Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives U.S. House Of Representatives 20240713

Deterrent. We emphasize the importance of strategic stability. The conference agreement importance of new start and the open skies treaties for u. S. And interNational Security. Maintain congressional oversight over these key arms including eements, requiring 120day notice provision before any withdrawal treaties. U. S. Leadership in cooperation with our allies is essential to accountable and to prevent an arms race. The ndaa continues to support Missile Defense while increasing oversight of critical the ams, particularly as department of defense considers new options for the next generation interceptor. My colleagues to support this bill. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry i yield two minutes to the gentleman from ohio, mr. Turner. Mr. Turner i support the National Defense authorization act for fiscal year 2020 and i thank adam smith for bringing a bipartisan bill as the final nd arch a to the floor. This continues of lowyield nuclear weapons. It supports our Nuclear Modernization efforts in the National Security administration to ensure a Strong Nuclear deterrent. I want to note the strong bipartisan support for Missile Defense that is in this years bill. This bill demonstrates the protection from north korean Missile Defense is not subject to partisan politics. With my colleague susan davis, im proud that this takes to further our mission to reduce Sexual Assault in our ranks. The conference report includes provisions to improve the safety of military housing, adding to enhancements that was put in last year, the report expands the requirement for Fall Prevention devices to protect the Young Children of our Service Members. Our l year 2020 ndaa gives military the largest pay increase and repeals the widow tax and doubles the licensure and certification cost of a Service Member arising from relocation and continues to support members of the federal government by including military members and federal government workers with 12 weeks of family leave. I encourage. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from washington state. Mr. Smith i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey chair of the subcommittee on land and air forces, mr. Norcross. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Norcross i thank the gentleman for bringing this bill to the floor. This bill continues tactical land and air forces work to make the land and air forces the best in the world. I thank Ranking Member mrs. Hartzler for her commitment and contributions to this process in upholding that tradition of bipartisan work. Our cooperation has kept us focused on what is truly important. We delivered a defense bill that addresses the modernization and readiness requirement of our nations air and land forces. At the same time, this includes bipartisan provisions that allows for aggressive oversight. The departments complex programs to protect the taxpayer and support our military. This bill manages risk in our American Defense Industrial Base by providing additional funds for the army chinook helicopter, armored helicopters and trucks. This bill improves the quality of life for our men and women in uniform. The work force that supports them and the families who serve right beside them. This bill provides 12 weeks paid parental leave across the federal government and includes. 1 pay increase. The bill provides Health Protections for military, families and retirees from exposure to potentially cancercausing contaminant and includes that tests are conducted for our firefighters on military bases who might have been exposed. Im proud of the hard work this committee has done to serve americas National Security interests and i urge my colleagues to support it. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry i yield two minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from virginia, mr. Whitman. Mr. Wittman this is not a Good Conference report. This is a great bipartisan conference report. We made significant strides in a wide range of areas that improve our National Security posture from installing a respect tabble includingine and even related efforts on the widow tax and housing reform, this has become an impressive bill. I was concerned about our ability to complete the work in this conference report. When we initially debated this i voted in opposition because of various riders included. N conference we debated vigorously and we moved bipartisan support for our Service Members and their families. Chairman smith and Ranking Member thornberry should be proud of this effort and our sea power projection exathes are more lethal. Sea power Projections Subcommittee we authorized he three destroyers, two oilers and one frigate. We accelerate unmanned vessels. We continue to fully support the Rapid Development of the raider bomber and the columbia class submarine programs both essential elements of our try add. This conference report is making the right investments to ensure our military is more effective and has the ability to project power in times of conflict. I particularly appreciate chairman courtneys approach on bipartisan legislation. We are so closely aligned in our subcommittee and i thank you for your leadership. This makes prosecute progress on family policy issues that are essential to supporting Service Members and family members. 3. 1 pay raise, authorized housing, paid parental leave and mr. Wilsons legislation to address the widow lee tax. We are concluding now its time to move onto the defense appropriations process. Mr. Smith i yield to the gentleman from connecticut, mr. Courtney. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Courtney i rise in strong support of the final conference version of the National Defense authorization act. As chairman, i worked closely with my colleague Ranking Member to produce a strong bill to have defense priorities. This year we benefited greatly from the contributions of our freshmen members whose collective intelligence was extremely helpful. 23 billion ship building for 12 battle ships and destroyers, the first frigate and two oilers and two salvage and rescue ships. It contains adjustments to support the block five virginia class submarines and funds the number one priority, the ballistic submarine. This will reverse the administrations misguided proposal. The subcommittee also focused on sea lift recapitalization which has been overlooked and relegislating and new build Vessel Program and restoring funding cults. And it also provides strong support for our air projections forces and the kt46 and the ng range bomber and b52 reengineering program. We have the duties relating to the Surface Fleet readiness that any program of record to have formal training to ensure our sailors are competent to operatet im extremely pleased that my amendment reverses to. D. Order blocking sailors give them to eligible benefits and pleased about the fix to the widow tax and the Monumental Task of paying 12 weeks of medical family leave. I thank representative thornberry and thornberry and kelly and dave and megan and lieutenant claudia. For the great work supporting this bill. I yield become. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry i yield to the gentlelady from missouri, mrs. Hartzler. Mrs. Hartzler i rise in strong of the conference report to accompany senate bill 1790, the 59th consecutive National Defense authorization act. With a new top line of 738 billion and eat 5. Billion in emergencies authorization, this conference report represents a good bipartisan compromise that we all should support because it provides for our common defense and addresses the priorities required by our men and women in uniform. This bill will continue the progress we made in rebuilding military readiness and setting the right conditions through oversight to accelerate modernization capabilities required for the National Defense strategy. A few examples of these critical exathes include, funding for 1. 