the speakers are of washington d c may ninth two thousand and seven i hereby appoint the honorable michael r mcnulty to act as speaker pro tempore on this day signed nancy pelosi speaker of the house of representatives the prayer will be offered by our chaplain father dan lord god by your spirit you move and act within your people and make them one to praise you and give you glory bless each member of this one hundred tenth congress today their constituents in their individual districts and those who work in their district offices for this house is a place of human diversity l representing the people who elected them members give voice to local needs and sometimes find common concern that vote across this vast country gathered here in public service these women and men are easily drawn into broader prop problems facing the nation and growing awareness of international issues as well in the midst of it all lord never let them forget where they come from keep them humble before you and by consistent listening to those they represent may the prayers of their family and neighbors in their districts join with us today as we pray for them calling upon your holy name a exam the journal of last day's proceedings announces the house of the pro bowler of persona clause one of roll on the journal stance approved the pledge of allegiance i'll be led by the gentleman from new jersey mr serious law join me in a pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic we just stands one nation under god indivisible will entertain requests for a one minute speeches the gentleman from ohio without objection thank the gentleman congress has the power to end the war in iraq simply by refusing to pass any legislation to continue to fund it the monies in the pipeline right now to bring the troops home r one two three four provides a plan for bringing the troops home ending the occupation and stabilizing iraq this war will never end if congress had vance's administration plans to privatized iraq's oil through insisting on the passage of a so called hydrocarbon act by the iraqi legislature today i'll be distributing to members of congress a detailed report that explains how the legislation that we're advancing moves to privatized iraq's oil a mr speaker in an environment of unlimited demands and limited resources our constituents expect us to make tough choices and set national priorities with their hard earned tax dollars the democrats intelligence authorization bill that we will vote on this week fails to do this consider the priorities it sets this bill makes deep cuts in the resources requested by the administration for important intelligence gathering operations meanwhile it also calls for the director of national intelligence to submit a national intelligence estimate to congress on global warming in a post nine eleven environment should we really be steering our intelligence community away from intelligence gathering show that they can start studying global warming experts from the right and the left say that our ability to prevent another attack on america relies heavily on our intelligence capabilities mr speaker let's fully fund our intelligence are stepping down and now they're gone and the american people are better and better off at the interior department johnny burton let big oil drill at taxpayers expense expense and got away with it until congress stepped in costing the taxpayers billions of dollars at the education department terry shaw is stepping down after several scandals were uncovered in the student loan industry on her watch lenders and the education department officials undermined the student loan program once millions of students a middle class families count on and go to college with and achieve their american dream every day we see another headline another story congress doesn't so oversight job another bush administration administration official at the center of a storm is eventually forced to step down the white house has had an approach of letting the industry govern itself they've cut out the middleman they are the government industry lobbyists from our energy production to our college loans nothing is out of bounds in american sense a clear message last november they're tired of corruption they want to jackson thank you mr speaker in march the homeland security committee unanimously approved a bill to authorize funding for the department of homeland security for the coming year wasn't a perfect bill but it was one the committee accepted now the liberal leadership plans to strip the most critical provisions in the legislation these are not controversial points that should make my colleagues on the other side of the island comfortable unless of course the democrats do agree do not agree with an increased emphasis on immigration enforcement and support or secure biometric identification for elegance captured it say or critical funding to protect america's food supply but as we've all seen since the democrats took over in january we know that is the case but it actually gets worse the liberal leadership voted against allowing non controversial amendments to increase information sharing between the h s and cops on the beat allowing the h s to investigate social security fraud at the workplace and increase fines of employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens mr speaker this bill makes a mockery of the democratic process does nothing extra to secure our borders and will unfortunately probably make our nation less change the direction of the war in iraq but he rejected it he rejected a plan that would finally hold the iraqi government accountable for meeting the benchmarks that he laid out earlier this year according to the nonpartisan brookings institute the iraqi government is failing to meet the political benchmarks they were supposed to make that vetoing the bill the president was condoning such inaction the president claims the situation is getting better in iraq wrong april was the deadliest month of the year and one of the deadliest of the entire war retired general william odom said last week and i'm quoting no effective strategy can be devised for the united states until it begins withdrawing its forces from iraq only that will break the paralysis that now confronts us general odom is correct today i would troops serving as referees in a deadly civil war that shows no end in sight this congress offered the president a dramatic change and he rejected it we're not going to give up because ending this war is simply too important a back the balance of my time john the time has expired the gentleman from oklahoma the speaker one of the most effective tools we have against spying our enemies like al qaida is intelligence information that allows us to disrupt their terrorist sales and prevent attacks before they happen and yet the democrats see fit to cut the funding of these operations worst of all they are shifting resources away from vital war related intelligence operations towards politically correct crusade on global warming as a democrat leadership really i think that carbon emissions represent a greater threat to the united states than the nine eleven radical jihad it's yesterday law enforcement pulled a plot by terrorists to attack and kill u s soldiers in new jersey protecting our nation should be our number one priority does the leadership really think that our surveillance satellites should be aimed at polar icecaps and not terrorist cells and that spies should be investigating global warming congress miss adequately fund our intelligence operations if we don't we may need to be more concerned about global warming in the united states caused by global attack caused by a nuclear attack in our own backyard thank you mr speaker i yield back my time i expired new jersey mr serious as the speaker with president bush is be the last week it is clear that if this congress is going to take this war in a new direction we need some of our republican colleagues to join with us unfortunately it seems that the house republicans are still willing to blindly follow the president no matter the facts in iraq consider this they move for minority leader boehner all that we can he said and i quote we want  clean bill we don't want artificial deadlines we don't want out official mergers and they have to try to ensure tell you let's not forget the artificial measures that the minority leaders before into what actually matters they signed by president bush himself to hold the iraqi government accountable critical mergers that will put the pressure on the iraqi government to make political diplomatic and economic reforms saw none of these benchmarks being met gentleman from michigan to rest the house for a minute without objection mr speaker several years ago my wife and i had the privilege of having a librarian refugee stay in our home for almost a year this gentleman came from dire circumstances in his homeland as his wife was brutally assaulted and he was beaten and forced to leave his country he still has scars from being beaten with the blunt end of a rifle like thousands of other liberians forced to leave their homeland our friend came to united states under temporary protective status one of the unintended consequences of the temporary protected status is it didn't forsee that civil war we continue in liberia for several years leaving refugees in america stuck in a state of flux currently all librarian refugees living in the united states under temporary protective status have until october of this year and then they will be forced to return to liberia the liberian refugee immigration protection act of two thousand and seven a bipartisan bill introduced by representatives kennedy ellison and myself would allow librarians united states on temporary protected status the opportunity to apply for permanent residency status this bill addresses an urgent situation faced by liberian refugees who have legally come to america i urge co sponsorship and passage of h r nine hundred forty one the librarian refugee immigration protecti without objection thank you thank you mr speaker i rise today in honor of two navajo indians and celebrated american heroes who passed away last week stuart claw and charles guy were members of the elite  navajo code talkers they did not simply rely on their ancestral language to relay critical united states military communications rather the innovative navajo code talkers use their native language to build a cyst sinked and unbreakable code for military communications during world war to we will never know exactly how many american lives were saved or how many american military operations were successful because of their ingenuity and sacrifice but we do know stuart claw and charles guy and the rest of the navajo code talkers will forever be remembered as critical to the allied victory during one of the world's darkest hours thank you mr speaker and you'll back any remaining tell me is that the balance of his time in the gentleman from new hampshire without objection mr speaker it appears that congressional republicans are finally coming around to the possibility that the war in iraq cannot go on indefinitely this weekend house republican leader john said if this troop escalation plan is not working by september october a plan b would need to be explored this timid response is a sign that the republicans see the writing on the wall and are desperate to he bets on a failed policy the minority leader's timetable of this fall comes just days after mr boehner joined president bush in abandoning the benchmarks for iraqi success the president himself established in january last week the minority leader  almost every republican joined the president's call for an open ended commitment of american troops and tax dollars in iraq now feeling the pressure from the americans who wisely support benchmarks and timelines it appears that the republican leader is backtracking the american people and the majority of this congress will stand firm in supporting our troops and showing leadership for a new course in iraq let's hope the minority leader lifts his head out of the sand and he and his party and the president join us in moving a rock in a new direction thank you mr speaker is almost time is expired the gentleman from flo that objection is the speaker when the american people and trust to this house to a new democratic majority they wanted congress to deliver tangible results we are living up to that promise in the first one hundred hours we passed rules to clean up the way the congress operates we implemented the recommendations of the nine eleven commission we raise the minimum wage to expand economic prosperity to millions who have been left behind for too long and we cut interest rates in half so colleges more affordable to middle class families in our country we also repealed billions of dollars in tax breaks to big oil companies and instead are investing that in alternative fuels and energy efficient technology we hope this legislation will begin to wean our nation o foreign oil because today customers are once again paying record prices at the pump and that is simply wrong this legislation is a first step in changing our nation's energy policy we also pass the budget that is actually balance within the next five years and we did it without raising taxes mr speaker we are living up to our promise to move our nation in new and better direction thank you mr speaker i yield back my time john the time has expired the gentleman from wisconsin that objection mr speaker in northeast wisconsin last tuesday prices for regular gasoline hit three dollars and thirteen cents per gallon thirty seven cents higher than a month ago and they've doubled since president bush took office and what's worse the price of gasoline rose even as the price of crude oil fell yet the federal trade commission has yet to investigate or punish anyone for prouse price gouging this is unacceptable the f t c has a duty to investigate unfair trade practices h r twelve fifty two the emergency price gouging prevention act gives the f t c explicit authority to investigate and punish energy price manipulation at each and every stage along the way it brings greater transparency to oil and gas markets and forces offenders to pay penalties to the low income home energy assistance program i urge my colleagues to support twelve fifty two it will protect consumers from unreasonable escalations and gasoline prices there is a better way to do things in america let's get started today time has expired the gentleman from new jersey one minute without objection mr speaker