not a new phenomenon. these tragedies, yes, are part of a dark legacy of injustice born in the sufferings of the middle passage, nurtured through slavery and codified in jim crow. on april 4 1967, stanford university dr. king described these issues in his two americas speech. he said there's one america. one america is overflowing with the milk of prosperity and honey of opportunity. tragically and unfortunately there's another america. this other america has a daily ugliness about it that constantly transforms of hope into the fatigue of despair. the ugly fact is that two americas still exist nearly five decades later. an african-american male is killed by a police officer, a self-proclaimed vigilanty one in every 24 hours. a reason why men from communities of color unfortunately make up more than 70% of the united states prison population. and sadly, our laws have a criminal -- having a criminal justice record -- means a lifetime barrier to the honey of opportunity as dr. king described. a formerly incarcerated individual who has paid his or her time can't get a pell grant. 10 states enforce lifetime bans on receiving food assistance, snap benefits for drug-related felonies only. drug-related felonies. these limitations are a component of the system that continues to punish someone for life for having made a mistake. this system maintains cyclical and systemic barriers that keep generations of african-americans from building pathways out of poverty. recently the joint combhick committee, under the leadership of ranking member -- economic committee, under the leadership of carolyn maloney, on the economic state of black america, which congressman butterfield laid out the bleak findings. and i hope members recognize this is a wake-up call. children in african-american households are nearly twice as likely to be raised in the bottom 20% of income distribution as children in white houseleds. and while african-american students represent 18% of the overall preschool enrollment, they account for 42% of preschool student expulsions. these are kids ages 2 to 5 years old. expulsions. these children don't even get a start, let alone a head start. the link between economic inequality, our broken criminal justice system is crystal clear and congress must do more to break down these systemic barriers. as our friend and colleague, our chair of the congressional black caucus said in his inaugural speech when he was sworn in, he said we as the congressional black caucus have an obligation to fight harder and smarttory help repair the damage. we must come together as never before to address the systemic, structural and rampant racial bias endem our crnl justice system. we've introduced h.r. 258 to create a national strategy to cut poverty in half in 10 years. by coordinating and empowering all federal agencies, we can lift 22 million americans out of poverty and into the middle class, but that's only one step. we must make serious structural reforms to our broken criminal justice system. i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of the stop militaryizing law enforcement act. that's h.r. 1252. because war weapons don't belong on main street. we also need to pass the police accountability act. that's h.r. 1102. and the grand jury reform act. that's h.r. 429, to ensure accountability that deadly force cases are actually heard by a judge. we also need to stop the racial profiling that disproportionately feans african-americans. we need to pass h.r. 1933, because racial profiling has no place in a 21st century police force. it's also time to pass ban the box for federal contractors and agencies. i'm proud to be working with our colleagues on the senate side. senator booker and brown to do just that. we can't stop with the criminal justice system. we've got to create job training, work force training, economic opportunities for people of color, marginalize communities who have been unfortunately impacted by generations of endemic barriers road rooted in -- rooted in discrimination. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from kansas, mr. huelskamp, for five minutes. mr. huelskamp: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. huelskamp: thank you, mr. chairman. i want to tell you about a brave lady named ellie who i met a few years ago in kansas. this is her story. one tuesday morning back in 1973, she opened up her local newspaper to read about a u.s. supreme court decision that shocked her, outraged her and saddened her. she questioned how a small group of unelected judges could reach such a tragic and the illegitimate decision in the name of constitutional rights. that case was the fateful roe v. wade decision that mandated abortion on demand throughout all 50 states for all nine months of pregnancy. in response to the court's ruling, elly rushed out to the nearest -- elly rushed out to the nearest abortion clinic expecting kansans to be there. ellie found herself alone. it seemed that supreme court in far-off washington had imposed its radical decision on ellie and the entire nation without anyone noticing, few caring and no one responding about the lives of the unborn. but as history does report, that seemingly deafening see lens didn't stay that way. soon ellie was joined by others, many others and contrary to the expectations of the elite lawyers on the supreme court, their decision did not short-circuit or end the debate over abortion. rather over the following years it ignited the debate. while the courts still stubbornly clings to the ruling science has exposed its folly. legal scholars recognize its defects and most important, public opinion from the young to the old has passed them by and today an overwhelming majority of americans oppose an overwhelming percentage of abortions. today the supreme court may be tempted to repeat that same mistake. they may be embolden to