god we are grateful to be here in this place today these representatives of good entrusted by the citizens of this country to govern our nation in the midst of a world of rapid change  challenge of diversity and need this is a solemn and daunting task it is an extraordinary responsibility and schilens which calls for courage and conviction integrity and honor understanding and compassion intelligence and commitment as these members of congress gather today to do the important work before them god and your grace  compassion your courage your wisdom your strength and your understanding by the will and work of this house be carried out so the people of this land they live in freedom and hope and sharing your battle blessings that i'm a speaker i rise today to recognize reverend roy p smith of little rock arkansas i first met roy in one nine hundred ninety two when he moved to my hometown of prescott arkansas to lead the charge that my family and i belong to the first united methodist church of prescott during his three years in my hometown roy was my pastor my spiritual adviser and a leader in our community at the time roy along with his wife sandy daughter martha helen and son andrew left prescot to move on to their next assignment up the road and malvern arkansas roy had become one of my closest and most trusted personal friends  family in the smith family will be forever linked together by a strong and lasting bond of friendship and it is a distinct pleasure to have reverend roy smith here today to open this legislative day in the united states house of representatives with this call full and meaningful words of prayer as we go about doing the work of the people may we remember the prayer reverend roy smith delivered on the floor of the u s house of representatives this day madam speaker i yield back the balance of my time what purposes the gentleman from north carolina writes thank you without objection thank you mr speaker the democrats are setting some records this week but these are not landmarks we should be proud and fact it won't make the democrats famous but it will most certainly make them infamous the democrats are poised to pass a three hundred ninety two billion dollar tax increase on this house floor the largest tax increase in american history rewind to nine hundred ninety three the last time the democrats had control of this house chamber and what did they do they propose the largest tax increase in american history their one upping their own history it's amazing mr speaker that means one point one hundred fifteen million americans will see taxes increase on average by one thousand seven hundred ninety five dollars this isn't chump change it's real money to the american people and why do democrats feel they're entitled to this money because that's what they with their democrats they tax they spend it's not a new idea they've been at it for seventy years if it weren't so infuriating it would just simply be so sad you'll back of out of my time the gentleman's time has expired what purpose is gentleman from ohio  riders without objection the president's threat of the use of military force against iran is an impeachable offense when our commander in chief says all options are on the table it is unmistakable that means a military strike even the use of nuclear weapons instead of inviting calamity upon himself our nation and the world president bush should reopen serious diplomatic negotiations with iran to deescalate tensions and resolve all issues including iran's use of nuclear power we must reject the idea that war is inevitable in the war as diplomacy by another means and work to remove the varies of misunderstanding between iran and the u s and iran in the region instead of making statements or passing resolutions which sets the stage for conflict with iran members of congress who convene to seek a way to avert military conflict with iran i'll be contacting my colleagues to discuss how we can create a course of action which creates peace through integrating iran with the world community and addresses all the issues which are at the core of the conflict back has expired for what purposes the gentleman from texas rise request mission to address the house one minute without objection speaker tenacious stored in one thousand year old freshman at texas a and m was looking forward to spring break in coming home to houston to visit with her mother there was one problem coming home however her possessive ex boyfriend timothy schaeffer would not leave her alone the nation or that he would contact her even though she had repeatedly told her she wanted to move over move on he and his male ego refused to accept this and on march fifteenth the nation might one final to have to cut the ties with this harasser she told him that she was someone else and it was over schaeffer decided he could not have her no one would and he strangled this young college student this was not the end of the barbaric act he needed to get rid of her body so he dismembered to neisha and then he barbecued her on his apartment patio grill the burning of her body took two full day shepherd did all this to the person he claimed to love timothy shepherd has been charged with murder for his grisly crimes the people  will probably decide what to do with barbecue killer love is not harassment control or abuse you never hurt someone you claim you love and if you do whoa to you because justice will rule the day and that's just the way it is you back then as time has expired for what purpose is the generator from california rise without objection thank you mr speaker and good morning a budget is a blueprint of the party's values and this week democrats will bring a bike to the house floor that cares for our children and our families without raising taxes for the first time in six years we have an opportunity to pass a budget that actually finds balance in the next five years something that republicans never did while they controlled the house and something the president continues to refuse to do we want to get our fiscal house in order so that our children are not forced to pay off our debt decades from now at the same time we're paying down our debt we also invest in our children making sure they have access to quality health care and to quality education the democratic budget substantially increases the s chip program which will allow our states to insure millions of children who are now uninsured in california at the healthy families program we also provide seven point two million dollars over the president's budget for education funding which includes a leave no child left behind special education and helping students better afford college mr speaker the democratic budget values our children puts them their family budget surveillance they do so by cutting spending and having fiscal discipline it's time we make the same common sense choices on a federal level this week in the house we will begin debating a budget plan for the fiscal year two thousand and eight a budget proposal introduced by my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle would impose the largest tax increase in american history nearly four hundred billion dollars over the next five years their plan would institute a three thousand dollar tax increase for every typical michigan and put off needed entitlement reforms for at least another five years congress needs to pass a balanced budget bill without raising taxes we can make tax relief permanent for hardworking american families and reform unsustainable and parliaments the american people long for a congress that puts our fiscal house in order on a federal level labor what they want this done without expanding the size and scope of the federal government i urge my colleagues to oppose any budget plan that embraces a spend now reform later mentality and he'll back it up as time has expired for what purposes the gentleman from tennessee rise without objection mr speaker last week this democratic house delivered on its promise to move the iraq war in a new direction we approved a very serious piece of legislation includes the recommendations the president the nonpartizan iraq study group and the