pray gracious lord almighty god we thank you this morning for your divine blessings upon our country and upon our lives individually with heartfelt concern remember those americans serving our country in uniform today and pray for your protective hand over them blessed and love their families in their absence i asked lord as our source of life and strength that you were encouraging edify us all that we might remain faithful in the task that you have called us to lead today this chamber and its members in the pathway of humility by your spirit to guide them to take up the towel of leadership to meet the needs of our country by lifting up others more than themselves allow their lives as servant leaders to empower all americans to live in like manner this we pray in the name of our lord and savior jesus christ amen thank you the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announced this to the house her profile thereof pursuant to clause wonderful one the journal stands approved the chair receive a message madam speaker a message from the senate madam speaker man secretary i have been directed by the same as we formed the house of the senate has agreed allegiance will be led by the gentleman from colorado mr objection the gentleman from virginia mr welch is recognized for one minute two short years he has been a crossroads the church membership has grown dramatically in its rate of financial giving to world missions to the poor and to the hungry has increased by over five hundred percent he has also worked to establish many local ministries such as saving addicts for eternity which partners with local narcotics anonymous groups to provide spiritual guidance to those struggling for addiction passive and walton first joined the ministry in one nine hundred ninety nine after receiving a master welten for his dedication to spreading the word of the gospel and for his faithful service to our community in northern nj and it is a blessing to have him here today to service o will entertain up to fifteen further requests for one minute speeches on each side of the aisle gentleman from arkansas recognized the line that after running up more debt than the forty two presidents who preceded him three point two trillion dollars borrowed and spent nine trillion dollars total debt on the backs of the american people presiding over a doubling of our international debt to more than two point two trillion dollars last week he proposed that we should borrow and spend on other one hundred ninety billion dollars on the war in iraq nearly six hundred cents he launched this on necessary war subsidies to big oil scandals about no bid contracts the president has read discovered his long lost in her concert enter a fiscally conservative self he's going to cast the first veto of his presidency on a bill that would spend money after an orgy of borrowing spending and mis spending on many dubious things his target ten million low income kids the president stands on principle or is that he's standing on a pile of campaign cash contributed by the insurance industry to the republicans for what purpose the gentleman from arizona right now for one minute without objection so ordered mr speaker it's no secret that earmarks are not fairly distributed but with the new disclosure rules in place this year for the first time it's been documented in an analysis of the house passed appropriation bills c q weekly and taxpayers for common sense found that a disproportionate share of earmarks went to relatively few members of congress now obviously federal priority is a not concentrated in the districts of appropriat leadership those members are simply in a better position to steer federal money home that's hardly a defensible way of spending taxpayer money i've often said that we had higher aspirations when we were elected than to grovel for crumbs  fall from the appropriators table but given the last cited share of earmarks that appropriators got this year here's hoping that enough members will finally say why bother and we can finally on this practice i yield back a gentleman from illinois rise that objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute mr speaker the president has asked for another hundred in one hundred billion more dollars for the war in iraq that's one hundred ninety billion more dollars for more of the same for forty one days for the cost of the war ten million american children would get their health care for one month for the cost of the war seven and a half million american children would get their health care and for one week for the cost of this war two and a half million children would get their health care the president is asking for an open ended open wallet commitment to iraq and the american children get an empty stocking meanwhile under the president's own plan one million american children would lose their health care according to the experts nearly one million children would create a very long line in america's emergency rooms the emergency rooms are president bush's answer to america's health care crisis seven to two percent of americans support our reauthorization the children's health care bill the president and fifteen republicans stand in the way of ten million children receiving the health care that we receive here as members of congress there's been three vetoes in president bush's term one to end the war one permits themselves research and now one to allow ten million speaker the majority party ascended to power with a promise that they would make this congress the most open and ethical congress ever most open and ethical indeed perhaps a majority party should have said something like we will be open and ethical when it suits our purpose  would have been a catchy phrase maybe on the campaign trail but at least it would have an honest for instance the majority clean promise to clean up the earmarking process but so far that too has been a hollow promise recently we had the s chip and it was riddled with hidden earmarks and yet not one sponsor of these provisions ever been identified and they have denied that there's any earmarks in them whatsoever and the republican party has now offered a simple resolution to clean up the process of earmarks but not a single democrat has signed on to this resolution i call on my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in a majority to allow for a real debate on at this going earmarks let the house debate h r four seventy nine so that we can have an open and honest discussion and we can truly president has before him legislation to strengthen and expand chip for ten million children of hardworking american families and if the president lives up to his promise he will veto this important bill and turn his back on american families the president's veto makes it clear that he simply does not understand the financial struggles of working families in this country or unable to afford health care for their children the president's veto makes it clear that health care for america's children simply is not his priority chip the public private partnership has enabled millions of american children hardworking lower middle income families in this country to afford high quality private health coverage our nation's governors business community health care providers children's advocates insurance industry labor unions religious leaders parents and grandparents support this affordable commonsense plan all but the president and his republican allies in congress support extending chip to more of america's uninsured children than when i mean are short sighted callous and wrong we must override the president's veto and vote for health care of her america's children grow up as a gentleman from without objection gentleman is recognized for one one minute the enmity that exists between american talk radio and the democratic congress came into high relief this monday as leaders of the senate engage in repeated and distorted personal attacks a prominent american commentator now while many see this as more politics as usual in washington d c i see something more i believe these attacks on talk radio are a precursor for returning censorship to the airwaves of america in the form of the fairness doctrine this week congressman greg walden and i requested the democratic leaders bring the broadcaster freedom act to the floor of this congress immediately and take the power away from the f c c in this or any future administration to regulate the airwaves of america the broadcaster freedom act is co sponsored by two hundred and three members of congress and it enjoys broad bipartisan support the freedom of the press should not be a partisan issue let's reject the attacks on american radio personalities and ensure that the fairness doctrine stays on the ash heap of broadcast history where it belongs what purpose a gentle lady from illinois right to  and ladies recognized for one minute now mrs speaker the deed is done the president just vetoed the children's health insurance program yet he's asking for one hundred ninety billion dollars for the war in iraq and afghanistan and vetoed thirty five billion dollars that would provide health care to ten million low income american children over the next five years let's be perfectly clear the president is refusing to spend seven billion dollars a year on children's self while insisting on ten billion dollars a month in iraq the president the republicans in congress say that we can't afford this bill but where were the fiscal conservatives when the president demanded hundreds of billions of dollars for the war in iraq he along with