Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20160526 : c

houston area projects could compete, more than $82 million more than provided in the fiscal year 2016 act. additionally the committee report directs the corps to consider the severity of risk of flood thoring frequency with which an area has experienced flooding when deciding how to allocate the funding provided. because the amendment does not actually change funding levels and so does not upset the balance of priorities in this bill i will not oppose this amendment. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from texas. ms. jackson lee: i thank mr. simpson and ms. kaptur, mr. simpsn for recounting that information, and ms. kaptur for the leadership she's given and the understanding of the plight we're in. flood control is critical to dams and harbors and most critical of all as infrastructure. that is what the construction funding will do. we understand that this now will give us the opportunity for long overdue projects that are dealing with the major flooding and the previous amendment giving us a work plan through the army corps of engineers will again be instructive and helpful to saving lives and reducing the enormity of loss and the enormity of damage that has been caused to these areas. with that, i ask for support of the jackson lee amendment. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? >> mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk, gosar 225. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. gosar of arizona, at the end of the bill before show the short title instert the following, section, none of the funds made available in this act y be used to carry out the admgs' reminder regarding document requests dated april 15, 2009. the chair: the gentleman from arizona and a member opposed each will control five maines -- five minutes, the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona. mr. gosar: i rise to offer an amendment which will prevent the administration from causing unnecessary delays in blocking information being releaseded to the public in the freedom of information act. in 2009, they released a secret memo urging them to consult with counsel at the white house before releasing documents or fulfilling requests that might deal with white house equities. last year, a report was released entitled the department of energy's freedom of information act product. in nurem race cases where the dotcht energy's counsel general had provided their foia response to the white house, the file was incomplete and didn't contain all documents related to the foia response. itch complete documentation certain what ng changes or redaxes were made when the white house reviewed the documents. for an administration that once sought to be the most transparent administration in our nation's history, actions such as these do nothing to inspire trust or confidence amongst the american people. it took a foia request in 014 to reveal that the of the 450 department of interior inspector general requests, the obama administration only aloud the i.g. to release three reports. while that stat is trouble, figures released by the associated press this year through their annual foia review are more disturbing. the annual review covers free tom of information act requests made to more than 100 different fall agencies. shockingly, the a.p. reported in martha in 2015 the american people received censored responses or nothing in 77% of all foia requests, redacted releases or nothing in response to nearly 00,000 freedom of information act requests. absolutely shameful. daniel epstein, executive director of the government watchdog cause of action said it best when the stated, information seekers whether they're individuals, member os they have news media or groups should be trouble that this white house has been interfering with how departments comply with the freedom of information act. this is supported by americans for reform, the national taxpayers union, the taxpayers protection alliance, concerned citizens for americans, arizona chapter. the county cattle growers association. agency officials that want to comply with the law and respond to freedom of information requests in a timely manner should not be blocked from doing so because of an arbitrary memo from the white house. numerous watchdog groups claim the memo my amendment defunds is limiting public access under freedom of information. i urbling my colleague to support this amendment and defund this unlawful memo. i want to thank the chair and ranking member for their work on this bill. i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. does anyone seek time in opposition? the gentlelady from ohio. ms. kaptur: i claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. kaptur: i'm opposed to the amendment because it interferes with standard practice of both parties. it is standard practice for agencies with freedom of information requests to confer with other executive branch entities prior to releasing documents. agencies refer documents to the white house just as they refer documents to other agencies. the practice of agencies consulting with the white house prior to freedom of information requests regarding white house equities is long-standing, spanning administrations of both party. the reagan administration issued a memorandum in 1988 directing such consulting a. final the -- finally the provision could interfere with the president's ability to protect privileged information. this is just one more instance of the majority prioritizing message amendments rather than getting on with the hard work of legislating. i oppose this amendment and -- it has no place on an appropriations bill and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. gosar: mr. chairman, once again i'd like to just actually reiterate these responses. 77% of all foia requests were not complied with. redacted releases or nothing in response to nearly 00,000 freedom of information act. once again, smoke and mirrors. when are we going to get this? what i would do is ask everybody to vote for this amendment and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from arizona. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk, engel 81. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 6 printed in the congressional record offered by mr. engel of new york. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 743, the gentleman from new york, mr. engel, and a member opposed each will control phi maines. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. engel: thank you, mr. chairman. on may 24, 2011, president obama issued a memorandum on federal fleet performance that required all new light duty vehicles in the federal fleet to be alternative fuel vehicles. such as hybrid electric, natural gas, or biofuel. my amendment echo this is memorandum by prohibiting funds in this act from being used to lease or purchase new light duty vehicles unless it's made in accord with the president's memorandum. i have submitted identical language to 20 different appropriations bills over the past few years and every time it has been accepted by both the majority and the minority. i hope my amendment will receive similar support today. global oil prices are down, we no longer pay $147 per barrel, but spikes in oil prices would still have profound repercussions for our economy. the primary reason is our cars and trucks run only on petroleum. we can change that with alternative technologies that exist today. the federal government operates the largest fleet of light duty vehicles in america. over 640,000 vehicles, more than 55,000 of those vehicles are within the jurisdiction of this bill being used by the department of energy, the department of the interior and the army corps of engineers. when i was in brazil a few years ago, i saw how they diversified their fuel use. people there can drive to a gasoline station and choose whether to fill their vehicle with gasoline or ethanol they maker that choice baseden cost or whatever criteria they deem important. i want to the same choice for american consumers. that's why i'm propose egg a bill in congress as i have done many times in the past to provide for cars built in america to be able to run on fuel instead of or in addition to gasoline. it's less than $100 per vehicle. that's a separate issue but i raise it because it is in conjunction with what i'm proposing here. if they can do it in brazil, we can do it here. in conclusion, expanding the role these alternative technologies play in our transportation economy will help break the leverage that foreign government controlled oil companies hold over americans. it will increase our nation's domestic security and protect consumers and again, i've submitted this in different appropriations bills through the years and it has always passed unanimously. by both democrats and republicans. i hope it will be the same i ask they my colleagues support the engel amendment. the chair: the gentleman reserve? mr. engel: i reserve. the chair: who seeks time? no one seeking time, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new york. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes -- the ayes have it. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. gosar: i have an amendment at the desk, gosar 226. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. gosar of arizona. at the end of the bill before the short title insert the follow, section, none of the funds made available by this act may be used by the department of energy for the 1st century clean energy plan. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 743, the gentleman from arizona and a member opposed each will control five maines. the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar. mr. gosar: i rise to offer an amendment which will help prevent an unnecessary tax increase on hard working families and send a strong message from the house of representatives that we oppose the administration's new mandatory climate change transportation program. in february, the obama administration proposed creating a new program nicknamed the 21st century clean transportation plan. aim is to spend money and divert taxpayer money to cars, high speed rail and mazz transit energy ame of efficiency. to pay for the majority of this unlawful $320 billion program, the obama administration has proposes a $10.25 on every barrel of oil this new tax on crude oil and petroleum products will inevitably be passed on to hardworking americans that can't afford another new tax increase from the obama administration. the $10.25 barrel tax is estimated to add an additional 25 cents to the cost of every glisten of gasolineful millions of energy related jobs will be put at risk and low income families will be forced to bear larger financial burdens. as a result of this unnecessary tax being proposed to pay for obama's flawed climate change transportation policeman. in the 2017 bum, the agency requested $1.3 billion for this year and $11.3 billion for the next 10 years to fund the administration's 21st century clean energy transportation plan. my amendment rejects the $10.25 cent on every barrel of crude oil and prohibits funding in this bill for the administration's flawed climate change transportation program. this amendment is supported by americans for limited government, americans for tax reform, the council for citizens against government waste, the national taxpayer union, the taxpayers protection alliance, concerned citizens for america, arizona chapter, the cattle grers association and the sulfur springs valley electric cooperative. i want to thank the chair and ranking member for their work on this bill and reserve. the chair: does