pentagon the president responded to iraq invite ascribing it as political theater and threatening a presidential veto how can this be political theater if we're putting some real teeth into the benchmarks that the president himself established for the iraqi government earlier this year let's not forget the president's own words i've made it clear to the prime minister and iraq's other leaders that america's commitment is not open ended if the iraqi government does not follow through on its promise it will lose the support of the american people said president bush those are his words this legislation passed last week puts in law the president's demands that the iraqis meet his benchmarks you would think the president would support such action instead he calls of political theater so much for holding the county iraqi government accountable the president should reconsider his veto threat it could be the theater of the absurd thank you the gentleman's time has expired for what purpose is the gentleman from new jersey rise without objection because the speaker was the speaker they say when you get out on friday night that's exactly what happened last friday when the justice department released documents indicating that attorney general gonzales led a meeting of top aides to discuss the firing of s attorneys this document completely contradicts the attorney general's all statement that he did not quote dissipate in any discussion and only have cursory not the u s attorneys this vessel the attorney general's contradictions well followed yesterday by a justice department official taking the fifth and refusing to testify this is unacceptable particularly after going salis themselves said all justice department officials will be made available to congress the administration needs to make justice department  the gentleman from oregon arise one without objection george bush and the republicans and spend our country to the verge of bankruptcy they've doubled our foreign debt to increase our national debt by sixty percent george bush has accumulated more debt than every president who preceded him in the united states of america and they've done it on the credit card and guess who's going to get the bill in their world after the limit a taxes for the wealthy it's going to be the middle class and they're go get hit quite they're going to get the bill and their kids and grandkids are going to get the bill and the programs that middle income americans like to waste in assistance for the kids to go to college the bushies cut those that their sense of fiscal responsibility there over here the gentleman s north carolina oh the largest tax increase in history no we're allowing the tax cuts for the wealthiest among us people weren't over two hundred fifty thousand dollars a year people who have a stake worth more than five million dollars we're asking that once again they pay their fair share if you will not be a penny increase on the lincoln family so they can make up anything they want but it's not true but yes the wealthy would pay a little bit more that's why they're squealing so much because the republicans get their money from the wealthy to try and make it for our country purposes generated from west virginia runs without objection thank you thank you mr speaker hero is not a label that should be employed carelessly and in a time when our country has many heroes serving abroad our rice today hero to honor a hero at home corporal ronald fletcher a member of the jefferson county sheriff's department corporal for what year was pursuing a burglary suspect into a home last month when he was shot twice in the chest and once in the arm only twenty six years old he lay seriously wounded in the house with the suspect until his fellow deputies were able to remove him safely today just one month just one short months after the innocent i'm proud to share that corporal fletcher is home and well on his way to recovery as a testimony to his profound sense of duty he recently complained about being bored in his home full of fruit baskets and is eager to return to service mr speaker i salute the heroism of corporal fletcher and the valor of the jefferson county sheriff's department and west virginia is to grateful for their service generated back for what purpose a gentleman from kentucky rise without objection and mr speaker for to along many of america's toughest challenges have gone on address while massive debt was piled onto the backs of our younger generations now the democratic led house has proposed a budget that takes our nation a new direction and reaches balance in five years while lowering the deficit by contrast the president's proposed budget does not achieve balance at all despite his promises to do so the house budget also puts in place pay as you go spending principles finally requiring our government to balance and prioritize spending the way all american families must do restoring fiscal integrity is not only good for the budget bottom line but it's also important to protecting our national security since much of our nation's debt is to foreign governments mr speaker the democratic budget resolution begins the process of restoring fiscal integrity to the left over republican mess of reckless spending massive deficits it's time for a balanced budget that meets the needs of american families without mortgaging our future to foreign interests i feel that it is time has expired for what purpose and gentleman from colorado writes for the for permission to address the house one without objection thank you mr speaker and good afternoon over the last three months this new democratic house has paved the way for a new direction in america during the first one hundred hours we passed legislation increasing the minimum wage giving the federal government the ability to negotiate cheaper prescription drug prices making college more affordable by cutting interest rates in half on student loans and fully implementing the nine eleven commission's recommendations we provided valuable oversight of the bush administration's failings at both the justice department and that walter reed hospital had we not conducted oversight hearings of the horrendous conditions at walter reed several incompetent administration officials would still be on the job then last week we approved an emergency supplemental spending bill that provides critical funding for our soldiers and our veterans while holding the iraqi government accountable for taking control of iraq and this week we will pass a budget that is balanced within the next five years mr speaker the american people ask for a change in a new direction and this congress is delivering i yield back the gentleman's time has expired for what purposes gentleman from pennsylvania was on without objection team is a combat force the provides division corps or joint task force commanders unique capability across a whole range of operations on this upcoming district work period i'll be visiting for india town gap in pennsylvania that have an opportunity to tour their striker program the striker is a survivable and sustainable path that of true transportation it can take soldiers safely into a range of environments for more humanitarian assistance and we must do whatever they we can to defend our troops from harm and the striker provides just that protection pennsylvania has the largest army national guard a united states with a twenty eight if a tree division being the premier division with a large number of soldiers in a high state of readiness i commend the stryker brigade combat team and the entire pennsylvania national guard for their fine service to our country and representing pennsylvania with author that mistake or venomous time has expired for what purpose the gentleman from our ri yes without objection mr speaker when hundreds of billions of dollars of u s taxpayer money is being spent on a war overseas this important there be benchmarks and consequences if they are not met last week the house approved an emergency war supplemental that will finally hold the iraqi government accountable by measuring its performance on standards that president bush himself outlined earlier this year