The committee will not come back to order since we decided to roll votes today the committee will resume postpones vote on the following amendments, number 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21. The committee will now vote on the amendment offered by mr. Yarmuth of kentucky. The clerk will redesignate the minute. Number 15. The clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] are there any other members who wish to vote or change the vote . How is mr. Higgins recorded . Mr. Higgins aye. Any other members who wish to vote or change the vote . If not the clerk shall call the roll. Excuse me, if not the clerk shall report. Mr. Chairman, on that note the ayes are 11 and the nos are 20. The nos have it in the amendment is not agreed to. The committee will now vote on the amendment offered by ms. Lee. Okay, were going to the committee will now vote on the amendment offered by ms. Lujan grisham. The clerk will redesignate the amendment. Number 17. We are skipping 16. [inaudible] offered by representative lujan grisham. The clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] are there any members who wish to vote or change their votes . Seeing none the clerk shall report. Mr. Chairman, on that vote the ayes are 12and the nos are 20. The nos have it. The amendment is not agreed to. Next we will consider come vote on the amendment offered by mr. Moulton. Amendment number 18. The clerk will redesignate the amendment. Amendment number 1 18 offered by representatives of moulton. The clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] are there any members who wish to vote or change their vote . Hearing none, the clerk shall report. Mr. Chairman, on that vote the ayes are 12 and the nos are 20. The agreement is not the man is not agreed to. Mr. Jeffries. The clerk will redesignate the amendment. Amendment number 19 offered by representatives of jeffries. The clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] are there any members who wish to vote or change of the vote . Seeing none the clerk will report. Mr. Chairman, on that vote the ayes are 13 and the nos are 20. The amendment is not agreed to. Now we will go back to an minute 16. The committee will vote on the amendment offered by ms. Lee. The clerk will redesignate the amendment. Number 16 offered by representative lee. The clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] are there any of the members who wish to vote or change the vote . If not the clerk shall report. Mr. Chairman, on the boat the ayes goes are 16 and the nos are 19. The amendment is not agreed to. The committee will now vote on the amendment offered by mr. Higgins, amendment number 20. The clerk will redesignate the amendment. Amendment number 20 offered by representative higgins. The clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] the nos have and the amendment is not agreed to. The committee will now vote on the amendment offered by ms. Delbene, amendment 21. The clerk will redesignate the amendment. Amendment number 21 offered by representative delbene. The clerk will call the roll. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] are there any members who wish to vote or change the vote . If not the clerk shall report. Mr. Chairman, on that vote the ayes are 1 14 and the nos e 21. The nos have it and the amendment is not agreed to. I recognize ms. Lee. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. I just want to note had a been there for the prior amendment i wouldve voted aye on all of them. Think the gentlelady. Mr. Chair . I recognize ms. Wasserman schultz. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I would also like to record that had a banner i would have recorded an aye vote for the amendment that i miss. Thank the gentlelady. Having been in the appropriations mark about the same time. Understood. The gentleman is recognized. Mr. Chair, i wanted to also reflect that if i wouldve been here for amendment 15 i wouldve voted yes. Its noted for the record. I thank the gentleman. Are there any other amendments . Moving into the second batch of seven in tier two. Tier two. Recognize the gentlelady from tennessee. No, no, no. Who are we up mr. Chairman i have an amendment at the desk. Thank you agenda late has an amendment at the desk. The clerk will redesignate the amendment. Amendment number 20 offered by representative Wasserman Schultz to increase Budget Authority and outlays on Early Childhood programs. The gentle it is recognized for three minutes. Thank you, mr. Chair that i offer amendment to provide Adequate Funding for Early Learning and Early Childhood development programs. Overwhelming Research Shows children benefit from access to highquality world childhood programs and society as whole benefits from targeted investment in making sure every child gets these opportunities. Research shows every public dollar spent on highquality Early Childhood education can equal net payoff update dollars in increased productivity, less reliance on public assistance and other savings. We know that this would reduce the achievement gap is to give every child the right start from the beginning from birth to age five. Childcare is one of the biggest expenses families face. In some families these can exceed the cost of housing, child wishon, transportation food. This provides six ongoing dollars Industry Services is offset by increasing taxes on the top 1 of income earners. I yield one minute to illinois. Thank you. Id like to thank my colleague so much for the amendment. Public with a track record of academic and Emotional Wellbeing in illinois. The lack of estate budgets, we had on the state budget for two years and organization pays 100 million toward federal and state funds all told for an Education Scholarship for american seniors. I was a teacher myself and i know investing in children at an early age is exactly what we need to do and its the most important thing we can do for our own future. A learning focus now will pay great returns in the future and i yield back thank you and i yield 30 seconds to the gentle lady from checker creek. Its often been said that programs like the Great Society never work. But i would argue that there are individuals in the United States congress, some who achieved the status of president of the United States who have been exposed to Early Childhood education. Reminded of the fight to save headstart, listen to the president parents who are devastated that their child would not have a seat in headstart. Headstart is an upstart, it is not a handout, its a hand up. Early childhood education provides theopportunity to be successful in the future, i support the gentle ladies amendment and i yield back. Is there a member who would like to claim their time back with mark. I will see time in opposition. The gentle lady from tennessee