many of the republicans a congress are willing to throw these hundreds of billions of dollars into a disastrous war and yet when it comes to providing health care to children they say we don't have the money the truth is we do have the money and in fact the children's how bill is unlikely on a fire or on like half a trillion dollars we've already spent on this war it is time for us to say you're either for covering uninsured american children or you're with a president who prefers to spend his money on an endless war of words a gentle lady from virginia ri generally recognized for one minute thank you mr speaker mr speaker i have joined several of our colleagues in a letter requesting that the senate majority leader and the partisan wrangling and move forward with the veterans appropriation bill our veterans have always been willing to mans of frontlines in the defense of this nation and deserve to be honored for their service from two thousand and one through two thousand and six this house increased funding to our veterans forty eight billion to seventy billion this year the house came together in a bipartisan manner to increase funding for our veterans by an additional six billion dollars this is why i'm so disturbed to read  roll call that democratic leaders have made and i quote a decision to delay sending the veterans bill to the president so they can use it as leverage to pass other spending bills in my i mind veterans and especially those waiting for service says that v a facilities or working to secure their v a benefits are not bargaining time inspiring our heroes and should not allow partisanship to interfere with our commitment to protecting their best interests thank you mr speaker the purpose of gentleman from new york  chairman is recognized for one minute thank you very much i mr speaker last week most of the republicans once again marched in lockstep with the bush administration you know i've just been informed that the president vetoed the chip bill that is a shame and it's a disgrace and despite the fact that this democratic congress crafted bipartisan bill with republican input but most republican members chose to ignore the health care needs of ten million children it is a shame and a national disgrace that children's health insurance program has helped our nation reduce the number of insured children uninsured children doing each of the eight years of the program the number of uninsured ch decreased but over the last two years these numbers of actually gone up based on these troubling trends this democratic congress did not believe that a straight  inaction of veterans are being shortchanged and denied needed resources and benefits despite widespread support for the veterans affairs spending bill the majority is refusing to take final action this delay is jeopardizing our ability to get the necessary funding and resources to those who need it most the bill includes four point one billion dollars for v a hospitals and clinics six hundred million dollars for post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury care two point nine billion for mental health and substance abuse treatment for veterans and four hundred eighty million dollars for research into prosthetics for wounded warriors and amputees we can all agree that our veterans deserve our utmost support and it's a grateful thirty year member of the american legion it is time for democrats to work with republicans for our veterans in conclusion god bless our troops and we'll never forget september eleventh what part was a gentleman from missouri right thank you mr speaker during a speech at the republican national convention in two thousand and four president bush said quote in a new term we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible or not signed up for the government's health insurance programs but instead the president just minutes ago vetoed health insurance for ten million low income children the president's objections were without merit it did not warrant a veto the bill does not expand the chip  eligibility requirements while unrolling more uninsured children it's not a move toward socialized health care states continue to receive funding to block grants was nearly all states use and this and that when in the health care of our nation's challenge fully paid for unlike the president's ongoing iraq funding request mr speaker i sincerely hope the president will have a change of heart and phillis promise to enroll children in this health care program but he failed to do so now without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute what are the things that i think most people in politics know is that the ratings of congressman are very very low and perhaps part of the reason for that is the public can see that we're playing more political gotcha than we are in really solving problems today we've just seen an example of that as democrat after democrat condemn the president for this s chip bill which has all these little hidden gizmos among other things that we're going to provide health care to the children of illegal immigrants it is a massive expansion of basically hillary socialized medicine and yet we're going to use this children's health issue as a way to play political gotcha we don't need to do that with the veterans bill the house and the senate have both approved funding for veterans which comes down to eighteen point five million dollars of extra money for veterans hospital for prosthetics for our wounded soldiers that those bills are just sitting waiting are we going to use that as another way of doing political gotcha or should we just start solving problems and serving the american people thank w from pennsylvania right without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute mr speaker this democratic congress has a strong record of delivering on our promise to the american people and providing real and meaningful change and we've done so in a fiscally responsible way instituting pay as you go deficit reduction discipline one area where we've made real progress for the american people was by supporting the men and women who serve our nation in the armed forces under democratic control of this house provided substantially more than the president requested for the new m rabb vehicles proven to save lives in iraq we voted to give our troops a pay raise that the president called unnecessary we strengthen military health care with the wounded warriors act to clean up the inadequate care of wounded soldiers at walter reed and other facilities and the democratic house voted to provide the largest increase in funding for v a health care in the history of this country mr speaker these investments that support our veterans and troops overseas are just a few examples of how our democratic congress is taking america in a new direction a purpose a gentleman from louisiana arise without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute a new cellulosic ethanol plant recently began production in my district which will use high energy sugar cane to yield ethanol and has yet it's yet another reminder of the importance of domestic energy production not only for southwest louisiana but for our entire nation but we must reckon recognize that we have a strategic dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil before a bill currently working its way through congress should not pick winners or losers but encourage innovation and entrepreneurship it's critical it's a critical piece to turn national energy plan with renewable agri based energy solutions homegrown energy as a part of our national energy strategy reduces our dependence on foreign energy supplies helps the environment and will promote our rule communities and keep them strong this democratic congress has failed to produce a viable energy policy i challenge the democratic leadership to work with us in congress to produce such a viable energy policy i yield back the balance of my time opera's a gentleman from washington ri gentleman is recognized for one minute the speaker let me talk about a surge in iraq the president is not talking about an outbreak of cholera spreading across the country harming and killing innocent iraqi people five hundred new cases were confirmed in kirkuk in the last five days the world health organization says there are only been twelve deaths so far but there are three thousand confirmed cases and thirty thousand more records are sick as a medical doctor let me tell you that cholera is caused by human waste contaminating the water supply in other words the sewage treatment plants that we were supposed to rebuild that were pre war are still not working after the surge and innocent iraqis are suffering when a seattle church group sent me to visit iraq in two thousand and two they asked me to see firsthand how recchi children were suffering from the effects of the first war in one thousand nine hundred the subsequent economic sanctions and how their suffering would get worse in the new war they were right cholera is the latest example of a failed war instead of talking about the certain must time it appears that should be talking about the scourge of cholera i yield back the balance of my time what purpose a gentleman from texas writes west mission to us now one that gentleman is recognized for one minute mr speaker hot tech bounty hunting is now current in the united states the internet a lot a louse law enforcement to track down known sex offenders in the united states states confined to convicted sex offenders that must register under the new adam walsh child safety act they year of a