ringing them to the nigerian embassy to protest. you cannot imagine what it would be like to have your child kidnapped from you. wouldou think about what you do if you had no government that came to your aid immediately. in the united states, when there is a kidnapping, we see it on the news. the police come to your house, take a report, say they are investigating. mothers hadt these no one doing anything, i think that is what is hitting people's hearts. host: nicole lee, we appreciate your time. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] from the speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker's room, washington, d.c. -- the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., may 8, 2014, i hereby appoint the honorable kerry l. bentivolio to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 7, 2014, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip but in to five minutes, no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. lumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. i supported the research tax credit legislation in the ways and means committee, as i have done repeatedly in the past. i intend to do so on the floor as the first step in getting some certainty into a program that has been plagued with uncertainty for as long as i've been in congress. the tax credit has been

extended 15 times without concern about whether or not it's paid for. anyone who's been in congress for a while in essence has already voted to make it permanent and not pay for it. regardless of the budget rules, this is one area of investment that i think probably does pay for itself. it pays for itself in economic activity, scientific breakthroughs and product development. it advances the interests of not just american companies but of commerce and our overall economy. as a country, we are consistently underinvesting in research. there's no substitute for the federal government to play the vital role that it has done in the past with the development of the semiconductor, the internet, the basic role it has played in dealing with health and medical research. now, i don't like how this legislation's been handled. this is an issue that should have been characterized by

bipartisanship, by working together to make the research tax credit more effective. we could consider making it refundable to help smaller emerging businesses. we should take a hard look at constructive criticisms that have raised questions about how we could make it work better. that should be our job. luckily, this is the start, not the end, of the process. there will be more work that will be done with our friends in the senate under the leadership of senator wyden and senator hatch on the senate finance committee who already started down this path. what is very likely to emerge in the short term is not yet permanent but rather a one or two-year extension, but it is progress to get it re-enacted and to signal broad support for its perm assistance and permenance and refinement. the inability of the republican

leadership to embrace the work is uct of chairman camp illustrative. he had a simplified tax code at lower tax rate which is what presidential candidates claim they wanted. yet, my republican friends are unable to accept the necessary reductions in other tax benefits that come with the package. but there's bipartisan reluctance in this regard. it illustrates that we're, i think, never going to get out of this box until we have another source of revenue. the most promising would be a carbon tax which would be broadly distributed throughout the economy. it should be revenue-neutral, using the revenue raised to modify the impacts on lower-income citizens and small business and the net -- rest of the proceeds to keep it revenue-neutral could help us

simplify the tax code. it might be the only way to reform the tax code. simplification costs money, which an aging and growing country needs to replace. the carbon tax will do that and will have the added benefit of providing that greater simplification of energy-sensitive provisions and, by the way, will help us save the planet. the report released this week by the administration on climate underscores the impact that climate change and global warming is having now. a carbon tax is the best way to exercise our leadership to change that process. i've long supported a revenue-neutral carbon tax and will continue to do so as the key to long-term tax reform and environmental protection. in the meantime, i will continue to support individual tax provisions that are important to my community, that

help our economy and protect and enhance the infrastructure. i only hope that we're able to make the transition so that we can do this in a more thoughtful and constructive fashion. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. mcclintock, for five minutes. mr. mcclintock: mr. speaker, california's suffering one of the worst droughts in its history. more than a half million acres of the most fertile farmland in the nation have been devastated. some central valley farmers have been notified they will receive zero water allocations this year from the federal system. the owners of long-held water rights are being cut off. in some communities, water police go from door to door to enforce water restrictions. homeowners are forbidden to water their lawns except under the most rigid constraints.

they have an app so they can turn in their neighbors to the water authorities. and yet knowing we are facing a devastating drought and our dwindling water supply will be desperately needed by our people this summer, over the past several weeks the bureau of reclamation has released more than 70,000 acre-feet of water from dams on the american and another river to meet environmental demands that place fish above people. this is enough water to meet the annual needs of a city of a half a million people. all sacrificed in order to flush salmon to the ocean which they tend to swim anyway and to keep the river just the right temperature for the comfort of the fish. the releases of this water are so enormous they're called pulse flows. citizens are warned to exercise extreme caution on rivers undergoing pulse flows so swift

is the water current they produce as the water rushes toward the ocean. now, four months ago folsom lake on the american river was almost empty. yet, on april 20, they tripled the water release from 500 cubic feet per second to more than 1,500 cubic feet per second for three days. that's about 7,000 acre-feet of water. on april 14, the 16-day pulse flow drained nearly 63,000 acre-feet of water from two dams. the irony is if we hadn't built these dams these rivers would be nearly dry in this drought and there wouldn't be any fish. we cannot demand that our people scrimp and save and stretch every drop of water in their parched homes while at the same time this government treats our remaining water supply so recklessly, so irresponsibly and so

wastefully. this conduct utterly destroys the credibility of government demands for stringent conservation and sacrifice by our people and it thoroughly undermines its moral authority to make these demands. inflexible laws administered by ideologically driven officials have taken this wasteage of waters to ridiculous extremes and it cries out for fundamental reform. the house has twice passed such a reform bill, most recently is h.r. 3964, but the senate refuses to act on it or to pass its own alternative. nevertheless, the administration has the authority to stop these releases through provisions in the endangered species act but has failed to do so. mr. speaker, we use the word outrage too often on this floor, but in this case it is an understatement. if a homeowner's caught with one gallon of puddle on his lawn on the wrong day he can be fined. but the government thinks

nothing of flushing 23 billion gallons of desperately needed water for the comforts and convenience of the fish. how much longer will the people tolerate this kind of mismanagement from their government? how much longer will we allow these policies to threaten the health, safety and prosperity of the human population throughout these drought-afflicted lands? california's chronic water shortages won't be addressed without additional storage. there are plenty of suitable and affordable sites but current environmental laws have delayed them indefinitely and made them cost prohibitive. until those laws are changed and new dam construction can begin, our state and federal governments have a responsibility to manage our dwindling water supply as carefully as we ask our citizens to do. the wildly frivolous and extraffic get water release fathers our dams last month make a mockery of the

extraordinary sacrifices that our citizens are making to stretch supplies in this crisis. perhaps at least these releases will serve to educate the public on just how unreasonable are these environmental laws and the policymakers responsible for them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed h.r. 3627, an act cited as the child protection act of 2013. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from alabama, ms. sewell, for five minutes. ms. sewell: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to pay tribute to the life and legacy of veteran newscaster norman lumkin who

passed away on tuesday, may 6. while we mourn the passing of this pioneer, i am comforting knowing that his legacy will live on through the barriers he broke for black journalists in the state of alabama. i join with his family, friends and former colleagues in emembering norman lumkin for his enormous contributions to the industry. he launched his long-standing media career by working for radio stations in montgomery, alabama, indianapolis, indiana. he was hired in 1969 by wsfa in montgomery, alabama. he was the station's first black reporter and also the first black reporter hired in the montgomery media market. historian richard bailey defined his prolific career in three words -- forceful, thorough and believable. bailey further noted that norman personified black broadcasting. he coined the phrase, if you

don't want to hear it on this station, don't let it happen. the phrase represented not only his thrirs for truth but his -- thirst for truth but his commitment to accurate reporting. he was assigned to cover the re-election bid for then-segregationist governor george wallace in 1970. during the race, norman admitted that fellow reporters would give him misinformation to embarrass him in an effort to discredit his journalistic integrity. in fact, governor wallace personally made sure that norman was kept abreast of new developments and campaign events. through his extraordinary coverage of governor wallace, norman not only earned credibility but a lasting respect from those in the industry. his perseverance proved that he was poised to become one of the best investigative journalists in the state of alabama. he also made history offcram

are a. he was the first -- offcamera. he was the first black president of the black broadcasters association and prestigious he silver circle in 2007. he left the station in 2009. he served as public relations director for the alabama highway department where he eventually retired. today, i honor norman lumkin for serving as an impeccable role model and source of inspiration for generations of black journalists that now follow in his footsteps. those that have the pleasure of watching him from indeed inspired by his mere presence. he was to many a perfect illustration of what was possible in his field. as he courageously broke barriers, he gave african-americans a voice in the state that was still struggling for racial equality. on behalf of a grateful nation and state, we salute this american hero and alabama

treasure. saying thanks to norman lumkin seems seems woefully inadequate, but on behalf of the countless journalists and media professionals that you have inspired, we honor your legacy and your place in alabama history. i ask my colleagues to join me in mourning the passing of a great veteran journalist, norman lumkin. thank you. . the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, for five minutes. mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. many of you may not be aware but this week is national nurses week. and i am honored to be able to stand on the floor of this great institution to talk about the nursing profession, what nurses mean to our health care industry, and what nurses mean to each and every one of us when a family member is being treated

at a time when we need the most compassion, we need the best care, and a nurse is the one who steps into that room and offers that compassion and offers that care on a daily basis. i have a special place if my heart for nurses because my wife, shannon, is a nurse. somebody who not only has served patients in their home, on the hospital floor, at the beginning of life and at the end of life, she's also helped teach the next generation of nurses. we in washington hear constantly about a nursing shortage in this country, and we in washington need to remember that it's up to us to enact policies and programs that are going to encourage more young people to go into the nursing profession. and i want to honor all nurses this week during national nurses week because of -- i want to recognize the hard work that they do and the impact they have not only to the nursing

profession but to america as a whole. whether it's the support nurses provide at major hospitals throughout my congressional district in central and southwestern illinois, or in smaller critical access hospitals that provide some of the most localized care in places like stawton illinois, clinton, hills borrow, and even my hometown of taylorville, they are vital to the success of not only the health care industry they serve but to the health of the patients that they are there trained to care for. as baby boomers continue to retire, ensuring that we have enough educated nurses, should be one of the priorities of this institution that i mentioned earlier. we should continue to support funding for nurse education programs at all of our universities, colleges, and hospitals so that patients can continue to receive the quality care that they are used to in

our health care delivery system. so happy national nurses week and thank you to my wife, shannon, and to the nearly three million other registered nurses for all that you do for our health and wellness of our country and a special thanks to my wife, shannon, i love you. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. mr. speaker, e: among other challenges in this world and in this congress nigeria faces a killing machine,

and the last 48 hours, again, hall of famer struck and killed people. this has been going on for a minimum of five to 10 years. yesterday five members, five women, united states congress, held this sign to indicate that we as mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and those who care about children, all of our colleagues, stand united to find the kidnapped girls and to stop the killing in nigeria. we stand united to find the vial head of the bokeo hall of famer killing -- boko harem killing concontinue gend. we saw him recently grabbing attention by standing in front

of a tank holding a gun and citing the most ludicrous and insulting prospect that one could hear. he held up $12 and indicated that he would sell the kidnapped girls. mr. speaker, that is not all that he's doing. he has been killing and pillaging. the he has caused parents to have to in essence go after him with sticks and stones. yesterday we spoke not only with the leadership at the nigerian embassy, a relationship that the united states prides in terms of the contribution nigeria has made, it is no doubt in this instance we want nigeria to do more and more and more. we asked by speaking to the leadership in nigeria by phone that president jonathan stand up and indicate nigeria's commitment to finding these

girls and in essence bringing this who are roar terrorist to justice. at the world economic council, his opening remarks did just that. he spoke about the help that was coming from the united states, the leadership of president obama and secretary kerry, and the other nations that are coming together to be able to find these girls. outside of syria and afghanistan in terms of mass killings in the recent years, this stands clearly in the eye of the storm. we ask to have created a victims fund. we want to be able to ensure that these parents who are literally broken, and the children that may be found, or the wounded ones have the opportunity to be made whole. we believe that it is important to create an elite police or military force, one that is

focused to utilize the resources of intelligence and the law enforcement resources that are being sent to nigeria by the united states. at deployed elite military and/or police force, special ops if you would, would have the sole purpose of, one, getting those kidnapped girls, and the reason why this is so very hasrtant is because nigeria porous borders. there is speculation that these girls may be in the cameroon, maybe in chad, maybe niger. all places that will make it even more difficult to find these innocent children who simply came to school to be able to take an examine -- exam so they could do better in life. how dare we allow this brutal killer to last much longer without being brought to justice. he so that elite force would bring this vial and evil person

who has no intent to do anything more than to continue to ramp up his publicity and the world's attention to his violence, bring him now to justice. move quickly, utilizing the resources and focusing. it is also important that all of the world institutions declare boko harem, the ridiculous group that says we don't want any western education and all girls should be married, declare a terrorist organization. it must be done swiftly so that all the world's focus will be on this dastardly, devastating, vial leader of this organization and the organization. we can collaborate with the african union and u.n. peacekeepers. then we want to provide armed protection for all of the scules as they finish -- schools as they finish out or continue their educational training. mr. speaker, let me say to you, these are like the boys and girls in the schools of america

right now. these are primary education children. these are secondary. i ask my colleagues to join in the outrage. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. jackson lee: i ask that we are finding our girls and capturing this terrorist leader. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio, for five minutes. mr. defazio: later today the republicans in violation of their own rules are going to push through a permanent extension of research and development tax credits at a cost of $16 billion a year. that is another $16 billion a year of deficit to be added to the national debt. er the next 10 years, $160 billion.

that's not to say that research and development tax credits don't have tremendous merit. they can do a great deal to encourage american innovation and research, new design, development. they can boost our economy. they can help our international competitiveness. sure, they among many other programs and many other investments are and can be good for the economy, but they are going to violate, waive their own rules and say we are not going to pay for it. we are going to magically fund it and don't worry about the new debt and deficit. now, the senate has passed a different version. they have 62 provisions in their bill which includes energy efficiency, saving consumers money, new r&d for solar and wind, alternate fuels among many, many other things that they put in there that think also have merit to help consumers, help boost the american economy. the republicans over here say, nope, those other 61 are off the table unless you kill or cut

some other program, we can't afford them. and then, you know, there's another issue that also comes to the floor. we had this week testimony from the congressional budget office, the highway trust fund goes flat this summer. that means the federal government beginning this summer will make no new commitments to the states for repairing the 140,000 bridges under the national system that need repair or replacement. repairing or replacing the 40% of the national highway system that is in very sad repair. the $60 billion backlog in our transit. nope, we can't afford a benny of that. in fact, the ryan budget says we are going to abandon, abandon federal investment in the national transportation system. we are going to devolve it to the states. the states will fund, pay for, and somehow coordinate a national transportation system because we simply can't afford

it. oddly enough the shortfall in the trust fund is $16 billion a year. that's the exact cost of the r&d tax credit. why can't they waive their magic wand and say, hey -- wave their magic wand and say, hey, a million direct jobs jobs and couple more indirect jobs in transportation not only in construction, but design, engineering, manufacturing, research, we don't want to lose those. we are not talking about maybe keeping or getting a few jobs, we are talking about losing well over a million direct jobs and a couple more million indirect jobs in the area of transportation, but their magic wand doesn't work for transportation. now, there could be a lot of cynical reasons for why they are just pushing this one r&d proposal. probably doesn't have anything to do with campaign contributions or powerful interests out there. i'm sure it doesn't. but one has to wonder why is transportation and the national transportation old hat unaffordable, but r&d somehow

they wave the magic wand and we can afford. i was conflicted coming here this morning because at the same time one of the greatest advocates this body has ever had for national transportation system, james l. oberstar, died suddenly overnight. i thought jim would rather than having me go up to his memorial service today, he would rather have me come to the floor and advocate for something he believed in and knew was essential for the future of this country which is adequate investment in our system, a coordinated national system, transportation and infrastructure, an energy efficient, 21st century system, repair to our 20th century system. that's what we need. no more of these political shenanigans. let's get serious about real investments and put america back to work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. woodall, for five minutes. mr. woodall: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the time. so often folks will use this

time in the morning to draw attention to failures or to divisions, but i want to use this time to draw attention to successes. this is national charter school week among other things, mr. speaker. and i happen to have two charter schools in my district. i represent only two counties, mr. speaker. in the great state of georgia. both have outstanding public school systems. so often when we start talking about charter schools, mr. speaker, we talk about an either or, as if somehow charter schools and public schools are in competition with one another, but that's not the story i tell from the great state of georgia. in fact, gynette county won a prize in 2010 for the absolute finest urban education school district in the nation. interestingly they are now reeligible to -- re-eligible to win that prize begin after a three-year waiting period. amazing stories of young people and their successes, and they go

through, among other things, two charter schools in my district. we have one for math and science. gmst, mr. speaker. they don't have a football team. they have a robotics team and outstanding robotics team at that. if you want a future in the stem fields, you can find no better education in the united states of america than the school of math and sciences, and it's free if you just happen to live in the count. a wonder -- county. a wonderful story of success through the charter school program. absolutely any student in the county is eligible. it takes a lottery to get in, mr. speaker, so many young people, so many families want their children to be able to avail themselves of this charter school program. . u.s. news and world report called it the third best high school in the land. i, of course, believe it's the number one best high school in the land, but an amazing

testimony of what you can do when you free an institution, when you free the teachers, when you free the students to be the very best they can be. next to the gwinnett school of science and technology, we have the maxwell school of technology. now, the maxwell school aims to take folks, these young people who are trying to find their way in life and prepare them for a job tomorrow. program after program, mr. speaker, whether it's web design, whether it's welding, architecture, technology field after technology field, not thought of theoretically, mr. speaker, but thought of how can you graduate from high school and begin to provide for yourself and your family, that's not available in the normal public schools but it is available at the maxwell high school of technology. again, any student in gwinnett county is welcomed to come and be there. mr. speaker, we still live in a

land where there is more that unites us than divides us. we still live in a land that brings people together rather than tears people apart and the charter school debate should be that debate. it should be the debate not that pits public schools against private schools. it should be the debate that brings us together around making sure that every young person in this land, every family in this land who has a dream of what they want to do with their life, that we have the public schools in this land that can help them fulfill that dream. mr. speaker, we are doing that successfully in the seventh district of georgia. and i look forward to joining my colleagues in this chamber to make sure we can do that successfully in every single congressional district in this land and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. foster, for five minutes. mr. foster: i ask unanimous consent to rrks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. foster: mr. chairman, i rise today to honor john

hobald, a native of juliette. he was one of the unsung heroes of the apollo program. they cited president kennedy's famous speech made in this room in a joint session of congress more than 50 years ago, to commit this nation before this decade is out to land a man on the moon and to return him safely to the earth. politicians like to imagine that anything is possible if the right politician and speech writer can muster just the right words to stir a country to action. but engineers know differently. if you do not have a workable engineering concept and a set of design parameters that respect both resource limitations and engineering reality, then no amount of fine words from politicians is going to make any difference. dr. john hobalt provided that crucial program a success. john came from humbling beginnings, working 16 hours a day on his family's dairy farm

where he developed an early interest in aviation, building model airplanes in his free time. he graduated from joliet township high school and joliet junior college. he got a masters degree in civil engineering and went on to get a ph.d. and served at nasa's langley research center. he was vital to nasa's successful moon landing. he's best known for his advocacy of orbit lunar rendezvous, the design mission that proved them to get to the moon safely and back in 1969. the doctor, along with several of his colleagues at langley, said this was the only feasible way to land on the moon by the end of the decade. initially, nasa rejected his plan for being too complicated and risky, but like the world's greatest innovators, the doctor didn't let initial failure stop him. despite opposition from nasa

and from leading rocket scientists at the time, he tenaciously advocated for lunar orbit rendezvous. to convince the decisionmakers at nasa to consider his plan, he took the bold step of writing a letter to the associate administrator of nasa, at the time a clear breach of protocol. do we want to go to the moon or not, asked him? because of his tenacity, nasa gave his idea another chance and eventually approved it. now, john won that argument despite having all the prit political winds blowing against him because he had fundamental engineering reality on his side. it was simply not policy with the engines and boosters that could plausiblely be developed in the 1960's to launch a payload that would allow a man rocket to land in its entirety on the moon, including all the fuel necessary to return to the earth. but as john pointed out, if you left the fuel for the return trip in lunar orbit and rendezvoused with a command module after making the lunar landing, then a single booster,

already under designed at the marshall state flight center, could do the job. one said later later of this pivotal moment, quote, it is my strongly held opinion that without the lunar rendezvous de, we would not have chosen it. it's been described by space historians as the credited for allowing the u.s. to accomplish the goal of president john f. kennedy that he set out in 1961 to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. the doctor received numerous awards, including nasa's medal of exceptional scientific achievement. he was elected to the national academy of engineering and was the first recipient of joliet junior college's distinguished alumni award. additionally, the joliet historical museum has -- is home to a permanent exhibit dedicated to him and to his family, titled, the soaring

achievement of john c. holbalt. they have declared july 20, 2015, the 45th anniversary of holbalt landing as the family day. it will be opened each july 20 to encourage people to learn about joliet's local contributions to one of the best achievements. he retired in 1985. and his family remain noted philanthropists for the community of joliet, touching countless of people. he passed away on april 15, 2014, at the age of 95. his life is an example of the impact that a determined, intelligent and passionate individual can have. i rise today to remember him for his outstanding contributions to american science and engineering. in a society where we seem to celebrate mainly the accomplishments of our heroes in sports and entertainment, as well as those who ride our rockets off into space, it's important to celebrate the

heroes of science and engineering who make the modern world possible. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. kelly, for five minutes. ms. kelly: thank you, mr. chair. april was a particularly violent month in the city of chicago. 32 people from shot and killed in the city. 19 of them under the age of 25. you've heard me talk before about the epidemic of gun violence, about how urban violence in cities like chicago is robbing us of a generation. but nothing illustrates how gun violence permeates everyday life in chicago more than the stories of the deaths of those 19 young people. they, like scores of teens and young adults across the city, were stalked by gun violence. it followed them home from school, creeping up on their porches or tapping on their car windows, and in an instant, everyday activity became an

unspeakable tragedy. jordan harris, 24, was shot during a house party. michael, 17, was shot in front of a neighborhood church. adrian soto, 17, shot on a sidewalk. jakara bonds, 17, shot in the street. andre sivantes, 22, shot while sit in a car. josiah martinez, 20, shot on the porch front. another shot in a driveway while on spring break. nicholas ramirez, 19, chased and shot while he was driving. anthony, 18, and jordan, 16, shot in an apartment during an argument. timothy, 19, shot while driving in an ambush on easter sunday. quinton jackson, 22, shot in a building hallway. darius kelly, 22, shot in a driveby.