congressional democrats are trying to move the iraq war in a new direction but we're not getting much help from the white house or the congressional republicans house democrats have now voted for separate times over the last three months to change the course of the war but every single time house republicans refused to join us for weeks congressional republicans were saying that withdrawal timeline proposed would lead to america's the theat in iraq but now week after the president vetoed that bill republican leaders are saying that our generals must make the troop surge work by this fall republican leaders have now indicated that there should be a timeline for progress in iraq stating that by the time we get to september october members are going to know how well this is working and if it isn't what is plan b mr speaker it appears that republicans are slowly but surely coming around to timetables in iraq this doesn't mean that they are defeat us as their own talking points have suggested in the past it means that they may be turning into a realist that i yield back the balance of my time on this time has expired the gentleman from california without objection mr speaker members of the house last january when the president was suggesting the need for the escalation of the numbers of troops in iraq he also told us that while we would provide the troops under his policy the iraqis would provide a series of benchmarks which they would meet to to end the insurgency and to bring their country together politically so that the insurgency could be dampened down or end now we're told by secretary of state congolese the rice that it would be wrong to hold the iraqi government in the malaki government to those to those benchmarks because it would take away their flexibility while president bush said that if they did not meet these benchmarks in january they would lose the confidence of the american people president bush at a right they haven't met the benchmarks they're not holding up their end of the bargain the parliament's not meeting a third of them are living in london not in iraq and they've lost the confidence of the american people how is it that the secretary of state and the president and i and states can continue to believe that we should continue to send american soldiers to die in iraq when the iraqi government won't meet the benchmarks were that which were supposed to be the bedrock of this new policy this new direction this turned out to be the same old stay the course policy where american soldiers die and the iraqi government did there's no way day and day out and not meeting the new policies to bring a unified iraq together it sounds unacceptable to the american people it's unacceptable to our soldiers it's unacceptable to their families and we have to in this policy now  persona clause eight of roll twenty of the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the a's and nays are ordered or on which the vote is objected to under clause six of rule twenty record votes on postpone questions will be taken later today of the bill h r eight ninety a bill to establish requirements for lenders an institution of higher education in order to protect students and other borrowers receiving educational loans pursuant to the role of the gentleman from california mr miller and the gentleman california mr mckinnon each will control twenty minutes the chair recognizes the gentleman california mr miller the speaker i request five legislative days which members may insert materials relevant to h r eight ninety in support of this legislation a cherry ninety this the student loan sunshine act of two thousand and seven i offer this legislation along with the with mr mccain the senior republican on the on the education labor committee and mr ina host of the  subcommittee chair of the higher education subcommittee on the education and labor committee this legislation would protect students and families from the corrupt practices and abuses that for too long have been allowed to run rampant within the student loan industry ensuring that our nation student loan program is are working as effectively as possible to help students and parents pay for the college of pay for the college the cost of a college education is paramount to our goals of this nation recognizing the importance of the students achieving a college education so they can fully participate in american society in the american economy and working to make that more accessible and more to full fordable has been the long term goal of this government of both parties of this government but now what we see is that this this program has been badly corrupted this program is started to be followed out by the activities of lenders of universities of individuals within the government and the visuals within the university system and of the jewels within the lending community for six years this administration has been put on notice of these activities taking place in the student lending program whether it was with ever mounting evidence and public statements and concerns echoed by members within the administration from the previous administration calling to the problems that were were occurring within the student loan programs it was becoming increasingly clear that the student loan program had been hijacked by third parties who saw that they could run this program to their financial benefit unfortunately that meant that it was being run to the detriment of the students and the families who were borrowing the money who were struggling to pay this money back so that they could achieve a college education we introduced this legislation first and february when it was disclosed by new york attorney general andrew cuomo that he was expanding an investigation into the relationships between lenders and college and universities across the country throughout the throughout the previous year stories and surface about inducements and kickbacks and conflicts of interest bribes and payoffs ranging from sending college and put employees on exotic vacations to staffing school financial aid offices during the busiest time of the student aid calendar these inducements are offered by secure a spot on the preferred lender list a list that is supposedly presented to the to the students and to their families that this is a list of trust that this is the best loans available for a number of reasons to those to those students but we now learn that securing a position in the preferred lending program was really in many instances with many universities and with many lenders was an act of corruption not an act of transparency not an act of honesty not an act in the best interest of the spot and then a near guarantee of business it means an opportunity for lenders to prey on families and offer them private loans it also meant that students weren't given the best information the most accurate information and also meant increased cost of the students and to their a nd to their families since we first introduced this bill ongoing investigations at the federal and state level and by news organizations have shed new light on the scope of the corruption in the conflicts of interest surrounding these lists that are undermining the the federal student loan a program that millions of borrowers have come to depend upon we have learned and we have learned more more about the astonishing degree which lenders by the way and to call into colleges and universities to excessive inducements that's the plight word or what might be termed bribery that would be a better word in order to boost their margin profits all of this all of this was known to the department of education suggested changes were left behind by the clinton administration to this program department employees raised these concerns and others with the department of education and no action was in fact taken and what we see of course is that let's less protection was provided to students and to their to their families we have learned that these inducements include college officials being paid to serve on the under advisory board and receiving stock in the companies we have learned that these conflicts of interest do not end with college financial aid officers then revealed that least one public official in the office of federal student aid to department an arm of the department of education that runs the student aid program helps hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock in a major student loan company but this is just the tip of the iceberg lenders and schools must be held accountable for any practice that compromises the trust that students and parents deserve to have in our federal student aid programs today by passing the student aid sunshine act we are taking we are taking clear and important actions to put an end to the corrupt practices and conflicts of interest that for too long have allowed to dominate by the industry of this program we call on lenders institutions in the department of education to also take appropriate action to end these practices and we insist upon that they recognize their fight to share a responsibility to the students and their parents who are the borrowers of this money the borrowing of money that they struggle to pay back for many years afterwards i am proud to be joined by my colleagues  education labor committee buck mccain the senior republican and again reuben in the house of the subcommittee on higher education to bring to the floor a stronger more comprehensive bipartisan student loan sunshine act this bill will prevent these agree just practices from occurring in the future by reinstating trust in our our schools through strict codes of conduct guaranteeing loan option loan options and insuring the best loan possible ensuring equal and timely processing of loan give students a full and fair and fair information when taking out the repaying of loans and protecting students from aggressive marketing practices and inserting if i do share a real responsibility for all parties to these agreements further this bill bans all gifts participation of advisory boards risk sharing agreements between lenders and schools ensures greater transparency and accountability when schools recommend recommend unders for the students i urge all my colleagues in voting for this legislation today i think we can take this critical step toward returning these programs to the very people they were intended to serve student parents who are borrowing this money it's time to protect these students and families and end the exploitation and the abuses of this of the student loan program and again i want to thank my colleagues on the i've often said that in order to begin reaffirming trust in our student aid system all stakeholders must step up that means lenders colleges the education department states and congress all have a role to play within the past few weeks said to secretary of education spellings as stablished an internal task force to review her department's oversight of federal student loan programs and today the u s house is stepping up as well and it's an important step to be sure we're stepping up today for a single fundamental reason to ensure our nation's financial aid system continues to serve the needs of the students who depend on it for the opportunity to get an education this isn't about us versus the lenders or us versus the financial aid officers and this isn't about direct loans versus the market based sell program and for the record i continue to strongly support fell and a healthy competition between the two federal programs this is about protecting the interests of millions of young men and women who expect our student aid system to be there for them when they need it several weeks ago my education labor committee colleague mr keller and i introduced comprehensive legislation to begin the process of reaffirming our trust in our financial aid system and i am proud that our bill served as an impetus for bringing the measure before us to the house floor our legislation bill on many of the financial aid reform recommendation as chairman miller made earlier this year and i'm pleased that weare poised here today to advance today abroad what we're doing today reflects a broad agreement to set these important reforms into motion like my bill and chairman miller's bill the bipartisan agreement will vote on today does not explicitly outlaw the practice of preferred lend less rather it reforms this practice to ensure that it continues to serve the interests of our students like my bill and chairman miller's bill the bipartisan agreement will vote on today aims to protect against conflicts of interest between lenders and financial aid officers and like my bill and chairman miller's bill the bipartisan agreement will vote on today allows lenders to seek advice from institutions in order to improve products and services for students however the measure mr keller and i introduced went even further than past recommendations and i'm pleased the agreement will vote on today incorporates are important modifications for example just as in the bill i authored with mr keller the measure before us asks the our ask colleges to develop their own unique codes of conduct that must include restrictions on anything else that may give the appearance of a conflict of interest between financial aid officers and lenders and just as in the bill i authored with mr keller the measure before us bands revenue sharing between the lenders of private loans and colleges or universities mr speaker the fell another financial aid program successfully serve millions of students and their families every year and this bill makes our system even better as we move forward from here we must not lose sight of the fact that the federal financial aid system must work for students and colleges alike we must be careful not to overreach as congress does all too often but we do need to reaffirm our trust in the system i believe this bill does just that i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it and with that i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman reserves the balance of this time the gentleman from california mr miller speaker you myself fifteen seconds i failed  i'm trying to move mr speaker i rise in strong support of h r eight nighty the student loan sunshine act this is the legislation that cannot wait given the daily revelations of scandals conflicts of interest and cozy relationships that undermine public confidence in our student loan programs it is imperative that we act now to restore integrity i would like to thank chairman miller and ranking member mckeon as well as