says one ninety one the resolution is adopted without objection a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table pursuant to section two of house resolution eight sixty the managers on the part of the house on h r ninety thirty ninety three at this charge and the bill is laid upon the table chair lazy for the house of communication the honorable the speaker house of representatives demand i hereby tender my resignation from the house permanent select committee on intelligence effective at the close of business today sincerely and the hastings member of clear the aisles in the back of the chambers if we could take them outside so we can p military activities of the department of defense for military construction and for defense activities of the department of energy to prescribe military personnel strengths for such a school year and for other purposes pursuant to rule twenty two of the conference report is considered red gel i'm from missouri mr skelton and a gentleman from new jersey with a texan each will control thirty minutes before the chair weeknight down from missouri we need to clear the aisles and bring down the noise level for the first year two thousand and eight i must tell you mr speaker that i am so extremely proud of the members of their arms services committee of all those who worked hard in an out of o is the leader of those on the other side of the aisle regarding the staff and everyone just pitched in so very very well but just figure this is a good bill mera fact i think it's the best bill in decades that this congress has put forth and it's good for our troops good for our families will help improve readiness for armed forces and it will bring a new significant oversight to the department of defense in areas where oversight was sorely needed in the past they begin by saying that the armed services committee has remained committed to a tradition of bipartisanship and we from new jersey mr saxon who's been such a great help through the years one hundred tenth congress began we laid out for their armed services committee six strategic priorities and we have met them and has legislation the bill before us is the culmination of our efforts and dresses strategic priorities in important ways and includes a three point five percent across the board pay raise that protects the trip's their families from escalating health care fees includes well over one hundred other measures both large and small regarding quality of life i especially is important because in adopts the elements of the wounded warrior act passed this house earlier in the year four hundred and twenty six to zero and i think that that of itself is a major victory for those in uniform and addresses readiness establishes a new high level board of military officers the defense materiel readiness board to grapple with the growing shortfalls confronting the armed forces bill allocates one hundred one billion dollars to a strategic readiness fund the bill bring much needed oversight to the wars in iraq and afghanistan and does so by instituting new reporting requirements developed on a bi partisan basis the bill bill's on the successful passing of h r one which fully implemented the recommendations of the nine eleven commission eighteen fifteen ninety five wealth arise the funding required to carry forward that act by continuing and this important and expanding the department of chamber on both sides of the aisle but just figure these programs address perhaps the single largest threat to american homeland and the threat of nuclear terrorism and other weapons of mass destruction and we address that very carefully in this bill we also include seventeen point six billion dollars for the mine resistant ambush vehicle which is known as amaranth to protect our troops in iraq and in future conflicts it does a great deal in the area of funding for our various ships including production of tubes in the class submarines per year by two thousand and ten and eight c seventeen to meet the need in the demands of global power projection when most important elements of this bill in addition to the money in the hardware is a requirement that the department of defense perform a quadrennial review of its roles and missions the first time this was addressed in the last time it was addressed thoroughly was a full examination as to whether the department of defense is truly developing the core competencies and capabilities to perform the missions assigned to it and whether those capabilities are being developed in the most joint and efficient way that military services much has changed since one thousand nine hundred forty eight technology has changed and has blossomed then mushroom and that's why it's important that we update by way of the joint chiefs of staff and the secretary of defense the key west agreement that was met back in that year of one thousand forty i'm very very pleased with this bill mr speaker i think that history will say that this is one of the most comprehensive if not the most comprehensive defense authorization bill that our congress has passed in decades and with that i ask unanimous consent to include in the record regarding the key west agreement of one nine hundred forty eight a statement i want to begin by very very sincerely thanking my good friend from missouri chairman skelton for the great leadership that he has provided in in the months passed and  shaping this bill and writing the original version and then shaping the bill and then using his steady hand to guide us through the conference of course with the help of my good friend ranking member  duncan hunter both of these leaders provided great direction for us and for and i might say that the product of their good their work is here today and i agree with the chairman that this is a very very good bill and i am very fortunate to be able to stand here today to say how important i think it is that we all support it unfortunately ranking member hunter could not be here today but i know he is very proud of this conference report as well and i'd like to thank all of the subcommittee chairman and their ranking members whose hard work and leadership is responsible for almost fifteen hundred pages that this bill contains and the staff that helped make this a reality obviously members would not have been able to be here today if it were not for them either this is a good bipartisan bill last thursday the house armed services committee filed this conference report after an overwhelming majority of conferees signed the report seldom in my career here have i seen this kind of an agreement this kind of agreement among members the bill our subcommittee chairman and their ranking members will provide a detailed summary of the bill so i will only highlight a few key areas most importantly this bipartisan bill takes care of the brave men and women serving our country at home and abroad it authorizes five hundred six point nine billion dollars in budgetary authority for the department of defense and the national security programs of the department of energy additionally it supports current operations in iraq afghanistan and elsewhere in the global war on terrorism by authorizing a hundred eighty nine point four billion in supplemental funding for operational costs personnel expenses and procurement of new equipment for fiscal year two thousand and eight this amount provides for in string growth in both the army in the marine corps continuing initiative started several years ago by the armed services committee by authorizing increases of thirteen thousand army and nine thousand marine corps active duty personnel to sustain our required missions additionally this congress report authorizes three point five percent to pay increase chairman remarked earlier these pay raises for all members of the armed forces were two thousand and eight are extremely important we talk a lot about quality of life and here we're doing something about it some of the initiatives in this legislation continue successful practical programs such as the commander's emergency response program which is working well in battlefields in iraq and afghanistan other initiatives reinforce good legislation that the house has already passed such as the wounded warrior warrior legislation to address the challenges that face our recovering service members and their families still others modify existing authorities or establish promising new programs and new policies some of the pro new programs and policies include these providing seventeen point six billion dollars for the mine resistant ambush protected vehicle and armored vehicle which will save lives going forward setting guidelines for all private security contractors operating in iraq and afghanistan and other areas where we have combat operations and we know from recent news reports how important this provision is we also authorized eight additional c seventeen s to support the interest the it or lift requirements and meet the airlift needs for the for the increase in strength of the army and marine corps we added major acquisition reform initiatives such as establishing new responsibilities for the joint requirements oversight council and mandating a new acquisition program be aligned with the missions of the department and the competency and capabilities of the services proposing the program and finally we acted to alleviate to elevate the chief of the national guard bureau to a four star general and adopted many of the recommendations of the commission on national guard reserve programs just as importantly this legislation avoids contentious language such as the hate crimes provision which would have put our bill at risk a presidential veto i want to acknowledge the leadership of chairman ike skelton whose hard work in shepherding this vital legislation through the conference has guaranteed that our servicemen and women will get what they need and get it when they need conference report on the national defense authorization act for fiscal year two thousand and eight and i want to thank chairman skelton and ranking member hunter and the members of the full comedian the staff are doing a great job the bill before  our troops and their equipment have been stretched by extend that combat operations and the strain is evident in declining readiness shortfalls in training and difficulties in equipping our forces this problems have grown to mass the gap between right isn't ready to need and resources to help repair our worn out equipment the bill also creates a one billion dollars to take it readiness fund to give the board and to the parliament of the fans the ability to tornadoes in kansas this threat is reports will allow the congress and each state governors to evaluate the needs of each state and addressed problems before a dishonest or occurs to help restore the chart falls the building to say one billion dollar investment in national guard equipment we also included provisions that require plants and reports to congress on reconstituting our people such in war stocks we authorized more than one hundred twenty one billion his leadership on the armed services committee throughout the years today in strong support of the conference agreement for the two thousand and eight national defense authorization act also want to take a moment to thank chairman skelton and mr hunter for their leadership and hard work in getting us to this point this conference report is a culmination of the one hundred two house armed services committee hearings a comparable number of informational briefings and untold hours of debate and discussion our friends in the senate this bill reflects our strong and continued support for the brave men and women of the united states armed services and i think both of these gentlemen for moving forward a robust top artists and defense authorization bill subcommittee chairman and good friend for his outstanding leadership of the readiness subcommittee this conference report provides funding authorization and support for our military and civilian personnel serving in the global war on terrorism while the same time seeking to reverse declining trends and readiness major highlights include it provides eighteen point four billion for the army and eight point six billion for the marine corps to address equipment reset requirements provide nine hundred eighty million dollars for critical national guard equipment that authorizes one billion for the strategic readiness spawn it establishes the defense material readiness board it requires quarterly rating and reporting of national guard readiness for homeland defense mission it provides a three point five percent pay increase tremendous women in uniform it increases the end strength of the army in the marine corps to improve readiness to meet the threats of the twenty first century it authorizes two point eight billion in military construction funding to support these in strength increases and authorize funding to examine the national security in or agency process as many of you know this is an issue that is overdue for reform and many of us are pleased to see this big to be examined more closely mr speaker we are all very aware that our continued global presence and ongoing combat operations are taxing current readiness levels we also know that all the military services are facing aging equipment inventories and our need of recapitalisation and modernization funding striking the balance between sustaining readiness today and ensuring