is recognized for four minutes. Thank you and i, being a mother and grandmother and having run a Childcare Center myself, believe parents should be able to have access and choose quality Early ChildhoodEducation Services including good parental support involvement. These services will work for those that are working parents that particularly need those kind of services. For far too many of these programs including those providing Early Childhood services, washington measures the success not on the outcomes but how much money we spend. We continue to do that here in this town. The education and Workforce Committee recently held hearings on the Government AccountabilityOffice Report on Early Childhood programs. The gao found there are 44 federal programs offering some level of early Education Services with duplication and inefficiencies, nine of them are for this express purpose and these nine programs cost approximately 15 billion a year. Duplication and inefficiencies. Headstart, headstart has been around, i remember when i was in Nursing School in 1968, i was excited in Nursing School to find out were going to be these programs that would help our children. Its been around for a long time. As a matter of fact its spending a total of 9 billion annually. I personally read the most recent reports, the headstart report was put out by the department of health and Human Services in 2010 there was a followup in 2012. I wasnt surprised because ive seen this over the last four years and that is headstart did not produce lasting positive effects on childrens math, language and literacy skills and on parenting practices. I want to be sure that when we spend this money that absolutely we are taking care of children and giving them the best services weekend. A 2014 study Iv University of california at berkeley , professor use the data from the hhs study and found and start effectiveness really does go up and it varies across Headstart Centers but it goes up. The results go up when they offer more instruction in full days that are also offered with frequent home visits where they were associated with higher effectiveness. So when you measure and you show that things do work, lets put that in place but were not seeing that across the board. On hearing on the gao report, the Committee Also looked at ways states are innovating to improve Early ChildhoodEducation Services in the budget and vision ending needs and inefficiencies and ensuring Early Childhood programs really do produce a lasting education game or kids and their families. The budget also believes that states and localities should be empowered to improve programs that are working in their own areas. The innovation at the states and to show theres measurements and actual process improvement. This amendmentwould increase taxes on the american businesses , our country job creators and the tax code does have special productions and loopholes and thats why we propose pro bono tax reform. Its to clear these loopholes and lower taxes for all taxpayers. A simpler, competitive tax system will encourage investment in privatesector creation. We want to make sure these programs are well done but throwing more money at it is not the answer. Measuring them, making sure they are actually working for these children is the answer. And with that, i yield back. The lady yields back, the gentlewoman from florida is recognized for one to close. The gentle lady seems to think that you could add to the services that headstart provides by expanding to a full day or adding to the Services Without more funding. The home visits cost money. A full day instead of halfday cost money. And the other thing that the majority seems to believe which is inexplicable is that it is more important to provide the wealthiest one percent of americans with tax breaks and to make sure we can add 600 million to ensure that the next generation of our youngest people in america get the best possible start in life. That is an outrageous, unacceptable contrast and if members of the committee what to talk about how much we value ensuring all our children have a shot at success, we must have a budget that reflects that because of the budget is a reflection of our values and this budget tells us loud and clear what the majoritys values are and the American People need to know and thats why we are here shining a spotlight on how egregious and outrageoustheir priorities are, i yield back. Question is to the amendment offered by miss Wasserman Schultz, all those in favor say aye, hold as opposed say no. We continue to care, the nose had. Are there other minutes. Can i ask for a recorded vote. A vote is requested, since the agreement we will postpone the vote until we have finished debating this batch of seven amendments, are there other amendments . Thank you mister, i have an amendment of the desk. Amendment number 23 offered by representative boyd to insert a policy statement on Social Security. Mister boyle is recognized for three minutes. Mister chairman, this amendment states the policy resolution that congress will not cut Social Security benefits now or in the future. And heres why that is important. Because of the move to dynamic scoring, if youre going to add up this budget and you dont believe that 2 2 necessarily equal seven, as the dynamic boring in this budget would suggest, that means there will have to be further very deep cuts over the next decade in order to make this budget at all. Im very concerned that those cuts would come from Social Security. When the 61 million americans receive Social Security, a quarter of those on Social Security, its over 90 percent of their income. This is one of the over the last 82 years really, one of if not the most successful programs. When we consider that free 1935, 46 percent of seniors are mired in poverty, today that figure is a fraction of it. So security isnt the only reason for that success but its a big reason. Now i will yield for one minute to the gentle lady from illinois. Social security is critical to one in four american families. Retirees, disabled workers, women and children and without Social Security benefits, half of women over 65 would live in poverty. In fact, if the only source of income for nearly 3 in 10 women over the five and the older they get, the greater the reliance. 