the ranking member of the subcommittee from florida rick in approaching this legislation with urgency and bipartisanship it's time to take a stand and put the interest of students and families first this legislation is an important signal that we in congress are committed to doing just that mr speaker this legislation will ban the most egregious practices that have been uncovered by attorney general cuomo in new york just read the new york times this morning and you will see all that has been uncovered it will require linder sen institutions alike to adhere to a strict code of conduct it will ensure that preferred lenders lists are based on the best deal for students it will ensure that students and families have accurate unbiased information about their loan options it will ensure that borrowers are able to exhaust their federal loan eligibility before being steered to a pricey or private loan package ace the crisis of confidence in our student loan programs shines a light on a larger problem we have a crisis in college affordability for our low and middle income families college costs are rising rapidly and federal student aid has not kept pace according to the advisory committee on student financial assistance paying for a four year public university costs are lowest income families eighty seven percent of their income we are expecting these families to come up with over ten thousand dollars per year through work are loans to pay for college quite simply we have left low and middle income families to fend for themselves when it comes to financing a college education after four years of stagnation the max the maximum pell grant stands at only four thousand three hundred ten dollars we have left families rudderless when it comes to navigating the explosive growth in the student loan programs we have not looked after their interests after listening to many representatives of federal and private college loan programs i am convinced that we here in congress must take this bipartisan action to restore integrity to this important program the student loan sunshine act is a first step in restoring faith in our student aid programs and fulfilling the promise of the higher education act i asked for twelve more times expired general thirty seconds  recognized for thirty seconds mr speaker we have more work to do but let's get this job done today i strongly urge my colleagues to support h r eight ninety the student loan sunshine act and i thank you subcommittee gentleman from florida mr keller four minutes the gentleman from florida is recognized for a minute thank you mr speaker and i thank the gentleman for yielding and i appreciate the freudian slip by  congressman and chairman miller i still am republican i'm reminded every day when my parking space is now out in maryland that i'm a member the minority party here i rise today in support of the student loan sunshine act h r eight ninety four three specific reasons first this legislation fully includes legislation that i authored called the one stop financial aid information act h r fifteen twenty two which creates an easy to use one stop website for students and their families about financial aid information for college including information about co grants student loans and scholarships offered by various federal agencies far too many young people give up on their chance to go to college because they lack information about the various grants and scholarships available to them now they will have all this information right there at their fingertips as a result of an easy to access link right there on the home page of ed dot gov i want to especially thank a congressman henry our of texas it was a congressman hoyer who actually conceived of this idea and shared it with me on a codel that he and i had to iraq based on his positive experience with a similar website in texas and he is a co author of this provision the second reason i strongly support this legislation is because it specifically includes a financial aid code of conduct that must be adopted by colleges and that sharing between lenders and colleges or their employees the third reason i support this legislation is because it does not ban preferred lender list under the market based sell program so after the recent student loan scandal some of which was highlighted by attorney general andrew cuomo of new york there was a temptation on a handful of people's part to overreact some wanted to abolish or place a moratorium on preferred lender less some even suggested that we switched from the market based sell program to direct lending this appropriate legislation doesn't contain that overreaction and i'm proud that it doesn't and the reason is preferred lender list play a very positive role when done right there are literally over a thousand student lenders some of those lenders have lower interest rates lower origination fees more flexible terms for deferring repayments and better customer service on the other hand there are lenders that have higher rates and fees bad customer service and can be characterized as fly by night operations it's pretty hard to tell if you're an eighteen year old kid which lenders which but if your financial aid administrator has been in the business for two or three decades you can give some guidance into that issue this bill specifically allows these preferred lenders to still have to still have a preferred lender list provided that each college gives a choice of at least three lenders the college disclose why they were selected as a lender and the colleges close what terms they remain a lender that is a pretty fair and appropriate response to the scandals that we have had and a pretty good contrast to what we have with the federal direct lending program where college says you only have one lender it's the federal government and there is no competition for lower fees or rates and closing mr speaker this legislation helps to rein in some of the bad apples in the student loan industry while preserving the healthy and appropriate competition between the direct lending and fell program and for these reasons i urge my colleagues to vote yes on this legislation and i yield back the balance my time the gentleman yiel back the balance of his time the gentleman from california mr miller i yield to mr the gentleman from california miss woolsey the gentlewoman from california is recognized for two minutes is speaker i want to thank chairman miller and ranking member mckeon for putting forth a good and unnecessary bill to protect our college students from the loan interest loan industry practices that actually work against not for those students who need the help every student in america who wants to go to college deserves the opportunity to do so and we need to make it easier for them to go to school not harder our students is all the help we can give them to ensure that they not only get a good education but that they also don't come out of college saddled with loans or interest rates that will ha want them for years and years to come this bill will ensure that the student loan companies and some financial aid officers can no longer than if it from directing students to any particular loan company what a concept loan should be for our children and our students not for the  those who are involved in the industry the student loan sunshine act ensures that students get the best possible options when deciding alone a vote for this bill is a vote for our college students and for giving every child the opportunity to succeed in life and indeed it is a vote for the future of the united states of america because these young people are our future i yield back for bringing the principles of honest leadership to higher education financing the cost of higher education has increased dramatically over the past two years making college less supportive affordable for many families financial aid is an important tool in helping make the cost of college more affordable the people and institutions that administer these loans must be held to the highest ethical standards for most students their college loan will be their first form of major debt after their graduation as we encourage financial literacy and responsibility among this generation of young people we must ensure that students are protected they need to understand and know that their their lenders and their financial aid administrator or are in their corner and that they don't have individuals that are trying to undermine them or make money on the backs of these students financing a college education is dependent on industry and institutional accountability strict codes of conduct will ensure this accountability additionally i'm also supportive of the department of education's efforts to insta new safeguards to protect our students privacy we need to make sure that our students can have the utmost confidence in the system that is designed to provide them the opportunity to pay off their loans after their education and go on to become productive members of the gentlewoman yield back the balance of her time i think the chairman and the ranking member for their leadership on this issue you know not one of us would that would be here if it wasn't for the ability to afford a college education and although we're talking about cleaning up a mess it's quite clear we should also remember what is happening here for a long time there was no oversight or any accountability in the ministration and people from industry were actually in their responsibility and their response was to govern and oversee the industry they came from so what they do they cut out the middleman there's no need for a lobbyist because industry is the government in this case and what's most ironic in this situation on the student loan situation is industry was getting taxpayer subsidies to run a business in which the very students there were also depended on their parents were also paying the bill playing on the front end and on the back end and is a total rip off of the american taxpayers and it's subject on the college education that is so essential because we know today in the new economy you cannot you make your earn what you learn and we are taking is people's ability to achieve the american dream which is so essential a college education that ticket to the american dream and it was no rather than see what was an honorable profession something important that could be done with good business practices has turned into a scandal the fact that both the schools and the ministers of those schools public officials responsible for it and the lenders in that industry affecting everybody and i hope and i the it's conversations with the chairman and rest assured this is just the first step in changing the rules of the game so the industry and those in the lending industry understand and those in the regulatory side of it that there's a new way we're going to do business and there's going to code of conduct for both the public officials and those in the lending industry because you're dealing with the ability we must fundamentally remember a college education is a ticket to the american dream in a society in an economy where you earn what you learn that here we are going to give additional thirty second year the german additional thirty seconds tom has recognized for thirty seconds and i do wan recognize the attorney general of new york for leading this effort for congress in a bipartisan fashion stepping up to the plate and taking the first step with this sunshine act but we are not done in cleaning up the mess as it relates to the college loan industry and this is only the first step to do that to clean up this mess because it relates to other areas we saw today when the individual response of the oil and gas leasing and royalty payment injury because of congressional oversight is now stepping down because it's clear that taxpayers were not given their fair shake we're doing the right job and i commend both parties in the committee for holding these oversight hearings produce in this legislation and hope that we continue as we did in the six in zero six we voted for it first of all to cut the interest rates on student loans we take the sunshine act we come back with a higher education bill come with a faster reform we consciously make sure that we're reforming higher education and the access to higher education so we serve the people who are doing right working hard paying taxes raising the kids with the right sense of values  right and this is an industry that needs a whole top to bottom cleaning and a washing thank you for your leadership mr chairman thomas time has expire leo's time washington is legislators is to represent the people from our districts the people from around the country specifically on the committee on education we have the responsibility to protect and encourage those young people who are trying to receive an education both k twelve level and those who want to continue their education throughout their lifetime at the higher education level we have passed many laws that that try to make that easier for people to achieve the american dream through education sometimes we have people lead that skirt those laws or take them up to the edge when we find problems it's our responsibility to address those problems and we have about six thousand schools across the country that participate in the federal financial aid programs they have financial aid officers that work with the students that come into the schools to help them get a pell grant or get other financial aid that are available or they encourage them to to find a financial help them find  a loan company that will help them get a loan that is needed to achieve their education we have about thirty five hundred lenders that participate in these loans again some of the law some of the lenders have crossed the line or gotten too close to the line as with some of the financial aid officers but we definitely don't want to paint all lenders all schools all financial aid officers with a broad brush saying that they're all corrupt most of them a vast percentage of them are doing a great job of trying to carry out their mission and helping students achieve their goals this piece of legislation will help make that law stronger to to verify that those students will get the most help in getting the loans and getting the financial aid they need to achieve the american dream and i'm happy to be a part of this to make it come to pass and i'm hopeful that the other body will pick up this legislation move forward with it i encourage all of my colleagues to support this law i think again chairman