4 f8 aircraft and billion fifth generation joint trike fighters, funding for 24 f18 hornets and big six modernization priorities and 265 million for National Guard and reserve component equipment modernization. Im pleased the bill includes a provision to ensure Service Members forced to move from any type of military housing including dormitories receive a partial dislocation allowance. This fixes a gap that prohibited our lowest paid Service Members from receiving this assistance. I want to thank Ranking Member thornberry for his leadership and guidance throughout this entire process and our subcommittee chairman Donald Norcross for his leadership and spirit of bipartisanship. This conference report also wouldnt be possible without the hard work and dedication of the entire subCommittee Staff. The ndaa has always been a product of bipartisan con census and im pleased we were successful in reaching that level of consensus again. I urge my colleagues to support this bill and vote yes yes on h. R. 1790. Mr. Smith i am pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. Garamendi. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Garamendi thank you, madam speaker. I rise in full support of fiscal year 2020 National Defense authorization act, first to thank you to chairman smith and Ranking Member thornberry, Committee Staff who worked tirelessly on this bill and its a good one and i urge support. As chairman of the readiness subcommittee i work with members on and off the committee to ensure this bill addressed three priorities. It requires the department of defense to plan for and respond to the threat that Climate Change poses to military installations, military installations by developing master plans that fully assess he future climate vullverkts and to promote energy, conservation, climate and cyber resiliencey. Secondly, the bill includes a number of provisions aimed at addressing problems with management of the housing programs including military Services Must established a bill of rights for our military family. The bill authorizes additional funding and includes bipartisan provisions to eliminate ntaminated water resulting from colorin ated compounds that have been used on military installations. There is a 3. 1 pay race for our members, our troops. The bill includes provisions which bill h. R. 2716, requires the d. O. D. Input any occupational environmental hazard that troops may have been exposed to. Finally, a couple of things that re positive, but also some concerns. The bill does not delay the deployment of the new lowyield Nuclear Warhead for submarines and siggedly the bill does not deal with the funding for our military programs for the military that have been ripped off from the wall. Big thank you to everybody. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Garamendi im out of time, bummer. Mr. Thornberry i yield two minutes to the gentleman from mississippi, mr. Kelly. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Kelly i thank mr. Kelly i thank the gentleman for yielding. Rise in support of the National Defense authorize eight authorization act of fiscal year 2020. I want to thank the military personnel subcommittee chairwoman Jackie Speier for her hard work and leadership. The strength of our military sour Service Members and the strength of our Service Members is our military family. This bill contains a number of significant policy and Funding Initiatives that affirm our commitment to our troops an their families. To that end, this bill supports a 3. 1 military pay raise, extends crucial pay and bonuses for Service Members in high demand fields, eliminates the widows tax. I want to thank joe wilson for his years of tireless work and leadership to make this happen. Make no mistake, this is all because of joe wilsons initiative of. This bill also preserves military health care by preventing the military services from making cuts to Health Care Bills before determining the impact those cuts will have on our system. It requires d. O. D. To upkate standardized treatments related to Mental Health treatment and Substance Abuse referrals. It expands el yibblet for tricare reserve select. It expands support for military spouses by doubling the reimbursement amount spouses can receive for professional license and education. It expands military kiled care, including expanded direct hiring authority for Child Care Centers and assessment of child Care Capacity on installations. This bill includes many initiatives to my home state of mississippi. I want to thank my fellow conferee for their contributions to this truly bipartisan conference report. I urge my colleagues to support its passage. Thank you, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from washington state. Mr. Courtney im pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from california, ms. Speier. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Speier i thank the speaker. Let me also say to my colleague, the chair of the committee, what an outstanding job hes done. I want to thank my Ranking Member, mr. Kelly, for his good leadership as well. Since coming to congress i have voted against more ndaas than i have voted for. This year, i will be voting for the ndaa, not because its perfect, not because it achieves every democratic priority, and not because im satisfied. Im voting for this bill because it achieves monumental progress i victories. And the day after the president sign this is bill many of our Service Members and their family members will recognize that we have been listening to them. Let me highlight a few provisions that make me proud to vote for this bill. After 70 years, we have tackled setting st doctrine, aside 10 million over 10 years for medical malpractice at noncombat settings. Malpractice in noncombat should be governed by the act. We require they are marine corps to join the rest of the services in finally providing gender integrated basic training to platoons, recognizing that women marines are marines just like men. Weve ended the unjust widows tax, provided 12 weeks of paid parental leave to federal workest, increased resources to ease the child karabakhlog at military bases, provided Legal Counsel to domestic vibles survivors and prevented the military from forcing new mothers to deploy within a year of their childs birth. Finally, we have renewed the Breast Cancer Research Stamp act which has been yen rating 85 million for Breast Cancer research. The ndaa is not perfect. Its a giant step forward for our Service Members and their families. I want to thank craig green, dave, glen, and jamie for the outstanning services they have provided to the military personnel subcommittee and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this measure. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry im pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from new york, ms. The fan ms. Stefanik. Ms. Stefanik thank you, i rise in support of this conference report. As the Ranking Member of the subcommittee on intelligence, emerging threats and capabilities im proud of our oversight and legislative activities this year. The bill before the house incorporates four broad subcommittee themes. First, it recharges our National Security Innovation Base to confront emerging threats and advance our science and Technology Ecosystem while also making it easier for Small Businesses to engage with d. O. D. We authorize the establishment of new partnerships in the field of hypersonic and quantum sciences. We extend unique unique hiring authorities to the hiring center and darpa to ensure the best talent available is made available to solve our hardest National Security problems. This bill also establishes a White House Working Group to affect working groups. Second this bill recognizes the urgency and importance of u. S. Leadership in 5g tech knoll and mandates the development of a deform o. D. 5g strategy. Third this ndaa strengthens congressional oversight of Cyber Operations and enhances the departments Cyber Security strategy and cyber warfare capabilities. It builds on the work of previous ndaas to ensure signer is a fully integrated war fighting function across the department. It increases notification requirements for Cyber Operations and improves Cyber Security cooperation with the military Industrial Base. Finally it provides authorities for activities including cyber, counterintelligence and counterterrorism. Before i conclude, i want to thank Ranking Member thornberry, chairman smith, senator inhofe and senator reid for their contributions to this conference process and i want to thank my partner and subcommittee chair, mr. Langevin of rhode island, for his strong support and what weve delivered on this. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from washington state. Mr. Smith im pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from rhode island, mr. Langevin. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognize for two minutes. Thank you. N i wanted to thank the gentleman for yielding. I want to congratulate and thank chairman smith for his leadership on the House Armed Service committee as well as Ranking Member thornberry. I rise today in strong support of conference report to accompany the 2020 National Defense authorization act. I was honored to be a conferee. Im proud weve concluded our work on this defense bill an reached bipartisan consensus and support of our National Security and Service Members. Im particularly pleased with the provisions that are under the oversight of the intelligence and emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee which im honored to chair. I also want to thank my subcommittee Ranking Member, ms. Stefanik, for her contributions to this bill and bipartisan participation and partnership throughout the process and our wonderful staff for all their ork to make this happen. Bill tc portfolio, this supports an ecosystem to deliver the best resources to the war fighter while providing critical technologies. It provides for emerging technologies like 5g and provides Educational Programs to strengthen the stem work force and improve ties with historically black colleges and yuferes and minorityserving institution. On the Cyber Security front we strengthen oversight, leverage best practices to improve the departments networks, Industrial Base and military installation Cyber Security. This bill reflect ours priorities that special Operation Forces remain professional, ethical, agile and postured for high admission and the Defense Intelligence enterprise is oriented to provide maximum support to department requirements. Im especially pleased that this bill continues to support the production of the Virginia Class Submarine Program and virginia apaisload modules as well as the columbia class submarine program, shining examples of Rhode Islands contributions to our National Security. This bill supports our Service Members with a pay raise and demonstrates a strong commitment to families by providing all federal workers with paid parental leave. Last lot to be proud of in this bill. I thank chairman smith again for his leadership and Ranking Member thornberry. I urge my colleagues to support it. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry im pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from colorado, mr. Lamb born. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two inn miss. Mr. Lamborn i thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership. I rise in strong support of the conference report for the National Defense authorizing aact of fiscal year 2020. The ndaa continues rebuilding readiness and provides highlights include significant investments in operations and maintenance, sustainment and military construction. Also, Nuclear Triad modernization and authority to deploy lowyield weapons. The historic establishment of space force as with a seat on the join chiefs of staff and 5 billion in emergency funding to build at Offutt Air Force base, camp lejeune and others struck by natural disasters. The Strength Military families endure makes the systematic systematic fail youfers military housing truly deplorable. This bill includes a tenants bill of rights, improved Quality Control for repairs and mold remediation. The bill also provides critical oversight of the defense Household Goods program that will ensure that military families are put first in d. O. D. Reforms. The bill also addresses contamination by prohibiting nonmore than use of fire pfos g foams containing d requires research to a nonpfos replacement. I want to thank chairman smith and Ranking Member thornberry for preserving the 50plus year of bipartisan agreement to our defense men and women. I urge my colleagues to support the conference report and yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from washington state. Mr. Smith i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from california, mr. Kanna. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Ka in a i rise in strong mr. Kanna i rise in strong opposition to this. There are many things you can call the bill but its orrwellian to call it progressive. Lets speak in facts. When president obama left, the Defense Budget was 61 billion. This Defense Budget is 120 billion more. Than what president obama left us with. That could fund Free Public College for every american. It could fund access to high speed affordable internet for every american. But its worse. The bipartisan provision to stop the war in yemen, stripped by the white house. The bipartisan amendment to stop the war in iran, stripped by the white house. The bipartisan provision to repeal the 2002, george w. Bush authorization for the war in iraq which is sending our troops overseas, stripped by the white house. At some time we cant just rhetorically give Standing Ovations when the president says were going to end endless wars and continue to vote to fund them. It wasnt just president george w. Bush who committed the biggest blunder of Foreign Policy in the 21st century by sending us to iraq. It was the abdication of this body with many members of congress who voted right with him. My question is, when are we going to listen to the American People . When are we going to do our article 11 duty and stop funding these endless wars and start funding our domestic priorities . I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry im pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished author of legislation with 383 cosponsors to repeal the widows tax thats now part of this legislation, the gentleman from south carolina, mr. Wilson. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Wilson thank you, madam speaker. Thank you, Ranking Member thornberry and chairman smith. Im grateful that the house and senate have come to an agreement on this years conference report to repeal the widows tax. I appreciate my predecessor, the the chairman spence, was first to try to eliminate this tax, i picked up on that when i won election. I made every effort to be bipartisan. Always inviting cosponsors of both pears to milestone achievements. Repealing the widows tax has been personal to me. Lieutenant counselor mcleod was the military fellow in our office in 2002 who was sadly killed in iraq on december 4, 2006. His wife, maggie, and their three children, haden, grace, and megan have been on my mind and in my heart as we fought for the repeal of the widows tax. This bill is included in ndaa, has the largest number of cosponsors of any bill in the house of representatives this congress. I welcome congressman john yarmuth to be the first cosponsor with the intention of always being bipartisan. This provision will restore the full amount of survivors benefit nnuity to more than 65,000 families. The repeal of the widows tax will impact families who could receive almost 12,000 a year. Surviving spouses visited and called representatives and were very convincing. This effectiveness was truly remarkable. Thank kathy thorpe, christy demen coe and others for their perseverance. Veterans Service Organizations are also instrumental. I am thankful that those who gave the ultimate sacrifice are no longer faced with this unfair offset. I urge all members to vote in support of the ndaa conference report. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from mr. Smith there was nothing in the house bill or any bill that would have ended the war in yemen. It is not or wellian to say that but dishonest to tell people there was something we could have ended the war in yemen. We need to work hard to bring a peaceful solution. Being dishonest to the American Public doesnt accomplish that. I yield one minute to the gentleman from maryland, mr. Brown. Mr. Brown i thank chairman smith and Committee Staff that affirms a progressive win. The ndaa tackles the security challenges facing our countries and makes investments in our war fighters and families. We bolster the european deterrence initiative. We have a commitment to increase defense spending at historically black colleges and universities and incentivizing minorityowned businesses to be part of our device. This ndaa makes good on the commitments to address problems with military housing and give them justice. This ndaa is a compromise. Im disappointed we couldnt reverse the ban on very versusing the president s transgender ban. This n dmp aa gets the job done and i urge my colleagues to support it and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry im pleased to yield two minutes to the coauthor along with mr. Cooper of the spaceforce provision, the gentleman from alabama, mr. Rogers. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Rogers i thank the Ranking Member and chairman smith in bringing this conference report to the floor. Im very pleased that spaceforce that jim cooper and i have been working on is finally becoming a reality. This report establishes the u. S. Spaceforce as the sixth Armed Service of the United States under the department of the air force and first new branch of the military since 1947. It also recognizes space as a warfighting domain and transfers personnel to the spaceforce. This is an important step for our National Security. Our adversaries are moving quickly in space and this new service will align our efforts towards countering them. The originally passed ndaa that every republican opposed, i am pleased those the unreasonable border restrictions have been moved. This is a Strong Defense bill and i urge the house to pass this bill. Mr. Smith i am pleased to yield two minutes to the the gentlewoman from new york, mrs. Maloney. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. Mrs. Maloney thank you. Ndaa in support for this conference report and particularly for its inclusion of language from my bill, the federal employee paid leave act. This provision will provide 12 weeks paid parental leave for all federal employees for the birth of a child or adoption of a child. For far too long the United States has been behind the times. There are only two countries in the entire world according to a United Nations study that does not provide paid parental leave for the birth of a child. Those two countries are united tates and papua new begins. We will no longer be part of that group. I thank from the bottom of my heart chairman of the House Armed Services committee, adam smith. Who worked selflessly and tirelessly with great determination to include this provision that will help over 2. 1 million federal employees. It will turn this priority of balance and family life into a reality and millions of families lives. Thank my friend and colleague representative houlahan for her partnership on this effort. While this agreement is not perfect, it is an extraordinary first step to full paid and family medical leave for all american workers. Studies indicate we could prevent the departure of 2,600 female employees and save the government 50 million in costs associated with employee turnover. Paid family leave improves productivity and boosts morale and attracts more talent. Paid parental leave is an investment in our future and American Families and the work force. And thats why im urging my colleagues to support the ndaa which includes this important provision. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry i yield two minutes to the gentleman from florida, mr. Waltz. Mr. Waltz i rise in support of this defense bill because we are a nation at war. We are in a hot war with extremists around the world and in a cold war with our peer competitors, russia and china and other rogue states. If the country isnt safe, Everything Else that we do in this body is secondary. Our domestic priorities, our economy, our education, trade, Everything Else that we debate in this congress is at risk if we fail to protect this great nation. One of the reasons that i ran for office or elected office was that often what comes out of washington isnt worthy of our previous veterans and fellow special operators around the world as we speak and other military currently deployed and not worthy of their families and the sacrifices of their families. This defense bill from the 6th branch of the military, spaceforce for goldstar families, it is worthy of their sacrifices past and present and i want to deeply and personally thank the chairman, adam smith, thank the Ranking Member, mr. Thornberry, and everyone else who stepped up frankly. All of my colleagues who stepped up to make the compromises to make pass this critical piece legislation and those who sacrificed for breathing air today. I urge my colleagues to support it. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from washington state. Mr. Smith i yield to the distinguished chairman of the Intelligence Committee, mr. Schiff. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Schiff i rise in support of the fiscal 2020 ndaa conference report. This legislation supports our National Security and accomplishes long sought emocratic priorities extending maternity leave. Hope this makes paid pa term leave. As part of this legislation we are passing the fiscal year named in , 2020 aptly dave wilson and matt poll ard, two staffers that passed away last year. This is the legislative product of the Intelligence Committee and securing its passage into law after it passed the house with 400 votes strengthens our oversights and military intelligence. Im proud that the i. A. A. Includes provisions providing our elections from foreign interference and understanding the effects of Climate Change and competition to improve deep faith protection. It is a bitter pill that bipartisan house amendments to fix the injustice that has kept 76 sailors who died in 1969 off the Vietnam Memorial was removed from the conference report. I will not relent on that issue until we get it done. Im disappointed that the repeal of the 2002 a. M. F. Was removed. No basis to keep this in effect. I congratulate the chair and Ranking Member on their good work and i want to thank all of the members of the intelligence Committee Staff and for the extraordinary work that the staff did for many years on this legislation. I want to thank my fellow members of the Intelligence Community as well. We have worked for three years to reach this point and very grateful these provisions will now pass into law. With that, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry im pleased to yield two minutes to the the gentleman from illinois, mr. Shimkus. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Shimkus thank you, madam speaker. I thank Ranking Member thornberry and chairman smith and i thank Ranking Member thornberry and his staff. First and foremost im pleased we reached a deal on the funding of our Armed Services and resources for our men and women should be our top priority. Im disappointed about two provisions. One would required to set a National Drinking water within two years and the second one would have instituted a mandate on d. O. D. To clean up any d. O. D. Sites contaminated. Republican members supported these two provisions as part of a larger package and not including them amounts to a great lost opportunity. I support the ndaa and provisions we were able to get into the bill. Those provisions include mr. Up ton physical facilities, funding for rural and economically Drinking Water systems, Health Data Collection and guidance on proper disposal of chemicals, more reporting on the toxic release inventory and funding for further research. As my republican colleagues discussed at a recent markup, getting these provisions into the ndaaa that they will be signed into law and make a difference in our communities back home right now. I urge my colleagues to vote for this important bill. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from washington state. Mr. Smith i yield one minute to the the gentlewoman from california, ms. Lee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Ms. Lee i want to thank the champlee for his leadership for ensuring parental leave for federal employees. I support this and many other provisions in this bill. Unfortunately the bill does not include very important ovisions like to end the provision in yemen. The first is the repeal of the 2001 authorization to use military force which is a blank check for endless war, the second is the repeal of the 2002 amuf. And it makes absolutely no sense not this outdated aumf does exist. E should repeal these. I encourage my colleagues to read the washington post. If they need any more justification for why Congress Must reassert itself in matters of war and peace, it is an appalling and shocking read. The bill authorizes a pentagon budget of 738 billion which is the largest. Given the waste, fraud and abuse, the failure of the pentagon to pass a basic audit and unnecessary spending, im unable to support this bill. Thank you for yielding. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry i have no further speakers at this time. And i reserve. Mr. Smith i yield two minutes to the gentleman from kentucky, mr. Yarmuth for two minutes. Mr. Yarmuth i thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise today in support of the ndaa conference report which includes the phaseout of the widow tax. This is a moment us victory for the more than 60,000 surviving spouses for and the families who may come after them. Its not every day that Congress Comes together and fixes a problem that has been on the books for more than four decades but that day is here. I got involved years ago when i heard from a woman in louisville whose husband passed away during raining exercises. When i was in charge i tried to pass the bill, i was told it would never pass, but here we are, we got it done. Chairman smith and i, along with the help of Speaker Pelosi pelosi, came up with a way to get it in the ndaa bill and keep it there we knew fit passed the house as Free Standing legislation, it would land in the stack of 270 bipartisan bills languishing on chairman mcconnells desk. So thank you on behalf of families whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our nation. Id like to thank the gentleman from south carolina, mr. Wilson, for his longtime passionate leadership on the issue. I want to thank my constituent allen and all those who fought nor for years, who lit up phone line, flooded email boxes, walked the halls of congress and demanded we act. Your fallen loved ones would be so proud of what youve accomplished in their hon nor. Now its time for congress to honor them as well by passing this legislation. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from texas continues to reserve. The gentleman from washington state. Mr. Smith i yield one minute to the gentleman from the gentlewoman from michigan, ms. Tlaib. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Ms. Tlaib thank you, madam chair, thank you though gentleman, this was the best we could do with so much on sthoings senate side. But as a voice for an advocate for communities that face growing poverty, decreased Education Funding and a continuous assault on our environment i can all not support and cannot support a bill that provides 73 billion for wars and defense contractors while this year we only provided 190 billion in discretionary funding for health care, education, antipoverty programs and work force development. After the house took action to end u. S. Involvement in the war and humanitarian crisis . Yemen this bill fails to include provisions to end military support for actions in yemen. This bill keeps Guantanamo Bay open, provides for new Nuclear Warheads and supports the absurd space force. We have also agreed to endless war abroad. By removing language that would have stopped, madam chair, Pentagon Spending at trump hotels and properties, we are authorizing corruption. By removing critical pfas contamination we have left our communities at risk. Im asking my colleagues to please not rubber stamp these annual increases of the Worlds Largest military budget. We can do better, thank you again for yielding. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from washington state. Ms. Smith i yield one mr. Smith i yield one minute to the distinguished minority leader, mr. Hoyer. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for one inute. Mr. Hoyer i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Hoyer thank you very much, michigan. Mr. Chairman. I want to thank the Ranking Member. For his service and the chairman for his service. I also want to thank the staff. Been an extraordinarily arduous, sleepdepriving, and angstcreating process, i know, to get this bill from this floor , to the senate floor and through conference so i congratulate the staff. We are blessed as a country and as a congress to have extraordinarily qualified people who could frankly make very significant more in the private sector, stick with us, and with our country. Their patriotism and their talent is an extraordinary benefit to us all. Madam speaker, i want to thank chairman smith and the democratic members, the majority staff in the Armed Services committee as well as the Ranking Member and the minority staff. They have been working very hard on this legislation. The conference report before us represents a compromise. No one ought to think that is a pejorative. It is what we do. And it means in compromising you do not get everything you want. Obviously, many of the things we pass on the floor of this house that we believed were verying very important items are not in this