four states new york new jersey pennsylvania massachusetts that provide these veterans modest annuities in recognition of the sistan szell sacrifice they made to serving our country we got a plea under current federal law these state annuities actually reduce any s s i payments for which blind vetter would otherwise be eligible as we heard from michelle rock of our new york's division of veterans affairs at our ways and means hearing in october this cork in the federal s s i rules creates a hardship not only for the effected veterans themselves but for the station as a minister these annuity programs as well as in years pass the bill  introduced one hundred tenth congress h r six forty nine it's enjoyed bipartisan support let me turn briefly to a separate provision section one o seven of the bill which would personally allow a penalty free withdrawals from ira for a one case and other retirement funds for reservists and national guardsmen called to active duty as we all know when guardsman and reservists are called up from our states they often face significant reductions in pay compared to their civilian sour he's put in economic strain on their families to lessen this economic hardship many of them choose to draw down on their retirement funds a portion and or prior law they face a ten percent early withdrawal tax when they did so and they face restrictions on making repayments to their retirement funds upon returning from active duty last years pension protection act provided relief from this ten percent penalty act and permitted unlimited repayments within two years after leaving active duty but only for guardsmen and reservists called active duty before december thirty first two thousand and seven two is sure that this important relief remains a valuable on a permanent basis going forward einar dues to h r six eight sixty seven guardsman the reservist tax fairness act on february seventh of this year this legislation is also attracted a bipartisan group of co sponsors as well as indorsements from several leading veteran service organizations mr speaker we recently got a great reminder of the time sensitivity of this particular provision from the area i represent in western new york just days ago it was announced that one hundred members of the hundred seventh air refueling wing station at niagara falls air reserve station well the void to the middle east in january as part of the global war on terror unless this tax benefit is made permanent these brave men and women and countless more just like them across the country will lose their eligibility simply because the calendar is flipped to two thousand and eight before their date of deployment i sincerely hope that our colleagues on the other side of capitol will recognize your urgency of this issue and program or s s i program treats military families and others who deserve or who desire to serve this nation under current law some military families lose part of their s s i benefits because a portion of their compensation is counted as an earned income under current rules the amount of honor and income a disabled person receives were duces their s s i benefits h r thirty nine ninety seven would stop treating military families this way which occurs because of a kink in the law a similar inequity occurs with respect to america or volunteers for purposes of determining s s i benefits current law provides disparate treatment to volunteers who are disabled in some cases these would be volunteers these would be volunteers would experience a loss or reduction of their s s i benefits if they choose to serve their community despite their disability through america or this only occurs because of an oversight the statute and the heart act corrects it removing an important barrier to service in short mr speaker it's important that the villa the president signs includes these provisions with the s s i corrections included h r thirty nine ninety seven says to american families that a nation blessed by your service and sacrifice is one that will treat you fairly and justly you'll back the balance of my time  yield two minutes to the gentleman from california mr herder a very senior member of the committee of ways and means you know of california's recognized for two minutes thank you mr chairman and thank you mr speaker and important provision of the hart act will help veterans in my home state achieve the american dream of homeownership and our pursuit of this provision i join with my california colleague susan davis to introduce a standalone legislation on this h u and i thank her for leadership currently several states are allowed to issue what are called qualified veteran mortgage bonds which are tax exempt bonds and california the cow that home loan program uses the proceeds from these bonds to help pay for low cost more gauges for our nation's heroes returning from war for our state and taxes however until this provision today only veterans who ended their military service before nine hundred seventy seven were allowed to receive these low cost home loans using proceeds from qualified veterans mortgage banks bonds now all veterans regardless of when they serve will be eligible under dick cuvee amby finance program governor arnold schwarzenegger and his administration deserve credit for their unwavering support of this change this provision has been several years in coming i'm very pleased to say that it will help many recent minutes i thank the gentleman for yielding hold this picture a major alan johnson his wife victoria their daughter megan ellen johnson lost his life last january twenty in service to our country in iraq major johnson had served in the national guard and the army reserve for twenty six years had a civilian job he was the still in the public sector he was sergeant of that corrections department of yakima county in the state of washington shift supervisor for the largest just the state of washington you can imagine how awful the surprise for victoria johnson deep in her grief of losing her husband to learn that his pension in the state of washington was treated as though on the day he left on his deployment he quit work they offered only return of the ben amounts he had paid into the pension plan now if he had been an active washington state employee he she would have received a lifetime annuity benefit but the law didn't provide