a healthy ready force tomar is a vast and complex challenge this conference report strikes a good balance between sustaining what we've got while ensuring a well trained all volunteer force with modern equipment will be available in the future this conference report deserves your support and i yield back the balance of my time speaker i want to begin by thanking our chairman ike skelton for the phenomenal job he's done for looking out for the men and women in uniform this year all thanks iraqi member roscoe bartlett for his incredible cooperation and  want to thank all the members of sea power subcommittee also want to thank the other committee chairman who to a man or woman transferred funds from their jurisdiction to try to help in our efforts to rebuild america's fleet of all th services i think it is fair to say that the bush administration has been the least favorable to the united states navy it has shrunk by about fifty ships on george bush's watch we're trying to turn that around with this year's bill we're very proud of several things we've done we funded one started the full funding of an additional carrier we have long lead funding or three t a k e cargo ships and mrs speaker again with the great help of roscoe bartlett we have in here a language that says the next generation of warships surface combatants will be nuclear power to lessen our nation's dependence on foreign oil i would encourage every american to read a great book on the new york times bestseller list called policies typhoon and it talks about the christmas typhoon that hit the pacific the fleet off of the philippines in one thousand nine hundred one nine hundred forty four the needless loss of vessels but the event that triggered the fleet that sailing into that typhoon was the need for the fleet to refuel the destroyers and the destroyers got caught on fuel low on fuel and then the destroyers got caught in the storm three of them founded needlessly and had those vessels been nuclear powered with a thirty year supply of fuel on board that never would have happened to this day we have only five dollars in the pacific any clever future for all of the united states the first thing we're going to they're going to do is try to sink those lawyers and the department of defense strategy of wishful thinking that this isn't go happen isn't good enough so because the future combat needs things like rail guns the growth in power demand for things like electronics and above all to have the ships that guard our carriers to have the capacity to stay with the carriers for thirty years as far as a fuel needs we're very very proud of that we're very happy that the guard empowerment act will become law and i want to thank my colleague tom davis for encouraging me to sponsor that i want to thank him for co sponsoring it it will raise the chief of the national guard bureau to four stars it will see to it that either the commander of the deputy commander of the northern command will be either a gardener reservist and i can tell you having worked with general steven blum in the aftermath  hurricane katrina i cannot think of a finer human being to be the first person as an asham garzon to wear four stars i'm very very proud of the subcommittees efforts to increase the building of mine resistant subcommittee for their work on the fielding of mine resistant ambush protected vehicles a year ago right now the administration had only asked for four hundred of those vehicles because of the work of the subcommittee because of the case that was made to the american people there will now be fifteen thousand of them built and it will from the day it's fielded save lives and save limbs there are young people in mississippi graveyards who would be alive today if we had fielded them sooner but at least it's getting done now so mr chairman thank you for the great work you've done or thank my fellow subcommittee chairman and above all encourage every member of the house disappear support this very important measure jennifer new jersey three minutes the gentleman from hagerstown maryland mr bartlett who is the ranking member of the sea power subcommittee jealous recognized for three minutes thank you mr speaker i rise in strong support of the national defen authorization act for fiscal year two thousand and eight as ranking member of the subcommittee on c power an expeditionary forces i would like to thank the gentleman from this is that the my friend mr taylor chairman of our subcommittee for his wisdom and profound concern for the safety of our service members and the security of the united states for that i would like to recognize our chairman ike skelton our ranking member duncan hunter for their continued leadership in support this bill contains farsighted provisions which i believe are critical to this nation's future security none of which would have been possible without that steadfast at the of these visionary leaders thank you i also want to recognize the purpose staff without whom this bill would not be possible there are a handful of provisions in every annual defense policy all that stands apart in terms of their impact this conference report is no different this year the congress has clearly established that it is the policy of the united states to utilize nuclear propulsion for all future major naval combatants it is a vital step to secure our nation's national and energy security nuclear propulsion from naval ships is the right thing to do from economic combat effectiveness homeland defense an energy policy perspectives without congressional action budgetary pressures would forever prevent the navy from making this farsighted commitment to its future studies have consistently shown that lifecycle and operational costs are lower for nuclear propulsion in large compact vessels such as cruisers the most recent navy study shows that the breakeven cost for a nuclear fuel cruiser cruiser sixty dollars per barrel of oil it's now about ninety dollars what's more the national petroleum council project future shortfalls in the supply of oil cleared through twenty thirty last spring a deal the office of fort transformation a resources commissioned report found that the risks associated with the oil would make the u s militar ability to rapidly deploy on demand and i quote unsustainable in the long run it said it is imperative that the odi apply new energy technologies that address alternative supply sources and efficient consumption across all aspects of military operations congress has responded as recently as last year's defensible congress found that the nation's dependence upon foreign oil is a threat to national security and that other energy sources must be seriously considered it noted the advantages of nuclear power such as virtually unlimited high speed in durance elimination of vulnerable refueling and a reduction in the requirement for a new plan is meant vessels and the need to protect those vessels congress directed the secretary of the navy to evaluate integrated mr mr speaker i yield the gentleman thirty digital seconds tell us recognize quite simply the conferees decided that we could waste no further time because these investments must begin to be made next year for the c g x next generation cruiser therefore this conference report requires integrated nuclear propulsion for future major combatants that contradicts what reflects a fair and balanced treatment of the remaining issues facing united states navy and marine corps and i respectfully asked full support for this for our men and women in uniform do not fulfill our responsibilities to provide for the calm defense every military family deserves the support of every american and we act today in this defense bill provide that support no defense bill is perfect no defense bill finishes the work but this congress comes together today in a bipartisan manner with a good bill three quick points first of all i want to thank mr skelton mr hunter for their leadership in the work that they have done on this year's defense bill i also want to acknowledge the presence of mr who has announced his retirement and is in his last term and as is providing leadership today as he often does of this committee second i'm very pleased to see the improvements in the g i bill for our reserve component members it has been grossly unfair that some of our reserve component members have not been able to get g i bill benefits when they have left the service and third thanks to mr mchugh and mrs davis and others we have very good provisions in this bill the so called wounded warrior provisions that will make life easier for those yielding mr speaker our ra's in support of this conference report it is one of the few examples of bipartisan work that has been produced so far in this congress and i think it is worthy of every member support i want to specifically mention some of the provisions within the jurisdiction of the terrorism and unconventional warfare subcommittee which has been very ably led by the gentleman from washington mr smith following in the tradition of the gentleman from new jersey mr s of them asked tough questions but they always put the interests of the country first the cutting edge of our back addle against terrorists are the focus of the special operations command and this bill fully authorizes the requested funding for those of us those assigned to our toughest missions it also the bill also improves so calm's acquisition and contracting authority socom is a unique entity set up specifically by congress with unique authorities including the ability to buy it's own equipment now that is resent it by some and this provision in this bill is intended to make that explicitly clear but i think all of us on the subcommittee agree that if it is not made clear by this provision then we will come back and do more next year this bill continues the authority to fund projects in our work with others it is an important part of this war against terrorists to work with and through other forces other individuals and the funding authority that allows that to happen is continued here and i especially want to express my appreciation to the subcommittee chairman mr smith that this subcommittee has again continued in mr saxon's work to die i have developed a deep understanding of the ideology that drives radical islamic terrorism and how best we can counter it as much money time and effort has been put into that issue since nine eleven two thousand and one i don't think we're to the bottom of it yet in addition this portion of the bill provides more strategic direction and efficiency to our research and development efforts for example it adopts a defense science board recommendation that requires strategic plan for manufacturing technology program to try to make sure that equipment goes from the laboratory to the field where the soldiers can use it in an efficient and effective way in i t it makes acquisition more responsive to the pace of technological to i believe we have a lot more work yet to go in that area but we have also worked in that most unconventional of warfare areas and that is through cyber warfare where this country is being attacked every day by folks over the internet our military and the rest of our government i think is just beginning to come to grips with the significance of that issue and how best to deal with it mr speaker this is not a perfect bill but i think it's a good bill and it should be supported by all members joan from missouri  to begin by echoing the comments of my colleague from texas mr thornberry and also thanking him for his outstanding leadership on our subcommittee it's been great to work in a bipartisan fashion with mr thornberry with mr saxton the former chairman and the other members of the comm e and i will not repeat all that mr thornberry just said design agree with that completely of the priorities that he laid out of our subcommittee focusing on supporting the special special operations command and their lead in the fight against al qaeda and terrorism focusing on science technology and all of the issues that he raised are exactly what we were trying to confront i've enjoyed working with him on those issues and look forward to continuing to do so because as you mentioned we've certainly made progress but there is a lot more work to do our special operations command needs all the support we can give it in its effort to fight al qaeda to understand that enemy and then use its forces to the best of its ability to combat it and i think understanding those issues is enormously important it's been a huge priority of our subcommittee i also want to thank the chairman of the full a great honor to have worked with him during my last eleven years in congress and certainly a great honor to work with him as the chair and i think he has produced an outstanding bill in cuellar the focus on the troops i have traveled with the chairman before and i know that this is always at the top of his priority list how are we taking care of the troops and their families and this bill does that it protects them active duty guard and reserve it makes it a priority to make sure that we are meeting their needs and i know that is primarily because  leadership and i thank him for that and i also thank the other subcommittees who are directly involved in that and lastly i want to point out how important it is that this bill also recognizes the fight we are currently engaged in in iraq in afghanistan it goes to the issues that are