demario collins, 19, shot while riving in a car. ontavarian, shot while sitting outside. cindy, 21, shot while riding in the backseat of a car. then there's india martin, a 14-year-old girl who was shot and killed last week by another 14-year-old girl in a dispute over a boy. india, highway freshman and an honor student and the 14-year-old suspect, an honor student, friends since elementary school, had been feuding on facebook. after school last week, the teen suspect confronted india with a gun. that gun, a .38 caliber reinvolver, went from a local gunshop, to a man who resold it and falsely reported it as stolen. from there it made its way to a 25-year-old man who gave the gun to his niece, the 14-year-old suspect.

the girl standing in a crowd of onlookers and instigators, drew the gun from her waist band and pulled the trigger. the gun actually malfunctioned. she handed it to someone in the crowd who fixed it and handed it back to her before she fired again, hitting india in the back and another teen in the arm. this shooting painfully underscores the need for commonsense gun reforms, like cracking down on store purchases and better tracking gun sales to curtail illegal trafficking. there were many opportunities along the journey of that .38 caliber revolver to save india's life. the shooting also spotlights for better social support, greater accountability within our families and communities and increased responsibility for the welfare of our children. losing a bright light like india is a tragedy, but so is the baby faced accused killer sitting in juvenile lockup right now, the party of a community of accomplices who

encourage a child to kill another. we fail to provide india with the safe community she deserved and we failed to teach her killer to value her own life, much less anyone else's. preventing senseless kings like this requires a combination of legislative initiatives and community action. we in congress must do our part to stop the bloodshed by passing commonsense gun legislation. we must also do more to support programs on the ground that provide our young people with alternatives to violence. it is a moral imperative we can no longer ignore. before i go, i'd like to pay tribute to lenoir draper, a beloved and dedicated gun violence prevention advocate in chicago who herself was killed last week in a possible driveby shooting. she was heading home from an anti-violence charity fundraiser she helped organized when she was shot and killed. what a horrible irony. she devoted her life to ending

the violence on chicago's streets. her killing rattled the city and her fellow anti-violence advocates who are determined to continue to work to stop the shootings that claimed her and young india. both lenoir and india were buried on monday. please not let their deaths be in vain. to my colleagues, it's past time we took action. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from montana, mr. daines, for five minutes. mr. daines rrp -- mr. daines: mr. speaker, today the crow tribe will break down on the warriors apartment complex, a 15-room complex that will serve the homeless veterans of the crow reservation. is home reservation to veterans and far too many don't have a home to call their home.

unfortunately, this struggle goes largely unseen. as the vice chairman dana wilson has said, homelessness is invisible because the crow always take care of each other. it is not uncommon to see 10 to 20 people living in a home. i'm grateful to see the tribe's commitment to addressing this problem and giving our warriors a home of their own. i also want to thank vice secretary shawn backbone, vice chairman dana wilson and secretary a.j. notafraid and director of veteran affairs, paul littlelight, for making this project a reality and to serve their veterans. your work is deeply appreciated. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. tierney, for five minutes. mr. tierney: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in support of legislation that i filed in

the house this week and that senator elizabeth warren filed in the senate. it would enable tens of millions of students and parents and families to responsibly re-finance their student loans. more and more constituents are calling, they're emailing and even approaching me on the street to share their stories of how they're buried in student loan debt. this debt is not only causing them to put on hold life decisions, such as moving out of their parent's house or buying a car or purchasing a home and getting married, but it's also leading some to question whether or not they should even enroll in college or to consider dropping out because of the pure shock factor of these looming college loans. . . a young woman wrote recently and this is what she said, i pay more than the minimum balance every month. i sacrifice daily for my loans. i live at home and have a 50-minute commute to work every day because i cannot afford to live on my own or even with roommates. i cannot have the dreams that i

dreamed all my life. i'm 23. and i'm already telling myself that i can't own a house. that i will probably never have children because i can't afford to bring them into the world and take care of them when i can't even afford to live myself. that's what i live with every day. the anger, the depression, and the disbelief that i am forever stuck. parents are calling and writing me about the anxiety and concern they have about the debt of their sons and taughters and how that has accumulated. some parents have even delayed their retirement or made early withdrawals from their 401-k just to help their children's student debts problem. a mother from middleton, massachusetts, wrote to me, here's what she had to say, i quote, i have two children with multiple student loans. it is difficult enough to graduate, find a job in the field they desire, than to pay loans, rent, and bills, etc. please, do all that you can to make sure rates are not increased. my children may never afford to buy a house and live the american dream because of college student loan debt.

mr. speaker, these are just two examples in my district. there are millions of others just like them throughout this country. outstanding student loans now total more than $1.2 trillion, surpassing total credit card debt. an stumented 71% of college seniors have debt in 20 -- an estimated 71% of college seniors have a debt in 2012. last year congress sought to address the issue of student loan rates, but i and several others believe that final bill didn't go far enough. one of its deficiencies it applied only to new student debt. it did nothing for the nearly 40 million americans with existing student debts. our bill seeks to right this wrong and simply gives students the opportunity to refinance their loan debt at the same low rate being offered to new borrowers in the student loan program. homeowners and businesses are often able to refinance their debts. shouldn't student loan borrowers be able to do the same? we think so. our legislation is also deficit

neutral and paid for by implementing the so-called buffet rule, which holds millionaires and billionaires accountable to pay their fair share in taxes. student loan debt is a crisis all throughout our country. it's making a generation of americans feel like they are forever stuck in the words of my constituent. if the moral imperative isn't enough to act, we should be mindful of the benefits to the economy as a whole to allow students to refinance their loans. the nonpartisan congressional research service produced an analysis of our bill indicating that certain borrowers could save thousands of dollars. this is a savings no doubt would be invested back into the economy. last year the center for american progress estimated that the refinancing of just federal student loans would pump $21 billion into the economy. mr. speaker, our bill would benefit millions of students and their families, boost our economy. it deserves the immediate action of this house. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back the balance of his time. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess live coverage of the house when they return here on c-span at noon eastern. also covering a number of hill hearings today, one of those is the house veterans' affairs

committee, very short hearing today, but they issued a subpoena. cnn reporting the house veterans' affairs committee voted today to subpoena veterans' affairs eric shinseki hat his committee had deadly delays. it allegedly discussed the destruction of a secret list. first reported by cnn. veterans waiting for care at a phoenix v.a. hospital. we'll show you that brief hearing before noon, before the house comes in. and when they come in, they will take up that resolution, that benghazi resolution first on the legislative calendar. with a final vote expected this afternoon. we also plan to bring you house speaker john boehner. he's expected to comment on that particular resolution. also, the other house business. his briefing is set for 11:30 eastern. we will have that for you live. more though now from a reporter that's been covering the benghazi reporter and then we'll show you adam schiff from this morning's "washington journal." he sits on the intelligence committee.

steven sloan is deputy editor for "politico." why are they seeking a new committee on benghazi? >> it was emails from a watchdog group that were more comprehensive than even documents that had been requested through congressional subpoena. and that was essentially the final straw for speaker boehner and many other republicans who just don't -- an unwillingness on the part of the white house to cooperate with investigations into benghazi. >> is the intent of this benghazi select committee to take all of the other investigations and funneled them into one? >> i think that's where this is heading. i don't think that lawmakers

are necessarily going to abandon their interest in benghazi. but i think this will be the centerpiece for benghazi inquiries going forward. >> and whether democrats will plan to participate, first, what's the makeup of the committee? as we talk, any word on whether democrats will commit to being part of it? >> well, the committee will have two more republicans than democrats. it will be kind of lopsided in favor of republicans, which often happens when committees -- in committees when the majority has a majority of seats on the committee. in t now i think it's so up the air what nancy pelosi, the democratic leader, will do. we are reporting right now that she is leaning against doing -- she is leaning against appointing members to this panel, just not wanting to participate in any way. >> assuming the congress gives its approval on this largely

republican basis on this new select committee on benghazi, how soon thereafter will speaker boehner select the committee members? what's the lobbying been like to get on this? who are some of the people who are early favorites to be selected? >> you know, it would considerably begin very quickly, as soon as he -- as soon as the resolution passes, you can imagine the speaker ill start really -- will start working to do this. you've seen a few different people who were pushing for seats on this position. they include representative ann wag nor, marsha blackburn from tennessee, duncan hunter from california who is on the armed services committee. and it remains to be seen who ultimately will be selected. >> you mentioned that leader pelosi is leaning against, as we talk anyway, participating. but if democrats had their

choice of which members, which couple of members they'd like like to see on the committee, who would they be? >> it's unclear. obviously the ranking member on the oversight committee is elijah cummings from maryland. he has kind of led the democratic response in the house to the republican investigation into benghazi. you'd be k, you know, hard pressed to find many democrats to be part of this committee. >> you tweeted some comments from the chair of this select committee, trey gowdy. your tweet said g.o.p. fundraising off of benghazi even though new chair trey gowdy thinks it's a bad idea. why does he say it's a bad idea? >> well, he went on msnbc's "morning joe" wednesday morning and was asked whether he would raise money off of benghazi and

he said that he wouldn't. that he feels like it's wrong to essentially seek campaign the ff the -- what's tragic deaths of four americans. he wouldn't advise his colleagues to do that either. >> steven sloan, deputy congressional editor with "politico." you can follow him on twitter on tevenpsloan and read him politico.com. thank you for joining us. we'rem schiff. he sits on the intelligence committee. talking about the benghazi investigation. the first committee to investigate what happened. how will you vote? should democrats participate? don't think democrats should participate. i will vote against the committee.

we have been down this road semi times already. the seventh investigation of benghazi. accountability review board made a strong finding about that. recommended numerous changes that are underway. this is really a political exercise. i'm not sure the democrats ought to give credibility by joining this exercise. republicans are using it to fund raise. this is a key indication of what the select committee is all about. turning out voters in the midterms. at a certain point, as the republican chairman of the armed services committee said, after you have asked the questions over and over again and gotten the same answers, you have to

decide, ok, enough is enough. host: the republican who is going to be heading up the select committee rights the opposing view in today's usa today. he poses several questions that he believes have not been answered. tell me if you know what the answer is. why was security for our facility in libya and adequate and why were repeated calls for additional security unheated and explicitly rejected? guest: those questions are not only the questions that the cut ability review board investigated and read about, but the questions that the government oversight committee looked into. to all received answers of those questions. people might not be satisfied or did not like the answer. security was inadequate. it was plainly. on the backs of congress. the ministration -- the administration requested more funding. powers do you have that the

chairman did not have? what guarantees will we get that you would not conduct your committee the same way? one of the most iconic images of this congress is shutting down the microphone so that the ranking democrat can't be heard. that is their idea of bipartisanship when it comes to investigating the ministration. i think the track record is pretty poor. the questions being asked have already been answered many times. do the administration -- did the military make a mistake there? guest: the republican chairman has addressed this.

they try to find out if there were military axis points that could be called in. the long and short of it is, heartbreaking as it is, we simply do not have the assets near enough and fast enough to make a difference. theory thatnspiracy the state department vetoed or a beenstanddown, that has debunked time and time again. statement shows that when you look at it passionately and objectively, these questions have been asked and answered. host: was the obama administration and transparent fellowthright with our americans in describing the impetus behind the attacks? some: can they find

critique of the administration? that is what this is all about. it's a select committee on talking points. which degrades the importance of the select committee's history. the ministration -- the administration believe that the immediatein the aftermath of the attacks, and began as a protest. extremists were involved and attacked the facilities. that information came from the intelligence committee. on something the white house created. something the white house created. she was given the best information the intelligence committee had at the time. it was proven to be wrong. if we are still getting information. this may change. nonetheless, the deputy director of intelligence and director of the cia all said the same thing.

there was no political spin involved. the usa today agrees with you. these are talking points. it should be focusing on something else. the board also says this. the republicans are not run to investigate. the white house is absolutely wrong for not putting all the facts on the table. you agree there? guest: i don't think the republicans are wrong to have -- to haveestigation wanted an investigation. we have had 7-8 now. it was a bipartisan interest. have we gotten to the bottom of it? yes. has that revealed any kind of stonewalling? no. if you look at the so-called smoking gun, this e-mail, it's a four-page e-mail. only two sentences of which deal with benghazi. there is no mention of a video.

you toe gop would like believe, because they don't really want anyone to read this e-mail, is that the whole e-mail was about benghazi. the whole e-mail was about two things. it was about the protests going on around the world. denunciation of the video. our call for moderate muslim leaders to stand up and condemn the violence. you might remember, the world was going up in flames all around the arab world. almost half the memo was talking about that. not about benghazi. the other half was talking about the u.s.-israel relationship. raising the question, did we snub netanyahu? orally two sentences were about benghazi. -- only two sentences were about benghazi. let's get to phone calls.

felix in north carolina. the credit color. democratic caller. go ahead. caller: hello. in hollywood, florida. republican caller. caller: thanks for taking my call. the investigation does show is a huge security failure. , why didnt to know is susan rice go up and tell thisbody in five shows great big lie? if i was to go before congress and like, i would be thrown in jail. caneems it's ok, they parade her out before an

election and make these points -- it's funny, the ry about george bush in iraq. premise thatct the she lied and got away with it. susan rice relied on what the intelligence community had as their best assessment at the time. the days following the attack, when we are still trying to piece together what happened, it was conflicting intelligence. the best analysis -- the intelligence included press -- that wassignals invented evidence.

the intelligence community tells ambassador rice that this is our best assessment and she relied on that. you blame thew messenger. blame the cia if you don't like what they came up with. critique the cia for not getting it right in the immediate aftermath. for my own part, understand there is a certain fog of war and it takes time to sort it out. it's one thing to say they got it wrong and should be held accountable. southard to say there is someone i don't think that is fair to the ambassador who is a dedicated servant. host: "protecting foreign diplomatic missions is the response ability of the host government." this tweet, "do you know who is responsible for benghazi

attacks?" responsibility a for the host government to protect our facilities. as a practical matter, we are not going to delegate complete responsibility for the protection of our people to a foreign government. sometimes those governments don't have the capacity. what we have found in libya it was that we were relying on these militias affiliated with the government who are unreliable. many of whom fled when the fighting started. that proves some of the inadequacy of relying on these militias. we often have our own security presence on the ground. depending on the local climate, and may or may not be sufficient. i wish the republicans were more interested in looking at this question. how do we protect our diplomats on the one hand when not put them in bunkers so they can be

effective? host: who is responsible for the benghazi attacks? guest: this is the other key question. have we done enough to protect our people in the wake of this? where are we in the hunt for the people responsible? the investigation goes on. we have identified some of the people responsible. we are still trying to identify some of the other people who were participants in the spirit is.re aren't som they don't appear to have been planned long in advance. there is evidence of at least some preplanning. we have come a long way. we are operating in a difficult environment. getting the evidence and talking to the witnesses in hostile territory is a challenge. host: from your post on the

intelligence committee, what is happening now inside of libya? libya is on a downward trajectory in terms of stability. there is a large segments of the country that are not under the central control of the government. very powerful militias control certain talents were regions. -- towns or regions. very promising in terms of the end of the dictatorial regime has descended into something that is just a step above chaos. host: do we have a diplomatic presence there? guest: we do have some presence there. but not much of a presence outside the capital. host: we will go to ken and south carolina. -- 10 in south carolina. independent caller.

caller: give me a bit of time. i want to talk about two things. obama and benghazi. host: we are listening. are you there? go ahead. caller: barack obama with the drones -- host: i apologize. it is too hard to hear you. democratic caller in missouri. caller: hi, greta, high, representative shift. doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. where does the committee expect to gain from the investigation?

what would be your estimate on how much this is costing the taxpayers? terry, thank you for the questions. what do they expect to gain? speaking quite candidly about it, they expect to gain success with fundraising, excitement in their base, they expect to get enhanced turnout from their base in the midterm election. you might gather from my answer to your question that i think this is largely if not completely political at this point. there may be some true believers in the republican conference. i don't know. i don't think the speaker is one of them. the speaker did not want to create the select committee. as recently as last month he said "what is the point of creating another committee to take months and months to ask the same questions we have been asking?" he flipped hard on that and i think the base was coming down

hard on him and it is capitulation. undermines the significance of the select committee process to create a select committee on talking points or a select committee whose ultimate goal is fundraising and voter turnout. they have already spent many millions of dollars on the investigation of benghazi, maybe the tens of millions by now. host: i think i saw the figure $14 million. does that sound -- guest: that sounds about right. you have to anticipate on this new select committee at least millions. if it goes on for a long period of time, we are talking tens of millions of dollars on yet another duplicate of an partisan investigation. host: here's a headline in "the washington times" this morning. obama's actions on night of attack underscored me -- under scrutiny.

obama was not in the situation room the night of the attack when he was speaking on the phone to secretary of state hillary clinton." here is a quotation from someone who worked 12 years as an agent. "if he was not in the situation room, that's a really big problem." guest: that argument has been debunked even by some of the conservative commentators, who pointed out that when a president is being brief, the situation room, oval office, private residence, it doesn't matter where he is as lazy cap up to date on events and communicated any decisions -- as long as he kept up to date on events and communicated any decisions necessary. whether he was physically in the presence is not an issue. host: it doesn't affect your decision-making, as a president, you don't think, when the situation room as you wired in

and you can see real-time what is happening? guest: there may be reasons to be in the situation room if you are doing videoconferencing. but if you are being briefed by your staff and you are having face-to-face meetings and you can get all that information in the oval office, i don't see the necessity of the in the situation room -- of being in the situation room. there is been no indication that the president was outside the loop, no indication that there was white house interference or standdown orders. all that has been debunked. if the most they can come up with is his geography in the white house, that is a flimsy read. host: "the washington times" -- this republican candidate for congress in the sixth district -- in maryland six the district. hi, patrick. caller: the interview that susan rice went on, the fairytale, the disinformation campaign -- she

did a full-court press on the news channels. and you know obama in the back of his mind, he knew that this was the achilles' heel for his election. and he had to do damage control. , this bogus fairytale video out there -- you could tell the cia or somebody trumped up this phony video that they were trying to shovel the american people. host: ok, those are patrick's comments. let me add to that with a couple tweets here. host: let's talk about the intelligence agencies here. guest: well, patrick, thanks for your call.