under the plan passed here last week the president must report to congress this summer on the progress iraqi government has made on these key benchmarks if the iraqi government lives up to its promises our troops will remain there until next year if however they do not meet the president's own benchmarks by this summer we will begin to redeploy our troops out of iraq immediately this accountability is particularly critical after the release of a defense department report showing that the iraqi government is not close to meeting any of these benchmarks mr speaker it's time that the iraqi government realizes that the american troops are not going to be in iraq indefinitely and that they have to begin seriously taking responsibility for their own nation i yield back the balance of back to what purpose is  gentleman from florida rise the call of house resolution two sixty nine and ask for its immediate consideration the part report the resolution house calendar number thirty three house resolution two sixty nine resolved that upon the adoption of this resolution that you'll be in order to consider in the house of the bill h r eight thirty five to reauthorize the programs of the department of housing and urban development for housing assistance for native hawaiians all points of order against the bill and its consideration are waves except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one the bill shall be considered as read the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the build  without intervening motion except one one hour of the veda equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on financial services and two one motion to recommit with or without instructions section two during consideration of h r eight thirty five pursuant to this resolution not was standing the operation of the previous question the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as be designated by the speaker days to revise and extend their remarks on house resolution two sixty nine without objection this is speaker house resolution two sixty nine provides for consideration of h r eight thirty five the hawaiian homeownership opportunity act of two thousand and seven a close rule providing one hour of general debate in the house equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on financial the rule waves all point of order against the veil and against its consideration except for clauses nine and ten of rule twenty one the rule provide that the bill shall be considered as r finally the rule provides one motion to recommit with all the without instruction this is big i do not intend to speak very long about this legislation other than to express last week and it was voted out unanimously out of the financial services committee all by a voice vote it was all hold in the hope of so many native hawaiians that the house would support it with as much enthusiasm as did the committee of jurisdiction on fortune as we all now know there are some in this body who believe that it is in their best interest to create a partisan divide where no such division should exist they have in my opinion falsely accused my friend and representative from hawaii bill is not a bill aimed at achieving native american status for native home while you no matter how important that issue may be this bill provide low income native hole y and access to the american dream they just like all of us in this body have had at one point in our lives all dream to own a home this bill brings them one step closer to realizing that dream shame on those who continue to paint this bill as anything other than what it is i  colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation which is so critically needed i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman from texas is recognized thank you mr speaker i rise in opposition to this close rule and a potentially unconstitutional measure that the democrat majority is presently bringing before the house also arrives in opposition to the majorities gaming of the system by bringing this legislation up under a clo rule with no input from the minority even after this measure failed to win the support of two thirds of the house when it was considered under suspension of the rules just last week i believe that the one hundred sixty two no votes that were cast last wednesday prove that this measure carries with it some measure of controversy i've heard the gentleman from florida explained very clearly and carefully in addressing this issue  for us to understand that in fact nothing more other than the words that are on the paper are intended and implied in this bill however i would say that there is also room to make sure that not that's not only correct but also to improve this legislation and i'm also confident that an overwhelming number of members would likely support the final measure if they were given a chance to improve it through the amendment that perhaps we are hearing that the majority intended perhaps in the first place or at least did not and intend to make it happen unfortunately and was becoming a standard practice for the rules committee last night the democrat majority rejected along party lines the only amendment offered to this legislation that would have offered the solution on behalf of the one hundred sixty two no votes this man was offered by my colleague  simply would have made it clear that there was nothing in this legislation that should be constructed to confer a special relationship between the united states and the native hawaiian people for the purpose of establishing a government to government relationship this amendment is necessary because in two thousand the supreme court decided in rice vs kaia tano that the current configuration of justices would likely strike down most federal benefits flowing to native hawaiians as an unconstitutional racial set aside if given a chance except amendment or at least allowing its marriage to debate be debated and voted on congress would have had the opportunity to make it crystal clear to any future court that this legislation should not be construed as congress of uses power under the indian commerce clause to indirectly confer well status on the native hawaiian people i will take the words that have been given to me by the gentleman from hawaii m as well as the gentleman from the rules committee mr hastings that they do not intend this legislation in any way and it should not be construed as told to the minority that they would intend to pass power under the indian commerce clause to and directly confer probable status on to the native hawaiian people i will take them at their word as the understanding and the basis and the intent of this legislation but i shutting out this amendment the democrat majority has done really nothing to address the concerns of the one hundred sixty two members of this body who do believe that this legislation under consideration is vague at best and unconstitutional at worst nor have they done anything to clarify the intent of this legislation through the courts and while mr speaker you and i recognize that courts in their deliberations would look at congressional intent we would like for it to be so stated that while them majority has indicated that amount in this we wish it also beyond form in the way an amendment mr speaker i'm disappointed that once again that the majority has silenced a minority in this effort and disappointed also the by failing to include this amendment congress may very well be opening up this legislation to be overturned by the courts in doing so congress would be depriving native hawaiians the access to the loan guarantee programs provided for in this bill simply for the states rights take of psych of speed at the cost of accuracy and good legislation our to my colleagues to oppose this rule so this legislation can be passed in a clear constitutional way that makes it transparent to the courts that this is not a backdoor attempt to lay the groundwork for other legislation to confer cravell status on the native hawaiian people native hawaiians are just as much a part of america this great land as any of us their history is covered by the constitution and