most important to those troops funding the m raps trying to come up with ways to combat i e d making sure they have the body armor and the op arno humvees that they need to confront those threats there's been a huge priority of this committee in particular mr taylor and mr abercrombie to make sure that we fund our troops that are in the field right now with the priorities that they most need because they are the ones facing the most direct threat right now i've always been proud to be a member of this committee and i'm very proud of the bill that we have created i urge every great friend from california mr horner for his for their work on this video and i also want to recognize the fact that dylan from missouri this is not his first video but it is personal and i congratulate you m radars encourages the administration to see a reprogramming request once agreements with host countries are reached the bell establishes policy to the fan against iranian missile ballistic missile threats and and airborne laser funding is increased to just thirty five million below the budget request and the area of military space to be able requires the secretary of defense and the director of national intelligence to develop a space protection strategy the importance of space to the economy in the modern day war fighting it's often overlooked in a lot of the chinese and that lack test last january and other threats to space we must place a greater priority on warhead program cost in design activities and finally ms speaker i would be remiss if i didn't recognize the young lady from california who cherish the strategic forces subcommittee she should demonstrate skillful leadership in her purse years chairman and i will to congratulate her this bill would not be what it is without her leadership i also must recognize my fellow subcommittee chairman members on both sides of the out and their stash i think this committee handles some of the most difficult policy decisions in the house armed services committee and i want to express my appreciation for their hard work in protection our nation's curator at this time mr however on the current federal regulations contractors are not required to phase out and quit until two thousand and twelve the results are less robust security and more government spending to protect classified information had about contractors information now for several years rather than wait another five years i believe d o d should have a plan and place to ensure that contractors are in full compliance with their regulations and i us importance in the standards for protecting this material should be consistent across government as well as industry in that regard i intend to work very closely with my friend gentleman from alabama on the issue and starting with a alabama starting with the request of the department of defense to attain their plans for meeting the two thousand and twelve deadline for phasing out containers used by defense contractors that have not been approved by the g the speaker if the gentleman your father thank him for his commitment to work with me on the matter and you know back in time john from missouri  member hunter i specially want to thank the strategic forces subcommittee ranking member mr everett the distinguished gentleman from alabama many of the very fine initiatives that we produced in this bill were started by mr everett when he was chairman and i thank him for his cooperation and for his leadership and i want to specially thank arce our excellent staff for all their hard work for what is i think one of the finest defense bills that we have been able to produce mr speaker as chairman of strategic forces subcommittee i have worked with my colleagues over the course of this year to incorporate four priorities into the conference agreement for the house today first this bill aims to foster in frame a crucial discussion about nuclear weapons by establishing a rationally appointed bipartisan commission designed to re evaluate the united states strategic posture the commission will provide valuable recommendations to congress regarding the proper mix of conventional and nuclear weapons needed to meet new and emerging threats second the bill takes a prudent step to slow key department of energy nuclear weapons initiatives including the development of the reliable replacement warhead the conference agreement limit limits r w activity in fiscal year two thousand and eight to a designing cost steady and reduces r w funding by thirty eight million out of a total request of one hundred nineteen million more than a thirty percent reduction the conference agreement also rejects the repos offer a new plutonium pit facility or consolidated will tony and center in the president's budget request none of the twenty four point nine million proposed for c p c is authorized third the bill fund ballistic missile defense systems that will protect the american people are deployed troops and allies against real threats while shifting resources away from longer term high risk effort the bill authorizes eight point four billion for ballistic missile defense programs of the missile defense agency a reduction of four hundred fifty million from the president's request the conference agreement reduces funding for the proposed european missile defense site by eighty five million and requires final approval by the governments of poland in the czech republic and an independent study on alternative missile defense options for europe before construction may begin the conference agreement also tracks a path forward to provide the president with options for conventional prompt plot prompt global strike consolidating funds requested for the conventional try to modification into a new defense wide research line for prompt global strike finally we're boosting funding for space capabilities that deliver near term benefits to the war fighter and improve space situational awareness and survivability mr speaker this bill strikes a balance between your near term needs and long term investment and it creates an the means to help bring our nuclear weapons policy into the twenty first century i urge speaker i've i've said on occasions in the past in similar situations that it's always a source of great pride for the us those of us who have the honor and the opportunity to serve on the personnel subcommittee that when many members come to this floor in support of both this and passed authorization bills one of the things that they cite most often are those initiatives emanating out of the personnel subcommittee and i think that's for very good reason because all of us certainly in this congress but particularly in the house armed services committee recognize that for all of the things that make this nation great particularly for all those things that make our military the greatest that has ever walked the face of the earth the one ear replaceable component it is those who wear the uniform and those who of course love and support them their spouses their children their families and in that regard i want to add my words of thanks to of course the distinguished chairman the gentleman from missouri our ranking member congressman hunter but also to dr schneider who started the year off as the chairman of the personnel subcommittee went on to other challenges and fortunately for all of us turn the reins over to the very able hands of the gentle lady from california ms davis as in years past mr speaker this rich this bill is rich in provisions that recognize the value of our military men and women in service in the need to support them and to enrich the quality of lives of both of those individuals and of course their families and i suspect you've heard today and rightfully will continue to hear mr speaker of all of those good things three and a half percent pay raise one half percent of but of what the president requested and more importantly over the past nine years the continuation of our effort to reduce that gap between civilian pay and military that started at thirteen and a half percent and with this three and a half percent it will move it down to three and point four percent more needs to be done but good progress it critically critically increases and strength that such an important component in the high pace of operations and personnel tempo's it increases the army by thirteen thousand the marine corps by nine thousand again work that needs to be continued but a good step on such an important problem the report also contains important provisions of the bill that dr schneider and i had the honor of helping to initiate that was later picked up by the committee and so many others to round it into a great provision to respond to the disgraceful conditions that we all learned about at walter reed and and the frustration that exists between the  and veterans retirement than disability systems and it includes as well several recommendations from the president's commission on care of america's retiree returning wounded warriors better known as the  active to reserve this is a great bill and deserves all of our support sorry figure i ask unanimous consent at this point to enter in the record the statement of the  very difficult period for our service members and their families when i sit down with members of our all volunteer force whether it's in my district or in the mess halls in iraq i'm very aware of the stress military service can have on our service members and of course quite specifically on all of their family members as well the stress of being deployed over the holidays can only be more difficult mr speaker a vital component of our new strong national defense is the ability to care for members of our force as well as recruit and retain men and women to serve in the military to quote the first commander in chief the willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war no matter how justified sha directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation with this bill current and future generations of service members will know that their nation cares for their sacrifice mr speaker why is this bill important to men and women in uniform it provides a three percent across the board pay raise for our troops the compensation we provide our service members must remain competitive with the private sector we were also successful in making major improvements to the reserve bank governor a g i bill for the first time there is a ten year portability in benefits for reservist so they can continue to receive educational assistance after they separate and additionally this bill will help services create recruit and retain desperately needed health care professionals by prohibiting any further conversion of military medical professionals to civilian positions mr speaker most importantly the mental health needs of our troops continue to grow and this bill provide clues a number of provisions that will improve access to quality care for members and their family creations of centers of excellence of t b i and p t s d is just one example this report also includes a number of the recommendations from the dole shalala commission including an expansion of the family and medical leave act to cover family members of those on active duty so they can care for wounded service members on extended leaf or up to twenty six work leeks family members will no longer have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a wounded loved one this village dress is one of the concerns members have heard from their constituent reservists early retirement the bill would reduce the age at which a member of the ready reserve can draw retired pay below the age of sixty by three months for every aggregate ninety days of active duty performed under specified circumstances you know mr speaker there is so much more i wish we could do for our men and women who serve but i feel that this bill represents the best efforts of this body to provide for our nation's armed forces and their families and i would marine corps colonel retired mr kline jim of minnesota's reckon up to two minutes i thank the gentleman for yielding i thank you mr speaker i rise today along with my colleagues in strong support of this legislation and a time when our nation is at war on multiple fronts we must maintain a strong commitment to these brave men and women in uniform who stand in defense of our nation this legislation techs are responsible forward looking approach to the funding of our current operations rides for the needs of our american heroes in addition to the things already mentioned by my colleagues such as an increase in end strength in the very important pay raise and i'm particularly pleased at the inclusion of two important legislative provisions that i introduced earlier this year yellow ribbon reintegration program and authorization for assignment incentive pay for a national guardsman unfairly denied this benefit the yellow ribbon reintegration program takes nationally a program which was created by the minnesota national guard through experiences drawn from the deployments of smaller units to iraq and afghanistan the minnesota guard developed a unique combat veteran reintegration program with a focus on supporting service members and their families throughout the entire deployment cycle with this focus the minnesota yellow ribbon program has proven  effective means to prepare every combat veteran and their family for a safe healthy and successful reintegration this multifaceted program