again, in terms of the susan rice, i think it is really hard and unfair to blame the messenger who was giving the cia and intelligence community's best assessment of what was taking place in libya and the immediate aftermath of an attack , to blame her for basically sharing with the country what the intelligence community said they shou -- she should share because it was their best understanding of the events. quarrel with the intelligence community if you must but don't quarrel with what the ambassador relied upon because had the ambassador deviated from what the intelligence community told her to say, she would have been the subject of legitimate criticism. what about the intelligence community? have they been held accountable? in the immediate aftermath of an attack when the intelligence community says this is what we think has taken place, and we are telling you this because you want answers right away and we want to let you know as much as we can come can, as soon as we

can, but we need to tell you, this will change, we will have new information all the time, really hard to come down on that, and if we do come down on them to heart, in the aftermath of some other tragedy, when we sense ofget our best this so far, they will say no, no thank you, come back in a week and i will tell you for sure. we want -- we do not want to discourage the intelligence community to share information when it is available. as a member of the intelligence committee, i was there day after day as the information was coming, being. -- being briefed by general david address and other ,ntelligence immunity members -- intelligence community members -- the nsa number for example, signals intelligence. there was no uniformity of information coming in. there were press accounts saying there was a protest, there was a

president saying there wasn't a protest. -- there were press accounts saying there wasn't a protest. it was a difficult analysis to do and ultimately they came down and said it began as a protest. of course, you have to keep in mind what was going on around the world at the very same time, and that is a couple things. number one, there were protests going on all around the world, and there is no question about that. was the cause of most of those protests going on around the world. .t did inflame passions the video played a very significant role in those protests will stop number three, even the cia station chief, in benghazi --benghazi is a long-distance from tripoli -- he said he did not believe there were protests going on and he ultimately proved correct about

that, but even the indicated he could not rule out the video for being one of the motivations for the attack on the facilities in benghazi. look at the you totality of intelligence, it is hard to come down too hard on what they came down with those early hours. host: christina, michigan, independent caller. caller: thank you so much for c-span. i get all the information -- please let me -- this has been driving me crazy for a long time and i'm so glad to get through to somebody. igot the information and formed the opinions i have from watching actual hearings on c-span of what was going on. questions.any the person who is second in command to ambassador stevens, who was in tripoli, where the real conflict was, i listened to him under oath, his testimony,

when he heard about all the uprisings going on everywhere else due to the video. he called a master stevens -- he called ambassador stevens to let them know about it and a master stevens said thank you. i'm hearing how horrible everything was, and yet that man does my that he went back to his home and watched his favorite tv programs and missed 2 calls coming from ambassador stevens saying they were under attack. if somebody on the ground knows what is going on everywhere else and didn't gather everybody and say "we have got to find out, we have got to prepare here," no one is asking why ambassador on 9/11 ifbenghazi the security was so bad -- there are questions to be asked. the wrong ones are being asked about talking points. host: ok, christina. guest: i would have to say that

i agree that the wrong questions are being asked because they are so heavily focused on talking points. we have a lot of hearings that probe into the questions that you have mentioned in terms of why the ambassador was there when he was, what was the ambassador's understanding of the security situation. ambassador stephens was a bright, talented, capable, dedicated diplomat. he loved thea, libyan people, and i think he also recognize that is much as he needed to be prudent about his security, he also didn't want to be sitting in a bunker all day. he wanted to be out with the libyan people. and that poses risks. one of the things that this ought to impress upon the american people are the extraordinary risks that our diplomats go through every day in their work, in an increasingly dangerous climate in many parts of the world. they don't have a lot of the

military capabilities surrounding them that our people in uniform do. they are out on the wire. that is one of the reasons we admire their work so much. the ambassador wanted to be close to the libyan people and that is a risky thing, but i think he understood the risks and i have nothing but admiration for him. host: bob in jacksonville, florida, democratic caller. caller: good morning, you people. how are you doing? caller: doing w host: doing well. caller: embassy attacks throughout history -- can you hear me? host: we hear you, bob. caller: a complete documentary going back to the clinton during theion, and last administration, the bush administration, there was 11

embassies attacked and 88 people killed. benghazi wasn't even an embassy. outposts witheral one outpost attack, benghazi, wasn't an embassy. they did interviews with all of these republicans after the , likes on these embassies john mccain, lindsey graham. it is laughable what they were saying then. host: all right, congressman schiff. guest: i have to say that watching the benghazi hearings we have had so far has not been very edifying. it has mostly consisted of a lot of grandstanding. the hearings we have had in the intelligence committee have been far more substantive and a focused more on what the

intelligence community can tell us now about the hunt for these people. we have done our share of looking at who created the talking points and going through all that. we had a director morell testified many times in closed session and open session will stop but i think they have been far less partisan than some of the open hearings. and that is an indictment of the process when you only have a grandstanding with the cameras are available in closed session, intel committee, is more of a matter-of-fact investigation. and the words of the speaker until recently, another committee of having months and months to cover the same ground we have covered innumerable times? host: on twitter

host: what was the role of the former cia director? guest: that is a great question and something i have raised as well. i have great admiration for general betray us pet -- i have great admiration service.al petraeus' we all viewed it as a terror attack by definition. we recognize that when we are shooting rpgs, that is a terror attack. the question was who was responsible and why. additional questions were why didn't we have better security. he said exactly what we heard in the talking points from susan rice. the gop wants to go after susan

why?and the president, and they don't want to go after a general who is respected. that tells you about the political character. host: i want to bounce this off of you -- nsa legislation going to the house. what would you do, and do you support it -- what would it do and do you support it? do.t: i on the intelligence committee today we will market our legislation as well. it ends the book auction of metadata for some time. -- bulk collection of metadata for some time. the intelligence bill does not require prior court review. that is something i am trying to change and hopefully we can get

a majority vote on the intelligence committee to follow the model where prior court approval is required except in emergencies. .ost: one last phone call georgetown, south carolina, republican caller. to know what, you have got turn the television down. go ahead, caller. all right, let me go to jack in davenport, iowa. you ready? caller: yes. al qaeda typically attacks just before an election. for example, that spanish train attack, before spanish election. republicans are playing into the hands of al qaeda to let al qaeda effect an american election -- in other words, our republicans aiding and abetting al qaeda? guest: no, i wouldn't say they are aiding and abetting al qaeda. i think al qaeda is very much aware of what is going on andtically around the world

bears that in mind when they plan their attacks and time their attacks. the attacks in benghazi were probably more related to the anniversary of 9/11 than the presidential election, and as well, related potentially to what was going on around the world in terms of all those protests. ayman aalso hearing -- l-zawahiri, the number two and al qaeda, now the number one, called for anniversary attacks on 9/11. that may have been a significant motivation behind those that were involved. --t: huntsman, quick, congressman, quick, boko haram, is this group a threat? guest: it is absolutely a threat, one of the most violent and despicable organizations on earth. the secretary has been strong on this. we're sharing intelligence and we will have advisers on the ground to help find these girls

and help the nigerian government obtain their release. it is just completely appalling one is >> in just over a half-hour the house will begin its legislative day and they will take up that resolution to establish a select committee on benghazi. also today the house expected to work on a bill permanently extending the research and development tax credit that expired at the end of last year. legislative work starting at noon. live coverage here on c-span. a couple moments we'll take you live to the briefing by house speaker john boehner. that starts at 11:30 eastern. the speaker among a number of members of the house and senate calling for response from the administration on the kidnapping of the nigerian school girls by the militant islamic group, boko harem. officials in washington sent a team of fewer than 10 military personnel and civilians from intelligence and law enforcement agencies were expected to arrive

in the nigerian capital today. we get more details from this morning's "washington journal." we'll show you as much as we can until the speaker begins his news conference. aid to locate the kidnap girls in nigeria. joining us right now, the former u.s. ambassador, john campbell. we want to find out a little bit more about nigeria, its history, and specifically, this group, boko haram. what is this group? diffused,is a decentralized movement rather than an organization. , it is islamic language

jihadist in many ways. overthrow theo nigerian state and replace it with a purely islamic state. host: who makes up the group? do not know.lly >> where are the jobs. once again this week house republicans continue our focus on the number one issue in the country, and that's jobs and the economy. the american people are concerned about this issue and our priorities will continue to be the priorities of the american people. since the beginning of this congress, nearly 40 jobs bills

have remained stalled in the democrat-controlled senate. that's nearly 40 bills that would improve education and build a stronger economy. promote innovation, that's 40 bills that would ease harmful regulations on small businesses, promote opportunities for veterans, and create sustained economic growth. yet they still sit there gathering dust. the senate democrats are more worried about losing their majority than the american people are who are losing their jobs. this is the skills act. right here. sitting over in the united states senate, would help provide skills to the american people for jobs that are out there in america yet senate democrats won't bring it up for a vote. this is the working families flexibility act. bill that came through the house that would provide flexibility for men and women in the workplace, it would help our

economy, yet it continues to sit in the democrat senate. and here's a bipartisan bill on the keystone pipeline. create 20,000 jobs. 116,000 indirect jobs. yet continues to be blocked over in the united states senate. why? because just a shear lack of courage. yesterday secretary kerry called on the western hemisphere countries to gather together to increase regional economic cooperation. with all due respect, i think it takes some audacity to call for greater cooperation amongst nations on the economy when they won't even focus on the jobs issue we have right here in america that need to be resolved. this week we'll pass two more jobs bills. one will make the research and development tax credit permanent. providing more investment in our economy. the other extends access to charter schools because we all know that a good education is

the key to getting ahead in this economy. this new normal of slow economic glothe, stagnant wages, and -- growth, stagnant wages, and too president obama called call on the senate so we can finally stop hearing the question, where are the jobs. >> four americans died in benghazi. should the n.r.c. fundraiser on the select committee? >> our focus is getting the answers to those families who lost their loved ones, period. >> the n.r.c. received their fundraising -- >> our focus, our focus is getting the truth for these four families and for the american people. >> the campaign committee became very involved in fundraising off of that. why is that happening? >> our focus is getting the truth for the american people and these four families. >> mr. speaker, if that's the case then will you bend to some of the democrats' demands on the

way that the committee is structured to make it even more clear that it is not going to be a circus or political -- because they are concerned republicans have too much power and democrats will get shut out and it will be political? >> i had a conversation with the minority leader yesterday and made clear this is a serious investigation that we want to work together to get to the truth. i think the 7-5 split is fair. frankly fairer than her global warming committee she set up. >> if i may, from their perspective, it's not so much about the ratio it's about the power that the democrats have or don't have from their perspective. >> ms. pelosi and i had a conversation about how the committee would operate. there are further conversations that are continuing on that issue. >> speaker boehner, do you a response to the president's global warming report that came out yesterday? >> no.

i'm not going to get into a debate over the science here. it just strikes me that every proposal that democrats have to deal with the issue of climate change would kill jobs in america. the american people are still asking the question where are the jobs? and if they are serious about dealing with this issue, why can't they begin to look at this in a way that won't kill jobs in our country? >> law enforcement, military personnel have been sent to nigeria to try to help to rescue these girls s that enough? is there danger in doing this? we think back to episodes like blackhawk down and how we can get caught on some of these. >> clearly there's danger whenever we send troops almost any place in the world. but i do think that the president's taking the right step here. to work with our allies to try to do everything we can to get these girls back to their families in a safe way.

>> mr. speaker, a sticking point at remains in the conference is a proposal, the senate bill, i understand the senate has been awaiting answer from the house. >> that will not be the case. there was an offer made to the senate, they are considering it. and we are hoping they'll get back. maybe you'll learn the rules and then i'll call on you. >> thank you, sir. what is your evaluation of secretary shinseki and the problems -- do you have confidence -- >> i'm not ready to join the chorus of people calling for him to step down. the problems at the v.a. are systemic. it's the backlog. it's the preventable death that is have occurred within their system -- deaths that have occurred within their system. there is a systemic management issue throughout the v.a. that needs to be addressed.

i don't believe that changing someone at the top is going to actually get to the solutions that many of us are looking for. we are working on the v.a. accountability bill. that would allow the secretary more discretion when it comes to firing managers that aren't getting the job done. >> do you expect the democrats to boycott this, and could you, will you use the power to maybe appoint some democrats yourself? >> this is a serious effort to get to the truth. and i would hope that my colleagues across the aisle would see it in the same way i do and appoint members to serve. >> mr. speaker, you talk about how involved you plan to be in monitoring the committee's investigation and progress, or are you simply handing this over to chairman gowdy and then you'll check in periodically?

secondarily, can we expect you to publicize the appointments you are going to make today the vote is held? >> i don't think we are ready to make that announcement today, but i would hope in the near future. like any part of our conference, yes, there are committees involved, but i tend to work with all of our committee chairs, and i expect i'll do that here. yes. >> speaker boehner wrapping up his briefing. a number of questions during that briefing about the resolution the house will take up early this afternoon. the resolution establishing a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack in benghazi. the speaker tapping trey gowdy from south carolina to head up that panel. seven republicans and five democrats will be appointed. also today the house is expected to work on a bill permanently extending the research and

development tax credit. we'll have live coverage of the house when they return. about 20 minutes at noon eastern here on c-span. the speaker also answer add question about whether he called for eric shinseki to resign the house veterans' affairs committee earlier today called an emergency meeting to formally issue the v.a. department a subpoena over emails and written correspondentence discussing the deficit reduction of alternative waiting list at the phoenix v.a. health care system. whistle blowers from the phoenix v.a. have alleged that officials kept a secret waiting list of veterans seeking treatment in an effort to hide the system's backlog. veterans' affairs secretary eric shinseki but the associate direct and another employee on leave last week while the department conducts an internal investigation. the veterans' affairs committee of the house had a session today that lasted just under 10 minutes. here's a look.

>> good morning, everybody. i would like to take care of one item of business this morning. hearing a motion for the issuance of a subpoena to the department of veterans affairs to produce emails and other written correspondent related into the investigation of the phoenix v.a. medical center. it's unfortunate that we have to come to this decision, but we did not do this without some substantial justification. the last few weeks have been a model of v.a. stonewalling which precipitated the need for this subpoena. first on april 24 our staff was briefed and informed on the existence of an alternate wait list and how that list was subsequently destroyed. we made follow-up phone calls to

va-ocla beginning on the 28th asking for additional information about the list. however we didn't get a response back on the 28th so we called back on the 29th and got no response on the 29th. so we called again on april 30 and spoke directly to assistant secretary joan mooney, but still got no response. look, this failure to provide information led to my first letter stating that the committee would pursue a subpoena if we were not provided with the information that this committee had requested. yesterday, may 7, i received a response from v.a. that does not, does not fully answer the very simple questions that i asked. therefore the time for request for this matter is over. today we'll vote to issue a subpoena. it's a historic vote. this committee has voted once before to issue a subpoena, the

first time ever in the history, and we work with v.a. and actually we did not deliver that subpoena, but we ultimately got the information that we were asking for. but i trust the v.a. will have the good sense to not further ignore the request that this committee has made. the subpoena will cover emails and written correspondence sent since the 9th 6 april, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. to or from secretary eric shinseki, the undersecretary for health, thomas lynch, assistant undersecretary for health. mr. willgone, general counsel, or any other representative of the office of general counsel, ms. joan moony, assistant secretary for congressional and legislative affairs, dr. ron mauer, director of the congressional liaison service, and mr. cox congressal relation

officer or mr. michael hough, congressal relation officer. the scope of this subpoena will encompass all emails and written correspondentence where these parties discussed the discussion of an ultimate wait list, regardless of what name it was given earnings which form in which it was kept. pursuant to rule 11, clause 2-m-1-b of the house of representatives and rule 3, clause g of this committee, we ve a motion before us that's at the desk and i will ask that the clerk will read the motion. >> ranking member michaud move the committee authorize issuance to eric shinseki, secretary of the u.s. department of veterans affairs, for department of veterans affairs to produce all emails and written correspondence sent between

8, l 9, 2014, 8:45, and may 6:00 p.m. which addressed in whole or part the destruction or disappearance of an alternative or interim wait list with regard to the carl t. haden veterans' affairs medical center located in phoenix, arizona, in which secretary shinseki, dr. robert pretzel, undersecretary for health, dr. thomas lynch, assistant undersecretary for health for critical operations and management, mr. willgun, or any other representive office of the general counsel, ms. joan moony, assistant secretary for congressional legislative affairs, dr. ron mauer, mr. bobbing, congressional relation officer, or michael hough, congressional relations officer, or parties to or referenced in such emails and written correspondence. >> members, you have heard the motion, do i hear a second? motion's been moved and properly seconded. i will open the floor for the

ranking member to make a statement and would ask if any other members have a statement that they be very, very brief because everybody has a very, very tight schedule this morning. i understand the ranking member is recognized. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i think we all can agree that quality, safe, accessible health care has always been a priority of this committee. i believe that has not changed today. we have over the past years asked the v.a. for information that has not been forthcoming. frustrations remain high among committee members. the chairman sent a letter on may 1, 2014, requesting the answer to two questions. the response we received yesterday from v.a. was, in my view, was insufficient. the subpoena we will authorize today is limited in scope and it narrowly is constructed in order

not to interfere or impede the ongoing i.g. investigation. at the end of the day, we all are waiting for the results of the investigation to be provided to us so that we can be in a position to take action we need to fix the problems not only in phoenix but across the v.a. system. i was pleased to hear that the veterans health administration will complete a nationwide access review to ensure that employees have a full understanding of v.a. policy and that they will conduct a national face-to-face audit at all the clinics in their v.a. medical center. i understand mrs. kirkpatrick, ranking member of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations, recently sent a letter calling for v.a. to undertake a similar action in light of the numerous problems throughout the system. so i want to thank you very much, mrs. kirkpatrick.

with that, mr. chairman, i yield back the balance of my time. >> thank you, mr. michaud, for your cooperation. i would ask does any other member have a statement they would like to make? very well, all those in favor of the motion to issue the subpoena will say aye. all those opposed, no. he motion carries. i'm now going to i sign the subpoena for the production of emails and written correspondence and hereby direct ts issuance forthwith. this concludes our business meeting for today. this meeting is adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014]

>> members of eric shinseki put the v.a.'s director, associate director, and other employee on leave last week while the v.a. conducts an investigation. this is the secretary's brushing aside calls for his resignation. he had an interview with cbs acknowledging the controversy saying it makes me angry and vows to get to the bottom of it. the press reporting that the american legion and some in congress have called for shinseki's out ofer because of the uproar over the agent iscy's performance. on capitol hill in the house theefl gavel in about just over 10 minutes. they'll take up the special select committee to investigate the 2012 attack on benghazi. and also this afternoon a bill that would permanently extend the research and development tax credit that expired at the end of last year. we get more details from a

capitol hill reporter. >> the interesting thing about this bill it is a permanent research and development tax credit that's an incentive to american companies to hire and conduct research into new products and all sorts ever things. -- sorts of things. what's interesting is that it's permanent. the research grant has been around in one way or another since 1981. it's always been temporary. and companies have been agitating to make it permanent. the house is going to attempt to do that this week. >> the headline in bloomberg research tax credit set for permanent extension in the house, why did kevin brady, the sponsor of the bill, decide to go this route? in the past they just extended it for a year or two, correct? >> this is a way for republicans to do a tiny piece of the bigger rewrite of the tax code that

dave camp has been working on. he proposed making the r&d credit permanent. it's a way to say the republicans are for something they hope will create jobs. and it's a challenge to the senate which prefers a two-year extension. >> how much does this credit cost? what's it cover? how do they plan to pay for it now it's going to be made permanent? >> the credit is not going to be paid for at all. and that's really the big disputes between the parties here. you'll see a lot of democrats opposing something that they support in principal because it's not offset. that's going to be a real -- the real point you'll hear during the debate on the rules and house floor because it's $155.5 billion over the next 10 years in forgone ref nue. that's because the congress assumes that the credit when it expires it won't continue. this credit actually expired at the end of 2013, and so that's

the full cost of putting it in place for the next decade. >> this would seem to fit into the administration's plan for encouraging business development, the extension of this sort of tax credit. what has the white house said about this particular bill? >> the permanent research and development tax credit is part of the administration's budget, and therefore you would think the administration might support it, but it does not. the administration is taking the same position that many democrats are which is there should be some sort of offset. the spending side, probably democrats would prefer the tax side. some way to offset the cost on the deficit. >> this research and development tax credit, part of a package of what are known as tax extenders. are -- what are some of the other credits or tax extenders in that group? >> we give things like the ability for people who live in states without income taxes to deduct their sales taxes. you have tax deduction for teachers out-of-pocket expenses. you've got tax breaks for

companies with international finance operations. what's interesting is you've got the house doing them piecemeal, one by one, the idea he being, look, is it a good idea? not a good idea. if it is, make p permanent. if not, let's let it expired. the senate basically said almost everything that expired at the end of 2013, let's kick it forward another couple years and we'll come back and decide later which ones will be permanent. >> going back to the original bill you talked about this piecemeal approach. does this mean there won't be a broader tax reform package moved through the house this year? >> it's very unlikely at this point. chairman camp has given no signal he wants to mark it up any time soon. they are really at these extender pieces right now. you may see some more hearings on a broader tax reform bill, but very few if any indications that the broader package will move through the house. in part because it contains limits on all sorts of popular tax breaks.