impose again a so-called 50-state solution on the entire nation. by radically attempting to redefine marriage for ellie and the entire country by invalidating centuries of marriage laws and by silencing the more than 50 million americans. that's 50 million americans who have voted to protect marriage as between one man and one woman. this court would once again be repeating their arrogant mistake of misreading both the american public and our american constitution. but unlike 1973, i believe that americans are already beginning to engage on this issue. this time ellie will not be alone, and if this supreme court attempts to shred again another foundational aspect of our society, there will be a strong, quick and ferocious response. for a small group of lawyers should not impose the redefinition of marriage on every single american state, every single american citizen, every single american family and every single american church and synagogue. therefore, i implore this court to learn from the roe v. wade mistake, do its job, read and obey the constitution and correctly affirm that ellie and the citizens of everyone of our united states are free to affirm or restore marriage as the union of one man and one woman. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel for five minutes. mr. rangel: thank you mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rangel: thank you for this opportunity. i feel so proud to be an american and be in this great country where so many members of congress have come from families and communities that have been poor without the dreams or hopes that they would ever be in the position to serve this great country in the most august legislative body in the world. i know. i've been through more riots than anyone else coming from harlem and being older than most members, and yet throughout the world i'm so proud that people respects our country because of the opportunities we have here. and so therefore to all americans it has to be painful embarrassing to see on international news or to have our international friends to think that we're a country that alaos young black men to be shot down and murdered and killed and allows young black men to be shot down and murdered and killed but this does not in my mind represent our country. it represents poverty. but it's so hard for people to believe that the richest country in the world could have this cancer of poverty that eats away from so many things that we could be doing. there was so many dreams and hopes that when president obama came in and recognized how much you can accomplish if you have access to education. and i was among those who recognized that above from lennox avenue in harlem, being given an opportunity with the g.i. bill can go to new york university, go to law school and come here become a federal prosecutor and come here in congress. so i knew the president understood the power of being exposed to education and what it has done to make america all that she is today, but i had no idea of the problems he would face as our president, the depth of people who wanted to prevent him from making a contribution to our country the partisanship that exists today and the pain that i feel that now when you talk about education is whether or not you support traditional public schools or charter schools. the greatest thing that we can do and the obligation we have as members of congress is to invest in the education of our young people for the future of this great country. poverty is more than lack of self-esteem. poverty means that there's a degree and the connection between poverty and hopelessness poverty and joblessness, poverty and not being able to send your kids to school poverty and not even know how to take care of yourself in terms of health. poverty can cause people not to be able to make the contributions they can make to the country. the disparity between the wealthy people that we have in this country and those who work hard every day and doesn't have enough money doesn't have enough money for disposible income. poverty and near poverty reduces the ability of the middle class to have disposible income to be able to support jobs through small businesses and poverty is so costly. not only in the prestige and the power and expectations of our great country but how much we pay to put poor folks in jail. how much really do we pay to subsidize earned income tax credits low-income housing credits, children tax credits, sdeeze -- subsidies because not because they don't pay off but we have to do everything we can? these are costly. but who can deny the return on these types of investments, the trillions of dollars that we have invested in our defense has little or no return but the investment that we can have in people and the talent of our minds can make this country all that she can be. let's increase education and decrease poverty and thank you, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the house agriculture subcommittee on conservation and forestry, which i chair, conducted a hearing to review the national forest system and active forest management. the health of our national forest is an issue of vital importance for rural america. not only our national forest is a sense of natural beauty but it has healthy watersheds, wildlife habitat, but perhaps most importantly they serve as economic engines for the surrounding local communities. . our national forests are capable of providing and sustaining these benefits but they need proper management to do so. the u.s. forest service manages more than 193 million acres of land across 41 states. within those 41 states are over 700 counties containing national forestland. these -- forestland. these counties and communities rely on us to be good stewedwards of these lands. there's a direct correlation between forest health and vibrant rural communities. the