includes workshops and training events at thirty sixty and ninety day intervals for service members following their this bill also moves us toward fixing a major disparity among minnesota national guardsmen congress created a simon incentive paid to recognize the hardship of prolonging mobilization periods for reservists and guardsmen called up under partial mobil authority the military services however deployed guardsmen and reservists under other mobilization authorities there are no fault of their own many minnesota national guardsmen who served in bosnia and kosovo were mobilized using the different authorities when these same soldiers many of them senior noncommissioned officers were asked to deploy with their fellow guardsmen to iraq in two thousand and six those who had served in kosovo were given a thousand dollar a month in assignment incentive pay while those who had served in bosnia were not clearly this is not fair i'm very pleased at this legislation recognizes that and rectifies this disparity mr speaker i would encourage all of my colleagues to join me today in voting for this important legislation that supports our troops and without a you'll back without objection so i thank my friend feeling like a graduate our chairman skelton on his great job in getting this building a ranking member mr hunter people criticize the congress i think justifiably because they think we don't get anything done and we can never agree with each other well this bill shows that we can get things done and we can agree with each other there are many strongly held opinions about the war in iraq pro and con but i think there's unanimity we should show the people who wear the uniform of this country  appreciation by raising their pay and this bill does that three and a half percent across the board i think there's unanimity that when we send our young men and women into harm's way they should have the best protection and this bill puts seventeen point six billion dollars the highest ever and up armored vehicles and protective gear for the troops in the field i think there's unanimity that says that when someone is wounded in the service of this country he or she should never be forgotten ever when they're in the v a health care system so there is unanimity here for the wounded warriors act this bill is well worth supporting because it shows the broad support in this congress for the men and women who serve this country i  completing the conference report for f y o eight national defense authorization on december sixth chairman skelton announced that an agreement had been reached on the conference report stating that this bill supports the troops restores readiness and improves accountability i would like to point out that this bill includes a key policy provision that directly supports our troops this bill will amend the servicemembers civil relief act to protect the children and custody arrangements service members deployed in a contingency operation this provision is important because it protects our deployed troops from courts that have been overturning a stablished custody arrangement while a service member is serving our country and a contingency operation such as iraq or afghanistan today i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill because it provides the child custody protection that our detroit deployed troops deserve much is asked of our service members in mobilization can disrupt and strain relationships at home this additional protection is needed to provide them peace of mind that the courts will not undertake judicial proceedings concerning their established custody rights without them this amendment protects them and it protects their children  support of the fiscal year two thousand and eight defense authorization act as a member of the armed services committee led by chairman skelton i'm pleased to vote for a comprehensive bill that bolsters middle terri readiness supports our military families and make sure that we have strong national security in southern arizona i represent two major military installations and thousands of military personnel having visited with troops both home and abroad i'm well aware of the challenges our men and women in uniform face new recruits a davis monson air force base and fort huachuca currently earn just eighteen thousand dollars a year many of them have families this bill recognizes their commitment and gives them a three and a half percent pay increase our military is facing  attention crisis in this time of war are armed services must have the best and brightest we must retain those men and women by providing them the best training the best equipment and support possible from southern arizona to afghanistan we have to ensure our men  outstanding work and for his great cooperation in our subcommittee the major highlights of the air land subcommittees portion of this bill provide aircraft providing a multi for authority for the c h forty seven helicopter program ensures continued development of two operation two options for the propulsion system of the joint strike fighter authorizes two point three billion for a badly needed c seventeen aircraft and armor that we provide in the i e d fragment armor kits are very important elements of the bill we also authorize three point four billion for the army's future combat system mr speaker the department of defense continues to have acquisition directives that are rare early followed this is not a good thing with requirements for advancement through research and development to procurement these provisions are routinely waived by the department of defense it is hard to know if acquisition policies actually work if you are if we rarely follow them mr speaker the conference report take steps to address some of these issues and i am encouraged by some of the things that i have recently seen and heard coming from the office of the secretary of defense for acquisition technology and logistics mr speaker this conference report supports our military men and women and provides them with the equipment they need while at the same time taking steps to redress acquisition for one minute thank you a speaker i do rise today a strong support of two thousand and eight defense authorization bill h r fifteen eighty five the bill addresses many of the problems facing the military as we've seen today and as we know the bill has many strong provisions i'd like to take a moment to address want to particular increasing education benefits to our national guard and reservists the g i bill as provided education to many of our nation's fine and honorable men and women indeed in my own family i grew up knowing what a difference it could make unfortunately the g i bill has a provision which excludes our national guard and reservists from receiving their g i bill benefits after they've left the military one of my first actions in congress was to introduce bipartisan legislation to give the national guard and reserve members up to ten years the take advantage of the g i education benefits this proposal is similar to the benefits extended to active duty members of the military under current law guardsmen or reservists loses their benefit when they decide to leave the service or shortly thereafter the national guard and reserve are becoming indistinguishable from active duty now and these men and women serve their country only to return to realize education benefits are set to expire this legislation is a today stands in some contrast to other pieces of work of this last year stands in contrast because it isn't dolled up with all kinds of of  very very controversial kinds of things it's a bill that is just quietly getting the job done i think the members of the house both republican and democrat should be pleased with the quality of what's been put together  does the job it funds our troops it lays out the proper kinds of equipment and spending priorities that are absolutely necessary for the defense of our country and thankful that we were able to reject the hate crimes legislation that had no part on this bill that was done also by this house for standing strong and what was just the simple accomplishment of the job of funding defense and providing for the defense of our country so hats minnesota is reckon up one minute thank you mr speaker and thank you chairman skelton and ranking member hunter for bringing this good piece of legislation to the floor this bill h r fifteen eighty five fulfills our basic duty in this congress to provide for the national defen there are several important pieces of this legislation that are particularly meaningful to me as a twenty four year veteran of army national guard there's an amendment in here to address the issue of federal to ition assistance program that too many of our returning service members are unable to use it also includes important provision that we worked on in the v a committee on making sure the electronic medical records between d o d and be a truly do become seamless and finally there's a very important repeal of changes that were made to a two hundred year old piece of legislation the insurrection act that mr davis from virginia and i worked on with our nation's governors that will restore individual state control over their national guard units these provisions are only a small part of this bill there's a need a pay raise and expanded care for research into t b i for our returning warriors this legislation is packed with provisions to make good on this congress has promise that we will keep every single promise to our veterans and make them a priority our most precious resource in our national defense are those service members who are willing to risk everything to defend this nation and for this bill on the committee and stop this gentleman pennsylvania's recognize for one minute that the speaker i want to highlight two specific provisions that are included in this landmark legislation that we are discussing today this bill contains legislation that i along with congressman tom udall offered as an amendment during initial house consideration this bill it will allow military families to use family and medical leave time to manage issues such as child care and financial planning that arise as a result of the deployment of an immediate family member this bill also contains the language from my bill h r nine hundred forty four that requires the v a to operate a comprehensive program of long term care for rehabilitation of traumatic brain injury which has become the signature injury of the wars in afghanistan and iraq it also creates and maintains a t b i veterans health registry these provisions will directly impact and improve the lives of our brave men and women in uniform and their families and i have proud that they have been included in this bill i yield back the balance of my time joan yield back the balance of his time gentleman from new jersey mr speaker may inquire as that with the chairman as to how many additional speakers speaker of first let me again sincerely thank chairman skelton for the great job that he's done here bringing us to the floor with this bill today i'm a speaker president ronald reagan used to say that all the things that congress does are important in all of all the programs that we fund our great programs and important programs but then he would say but none of that really matters much if we don't have a good system to protect the american people and our national security i've kept that in mind ever since i was a freshman here because that was when i heard him say that and i believe that this bill today carries on that same car and of tradition because we work together as republicans and democrats understanding that we have a finite amount of money and resources to put toward our national security and therefore it's incumbent upon us to do it the best way we can we do face a multitude of threats to our way of life and our national security interests and as legislators that we therefore  must accept that it is our responsibility to ensure that our brave men and women in uniform have the best available tools at their disposal to combat those threats and protect those interests the provisions of this bill go a considerable way in demonstrating that kind of support and so i urge all members to support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time gentleman yield back the balance of his time  to thank especially chairman skelton for healing for one minute and i want to thank chairman skelton ranking member hundred for their bipartisan leadership on this bell i am proud to work with them to restore the readiness of our military support our deployed troops and their families and increase the oversight of our ongoing presence in iraq our national guard and active duty forces are stretched to the boy breaking point this bill takes great strides to address this critical issue to ensure our guard are properly trained and equipped to respond to threats both home and abroad moreover this legislation includes an amendment that i offered with representative cummings of maryland which require report to congress every three months on the status of military operations and political reconciliation and iraq such oversight is crucial to our ability to find a new way forward in iraq i urge my colleagues to support this  legislation and i think chairman skelton once again for allowing me to speak for one minute i could just as time has expired the gentleman from missouri is recognized for the