they are a part of this country i oppose this rule and the underlying legislation and i reserve the balance of my time but would notify the gentleman from florida that i have no additional speakers and if he would engage me in a quick colloquy with figure out where we are in terms of moving forward  am going to be the last speaker on our side so i'll reserve my time until the gentleman this calls for his side and as you know the back is time thank you mr speaker i do appreciate the gentleman from florida his conduct on the rules committee him working with the minority on a number of bills we wish we could have been successful on this amendment just the one amendment to add it to this piece of legislation we will take them at their word that they do not intend for this to be any sort of a backdoor attempt to form a government to government relationship with the tribal native hawaiians i will tell you that we do believe that public housing and housing for hawaiian who many times are faced with increasing not only land costs but prices that escalate in the beautiful beautiful state of hawaii that this is a good idea that we should be helping these people of our time i appreciate very much all my friends attitude with reference to this matter and his suggestion that he would accept the representation of our two colleagues from hawaii as well as me and other members of the rules committee i would also urge that your concerns albeit i believe likely to be taken care of on another day have been addressed by the committee that reported this out unanimously unanimously meeting the republicans and the democrats on the relevant committee all voted this matter out i would also urge that the why are you in state legislature has indicated that there are no intentions at all to seek any special status and the governor of hawaii who is a republican also has made it clear that noles special status is sol toward that end it would seem to me all that all this matter having been supported in all i had the enjoyment of the support of two hundred sixty two members last week and that's a total that i hope that we will reach today because this legislation is desperately needed this is an issue of fairness and access urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this appropriate rule and underlying legislation and to clearly understand that it has nothing to do with citizenship and everything to do with ho g the violence of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution without objection the this question is order the question is on the adoption of the resolution all those in favor say  pursuant to clause eight of row twenty further proceedings on this question are postpone is intended to represent the minority on the rules committee he is not here at this time and so until further notice or until his arrival it would be my intent for the gentleman to accept me in his stead all mr speaker the gentleman from florida this is speak about  committee on rules i call up how resolution two seventy and i ask for its consideration the clerk will not report the resolution house calendar number thirty four house resolution two seventy resolved that it any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursuant to clause to be of rule eighteen declared the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the village or fourteen zero one to improve the security of railroads public transportation and over the road musses little united states and for other purposes the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour and twenty minutes with one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on homeland security and twenty minutes equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on transportation and infrastructure after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five minute rule the amendment of the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on homeland security printed in the bill the committee amendment of the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read all points of order against the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute or waive except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one notwithstanding clause eleven of rule eighteen no amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute in order except those prodded in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report may be offered only by a member designated in the report shall be considered as read shall be debatable for the times justified in the record equally divided and controlled by the proponent shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole all points of order against such amendments or waive those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill to the considered as ordered on the bill and amendments there to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions so action to during consideration of the house of h r fourteen zero one  t to this resolution not was standing the operation of the previous question the chairman postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated by the speaker all members have up to five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on house resolution two seventy without objection this is speaker of house resolution two seventy provides for consideration all dates are fourteen all while on the rail and public transportation security act of two thousand and seven under a structured rule the rule provide one hour and twenty minutes of general debate one always to be equally divided in control of the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on homeland security and twenty minutes equally divided in control by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on transportation and infrastructure the rule waive all points of order again consider ration of the bill except those arising under clauses nine and ten of rule twenty one the r provide that them and in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on homeland security shall be considered as an original bill for purposes of amendment and shall be considered as read the rule waive all points of order against the bill importantly the rule makes in order the eight amendments printed in the report accompanying this rule and waive all points of order against such have the opportunity to commence a debate on this very essential piece of legislation five years have passed since the terrorist attacks of september eleven in this body have done a great deal of talking about homeland security our record on the issue suggests all the while under they can control the majority maintain that mandating certain security enhancements will not necessary at the time democrats on the contrary believe that ought and will not allow this need to go on met any longer the fact that this bill was reported favorably out of the homeland security and france quotation and infrastructure committees with near unanimity and of the co sponsorship of the ranking republican a member of the homeland security committee suggests that our concerns all moles universal in this body more all of this rule makes an order of total of eight of him and half of which will be offered by the members of the minority party the rules and the process further prove that democrats refused to allow partisanship to supercede our responsibility to protect the american people congress's prior reluctance to mandate certain that is why i am very pleased that the rail and public transportation security act makes the necessary investments in these absolutely critical enhanced the veil requires that the administration develop a security plan for all forms of cover transportation the bill also creates a system and method under which they are all agencies tasked with the responsibility of protecting our country can work together we don't stop there the bill requires the department of homeland security to expand its coronation network through enhanced communication and cooperation at all levels of government it requires all of the h s to develop security training programs for railroad and public transportation employees and expand whistleblower protections for all provide public or