child molester to register is federal crime so these convicted sex offenders who do not register are now being arrested using lexis nexis internet tracking florida police were hunting for a known sex offender they traced him delanoe it but i don't know ellen oya fishel claimed the offender was dead the internet search tools tracked a child molester to indiana where he was found the absconder was then arrested for failure to register as a known sex offender studies show that convicted sex offenders often remain dangerous and become or set of this once released from prison sex offenders are now being held accountable for failure to register law enforcement is informed of known sex offenders whereabouts future recidivism is prevented and meanwhile children are safer because of high tech bounty hunting and that's just the way it is up as a gentleman from virginia ri should be a cause for concern for all americans but the recent uncovering of indiscriminate hostility toward iraqi civilians and unprovoked killings by security contractors in iraq is a siren warning that demands immediate attention blackwater a company that has reaped over one hundred ten million dollars from the taxpayer since two thousand and six and u s contracts operates one of the most egregious examples of what is wrong with our occupation of iraq last week blackwater security protecting state department officials opened fire in a baghdad neighborhood and in what appears to be an unprovoked incident blackwater guards killed at least eleven innocent iraqi civilians and wounded twelve others but because of  decree delivered in two thousand and four by our ambassador paul bremer on his last day on the job these contractors that granted immunity from iraqi law and will likely face no charges at home this lack of accountability is a national primary wire fundamental for one minute mr speaker yesterday in this house which is a great first step forward i think in finding bipartisan common ground on the way forward in iraq with the passage of h r thirty eighty seven the issue of our troop presence in iraq has caused great debate across our country its polarizes congress and our nation i believe this first step is a demonstration that a bipartisan way forward can happen in fact it must happen for the good of our nation and our ultimate success in iraq we can draw that day closer if we in this congress and we in america continue to work together to forge consensus instead of resorting to partisan attacks the report of general petraeus and ambassador crocker last month has given us reason for hope th progress is being made in our troops can begin returning home as our troops to bravely continue their mission let us continue ours and build upon the momentum that we started yesterday in this house let us all hope that the day is coming soon when our troops who have protected our nation and export and liberty and freedom and democracy will come home we owe them nothing less than our best effort to make this help a reality i yield back of our visit gentleman from missouri wri that objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute thank you mr big or yesterday this congress sent the president bipartisan legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the children's health insurance program this bill will provide low income children with health care coverage including four million uninsured children who are currently eligible for the broad graham but not yet cover unfortunately president bush just veto this bipartisan legislation the president's opposition to this bill puts him squarely in the minority the legislation have received overwhelming support from a wide variety of groups such as the a m a a new washington post a b c news bio shows that seventy two percent of americans support the reauthorization of th schip program it's bigger i am heartened that part of five of my republican colleagues in this body joined democrats in passing this critical legislation however if the president wants have a house republicans will stay in with america's children instead of with the president and vote to strengthen and to progress you up as a gentleman from north carolina right now  gentleman is recognized for one minute now you mr speaker the strength of the community is best judged by how it deals in faces of versity burke county north carolina next exemplifies an illustrates how strong communities defeat hardship by channeling their efforts and resources for improvement when unemployment nearly could quadrupled in five years my constituents there banded together to build a better future they recognize that an educated workforce is the key to economic growth so they developed a plan to ensure program is nearly at that goal this week in the vermont in january and barbecue cookoff which will combine two powerful forces north carolina barbecue and country music it will be held this this weekend and and that will raise the final some needed to provide that much needed education to the local youth it shows the strength of the community and it shows the strength of the people for north carolina and i yield back hopper was a gentle lady from california right the gentle lady is recognized for one minute mr speaker yesterday's hearing in the government reform committee left me with many concerns i'm concerned about blackwater's role when they get involved in u s military operations in april two thousand and november two thousand and four well in april of two thousand and four and november two thousand and four blackwater personnel attach themselves to u s troops and engaged in a me positions these actions may have set a bad precedent and may have been a catalyst that led to the september sixteenth shooting death of iraqi civilians i also am concerned about blackwater unprecedented rise in for acumen of federal government contracts initially backwater was awarded no bid contracts for security services in august of two thousand and three and june of two thousand and four worth more than seventy three million dollars and the president just today vetoed a bill for children's health that was worth a leaven billion dollars opposite gentleman from new hampshire right here that's how one gentleman is recognized for one minute thank you mr speaker when it comes to funding the war in iraq president bush in the house republicans are willing to write blank checks for billions of dollars with absolutely no questions asked after billions misspent and mismanaged the president is preparing a new war funding requests for the upcoming year that is expected to cost the american taxpayer another hundred and ninety billion dollars contrast that with the disregard both the president and the majority of house republicans have shown towards bipartisan legislation that would ensure that ten million low income children have access to health insurance president bush has just vetoed a bill that would invest thirty five billion more dollars in the chip program over the next five years and allow us to reach four million more children who are already eligible for the program house republicans will now have to decide if they will once again stand with the president who suffers from misguided priorities or if they will listen to the american people's will i say to my friends on the other  recognized for one minute mr speaker i rise today to decry our unprecedented use of unaccountable private security contractors in iraq by some estimates there are over fifty thousand private security personnel working in iraq these contractors operate outside u s and iraqi law raising animosity toward americans in the field and losing us hearts and minds in iraq the activities of one of the most prominent contractors blackwater highlight why they are counterproductive influence on iraq and their activities must be curtailed two weeks ago blackwater personnel guarding a state department group were involved in a shoot out that resulted in the deaths of as many as seventeen iraqis yesterday the government government reform committee disclosed that black water has been involved in one hundred ninety five escalation of force incidents since two thousand and five and in eighty percent of those blackwater fired the first shots these incidents combined with others clearly indicate that we need stop putting contractors in iraq and bring those they're under control which is why i have introduced legislation to freeze the number of contractors operating in iraq at september one levels and i proudly am a co sponsor of the bill we will vote on today the m e j expansion bring these contracts under control and you'll  for what purpose a gentle lady from ohio writes mr speaker by the direction of the committee on rolls i call up house resolution seven o two and ask for its immediate consideration the clerk will report the resolution house calendar number one twenty eight house resolution seven zero two resolve that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursuant to clause to be of rule eighteen declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on this date is a union for consideration of the bill h r twenty seven forty to require accountability for contractors and contract personnel under federal contracts 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 equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five minute roll the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on the judiciary now printed in bill the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read all points of order against a committee amendment in the nature of a substitute are waves except those arising