conference report. It could lead some to say, well, then, we wont vote for it. That would be a mistake. On either side of the aisle. I am particularly pleased, however, that this report does this bill does include for the first time 12 weeks of paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child for all federal civilian employees. There was for a period of time a suggestion that it only applied to defense employees. I would suggest the national ecurity of our country is in interrelated ways dependent upon all of our employees. And we ought to treat them equally. I wrote a letter urging that and i am others weighed in as well. Im pleased that the committee ultimately decided to treat all federal employees the same even though we limited it not to family leave but to parental leave. Thats a step in the right direction. We know that the bonding between moms and dads and infant children is critically important. And this will give them the opportunity give them the opportunity to do so, and not have to make a determination whether or not they dont get paid in order to create this bond, but they will be enabled to, as so many could not if they were not paid, take advantage of this benefit. So im disappointed that we dont have full coverage but this is a first and very significant step. I want to congratulate the gentlelady from new york, carolyn maloney, who has been a giant in her advocacy of this policy for our people, for our employees, and by the way, for our infants. Whether theyre adopted or whether theyre naturally born. I will continue to fight for the full measure of paid family and medical leave to be extended to our employees and would urge others around the country to do the same. While some private businesses are already instituting paid leave, it would be appropriate that all do so. In addition, this conference report unfortunately does not include a comprehensive set of provisions that were adopted in this house to protect community pfas. Ed by f pfas are a category of chemicals that essentially do not disappear and are toxic when introduced into our waters. And exist on our military bases in some respects because of the use of foam for fire suppression. But for other reasons as well. I know that the chairman fought very hard for this. I know that the president s position was that he did not want this in the bill and indicated it would not happen. But i thank mr. Smith for fighting so hard for this and i know that well keep fighting and i want to tell the house that i intend to bring a bill to the floor incorporating the provisions that were in the defense bill but dropped, i will bring it to the floor in january. Ive talked to mr. Pallone about that. Hes looking forward to doing just that. Im trying to shorten this up a little bit, mr. Speaker. Last two things i want to mention before i make some general comments is that i was sorry that the antidiscrimination provision that was included in this house dealing with transgender people who wanted to serve their country was eliminated from the bill. I think that was wrong. Im one of the people, like john mccain, john mccain, when asked whether or not gays and Lgbt Community ought to be able to serve in the congress, he said i want to know whether they shoot straight, not whether they are straight. Martin luther king tole us to judge people by the content of their character. Not other arbitrary distinctions. Which may or may not impact on their performance and their value. I will continue to fight that ban which undermines our National Security and the militarys effectiveness and does not reflect the values and ideas that our military defends. If you review the 1948 actions, or 1947 actions of harry truman when he integrated the services, he was told oh if you do that, its going to undermine morale. You ought not to do that. Very frankly, i see this exclusion as very much like that opposition to that action. Finally, i will also continue to advocate for a change in policy regarding yemen. That war is a human made disaster. Its not our fault, but we ought not to be complicit. In closing, let me say this. This is 7 8 billion, hardearned tax money. More than anybody in the world spends. I have been for the 39 years that i have been here a strong supporter of our National Security. I dont know that other than when we had political fights such as the republicans voting against the defense bill when it passed the house here that ive voted against a defense bill. Or an appropriations bill. Im certainly not going to vote against this one. Im urging people to support it. But mr. Speaker, madam speaker, i want to say to all of my lleagues that we need with great diligence and courage to look at the Defense Budget and look at that 738 billion with an eye that the pot is not unlimited and that our National Security depends not only on our defense investment but on our domestic investment in education and health care and the welfare of our people. I would urge that the committee focus on how it can affect diligent oversight on the expenditure of this extraordinary amount of money which i will support. We included 733 billion. We have no more security because of the extra 5 billion. I will tell my friends that 733 billion was acceptable to some of the folks i talked to on the republican side of the aisle. And so i am supporting this bill but as i have urged privately both the chairman and the Ranking Member, we need to look very carefully at how were expending this amount of money to ensure that it is spent effectively and that we cannot get the same level of defense at a lower level of expenditure. Its a tough job to do. But it needs to be done. I rise in support of this bill and yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from washington state. Mr. Smith may i inquire how much time each side has left . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman has 3 1 2 minutes remaining. The gentleman from texas has 9 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Smith we are prepared to close. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized to close. Mr. Thornberry thank you, madam speaker. I yield myself the balance of the time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Thornberry madam speaker, majority leader hoyer made two points on which i want to emphatically agree. Number one, he said that we are blessed in this nation to have the benefit of dedicated staff working on important legislation such as is before us today. And their patience has been tried more than in most years to bring this bill to this point with what i expect will be strong, bipartisan support. Tremendous amount of credit goes to them as well as, as i said before, chairman smith, chairman inhofe, and senator reid. The second point the majority leader made is, this is a compromise. Hes exactly right. I can give you a list of things in the bill that i wish were not in the bill. And i also have a list of things i wish were in the build. In the bill. That i tried to get into the bill. So i have some strong opinions about things i would do differently. And yet, its not about me. Its about what this process can produce. Theres no question that what we have today on the floor is very different from the bill that the house passed on july 12. Its a very different bill. And its also, the housepassed bill was very different than the senate bill which they passed Something Like 88 something line 868. Bringing those two together has been a challenge. But its done. I will confess, madam speaker, that i feel better that at least some members came to the floor to oppose it because i was beginning to worry that this conference report was not as good, as important, as i thought it was, but