people living in these rural areas depend on well managed national forests to foster jobs and economic opportunities. these jobs come from diverse sources such as timberg, energy production, recreation. however, if those jobs disappear, so do jobs that support those industries. it's a snowball effect from they are threatening school systems and infrastructure in these rural communities. as a result, effective management and forest service decisions have significant consequences on our constituents who live in and around national forests. healthier, well managed national forests are more sustainable for generations to come due to the continued -- continual risk of catastrophic fires and invasive species outbreaks. especially with the design in timber harvesting and the revenue to counties from timber receipts over the past two decades, rural economies will benefit immensely from increased timber harvests. if we can continue supporting a diverse population of wildlife through active land management practices such as prescribed burns. our national forests are not museums. they were never intended to sit idle. i say frequently, but national forests are not national parks. when congress created the national forest system more than 100 years ago, it was designed so the surrounding communities would benefit from multiple uses. our national for wrests are meant to provide timber, oil natural gas, wildlife habitat recreational opportunities and clean drinking water not just for the rural communities but these tend to be the headwaters of the waters that provide water for our cities as well. during yesterday's hearing members of the conservation and forestry subcommittee called upon forest service chief to use the tools that congress made available in the 2014 farm bill in order to strengthen rural economies and improve the health of our national forests. one certainly complements the other. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from ohio, for -- the gentlewoman from ohio for five minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. thank you so much, mr. speaker. i'm here today to talk about the policy failures of this body. ms. fudge: when we look at baltimore, let me tell you why it's not a shock to me. when you disinvest in education when you provide no places for kids to play and no summer jobs baltimore happens. when you refuse to provide resources for job training, for decent housing and you have a lack of resources to the communities of highest need, baltimore happens. the budget we are working on this week continues to prove that the majority of people in this house care little about the plight of the poor and underserved communities. there is a lack of concern for education. i sit on the education committee as we are talking about re-authorizing esea, and the majority passed out of committee the ability to block grant all title 1 funding. so now children who are poor disabled, or minority will be at the mercy of their state to determine what kind of education they get. ohio has one way to do it. indiana has another way to do it. it all depends on what your zip code is anymore as to what your educational attainment may be. they further have reduced federal funding for education every year of their plan. i work in a body where the majority wants to block grant medicaid. so state by state they will determine who qualifies, who is sick enough to qualify. i work in a body where there is no value placed on our greatest asset, which is our people. these are the people who want to reduce block grants and community funding and community policing. our communities are crying out every day for our attention. did what happen in baltimore get our attention? it should have and it did. was it right? no. violence is never right. but we have to hear the cries of the people in need. so today i want to say to the gray family and all the people who are in the streets in baltimore, i apologize. i apologize for a body that has failed you. i apologize for people who only give lip service to the poor. i apologize because we could do better to make your lives better. mr. speaker, it is our responsibility as the leaders of this nation to take care of the people who need us the most. miss gray, i apologize. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until noon today. >> we'll bring you the briefing from john boehner in just a minute. he's certain to get questions about the budget conference report coming up today. headlined in kgs the hill" g.o.p. budget heads for crucial vote. they write that the republicans unveiled that budget yesterday. the release of the blueprint, they call it, sets up a vote in the house on friday. the senate expected to follow suit next week. that could present a challenge for house g.o.p. leaders, writes the house -- the hill, who can afford only 27 defections from their ranks if democrats, as expected unanimously oppose it. so initial work beginning today in the house on the budget conference report and next week in the senate. as we said, we are waiting to hear from john boehner, a short bit from now. we'll show you part of today's "washington journal" until we hear from the speaker. >> washington journal continues. host: back at our table this morning is congressman ron kind, member of the ways and means committee here to talk about trade. let's begin with the four agreements your administration is brokering, it gives the ability of the president to negotiate without negotiating on the floor with members of congress. explain to me why you are for trade. guest: first, i am for robust trade so we can level the playing field for our workers our farmers from our businesses, so they can compete successfully in the 21st century and a global economy. if we are not there, the other nations will move without us and we could end up with no rules at all, and that meet the