under clause ten of rule twenty one notwithstanding clause eleven of roll eighteen no amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order cept those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution each 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 time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and potent 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 are waived except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one at the conclu of consideration of the bill for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as may have been adopted and the member may demand a separate vote in the house on any amendment adopted in the committee of the whole to the bill or to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments they are to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instruction section two during consideration in the house of h r twenty seven forty pursuant to this resolution notwithstanding the operation of the previous question the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated by the speaker the gentle lady from was recognized for one hour for the purpose of debate only i yield the customary thirty minutes to the gentleman from washington mr hastings all time yelled at during consideration of the roll is for debate only i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the record objections order mr speaker i yield myself such time and enforcement act of two thousand and seven under a structured rule the rule provides for one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on the judiciary the roll makes an order and provides appropriate waivers for three amendments mr speaker i rise today in support of this rule and the underlying bill which helps to address one of the most disturbing and pressing issues to come before the congress this year the lack of oversight and accountability of contractors abroad and here at home and it's vital that we are passing the major expansion and enforcement act today to address that least one of these critical issues currently there are estimated to be at least one hundred  eighty thousand contractors working in iraq under contracts awarded by the department of defense the state department the u s agency for international development and other federal agencies yet under current law only contractors working for the department of defense can be held responsible for crimes they commit while working in iraq afghanistan and elsewhere throughout the world at present the military extraterritorial jurisdiction act media leaves felonies committed by contractors working for other federal departments unpunished this is unfair and unacceptable and this congress must act to ensure that justice is not a selective american principle our current law has given private mercenary armies like blackwater usa free reign to do as they please without fearing the repercussions and as we have seen that unbridled freedom from any accountability has resulted in sometimes as criminal behavior but under the media expansion and enforcement act federal contractors working for every department and agency will be held responsible for criminal acts it will also direct the f b i to establish units to investigate crimes committed by contract personnel operating abroad mr speaker it simply makes no sense to hold contractors to a different standard than american citizens living at home or even the brave soldiers who risk their lives every day and iraq it is a travesty of justice that we allow private armies to evade punishment for serious crimes especially considering we have prosecuted our soldiers for the very similar actions and a recent incident that has received significant scrutiny blackwater guards were involved in a september sixteenth shoot out in baghdad that left eleven iraqis dead and a number wounded this event spurred such a tremendous public outcry that secretary of state rice had to apologize to iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki and we have learned from reports compiled by blackwater themselves that since two thousand and five its employees have been involved in at least one hundred ninety five incidents in iraq that involve the firing of shots by blackwater guards blackwater's contract with the state department stipulates that blackwater may only engage in defensive use of force however in the vast majority over eighty percent of the shooting incidents blackwater's own reports reveal that it's guards fired the first shot and one incident that has recently come to our attention blackwater guards shot a civilian bystander in the head and another state department officials report that blackwater sought to cover up a shooting that killed a seemingly innocent bystander since the wars in iraq and afghanistan began and despite numerous instances where the military has found pearl probable cause that a crime has been committed and has referred the case to the justice department there has been only one successful prosecution of a civilian contractor for wrongdoing being without fear of reprisal these reckless contractors have operated with no regard for the private property of innocent iraqi citizens and a november two thousand and five incident a blackwater motorcade collided with eighteen different vehicles written statements from team members were determined to be invalid and a blackwater contractor on the mission stated his tactical commander quote openly admitted giving clear direction to the primary driver to conduct these acts of random negligence for no apparent reason and quote and mr speaker we have seen the number of contractors increase exponentially as the bush administration has placed an unnecessary strain our on our armed forces through the war in iraq and two thousand and one blackwater had less than one million dollars in federal contracts by two thousand and six that figure had grown to over half a billion dollars an increase of more than eighty thousand percent today there are approximately one hundred eighty thousand federal contractors in iraq alone a number greater than the american military presence because of the president's policy of escalation in iraq we have become more reliant on these contractors to protect american interests there for every blackwater mercenary the united states government hires to protect embassy officials blackwater charges one thousand two hundred twenty two dollars per day which is over six times more than the cost of an equivalent american soldier mr speaker the lack of oversight of federal contractors committing crimes overseas is an example of how the system of federal contracting is broken earlier this year this congress got off to a strong start by passing h r thirteen sixty two the accountability and contracting act which helped restore integrity to the contracting process i'm also proud to be the sponsor of h r twenty one ninety eight the contractor accountability act which will require the head of every agency and department to ensure that every federal contract recipient is fulfilling their obligations after the awarded that contract it requires that every federal agency and department awarding contracts submit a report on the status of those congress contracts to congress this is the type of oversight and accountability that is necessary to ensure that the problems that are happening in iraq with federal contractors and here at home can finally be put to an end and today with the passage of the media expansion and enforcement act we are addressing a critical loophole in our contracting crisis by ensuring that those contractors who commit crimes are held accountable for their actions what we seek to do today is simple but important the media expansion into forstmann act will hold federal contractors operating overseas to the same standards we hold ourselves and to which we hold our brave troops and let's be clear this bill does not prevent contractors from using force if the situation calls for it our bill simply allows contractors to be punished for committing acts of murder and other felonies nobody should be among the immune from the law and this legislation will ensure that no one even if he is a private contractor in iraq is i reserve the balance of my time r speaker let me begin by saying that this rule provides for the consideration of h r twenty seven forty the media expansion and enforcement act this bill is an attempt to ensure that all federal civilian contractors can be prosecuted for crimes they commit abroad the issue before us today is not as to speak or a policy decision to turn to determine whether or not contractors should be in iraq but rather the issue is whether the principle of current law should be applied to civilian contractors yesterday mr speaker mr forbes the ranking member of the subcommittee on crime terrorism and homeland security and the judiciary committee testified before the rules committee that while the intent of this legislation is right this bill is very very poorly drafted durian markup of the bill by the house judiciary committee mr forbes and other republicans on the judiciary committee raised concerns with members of the other side of the aisle republicans agreed that they would work to move this legislation forward because of assurances made by the majority members of the committee that their concerns would be worked out mr forbes testified before the rules committee that his main concerns with the bill were a lack of clear definitions vague language in federal mandates on the f b i without additional resources mr speaker a manager's amendment was submitted to the rules