4 million women receive Social SecurityDisability Insurance and yes, Social Security disability is part of Social Security. Americans strongly support Social Security, 88 percent of voters oppose cuts to Social Security benefits and 62 percent of americans think we should consider raising benefits. Its out of touch republican budget takes aim at Social Security and while providing more tax cuts forthe wealthy. Again, this directed priorities. Is this what you really think your constituents want . I yield back. I yield. German yields, is there a member wishing to oppose this amendment . The gentleman from ohio is recognized for four minutes. Thank you mr. Chairman. A problem with this amendment is it assumes a onesizefitsall washington approach to ensuring cuts dont occur. Just say and everything will be fine. Social security is on a dire physical path. According to the recent treasury report Social Security will be insolvent by 2023 and recipients will see a 25 percent cut in benefits. Its a longterm deficit increase from 6. 2 percent of taxable payroll in 2016 to 2. 83 in 2017 and unfunded obligations increased from 11. 4 trillion to 12. 5 trillion. Think about that, the unfunded obligations increased by one. 1 trillion in just one year. This is simply unsustainable. This amendment would make it extremely difficult to make laughing bipartisan reforms to the program by taking any sort of perform such as adjusting the retirement age or even putting benefits for higher income recipients out of consideration but my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we are committed to protecting Social Security. However, i know reforms and difficult choices will have to be made in order to do so. We must work to address this issue and ensure that this program is solvent and able to operate as designated for the next generations of americans, all policy for reform should on the on the table and we must find a way to Work Together to stop kicking this can down the road that Social Security is around for our children and grandchildren. And now id like to yield some time. I think the gentleman and i would echo his sentiment. I think we have three different considerations. You have a consideration he mentioned in terms of solvency of the trust fund itself you also have a second consideration which is this whole notion of intergenerational work there within the budget. The ideas that apparently as its been cold, more young people are likely to believe in ufos returning to america over the world and to believe they will get the full value of their Social Security over time. The market presently dips down the validity of the political promises in place. There are more than 100 trillion worth of political promises outline and the history of man is that folks in politics are more often than not able to promise a lot more than they can deliver on so i think we have to look at not only solvency in terms of what might happen in 2033 but we have to look at one negative cash flow, the unified budget which works so well when folks are coming into the system and workers are coming in, the knife cuts against you and its 16 million baby boomers march their way toward retirement. And increasingly as more and more retirees indeed retire, there will be heavier drags ultimately to the point of insolvency in the trust fund but more significantly to the point of negative cash flow each year which sets up this again mass war of do we apply it to Social Security, the money thats in washington or do we apply it to other needs and goods and Services Provided by washington . Finally i would say simply this, the Jesse Jackson who mentioned that capitalism without capital is just ism. And i think theres a lot of validity when you think about the notion of wealth formation with young people. We have to have something they can have and hold onto, something versus nestor which was a Supreme Court decision in 1960 that said none of us have any legal claim whatsoever of our own security monies that may have been paid in over the years in washington and what young people are saying is i would like to have some degree of control in some form of private accounts that would allow me to know that that money will be there not only for me if i die early for those that i love so i think this idea of looking at reforms, not closing the door to the idea of other ideas that might work is essential and for that reason i would back what my colleagues had to say. Gentlemens time has expired. Mister boyer is recognized for one minute to close. Lets be clear, 482 consecutive years, 100 percent of payments have been mailed out n time every single month. It is a perfect record dating back to 1935 and if both speakers on the other side conceded, from now through at least 2033, the next 16 years, it is a 100 percent funded program. There have been other times in Social Security history where there had been projected shortfall decades in advance. We got together and solve those. What im concerned about is any potential solving a problem that will be released in 20 years on the other side ends in either a benefit cut or a raisin retirement age. People need to be aware of that. They are not talking about increasing revenue, theyre talking about benefit cuts or raising the retirement age. Thats why this amendment is needed. The gentleman yields back, the question arguing to the amendment by mister boyle, all those in favor say i and all those opposed say no. The nose had. Are there other amendments . Mister chairman id like to request a recorded vote. We will postpone the recorded vote until we have finished this batch of seven amendments. Are there other amendments . Mister connor. This is amendment number 24, the clerk will designate the amendment. Amendment 24 offered by representative connor to insert a policy statement to bring the mission of independence of the Consumer Financial protection bureau. Thank you, Mister Connor is recognized for five minutes. Seven years ago president obama signed into law the dodd frank wall street reform and protection act. The act created the Consumer Financial protection bureau. Consumer bureau is focused on one bowl, watching out for American Consumers in the market of consumer dental products and services. The bureau has helped consumers with diverse Financial Products whether its student loans, credit cards, mortgages and it allows consumers to make choices based on honest, accurate information. The cfpb has accomplished a great deal since opening in 2011. The bureau has helped over 29 million individual consumers receive over 11. 