race to the bottom. we cannot can eat in that environment. -- compete in that environment. china would love nothing better than to establish these trade agreements on their own terms and then expect us to compete in that environment. it is obvious to me that we need to negotiate these deals and get the best deals for our workers and farmers celebrity can compete. most of the growth that will be happening will be outside our borders and in the pacific rim where the current negotiation is taking place. there will be about 2 billion new middle-class consumers can developing over the next 20 years. we need to be in their competing. host: what does it mean specifically for wisconsin? guest: we are very dependent on exports, manufacturing, services stop i think people don't realize -- services. i think people do not realize how dependent their own state is on global trade. wisconsin is the number two state in the nation when it comes to gary exports. and manufacturing is still in important part of our economy. getting the rules done right be important to level the playing field so that states like wisconsin and other upper midwest state can compete. host: the agricultural lobby in this town is for this trade deal. specifically, talk about what it means for farmers. guest: i think it is premature to say anyone is for the trade agreement, because of ill being negotiated. we will have to wait and see what the final terms are. we have the japanese minister in town this week and japan is for opening up their market for more auto products, agriculture products, and canada, to has put an meaningful offer when it comes to access to the market. those are very important items. the judgment is still outstanding whether or not it's went to be a good enough trade agreement for members of congress to support. conceptually i think there's bipartisan support for moving forward. because the alternative is for us to not either and for someone else to establish the rules, or trying to compete in a race to the bottom. we will not be able to do that. host: you have been trying to educate your colleagues about going forward with trade that would be good for the economy and for the country. were you disappointed that the prime minister did not come as the "new york times" says in their headline, offer any concessions for trade deals? guest:guest: as the things to him carefully and one of the things that jumped out at me was the need to offer more policy and open up the market and make them more competitive and successful. that is a huge statement coming from him, because it's been difficult for them in the past. they have been one of the most closed economic societies in the world, especially when it comes agriculture, competition. he mentioned in the speech for the entire world to hear that economic reform is on the horizon and they have to start now and the policies of past will not get into the future. host: paul ryan, chairman of ways and means, wrote recently in the "wall street journal" that the country lays huge tariffs on american foodstuffs and erect barriers to keep out american audio -- autos. guest: right, those discussions are still going this week and in the future, too. we knew that the toughest items are always the last to get resolved. 85% of the trade negotiation is pretty much agree to. we are getting down to the last very difficult items. it typically involves market access issues. we have a virtually unlimited free market in the u.s. that companies -- countries can already sent to. one of the objectives with the pacific negotiation going on is for us to get access to their markets to compete successfully. but they are not there yet. talks are ongoing. i thought we had a nice meeting with the prime minister when he was in town this week, but further steps will be required. host: phone lines are lighting up. let's get our viewers involved. jane, republican. caller: i just have to call and tell you how much i'm against these trade agreements. nafta and cap to have heard our state so much. all of our manufacturing jobs left. i worked for a clothing manufacturer that have been in business for nearly 100 years and they went right ahead and moved all their business offshore as soon as they could. and now i understand the products they are shipping from overseas, with the quality, they are having to do repairs on the work. and not only that, it has impacted the jobs everywhere. that is one reason we have so much at risk in our country. so many people are idle. if you don't have something to do with your time, as the old -- old saying goes, and idle mind is the devil's workshop. host: your thoughts? guest: i think jane is right and that is why these trade negotiations have to lead too good jobs right here in the u.s. i think people confuse doing with nations we don't have negotiations with. up to 20 nations that we currently have pit agreements with today, we are actually running a trade surplus in manufacturing, agriculture services, because we are able to negotiate roles that were credit for our workers and our businesses here. if we don't have a trade agreement with the country, it is hard for our companies to ship products into their market. and it is almost forcing these companies to move jobs into those countries just to get market access there. i think there is a lot of confusion about whether the trade agreements themselves are leading to a loss of jobs or jobs being shipped overseas. i wasn't here when nafta passed, if i was, i probably would have voted against it because nafta, at the time, did not contain environmental standards in it. these negotiations that are taking place today have that in the body of the agreement. and quite frankly, it is an opportunity now to go back and correct the problems in nafta. get to labor and environmental standards. again, elevating it up to where we are. host: these