and paired with tax rate cuts, that's not something politicians want to talk about before an election. >> richard ruben covers tax policy for bloomberg news. follow him on twitter. he's at richard-rubendc. thanks for join us. >> thanks for having me. >> on the senate side of that tax extenders debate, c.q. reports a veterans hiring incentive measure will be the vehicle for senate consideration of tax extenders legislation. this is why majority harry reid moved this morning to proceed to the bill. looking live at the u.s. capitol as we wait for the house to come in, they will come in today and take up that r&d bill. also begin work on the bill dealing with charter schools. but the main legislative work this afternoon will be a resolution creating a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack in benghazi. trey gowdy has already been tapped to chair that committee. we understand that the panel

will be seven republicans and five democrats. avid drunker -- drunker -- drucker tweets, speaker boehner will now likely unveil his choices on friday as opposed to thursday. and the speaker also mentioned this morning that he had spoken with the minority leader, nancy pelosi, today about the makeup of the committee. we spoke to a capitol hill reporter for some more detrails on what the committee will look like. -- details on what the committee will look like. the headline in politico says behind the benghazi select committee, it details how the house republicans plan to create a new select committee to investigate the 2012 benghazi attacks. steven sloan is deputy congressional editor with "politico." why is house leadership seek agnew committee on benghazi? > well, this really began when -- the judicial watch a. government watchdog group, were more comprehensive than documents that have been requested through congressional subpoena.

and speaker boehner and many other republicans who just felt like it represented an unwillingness on the part of the white house to cooperate with congressional investigation noose what happened in benghazi. >> is the intent of this benghazi select committee to take all of the other investigations and follow them into one? >> i think that's where this is heading. i don't think the republicans are necessarily going to abandon their interest in benghazi, but i think this is going to be center stage for benghazi going forward. >> one of the question marks out there has been whether democrats plan to participate. first of all, what's the makeup of the committee? as we talk any word on whether democrats will committee to being part of it? >> well, the committee will have two more republicans than democrats. it will be kind of lopsided in favor of republicans which often happens when committees --

committees in the house when the majority has a majority. right now i think it's still up in the air what nancy pelosi, the democratic leader will do. we are reporting right now she is leaning against doing -- leaning against appointing members to this, not wanting to participate in any way. >> assuming the house gives its approval on a probably largely republican basis to this new select committee on benghazi, how soon thereafter would speaker boehner select the committee members? what's the lobbying been like to get on this position? who are some of the people who are early favorites to be selected? >> it would conceivably begin very quickly. as soon as he this resolution passes. you can imagine the speaker will start really working to do this. you have seen a few different people pushing for seats on this

position, they include freshman missouri representative ann wagner. marshall blackburn from tennessee. duncan hunter from california. who is on the armed services committee. and we'll see who will be selected. >> you mentioned before that leader pelosi is leaning against, as we talk, participating. but if democrats had their choice of which members, which couple of members they would like to see on the committee, who would they be? >> it's unclear right now. obviously the ranking member on the oversight committee, elijah cummings from maryland, he has kind of led the democratic response in the house to the republican investigation into benghazi, but i think, you know, you would be hard-pressed to find many democrats who would want to be part of this committee. >> you tweeted about some comments by the chair of the

select committee, trey goudy, your tweet g.o.p. fundraising off of benghazi even though panel chair gowdy thinks it's a bad idea. what do we know -- why does he say it's a bad idea? on wention ning joe morning, he was asked whether he would raise money off of benghazi. he said that he wouldn't. that he feels like it's wrong to essentially seek campaign cash off the -- what's indisputably very tragic deaths of four americans and wouldn't advise his colleagues to do that. >> you can follow him on twitter stevenpsloan and read his reporting at politico.com. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> for over 35 years, c-span brings public affairs events

from washington directly to you. putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings, and conferences. and offering complete gavel to gavel coverage of the u.s. house. all as a public service of private industry. we are c-span, created by the cable tv industry 35 years ago. brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. >> the u.s. house gaveling in next for their legislative session. they will take up a resolution setting up a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack in benghazi. we are asking you on facebook and on twitter whether the house should do that. can you paragraph dissipate at facebook.com/c spap and also on twitter, using the #c-span chat. we'll read some of those later. and open up our phone lines as well. the house today will also take up a bill that will permanently extend the research and development tax credit that expired at the end of last year.

let's go live now to the house floor on c-span. the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered

today by our guest chaplain, lieutenant commander steven coats, chaplain of the united states navy, office of the chaplain of the marine corps from greenville, illinois. the chaplain: let us pray. sovereign lord, the sound of this corporate prayer is as nothing compared to the clarion call of your divine voice. rolling thunders of justice, resounding echoes of mercy, redemptive whispers of grace, calm assurances of comfort, promising songs of hope. like your clear voice, may all words spoken in this chamber today accurately reflect the fidelity of honest conversations between members, the brutal wonderful of free exchange amid minds, the compassion of sincere interactions with constituents own by name and place, the hallowedness of solitary

bebleded knee utterances -- benleded knee utterances known only by you -- bended knee utterances known only by you. may the same purity of passion that stirred these willing servants to seek positions of public protection and provision empower them this day to honor you in serving all. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance todayly led by the gentleman from pennsylvania -- today will be led by the gentleman from ennsylvania, mr. cartwright. mr. cartwright: won't you join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from -- the majority leader from virginia rise? mr. cantor: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to evise and extend my remarks. the speaker: without objection. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, today i rise to honor the life of martin cobb. an 8-year-old boy from richmond, virginia, who was taken from us way too soon. he was killed in a heinous act while trying to protect his 12-year-old sister from a violent attacker. , martin very beginning was a fighter against all odds, surviving open heart surgery at 3 months old when the doctors believe he was going to make it. martin was a student at

elizabeth redd elementary school and he enjoyed the kind of things that most kids grow fond of. playing with toy cars, riding his bike around the neighborhood. martin didn't have a father at home and so his mother referred to him as the man of the house. as a loving son and brother, relatives say he had the heart of a lion. we'll always remember him as a true family man, someone who loved his sister so much that he gave his life to protect her . in the face of grave danger, his only thought, his only instinct was to help his sister . at 8 years old he may have been small in stature, some say he looked no older than 4 or 5, but in his last moments martin showed he was a bigger man than most men ever dream to be. we honor martin by remembering his incredible bravery.

but let us also commit to honoring him by redoubling our efforts to foster safer neighborhoods and communities that produce more martins and less assailants. our children should be able to grow up and join childhood -- and enjoy childhood, not fearing for their lives. in martin's front yard there hero ads a sign, a real lived, fought and died here. martin may no longer be with us, but i hope and pray his strength, his courage and his spirit endure in each and every one of us. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise to congratulate three highly impressive students from city honors high school in buffalo.

shea muss, retts and hakim made western new york proud by being selected to participate in the congressional science student forum which was hosted yesterday on capitol hill. mr. higgins: in recent months these students have worked hard in hand with local research -- hand in hand with local researchers in western new york, including roswell park cancer institute to research cutting edge medical issues, form hypotheses and conduct hands-on experiments. mr. speaker, when students start learning and experimenting with science, technology, engineering and math as young adults, they are creating a life-long commitment to learning and dedication to making a difference in the future. it is why it is so critical that congress provide adequate funding to stem education programs in our schools nationwide. i commend these students for their achievement. i looked for to hearing more from them in their promising futures in innovation in the years to come. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time.

for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one inute. >> you know, for nearly two years house committees have been investigating the terrorist attack in benghazi that killed four brave americans. these committees have done good work. however, many questions remain unanswered as the white house continues to stonewall our efforts by withholding information. national review at editors recently summed it up best. quote, the white house misled the american public about a critical matter of national interest. mr. johnson: and it continues to practice deceit as the facts of the case are sorted out. that, to answer hillary clinton's callous question, what difference does it make? the administration's obstruction and dishonesty are

unacceptable and warrant a new level of investigation. creating a select committee to investigate this tragedy is long overdue and with a former federal prosecutor such as trey gowdy at the helm give mess great hope that americans and the family -- gives me great hope that americans and the families of the victims will see the truth and accountability. they want, need and deserve no less. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania eek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise because today in the house we will bring up a vote on approximately $310 billion of permanent tax extenders, tax credit extenders, including the very popular research and experimentation,

bipartisan-supported tax extender, but this is something that is being brought up without a pay-for at a time when the united states of america now has 2.6 million citizens who have lost their long-term unemployment benefits . in pennsylvania alone, my state, we have 125,000 families who lost that lifeline because, mr. speaker, you refused to bring this up for a vote because it doesn't have a pay-for. fair is fair, mr. speaker. we support many of these extenders, but we can't leave these american families out in the cold like this. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you so much, mr. speaker. as we continue to celebrate

national foster care month, i'd like to recognize the dedicated foster families, social workers and service providers for their work to support the nearly 400,000 youth who are part of our country's foster care system. our kids of miami-dade and monroe county, foster care review and charlie of dade county are just a few of the many organizations that work each and every day in our south florida community to find a stable home with a devoted and loving family for our youth. while may has been designated as national foster care month, the work to ensure that every child has a safe and permanent family does not stop when the calendar turns. in fact, before the end of this year, mr. speaker, at least 23,000 of these vulnerable members of our society will age out of the foster care system. research harris shown that these young -- research has shown that these young heightened are at a

risk of poverty, homelessness, incarceration and early parenthood. i encourage my congressional colleagues and every person across our nation to work together so that we can change these tragic facts and figures for the betterment of our youth and the improvement of our society. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from -- the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for ne minute. ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, i think we all understand and believe that our children are our most precious resource. over the last couple of weeks, hearts and minds of many around the world have been captured by heinous thug by the name of the boca what ram, who has been

a vial -- boko haram, who has been a vial, violent and uncaring terrorist thug. we don't know where these girls are. but yesterday myself, barbara lee and marcia fudge, karen bass, janice hahn, as women of the united states congress, went to the nigerian embassy to stand and reject the $12 that he wants to now sell these girls for. we ask that we have a concerted effort, victims fund, and in the immediating, as we spoke to those in -- meeting, as we spoke to those in nigeria, we asked president johnson to stand up and say he would find these girls and bring these terrorists to justice. we ask today because no one knows where they might be. close by calling two names. i'll be calling these girls' names throughout this week to remind us that they must be

found now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina eek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, the american people have known since april 23, 2012, over two years ago, by a letter of 63 members of congress to the i.r.s. commissioner, that the i.r.s. has targeted political organizations which question the president. congress has the responsibility to the american people to determine the facts and prevent future threats to american families. sadly, the administration has refused to cooperate with house republicans to facilitate oversight investigation. instead of helping to restore the american people's faith in impartial government, key i.r.s. officials remain silent. last night the house voted to hold former i.r.s. employee lois lerner in contempt because she refused to tell the truth

before congress. congress also asked attorney general eric holder to appoint a special council to further investigate this scandal. the administration should take this opportunity to restore accountability, put politics aside and help congress provide citizens and the groups who were unfairly targeted with the answers they deserve. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for ne minute. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, the whole world is watching nigeria and the whole world is outraged at the recent kidnappings of over 200 girls from a nigerian school. make no mistake, this is human trafficking.

they say they're selling them into marriage, they're selling them into sex slavery, rape and human bondage. as co-chair of the congressional caucus on human trafficking, i hope the world will respond to this horrendous human tragedy with the same sense of urgency and compassion and the same level of assistance that was offered in the search for the missing malaysian aircraft. the u.s. african command, department of justice, state and f.b.i. are offering assistance to the nigerian government and we as a congress should support sanctions against boko haram. decisive and swift action is needed to bring these young girls home and to prevent future mass kidnappings. thank you. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas seek recognition?

without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. miss jenkins: i rise today to voice my support for h.r. 2672, the rule designation pe significance and correct act. one of the most troubling aspects of the dodd-frank act was its creation of the consumer financial protection bureau which is a new bureaucracy with broad powers that is unaccountable to congress or the american people. when i talk to financial institutions in kansas, one of their main concerns with this agency is that the cfpb will fail to correctly classify rural banks and possibly leave them open to overzealous regulation as a result. i'm a proud co-sponsor and supporter of this bill which will allow these financial institutions a way to appeal the cfpb's decisionmaking process and ensure that rural lenders and their communities are not unintentionally -- unintentional victims of poor decisionmaking

by the cfpb, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mrs. bustos: i rise today to congratulate stew adams who has been recognized by the illinois education association as its 201 retired teacher of the year. i'm proud to say that stew is a -- stu is a constituent of mine and spent years teaching special education. in adugs to his teaching duties, he was a beautyor and mentor to many young students in the district. he he also distributed to the rock island safe schools program and has been an advisor to the illinois state board of higher education and the special education and founder of the western illinois retired educators. in addition to thanking stu for his service to our community, i also want to take this opportunity to thank the teachers that i have had and

have taught some of our youngsters across our country during teachers appreciation week. their hard work and dedication to our children is both awe inspiring and invaluable. our communities simply could not function without our educators. i want to thank them. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> address the house for one minute. ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to commemorate may as let freedom ring month at charlotte motor speedway. and thank the folks who have worked hard to hon your our brave men and women in uniform for this celebration. mr. hudson: they are both in my hometown of concord, north carolina. while i'm grateful for the impact both have on our local economy, i'm also appreciative of their continued support for our nation's military, veterans, and their families. this memorial day weekend marks the 55th let freedom race

celebration and more than 100,000 fans will gather at the speedway to celebrate and honor our military heroes. this tradition will once again showcase america's military strength while displaying our pride and appreciation for those we lost, our veterans, those who continue to serve, and our military families. we are so fortunate to have heroes who stand committed to serving in our armed forces. mr. speaker, i commend the work done by the racing community to honor our veterans. i join them and other in inians to salute our war fighters who paid the ultimate price to protect our freedom. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? mr. perlmutter: good morning, mr. speaker. i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. perlmutter: thank you. mr. speaker, today i stand in support of our national teachers week. as the husband of a teacher, the brother of a teacher, and the

lucky student of great teachers in the jefferson county public school system and the university of colorado, i hold this profession in very high regard. our nation's teachers worked tirelessly to provide education resources and a bright future for all of american students. colorado is blessed with a dedicated community of teachers in both k through 12 and higher education. teachers provide an invaluable service to our country while earning salaries that do not reflect the importance of their jobs. every day i hear about teachers striving to improve their schools and outcomes for their students. american students now face one of the most competitive economies in our history. strong teachers are the key to the successful education of our children and those same children are key to a prosperous, healthy, and successful future for our country and for the planet. thank you to all the teachers in

my life, the seventh congressional district, and state of colorado. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. teachers are remarkable people. these dedicated professionals work hard to ensure that our children have the skills necessary to succeed and achieve the american dream. mr. messer: they get up early and stay up late. often sacrificing their own time and money so our children have a fair shot at future success. they don't do it for fame, though glory they should receive. they don't do it for fortune, though riches they do deserve. they do it because they love their jobs and care about their students. it would be difficult to overestimate the importance of our nation's teachers to our country's strength and prosperity. one of those teachers is my

sister-in-law, mandy messer, who teaches elementary school at north decatur elementary. a day should not pass we don't thank our teachers for their service on behalf of our children and country. so today during teacher appreciation week, i say thank you to my former teachers who played such an important role in my own life and i express my gratitude to all the teachers throughout my congressional district who are doing such wonderful work. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> last night republicans and democrats on our house armed services committee came together to pass a defense bill that all of us, i mean all of us, on the committee could support. mrs. davis: that's something remarkable. considering what's on the house floor this week.

instead of debating the minimum wage, we are getting maximum partisanship. instead of creating a select committee on job creation, we are voting to create a select committee on benghazi. shamefully playing politics with a terrible tragedy. the only person whose job the majority seems to care about is the former secretary of state. the national climate assessment released this week laid bare the consequences of climate change, but sadly instead of reducing our carbon footprint, we get a climate of dysfunction and hot air. enough is enough. house leadership should follow the example of the house armed services committee. put the partisanship aside and get to work on the things that really matter to the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the

gentleman from ohio seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. chabot: career and tnl education is critical to our economy. -- technical education is critical to our economy. i have a great program in warren, ohio. i have had the opportunity to tour the program a number of times. they do a great job. two success stories, kerry and nick, both completed programs at the warren county career center. kerry now owns her own salon and employs others. and nick is working at a local robotics company while working towards a degree in electrical engineering. there are others like kerry and nick across america who deserve access to programs that will prepare them for the work force and lay the foundation for a successful career. as we work together to strengthen our economy, we should support institutions like the warren county career center,

programs like this he we should support all across america. yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. veasey: mr. speaker, i rise today to speak about the tragic and shocking turn of events in nigeria where as many as 300 girls have been -- young girls have been abducted by a terrorist organization known as bokeo haram. as a father i can't imagine the anguish these parents must be feeling as they wonder about what happened to their young girls. i stand in solidarity with the people of nigeria in this difficult time and condemn the violence against innocent people and urge that all possible actions be taken and that president jonathan finally do something about the terrorists and the thugs that seem to be ruling the country. too often women and young girls are tragically persecuted,

victimized, or denied education opportunities and do voice particularly in these countries based only on their gender. the violence and discrimination has no place in our world today. today i will be joining my fellow colleagues in urging them to sign on to house resolution 573 to condemn this heinous abduction and supporting all efforts to find these girls and bring them home. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor east berlin, pennsylvania, on its 250th anniversary. it was founded on may 8, 176 , by john frankenburger, a prussian who purchased 200 acres of land from thomas and richer penn. mr. perry: john laid out a town

with 85 lots, one main street, four cross streets, and five alleys. he named the town berlin after his native town in prussia. east was added to the name in 1827 when the town post office was established. today east berlin is a thriving community of over 1,00 residents in adams county. i'm proud to congratulate east berlin on this momentous day and wish the borrough another successful 250 years. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new hampshire seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. kuster: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to express my continued concerns about the highway trust fund which is projected to reach a critically low level in july, right in the middle of the busy summer construction season. this funding is essential to

projects in new hampshire and he we simply cannot let the highway trust fund run out of money. it would cost us jobs, jeopardize public safety, and hurt our economy. that is why i'm introducing a bill to ensure that the highway trust fund remain solvent for the remainder of this fiscal year. this will provide certainty to our states and businesses and allow congress time to pass a full six-year re-authorization of surface transportation programs. my bill, the drive now act, will do this while increasing efficiencies in the government and reducing the deficit. congress must invest in infrastructure and pass a long-term re-authorization of transportation programs. but to ensure that the highway trust fund doesn't run dry this summer, i urge the house to pass my commonsense legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has, spired. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma seek recognition?

without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. one year ago our justice system gave us a new definition for life, convicted murderer kermit gosnell, the abortionist who for decades worked in philadelphia, who personally killed hundreds of children in the womb, who personally kept body parts in bags and bottles scatted around his:ic, he was -- clin -- his clinic, he was not tried for that. those were permitted. mr. lankford: one year ago this week that court clarified their definition of life. it wasn't about conception. it wasn't about age. it wasn't about ability to survive. it was about distance. life was he defined by distance for them. kermit gosnell had the awe castity to induce the labor of pregnant women and didn't take the child outside the womb, move them about three feet away whether on his hands or set them on a table, cut their spinal cord sitting on the table where they would die. either on his hands or on the

table. he moved them three feet. what tortured logic is that to say it's not a child in the womb, but it is a child if you move them three feet. this is the united states of america. life is not about distance. life is about children. let's choose life. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. israel: i rise today during teacher appreciation week to honor a top teacher in the third congressional district of new york, john, he's the head of the business technology department at great neck high school south. he was named as a top five finalist on live with kelly and michael's top teacher search contest and will appear on the morning show next week when the winner will be announced. in the 12 years he's taught there, he's helped lead the school's robotics team to national competition. he coaches lacrosse. he builds sets for school plays.

and four times a year, mr. speaker, he brings students to new york city to distribute food and supplies to the homeless. he also lives the lessons he he he teaches inside the classroom in his life outside the school. as a volunteer with the great neck fire company, he was one of the first to respond to the september 11 terrorist attacks. i'm so proud of the contributions that john has made to great neck, to my congressional district, to long island, and the nation, i congratulate him. he's an example for teachers everywhere. thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, today i rise to recognize a unique program organized for the national committee for employer support of the reserve of the guard and reserve or esgr, called boss lift, which is helped to give businesses a

better understanding of the responsibilities of our national guard and army reserve. in my home state, the pennsylvania national guard is doing a tremendous job with the program, providing local employers with a new perspective on the sacrifices and challenges these soldiers and airmen face and a firsthand look at the work being performed by these citizen soldiers. i had the opportunity to visit the pennsylvania national guard and met with the incredible citizen sold horse helped make this program possible -- soldiers who helped make this program possible, all while remaining ready to defend our country. i want to thank esgr, the army reserve and the pennsylvania national guard for their outreach efforts through the program and helping to remind us all of the vital role our reserve and guard components play in our national security and local communities. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from hawaii seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. hanabusa: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the failure of the

majority to bring the extension of unemployment insurance benefits up by december 28 of last year has left many without a lifeline. let's review these figures. on december 28, 1.3 million were immediately cut with no benefits. 1.9 million will be added by the end of the first six months of 2014. let's look at it another way. that means 72,000 every week it. also means one person every eight seconds in this country, the greatest country in this world. 200,000 of them are veterans. the loss of this benefit also means that our economy lost $5 billion in the first three months of 2014. mr. speaker, 2/3 of america's people support the extension of unemployment benefits. the democrats have signed a

discharge petition. please, bring the extension to the floor, remember, they are unemployed through no fault of their own. that's why they're entitled to these benefits. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania eek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise to honor sergeant george thursday by. sergeant thursday by, who i met last week, is a resident of new florence, pennsylvania. he was a b-24 gunner in the army air force during world war ii. mr. rothfus: sergeant thursby was taken prisoner of war after his aircraft was hit while bombing munich. he attempted escape but was arrested and return the to the p.o.w. camp. conditions were abysmal and the sergeant was skinny as a rail. he attempted escape again and

reached american lines in france. when sergeant thursby returned home, he had a long and productive career working at u.s. steel's homestead works and retired in 1983. last week, almost 70 years after his successful escape, sergeant thursby finally received his long overdue and well deserved recognition at a ceremony at the pentagon. he was awarded the prisoner of war medal. sergeant thursby's bravery serves as an inspiration to all americans. it is fitting that we honor him on victory in europe day. let us all take time to thank world war ii veterans like sergeant thursby today for their service and sacrifice. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island eek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. langevin: mr. speaker, i rise today in on to -- in honor of foster youth month. every child deserves a healthy,

safe and stable home. yet too many continue to go without these basic needs that so many of us take for granted. this may we recognize more than 400,000 american children in foster care who are waiting for their forever families. the theme of this year's foster month is, building blocks toward permanent families. an issue that's near to my heart. my parents took in several foster children when i was growing up and i was able to see firsthand the difference that this made and some of them are still in touch with my family today. to all those people across the country who are taking in a foster child today, i say thank you. i know you're making a positive difference in that child's life and i encourage others to consider doing the same. foster children belong to all of us and we have a moral obligation to treat them with the same love and care that we would our own children. and i encourage all of my colleagues to join me in recognizing may as foster youth month and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to mark the 50th anniversary of the passage of senate concurrent resolution 19, which officially recognized bourbon as a distinctive product of the united states of america. mr. barr: specifically the resolution provided that bourbon whiskey is a distinctive product of the u.s. and is unlike other types of alcoholic beverages, whether foreign or domestic. that bourbon whiskey has achieved recognition and acceptance throughout the world as a distinctive product of the united states. and the resolution further prohibited the importation of whiskey designated as bourbon to protect bourbon as a product distilled and aged in the united states alone. many great nations have a national spirit. bourbon certainly belongs in

the same class. as the report that accompanied the resolution notes, the name bourbon refers to the particular part of the world this distinctive distilled spirit first arrived from. bourbon county, kentucky. the name is now universally accepted as meaning american whiskey. in over 90% of all bourbon is distilled in my home state, the commonwealth of kentucky. today kentucky's bourbon industry is enjoying an explosive growth, due to demand both here and abroad. i think this renaissance is the result not only of bourbon's timeless production process and depth of flavor, but is also thanks to its status as a uniquely american spirit. this week we celebrate the 50th anniversary of congress putting that concept into law and we thank all of the hardworking men and women in my home state who make this uniquely american spirit such a great product. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the hat purpose does

gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i ask the republican leadership to bring up the bill that would extend critical unemployment insurance. mr. pallone: so far speaker boehner is telling struggling americans that they're out of luck and out of money. this bill was passed in the senate on a bipartisan basis. 65-34 to move forward to help people who are unemployed. and yet the republican leadership here still refuses to bring it up. it's also completely paid for. and still republicans insist that there's no longer an emergency and that unemployment numbers are dropping. but the reality is just the opposite. long-term unemployment defined as being out of work for 27 weeks or more has not been this high since world war ii. and we know that anyone receiving unemployment benefits, when they get their checks, the money goes right

back into the economy. in fact, unemployment insurance generates $1.52 in economic activity for every $1 spent. so why does the republican leadership simply that bring this up? instead they focus on issues like benghazi or setting up a select committee on benghazi. they should be focusing on job creation, creating jobs and helping the unemployed. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. poe: good morning, -- mr. sessions: good morning, mr. speaker. i call up house resolution 575 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 106, house resolution 575. resolved, that upon adoption of this resolution, it shall be in order, without intervention of any point of order, to consider in the house the resolution, lusion 567, providing

for the establishment of the select committee on the events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack in benghazi. resolution shall be considered as read. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the resolution to its adoption without intervening motion or demand for division of the question except one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on rules. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one hour. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, thank you very much. for the purpose of debate only, i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from, my friend, the ranking member of the rules committee, the gentlewoman, ms. slaughter, pending which time i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: during consideration of this resolution, all time is yielded for the purpose of debate only. mr. speaker, i also ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks for house resolution 575, which provides for a closed rule for consideration of h.res. 567. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, it's

been nearly 20 months since terrorists attacked the american diplomatic mission in killing four a, americans, including then u.s. ambassador to libya, jay christopher stevens. since that time the house armed services committee, the foreign affairs committee, the permanent select committee on intelligence and the committee on oversight and government reform have all conducted investigations related to the events surrounding the attack and the administration's response. and i want to commend each of these committees and their chairmen and their members for work that has been done that is exemplary, that has aimed exactly on the questions that needed to be asked and for those who have dedicated time and effort to make sure that these important issues are not only discussed but understood and resolved so that each of these committees, as they work

with their particular agencies in the federal government, come to a clear and a clean understanding about what happened, what our responses might and should have been, and what they would be in the future. we are here today because this administration has chosen not block participate, to our efforts to know the truth, and to provide the necessary people in a forthright manner who could be a part of answering these questions. this blockage has included the time delivery that has not been timely, but the time interval for requesting information, for the redacting of information that has not been properly done, and perhaps most importantly for the remarks that have been made by the administration including the president of the united states, the former secretary of state,

the secretary of state and other highly public officials who serve at the pleasure of the american people, who have trite to -- tried to thwart, who have tried to misdirect, and who have tried to what i believe is badger republicans into believing that what they did was above board and correct when in fact an evaluation and a proper lessons-learned lesson being available, not only for them, for the united states congress, but also accountability to the american government. we are here specifically today because in the last few weeks group, judicial watch, through the freedom of information act, obtained information and received that information through the judicial system of the united states, whereby they received emails that were not redacted, that were not doctored or

altered and it came to them that did not match up with the information that had been provided to official committees of the united states house of representatives for official business. at a time when an administration decides they are going to take advantage of the structure of the united states house of representatives under official business, then that means it is time for the united states house of representatives to then learn that they are being duped. that they are being taken advantaged of. and that our open system was being used, what i believe, in a political way. that is why we are here today, mr. speaker. we are here today not for political reasons but because the official business of the united states house of representatives, article 1, is

to make sure that we understand and have oversight over those that are in article 2 and work with people who are in article 3. we work together in a careful balance to make sure that what we do is in the best interest of the people, the american people, who need to have faith and confidence in the work that is done not only on their behalf but also accountable to the american people when great things happen and when mistakes happen also. to sweep something under the rug, to try and move people another direction and try to fool them to not be forthright about the action that is were taken or understood, i believe is a dereliction of duty. most importantly, i think that the investigation up to now has revealed is lack -- is a lack of

desire by this administration to ess up to what i believe might be failures or weaknesses in a system that we need to work on together. four americans' lives were not only at stake but the reputation of the united states of america was on the line. terrible things happened. worse things could have happened also. and for the united states congress to have oversight, to work on these issues, is, i believe, an important national security object. we are here today because president barack obama and his administration are not forthright or interested in working with official members of the united states house of

representatives to clear the issue, to understand what happened so that we may move forward with great confidence. that as our men and women who are in the state department are engaged in the sensitive work, the work that is done on behalf of this great nation, that we can understand that relationship with the united states military, with intelligence, with the money that we spend, and the mission that the president of the united states decides that these men and women will be engaged in. we are here today to gain answers, to gain knowledge, and to gain corrective action. that is why i believe last night in the rules committee the rules committee moved forward on an original jurisdiction hearing whereby the rules committee would make and take the responsibility, mr. speaker, to make sure that we understood that we would be taking the time

of the house of representatives. that we would be taking, in essence, jurisdiction and putting that to a select committee. a select committee who would have the authority and the responsibility to ensure that the things which i have spoken this morning were achieved. this is not political. this is public policy at its most important level. it is national security that is being discussed not only today but discussed in private among members of congress with this administration to ensure that the events that occurred on that day were well understood and reflective to the members of congress who provide money and resources and oversight to that event. unfortunately, it became

apparent to me and others, including the speaker of the house of representatives, the honorable john boehner, that these committees are struggling ith an unwanted partner -- the administration. and this administration by refusing to completely comply with congressional subpoenas, by delaying the delivery of important documents, by heavily redacting critical information not sensitive or information at might be considered national security, by retroactively classifying previously unclassified files, the obama administration has thrown roadblocks at every turn of the road. most recent example of this was the deliberate subversion of the investigation which occurred on april 17, less than a month ago. this is why the speaker of the

house of representatives, john boehner, who's been very deliberative and most involved but careful to let each committee to operate to the level of its jurisdictions, to make sure that each committee had not just the resources but the ability to make sure that they were on a process for the delivery of the things which i have talked about, up to and including the truth, mr. speaker. the truth behind the events. the truth behind how we would describe this event so that lessons would be learned and events to how we would effectively and capably understand the new and current threats against the united states and what occurred on that day and on a moving forward basis. if you refuse to participate with the united states congress,

if you subvert the process and take advantage of our structure, the honorable john boehner will then respond with that which is given to him and to the united states house of representatives, and that is to honorably pivot based upon something that happened less than a month ago, april 17. this administration chose to deliberately mislead the united states congress and we responded therein. on that day the administration delivered 276 documents consisting of 779 pages. they gave those to the committee on oversight and government reform, many of which continue to be heavily redacted. the same day the state department complied under a freedom of information act requested by judicial watch, and i believe that the timing of these two productions is not a

coincidence as to whether or not congress would have received these documents absence judicial watch's foea -- foia request. the two sets of documents are incredibly similar and shockingly some of the documents received by the committee are more redacted than those received by judicial watch. well, i get that. that's because under foia, there a criminal statute attached to that which those lawyers preparing these documents knew they could be criminally held libal. mr. speaker. the bottom line to this is, this administration has not respected the united states congress. did not respect the committees that were asking for this information, and thereto, make sure that they made their job

even more difficult. these roadblocks, i believe, serve as two important points for us to remember that the speaker of the house of representatives did not choose to be where we are today, but rather it was this administration through its deliberate attempt to place us exactly where we are. so, first the committee will have questions that it has to ask, and they are going to this administration to make sure that we have complete documentation. every member of the select committee will have the opportunity and should have on a bipartisan basis to see the documents. the select committee will consolidate itself into a centralized location in order to make sure that they work together. we are going to streamline congressional efforts when we find out the things which we

could have, should have known but know now to avoid in the future, and lastly, we are going to come with an answer to the american people that we believe is what they are due. and that is what happened? how could we have avoided it? and what do we look for in the future? our representative government is founded on the assumption of a transparent government. our president, barack obama, stated when he he was elected that this would be the most open and transparent government. mr. speaker, we are here today to take the president at his word. the question is will the president live up to his word and expect this administration to join with the house of representatives in this new era, this new way of trying to go about getting an answer for the american public. i reserve the balance of my ime.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: i thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the 2012 attack on benghazi was a tragedy. it took the lives of brave american public servants representing and serving our country. and congress has an obligation here, both to the families of the victims of the country, to try to prevent this from ever happening again, but that's not at all what we are doing here today. the senate has produced two bipartisan reports on the issue. the state department's accountability review board's produced a constructive unbiased report. a vast body of evidence already collected, none of it demonstrates any sort of cover-up or conspiracy. the majority here has had 13 congressional hearings over four

committees. 50 briefings. produced five reports and 25,000 pages of documentation. wasted countless millions of dollars. and gotten absolutely nowhere. one more committee waited -- weighted in favor of the majority is not going to do any better. we have bottomed out on benghazi. nonetheless, the majority has repeatedly demonstrated that rather in engaging in serious objective examinations of the circumstances, they want to use the tragedy as an excuse to generate partisan talking points and has descended into the crass and unbelievable. several press reports this week, including one from politico, indicate that the national republican congressional committee sent out fundraising email entitled, quote, you can become a benghazi watchdog right now, end quote, and that leads to the donation page you have to

pay to be a benghazi watchdog. even after their fundraising effort was exposed, republicans are continuing to use this effort to raise money over this tragedy. this morning's politico says, quote, republicans stick with benghazi cash grab. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to put these two articles from politico may 8 and may 9 into the record. the first one, nrcc, which stands for the national republican campaign committee, fundraising off benghazi. the second one this morning, republicans stick with benghazi cash grab. i'd like to put those into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. slaughter: additionally, reports say that mr. boehner himself will say he he will not try to stop the fundraising. the majority is demonstrating without a shadow of a doubt that like the many, many votes we have taken trying to kill health care that this is a political move. at is the most crass and

insult to these four families who died. we keep over and over rubbing salt into that awful wound by bringing this up over and over. how do you think they feel now? knowing what this game is about in the house of representatives. i'm appalled the majority would lose use these deaths for political gain and money. when the families of the victims of americans want to do is ensure it never happens again. but we are doing nothing to n sure that. not only is the majority disregarding the bipartisan findings, but their own process is so wrought with error and partisanship and deception that leaders in their own party are calling foul. the oversight committee has produced several witnesses of dubious quality, but the most recent one, brigadier general, to testify about the minority

and -- was only given his name and had no way, no address, no anything else, to even verify his credentials. we are indebted to congressman buck mckeon, armed services committee chairman, who discredited this witness by mckeon and i quote, called brigadier general robert lovely an unreliable witness and lovell's assertion that they were not quick to deploy troops to the terrorist attack in libya. he testified thursday before issa of california oversight panel. brigadier general lovell did not serve in a capacity that gave him reliable insight into operational options available to commanders during the attack, nor did he he offer specific courses of action not taken, mckeon said. armed added, the

orces security interviewed a dozen witnesses, yielding thousands of pages of transscript, emails and other documents. we have no evidence that state department officials delayed the decision to deploy what few resources d.o.d. had available to respond. end quote. how trag is that? -- how tragic is that? how tacky is that? how beneath the dignity of the house of representatives is that? i have an amendment to this resolution based on a simple premise, that if this thing is going to be put together and funded, that it really does some kind of work bipartisanly, which would be really strange in thousand -- in this house, but the idea of really having another committee to try to get different results from all of the other committees and all of the other hearings.

our amendment makes membership on the committee equally divided between republicans and democrats. we know already that's not going to happen. guarantees that minorities sign off on subpoenas and depositions, no such luck. guarantees equal distribution of money, staffing, other resources, requires the committee to establish written rules. that would be a good one. specifically including the rules concerning how documents and other information may be obtained, used or released, guarantees equal access to evidence and materials of the committee and perhaps can identify witnesses who are going to be coming before the committee. provides for transparency and the committee's expenditures and budgeting, ensuring that a quorum for taking testimony or receiving evidence includes at least one minority member. and finally ensures that the majority has a say in decisions about extended questioning and staff questioning of witnesses.

mr. speaker, it's shameful what is happening here today. future -- not just persons right now, but i believe that future historians looking at the setup of this committee will be appalled as all the rest of us are on our side. that to make use politically and financially of the tragedy of the loss of four great americans is beneath contempt. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, the rules committee is the committee that meets upstairs. we decide what legislation will come to the floor. in this case, the house rules committee has original jurisdiction over this bill. but the rules committee is made up of specialists, of experts, across this congress, not only on the republican and democrat side, but people who represent

people back home who hear from and want to know about the effects that congress does and about the daily impact. one of those members comes with vast and -- with vast experience and comes to us as former chairman of the foreign affairs committee. she is a person who is well respected and thoughtful. more importantly, she was on duty as the chairwoman at the time that benghazi occurred and we're delighted that she's on the rules committee. she's brought incredible, not only integrity, but insight into this matter and i would like to yield four minutes at this time to the gentlewoman from miami, florida. the speaker pro tempore: the distinguished jo from miami is recognized for -- jebtlewoman from miami is recognized for -- gentlewoman from miami is recognized for four minutes. ms. ros-lehtinen: i thank the speaker and i thank mr. sessions for his leadership on every issue, but most especially as he spearheaded

the creation of this select committee on benghazi, to examine what happened, what led to this attack, and what has happened since. thank you for your leadership, chairman sessions. and, mr. speaker, i stand here to fully support this measure. but it really is unfortunate, it is sad, it is tragedy that it has come to this -- tragic that it has come to this. we shouldn't have to be here today debating the rule and later the underlying resolution on having to form a select committee to be able to get to the truth about what happened on that tragic day and night of september 11, 2012. but unfortunately our patience has been sorely tried. so here we are. the administration has, for nearly two years now, been stonewalling anything it can do to avoid letting the truth out about that tragic terrorist attack in our consulate in benghazi in libya. as chairman of the foreign

affairs committee at the time of the attack, as chairman sessions has pointed out, i know perhaps as well as any of our colleagues just how much the administration has been trying to protect this false narrative and president obama, the narrative that libya was a political success. repeated requests for more protection were ignored. when the accountability review report was released, i plan on convening a hearing to examine the assessment and the recommendations, but in true stalling fashion, the state department did not release the report to us until about 8:30 p.m., just a few hours before our hearing was set to begin. then of course there was a new song and dance every time we tried to secure a date for secretary clinton to come before our house foreign affairs committee to testify. we would take even any

administration official for that matter. it took three months for the administration to provide us with witnesses and it did not provide secretary clinton to our committee until the following year. this is not the moves, mr. speaker, of an administration that has planned on being the most transparent in history. in fact, this administration has been anything but transparent, as we have seen with the emails having been the latest revelation in a never-ending attempt to avoid telling the american public the full truth about what happened. what was the lead-up to that terrorist attack, what happened during those many hours of that fire fight and what happened to all of those documents afterward? and that is why, mr. speaker, we need this select committee. to get the truth out there for the american public. so that we can have an open and

honest debate about what happened on that fateful day and to ensure that we can do everything in our power to prevent another terrorist attack like this from happening in the future. and let's remember these names, mr. speaker. and i thank the chairman for his time. ambassador chris stevens, information officer sean smith, former navy seal tyrone woods, and glen doherty. these are names that the american people need to remember each and every day. and, mr. chairman, some folks have mentioned the fundraising aspect of this benghazi investigation. that's rather sad and pathetic to bring that up. but it's interesting that i'm reading this article in a newspaper and it's talking about -- mr. sessions: i yield the gentlewoman two additional minutes. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you so much.

i apologize for running out of time. but it's interesting that this says that the democrats are -- g.o.p. off fundraising off benghazi. it's an interesting article. i hope our colleagues will look at it. it's an article and it says, contribute now, democrats, 2014. i'm not pointing fingers and calling names, but if we're going to get blamed for something, i think that there's enough blame to go around. to sensationalize this, to fundraise off it, this is something that that -- something some groups are trying to do. but i believe that that's like the pot calling the kettle black. but, mr. chairman, thank you for your respected leadership on this issue. the american people deserve to know the truth. we must not keep promoting a false narrative. libya was not a political success. this day to s to

be a tinderbox waiting to to slowed -- waiting to explode. terrorist groups all over the place. let's not ignore the facts on the ground. let's get to the truth about what happened in benghazi and having this select committee is a way to get to the truth. pure and simple. no politics. thank you, mr. chairman, for the time and i thank the speaker as well. mr. sessions: rereserve -- we reserve our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from virginia, the ranking member of the oversight and government reform committee on government operations, mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the distinguished gentleman from virginia is recognized for three minutes. mr. connolly: i thank the chairman and i thank my dear friend, the former chairwoman of the rules committee, ms. slaughter from new york. i rise in strong opposition to the rule and the underlying resolution, 567. the majority's obsession with keeping benghazi conspiracy theories front and center through the midterm elections, despite the fact that

republicans have held 10 congressional hearings already, nine classified member briefings, 16 intelligent committee oversight events on the benghazi attack, despite this 35 congressional proceedings here in the house alone on benghazi, the most astonishing information to emerge has been the striking level of disinterest exhibited by certain members of the majority with respect to posing substantive questions that actually might inform efforts to enhance the security of american personnel abroad. in fact, the independent accountability review board of admiral mullin and ambassador pickering, two of the most respected civil certificate vapts in our lifetimes -- servants of our lifetimes, as well as the report of the republican majority-controlled house armed services committee, have thoroughly vetted and debunked the outrageous and irresponsible benghazi conspiracy theories that may make for good republican

fundraising, but disgracefully slander the service and dedication of public servants in the military and diplomatic corps. in a "u.s.a. today" op ed published yesterday, my friend, mr. gowdy from south carolina, asked, quote, was our military response during the siege sufficient? to save us all the time and resources that the speaker now plans to spend apparently on his proposed partisan show panel, respectfully i'd recommend that my colleagues pose that very question to the esteemed republican chairman of the house armed services committee, who stated last week, and i quote, the armed services committee has interviewed more than a dozen witnesses in the operational chain of command. yielding thousands of pages of transcripts, emails and other documents. we have no evidence that the department of state officials delayed the decision to deploy those resources available to the d.o.d. to respond.

with their one-sided partisan select committee, we will not further an investigation, we won't get at the truth my friend, ms. ros-lehtinen from florida, talked about. we will reveal nothing new. rather, we will do our great nation a grave disservice, in continuing to perpetuate myths and conspiracies that cloud a simple, painful truth. the attack on benghazi was a tragedy perpetrated by jihadist terrorists, not by foreign diplomats, not by u.s. diplomats. there was no coverup, there was no soft peddling of this act of terror, not by the president, not by the secretary of state, not by the secretary of defense, nor our intelligence community. and to suggest otherwise is a great slander. i ask for additional time. ms. slaughter: i yield an additional minute to the gentleman. mr. connolly: instead, republicans on the oversight committee remain obsessed with recycling tired and worn

talking points in a cynical attempt to fire up the g.o.p. base before the midterm elections this november. unfortunately, the regression demagoguery has real-world consequences, mr. speaker. our country's diplomatic corps cannot operate effectively if we lock them in fortresses and prevent them from engaging with foreign nations because it might be a risk. the reality is that triking -- striking the right balance between necessary security and effective diplomacy is an inner herently complex and daunt -- inherently complex and daunting challenge for our foreign service every day and everywhere. as ambassador pickering and admiral mullin accurately stated in their review report, no diplomatic presence is without risk. and the total elimination of risk is a nonstarter for u.s. diplomacy. in closing, i would ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, why do they not trust the judgment of this chamber's foremost military expert, the chairman of the

armed services committee, who pronounced himself satisfied that where the troops were, how quickly all things happened and how quickly it dissipated -- i'd ask 20 more seconds. ms. slaughter: i yield another minute to the gentleman. mr. connolly: i thank the distinguished former chairman. we probably couldn't have done more than we did. those are the words of our colleague from california, the chairman of the armed services committee. i ask all members to defeat this partisan ploy that is not worthy of this house and i yield back my time to the distinguished lady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield five minutes to the gentleman rom lewisville, texas, dr. burgess. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. mr. burgess: i thank the speaker for the recognition. i thank the chairman of the

committee for yielding me time and certainly thank him for his confidence in me in being on the rules committee this past year and a half. mr. speaker, it's now nearly two years, and administration that ran on the concept of transparency but now functions only in opacity, we heard from the administration on september 12, 2012. we will not waiver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act, and make no mistake, justice will be done, closed quote. it seems strange now, almost two years later, to think on those words. that seemed like a sincere promise. the american people believed that promise that was made just days after the attack. but if then we could have known that 19 months later the president's press secretary would stand before the white house press corps and laugh about the event. call it a conspiracy theory, i

don't think we would have believed us if they would have told us what the future held. here we have a tragic event against our ambassador, against american citizens and the darn thing's nearly become a cold case because the refusal of the white house to prioritize anything related to the investigation except for their own bizarre political spin about what happened. mr. speaker, we have been forced to look into the anguish faces of the victims' families and tell them that we have not been able to find the answers for them about the attack, the attack that killed their sons. and we have an entire caucus that has threatened to boycott an investigation that they have simply dismissed as political excess. it's not political excess to those families, mr. speaker. in turn, we have as a congress must do everything in our power to do what the president said, what the president stated back

in 2012, to ensure that justice is done for this terrible act. the only way to establish that -- deliver that justice is to establish the select committee. this is another step on what has become a very long process. i urge my colleagues to support the rule, support the underlying bill. i yield back to the chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for three minutes. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the distinguished gentlelady, ranking member on the rules committee and my friend, the distinguished gentleman from texas, for the hard work that the rules committee engages in. and i think the first comment that i'd like to make is what we have been making, ms. slaughter, throughout this process is that our deep and abiding sympathy for the americans who lost their lives

in the name and in the duty to this country. i don't think there is a divide on that issue. and i would take a different perspective from a cold case. this is a hot and ongoing case that has been investigated and has evidenced individuals who i would believe that in any other instance my friends on the other side of the aisle would hold to the integrity of their representation. 100 years of military experience testified on the question of benghazi i believe in the armed services committee. we have heard over and over from those in the state department. we have had conclusions on the question of cover-up, and we've seen nothing pointed to the administration to do so. but i think the issue today is a question of fairness. that's what democrats have always stood for, and i've watched my leaders, through the endless investigations started from waco and the impeachment

process and i can almost say, maybe i should even say i come from a district where the honorable barbara jordan served. she was on the watergate committee and the impeachment process as a member of the judiciary committee. i remember her posture on that committee, and holding up the constitution as a texan, as a democrat, we admired that. and that is the premise upon which i believe we should be looking at this process. and so as i read this resolution, i am troubled, mr. speaker, because if we are going to do fairness and if we are going to reach a level of ethical respect, then there is a concern. we need an amendment, because this follows the rules of the house which means that the chairman is solely given and ceded the authority. that means he or she could of a subpoena power. that does not rise to the level of fairness.

now, someone refuted our leadership's request for a bipartisan even numbered committee and cited that the only committee that is even numbered is the ethics committee and they are right, mr. speaker. we want this to be an ethical, fair, constitutionally grounded investigation report because the committee is unending. it will end only 30 days after the completion of its work. therefore, it is -- it can go on and on and on but the question is whether the american people see fairness. may i have just 20 seconds? ms. slaughter: let me yield the gentlelady another minute. ms. jackson lee: what we want them to see, if we truly honor those dead americans that died in the line of battle and duty, then we need the kind of face to the american people that

balances the subpoena power so that we all, meaning republicans and democrats who are on that committee if that ommittee is finalized, can responsibly question witnesses and the issue will not be the committee in its process but it will be the fairness, it will be the constitution, it will be the dignity and honor we give to those who have fallen. so i ask my friends on the other side of the aisle, we can waive the point of order, amend this on the floor of the house to give a balance to this committee, to add the balance that our leadership has asked for, the fairness that our leadership is asking for, give the subpoena power in a balanced manner, pay tribute to those who have honored this nation by being willing to stand in the line and the eye of fire. i conclude simply by indicating, we are the people of this nation, respond to our concerns and i'd ask my colleagues to reject this rule and the underlyle bill. i yield back.

-- underlying bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, i yield myself 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, members of congress who attend hearings and heard the testimony yesterday should not mislead the american people by their statements on the floor, as the gentlewoman from texas did. i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from colorado, a member on the committee on rules, mr. polis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized for two minutes. mr. polis: thank you. my good friend from texas, ms. jackson lee, just talked about how we had proposed that this be a balanced committee, like the ethics committee. that was done with regard to another special committee. in fact, the bill was sponsored by current speaker, then minority leader john boehner in the 110th congress, set up a special committee that had an equal balance to remove any

tainted policies from the proceedings. that would be a welcomed change but, again, that was not allowed to be discussed under this rule. another language of concern in the underlying bill which we tried to address in the rules committee but unfortunately were voted down is that bill allows for such funds that are needed to be appropriated for this purpose. we were not even presented for any cost estimates for this committee. on the committee it was noted that kenneth starr's investigation of president clinton cost in excess of $80 million. we don't know if this is a $1 million, $10 million, $50 million, $200 million endeavor. nor were we allowed to even allow for a vote our very simple bipartisan proposal to pay for this bill which would have been to allow a vote on h.r. 15. now, h.r. 15, which is a bill that has bipartisan support, has already passed the senate by more than 2/3, would pass for a pay-for on the floor of the house, actually generates

over $00 billion. so even if this select committee were to spend hundreds of millions of dollars if we were able to include immigration reform as a way of paying for it, it would still reduce the deficit by $199 billion or more. now, we weren't even allowed an up or down vote on that topic. in the spirit of bipartisanship, i offered to support the establishment of the select committee if we could establish immigration reform as the way of paying for this, but unfortunately despite support from both sides of the aisle in committee, we were nevertheless voted down. i want to be clear that the issue of immigration reform will not go away. we will continue to offer it as a way of paying for various bills, and i hope the discussion is allowed about how to pay for this committee and that's why i oppose the rule and i yield back the balance of my time. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i yield four

minutes to the gentleman from new york, mr. engel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for four minutes. mr. engel: i thank my friend from new york for giving me this time, and i rise in strong opposition to both the rule and the bill. it's really a political charade and this pointless attempt to find a scannedle which simply doesn't exist. what happened in benghazi in september, 2012, was a tragedy. the loss of those four americans broke our hearts and it reminded us that diplomacy can be dangerous work and that we need to do all we can to protect those who represent our country around the world. what have we seen from certain members of the majority since that day, partisan games and this select committee would be nothing more than the next chapter in this political farce just in time for the mid term elections and with 2016 peeking over the horizon. what exactly are my colleagues after? after the attack in benghazi we all wanted answers. what happened that night that led to the deaths of chris, sean, tyrone and glen?

who was responsible? what could we do to make sure something like this wouldn't happen again? well, an accountability review board led by ambassador thomas pickering and admiral michael mullen, two men with seriousness of purpose and no partisan agenda, helped answer those questions. they found serious management and leadership failures at the state department. bipartisan reports from the senate homeland and intelligence committee supported those findings. former secretary of state hillary rodham clinton sat before committees in both houses and took full responsibility. she and her successor, john kerry, have said over and over again that the state department is implementing all of the recommendations of the review board. that didn't satisfy some of my friends on the other side. they started moving the goal post and so began this long, costly exercise. they tried to tie secretary clinton to the failures that led to this tragedy. then they floated the idea that our military was told to stand down in the moment of greatest

need in benghazi. if in the republican chamber of the house armed services committee said that claim had no merit. since there is no wrongdoing to be found with respect to the actual attack, now we're focused on the talking points and the so-called cover-up. i ask again, what is it my colleagues are after? what is allegedly being covered up? at the time the attacks took place, american embassies from southeast asia to the middle east to north africa to england were surrounded by protestors. egypt our embassy was stormed. as the fires was burning, the c.i.a.'s assessment was that the attack was the result of a spontaneous protest. they were wrong. and in the days that followed they corrected that mistake, confirming the attack was a deliberate and organized terrorist attack carried out by extremists. in the days after the attack, these protests in the region were still raging. some of them were violent. in yemen additional marines were deployed to protect our personnel. the latest conspiracy theory,

the email sent at the time. in context it's clear that the deputy national security advisor was concerned about protecting americans amid volatile climate in our diplomatic facilities all over the world. those who want to create a scandal where none exist calls this a smoking gun. that's not much to go on. nevertheless, after a year of turning up nothing new, my colleagues want to create a new committee with sweeping powers, a broad mandate and no fixed timeline for producing any report. when i heard this terrible idea of correct creating this special committee i couldn't help but not think of iraq when not four but 4,000 died. no one set up the committee to find out the cover-up truths, iraqis would greet us with flowers. nothing. so i have to ask a final time -- what is it my colleagues on the other side are after? i think the answer is pretty clear. they're after a political win.

they want to tear down leaders in the democratic party and raise money for their campaign committees and they're willing to politicize the deaths of four americans to do it. our constituents aren't interested in this and want us to do our jobs, not waste millions of taxpayer dollars on the fabricated scandal. may i have 30 additional seconds? ms. slaughter: i yield the gentleman another 30 seconds. . mr. engel: let's do what they sent us here to do. let's work to create jobs and shore up our crumbling infrastructure. let's fix our immigration system and promote energy security. let's vote no on this resolution an get back to governing. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. mr. polis: i'd like to inquire if the gentleman has any speakers on his side? mr. sessions: i do not. mr. polis: i'm prepared to close. how much time remains?

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado controls eight minutes. mr. polis: very good. i yield myself the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from colorado will control the time. mr. polis: as we've seen time and time again, sadly the republicans are taking an unspeakable tragedy, the death of four brave american citizens, and turning it into a partisan talking point to the point of selling memberships to become benghazi investigators on a partisan website rather than engaging in a bipartisan process to get to the root of the matter. the families of those who died deserve more than that. they deserve that democrats and republicans work together rather than use their pain for political or financial gain for either party. mr. speaker, if we defeeve the -- defeat the previous question, i'll make an

amendment to the rule to make in order our amendment, to make sure that this select committee has a chance to succeed where four previous house investigations have not. to ensure that we have a full, accurate and objective accounting for the american people of the events in benghazi. by ensuring equal representation, equal resources and equal say over the uses of subpoenas and depositions, we can fulfill our obligations to our nation and to our institution to ensure that we get to the bottom of this matter for the american people. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. polis: mr. speaker, we and my colleagues on the rules committee have tried to make this process work. we tried to propose a bipartisan way of paying for these efforts. we tried to propose a balanced way for this committee to go about its business. but at every turn we were shot

down. and that's why i asked my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, who care about honoring those who lost their lives, who care about getting to the bottom of the events, join me in opposing this rule and defeating the previous question so that we may begin a process that has the confidence of the american people rather than just speaks to one partisan base or the other. the american people deserve this institution acting in its best -- at its best with regard to this matter. democrats and republicans acting in concert, both enjoying the hour of subpoena -- power of subpoena, the ability to schedule witnesses, equal the resources on the committee, so we can have a full objective -- full, objective and hopefully unanimous account of the events. that should be the goal of the legislation and under this rule we are not even allowed to discuss our proposals, to

ensure equal representation on this committee. we're not allowed to discuss our proposal to pay for the proceedings under this bill, with a bipartisan bill that passed the senate with more than 2/3. this is a closed process that frankly, mr. speaker, risks losing the faith of the american people in the outcome of this process. and i fear, mr. speaker, that whatever the outcome of this process, if it moves forward, will follow the -- fall on the deaf ears of the american people because they will know that there was not an institutional commitment to being objective, there was not an effort to reach out in a bipartisan manner to find the truth, there was not a bipartisan effort to even pay for the cost of this investigation or this bill or ine or estimate those costs --

contain or estimate those costs in any way. i strongly urge my colleagues to defeeve the previous question so we can get this process right. i urge my colleagues to vote no on the previous question, no on the rule and no on the underlying resolution. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, thank you very much. you know, there's an old saying that the closer to the target comes , the more flack up. and while that's probably a naval or an air force term, whereby pilots who are on their duty know when they're getting close to the real target. mr. speaker, we're getting closer to the real target. the facts of the case are really pretty simple. there's no gag order involved here. we spoke last night, yesterday in a very open -- oh, probably

several-hour meeting on original jurisdiction at the rules committee. i was very open with the members of the committee, i told them, which has not been expressed today, that the last day out of the 113th congress this investigation, if it is still going on, would have to be re-authorized by the next congress. it's not like there's a never-ending date. as a matter of fact, we say in the original jurisdiction that 30 days after the completion of their report, this committee, select committee, would go away. secondly, we spoke very openly about not having new money available but rather the money that was originally given to the house of representatives for the purposes of running the house. the speaker of the house would have to make sure that this committee operates within what

we'd originally asked for. they're not -- there are not unlimited amounts of money, and to suggest, as has been done on the floor, up to $200 million to run this investigation, that simply would not be truthful. mr. speaker, the closer to the target we have gotten, we have found that the obama administration is trying to do everything they can to keep the united states house of representatives and the committees from doing their job. to try and misdirect us, to try and trick us, to try and fool us, to try and redact information that did not fall under a national security title , but rather was to politically save them from what might be an embarrassment. what are some of those embarrassments? well, some of the

embarrassments would be, why didn't the state department understand on september 11 of any year why you probably do not conduct official operations , especially in a dangerous area? that might be one question. another question might be, who is it that said no? we heard there are serious department. state we already knew that. secretary of state has numerous -- former secretary of state has numerous of investigations that have revealed inadequacy all the way to the top of the hillary rtment, when clinton was secretary of state. but what we're about here is to get to the bottom of it, to effectively get this done, to report to the american people and they, mr. speaker, will see exactly why this was done. because the oversight responsibilities by the house

of representatives was done at the highest levels of this house. and by the way, we will read the bills before we pass them. we will understand the facts of the case and be able to explain them and, more importantly, the speaker of the house of representatives will be in support of the american people knowing the truth. mr. speaker, thank you for allowing the rules committee to bring forth its rule today, to -- about this important not just intelligence operation and national security and state department and military operations, but to be able to say that the confidence that the american people have and the brave men and women who represent america, that we will never leave them on the battlefield alone in hours of

fire fights without a backup position, of knowing that the next sound you hear will be the united states navy or the united states air force coming to aid the men and women who were in harm's way. and that is the bottom line to this. an apology, not just stating the mismanagement, based upon the facts of the case. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to vote yes on the resolution and yes on the underlying legislation. i believe what we are doing today is an honorable day for the american people and i am proud to be here as an american, as a member of congress saying, we will get to the bottom of this, it will be done quickly, and it will be done efficiently and the american people can then make their decisions and us move on knowing that we will support e men and women who wear the uniform. i thank the gentleman for his

time and we close. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman have a motion? mr. sessions: i'm sorry, i move the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. mr. polis: mr. speaker. on that i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed. the chair would inform the house that pursuant to house resolution 574, the speaker has certified to the united states attorney for the district of g. mbia the refusal of lois

lerner to provide testimony before the committee on oversight and government eform. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. by direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 576 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 107, house resolution 576, resolved, that at any time after the adoption of this resolution the speaker may, pursuant to clause 2-b of rule 18, declare the house resolved into the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of the bill, h.r. 10, to amend the charter school program under the elementary and secondary

education act of 1965. the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. general debate shall be to the bill and shall not exceed 90 minutes, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking my not not -- minority member of the committee on education and the work force. 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 pump of amendment under the five-minute rule -- purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule, the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended on the committee of education and the work force 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. no amendment to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in part a of 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 a proponent and opponent, shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the house or in the committee of the whole. all points of order against such amendments are waived. 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 ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion, except one motion to recommit with or without instrexes -- instructions. section 2, on any legislative days during the period from may 12, 2014, through may 16, 2014,

a, the journal of the proceedings of the previous day shall be considered as approved and, b, the chair may at any time declare the house adjourned to meet at a date and time within the limits of clause 4, section 5, article 1 of the constitution, to be announced by the chair and declaring the adjournment. section 3, the speaker may appoint members to perform the duties of the chair for the duration of the period addressed by section 2 of this resolution as though under clause -a of rule 1 -- 8-a of ule 1. section 4, it shall be in order at any time on the legislative day of may 8, 2014, for the speaker to entertain motions that the house suspend the rules, as though under clause 1 of rule 14, relating to the bill h.r. 4366, to strengthen the federal education research system to make research and evaluations more timely and relevant to state and local needs in order to increase student achievement.