anyone seek recognition? does the gentlelady from ohio seek recognition? ms. kaptur: i do, i claim time in opposition. the chaplain: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. kaptur: the gentleman has hit a soft spot for me here, the automobile and trucking industries, vital to my area of the country and vital to the country. it's lifting the country to new heights with economic growth. i rise in strong opposition to this amendment because it takes america backward not forward. this america seeks to prohibit funding for the department's 21st century clean transportation plan, which is a fantastic initiative which would set america on a long-term path to achieving our economic and climate goals. i'm telling you, when you see some of what's being done with new material science, with new composites, with metals and plastics technologies, i can go from ford's ecoboost engine to newsler's new vehicles, the plant being built in the mevt to general motors and their wonderful work they're doing at brook park. one plant after another, you can see the results of innovation, where the department of energy, working with the private sector is bringing the future to us every day. the 21st century clean transportation plan would scale up clean transportation research and development critical for the clean transportation systems of the future. did you know that in the internal combustion engine, we still do not understand how fuel actually burns? that the department of energy is doing wonderful research to try to help important companies like cummins engine figure out how fuel is used in -- is used in those engines to make them more efficient. . we need to develop low-carbon fuels such as biofuels. we don't have all the answers. industry alone doesn't do it alone because some of this is basic research. we also are involved in funding the development of regional low-carbon fueling infrastructure, including charging stations for electric vehicles, for those people who choose to purchase those, and pumps for hydrogen fuel cell cars. yes, we are inventing the future and you know what, it feels pretty good. finally, it would investigate future mobility and intelligent transportation systems like vehicle connectivity and self-driving cars. last week the motor manufacturers association was up here and i went over to the northeastern part of the city, drove a peter built truck with the automatic braking systems that are just incredible in a vehicle that has cubic -- a ratio of about 480, i think, cubic inches to that engine. what an incredible piece of engineering that is. the department of energy is always driving us into the future and that's where we need to go. our nation is always -- has always been the leader on innovation and sustain to this pace we must continue to invest in programs like the 21st century clean transportation plan, which drives our economy forward. the automotive industry and all the related suppliers, including trucks, represent about one out of every seven jobs in this country. and we are in stiff competition with markets that are closed, with markets that try to target our industry and snuff them out of existence. i think that we have to do everything possible. i co-chair the automotive caucus here, along with congressman mike kelly of pennsylvania, and i would have to say that the gentleman's amendment does not take us forward but backward. i urge -- i would urge my colleagues to oppose it very, very strongly. i yield back the balance of my time. i'm sorry, i would be pleased to yield to the gentleman. mr. simpson: i appreciate the gentlelady's commentings. -- comments. getting back to the amendment. i would remind the gentleman offering the amendment that this is not the tax committee, that any $10 tax on a barrel of oil would come out of the ways and means committee. coint see that coming out of the ways and means -- i don't see that coming out of the ways and means committee. the other thing that i would remind the gentleman of is that there is no, i repeat, no funding in this bill for the president's 21st century clean transportation plan. the mandatory funding that was proposed by the administration. there is no funding in this bill for it. so this amendment does nothing. it strikes no funding. because there is no funding in this bill. and i thank the gentlelady for yielding. the chair: the gentlelady from ohio. ms. kaptur: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: yields back her time. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. >> i want to remind everybody that $20 billion of the estimated $32 billion each year for this proposed program won't go to roads or bridges. mr. gosar: but to these inefficient programs. i guess we're going to the future where $19 trillion in debt and soon to be $22 trillion and $23 trillion and $24 trillion in development yes, i do understand as the department of energy's fiscal year budget, the agency requested $1.3 billion for this year and $11.3 billion over the next 10 years to fund the administration's 21st century clean transportation plan. while the budget request this year happened to be mandatory, next year it could be discretionary. the house has not taken an action today to reject the $10.25 tax on every barrel of oil and to this fundamentally flawed program. my amendment rejects that tax increase and the obama administration's new climate change transportation program. i urge adoption of this commonsense amendment and with that i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from arizona. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. he amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the south carolina seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. sanford of south carolina. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following, section, none of the funds made available by this act may be used to provide a loan under section 136 of the energy independence and security act of 2007, 42 united states code 17013. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 743, the gentleman from south carolina and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from south carolina. mr. sanford: i thank the chair. i think what i have before all of us is a commonsense amendment, and it simply says that the advanced technology vehicle manufacturing loan program will continue to exist but there can be no additional loans. the reason that i do so is when i came and offered this amendment last year, i had a cutting amendment last year, but what was explained to me was that if you cut the program, then you wouldn't have money to administer the existing loans that were out there. so as a result, i've altered this amendment so that, again, it leaves in place the appropriation which is more than $5 million, so that you can continue to administer the existing loans that are in place, but there would be no additional loans. why do i think that that's important? i think it's important for a couple of different reasons. i think from a democratic standpoint, what we would say is that we all believe in equality. and that there shouldn't be subsidized loans for major corporations, global corporations here in the united states, while your cousin's or a business is struggling your friend's landscaping business is struggling. they don't get subsidized loans, why should a big business? so i think from a democratic stand point, i think we hold that belief. from a republican standpoint, we'd say, you know, we need to watch out for the taxpayer. if you look at the default rate on these loans, unfortunately it's been relatively high. and you'd say, you know, i don't know that government is the best -- in the best spot to be making these kinds of loans to businesses. i think that that ultimately is the role not of government but of business. let them do what they do. i think from both van tage point -- vantage points it's something that makes sense. i would add a couple of additional thoughts and then i would yield. i'd say, one, there have been only five loans made since 2007. this is not a huge program. this is a very limited program. two, two out of the five loans made since 2007 in fact have defaulted. that's a 40% default rate. i don't think that that's the kind of thing that we'd like to see in government. there have been no loans made since 2011. and the g.a.o. came in march of 2013 and they said, the costs outweigh the benefits of this program. they followed that up with another g.a.o. report in march of 2014 and they said that we recommend shutting down the program unless the department of energy can show real demand for the loans. and then they followed that up with a final g.a.o. report in march of this year and it said that there hadn't been a sufficient level of demand and as a consequence their words were this -- determining whether funds will be used is important, particularly in a constrained fiscal environment. congress should rescind unused appropriations or direct them to other government priorities. i think the simple issue with this loan program is that there could be other priorities, wherein you take that $4 billion of loan authority and let other parts of government or turn it back to the private sector, use that money much more effectively. with that, i'd hang onto the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. does anyone seek to be recognized in opposition? the gentleman from idaho. in simpson: i'll claim time opposition although i'm not opposed to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. simpson: i just want to state that -- i don't want people to maybe listen to and members that are listening in this to get the impression that we're putting money in for the loan guarantee program. there's no money in the underlying bill for the atvm additional new loans. the only money is there is to administer the existing loans. i understand what the gentleman's saying. i agree with the gentleman. and i just don't want members to think that we are putting money into the program when we're not. i would yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. sanford: i very, very much appreciate what the chairman pointed out. again, that's why i think it's so important simply to say and codify this notion that we won't go forward. the money's in there for existinged a minute -- administering of existing loans. it's just saying that we're not going to go out and administer new ones given the other needs that exist within both the public and the private sector for funds like this. and with that, since -- i'll retain the balance of my time if i might. the chair: the gentleman from south carolina reserves. for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio seek recognition? ms. kaptur: i claim time in opposition to the amendment. i'm sorry, i move to strike the last word. i move to strike the last word. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. ms. kaptur: i rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment, any proposal to unset the advanced vehicle manufacturing program or limit the pipeline of projects that may be eligible is short sighted and should be rejected. why? first, the program is a critical one for the american automotive industry and is support -- has supported its resurgence. they have issued more than $8 billion in loans to date, and these loans have resulted in the manufacture of more than four million fuel-efficient advanced vehicles, supported approximately 35,000 direct jobs across eight states, including california, illinois, michigan, missouri, ohio, kentucky, new york, tennessee, and saved more than $1.35 million gallons of gasoline. not too bad. the success has been achieved with losses of only approximately 2% of a total portfolio of $32 billion. for the loan program's office. that's a lower percent than most banks have on the loans that they make. but what we're talking about here is higher level research. higher level investments in technologies that are yet being born. why else should we reject this amendment? instituting an arbitrary and immediate deadline for applications to this program would result in the department losing billions of dollars in loan authority itself. the program currently has billions in loan requests in the pipeline from both automakers and component manufacturers for projects in 10 states. thirdly, capping the program of eligible projects will hinder the department's ability to issue new loans to support domestic manufacturing of advanced vehicles, especially at a time when we're asking the industry to meet rising fuel economy standards. it's really amazing what's been done just in the last 15 years. when we look at some of the vehicles coming out, now we're seeing vehicles like the cruz, 33 -- cruise, 33 miles a gallon, some going up to 40, some up to 50. it's amazing what's happening. the transformation that's happening in this industry that we are living through directly. so i oppose the gentleman's amendment because i really do believe innovation has always led us into the future. this is the kind of program that can provide the capital necessary to expand our domestic manufacturing, when so much of it is being offshored, it's a major issue in the presidential election this year, in both political parties. how we're going to restore manufacturing in this country. we have to do it through innovation, we have to do it in sectors that are muscle sectors like the automotive and truck industry that are so vital and produce real wealth for this country. not imported wealth, but wealth that we produce ourselves through all the componentry, the thousands and thousands and thousands of components that go into these vehicles and the fuel efficiency that makes them competitive in the marketplace of today. so i oppose the gentleman's amendment and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. sanford: i thank the gentleman. i would agree with much of what my colleague said just a moment ago. i think that innovation is indeed the gateway to the future. but i would argue that great innovation has been led by the private sector, not by loan guarantees to major corporations. you think about steve jobs and his partner opening up that business in basically what amounted to a basement of a house, that's not what we're talking about here. i think that some of the great innovations will come from small businesses that don't see this kind of financial advantage. two, i'd make the point that this is not about just helping american companies. one of the largest loans out there was to mazda, which is not an american company. i mean, ford is, that's one of the other big loans, but mazda is not. i would put this under the larger classification of reagan's word, the closest thing to eternal life is a government program. this is one of those government programs that has not proved successful. and i think if the -- it's important that we wean government programs, we prune them where they don't make sense. 40% is in fact the default rate. if you add up all the numbers, it amounts to 2%, but most people in when they think of default and what the american bankers association would think of when they think of default is divided by the number of loans out there, what percent defaulted and that number happens to be a real 40%, not 2% of the aggregate amount of the total loans out there. finally, i would again go back to this simple point. i agree with my colleagues in what they've said on the need for innovation and for reform, but i don't think it will be led through a loan program that has seen any number of defaults in the process, that money could be redeployed to education and a whole host of other primary needs in this country. with that i'd yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from south carolina. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. . in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. he amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerkry -- will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. buck of colorado. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following. none of the funds made available by this act may be used to research, draft or finalize the tice of proposed rule making -- mr. buck: i waive reading. the chair: is there objection? without objection, the reading is dispensed with. pursuant to house resolution 743, the gentleman from colorado and a member opposed each will control five maines. the chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado, mr. buck, for five minutes. mr. buck: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for the opportunity to speak about this amendment to the energy and water development an related agencies appropriation act of 2017. this amendment returns choice to consumers and keeps the price of products affordable. the department of energy's energy conservation program issues efficiency regulations for everyday appliances like dish washers and vending machines. the rules are based on a cost benefit analysis but the analysis is vague and skewed to the desired outcome. rather than proving the live -- rather than improving the lives of consumers they drive up costs of aplines. to address the rising costs and crackdown on consumer choice this amendment prohibits energy mandates on residential dish washers, ceiling fan light kits, and vending machines. individuals should have the choice of whether or not to buy these appliances. as consumer demand for efficiency increase the market will find a way to produce appliances that save more energy. this amendment stops the administration from implementing the radical green energy air general da on the backs of american families. i urge a yes vote and i yield a minute of time to the chairman. the chair: the gentleman from idaho is recognized for one minute. mr. simpson: i rise in support of this amendment. my colleague's amendment would prohibit the use of funds at the department of energy to propose efficiency standards for ceiling fans light tissue ceiling fan light kits, residential dish washers and vending machines. the law in question allows for the executive overreach by prescribing what industry and can and cannot sell and what consumers can and cannot buy. he industry has concerns about forcing these requirements on something like a dishwasher. i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. buck texas i -- mr. buck: i reserve. the chair: for what purpose does the gentlelady seek recognition? ms. kaptur: i claim time in opposition. i oppose the gentleman's amendment. one more instance where the majority is saddling the consume we are ever-crinesting energy bills. we now how the standards have saved consumers money over the years. i have some figures here that are interesting. a typical house hole saves about $215 a year off their energy and people replace appliances with newer models they can expect to ave more than $450 annually. the results of the standards in effect since 1987 are expected to grow to $2 trillion through 2030. invention does matter and the application of that to our daily lives really matters. the efficiency standards have spurred innovation and dramatically expands options for consumers. it's time to listen to the manufacturing companies, consumer groups and efficiency advocates who all agree this rider is harmful. i urge all members to vote no on the buck amendment. i yield back my remaining time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from colorado. mr. buck: i yield become. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from colorado. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. he amendment is agreed to. for what purpose does the gentlelady from tennessee seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 14 printed in the congressional record, offered by mrs. blackburn of tennessee. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 743, the gentlelady from tennessee and a member opposed each will control five maines. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from tennessee, mrs. blackburn. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate that and i know that the committee has worked hard to get a bill that is going to come into the numbers. unfortunately, i disagree with the 1070 number that's in the b.b.a. i like that budget control act number of 1040. a $30 billion difference. doesn't sound like a lot when you're talking about trillions of dollars but i'll tell you, to my constituents with $19 trillion, it does make a difference. the funding level of this bill is $37.444 billion. and i am offering an amendment which i offer every year to our spending bills to cut 1% across the board. millionld yield us $374 in budget authority savings and outlays a savings of $222 million. i know it doesn't sound a lot. but it is simply taking one penny out of every dollar that is appropriated. and that, quite frankly, is the type of scrimping an saving that our constituents and american families are having to do all across this country. in order to make their budgets work. and i am fully aware of the strong opposition that many have to making those 1% across the board cuts. as i've offered these amendments, many times i am told that the cuts of this magnitude go far too deep, that they would be very damaging to our nation's security, but i kind of agree with chairman -- joint chiefs of staff chairman mullin who said the greatest threat to our nation's security is our nation's debt. i think we ought not to be putting future generations at risk and we should be working toward reducing what our federal outlays are every single year and working toward balancing the budget. it means, yes, we have to go in and cut that penny out of the dollar. and save it for our children and our grandchildren to get this nation back on the right track. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from idaho seek recognition? mr. simpson: i claim time in on sation to the gentlelady's amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. simpson: mr. speaker, i commend the gentlelady for her consistency. she always has these amendments to cut 1% across the board on out of the appropriations bills. and i appreciate her consistent work to protect the taxpayers' dollars, but this is an approach that frankly i can't support. while the president may have proposed a budget that exceeds this bill the increases were paid for with proposals and gimmicks that would never be enacted this bill makes tough choices within an allocation that adheres to current law. they may not agree with current law but it is the curn law. that's what we have to go with. since there wasn't a budget resolution passed, what we ended up with is the current law and that's the allocation we had and what we stayed within. i don't think the appropriation committee gets enough credit over the last several greers the work we have been doing in reducing federal spending. if you look at the total federal budget and the amount of discretionary spending and mandatory spending, at one time it was about 2/3 discretionary spending and one third mandatory spending, 30 or 40 years ago. then about five years ago, it was one third discretionary spending and 2/3 mandatory spending. that's medicare, medicaid, social security, entitlements. since we've taken control of the last five year, that one third of the discretionary -- that one third of the budget that's discretionary spending is about 28% now. it continues to go down as in relationship to the entire budget we cut discretionary spending more and more. we made difficult tradeoffs that had to be made in this bill to balance it with our needs. we prioritize funding for critical infrastructure and for our national defense. these tradeoffs were carefully weighed for their respective impacts and our re-- and are responsible, yet the gentlelady's amendment proposes an across the board cut on every one of these programs, even the national defense programs which are vitally important. this makes no distinction between where we need to be spending to invest in our infrastructure, promote jobs and meet our national security needs, like meeting the ohio class submarine dates so we can get the ohio class submarine done so we can do the refurbishment of our nuclear stockpile so we can do the other things that are important in the national defense side of this budget. it makes no distinction between those and where we need to limit spending to meet our deficit reduction bills. therefore i must oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to vote no and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from idaho reserves. the gentlelady from tennessee is recognized. mrs. blackburn: indeed the appropriations committee does deserve some credit but also passing the budget control act with the % across the board spend regular ducks in discretionary spending, that deserves some credit also. because it shows the effectiveness of what those cuts can do. governors use this, democrat and republican governors alike. they do it because their states have balanced budget amendments and they can't crank up the printing press and print the money. i would encourage my colleagues take a step toward fiscal responsibility, get inside, cut one more penny out of a dollar. we can do that on every appropriation we have. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman -- the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from idaho is recognized. mr. simpson: yield back. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from tennessee. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the noes have it. mrs. blackburn: question if a -- i request a recorded vote. the chair: under clause 6 of rule 18 further proceedings on the amendment offered by gentlelady from tennessee will e postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition? >> i have an amendment. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. smith of missouri. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following. none of the nunds made available by this act may be used by the army corps of engineers to implement, enforce the last four words of section a-1 of title 31 united states code with respect birds point the floodway operation plan. the chair: pursuant to houseres. lose -- resolution 743, the gentleman from missouri and a member opposed each will control five maines. the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri, mr. smith. mr. smith: thank you, mr. chairman. in may of 2011, under the strong objections of numerous folks in soviet missouri and my predecessor, the army corps of engineers blew, activated the birds point levee, the second time since 1937. this resulted in extensive amount of damage, over $156 million of damage, flooding over 130,000 acres. in that place homes and communities were completely destroyed and crops were lost. after the water receded, many residents simply chose not to ever return home and back to their communities. these are individuals that lived there for numerous generations. we had one community, a small town called penhook in mississippi county in the boot hill, no longer exists. after the activation. of that floodway. the amendment that i have today is quite simple. it says when an activation of the birds point levee occurs, we must build it back. not anything else other than if there is an activation, the government must build it back. if they destroy a community, by activating and blowing up a levee, they must build it back. the amendment is extremely simple. had families in the birds point floodway had the assurance that a plan was already in place, perhaps they would have chosen to return back to their home for generations. when river levels rise, safety is always the number one concern but the corps of engineers should never, under any circumstance, breach a levee without already having in place plans for its restoration, allowing for residents to return to their lives as soon as ossible. i urge my cloges to support my amendment and give assurance to american who live in flood ways that their homes and livelihoods matter and to remove any uncertainty that should the worst happen their lives can return to normal. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from idaho seek recognition? mr. simpson: claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. simpson: first let me assure the gentleman. i understand his concerns and appreciate his passion for protecting his constituents. i agree that if the floodway is required to be operated in a major flood event the levee should be restored as soon as possible after the flood event. the committee report on this bill makes that very point. unfortunately, the amendment and the impacts of it are not clear. it is possible that the amendment would actually increase flood risk for other communities within the mississippi river and tributaries project area. . i must oppose the amendment and i would be happen toy pi to yield the gentleman from illinois -- happy to yield to the gentleman from illinois. the chair: the gentleman from llinois is recognized. boast boast thank you. i have tremendous respect for -- mr. bost: thank you. i have tremendous respect for the gentleman from missouri. i whands he's trying to do. if the levy -- levee does occur, it should be built back. but when you reated language, the concern we have is that it would actually stop the activation of the levy in the -- levee in the first place. understand, when these levees were first built, there were certain key points that were pressure released valves. the point was one of those. so as it rises, the army corps of engineers has explained through a process of when to go in and when we say crevice, we mean we have to actually put explosive charges into the levee to relieve the pressure so that other areas -- this is the way the system was built. it was a design by engineers to work this way originally. the concern that we have is not with the fact that it should be built back, because i agree with the gentleman, it should be built back, but the way the language actually reads, we're not sure that it would actually stop the army corps of engineers from doing what it is that they're required by law to do and that is to use that pressure release valve in times of emergency. it is true, we've only had to use it twice since those systems have been put in place. it is a sad thing when it owe curse. it floods -- occurs. it flieds a tremendous amount of crop land and -- flood as tremendous amount of crop land. because it had not been operated in so long, people built homes in there. now, that was unfortunate that they built them in that situation. but we cannot endanger all other areas for putting language like this forward. i'm more than willing to work with the gentleman on trying to make sure that this language s correct, we just couldn't do that at this time and with that i reserve. the chair: does the gentleman yield back? mr. simpson: i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. missouri.man from mr. smith: thank you, mr. chairman. the language of the amendment is very clear. it does one simple thing. it means if the activation of this levee ever occurs, that the federal government is obligated to rebuild it. it's a limiting amendment that is crystal clear. it provides that if there is an activation, that the federal government is obligated to build it back. simple as it is. making sure the federal government is responsible for its actions. i ask the body to support the amendment. the chair: does the gentleman yield back? mr. smith: i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from missouri, mr. smith. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. mr. smith: i ask for a roll call. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on this amendment will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. warbg of north carolina. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following, section, a, amounts otherwise made available by this act for the following accounts of the department of energy are hereby reduced by the following amounts. one, energy efficiency and renewable energy, $400,000. mr. walker: i ask for dispensing with the reading of the bill. the chair: without objection, the read something suspended. pursuant to house resolution 743, the gentleman from north carolina and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. mr. walker: thank you, mr. speaker. this bill includes over $9 billion in appropriations for 22 nondefense programs that are not authorized by law. none of these programs receive a total of $185 million more than they're enacted dire their enacted 2016 level. several of these programs have not been authorized since the 1980's and one has never been altogether ridsed by congress. my amendment is simple. my amendment would reduce unauthorized nondefense accounts for the 2016 level -- to the 2016 levels. it would also cut around $185 million and send that money to the spending reduction account. in a time when we as a nation are approaching more than -- or close to $20 trillion in debt, we cannot continue to fund unauthorized accounts in our appropriations process. this is a democratic nation. and the men and women send the members of this body not to slip unauthorized programs in appropriations bills, but to have an open discussion on our funding priorities. furthermore, the inclusion of appropriations for these programs in the reported bill is a violation of clause 2-a-1 of rule 21 of the rules of the house. i applaud representative tom mcclintock and conference chair mcmorris rodgers for their significant work to raise awareness of the problem of unauthorized appropriations and work toward a solution so that the house actually enforces its rules. this year's energy and water appropriations includes over $1 billion in appropriations and six more unauthorized programs that the house did pass in the 2016 energy and water bill from last year. if we want to fund a program, we should have an open debate and a transparent process that row motes trust and accountability. with that i -- promotes trust and accountability. with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. does anyone seek recognition? the gentleman from idaho. mr. simpson: mr. chairman, i seek time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. simpson: mr. chairman, i rise to oppose this amendment. my colleague's amendment would reduce multiple accounts in the bill. this year the committee continues its responsibility to effectively manage government spending and we have worked tirelessly to that end. for example, the nuclear and fossil programs see modest increases in the bill to continue our commitment for an all-of-the-above energy strategy. basic research conducted by the office of science increased by less than 1% to support research and operation efforts to advance research and development through university partnerships and at the nation's national laboratories system. programs to clean up the legacy of the manhattan project and nuclear research also see minor increases in order to provide cleanup progress at sites across the country. these are targeted funds