8 billion in relief while responding to over 1 million consumer complaints. Its Enforcement Actions have protected servicemembers from predatory practices and provided over 130 million in due compensation to servicemembers, veterans and their families. The bureau has saved consumers over 60 billion in undisclosed credit card fees. This is a necessary bureau, especially after the financial crash and it should have the support of many people on this committee, i deal back. The gentleman yields back, is there a member working to claim opposition . You are recognized for four minutes. Iq, i think we can all agree that protecting American Consumers is important but theres real problems with the way the cfpb is set up. Rather than operating like a normal program, it is funded from remittances from the Federal Reserve entirely outside of the accountability of congress and it is clouded in secrecy. It is also run by a director on accountable to congress and who cannot be removed by the president of the United States. In october, the Dc Circuit Court of appeals ruled the Leadership Structure of the cfb is unconstitutional because it does not have appropriate oversight from the president of the United States. The case is ongoing and is being appealed by the cfpb. The fact that congress has already acted this year to protect consumers and address structural deficiencies in the cfpb through hr 10, the financial choice act which passed the house august 20, 2017 by a vote of 233 two 186. Many of my colleagues wanted to repeal the cfpb entirely but hr 10 did not repeal cfpb but provided Good Governance reforms to the cfpb and renamed it the consumer Law Enforcement agency. Some of these reforms included providing annual appropriations to this new agency, requiring this agency to adhere to Good Government statewide costbenefit analysis and allowing this new agency to remain responsible for enforcing Consumer Protection laws. Our budget makes government across the board more accountable to the people that it exists to serve. I asked that everyone consider a no vote on this. I deal the time to miss harrington. I think the gentleman. I think the cfpb in short is aconstitutional abomination and we should repeal it. But let me say that we all want to ensure consumers are protected and i just think the best way to do that is a robust, transparent competitive market. No law, no regulation will ever give the impetus and incentive to a business or bank that would like their customer like good oldfashioned competition. If you dont protect the consumer, your competitor will. And their family and their friends and so on and so forth. No nanny state can compare and is no match for an inefficient market. As former chief of staff at the sbic i watched as laws like dodd frank wrapped wall street reform and Consumer Protection, who can be against motherhood and apple pie and Consumer Protection . But then hundreds of rules and regulations later, tens of billions of costs that are born disproportionately by Community Banks like the ones that are the hope of activity , Economic Activity in rural america. That cost is passed to consumers, consumers have a more difficult time getting credit, starting a business, owning a home. They have fewer choices. They had more rigmarole, more regulatory burden. I dont see anything good coming out of cfpb. It is duplicative. They already have this function at other banking agencies and it is unaccountable to congress and the president , a federal court already ruled its governance was unconstitutional. We need to reign in the cfpb. Id like to repeal it, i support the choice act, we need to reign in at a minimum for the good of consumers and for main street america. I urge a no vote and i deal back to the gentleman from florida. The chairman yields, you are recognized for one minute close. I disagree with my good friend congressman harrington and congressman ferguson. I know that people on the other side often say why do we have regulations and every time i fly, i am very thankful that we have regulations. On Airline Safety and the same thing is true about consumers, this is not about whether you believe in the market or dont believe in the market , market dont work and need transparency. You need consumers having adequate information and i dont think theres any american belief and would trust wall street bankers to provide that information. We saw what happened when there wasnt regulation and deregulation led one of the worst crashes in American History since the depression. Weve learned a lesson in the depression, had regulations and we started the regulating, it led to the crisis that we finally try to solve that, lets not deregulate and have a third financial crisis, ideal back my time. The question on agreeing to the amendment offered by mister mcconnell, all say i. All of those opposed they know and in the opinion of the chair, the nose had. Mister chair, i asked for a recorded vote. Recorded vote has been requested, we will postpone the vote until we finished dispatch of seven amendments. Gentleman from california is recognized. I would ask unanimous consent to insert into the record and economic paper on the prospects for higher economic growth. Without objection. Thank the gentleman, or other other amendments . Mister chairman, and amendment onthe desk. This is amendment number 25 offered by gentle lady cf paul, we will designate the amendment. Amendment 25 offered by representatives giant paul to increase budget recording outlays for function 300 of Natural Resources and environment. You are recognized for three minutes. Thank you mister chair. But then it seeks to restore a place in the global fight against Climate Change by supporting state and local entities that wish to climate , Climate Change. The President Trumps reckless withdrawal from the paris climb aboard last month sets us on a course that bravely harms our planet. In shirking our leadership role to cut Carbon Emissions we are getting license to the 194 other signatories of the paris climb court to shirk their responsibilities too. Withdrawing from the paris Climate Court only slows our move to renewable sources of energy. The president s rationale for withdrawal is leaving the accord will create jobs but unfortunately mister chairman, this is a false choice. Battling Climate Change and ensuring a strong, Innovative Private sector are not incompatible. According to the energy department, nearly 374,000 people are employed in the solar industry. More than the hundred 60,000 that are employed in the coal industry. Many noted economists agree , the chief economist at Moody Analytics put it this way. He said global Climate Change is a threat to the economy and defense secretary james mattis has called Climate Change a National Security threat. He specifically said, impacting stability in areas of the world where our troops are operating today. The consensus on Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming has been long established and crosses the eye. President reagan understood this and president reagans state of the Union Address in 1984 he said this preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge. It is common sense. The facts are this Greenhouse Gases like Carbon Dioxide are trapping heat on the planet and making it warmer. Second, the use of oil and gas lease Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. Dioxide becomes trapped and the earth becomes warmer. Youre seeing this everywhere. Youre experiencing greater greenhouse effects on communities, the more regional