trade deals point to nafta. they also are saying that these negotiations are being done in secret. that the lawmakers who are opposed right now are saying, we don't know what is in it and no one is telling us what is in it. is that true? what is happening up on capitol hill behind closed doors? what kind of education effort is happening? guest: i have had a different experience. we have worked very closely with the team. they are on capitol hill constantly, meeting with us, walking us through what is being negotiated, listening to our concerns and it is really up to each individual member of congress to engage themselves at that level. host: are they showing up? guest: some are and some aren't. i have been in meetings where we have had these types of discussions, those walk-throughs. the ones in their other one to are saying it is all done in secret. but does the entire public have access? of course not. not in the middle of tough negotiations where we are asking the other side to make some huge concessions. we don't do that with any other trade negotiation that goes on, but the good news is with the trade promotion authority that just passed both the house and the senate committees, it requires a 60 day publication of the entire agreement. it is basically the entire world being able to look at the terms of the agreement for at least 60 days before the president can even sign the agreement. that is the most transparent process we have ever had. host: linda, you are next. in independent caller. caller: good morning. i would like to ask a question regarding the safety of the food from japan. what protection do we have against the radiation of the food there? guest: linda, that is a great issue and it has been discussed quite a bit on capitol hill. a few years back, we did have some food -- pass a state -- pass a food safety bill. this will be -- we are also requiring the negotiations -- the nations we are negotiating with to reach the same safety standards we have in this country. i just had a meeting with the secretary of agriculture about this very issue. and they are confident they can step of the inspection regime and be able to enforce the safety physicians -- provisions that countries not have to agree to abide by. it is a valid concern and something we will have to pay very close attention to. host: michigan. don. a democrat. caller: i want to thank c-span. thank you, greta. i was watching something on c-span, and you are on their -- there with the white house. and he was talking about this host: wrote about this same issue that don was talking about. what's your response? guest: there's been a lot of focus an discussion about the investor state issue. all it means if you're a foreign company doing business in another country as part of your trade agreement, you can't be discriminated against. you can't be treated differently than those domestic companies. that's all it is. if you feel there are -- we have had many suits brought here in the united states typically in our own judicial system. not through a three-judge panel because our laws are very good. other countries have very much faith and confidence in our judicial process. of the 17 cases that have been filed in this judicial panel that the caller just described, we have won every one of them. we never lost a case because we don't discriminate. we do treat companies equally under the terms of the agreement and also our domestic laws. so there has been no successful challenges. i think this has been blown up way out of proportion. quite frankly, it's necessary for us to get this in the agreement so that our companies who are trying to do business and sell products in other nations aren't discriminated against. it's really a protection for our companies so we can keep the jobs here and not face secretary of transportation. -- scrim nation. host: hi, steve. morning. caller: i spent about half my time up in door county. rebel sterd to vote in wisconsin, because i have been spending more of my time up there. i think you guys got an optics problem. "the hill" reported i think it was on monday or tuesday that that trade -- the language is in a locked room on the hill down in some basement. and you have to go read it under lock and key. to the american people, and i would think you might agree, that's a little onerous to do everything behind closed doors and not at least get the major talking points or the bullets out there. and the other thing is, i read some other things on the hill. i read the paper a lot, about immigration. where the workers are transferring country to country to country. and i worry that the immigration portion of this t.p.p. would open our borders and it would be illegal for us to have secure borders, if you get my drift. i will listen off the air. guest: first of all, welcome to wisconsin. glad you're coming up there and spending time. it's a beautiful place up in door county. i have been there many times. there really isn't an adverse impact on the current immigration policy pursuant to these trade agreements. they are separate issues. they have to be dealt with separately. but what we are negotiating now in these trade agreements are core labor standards. so that there can't be the exploitation of child or slave labor that's used to make the products that are being sold. that there are collective bargaining rights. there are judicial dispute panels for work right provisions. those are fully enforceable in the trade agreement. as far as the optics you described, we have had some classified briefings because of the sensitivity of the ongoing talks during the course of these negotiations. that doesn't prohibit any member of congress to have access to the talks or to contact the trade rep teams themselves and sit down whether it's down in the basement or in your own office to walkthrough text specifically. a staff