committee and it wasn't until after the rules committee a minute deadline had passed monday evening that mr forbes found that none of the concerns raised by republicans were addressed in the manager's a minute at this point of course it was too late for mr forbes and other members to submit amendments had they tried to submit a members of the rules committee past the deadline they likely would have been turned away at the rules committee door just as many members including myself have been this congress yesterday the ranking member mr dreier attempted to provide an open rule for consideration of this bill an open rule will have would have allowed any member of the house of representatives an opportunity to come forward and amend the bill and especially those members of the judiciary committee that felt that they were left out of this process however the democratic control rules committee rejected this idea on a party line vote of eight to four mr dreier th attempted to allow mr forbes to offer amendments on the floor today to make changes to the bill in order to restore the commitment that was made to him but that was once again that was once made by the democrat majority but i am disappointed that this attempt was also rejected on a party line vote of eighty four mr speaker the underlying bill was reported by the judiciary committee over two months ago and yet the democrat majority failed to make good on their commitment to address the reasonable and entirely justifiable concerns raised by the republicans mr speaker contractor accountability is an issue that should be discussed and driven addressed in a bipartisan manner but there are legitimate concerns with the way this bill was drafted unfortunately this rule denies members including all republicans an opportunity and to approve the underlying bill because the rules committee was once again chosen to stifle bipartisanship and deliberation by bringing forth this restrictive rule i must urge my colleagues to oppose this rule house resolution seven o two and i reserve the balance of my time gentleman reserves generally from ohio thank you mr speaker and just before i yelled time to the distinguished gentleman woman from california i'd just like to say that in the process of this bill coming forward not a single republican offered a an amendment in the committee  and though the committee reported the bill by voice vote not a single person voted no only one republican offered an amendment for the floor and it had nothing to do with the scope  diaper issue i appreciate the gentle lady yielding and she was in the committee yesterday when mr forbes testified and i would hope that the general lady would agree with me that when mr forbes testified under question from me asking him if he felt that he had assurances that these issues would be worked out from the time that the committee passed the bill out of committee in october or in august until now and he can he said that he felt that that commitment was a strong commitment and therefore he didn't offer any amendments now with a gentle lady agree with me that was what mr forbes said i think the gentleman for his question i think that the important thing here is to look at that there was an opportunity for the republican side to offer amendments and only one was offered yesterday in committee and there was an opportunity obviously for those to be present and the generally mcdaniels on that issue for you on that point certainly mr hastings thank you i appreciate just the gentle lady freely  mr speaker i just want to say under under question when i asked mr forbes because he stated that the deadline had passed when the manager's amendment which did not address their concerns was introduced he then of course would be prohibited from offering amendments and i asked him if there were an opportunity in the next twenty four hours i e from yesterday until today because they offer amendments or could they prepare him as to address these concerns he said yes and i hope the general they would agree with me that that's what he said yesterday in front of the rules committee mr h i reclaiming my time you'll back me claiming my time mr speaker the the reality of this is there was an opportunity to offer amendments as as explained somebody did offer an amendment unfortunately that amendment was non germane at this point i would like to yield four minutes to the gentlewoman from california a distinguished member of the committee on rules mismatch that we generated from california is recognized for me  speaker i thank that gentlewoman from ohio for you only me time i rise today in strong support not only of this bill but also of increased accountability and iraq from the outset this misguided war has been characterized by grey areas grey areas of policy a motivation and legitimacy one consequence of these gray areas has been the collapse of law and order in iraq many military contractors contractors paid by our government contribute to the chaos there mr speaker the iraq war is a first major conflict in which private contractors perform tasks typically done by uniformed military employees from companies like blackwater provide security for military and political figures they protect buildings and rumors house world that they may soon guard military convoys mr speaker private contractors acting in military roles should be held to the same standards as our armed services they should not have free reign to shoot maim and kill people in the name of security if they act illegally they must be punished accordingly that's mr speaker is what law in order means we cannot convince the world that we value peace and security if american contractors are undermining it in iraq i hypocritical for us to ask iraqis to obey the rule of law and we do not demand the same from the contractors we are paying like all of my colleagues i want our brave young men and women in iraq to be as safe as they can be the legislation before us today will help restore the trust of the iraqi public and of the international community during world war two only five percent of our in theater forces were private contractors today we have just as many contractors in iraq as we do american soldiers contractors who are not accountable to the american people but who are paid for by the american people crimes committed committed by the contractors are the reason why this bill is so long overdue is finally home as contractors accountable for their actions but the larger issue is that our men and women in uniform are overburdened our military is in danger of collapsing under the strain of a never ending war this is one of the many reasons why we must change course in iraq and that  my objective is objective of a clear majority in the house and at the will of the american people we must do everything we can to increase oversight of contractors this legislation as a step in the right direction i urge my colleagues to take this step today so that in the coming days we can finally change our nation's course in iraq i yield back the balance of my time gemma from washington thank you mr speaker you myself as much time as  object i just want to make the point once again the reason that there are no republican amendments ever submitted to the rules committee because there was a clear clear understanding when the committee when the bill was passed out of the judiciary committee that the issues that and concerns that were raised by the republicans would be addressed in a bipartisan way in the vehicle by which they would be addressed was a manager's amendment which is a normal normal process when you bring bills to the floor that commitment was parity not fulfilled and by the time that the manager's amendment was drafted with the idea that supposedly in a bipartisan way these issues of be addressed it was too late for any republican to offer amendment because it was passed the deadline that was put in place by this new majority on the on the rules committee so therefore there was no chance for republicans to submit any amendments therefore there is no there was no amendments that were submitted so i just wanted to set the record straight mr speaker that the reason that there were no and then no republican amendments submitted to the rules committee is because a promise in a commitment was broken between august second and october second yesterday when we met on this bill with that i reserve my time gentleman reserves generally from ohio mr mr speaker at this time i would like to yield four minutes to the author of the bell representative price gentleman is recognized for minutes and i thank my colleagues for you doing i came over here to be a resource in this rules debate but not to not to take on  helpful way the approach that we have taken to this bill i and others who have co sponsored it and we have had bipartisan support all along the approach that we have taken has been to  invite and respond to critiques that various players might have of the way we were approaching this gentleman's probably aware we had a manager's amendment in committee that  accommodated legitimate concerns perhaps that was one factor producing an approval by the committee without dissent and we have a manager's amendment today that is similarly taking into account a number of amendment and i think we've been clear all along that the kinds of amendments that would would be appropriate for consideration and that technical vein that manager's amendment vein would not include amend much that went to the very heart of the bill such as an amendment that that would compromise for example the f b i role in in