Climate Change, average temperatures have increased. The levels are rising and theres ocean acidification. Mister chair, always has serious Economic Impacts whether its drought, farms or damage sustained due to frequent storms are whether its destruction of Coastal Property or the devastation of Ocean Ecosystems industries rely on. I would like to yield the rest of my time to the representative from the great state of illinois. I my colleagues so much for the amendment. We know Climate Change is real, its happening, its happening at an alarming rate. We know that its implications for our National Security, itcertainly has implications for our economy. It has implications for health. Im so disappointed the president surrender americas leadership when he removed our nation from the paris climate agreement. The rest of the world and our own private sector is moving ahead. The gentle lady time has expired. Ideal back. I think the gentle lady. Is there a member who would like to claim time opposition . You are recognized for four minutes. You mister chairman. The president was right to withdraw from the paris climate accords which was entered into unilaterally without the advice of the senate as isrequired by the constitution. The burden of complying with the agreement fell heavily on the United States. While the United States committee has significant emission reductions, emitters like china offer commitments that were the same as the project. India committed to improving its emissions per gdp at a rate slower than they were already improving. By mit and the institute of Technology Found for compliance of all pledges would reduce temperatures by. 2 degrees celsius in the year 2100. Other studies indicated the deal cost americans 9 million jobs and 3 trillion. At an extreme price to pay for a very little result. American Companies Already reduce their emissions on their own instead of wasting any more time on the unconstitutional accord need to focus our efforts on taking advantage of this countrys abundant resources in reducing various regulations on energy production. What i like to do now is for my, colleagues to propose an amendment but id like to yield one in mister brockman. It wouldve been frustrating if even the federal government stayed part of this accord. It wouldve put us in a disadvantage but theres an even more irritating and i think its something we see in the field of immigration as well. Encouraging local governments for individuals states policy. Its like we are back in the days of the articles of confederation. We dont like what the president says, each individual state has their own Foreign Policy. United states has been done a great job of producing emissions. Quite frankly a better job than most of the countries in this accord and the idea that we would spend more money encouraging every state to have their own Foreign Policy is ridiculous. We should vote no on this amendment. Mister chairman, id like to point out that based on the improvements the United States has made in reducing emissions, we were on pace to achieve every objective in the climate accord anyway. It makes no sense to remain in unconstitutional agreements. The other thing i like to point out is that a lot of the climate hysterics focuses around whether this is and i like to point out that a lot of the people who believe Climate Change is having a weather impact were predicting a massive outbreak of hurricanes. We had the lowest hurricane activity in decades. After the outbreakof other storms. [no audio] we would love to have the federal government be involved in the paris of course, we wouldnt necessarily choose the individual state should be meeting on such an important issue but unfortunately, as i have to remind my colleagues, the federal government specifically President Trump chose to pull out of the paris accords instead of g 20, we had g 19 around the paris climate agreement. That is unfortunate for all of us. Mister chair, i want to close by quoting george w. Bush in 1990 in remarks to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. President bush said this area we all know that human activities are changing the atmosphere in unexpected and unprecedented ways. Mister chairman, we are at an important juncture, we have the ability to translate Scientific Evidence into action and this amendment takes us a step in returning is on the right path. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and ideal back. Gentle lady yields back, the question on agreeing to the amendment offered by mister jaya paula, all those in favor say aye. And all those opposed say no. According to chair, no static. And i have a recorded vote. A vote has been requested, we will postpone the recorded vote until we have a batch of seven amendments, are there other amendments after mark. I have an amendment of the desk. The gentleman has an amendment the desk, is number 26. The clerk will designate. Amendment 26 offered by representative carbajal to increase Budget Authority, that leaves the function of 2700 veterans and Veterans Services x you are recognized for three minutes. That you mister chair. Todays proposed republican budget reduces mandatory funding for veterans by 50 million over the next 10 years. While the resolution does not success, the stress would come from, the president proposed a similar amount by cutting off this disability payments for veterans receiving Social Security. The devastating blow to veterans left unable to work due to a serviceconnected disability. My amendment would restore funding for criticalmandatory veterans programs. Currently there are 21 million veterans living in the United States and up to 27. 6 million families and dependents who may beeligible for benefits. 8. 9 million veterans need healthcare through the Veterans Health administration each year. Up from 5 million veterans in 2001. The va also provides mandatory benefits for veterans who have earned them including disability compensation to 4. 6 million veterans and over 400 survivors. Education benefits to 1 million veterans and their dependents so they can gain new degrees and skills and va mortgage loans, is 2. 