for that and her circumstance has alerted us to a loophole that must be addressed legislation to do by congress but doc hastings and i the hero's act addresses this flaw in our law a law that presently allows for reintegration of pension benefits for our returning soldiers this will also mean that should they lose their life in service to our country during their deployment they are treated as though that life that that their life was lost well i fully employed a participant in the pension plan brady gentlemen texas is recognized for two minutes thanks to a speaker i cried support of this bill on the floor today that will provide additional tax relief to our nation's veterans especially those who are seeking to purchase homes among the many important provisions of this bill it updates current law to insure the veterans who served after nine hundred seventy seven can qualify for low interest loan home loans financed by qualified vets mortgage bo veterans who are not first time homebuyers to also benefit from the special program this bill's important arce home state in texas this will enable the texas veterans lane board headed by a land commissioner jerry patterson to expand its existing low interest loan program to thousands more texans texas veterans helping a new generation of veterans own a piece of the american dream for all the sacrifice our veterans make to defend our country  right that we help them upon their return home to america i thank chairman rangle mr larson all those who have contrived to this bill as well as a mr reynolds who has worked so hard in republicans who are supporting this bipartisan bill battlefield shouldn't in there yet some senate republicans deleted from this very legislation an important provision authorizing eligibility for below market affordable home loans of up to three hundred  twenty five thousand dollars through our texas veterans land board for our texas veterans these are the servicemen and women who served in iraq in afghanistan and over the last thirty years who are excluded from the current program today we say once more to the senate obstructionists stop and remember that those who fight to keep our home safe deserve a fighting chance that homeownership this bill is truly a way to honor vets not only with our words but with our deeds in this case deeds to a home when our vets are willing to pay the ultimate price for our freedom we can afford the price of correcting this disparity this bill also prevents the expiration of existing group health insurance guarantees from mental health coverage while maintaining this protection is very important what we really need is prompt approval of full equity and all health insurance coverage so that mental health services are not treated differently than physical health services whether it's a broken leg or a broken spirit folks need affordable access to professional care that includes treatment for addiction and depression i salute our colleague congressman kennedy congressman rahm rahm stead in their bipartisan effort for mental health parity including addiction and depression let's get it done in two thousand and eight approval of today's bill encourages equity equity and covering veterans when ever they have served and at least a little equity in mental health coverage  here and in a state of disappointment but mine is the reverse a provision that was included in the senate is not included in the house version of this bill it's a piece of legislation that i introduced earlier this session and one that was offered as an amendment when this bill was considered by the house ways and means committee and it failed on a party line vote this provision as i say is included in the senate bill but it was removed when it was returned to the house at this received unanimous consent or nan a unanimous can approval by the senate this is a commonsense clarification the tax code to prevent lower income military personnel from being discriminated against when applying to live in affordable housing built into the low income housing tax credit our nation's military families deserve access to safe decent affordable housing and they should be given a fair opportunity to qualify for it this provision would clarify that members of the military will not have their military housing allowance counted against them as income when applying for affordable rental housing the i r s does not consider military housing allowance as income but unfortunately that the department of housing and urban development does the result is that some service members particularly enlisted ones are considered to earn too much and are thus disqualified from living in affordable housing comparatively low income civilians will qualify because they're treated differently by the i r s this clarification is needed now more than ever a number of military installations across the country are experiencing housing shortages as a result of the two thousand and five brac for example fort riley an army post located in the state of kansas is nearly doubling in size and will see an influx of nearly thirty thousand people without access to adequate affordable housing opportunities many families stationed at fort riley are being forced to live far away from post the house acted this year to exempt military housing allowance from income eligibility requirements under head start unfortunately this discrimination persist when military families apply to live in affordable housing and enlisted service members and their families continue to be treated unfairly in communities across the country mr speaker while i support this legislation i again am here to object to the exclusion of language that would level the playing field for our military and lifted men i've introduced legislation to correct this issue a co sponsor along with mr ramstad of important legislation mr kennedy from rhode island for two minutes that was recognized for two minutes i'd like to thank the gentleman for connecticut for is a great work and for his very kind words and i'd like to thank chairman rangle and chairman stark for their work to pass a one year extension to the current mental health parity law i'd also like to thank them for their tireless work and dedication to passing h r fourteen twenty four the paul wellstone mental health and addiction equity act while i'm pleased that the current laws