this regime where we're setting up they have a habit of you i appreciate the yielding for this exchange because i think it's important this issue is very very important because we're talking about this ultimately a portion of the security of our country and i think we need to address that in a bipartisan way i'm simply pointing out in testimony yesterday in front of the rules committee mr forbes was given the assurance when the bill left the just secure judiciary committee and and i don't think that the gentleman is on the judiciary committee but he felt that he had a commitment that those concerns would be addressed now having concerns addressed and being totally satisfied are two different things if they weren't satisfied then you could offer a minute to make the make the adjustments and you could debate those issues the point i'm making is that mr forbes felt that the commitment that was given to him to make those adjustments and those occur those concerns were not were not fully addressed therefore he didn't submit any amendments to the bill i am not suggesting that all of his concerns should be in the manage i'm simply suggesting that he was a night of the operator opportunity in his mind to have these concerns addressed now i will yield the gentleman the up to two minutes if he doesn't have time under his own time to respond but again the gentleman will understand that i'm not in a position to give the blow by blow account in either the gesture committee or the rules committee but i will convey my understanding because i think it's important too to do that we're talking here about an amendment that mr forbes wrote which  would compromise the bill seriously by stripping out the requirement for f b i units to be pre positioned on the ground to investigate alleged criminal behavior with gen just on that i'm just on that point if the general deal just on that i'm character the amendment because i did not i did not ever have the text of the a member i don't think anyone did it was sprung on the rules committee yesterday and it would seem to me with all due respect that if if there were a concern that that the manager's amendment might not be adequate particularly on a on a matter of this scope which is way beyond the general or the general for a match for a for a manager's amendment seems like there there might have been a draft circulated of a possible amendment so that it could be discussed rationally in the committee if the manager is a member somehow fell short my understanding is that that simply was not done that with a gentleman you yes i appreciate the gentleman really i just want to mr speaker tell my colleagues that there was no for amendment in front of the rules committee so i i can't even pass judgment whether in address the concerns that he had he did not submit the memmott to the rules committee he did not submit a minute to the rules committee because he was given the assurances that th concerns that were raised when the bill came out of committee would be addressed so while while the gentleman probably is probably talking about a potential amendment nobody on the rules committee saw them because in them it was not submitted to the rules committee because he failed his concerns were not not addressed so i i thank the gentleman for allow me to clarify that he when he talks about the forbes a minute there is or was no forbes amendment from the rules committee yesterday that's that's true it's a hypothetical blee i'm giving what my understanding is as to the content of that amendment but the point is this is i would say this is not the stuff of a potential manager's amendment and if there was some kind  of concern about what the manager's amendment would would it would contain the prudent course would have been to to have some kind of draft that you and others could have looked at so that the rules committee could have acted on it intelligently my only point mr mr speaker is is to say that our approach to this bill all along has been has been nonpartizan we have had good partisan cooperation and support every step of the way we have accommodated managers amendments in the committee and here  the legitimate concerns that were were raised and i simply want to register the hope that that pattern of partisan cooperation can continue on the floor here today and i yield back any time i have remain speaker again i just want to reiterate without the beating this to death that not a single amendment a republican amendment was offered in committee there was an opportunity to provide amendments yesterday in the rules committee and this is an important bill that we need to stay focused on the substance of as well and so at this time it is my honor to yield three minutes to the gentleman from oregon mr bowman our of morgan is recognized for three minutes a gentle lady's permission for allowing me to speak on this and i do think the admonition is important to focus on the on the substance of this legislation the rules committee as she points out wasn't given an alternative and there is nobody in this chamber i think that has a better more well deserved reputation for being a thoughtful bipartisan member to try and solve problems than calling the primary sponsor of this legislation the gentleman from north carolina i'm privileged to be a co sponsor the legislation with him this is an opportunity for this chamber to focus on an important area of accountability we have in the newspapers not just this week but we have had accounts going on for weeks and weeks from the outset of this war the tendency to outsource fundamental functions that heretofore have been the province of united states soldiers has significant consequences we are now finding as a result of some of the hearings that there have been repeated instances of violence and we are finding that there is no good remedy currently under the law there is basically no clear line of authority to get back and to be able to exercise the oversight and accountability of this security function that has been outsourced what mr price has offered up is a small part of moving in the direction that we should have done from the outset i would hope that we can get past the discussion on the rule i plan on supporting it and look forward to a bigger issue debate on the floor to open up this question of accountability for a war that is outsourced for that are five times what an american soldier would do to provide exactly the same function and where there with the american soldier there is a clear line of authority that something goes sideways we know what's going to happen mr price has offered up legislation that gets us started in that direction it is a thoughtful bipartisan narrowly crafted effort it's not the whole answer but it moves us in the right direction i would strong only urge my colleagues support the rule support the underlying bill and get us moving into an important area of debate accountability and responsibility for our failure in this area is going to have serious consequences for years to come we're already seeing this with the iraqi government we're seeing it in terms of problems on the ground we're seeing questions that are being risen working i would agree with the previous speaker my friend from oregon that the sponsor of this bill the gentleman from north carolina mr price is a very very thoughtful individual i've worked with him on some issues and i would agree with that but i think members would also agree with me when i say that the gentleman from virginia mr forbes is also a very thoughtful individual and somebody that you can work with on a bipartisan basis and when somebody like mr forbes comes to the rules committee and tells us that he was given a commitment that his concerns that he felt needed to be addressed in this legislation and was given the assurances that they would be addressed not necessarily solved but at least be addressed i think you would have to say that he was acting in very good faith and i think this sends a very very strong message for members that want to work in a bipartisan way and then get treated as mr forbes said he was treated i think that is not good for for the institution so i just want to i just want to mr speaker reiterate once again what happened the reason that there were no amendments substantive to the issue of the concerns that were submitted by republicans to the rules committee is because the ranking member on the subcommittee dealing with this issue felt that the commitments that were given to him were not carried out there was no apparently discussions of what was to go into the manager's amendment again i'm not suggesting that mr forbes had been totally happy but if he wasn't happy could have leased off for a minute to address those concerns he was denied that opportunity simply simply because he felt the commitment that was given to him when the bill came out of the judiciary committee was not carried through and so is for that reason is that that reason that we probably won't have as robust a debate on this issue and in all likelihood we won't have the kind of legislation needs to go forward in a bipartisan manner on something where everybody agrees that the inten this legislation is what what everybody agrees in a bipartisan basis needs to happen and i regret that and so it's for that reason that i ask my colleagues to vote no on the rule and with that i reserve my time generally mr speaker i would inquire of the gentleman if he has any remaining speaker the speaker i have and i had one request but i see the gentleman isn't there if she's prepared to yield back i will i will close