private who provide covered transportation services under this veil the number of surface transportation security inspectors will increase by six times by the year two thousand and ten and the bill mandates that the administration issue regulations requiring enhanced security measures for the shipment of security sensitive materials and requires that the shipments not go through highly populated areas perhaps most importantly this bill pays for these improvements and authorizes seven point three billion dollars in security enhancements to make america safer this is speaker the government accountability office has determined that the united states must provide much more leadership and guidance in constructing a r and security transit plan this bill answers that challenge and fill the void left by the administration's failure to secure all modes of transportation in this country is just like the rule is worthy of the support of this body i urge of our colleagues to support both and the speaker i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman reserves the balance of his time gentleman from florida as rex the other gentleman from about nine a m on the july fifth two thousand and five three bombs went off off within fifty seconds of each other in the london underground less than an hour later there was another explosion in one of  london's double decker buses the bombings killed over fifty people and injured practically seven hundred on march eleventh two thousand and four the spanish people also faced an attack on their rail system like the tax in london and that attack the terrorists exploded multiple bombs on four trains packed with the early morning commuters tax killed almost two hundred and left least eight hundred injured in madrid this week or those attacks were a warning to us on this side of the atlantic that just as terrorists can take advantage of our airlines carry out cowardly acts they can do the same with our public service transportation systems with this in mind the house of representatives last year passed comprehensive rail and mass transit security legislation the legislation was included in h r fifty eight fourteen the department of homeland security authorization act for fiscal year two thousand and seven unfortunately the session of congress ended before that important legislation to be enacted into law public transport transit moves more people on a given day than any other motive transportation worldwide transit sustains the economic vitality of any community in heavily populated areas like miami dade county one of the counties that i'm honored to represent many people depend on public transit for cost efficiency and convenience the provision of safe transit requires a significant investment in technology to protect infrastructure equipment workers and of course the passenger h r fourteen zero one makes it possible for congress to invest in public transportation security and in my district miami dade transit is also responsible for the evacuation of the general public including disabled persons in moments of crisis this bill provides critical funding for evacuation improvements miami dade county would be eligible for funds regardless of whether the evacuation is due to terrorism or natural disasters although miami dade transit has a fleet of over three hundred  sixty paratransit vehicles and over a thousand buses and approximately forty five miles of rail they do not have mobile communication service equipment this means that all modes do not have a way to communicate with each other during an evacuation procedure this bill takes into account those needs and provides for security improvements to station stations surveillance equipment public awareness campaigns and g p s systems like to point out a speak includes that includes risk base rats and their final report to congress the nine eleven commission criticized the existing process for allocation of federal homeland security assistance grants recommending that the distribution not i quote remain a program for general revenue sharing and quote given the limited resources of federal aid distributing grants based on risk is really the only appropriate way  apportion grants in order to ensure that our taxpayer funds are spent as efficiently and effectively as possible we need to focus our resources at those sectors under the greatest threat when i was a member of the select committee on homeland security i worked hard to ensure that homeland security grant funds are distributed through risk based assessments i come and the homeland security committee for following through on the recommendation of the nine eleven commission and including risk as the primary motive for distribution of grants in this legislation speaker yesterday the rules committee met to report out a rule for this legislation the rule that we are now debating closes out several important and germane amendments to amendments five my friend mr michael the ranking member of the committee on transportation and infrastructure or excluded by the majority on the rules committee even though they were germane and obviously from a key committee with your station another of my florida colleagues representative ginny brown waite offered an amendment last night that would have strengthen protections for all sensitive security information related to rail and mass transit plans and procedures that m m it also was blocked by the majority the rules committee i think it was an unnecessary and unfortunate for the majority in the committee on rules to continue to close the legislative process in the one hundred tenth congress but figure one thing and an additional point i'd like to make like to point out to my colleagues the majority is now including in this section two language  which allows the speaker to postpone consideration of the bill at any time and every rule that's including that language now and every rule it's interesting since this is a structured rule means that the bill will be considered in the committee of the whole this is very precedent setting because in previous congresses this language has never been included on structured rules it's typically only included on a closed rule or a modified closed rule where the bill is being considered in the house and not in the committee of the whole and in previous congresses it was only included when debate was scheduled to last more than the traditional one hour in the house so i find this strange because when the house is in the committee of the whole it can simply rise and postpone consideration i find it curious as to why the new majority is extending this authority now to all rules even when that doesn't seem necessary could it be that the majority is intending to quash the minorities loan procedural guarantee the motion to recommit i'm afraid that that may be exactly what it amounts to mr speaker because there is no other procedural excuse for this language being included included in a structured rule it's not necessary for the speaker to have this authority unless they want to postpone consideration just prior to the vote on the motion to recommit this is just another example mr speaker of the seemingly small yet significant precedence that the new democratic majority is setting creating new ways to silence the voice of the minority this time when the speaker i reserve recommit and the time to see it i'm sure my friend is mindful that when the motion to recommit comes to the house floor all that it comes without the members of the house having had an opportunity to know the substance of the motion to recommit i might add all that period of time particularly in the last two we have see that when the minority has presented the motion to recommit winds up happening is even members of the monarch they don't know what's in the most of the recommit therefore it's even more than reasonable that a sufficient amount of time be given for that purpose and i also think in the interest of fairness this is a precedent change we have not seen it for many many years with regard to the motions to recommit what we have seen in this congress is that they often have been passing but that more precisely because of the