miller for being expeditious on this and getting this bill to the floor quickly without a you know back about it's my time i to say that this work that has been done by chairman miller and ranking member buck mckeon has been something that i have really appreciated because it is an eighty five billion dollar industry and when you take the for profit groups that are lending money it exceeds one hundred billion dollars i foresee that with this legislation that we are going to see an increase as a result of that we should be looking at one hundred ten billion dollars being lent because it will be easier and much more acceptable to be able to borrow money at a lesser cost to the to families and finally in the areas that i come from were it not for these student loans the pell grants and the perkins and loans that are available many  minority families children boys and girls would not be able to go to college so i am again saying that we are pleased with the leadership of these two gentlemen and i look forward to seeing its passage  gentleman's time has expired the gentleman from california mr miller thank you i think that the gentleman from texas for his or for his remarks and for his leadership on this i think mr mr mckinnon mr keller for all of their cooperation for their suggestions and for the introduction of the bill  soon after this came to a light by mr and mr mccain i think it was very helpful in our discussions with the with attorney general andrew cuomo and i certainly want to thank him for his diligence and the speed with which he responded to this  to this information tragically much of this information has been available for a considerable period of time tragically what we now are are making against the law what we're now the conduct that we're now changing almost became the preferred way of doing business among many many of the colleges and universities and the lenders which they utilize on behalf of their students it's just inconceivable that when people understand notice brought to our attention every day the decisions the students in their fam we have to make about whether to prove to pursue a college degree the costs that are incurred the sacrifices that are made by working families by all families by the students many of whom then work part time and full time to augment the cost of that college when that sacrifice and those determinations and those decisions are made by those families to have that process corrupted by some of the largest corporations in america some of the wealthiest corporations in america that they would see somehow a way to skim off to skim off the the profits and the costs at the expense of the students and of the taxpayers that put up money the reason we guarantee these loans is to try to drive these this money to these students and their families at the lowest possible cost so that they can afford to go to college they can afford to take a job and pay back the cost of their their college that's the public purpose and now that public purpose has absolutely been prostituted by the department of education by many of the lending institutions and many of the colleges and personnel that work for them this legislation is a first step a bipartisan step to stop those practices in their tracks to get this program right side up for the benefit of the families and the students who are borrowing the money to serve notice on the institutions the lenders the lesser to sions of higher education and the people who work in these programs that this will no longer be tolerated once again this program has to come to the p to the point where it is again serving the families and the students who are making the sacrifice to achieve a college education at the lowest possible cost that's the public interest that's the public purpose and we will not have that corrupted we will not have that corrupted either by the public agencies or the pride the agencies that are engaged in this program the next the next step is to bar those agencies if they continue in this practice that would be that would be a horrible thing to do for the for those for those institutions but we will not allow this to to to continue and as we consider the higher education act we're going to continue to pursue ways in which we can reform this program and make it work for those of whom  designed the families of the students i want to thank the staff on both sides of the committee that were so helpful in understanding the programs and the changes that need to make that went through the evidence and responded in this legislation so that the house of representatives  on record that we will not allow this to happen on our watch and  this i think it's a shame that we have gone through the last few months and all the revelations of the problems in the student loan industry at a whole variety of levels and i'm not here to attribute blame to anybody at this point  but to suggest that we do have a role of getting about with this and making a difference i have a prepared statement here which i will submit but i would just like it to go a little bit beyond just to say that i think we all in our society  america in terms of being competitive have to do all we can to educate our young children and clearly student loans by the individual students and the families need to be taken into consideration but so does the cost of college as well all with respect to grants and loans or whatever it may be and indeed we need to close the gap between the cost of college and what people can afford it hopefully we can continue to work on this with this is a wonderful first step i hope that everybody would submit supportive of h r eight fifty eight house resolution three eighty three resolved that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker made pursuant to cause to be a rule eighteen declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h r eight hundred seventy three to authorize the programs and activities of the small business administration relating to procure meant and for other purposes the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on small business after general debate the bill shall be considered for a moment under the five minute rule it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on oversight and government reform now printed in the bill the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read all points of order against the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived except those ar ising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one notwithstanding clause eleven of roll eighteen no amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report may be offered only by a member designated in the report shall be considered as read shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent shall not be subject subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the hall all points of order against such amendments are waived except those arising under pas nine or ten of rule twenty one at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as may have been adopted any member may demand a separate vote in the house on any amendment adopted and in the committee of the whole to the bill or to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments there two to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instruction section two during consideration in the house of h r eight hundred seventy three pursuant to this resolution notwithstanding the operation of the previous question the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated by the speaker myself such time as i may consume and i ask unanimous consent that members have five legislative days in which to revise victim their remarks and house resolution three a pre about objection the jungle californias recognize for such time as he ma three provides for consideration of h r eight hundred seventy three the small business fairness contracting act under a oxford rule the rule provides one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking member of the committee on small business the rule makes an order the substitute reported by the committee on oversight and government reform as original text for the proposed for the purpose of amendment the substitute shall be considered as read the r waives all points of order against consideration of the bill except for clause nine and ten of rule twenty one the rule makes an order eight amendments that were substituted for can the submitted for consideration that are printed in the rules committee report on this accompanying resolution finally the rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions mr speaker the small business fairness and contracting act h r eighteen seventy three amends key sections of the small business act to assist small businesses and participation in federal procurement the predecessors to the small business administration can be traced back to world war two and efforts by president roosevelt and president truman in fact during world war two it was found to be in our national interest to ensure a strong and diverse industrial base through a series of laws and for criminal or quire meant congress established a benchmark to give small business every opportunity to compete fairly and for the wards of federal contracts despite this clear mandate in existence for more than fifty years small businesses however have not received their fair share of federal government contracts for example in two thousand and six the federal government spent over four hundred and seventeen billion dollars on goods and services eight point three million seven separate contract action small businesses one approximately eighty billion in contracts approximately twenty one point five percent of these contracts this was the sixth straight year that the government had failed to meet its twenty three sent small business contracting goal this cost entrepreneurs an estimated four point five billion dollars and lost contracting opportunities last year alone small businesses suffered this massive loss despite their importance to our national economy small businesses are the engine of our economy in fact they are responsible for creating three out of every four jobs in the united states we cannot afford our budding entrepreneurs to be shut out of what would be an open market and be denied the opportunity to succeed not wh their existence is so vital to our national economy we should not be shutting them out instead we should be opening doors and shepherding their growth to ensure continued prosperity there are many reasons for the failure to break the stranglehold on federal contracting process in response h r eight hundred seventy three take several necessary steps to address some key causes h r eight hundred seventy three seeks to break down the barriers for countless entrepreneurs and small businesses that are on the road to opportunity first the bill bans contract bundling past practice has been to combine two or more smaller contracts in a single larger package while this bundling may be administratively convenient it reduces competition and opportunities to small business bundling squeeze a small business out of the contract competition benefiting larger full scale businesses in the process and when there is less competition there is also higher cost to the taxpayers to add insult to enter injury federal agencies are skewing the data with respect to small businesses to give the impression that twenty three percent of small business contracting goals are being met agencies are using contracts awarded to larger companies and including them toward their small business contracting goals h r eight hundred seventy three seeks to reverse these trends and make it easier for small businesses to go in the federal marketplace second the bill makes an appeals process more accessible under current law small businesses are only allowed to protest the award of a contract if they are directly harmed by it but they are unlikely to do so given the costs that are involved in this process hundred seventy three increases the procurement goals for small business it increases the government wide goal for the number of contracts awarded small business from twenty three to twenty five percent a goal which has not been raised in over ten years it also increases from five percent to eight percent the government wide contracting goal for both disadvantaged and women owned small businesses the bill raises the threshold for small business contracts set aside to the simplest simplified acquisition threshold it also requires that an independent audit of the central contracting registry be conducted on a bi annual basis to ensure that large firms are not representing the misrepresenting themselves as small businesses mr speaker the opportunity for open competition for federal contracts is a mentally important to small business this bill has strong bipartisan support it passed the small business committee by a voice vote and it was  and chairman waxman mr speaker we all recognize the importance of small business to our economy and we must act on this bill without further delay i reserve the balance of my time the gentleman from california reserve the balance of his time the economic strength the almost twenty six million small businesses in the united states employ over half of all private sector workers pay approximately forty five percent of total u s private payroll over the last decade small business businesses have generated sixty to eighty percent of new jobs each year congress for many decades has acknowledged the important roles of all businesses play in the federal procurement process that's evident in the small business act of one nine hundred fifty three which states it is the declared policy of the congress that the government should aid counsel assist and protect the interests of small business concerns in order to preserve free competitive and competitive enterprise and to ensure that a fair proportion of the total purchases and contract or sub contracts for property and services for the government be placed with small business enterprises in two thousand and six the federal government spent over four hundred seventeen billion dollars and on goods and services an eight point three million separate contracts small businesses a little over twenty one percent of those contracts a generating seventy three the small business fairness and contracting act seeks to assist small businesses participation in the federal procurement process among its provisions it expands and clarifies the definition of contract bundling to try to ensure that small businesses