being extended in this bill which will ensure that annual and lifetime limits for mental health benefits cannot be more restrictive than physical health benefits i must express my disappointment that a stronger mental health parity law which includes equitable treatment limits financial limits and added network power day has not been passed yet and signed by the president this year after three hearings five markups in the house and with two hundred seventy three bipartisan co sponsors this bill has been closely scrutinized by both political parties i hope we will return early next year and pass this bill not as a political victory for some but for people like katie cav locke a sixteen year old girl from pennsylvania who lost her battle to addiction she showed up one day to her mother and said she was addicted confessed to her mother she was addicted her mother took her to the hospital the hospital said she needed insurance coverage she went to an insurance system an insurer said they couldn't cover her unless she had o d d they couldn't give a residential treatment she had unless you know date so she had to wait until she owed a before she could qualify for residential treatment but what happened as  not everyone survives that first odie and as it was in the case of katie her first odie killed her katie died without the treatment that she needed to overcome her addiction that should in connecticut thank mr speaker at this time i like to recognize the preeminent authority on smart growth in this country mr bloom an hour from oregon who cares deeply about veterans concerns in that state and all across this country the germans recognize for what period mr larsen the gentleman's recognized two minutes don't recognize for two minutes i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy as i appreciate his leadership one of the most important things the united states did in the aftermath of world war two was to help returning veterans with housing in my home state of oregon in one thousand nine hundred five we established a veterans home loan program which for over sixty years has provided over a third of a million loans a value that's approaching eight billion dollars which is change the lives of the veterans and their families as it's helped revitalize communities unfortunately in oregon as in other states like alaska and wisconsin california and texas we're bumping up against limits in dealing with this program we do not have the bonding capacity to be able to deal with the flood of returning veterans from iraq and afghanistan who are every bit as worthy of our help and support as veterans from korea or world war two the house legislation that went forward corrected this situation adding an increase in the bond cap and it made a modification for eligible veterans of more recent wars to be included unfortunately the other body inexplicably following rules that daniel webster and john c calhoun would recognize today allowed a minority to strip away these important provisions it is important for us to repass this legislation that affirms that we are going to do by right by veterans in alaska and oregon and wisconsin and california and texas raise those limits and extend the coverage to warrant warriors that are returning from these contests conflicts i strongly urge my colleagues to not just pass this legislation but to make clear to our friends in the other body that this is one of our inquiries how much time we have left on each side jim in connecticut has eight minutes young new york controls nine minutes thank mr speaker mr speaker at this time i'd like to ask for unanimous consent to submit for the record the description of the tax technical corrections included in title four of this bill provided by the nonpartisan joint committee on taxation without checks thank you mr speaker mr speaker at this time i recognize one of the leaders in this body and part of the firefighter caucus the gentleman from new jersey my dear friend mr pascrell for two minutes just need new jersey to recognize for two minutes thank you mr chairman i would like to reiterate the words of the gentleman from new york this bill is a significant reminder of why we're here beyond the acrimony of the last few weeks this bill goes to the center of what we should be all about i commend the gentleman from new york with this bill we take up a tax measure it is not geared towards increasing the fortunes of the already fortunate but instead we provide a measure of relief for those brave m and women serving in the military and as first responders i'm glad to see that this bill excludes from income sir in reimbursable expenses incurred in the line of duty by volunteer firefighters and i commend my friend john larson is worked on this issue from some time now i'm truly heart and that we are permanently extending combat pay in the calculations of the earned income tax credit recent law allowed members of the armed forces to include combat pay which is generally nontaxable for purposes of computing their earned income credit but this will only last th two thousand and six tax year many of us have worked for some time to make this personal this proposal permanent i'm tremendously pleased with this provision has been made there's no reason a member of the armed forces should lose their earned income tax credit when they're mobilized to serve this country i mean this is unacceptable i want to thank chairman chairman rangle for all his work  diligence on this critical issue and i want to say as the chairman mr speaker i hope we have many more bills like this between now and the time we take off because it's important to indicate to the american piece of legislation as both the manager of the bill mr larsen of connecticut has outlined and as i have outlined as we share strong support and we put democrat and republican views aside and represented  clearly what's best for america as we deal with our veterans and as we deal with our firefighters and so both sides of the out today join strongly in a clear message of support of this legislation as it comes again before the house and goes to the other body and hopes that the other body will see fit to support the type of legislation that is coming with such bipartisan support of not only the ways and means committee but through the what i believe will be the entire house i yield our reserve the balance of my time from connecticut speaker at this time i recognize the gentle lady from san diego california susan davis for one minute to live in california right now is for one minute thank you i think my colleague mr speaker on november sixth we passed the hearings heroes earnings assistance and relief tax act and today we reaffirm our commitment to those who volunteered to protect the united states by putting forward a final product that reflects our commitment to veterans and service members and i want to thank the hard work of the house ways and means committee in the senate finance committee for the hard act my colleagues have highlighted numb provisions i want to just do to one provision adjust how the social security administration calculates income for s s i eligibility to help military families keep their s s i benefits and i really want to thank number of the families in my district in san diego who shared their stories with me and gave me this opportunity to help make a change in this legislation and the second i believe has already been mentioned and that removes the date of service requirement preventing those returning from iraq and afghanistan to fully take advantage of the federally supported qualified veterans mortgage bond program this legislation i believe mr speaker demonstrates our nation's appreciation for our california mr far down california right now for one minute thank you very much mr speaker and thank you for healing speaker i rise today in strong support of this legislation the heroes earnings assistance and tax relief act of two thousand and seven this holiday season congress can provide tax relief to members of our military or veterans or volunteer firefighters and peace corps volunteers from out through the passage of this legislation i'm pleased that the committee included in the legislation a section of the bill that i authored which became section one hundred six earlier this year and the military coalition who wrote in support this language said the the consortium of uniform services and veterans associations representing more than five million current and former military service members and their families and survivors is writing to support of your planned legislation direct defy the his leadership in this body in the management of this bill thank you mr speaker mr speaker the extended military deployments in iraq and afghanistan have placed a great economic burden in hardship on many of our military families countless thousands of families a force to not only cope with the anguish of having a family member serving in harm's way but also must deal with the economic hardships that is why i am proud that h r thirty nine thirty three a bill that i introduced has a significant place in the heart of the heart act which makes permanent three provisions that bring vital tax relief to help our soldiers and their families this bill ensures military compensation is excluded from income if it is earned in the combat zone or was hospitalized for wounds diseases or injuries received in combat and primer and permits active duty read president to make penalty free withdrawals from retirement plans and end the penalt very much i want to thank mr rangle for his consistent leadership on this each issue effort including my bill h r thirty nine thirty three as part of the heart act of two thousand and seven i am just proud to have been connected thank you mr speaker mr speaker i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on h r three nine nine seven  our side let me first take a moment again to thank chairman rangle and ranking member mccurry for their ongoing work on this important bill and for including two specific provisions i described earlier regarding i benefits for blind veterans and penalty free withdrawals by national guardsmen and reservists more importantly i want to thank my chairman and ranking member for working so hard to cultivate it to spirit of bipartisanship where we deal with issues where we can find common ground and today on this legislation which is very important for both guardsman and reservists and veterans who are serving our country and who have served our country and for our first responders and our firefighters today is one where we have worked hard to take a number of bills and put them together and make it a opportunity to get results in two thousand and seven that will be the hero's earnings assistance and relief tax act i urge a yes vote and yield back the balance of my time killing yells back joan from connecticut the not only the issue here joy and delight of having a ranking member and a the chairman of the committee work as closely as they have throughout the year whether we agreed or disagreed it is quite a contrast from previous years and i think that mr rangle deserves an incredible amount of credit for the manner in which he has conducted himself as does mr mccrary is evident by the concern that has been expressed on both sides as we take up this important legislation today further let me also add as have been expressed here by many that we should make sure that this bill is taken up in the senate they have a responsibility over in that other body to make sure that they address the concerns of so many in our military as eloquently expressed here today by so many members on the committee and off the committee who care deeply about these issues that impact veterans and our volunteer firefighters as well i also want to thank the members of the ways and means staff and especially eileen schatz who is serving for done great work on behalf of the committee chairman dale was so as been outstanding with this legislation in the hearings that he conducted in our committee melissa mueller from that staff the subcommittee staff of whiskey and also from my staff i want to thank a me o'donnell we call of the tax missionary and and john renfro and jackie primo who have done such an outstanding job with that mr speaker i yield back the balance of my time and senate twenty four eighty eight anathema accessibility accountability and openness and government by strengthening section five fifty two of title five united states code commonly referred to as the freedom of information act and for other to revise and extend their reach re remarks and without objection thank you mr speaker and i rise today in support of final passage of s twenty four eighty eight the openness promotes effect of this in our national government act of two thousand and seven or the open government act this bill is a companion measure to legislation that i introduced earlier th thirteen zero nine the freedom of information act of mamet's of two thousand and seven which was passed by the house in march after months of negotiations between both chambers ass twenty four eighty eight provides a strong reasonable and bipartisan approach to streamlining the fly a process and increasing transparency in government to keep provisions within the open government that include expanding access to attorneys fees for citizens who successfully challenge and agency's denial of information along with the creation of a new file yet tracking system for pending request in addition the bill will require agencies to disclose the type of foyer exemptions used to read back specific information sought after in many requests last the bill would have staffers a government lab i'm but it's meant to help reduce the number of requests that are eventually resolved through costly and time consuming litigation  twenty four eighty eight provides actual access to government information to which the american people are entitled i want to thank all of the members and staff who have contributed to the development of this legislation eight legislation to reform the process for the public to request and receive information under the freedom of information act for forty years for you and has ensured the public's access to government records the one hundred sixty six act replace d old need to know standard with today's right to know practice placing the burden on the government to justify any need for secrecy however the foyer process has recently struggled to keep up with the public's demand for documents since two thousand and two for a request have increased dramatically this edition of volume has delayed processing and it's created backlogs legislation designed to streamline and improve the for a process which has championed last congress by the gentleman from texas mr smith his build moved through subcommittee to the full committee with the assistance of the chairman the government management subcommittee mr platts we have order a speaker members  not the floor in addition president bush issued an executive order in december of two thousand and five which adopted many of the process improvements contained in mr smith's legislation making for a operations more citizen centric and results oriented this congress the majority took to this bill and made additional changes but moved beyond process reforms and into substantive changes to foreign policy although i had a number of concerns with the house legislation nonetheless supported it as an effort to improve foyer overall in the intervening months since the house passed its version however we've been able to work with the senate and the administration to improve the house bill and make it more balanced thank you mr speaker i gentleman for yielding to me and i want to congratulate him on this accomplishment this is a very good bill many people have played an important role in getting this bill to us today and none none any less than the chairman of the sub committee who has shepherded it through to this point i rise in support of the open government act the bill contains important provisions to improve public access to government records this year the house of representatives passed a series of good government bills to improve openness and accountability in the executive branch these bills include legislation to increase access to presidential records improve contractor accountability strengthen whistleblower protections disclose information about donors to presidential libraries and enhance the independence of agency inspectors general this bill last twenty four eighty eight is the first part of this reform agenda that congress will enact into a lot the senate bill is not as strong as the house passed bill it does not include a provision which i thought was a key one establishing a presumption that government records should be released to the public unless there is a good reason to keep them secret but that i just sation does include important reforms to the freedom of information act our nation's best known and my most widely used open government law the provisions in this bill will help for your requesters obtain responses to their requests reduce back law get all agencies and increase transparency in agency compliance improve access to attorneys fees for requesters who are improperly denied information and provide an alternative to litigation for requesters who are facing delay or denials the bush administration has an obsession with secrecy over the last seven years it has systematically undermined our open government laws while radically expanding its powers to operate in secret government today has more power than ever to peer into the private lives of american citizens yet american citizens no less and less about what their government is actually doing it will take a concerted effort over many years to peel back this curtain of secrecy we need to restore the presumption that government records belong to the taxpayer we need more certain deadlines and stronger penalties if this legislation makes lit headway in reducing folia delays and we still need to enact the other good government reforms that this body has already passed but they remain stalled in the senate but this bill is a good first step i'm proud that this congress is fighting for the public's right to know and urge adoption of this legislation you know back the balance of my time when you hold back the gentleman from virginia thank you before i yield to my friend from texas i also want to thank mr clay the subcommittee chairman for helping to mold this and bring this the floor mr turner from ohio who is the ranking member this year m from pennsylvania course chairman waxman to perhaps leadership on this issue let me also add on the majority staff and layton has taken a lead role and we appreciate the work she and the other members of on their staff and on the minority staff makes  phillips and ellen brown for their work on this and i would yield such time as you may consume the gentleman from texas mr joe in texas recognized as a figure i thank the gentleman from virginia the ranking member of the government reform committee mr davis and i mean for you and me time but for his favorable  mention a few minutes ago when he was speaking mr chairman i strongly support the openness for most effectiveness in our national government act of two thousand and seven this legislation gives the public more information and better insight into the workings of the government by strengthening the freedom of information act call for you for your performs a vital check and balance on the federal branch that protects our open system of government and ensures that the government responds as it should to the american people unfortunately the process for obtaining information is overly burdensome and federal agencies have become less and less responsive to the request for information this deters citizens from obtaining information which they are entitled to taxpayers should have the opportunity to obtain information from the federal government quickly and easily this legislation contains several provisions similar to those  these include provisions regarding recovery of attorneys fees penalties for agencies that do not comply within the specified for the time limits and additional agency reporting requirements i'm pleased at the bill under consideration today creates a more open government without threatening national security or invading personal privacy the ability to obtain records from the federal government is one of the fundamental rights of the american people when the government closes the doors on information that people cannot monitor their gover that democracy is based on the people's right to know that is why i support the freedom of information act mr speaker this bill rightly makes it easier the house passed version last march first we clarified the definition of news media for purposes of fee waiver requests new methods for gathering delivering news are constantly developing the definition of news indeed the definition of a journalist is evolving rapidly we provided a balance framework for making that determination one that we think makes sense in the era of new media second this legislation raises the threshold for the recovery of attorneys fees compared to what was included in the house passed bill the new threshold is a step in the right direction but i remain concerned the threshold and asked twenty four eighty eight is still too low a hope will continue to take a close look at the substance of this provision because ultimately attorneys fees come out of the taxpayers pocket finally i'm pleased to note the provision repealing the so called ash crap memorandum was eliminated and i know this was also a concern of the gentleman from texas the ashcroft memorandum established that the administration would defend agency decisions to withhold records under a exemption if the decision was supported by a sound legal basis replacing the pre nine eleven janet reno's standard of always releasing information absent foreseeable harm i think preservation of the ashcraft policy is the right policy to adopt in the current environment as i've stated since we i began work on this legislation improving the procedural aspects of foyer should be our goal it's something we all agree on and this bill moves us closer to that although the debate on the appropriate balance between open access and protected records will go on i trust will continue to try to balance national security with the vital principles of open government once again i urge my colleagues to support this legislation i again want to commend the gentleman from missouri for his work on this and i at this point i'm prepared to your back very thank you mr speaker and closing let me thank all of my colleagues to voice for the work that they did to craft is piece of legislation  that i think goes a long way and and and improving for you and adds twenty four eighty eight provides a strong reasonable and bipartisan approach to streamlining the foyer process and increasing transparency in our government it also provides actual access to government and from ations of which the american people are entitled to and again let me thank all of my colleagues for their support and help in an effort on this legislation that i or my colleagues to support is passage and i yield back the balance of my time this letter of service my intent to resign from the committee on science and technology effective today science and generally robert j whitman member of congress objection the resolution is excepted surely before the accepted for what purpose and gentlemen in pennsylvania writes mr speaker i move to suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to h r three six nine zero the cargo important title of the bill one is a technical member correction and the other is a clarification neither makes a policy change and or no controversy there is there has to concur in the sin of the moment clear the bill for the president elect but the implementation of this long overdue merger and i reserve the balance of my time gentle reserved for michigan thank you mr speaker i continue to support h r thirty six ninety after its amendment by the senate this bill would provide for the merger between the library of congress place in the united states capitol police the senate has returned this bill with a minor technical changes and clarifying language regarding the computation of annuities for retiring police officers with prior service these changes are both accurate and appropriate and i think my colleagues in the other body for their work on this bill as i've said before i'm confident that while the plight of brave congress police in the u s capitol police force have different protocols an yeoman work on this issue to ensure that the cat committee maintains ongoing communications with the library and capitol police so that going forward both organizations have the resources and assistance they need to successfully integrate their law enforcement divisions in particular we used to provide we wish to provide the library in the council place with a means to communicate with the congress on the progress of the merger and consider any guidance or so the house into its next round votes the this vote on a suspension bill earlier today lawmakers passed the energy bill a vote of three fourteen to one hundred and we talked to a capitol hill reporter to learn more