membership when finding out the merits of the motions or recommit on a bipartisan basis have been have been supporting them but no it is it is of concern and it's important to note that that if there is a step being taken as it seems that it is being taken to limit that very important often sole procedural remedy available to the micro minority which is the most frequent that is very disturbing at this time of mr speaker i would yield three minutes to my distinguished friend from new york mr king gentleman is recognized speaker i yes i my friend from florida for going and i stated today first to commend the gem of the full committee mr thompson for the partisanship has shown the level of cooperation is demonstrated in bringing this bill through the committee process and to the house floor today this was work that was begun in the last congress and now it's been brought to its fruition and i commend the gentleman for that as a lot indicated  there were serious relative acts in britain in two thousand and four two thousand and five in spain in two thousand and four and of course in india and there's no doubt that terrorists certainly would be considering to gravel transit as a base for future attacks here in this country so this legislation is needed it's constructive and on balance it's very positive for instance it's authorized the use of like the teams it does based on funding on the threat and risk and it addresses very very key areas of vulnerability having said that i wish the same spirit of quite partisanship that a profile of the committee level had prevailed in the rules committee because there are a number of amendments which were  in order in fact there was no one memorable than the water which was offered by a member of the homeland security committee specifically a member an amendment by mr longer in which one of i believe addressed deficiencies in the whistleblower language which would have of information requests and two amendments by mr dent as far as screening travelers entering the us interdicting terrorists at the border all four of these amendments would have been very constructive i support of them strongly at the very for longer and for the efforts that he put into this in the previous congress this is registration whose time has come unfortunately it was not allowed the opportunity to even be better than it is so having said that while i support the underlying legislation i most  recognize thank you mr speaker and i thank my good friend from the rolls committee for yielding time on this very very important issue today is a great day and i rise in support of the role and underlying resolution in this matter to improve our security on our rail and bus way systems throughout this country when i was running for this office this was a very very important and significant issue to many people who i represent throughout northeast ohio we have many passengers and others who utilize these services who have unfortunately despite evidence of vulnerability and potential attack have been exposed to the ongoing danger of our failure to secure the system i also am proud to see that in this bill we have protections for whistle blowers will improve the likelihood of a secure and safe transit systems within our country with that mr speaker mr hastings i yield back the balance my time which is controlled by the majority had the opportunity to deliver on that promise by making two of my amendments to this legislation in order to fail to do so and security of our rail and bus passengers and in fact our burden border security in general will be all the worse as a result the nine eleven commission advised the president to direct the part of homeland security to quote design a comprehensive screening system that would target particular identifiable suspects or indicators of risk and give border officials the resources to establish that people are who they say they are intercept identifiable suspects and disrupt terrorist operations close quote they concluded that targeting travel is at least as powerful a weapon as against terrorists as targeting their money and that's a nine eleven commission report recommendation fourteen page three hundred eighty five and it recommended that a terrorist travel intelligence collection analysis program which had quote produced disproportionately useful results close quote should be expanded the first of these amendments involve the advanced passenger information system refer to it today under this program errancy carriers collect passenger and crew biographical data and transmit this data to customs and border protection while the vessel aircraft is on route to united states this is an important  efforts to identify suspects or high risk passengers before and as before they enter the country as terrorists are just as capable of taking a greyhound bus across the border as they are landing at l thought that my amendment which would which would would have required bus and train companies transporting passengers into this country to provide the same advanced information to c b p as do the airlines make sense unfortunately the majority cornerstone of all of c b p targeting efforts at the border a t s p coordinates passenger information and forms an intelligence assessment of a traveler a t s p that makes a simple yes or no determination on whether that international traveler should be flagged for additional screening once this information is received by c b p officials these officials retain the discretion to act or not to act on that information in short a t s p is nothing more tool that can help c b p determine who might be a person worthy of a follow up interview again since we're already using this technology to screen international incoming flights why not apply it to border crossings of trains and buses you know other forms of transportation through which terrorists might try to enter the country why not that was the gist of my m m and once more however the majority on the rules committee shot us down together a fuss and  got the building blocks of exactly the kind of border security program recommended by the nine eleven commission and yet this rule prohibits our consideration of these two programs as part of our and real security structure the majority can talk the talk when it comes to adopting the eleven commission recommendations but by failing to promote these two amendments it is shown that it cannot walk the walk accordingly while i know that for to no one can and will do many good things i asked that i was recognized one additional thirty seconds while i know that this from florida mr brown wait on ladies recognize i think the gentleman for yielding mr speaker i rise in strong opposition to the rule for h r fourteen zero one the rail and public transportation security act of two thousand and seven this rule is overly restrictive because it prohibits several good amendments like my colleague just enumerated as well as an amendment that i had tried to get in the bill i think it's shocking because members are the most knowledgeable about this bill having worked on it for weeks now are members of the committee one of the amendments that the rule excludes was the rule that basically said if we have an assessment out there of perhaps a lack of security or an area that we need additional resources in this information is going to become public think about what the terrorists would do the amendment would have filled the security gap by exempting all sensitive information from freedom of information act requests it directed the secretary of homeland security to issue regulations that would prohibit an authorized disclosure of sensitive information such as security plans vulnerability assessments and risk based criteria mr speaker of the international association of fire chiefs recently wrote a letter supporting my amendment and i ask unanimous consent to include that letter in the record without objection i'd also like to quote two sentences from the letter of those who would be the first responders the association of fire chiefs and the fire chief in your local district it is important that this information be shared with appropriate fire and emergency services