the chair: on this vote, its yeas are 167, the noes are 257. he amendment is not agreed to. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from colorado, mr. polis, 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. polis of colorado. 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 epresentatives.] the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 180 and the noes are 244. he amendment is not -- the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 180, the nays are 245. the amendment is not agreed to. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on an amendment offered by the gentleman from nevada, mr. heck, 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. heck of nevada. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a 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 156. the noes are 268. he amendment is not agreed to. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida, mr. garcia, 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. garcia of florida. 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 .s. house of representatives.] the chair: on this vote the yeas are 186. the noes are 236. he amendment is not agreed to. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> i move that the committee do ow rise. the chair: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. does the gentleman have a motion? >> i move that the committee do now rise. the chair: the question is on that the committee rise. all those in favor say aye. all 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 -- nder consideration the speaker: 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. 2217 and has come to no resolution thereon. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, i have the honor to transmit here with a scanned copy received from all-y allen, director of elections and information technology, missouri, secretary of state's office, indicating that according to the unofficial returns of the special election held june 4, 2013, the honorable jason smith was elected representative to congress for the eighth congressional district, state of missouri. with best wishes signed sincerely, karen l. haas, clerk. the speaker: the house will be in order. members will please take their seats. for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? mr. clay: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from missouri, the honorable jason smith, be permitted to take the oath of office today. his certificate of election has not arrived, but there's no contest and no question has been raised with regard to his election. the speaker: without objection, so ordered. will representative-elect smith and the missouri delegation please present themselves in the well of the house? and will all members please ise? and will representative-elect smith please raise his right hand? do you solemnly support and swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states, foreign and domestic, that you'll bear allegiance to the same, that you take this freely without mental reservation and you will well and faithfully discharge the duties on the office for which you are will to enter so help you god? congratulations. you are now a member of the 13th congress. without objection, the gentleman from missouri is recognized for one minute. mr. clay: thank you, mr. speaker. as the co-dean of missouri's u.s. house delegation, i want to congratulate and extend a warm welcome to my newest colleague, congressman jason smith. mr. smith is an attorney, fourth generation farmer from southeast missouri, and he has distinguished himself as one of the youngest speaker pro tempores in the history of the missouri house. he follows in the footsteps of my dear friend, former congresswoman joan emerson, who represented -- jo ann emerson, who represented missouri's eighth congressional district for 17 years and i now we can ann, and i know mr. smith will continue her legacy of public service. and now i am pleased to yield to my good friend and colleague , mr. graves. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to also welcome mr. smith to the u.s. house of representatives. he's a fourth generation farmer but seventh generation missourian and he's been living on the same farm that his great grandfather once lived in. he graduated from my alma mater, university of missouri, and has been involved in agriculture and practicing law and as a farmer -- i don't think we can have enough farmers in this body. mr. speaker, missouri is known as the show me state. and last night jason smith won special election with over 67% of the vote. i think that shows that he's truly the representative of the eighth district of the state of missouri. it gives me a great deal of pleasure to yield the rest of our time to the gentleman from the eighth district of missouri, jason smith. jason. mr. smith: thank you very much. first, i'd like to thank congressman clay and also congressman graves for your kind remarks and also the missouri delegation. thanks for being here and it's great to have that support right behind you. you know, less than 18 hours ago i was standing before friends and family in my small town of salem, missouri, and just got elected. we hit the ground running and wanted to make sure that we didn't waste any time to get up here. so all i can say is that i truly look forward to working with every member of this body. there's 435 of us. my goal is to get to know each and every one of you and help move the country forward one step at a time. i know that we're not going to agree on everything, but you know what, we need to find those places that we do agree on the issues and then come together and work for the better. and i think that we can do that, and i look forward to working with the entire chamber, and it's truly and honor and pleasure to represent the fine folks in south east and south central -- southeast and south central missouri, following in the footsteps of jo ann emerson and thank you and i look forward to working with you. the speaker: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under clause 5-d rule 20, the chair announces to the house in light of the administration to the gentleman from missouri, the whole number of the house is now 435. pursuant to house resolution 243 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further . nsideration of h.r. 2217 will the the gentlewoman from kindly ms. laint, ms. ros-lehtinen kindly resume the chair. the chair: further consideration of h.r. 2217, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for the department of homeland security for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2014, and for other purposes. the chair: when the committee of the whole rose earlier today, an amendment offered by the gentleman from california, has been disposed of and the bill had been read through page 41, line 2. the unfinished business is request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from florida, mr. deutch, 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. deutch of florida. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 8, 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 epresentatives.] the chair: on this vote, the yeas are 190, the nays are 232. the amendment is not agreed to. the chair: the committee will be in order. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois seek recognition? >> strike the last word. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. ms. duckworth: madam speaker, a few days ago, in a new report by the department of homeland security inspector general made recommendations could save taxpayers -- the chair: the house is not in order. the gentlelady will suspend. the gentleman is correct, the committee is not in order. the gentlelady's recognized. ms. duckworth: a few days ago, a new report by the department of homeland security inspector general made recommendations that could save taxpayers $126 million in improved border security. the department of homeland security used helicopters operated by the coast guard and customs and border protection agency for mission support primarily for law enforcement and search and rescue missions. these aircraft are being converted to add 15 years of additional operational life. the report found that while the coast guard properly managed its conversion program, a similar conversion program at customs and border protection led to significant cost overruns and delays that could ground as many as nine of the helicopters beginning in 2014. the i.g. made what i think is a very good recommendation. have the center conduct the remaining h-60 conversions. according to the i.g., the coast guard could convert the helicopters faster and at a lower price tag. this could issue save department of homeland security about $1626 million and speed up the time the aircraft could be operational and patroling our border by seven years. rather than implementing this commonsense taxpayer savings, the department of homeland security is choosing instead to conduct a cost benefit analysis. i think this -- >> the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the -- the chair:, the gentleman is correct, the house is not in order. the gentlelady deserves to be heard. the gentlelady's recognized. ms. duckworth: i think this delay is unnecessary at a time when department of homeland security law enforcement personnel are facing furloughs, this is a missed opportunity to save precious funds and meet the itical coal of improving our border security. i yield to the chairman. mr. dent: as ranking member price can attest, the committee has a long bipartisan history supporting robust funding for the h-60 conversions and the h-60 an recap two helicopters. 'm a pro -- proponent of not paying top dollar. i would like to look into this before drawing any particular conclusions. >> would the gentleman yield? ms. duckworth: i yield to the ranking member. mr. price: i express my agreement with what mr. dent just said. these aircraft are vital for border patrol and air and marine personnel. if there are is a cheaper way to convert, i'm in favor. i yield back. mr. dent: again, i thank the gentlelady for raising this issue. clearly she has some personal experience flying these aircraft and i'm grateful for her service. and i yield back. ms. duckworth: i thank the chairman and ranking member for your attention to this matter and i hope we can work together to ensure that management of this program is improved. i yield back. the chair: the gentlelady yields ack the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> strike the last word. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> mr. butterfield: i thank the chairman and ranking member. i watched the two of you and you work so well and i thank you so very much. over the years i have led an effort here in the house to recognize a group of americans who served our country during world war ii and they are the merchant marines and they have not been properly recognizeded for their service and i'm very sad about that. we are running out of time to recognize the few remaining americans who served as merchant marines when our country needed them the most during world war ii. without weapons or formal training, many risked their lives and too many gave their lives in defense of our great nation during the second world war. for those who are still living, we must not let their efforts go unrecognized while we still have a chance. the recent passing of senator lautenberg earlier this week, the last remaining world war ii veteran in the senate is a strong reminder that our time is running to recognize those who are lesser known but still contributed significantly to the world war ii effort. few have given more to this country than senator lautenberg and i pray his family has peace in the weeks and months to come. he will be missed. it is fair to recognize merchant marines, i re-introduced h.r. 1288, the w.w. ii mariner service act. i have been joined by 81 of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle in support of this bill and i encourage all of my colleagues to co-sponsor this bill. it would award veteran status and limited benefits to the world war ii merchant marine. they operated tugboats and barges in the territorial seas of the united states transporting raw materials, weapons and troops to sustain the war effort. though most of these individuals operated domestically, their duties were not without risk. a tugboat was sunk by a german -boat on march 31, 1942, causing deaths 16 of the 18 mariners. i acknowledge that a point of order would be raised if i was to offer this legislation as an amendment today. however, the legislation before us does address funding that is utilized in support of our coast guard and merchant marines and i couldn't forego the funt to address to rightly recognize the individuals of these individuals before it's too late. i thank you for allowing me to speak on this very important issue and i encourage my colleagues to join me in h.r. 1288 so these remaining americans can gain the recognition they deserve. i thank you and yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. . . . >> they do not pay enough attention to the likelihood that adversaries use could quickly turn to an attack or electromagnetic pulse. this nation's electrical grid is vulnerable and could be crippled by such attack. mr. hudson: it would quickly move beyond the electrogrid. other systems could collapse leaving failure to other critical infrastructures such as communications, transportation, banking and finance as well as the transportation of food and water. as i traveled around my district, i heard from several constituents and experts to see this threat is ever present. while technology's made society more efficient, it's also made us more vulnerable by permeating every aspect of our culture. the assessment that the u.s. is vulnerable to an e.m.t. attack is based on the work of the commission that analyzed this threat for nearly a decade from 2001 to 2008. the posturing commission and several other u.s. government studies arrived to similar conclusions and represent a scientific and strategic p. ensus that nuke e.m. ttack important. i hope they will continue to engage with academic institutions and private organizations to find better cost-effective solutions to protecting our nation's critical infrastructure and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? the gentleman is recognized for ive minutes. mr. pascrell: madam speaker, i move to strike the last word. i rise to express my support for the nonprofit security grant program. the nonprofit security program administered by the federal emergency management agency provides critical support to nonprofit organizations at high risk of terrorist attack. this is not a theoretical threat. this is a real threat. a string of anti-smetic hate crimes took place just -- anti-semitic hate crimes took place in new jersey. i represent. these heinous attacks culminated in arson. the residents, the rabbi, his wife and five children and his father, thankfully the rabbi and his family escaped serious injury in attack and local authorities arrested the suspects and in the process of bringing them to justice. other things have showed the continuing need for these grants as well. , st year a gunman wounded six killed four at a sheik temple in oak creek, wisconsin. a security guard was tragically killed several years ago at the holocaust museum here in -- ngton by a holocaust white spremmist. crimes are not being investigated by white spremmists in this country, just as an aside thought. these are just a handful of the examples showing the vulnerability of nonprofit organizations to attack. the nonprofit security grant program was designed precisely to allow at-risk, nonprofit organizations such as houses of worship, community centers to protect themselves from these types of tragedies by acquiring and installing equipment to secure against potential attacks. these capital improvements include upgrading security measures such as installing alarms, barriers, cameras or controlled entry systems. in fiscal year 2011, the year during which the terrible took plakes inburgon county, the nonprofit security grant program was allocated $19 million. but for the past few years it has been reduced by nearly half to nearly $10 million. despite the ongoing need for this assistance. if we can't protect our houses of worship, what can we protect? the program is funded out of the department of homeland security's state and local programs account and allows the secretary discretion to allocate this funding as she sees fit or he sees fit, whoever's there. i call upon the secretary to allocate at