6 million veterans so they can achieve the American Dream of ownership. The va is also making progress on benefit claims back volume. But more must be done and we must help make that possible. I amendments make sure we fully fund our commitments to our veterans. And offset the amount equally with revenue for many of the following categories. Reducing tax breaks for the top one percent of income earners , canceling the tax breaks for corporate jets. Closing loopholes anchorage companies to invert and ship jobs and profit overseas. Reducing subsidies to Big Oil Companies and re restricting deductions to egregious ceo ownership when employees dont get a raise. I urge my colleagues to support our veterans and support this amendment. Mister chairman, ideal back. The chairman yields back, is there a member who wishes to claim timeout position . The gentleman is recognized for four minutes. Thank you mr. Chairman. We all know that veterans when they sign that and went into service, they pledge their lives in defense of our country and they deserve our benefits, they burned them all. We also hear that theres more money and more applied to attack will solve everything. We know that the work. There is are our top priority in the budget. The budget matches President Trumps request and provide about six percent increase in discretionary Budget Authority. The addition, this is an additional 27 percent increase in discretionary funding over the past six years on the republicancontrolled house. Given the continued failures of the va to deliver benefits to americans veterans effectively and efficiently, including giving them timely access to health care, it is clear that the va as a management problem, not a money problem. Budget resolution call for benefit Program Report and suggest reforms are not needed to improve Veterans Health care and wellbeing is just wrong. This budget grandfathers in all the current beneficiaries. Last year we had a hearing for the Veterans Affairs subcommittee and still 25 years later after the gulf war, full gulf war and desert storm, va still does not have the proper techniques to diagnose the gulf war syndrome. They have not had a sense of urgency in the Veterans Affairs administration, their leadership now is committed to making those reforms necessary and this budget adequately funds that and those veterans are going to be taken care of. We owing to them, mister chairman, ideal to my colleague mister johnson. I think my colleagues for yielding and i associate myself with all of mister bergmans comments. You know, as congress operates under statutory spending caps required by law, ms. Management of funds squanders valuable resources. I too have sat on the Veterans Affairs committee and ive seen some of the dysfunction and i agree with my colleague that the new leadership is trying very hard to turn this around and im optimistic that we are finally beginning to see progress. But without significant reforms we are going to see a lot of these problems crop back up again. And some of these programs are in dire need of reform. Take a look at what the Government Accountability office has said. Since 2003, va healthcare and amendatory benefits programs like disability compensation have appeared on the gao high risk list because they are vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement. They are in need of transformation. Were they have the inability to ensure allocated resources are being used in a Cost Effective and efficient way. Those are not my words, those are the gaos words. We applaud the vas decision for example to replace it legacy system with a single Electronic Health record. Theyve been working on that for years and they spent over 4 billion on it but they still not quite gotten there yet so i agree with my colleague. We think this budget supports our veterans and with that ideal back. Mister carbajal is recognized for one minute to close. I really appreciate my colleagues comments. But the fact of the matter is that this budget still cuts 50 billion that impact veterans. I want to reiterate. The need to honor our commitments to our nations veterans and fully fund the benefits our veterans have earned. Im a veteran myself. This includes funding not only for the va but funding for all other agencies that care for our vets and their families. All the spin that we want. We can talk about the terrible things that the va has not been able to get over in terms of management but our veterans should not penalize and no matter how we characterize this, we are talking a significant cut to our veterans. The republican budget shortchanges our commitment and the needs of our veterans. I asked my colleagues to support my amendment, thank you and ideal back. The question is on agreement of the amount offered by mister carbajal, those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the nose had. Are there any other amendments . Can i get a recorded vote, please . A recorded vote is requested pursuant to the unanimous consent agreement, we will postpone the vote until we finish debating. Are there any other amendments . Amendment 27. This is amendment number 27, the clerk will designate the amendment. Amendment number 27 offered by representative justin reed to increase pell grants. You. As i listened to the debate, i believe i started out this morning by indicating that there is commitment in this room to the many positions that have been impressed but theres certainly great divide and division on how we should invest in the American People. I do believe that there are those who benefited from the Great Society, many of us in this room are now members of congress who became president of the United States like president barack obama. And even secretary of housing and urban development who started in priority doctor ben carson. That means i am committed to investing in people and the needs of people in particular. So my amendment, the amendment number 27 will increase the maximum pell grant award by 500 for the 20 17th 2018 school year and indexed for inflation after 2018. Student loan debt now is 1. 4 trillion. 620 billion more than Credit Card Debt and in a 2016 graduate will graduate with 37,000 plus in the student loan debt. The pell grants help students afford college. The maximum grant of 5920 in 2017 and 2018 school year will cover just 29 percent of the cost of college at a Public University compared to 79 percent of the cost shortly after congress created 40 years ago. The pell grants will boost College Access for underserved students and the cost of college rises, low income minorities students Face Even Greater challenges to give them a hand and help them improve opportunities for business or jobs and when they have businesses or jobs, a turn in the economy by investing in the economy. Telegrams are good for boosting americas economy. Telegraph programs as well target students most in need of assistance. Is the primary federal aid program, its a cornerstone for Higher Education and since inception, millions of low income students have completed college and it stresses our economy and overall competitiveness. We dont compete against each other, we compete against the world. Any of us know that there are bright young people around the world, competingagainst our young people. Why should we leave one student behind could be the next inventor of the next generation of technology that could change the worlds perspective . Pell grants help these low income students get a helping hand