to produce needed investments to efficiently and safely utilize our natural resources, maintain the nation's basic research infrastructure in the physical sciences and continue cleanup of programs. i understand my colleague's desire to reduce the size of government but this amendment goes too far in reducing the strategic investments we need to make in our future. i therefore oppose this amendment and urge members to do the same. and would yield to the gentlelady from ohio. the chair: the gentlelady from ohio is recognized. ms. kaptur: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i also oppose this amendment, which will reduce jobs in our country and hurt the middle class. there will be less investment in science, environmental cleanup, energy research and development, all of which create the future in this country and have substantial returns on investment. since 2003, by the way, the united states has spent $2.3 trillion on importing foreign petroleum. this is a vast shift of wealth. that's the big shift of wealth. and thousands upon thousands of jobs from our country elsewhere. this amendment only exacerbates this shift of wealth from the american middle class. the bill funds support in science and r&d activities necessary for our competitiveness. the world is becoming more competitive, not less. energy is at the center of that. i urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this amendment and i thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. i yield back. mr. simpson: reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. walker: i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from wyoming. the chair: the gentlelady from wyoming is recognized for two minutes. mrs. lummis: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman from north carolina. scientific research is an important province of the federal government. and normally i support it. but i support it if it has been authorized. the programs the gentleman from north carolina have identified have not been authorized. therefore, it is appropriate that the gentleman from north carolina be supported in his amendment to just reduce them to the amount that gets us to flat funding. flat funding is a reasonable request for programs that are not authorized. let's get those programs re-authorized if that's what the american people want and the congress wants. and let's do it in a way that makes sure these programs are authorized in a way that recognizes 21st century priorities. that should happen at the authorizing committee level. if it doesn't happen at the authorizing committee level, a couple of things are wroong. either the authorizing -- wrong. either the authorizing committee doesn't have its hands on the steering wheel, or the authorizing committee thinks there needs to be changes that cannot be accomplished if the appropriators keep increasing funding. the incentive for the authorizing committee comes when these programs are flat funded. we should not be funding programs with increases that are no longer authorized. this is a problem throughout government, it's a way to save money in a government that is $19 trillion in debt, and i applaud the gentleman from north carolina for his conscientious, careful, thoughtful, reasoned amendment and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from north carolina. mr. walker: thank you, mr. speaker. my amendment is simple. simply rolls back or reduces unauthorized nondefense accounts to the 2016 levels. with that i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from idaho is recognized. mr. simpson: how much time do i have remaining? the chair: the gentleman has three minutes. mr. simpson: let me responds and tell the story again. we've already gone through this once tonight, about authorizes -- authorizations. i don't think we should fund any program that isn't authorized. i don't think we should flat fund it or fund it. but that's unfortunately what the appropriation committee ends up doing, because the authorizing committees aren't doing their damage job. they're not getting out and re-authorizing the programs. one year, and i will tell the story again, i'll tell it again and again, i suspect, as we go through all of this, when i was chairman of the interior committee, because the endangered species act at that time had not been re-authorized for 23 years. 23 years. i took all funding for listing of endangered species and designation of critical habitat out of the bills. zero fundsed it. we brought the bill to the floor. the biggest supporter of my endment or of my bill, and to ent to the amendment put funding in it for those purposes was the chairman of the resources committee. it's the resources committee's responsibility to re-authorize the endangered species act. but he supported my amendment and after all of that, guess what? they still haven't re-authorized the endangered species act. mrs. lummis: will the gentleman yield? mr. simpson: sure. mrs. lummis: this year the land, water conservation fund expired in its authorization on september 30. in october we began re-authorizing the land and water conservation fund. and reforming it to get it back to its original intent. and before we could complete the process, the appropriators increased funding and re-authorized it for three years. we can't get the reforms we need when appropriators continue to appropriate. the burden should be on the authorizers. i yield back. mr. simpson: yes, i agree with the gentlelady, the burden should be on the authorizers and they should do their job and re-authorize the programs. i still haven't seen the re-authorization for the land and water conservation fund. that was last year. i still haven't seen it. i haven't seen the re-authorizations for any of the programs. the whole state department -- i've yielded. the whole state department is unauthorized. what's the re-authorization? -- where's the re-authorization? what do you want us to do? we will eliminate about 2/3 of the federal government, now, some people might like that, but we would eliminate about 2/3 of the federal government if we said we're not going to fund any of the federal programs. so it's a debate that goes on. i agree with congressman mcclintock. we've got to find a way around this. we've got to find a way to address the re-authorization issue without screwing up the whole appropriation process. and i think we can do that if reasonable people sit down and try to find out a way around this. i think that every committee chairman ought to sit down with leadership at the start of a session and say, this is my five-year plan, and these are all of the programs that are unauthorized under my jurisdiction. this is my five had been year -- five-year plan to get them re-authorized and they ought to follow through on that work plan. i yield back the balance of my time. and oppose the amendment. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from north carolina. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. mr. walker: i ask for a recorded vote, mr. speaker. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from north carolina will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by of florida. at the end of the bill, before the short title, insert the following, section, none of the funds made available by this act may be used to purchase heavy water from iran. mr. desantis: mr. speaker, the iran deal requires iran -- the chair: the gentleman will suspend. pursuant to house resolution 743, the gentleman from florida and a member oppose eached will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. desantis: the jcpoa requires iran to cap its stockpiles of heavy water, doesn't require the u.s. to subsidize or purchase that heavy water thsms a simple funding limitation amendment to an appropriations bill. it's similar to language used throughout the bill. it's a matter clearly related to the use of appropriated funds. i listen to this debate in the senate and people said, we have to spend u.s. tax dollars on getting heavy water, otherwise iran will sell toyota north korea, but understand, it's already against international law to ship heavy water to north korea, so for iran were to decide to do that and violate those anxiouses, we have ay bigger policy issues than simply heavy water purchases. it would call into question the entire iran deal. so instead of suppressing a list of nuclear proliferation of rogue nation, purchasing iran's heavy withouter would stubsdies their nuclear weapons program and allow them to up pair capacity to make dash for nuclear programs. i urge adoption of the amendment and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from ohio. ms. kaptur: i claim time in opposition. the chair: the gentlelady is recognize for five minutes. ms. kaptur: i oppose the gentleman's amendment. this provision doesn't belong on this propings bill. it's an issue best considered by the foreign relations committee. this amendment would prevent the department from spending any fiscal 2017 funds to purchase heavy water, produced in iran, and would undermine the iran deal. this transaction provides the united states industry with a critical product while enabling iran to sell some of its excess hey water as contemplated in the agreement and further ensuring that this product will not be used to develop a nuclear weapon. which is the objective that we all sought when we supported the agreement. heavy water is needed here in our country. we stopped producing it in 1988. and now buy what we need from india and other countries. a portion of this heavy water will be used as a neutron source at oak ridge national laboratory and by manufactures for fiberoptic cable, m.r.i. machines and semiconductors. most importantly, u.s. purchase of this heavy water prevents iran from selling it to those who would choose to use it for the wrong reason. as i stated, i object to this amendment as proposed and urge my colleagues to vote no on the desantis amendment and i yield back my remaining time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. desantis: it's interesting, people talk about the iran deal. what the administration has been doing, they've gone beyond the concessions in the iran deal. if you look at giving access now to dollarize transactions, they said they wouldn't have access to american fbsrble system but iran will have indirect access to the american dollar, that was never called for by the iran deal. that's a concession. nor does the deal require taos spend american taxpayer funds to essentially injection that into the iranian regime and subsidize a nuclear program. i think it's a good amendment. i think our members should vote for it. i reserve the plans of my time. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. the gentleman has all the time remaining. mr. desantis: i yield pack. the chair: the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida, mr. desantis. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. he amendment is agreed to. recorded vote has been canned, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida will be postponed. rsuant to clause 8 -- rather pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order. amendment by mr. weber of texas, amendment by mr. ellison of minnesota, amendment number 1 by mr. farr of california, amendment by mr. garamendi from california, amendment number 34 by mr. pittenger from north carolina, amendment by mr. gosar of arizona, amendment by mr. foster of illinois, amendment by mr. maloney, new york, as amended. amendment by mr. byrne of alabama, amendment 14 by mrs. blackburn of tennessee, amendment by mr. smith of missouri, amendment by mr. walker of north carolina, amendment by mr. desantis of florida. the chair rill reduce to two minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote of the series. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas, mr. weber, on which further proceedings within postponed an on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. weber of texas. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] tatives.] the chair: on this vote the eas are -- the chair: on this vote the yeas are 158, the nays are 260679 the amendment is not -- 260. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from minnesota, mr. ellison, on which further proceedings were postponed and on by the -- on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. ellison of minnesota. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 174, the nays are 245, the amendment is not dotted -- is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 1 printed in the congressional record offered by the gentleman from california, on which further proceedings were postponed, on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number one printed in the congressional record, offered by mr. farr of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 189. the nays are 228. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california, mr. garamendi, on which further proceedings were postponed, on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. garamendi of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote the yeas are 126, the nays are 293. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 34 offered by the gentleman from north carolina, mr. pittengerer, on hich the ayes prevailed by voits vote. the clerk: amendment number 34 offered by mr. pittenger of north carolina. the chair: a recorded vote these in n requested, favor of the recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. . members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] esentatives.] the chair: have all membered voted. the chair: on this vote the yeas are 227, the nays are 192. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote offered by the gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar, on which further proceedings were postponed, on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. gosar of california. the chair: a recorded vote having been requested, those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote the yeas are 230, the nays are 188. he amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from illinois, mr. foster, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. foster of illinois. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote the yeas are 206, the nays are 213. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from new york, mr. maloney, as amended, on which further proceedings were postponed and on whiches noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. maloney of new york as amended. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote the yeas are 223, the nays are 195. he amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment offered by the gentleman from alabama, mr. byrnes, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offer by mr. byrne of alabama. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote the yeas are 233, the nays are 186. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 114 printed in the congressional record offered by the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. blackburn, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 14 printed in the congressional record offered by ms. plaque burn of tennessee. the chair: -- ms. blank burn of tennessee. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 258, he the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for the recorded vote on the amendment from the gentleman from missouri, mr. smith, on which further proceedings were post-pobed, on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. smith of missouri. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 119, the nays are 00. the -- are 00. the amendment -- are 300. the amendment is not adopt. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment by the gentleman from north carolina, mr. walker orange which further proceed wrgs postponed, on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. walker of north carolina. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 128, the nays are 291. the amendment is not agree -- is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida, mr. desantis, on which further proceedings were postponed, on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. desantis of florida. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a vorded -- a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 251, the nays are 168. he amendment is adopted. the clerk will read. the clerk: this act may be cited as the energy and water development and related agencies ppropriation act 2017. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from idaho seek recognition? >> i move that the -- madam chair, i move that the committee do now rise. the chair: the question is on the motion that the committee rise. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the committee rises. the chair: mr. speaker, the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h.r. 5055 directs me to report it has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration h.r. 5055 and has come to no resolution thereon. the unfinished business is the question on the motion to instruct on senate bill 2012 offered by the gentleman from arizona, mr. grijalva, on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will redesignate the motion. the clerk: motion to instruct conferees, offered by mr. grijalva of arizona. the chair: the question is on the motion to instruct, members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned 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 205 and the nays are 212. the motion is not adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the chair will appoint conferees on senate bill 2012 at a later time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: madam speaker, i was detained in my district on official business on may 25, 2016, and i missed the following roll call votes. roll call vote number 238, i would have voted aye. roll call vote number 237, i would have voted no. roll call vote 236, i would have voted yes. roll call vote 235 i would have voted no. roll call vote 234, i would have voted no. roll call vote 233, i would have voted no. roll call vote 232, i would have voted no. and on roll call vote 231 i would have voted no. i ask unanimous consent that this be placed appropriately in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman's statements will e made a part of the record. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i send to the desk a privileged report from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the chair: the -- the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 751, resolution relating to consideration of the senate amendment to the bill h.r. 2577, making appropriations for the departments of transportation and housing and urban development and relted agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2016, and or other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition? >> madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today it adjourn to meet at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute peeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, i rise today in recognition of former congressman william s. stuckey jr.'s 81st birthday today. born in 1935 in eastman, georgia, he attended the georgia military academy and graduated from the university of georgia in 1956. for georgians, he's most known for his time spent in congress from 1967 to 1977, serving the eighth district of georgia and later the ninth district. he went to great length to pass legislation that aided coastal georgia's environmental heritage, including a bill that made cumberland island a national sea shore by the united states national park service. mr. carter: thanks to mr. stuckey the island is an impressive well preserved and secluded maritime force that amazes visitors each year. another environmental bill passed by mr. stuckey made the swamp a federally protected wilderness and created trails that visitors walk along today. i want to thank mr. stuckey for his service to georgia and wish him a very happy birthday. thank you, madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: madam speaker, i ask to address the house, unanimous consent, for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. jackson lee: madam speaker, as we go home for the memorial commemoration, memorial day commemoration to honor the fallen in battle, as we go home to commemorate the next step in the lives of many of the graduates in our districts, it is shameful that we have not completed our work on the full funding to fight the zika virus crisis and respond to the president's request for $1.9 billion. before i left my district on monday, we had a major press conference with the mayor, the community commissioner, the county commissioner, doctors and others, press -- expressing their apprehension and concern about the dangerousness of the zika virus. we were trying to inform our constituents, but we're also pleading for resources to clean up sitting water in tires and to be able to continue the research for a vaccine. one of our experts indicated they didn't know how dangerous the zika virus would be. madam speaker, it is important that we do our job. it is appropriate to take the president's request and pass it, $1.9 billion, to do our job, to fight the zika virus. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does -- the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. lamalfa: thank you, madam speaker. with the house amendments to the senate bill 2012, california's moving in the direction of doing responsible management of california's water resources. since this house has takesen action, the now up to california's senators to no longer ignore the crisis facing our state. we've heard a lot about california's water woes. some falsely claim this bill would prioritize one area over another. but also it includes instead the strongest possible protections for northern california's area of senior water rights. it safeguards the most fundamental water right of all, those who live where water originates will have the access to it. northern california water districts and farmers are strongly in support of this bill. this measure accelerates surface water storage infrastructure projects such as sites reservoir, which this year would have saved one million acre feet of water had been in place already. we can't expect 40 million people to survive on infrastructure designed generations ago. we've heard claims this bill could cause somehow harm to the endangered species act. it lives within the endangered species act and the biological opinions. wildlife agencies currently base orders to cut off the water to people on hunches, not data. this bill would provide actual facts to end arbitrary decisions we've seen in recent years. finally, it allows more water to be stored and used during the high flows during winter storms when river flows are the highest and there would be no impact to fish populations. the delta outflow surpassed record numbers this year and as a result very little water actually got saved and much wasted which could be in the st. louis reservoir. we have to save the people's water from california with smatter -- smarter management. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. duffy of wisconsin for today, after 7:00 p.m., and for the balance of the week. and mr. lamborn of colorado for today, after 7:00 p.m., and for the balance of the week. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. lamalfa: madam speaker, i'd like to make the motion to adjourn had the house. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands adjourned until 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. >> c-span's "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up thursday morning, virginia democratic congressman bobby scott will talk about a report released by the g.a.o. which found that k-12 schools are segregated by race and poverty. the report was released on the the anniversary of brown v board of education. then bruce westerman will join us to talk about the efforts to pass the republican budget and the current budget impasse and the recent bipartisan to restructure puerto rico's $70 billion that's supported by paul ryan. and the lgbt issues. watch thursday morning and join the discussion. > the head of the t.s.a. peter neffenger testified about long waits for travelers around the country. committee members asked about the t.s.a.'s hiring procedures and plans for handling the summer season. and this house homeland security committee is just over two hours. >> the committee on homeland security will come to order. committee's meeting to examine the security challenges brought forth by increased passenger screening and checkpoint wait times. but before i begin my opening statement, i'd like to take a moment of silence for the victims and their families of egypt air 804. i now recognize myself for an opening statement. today we face a crisis at our airports. we've all read the headlines. three-hour long security lines. 430 american airline passengers stranded overnight at o' hare. travelers waiting forever to be screened causing missing flights and murter delays. more than 3,000 bags have failed to get loaded on to planes in time to phoenix. and 80% an increase in wait times at j.f.k. airport compared to this time last year. this is unacceptable. and it is time for congress to act. the administrator of the american people are angry and frustrated as we head into the busiest travel season of the year. starting this memorial day weekend and they deserve answers. this crisis didn't just come out of nowhere. airports and airlines have been sounding the alarm for months. there's no doubt that part of the challenge we face is a high terror threat environment. but wait times are not soaring simply because security is much tighter. it's because the t.s.a. bureaucracy has gotten weaker. the agency has struggled to keep up with the high demand and has been unable to put the right people, the right place at the right time. change is not happening fast enough. emerald neffenger i know you're working hard to reform t.s.a.'s broken brock schism and today i hope i will hear how you will confront this crisis swiftly. but congress will not sit back as the situation gets worse. and that's why this committee and the house of representatives passed legislation to fix this problem. i commend my colleague for offering these bills. among other measures our legislation would accelerate t.s.a.'s precheck program which helps reduce wait times but putting low risk travelers through expedited screening. unfortunately, the senate has failed to pass these bills which in my judgment is unconscienable. and today i'd like to send my message to my colleagues in the other body. it's time to get moving because the american people are fed up with this. this week, we'll introduce yet another bill to attack this problem. and i hope that this time we can give to the president's desk more quickly. and in the coming months we will take a broorder look at t.s.a. including first authorization of the agency which will give us an opportunity to make wider reforms and long-term changes. additionally we land to take up legislation to enhance t.s.a.'s screening partnership program. but as i noted we must also take into account serious aviation threats that we face. and i think the events of the egyptian airliner demonstrate that. although investigators are still working to determine the cause of the egypt air crash, one fact is clear, terrorists are trying to bring down airplanes and the aviation sector is their crown jewel target. this month i led a congressional del gigse the middle east and northern africa to examine the spread of terror safe havens and we walked away concerned that screenings are inadequate with direct flights into the united states. for instance, airports like cairo lack full body scanners to detect nonmetallic i.e.d.'s and they don't have a watch list for screening their employees. this is a concern we know because militants are trying to recruit insiders and inside jobs to take down passenger jets. we seen this twice in recent months including an attack in somalia and one against a russian jet in egypt. but this is not just a problem in the middle east or northern africa. airplane in paris which has 50 direct flights to the united states every day. they fired 70 employees who were spected of having extremists connections. 70. we have to help our foreign partners weed out these extremists. again, the house and the committee passed two bills to ramp up security at overseas airports and yet again, these bills are sitting in the senate stalling waiting for action. it isen conscienable, time for the senate to act. and the president will sign them into law. we cannot afford further delay because american lives are at risk. and as we adapt to the evolving threat, we must make sure that agencies like t.s.a. adapt their business models to keep business flowing smoothly. terrorists would like to urnmine our economy by allowing air transportation to grind to a haul. we asked to make screening more efficient. congress granted real estate cent request to reallocate $34 million to hire new t.s.a. officers before july and to pay for additional overtime for existing personnel. today, we expect you to tell us how you are putting these resources to work and how you're going address the crisis at our airports once and for all. i want to thank the admiral for being here today. we between thank you for your service to our country. and with that the chair recognizes the ranking member of the committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i'd like to thank you for calling today's hearing. i'd also like to welcome administrator neffenger and thank him in advance for his testimony. to be clearing the flying public reliable al estate -- air transit. as you know most administrator, the importance of this role can hardly be understated. the agency is in a critical point. t.s.a. is still implements reforms after covert testing last year revealed serious gap in security screening. now, long lines and record wait times at airports checkpoints are having spill-over effects throughout our entire aviation system. passengers are understandably anxious as they hear stories about fellow passengers who despite their best effort missed flights asking passengers to arrive three hours before a domestic departure is unacceptable. in addition to the stress on passengers to wear the right clothes, decide whether to check baggage y exorbitant fees, and make tight connections, the stress on the ying public is felt most severely by aerial and airport personnel. unfortunately, if the men and women who are the face of t.s.a. who get blamed. the transportation secure officers. travel volume substantially increased. yet t.s.a. has failed to keep pace with this result. as a result, there's an insufficient number of transportation security officers in our in addition's airports. the current situation where is we have too far screeners and too many passengers did not occur without warning. in fiscal year 2011. there were approximately 45,000 million creening 642 passengers. they screened 740 million anticipated passengers. almost 100 million more ssengers and 3,000 fewer screeners. in fy-2017,. the s.a. requested funding to 20 t.s.o. ditional 3 this di not seem like enough. more recently t.s.a. as the chairman indicated has announced t.s.o.'sto onboard 768 by june 15. increasing staffing cre -- resources is certainly a good thing but only if the proper investigate and training occur before more t.s.o.'s add it. administrator neffenger, i want to know if t.s.a. has the money necessary to achieve its mission. at secretary johnson's requested congress reprogrammed $34 million in t.s.a.'s account to pay for overtime and other costs associated with responding to the wait time crisis. while these funds will surely aid t.s.a. in addressing staff and shortages in the short-term moving money around is not a substitute for infusing new money into an operation. t.s.a. should have access to all of the aviation security fees collected by the flying public to boast the secure. yet, the passage of the budget act of 2013, t.s.a. is required to divert $13 billion collected and secure the fees towards the deficit reduction for the next 10 years. is year alone $1.25 billion has been devoted. personally i'm working with peter defozz yo the ranking member on the transportation committee and his efforts to insure that t.s.a. can retain the fees it collects and put it back in the aviation system in the absence of new, more resources are important. with band-aids.a. fixes. patching an filling holes is not the answer. moreover dismantling t. samplet is not the answer. many of think mi colleagues on the other side of the aisle are calling for a return to the -- 11 pry tiization privatization manner. this would not be the way to go. as one prominent airport commissioner recently acknowledged, the benefits of privatization are very marginal and there's a huge cost in time associated with the transition. we need to look for long-term solutions. one solution as i've indicated and have written a let tore you, mr. administrator, is to assign t.f.o.'s as 00 behave ordetection officers. as you hoe the spot program has been subject to a d.a.o. review. and it's questionable about its success. but we spent $1 billion on this program. and we could put that money to good use. i look forward, mr. neffenger, look around the committee room here. all our members use the airports to come to work every week. and i'm sure like i, they are anxiously awaiting your testimony. i yield back. >> i thank the ranking member. other members are reminded that opening statements may be submitted to the record. i'm pleased to have admiral neffenger on this very important and timely topic. admiral peter neffenger serves as a sixth administrator of the transportation security administration where he leads operations at more than 150 airplanes within the united states and a workforce of almost 60,000 employees. prior to joining t. samplet, the admiral served as the 25 vice commandant of the coast guard and the deputy coast commandant. we thank you, sir for being here today. and we thank you for your service. your full written sthramente appear in the record. the chair now recognizes admiral neffenger. admiral neffenger: thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. i sin serely appreciate the operations insuring that our operation has the resources. since taking the oath of office, i have traveled throughout the country and around the worldle to meet with employees at all levels of our agency and they are truly impressive. their patriotism, their sense of duty and their commitment is exemplary. but we need a many chure enterprise for unwaivering support from their leaders. last week, egypt 805 crash into the med terrain yain. it was a tragic loss of life. and while we don't yet know what happened to that airplane it is a stark reminder