and law enforcement organizations to ensure that they are prepared for the accidental or deliberate release of hazardous materials however this information should not be made public because of the serious problems that occur could occur if information about weaknesses in the security of our nation's transportation system sell into the wrong hands mr speaker they said it far better than i could and they would be clearly be the first responders by exploiting these important amendments we are shortchanging the people of america with a bill that's filled with loopholes i ask members to vote no on the rules committee and my colleague from florida for offering this rule the bill passed out of the committee on homeland security was a comprehensive bill i know a number of my colleagues offered amendments and i appreciate their answers and i'm also pleased the room makes an order the manager's amendment i will be offering this and then it was the result of extensive negotiations with my colleagues on oversight and government reform as well as transportation committee's chairman waxman assistant and perfecting the whistleblower protections in the deal chairman overstock work with me on clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the departments of transportation and homeland security in this bill in closing let the chairman i feel this is a good rule it provides for the sufficient debate on this important legislation and it also rules in august several amendments does not allow any republicans on the homeland security committee to offer amendments a wish there were several to of my committee colleague congressman lundgren and congresswoman jenny brown wait i have critically important amendments that w significantly significantly improve this bill however i am pleased to support this bill which my homeland security committee approved unanimously i support this bill because it will provide much needed protections and security improvements for the millions of americans who are our neighbors they travel with our nation's buses the subway system and our train system the rail and public transportation security act will require federal officials  transportation providers to assess our vulnerability to terrorist attacks against these public transportation systems and determine ways to improve their security i'm especially pleased that the bill we are considering today includes t proposals that i made during committee consideration of this measure that i believe will strengthen our security against terrorists attract attacks on a rail and mass transportation systems force the committee adopted in a minute i offer that requires d h as to conduct physical testing of rail cars to determine the most likely successful means of attack against them this is important because no real world vulnerability testing has been done on the safety of tank cars carrying dangerous talk to spot toxic by inhalation hazardous materials my minute remedies that require such tests so that we can properly assess their current vulnerabilities and protect them to the most practical extent possible my proposal also requires real work plume modeling analysis for such attacks to help fill the current gaps in our understanding of these vulnerabilities so that we can better protect our constituents and proceed sponsors from attacks on tank cars carrying dangerous materials and mitigate the consequences second this bill incorporates a tax of an amendment that i  here in the committee's consideration of h r fourteen zero one that requires a security coordinator position with choir under section one hundred three of the bill to be filled by u s citizens and require it which i think makes sense for several reasons s citizenship is required for individuals seeking security clearance for access to classified information and materials i very strongly believe that individuals who will be responsible for coordinating and implementing security plans for our nation's wral and public transportation systems should be able to access when appropriate information to help them do their jobs as affectively as possible i think it just makes sense to put american citizens of sarge of  thank full committee chairman thompson ranking member peter king transportation security and for infrastructure protection subcommittee chair a woman sheila jackson lee and subcommittee chair ranking member dan rundgren for the hard work and open mindedness and crafting this legislation mr speaker we have rightly focused much of our time attention our resources on securing our nation's aviation system and the years since nine eleven i believe  time that we focus on securing our country's public transportation systems which so many of our constituents use each day this bill is a significant step in that direction our it's our colleagues to support this bill thank you m to address you this morning this afternoon and i thank my good friend mr hastings from florida and let me thank the rules committee for the thoughtful and constructive rule that has been put forward and acknowledge believe that we move this bill in regular order we held two hearings first of all the hearing that allowed us to hear from the vastness of government agencies who i guess out of their testimony one could argue that they made a very clear case that we needed a regulatory framework in which to secure the nation's railroads and transit system obviously through the tragedy of london in madrid we knew that the clock was ticking and this committee under the chairmanship of chairman thompson knows that we must advance of all building on the work that this committee of done as a bipartisan committee over the years with a number of chairpersons that we must move the ball forward to ensure the security of the nation's homeland and that means that this particular subcommittee will address questions dealing with not only the questions of rail but of aviation of busts of trucking and as well critical  not have been assessed as closely as we should and so we held one hearing in the second hearing we were able to hear from a number of industry persons to give us again some of the mountains that they had to climb in order to ensure security of the homeland that being so i think this is a comprehensive bill i'm delighted that it includes language regarding research and training whistleblower language that comports with the waxman legislation so we are consistent in the legislative structure i support as well the manager's amendment via mr thompson that of caucuses on some aspects that i think helped the bill there will be some issues that i hope that we can move further along and that is a relationship of consultation between the homeland security department part and transportation as relates to security i think it is key that the part of homeland security and the homeland security committee leads in consultation with a number of our jurisdictional allies i want to thank the chairman of the transportation committee and the ranking member the chairperson of the subcommittee on railroad for congresswoman careen brown we worked very collegiately together and i think this is a strong product might also just indicate that i hope my colleagues will pay close attention to language that would eliminate amtrak from security grants one of the largest votes of passenger transportation  jugglers recognize one additional minute i think the distinguished gentleman in the speaker this doesn't mean that it is still not a vulnerable target it's interesting that if you run your transit system twenty four hours a day for example there has to be a period where there is low passenger senses does that mean that it is any less a threat than it would be during peak times and so i hope my colleagues will consider the vulnerability that the sessions amendment gives  to this whole building the idea of curing extensively the rail system might i suggest that amendments that would undermine the transportation security administration breeding program increase also poses concern because as we know we have not yet had a system in rail travel that addresses the question of security of baggage and so this is a component the breeding program dealing with domestic animals is an important aspect of dealing with the question of security i would also suggest that you don't want to leave out the provision that we have in the old a robust program and that should not be eliminated as well this is a good rule i ask my colleagues to support it and i hope that they will support the underlying r fourteen zero one the rail and public transportation security act of two thousand and seven it follows up on work that we began in the last congress on a bipartisan basis and i would say that the committee acted on a bipartisan basis all the way through it is a shame however that bipartisanship stops at the edge of the rules committee when we made an attempt to ask for reasonable amendments in this regard for members of the committee of jurisdiction the homeland security committee we were rejected and i might just to talk about the one  that i had asked to be considered dealing with a whistleblower protection bill has in it now a provision which is extraordinary in its breath and which is so unique in its application of criminal law  and people wonder why we would be considered concerned about this when we all agree we ought to allow whistleblowers when acting properly to expose wrongdoing the problem is we are in an area it dealing with security and this would allow an employer to make an individualized determination without further review or even perhaps with all the relevant information to disclose classified information we ought to be concerned about that my and then it would have dealt with that have for some reason now in the manage the memo are going to exempt these criminal penalties for many federal employees but we're going to impose them on state and local employees criminal penalties and punitive damage awards and so we're going to have a situation in terms of sensitive information that might be revealed by an employee and therefore action taken against that employee and the government unable to respond to that because under this whistle blower protection law there will not be the ability for the government to talk about protecting basically state secrets and we're talking about here are in areas of sensitive information this goes along with the gentle lady from florida's amendment to try and protect sensitive information both of those amendments were rejected i would hope that members would vote down this rules we might have a chance to do our job at the same time protect sensitive information gentleman's time has expired gentleman from florida mr speaker i would inquire of my go from from florida if he has any remaining speakers one additional then i would  member who had two germane amendments before the rules committee that were shut out and he's the ranking member of the transportation and infrastructure committee mr mica three minutes the gentleman is recognized for three minutes and i thank the gentleman for and i do rise in opposition to this rule i've been here for fifteen years and this is probably one of the most egregious efforts to deny the committees of jurisdiction him put king indicated that there were zero amendments zero amendments on precedent that t n i committee transportation infrastructure zero amendments offered so i must s abuse of minority rights or participation in in the process most importantly i think that one of the rules that we offered from the t n i committee and while all the bill has and the manager's amendment does have some improvements in taking these important security grants from d h s which is had difficulty and managing all their responsibilities and we have the money going through the h s and the grants administered by by the department of transportation which is an improvement it's been my experience that it's not how much money you spend it's how you spend  it we had an amendment that offered a vast improvement which was to conduct a needs and risk assessment on security risk relating to transit and rail which is never been conducted so we're going to take six billion dollars of hard earned tax payers money and put it through this system that i just described and not really address that manet to to the real  threats and risks that we face i don't think that's wise this week and i spent some time in pennsylvania and i went through a couple of towns and i saw a lot of people i saw some tough towns and some of the rural areas traveling up there and i saw a lot of people going to work and working hard sending their money to washington and they're counting on us to to to be good stewards of that money and to spend that money to keep them our number one responsibility  the safety and security of those people in here where a banding that responsibility so they work very hard out there to send that money here and now now see it to not properly applied that's wrong and if the previous is either if the previous question is the feeded i will amend the rule to make an order to amendments mr dent of pennsylvania offered last night at the rules committee mr dent a member of the homeland security committee testified on behalf of his amendments  democratic majority of the rules committee all voted against making these important members in order is amendments would establish a screening program for individuals who are arriving at or departing from the u s through covered transportation namely by passenger rail and bus is a meme which would also require carriers to provide transportation to people entering the u s to provide passenger information to customs and border protection mr dense amendments would implement one of the key nine eleven commission recommendations which stated quote information systems able to detect potential terrorist indicators should be used at primary border inspection lines in immigration services offices and  intelligence and in force and units and quote during the recent campaign the democrats pledge to enact all of the nine eleven commission recommendations by not allowing mr dense amendments they are ignoring a loophole for the terrorists to explode and to exploit and are a nagging on a promise they made to the american people to protect them mr speaker i ask permission to insert in the record a copy of the a memo and extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question mr speaker  regarding the resources that the american public provide to the united states government for its  distribution he seems to decry the fact that this year we are going to spend seven billion dollars on rail security miles of acquired skill would be what did you spend on rail security last year the year before and the year before and the year before that somewhere along the line i believe that the american people want us to make sure all that already all system and i'll bus system are as secure as we can make them this is a scot in that direction i also heard my friends from orlando say that the rule itself is the most egregious that he's seen in fifteen years well i've been here every one of those fifteen years that he has been here and if he wants to see greeters then travel with me in the four years in the minority that i was on the rules committee and i will show you he greets us now list the speaker the now moment commission gave the transportation security administration a c minus for its efforts to develop a security strategy for all molds of transportation as i previously mentioned has said that the us has failed to provide the appropriate leadership in enhancing all forms of covered transportation something needs to change and th provides the necessary leadership in quandong to move us forward for too long congress has neglected its responsibility to do whatever is necessary to protect the well being of the american granted to the minority when democrats win the monarchy i urge my colleagues to support both the substantive legislation and this rule and i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution that gentleman years back the balance of his time the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution those in favor say aye those opposed no the eyes adoption of age rents to sixty nine order and the motion to suspend the rules on h read as to six six this is a fifteen