can fairly compete for federal contracts contract bundling combines two or more contracts into a single large larger package bundling can put small businesses at a disadvantage in the procurement process because the bid price usually goes beyond what small businesses can afford this legislation the underlying legislation sets a target of twenty five percent for the overall number of federal contracts awarded to small businesses and a target of eight percent for contracts awarded to minority and women owned businesses the bill also provides a mechanism for the s b a to work with congress when it believes that a federal contract was improperly bundled a mr speaker yesterday the majority on the rules committee reported out yet another restrictive rule going back once again on the promise for a more open and fair legislative process what makes this rule most unfortunate is that it does not include even one republican amendment so i think the question is bag how can the majority claim to be fostering an open legislative process when it totally shuts out totally shuts out the minority during testimony at the rules committee small business ranking member shabat explained that the government oversight committee subsequently made several major changes to the bill that would harm small businesses he proposed several amendments to strike the harmful provisions and restore those in the original bill that came out of the small business committee now these amendments were even supported by the small business committee chairwoman but the majority of the rules committee ignored both committee chairwoman velazquez and ranking member shabbat and did not make the amendments in order that was totally uncalled for and  r this rule should be defeated reserved gentleman reserves the balance of this time the gentleman from california thank you mr speaker i'd like to just like to respond t the gentleman and my good friend from florida who served with me on the rules committee i'd like to remind him that while it's true that no republican amendments by themselves were in order there certainly was made in order the ranking member mr cabot's suggested return of amendments the way it was in the small business committee and he paired with congresswoman being of illinois with congressman shuler of north carolina and with mr sestak of pennsylvania and co authoring three amendments that were in fact made in order so to say that no republican suggestions were made in order is simply not totally accurate in fact mr speaker four democrats three democratic amendments and four republican amendments were not made in order but a significant number of them are going to be considered today we believe that this is in fact a very good use of the time of the members of this house committee on government reform as the watchdog agency for watchdog committee for this house had some issues that they wanted to clarify in the and the legislation and i think that the rules committee felt that their suggestions had merit and least two cases i also want to make the point mr speaker that this legislation is supported by the in f i b the national federation of independent business the women's chamber of commerce the hispanic chamber of commerce the women's invade and investing public policy the national small business association and the associated general contractors of america mr speaker i have one additional important for the minority to pair with the majority members of the majority party in order to be considered that pairing with someone from the other side  to yield five minutes to the dissing which animal from georgia mr price the gentleman from georgia is recognized for five minutes i thank the gentleman for yielding and i appreciate him for providing leadership on this issue and and i would suggest mr speaker that small business is indeed important and vital but what's before us is not is not h r eight hundred seventy three the small business fairness and contracting  before us is how this house will deal with that bill when it comes to the floor what's before us is the rule that will allow or not allow open an active debate on this bill now the new majority has promised us an open and fair process they promised the american people an open and fair process but once again this new majority has put forward a closed and restrictive rule which won't allow it up and up or down vote on many amendments including one that i offered that would have applied pay as you go spending principles to this legislation as my good friend from floor from florida mentioned there are eight amendments that have been allowed all of them all of them mr speaker with the primary authors being from the majority party that open that fair last term speaker pelosi said quote because the debate has been limited and americans voices silenced by this restrictive rule i urge my colleagues to vote against the rules unquote well i agree mr speaker what changed last term mr speaker majority leader standing for years said quote mr speaker once again this house majority is reserving resorting to heavy handed tactics that are designed to do only one thing and that's to achieve a preordained result by shutting down quote if we want to foster democracy in this body we should take the time and thoughtfulness to debate all major legislation under an open rule not just appropriations bills an open process should be the norm not the exception unquote well i agree mr speaker what changed in fact what has changed is that less than three percent of the bills that have been brought to this floor under this majority under a rule have been an open rule less than three percent what changed mr speaker last term member of the rules committee mr mcgovern said quote i would say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle if you want to show some bipartisanship if you want to promote a process that has some integrity that this should be an open rule all members should have an opportunity to come here and offer amendments to this bill to improve the quality of deliberations on this house floor they should be able to come and offer amendments to clean this place up  quote and i agree mr speaker so what changed changed mr last term current democrat caucus chair mr emanuel said quote let's have an up or down vote don't be scared don't buy it don't hide behind some little rule come on out here put it on the table let's have a vote so do not hide behind the rule if this is what you want to do let's have an up or down vote unquote i agree mr speaker what changed h r eight hundred seventy three seeks to increase the bill today that we'll talk about sixty increase the opportunity for small businesses to earn federal contracts by addressing current barriers that face small businesses and that's important that's extremely important but we should do so in a fiscally responsible way my amendment would have allowed or would have applied the principles of pay as you go to any new spending authorized by this legislation by requiring that any new spending have a specific offset be paid for common sense is what we all have to do at home is what all of our constituents have to do at home mr speaker this majority when it was running to take the majority last year said quote our new direction is committed to pay as you go go budgeting no more deficit spending we're committed to audit in the books and subjecting every facet of federal spending tough budget discipline and accountability forcing the congress to choose a new direction and the right priorities for all americans unquote mr speaker what happened what happened last month majority leader standing hoyer was quoted and said quote we want to get the budget deficit under control we've said fiscal responsibility was necessary but we're not going to be hosted on the torrent of fiscal responsibility mr speaker heaven forbid that we should be avoided on the torrent of fiscal responsibility well mr speaker rules aren't rules if you only follow them when you want to and the democrats the majority party promise to use pay go rules for everything instead they're picking and choosing when to do so at home we call that breaking a rule and breaking a promise so i urge the new majority to rededicate itself to its campaign promises as the gentleman for thirty more seconds at the jam at the thirty more segment john has recognized for an additional minute i thank jim and so i urge the new majority to rededicate itself to its campaign promises its promises of pay as you go spending and have an open and fair process fiscal responsibility and open process shouldn't be something that you just talk about soley before elections we should be good stewards of the hard earned money tha americans send to washington in the form of their tax payers all the time all the time not just during political campaigns so i urge my colleagues to oppose this closed and restrictive rule and i yield back the balance of my time the gentleman yield back the balance of his time the gentleman from california thank you mr speaker i yield myself as much time as i may consume gentleman's recognize mr speaker in the last congress and both sessions the rules committee reported a grand total of three open rules that were not appropriation rules two of them were open rules with a pre printing requirement and this session the new majority we have already done seven open rules six with the printing requirement and that's just in over four months say what you want we have already had a far more and more fair open process than happened in just the last two years of the prior majorities rule when their party ran this place mr speaker mr price from georgia indicated that he has proposed a rule to get the fiscal house this is our fiscal house in order and amendment that would do that yet he has offered that same amendment several times and other pieces of legislation every time when it was allowed and came to the floor his amendment failed further i'd like to just mention the fact that the current majority has in fact instigated instigated paygo rules in the house of representatives  i'd like to finish my statement before you would sir and so we have made that the law of the house we in fact are bringing fiscal responsibility to this house on a daily basis something that the prior party in charge was not able to do over fourteen years while they were in charge and in fact the deficit went up and astounding rate while they were in control of this institution and it has been the democrats who have come back to power and are instigating paygo rules and fiscal responsibility in the house of congress mr speaker i yield back and i reserve i reserve my time chairman while you i will yield for a question i appreciate yielding and i appreciate you also stating that time and time again this majority party has defeated paygo an amendment that would have provided responsible fiscal spending on the part of the federal government that i've offered it claim was the gentleman's amendment had failed because we've already instituted the pay go rules in the rules of the house of representative and we do that on a daily basis when the germans party was in power for a number of years we saw the largest deficits  increases in the history of our country more foreign debt that they piled on to our nation and in fact we are reversing the course that they set out in their prior control of congress i reserve the balance my time having admitted on the record that the new majority has brought to has has seen fit during this congress to pass one open rule and that was on the advanced fuels infrastructure research and development act and i think that's important to to be noted now rules where there are requirements with regard to having to put amendments before the debate begins are not open rules even though our friends on the majority side have non controversial bill and that's the fact now why is that important because they were the party that campaigned on opening the process and so that's why it's a relevant fact that there's been one open rule and at this time i'd like to yield four minutes to my distinguished friend a great leader from texas mr sessions jonathan texas is recognized for four minutes thank you mr speaker and i want to thank the gentleman from florida member of the rules committee who i look up to as a great mentor and i thank the gentleman for yielding the time mr speaker i too i's in strong opposition to this rule which completely shuts out the offering any amendments to improve this legislation last night the rules committee met to consider the fourteen amendments offered by members to improve this legislation and the democrat majority voted along party lines to prevent any amendments offered by republican from being considered i wish i could say that i was surprised by this outcome but this is nothing new this new democrat majority decided to break its campaign trail promises to open up legislative process for all members instead they've chosen once again to play party politics and help the rules committee to solidify its position and reputation is the graveyard of good ideas in the house of representatives our third one of the republican amendments that will not be considered by the house today because of this partisan because the partition ship the rules committee my amendment would have struck section three o three which mandates the automatic annual resort of occasion of successful small businesses whether this resort of acacia is necessary or not section three zero three will create an administrative nightmare for small businesses who wish to contract with the federal government mandating this annual resort if a cation creates a disincentive for businesses to contract with the government because filing this unnecessary paperwork takes time takes money and takes manpower proving that the actions we take here in congress actually do have real world consequences the small business administration already has the discretion to determine how frequently small businesses musri certified and the s b a studied and rejected this annual restart of occasion because it would create as they call it an unnecessary burden for a small business the s b a has already passed a restart if a cation rule that goes into effect in june of this year this rule will protect small business contracts without the added cost and headaches associated with a democrat majorities heavy handed proposal congress should have allowed the s b a rule to take effect before mandating this new unnecessary statutory paperwork the failure of the democrat majority do include my memet proves that this bill is more