person on our staff that we work with on trade has access to the same thing what i find curious, greta we don't ask that in any treaty negotiation that's taking place. we have a very important one right now between the u.s. and iran in regards to nuke -- the speaker: morning, everyone. again in the people's house we continue to get things done for the american people. after enacting reform in nearly two decades, we are starting appropriations process earlier than at any time since 1974. also making progress on cybersecurity re-authorizing our foreign intelligence capabilities, and have real opportunity to work together on trade. and today we'll pass the first joint 10-year balance budget plan since 2001. just yesterday we saw g.d.p. figures that reflect what many middle class families are going through. running in place and getting nowhere. frankly, i think it's unacceptable. america needs real growth and that means real progrowth policies to fix the tax code, expands the energy production, and solve our spending problem. all those things are in this balanced budget. as the majority leader has noted in our first 100 days both the full house and our committees, essentially, doubled their output from the last congress. we got a lot left to do, but we are listening to the american people and getting things done. on iran, this week the iranians fired on and seized a neutral vessel traveling in international waters. top iranian general stated that the united states was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. and iran's top diplomat says any economic sanctions will be lifted only days after a deal is signed. none of this should be taken lightly or silently. as the administration would apparently have us do. we are getting closer to making sure congress will review any potential agreement with iran, and iran by its words and actions is showing exactly why we need this type of accountability. lastly the people of baltimore certainly been in our prayers, especially the family of freddie gray and the police officers who have been injured. like many americans, i have been inspired by the stories of residents banding together to clean up the damage. now, the president has suggested more taxpayer money is the answer. again, we believe the answer is more jobs and more opportunity. listen our government spends hundreds of billions of dollars a year on well-intentioned programs designed to help people get out of poverty. we have been doing this for decades. but from what we have seen around the country it's clear this approach is not working. i think we first should be asking the question, what is working and what isn't? if they are not working, how can we fix these programs? how can we make sure we educate more of america's kids? how can we put in place more economic policies that expand opportunities for all americans? and how can we put the focus on what will help the most people in need and will do the most good for our communities? one of my political icons jack kemp, was asking these same questions nearly three decades ago. today my friend, paul ryan, and many others are continuing that work. focus on expanding opportunity instead of creating more dependency. and i think we owe it to every american to take a long, hard look at this problem and begin to think of new solutions. >> speaker boehner, do you tell private groups congress does not have the votes to stop the iran deal? the speaker: no, i do not. >> you feel that congress is able to stop the iran deal if need be? the speaker: we'll see if there is an agreement. we'll see what comes of the corker bill as it comes out of the senate. and then we'll take it from there. but it's too early to speculate on whether we can or can't. >> there is a vigorous debate going on about what to do about the patriot act about to expire. you know senator mcconnell prefers the straight re-authorization. your party would rather see reform. what's your personal position and how do you think we should proceed? the speaker: i believe the work of the intelligence committee and the judiciary committee has produced a very good package that i believe is going to be marked up in the judiciary committee today. of course it's not everything that i want, but i think it's a solid agreement that basically reflects the bill that passed the house last year with nearly 300 votes. i know there have been several changes, but it's essentially the bill we passed again with almost 300 votes last year. >> what do they not get when it comes to this? where are they falling short? and at what point if the president wants this, do you -- you are the one who has to reach out across the aisle. the speaker: trade has been very good for america. and it's created frankly, millions of jobs in our country. but i don't think those who are involved in trade have done a very good job of helping americans understand the benefits of trade and why, in fact it's good for america. that's why we have this struggle every few years when it comes to a trade bill or trade promotion authority. but one thing is clear, there will be strong republican support for trade promotion authority. another point to keep in mind is that every democrat leader in the house and senate are opposed to giving the president what he's asking for. and the president needs to step up to his game in terms of garnering more support amongst democrats, especially here in the house. >> mr. speaker 20 years ago you were part of a house leadership team in the republican majority that didn't just pass a balanced budget, you also rolled up your sleeve and did other legislation. it was very difficult as you remember. why aren't you doing that this year? the speaker: i think we have a little different environment here than we did in 1997. and the fact is the president is the one who suggested the sequester when he backed out of a long-term deal that he and i and mr. cantor had agreed to. and the president is serious about this, we would welcome his involvement in fixing our long-term spending problem. >> in 1995 it was a republican only exercise to prove to the american people that you would fulfill promises. you made promise about a balanced budget but not fulfilling it. the speaker: if we get cooperation on the other side of the aisle, we'd love to do it. >> it's pretty clear that hensarling does not want to extend the export-import bank. i understand going through the process of the committee. if the senate passes something, could you put -- could that get a vote? the speaker: i support any plan that the chairman can get through his committee. whether it would reform the bank wind it down. but there are thousands of jobs on the line that would disappear pretty quickly if the ex-im bank were to disappear. i told the chairman he needs to come up with a plan. because the risk is is that if he does nothing, the senate is likely to act and then what? >> that's what i'm asking. that was my question. the speaker: the question i pose to the chairman. you might want to ask him. >> delay votes on the appropriations bill last night, and why were appropriations bills taken up before the budget was passed? the speaker: our goal, obviously, was to pass the budget before we started the appropriation process, but we had a dual delay in terms of getting the conference report signed. so we started our appropriation process. and then last night during this debate on the military construction-va spending bill, all of the members of the house armed services committee who are concerned about some of these amendments were in on a mark up on the national defense authorization bill until some 4:30 this morning. we just thought it was time to just stop. do the budget. and then we can resume the appropriation process. i think it was a smart move on our behalf. >> mr. speaker, later today the house may vote on a law that would have the effect of prohibiting discrimination by employers on reproductive health decisions. there's a deadline in two days. the senate isn't going to act. the president isn't going to sign this. why was it important to bring this to the floor and do you support it? the speaker: we have a number of members who are concerned about this issue. the issue is one of religious liberty. this is about conscious protections that the president says he supports but really hasn't put regulations in place to protect the conscience clause. it's been a part of our laws and statutes for decades and decades . so our members felt it was important. that's why it was added to the schedule. >> can you tell us when you anticipate the house will vote and what your plan is? the speaker: no, i cannot. i have no idea what the date really is. all i can tell you is i'm really looking forward to it. >> mayweather-pacquiao. >> the house gaveling back in at noon eastern today to resume work on the military construction and veteran spending bill for 2016. and take up that house-senate budget conference report as well as continued work on the energy and water appropriations bill for 2016. live house coverage when they come back in at noon here on c-span. house democratic leader nancy pelosi, also briefed reporters this morning. we'll show you as much as we can until the house gavels in. ms. pelosi: sad week. all of us who love justice and love baltimore are deeply saddened by the death of freddie gray and deep wounds that have been lane bare in the baltimore community. we hope for the speedy recovery of the police officers who were hurt. his death in police custody demands answers and i'm pleased that the department of justice has opened an investigation as to what happened. to find justice, we must respect the great successful tradition of nonviolence. nonviolence the last 50 years or longer has been a tradition of protest and disagreement and civil disobedience. so now thousands of peacefully demonstrating in baltimore are doing just that in recent days. i hope that we can move forward to a productive peace. but we have to recognize also this is many layered in terms of opportunity for education, for jobs and the rest. the fury of despair, no hope, is something throughout the world including in our country that evokes an angry response. but we, again, also have to respect the responsibilities our law enforcement officers take when they leave home to protect the community. there has to be something different happening in the orientation not only of the police but our justice system. yesterday, behind schedule, after negotiating in secret, and alone, republicans finally filed their budget conference report. the budget continues republicans' quest to empower special interest on the backs of hardworking american families. it is entirely inadequate to meet america's needs. green lights, romney-ryan plan to give millionaires a tax break while destroying millions of jobs and decreasing economic growth for hardworking american families. that's just what it does. it strips millions of americans' tax credits for affordable health care by repealing the a.c.a. here we go again. freezes pell grants and rang sacks our children's education. so sad. ignores our crumbling infrastructure. in terms of our veterans, you see yesterday republicans sought to advance their first appropriations bill under the levels set by their new budget, which may or may not come to the floor today. but yesterday the milcon, military construction-veterans bill that cuts $1.4 billion beloath president obama's budget and cuts federal, that's generally, and then cuts $690 million from veterans' medical care alone. the equivalent of 70,000 fewer veterans receiving v.a. medical care in one year. disabled veterans of america, the national commanders -- don't have their letters here, but we have letters. disabled veterans of america, the national commander of the american legion, national commander of the v.f.w. are urging a no vote until we get this -- at least to the president's level. v.f.w. said, this bill needs to be amended to fully fund the v.a. at the administration's request. if not then the veterans of foreign war urging every member of congress to vote against its passage. the american legion said, the american legion won't support an appropriation bill for v.a. that falls short of fully funding the needs of america's veterans and v.a. america's veterans deserve a v.a. that receives full funding. later today, last night, they began, actually, an energy and water bill that undermines the clean air -- clean water act and attacks america's clean energy future. it slshes renewable energy spending and zeros out a critical environmental restoration while surging spending on fossil fuels. so that's their first two bills to come forward in the spirit of their valueless based budget. we always think a budget should be a statement of our values and what's important to us should be reflected there. i don't know if it's a statement of values here to undermine education, clean water and the rest. while republicans are advancing a job-killing you budget and drawing their gimmick, they withdrew last night as you know their v.a. bill, probably will rear its head again today, their gimmick riddled military construction-v.a. bill. we speak in abbreviations here, democrats are acting to preserve a vital pillar of america's competitiveness overseas. today, just earlier this morning, democrats under the leadership of denny heck, filed a discharge petition urgently needed legislation to re-authorize the export-import bank. our ranking member on the full committee of financial services, maxine waters, has really been a champion for the ex-imbarning. there are only 25 legislative days left until republicans' radical inaction shutters, just shuts down the ex-im bank, on june 30. dealing a blow to american workers, american manufacturers america's competitiveness and therefore to america's economy. this ex-im bank operates at no cost to taxpayers. it creates -- it sustained 164,000 export related american jobs just last year, and created a sustained 1.3 million private sector jobs since 2009. whether it's ex-im bank, i.m.f., all of the organizations that were established to demonstrate u.s. competitiveness of our economy and of our values are being undermined by the republicans. they should stop threatening these important tools to enable american goods to compete in foreign markets. that would be the ex-im bank, and also bring the i.m.f., international monetary, authorization forward. the i.m.f., we demanded certain changes at the i.m.f., certain reforms. they made them. other countries accepted them. and then we say no. to our own reforms. later today house and senate democrats will come together to invail a new bill to raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour. and talk about the importance of increasing the wages of million of american workers. as we keep saying, bigger paychecks, better infrastructure t when the middle class succeeds, america succeeds. there's a reason for that because when the middle class has consumer confidence and consumes and spends, it injects demand into the economy creating jobs. we are not going to have a full turn around in our economy unless we have bigger paychecks for the middle class. so we will continue, democrats will continue to champion creating jobs and growing the paychecks of all americans. rather than being here as the republicans are as the handmaidens of the special interest. any questions? >> madam leader -- senator bernie sanders is entering the presidential race today. do you believe that the democrats should have debate even if it is just a two-way race? ms. pelosi: you mean between bernie and -- >> do you believe there should be a democratic -- ms. pelosi: i think it's healthy to have -- when you say debate, you mean debate of ideas, yes. formal debates that's not up to me. but the fact is, i think it's healthy for a party to have an exchange of ideas. to have a bench especially when we are talking about leadership that comes after. and so i don't think that anybody is running for president should fear having someone else run for president. so they can engage in the marketplace of ideas, which is what an election is all about. and i have every confidence that every person you have named and others who have named themselves or yet to come will many enliven the debate and that will be wholesome, if we have it. if we don't have it, we'll just get moving with what we have. i'm very excited about this time. i think the distinction is so very, very clear. an the gift is distinction between middle class economics and trickle-down economics which is what the republicans had proposed and failed every time they have implemented it. it's really a debate that the public should hear. i hope that it can be done in the most respectful way. so that one of the things the democrats stand for is respect for other people's ideas. so rather than having analysis of whether it's good for somebody or not, let's just hear what their ideas are for the future. i think the country is enriched by that and i think our party is as well. by the way, i'm going to new hampshire this weekend. i'm overwhelmed to by your response to my announcement. the clock is ticking. >> you'll find all of the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered today by our guest chaplain, rabbi michael siegel, chicago, illinois. the chaplain: almighty god, instill within the members of the house of representatives a deep understanding of the potential that this day holds. as they work together for the common good of all people in

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