section 5, the committee on appropriations may, at any time before 5:00 p.m. on thursday, may 15, 2014, file privileged reports to accompany measures making appropriations for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2015. section 6, during consideration of the bill h.r. 4438, to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to simplify and make permanent the research credit, pursuant to house resolution 569, the further amendment printed in part b of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution shall be considered as adopted. section 7, house resolution 569 is amended by striking "90 minutes" and inserting "one hour." the speaker pro tempore: the distinguished gentlewoman from north carolina is recognized for one-pin hour. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. for the purposes of debate only i yield 30 minutes to the

gentleman from colorado, mr. polis, pending which i yield myself such time as i may consume. during consideration of this rule, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks . the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: house resolution 576 provides for a structured rule providing for considerations of h.r. 10, the success and opportunity through quality charter schools act. mr. speaker, my colleagues on the house education, work force committee and i have been working to re-authorize the elementary and secondary education act, and to that end the house passed h.r. 5, the student success act, last july. our efforts in re authorization had four principles. reducing the federal footprint in education, empowering parents, supporting effective teachers and restoring local control. h.r. 10, the success in opportunity through quality charter schools act, takes a

small bipartisan step in the re-authorization process and ensures that local communities have the flexibility needed to meet the needs of their students. while h.r. 5 is languishing in the senate, the house remains committed to continuing its work and has broken out the charter school programs as an area of agreement between house republicans and democrats. despite good intentions, these widespread agreements that the current law is no longer effectively serving students, my hope is that after the house passes h.r. 10 this week, our senate colleagues will follow our lead and provide the same opportunity to their members to work together in a bipartisan, bicameral fashion and pass this legislation. mr. speaker, a few weeks ago i had the opportunity to go to a remarkable school in cartersville, north carolina. in preparing schools academically for college, the

charter school is pubicly committed to giving students, quote, the opportunity to develop true leadership qualities and become creative thinkers and problem solvers while retaining a sense of responsibility for their families, their community and their country, end quote. it was a privilege to spend time with the remarkable students and family at this charter school. i was proud of the academic progress on display. is in s 7 through 12 the military-styled uniformed customs ceremonies and drill in order to improve students' leadership skills. fitness and character, this program is working. ncla places a strong emphasis on family involvement and a level of commitment

demonstrated by families and the piedmont community was impressive. h.r. 10 will empower states and local communities to replicate are the success of high-quality charter schools like ncla and encourage choice, innovation and excellence in education. i urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying bill, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from north carolina reserves. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady from north carolina for yielding me the 30 customary minutes and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: now, mr. speaker, we had are the opportunity to have a clean rule around a bill that i had the opportunity to work on, along with the gentlelady from north carolina and as well as our ranking member and chair with regards to taking what we can agree on in education, which is re-authorizing the

federal charter schools program. we had similar language in both the republican esea re-authorization as well as the democratic substitute. most republicans voted for the version that they had. almost every democratic except for two voted for the democratic version. we were able to then work out the very small differences between the two pieces of language with regard to charter schools, present it before the entire house under a reasonable rule that allows for a broad variety of amendments, 12 amendments, from both sides of the aisle, many of which improve the bill, some of which i oppose but by no means fatal to the bill. but the process fundamentally works. unfortunately, in this rule we have now had to alter the way that we are dealing with another unrelated, unpaid for effort, namely a bill that could add $155.5 billion to our

deficit because of the extension of the r&d tax credit. essentially, under the initial effort, the republicans failed to waive their statutory pay-go rules. what that means is they failed to say we don't have to pay for this bill. they failed to say this bill will add to the deficit. in a few moments, my colleague, mr. van hollen, will explain what that means. what the american people need to know is that this rule prevents congress from doing fake math and essentially acknowledges that the republican proposal to extend the r&d tax credit would be a deficit-buster and increase our deficit by $155.5 billion. it takes away any pretension that somehow this bill would be paid for by some other mechanism. so while the amendments allowed and the content of the bill with regard to charter schools, which i'll talk about in a moment, are largely noncontroversial and enjoys support from both sides of the aisle, the budgetary pretense

that is removed from this bill, which reveals that the republican proposal and r&d tax credit increases our deficit by $150 billion is a controversial element and now occurs in this same rule. i now want to talk about the success and opportunity through quality charter schools act. this important bipartisan bill improves and modernizes the federal charter school program. we essentially establish the 2.0 version 14 years later, having learned a lot about what works and doesn't work in the field with regard to public charter schools. we promote equity and opportunity for students across our country. i am very pleased and honored that many of the important aspects of the bipartisan bill that i've had the honor to lead the all-star act have been included in this underlying bill as well as almost all of the priorities for the democrats and republicans. when congress first authorized the charter school program in 1994, charter schools were very

early in their existence. they were an emerging effort to encourage innovation in our public schools. public charter schools, with the ability to make site-based decisions and that's what charter schools are, they are schools with site-based decisions, now serve more than two million students in 42 states and the district of columbia. but sadly there are over 600,000 students that remain on public charter school wrating lists unable to attend the schools of their choice. the promise of public charter schools is they're free to be innovative when it comes to instructions, scheduling, time on task, policies, mission, hours. because they have site-based management rather than being run by a larger entity like a district or a state, they have the flexibility to do what it takes to meet the needs of parents in their community. public charter schools don't charge tuition nor do they have any entrance requirements nor are they allowed to

discriminate on any basis. this bill ensures transparency and accountability for charter chools to relay the concerns on some. the charter school program is a crucial lifeline for growing and replicating successful models. charter school programs are critical to ensure that every child in this country, regardless of zip code, regardless of economic background has access to a free, quality education which is more important than ever to succeed in the 21st century. i'm proud to say that h.r. 10, which will be considered under this rule, passed the committee on education and work force with a very strong bipartisan vote of 36-3. this is an example of a bill that has gotten better every step of the way. a similar bill in the 112th congress passed overwhelmingly with over 350 votes. better language with regard to charter schools was included in both the republican version of

esea re-authorization as well as the democratic substitute, and now we have a stand-alone bill before us which takes the very best of both the bill that was in the republican version and the democratic version, builds on it and creates a federal charter school program that truly democrats and republicans can be proud of as a legacy for the next decade. as having founded two innovative public charter schools before i was elected to congress, i understand firsthand how the freedom to innovate and the flexibility to pursue unique mission can truly help serve all kids. without the federal charter school program, many charter schools across our country wouldn't even be able to get off the ground. we owe it to kids being underserved or unserved today to be able to upgrade this program and ensure it can meet the challenges of the 21st century. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentlewoman from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to take the opportunity

to thank my colleague from colorado for the work that he and one on charter schools for understanding the very important nature of charter schools and bringing his expertise to this issue. i also want to thank him for acknowledging the bipartisan effort that has gone into bringing this legislation to the floor and the very good way that we have gone through regular order to bring this bill to the floor, and i appreciate that little history that he's given us. i now would like to yield two minutes to my classmate and colleague from the state of washington, mr. reichert. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from washington is recognized for two minutes. mr. reichert: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. mr. speaker, i support charter schools. i want to be clear about that. and i support this bill. however, i also believe that families should be able to

choose schools within the public system that best meet their needs. when it comes to students' education, we definitely know that one size does not fit all. the same is true for charter schools. different systems work better for different communities. we agree that it's wrong when the administration forces its vision for education reform on the states through grant programs like race to the top. but that means it's equally wrong for congress and when congress uses grant programs to do exactly the same thing. this bill seeks to force states to remove existing caps on charter schools by giving iority to grant applications from states that do not have caps, and by doing this congress is punishing 20 states and washington, d.c., whose charter laws have caps. including my home state of washington. so there may be legitimate

reasons these states have caps, but this bill doesn't recognize that. charter schools for the sake of having charter schools definitely is not the answer. it won't help students. that's why i'm extremely disappointed that my bipartisan amendment was not made in order. removed ave simply the provision that punishing certain state designed charter systems, allowing states to compete equally with grants. as the voice of the people, congress should do better than the unelected bureaucrats down the street at the education department. let's start saying no to topdown education reform and yet to states' rights. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm proud to yield four minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the distinguished ranking member of the committee on the budget, mr. van hollen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for four minutes. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my colleague. i want to start by

congratulating the bipartisan effort on the charter school bills and thank mr. polis for his leadership on that. i wish that was all there was to say about this rule. unfortunately it's not. you might think this rule was only about commarter schools. the title is -- charter schools. the title is success and opportunity through quality charter schools act. but then if you turn a couple pages in, you'll find in paragraph 13, a reference to h.r. 4438. that's not the charter school bill. that's what we call the research and development tax credit bill. so why is it here in this rule on charter schools and why does it reference part b of the rule in front of us now which says that the budgetary effects of entered shall not be on either the pay-go scorecard, and it goes on to say some other things. well, the pay-go scorecard has nothing to do with charter schools.

it has something to do with the r&d tax credit. i want to explain to people here what happened here because it's important that the public know. last night we were scheduled to have a debate on a bill to extend the r&d tax credit law. . we were already to go and all of a sudden the debate stopped and the plug was pulled. so i got to say a second about this research and development tax credit. i think it's broadly supported the idea of extending the r&d tax credit bill. that's not the issue on the tax credit bill. the issue is a permanent extension that's not paid for. and there are a number of other bills coming out of the ways and means committee when you add them all up they had $310 billion to our deficit. unpaid for. put it on our credit card. it's kind of interesting, mr. speaker, because it was only about three or four weeks ago that here on the floor of this house we had a debate on the republican budget and they told us the number one priority was

to reduce that deficit. yet now we have a bunch of bills that say let's put it on the credit card. mr. speaker, you know that the end of the day we all have to pay when we put it on our credit card. we pointed out that if you don't pay for it by closing some other special interest tax breaks, like tax breaks for big oil companies, someone else is going to have to pay. now, what we didn't realize is that the republican plan as of last night was to pay for the r&d tax credit extension by cutting medicare. by cutting medicare, mr. speaker, because their failure to come up with offsets if the bill meant that current law would continue to effect. ow, in the past we have turned off that trigger, the trigger that says it's paid for by a sequester to a number of programs, the biggest being medicare. but our republican colleagues

didn't turn it off. so when they decided not to pay for the r&d tax credit in the bill, and decided not to turn off the sequester, what they were aiming for was to have medicare pay for that tax extender. to ask the people who depend on that program to put the bill for the r&d tax credit. well, mr. speaker, we blew thes whistle on that issue last night . we saw our cleags go scampering back to the budget committee to -- colleagues go scampering back to the budget committee to change it -- to the rules committee to change it. we talked later today but the bottom line is the same. when you put stuff on the credit card, someone pays the piper at the end of the day. for in roposed paid part by closing some of the wasteful special interest tax

loopholes in the code. we think the r&d tax credit is a pro-growth policy. but subsidies to big oil companies, no. so because our republican colleagues don't want to pay for it in the bill they are going to increase the deficit. if fact, the rule yesterday, it waived the rules of the house because the r&d tax credit bill was inconsistent with the republicans' own budget. the budget that was passed three or four weeks ago. it's inconsistent with it. end running it throes it out of the balance. you are putting it on the credit card. at the end of the day that means if you're not going to ask medicare to pay for it, which apparently had been the original plan, you're going to be cutting our kids' education, you're going to be cutting research at places like the national institutes of health to try and find cures and treatments for diseases, you're going to be letting the infrastructure of this country come to a halt. in fact, the budget calls for

allowing the transportation trust fund to go insolvent. but that's what happens when you refuse to take fiscal responsibility and pay for things. and it was interesting to discover that the plan last night was to allow the medicare cut to go into effect to pay for it. we are glad we are not doing that any more. if i could have 30 more seconds. we are glad after we called attention to that issue the republican colleagues realized it was not a good idea. to have an across-the-board cut to medicare to pay for business tax consecutives. we are glad they woke up to that fact. but the underlying point here will remain the same. putting $310 billion on the credit card, someone's got to pay. we should take responsibility in this house to figure out how we are going to do it. we put forward proposals as to how to do it. unfortunately despite having passed a budget a couple weeks

ago, they are now waiving their rules on their own budget for these purposes. thank you, mr. speaker. look forward to the conversation later today. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, yesterday our democrat colleagues in the rules committee properly noticed that the r&d bill would have inadvertently triggered automatic cuts to other programs to offset the bill and we appreciate the spirit of comity that existed and brought that to our attention. h.res. 576 ensures that the bill intendedthe way it was to operate. it was an inadvertent error. excluding this bill from the pay-go scorecard will ensure other programs are not affected which is consistent with the treatment of other tax bills. and i'd like to point out to our

colleagues on the other side of the aisle that the pay-go mendment made by h.res. 576 is substantially identical to section 401 of senator wyden's extenders bill, s. 2260, the expire act. however, they have failed to point that out. statutory pay-go was created by the democrats when they controlled congress. statutory pay-go maintains a running tally of the cumulative deficit impact for bills signed into law. if the threshold is exceeded, a sequester is triggered to offset the excess. when republicans took control of the house, we adopted a new rule known as cut-go, which requires be any new direct spending offset by cuts to other direct spending programs. we should reduce spending and reform our entitlement programs,

mr. speaker. house republicans have shown we are willing to do so and we earnestly desire a partner in the senate and the white house to do just that. but we should also grow our economy. this bill will help us do just that and we hope we'll find partners on the other side of the aisle. again i want to say that the pay-go amendment made by h.res. 576 is substantially identical to section 401 of senator wyden's extender bill, s. 2260, the expire act. my guess is that my colleagues will be supporting that. i now would like to turn our attention back to the subject at hand, charter schools, and yield two minutes to my distinguished colleague from north carolina. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized. mr. holden: i thank the distinguished gentlelady from my home state for yielding me time. mr. speaker, i rise to join my colleagues in supporting this

rule to bring h.r. 10, the success an opportunity through quality charter schools act, to the floor. mr. holding: education is a key that can open the door to opportunity, which is important to families across america and especially those in my district in north carolina. mr. speaker, we know that a one-size-fits-all approach to education simply never works for students. students vary -- they vary greatly in how they learn. because of this i believe we should offer students and their parents every possible opportunity to select a school that best fits their individual needs, their goals, and their aspirations. mr. speaker, neither a student's zip code nor circumstances should determine the educational opportunities available to them. in my district, the 13th district, we have six charter schools, and they are serving the local communities in addition to our quality public schools in north carolina.

while expanding the use of charter schools is not the only answer to education crisis facing our nation, is without a doubt the step in the right direction. the rule before us today to bring h.r. 10 up for a debate and vote does just that by parents more choice to and students through the expanded use of charter schools. the success and opportunity through quality charter schools act will facilitate the establishment of quality charter schools and support innovation and excellence in education. it also makes necessary improvements to charter school programs to encourage states and those efforts already under way to expand the use of charter schools. so i want to thank chairman kline and the committee for their hard work and urge support for the rule and h.r. 10. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: thank you. i'm proud to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee.

the speaker pro tempore: ms. jackson lee is recognized for two minutes. without objection. ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, i'm very pleased to come and join an aspect of our bipartisan work, working for children, to thank the education committee and mr. polis for their leadership on focusing on the idea that our children need the best education. and i also know mr. polis' heart or i know the heart of the education committee members recognizing that public schools are a valuable asset having beened kated throughout my primary and secondary education in public schools. so we want to have the opportunity to match excellence with excellence or to ensure that the oversight allows for

excellence. so h.r. 10, the success and opportunity through quality charter schools act, brings all of this together. respecting teachers. holding children to a higher standard. giving them those tools. i'm glad that i had an amendment that will be in the manager's amendment that deals with requiring the secretary, requiring the reporting of issues regarding the age, race, and gender at charter schools and the attrition and also college acceptance and having that same requirement for the teachers and teacher attrition. that's important. that's already in the manager's amendment. i also think more transparency and information to the parents around the websites, enrollment, criteria, discipline and behavior codes adds to this legislation. and in that we can ensure that there will be policies to prevent any bullying or have bullying intervention so that our children can have a better

quality of life. this is a holistic approach to educating our children. i believe the underlying bill speaks volumes that our children are our most precious resource. i hope that as we continue we'll be able to work on other items such as unemployment insurance, comprehensive immigration reform because these are ways we show america we are working for them. when we put forward legislation that focuses on the education of our children -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady has yielded an additional 30 seconds. ms. jackson lee: when we put forward legislation that focuses on the education of our children and the choice that our children can make, balanced alongside of ensuring the lifting of the boats of public education, we are in the right direction. i'm delighted to support this legislation and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. as my colleague from north carolina pointed out, support for school choice is growing.

a 2013 public opinion survey found that 73% of americans supported school choice. whereas 67% of americans supported school choice in 2010. 4 states and the district of columbia have passed legislation to support the funding of public charter schools. they are becoming more popular. in the 2012-2013 academic year, more than 500 new charter schools opened across the country, which means there are now 6,200 charter schools in america, and two million charter school students. if recent growth continues, they will double in number by 2025, and will educate 4.6 million children. that amounts to 10% of all public school students. another sign of their popularity is that charter schools have over one million students on their wait list. h.r. 10 modernizes and streamlines the current charter school program authorized under

the elementary and secondary education act to ensure that states can support the replication and expansion of high quality charter schools. these schools empower parents to play a more active role in their child's education, open doors for teachers to pioneer fresh teaching methods, encourage state and local innovation, and help students escape underperforming schools. . h.r. 10 streamlines multiple charter school programs, improving quality and promoting the growth of the charter school sector at the state level. this bill benefits children, their parents and ultimately our economy. by increek creasting the number of high-quality -- increasing e number of high-quality charter school, more schools will be able to compete in a globally competitive economy. we owe it to provide them with the best education possible and that's what this bill was designed to do. for these reasons i urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying bill and i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. mr. polis, you have 17 minutes, you're recognized. mr. polis: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. polis: how exciting that in a week here of partisan division with regard to benghazi, with regard to lois lerner, with regard to a deficit-busting $155 billion tax expenditure, how exciting that democrats and republicans can come together around something that is so important for the next generation of american children, that is making sure that our limited investment in public charter schools has the maximum positive impact on student achievement across our country. a 2013 study conducted by the stanford research of educational outcomes found that public charter schools often outperform their peers in public schools and many have a

substantial progress in closing the achievement gap. they were impressive for low-income students. the study found that low-income students gained 14 additional days of learning and reading and math compared to other peers. and what's clear, however, is just how public charter schools with site-based management have the ability to innovate and succeed. they also have the ability to fail and do poorly. not all charter schools are serving students well. not all charter schools meet their goal of serving at-risk students. that's why this bill improves transparency and accountability for public charter school sector as a whole as well as for authorizers, that's the entity, usually the school district, sometimes a state or special entity, that grants the charter, which is another word for contract, to the provider of educational services at the site-based level. mr. speaker, all public schools, regardless of their structure, whether they're

public magnet schools, whether they're neighborhood schools, whether they're public charter schools, whether they are a school of choice operated by a school district, every public school should live up to the promise of providing a quality education. every children should have access to a quality education that allows them to succeed in the work force, in college and in life. in this era of constrained public resources, we need to maximize the impact of every dollar spent by making sure that what we invest in works and that's exactly what this bill does. it allows for investment in had improving models to expand and replicate success to serve more kids, plane of whom are already on waiting lists and forced to attend a school that is worse than the one that they seek to attend. this bill will help alleviate those waiting lists. it's important to focus our

resources and double down on public charter schools that get great results and ensure we don't squander our limited resources on public charter schools to fail -- that fail to meet the needs of their stuents. we want to make sure that -- needs of their students. we want to make sure that they have a strong evidence of student achievement and strong management capacity are able to replicate and expand. that's why under this bill we create incentives for schools to achieve and replicate excellence by awarding grants directly to some of the highest performing public charter schools in our country, that are helping to allow more and more kids from at-risk backgrounds achieve the american dream. this particular program, which was an important part of the bipartisan all-star act, helps to cede the growth of high-performing public charter states that might otherwise not meet the criteria. the gentleman from washington state mentioned that his state and some others have a cap. well, very importantly, even where a district or state

policy environment is not ideal and therefore they might not be a priority for receiving grants that they administer, nevertheless charter schools serving kids in those areas can receive grants because of the networks of charter schools that are high performing in states that might not have policies that are as open to charters as they should be. mr. speaker, what democrats and republicans coming together shows the country, shows the public charter school movement, shows the school districts that a multistakeholder approach can work for our country. i want to thank the many individuals who provided input on this important bill, ranging from school districts to states to teachers unions to charter school board members to families who are in charter schools and families who languish on waiting lists wanting their child to attend a better school.

the result of this multiyear process is a bill that reflects the very best policies to upgrade the existing charter school authorization program, improve transparency and accountability for public charter schools, ensure that our limited federal resources are invested in schools that work and ensure that more kids, regardless of their geography, economic background can attend the school that prepares them to succeed in life. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. unfortunately, mr. speaker, over the last four decades, the federal government's role in elementary and secondary education has increased dramatically. the department of education currently runs more than 80 k-12 education programs, many of which overlap. as a school board member, i saw how the vast reporting

requirements for these federal programs tie the hands of state and local school leaders and prevent them from making the best education available to heir students. since 1965, federal education funding has tripled, yet student achievement remains flat. more money is clearly not going to solve the challenges we face in education. unfortunately, the obama administration has refused to work with congress to address these challenges and has instead taken unprecedented action to further expand its authority over america's schools. through the president's waiver scheme and pet programs such as race to the top, the secretary of education has granted himself complete discretion to use taxpayer dollars to coerce states into enacting the president's preferred education reforms. adding insult to jury, president obama continues to push for more federal education spending, requesting a taggering $82.3 billion in

mandatory and discretionary funds for the department of education in his fiscal year 2015 budget. our children deserve better, mr. speaker. it is past time to acknowledge more taxpayer dollars and more federal intrusion cannot address the challenges facing schools. h.r. 10 recognizes that local communities know their needs better than any bureaucrat in washington and supports the sharing of best practices among charter schools and traditional public schools. our students do better when educators work together to put in place the best strategies to help students learn. additionally, h.r. 10 specifically encourages charter schools to reach out to at-risk students in their communities as well as those who have disabilities or are english learners. again, the local officials know best how to serve their communities and the federal

government should not tie their hands as they work to make the best decisions for their students. i urge my colleagues, therefore, mr. speaker, to support this rule and the underlying bill, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from colorado is recognized. mr. polis: i yield myself -- i'd like to inquire if the gentlelady has further speakers? ms. foxx: we don't have further speakers, mr. speaker, but i do intend to share some additional information on this bill and the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves her time. mr. polis: i'm prepared to close. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i want to talk a little bit about some of my experiences in the charter school movement before joining this body. i had the opportunity to find a public charter school, new america school. now which has five campuses in colorado and new mexico. and i also had the opportunity

to co-found academy of urban learning in denver, colorado. new america school seeks to meet the needs of english language learning students who are a little bit older, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and far too often didn't have a place in the traditional public school system. many of these students might work a day job, might work a night job. the only school for some is night schools. that's why they have flexible scheduling, allowing students to attend day or night, depending on their real world circumstances. in addition, many of the young women attending the school have young children of their own, and that's a real-life need that absence some kind of daycare reimbursement or daycare, many of them would not be able to attend. new america school offers daycare reimbursement, in some cases daycare, so these young women could attend school and gain a high school diploma. the focus of new america school

will help ensure students can learn to be fluent and literate in the english language which is so important to be able to succeed in today's economy. as a result of this innovative approach and the foe counsels meeting student needs, thousands of students have enrolled in the various campuses of the new america school. i was proud to not only found them but serve as superintendent for two years. i can honestly say that absent this federal program, the title 5 grants, we would probably not have been able to get new america school off the ground. like so many charter schools across the country, until the doors open and in that first year or two when you're just beginning to add students, it's absolutely critical to be able to have this investment to open the doors. over the medium and long term, the schools need to stand or fall on their own. they need to succeed on their own and meet a market niche. we need to make sure they're sound from a budgetary perspective, and this bill includes language that ups the

bar on authorizers to do just this. this bill passed the education and work force committee with a 36- vote. i honestly -- 36-3 vote. i honestly can't remember a bill that has had such strong bipartisan support on that committee. it's similar to and actually represents an improvement from h.r. 2218 which passed last congress 365-54. this bill will improve charter school access and services for students, ensures that our limited federal investment supports the expansion and replication of the very best high-quality charter schools, requires more transparency and accountability for charter schools, gives charter schools additional tools to continue to serve at-risk kids pursuant to their mission, including free and reduced lunch as well as ensuring they have the tools pro rata to serve a number of special education kids. almost every democrat and republican in this body have

already voted for this bill. very similar, almost identical bill, was in the esea re-authorization and the democratic alternative. this takes very few differences between those versions, irons them out and has language that both chairman kline and ranking member miller agree, builds upon the conis he suss that was reached in -- consensus that was reached in each of those bills. that's why i hope this bill passes with strong bipartisan support. there's a reason we need strong bipartisan support. unlike far too many bills that we call single chamber bills that's considered in this body and languish in the senate, i understand much of the frustration of the majority party, this bill with a resounding bipartisan vote can be sent to the senate where a very nearly identical bill has a growing number of bipartisan co-sponsors with the message that this body overwhelmingly supports improving our public charter school program and we

encourage the senate to take it up. that's why every member of this body's vote, mr. speaker, is so important on this bill. this bill will pass. this bill will have bipartisan support. but for any of my friends on the fence, this is our last great opportunity to leave a positive legacy of improving quality of and accountability for public charter schools. a.f.t. and n.e.a. have acknowledged that the stronger accountability in this bill will improve the quality and accountability and transparency of charter schools. supported by charter school advocates as well as authorizers like school districts. the multistakeholder approach that chairman kline and ranking member miller have presided over is a model of how this body can come together around legislation that improves our country. i hope that not only is this bill taken up by the senate after a strong bipartisan vote in this body but i hope it serves as a model, not only for what we can do in education but

what we can do on a number of pressing issues that address this country, whether it's balancing our federal budget, whether it's re-authorizing federal transportation programs or establishing an infrastructure bank, there is in fact a bipartisan way forward. that is the opportunity that my friends and colleagues on both sides of the aisle have before us now. public charter schools are making a difference for kids across our country every day. . with a limited federal role we can n sure they make a bigger difference. families on waiting lists have the opportunity to send their kids to expansion of an existing successful charter school or the replication or second campus of a charter school that we know works, that we know can transform lives, that we can know help that young kid attend college, get a good job, and guess what? maybe even serve in this august body someday. the most exciting thing about

public education in this country is there are examples of what works. you can take any at-risk demographic group, whether there are english language learners, whether they are low-income earners, if the remotest rural part of our country, or the area and findcity an educational model that works. some are run by school districts as neighborhood schools. some are run by school districts and schools of joyce or magnet schools, some are run as public charter schools under a contract of a school district or other authorizer. what we need to do to help make sure that more kids have access to opportunity is expand and replicate what is already working in public education. that glimmer of hope, those shining islands of success and excellence with the passage of this bill can serve more children in our country to ensure that more kids have access and more families have access to choose the public

schools that work for them. i want to thank ranking member miller and chairman kleine, the majority and minority staff of the committee, for working hard to craft a bipartisan bill without poison pills, without gotchas, without partisanship that recognizes the vital role that strong, accountable, high performing public charter schools can play in educational success. i was honored to work with them and with the staff on this legislation to improve, upgrade, and modernize this critical program. i encourage my colleagues to understand this vote matters. we want to ensure that this bill is not a single chamber bill. we want to make sure this bill does not languish in the senate. and the best way to do that is to send a resounding vote, even stronger than the vote in the last congress, that in these times of partisan discord,

democrats and republicans can come together around commonsense legislation that helps kids succeed and helps americans -- america's neediest families, allow their kids to attend a quality public school. this bill will help maximize the impact of every dollar invested by focusing on the highest quality educational providers. i strongly urge my democratic and republican colleagues to vote yes on h.r. 10 and ensure that our limited federal dollars go only to quality programs. as we mentioned earlier, unfortunately, i can to the support this rule. the rule contains a budgetary fix on an unrelated item. i'm confidence this rule will pass and allow for consideration of the charter school bill and reasonable set of amendments, and i wish that i could support

a rule that it just that, but this bill does include $150 billion in deficit spending which democrats have not agreed to. public school choice is effective and empowering. families know what's right for their children, better than politicians do and better than school district officials do. therefore parents should have the opportunity to choose the public school of their choice, that meets their parents' and their families' need. h.r. 10 represents the very best promise of bipartisanship in education. for those that embrace school choice, h.r. 10 rewards state policies that contribute to public charter school success. for those who are septical of public charter schools, h.r. 10 builds a stronger protections for charter school oversight, transparency, and accountability. there's something for everybody in this bill. i urge my colleagues to vote no on this rule but yes, yes, yes on the underlying bill. i look forward to continuing

this tradition of bipartisanship , hopefully extending beyond education to the other pressing national challenges we face. and through this bill we can improve access to great schools for our nation's children. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. and i want to truly thank my colleague from colorado for his eloquent words of support for charter schools and his past efforts in that area. i particularly want to thank him for urging the senate to take up this legislation. as he well knows we have a lot of good legislation over in the senate that has not been acted upon, and i hope this bill will have a better fate in the senate than other bills have had. mr. speaker, it would be impudent to have a conversation

about education and the use of taxpayer money without discussing the need for accountability. hardworking taxpayers want to see their tax dollars being used in the best way possible and expect the federal government to be a wise steward of their dollars. h.r. 10 builds on the principle of local accountability by modernizing the charter school program to authorize states to use the funding to replicate and expand high quality charter schools. the schools with proven student success will have opportunity to offer those advantages to more students. states and local educators know their students best and i urge my colleagues to modernize federal school programs and respond to these needs by supporting both this rule and the underlying bill. mr. speaker, many of my republican colleagues and i

would prefer he we abide by the constitution and take the federal government out of education all together. but that's not what we are recommending here today because we know we can't achieve that goal. my assumption, though, is that all members of congress, all members of congress, agree that as long as taxpayer money is being used by the federal government to fund education, the congress has the responsibility to make a strong effort to ensure that those who receive hardworking taxpayers' money are being held accountable for how they use it. washington should live within its means just as families all across this country do, and limited resources require wise stewardship. this bill consolidates multiple funding streams and grant programs that support charter schools into the existing state grant program. eliminating a separate authorization for charter school

facilities funding. it reduces the overall authorization for charter school programs from $450 million to $300. by consolidating the funding streams into the existing state charter school program, the bill removes authority from the secretary of education to pick winners and losers and control the growth of the charter school sector. this authority is placed largely in the hands of states where it belongs. h.r. 10 promotes high quality charter schools by updating the charter school program to reflect the success and growth of the charter school movement. states are authorized to use funds under the program to support the replication and expansion of high quality charter schools, in addition to supporting new, innovative charter school models. mr. speaker, my background as an educator school board member, mother, and grandmother reinforces my belief that

students are best served when people at the local level are in control of education decisions. i also believe that education is the most important tool americans at any age can have. i was the first person in my family to graduate from high school and went to college where i worked full-time and attended school part-time. it took me seven years to earn my bachelor's degree and i continued to work my way through my masters and doctoral degrees. from my own experience i'm convinced this is the greatest country in the world for many reasons. not the least of which is that a person like me, who grew up extremely poor in a house with no electricity and no running water, with parents with very little formal education and no prestige at all, could work hard and be elected to the united states house of representatives. no legislation is perfect, and at that is why i look forward to working with my colleagues to

address their concerns and improve this legislation through the amendment process. however, i've never been one to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. and while h.r. 10 isn't perfect, it's a step in the right direction of empowering parents, teachers, and local school districts and increasing school choice, and giving other young people the same opportunities that i and others have had to improve our lot in life. that's why i'm a supporter of this legislation and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this rule and the underlying bill. mr. speaker, with that i offer an amendment to the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by ms. foxx of north carolina, in section 6, add at the end of the bill, before the period. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from north carolina

is recognized. ms. foxx: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and i move the previous question on the amendment and on the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on ordering the previous question on the amendment and on the resolution. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it. the previous question is ordered. the question is on the amendment offered by the the gentlewoman from north carolina. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the aye vs. it. the amendment is adopted. the question is on the adoption of the resolution as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the resolution -- the gentleman from colorado has requested the yeas and nays. those favoring a vote on the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed.

pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares that the house is in recess subject to the call of the chair.

which couple of members they'd like to see on the committee who would they be? >> it's unclear right now. obviously the ranking member on the oversight committee is elijah cummings from maryland. he has kind of led the democratic response in the house to the republican investigation into benghazi, but i think, you know, you would be hard pressed to find many democrats who would want to be part of this committee. >> you tweeted about some omments by the chair of this select committee, trey groundy. you said -- why does he say it's a bad idea? >> well, he went on msnbc's "morning joe" wednesday morning

and he was asked whether he would raise money off of benghazi and he said that he wouldn't and that he feels like it's wrong to essentially, you know, seek campaign cash off the -- off -- what's indisputablely a tragic death of four americans and wouldn't advise his colleagues to do that either. >> steven sloan is deputy congressional editor with "politico." u can follow him on twitter@ stevenpsloan and thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> and more debate atead head. a series of votes at 3:30 eastern, expect the house back in. live coverage here on c-span. we've been asking you, too, on facebook and twitter -- does congress need a special committee to investigate the benghazi attacks? amy says, no, when there is a committee to investigate bush,y and rice about war crimes, then you can talk about benghazi.

steve says, yes, without all the usual grandstanding, question the witnesses and administration officials. ke your voice known at facebook.com/cspan and cspanchat. democrats would think differently if it were their child. victor on the other hand says the cost of this 14th benghazi hearing should be tied to disaster response in red states who elect crazy republicans. that's cspanchat, you can weigh in on twitter. so, again, the house coming back in for 3:30 eastern. we'll have live coverage. they will take some initial votes on that benghazi resolution. while we wait for that we'll show you some of the initial debate that just wrapped up a short while ago. eaeaeaeaeaeaeae friend, the former chairwoman of the rules committee, ms.

slaughter from new york. i rise in strong opposition to the rule and the underlying resolution, 567. the majority's obsession with keeping benghazi conspiracy theories front and center through the midterm elections, despite the fact that republicans have held 10 congressional hearings already, nine classified member briefings, 16 intelligent committee oversight events on the benghazi attack, despite this 35 congressional proceedings here in the house alone on benghazi, the most astonishing information to emerge has been the striking level of disinterest exhibited by certain members of the majority with respect to posing substantive questions that actually might inform efforts to enhance the security of american personnel abroad. in fact, the independent accountability review board of admiral mullin and ambassador pickering, two of the most respected civil certificate vapts in our lifetimes --

servants of our lifetimes, as well as the report of the republican majority-controlled house armed services committee, have thoroughly vetted and debunked the outrageous and irresponsible benghazi conspiracy theories that may make for good republican fundraising, but disgracefully slander the service and dedication of public servants in the military and diplomatic corps. in a "u.s.a. today" op ed published yesterday, my friend, mr. gowdy from south carolina, asked, quote, was our military response during the siege sufficient? to save us all the time and resources that the speaker now plans to spend apparently on his proposed partisan show panel, respectfully i'd recommend that my colleagues pose that very question to the esteemed republican chairman of the house armed services committee, who stated last week, and i quote, the armed services committee has interviewed more than a dozen witnesses in the operational

chain of command. yielding thousands of pages of transcripts, emails and other documents. we have no evidence that the department of state officials delayed the decision to deploy those resources available to the d.o.d. to respond. with their one-sided partisan select committee, we will not further an investigation, we won't get at the truth my friend, ms. ros-lehtinen from florida, talked about. we will reveal nothing new. rather, we will do our great nation a grave disservice, in continuing to perpetuate myths and conspiracies that cloud a simple, painful truth. the attack on benghazi was a tragedy perpetrated by jihadist terrorists, not by foreign diplomats, not by u.s. diplomats. there was no coverup, there was no soft peddling of this act of terror, not by the president, not by the secretary of state,

not by the secretary of defense, nor our intelligence community. and to suggest otherwise is a great slander. i ask for additional time. ms. slaughter: i yield an additional minute to the gentleman. mr. connolly: instead, republicans on the oversight committee remain obsessed with recycling tired and worn talking points in a cynical attempt to fire up the g.o.p. base before the midterm elections this november. unfortunately, the regression demagoguery has real-world consequences, mr. speaker. our country's diplomatic corps cannot operate effectively if we lock them in fortresses and prevent them from engaging with foreign nations because it might be a risk. the reality is that triking -- striking the right balance between necessary security and effective diplomacy is an inner herently complex and daunt -- inherently complex and daunting challenge for our foreign service every day and everywhere. as ambassador pickering and admiral mullin accurately stated in their review report,

no diplomatic presence is without risk. and the total elimination of risk is a nonstarter for u.s. diplomacy. in closing, i would ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, why do they not trust the judgment of this chamber's foremost military expert, the chairman of the armed services committee, who pronounced himself satisfied that where the troops were, how quickly all things happened and how quickly it dissipated -- i'd ask 20 more seconds. ms. slaughter: i yield another minute to the gentleman. mr. connolly: i thank the distinguished former chairman. we probably couldn't have done more than we did. those are the words of our colleague from california, the chairman of the armed services committee. i ask all members to defeat this partisan ploy that is not worthy of this house and i yield back my time to the distinguished lady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, at

this time i'd like to yield five minutes to the gentleman rom lewisville, texas, dr. burgess. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. mr. burgess: i thank the speaker for the recognition. i thank the chairman of the committee for yielding me time and certainly thank him for his confidence in me in being on the rules committee this past year and a half. mr. speaker, it's now nearly two years, and administration that ran on the concept of transparency but now functions only in opacity, we heard from the administration on september 12, 2012. we will not waiver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act, and make no mistake, justice will be done, closed quote. it seems strange now, almost two years later, to think on those words. that seemed like a sincere promise. the american people believed

that promise that was made just days after the attack. but if then we could have known that 19 months later the president's press secretary would stand before the white house press corps and laugh about the event. call it a conspiracy theory, i don't think we would have believed us if they would have told us what the future held. here we have a tragic event against our ambassador, against american citizens and the darn thing's nearly become a cold case because the refusal of the white house to prioritize anything related to the investigation except for their own bizarre political spin about what happened. mr. speaker, we have been forced to look into the anguish faces of the victims' families and tell them that we have not been able to find the answers for them about the attack, the attack that killed their sons. and we have an entire caucus that has threatened to boycott

an investigation that they have simply dismissed as political excess. it's not political excess to those families, mr. speaker. in turn, we have as a congress must do everything in our to do what the president said, what the president stated back in 2012, to ensure that justice is done for this terrible act. the only way to establish that -- deliver that justice is to establish the select committee. this is another step on what has become a very long process. i urge my colleagues to support the rule, support the >> house debate from earlier. does congress need a special committee to investigate the attacks? where are the jobs? he tweet and am glad the house gop is calling out house

democrats for misleading the american people. you can post at facebook.com/c span, and follow us on twitter. those votes coming up at 3:30, including a rule vote on creating the special select midi. a number of questions asked about boehner at his briefing today. this is just under 10 minutes. good morning, everyone. whenever i go around the country am including my own district, i hear the same question -- where are the jobs? house republicans this we continue our focus on the number one issue in our country, jobs and economy. the american people are anderned about this issue, our priorities will continue to be the priorities of the american people. since the beginning of this congress, the nearly 40 jobs

bills have remained stalled in the democratic-controlled senate. thatis nearly 40 bills would improve education and build a stronger economy, promote innovation. 40 bills that would ease relations on small businesses, promote veterans' opportunities. yet they still sit there, gathering dust, because senate immigrants are more worried about losing their majority than the merrick and people are, who are losing their jobs. this is the skills act, right here. sitting over in the senate. it would help provide skills to the american people for jobs that are out there in america, yet senate immigrants will not ring it up for a vote. this is the working families flexibility act, a goal that came to the house that would provide flexibility for people

in the workplace to help our economy, yet it continues to sit in the democratic senate. here is a bipartisan bill on the keystone pipeline, to create 20,000 jobs, higher 16,000 in direct jobs, but continues to be blocked in the senate. why? because of a sheer lack of courage. yesterday secretary kerry called on the western hemisphere countries to gather together to increase regional economic cooperation. with all due respect, i think it takes some audacity to call for more cooperation when they will not focus on the jobs issues we have here in america that need to be resolved. this week we will pass two more jobs bills, one that will make research and development tax credit permanent, providing more investment in our economy. the other expense access to charter schools because we all

know that a good education is that key to getting ahead in this economy. normal of slow economic growth, stagnant wages, and too few jobs, president obama called call on the senate so we can finally stop hearing the question, where are the jobs. >> four americans died in benghazi. should the n.r.c. fundraiser on the select committee? >> our focus is getting the answers to those families who lost their loved ones, period. >> the n.r.c. received their fundraising -- >> our focus, our focus is getting the truth for these four families and for the american people. >> the campaign committee became very involved in fundraising off of that. why is that happening? >> our focus is getting the truth for the american people and these four families. >> mr. speaker, if that's the case then will you bend to some of the democrats' demands on the way t