about politics than it is about policy yesterday person after person from both parties talked about how great it would be for us to help the great engine of this economy small business and yet we find out when it really comes down to it they want to put rules and regulations on small businesses whether they're needed or not mr speaker i ask unanimous consent to insert in the record the statement of administrative policy for the bill which specifically states that the bill would impose additional detail detailed reporting requirements on agencies and prime contractors that would increase cost without clear benefits without objection mr speaker i ask for all my colleagues to oppose this partisan rule this restrictive rule that will do very little to help small businesses mr speaker i yield back the balance of my time gentleman yield back the balance of this time the gentleman from california mr speaker i would just like to respond to that my a good friend from texas and state that the committee considered his his amendment proposed amendment and rejected it for large reason because we feel that it's important to make company yes certify that they are in fact small that there has been mistakes made in the past that companies have gotten beyond the threshold of one contract that they may not be authorized to do and just because the small business administration periodically will go and check that we don't believe that that's enough of a cause to require that other small business be shut out of the process because companies that grow beyond their requirements are allowed bashful treatment mr speaker we have no further speakers on our side of the aisle and so reiterate my call for the defeat of this restrictive rule it is an unfair rule it is unnecessarily restrictive and it closes down debate and so just want to assure the members of congress that in fact that we are running the most open process in this congress that in fact we have provided seven open rules now those rules may have a pre print a requirement as mr vs billard mentioned gentleman from florida we in fact requiring a pre printing acquirement allows every member who desires to put forward an idea to come and have their ideas presented to the house that is much more than what happened in the prior congress when they were in charge we are keeping our commitment to running an open process and  mr speaker as i mentioned this legislation is very worthy of this rule and passage the small as i mentioned small businesses have not received their fair share of federal government contracts despite their importance to our economy the bill before us today h r seventy eight hundred seventy three addresses some of the key causes by making fewer target by making a few targeted reforms to the picture meant process we can help thousands of small businesses and give much needed jolt to our national economy we must continue to shepherd our small businesses to give them every opportunity to succeed for today and for tomorrow's yet to come this bill will move us in that direction and a small business well that will be that much closer to making their dreams of prosperity a reality i urge a yes vote on the rule and on the previous question mr speaker i yield back the bounds of my time and i move the previous question on the resolution the gentleman yield back the balance of his time all time has now expired without objection the previous question is one of the questions on the adoption of the resolution all those in favor for what purpose of the gentlewoman from california seek recognition mr speaker by direction of committee on rules i call up house resolution three eighty two and ask for me consideration the clerk will report the resolution calendar number fifty seven house resolution three eighty two resolved that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may pursuant to clause to be of roll eighteen declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill h r six hundred eighty four to authorize appropriations for the department of homeland security for fiscal year two thousand and eight and for other purposes the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with all points of order against the against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one general debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on homeland security after general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on homeland security now printed in the bill the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be read be considered as read all points of order against the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one notwithstanding clause eleven of roll eighteen no amendment in the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution each such amendment may be offered only in that order printed in the report may be offer only by a member designated in the record shall be considered as read shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and proponent and an opponent shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand demand for division of the question in the house for in the committee of the whole all points of order against such amendments are waived except those arising under clause nine or ten of rule twenty one at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such amendments as may have been adopted any member may demand a separate vote in the house on any amendment adopted in the committee of the whole to the bill or to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute the previous question shall be considered as as ordered on the bill and amendments there two to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instruction section two during consideration in the house of h r six hundred eighty four pursuant to this resolution notwithstanding the operation of the previous question that share may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated by the speaker the gentlewoman from california is recognized for one hour thank you mr speaker for the purpose of debate only the customary resolution three eighty two provides for consideration of house resolution sixteen a for the department of homeland security authorization act for fiscal year two thousand and eight under a structured rule the rule provides one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on homeland security the rule weighs all points of order against the bills consideration except those arising under clauses nine zero chance of rule twenty one the rule makes an order and provides appropriate waivers for twenty one amendments mr speaker i'm pleased to stand before you today with a rule to permit the homeland security authorization bill to come to the house floor first and foremost i want to thank chairman thompson for his continued leadership on an issue of utmost importance for the safety and prosperity of this country and working so closely with the ranking member king on this bill this bipartisan bill authorizes thirty nine point eight billion dollars to department of homeland security to carry out its many functions from securing our borders to providing a local law enforcement with resources to repair and prevent terrorist attacks the department of homeland security has a wide range of responsibilities and recognition of this critical mission i'm pleased that the homeland security committee has authorized two point one billion dollars more than the president requested in his bill does far more more than simply authorized appropriations for the department of homeland security though this bill gets at the heart of the management problems within the department as we all know the department was created by combining the work of twenty two separate agencies this process of integration has had many many challenges poor communication between agencies a lack of qualified management unusually high turnover of senior personnel congress has not made the challenges any easier however we could have addressed some of these problems through the legislative process by passing an authorization bill last year but the prior majority failed to do so and so the department's management problems went uncorrected without addressing the underlying management and operational issues the department cannot perform its important functions in such an environment how can the american people feel safe thankfully h r six hundred eighty four addresses these challenges it mandates a comprehensive review of the department at the beginning of each new administration in order to ensure the d h s s structured to meet the security needs of the american people as sets qualifications for senior managers increases cored nation between agencies and boost fun for inspector general and agency by agency it puts in place thoughtful personnel policies to attract train and keep only the most qualified personnel these reforms are important and i'm glad that the committee in the democratic leadership have moved forward with a well focused bill to improve the department's management this bill continues a majority strong record on homeland security in a few short months this congress has passed bills to implement the nine eleven recommendations and to strengthen rail and public transportation security each with strong bipartisan majorities each is a component of a comprehensive approach to protecting our constituents from potential threats i applaud the committee and the leadership for their consistent focus on homeland security i understand that some members have concerns that this bill does not address every issue but part of the legislative process is working through these issues through the committees of jurisdiction it is important to keep in mind that chairman thompson and ranking member king put forth a bipartisan bill jury markup and chairman thompson continues to work with other committees of jurisdiction in order to make sure that every aspect of our nation's security is supported by congress in particular i applaud the chairman's record of shepherding two major homeland security bills to the house already i think we should all agree that today's efforts the third homeland security bill in four months make substantial improvements to longstanding management issues within d h h s the rule and underlying bill shows th commitment of this congress to working for a safe and secure america so i urge all members to support both the rule and the underlying bill and i reserve the balance of my time the gentlewoman from california reserve the speaker is the primary function of the government of united states since september eleventh two thousand and one we have been working to rebuild our nation not only our buildings but also for our sense of security the creation of the department of homeland security to coordinate all domestic security activities on behalf of the american people was an important first step and has served as the foundation of our continuing efforts to protect our citizens today we consider the third authorization for the department of homeland security during consideration of this underlying legislation members from both sides of the aisle worked together to craft a bipartisan bill the bill sought to build the core capacity of the department and bring about targeted personnel contracting and policy changes that bill passed the homeland security committee unanimously but even though the bill passed out of the committee with unanim support the majority majority party is attempting to on do that bipartisan bipartisan bill by coming forth with a manager's amendment a manager's amendment that significantly alters the makeup of that bill the manager's amendment strikes key provisions which address high priority homeland security issues out of a total of eighty six substantive bill provisions twenty six or almost a third are amended by the manager's amendment and sixteen twenty percent almost are entirely struck most of the provisions stricken by the manager amendment had become part of the bill through republican amendments in the committee process for example the manager's amendment strikes provisions on the student in exchange visitor program and eligible uses of interoperability grants among others there are two provisions that the manager's amendment the leet that i think should be highlighted mr speaker the first which strike post employment law being restrictions this provision being eliminated from the bill by the manager's amendment would cause a fire the existing ban on senior department of homeland thirty employees from one part of the department lobbying other parts of the department within one year of leaving the department that reform is stricken from the bill in the mat by the manager's amendment the second part of the bill being stricken is a sense of the congress calling for implementation of the nine eleven commission recommendation to establish a single point of oversight of homeland security in the house of representatives and in the senate now that is one of the key recommendations of the nine eleven commission and precisely it's one that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle they ran on in the elections the promise to enact the nine eleven commission recommendations yet here they have an opportunity to follow through on their campaign promise but instead they strike the provision from the bill through the manager's amendment and they don't even allow for the provision to be debated in the form of an amendment on the floor pleased that the cast or amendment which helps address concerns with the dual implementation of the florida uniform port access credentials and the transportation workers identification card was made in order but there was another glaring missed opportunity here by the majority of the rules committee the rules committee had the opportunity to allow an open rule on this bill but  suggestion that we do show that we come forth with an open rule was voted down by the majority in the rules committee instead they decided to report out a restrictive rule there by shutting out members who had worked diligently to prepare their amendments they also blocked out any member who may be watching the debate now or in the process of the developing unfolding debate and has an idea to improve the bill no they're blocked out as well they're shut out it's unfortunate that the rules committee missed another opportunity to open the debate on this import legislation as they promised during the campaign that they would and because of that the rule and the reasons that i have brought out that mr speaker this rule should be defeated and at this time reserved about the gentleman reserves