress of the United States and thank you for steering this committee for the last several years and i want to join you in thanking all of the hardworking staff, not just on this piece of legislation, but year in and year out, hearing in and hearing out, amendments, changes and all the things that this staff goes through, theyve really been acted in a very, very professional manner. They, too, have been able to work back and forth across the aisle and all the rest of it and served as a buffer every now and then when the members got out of control. So thank you so very, very much. This pension agreement that was added to the bill before us today is based upon a proposal developed nearly two years ago by labor unions and employers who wanted to find a path forward for severely distressed and failing Pension Plans. This provision will give plan trustees, labor and management, the tools they need to avoid impending collapse of many and multiemployer plans. It will also provide new funds with the premium increase for the insurer charged with backing up these plans which is also facing bankruptcy. The klinemiller provision is the only available option to save these failing plans, and it is the last chance that labor unions and their members and employers have to gain some control over the future of their pensions. Throughout my 40 years in congress, ive worked to strengthen pension protections and expand Retirement Security for all americans. I have fought for workers and i have fought for their benefits. Ive fought for the right to collectively bargain over their retirement and i fought to prothem from the hidden fees in the 401k plans. I fought it is my commitment to workers and their Retirement Security that brings me here today. We have an obligation to reform the multiemployer system so we can protect the Retirement Security of workers nationwide. The approach we have put forward, which is backed by business and labor leaders will secure the multiemployer Pension Systems for millions of current and future retirees. It includes important consumer safeguards that give participants in these plans a voice to protect their most vulnerable retirees. Most importantly, it gives employers and the employees the option, the option, the choice, not a mandate. They get to choose. They get to decide that they want to design a plan that they think can rescue their currently failing Pension System. Thats an important right to grant them. Many local unions have already made this decision with their members, but they cant do it. They cant cut their own benefits because theyre prohibited from doing it by law. Who are we to tell these these workers that they cant take the opportunity to stretch their pool of pension money, their savings so that it may cover more people for a longer period of time, if they make these adjustments . They want to make these adjustments, the law says they cant. If we trust labor unions, if we trust the workers, if we believe in the dignity of the worker, we should give them the opportunity and the responsibility of trying to save their own pensions. This is all this bill does. It gives them the option. It gives them the opportunity. It lets them take on the responsibility for trying to design a rescue plan that may increase the longevity of their plan. It may allow retirees a better pension than they would get if they just fell into the government rescue system. Thats what theyre asking us to let them do. Its not a new idea. Its been here for two years of hearings. Its been under chairman kline. Weve had exhaustive hearings on this provision. We heard from the employers. Weve heard from a crosssection of unions. Some who agree with this plan and some who disagree. Thats why its an option. Those who dont want to do it. Those who have written you letters that said, dont do this, what about the guy that wants to do it . So this is an option. They will have to talk to their members. They will have to talk to their employers. Theyll have to talk to their trustees and theyll have to make a decision and if they can come up with that rescue plan, do ought to be allowed to it. These plans are losing altitude every day that they cant make these adjustments. Hopefully a pickup in the economy, an increase in employment, an increase in enrollment all will help them. But they still need the option to be able to make these judgments. I would hope that my colleagues here in the congress would trust these workers enough to give them this opportunity and this responsibility to make these decisions about their retirement, not our wish list of how we would like it to be, t their retirement today thats at threat of collapse. I urge my colleagues to support this provision and to support this legislation. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california reserves his time. The gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Kline thank you, mr. Speaker. Now im very, very pleased to yield three minutes to the chairman of the subcommittee on health, employment, labor and pensions, the gentleman from tennessee, dr. Roe. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Roe i thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker, i rise in strong support of the multiemployer pension reform act, contained in the underlying bill. This Bipartisan Legislation will strengthen and in some cases save Retirement Benefits for more than 10 million americans who are enrolled in a multiemployer pension plan. Lets say that again. This legislation will save Retirement Benefits. While many multiemployer plans are in Strong Financial shape, the number of financially distressed plans is a cause for great concern. Among these troubled plans is essential states plan covering 410,000 participants, which the pbgc projects will become incol vent in the next 10 years. The pbgcs own finances are in dire straits. The report released just last month shows that its Multiemployer Program has a deficit of more than 42 billion, an alltime high. The agency also believes that theres a 90 chance it becomes insolvent by 2025 without change. Taken together, these financial challenges pose a clear and present danger to the retirement of those who receive those benefits from the pbgc and those who expect the pbgc to serve as a backstop if their pension plan fails. Its not a question of if the worse will happen for some of these questions, its only a question of when. The proposal before us today is a product of six subcommittee hearings over four years, countless hours of discussion and debate between management and labor and thoughtful negotiations between republicans and democrats. This legislation will give Pension Plans the tools to save themselves without a taxpayer bailout. And for those plans who are beyond retare, this proposal will strengthen the pbgcs finance to help ensure retirees will continue to receive a benefit. What were asking of these plans is hard. If there was some other way to resolve this problem without a taxpayer bailout we would have pursued it. But theres not another way. And we have to do whats necessary to protect the Retirement Benefits for those americans who earned them. Businesses and unions alike understand this. Thats why the klinemiller proposal is supported by Companies Including kroger, nestle, u. S. A. , as well as labor unions, including the ufcw, the north americas building and trade unions. I commend chairman kline and Ranking Member miller for their tireless efforts on that issue. Theyve shown all of us that bipartisan compromise for the greater good is possible. Also, i want to thank ed gilroy and andy and both staffs on each side of the aisle for the long hard hours theyve logged on this effort. This desperately needed pension reform is good for workers, its good for retirees, its good for business and its good for america. And i encourage my colleagues to strongly support this. With that i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from california. Mr. Miller i yield three minutes to the gentleman from. Ew jersey, the speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for three minutes. Its irony that we are having this discussion today. First i want to thank Ranking Member for yielding the time. Mr. Nor cross i was sworn in just a few weeks ago. Mr. Norcross i was sworn in just a few weeks ago. Prior to that my entire career has been working in system a multiemployer plane. I wept home last night and opened my mail. I received my First Pension check which happens to be from a multiemployer plan. I understand how it works. I understand how it doesnt work. Thats what we are here to discuss today. He fact of the matter is multiemployers a very different animal than what most people traditional people think of as a pension plan. Multiemployer the employee groups, unions, working together with management to make these decisions and in a perfect world, which i have been blessed with with my plan, that check arrives on time and it will be there. But there are other plans that are certainly not in that condition. And had not been that way for a very long time. We continue to bury our heads in the sand and wait for that implosion because it is going to happen. Or we can do the right thing and give people their voice back. Let those plans have the ability to ask their memberships what they want to do. They got their there through that cooperation, might not be their own fault that the plan is failing. There are many conditions that cause that. But the way the rules are now, they have no voice. They are silent and i am just here to make sure that we have an absolute clear understanding this is about giving the employers and the employees their voice back. I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Klein thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Kline thank you, mr. Speaker. Now id like to yield a minute and a half to another member of the committee, the gentlelady from indiana, mrs. Brooks. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from indiana is recognized for 1 1 2 minutes. Mrs. Brooks thank you, mr. Speaker. First of all i want to thank chairman kline, Ranking Member miller, and dr. Roe for working tirelessly on this incredibly difficult piece of legislation that i know impacts so many people. As you have heard on the Health Subcommittee we had over six different hearings on this matter examining the difficulties facing troubled multiemployer plans and the looming insolsen have i of the guarantee benefit corporation that is taxed with back stopping Pension Plans. During those hearings i heard from the president of the North American Building trades union that said ultimately, quote, in order for individual pensioners to receive benefits from our plan, the plans themselves must be preserved. End of quote. Mr. Speaker, without this klinemiller pension reform, the insolvency of these plans is exactly what will happen. Ultimately hurting those most in need. Just last month pbgc released its annual report which showed the deficit in this insurance program, its increased from 8. 3 billion to 42. 4 billion in just one year. At this rate the pbgc anticipates the plans will become insolvent in the next decade. That meanings pensioners wont even be able to count on the minimum to backstop programs that are terminal. We must act now to give the trustees of these plans the tools necessary to allow the unions and their members the opportunity to salvage these multiemployer pension model. The longer we wait, the more the problem grows and more painful it becomes for pensioners and employers alike. Our constituents didnt send us here to take the easy path. But rather to do the hard work that must be done. And that is why so much is at stake and thats why this provision is so necessary. I urge its passage. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The gentleman from california. Mr. Miller i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. Mr. Miller i would like, so my colleagues fully understand this, to read the list of some of the uneson supporting this legislation. North American Building trades union, International Council of employers, brick layers and outlie craft workers, International Union of operating engineers, United Association of journeymen apprentices and pipefitting industries, united food and commercial workers, International Union. United brotherhood of carpenters and joiners of america. Actors equity association. The American Federation of musicians. A very Diverse Group of American Workers who are asking us to give them the option to make decisions about the future of their pensions. Some of these pensions are in better shape than others. But they are all asking for this right. For those who may be opposed to this legislation, dont like this legislation, they dont have to exercise their right. But we cannot deny these workers this opportunity to make this decision about their very hard earned pensions. As mr. Norcross says, they made these decisions together where they are today, and they ought to be able to make the decisions together to change direction and to head off for an opportunity at greater solvency and longevity. With that, mr. Speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. I want to again thank congressman kline and all of the staff and all those who have cooperated and all these organizations that have spent many years trying to investigate the best way to answer this nagging question of how to save these plans. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california yields back his time. The gentleman from minnesota is recognized for 30 seconds. Mr. Kline thank you, mr. Speaker. In closing again i want to thank the staff and republicans and democrats working on this. We talked a lot about what this does for employees, for retirees. It also does an awful lot to strengthen the position of employers. You need strong employers. They need similar relief from the crushing liability on them. Strong employers and a strong plan in order to guarantee the pensions for all of these workers. I have a long list here which i will not read of employers who are supporting this because they understand that they like the employees and like the retirees need relief from the broken system we have today. I encourage all my colleagues to right now the House Democrats trying to figure out how much power they had to get from the continuing resolution that is being considered in the house. The pelicans doing much of the same. We will take your phone calls on this spending bill. If you support what you have atrd so far, let us know 2027488920, support, 2027488921, oppose, 2027488922, others. House democrats meeting at this hour. The white house has sent over its representatives, the chief of staff of the white house. We are going to speak now with a reporter from cq roll call. Shes outside the meeting room. Tomorrow, what are you hearing . What are you hearing from the democrats . Unitede democrats were this morning when they voted against the rule for the spending bill. Initially, the Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said they would not be for or against the rule. They voted against the rule, which squeaked through. It was a clear. They of them said were getting calls from cabinet secretaries, the president , try to get them to vote for the bill. Some of the members coming out, Maxine Waters, the top democrat on the house Financial Services committee, said she and about 20 other House Republicans are working against the spending bill. Some said they were undecided. It is pretty split this moment. Who did the white house send over . What is his role . They sent over chief of staff denis mcdonough. He is saying this is an overall good deal for democrats. This was negotiated in part by chairwomanopriations barbara mikulski. They said if you wait until next year, it will be republican is negotiating this bill and there will be fewer democratic victories. So she is pointing to all the things in the bill come all the environmental and labor stuff that they were able to send off as a victory for democrats. It squeaked past on this last vote . What was the problem on the republican side . Ofthere was a group conservatives that voted against the content of the bill and the process. Pages, and a 1600 they had about 2 1 2 days to look through it. The Biggest Group of conservatives said they are not that there is a rider would block funding for the implementation of the spending part of the bill deals with the Homeland Security department only being funded for a little bit of time. That is the cr portion. It would only find the department of Homeland Security short period of time. They could take another bite of the apple early next year, and try and fight president obamas action than. And this goes on, of course, if the house does pass it