of the importance of t.s.a.'s daily mission. most, i have undertaken a system. i set a renewed focus on security. made investments in new technology and have retrained the entire workforce. we are holding ourselves accountable to high standards of performance. i'm supporting the front line officers. we have invigorated our partnerships with airplanes and the trade and travel industries and are working hard with congress and this committee. i'm investing in our people. wand the help of congress i directed a complete overhaul of our approach of how we train our workforce at all levels of the agency. we accomplished the first academy in january 1st of this year. this will enable us to develop a common culture, instill our core values and raise the performance across the entire workforce. this has led to a number of significant changes. elimination of the arbitrary yeast use of the assignment. and significant controls on bonuses at all levels. we are overhauling management practices, conducting acquisition program, building a planning, budgeting and ex-cukes process and building a human capital system to address assignment and retention. the screening mission require as similar fundamental reassessment. this year we will screen some 740 million people. in 2013, we screened 640 million. that's an increase of is00 million while our workforce has reduced by more than 12%. that is a significant contributor to what we face today. we have ra challenge this summer which we are aggressively meeting head on. >> we have the command center to screen check-point e point operation. and actual wait times which will allows to address critical concerns in realtime. this includes staffing from associations. and they are conductings daily calls to plan that day's operations and what we foresee in the coming days. our goals are to insure effective screening and to mactsmies our screening capacity to achieve shorer line waits. additionally we are providing more overtime and new t.s.a. officers. we are converting with the help of congress. our frontline officers from fart time to full time. they and help improve their retention and moral. and i thank you for supporting these efforts. to perform zigsnal screening functions. and they've done so. and they put it sbook the screening checkpoints. we have deployed additional canine teams and and asked our reserve to be available in areas of greatest need. we are seeing enrollments that are averaging thr than almost three times what we saw last year at this time. >> i brought in new staff from outside the agency. i have a new deputied a administrator, a new chief of staff, a new chief of operations a head head of intelligence. i've selected different changes at the national airport levelings. -- levels. eet adjustment -- immediate it eachncluded the passengers day. we must match operational capacity to the demands are projected and real screening volume. we are continuing to work closely with the didn't and a congress to allow us to match resources with mission demands. finally in aggressively pursuing solution, we accepted a task force to explore and develop new approaches. one example is a private partnership where the first two lanes bame operational as they. we look forward to the results of those -- of the first coupling of weeks of that operation. we have have similar projects. and the airlines and airports have been huge partners. clearly it's going to be busy. t.s.a. airlines, airplanes. working together can improve the passenger experience? >> wing, we maintain security that we need. s.a. is dead indicated and -- the guidingly principles are focused in mission, invest in people and commit to excellence. we are pursuing these objectives every day. as administrator i will continue to do so until we achieve success in every mission, in every office and with every single employee. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you, admiral. i recognize myself for questions. let me just say first, all americans experience the horror on 911 of airplanes being turn into cruise missiles and turned against us, bring down the world trade center. hitting the pentagon and attempting to hit this building. it still remains the crown jewel of aviation. >> we know that they're still intent on this. we know that's sys and the sinai sharmel sheik.ll i recently had experience to go to northern sinai where isis exist. i also went to the cairo airport which has a daily flight into j.f.k. airport. and i have to say i'm concerned about the state of security there. i'm also concerned of the state of security at charles dego where 70 extremisted were weeded out. and we this is the ex-ternlt operation. that keeps me up at night can. you tell me, sir, what t.s.a. is doing to protect this last point of departure particularly in these high threat areas. >> yes, sir, thank you. mr. chairman and like you i'm very focused on the safety of inbound flights to the united states. so we look at -- there are a number of things we. do first and foremost is working through the international community to continually try to race global standards. in addition with respect to last point of departure. we put additional standards for any airport that intent to fly of the united states without any intermediate stuff. that increase screening of the cargo, and the aircraft. and investigate anyone who was on that flight coming to the united states in addition to at following the metro jet relationships. at certain airports of interest and concerning the rezwhroon have add significant additional requirements of aircraft and personnel intending to fly directly from the united states. >> this legislation i mentioned, the stipulate senate would help you and give you authority to assist these airports with flights coming into the united states. it has not -- it's been stalled. you know, when i didn't see full body scannered in cairo that concerns me because of the nonmetallic i.e.d. threat. this can be fixed. we can't come beat them to properly vet their own employees. i worry about this -- sir. and i hope that i can work with you. to expedite this process. i meet with theer jangesd president and ambassador. they're working in good faith with the united states to insure the safety of americans as well. with respect to the lines in the there budget request, was a request for an additional 250 screeners. but t.s.a. came back to the congress and asked for to have 34 million reprogrammed. and we granted that request for 768 t.s.o.'s which will come online i think by the end of june or early july. but this was really not our first rodeo. why didn't we see this coming? >> that's a good question. as you know, when on the heels of the results. it was immediately that one of the challenges we were going to have is enough screeping staff. as you recall we stopped the practice known as managing increase assigning people out of the standards lain r lanes unvetted individuals randomly check into the precheck lanes. was that an unacceptable risk? i knew that that could whoa dramatically increase back in the standard lanes. so i came to congress and congress was very gracious in granting a request to halt any further reductions. we had plan to drop another 16 billion people. and then we immediately had to do accelerated hiring. fy-2017.on top for the near term challenge of the increased boy. and moving so to move that. but you know there's a leg associated with geg getting the funding and getting it fired. >> but you have a lot of part-time employees -- staff. do you intend to make it a second request to reprogram money's that have already been appropriated. t.s.a. to move them part-time to full time. it's i think it's important for them to move to the full-time and it droms the capability that i could put to use. i'm working with them whether there's a need for a second reprogramming. >> 20% of your employees are part-time in my judgment they're trained to do the job. seems to me that would cause overnight would ramp up your personnel forced to deal with the long lines. and we know we anticipate those o going into the summer. earlier we planned to introduce. and when you met with 30 airplanes and 30 airline representatives. they expressed concerns that there was not the proper coronation at the local level with the field, security rectors at t.s.a. that the staffing model didn't reflect the peak. and in large part this would olve a lot of these staffing problems. they weren't 'em pow we ared to make decisions baye based on what's happening at the local airports. do you agree with that? >> i absolutely agree with that. last time i brought the directors together. to direct them. i like institutionalizing ideas like that so they stay. because i think that's an important way to go forward. >> that's what this legget would do. it would require t.s.a. to assess the staffing. allocation model. >> and also demanned to fw get from the airplanelines and the airplanes. would you agree with that? >> je. >> i'm like to mange that a ermanent program tiss. rome about the air importants. there are if they can be ke di ploy. so a lot of these problems -- i think the ranking member mentioned this. in this statement. that they would be an inappropriate response. . >> i think it's important to also note that behavior detection is still an important element but it's how you use it elect ily . can use document checking positions and to serve place where is they can monitor and look at behavior but at the same time directly contribute to theer efficiency of the checkpoint. finally do you support -- do you expect of expanding. it would move a lot of people into the long lines which would solve many of these problems as well. >> absolutely. in fact, that's one of the fundamental priorities is to ramatically and to spend and the ability to enroll people in precheck. >> they're putting a lot of blame on you. we psed a bill out of this committee to expand the precheck program which would have helped the situation. >> there he is. stalled in the senate. >> they could have helped this problem months ago. it's uncon shonness sometime they don't listen to us in the house. but for the -- it's time for the senate to act on this important legislation. wand that i'll recognize the ranking member. > thank you, mr. chairman. put that chart up. i have a chart that kind of crystallizes what i think is the challenge that t.s.a. is faced with. n fy-2011, we had 45,000 t.s.o.'s. 642 million passengers. 740 million had t.s.o.'s.2, 200 i guess the question comes in mind. what do you think the number of t.s.o.'s you need to address the problem we are faced with now? >> well, thank you for the question. i do think that we are at a lower staffing level than we need to be to meet demands. determine the right number and how to deploy people. e converted 100 part-timers to full-times. and we're using overtime hours to convert additional and we added a total of 2050 officers. 58 right now. that in connection with some operational ajustments have dramatically increased the situation. i think -- i don't have a an exact number because we're reworking them to. but i do know that we need a higher level than what we currently have. >> and i look forward to you coming up with the number. do you have presently the resources to address the problems, the wait time and other the reprogramming has helped considerably. it has allowed me to immediately put resources into it. the most effective approach is to get part-time to full-time so i can get trained people working longer hours. that reduces my attrition rate. my ability to avoid churn. it allows me to redeploy some of my canine teams. >> after the airlines and lamented baggage

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