area it says we do our america, we believe that the flag, red white and blue and all the star represent those who may not have had the best start in life. Ive seen these young people in Community Colleges and historically black colleges, hispanic colleges, asianpacific colleges and public institutions. They are young, they are bright, they are eager and i for one am not going to say no to them because they dont say no to the United States of america when we asked them to serve. This is an important amendment. I asked my colleagues in a bipartisan manner to support the jackson lee amendment , protection supported and grow our economy. With that i reserve. The gentle lady reserves, is the remember who would like to claim time in opposition . I claim time. Is tricky is recognized. The programs, peggy chairman, the Pell Grant Program is the largest source of federal grants for college students. Congress in previous administrations have made repeated decisions to raise the programs maximum award and expand eligibility but they had caused the program itself to be on risky financial footing. Since 2006 and 16, the Program Program discretionary costs ballooned from 12. 8 billion to 22. 2 billion. This clear 15 the program provided 31 billion to nearly 8. 2 million undergraduate students telegrams have intermittently seen big increases in recent years and is amendment seeks to increase that funding even more. Due to these reckless increases, the ceo now but its a program will face a multibillion dollars for a shortfall in coming years. Increasing the maximum award will only exacerbate this problem and make the Pell Grant Program even more financially at risk for students. Increasing the federal subsidies for College Tuition the telegraph will not solve the college cost problem. The fact is that its likely lead to larger tuition hikes in the administration costs. Consider this, since 1980 telegraph funding asincreased 475 percent. Since 1982, the cost of attending college as increased 439 percent, more than four times inflation. Common sense tells us this is not a coincidence. More funding means more money colleges and universities can capture through higher tuition. Is amendment would increase subsidies for college who would raise their tuition and demand more money from their government through telegrams. As long as the federal government is willing to pay the money, tuition will continue to rise and we wont get projected results. I like to yield to my friend from minnesota, mister lewis for his comments and you are welcome. I think gentleman and let me concur with your comments, the oldest rule in economics, if you subsidize something you get more of it and as we subsidize College Tuition, we had higher coststhe Federal Reserve bank of new york , the Sticker Price is a colleges with lots of borrowers increased after federal student loan programs and grants expanded. For everyadditional dollar in subsidized loans or grants, colleges raise their sacrifices i . 65. In fact, if you take a look at those Areas Community college where tuition is free in many states, one third of the students from the bottom income quartile we started at Community Colleges in 2003 their degree by 2009 even though the federal grants cover the price of tuition so the problem we have with workforce training have little to do with the lack of access to higher end. Its more in the way we do it. The poll conducted by Meeting StreetResearch Suggests 68 percent of manufacturing respondents in my home state of minnesota found it difficult to attract qualified candidates to fill the vacancies and yet as the gentleman previously noted, a telegraph funding has been skyrocketing. If you look at 1997,. 6 million. By 2011, where he billion from 7 to 11, a real increase of hundred 50 percent, recipients up 80 percent. If you take a look at the discretionary funding of pell grants, about 4850 students last year, then you look at the mandatoryspending, 955 , is not as though were underfunded here. What weve got is a failure to address the fundamental workplace, workforce problem and that is all too often we are subsidizing kids and encouraging them to go into areas in the economy that dont have a great demand. We need to rethinkthat, just not throw more money at it. I urge a no vote and ideal back. Magellan yields, this jackson is recognized for one minute to close. I urge a yes vote for the jackson lee amendment and all throughout this time of our debate, one theme runs high. The top tax plan. Massive tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, tax increases for millions of people working families. Thats the thrust of the opposition of my good friends on the other side. Paying between four and seven percent interest rates, as i indicated, the money of the pell grant now takes up only 29 percent of the cost. We can work to bring down tuition rates. We can work to correct some of the elements that should be corrected. People want to be directed towards those in professions that are now current in the 21st. Theyre not rejecting that but basically want to go to college. Yet the whole theme of this Budget Hearing tonight, this markup is all about getting rich people taxes. Otherwise we be committed to some of the amendments offered by my friend. We be committed to fixing some of the elements so that could be a better offering to the American People. I put my money on the American People and their needs. I will not put my money on a tax plan. The gentle lady time has expired. Ideal back, vote for the jackson leeamendment. . Agreeing to the amendment offered by this jackson lee, all in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, thenose had. Recorded vote, roll call vote is requested. Pursuant to the unanimous consent agreement we will postpone recorded vote until we finish debating seven amendments. Are there any other event . Mister chairman, i have amended. At the desk. Is amendment number 28, the court will designate the amendment. Amended 28 offered by representative caskey to insert a policies on reducing research and drug cost for americans. Mister caskey is recognized for three minutes. Is amendment is similar to one that was accepted unanimously in the energy and Commerce Committee nd it says that its a policy of this congress to improve access to and affordability of Prescription Drugs. Every family in america has been impacted in some way by the rising cost of Prescription Drugs and thats why 60 percent of americans need addressing the cost of Prescription Drugs needs to be close, top priority. 77 percent of americans believe the rise of drugs is unreasonable and 25 percent of americans have their medication due to the cost. Its time for all of us to Work Together to address real reforms to do drug prices. This state our intentions to do that. Ideal one minute to higgins. This Budget Proposal would designate medicare, putting private Insurance Companies back in control you dont Older Americans from coverage and to charge excessive and unaffordable premiums. The amendments would use the leverage, the power of 67 Million Medicare enrollees to drive down thecost of Prescription Drugs. According to the kaiser emily foundation, make a wish has 74 million beneficiaries receive 24 percent, drug discounts every year. But thats just the ministration with 29 million beneficiaries. The beneficiaries would knock down drug prices by 24 percent. The department of justice alto, 24 percent. Medicare with 57 million series, we should be using the powerful leverage of the federal government to drive down the cost of healthcare and quality. So i support my colleague and i hope others will as well. You and ideal one minute tocongressman , thank you. Elizabeth rosenthal wrote an outstanding book, american sickness that i recommend to everyone and she talks about three things that are driving up the cost of healthcare. Pharmaceuticals, Insurance Companies and hospitals. We all should agree that americans should be paying more for a drug than people almost anywhere else in the world and there are basic things we can do to take all these drug prices as Mister Higgins and representative shea caskey have suggested. They can give medicare the ability to negotiate these drug prices, we can have a reference pricing, if we really want to control the cost of healthcare, we ought to take a look at the outrageous drug costs and do something to tame the cost, ideal back my time. Let me say this amendment does not support a solution, just that we all agree we should Work Together to lower drug prices and ideal back. Is there a member who would like to claim time in opposition . Mister johnson is recognized for four minutes. Thank you mister chairman and you know, i actually like the title of this amendment, reduce Prescription Drug costs for all americans. And i agree with my colleague who offered it. We did do significant work last session in energy and commerce to begin moving that ball forward. However, its important to remember the impact of the Affordable Care act on the rising cost of Prescription Drugs because individuals and families both are facing higher Prescription Drug costs under obamacare. The average person with a plan in the Exchange Marketplace has to pay 46 percent of his or her total drug costs compared to 20 percent or someone within for your sponsored healthcare. Consequently, researchers have found that americans with land purchased on the Obamacare Exchanges fill fewer prescriptions to avoid outofpocket costs and as a result, experience more serious medical problems then and there in the cost can go even higher over the long run. So i think we all agree that innovative cures and treatments are essential to Patients Living longer, healthier and more productive lives. And this budget fully supports Patient Access to Prescription Drugs. This includes supporting a reduction in burdensome regulations that stymie innovation and reduce competition. This also includes supporting a swifter, yet sterile, careful process of review for new therapies bythe fda. This budget provides the necessary funding to invest in biomedical research. As a key to unlocking new technology and new knowledge that can lead to Better Health and disease cures for everyone. This resolution calls for congress to support the important work of medical innovators throughout the country through continued strong funding for the agencies that engage in lifesaving research and development and the empowerment of innovation by removing obstacles that impede the adoption of medical technologies, the bureaucracy and red tape in washington too often hold back medical innovation. Increasing rather than decreasing costs. And prevent new lifesaving treatments from reaching patients. So as we say in our policy statement within this budget, the nations commitment to the discovery, development and delivery of new treatments and cures has made the United States the biomedical Innovation Capital of the world. Since 2000, more than 500 new medicines to the us market have been introduced. Spending on retail prescription medicines grew more slowly than healthcare spending overall. In seven of the last 10 years and in recent years, was the leading cause for slower Health Care Costs growth. So we are making progress, mister chairman and we believe this budget us to continue making progress. I urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment and with that, ideal back the balance of my time. Gentlemanly yield, mister czajkowski is recognized for one minute to close. I do like the yield 30 seconds to the ranking member, misteryarmouth. You my friend. I wanted to raise one point nine is when so made people talk about the concept of free market in healthcare, when you look at the Prescription Drugs industry and the entire cycle of Prescription Drug innovation and production, this is where the free market is totally incapable of dealing with reality. Virtually all Prescription Drugs benefit from taxpayer financed research and then there turned over to commercial companies who are basically unrestrained and in this country can charge whatever they want. In many cases, 15, 10 or 15 times what the same drug cost in other countries. So this is an example of where the free market totally fails american healthcare. Ideal back. Ideal back. The question is on agreeing to the amendment offered by miss shea caskey, all those in favor say aye, those opposed no. Theopinion of the chair, the nose. Reported vote is requested , for unanimous consent agreement. We will postpone the vote until we finish debating the other seven minutes, with that the committee will stand in recess subject call of the chair. The House Budget Committee went on to approve the physical blueprint for 2018. The 1. 1 trillion plan includes 622 billion in military spending. 230 billion in cuts to entitlement programs including medicaid and food stamps and indians efforts to overhaul the tax code this fall. The partyline vote, 22 to 14 send the measure to the floor of the house for consideration by the full chamber. The u. S. Senate is about to gavel in on this thursday, so lawmakers have a confirmation both for 1215 with john bush, the judge on the sixth Circuit Court and that 145 able to advance the nomination of David Bernhardt to the deputy interior secretary. May also be speeches about senator john mccain cancer diagnosis and healthcare. Live coverage of the usa youre now on cspan2. The presiding officer the senate will come to order. The chaplain will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. O god our shield, look with favor upon us. Lord, you have told us in james chapter 4 verse 2 that we