the balance of the time the gentlewoman pless as politically charged with overseeing the department's organization and the stray ssion we don't take this responsibility lightly this congress we have held dozens of oversight hearings the topics of each hearing may have been different but the basic message from the department was pretty much the same don't blame us for not having our house in order we have had turnover we don't have a headquarters we don't have the authorities we need to be on lead on issues such as buyouts of prednisone and cyber security we don't have the authorities we need to integrate twenty two agencies into one competent unit h sixteen eighty four takes away all the excuses under this deal the department is provided the resources accountability and authority needed to found it become the federal agency that congress invision and the american people deserve every day we get another reminder of the urgent nature of the homeland security mission just yesterday we learned that six individuals are in custody on charges of plotting to attack the u s army base at fort dix we don't need to have the luxury of giving the h s time to step up to the challenges of becoming a functional organization i introduced the such a m in this bipartisan bill with ranking member king the full committee by recorded vote of twenty six to zero voted to audit table related to the house i'm pleased that the rules committee is allowing so many amendments to be considered today i look forward to an active debate and up a do two nitty to present my manager's amendment the manager's amendment is a product of discussion with other members of the house and of the house committees who have jurisdictional interest in aspects of this legislation and i'm very pleased to bring this bill to the floor for consideration by the four house today members of the house of representatives will have the opportunity to do something they have not been able to do in two years they will get to cast a vote in favor of authorizing the department of homeland security what's more mr speaker they will get to vote to restore funding to critical first responder programs that the president's budget would eliminate or severely cut  the outstanding job i believe he's doing as chairman homeland security committee and certainly for the level of bipartisanship which he has demonstrated having said that i have to reluctantly but strongly urge defeat of the rule today the reason i say that mr speaker is that the bill which did pass through the homeland security committee under chairman thompson's leadership passed by a vote of twenty six to nothing it was a truly bipartisan effort there was cooperation from all sides and we came together to two different departments and agencies one hundred eighty thousand employees and it is making progress but much more has to be done and to address we have to do it in a bipartisan way unfortunately the bill that comes to the floor today as mitch stripped or dramatically you modified up to fifty percent of the original provisions and some of these are very significant provisions probably not more significant than just the sense of congress which was so strongly recommended by the nine eleven commission saying that the committee on homeland various committees and subcommittees of the house also a number of significant provisions in addition to that that were taken out for in cent increase in funding for the secret service printing grants to universities that boxcar recruiters down the list of so many i believe significant provisions that were taken out of the reason for this and i understand why it chairman thompson is coming from there was resistance from other committees but i believe we should have withstood that resistance for instance in the prior congress when we did pass port security legislation when we did pass legislation restructuring fema when we didn't pass legislation involving chemical plant security we met that same resistance from other committees but we stood up to it and we were largely successful  d we did it by working through the leadership to not just back away from these confrontations but i believe that when we do it so quickly and we do back away we really weaken the status of the committee not that we're looking to build turf not that it's a power  grab again following the recommendations of the nine eleven commission if there's one committee which should have primary jurisdiction homeland security matters it's the committee on homeland security also that were amendments proposed that we checked by the rules committee dent amendment on the automated targeting system which was strongly supported by the nine eleven commission congressman shays a proposed amendment involving cooperate with interpol very important it was also disallowed congressm dave davis as a member to expand it to eighty seven g program which would provide funding for local law enforcement and enforcing immigration laws and congress imposed amendment regarding appropriate sieges for customs and border protection agency so these are a number of very solid amendments that were disallowed we come here today with a bill with is really barely half of what it was when i left the committee so i'm strongly urging a no vote on the rule in no way is reflection on my good friend chairman thompson and after we go through today and maybe even in tomorrow i pledge to him we will continue to work in a bipartisan way but i really hope that the leadership of the other side would realize its significance of the committee on homeland security and not just given to various barons throughout the house who are trying to dis hold on to their own turf in their own power but that of your background is right on the gentleman's time has expired gentlewoman from california mr speaker i yield to minister to general on the phone california missiles  the gentleman from california is recognized for two minutes thank you mr speaker i commend the committee i commend this committee for the hard work in crafting a bipartisan legislation because as we continue to face the challenge of identifying new threats and providing new strategies for securing our nation is absolutely essential that the homeland security department operate to its full potential the homeland security authorization will ensure that taxpayers dollars are not wasted by mismanagement and will encourage the best and the brightest minds of our time to contribute our national homeland to our national homeland security strategy harnessing these resources is absolutely key to protecting our nation's vital infrastructure infrastructure like the golden gate bridge in my district and its final to quickly respond to providing aid and support in the event of a disaster unlike the way in which the department responded to hurricane katrina these new authorizations will make a huge difference these reforms must be made to keep the people safe so by restarting accountability to the department and strengthening the protections for its employees we can and we will improve our ability to effectively safe guard our nation i encourage all members to vote for homeland security authorization thank you four this bill in its current form with eliminate the critical federal to eighty seven g program which services serves as a force multiplier for the immigration enforcement across our nation the two eighty seven g program is a highly effective voluntary partnership that provides the legal authority and training for states and local enforcement to investigate detain and arrest illegal aliens on civil and criminal charges her charges and grounds in the course of their regular duties unfortunately an amendment offered in the rules committee to reauthorize this important program was not made in order jeopardizing the future of this popular program with local and state law enforcement agencies across our nation and in my district illegal immigration is a serious problem in eastern oklahoma and securing a two eighty seven g designation is a top priority of mine i am working diligently to see the immigration customs enforcement officials and the tulsa county sheriff and the tulsa county sheriff's office partner in this program to eighty seven g would provide them with the resources they need to deal with the ever growing criminal alien population in tulsa i am pleased with the progress we have made and recently learned from the ice officials that we were in the final stages of making two eighty seven g a reality in northeastern oklahoma the two eighty seven g program is working to stop the catch and release practice that allows dangerous criminal illegal aliens to remain free in the communities across our nation it would be foolish for the house not to reauthorize this critical program i urge my colleagues to reject this ill considered rule and i yield back the balance of my time  gentleman yield back the balance of this time the gentleman from california mr speaker myself this time as i may consume the gentleman is recognized as such time machine they can so let me emphasize to all members that this bill is working its way through the legislative process it is true that as a fair and responsible chairman mr thompson worked with several other committees of jurisdiction on this measure as a manager's amendment clarifies in some cases the homeland security committee proceeded with this language and others it permitted other committees to land their expertise to the issue in the coming months this is a process of governing but it is also true that the primary jordi chose not to engage in its most basic of functions last year they did bring an authorization bill to the floor and by not engaging in this hard work the prior majority let known problems go on resolved this bail brings over do we form an accountability to the department and it earliest homeland security authorization bill ever that is responsible that is governing and i reserve the balance of my time and reserve the balance of her time the gentleman from florida to great yield two minutes to the distinguished leader from virginia davis the gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes the speaker i opposed the rule in the manager's amendment adopted adopting the rule the majority stripped out a number of commonsense amendments mostly offered by republicans which wouldn't hand security i think it's a regrettable turn of events which could cost the majority the support of the minority members i guess the good news here is that we know this bill is passed the house but it's not going anywhere in the senate and in this form is on signed a bill by the president but the rule also disallowed a critical amendment to help ensure that the washington area would receive the necessary senior level attention from the department of homeland security so that federal state and local governments are properly coordinating their homeland security activities in two thousand and two we establish the department of homeland security in a bipartisan manner creating an office of national capital region coordination to demonstrate the importance of this we put in the office of the secretary unfortunately the administration decided reorganization to put this deep inside of thema mine management which was not allowed was pretty straightforward it was to restore the office to its original and rightful place in the office of the secretary this amendment would have passed with a large bipartisan majority but it was not allowed by the other side now why is this important the events of nine eleven made it all too important better coordination of first responders is needed in the d c region were two states in the district of columbia twelve local jurisdictions three branches the federal government twenty one hundred nonprofit organization thousands of businesses and nonprofit organizations four million americans they want to put that responsibility into fema it belongs in the office of the secretary we've been through tractor man but we've been through disruptions at the woodrow wilson bridge we've been through the snipers this needs the highest federal attention for coordination among all these different organizations in the region and they wouldn't allow this amendment we're going to introduce this is a commonsense standalone bill that will receive the attention of this house but in disallowing this amendment now the other side takes ownership of this provision and as a put their confidence in thema instead of the o the gentleman from california is recognized for three minutes mr speaker i come to this floor reluctantly to oppose this rule why because it does everything that we ought not to do with respect to the committee process here now if some people outside this chamber may wonder why the committee process is important or if it is important at all well if you look at the nine eleven commission recommendations one of the important recommendations they made was to have a single point of responsibility a single point of oversight in this house for the homeland security department the very reason we created the homeland security department from about twenty two other agencies and departments was for the purpose of consolidating and giving direction to our response to a new threat to this country in like manner here in the house  representatives the recommendation by the nine eleven commission was that we have a primary committee to do that and that is the committee of homeland security we have endeavored to work on a bipartisan basis when we were in control two years ago we did that and now when the democrats are in control they're doing that we had vigorous and open debate we had a number of amendments adopted on the republican side so that we passed this bill out of committee unanimously not a dissenting vote and we recognize that we were putting aside partisan differences to work for the best interest of this country so now we come to the floor and fifty percent of that bil been ripped out by the manager's amendment just happens to be that fifty percent virtually all the product of republican amendments that were adopted in committee on a bipartisan basis and then they make an order about twenty two amendments but not amendments that go to putting back into the bill that we put in there on a bipartisan basis and virtually not all but most of the amendments in order are from members not members of this committee and so you say why is this being done and we understand we're genuflecting to the jurisdictional disputes argued by already existing committees so what we have done is rather than following what the nine eleven commission