to the senate. We heard earlier from senator Elizabeth Warren for massachusetts, she has a lot of problems with this bill. Her biggest point of concern is a provision that was added to do with at has the dod frank overhaul. Basically, it would repeal a which requires banks to pull out their derivatives from being federally insured. Basically, they are saying that in, it provision goes will be against legal means. How much leverage do the democrats have at this point . They do know that republicans need them at this point. At the same time, the other alternative that speaker john has been talking about is a threemonth continuing resolution. If they dont end up going for the spending package, they are have to do this. They have some leverage, but it is pretty limited. So i guess that is how they will avoid a shutdown it is kind of looming here. Only a few hours left. Sure people are wondering if they will go to work if the government will go to work tomorrow. Yes, that is definitely a question. Options of shortterm being discussed one that could even take us to next and then leaders could take a look at it next week. And then also the 3 month option. And, of course, the house saying that this was the last in until wanted to be next year. That is true, but if it means anything, leaders from both parties are saying they do not want a Government Shutdown. They are saying that they will somehow, someway find a way to fund the government. Okay, we will continue to follow you on twitter. We are going to be taking your phone calls again. You ave numbers for whether support this bill that the house is trying to work out tonight, or whether you oppose it. The numbers are up on our screen. Be our 1st ing to caller out of texas. Linda, what are your thoughts. Well, i believe that we have this government, spending money llike crazy. One, including john boehner, have been watching where the money is going. He is just going along with obama. What his problem is with with obama. But he is just following obama like a little dog. We need to stop the spending. Issue with a any measure until february. Linda, you are in texas. What you think about pulling funding for of the Homeland Security and changing some of what president obama did with his executive order . We are not getting money anyway. We are having to spend our own money to watch the border. So we are not getting any money anyway. Kevin is on the line in englewood, colorado. Kevin, you say you support the bill. Why is that . Well, i used to be a federal employee as an fbi agent. That instability creates problems what the through last nt year and i dont think it should happen again. So you are concerned about a but the he employees, spending part are you okay with what you have been hearing of changes to bankrolls and things like that . Yes, i think in general. I am one to trust the government. I trust the leadership that put think ill together, and i some of those reforms may have gone too far. But maybe they can be revisited. The expense of this budget. Looking at the traits that have been coming through, one from Major Garrett working the phones to increase rankandfile democratic support. White house officials anticipate passage. On capitol oducer hill saying, majority leader pelosi heading into the house a mocrats caucus meeting just little bit ago. Frank tweets out the matter of the fact is, if they that have the vote and means republicans we can take them to force this mess out of the bill. And that mess shes referring some of the changes that made to banking rules and having taxpayers pay for them. Mike is calling from columbus, georgia. On the line for others. What are your thoughts here on the spending bill . Well, thank you for taking my call. Concerned about the bill because it doesnt sound like we are getting a fair say. It does seem like, to me, that the democrats are willing to work with the republicans, bbut the republicans are saying it is going to be my way or the highway. All right, thank you for the call there, mike. On the line from delaware. You oppose this bill, ed. Why is that . I do oppose this bill. I am in my 80s and i am a registered voter. And the biggest thing i have here is on the pension deal. From what i read in the write ups, it wont affect me because of my age. But so many young people in now are on y pensions and are just scraping by. In the future, too, is a lot of widows and have to tthat they depend on. It is a smart pension. This im afraid of, if goes through and the republicans are going to have complete control of the congress after the 1st of the year what im concerned about is Social Security. It will be the next thing on the list. So, as far as im concerned, this is a bad, bad bill. And just a few hours, again, before midnight. Is when federal funding runs out. Trying to move forward wwith the bill they are considering. We are hearing from you whether you support or oppose this bill. James is calling from grand rapids, ohio. James, you support the bill. Why . Support the bill because there should be no reason we should shut down the government. Honestly, if they want to do things with the government the president to put them in their place they have to have the government open. Thanks, james. Going to sean in vancouver, washington. Sean, you oppose the bill. What are your thoughts . I cannot understand why the leadership waits to the very last 2nd. This happens every single time. Is it that people do not hold them responsible . What we need to spend for the months or next year we figure it out ahead of time, dont we . We dont figure it out at the last minute when we may not have the money. And what do you think of the politics, i guess, that are involved here . And some of the grandstanding. I think that is all part of the strategy. I think both sides want to be able to push the other and embarrass the other side. Anyway they can. Republicans want to say that democrats are, you know, spending money we dont have. And they want to embarrass each other. Rather than do what is good for the country. In my opinion, what is good for to plan ahead arent people like me called not a crazy people for wanting to plan ahead and only spend the money we have. For people so hard to get . Taking your calls people people who oppose this bill and what is in it. Taking a look at a tweet here. The entioned some of politics behind it, saying coalition of the huh . And y pelosi, steve king, Elizabeth Warren and ted cruz versus barack obama, joe biden, john boehner. And president obama views it as better compromise the democrats can get in a new congress. Calling at ouse is all levels for democrats to corral for support. What are your thoughts . My thought is i a ink all of this is just source of adversary. Because of people face problems like this if i didnt pay my i would be homeless. And to me, this is kind of funny. Like the man said earlier on the phone. Every time they get to the last minute to do this. But i think what it is now is the haves and havenots. And the poor, well, as they say, you are sol. Brian colling from washington dc. Brian, what are the aspects you like . Yes, i would like this bill. It really vindicates speaker boehner. Is a master t he politician, taking the democrats as the party of the shutdown. Okay, brian. Thank you for the call. Hyde park, massachusetts, we have a dominik on the line. Why do oppose the bill . 1, i am amazed at the tea them people a lot of is ran on billing banks going to be voting for a bill that allows banks to bail out indefinitely. Corporations e have underfunded pensions allow those corporations all those years you underfunded, now it is time to pay up. Were going to cut your pension by 50 . That wont save him because he still has to pay his bills. His mortgage will be cut. It is outrageous and i am the amount of unions wwho support this bill. Didnt do ause they the negotiations to have management report that money year in and year out. Sue is on the line from connecticut. What is your thoughts . This actually feels like deja vu from last october. Spending just a clean to be passed, instead of all these Christmas Present favors to wall street. Was watching the speeches earlier the pension fund that is in the most trouble is actually the pensioners plan, and wall street has been mismanaging it. Goldman sachs, morgan stanley, j. P. Morgan chase. And so, essentially, we are bailing out wall street for mismanaging a pension fund. So we are paying them again. We are taking your calls. A lot of questions here about this Financial Bank aspect the derivatives, the swaps. We heard earlier on the senate side of the capital from Elizabeth Warren. She talked about this provision real sticking a point here covering banks in case of an economic crash. A change taxpayers essentially being on the hook a bank failure. The senator from massachusetts. Who does Congress Work for . Does it work for the millionaires, the billionaires, the companies . Oor doesnt work for all the people . I am frustrated with congress. Part of the reason, of course, is gridlock. Mostly it is because they think Congress Works just fine for the big guys, but it wont finger to help them. It is Big Companies who tend to employ lobbyists and lawyers to get congress to vote for special deals that benefit themselves. We simply confirm the view of the American People that this is ranked. Now, the house of representatives is about to show us the worst of government for the rich and powerful. On a ouse is about to vote budget deal a deal behind closed doors that slips in a provision that would let derivative gamble on wall street with taxpayer money, and get bailed out by the government when their risky bets blow up our financial ssystem. Same banks that nearly destroyed our economy in 2008 and last jobs. That are now s raking in record profits. The same banks that are spending a lot of time and trying to influence congress to bend the rules in their favor. Now, you hear a lot of folks say that the rule that will be is ealed in the omnibus technical and complicated. Worry about ldnt it because we are people who know more than you do about financial issues. They say it is no big deal. Well, dont believe them. Actually, this rule is pretty simple. Here is what it is called. House is that the about to repeal is titled against federal government bailout of entities. What does it do . The provision that is about to banks to ed requires keep separate a key part of the risky wall street speculation, so there is no Government Insurance for that part of their business. Newyork times has explained, the goal was to isolate risky trading and to prevent government bailout. Because these sorts of risky called derivative trades were a main culprit in the 2008 financial crisis. Place these rules in after the collapse of the Financial System because we to reduce the risk of reckless gambling on wall so that it could nnever again threaten jobs. This rule is in place because people of all political persuasions were disgusted at the idea of future bailouts. And now, no debate, no discussion. Republicans in the house of representatives are threatening shut down the government if they dont get a chance to repeal it. That raises a simple question why . Does this rule bring more stability to our Financial System . Does this rule prevent financial government bailouts . Why in the world would anyone want to repeal it, let alone hold the entire government hostage in order to run through this appeal . The reason, unfortunately, a simple. It is about money. And it is about power. While this legal change could post serious risks to our entire economy, it will also make a lot of money for wall street banks. According to American Financial would be a s change our boom to a handful of biggest banks citigroup, j. P. Morgan, bank of america. Of time eet spent a lot and money on congress. Senate citizen and the for responsive politics found that in the runup to dod services e Financial Sector employed 1447 former federal employees to carry out their lobbying efforts. Including 73 former members of congress. And according to a report by the institute for americans the 6 biggest 0, banks and their trade associations employ 243 lobbyist who once worked in the federal government. Including 33 who worked as chiefs of staff for members of who worked as 54 staff for the Banking Oversight Committee in the house and the senate. Now, that is a lot of former aand nment employees senators and congressmen pounding on congress to make sure that the big banks get heard. No surprise that the financial industry spent more than 1 a day lobbying congress on financial reform. And that is a lot of money that to former elected officials and government employees. And now, we see the fruits of those investments. This provision is all about lifting the profits of the big banks. Wall street isnt subtle about this one. According to documents reviewed by the new york times, the that is being incorporated today was literally wwritten by citigroup lobbyist that redrafted the legislation. Quote, striking out certain phrases and inserting others. It has been opposed by current fdic, rmer leaders of the including sheila bair a republican who formerly chair agency and thomas, the current vicechairman of the agency. Who are keeping score, this is the agency that bailing responsible for out wall street when their risky bets go sour. Now, i know that the house and Senate Negotiators from both parties have worked long and come to an agreement on the omnibus spending legislation. Leaders deserve for preventing the house from carrying out some of their more aggressive fantasies of financial reform. But this provision goes too far. Citigroup is large and it is powerful, but it is a single private company. The hould it get to hold entire government hostage to threaten a Government Shutdown order to roll back important protection that keep our economy safe. This is a democracy, and the American People did not elect us to stand up for citigroup. For elected us to stand up all the people. In the my colleagues house eespecially my democratic colleagues, whose votes are essential to moving this package forward to until ld support from it this risky giveaway is removed from the legislation. And fight d to stand tthis giveaway to the most powerful banks in this country. Thank you, madam president. I yield. Senator warren there, earlier today talking about the of the provisions in cr omnibus bill that the house is time to work on right now. Just hours ahead of what is the of current government funding. Take a look at a treat that on talking about this citigroup provision that she just talked about on the floor. Holding government funding hostage to ram through its government bailout provision. She says join me in opposing shutdown with the hastag there. And saying on twitter that people are frustrated. There is no shutdown. And frank says, i have to say, though, even with that patch, it is a fraction of the party holding up the larger bill, just like last year. Todd says, totally true, but endgame is totally different. Taken out d something of this bill the gop wanted money out for obama care. The democrats wanted dodd frank language. Here is about 5 minutes of the white house briefing. Let me go back to the spending bill. This beth warren says that bill shows us the worst of government of the rich and powerful. Does the ondering, president think that Elizabeth Warren is wrong about that . Or is she willing to sign a bill that shows us the worst of government . I think it would be fair of you to observe that we may have different of opinion. Is pleased that the legislation puts a doubledigit funding increase for the ftc. And does not include any republican writers, which they have tried to attach to previous legislation, that would essentially got the authority. I know it is something that senator warren is a strong advocate for. And, you know, the president actually th her to create this agency that would be a voice for consumers here in washington dc. Is a testament to, again, the reason that the president supported this legislation. Not because it is perfect aand not because he supports every because he s net doesnt it would be akin to watering down one provision. The president does not support that provision. But on the balance, the president believes it is worthy of support. One of the things you did that a basically undoes what the voters in this District Of Columbia are voting for, which was legalizing marijuana. What is the White House Position on the fact that to this bill, be undoing would democratic will . I will answer your question. As a general matter, it would be hard to take a position on every single matter in the bill. Yes, on this one. What i can tell you is that been a ministration has strong supporter of the District Of Columbia getting statehood. And that is an indication that do not believe congress should spend a lot of time interfering with the ability of the District Of Columbia to make decisions should to how they govern the community. And this was a specific referendum, i believe, that was on the last ballot. That yeah, we do believe this kind of congressional interference does interfere with this home rule printable. President s position on this is that he doesnt think the people of the District Of Columbia voted to legalize marijuana congress should not get in the way. That should go through. The president believes on principle, the district that members of congress should not be interfering in this way. With the decisions that the citizens of the District Of Columbia are making. And just one other one. You offer your case for why democrats should vote for this. Putting yourselves in the republican yourself in the republican choose for a moment. You said that it does nothing to undo the president s executive order on immigration. You dont think its fair as to why the republican should support such a bill . Not know that it completely fund the Affordable Care act as much as it should. They were unsuccessful and putting in place the kind of writers to get our ability to implement the Affordable Care act. But but i grant your premise here. What i would say is this. That there icipate are people who would deliver a much more persuasive case for be able ans and i would to do, but as a general matter, can say that there is a strong democratic and republican agreement that a Government Shutdown would be bad for our country. And people across the country trying to make decisions for the next year would benefit a piece gress passing just gislation that funds about the entire federal government to the end of this year. Be helpful for Business Owners trying to plan their expenditures for the remainder of this fiscal year. That is a good thing for this economy. That is a good thing for the middle class families. And that is something that the democrats and the president have placed a significant priority on. I think that is a lot of the and on why democrats republicans should give a close look at this legislation before they decide to oppose it. White house is the position there, as the house continues to try and work on a government funding spending bill. Again, just a few hours until midnight until current funding runs out. We are just monitoring things caucusing earlier tonight and trying to see what kind of votes they can muster. The white house making the calls and trying to get the votes on the democratic side. Lets take a look at a tweet. This is from jake sherman. The house gop has grown their yes votes. Keeping yes votes in place is not easy. To his article there. The article, part of it, down to the wire House Republicans relying on president obama to try and convince about 40 democrats to vote for the 1. 1 trillion spending bill. Read more at politico. Tony has been holding on the line from indianapolis, indiana. Tony, you see you are in support of the funding bill. Why . I dont think the savings have been brought up and how much we were cut into the savings. We are saving lots of money on this bill. I am in full support of it. If the democrats dont want the language in their about the dodd frank there about the dodd frank, then lets take it out and not put any money in for obama care. If they dont like that, the government will shut down. They can shut the government down and work on it. Thank you very much. Thanks for your call. We have the line set up a little bit differently than normal. Who support the funding bill 2027488920 for those who support, 2027488921 for those who oppose, and 2027488922 for those who are undecided or other. Line for on the miami, florida. Ronald, you say you oppose the bill. Yes i do, very much so to ause of the liabilities the american taxpayer. And also what it will do to retirees on fixed incomes. Believe these dodd frank and Pension Reforms have no business being in the spell. Ronald, thank you for your call. We are going on to howard dean in maine. You say you support the bill. Why . I support the bill because there is one thing. There is a lot of big, rich, powerful people that are good. And there are a lot of big, rich, powerful people that are bad. But you have to remember something. Bill, if it passes, we will all benefit from it. Republicans have to do what they have to do, then they have to do what to do to get our rights back on track. And if people dont understand on t, then they can continue going downhill like we have been going downhill with obama care and Everything Else that has been happening. They need to think about what they are doing. They need to when. Okay. House democrats are group of people trying to think about what they are doing. They are meeting in the caucus right now. We have some footage earlier today of some of the democrats headed into their meeting. Still trying to decide who is to support the bill, how Many Democrats might go over to the republican sign to join sure that to make government funding does not run out tonight at midnight. We are still taking your calls. Steve is on the line from martinsville, virginia. Steve, you are on the others line. What are your thoughts . Well, firstly, i am a democrat. And i have concerns about the things the democrats are complaining about. But i am in other because who what is in their. I mean, 24 hours to figure out aa 1600 page bill . Nno one knows what is in their. People on the hill doesnt know what is in there. The faa or the sec or the epa want to pass a rule, they have to put it out for Public Comment for 60 days. We get 24 hours to figure out the government for the next year . That does make sense. Okay, steve, thank you for your call. Is on the line from texas. Berry, you say you are opposed. Yes, i am opposed because i dont believe the government should ever, ever bail out the big banks again. I dont think that companies here should mind uranium and send it to iran. Thank you. Lucerne valley, california lu, what are your thoughts . I believe that the democrats and republicans to do with the president. And i think that this budget should not pass. Should close the government and finally come out to where they think about this of time so that partisanship does not get into this act. Thank you. Lets take a look at a tweet here. Coming across the wire a few minutes ago it is getting logistically difficult senate to use and pass something and have obama sign it before 12 midnight. So, technically there, i guess he is referring to a Government Shutdown. Again, a plan for some shorterterm spending possible threeday spending to let the senate work on this bill bbecause they still have to work on it on the senate side. And then, of course, get it to obama. Jack is on the line from florida. Jack, why do you support the bill . Can you hear me . Wwe sure can. Go ahead, jack. It is never wise to upset the whole country. My question was is this going to affect Social Security payouts and federal employee paychecks . Sorry, jack. Couldnt hear you there. With this affect Social Security and federal employee payouts . It will affect a number of things, including pensions which is a big thing this evening. And from senator warren saying that some of these. Frank laws frank be reversed dodd laws would be reversed. Buddy from florida, go ahead. The reason im opposed is because every year they wait until the last second. There is 1900 pages now. No one knows what is in the bill. You have to pass the bill to see what is in the bill. And one of the things that they are not telling you that is in the bill is they are giving illegal aliens 16,000 apiece. So the 55,000 that came across the texas border during the summer. So many things and that is the reason they to the last minute, so they can get all of their ports through without any questions. It is obscene. Cr until february or march. And on that note, buddy, we have a tweet here. Says, hal rogers says the fallback would last until early next year, like february 27, the push fails tonight. Tommy is on the line in louisiana. Tommy, you say you support the bill that the house is working on tonight. Why is that . Well, the issue in february about immigrants sorry, tommy. Keep going. Just ll, the law that he the new n february with congress ookay, tommy, thanks there. From colorado, you are opposed. What dont you like . Well, the fact that we are giving the banks free reign. The democrats fought against that to take that away from all e people who want to do this Risky Business and throw this country into a don paul. You know, that is wrong. And the next thing i want to say is about the tea partiers. These people are against wall street and all this. We dont hear anything from them now nothing. Is 2nd thing on that bill the Campaign Contributions it is unlimited, they can give whatever they want to. That is the problem. Bigtime. That is all i have to say. Partiers he tea complaining about business, where are they . Yes, we did see a tweet earlier that talked about tea nown as a party member and Elizabeth Warren kind of coming together on the same side of this, ssaying that they dont want a lot of these campaignfinance changes. The changes to to helping out banks when they make risky when they make risky investments. We are going to take one more call here. We are going to take a look at some of what happened earlier today on the house for. Before we do that, rabbit is on the line from minnesota. Robert, what are your thoughts . Well, i am from minnesota. Are running a deficit up until mark dayton and the democrats took over. We are now running 1 billion surplus. I have had time to think about we s bill and looking at it, 2 ve a congress in the last of congress who worked probably 100 days a year. They get 100,000 a year plus benefits. Now, after what happened in 2007 under a republican controlled house and senate actually, prior to that because won back the house while this happened. Of a they just got out sevenweek break, aand they are one ing this up now with day before one day before the shutdown . Are you kidding me . I think we better get some back from his politicians because they are not earning their keep. All right, robert, thank you call there from minnesota. Lets take a look at what Congress Members have been doing. This is from earlier today, floor f the debate on the concerning this bill which expires tonight at midnight. Mr. Rogers i rise today as we face the expiration of the current continuing resolution to present the house amendment to the Senate Amendment on h. R. 83, legislation to fund the federal government for the rest of the current fiscal year. This amendment prevents a costly and damaging Government Shutdown while making Good Government funding and policy decisions and reining in Regulatory Overreach. Its good for the continuity of vital federal programs and services, its good for our economy, and its good for the American People. In total this legislation provides 1. 013 trillion for the operations of the federal government. This total is in line with the terms of the ryanmurray budget agreement. It includes full year appropriations legislation for 11 of the 12 annual Appropriations Bills. Reflecting the most up to date budgetary needs of each agency and department. The Appropriations Committees in both the house and senate went line by line through these all of these bills, prioritizing funding for effective and vital programs, making the tough decisions to cut funding for lower priority programs. In addition, the measure includes shortterm funding for the department of Homeland Security, holding the funding levels for those programs at current levels. This will ensure that efforts to secure our home front are maintained until february 27 of next year. This legislation is a compromise. The product of hardfought negotiations between the house and senate, with give and take from both sides. But at the end of the day, mr. Speaker, it reflects conservative priorities. Keeps our spending in line. And reins in the Regulatory Overreach that has been hampering our economy. As such, National Security is a top priority in this bill. We provides we provide a total of 554 billion for the department of defense, including 64 billion in overseas Contingency Operations to support our troops in the field, to combat isil, to train and equip our iraqi allies and to counter russian aggression. To further assist our economy, we include provisions that put the brakes on regulatory programs that are too intrusive and too burdensome on american businesses. For instance, the legislation prohibits funds for the army corps of engineers to act on two potentially harmful regulations, changing the definition of, quote, fill material, quote, and regulating water in certain agricultural areas under the clean water act. The bill measure prevents the listing of the sage grouse on the endangered species list a premature action that would have severe economic consequences on western states, especially. And the bill protects job creators from onerous regulatory burdens by amending doddfrank swaps pushout rules. This bill also demonstrates, mr. Speaker, fiscal restraint. It cuts 60 million from the e. P. A. It provides no funding for high speed rail, the president s race to the top initiative, or unesco, or i. N. F. No new funding is included for obamacare. And the bill holds the line on funding for the agency most responsible for implementing that law at health and Human Services. For the i. R. S. , the bill cuts the agency 345 billion below last year and includes language to put a stop to improper behavior by prohibiting the targeting of groups based on political beliefs, prohibiting the white house from ordering the i. R. S. To determine the tax exempt status of an organization, and from funding inappropriate videos or conferences. This legislation is the product of the bipartisan and bicameral cooperation that the American People called for at the voting booths last month. Passage of this bill will show our people that we can and will govern responsible responsibly, rise above inaction, and Work Together on their behalf. Now, i would have preferred, as im sure all of us would have, that we would be considering each of the 12 Appropriations Bills under regular order, the oldfashioned way. This is the way it should operate. In the house, as you know, our committee passed out 11 of the 12 bill the floor passed seven of the bills and would have passed more, but we realize the senate uh was not going to act on any of them and did not. The senate was not going to act on any of them and did not. So five of the bills were left in the lurch because the senate would not consider any of the bills. We face a very tight deadline now and we have no choice but to try to put together an omnibus spending billing a gating all 12 bills into one. I would have preferred separately but the senate blocked the way. If we do nothing, well be turning our backs on our constitutional duty and on the American People. Mr. Speaker, before i close, i want to take a moment to recognize some people who made today possible. First of all, the staff. Weve had about a month to put together this enormous bill with thousands of items in all 12 subcommittees. Weve had great negotiations then with the senate. But it was the work of the staff, of course, that enabled us to be here today and i want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle who work sod hard to make this happen. Who soed who work sod hard to make this happen. I would like to call names but im afraid i would leave out somebody important, so i want to thank the staff for all their wonderful, la boirs you work baylors you work. And i will sing laborious work. And i will single out will smith who guided the staff through this process and i think did a wonderful, marvelous job. I want to thank will smith especially and all the staff for their great work leading up to today. Now, i want to thank the members of the committee. Theyve all had a part in making this bill up. Each subcommittee, each chairman of the subcommittee, each of the members of the subcommittees that fought long and hard to ensure that we have the best bill before us today that we could have, and notably, the Ranking Member of the committee, mrs. Nita lowey, with whom we share this responsibly responsibility, shes been a tremendous asset to us in the procedure. Leading up to today. I want to thank her personally for the great work she did. I also want to acknowledge, mr. Speaker, six members of the committee who are moving on to greener pastures, making new chapters in their life. They have been enormous helpers in the committee. Theyve chaired subcommittees, theyve worked long and hard on every bill that we produced, and we certainly hate to see them go. But they are writing a new chapter. So i want to recognize Jack Kingston for his service, frank wolf, tom latham, jim moran, ed pastor, and bill owens. All of those six are moving on, we want to thank them for their service. And its appropriate that their final vote on the house floor will be on an appropriate Appropriations Committee bill, funding the entire government. This nation is a better place because of their service. I want to thank all of them for their contributions to the committee and to the house and the people of this country over their combined 120 years of service. I now call on the members of the house, republicans and democrats alike, to support this legislation, keep the government open. Its a good bill. Its bipartisan. Its bicameral. It was negotiated in good faith on both sides of the capitol and both sides of the aisle, and most importantly, mr. Speaker, this bill is necessary. So i urge members to vote yes and i yield i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves his time. He gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey thank you, mr. Speaker. At the outset, i want to thank chairman rogers for the cooperative way you have guided this committee, it has truly been a pleasure to me to work with you and your staff. As we all know, mr. Speaker, funding to keep the government operating expires at midnight tonight. It is my sincere hope that we can avoid the antics of last year when a vocal minority in this body was able to hold the entire government hostage for reasons they could not they couldnt articulate. It wasnt fair to the American People and i hope we never have to go through it again. Throughout this process, my has been to avoid another costly my goal has been to avoid another costly shutdown, enhance our security and protect the most vulnerable among us. I remain disappointed, mr. Speaker, that the House Majority decided to leave out the agreement reached on the department of Homeland Security , the decision reflects their political calculation on immigration policy. I believe my chairman was right when he rebuffed efforts to restrict the president s executive orders on immigration on a mustpass appropriations bill. But forcing these important agencies, customs and border protection, the u. S. Secret service, the federal Emergency Management administration, the Transportation Security Administration into a twomonth continuing resolution was unnecessary and unfortunate. The shortterm c. R. Creates uncertainty and will limit the departments ability to make important decisions on procurements, hiring and a new initial and any initiatives we all support. I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter from secretary johnson outlining the problems with funding the department through a c. R. The speaker pro tempore without objection, it will be part of the record. Mrs. Lowey my colleague, david price, the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee, was unsuccessful in his attempt at the rules committee to restore fullyear funding through this bill. I offered an amendment to strike two very controversial provisions. E, to strike a rider for swaps under the doddfrank law. The other to strike a provision raising contribution limits to Political Parties. These provisions are divisive and unnecessary. They should be removed. The 11 other spending bills included in this package are a mix of wins and losses. I was very pleased that most of the worst riders were dropped, including those on the Affordable Care act, the Clean Air Act and those preventing full implementation and new reforms to the Federal School lunch program. Statutory budget caps essentially kept all discretionary programs at a hard freeze, but im pleased we were able to prioritize a few key items such as the National Institute of health, food safety at the food and drug administration. Another very modest but very important increase is provided for afterschool programs, many of which suffered steep cuts under sequestration and have still not made up those shortfalls. Im also pleased the final agreement provides 500 million to the department of transportations Tiger Program to fund major surface transportation projects, including bridges, transit and passenger rail. To keep firearms out of the hands of those who shouldnt possess them, the National Instant background check system will receive an increase of 14. 5 million. This important investment was achieved because members on both sides of the aisle recognized how crucial this money is with states to improve their submission of records into the background check system. The appropriations package includes much of the administrations request to respond to the deadly ebola crisis. 5. 4 billion. We must ensure that all of those tasks with being on the front lines fighting this disease from local hospitals to federal agencieses have what they need agencies have what they need. We all recognize how the ease of International Travel has changed the way we must respond to contagious diseases. I have confidence in our health care system. The center for Disease Control and the fantastic hospitals that stepped up to take and treat the patients with ebola, but we should do whatever we can to stop the disease where it is the most deadly. The funding provided will allow research to ramp up to treat and hopefully develop a vaccine for ebola. Before i close, i would like to thank the committees staff for their tireless work, particularly David Pomerance and leslie turner, who worked closely with will and the entire appropriations staff. I am very pleased the Appropriations Committee was able to come together on a package to fund 11 of the 12 spending bills, but, again, i wish it had been on all 12 bills and only dealt with issues related to appropriations. I will reiterate that the funding contains many things. I wish it had a different outcome. I fought throughout the conference, for example, to get rid of the swaps language. It does not belong on the appropriations bill. The reidboehner provision to increase by 10fold the limit on contributions to Political Parties does not belong in this bill. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from new york reserves her time. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the very distinguished and hardworking chairman of the appropriations defense subcommittee, mr. Frelinghuysen. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Frelinghuysen i thank the chairman for yielding and i thank him for his leadership and i thank Ranking Member lowey as well. They both deserve credit for moving this bill. As we begin consideration of this important legislation this afternoon, i want to pay tribute to the men and women of our armed forces, all volunteers. They deserve our heart felt thanks to their dedicated service and sacrifice. That is also extended to the professionals in our Intelligence Community. These men and women, whether in uniform or not, deserve greater certainty, stability and predictability in their lives. Its nothing its something theyve often lacked because of a flawed congressional budget process over the past several years which we seek to reestablish today as regular order. And frankly, so do the American People. They deserve better. The centerpiece of this comprehensive package, the engine that drives this bill is our house defense bill. Passed in june with overwhelmingly bipartisan support. Like that bill, this measure assures the Strong National defense posture gets terrorist groups like isil and al qaeda and challenges from nation states like russia and china, iran and addresses the ebola epidemic. This bill provides 550 billion in new Spending Authority for the department of defense and our Intelligence Community and cludes 64 billion for the overseas Contingency Operations. The base funding in this measure is 500 million below the president obamas 2015 budget and just 3. 3 billion above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. Overall, the defense title of the omnibus appropriations package assures our commitment to the u. S. Militarys dominance over air, land and sea. Our commitment to our allies and partners, our commitment to our Service Members and their families. At the same time our committee clearly recognizes our nations debt crisis, and we found areas and programs where reductions were possible without adversely impacting our armed forces or our Defense Industrial base, which is so vital to maintaining our military edge. We make every dollar count in our portion of this bill without increasing risk for our war fighters. National security is the priority job of the federal government, our constitution grants congress the full range of authority for the defense of our nation. With our armed forces facing formidable enemies around the world and standing watch everywhere to protect our freedom, this bill cannot wait, and i urge its passage today. In closing, id like to thank my Ranking Member, pete visclosky, hes been a valuable partner and friend. And thanks to the incredible committee that makes up the defense Appropriations Committee, members of the committee and our professional staff, led by tim prince. They did an incredible job. We should be enormously proud of them. Mr. Chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, im very pleased to yield four minutes to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina, mr. Price, the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from North Carolina is recognized for four minutes. Mr. Price i thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in opposition to this misguided legislation. First, however, i want to commend the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of our Appropriations Committees and subcommittees for their efforts this year to restore the normal appropriations process with careful scrutiny of executive budget requests and the cooperative crafting of bills that fund our agencies and chart their course for the coming year. Their work is reflected in the 11 bills out of 12 before us today, a significant achievement despite the overall inadequacy of the underlying budget numbers were working with. Budget allocations, unfortunately, still reflect the ill advised republican strategy of illadvised republican strategy of nondefense Discretionary Spending on our Critical National investments. As Ranking Member of the Homeland Security subcommittee, id like to thank chairman carter for the collaborative process hes led throughout this year. Our fullyear Homeland Security appropriations bill has been finished for over a week now, making the exclusion from this omnibus all the more troubling. So mr. Speaker, stitching together 11 of our Appropriations Bills is indeed a positive achievement. But it is greatly diminished by the subjex of Homeland Security funding to a shortterm continuing resolution and by the inclusion of controversial legislative riders which too are particularly egregious. The First Amendment would blow a major hole in the doddfrank bill, putting taxpayers on the hook for some of the riskiest behavior of wall street institutions. The Second Amendment would blow another hole in our efforts to prevent big money from swamping our political system. The bills Campaign Finance provisions are completely nonjermaine to appropriations nongermane to appropriations and would have influence to wealthiest americans by allowing a couple to donate a million and a half dollars annually to the parties. To my knowledge these provisions have never had had a single hearing in either the house or the senate and they have no place in an appropriations bill. On top of these troubling provisions is the shortsighted abusive treatment of Homeland Security. The bill before us would force the department of Homeland Security to operate under a shortterm continuing resolution until late february, creating a cloud of uncertainty, putting critical programs and acquisitions at risk and raising the threat of a full Agency Shutdown early next year. A shortterm continuing resolution limits the departments ability to make Strategic Decisions about carrying out its security missions, improving coordination among its components. It also limits the ability to move ahead with the secretarys southern border and approaches campaign. It creates uncertainty regarding isis capability to detain and deport dangerous criminals and to transfer unaccompanied children to h. H. S. For humane treatment. It could also delay needed procurements and necessary security upgrades at the white house complex to prevent fence jumper intrusions. Most confoundingly, the bill provides Immigration Enforcement agency with hundreds of millions of dollars less than their known needs and what our bipartisan bill would have provided. If the republican majority is concerned about the effectiveness of our immigration policy, this is really a strange way to show it. To hold enforcement funding hostage, thats not the way we bring about positive change, but we know this is all about political peek directed at the president. This is an unfortunate end, mr. Speaker, to what has been a cooperative, bipartisan Homeland Security appropriations cycle, but it leaves me unable in good faith to recommend a iowa vote. We should re recommend a yea vote. We should proceed with an appropriations bill that truly represents the consensus of this body. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i now want to yield two minutes to the gentleman from iowa, mr. Tom latham, who is retiring. He chairs the transportationh. U. D. Appropriations subcommittee and has been a stalwart help over he years on this committee and to congress in service to the country. Time, ess for the last he will be giving us a great speech. Mr. Latham. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from iowa is recognized for the last two minutes. Mr. Latham thank you, mr. Speaker, and thank you, mr. Chairman, for the kind words. I rise in strong support of this omnibus appropriation bill. I am in particularly proud of the transportationhousing and urban development division, which makes critical developments in our nations infrastructure, our air Traffic Control system and housing for our neediest citizens. The bill requires some tough choices but it advances our priorities and responsible government and fiscal restraint. We worked hard to ensure this final bill includes funding and policy provision that is are a priority for this body. We provide funds for the f. A. A. To support the full operations of the air Traffic Control system and the f. A. A. s investment in next gen. We meet theman 21 extension, authorize funding levels for highways and transit. We provide housing funds to assist families served by h. U. D. s housing programs plus 10,000 new veterans housing vouchers. We provide 3 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Program which is a priority for members of both sides of the aisle. Mr. Speaker, i have been honored to serve as chairman of the thud committee for the last four years and on the committee for the last 18 years. Its been an amazing experience each and every year how the work of this Committee Works for the people of america. Id like to thank my Ranking Member, mr. Ed pastor, which is with whom its been a real honor to serve. I wish him well in his retirement. And i know that this body will miss him as much as i will. Id also like to thank the staff of the committee who put in countless hours to draft this compromise. Id also like to recognize and thank doug from my staff who for the past 12 years and who has served this institution for nearly three decades. Our chairman, hal rogers, has demonstrated you can stick to your principles and still come to a compromise that puts the American People first. Mr. Chairman, its been an honor to serve on this committee and under your leadership. I appreciate it very, very much all the kindness and personal things that you have done for you and cynthia for kathy and i. Very much appreciate t i urge members to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. Search the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, im very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from new york, mr. Serrano, the Ranking Member of the Financial Services subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Serrano i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Mr. Serrano i thank our Ranking Member for the time. First let me mention a few of the good things in the Financial Services bill. We were able to substantially increase funding for the securities and Exchange Commission by 150 million above last years level. We were also able to increase funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions fund and to authorize a cvfi Loan Guarantee program for another year. We were also increased robust funding for the s. B. A. To help our nations small businesses. And we added additional dollars to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the commodity futures trading commission. We removed numerous troubling riders that affected the Affordable Care act, traveled to cuba, and the ability of the s. E. C. To police our markets. Unfortunately several problems remain in the bill. The bill would essentially repeal an important provision of doddfrank to prevent banks from engaging in risky swaps activities backed by their depositors and ultimately by the federal government. The protections of doddfrank were put in place to prevent a return to the risky transactions that led to the 2008 meltdown. We should not backtrack on those important reforms. Im also very concerned about the cuts made to the i. R. S. Which will force the agency to operate at levels below that of sequestration. This would cause a serious strain on the agency. There are several riders attached to the District Of Columbia section of the bill. Something that happens every year. Republicans have again limited the districts ability to use their own dollars to provide abortion services. This bill also seeks to stop the district from implementing a recent Ballot Initiative that legalizes the Recreational Use of marijuana. Thankfully on this last provision republicans have simply missed the mark. The language of the rider only prevents the district from enacting laws, rules, or regulations regarding marijuana legalization. But it does not to prevent already enacted efforts like the recent Ballot Initiative. The president recently took executive action to end everyday tragedies to occur when families are separated and people glorted. Rather than using this as a chance to finally engage in reform, we are now doing something to the d. H. S. By putting them on a c. R. I would like to yield momentarily to the Ranking Member. Mrs. Lowey i thank the distinguished Ranking Member and i want to make it deleer that clear that the speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. Mrs. Lowey i give you an additional 30 seconds. I agree with the gentleman from new york, the Ranking Member of the Financial Services subcommittee, and our colleague, the delegate from d. C. , that the language in the bill does not block either decriminalization of marijuana or the referendum on legalization. Yield back. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i yield three minutes to the distinguished chairman of the energy and water subcommittee on appropriations, mr. Simpson of idaho. The speaker pro tempore gentleman from idaho is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Idaho i thank the chairman. It should be noted also, mr. Speaker, that this is the last time we expect to see you presiding before you retire also. You have done a marvelous job and thank you for your service to this institution. I hope this vote doesnt go on for 3 45. If theres anybody that can handle, that im certain you can handle that experience. Im pleased after months of work the committee has been able to bring this package together before the full house. Id like to thank my Ranking Member, ms. Kaptur, for her close collaboration throughout the entire process of putting together the energy and water sections of the omnibus. Id also like to thank the hard work of our senate counterparts, senator feinstein and senator alexander for their hard work in bringing this package together. Now, i want to be clear. I didnt get everything i wanted in this bill. None of us did. But we have worked hard to ensure that the bill clearly reflects the will of the American People. It makes critical investments and makes important policy changes that will continue to build on in coming years. For instance, im pleased with how strongly it invests in our National Defense and water infrastructure. Weapons activities receives the largest increase in this bill, 387 million over last year, within this level is full funding for the critical warheads such as the b61 and long range standoff. Investment in naval reactor programs increases by 144 million, including the full request for the ohio class replacement reactor. Funding for the army corps of engineers is modestly increased from last year, including not less than 1. 1 billion for the Harbor Maintenance trust fund activities. Last year we directed no less than 1 billion. We also include some policy changes critical to supporting our countrys Economic Development in a responsible manner. New this year we included provisions prohibiting the regulation of certain agricultural activities such as the construction and maintenance of farm ponds or irrigation ditches under the clean water act. This is a major victory for our countrys farmers and ranchers who are concerned about the potential of the e. P. A. And army corps of engineers over reach into their operations. We continue prohibitions from last year against changes to the definition of fill material under the clean water act and the implementation of the new light bulb efficiency standards. These are commonsense provisions that protect Consumers Choice and responsible commercial operations. I think every one of us in this body, including myself, can think of other things that they wanted to see in this pack and and things they would have liked taken out. But overall this bill moves the country forward in a balanced way and allows the new congress to proceed with its most important obligation, that of governing this country. I want to echo the words of my chairman, mr. Rogers, how important the staff is in putting these bills together. Most people that dont serve on the committee dont know the time that they put in. They are here on thanksgiving day trying to put together this package so that it will be ready for the floor. They do incredible work not only of the subcommittee that im lucky enough to be the chairman of, the members of the staff of all the subcommittees, and they do a tremendous job. We owe them a great deal of gratitude. Mr. Speaker, this deserves our support. And i thank the chairman for yielding. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished zpwreal ohio, ms. Kaptur, the Ranking Member of the energy and water appropriations subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from ohio is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Kaptur i thank the Ranking Member many of the full committee, nita lowey of new york, and the chairman, hal rogers, for the perseverance they have shown throughout this process. I rise to address the bill before us to fund the department of the government of the United States for fiscal year 2015, which incidentally began over two months ago. Though two months late and a Christmas Tree bill at that, what is very troubling in this measure are dangerous and unwelcomed nongermane riders like opening the door to more wall street abuse and reckless behavior with swaps and derivatives. Havent those megabanks hurt america enough . And what is this doing in this bill . I recognize that not passing a bill can severely hamper the economic recovery and job creation many of us view as the top priority our constituents have sent us here to achieve. Job growth this past month increased again by 321,000. The Unemployment Rate dropped to 5. 8 nationwide. We have gained 10 million private sector jobs since president Obama Took Office amid the deepest recession in modern history. Still 9. 1 million americans remain unemployed. This bill will promote future Economic Growth which is in americas interest. There should never be a question whether the government of the United States will remain open for disand honor its commitments and contracts. This appropriations bill is within budget limits. Indeed, our deficit has been going down year after year as employment increases and revenues with it. The annual deficit has dropped from 1. 3 trillion in 2010 to an estimated 469 billion for 2015, and enormous improvement made possible by steady Economic Growth. The energy and water portion of this bill assures america will continue its decathlon for Energy Independence and diversification. A major strategy objective strategic objective for our nation, some would argue the highest. And all of the above Energy Strategy is strengthening our nation here at home financially and militarily, as fewer imports are required and new energy jobs are created within the borders of the United States. The energy trade deficit by the way for our nation has been on a downward path. May i ask for an additional 15 seconds. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for an additional 15 seconds. Ms. Kaptur i thank the gentlelady. The energy frayed deficit for our nation has been on a downward path, from 4. 7 billion barrels to 3. 6 billion barrels in 2013. That is real progress. You can even see it in falling gasoline prices across this country. Our bill will support thousands of jobs through the army corps of engineers in developing infrastructure and the bill provides 922 million above the request to meet an unmet enormous backlog. This bill as a whole is far from perfect and the Congress Must work toward keeping our economy and jobs growing and give certainty to the public that congress can operate the speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, i rise once again to address the matters related to the clean the speaker pro tempore does the gentlelady yield herself time . Mrs. Lowey i yield myself 30 seconds. Im pleased that this package explicitly rejects attempts to prohibit clarifying the definition of navigable waters of the u. S. However the cromnibus does have certain ranching, farming, and silver culture prack itses. To be clear this provision does not change current law and preserves the current scope of agricultural exemptions. If you needed a permit before, you will need to get a permit under this provision. If you didnt need one before, you wont under this provision. Im pleased again that as with most riders this provision maintains status quo. Yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers may i inquire of the time remaining . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from kentucky has 12 minutes remaining. The gentlelady from new york has 13 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i now yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the laborh. H. S. Subcommittee on appropriations. The gentleman from georgia, mr. Kingston, who is retiring leaving this body, he has done remarkable work on this subcommittee. Chaired a very difficult subcommittee with great distinction. Mr. Kingston. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from georgia is recognized for two minutes. Mr. King don thank you very much, mr. Mr. Kingston thank you very much, mr. Chairman. And i thank you for your leadership and friendship over the years and capable staff as well. Mr. Speaker, i congratulate you on your retirement as well and wish you the best. I came to washington to cut the spending and thats why im supporting this bill today. This spending level is below last years when you combine the emergency spending with outlays, this is lower than last year. And its a lot lower than the year before. And so if you want to hold the line on spending, this is a good vote for you. But the second part of it is the calvary is coming and next year there will be more cuts and should be more cuts. This bill holds the line on obamacare, which is something that we all have fought for. Virtually all republicans fought to repeal obamacare and to end the president s amnesty program. No one is backing away from those objectives. There may be a debate on the strategy, but this bill makes sure that those debates will happen and that those votes will happen. Again, mr. Speaker, when the calvary arrives. This bill moves that debate forward. The a good thing. It stops risks which keeps the Obama Administration from raiding private Insurance Companies to subsidize obamacare. It really hits obamacare where it counts. If you do not like obamacare, this is a good bill for you to vote for. This bill puts doddfrank in check. If youre concerned about the overregulation of the Financial Services industry, this bill challenges doddfrank. This bill supports our troops. We still have troops in harms way all over the world. This bill supports them and actually increases their pay along the way. This bill puts the e. P. A. In check. The e. P. A. Has tried a back door power grab on putting lead a ban on lead in ammunition and fishing tackle. That is spg that would increase the that is something that would increase the tough and make it much, much tougher for the person to enjoy the great outdoors. This bill puts that in check. This is a good yes vote and i urge my colleagues to support it. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Fattah, Ranking Member of the commerce, justice and science appropriations subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Fattah in each and every one of our district throughout our country and every one of the families situated, theres a concern around neurological base diseases and disorders from alzheimers to autism, schizophrenia, we could go through the list of 600, but the point is this work in our committee on a completely bipartisan basis, we are moving aggressively on neuroscience initiative. I want to thank chairman rogers for his support and the Ranking Member from new york and i want to thank my partner and the chairman, frank wolf, for his support in this effort. We launched an initiative to map the brain and to do so much more. And i want to talk about whats in this bill today. We have the framework for a global fund on alzheimers. We have the effort now on the brink for the first time, the national labs, into an effort the National Brain observatory which is its a complete scientific art national of our country to bear on this war on disease, and a better understanding of the human brain. We have in this bill language that would have the United States create a premiere conference in a National International conference to bring together the global initiatives in the European Union and israel and china and other countries have come together to work on these issues. And we have a new initiative on imaging. So i want to just say theres a lot i could talk about in our bill, in the c. J. S. Portion, but i want to just say that this effort on the human brain with some 50 million americans suffering from brainrelated diseases and illnesses, a billion people worldwide, this is something this congress can feel as a major achievement for us to move in a major direction to move forward in addiction and everything in between. I thank the gentleman and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i recognize i yield time, two minutes, to the gentleman from florida, mr. Crenshaw, the chairman of the Financial Services subcommittee on appropriations. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from florida is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Crenshaw well, i thank chairman rogers for yielding the time, and i thank him for his leadership in this appropriations process. As chairman of the Financial Services and general government subcommittee, let me highlight a few areas in our part of the bill. Overall we reduce spending by 246 million in an effort to rein in the outofcontrol spending. Some areas are increased. Some are decreased. For instance, Law Enforcement receives an increase. Drug abuse prevention receives an increase. Small business receives an increase, and womens business centers, they help grow our economy and create jobs. On the other hand, theres some agencies that dont do so well. They waste taxpayers dollars and become ineffective. I think all would agree that the Internal Revenue service has betrayed the trust of the American People. They have wasted taxpayers dollars. Theyve singled out individuals and groups of individuals based on nair political philosophy and they have on their political philosophy and they have not cooperated with congressional investigation and therefore their funding is reduced by 346 million. All in all, its a balanced approach. We spend less money than we spent last year. Its a good portion of the bill. And let me take a moment to say thank you to rodney frelinghuysen, the chairman of the defense subcommittee, upon which i sit. I want to thank him for his tireless work in this area for allowing members like me to help draft legislation that clearly puts our men and women in uniform first, clearly helps saves lives by making sure that we have the best qualified, the best trained, the best equipped military and makes all americans more safe than they are today. All in all its a great bill. I urge my colleagues to support it, and i yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, im very pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from arizona, mr. Pastor, the Ranking Member of the transportationh. U. D. Subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from arizona is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Pastor thank you, mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, so ordered. Mr. Pastor first off, mr. Speaker, congratulations on your career and the best luck for you and your friendship while i served here in this congress. I stand in support of this bill, and i want to congratulate both my dear friends, the Ranking Member, nita lowey, and the chairman, harold rogers, for working the many hours on this bill and im very happy that as were about to close this session that were working on a bill that will keep our government funded and bring some tranquility to the economy of our country for the remainder of fiscal year 2014. So i thank them for doing the fine work. Out of the past 23 years that ive had the honor of being in congress, 21 of those years i served on appropriations, and i have to tell you that it was a great opportunity for me and an honor for me to serve with various members on appropriation to do the best we could, to serve our country and many of us could not have been able to produce the bills and provide for the Services Without the staff. On both sides of the aisle that worked on these Appropriations Bills. So today i want to congratulate current chairman, the Ranking Member and thank chairman tom latham for the work he did on the transportationh. U. D. Bill and also its time for me to thank all my colleagues for all the help and service theyve given this country and the kindness theyve shown to me. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of the interior subcommittee on appropriations. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california, mr. Calvert, is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Calvert thank you. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of the fiscal year 2015 omnibus appropriation. Interior division of the omnibus is wellbalanced, reflects what can be achieved when all sides Work Together to find common ground. This bill provides for fiscal year 2015 funding for fire operations at the 10year average and provides Additional Resources to conduct critical hazardous fuels reduction work on the ground. The bill takes positive steps in promoting Domestic Energy and Minerals Development both onshore and offshore. The bill provides essential funding for the National Parks service which will enhance daytoday service, responsible stewardship of over 400 National Park units. The bill also provides investments to our National Park system as it begins its sen tanial celebration and prepares for centennial celebration and prepares for the future years. We meet our moral obligations in Indian Country and honors longstanding commitment to alaskan ricans and natives. It partners with states tribes and provides Grant Funding for states to promote jobs and Economic Growth. I want to take a moment to pay tribute to former chairman jim moran. This is mr. Morans last appropriations bill. Im happy to know my friend will be leaving this body that he loves on a high note. Enthusiastically supporting the subcommittee. Jim, were grateful for you and your service and we salute you. Also want to thank chairman rogers for his incredible support and leadership and his role for bringing this omnibus bill forward. Lastly, i want to thank the scorers of Appropriation Committee staff who has been working day and night and weekends on this package for many weeks and even worked through their thanksgiving holiday to produce this legislation. The staff of the Appropriations Committee deserves our appreciation and gratitude. This is a good bill, mr. Speaker. I urge members on both sides of the aisle to support it. With that, merry christmas, and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, i am very pleased to yield one minute to the gentlelady from california, our minority leader of the house, ms. Pelosi. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from california, the minority leader, is recognized for one minute. Ms. Pelosi thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlelady for yielding. I commend her with hire leadership and with great pride we point to her as our Ranking Member on the Appropriations Committee, thank you for yielding and for your leadership. Thank you, mr. Rogers, for your leadership. As an appropriator for many years, i know the hard work that goes into putting an appropriations bill together. There was a day when we did them individually. It seems lately we just keep putting them on a bus and on omnibus. Thats too bad. In any event, i appreciate the work youve done to bring this bill to the floor, and thats why i was so really heart broken. I dont think ive ever said that word on the floor of the house. Heart broken to see the taint that was placed on this valuable appropriations bill from on high. Im sorry that we cannot have a full Homeland Security bill. Thats for sure. We knew that was possible. As the speaker said in january, well vote on a full Homeland Security bill. I hope that that is the case. But the taint i refer to is what the president described in his letter today as a rider that would amend the doddfrank wall street reform and Consumer Protection act, weaken a critical component of Financial System reform aimed at reducing taxpayer risk. So when people are talking to you about whats in the bill and this or that, i want to say to you what youre putting your name next to if you choose to vote for this bill. D why im so appalled, well, ill tell you why. It was september, 2008, things were happening in the Financial Services industry. Lehman brothers down, Merrill Lynch down, a. I. G. , whatever. It all happened within a matter of days. I called the secretary of the treasury and i say, how can we be helpful . What is going on . And he said, its terrible. I said, one of the major Financial Institutions going down . No, its bigger than that. Were in a serious meltdown. Why am i calling you, mr. Secretary paulsen . Well, the white house wasnt ready for congress to know about this. But youre the speaker at the time i was. Youre the secretary. Im telling you. Were in a terrible situation. So they came to my office that night, the speakers house, house and senate, democrats and republicans. We came together and we heard an appalling meltdown of our Financial Institution and i said to the chairman of the fed, mr. Ben bernanke, who was there. Mr. Bernanke, what do you think about what the secretary said . And he said, if we do not act immediately, we will not have an economy by monday. We will not have an economy by monday. By the policies that were in place at that time, we were taken to a place where we wouldnt have an economy. No commercial paper. No economy by monday. Going down are 2014 the same path. Earlier today, the republicans put a bill on the floor that would make certain tax incentives permanent and unpaid for. We should be doing revenue reform but not that way because the revenue policy of the Bush Administration contributed to the great recession, taking us close to a depression. So their tax policy jeopardized our economy. And then their lays yea fair attitudes of no regular laisez faire attitudes of no regulation took us to a meltdown of our Financial Institutions to the point where we, the taxpayers, had to rescue the Financial Institutions to the tune of 700 billion. Thats twice as much as in the necessaryic discretion domestic Discretionary Spending bills that will come before us. Two years worth of nondefense domestic spending. We put provisions in the bill that the american taxpayer would be paid back. But that wasnt enough for the republicans to vote for it. They voted against it by and large. It was the democrats who voted harmful rp, the most difficult vote for members to vote for and the most politically harmful to them. So here we are in the house. Being blackmailed, being blackmailed to vote for an appropriations bill. Im not asking anybody to vote one way or another. Im just telling you why i would not put the name of my constituents in my district next to a bill that does as the president says, weaken a critical component of Financial System reform named at reducing taxpayer risk. At that time accused us of bailing out wall street at the expense of main street. The public still doesnt understand fully why everybody would benefit from what we had to do. But we shouldnt have had to do that. 700 billion, because of laisez faire attitudes and trickledown tax policies of the Bush Administration which got us to that place. And because of the initiatives taken by president obama when he became president , working with the democratic congress, with our initial recovery act, we were able to reverse some of that, pull ourselves out of the ditch republicans took us in. Here we are today. This should be a day where we say, isnt it too bad we cant do more for the American People, but in the interest of bipartisanship, we have put together a bill on the Appropriations Committee that helps meet the needs of the American People. It wouldnt that have been just fine. Except popping out of the wilderness come two things. One, one, this provision. This provision that, as i described it, the president described, and then another one to make matters worse. To make matters worse, a bill that lifts political contributions to such a height that its really unimaginable as to why those who put this in their thought that that was a good idea. They told me it was 90,000 for the convention. It turns out to be millions of dollars from a donor or from a family in that regard. We arent even on the level of how it was portrayed. But be that as it may, whats important is whats in the bill. And as congressman sarbanes said, its quid proquo. Quid pro quo. You have quid, give wall street what they want. Relax the responsibility. This is a moral hazard, we are being asked to vote for a moral hazard. Why is this in an appropriations bill . Because it was the price to pay to get an appropriations bill. I was told we couldnt get all these other things that have been described here so beautifully. Unless we gave wall street this gift. And on top of that, that we gave their donors high end donors all the opportunity in the world to pour money into the process. Maybe the public is right about washington, d. C. Heard this funny line about lily tomlin when she was the operator when she said am i communicating with the people that i am speaking to . Are we communicating with the people we are speaking to when we say to them its an important priority and we have to put it in our budget bill that we give donors the opportunity to spend endless money, undermining the confidence the American People have in our political system, at the same time, at the same time as we say to wall street, you can engage in risky activity th your derivatives, and the fdic will insure your action. Thats just plain wrong. Under this bill, under the act, if the bank wanted to engage in those risky activities, they had to be pushed out to another entity. And that entity could engage in those activities. But they were not insured by the american taxpayer. With this bill now we are saying the exposure, the recourse is with the u. S. Taxpayer. Just plain wrong. What is it doing on an appropriations bill except to be have this bill be taken hostage. This is a ransom. This is blackmail. You wont get a bill unless wall street gets its taxpayer coverage. So its really so sad that something as which i respect enormously the appropriation process, because its hard. Theres so many competing calls on resources, so much that we have to try to invest in the American People, their health, their education, the economic stability, their family, the air they breathe, the water they drink, and how we fund all of that. And i have some questions about some of that in this bill. But the fact is its all a compromise. And it could have been a good compromise. So whatever members choose to do, and im enormously disappointed that the white house feels that the only way they can get a bill is to go along with this and that would be the only reason they would sign such a bill that would weaken a critical component of Financial System reform aimed at reducing taxpayer risk. Those are the words in the administrations statement. I feel sad for the American People today we are saying in order for us to invest in the education of our children and all of the responsibilities we have to the American People, we have to pay off wall street and in addition to that i dont paint everybody there with the same brush. What i am saying is the taxpayer should not assume the risk. Back to the same old republican le formula. Privatize the gain, nationalize the risk. You succeed, its in your pocket. You fail, the taxpayer pays the bill. Its just not right. So i think we have a missed opportunity today to have some strong bipartisanship, and there will be bipartisanship for this bill, but the fact is my colleagues, you are being asked put your name next to privatizing the gain and nationalizing the risk. You are asked to put your name next to a practicely practically unlimited contributions. Just at the at the same time when we are trying to reduce the role of politics in money and increase the voice of the American People. So again a missed opportunity. I respect decisions that members will make because there are equities to be weighed here. But the biggest equity we have is our responsibility to the American People to do the right thing. And what was added to this bill which may be a good bill, but was added to this bill is not the right thing. D that is why it has bipartisanship. It has good things in it, but it will not have my support. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore time of the gentlelady has expired. The gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from nebraska, a member of our committee, mr. For then berry. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from nebraska is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Fortenberry thank you, mr. Speaker, i thank the chairman, mr. Rogers, for his commitment and hard work on this bill. As president kennedy once said, to govern is to choose. And the key here is to try and choose wisely. This bill is a result of a long and arduous and democratic process. It is the result of extenive effort of the Appropriations Committee extensive effort of the Appropriations Committee with input from members to effectively prioritize government services. I dont agree with everything in the bill. I dont think anyone here does. But the question is, are we going to move forward and govern a bit forward towards something a bit better. What is good in this bill . First of all it continues to prioritize the right type of budgeting and reduce spending. The spending levels in the bill are 176 billion below fiscal year 2010 funding levels. Although our deficit has come down significantly through a smarter budgeting process and some tax reform, nonetheless our deficit is still way too high. We have work to do in this regard, and this bill does make significant progress on that front. There are also important reforms, some big ones involve the i. R. S. There are problems they impose on the American People have begun to be curtailed here. The bill also addresses the sat and difficult issue of the emerging needs to fight ebola and its spread. It positions the u. S. Congress as well to curtail the president s executive action on immigration moving forward, which represents a very serious overreach on the part of the administration and a threat to the separation of powers. The bill provides a pay raise for our troops and important funding for our veterans programs. Another fact, mr. Speaker, im on the agricultural subcommittee. We work very hard to continue our strong tradition of production agriculture while funding new emerging food systems that link the farmer to the family and help beginning and young farmers. Mr. Speaker, i think we can do better in certain areas such as providing the right type of Development Assistance which truly protects women and children and doesnt entangle us with organizations such as the u. N. Population fund. It is important to remember that in the volatile med immediate the peace treaty between israel and egypt continues to hold with significant commitment from us. Thats an important part of this bill. On balance, ill be supportive and i want to thank mr. Rogers, our chairman, for his leadership. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey im very pleased, mr. Speaker, to yield 2 1 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlelady from connecticut, ms. Delauro, the ranking minority member of the labor, health, Human Services appropriations subcommittee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from connecticut is ecognized for 2 1 2 minutes. Ms. Delauro as Ranking Member of the labor, health, Human Services and education subcommittee i worked hard on this portion of the legislation. There are some real bright spots. Our problem is simple. The resources provided in this bill are not adequate to tackle the challenges middle class families face every day. The bill does not keep pace with inflation. It continues to underfund some of our nations highest priorities. Education, health care, medical research, job training. However, there are many more troubling aspects of this bill. The department of Homeland Securitys only funded for nine weeks. Why . Because the majority disagrees with the president on immigration. Holding up fullyear funding for National Security over an immigration disagreement is a game that poses a serious risk to our border, our secret service, and our ability to respond to natural disasters. The bill gambles with our Financial System. It would reverse doddfrank safeguards. Allow banks to engage in some of wall streets riskiest transactions. The same transactions that caused a crisis in which millions of hardworking americans lost their jobs, their homes, and their savings. Why . Why would we want to put families at risk once again . Public funds should be used to protect our families not to prop up casino banking. This bill threatens injustice to millions of seniors. It allows mention funds to reduce benefits to current retirees. They worked hard for their retirement. They earned their. Why would we want to put our Economic Security in jeopardy . Finally, the bill seeks to overturn some of the last remaining Campaign Finance laws as if they were not generous enough. The American Public is angry about a government that responds to the highest bidder. The majoritys dangerous games benefit big corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working families and seniors, and i urge my colleagues to vote against this bill. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentlelady has expired. The gentleman from new york. Mr. Rogers i verve. Pursuant to the rule, im claiming my time for the next 20 minutes of debate. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. Mr. Kline thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of h. R. 83, the omnibus appropriations bill for 2015, and i yield myself such time as i may consume. Mr. Speaker, i want to commend the members of the house Appropriations Committee, all of them, especially the committees distinguished chairman, hahl rogers, for their hard hal rogers, for their hard work that will fund our National Priorities and stop a Government Shutdown. Im glad the bill will include Critical Reforms that will avert our nation from having a looming financial crisis. Mr. Speaker, roughly 10 million americans are involved in a multipension plan. Men and women who continue to move our country forward, builders, truck drivers, carpenters, store clerks, to name a few. Those people worked hard and earned a promise that a pension would provide Financial Security in retirement. Yet, for many that promise is now in jeopardy. Pension plans are on the brink of bankruptcy. Employers, workers and retirees are stretched thin and the federal Insurance Agency is on the path to insolvency. The multiemployer Pension System is a ticking time bomb. When the bomb goes off, business also close their doors, workers will be laid off, taxpayers will be on the hook for a multibillion dollar bailout and retirees will have their benefits cut or wiped out entirely. A crisis is staring us in the face and the question we have to answer is, will we act . Will we do whats right and necessary to help fix this problem or will we simply kick the can down the road . I believe we have a public duty and a moral responsibility to act. My democratic colleague, george miller, and i have worked hard to craft a bipartisan legislative response to this looming disaster. With the help of our friend, dr. Phil roe, and the work of Many Employers and union leaders, weve offered reform that will offer the best chance we have to protect taxpayers, working families and retirees. Our bipartisan proposal includes tough medicine for a Pension System in critical system. It condition. It requires higher premiums so the federal backstop will meet its obligations without taxpayer assistance. It also provides new tools to trustees to help plans avoid insolvency, including the ability to adjust benefits. Let me be clear. If we reject this bill and continue the status quo, benefits will be cut. Its only a matter of time. As plans go under, the federal government inflicts maximum pain on the maximum number of people. But if we offer trustees more flexibility, they can avoid inolvensy and provide re insolvency and provide greater stability. We have a choice of an ax in the hand of a firstyear scalpel for a seniored doctor. It ensures retirees are better off than if we did nothing. This isnt a perfect solution. Im disappointed we couldnt do more to modernize the system, to provide workers more options to plan for their retirement. Make no mistake, this is the first step in addressing a tough problem, but it wont be the last. Despite its shortcomings, this is a strong proposal that deserves our for. We cannot let this opportunity pass by. This problem will be harder to solve after the bomb goes off. I urge my colleagues to do whats in the best interest of workers and employers and retirees by supporting this bipartisan agreement. Before i close, mr. Speaker, i want to thank some members of the staff who work day and night to make this happen, starting with my staff director, julie ann sullivan, and work force policy director, ed gilroy. I want to thank brian, megan and julia of mr. Millers staff, for all their hard work. And last but certainly not least, id like to offer my deep appreciation to a trusted member of my team, andy banducci. Hes poured more time and effort than anyone else, and hes earned the right to a good nights sleep. Finally, id like to extend my sincere thanks to my colleague, george miller, who will leave this chamber after 40 years of public service. Without his courage and determination to do what is right, this effort would not have been possible. Through it all, hes been a trusted friend and ally. George has long been a tireless advocate for working families, from the start of his distinguished career down to these final moments in congress. He will leave behind a lasting mark on the house and on the education and Work Force Committee. We havent agreed on every issue, but in the fine tradition of our committee, we have always found a way to disagree without being disagreeable. I have no doubt he will remain a powerful voice for students, teachers and working families. George, thank you for your service and your friendship. I wish you and your wife, cynthia, and your family all the best and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota reserves his time. The gentleman from california. Mr. Miller i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. Mr. Miller thank you, mr. Chairman. To chairman kline, thank you so much for your very kind words and for your friendship and for your willingness to Work Together. And youre right, we havent always agreed but we tried to honor that by not becoming disagreeable with one another. And my service on the education and Work Force Committee has been the joy of my life in the congress of the United States and thank you for steering this committee for the last several years and i want to join you in thanking all of the hardworking staff, not just on this piece of legislation, but year in and year out, hearing in and hearing out, amendments, changes and all the things that this staff goes through, theyve really been acted in a very, very professional manner. They, too, have been able to work back and forth across the aisle and all the rest of it and served as a buffer every now and then when the members got out of control. So thank you so very, very much. This pension agreement that was added to the bill before us today is based upon a proposal developed nearly two years ago by labor unions and employers who wanted to find a path forward for severely distressed and failing Pension Plans. This provision will give plan trustees, labor and management, the tools they need to avoid impending collapse of many and multiemployer plans. It will also provide new funds with the premium increase for the insurer charged with backing up these plans which is also facing bankruptcy. The klinemiller provision is the only available option to save these failing plans, and it is the last chance that labor unions and their members and employers have to gain some control over the future of their pensions. Throughout my 40 years in congress, ive worked to strengthen pension protections and expand Retirement Security for all americans. I have fought for workers and i have fought for their benefits. Ive fought for the right to collectively bargain over their retirement and i fought to prothem from the hidden fees in the 401k plans. I fought it is my commitment to workers and their Retirement Security that brings me here today. We have an obligation to reform the multiemployer system so we can protect the Retirement Security of workers nationwide. The approach we have put forward, which is backed by business and labor leaders will secure the multiemployer Pension Systems for millions of current and future retirees. It includes important consumer safeguards that give participants in these plans a voice to protect their most vulnerable retirees. Most importantly, it gives employers and the employees the option, the option, the choice, not a mandate. They get to choose. They get to decide that they want to design a plan that they think can rescue their currently failing Pension System. Thats an important right to grant them. Many local unions have already made this decision with their members, but they cant do it. They cant cut their own benefits because theyre prohibited from doing it by law. Who are we to tell these these workers that they cant take the opportunity to stretch their pool of pension money, their savings so that it may cover more people for a longer period of time, if they make these adjustments . They want to make these adjustments, the law says they cant. If we trust labor unions, if we trust the workers, if we believe in the dignity of the worker, we should give them the opportunity and the responsibility of trying to save their own pensions. This is all this bill does. It gives them the option. It gives them the opportunity. It lets them take on the responsibility for trying to design a rescue plan that may increase the longevity of their plan. It may allow retirees a better pension than they would get if they just fell into the government rescue system. Thats what theyre asking us to let them do. Its not a new idea. Its been here for two years of hearings. Its been under chairman kline. Weve had exhaustive hearings on this provision. We heard from the employers. Weve heard from a crosssection of unions. Some who agree with this plan and some who disagree. Thats why its an option. Those who dont want to do it. Those who have written you letters that said, dont do this, what about the guy that wants to do it . So this is an option. They will have to talk to their members. They will have to talk to their employers. Theyll have to talk to their trustees and theyll have to make a decision and if they can come up with that rescue plan, do ought to be allowed to it. These plans are losing altitude every day that they cant make these adjustments. Hopefully a pickup in the economy, an increase in employment, an increase in enrollment all will help them. But they still need the option to be able to make these judgments. I would hope that my colleagues here in the congress would trust these workers enough to give them this opportunity and this responsibility to make these decisions about their retirement, not our wish list of how we would like it to be, t their retirement today thats at threat of collapse. I urge my colleagues to support this provision and to support this legislation. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california reserves his time. The gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Kline thank you, mr. Speaker. Now im very, very pleased to yield three minutes to the chairman of the subcommittee on health, employment, labor and pensions, the gentleman from tennessee, dr. Roe. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for three minutes. Mr. Roe i thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker, i rise in strong support of the multiemployer pension reform act, contained in the underlying bill. This Bipartisan Legislation will strengthen and in some cases save Retirement Benefits for more than 10 million americans who are enrolled in a multiemployer pension plan. Lets say that again. This legislation will save Retirement Benefits. While many multiemployer plans are in Strong Financial shape, the number of financially distressed plans is a cause for great concern. Among these troubled plans is essential states plan covering 410,000 participants, which the pbgc projects will become incol vent in the next 10 years. The pbgcs own finances are in dire straits. The report released just last month shows that its Multiemployer Program has a deficit of more than 42 billion, an alltime high. The agency also believes that theres a 90 chance it becomes insolvent by 2025 without change. Taken together, these financial challenges pose a clear and present danger to the retirement of those who receive those benefits from the pbgc and those who expect the pbgc to serve as a backstop if their pension plan fails. Its not a question of if the worse will happen for some of these questions, its only a question of when. The proposal before us today is a product of six subcommittee hearings over four years, countless hours of discussion and debate between management and labor and thoughtful negotiations between republicans and democrats. This legislation will give Pension Plans the tools to save themselves without a taxpayer bailout. And for those plans who are beyond retare, this proposal will strengthen the pbgcs finance to help ensure retirees will continue to receive a benefit. What were asking of these plans is hard. If there was some other way to resolve this problem without a taxpayer bailout we would have pursued it. But theres not another way. And we have to do whats necessary to protect the Retirement Benefits for those americans who earned them. Businesses and unions alike understand this. Thats why the klinemiller proposal is supported by Companies Including kroger, nestle, u. S. A. , as well as labor unions, including the ufcw, the north americas building and trade unions. I commend chairman kline and Ranking Member miller for their tireless efforts on that issue. Theyve shown all of us that bipartisan compromise for the greater good is possible. Also, i want to thank ed gilroy and andy and both staffs on each side of the aisle for the long hard hours theyve logged on this effort. This desperately needed pension reform is good for workers, its good for retirees, its good for business and its good for america. And i encourage my colleagues to strongly support this. With that i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from california. Mr. Miller i yield three minutes to the gentleman from. Ew jersey, the speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for three minutes. Its irony that we are having this discussion today. First i want to thank Ranking Member for yielding the time. Mr. Nor cross i was sworn in just a few weeks ago. Mr. Norcross i was sworn in just a few weeks ago. Prior to that my entire career has been working in system a multiemployer plane. I wept home last night and opened my mail. I received my First Pension check which happens to be from a multiemployer plan. I understand how it works. I understand how it doesnt work. Thats what we are here to discuss today. He fact of the matter is multiemployers a very different animal than what most people traditional people think of as a pension plan. Multiemployer the employee groups, unions, working together with management to make these decisions and in a perfect world, which i have been blessed with with my plan, that check arrives on time and it will be there. But there are other plans that are certainly not in that condition. And had not been that way for a very long time. We continue to bury our heads in the sand and wait for that implosion because it is going to happen. Or we can do the right thing and give people their voice back. Let those plans have the ability to ask their memberships what they want to do. They got their there through that cooperation, might not be their own fault that the plan is failing. There are many conditions that cause that. But the way the rules are now, they have no voice. They are silent and i am just here to make sure that we have an absolute clear understanding this is about giving the employers and the employees their voice back. I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from minnesota. Mr. Klein thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Kline thank you, mr. Speaker. Now id like to yield a minute and a half to another member of the committee, the gentlelady from indiana, mrs. Brooks. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from indiana is recognized for 1 1 2 minutes. Mrs. Brooks thank you, mr. Speaker. First of all i want to thank chairman kline, Ranking Member miller, and dr. Roe for working tirelessly on this incredibly difficult piece of legislation that i know impacts so many people. As you have heard on the Health Subcommittee we had over six different hearings on this matter examining the difficulties facing troubled multiemployer plans and the looming insolsen have i of the guarantee benefit corporation that is taxed with back stopping Pension Plans. During those hearings i heard from the president of the North American Building trades union that said ultimately, quote, in order for individual pensioners to receive benefits from our plan, the plans themselves must be preserved. End of quote. Mr. Speaker, without this klinemiller pension reform, the insolvency of these plans is exactly what will happen. Ultimately hurting those most in need. Just last month pbgc released its annual report which showed the deficit in this insurance program, its increased from 8. 3 billion to 42. 4 billion in just one year. At this rate the pbgc anticipates the plans will become insolvent in the next decade. That meanings pensioners wont even be able to count on the minimum to backstop programs that are terminal. We must act now to give the trustees of these plans the tools necessary to allow the unions and their members the opportunity to salvage these multiemployer pension model. The longer we wait, the more the problem grows and more painful it becomes for pensioners and employers alike. Our constituents didnt send us here to take the easy path. But rather to do the hard work that must be done. And that is why so much is at stake and thats why this provision is so necessary. I urge its passage. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The gentleman from california. Mr. Miller i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. Mr. Miller i would like, so my colleagues fully understand this, to read the list of some of the uneson supporting this legislation. North American Building trades union, International Council of employers, brick layers and outlie craft workers, International Union of operating engineers, United Association of journeymen apprentices and pipefitting industries, united food and commercial workers, International Union. United brotherhood of carpenters and joiners of america. Actors equity association. The American Federation of musicians. A very Diverse Group of American Workers who are asking us to give them the option to make decisions about the future of their pensions. Some of these pensions are in better shape than others. But they are all asking for this right. For those who may be opposed to this legislation, dont like this legislation, they dont have to exercise their right. But we cannot deny these workers this opportunity to make this decision about their very hard earned pensions. As mr. Norcross says, they made these decisions together where they are today, and they ought to be able to make the decisions together to change direction and to head off for an opportunity at greater solvency and longevity. With that, mr. Speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. I want to again thank congressman kline and all of the staff and all those who have cooperated and all these organizations that have spent many years trying to investigate the best way to answer this nagging question of how to save these plans. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california yields back his time. The gentleman from minnesota is recognized for 30 seconds. Mr. Kline thank you, mr. Speaker. In closing again i want to thank the staff and republicans and democrats working on this. We talked a lot about what this does for employees, for retirees. It also does an awful lot to strengthen the position of employers. You need strong employers. They need similar relief from the crushing liability on them. Strong employers and a strong plan in order to guarantee the pensions for all of these workers. I have a long list here which i will not read of employers who are supporting this because they understand that they like the employees and like the retirees need relief from the broken system we have today. I encourage all my colleagues to we also heard here the house could be coming in with about 15 minutes working lastminute on the cr omnibus bill. Federal governing federal funding is expected to expire at midnight. We are seeing some action here on capitol hill. Know wet to let you will be taking your phone calls shortly. While we are waiting for some of your calls to come in, see what your thoughts are regarding the spending bill tonight, at the last hour in the house, lets take a look at reporting by politico. The headlines, obama and the gop scrambling for votes while the spending plan lingers. Earlier tonight, one of the congressmen in that meeting, jim moran, he was there. We have some footage of him and what he had to say after the democratic caucus. Lets take a look. Says it doesnt matter whether it is in our out. We also have campaign financing. Harry reid wants that him because he wants the Political Parties to take greater control of the political process. They would have their own agenda. Oftentimes, it is reduced to do regular the industries or reduce their own taxes. So they fill that vacuum. Toy want people to be able contribute to their political party. That is an understandable situation. But you have a 1. 1 trillion omnibus corporations bill. In 20 years, i havent seen a better compromise in terms of the democratic mayor it is implementing the Affordable Care act. There is a lot more money for Early Childhood development the epa, buty cut was the it gave them more money than the administration asked for. Writers 26 riders were extreme and would have devastated the Environmental Protection agency in terms of clean water and clear act administration. All of those were dropped. There were only two that were kept. We got virtually everything that the democrats tried to get. Epa is going to get nothing. Nobody is going to get anything. What is going to happen next year is we are going to lose all that was put into the democratic priorities. Some of it will be shifted over to defense. But they are not going to put in the money to implement the Affordable Care act. They are not going to put in the Early Childhood money. They will put all the averments back. Ers and we will have the same provisions we were arguing about. Sure that the leadership is pursuing their strategy. There are a lot in the caucus , thenderstand the public more liberal constituencies feel this is a giveaway for wall street. And frankly there are some theyho really dont are not going to let Elizabeth Warren get to the left of them necessarily. I think there is a firestorm against the way it which in which it is interpreted. Volcker, who is the best person to consult on it, said it is it doesnt matter whether it is in or out. Feels that Maxine Waters strongly and i appreciate her position. But if we let this bill go down, it is a travesty. In three months, the democrats will look back and ask what did we do to ourselves and to our constituents ; are there people who share republicans are indicating they need 80 democrats. That is a lot good is that what you are that is a. Is that what you were told in e . Er i am not telling you anything that came out of that meeting. I am not revealing what was discussed. But i think a lot of people understand that they feel they need about 80 democrats. I talked to some of the republicans. My guess is and its just a guess, we could get 50 or 60 democrats. Are you trying to lobby for votes . Those i have influence over that i share views with. I think we are going to take the vote. And the republicans, if we have a threemonth cr, from a leadership standpoint, so what . They have more control over the outcome in three months. If they dont think they can persuade some members, it will be too close. It will be a threemonth cr. How do you feel about leaving congress on this note . Particularthis experience, as many others, has validated my reason to leave. [laughter] remarks from Congress Jim Moran as he came out of the democrat caucus meeting this evening. Take a look at a tweet from him also. Also want to let you know that we have gotten word that the house is expected to gavel back in. Going to be voting on the spending bill around 9 05 to 9 15 p. M. Eastern time. That is coming up in just a few minutes. Before they do come in and hold that vote, we will be taking your calls. Bill, you are calling from hershey pennsylvania. You say you are opposed to the bill. Let us know why. I am 80 two years old and i can remember when you could not breathe in our stay. What the republicans call onerous environmental laws will owners to dol mine away with the Clean Air Act and completely they will be back polluting our air immediately. Victoria is calling from carlotta, california. You are the line for others. Have you not made up your mind yet . What are your thoughts . I can see why these other parts of the bill are even there. With everything they have added, its against what people want, especially bailouts for the banks when they make bad decisions. No one bails me out. Or wall street, when they make bad decisions. And why . Billre these put into a that is so important to the United States and the government knows it . We have to take the good with the bad. I dont think that should the so to the especially illegal aliens. What part of illegal does the government not understand . This is really hard for me to take. I think its terrible. It would be like people shooting themselves in the foot, you know . But then again, if you want the or they to have checks people who really needed, really, theyve got all of these idiot things down here that they want themselves because they prefer to have people have stolen money from the taxpayers. Host thanks for your call. I want to give you an update. That would temporarily fund the government at current levels for the next three months. We have seen a lot of those continuing resolutions. We may see one again tonight be voted on in the house if the coal funding bill is not passed. George from fairmont, west virginia. You say you support the full funding bill that would fund almost every agency of the federal government. Why do supported . [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, caller first of all, think not for cspan. I watch it every day. I set or debate has it has to be done. It as it has to be done. I am a conservative democrat from the proud state of west virginia. Liberal democrats are trying to rule the democratic already. They ruined it so far, so bad that i dont know what is going to happen to the democratic already anymore. Bill takes care of everything until the new Congress Gets in. When they passed the obamacare, mrs. Pelosi was on the bandstand saying, well, you got to pass the bill first and then we will read it and see what is in the bill. Is the one who does all of this here garbage behind closed doors. This bill has been a bipartisan bill. I cant see why they call it destructive. It, thedont pass Democratic Party is finished. Bristol, virginia, joe, you say you oppose the bill. Why . Caller i do. I also enjoy watching cspan. Plan,e of the pension they argan a cut those paired people work hard for that money. That theyty ironic are increasing the amount of contribute toy the political campaigns but they dont have enough money to bolster the pension programs. Wants out of contributing to the Pension Plans. They dont want to have any part of it. Thats why i am opposed to it. Host rob is calling us from missouri. You are on the line for others. Not quite sure where you stand. What are your thoughts . Wherever anybody stands, you have to wake up to the fact that you are pouring hardearned money from Pension Plans to Illegal Immigrants coming here. People have to wake up and we have to somehow get some control of this backward system. Thats all i have to say today. Host thanks, rob. Austin is calling from ohio. You oppose the full spending that is possibly coming up. We should be seeing it and about five to 10 minutes on the floor of the house. Let us know why. Caller i am a teamster and apparently the two senators that put this bill up doesnt [indiscernible] year, they showed bundles of funds. Work 37us teamsters years in the industry with the intention that we would have a now, withon plan and the stroke of a pen, they are trying to take it away. This will be a hardship for many families, including myself. Jason, you support the bill. The clerk h. R. 83, an act to require the secretary of the interior to assemble a team of technical, policy and Financial Experts to address the needs of the insular areas of the United States and freely associated states through the development of Energy Action plans aimed at promoting access to affordable, reliable energy, including use of Indigenous Energy resources and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore when proceed wrgs postponed earlier today, 10 1 2 minutes of debate remained on the bill. The gentleman from kentucky, mr. Rogers, has four minutes remaining and the gentlelady from new york, ms. Lowey has 6 1 2 minutes remaining. The chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky, mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield one minute to mr. Moran, a very distinguished Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee who is planning to retire and we will miss him greatly and wish him good luck in his future endeavors. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from virginia is recognized for one minute. The gentleman will suspend. He house will be in order. The gentleman from virginia. Mr. Moran thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for 200 years, roughly, this government has functioned on behalf of the American People. Its functioned through the art of compromise. Conservatives, liberals, democratics, republicans, have gotten together and decided what was in the best interests of this nation. Mr. Speaker this appropriations bill is in the best interest of this nation. It does reflect a compromise. But i would say to my colleagues on the democratic side, this is a good bill. This reflect ours priorities. And this is our last chance to have those priorities reflected in an appropriations bill. One of our staff told me that for 2 1 2 weeks she hasnt seen her children before they had to go to bed and the reason is that shes been working night after night, fighting for our priorities to be included in this bill and she was successful, all of our staff all our staff was successful. Could i have another 30 seconds . Im just getting warmed up here. Mrs. Lowey 30 seconds. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Moran i i want to give a shout out to will and sholanda and all the people who made this a good bill on both sides of the aisle. This is why our government functions because theyre willing to compromise. Were looking at it, were willing to look at whats in the intest interests of our constituents, putting parking lot sanship aside. S that bill we should vote for this bill needs to pass. I thank the president for supporting this bill and i thank this body because i trust we will in the long run do the right thing after weve exhausted all the other alternatives. Thank you mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. Mr. Rogers i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from new york. Mrs. Lowey mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield one minute to the gentlelady from california, ms. Waters. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. Ms. Waters mr. Speaker and members, were poised to vote on legislation to fund government. Nobody wants to shut down government. Everybody here wants to