i do feel better that at least some members with whom i do not normally agree have come to oppose it and so im somewhat relieved on that point. Im also relieved that the president has said emphatically that he will sign this bill. That he strongly supports the pay raise. The space force. The paid parental leave. And other provisions that are in this package. I believe, madam speaker, the first job of the federal government is to defend the country so we need to do this, the things that are in this bill, first, before we look at the other things that all of us would like to see done. And i agree with the point that as we do this, first job of the federal government, we need to carefully, we as a body and certainly, especially the Armed Services committee, need to carefully oversee this large amount of funding. That is absolutely part of our responsibility. I resent, by the way, any implication that we have not been doing our best to oversee that funding over the years because under both parties, i believe that that is exactly what we have been doing. The challenge is, we face more risk in the world than we have ever faced before in our history. With russia, china, iran, north korea, terrorism, the list goes on, new technologies moving faster than ever. So just cutting back a little bit on funding does not ensure that the country will be protected. As a matter of fact, this amount of money will not ensure the ed. Try will be protect protected. What we have been trying to do see that the taxpayers get ore value for the money we spend and also see that when we send a war fighter out on a she is that he or the best equipment that we can provide because its them out there on their mission without the best can ment this country provide. This is the last point i want to make. Is not about us. Its about them. Who about men and women risk their lives who defend us and our freedom. Families who ir service in order that may take place. Going back to where i started. Theres so much in this bill good for the men and women who serve and their families. To me thats the most proud in this bill because it is about them and what they do for us. Thats the reason i ask all to support this conference report and yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the back. Eman yields the gentleman from washington state. Mr. Smith thank you. I yield myself the balance of the time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Smith as i said at the pening, this was a difficult process. This final conference report also is not anywhere close what was passed out of the senate. In fact, of the nearly 1,400 provisions adopted, 70 of them house provisions. The house firmly put its stamp on this bill in a bipartisan way. We adopted policies were very positive. We tried to do more in this bill than has been attempted to do in ndaa in the 23 years that ive been here. And im proud of that. We didnt get everything, but we tried to do everything that we we thought was important for the National Security of this country and for our interests. Disappointed rly that we werent able to get some of the provisions to help reduce u. S. Influence on the war in yemen. I completely agree with that. Quibble is with the fact there was something we could have done to completely stop it, in the humanitarian crisis yemen is the greatest humanitarian crisis in the globe right now. Theres anything we can do to reduce that, we need to do it. I will say that the pressure by the put on housepassed bill that called for cutting off aid to saudi a. U. E. , military aid, has put some pressure over there. The u. A. E. Has almost unilaterally or completely ulled out of yemen and they recently signed a peace deal with the southern part of yemen that olve some aspect of complex civil war. Make no mistake about it, thats enormously important to me, and fight to get e to it done. Lastly, i just want to say, this rocess, i think, has been incredibly productive. The amount of work that the staffs behind us and more people than i could possibly count or ame did to make this possible could not be overstated. It was an incredible amount of work, and it is so important. In an incredibly divisive time. There are people upset. Passing legislation in a you have to take into account all of those oices, is both extraordinarily difficult and unbelievably important. That e to show the world Representative Democracy works, hat you can listen to the people. You dont have to be a dictatorship. You can listen to a bunch of eople and still get a product done that meets the needs of the people. Thats what we did in the defense bill. Ino say its what weve done a couple other bills. He ag, the agriculture immigration bill, that was another example of us getting done. Knocking on wood, passing the Appropriations Bills in the same spirit. Hope we dont lose that spirit. I hope we dont realize that just because you participate in process, you dont get everything you want, the process didnt work. Quite the opposite. The fact you have that voice, the ability to say your piece, is cate for what you want, essential to freedom, essential to this country. Essential think its for peace and stability throughout the globe. We should passionate liad voe for that. With that i passion \ly passiona passionately advocate for that. Produced i am very proud of. I am or my part, incredibly proud of what i was part of creating. Think it represents the best of this country and the best of this body and i urge everybody to vote for it and with that i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the yields back. All time for debate has expired. Pursuant to House Resolution previous question is ordered. The question is on adoption of the conference report. Those in favor say aye. No. E opposed, the ayes have it. For what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise . Speaker, erry madam i ask for the yeas and nays. The speaker pro tempore the yeas and nays are requested. By the voring a vote yeas and nays will rise. A sufficient number having the yeas and nays are ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This will be a 15minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 376. The nays are 48. Is conference report adopted. The speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 377. On thisker pro tempore vote the yeas are 377. The nays are 48. The conference report is adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. Ursuant to clause 1c of rule 19, further consideration of h. R. 5038 will now resume. The clerk will report the title. The clerk Union Calendar number 263, h. R. 5038, a bill to amend and nationality act to provide for terms and onditions for nonimmigrant workers performing Agricultural Labor or services and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore the house will come to order. Members will take their conversations off the floor. The speaker pro tempore members and staff will please clear the aisles. And well. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition . I have a peaker, motion to recommit at the desk. The speaker pro tempore is the gentleman opposed to the bill . Form. Am in its current the speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the motion. The clerk mr. Biggs of arizona to recommit the bill to the committee on the judiciary with instructions to report the forthwithto the house with the following amendment. Page 112, strike line 10 and all follows through page 115, line 11 and redesignate provisions accordingly. The speaker pro tempore the house will come to order. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from arizona is recognized for five minutes in motion. Of his biggs biggs thank you mr. Biggs thank you, madam speaker. Form, h. R. 5038 would subject growers to a new rivate right of action in federal court. As a result, these people would face countless and frivolous the forms of damages and other litigation costs. He bottom line is that Many American farmers and other agricultural employers would be sued right out of business. Of the vision is one main reasons that arguably the biggest Agricultural Group in the American Farm bureau, does not support this bill. Recommit would 204a andikes section b of the bill. This motion to recommit is supported by the American Farm i ask all members to support it as well. As a technical matter, madam speaker, we seek to recommit the judiciary committee, and thats think itng to me and i should be of interest to all of us here, because in just a few ours, that committee is going to meet on a completely bogus impeachment. Over a week ago, every republican member of the signed a Committee Letter to request a minority day hearing. Going to have the markup hours, and we havent had the minority hearing yet. I guess, of tion, allowing the minority its rights rule. The specifically, clause 2j1 of house rule 11 states, whenever a hearing is conducted by a committee on a measure or matter, the minority members of shall be entitled upon request to the chairman by majority of them before the completion of the hearing to call witnesses selected by the minority to testify with respect that measure or matter during at least one day of hearing thereon. Here we sit. E sit and were going to be going in in two hours or so. Were going to have our Opening Statements and then well proceed to vote on the articles offered by our friends on the other side of the aisle. To what end . This obviation of the rules is how weve is consistent with how weve seen this process play out. Weve written to remind all chairs of committees to remind them of their duties under the rules of the house. I suggest the democratic case for impeachment is not nearly as strong as they would have us believe. Otherwise theyd be affording us simply a minority day hearing. When you consider it, i wish you would consider it, we are being afforded more procedural rights on this bill which is dead on arrival in the senate than we are in the impeachment proceeding of the president of the United States. And thats simply wrong, madam speaker. One day, i suggest, well be beyond this mania, this hysteria that has set in here and the other shoe will drop. And i know that many in this body do not care for this president and i understand that. But i think we all should have respect for this institution and we should take care of this institution. We should respect the Due Process Rights of the minority. Thats all were asking. We want that minority hearing day. And with that, madam speaker, i yield. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition . Madam speaker, i claim time in opposition. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. Madam speaker, i rise today in opposition to this motion to recommit and in strong support of this underlying legislation. Madam speaker, americas farmers, producers an ranchers provide American People with the safest, most abundant an most affordable food supply in the world. Their job is challenging enough, but for too long our broken immigration system has made this job even more difficult. Ive heard from farmers across upstate new york and across the country, sharing the urgent need for responsible, commonsense action to address the labor shortage on American Farms and ranches. In fact, every time i visit a farm in my community, immigration is the speaker pro tempore the gentleman will suspend. He house will come to order. The gentleman may continue. Mr. Brindisi every time i visit a farm in my community, immigration is one of the top issues i hear about from farmers. A shortage of workers has led to crops rotting in the field, billions of dollars in lost productivity and farmers shuttering their operations. For too long, the broken politics in washington have made it impossible to make progress on bipartisan immigration reform. But thanks to the tireless work of congresswoman lofgren and congressman newhouse and the engagement of dozens of members an hundreds of agricultural and labor stake holders, we have a solid, bipartisan bill that finally moves the ball forward. The Farm Work Force Modernization act is something people dont think happens much in congress anymore. A bipartisan answer to a serious challenge. Republicans and democrats came together, worked with each other, and found a solution that both sides can live with and that delivers results for american agriculture and workers. Our legislation will expand the h2a visa program to yearround operations like dairy farm, streamline the program to make it easier for farmers to use, nd strengthen the electronic verification process to ensure a legal work force. It also ensures a tough but fair legal status for the work force, allowing Agricultural Workers to get right with the law. The bill also includes strong criminal bars, preventing anyone with a felony conviction or two misdemeanors from obtaining legal status. Both sides negotiated in good faith and in the end we have a strong, bipartisan bill on the floor to support. Working together working together with democrats and republicans shows that congress can get things done for our farmers, and that includes farmers like mike who owns a dairy operation in my district in homer, new york. Mike testified in front of the Agriculture Committee earlier this year and told us in no uncertain terms, agriculture needs a way to secure a workforce thats steady, willing, able and legal. We need to bring the multitude of indispensable Agricultural Workers who are already here out of the shadows without major disruption to the work force. Mike is supporting this bill and the bill has earned the strong support of more than 300 agriculture groups from across the country. The chamber of commerce, faith groups, labor groups and many others. To my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, i would say to you that we have a real chance here to deliver a compromise. Let me say that word again. Compromise. That will make our country stronger and help grow american agriculture. President ronald reagan, the last president to sign an agriculture labor bill into law, once said, ive always thought that when we americans get up in the morning, when we see bacon, eggs, toast, and milk on our breakfast table, we should give thanks that our farmers are survivors. You are the real miracle workers of the modern world. Keepers of an indispensable system based on faith, freedom, hard work, productivity and profit. A system that feeds the hungry and sustains millions of the world. So lets get the job done, lets deliver a win for our American Farmers, lets oppose this amendment, and get this bill passed. Thank you, madam speaker, i yield back my time. The speaker pro tempore without objection the previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit. The question is on the motion. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The noes have it. For what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise . I ask for a recorded vote. The speaker pro tempore a recorded vote is requested. Those favoring a recorded vote will rise. A sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, this fiveminute vote on the motion to recommit will be followed by a fiveminute vote on passage of the bill if order. That is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 193, the nays are 230. The motion is not adopted. The question is on passage of the bill. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have