on my side  i will i will on the last speaker at this time on my side so i await jim from while mr washington i'm sorry gentleman from washington thank you mr speaker is figure you myself the balance of the time that objection this is bigger for several for the past several weeks my colleagues on the rules committee and i have called for a vote on the previous question and will be doing so again today why because we are concerned at the house rules are flawed when it comes to the enforceability of earmarks republican leader boehner has a proposal that will improve the house rules and allow the house to debate openly and honestly the validity and accuracy of earmark contained in all bills i am asking that my colleagues will no full on the previous question so that i can amend the rule to allow the house to immediately consider house resolution four seventy nine introduced by republican leader boehner by defeating the previous question the house will still be able to consider the media expansion in enforcement act today but we will also be able to address earmark and force ability in order to restore the credibility of the house i am hopeful today will be the day my colleagues will defeat the previous question and in doing so will send a strong message to american taxpayers that this house is serious when it comes to earmark transparency so mr speaker i ask unanimous consent to have the text of the mint and extraneous material insert in the record prior to the vote on the previous question without objection i urge my colleagues this is bigger to oppose a previous question and the restrictive rule  balancers time the gentle lady from ohio thank you mr speaker i want to congratulate the distinguished gentleman from north carolina on the strong strong bipartisan bill the major expansion and forstmann act as critical commonsense legislation to hold contractors responsible for criminal behavior just like we hold our troops responsible for crimes when they are committed and just like we hold american citizens responsible for following the law those who argue against this measure seem willing to tolerate lawlessness in countries where our military is seeking to restore justice the truth is every time we see an incident with an iraqi civilian being killed an american contractors escaping accountability our men and women in uniform suffer they see support from the insurgents rise and they lose the trust of the iraqi people our troops are not responsible for the strain that the president has placed on our our armed forces which has led to the need for mercenaries to carry out missions that our troops kaypro cable bully handle and it is tragic that the troops are targeted for the negligence of private contractors we owe it to our troops and the iraqi people to ensure that contractors are held to the same standards of justice as everybody else only then will we see a true deterrence of vigilante behavior and reckless actions by private citizens working overseas for our federal agencies and departments it is simple mr speaker the media expansion and enforcement act extends policies that are in place for the department of defense to contractors for other agencies and let's be clear nobody is accusing every single contractor of committing the criminal acts we've talked about today but when a contractor does commit a crime they must be punished and we must have consequences to serve as a deterrent it should not be controversial to punish people for committing murder and felonies this is a giant loophole and our law that is hurting our reputation abroad hurting our troops in the field and is making a mockery of the american sense of justice i urge a yes vote on the previous question and on the roll and i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution the question is on or for what purposes a gentle lady from ohio arise mr speaker by the direction of the committee on rules i call up house resolution seven zero one and ask for its immediate consideration the clerk will report the resolution out sounder number one twenty seven house resolution seven zero one resolved that and any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursuant to cause to be of rule a team declare the house resolved to the committee of the whole house on this date of the union for consideration of the bill r nine twenty eight to amend the inspector general act of one hundred seventy eight to enhance the independence of the inspectors general to create a council of the inspectors general on integrity and efficiency 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 equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on oversight and government reform after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on oversight and government reform now printed in the bill the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read all points of order against the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute our way to accept those arising under clause ten of role twenty one notwithstanding clause eleven of rule eighteen no amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report may be offered only by a member does ignited in the report shall be considered as be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and enough known and shall not be subject to amend then 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 are waived except 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 house with such amendments as may have been adopted any member may demand a separate vote in the house on any amendment adopted in the committee of the whole to the bill or to the committee amend then in the nature of a substitute the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments there to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instruction section two during consideration in the house of h r nine twenty eight pursu  to this resolution not withstanding the operation of the previous question the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated by the speaker jelly from was recognized for one hour for the purpose of debate only the customary thirty minutes to the gentleman from texas mr sessions all time ilda during consideration of the roll is for debate only i yield myself such time as i may consume i also ask unanimous consent that all members be given five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on house resolution seven zero one for that objection is ordered mr speaker house resolution seven zero one provides for consideration of h r nine twenty eight the improving government accountability at the world provides for one hour of general debate controlled by the committee on oversight and government reform the role waives all points of order against consideration of the bill except clauses nine and ten of world twenty one the rule makes an order the oversight and government reform committee report substitute the rule makes an order all five germane amendments that were submitted to the rules committee mr speaker i rise today in favor of the roll and in favor of h r nine twenty eight the improving government accountability act i am very proud to be a member of this new congress because over the last nine months we have made huge strides to better our great country we have empowered our workers we have fought to lift up our citizens and today i am proud to join my colleagues once again as we press for greater government accountability and work to restore the trust of the american people and this great institution mr speaker the bill before us today will amend the inspector general act of one thousand nine hundred seventy eight to ensure that nuts the seri government oversight and it will strengthen the role of the inspectors general next year will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the inspector general act offices of inspector general now exist in more than sixty federal departments and agencies where they work to combat waste fraud and abuse the inspector general has many vital tasks they act as government watchdogs conducting audits and examining complaints from agency employees they actively promote efficiency and government programs and encourage employees this growth disclosure of waste and fraud our bill today act to strengthen and clarify their tenure resources authority oversight and autonomy and it's an important action that we are taking today because unfortunately mr speaker in recent years politics has crept into the inner workings of the inspectors general leaving the door open for political pressure and influence to prejudice the job that they are supposed to perform and president bush only eighteen percent of the inspectors general have audit experience while sixty four percent have political experience this is in comparison to president clinton who appointed far more sixty six percent of inspectors general with audit experience versus only twenty two percent with political experience and what's more is over one half of the i g's appointed by president bush had made contributions to his campaign or to other republican candidates and over one third had worked in a republican white house prior to their employ appointment whereas none of the i g is appointed by president clinton had worked in a democratic white house these detested sark concerning because the hallmark of inspector general must be their independence from the apartments and agencies within which they are housed this independence is crucial because the inspectors are charged with submitting reports to the agency head and to congress regarding any failures on the part of their agencies