remaining thirty seconds mr speaker we have a good number of provisions that are not been fully discussed day in quitting contracting the form acquisition reform and we did speak of roles and missions but i wish to stress this figure of the years i've had the privilege of serving in this body this has to be the best most comprehensive troop friendly family friendly and readiness friendly bill that we've ever had when the first to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table emerged was much closer to a consensus product will obviously not unanimous there were members offered by both sides there were bipartisan compromises worked out we came to the floor it was open a process is i would hope but it still represented we thought a fairly good piece of legislation and of course you've got well over seventy percent of the house members voting for it and then it went to the senate and nothing happened for a very long time and i regret that we had hoped that we could continue this process and in fact have a conference the senate did not act finally the senate acted and sent us a bill which was an extension of the current program better than the current program not as comprehensive as the bill we passed and we were told by the senate as we have been from time to time this year this is all we can do take it or leave it that seem to me to be a problem and now not so much for substance as for institutional concerns and members have as well in the end we may just have to accept what the senate sent us and that that's possible and we preserve the option to do that let me be very clear mr speaker we are here dealing with a new bill that we introduced the senate bill still sits at the desk it will be available of the senate continues to refuse to act in any kind of a by campbell manner but i'm not ready to give up yet mr speaker on some important issues the most important of which is the institutional one it is simply not in the spirit of the i said i regret that we may not be able to prevent that from happening in this instance i do think it is important for us to send the message that we do not want to see this sort of procedure repeated so what we did was in effect to have a virtual conference we looked at the senate bill we looked at our bill and we came up with what i think might well have resulted had there been a conference the bill we passed had a fifteen year extension the reason for  here about building projects we are talking about the need for terrorism which concurs if we are to get large commercial buildings or residential but especially commercial buildings built the big cities you can't get those buildings up here without banking all you can't get the bank loans that insurance that's why the chamber of commerce scores this as an important bell why the real state industry the cities a whole range your business and urban interests tell us this is important and you need to have some assurance of a timeframe in which to build we thought fifteen years the senate said seven years we didn't hear come with a split the difference we've accepted the senate seven years we were told at the last minute that there was a problem and it calculation by the congressional budget office and i still do not understand but we have no option but to abide by it we came up with a paygo solution which was not a very good one the senate came up with and i give them credit here a much better insurance and protection against what sebi we cannot rule out nuclear biological chemical or radiological attacks the senate rejected both of those we split the difference we accepted their rejection of nuclear biological chemical mereological attacks we did feel that group life insurance should be and i should say that including the group life provision is something that was called to our attention in a bipartisan basis for members from florida which says that you have insurance canceled you're going to israel i mean that's basically what we're talking about or maybe some other areas where the insurance companies think there's a problem when there isn't one and we checked in the number of payoffs they've had to make of people who died going to israel or other countries on the list is negligible zero you know you can tell so we include a provision in our bill that was overwhelmingly supported by both sides to say that there were rules not you couldn't deny someone live in curative their going to ha area but that you had to have a rational process by which you defined that we put group life back in members will remember that after the two thousand and one mass murders of so many innocent americans by vicious thugs we adopted a very expensive program to compensate people a better way to do that we would be to have this group like insurance as part of the terrorism is concurrent and i'd request of smaller insurance companies we go with the trigger one hundred million or fifty million per incident because smallman surance from hundred million to fifty million finally there is the reset provision which says that if you have once been attacked and you have to deal with it should that same area be attacked again the clock starts again that is you would not be in a position where having been attacked once by these vicious murderous you would be unable to get full insurance if they get a second time those are the differences as i said we have no guarantee that the senate will do this pay even serious attention we have retained to be a common case they don't but i don't want and i said this earlier we're not debating preemptive strike here we're debating preemptive surrender i don't want to have a situation where the united states senate passes legislation send it to us and said you may not even think about changing things we are prepared to compromise but i think including a group life in the travel protection is important we think that the smaller insurance companies had of a gentleman concerned we think the receptivity his legitimacy we're asking the senate again to consider them we can't compel that but i think it would be a mistake for us to set the precedent that when they c with these ultimatum that we shipley ok then let me repeat that i got it i got it right now i was quoting before the lyrics from macarthur park what the senate tells us says look we were able to do this but we we can't do it again you just have to accept that it is and the theme song apparently is people remember i'll say that i think some awful someone left the cake out in the rain i don't think that i can take it because it took too long to make it and i'll never have the recipe again well someone in the senate tells us we have to build up in the rain well is that telling us that if we were to try to get them to change it it would be even the been outnumbering and they couldn't be make it because they don't have the accept it i would hope and we are going to be here obviously next week that the small life insurance companies people incident ability to travel to israel and others would then at least go to senators and say can we meet you have a vote on this can't you even consider this and  that's why i ask that today we send this bill back over we retain a vehicle if the senate remains impervious but i think it's worth a try it was of the balance of my time kellner reserves gemma from alabama thank you mr chairman mr chairman i of such time as i may consent and mr chairman members of the body first let me address the practicalities of where we are i want to talk about the policies in a few minutes after others have had an opportunity to make but let's just talk about where we are in the chairman's talked about the senate this the house this but the truth is that the present legislation expires december thirty first that's nineteen days businesses across the country are trying to arrange their insurance coverage for next year and they have no certainty as to whether or how much they'll be federal safety net in place nightrain days even if congress were to act today there's hardly time enough for insurance companies to develop new policy for me to obtain approval from fifty state regulators to get them in the marketplace for review by the brokers and to finish negotiating coverage with their policyholders they're just not time now if me the senate problem the house passed a bill earlier this year that's all true but that doesn't change the facts nineteen days nineteen days each additional day that we fail to get a bill on the president's desk manes less ability in the marketplace to adjust and respond to the new mandates in this program of the senate particularly the mandates on domestic terrorism policies are going to have to be rewritten and both the house and the senate bill does that so it doesn't really matter which bill ultimately passes but chairman i share chairman frank's frustration with the senate i sure you know he's described this ping pong back and forth a house senate conference conference would have been nice to work out our differences although in a minute i will say why not personally believe the senate bill is more in keeping with our original intention the chairman of the full committee and i were to the arthurs of the original legislation and it was intended says in that legislation it was intended as a very temporary federal backstop until the private market could fill in and out talk about that and why i support the senate bill later but as a practical matter whether off support of the center of the house bill there's only one bill it's going to pass i think the chairman knows that i know that members of this body know that that's the senate bill the administration has indicated they're going to veto anything but the fifteen year permanent bill so we didn't come together but we've got to put this behind us and adopt legislation that has a realistic possibility of becoming law and to do it right now need to do that on alternate minimum tax it staring us in the face i don't think the american people the taxpayers i don't think the accounting industry cares whether or not the senate did this the house of the house did this the senate on terror is dangerous i don't think the insurance company the developers the policyholders i'm not sure they care about all the internal fights between this body and that body they're caught in the middle and you have a you do have a bill available it's a senate bill that will go to the president the sign and take away this on chartered the senate's made it clear that they're not going to pass legislation that the chairman's offering it's not me that's the senate the white house has issued a statement of administrative policy indicating that if presented with the bill we're going to vote on the day and and that's with less the senate's not going to take it up so it will never get to the press so that's sort of a i just theoretical because the senate said they're not going to they're not going to pass and we've got three weeks left before the program expires now some of our members think that the private market the the tree a five years after nine eleven three year a three year bill and two year extension that trail has served its purpose and a few minutes i'm going to talk about the treasury and that they believe that it's fulfilled its purpose and from now on it just retards the private market but we can put we can vote this building and we can bring up the senate bill and we can put a bipartisan tree extension on the president's desk we do it this week the time for further deliberation or argument it's passed it's time's running out on us with all due respect to the chairman of the house financial services committee i recommand we vote down this legislation we bring up the senate legislation we do it in a motion to recommit we do it and i we do it in a unanimous consent we do it in a suspension we move it we pass it over to the senate and we and the uncertainty if it's and if it's such a vital problem that many members think it is why don't we need it in place why would to expire as i don't know why the gentleman would have said that he knows it was zero can't do that now agrees waited too long but i would have been more impressed with the urgency if i had people joining us in trying to get the senate to act yet we passed a bill months ago we would have liked to have seen it act but i didn't hear all this passion trying to force the senate act it was partly a minority in the senate that was blocking it a marriage product the ability to have a conference and here is the point i think telling the life insurance companies that they shouldn't be restricting people's ability to travel unfairly is important we think group life is important we think that not allowing a community to be a disadvantage of respond attack once is important and we may not be able to accomplish them to here but we think it's important not simply to cave in and say those are only worth fighting for we're going to send a message i hope by voting for those principles because we passed the bill this year and we may have to accept the minimal position but we'll be back here in a month or two and we hope to renewed some of these things so i just checked the notion that the senate can achieve this by waiting and waiting and waiting and then showing oh well there was enough time there was enough difference and that's what we're talking about so i will reiterate there is no chance of this expiring everyone knows that we have preserved our ability at any point simply to accept this bill the question is do you give up now or do we send them the message that the ability to travel is real that the small insurance companies being able to insure commercial properties and the concerns of group life are not your property that those are important issues we can take that vote today and send that message and if we have to we will accommodate reality but we will send that process of reauthorizing the terrorism risk insurance program it's been nine months since our committee held a field hearing in new york at which we heard experts insurance developers reinsurers testify about the private market for terrorism insurance which has not grown up since nine eleven sufficiently meet demand in many of our nation's so called high risk areas has been over four months since we held a subcommittee and a full committee markup in almost three months since the house overwhelmingly approved r twenty seven sixty one a strong reauthorization that would have extended tree of fifteen years provided group life insurance as well as nuclear chemical and biological radiology radiological coverage and significantly lowered the program's trigger leve most importantly of all and after constructive negotiations and compromise with the minority the house bill included a reset mechanism to increase to address increased capacity shortages following major terrorist attacks such as those that may occur anywhere in our country and yet despite a proactive bipartisan effort in the house spearheaded by chairman frank and ranking member baucus we find ourselves in the eleventh hour with trio set to expire at the end of the only amend the tree a program by eliminating the distinction between foreign and domestic acts of terrorism simply does not provide developers ensure is reinsurers with enough of the stability they need in our free market economy to plan finance insure and build our nation's major development projects mr speaker for tria to be truly effective in addressing the shortages in the terrorism insurance market we must recognize that the market is dynamic the terrorism insurance market b s much differently in the wake of a terrorist attack than it does before an attack the reset contained in this compromise bill is identical to the reset p provision that was included in the house passed tree extension in september which i and mr baker of the minority came to a mutually acceptable agreement under those terms which are in this compromise bill in the event of a terrorist attack with losses of a billion dollars a great of the doctor bills for any insurance company that pays out losses due to the event immediately lowered to five percent while the nationwide trigger for any insurer for future event drops to five million dollars mr baker and i also reached agreement on my proposal to enable the secretary of the treasury to aggregate the total losses of two or more attacks that occur in the same geographic area in the same year so that if the total insured losses of those events are over a billion dollars the reset mechanism would be triggered the inclusion of this language is absolutely vital to every high risk area across the country and many of us consider this to be the central most essential must be included aspect of the legislation my colleague may recall that the tree extension passed by the house and september was subject to paygo concerns because the c b i had assessed its cost roughly ten billion dollars over ten years with the c b i score some of our friends on the other side of the argued that even though no funds would have been appropriated unless the country was attacked our bill would have been too much of a burden on the american taxpayer not knowing who else the bill for an attack on america i disagreed with that view and with the c b o scoring but i but i too am committed to a physically responsible bill and i'm pleased to say that my fiscally conservative friends on both sides of the aisle can now vote for this bill without any hesitation thanks to the inclusion of language from the senate bill and more significantly because the recent language disconfirmation legislation has been assessed to a positive c b o score of two hundred million dollars let me say that again this compromise bill that we're debating today will result in a net gain of two hundred million dollars legislation that protects developers and the insurance industry from terrorist attacks and provides taxpayers with a return on their dime is something i believe that we should all support mr speaker the next terrorist attack against the united states like the one on nine eleven is going to damage more than just buildings we must  knowledge that the structural losses associated with terrorist incidents will be accompanied by the loss of human life the legislation before the house today recognizes this fact and includes groups like insurance coverage because this congress is concerned not only with the value of buildings but the people inside of them as well our below is the program trigger for america now than it built from one hundred million dollars to fifty million dollars our lower trigger would provide and would our lower trigger would prevent smaller insurance companies from being priced out of the terrorism insurance market and with a greater supply of insurance we can expect higher degree of stability for a large scale developers all over america  speaker in the absence of a formal conference which most of us in this body would have preferred we have taken it upon ourselves to consider this legislation in which we have compromised with the senate on many of their issues but holds firm on those provisions that we believe must be included in therea the reset mechanism group life coverage and lower triggers i urge all of our colleagues to see put this important compromise legislation and as the clock strikes eleven fifty nine to place the burden of perhaps i can paraphrase the closest thing to eternal life on earth is a federal program and indeed we've had speaker after speaker come before in this debate to tell us how true it was going to be a temporary program and i see the able and gentle lady from new york the chairwoman of our financial institutions subcommittee i wasn't here in this body when tree was originally passed but i took the time to review the record of the debate and at that time she said quote we are simply working to keep our economy on track with a short term program that addresses the new terrorist threat unquote the gentleman from pennsylvania the chairman of our capital markets subcommittee said quote we wisely designed the triac as a temporary backstop to get our nation through a period of economic uncertainty until the private sector could develop models unquote and if you look at the record mr speaker those who proposed tree in the first place all said it be a temporary program now perhaps temporary is in the eye of the about what started out i believe as a three year program has since become a five year program the house attempted to extend it fifteen years i think we're now looking at a seven year extension and i believe m speaker that for all intents and purposes we're looking at giving birth defacto to a new permanent federal insurance program to go along with the scores of others not a few of which are financially center and so again what was meant to be temporary i hope had i been in this body at that time i would have voted for i was here for the vote on the first extension an os a vote i supported that extension i believe that there was and indeed a great calamity in this marketplace i believe that people in the marketplace needed time to react to plan to model but again is this something that's going to now the question again is bag and that is who can do a better job in the reinsurance market the federal government or private industry die have no doubt that private industry would love to have the subsidies that are represented by tria anytime the government's going to hand out something free or at a subsidized rate versus the market right who wouldn't accept such a deal so i certainly understand that they might be favoring this now i haven't heard it in this debate but in previous iterations of the debate i've heard many come and talk about the great tragedy of nine eleven a i want to let it be known again we're talking about terrorism reinsurance does nothing to prevent terrorism in the first place we're talking about coming in after the fact and providing this federal  backstop which many of us don't believe is any longer necessary in putting the taxpayer on the hook at a time when markets could develop and i would take the argument more serious if more people on the other side of the terrorist most of the democrats most among colleagues on the other side of the aisle mr speaker and may voted against the hoekstra minute to the intelligence authorization act which would eliminate in that section of the bill requiring the director of national intelligence to use resources and i paraphrase him to study bugs and bunnies instead of suit the suspected terrorist they have supported expanding the legal rights of terrorist detainees holding up passage of the nine eleven commission recommendations implement implementation bill to give union bargaining advantages to t s a screeners in the list goes on and on and on myself we want to talk about terrorism let's talk about what we can do to prevent it in the first place as opposed to what we can do to subsidize large insurance companies after the fact another point i would like to make and everybody certainly entitled to their own opinion  and i've looked very carefully at the president's working group position on this and they have observed what i've observed and that is that the availability in the affordability of terrorism risk in insurance has improved since the initial terrorist attacks and despite increases in risk retentions under tria insurers have allocated additional capacity to terrorism risk prices have declined take up rates have increased and i simply don't buy into the argument mr speaker that we have a market failure here that somehow someway the market can't create this particular insurance product i mean how  ever going to know once again if we're going to hand out something free or at a subsidized rate as opposed to people having to buy it at the market rate and let me quote from the president's working group quote the presence of subsidized federal reinsurance through tria appears to negatively affect the emergence of private reinsurance capacity because it dilutes demand for private sector reinsurance and now some have said well again that terrorism is a very unique risk well of course it is but our reinsurance industry has face these challenges in the past at one point they had to figure out how to model for the risk of lost of electronic data and one time in our history they had to figure out how to model for airline crashes many say that we will never have major construction in the united states unless we have a government that are all reinsurance backstop for acts of terrorism i simply don't observe that in real life and how mr speaker how during the cold war when thousands of nuclear weapons were were were poised aimed at our nation how did construction take place during that time in our history and yet there are those who will maintain that somehow it cannot take place today and again i'm not saying that reinsurance is not an important aspect of our market it is but i disagree with those on the other side of the aisle who say that even after five years that the market is simply incapable incapable of creating a product that those who wish it can can pay for an affordable rate and another point i would make is even if this were a valuable program to the nation what are we going to do to pay for it and what are the long term implications again as i mentioned earlier uncle sam does not have a particularly stellar track record when it comes to running insurance programs social security according to the latest report of the trustees it says curity medicare trust fund six point eight trillion trillion with the timor and benefits that's receiving in taxes and has a long term deficit of almost nine trillion dollars not a particularly good track record there the pension benefit guaranty corporation currently running a deficit of eighteen point one billion with an additional off balance sheet liability of seventy three three billion the national flood insurance program has a short fall of one point three billion a year over the long term and according to the congressional budget office its current financial situation is unsustainable medicaid three hundred seventeen billion dollars a year national governors association says quote the growth of a program that is unsustainable in its current form federal crop insurance program requires federal subsidies and the list goes on in on and on its history as my guide mr speaker forgive me if i don't share the enthusiasm and optimism of those on the other side of the aisle who say that somehow this is not going to be proof prove painful for future tax paying generations i believe it will be i believe the private market can handle this i think they will handle this if we give them the opportunity i do not think the private insurance companies need this huge subsidy and when when mr speaker are we finally going to do something about the long term financial implications of entitlement spending in these insurance  programs something's got to give the comptroller general has said that we are on the verge of being the first generation in america's history to leave the next generation with a lower standard of living because of out of control spending instead we add burden on top of leadership and for yielding and i would like to respond to some of the comments of my good friend on the other side of the aisle and to remind my colleagues that new york and he mentioned it several times in his statement was attacked not as a city and our state was not attacked as a state this was a national attack against our country at our pentagon a symbol of our of our military strength and new york one of the symbols of our economic strength and after that attack this body was united and determined and i thank all of my colleagues for your aid and support but the most important act by this body to get new york moving again and our ever other economic centers was voting for tria the anti terrorism risk insurance plan my good friend stated that construction can go forward without it after nine eleven you could not even build a hotdog stand nothing moved until we got the anti terrorism risk insurance and place and i am told by the businesses in new york and other large cities in our country that they cannot get insurance now they get insurance to the date that tiptree a expires and they are not given insurance unless there is an agreement or a condition that tria will can continue he argued that trio was not homeland security i will say very strongly that part of our homeland security is our economic security and a very important part of our economic security is having a federal support system for terrorism risk insurance the tria bill was a top priority of the financial services committee it was one of the first bills reported out and i thank chairman frank for his continued support for a long tria including a reset provision to increase the availability of terrorism insurance for areas that have been targets of terror attacks like my city of new york the reset language in this bill though treats equally everyone across this country we are including in this bill absolutely everything that was in the senate passed bill the only changes which we come from the fifteen years down to the seven years of the senate but the other key provisions that were dropped we are putting back in such as the lower trigger trigger lever levels so that more insurers can be part of this program it's a very important group life insurance life  insurance for fairness for travelers and the very important reset mechanism for the anti terrorism risk insurance we need this bill and we need it promptly to avoid interruptions in coverage and the disruptions that that will cause in our economy i would say that tria has created jobs and helped america's economy grow despite the continuing terrorist a threat i ask permission to place in the record more comments and  risk insurance actress mia provides a free federal backstop to private insurers to protect them against acts of terrorism in the united states so they can have ensur it was enacted as is all of us recall right after nine eleven for three years as a very temporary measure it was intended to give the insurance industry a developers a three year period of transition to a private market allow them to stabilize to price terrorism ensure and the third go was to rebuild capacity and two thousand and five republicans agreed we came together bipartisan lee and extended it for two years however that same year the treasury did a study on trio and here's what they said they said into the back two thousand and five two years ago the program had achieved dollars purposes the ensurance market to stabilize they were pricing terrorism insurance and they were rebuilding from the treasury study two years ago the availability and affordability of terrorism risk insurance has improved since the terrorist attacks of seven of september eleventh despite increases in risk then we passed the legislation that the chairman's talked about today and it went over to the senate and the senate unanimously unanimously passed a tree a bill one hundred republicans and democrats came together and pass that legislation and the president said he would sign it now there are things about this bill that's some of my colleagues on this side support the gentle lady from florida has a provision that i think would be beneficial but it deals with group why i'm sure she's going to talk about that provision in a minute but let me say this the senate has said they're not going to include group why so why put a provision on about group life  house rules that put the senate and judge what we can discuss well as i said a few minutes ago to the chairman and with all respect the chairman we have nineteen days we've talked about the importance  particularly on that side of the island and many members on our side of the importance if we're going to have a bill let's have a bill if for the program is important let's have the program that's let's not let it expire if terrorists risk insurance or shut down  if if in the absence if in the absence of this we'll you can't build a hotdog stand and new york why would we let a bill expire that will quote shut down with a gentleman  seconds the gentleman has raised a red herring there was no chance of expiring and the fact that he would talk about a nonexistent threat of expiration seems to me to be an indication that there's nothing substantive talk about in the end we would retain to be able to pass this bill but we will not committee john lee from georgia is recognized for three minutes thank you very much for speaker it baffles me when on this floor we who are members of the house of representatives so quickly so easily want to abdicate our responsibilities to the senate no wonder the senate what it does well mr speaker we are not going to abdicate our responsibilities to the senate the founders of this constitution and this country dedicated to houses one the senate that runs every six years and they made this day the situation to have the members of the house of representatives run every other year because the power of the house closest to the people is in that house that the people look to to be most respons to the day to day delicacies of their needs and this is what we're doing here and the day to day dallas's says we've got to pass the most significant the most meaningful terrorism risk insurance program possible there's no greater threat re face of my colleagues on the other side of said well why can't the private sector do this the private sector has come to us we don't know how catastrophic these events may be but one thing is for certain mr speaker we must not allow the terrorists to shut down and destroy our economy and unless we have this backstop then sure as i've said they cannot rebill not only that the insurers have come to us but we've got to listen to the say we need this backstop so that the economy will be stable perhaps we may not need to use it let us hope and let us pray that we will not have it but mrs speaker an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and we must prepare for the storm before the hurricane is raging this is not a giveaway program this is not a subsidy program this is an ensurance program insurance that we hope and we pray that we must we will not need but if we do it is the house of representatives who are responding to say we need to ensure life not just property us the american people properly you can get again and again buildings you can rebuild but a life a life is gone like that and must be insured this is the house of representatives speaking and i urge you don't have time has expired i'm going from alabama i thank the chairman mr chairman members of as you have said this is such an essential program we need to pass a bill today the industry could tenure as the industry needed six months they've only got nineteen days policies have to be written we can continue to talk about not letting the senate run run over the house we can continue to say we're going to stand up for our version of the bill but ask yourself this question how could one hundred senators both republicans and democrats come up with a unanimous bill which many of us in this body support and the president said he'll take it up and sign it why are we here today delaying and the extension of what many of our get on the floor today is a very important bill i'm going to say it again even if congress were to act today there's not enough time for insurance companies to develop new policy for one there's not enough time for fifty state regulators to approve those forms there's not time to get the finished product to the marketplace there's not time to negotiate with policy holder so this idea that we don't have to pass it today no we don't have to passage no we don't have to pass it tomorrow we should have passed it six months ago we did the senate passed a different version and we are arguing at the end of this session nineteen days before this program expires as to differences between the senate and the house version and quite frankly as i have said the house the senate version iris is not going to have time to to react to that and here we are as if we have all the time in the world i think the american people are not interested in differences the house and the senate bill reserves the balance of this time gentleman from massachusetts i would just say that general alabama appears to have the senate's preference for conflict avoidance confusion with genuine consensus it one hundred votes for that didn't have lot today about how important this legislation is for new york but it's also just as important for my home state of new jersey the region and this nation i have said before on this blog that i represent that two most dangerous in this country i represent the tunnels the lincoln and the holland tunnel i represent the ports and i also represent the region which has the largest repository of fuel on the east coast of this country i represent part of new york no work enjoys the city which are both considered high threat areas i know firsthand what it's like to have a district that the ills with the threat of terrorism every day that is why it's so important for my district my state and the entire nation that we extend shari'a in a way that ensures stifler sation for businesses across this country as well as adults in high risk area  last year in new york city clearly some fifty thousand jobs there's thought that in the next ten years new york city could possibly create another five hundred thousand jobs that is one of the reasons new jersey and new york is talking about a new tunnel to bring people to fill some of those jobs and they need this the building to know that these business can come into this city so all those people can fill those jobs and that's an engine not just for new york city or new jersey but for the region and this country quite frankly and i want to thank at this time by g m it frank for his hard work on trying to weave and trying to form compromise on this bill while holding true to important aspects urge my colleagues to support this bill and i just want to end by saying i came to this congress not to follow in lock step with the senate i came in to represent my district not knowing that i would have to back out of the senate this is an important legislation today and i owe it to my colleagues to support this legislation and your back the balance of my time your meals back gentleman from alabama chairman to myself such talent and my concern is recognize it's all come down to there we can continue to debate the center we can continue to try to change this bill or we can pass a bill send it to the president which extends this vitally important program as so many speakers on the majority side of sa and we all know let's be honest with ourselves we know that this bill should have past six months ago we now the public should have passed nine months ago we know that it will not pass in time for new coverage to be written january one we know that so here we are arguing differences with the senate but i think the first thing we ought to acknowledge is the senate unanimously passed this bill now the chairman says that two people got together agreed on everything and the other ninety eight waved goodbye to let me say the we the majority of this body almost all the members on your side if not all and a good number of the members on our side have said we need to extend this program and we needed to do it six months ago it's time for us to pass the senate language send this bill to the president it's you know there comes a time when if what the senate did is way this bill goodbye it's time for us to waive this bill goodbye we have engaged in a debate the senate has been unfair to it quite frankly ladies and gentlemen this body policyholders don't care where the senate's on fair to the house they don't care whether the house didn't get its way in the senate dead the bill the senate passed i am enthusiastically passing i'm not passing it i'm not supporting it because it's not only the only thing available today although it is let me again read to you what the statement of the sure i should the administration continue to believe that any should satisfy these three key element of the program should be temporary and short term there should be no expansion of the program and private sector retention should be increased that's what that was the original policies in the original bill we passed however the administration will not oppose the version of h r twenty seven sixty one passed by the senate on november the sixth day but the administration strongly opposes any amendments to the senate passed version of the bill away from the administration's key elements and let me the only thing underlined in this statement to us is accordingly if r twenty seven sixty one passes just a bill before if it's presented to the president to be considered his senior advisers were recommending veto the bill very important program it's already too late for insurance companies and policyholders to adopt the provisions as of january first state regulators don't have time to press the phone it's time for us to pass a bill time for us to say ok we didn't settle our differences with the senate but it's time for and we can we can do that and quite frankly it's  very happy that it is the senate bill will be passing because the senate bill is very very close to what we republicans some year ago proposed and we've gone through year provisions the house has not gotten it's why i'm certain provisions it's time to act past time to act and we're going to have that opportunity today we're going to have the opportunity to extend what you say is a vital program what some of us say well actually we're not getting what we want because we believe that this program continues to be a free federal for private insurers and developers and that's ok we want you know development just like you do we we though believe is the treasury does many of us that the program has served its purpose and is actually impeding the private market but we don't ever have we don't have to get there we have compromised our beliefs and are willing to vote for a seven year extension the senate unanimously came together and compromise their various differences and voted unanimously for a version the president has said he will sign the only thing that remains list side the house side that some in the majority have not gotten their why on certain provisions and listen i'm all for advocating a house position but we've done that and in the interest of the american people and the enters of of getting legislation of interest of closure let's vote for the senate version almost time has expired sh founding fathers created two chambers two bodies and the opinions of this body are just as important as the opinions of the other body and sending a strong message about the reset provisions and about the group life provisions for the policyholders that you say don't care about those provisions is is why we have a bi cameral congress the other issue that i want to raise is that the life insurance fairness provision in this legislation which you have strongly supported consistently can stand on its own it is not dependent upon group life being being included in this legislation overall and it has no ties to that provision in the hundred ninth congress we passed a bipartisan version of tria that included a provision that says that people will not individuals will not be depart denied life insurance coverage based soley on where they might lawfully travel and that is included in this provision again too often life insurance companies deny the applications of people who express the intent to travel internationally that's particularly true when people say that they plan to travel to israel because israel and twenty six other countries appear on the state department's travel warning list the in life insurance industry is using the state department travel warning list as an underwriting tool it was never intended to be an underwriting tool countries don't make that list based on an actuarial analysis there are political and diplomatic considerations for the for those appearing on on that list travel fairness lad language will in protect consumers from unfair life insurance discrimination on the basis of past or future lawful travel and this provision allows the insurers to price for risk according to an actuarial analysis it's also fair to the insurance companies because it allows for denial based on war health conditions in the country the person is traveling to or fraud the freedom to travel is a right that we cherish and no and should have to choose between their children financial security and having the right to travel to freely and that is what we are forcing americans to do if we don't pass the travel ban its language is the part of the reauthorization a tree and if we allow insurance companies to deny coverage based on the notion of where a person might travel we are giving into the terrorists who wish to change our way of life life i'm frankly i'm outraged by the discussion that's taken place here there is a discussion of nineteen days left to get this legislation passes though a gun is put to our heads that if we pass the senate bill or this does not get extended that's hogwash that's not the way in which we should make legislation the notion that one hundred senators came to the floor and passed this bill is hogwash they hot line this bill it went to the floor without debate the only debate that's taken place all the issues to has taken place here on the floor floor  house representatives chairman frank in cooperation with the ranking member in the minority has worked diligently to get a qualified bill to this floor that new york wants that our country wants and deserves we should not allow a hole in the middle of manhattan to lie as a monument to osama bin ladin because that's what we're doing by not allowing for recent provision in this legislation this is not about new york city that provision is the osama bin laden gentleman's time has expired all time for debate has expired pursuant to house resolution eight six two the bill is considered read in the previous question is ordered the question is on engrossment third reading of the bill those in favor say aye those opposed no the judgment qualifies the clerk will report the motion mr baucus of alabama miss recommit to bill h r forty two ninety nine to the committee on financial services with instructions to report the same back to the house forthwith with the following amendment  which i have great respect for and decayed cheval times that we are here today because of the sentence and action entrenching now i'm not going to argue that point  is that the senate what they didn't do is they didn't take action on our bill but what they did do is i came together and they unanimously passed legislation and that legislation is very close to what the house republicans advocated from day one they did take action they passed legislation the president said you know passing it's legislation that treasury said is consistent with the original declaration to engage in a conference to allow members the opportunity to work out their differences on the extension of this program however i will tell the chairman this senate republican senate  house republicans many of us on that conference committee would have voted to adopt the senate language so i'm not sure that all the arguments here today the senate bill in my opinion had we conference we would have still passed the senate bill now i wish and the chairman's expression is frustrated with the senate that they're holding a gun to our head i'm not going to characterize it in that regard whether it is or is but it if it is so important and most members of this body believe it is it's important to pass legislation today and that's the senate legislat the motion to recommit removes additions in the bill offered by the majority and returned the tree a language to that passed by the senate last month by  the senate bill reflects a bipartisan compromise with the administration it extends the trio program for seven years the same amount of town that we advocated a bipartisan bil that bill when it passed and that bill today and the bill that were that we just that was just offered is not going to become law the senate bill includes coverage for domestic terrorism many of this body felt like it ought include that it imposes a law bill to cap for the marketplace that's good i think it's a responsible measured approach to extending a vital program is many have characterized not all on the side agree but we will but the majority on the side will come together the minority the majority and pass what you say is a vital program will do it today the administration has said they would veto the house bill both sides the al in the senate have indicated the senate's unwilling to consider we have a gripe against the senate but let's take that up with the senate a large number of members in the house may continue to oppose the senate bill you have an opportunity to vote on just a minute the only tree extension that can get  enacted is the senate compromise many say i wish it wasn't so it is the only responsible course for this house to take is do except the senate bill and move on my motion is the senate compromise we have nineteen days to a tree expire let me let me say it again that's not a practical time left for senate for the industry to comply with i want to begin with the schizo phrenic attitude towards the senate the gentleman said a number of times that the senate passed this unanimously yes by avoiding conference by making a deal but he also continuously said correctly this bill was passed way we passed the bill on schip temper nineteen the house passed the bill with three and a half months left to go in the year the senate passed a bill less than a month ago the senate passed the bill by the way a different bill than ours after we had adjourned for the recess so the senate whom we extols for having managed to put everything under the rug and make one of the deals where nobody gets fingerprinted for anything they sent us this bill the only if we could have passed it was last week so all this rhetoric about six months etc well that's mr speaker his friends in the senate who cause a problem if they work with us we would have had several months now we are going to pass a bill we understand them and we may well be able to pass only the senate bill early next week we have preserved our ability to do that there is no chance of this expiring the question is this should we acquiesce in a procedure by which the united states senate waits until after we have journ for the thanksgiving recess and sends us a bill and says this is it take it or leave it or do we say no we don't like that and we're going to at least try to make you vote on things now i know the germ alabama likes the senate version  days we waited for our bill in september to theirs in november two months later they passed it three days or four days and going to make any difference and we'll get the bill through and here's what we want to do we want to say that the point that the gentleman from florida made that you should not arbitrarily cancel people's life insurance because they're traveling to a country that's on the state department watch us which the nation of israel and others in america who want to travel to yes if you can show that there's danger there you can cut off their insurance referendum on the freedom to travel provision let's have a referendum on whether or not we include group life or say that we insure buildings in this country but not life but several referendum where the smaller insurance companies should be able to participate under our bill they can under the senate bill they can't now maybe we can a company and let's have that reset mechanism that the gentleman queens new york talked about so eloquently we said we're going to rebuild and any place that it will hit him again and let me say we have a referendum on those issues we may not be able to win this year but i want to be able to stem the community go back early next year and say to our friends in the senate ok your rope a dope tactics may have worked but they didn't work on the merits they didn't work and we want to go back at you on small durance companies a group life and on the question of freedom to travel and we want to bring it up again and the last point when we're talking about why is this being done now exposed be temporary i never thought of the temporary here's the point if you go through the private market it is paid for by the insured ultimately i do not think that those people who are cute going to do business in areas that may be shingled out by the terrorists ought to have to pay the higher cost of insuring themselves so that against fire against theft against a viability for someone falling down sure that's their responsibility but defending ourselves against terrorism is not a market matter it's a matter of national security and the whole country ought to come together  unified way and say you may not threaten new york or chicago or atlanta or miami or any other part of america or send us as a threat to the airport you may not threaten us and make us pay more you cannot make it more expensive to do bindis in one part of this country than another we will come together as one nation in this program and say yes you are responsible for ensuring yourself against various dangers but for ensuring yourself against a murderous thugs seeking to do harm to this country this country will come together as one in a national program and rebut that and we will not allow them to intrude now again it may be that in the end the best we can get is the senate bill but at this point i urge the members this will be a fifteen minute vote