has said we have made a worse situation we not only have the already existing committees that the homeland security department has to report to they now report to us as well now is this inefficient way is this the way you act when you're dealing with a serious problem this ought to rise above all partisanship and all kinds of nonsense about jurisdictional committees i don't know how we can go home to our constituents and say oh yes we got rid of that stuff that was really good that gave us an advantage in this war on terror because we were concerned about another committee that used to have jurisdiction and last year one of the things we heard was just do the right thing and adopt all the nine eleven commission recommendations adopting this rule flies in the face of that we ought to understand that we had a vote down this rule bring back the bill as it came out of committee on a bipartisan basis and then go forward on a bipartisan basis for the best of the american people allison has expired the gentleman from california mr speaker i am myself  time as i may consume gentleman is recognized me emphasize to members the history on this issue unlike the prior majority this majorities committed to passing a homeland security authorization into law in two thousand and five two years ago the house passed an authorization after the appropriations bill passed last year two thousand and six the house did not bother to bring a bill to the floor that irresponsible and light at the department's many problems democrats are committed to governing responsibility and this is one step along that path and we give the balance of my time gentleman reserves the balance of her time amendment was significantly significantly weaken legislation that gained bipartisan support in the committee on homeland security and past twenty six zero as the chairman of the emergency preparedness subcommittee last congress we were able to into law comprehensive interoperability legislation this legislation tiled the twenty first century communications act created the office of cyber security and communications and elevated the importance of emergency communications within the department of homeland security in addition this legislation accelerated the development of national standards for emergency communication equipment unfortunately the rules committee has approved an amendment that would remove many key provisions and severely weakened this legislation this amendment removes language that allows interoperability funds to be used by state and local agencies to develop standard operating procedures training and exercises it is important for first responders to have this equipment but it is also equally important that they have the training to know how to use the equip allowing this amendment on the floor that removes this provision will reduce the first responders effectiveness due to a lack of training and planning we saw what happened during hurricane katrina when there was a lack of training a lack of planning and a lack of communication it was disastrous it cause cost of lives next week is national police week at a time when we are supposed to be honoring and supporting our first responders and especially our law enforcement officers across this nation we are limiting their abilities to protect themselves and to protect this nation i know this from firsthand experience this is a problem that has been existence for over thirty five years the lack of first responders to communicate i responded to a call in one thousand nine hundred seventy four not able to get on my radio having to run across the yard and tackle a kid that had a rifle aimed at three other police officers because i couldn't get through and talk to the communication center today eliminating this provision will create that same situation across this assistance grants it preserves a local law enforcement terrorism prevention program that administration wanted to close and on contracting oversight management and personnel policies and based overdue reform to a department in need this is a good bill and all members should support it i will do the balance of my time the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time the gentleman from florida figure you'll two minutes to the distinguished a little connecticut mr shays jonathan connecticut is recognized for two minutes i thank the gentleman for y g i'm part and proud to be part of the homeland security committee it's been a committee that under chairman king has functioned in a nonpartisan way and i think under chairman thompson as well and it's so i have deep regret that so many parts of this bill were taken out that were parts that were put in by republicans i understand jurisdictional issues but it seemed to be some of these could have been left in and i particularly am amazed to think that an amendment that i was offering supported by interpol and i would like this with the enemy's consent of a letter from ron noble the secretary general to address to me from interpol be submitted to one page without objection officers to make instant passport searches against interposed tolan and last travel document database there was no reason not to allow this to be amended amendment to be offered except for partisan purposes i happen to be a republican and i happen to be targeted by the democrats but other than that there was no reason not to allow this amendment i am strongly against this rule and like my colleagues i didn't think long about it i couldn't wait to get here to oppose what is now becoming a bar to a very partisan bill i just can't express strongly enough we are going to endanger americans because not allowing this debate there are fourteen million dot units that are put four thousand and fourteen named documents entered interpol has the united states  the speaker at this time it's my pleasure to yield the four minutes to distinguished colleague from north carolina  he gentleman from north carolina is recognized for four  minutes thank you both speaker and thank my friend congressman de as well art for young the time which breaker i rise in strong opposition to this rule we all heard the saying that actions speak louder than words and once again the rhetoric from the other side has turned out to be yes that rhetoric you've heard all the talk about wanting to do everything we can to protect american jobs and keeping our manufacturing base majority actually had a chance to put their money where their mouth is bash directing our national security and our domestic textile manufacturing base my memory was not allowed to come to the floor for debate today yes actions speak louder than words in the actions from yesterday prove that their talk is cheap because it's not backed up by meaningful action current language in the department of homeland security authorization bill regarding domestic production would require a new domestic requirement for uniforms protective gear badges enough occasion guards while this provision is a good first step this approach does not reflect reflect a stronger proposal contained in  that i put together with the textile industry which is called the barry amendment extension act legislation we put together and the a memo offered yesterday would ensure that the sensitive uniforms worn by our agents are made in america with american made components rather than outsourcing to china or mexico the problem with the bill in front of us today the vast majority of the content of these uniforms can be imported from any country in the world china pakistan mexico united mr speaker that's not what the members of the house want on the sum of the fifteenth vote five we overwhelmingly support a measure stating that border patrol uniform should be made in the united states is anyone change their mind i sure haven't revisions are an extension of the berry amendment which is well established domestic the partment of defense part you're seeing requirement has been in practice for seventy years in the bill appears to be the end result will be lawsuits and countervailing duties but that all together nothing gets done in american jobs are lost you all know i've been a strong advocate for strengthening the bar many functions that are critical to our national security i'm extremely disappointed my democrat counterparts failed and missed a great opportunity to expand the successful requirement to include the farm homeland security not only protect that department of homeland security officials who work on the front lines of national security are the only people wearing the sense of uniforms it's outrageous to think in our border patrol our airport manufacturing trade coalition american apparel and footwear association and again while the base bill has taken a step to add a new requirement for domestic production i think we get it done and should have done much better let me briefly quote the american apparel and footwear association the hays amendment would provide more complete coverage for domestic sources than what is currently intended by our sixteen eighty four by requiring that both inputs and manufacture of uniform to originate in the and work to support the u s supply chain that provides materials for the production of clothing and individual equipment to the military there are many members both democrats and republicans who have been very supportive of the barium emmet policy in the actual apparel industry is vital to the economic security and national security of our nation if the majority truly cared about preserving this crucial manufacturing sector and industry that provides good paying jobs to american citizens then they would have excell industry its workforce in a vote against making our country more secure bigger hard mccauley through jack this room you back to balance my time the gentleman's time has expired the gentlewoman from gentlemen for for yielding this new majority has once again promised to an open and fair process but again they have failed to live up to the promises now that they're out from under the spotlight of their election year and this is extremely disappointing considering the remarkable importance of the legislation before us today the homeland security authorization act among some of the provisions that were stripped out of the bill completely a pilot program for mobile biometric identification of illegal aliens apprehended at sea denying and smugglers use of maritime routes and enhanced penalties for alien smuggling and requiring immigration checks for employees at high risk critical infrastructures what's so scary about those being in the bill i would ask what idea what amendment was so scary that inspired this restrictive rule i urge my colleagues not to be scared not to hide behind this rule vote no on this role so that we can have a complete and fair debate the american people deserve no less and they're watching on the time has expired john one california i was there john warner reserves the balance of her time the gentleman from florida was speaker i will be asking for a no vote on the previous question so that i can amend this restrictive rule to make an order the amendment offered by representative hayes of north carolina which would strike section four zero seven of the bill the section requiring v h s to buy american textiles and apparel protective gear badges and id cards the member would instead require that the h s buy items specified in the amendment only when those items are connected to national security functions within the apartment the department this amendment also includes language to ensure that these provisions comply with the world trade organization rules the speaker this thoughtful amendment submitted by mr hayes was unfortunately denied yesterday the rules committee if the previous question is defeated the hayes amendment would be made an order in the house will be able to have a full discussion on its merits i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment and extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question at this time mr speaker i yield back the balance of my time gentleman from florida yield back the balance of his time the gentlewoman from california mr speaker myself the balance of my time the gentleman is recognized mr speaker i want to once again thank chairman thompson force leadership in drafting a well focused homeland security authorization and for working so closely with ranking member king on this bill i would note for all members the chairman thompson work with other chairman and ranking members the jurisdiction issues were raised by both sides republican and democrat i also note that the manager's amendment which deals with these changes when we see separate debate a vote this is an open process unlike the prior majority we worked through these issues again last year when these problems are raised the prior majority chose not to act and contrast we are acting despite these difficulties we are being responsible h r sixteen eighty four will help improve the policy making at the department of homeland security where promote long term planning and will strengthen management in particular as sets qualifications for senior managers increases cored nation between agencies and boost funds for the inspector general these changes will ensure that the department of homeland security can perform its important functions of protecting the american people i'm pleased at the democratic leadership has moved swiftly and brought a homeland security authorization bill to the floor this is the first time in two years such a bill has come to the floor it is also the earliest that a department of homeland security authorization bill has come to the floor and the first time it has occurred before appropriators have marked up the homeland security appropriations bill this is truly significant and i thank the leadership for the commitment to protecting america i urge a yes vote on the previous question and on the rule i yield back the balance of my time and i move t question on the resolution the gentleman from california also yield back the balance of her time all time has now expired the question is on ordering the previous question to the resolution those in favor say aye those opposed  and clause nine of rule twenty this fifteen minute vote on ordering the previous question on house resolution three eighty two will be followed by five minutes votes on adopting house resolution t adopting house resolution three eighty three and suspending the rules and passing house resolution eighty nine zero a fifteen minute vote on ordering the previous question followed by a series of possibly three