when this independence is compromised the missions and the goals of the inspectors general lose credibility their work is critical to ensuring that taxpayer dollars are being used wisely and that our government is working efficiently and effectively the improving government accountability act will strengthen the independence of these important watchdogs first it clarifies when the inspectors can be removed from their posts under current law they have limited protection from removal from office and fact inspectors that are appointed by the president can be removed by the president without cause the only requirement is that the president must report the removal to congress after the removal has already been accomplished it is much more difficult to be independent when you know that the head of the department that you are critically evaluating can remove you and that there are no checks on that power our bill specifies that they may only be removed before the end of their term for permanent incapacity any fish and see neglect of duty malfeasance or conviction of a felony or conduct involving moral turpitude this takes the politics out of a position and a decision making process where it never should have been in the first place under this new law removal of an inspector general must be communicated to both houses of congress at least thirty days before that inspectors removal mr speaker the bill before us today encourages inspectors to remain in office for at least seven years by setting a fixed term of office and allowing the inspectors to be renewed at the completion of their term this allows for greater continuity and increase independence on the part of the inspectors under this legislation and inspector general be allowed to submit budget requests directly to the office of management and budget and this is a vital change and specters general must not be at the mercy of administration officials who have the unbridled power to cut their budget because of disagreement over their findings or improper political influence budget autonomy is crucial to the independence of these inspectors further h r nine twenty eight establishes the council of the inspectors general on integrity and efficiency this council's task will be to increase the professionalism and effectiveness of the inspectors general staff the council will seek out fraud waste and abuse and federal programs today through the improving government accountability act we will give the inspectors general more power to do their job and more importantly to do so with heightened independence and integrity the trust of the a merry can people is a precious thing the bill today guarantees that our departments and agencies are worthy of that trust i reserve the balance of my time and lady reserves and the gentleman from texas  modified close rule that waves important portions of the congressional budget act last night in the rules committee we learned that the special will find yet another way for the majority to break regular order by waiving section three zero six of the congressional budget act this rule undermines the integrity of the budgeting process by allowing legislation within the budget committees jurisdiction to be considered by the house without the budget committees were view my friend from pascoe washington the gentleman doc hastings asked the acting chairman of the committee mr mcgovern if the rule being considered does indeed waive this budget rule that protects taxpayers and members of this house of representatives the answer came back simple and clear yes the rule waives this commonsense provision i wish i could say that i'm surprised by the democrat leadership's decision to yet find another way to toss house rules and procedures out the window unfortunately this is precisely what has come to be known as and to expect from the new broken promise democrat majority mr speaker the legislation before us has the noble goal of strengthening and clarifying the authority tenure resources oversight and independence of the inspectors general in the various federal departments and agencies many of the issues addressed by the legislation today enjoyed bipartisan some hort an great importance to me and a huge number of my colleagues on the republican side of the aisle the bill establishes a council to identify review and promote efficiency and addressed waste fraud and abuse it provides for greater integrity by stablish in a new committee to investigate allegations of wrongdoing and to report their efforts to the executive branch and to congress it requires reports to congress on the cooperation of all federal agencies with the general accounting office and requires that semi annual inspection and evaluation reports in addition to audit reports be submitted to congress despite all of the noble goals of this legislation i do regret regret that this bill was not crafted in closer coordination with the administration to resolve some of the outstanding issues that prevent it from being signed into law like me the administration has publicly stated its strong support for the work of inspectors general and their overall mission to improve agency performance and to eliminate waste fraud and abuse however the administration strongly objects to some of the provisions included in this legislation that are likely unconstitutional the end run contained in this legislation around article two of the constitution which our founding fathers provided to the executive branch to ensure that all of our nation's laws are faithfully executed guarantees that this bill will not only be vetoed by the president but would also be overturned by the supreme court if this bill were ever passed by the house and the senate also by requiring inspectors generals to circumvent the longstanding and constitutionally based budgeting process that currently exists without even including the house budget committee in the decision making process is a thinly veiled political stunt intended to draw a veto threat from the to create false disagreement over a bill when it is clear that both republicans and democrats support reducing waste fraud and abuse at each of our federal agencies consent to insert into the record a copy of the administration statement of policy regarding their position on this legislation without objection mr speaker i oppose the majority's unwillingness to work with the administration in a bipartisan  way to create a bill that all members of this body can support and that would also pass congressional muster i'll so oppose the democrat leadership willingness to once again subvert regular order for political purposes and to prevent my colleague from the woodlands and texas congressman kevin brady from having an opportunity to debate his amendment to provide additional review of the work product of our fifth federal agencies texas mr speaker i thank the gentleman from ohio and enjoy working with her mr speaker i will be asking members to oppose the previous question so that i may him in the rule to allow for consideration of h risk for seven nine a resolution that i i like to call the earmark accountability rule during last year's campaign and again at the beginning of this congress promises were made to the american people and to the new minority about the democrats supposedly new and improved earmark rules as the year has worn on however i've noticed that while the democrats rules changes may sound good as a cynical soundbite for the evening news however they haven't actually accomplished much since a majority has repeatedly turn the other way when it comes to their own actual enforcement we continue to see non disclosed earmarks appearing in all sorts of bills and even the house parliamentarian has determined that the hastily drafted in past democrat earmark rule and i quote here does not comprehensively apply to all legislative propositions at all stages of the legislative process i ask unanimous consent to insert this letter from the house parliamentarian john sullivan to the rules called democrat air marc rule has more holes than a bowl of cheerios and that earmark abuse by the broken promises democrat majority continues to run rampant this rules change would simply allow the house to debate openly and honestly about the validity and accuracy of earmarks contained in all bills not just appropriations bills if we d t the previous question we then then address that problem today and restore this congress is non existant credibility when it comes to the enforcement of its own rules i ask unanimous consent to have the text of the amendment and extraneous material appear in the record the congressional record just prior to the vote on the previous question without objection mr speaker i yield back the balance of my time  thank you mr speaker in one thousand seventy eight the house committee that was then known as government operations and vision inspectors general as watchdogs to bring accountability and oversight to our agencies now almost thirty years later we act to update and improve this valuable program this important bill will not only bring enhanced continuity and accountability to the inspectors general it will strengthen their most important quality their independence from the departments and agencies that they inspect the american people should have the upmost face that face that their precious taxpayer dollars are being used in the most efficient manner this bill insurer's the accountability that our citizens demand and which they deserve i urge a yes vote on the previous question and on the roll i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution